this is bbc news. i'm vicki young. our top stories. the labour leader sir keir starmer is preparing to reshuffle his team after the party's disappointing performance in the elections. he's already sacked his deputy angela rayner. the leader of the party on friday says he takes full responsibility for the election result in hartlepool, in particular, and then scapegoats angie rayner. i think many of us feel that was unfair. nicola sturgeon and the snp win a historic fourth term, as the party sets its sights on a second referendum on scottish independence. there is simply no democratic justification whatsoever for borisjohnson or indeed for anyone else seeking to block the right of the people of scotland

to choose their own future. ofa of a priority at the moment is not court _ of a priority at the moment is not court cases. — of a priority at the moment is not court cases, it's not independence legislation, — court cases, it's not independence legislation, it is recovering from the pandemic. labour did win a number of the mayoral contests, including sadiq khan installed for a second term as london's mayor. disruption continues on some of britain's busiest rail lines, after small cracks are found in some high speed trains. hello and welcome to bbc news. the labour leader, sir keir starmer is expected to reshuffle his shadow cabinet today. sir keir is facing a furious backlash from some of his mps and members after sacking the deputy

leader, angela rayner, as national campaign co—ordinator and chair of the party. labour sources suggested angela rayner had to take responsibility for what was described as a "bungled" election campaign. but they stressed she would be offered another role. let's speak to our political correspondent helen catt who's in westminster. the recriminations are really flying here, helen, because of labour�*s poor performance in the elections. keir starmer said he would take full responsibility for the results. is that what is happening here? i responsibility for the results. is that what is happening here? i think it's a question _ that what is happening here? i think it's a question is _ that what is happening here? i think it's a question is who _ that what is happening here? i think it's a question is who you _ that what is happening here? i think it's a question is who you ask- that what is happening here? i think it's a question is who you ask to - it's a question is who you ask to get a question to that. he said he would take full responsible tea for these results on the party need to change to reconnect with the voters. he said he would be taking responsibility forfixing he said he would be taking responsibility for fixing that in the light of those results that we had in the last few days, but this first move, as you said, we are expecting there will be a reshuffle this morning, it is understood keir

starmer will reshuffle his top team, but there's been criticism over the first move in that and that was the decision yesterday to remove the responsibilities are from angela rayner, the deputy leader, for running campaigns and her role as party chair. angela rayner is a very popular figure party chair. angela rayner is a very popularfigure in the labour party. she is deputy leader not because she was appointed, she was elected by the membership and overwhelmingly so, so she is a popularfigure. it's drawn criticism this morning of unfairness, diane abbott the former shadow home secretary said it was unfair it wasn't angela rayner who had taken the big decisions around hartlepool for example. here is what john mcdonnell had to say. the leader of the party on friday says he takes full responsibility for the election result in hartlepool, in particular, and then scapegoats angie rayner. i think many of us feel that was unfair, particularly, as we all know, actually, keir's style of leadership is that his office controls everything centrally. he's very centralised and he controlled the campaign,

so i think many of us just think it's really unfair. what public relations genius thought this was a good move on the very day actually we were having successes? andy burnham in manchester, in rotherham, liverpool, salford, marvin in bristol, sadiq in london, the very day we are actually recovering a bit and having successes, then they do this. ijust think it's a huge mistake. there's been criticism from andy burnham, the mayor of greater manchester, who was one of the real success stories of this set of elections. he said he couldn't support this move. i think what will have to look at later is when the reshuffle comes, what happens and it could give us a indication perhaps of the way keir starmer thinks he needs to move and the way the party needs to move and the way the party needs to move and the way the party needs to change. {lila needs to move and the way the party needs to change.— needs to change. 0k, thank you very much indeed- — needs to change. 0k, thank you very much indeed. we _ needs to change. 0k, thank you very much indeed. we will— needs to change. 0k, thank you very much indeed. we will keep _ needs to change. 0k, thank you very much indeed. we will keep up - needs to change. 0k, thank you very

much indeed. we will keep up with i much indeed. we will keep up with everything which goes on today as a sir keir starmer reshuffles his team. in england, the conservatives gained control of 12 more councils while labour lost seven — but it did better in the mayoral elections. eight labour mayors kept theirjobs — including london's sadiq khan — and the party took another two mayoral spots from the conservatives. our political correspondent damian grammaticas reports. from london, this was something to lift labour's battered spirits. i therefore declare sadiq aman khan elected as the mayor of london. cheering and applause. 55% of the vote and a second term as mayor. labour holding the capital on the heels of conservative wins in former labour heartlands. the results of the elections around the uk show that our country, and even our city, remain deeply divided.

the scars of brexit are yet to heal. a crude culture war is pushing us further apart. there's a growing gap between our cities and towns. and economic inequality is getting worse. therefore i declare that andy burnham is duly. elected as the mayor- of the greater manchester combined authority. greater manchester was one of seven more mayors�* offices so far retained by labour. and it won the west of england mayor's job from the tories. cambridgeshire and peterborough too. but in the west midlands labour's challenge failed. conservative cheers here were echoed across england's councils. conservatives have seized control of a dozen local authorities, taking southampton from labour, who also lost overall control of durham for over 100 years. more than 200 seats gained by conservatives, many in labour's strongholds. there's a lot of work now to do.

we've got to finish the job with covid and that's by no means over, get the remaining 18 million people in the country who haven't been vaccinated to be jabbed. we've got to deal with the challenges, the backlog in the nhs created as a result of the pandemic, the lost hours of children's�* education, and then, of course, we've got to make good on the promise we made at the general election to level up all parts of the country. from the labour side it's emerged that angela rayner, the deputy leader elected by party members, has been stripped by sir keir starmer of responsibility for running campaigns. so the story of these elections, conservative advances that have left labour questioning what its path forward should be. damian grammaticas, bbc news. let's have a closer look at those results from council elections in england. conservatives gain 239 councillors. labour down 301 councillors. liberal democrats almost unchanged,

but a good performance for the green party putting on 70 councillors. the uk prime minister borisjohnson has invited the leaders of the devolved nations to a summit on how to recoverfrom the pandemic. it follows the snp's fourth scottish parliament election win in a row and labour's win in the welsh parliament. nicola sturgeon said there could be "no democraticjustification" for blocking an independence vote and vowed to push ahead with her plans for a second referendum after the covid crisis is over. across scotland, victorious snp candidates are celebrating

increasing their vote and winning a remarkable fourth term in government. kaukab stewart became the first woman of colour elected to the scottish parliament. whilst i may be the first, i will not be the last. and with a pro—independence majority in that parliament, nicola sturgeon says westminster cannot stand in the way of another referendum. all of this risks treating voters in scotland and our entire democratic process as if they simply don't matter, like they are just a sideshow. voters are not a sideshow. when the tories held on to aberdeenshire west, the snp�*s hopes for an outright majority were extinguished. scottish conservatives campaigned saying a vote for them would stop another independence referendum and now say it's time to move on. we need to focus on the issues that will secure scotland's recovery, and that really is important for people's jobs, for young people's education, for investing in our nhs after everything they've done over the last year to get us through this pandemic. the pro—independence scottish greens increased their seats to eight and say the prime minister cannot ignore a result that's delivered a mandate for another referendum. if westminster does refuse to grant the authority for another independence vote, then the snp plan to legislate

for one here at holyrood anyway and dare the prime minister to take them to court if he wants to try to establish that the scottish parliament can't have a referendum without his permission. none of that will happen soon. the new snp government will prioritise covid and the recovery for the next few months before they make any moves to try and fulfil their manifesto promise to give voters in scotland a choice over whether they want to leave the united kingdom. sarah smith, bbc news, edinburgh. let's take a look at the results in scotland. snp on 64, up one seat. conservatives in second with 31 seats. labour down two seats on 22. and the greens on eight seats, up two. and lib dems on four, down one seat. this means that there is a majority for independence supporting parties at holyrood.

the cabinet minister michael gove has been speaking on the andrew marr programme about the possibility of a second referendum. this is what he had to say. i second referendum. this is what he had to say-— had to say. i don't think if i will walk down _ had to say. i don't think if i will walk down the _ had to say. i don't think if i will walk down the street _ had to say. i don't think if i will walk down the street this - had to say. i don't think if i will- walk down the street this afternoon they would be many people who would say what about the supreme court? i don't think that would be the issue of greatest concern to them. what they want to see is the opportunity, which we will have this week and next week, and in weeks and months to come, for our government to cooperate and indeed, every week i hold a call that the first minister of scotland, and wales, and northern ireland and the deputy first minister of northern ireland and we have pragmatic businesslike conversations and that is what i think people will want to see at a time when the pressure is on all of us as a result of this pandemic need to be overcome together. that us as a result of this pandemic need to be overcome together.— to be overcome together. that was the view from _ to be overcome together. that was the view from the _ to be overcome together. that was the view from the uk _ to be overcome together. that was the view from the uk government. j

the first minister of scotland nicola sturgeon has also gave her perspective on another independence referendum. cani can ijust can i just be can ijust be clear because i think it's important we don't lose sight at this_ it's important we don't lose sight at this point, that all of this talk about— at this point, that all of this talk about legality and whether or not the uk _ about legality and whether or not the uk government would challenge the uk government would challenge the scottish government in court, mrs a_ the scottish government in court, mrs a point. the people of scotland have voted — mrs a point. the people of scotland have voted for the snp on the strength— have voted for the snp on the strength of offering an independence referendum and light in 2011 leading up referendum and light in 2011 leading up to 2014, any uk government that has any— up to 2014, any uk government that has any respect for scottish democracy would accept that and would _ democracy would accept that and would come to an agreement to put it beyond _ would come to an agreement to put it beyond any— would come to an agreement to put it beyond any legal doubt. that would come to an agreement to put it beyond any legal doubt.— beyond any legal doubt. that was nicola sturgeon, _ beyond any legal doubt. that was nicola sturgeon, the _ beyond any legal doubt. that was nicola sturgeon, the first - beyond any legal doubt. that was | nicola sturgeon, the first minister of scotland. police investigating the death of community support officer julia james have arrested a man in his 20s. the man, from the canterbury area, was arrested on friday and remains in custody 53—year—old ms james was found dead on 27 april in woodland near dover, having suffered serious head injuries. simonjones is in aylesham.

this is day 13 of the murder investigation and kent police have confirmed this morning that a man remains in custody in connection with the murder. he was arrested on friday evening at around 9:30 in the evening and this morning, searches are continuing at this property which is close to the murder scene. we've got forensic officers currently combing through a skip and also seen forensic teams take up some of the paving slabs and look at some of the paving slabs and look at some of the garden of this property. police have not said who lives here, but they have confirmed that searchers are in connection with this murder enquiry. now, julia james was killed on tuesday of last week. she had been working from home, a police community support officer. she had taken her dog toby for a walk when she was attacked. now, in terms of the investigation, it involves hundreds of officers

taking part in this. the police have asked officers from other forces to help too because they have been covering a huge amount of area. this is a very rural location in southern england. there is a lot of ground to cover. the family ofjulia james say they are keeping their fingers crossed for a positive outcome in this investigation. certainly people in the local community too are very keen for answers. this has affected people greatly. there's of dog walkers in this area and they say they say they simply don't feel confident to go out on the run at the moment, but the search is very much ongoing at this property this morning. this investigation continuing at pace.- morning. this investigation continuing at pace. morning. this investigation continuin: at ace. ., ~ , continuing at pace. thank you very much, continuing at pace. thank you very much. simon- _ serious disruption on some of the uk's busiest rail lines continues today after cracks were discovered in some high speed trains. great western railway and london north eastern railway have advised passengers not to travel today. let's speak to our news correspondent sean dilley who's at king's cross station.

we have seen there's been quite a lot of disruption. what's going on there now? to lot of disruption. what's going on there now?— lot of disruption. what's going on there now? ., ,. , , . there now? to describe the picture here in king's _ there now? to describe the picture here in king's cross, _ there now? to describe the picture here in king's cross, one _ there now? to describe the picture here in king's cross, one of - there now? to describe the picture here in king's cross, one of the - there now? to describe the picture| here in king's cross, one of the two here in kings cross, one of the two major london terminals, people travelling from scotland, newcastle, york on lner, there are people turning up for travel. at the moment, there is one train on the platform coming behind us here. but there are plenty of staff trying to help you make the journey is. the advice has been clear that lner out of paddington all the way to swansea and bristol and penzance, are saying if you don't have to travel, please don't travel. we heard from robert nisbet from the rail delivery group earlier, speaking on behalf of all of the train operators, in this case, 183 trains were taken out of service yesterday. these are the hitachi 800 trains with cracks in the metal underneath. now they say

safety is a top priority. they are working quickly, to get those trains back and operational. many of those returning to service today, but the rail delivery group say the disruption and timetables may have a knock—on effect as we move forward so the advice and government which the rail companies do appear to be listening to was to ensure there is plenty of staff to help those who absolutely need to travel. in many ways, this week and many of us are used to working remotely with covid—19 but they say if you do not need to travel, please try not to. thank you very much. let's speak to our political correspondent nick eardley who's in edinburgh. both sides in are speaking about what is coming ahead. everyone is expecting a clash over this issue of

a second referendum. what has nicola sturgeon had to say? good a second referendum. what has nicola sturgeon had to say?— sturgeon had to say? good morning. an argument — sturgeon had to say? good morning. an argument you _ sturgeon had to say? good morning. an argument you are _ sturgeon had to say? good morning. an argument you are going - sturgeon had to say? good morning. an argument you are going to - sturgeon had to say? good morning. an argument you are going to hear l an argument you are going to hear from nicola sturgeon over the next few months and potentially years is the fact that there is a pro—independence majority at holyrood, are pretty comfortable one, meaning that there is definitely a mandate for another referendum. and on the andrew marr show this morning she kept making the point that if the uk government tried to challenge that mandate or take the scottish government to court, if it passes legislation to hold another referendum, it would be suggesting that there is a democratic route to scotland leaving the uk. she's really raising her rhetoric on that. it's a pretty direct challenge to borisjohnson, saying we have won the election, how can you democratically argue that we don't have a right to another referendum? we have had michael gove on the andrew marr show as well. his first argument is that the priority

must be the pandemic. that's something both governments agree on. nicola sturgeon is planning to go ahead with a referendum, and been clear here priority is covid but michael gove argues it should be the case notjust in the immediate term but also in the medium term as well, with the economic recovery, a couple of interesting things to take away from michael gove is interview this morning. he was asked can scotland leave the uk? his answer was yes, he was then asked how do they do it and he said a legal referendum which begs the question how does cotton secure a legal referendum? he was also asked about whether the scottish parliament passes legislation, whether the uk government would take them to the supreme court to try to challenge it? there wasn't really an answer on that. he did seem to hint he didn't want to do that, but i'm not sure we can read too much into that. i'm not

sure he was totally rolling it out. i spoke to some of his aides in the last humility so don't get too excited by that, it's not a complete change in position but what is clear is the first thing which is coming is the first thing which is coming is a big political battle over whether nicola sturgeon can hold another referendum. she says absolutely, the uk government is going so no. the focus should be elsewhere. there is potentially a legal battle coming down the line too. although both sides want to avoid it, unless they can come to some sort of agreement, it feels like that is the obvious destination.— like that is the obvious destination. . ~ ., ~ like that is the obvious destination. w ., ,, , ., destination. 0k, nick, thank you very much _ destination. 0k, nick, thank you very much indeed. _ destination. 0k, nick, thank you very much indeed. the _ destination. 0k, nick, thank you very much indeed. the story - destination. 0k, nick, thank you very much indeed. the story is i destination. 0k, nick, thank you - very much indeed. the story is going to go on for probably years, i think we can safely say. thank you very much indeed. let's bring you some pictures just much indeed. let's bring you some picturesjust in. these much indeed. let's bring you some pictures just in. these are the labour leader sir keir starmer who was leaving his home today in london. didn't have much to say to reporters outside his home. he has been facing a furious backlash from some of his mps and members after reportedly sapping the deputy leader

angela rayner as a national campaign coordinator. and chair of the party. we understand that he will be reshuffling his top team throughout the day to day so we will get more details on that. russian president vladimir putin has overseen moscow's traditional victory day parade, which this year marks the 76th anniversary of the defeat of nazi germany. more than 12,000 troops, and a cavalcade of tanks, aircraft and weaponry took part in the event in moscow's red square. the ceremony coincides with a time of strained relations with the west. in a speech, president putin said that russia would firmly defend its interests. 0ur moscow correspondent, steve rosenberg, has been watching the parade. yeah, it's always a major event here. in the west we talk about world war ii, the russians talk about the great patriotic war, 1941—45, and they secured victory, the soviet people secured victory at an enormous human cost

of 27 million civilians killed in a conflict so what happens on victory day as russia remembers the victims, it honours the heroes and celebrate a victory. it also, with the display of military might you see on red square, and we saw it again today, the kremlin sends a clear message i think to the outside world that russia has muscle, russia is a military superpower today, and in the light of the tension you can see increasing between russia and the west, all the talk of a new cold war, that is a message moscow was keen to get out and when president putin delivered his short speech on red square today, he didn't mention the united states or nato, but he did talk about there is no justification for those who have aggressive plans, who put anti—semitism

and anti—russian sentiment, that's a lot mentioned by russian officials who accuse the west of anti—russian feelings. there have been renewed clashes in jerusalem between palestinians and israeli police, a day after more than two hundred people were injured in some of the worst violence in years at the al—aqsa mosque. fighting broke outjust as tens of thousands of muslim worshippers prayed at the compound to mark the holiest night of ramadan. more than 50 people were injured. gareth barlow reports. stun grenades against stones. palestinian protesters and israeli security forces clashing outside the al—aqsa mosque complex injerusalem's old city, one of the most revered sites in islam. it's also the location of the temple mount, the holiest site injudaism. the source of the anger — weeks of rising tensions over the potential eviction of palestinian families

from their homes in occupied eastjerusalem, which israeli settlers claim as their land. earlier on saturday, roads into the city became gridlocked as israel ramped up security, fearing a repeat of friday's violence. car horns. coaches of muslim worshippers were stopped at checkpoints with cars left abandoned as people trekked uphill to the mosque complex. translation: we saw on social media i that our relatives are being stopped l in the street and they're not allowing them to enterjerusalem. we came here voluntarily, without planning or anything. everyone who has a car came to pick up people and help them. around 90,000 worshippers gathered at the site on saturday for an event marking ramadan, but prayer was soon replaced with protest. officers on horseback clashed

with palestinian youths, who lit fires and tore down barricades. the un, eu, russia and us have called for security forces to show restraint. but depending on the court ruling, palestinian families may feel monday will see israel's supreme court rule on the legality of the potential evictions, as israelis celebratejerusalem day. but depending on the court ruling, palestinian families may feel compelled to express their anger once more. there's a definite fear that the clashes aren't yet over. gareth barlow, bbc news. the queen's cousin, prince michael of kent, has been secretly filmed talking about taking large sums of money for access to russian decision—makers. the footage was recorded by undercover reporters from the sunday times and channel four�*s dispatches programme, who were posing as business—people seeking access to kremlin officials. here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. he is his royal highness prince michael of kent,

a first cousin of the queen. he is not a full—time working royal and does not receive any funding from the public purse. prince michael does, however, have long—standing cultural and other links with russia and it was supposedly to take advantage of those links as a royal member that two people representing posing as representatives of the south korean company dealing in gold set up a meeting with the prince. in reality they were reporters with the sunday times and channel 4. they hoped the prince could open doors for them in the kremlin. the fee offered was a generous one. how about the fee, $200,000 us that we offer, was that acceptable? very good, so much, yes. is it normally is in line with what you would normally charge for a speech

like this? , ., ., , ., , like this? yes, i have no questions for ou like this? yes, i have no questions for you on — like this? yes, i have no questions for you on that. _ like this? yes, i have no questions for you on that. i'm _ like this? yes, i have no questions for you on that. i'm very _ like this? yes, i have no questions for you on that. i'm very happy. i in a statement, prince michael's officer said he hadn't met president putin since 2003. his representative, the statement said, had made suggestions that prince michael would not have been able to fulfil stop buckingham palace declined to comment. nicholas witchell, bbc news. you're watching bbc news. now a look at the weather with susan powell. hello. some pretty lively whether heading our way through the week ahead. low pressure dominating means there will be some fairly frequent showers. but it also means we will pull in are from the atlantic so in contrast to last week, much milder. we will lose the risk of overnight frost finally. here is the low in question. for sunday, with a centre of a no closer to northern ireland

and scotland, here is not the most frequent showers, much of england and wales will have dry afternoon. a lot of milder getting pulled up on the southerly winds right the way across the uk. but some particularly warm air through the afternoon for east anglia and the south—east of england. we can see temperatures here in the sunshine up to 20 or 21 degrees. always a bit more cloud further west. the weather front could bring heavy showers into wales as the afternoon comes to a close. northern ireland and scotland getting the heaviest of the days showers. some rumbles of thunder possible. more persistent cloud for the north—west of scotland, pretty blustery winds as well. but still milder than yesterday. temperatures in the mid teens. now, through the evening and overnight, we have that warm muggy air across the south—east and east anglia. we could see some very heavy showers breaking out with further rumbles of thunder and local downpours moving into the early

hours of monday. they could close in on the coast of north—east england and a mild night, though. 11—12. across the board, frost free, with temperatures no lower than 6—7. the lowest luminous on monday, potentially pushing more persistent rain towards the north—east of scotland. i think that will head towards the northern isles, though, this area of heavy rain as monday shapes up towards the west. the low centre still rolling away to the west of ireland. that means lots more showers for northern ireland, scotland, through the day. more hit and miss a crossing land and wales, but there will be order sharper one. breezy, cool in the south—east but temperatures around average for the time of year, which is doing a lot better than we have done in the last week or so. that sets the tone for the rest of the week. it stays showery and temperatures will sit in the mid—teens.

area this is bbc news. the headlines: the labour leader, sir keir starmer, is preparing to reshuffle his team after the party's disappointing performance in the elections — he's already sacked his deputy, angela rayner. when the leader of the party on friday says he takes full responsibility for the election result in hartlepool, in particular,