this is bbc news with the latest headlines. nicola sturgeon warns the westminster government against using legal arguments to prevent a second independence referendum after a fourth consecutive victory for the snp. the people of scotland have voted for the snp on the strength of offering when the time is right an independence referendum. the priority at the moment is not court cases, it's not independence legislation, it is recovery from the pandemic. 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 and then scapegoats angela rayner, i think many of us feel that was unfair.

police are granted more time to question a man arrested in connection with the murder of community support officerjulia james. disruption continues on some of britain's busiest rail lines, after small cracks are found in some high speed trains. the cabinet office minister, michael gove, has refused to be drawn on whether the government at westminster would challenge a second scottish independence referendum in the courts. he said the focus of the devolved administration in edinburgh should be the recovery from the pandemic. but the first minister of scotland, nicola sturgeon, warned number ten against using legal arguments. it comes as the prime minister invites the leaders of the devolved nations to a summit on how

to recoverfrom the pandemic. i asked our political correspondent at holyrood — nick eardley — how quickly nicola sturgeon might try to go for another independence referendum. probably not for a while. i think you will see nicola sturgeon make a very public play in the next couple of days about going back to work and focusing on the big pandemic decisions that she has to make. but there is also two things coming, there is a political battle which is going to be nicola sturgeon saying, "i have my mandate, you have got to give us another referendum," and the uk government saying no, and potentially after that a legal battle as well over whether the scottish parliament can publish legislation to hold another referendum and whether that will be challenged by the uk government in the courts. we have been hearing that the two cases that are going to be a big part of scottish and uk politics over the next few years this morning on the bbc. let's bring you first nicola sturgeon speaking to andrew marr about her case

for another referendum. i haven't been planning fora referendum, i have been focusing on covid. but anybody who knows anything about the legislative parliament knows any government has to consult its law officers before it brings forward legislation, so that will be part and parcel of what we do. i don't want to lose this point, andrew. no, we haven't got to the stage of introducing a bill formally but that will be part and parcel of the process. what can ijust be clear because i think it is important but can ijust be clear because i think it is important we don't lose sight of this point. all of this talk about legality and whether or not the uk government would challenge the scottish government in court misses the point. the people in scotland have voted for the snp on the strength of offering when the time is right an independence referendum. and as in 2011 leading up to 2014, any uk government would simply accept that and come to an agreement with the scottish government that put it beyond any legal doubt.

so that is nicola sturgeon�*s case. the uk government isn't getting into the specifics of what a legal challenge might mean if the scottish parliament was to pass a bill for another referendum. i don't think we can read too much into that at this stage to be honest. i think michael gove was trying to avoid talking about it this morning because being seen to challenge legislation passed in holyrood would probablyjust increase the sense of division between westminster and edinburgh. but the case you will hear from the uk government is that focus should be completely on the pandemic over the next few years and the economic recovery, and the case michael gove was making on andrew marr�*s programme this morning was that working together makes that recovery easier. have a listen.

no... you won't take her to court? the first thing i should say is congratulations to nicola. she has secured a significant election victory and i want to congratulate her on that. i also want to take the opportunity to congratulate the new members of the scottish parliament who have been elected, a more diverse group than ever before representing different traditions and communities in scotland. showing that democracy in scotland is healthy. the other thing that is critically important however is an acknowledgement on the part of all of us as political leaders, whatever parties we come from, that the priority at the moment is not court cases, it is not independence legislation, it is recovery from the pandemic. to be fair to nicola sturgeon, during the course of this election campaign she said that was the single most important thing that we should all be concentrating on, and we should work together as team uk in order to deal with the pandemic. can i ask a very straightforward philosophical question? yes. is scotland allowed to leave the uk?

of course it is-_ through a legal referendum which would allow people to make that choice. the big debate is how you get that legal referendum. the scottish government under nicola sturgeon is going to argue that the political mandate is there to have it, the uk government is going to say now is not the time. when we are back at westminster, i think this will be a big issue over the next few years. the political debate and potentially a legal one too. nick eardley there. 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 removing 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 coorrespondent iain watson. so is angela rayner being blamed for the disappointing results in the election? , . ., , election? some people certainly behind the _ election? some people certainly behind the scenes _ election? some people certainly behind the scenes in _ election? some people certainly behind the scenes in labour- election? some people certainly. behind the scenes in labour circles have been blaming angela rayner, they said the election campaign itself has been bungled but they have given details of what they thought that bundling was which was apparently unwieldy meetings, unreliable data and polling for example and bad targeting of labour councils. on the other hand, many people say angela rayner was effectively bypassed by keir starmer�*s office. that interestingly allies of angela rayner today, although we have been told she will be offered another prominentjob, we have marine told what the job is and they say it's a matter for the leaders office but it was the case that she was not office —— offered

anotherjob when she was being told she was being stripped of her campaigning responsibilities. there is confusion over how the reshuffle will play out and this morning the former shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell said keir starmer himself was evading responsibility for worse than expected results from labour and seemed to be offering him media advice as well. when 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. it is certainly the case that some of these more positive results for labour that they got yesterday and overnight have been somewhat overshadowed by this row which angela rayner�*s allies say was not of her making, she wanted to be helpful and was preparing for media appearances to date it back so keir starmer and explain why labour had not done as well as it should have donein not done as well as it should have done in its former heartland and traditional seeds. done in its former heartland and traditionalseeds. her done in its former heartland and traditional seeds. her absence from the airwaves, they say, says it all in terms of reaching any kind of agreement. so faralthough in terms of reaching any kind of agreement. so far although we have been told the reshuffle will start today, no single appointment has been announced including the new

role for angela rayner. so been announced including the new role for angela rayner.— role for angela rayner. so keir starmer has — role for angela rayner. so keir starmer has only _ role for angela rayner. so keir starmer has only been - role for angela rayner. so keir starmer has only been leader i role for angela rayner. so keir. starmer has only been leader for around a year, will lead be serious efforts to move him out of the job? i'm not sure there will be serious efforts but there is serious jeopardy for keir starmer, someone was saying in the party today, he's based his approach on leadership and competence in contrast to the previous leader, jeremy corbyn. if he look like a strong leader, then he look like a strong leader, then he starting to use his —— lose his unique selling point. it's perhaps not surprising but interesting that someone he sacked, john trickett, said a leadership challenge cannot be ruled out. keir starmer�*s team will have to work very hard to stop the

spiralling out of control. also interesting, john mcdonnell himself would admit he's not a great friend of angela rayner and people are saying that effectively those on the corbyn left of the party if you like thought she was being too supportive of keir starmer, moving away from her left—wing roots, but quite frankly her profile in the party has taken on a new lease of life by the fact she was stripped of those campaign roles. idin fact she was stripped of those campaign roles.— fact she was stripped of those camaian roles. . ~ ., ., ~ campaign roles. iain watson, thank ou, iain campaign roles. iain watson, thank you, iain watson _ campaign roles. iain watson, thank you, iain watson with _ campaign roles. iain watson, thank you, iain watson with the _ campaign roles. iain watson, thank you, iain watson with the latest - you, iain watson with the latest from westminster. we have the latest count coming in which is the liberal democrats who have taken control of st albans council after gaining more seats on wednesday —— sunday morning. the council was previously under no overall control. it has been a battleground for quite some

time. as of this morning the liberal democrats have taken control. they already have the local mp, she is daisy cooper and she has tweeted not surprisingly saying she thinks this is an amazing result. she says she's super proud of the st albans liberal democrats because they have taken control of the district council. it's been a patchy couple of days for the liberal democrats, but there we are, a gain for them. tomorrow the prime minister will announce a relaxation in social distancing measures — which will permit intimate contact between friends and family. cabinet secretary michael gove said on the andrew marr show this morning that we ll find out when hugging will be allowed. the prime minister will confirm tomorrow that there will be a relaxation. we have already indicated a proportionate relaxation on international travel, very limited at this stage because we have to be safe, and in the same way as we move into stage three of our road map, it will be the case we see people capable of meeting indoors. and without prejudice to a broader

review of social distancing, it is also the case friendly and intimate contact between friends and family is something we want to see restored. the 17th of may or thereabouts, hugging, as we call it.— but the director of the oxford vaccine group, professor andrew pollard, said there s a long way to go before we can consider life without masks. i think there is a future with no more social distancing and no more masks, but from a global perspective we are still a long way from that. yes, here in the uk we have had remarkable success through the vaccine programme and so that is getting closer to happening, but from a global perspective there is such a long way to go. that is professor andrew pollard there. police have been granted more time to question a man arrested in connection with the murder of community support officerjulia james. the man in his 20s was arrested on friday.

53—year—old julia james was found dead on 27th april in woodland near dover, having suffered serious head injuries. simonjones is in aylesham. simon, what is the latest in this investigation?— simon, what is the latest in this investiuation? ,, . ., , , investigation? since we last spoke, a development _ investigation? since we last spoke, a development in _ investigation? since we last spoke, a development in this _ investigation? since we last spoke, a development in this case. - investigation? since we last spoke, a development in this case. the - investigation? since we last spoke, l a development in this case. the man who was arrested was detained on friday evening at around 9:30pm. today the police have been granted more time to question him as part of their murder investigation. they have been granted an additional 36 hours, that means they will be able to question him until tomorrow evening. at that point they will have to decide whether to charge him, release him or apply to a magistrate for another 2a hours to continue further questioning. he today in an ale shim there's been a lot of activity outside this property. —— in aylesham. we have

seen police in the garden, searching through the skip, so a wide—ranging search taking place here. julia james was killed on tuesday of last week. she had been working from home that day. she went to take her dog toby for a walk when she was attacked in woodlands a few metres from her home. since then there has been a huge police investigation involving hundreds of officers. police are continuing to appeal for witnesses and they are keen to hear from anyone who saw anything unusual between 1pm and liz30pm on the day she died. officers say perhaps someone locally saw someone and felt suspicious of them, perhaps they decided to cross the road to avoid them or even to take a different path. police say it might seem insignificant to the person who made the observation but it could be vital to the investigation. it is continuing at pace but now the focus

once again for officers continuing their questioning of the suspect. thank you, simon. serious disruption on some of the uk's busiest rail lines is expected to continue into next week after cracks were discovered in some high speed trains. inspections on more than 180 trains are due to be completed today, but great western railway and london north eastern railway have advised passengers to check timetables. our correspondent, sean dilley, has been outside kings cross for us. to describe the picture, there are people turning up for travel. within the last couple of minutes there was one train on the platform coming behind us here, but there are plenty of staff trying to help people to make their journeys. of staff trying to help people to make theirjourneys. the advice has been clear that lner along with gwr out of paddington on the way to swansea, bristoland out of paddington on the way to swansea, bristol and penzance are saying if you don't have to travel,

please don't. we heard earlierfrom robert nisbet from the rail delivery group speaking on behalf of all of the train operators, in this case 183 trains were taken out of service yesterday. these are the hitachi trains with the cracks in the metal underneath. they say safety is the top priority, they are working as quickly as they can to get the hitachi 800 trains back and operational, many of those returning to service today. but the rail delivery group say timetables may have a knock—on effect as we move forward. advice from the government, which the rail companies appear to be listening to, is to make sure there's plenty of staff to help those who absolutely need to travel. in many ways it's fortunate it is a weekend, many people are used to remote working with covid—19, but they say if you do not need to travel, please try not to.

sean dilley reporting there. the headlines on bbc news: nicola sturgeon warns the westminster government against using legal arguments to prevent a second independence referendum after a fourth consecutive victory for the snp. 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. police are granted more time to question a man arrested in connection with the murder of community support officerjulia james. sport now, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here'sjohn watson. it's going to be a thrilling final day in the women's super league with both chelsea and manchester city vying for the title. and with things to be decided at the top, it's the same at the bottom too with relegation to be settled as well. our reporterjo currie joins us from kingsmeadow, where chelsea face reading later.

and fairto and fair to say it is chelsea in poll position to lift the title? yes, they will be hoping to get their hands on the trophy later. they started poll position today two points clear of manchester city in second. city are the only other team who can ruin their championship party. the permutations for chelsea are straightforward. if they win here at home to reading today the title is theirs, if they lose then potentially they could let manchester city in. if they draw, sorry, they could let manchester city in, but manchester city would have to beat west ham away by four clear goals. if they lose today, manchester city would have to win by any ska line and that would mean the trophy would be coming back to the north west of england later this evening. that is the top of the table. at the bottom things very much to sort out in terms of relegation. bristol, birmingham and aston villa all in contention of

going down today. bristol starred in the unenviable position of bottom, two points behind the other two sides. for bristol to stay up they need to win against brighton and they need birmingham or aston villa to slip up as well, so plenty of twists and turns still to come on the final day of the women's super league season.— the final day of the women's super league season. many thanks indeed for that. worth — league season. many thanks indeed for that. worth pointing _ league season. many thanks indeed for that. worth pointing out - for that. worth pointing out manchester city could be crowned premier league champions today as well if results go their way. to the game already under way though, wolves up against brighton. you can watch this live on bbc one now. it's the vistors who took the lead, a goalfrom captain lewis dunk. however, dunk has now been sent off so brighton are down to ten men, with around half an hour of the game still to play. so city will be crowned champions for the sceond time in three years should manchester united lose against aston villa. united on a run of four games in eight days.

west ham can close the gap to fourth placed leicester to just two points with a win over everton, while west brom will be relegated if they're beaten at arsenal. britain's billyjoe saunders has been left with a suspected broken eye socket after being stopped by canelo alvarez in their super—middleweight unification fight. the bout was held in front of 73,000 fans in texas — the largest ever crowd for an indoor boxing event in america. and while saunders had been growing into the contest, a brutal uppercut from alvarez in the eighth round resulted in his team throwing in the towel. rory mcilroy is well placed to win his first title since 2019. he heads into today's final round of the pga tour event in north carolina two shots off the lead. this birdie putt in a third round 68 helped put him in position to challenge for victory. bryson dechambeau is down the field, but had to make a hasty 2,000—mile round trip before saturday's third round. he'd gone home to dallas thinking he'd missed the cut. halfway through the flight my agent

text, and he's like, hey, you're 68 now and i was like what. there's no way i'm going to make it. sure enough, by the time i landed i was in 64th and connor goes, warps, that was a mistake! —— whoops! and you can get much more on all those stories, as well as build up to the spanish grand prix, on the bbc sport website. lewis hamilton starting from pole position for the 100th time in his career. that is all from me, back to you, vicky. thank you. there have been renewed clashes in jerusalem between palestinians and israeli police, a day after more than 200 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. monday will see israel's supreme court rule on the legality of the potential evictions, as israelis celebratejerusalem day.

there's a definite fear that the clashes aren't yet over. gareth barlow, bbc news. 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, and in a speech, president putin said that russia would firmly defend its interests. our moscow correspondent, steve rosenberg, has been watching the parade. 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—16, and they secured victory, or the soviet people secured victory at an enormous human cost — more than 27 million soviet citizens were

killed in that conflict. so what happens on victory day is that russia remembers the victims, it honours the heroes, it celebrate a victory. it celebrates victory. but also, with the display of military might you see on red square, and we saw again today, the kremlin sends a clear message i think to the outside world that russia has muscle, that russia is a military superpower today, and in the light a very clear 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's no forgiveness orjustification, he said, for those who have aggressive plans, who push anti—semitism and russophobia. and this word, russophobia, anti—russian sentiment, is something you hear a lot mentioned by russian officials who accuse the west

of anti—russian feelings. 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. his friend, the marquess of reading, later described him as "her majesty's unofficial ambassador to russia". the prince denies the claims. 80 years ago, liverpool was hit by one of the worst german bombing raids of the second world war. nearly 2,000 people were killed and more than 60,000 houses destroyed or damaged. now a unique recording of an eyewitness account of the may blitz has been passed to the bbc. andy gill has more. in eight days in may 1941, the luftwaffe dropped 800 tonnes of high explosives and more

than 100,000 incendiary bombs on liverpool. and, as the bombs fell, a bbc sound engineer climbed a tall building and recorded what he saw. st luke's church, that's a big church at the top of bowles street, is just a shell. that's been burnt out. the water mains went. there is a bomb down somewhere. the water mains went and they couldn't do anything, the firemen couldn't fight the fire. they had no water. the broadcaster gillian reynolds was a girl of five in liverpool at the time. what a hero this man was. going up on the rooftops and recording away and bombs all around him falling, falling, you could hear them. and he covered them, he covered what was happening so brilliantly. when i'm quiet like that, i am trying to take a bit of shelter. i don't want to put my neck out too far. there is some fire engines coming along now.

the people with no water can't make any tea and they have been coming out to the firemen with buckets or anything at all — even potties — anything which would hold the water. the museum of liverpool reopening this month is currently staging an exhibition about the blitz. one of its experts says the recording is an important find. it is fascinating and i think it really brings home the horror of war for everyday people in the city. you can really imagine yourself on top of the high building with the guy with the fire watchers and the vibrations he must have felt as those bombs you can hear on the audio are going off around him. you can imagine the fire raging, he must have felt the heat from the fire and the smell of burning in the street. 80 years on, the st luke's church mentioned in the recording

still stands, preserved in its damaged state as a memorial in its damaged state to those killed in the blitz. we know something of the history of the recording but not the answer to the most important question of all. who made it? the recording belonged to a retired teacher in west yorkshire who used it for lessons. another ex—teacher who also used it says beyond that information is sketchy. the story goes that the teacher had a relative who lived in liverpool during the second world war and he seems to think he had access to bbc sound equipment and made a recording, but other than that we don't know much about the person narrating the story. bbc radio want anyone who does know the identity of the blitz witness to come forward. here we go. that's about two roads away. i cringed here.