this is bbc news with the latest headlines. labour narrowly win the batley and spen by—election by just 323 votes. the seat was won by kim leadbeater — sister ofjo cox — who represented the area until she was murdered in 2016. i'm absolutely delighted that the people of batley and spen have rejected division and they've voted for hope. the german chancellor, angela merkel, is in the uk today for talks with hopes that strict quarantine rules for britons travelling to the eu will be eased. the parents of teenage motorcyclist harry dunn give evidence in the united states against the woman suspected of causing his death two years ago.

anger over a proposed one per cent pay rise — senior doctors in england will be consulted on possible industrial action if there's no improved offer. the family of saskia jones who was murdered by a convicted terrorist at a prisoner rehabilitation conference near london bridge speak about the impact of her death. people need to know what has actually happened here. the enormity of what happened. and what a devastating effect it has had on our family and a number of other people. and not even a teenager yet — 12—year—old sky brown is set to become britain's youngest summer olympian of all time after being named in the team gb skateboarding squad.

good morning. labour has narrowly won the batley and spen by—election in west yorkshire. the new mp — kim leadbeater — now represents the seat previously held by her sister, jo cox, who was murdered in the constituency in 2016. the result will ease pressure on labour leader sir keir starmer after recent election defeats for his party. ms leadbeater saw the party's majority cut from more than 3,500 to 323, after a strong challenge from the conservative candidate ryan stephenson. the former labour and respect mp george galloway, who had targeted labour voters, came in third. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley reports. i do hereby declare that kim michelle leadbeater is duly elected. it was the narrowest of wins. but one that was met with a mighty

sense of relief by labour. kim leadbeater is the new mp here. beating her conservative rival byjust over 300 votes. but in a seat many thought would turn blue overnight, labour are delighted. the campaign here has been heated, with allegations of harassment, and the police sometimes accompanying candidates. the new mp said she wanted to heal some of the divisions. i will do my very best to represent the whole of batley and spen as their new mp. i'm absolutely delighted that the people of batley and spen have rejected division and they have voted for hope. this result has extra significance for kim leadbeater. her sister, jo cox, used to be the mp here. she was murdered in 2016 by a far right extremist. it is inevitable not to think aboutjo and mum and dad and particularlyjo's children.

obviously, as i said before, it was a very big decision to put myself forward. it has been a very emotional campaign and today is very emotional for me for lots of reasons, but if i can be half the mp thatjo was, i know that i will do her proud and my family proud. fingers crossed that i do a fantasticjob just as she did. we are all incredibly proud of what kim has done. she was incredibly brave to step forward into it, not just around the sort of security side of things, given what happened to jo, but also the context of a very bruising and a pretty horrible campaign at times, and to put yourself into that, to try to keep positive, to try to keep a vision focused on what you want to change and how you bring people together, i think she has done amazing. win or lose, i would have been just as proud of her. the result is also a massive relief for the labour leader. keir starmer has faced pressure in recent weeks over his strategy. if labour had lost, the criticism

would have increased. and some think his job would have been in question. but instead, his allies say if this was a referendum on his leadership he has won. nick eardley, bbc news, batley and spen. 0ur political correspondent nick eardleyjoins me now. the labour party and sir keir starmer breathing a sigh of relief this morning? i starmer breathing a sigh of relief this morning?— starmer breathing a sigh of relief this morning? i think that is right. althou~h it this morning? i think that is right. although it is _ this morning? i think that is right. although it is pretty _ this morning? i think that is right. although it is pretty rare - this morning? i think that is right. although it is pretty rare for- although it is pretty rare for governing parties to win by—elections in seats held by the opposition, the forces had been against the labour party in this seat. you had george galloway standing, winning thousands of votes from traditional labour voters, there were some pro—brexit candidates who stood last time who weren't standing this time, so there had been quite a high level of expectation that the tories would potentially win this seat so absolutely, massively, a sigh of

relief for keir starmer and the labour party that they have managed to hold onto it so there is the personal element which you heard about just there, personal element which you heard aboutjust there, the personal element which you heard about just there, the fact that my two says she ran a very local campaign, local issues were a big part of this, and she thinks this is a victory for decency, and what has been at times quite a heated campaign on the ground. —— kim leadbeater. at the national picture is quite significantly changed by what we saw overnight. keir starmer had been under huge, huge pressure over his handling of the labour leadership, there had been some speculating that had labour lost today, after the loss in hartlepool as well, then potentially over time, keir starmer may have faced some sort of leadership challenge. that talk will now wane, certainly talk of a leadership challenge will wane, i don't think it means questions over labour �*s future and strategy

will go away because there are still some who are worried that keir starmer has not set out enough of a vision about what he wants from the country and he needs to be a lot more nakedly political. in the way he deals with his campaigning. but certainly in terms of the immediate pressure on keir starmer, this takes a lot of the pressure off.— a lot of the pressure off. thank ou. ms leadbeater said: "the focus of the campaign was very much listening to local people. but she also said it was marred by personal abuse and allegations of dirty tricks. we need to do politics better. we need to do politics differently. there is no place for abuse, intimidation, you know, for me personally, but actually for the people who were campaigning with me. we've had things thrown at people, we've had an assault, you know, someone's been arrested. that's not what we need in our communities, what we need in our country. and if i canjust work a little bit through this role to try and improve things and try and show a different way then i think that's

really important. and you didn't name george galloway directly in that tweet last night but was that directed at him and his party or was it a broader message? i think there's a broader message around how we do politics and what's acceptable and what's unacceptable. but there are certainly individuals during this campaign who have yeah, in my view, overstepped the mark of what's acceptable. after victory, is there a message for those people? yeah, the message now is let's think about you know the way we want our country to be run, the way we want our politics to be done. let's think about, you know, what it means to people. the big thing for me as well is the number of people who don't vote, you know, so many peoplejust, and that's just because they disengaged with it. so we have to think about how we can reconnect with people who haven't had, i don't know what the turnout was but it wasn't great. it was less than 50%. for those 50% of people that stayed at home, i don't blame them for not coming out and voting when they see some of the scenes that they've seen

over the last few weeks. so let's think about how we can make politics more relatable and we can engage people with it more. what is going to be your first priority for the constituency? the first priority is to start getting people together. that's my big thing, that's one of the things i'm good at so all the stuff we've talked about, crime and anti—social behaviour, whether it's the state of the roads, who are the people who can make a difference, who are the people who can act on these things. let's get the councillors together, let's get the police involved, let's look at where we can get some funding. you know, get people around the table and have those conversations. and do you think the conservatives took their foot off the pedal and maybe thought this one, after hartlepool, was perhaps in the bag? i think the conservatives were kind of hoping that someone else would do the work for them. but listen, they've been nothing but respectful throughout the campaign and i think that's really important to say as well. as have the lib dems. and other candidates. so i think it's been a very civilised campaign and i respect ryan stephenson and his team for the way that they've conducted themselves. and just finally, how do you feel going to the house of commons next week? and following on from wherejo

left off five years ago? it's really emotional, of course it is. i've just spoken to mum and dad and as a family, this is a huge deal. it's massive but if i can be half as good an mp asjo was then i will be very proud of that. andrew scattergood is the co—chair of the momentum group, which was set up to support the left—wing policies of thejeremy corbyn leadership. good morning to you and thank you for being with us. this result is notjust for being with us. this result is not just a victory for the labour party but for the leadership of keir starmer. it’s party but for the leadership of keir starmer. �* , . ., , ., starmer. it's a great result from kim leadbeater. _ starmer. it's a great result from kim leadbeater. it's _ starmer. it's a great result from kim leadbeater. it's a _ starmer. it's a great result from kim leadbeater. it's a massive i kim leadbeater. it's a massive tribute to the hundreds of activists who made their way to that seat but let's not kid ourselves, what we have seen is the labour party squeak a victory in a seat which has seen a massive reduction in their so there some serious concerns that the labour leadership in the labour party, all need to be discussing. we need to have a discussion about why this has happened and we also need to think about what we need to do

next. there is criticism about a void of policies and i think that's been evident through this by—election also. we need to be talking about transformative vision for the country, putting policies out there that will make meaningful change to working people notjust in batley and spen but across the country so we don't need to get ourselves, we cannot portray this as a massive victory, we squeaked it over the line and there are still serious concerns at... share over the line and there are still serious concerns at. . .- serious concerns at... are you sa in: serious concerns at... are you saying a — serious concerns at. .. are you saying a labour— serious concerns at... are you saying a labour party - serious concerns at... are you saying a labour party under i serious concerns at... are you | saying a labour party under the leadership ofjeremy corbyn would have had a more resounding victory, he suffered a catastrophic defeat at the polls? the he suffered a catastrophic defeat at the olls? ., , ., he suffered a catastrophic defeat at the -olls? ., , ., ::' the polls? the vote share in 2017, labour had _ the polls? the vote share in 2017, labour had 5596, _ the polls? the vote share in 2017, labour had 5596, that _ the polls? the vote share in 2017, labour had 5596, that dropped - the polls? the vote share in 2017, i labour had 5596, that dropped down the polls? the vote share in 2017, - labour had 5596, that dropped down to labour had 55%, that dropped down to i think 45 in 2019 and now it's dropping down to 35 so the point i'm trying to make is at the minute, the leader, whoever the leader of the labour party is needs to be thinking about what is going wrong, this is on the back of a loss in a

by—election, on the back of a net loss of 300 councillors and local elections, we are heading towards not being able to win in any general election that is coming up so there are some serious questions... but after labour _ are some serious questions... but after labour lost the last election they thought about what had gone wrong and they decided that they wanted a different style of leadership and that was keir starmer. becausejeremy corbyn, frankie, had been a disaster. i don't thinkjeremy corbyn was a disaster but i think the point that i've been trying to make here is the leader of the labour party, currently keir starmer, this needs to be a massive wake—up call, this needs to be something that we can look about the issues, where they went wrong, how people voted, not turning out as much as they should have for the labour party and we need to think about a transformative vision, think about how we can add community health initiatives, look at the community organising we need to do, policies that matter to people someone absolutely delighted that labour have won this

by—election. but it has to be a wake—up call for everybody in the party. wake-up call for everybody in the .a . ., , ., wake-up call for everybody in the party. can i tell you what lord peter mandelson _ party. can i tell you what lord peter mandelson has - party. can i tell you what lord peter mandelson has been - party. can i tell you what lord - peter mandelson has been saying today. he said there are elements of the corbyn left who seem to eager for george galloway �*s since in a blow for keir starmer �*s leadership, while others were campaigning in batley and spen, the corbyn left were conspiring and they should stop their whispering and agitation. ii their whispering and agitation. if peter mandelson wants to try and distract away from the core issues of the labour party, that is his prerogative to do so. the reality is we wanted labour to win, george galloway is nothing to do with us, we are not interested in that at but what we are interested in is what we are saying to voters and bobby are to voters at the minute is not enough and that's the point i'm trying to make. the later leadership does not need to be thinking about internal factions and all the nonsense that voters do not care about, needs to be thinking about the policies that are being put forward and a strategy to win the

general election, that looking increasingly unlikely and we sweep a by—election over the last 24 hours, who knows where we are going with the general election, labour needs a discussion about what they stand for, not this internal... find discussion about what they stand for, not this internal. . ._ for, not this internal... and you are happy _ for, not this internal... and you are happy to — for, not this internal... and you are happy to fight _ for, not this internal... and you are happy to fight the _ for, not this internal... and you are happy to fight the next - for, not this internal... and you . are happy to fight the next election under keir starmer? ii he are happy to fight the next election under keir starmer?— under keir starmer? if he remains leader and — under keir starmer? if he remains leader and that _ under keir starmer? if he remains leader and that is _ under keir starmer? if he remains leader and that is a _ under keir starmer? if he remains leader and that is a choice - under keir starmer? if he remains leader and that is a choice for - under keir starmer? if he remains leader and that is a choice for the | leader and that is a choice for the labour membership as a whole, we will support labour all the way through. this is what we stand for. we want a labour government. [30 through. this is what we stand for. we want a labour government. do you think ou we want a labour government. do you think you should _ we want a labour government. do you think you should be _ we want a labour government. do you think you should be challenged - we want a labour government. do you think you should be challenged for- think you should be challenged for the leadership? i think you should be challenged for the leadership?— the leadership? i think at the minute we — the leadership? i think at the minute we need _ the leadership? i think at the minute we need to _ the leadership? i think at the minute we need to focus - the leadership? i think at the minute we need to focus on | the leadership? i think at the - minute we need to focus on what we do next and how we have that open debate about the future of the party and what we are standing for because at the minute, we are not talking to the electorate as much as we should be. we don't need to be talking about that, what we need to talk about that, what we need to talk about is why have we reduced our vote in batley and spen? why have we lost a by—election? why is the trajectory of all the polls, why do 35% of labour party members think he should resign but these need to be

the things we are addressing and at the things we are addressing and at the minute i see no sign that will happen but let's hope that changes in the coming days, this is the wake—up call that is needed and keir starmer can get the labour party back on track to be electable and a winnable party. back on track to be electable and a winnable party-— conservative party chair amanda milling said that the story around former health secretary matt hancock was a topic that "came up on the doorstep" during the by—election campaign in batley & spen. i will be honest with you, the issue with matt did come up on the doorstep. but it was a whole wide range of different issues. we have to come back to the fact that governing partiesjust don't gain by—elections. it is unprecedented to do so, and it was unprecedented in hartlepool. do you want to tell us about how that came up, presumably in a non—positive way? that came up, presumably in a non-positive way?— that came up, presumably in a non-positive way? that came up, presumably in a non-ositive wa ? ., ~ ., ., non-positive way? you know, that was an issue that — non-positive way? you know, that was an issue that was _ non-positive way? you know, that was an issue that was coming _ non-positive way? you know, that was an issue that was coming a _ an issue that was coming a particularly at the weekend but it

was right that matt hancock resigned and we have a new health secretary. do you want to flesh out what you meant when you said it came up on the doorstep?— the doorstep? what were people sa inc? the doorstep? what were people saying? look. — the doorstep? what were people saying? look. it— the doorstep? what were people saying? look, it was _ the doorstep? what were people saying? look, it was one - the doorstep? what were people saying? look, it was one of - the doorstep? what were people saying? look, it was one of a - the doorstep? what were people - saying? look, it was one of a number of different dishes that came up but obviously people have made many, many sacrifices over the last 12 months or so. and you know, they've been frustrated by the impact the virus has had on our lives but as a government, we are totally focused on getting those vaccines rolled out so we can't get life back to normal. dallas—macro so alex dean is a conservative commentator and joins me now from central london do you think the matt hancock affair was an element and a reason for the defeat and this by—election? i doubt it was a huge issue. he paid for the mistake with hisjob. but i it was a huge issue. he paid for the mistake with his job. but i would say, this is an election that you

could spin in any direction. labour hangs on to it, you argue it is good for labour, labour has its majority massively cut, bad for labour, the tories come close to winning the by—election, it's good for the tories, they miss winning it, it's bad for the tories but for me, the biggest story about this is not about either of the main parties, it's the fact george galloway comes in and takes 20% of the vote. that is what the real game changer is, it is what the real game changer is, it is not matt hancock and further that has gained a couple of hundred. 0ne has gained a couple of hundred. one way of the other, it is george galloway and how good or bad that is for the country. galloway and how good or bad that is for the country-— for the country. george galloway seems to have _ for the country. george galloway seems to have taken _ for the country. george galloway seems to have taken a _ for the country. george galloway seems to have taken a lot - for the country. george galloway seems to have taken a lot of- for the country. george galloway i seems to have taken a lot of votes from labour and a lot of commentators saying the labour vote would have been bigger if he had not for the by—election. it’s would have been bigger if he had not for the by-election._ for the by-election. it's probably true, he for the by-election. it's probably true. he spoke — for the by-election. it's probably true, he spoke to _ for the by-election. it's probably true, he spoke to voters - for the by-election. it's probably true, he spoke to voters who - for the by-election. it's probably| true, he spoke to voters who may for the by-election. it's probably - true, he spoke to voters who may not have been inclined to vote. i think there is a question about the extent to which this leadership of the labour party resonates in that region and i thought we had a very telling interview with momentum,

they say obviously it would be better underjeremy corbyn and he would do better up there, that might be true and i think one of the things your correspondence said that i agreed with, a great deal of pressure is off keir starmer. whether that's a good thing or not is up to the labour party. but i think it's unquestionably right. what do you think of anything boris johnson will read into this result? the tory vote went down, obviously. the tory vote went down, obviously. the tory vote went down, obviously. the tory party went backwards slightly in percentage terms, the labour party went backwards a great deal more, i wouldn't want to judge anything in the stats given that the stats are skewed in one by—election by the presence of george galloway but i think he came close to winning a seat on the way the conservative party won the seat in hartlepool but i would not want the party to be complacent on the other hand. there's been suggestions the ground operation could have been tightened up operation could have been tightened up and improved and had some better activists directing in the last week or two of the campaign. i know

central office of the tories have been working very closely to try and get it right because you know what parties love to do in the end as win elections. there is no such thing as close but no cigar in elections, the conservative party will have wanted to win the seat, 11 years in government, notwithstanding, they want to win every election they are in and that will be a focus for them and paris going forward. this in and that will be a focus for them and paris going forward.— and paris going forward. this was far from a typical _ and paris going forward. this was far from a typical by-election, . and paris going forward. this was| far from a typical by-election, it's far from a typical by—election, it's a far from far from a typical by—election, it's a farfrom typical far from a typical by—election, it's a far from typical constituency, we had issues like the palestinian cause and kashmir being quite big issues because there is a big muslim population and of coursejo cox, you know, was the mp who was killed. a lot of reasons to say this was a very different kind by—election. i think that's right. when i saw the leaflets put out by the labour party saying remember who they are friends with, a picture of the prime minister with the prime minister of india, clearly trying to dog whistle to some voters who say this nasty

tory is in bed with the indians, i thought that leader was fake but it was not, there were lots of other fake leaflets going round in this election and it was a dirty tricks campaign all round but there is a really nasty things happening and i think the other thing i thought was a real shame was that the teacher in batley and spen who showed his students a cartoon of muhammad and lost hisjob and students a cartoon of muhammad and lost his job and was handed and bullied out of his role and hasn't got it back went almost unmentioned by the labour party who were very keen to insist on a clean campaign and people behaving and the right to insist that people behaved rightly. i think it's about time we looked at what happened in batley and spen all round. the murder ofjo cox was appalling and it's only right the community remembers that. this teacher �*s situation is appalling, that one should not be forgotten. good to talk to you, thank you for your time.

the headlines on bbc news... labour narrowly win the batley and spen by—election byjust 323 votes. the seat was won by kim leadbeater, the sister ofjo cox who represented the sister ofjo cox who represented the area until she was murdered in 2016. the german chancellor is in the united kingdom today for talks with hopes that strict quarantine rules for britons travelling to the eu will be eased. the parents of teenage motorcyclist harry dunn have given evidence in the united states against the woman suspected of causing his death two years ago. senior doctors in england will be consulted on taking industrial action if the government's 1% pay rise offer is not improved. the british medical association says it will ask members about stopping paid and unpaid overtime if a figure closer to 4% is not agreed. the royal college of nursing has already said it will consider balloting over industrial action

and has called for a 12.5% pay rise this year. the government says it's committed to increasing pay for nhs staff and that rises for the rest of the public sector have been paused. borisjohnson will meet with chancellor angela merkel today on her last visit to the uk as head of the german government. coronavirus travel restrictions are expected to be high on the agenda. it comes as mrs merkel reportedly wants to ban uk tourists from entering the european union because of concerns over the delta variant. mrs merkel will also become the first world leader since bill clinton in 1997 to address the british cabinet. let's take a look at how angela merkel�*s last uk visit as german chancellor will unfold. the meeting will take place at the prime minister's country residence of chequers in buckinghamshire, where the mrs merkel will also address a virtual meeting

of the british cabinet. it will be followed by a news conference. and later today, mrs merkel is set to visit the queen at windsor castle. with me in the studio is our correspondent sancha berg. i suppose coronavirus restrictions, travel restrictions in general very much on the agenda for these talks. we understand they are very high up on the talks, you might remember of course they met very recently at the g7 summit last month. and just as covid was high on the agenda, it is high on the agenda now with travel restrictions. currently british visitors to germany even if they are double vaccinated after quarantine for 14 days in germany has been encouraging other european countries to introduce tough restrictions, as you said many people are worried

about the delta variant. but the times newspaper this morning as a story that actually germany is ready to relax those restrictions against british visitors so it'll be interesting to what happens when they meet. 0bviously interesting to what happens when they meet. obviously the prime minister will want the chancellor to shift position, it's something many british holiday—makers will be watching closely. this british holiday-makers will be watching closely.— watching closely. as we were suggesting. _ watching closely. as we were suggesting, really, _ watching closely. as we were suggesting, really, because. watching closely. as we were i suggesting, really, because this watching closely. as we were - suggesting, really, because this is her last visit and she has been a long serving german chancellor of the honour of meeting the queen today at windsor castle. yes. the honour of meeting the queen today at windsor castle. yes, her official spokesman, _ today at windsor castle. yes, her official spokesman, the _ today at windsor castle. yes, her official spokesman, the german | official spokesman, the german government official spokesman said she was very excited about the honour, they had met before, of course, and we don't know what they will talk about. but perhaps they will talk about. but perhaps they will talk about the football because of course, prince george, the queen �*s great—grandson was in the crowd this week. 's great-grandson was in the crowd this week. ., ,., , ., , ., this week. indeed. nobody wants to rub it in that — this week. indeed. nobody wants to rub it in that the _ this week. indeed. nobody wants to rub it in that the germans _ this week. indeed. nobody wants to rub it in that the germans lost! - this week. indeed. nobody wants to rub it in that the germans lost! butl rub it in that the germans lost! but i am sure it will be mentioned at some stage during the visit. the german some stage during the visit. tie: german embassy said they have had many warm wishes and they certainly

seem to be accepting it with grace. indeed. thank you so much. the parents of teenage motorcyclist harry dunn have given evidence against the woman suspected of causing his death in 2019. charlotte charles and tim dunn flew to washington dc earlier this week ahead of legal proceedings against the suspect, anne sacoolas. david willis has this report. harry dunn died after a car travelling on the wrong side of the road hit his motorbike outside raf croughton in northamptonshire. the driver, anne sacoolas, pictured here on her wedding day, was charged with causing death by dangerous driving but fled the country and claimed diplomatic immunity. 0fficials here have refused to extradite her. last month, at the g7 summit in cornwall, borisjohnson reiterated to president biden his desire to see justice done, and there are now plans for ms sacoolas to attend a virtual civil trialfrom her home in the state of virginia.

with the process gathering pace, harry's parents have come here to give evidence under oath. there has got to be a proper end to this. there's got to be justice of some description. this cannot be just left as it is. we will keep going. we will keep going, even if it takes us forever, we will keep going. are you any more confident after today justice will be served? yes, absolutely. you know, like i said, everything we do is a step in the right direction. so, we are confident that what we are doing will all go towards getting justice for our boy. it is nearly two years since harry dunn's death, and his parents know they may have to wait another six months before they get their day in court. david willis, bbc news, washington. earlier we heard from harry dunn �*s

mother and father about the stress this is because them.— this is because them. getting out here during _ this is because them. getting out here during the _ this is because them. getting out here during the pandemic- this is because them. getting out here during the pandemic has - this is because them. getting outj here during the pandemic has not been easy, we have had tojump through loopholes, we've had to have pcr tests, waivers from the state department and all of that has been added to the fact that we had then got to sit there for many hours, i don't want to diminish the amount of time that we were with the other side �*s lawyers, because it's been a very long, arduous process. but on the other hand, we are grateful to have that process, you know. we note the us government did not want this, they were desperate to kick it back to the uk, they did not want us to be able to carry through our civil claim in the us so we are not by any means complaining but it's not easy.

and we are grateful to the us public and the us authorities for finally allowing this to go through and we are very much looking forward to getting on the plane tomorrow night and coming home. sir richard branson is a step closer to beating rival billionaires in the race into space. he's announced the date he'll blast beyond the earth's atmosphere — nine days ahead of the amazon founderjeff bezos. both tycoons have created space tourism companies offering flights for the wealthy. branson's vehicle can climb to an altitude of 90km giving those on—board a few minutes o weightlessness and a view of the curvature of the earth. now it's time for a look at the weather.

gazing at the satellite image this morning, it's very cloudy, you cannot see much of the country but things will brighten up, more sunshine developing as we go through the day. it may seem grey and misty towards the south coast, but mostly sunny spells, notice little splatters of blue, an indication was see showers develop, some of the heavies could be southern scotland and northern england, most of spending the bulk of the day dry, warm in the sunshine, temperatures in the low 20s. this evening showers continue across scotland, gradually fading, the next batch of cloud more persistent rain pushing in to northern ireland, wales, south—west england, some of it heavy, it's the start of a fairly changeable weekend. some of you will start cloudy but dry, heavy rain across england, pushing north and east, sunshine and showers, some showers for northern ireland, some in scotland, the best of the sunshine in the north. goodbye for now.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... labour narrowly win the batley and spen by—election byjust 323 votes. the seat was won by kim leadbeater — sister ofjo cox, who represented the area until she was murdered in 2016. the german chancellor, angela merkel, is in the uk today for talks, with hopes that strict quarantine rules for britons travelling to the eu will be eased. the parents of teenage motorcyclist harry dunn have given evidence in the united states against the woman suspected of causing his death two years ago. senior doctors in england will be consulted on taking industrial action if there's no improvement on the government's 1% pay rise offer. sport and for a full round up from the bbc sport centre, here's mike...

good morning. we are reflecting on what happened yesterday at wimbledon. a new teenage sensation. she's only 18, but already looks the real deal. playing in herfirst wimbledon, the british teenager emma raducanu stunned the former french open finalist marketa vondrousova to become the only british woman into round 3 of the singles. while in the men's draw, there's a big name awaiting cameron norrie. 0ur sports correspondent joe wilson reports. you can look through every match scheduled for a wimbledon day, and then it happens — early evening, out on court 12. emma raducanu, and a huge breakthrough. keep in mind the british player's just 18, ranked 338 in the world, and that her opponent, marketa vondrousova, once reached a grand slam final. no holding back. a match point on the verge of the third round in her first major tournament.

would she collapse? well, only once the match was won. emma raducanu, a—level studentjust months ago, britain's remaining woman at wimbledon. my motivation is honestly to just keep staying here. ijust love it, love being here. the selection of food is just incredible, like, i mean... the whole surroundings, i'm just taking it all in and ijust really want to prolong my experience here. while cameron norrie is one of three british men in round 3. that's him nearest the camera. seeded 29 here, norrie's straight sets victory over alex bolt was full of confidence, decisive. he also seems to revel in the atmosphere. that's encouraging. but who wants to play him next? well, this guy. roger federer set up a match with norrie by beating richard gasquet, gently. oh, you're kidding me! and it was straight sets.

oh, but friday night is scheduled for another murray night. you have been warned. joe wilson, bbc news, wimbledon. and murray's match is against denis shapovalov of canada. they're up on centre court, after the dan evans match live on bbc one then two. the pair have never played each other before and against shapovalov, ranked 12th in the world, murray knows he's in for a tough day. he's definitely a shotmaker. he likes playing in front of big crowds and stuff. so, yeah, the thing i've got on my side is the experience and obviously having played a lot on centre court. i'm not saying we will definitely play on there but i would imagine there would be a good chance of that. so it'll be quite new for him. now, there'sjust one more day to wait before england's quarterfinal against ukraine at euro 2020. the team fly to rome this afternoon, and one player who has

cemented his starting place is goalkeeperjordan pickford. he hasn't let in a single goal so far. now this match will be the team's first away from wembley, but he insists the lack of home atmosphere and support won't be a problem. we've got to create our own atmosphere there come saturday in rome, which we are capable of doing. but the fans were tremendous the other night and throughout the group stages as well, so i think that gives us added motivation for the game on saturday to come back for a semifinal again with 60,000 fans. mark cavendish is having a dream return to the tour de france. after battling illness and injury, he's back in the world's biggest bike race after three years away, and he's won his second stage in three days. drew savage reports. no hiding the smile behind the mask. mark cavendish back on the podium in chateauroux, where he first won in 2008. two weeks ago he wasn't even expecting to race the tour, but after winning his first stage in five years on tuesday,

here he was going for win number 32. stage six was mainly flat, which helped britain's geraint thomas, 12th overall and still recovering from his crash on monday. for him, the mercy of a relatively easy day before the race hits the hills today and the mountains tomorrow. he finished safely with the peloton. as did mathieu van der poel, who kept the leader's yellowjersey. but for cavendish, the colour will always be green, the shade of the race's leading sprinter. everybody knew what he can do on top form. nobody could stop him doing it. the 36—year—old manx missile had earned the right to reminisce. the celebration, just the same as it was 13 years ago. he's not talking about eddy merckx's record of 34 stage wins. are you in the form of your life or what?! just happy to be back here doing what he loves. drew savage, bbc news. england's cricketers can complete a clean sweep of victories over sri lanka on sunday, after taking an unbeatable 2—0 lead in the one—day series. sam curran was the star

with the ball at the oval — he took five wickets, as sri lanka posted a target of 242. in response, england were never troubled. captain eoin morgan built on the good foundation laid by the opening batsmen, guiding his side to victory by eight wickets, with seven overs to spare. they've already won the t20 series 3—0. a busy day and evening ahead on bbc one and bbc two with tennis and the semifinal between belgium and italy. that's all the sport for now. we can go back to our top story, the pretty narrow labour victory in batley and spend, just over 300 votes. lewis goodall is here with more analysis of the result. labour has ulled more analysis of the result. labour has pulled off _ more analysis of the result. labour has pulled off what _ more analysis of the result. labour has pulled off what a _ more analysis of the result. labour has pulled off what a few _ more analysis of the result. labour has pulled off what a few days - more analysis of the result. labour has pulled off what a few days ago | has pulled off what a few days ago many pundits said was a lost cause entirely. in fact they have held

onto batley and spen in west yorkshire. it was a narrow sliver of a victory. the share of the vote, labour with 35.3, and the conservatives on 34.4, only 323 vote majority. george galloway coming in with 21.9%. two factors made people think labour were finished before today. one was george galloway standing, targeting the british muslim vote in the constituency, which is sizeable. people assumed it would eat into the labour vote. and if we go back to the 2019 election there was another independent candidate at that time in the seat and they did very well at the other end of the spectrum, pro brexit, and without him standing this time around it was assumed that his votes would bolster the conservative vote. putting the two together, with the fact the conservatives are polling well nationally at the moment people assumed a tory victory would be at hand and it did not happen. why not?

looking at the change from the 2019 vote to this by—election. we can see that the labour vote will be down a bit, the lib dems vote down a bit. if you could see it and not boris johnson, you would see the labour and conservative vote down a bit, and conservative vote down a bit, and the george galloway vote up considerably for top three things to say about that. the first is that the fact that labour won and galloway got so many votes is that labour's victory is more impressive than the headline majority might suggest. without galloway standing it would probably have been a bigger victory. secondly, the fact labour won despite leaking so many votes to george galloway suggests they may have done better with their party's traditional vote, have done better with their party's traditionalvote, maybe have done better with their party's traditional vote, maybe with potential tory switches, certainly with lib dems who appear to have voted tactically for labour. and the labour get out the vote operation was successful. what's behind it? kim leadbeater herself, a respected local candidate. the conservative

leader is still pretty gaping nationally in the polls has also narrowed a touch in recent weeks, perhaps as a re—result of the matt hancock affair and the vaccine shine becoming less lustrous. but this batley and spend by—election has still been a labour seat for a long time. there was still a swing from labour to conservative of 2.9%. if that happened at a general election, labour would lose seats elsewhere, they would go backwards. you have to treat it with a bit of caution because the george galloway presents distorts it a bit and it's difficult to extrapolate. he had starmer has tweeted out of the traps as you might imagine. after the hartlepool by—election he couldn't afford another loss. this has bought him some time, breathing space into the summer and party conference to

rethink and reconsider his strategy. but prime minister borisjohnson remains dominant. this along side the chesham and amersham by—election tells us there are limits to that dominance. something we couldn't be sure of a few weeks ago.— sure of a few weeks ago. lewis, thank you- _ the spanish government's new requirements apply to passengers from the uk aged 12 and over. mainland spain is currently on the government's amber list, meaning people returning to the uk must quarantine at home for ten days. australia is halving the number of people allowed into the country from overseas after lea ks in people allowed into the country from overseas after leaks in its covid quarantine system. the weekly intake will be cut to around 3000 people and residents remain banned from leaving the country. nearly half the population, more than 12 million

people, are now under stay at home orders in sydney, brisbane, perth, darwin, townsville and the gold coast. the government has come under increasing pressure over its vaccine rolled out with only around 7% of the population now fully vaccinated. prime minister scott morrison has been laying out the country's path forward. ., ., ., ., forward. the idea of having a border restriction. — forward. the idea of having a border restriction, and _ forward. the idea of having a border restriction, and you _ forward. the idea of having a border restriction, and you know _ forward. the idea of having a border restriction, and you know my - forward. the idea of having a border restriction, and you know my views | restriction, and you know my views on those, and the idea of having lockdowns, is based on the premise that community transmission would lead to serious illness, hospitalisation and vitality. so if you've got the vaccination in place, what's the point? what's the point?! and that's the mindset change that we have agreed today. our mind set on managing covid—19 has to change once you move from pre—vaccination to post vaccination. that's the

deal. foraustralians. to post vaccination. that's the deal. for australians. australian prime minister. _ deal. for australians. australian prime minister. we _ deal. for australians. australian prime minister. we can - deal. for australians. australian prime minister. we can give - deal. for australians. australian prime minister. we can give youj deal. for australians. australian - prime minister. we can give you the latest figures from public health england in terms of the number of coronavirus cases, new cases of the delta variant, public health england saying that there were 50,824 new cases of the variant in the latest week. and that compares to 35,000 delta cases in the uk in the week ending the 25th ofjune. the latest figures on delta from public health england. rescuers in miami have resumed searching in the rubble of an apartment block that collapsed last week. so far, 18 people have been confirmed dead and 140 people are still unaccounted for. on a visit to the scene yesterday, us presidentjoe biden said he was still hopeful of finding life in the rubble. sophie long has this report. how are you? president biden thanking the rescue workers who've been searching

for survivors day and night. he also spent time with the families affected, who he said are going through hell. they had basic, heart—wrenching questions. will i be able to recover the body of my son or daughter, my husband, my cousin, my mom and dad? how can i have closure without being able to bury them if i don't get the body? what do i do? jill and i want them to know that we're with them and the country's with them. when i saw the video, my heart was ripped from my chest because that's the moment i saw my mom and my grandmother die. so it was very difficult. and that's all i see now when i close my eyes. now, pablo tries to hold on to memories of happier times. in the days that have passed since the building where his mother and grandmother lived crashed to the ground, rescue teams have been working around the clock, painstakingly removing rubble, searching for survivors.

it is a dangerous and demanding task, both physically and emotionally. we are human beings and we are dealing with human beings beneath the surface. and we know that we look for them and we do the best to get to them. but still, the thought that under all this concrete, all this, still there is a person, maybe a little boy that is buried there, it's very difficult to fail to understand. the families of those still unaccounted for have been to visit the site. and some have told me that seeing the homes that they used to visit reduced to rubble with their own eyes, is helping them now to start to prepare for the worst. all of them, though, have one question — how long? how long can someone possibly survive in there? it's a question no—one can answer, but they were able to see what's being done to reach those trapped in the twisted metal and concrete before the hope they cling to fades completely. sophie long, bbc news,

surfside, miami. the headlines on bbc news... labour narrowly win the batley and spen by—election by just 323 votes. the seat was won by kim leadbeater — sister ofjo cox, who represented the area until she was murdered in 2016. the german chancellor, angela merkel, is in the uk today for talks — with hopes that strict quarantine rules for britons travelling to the eu will be eased. the parents of teenage motorcyclist harry dunn have given evidence in the united states against the woman suspected of causing his death two years ago. in november 2019, saskia jones was volunteering at a prisoner rehabilitation conference in central london when she was attacked

and killed by convicted terrorist usman khan. now, in herfamily�*s first interview, saskia's uncles, phil and petejones, have been speaking about the impact of her death. they've been telling their story to zoe conway. we want to represent how she saw the world, how she interacted with people, how much we loved her and still love her. people need to know what has actually happened here. the enormity of what's happened, and what a devastating effect it has had on ourfamily and a number of other people. convicted terrorist usman khan surrounded on london bridge. three men, armed with a fire extinguisher and a narwhal tusk, tackle him to the ground. nearby in fishmongers' hall, saskia jones and jack merritt lay dying. khan had stabbed them with knives

strapped to his wrists. just two hours earlier, he was sat at a table chatting to saskia. both were guests at a prison education event. it's actually emotionally difficult to come to terms with anyone sitting almost next to someone for that amount of time, and then a person, whatever the human being, whoever the human being is, doing what they did to that person. that's very difficult to take. once in a while, we realise that these names are inadequate for the problems we are seeing. this is saskia taking part in a discussion at the fishmongers' hall event. she believed in prisoner rehabilitation, and had been a volunteer for learning together. how do you want to remember her? we have so many memories of saskia that contribute to remembering her. she was vibrant. i always remember her as being challenging, actually, because whatever i said to her,

she would challenge it, absolutely challenge it, and she'd make sure that i was on firm ground, and she would make sure that there was justice, notjust in the wider sphere ofjustice, butjustice in everyday dealings with people. i've lived for 20 years longer than saskia did, and i view what she achieved in her short life as of far greater value than anything i've achieved so far. and building upon that is something that i'm and we're focused upon. as a teenager, usman khan was convicted of plotting to set up a terrorist training camp and went to prison. shortly before his release in 2018, m15 had intelligence he was planning another attack. he was monitored in the community by the probation service, the police and m15. they allowed him to go to fishmongers' hall that day without a police escort. learning together is a theoretically informed, values—led educational mission.

amy ludlow and ruth armstrong are the directors of the cambridge university learning together programme, which teaches prisoners and university students side by side, and which held the event at fishmongers' hall. i'm going to explain- to you how i got introduced to learning together. khan became one of their students in prison. amy and ruth, amongst others, saw him as a success story. they put him on their leaflets. they gave him a computer. i think people saw the advantage of having him as somebody they had involved in their programme, showing some capability to deal with even the highest category of offender. theyjust lost sight of the danger to the public, their employees and anyone else associated with the programme. at the inquest into saskia's death, learning together said it was the responsibility of the prison and probation service to assess khan's risk, and they'd

relied on those agencies' expertise. something that was put to amy ludlow — if, after everything that's happened, learning together would rule out working with categories of prisoner, terrorist offenders. and her answer was no, because there's no research evidence to support that. yeah, and we heard a number of times there's no research evidence for this and no research evidence for that. i suggest that the main evidence we have now is that it wasn't a wise idea. the arrogance in thinking that academics necessarily can, on their own, deal with the types of prisoners that usman khan was, to the point where, you know, someone can manipulate their organisation. amy ludlow and ruth armstrong received several awards for their work, which was also praised by the prisons inspectorate. but the organisation is now suspended whilst cambridge university carries out a review. do you think ruth armstrong and amy ludlow can continue to lead this organisation?

they shouldn't be leading an organisation that got something badly and tragically wrong. from a family point of view, we'd be very distressed, upset and frankly insulted, if they did. in a statement, cambridge university said... saskia was passionate about improving justice for rape victims, and her dissertation on the subject was recently cited in a government report. there's now a phd in her name at anglia ruskin university, where she was once a student.

saskia obviously will be forever young in our eyes, but her legacy is already far bigger than she would ever have hoped for, if she had thought about her legacy, which she absolutely wouldn't have done. at the end of the day, we want to represent how saskia is positioned in our hearts as well as in our minds. 12—year—old sky brown is set to become the youngest british summer 0lympian of all time after being named in the team gb squad. she'll be 13—years and 11 days old when she competes in the skateboarding in tokyo this month. ricky boleto reports. she might be team gb�*s youngest athlete, but with a smile like that, she's the happiest, too. sky turns 13 just a week before the tokyo games begin,

becoming a teenager and aiming for gold in skateboarding, which will feature at the olympics for the first time ever. well, obviously, trying to get a gold medal, but i'm just going to try and have fun, enjoy being at the olympics and show the world what skateboarding is like and inspire. although she is used to life in america, sky's mum is from japan and her dad's from england. she wants to do both countries proud. it means a lot to me. i'm glad that, you know, i get to compete for england, which i love, and japan, which i also love, and be injapan but also compete for england. i don't know, ijust feel like it could bring the countries together. the family spend most of their time in los angeles. they needed a lot of convincing to let sky compete at the olympic games. my parents didn't want me to. really? yeah, they thought it was too much

pressure, but then lucy adams and team gb said that there is no pressure, just get out there, have fun. just enjoy the journey, you know, and, yeah. my parents still said no but i begged them and they finally said yes. and there are other pressures too. well known for sharing her ups and downs on social media. but this was the toughest of them all, a spectacular fall last year caught on camera and shared with her millions of fans. can you just tell us what the last 12 months have been like for you? i've been feeling, i mean, really good. ifeel like i got stronger after the accident. it may sound weird but i feel like i have more power and i'mjust more, like, ifeel like i have more of a fire in my heart to just do stuff now because,

i don't know, ijust feel like i missed a little bit of time so i'm just like, ok, let's go and do this now. sky suffered skull fractures and a broken wrist and hand. her helmet and arms saved her life. she first got into skateboarding because of tutorials she'd seen on youtube. now she is representing great britain and could become the youngest 0lympic medallist for 85 years. it's really nice to have lots of fans. that really motivates me as well. you have such a wonderful smile and a great personality. we hope to speak to you... so, best of luck. thank you! thank you so much, bye. ricky boleto, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello. summer weather in the uk is

never straightforward and over the next few days we certainly take the turn to the changeable side of things. one hour one day different to the one that precedes it and the one that follows it. there will be some sunshine around but be prepared for graying skies and even some rumbles of thunder and flashes of lightning too. i could be one or two of those this afternoon, southern scotland and northern england in particular as shower stock to blossom as we go through the day. one or two wells were probably a bit lighter and fewer in number so most are dry, a lot of sunshine around for me compared to this morning, evenif for me compared to this morning, even if the sunshine is hazy. patchy rain in the north—east of scotland telling down to the south—west later. it means there is an increasing risk of an isolated shower or too close to wimbledon in the late afternoon and into the evening. they will gradually fade away into tonight was not lasting the longest in northern scotland. cast your eyes to the south—west, thickening cloud and rain pushing the of northern ireland, wales and we will see some of the wettest editions into tomorrow morning will stop temperatures into double

figures if not the mid—teens for many. but it will be changeable because we are governed by an area of low pressure to the rest of us, one with a front pushing its way northwards woods and decaying, and that low—pressure nearby we'll start to see showers blossom widely as we go to sunday. details for saturday, some of the wettest condition is moving north—east across england during the morning, early afternoon. followed on from by a mixture of some sunshine but plenty of heavy, may be thundery showers, some see more than others for top if you showers during the day northern ireland stop scotland, dry for a good part of the day, some will say that way all day long but in the afternoon we could see heavy and thundery showers with temperatures down a little bit on today's values for top interleaving, we continue cec some showers for a time but we won't see any of that in rome. hot and sunny weatherfor won't see any of that in rome. hot and sunny weather for england's match against ukraine with temperature speaking in the afternoon, around 29 degrees, dropping slowly through the evening. back to our shores on sunday, even if you do start dry and bright, can't promise you will stay that way. through the day with a c shower clouds bubbling up, some will be

slow moving, torrential and thundery. rainfall amounts varying drastically from one area to the next. some saying dry in a particularly around the coast, a bit cooler than it will be of the next few days will stop we stay with the showery theme as we go through monday and tuesday with temperatures down a little bit down on where we want this stage injuly.

this is bbc news — these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. i hereby declare that kim leadbeater is elected! _ labour narrowly win the batley and spen by—election byjust 323 votes. the seat was won by kim leadbeater — sister ofjo cox who represented the area until she was murdered in 2016. i'm absolutely delighted that the people of batley and spen have rejected division and they've voted for hope. the german chancellor, angela merkel, is in the uk today for talks with hopes that strict quarantine rules for britons travelling to the eu will be eased. the last us troops leave bagram — their main base in afghanistan —