this is bbc news, i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 20:00: tributes are paid to the tory mp, sir david amess, who was killed yesterday at his constituency surgery. police say they're treating the killing as a �*terrorist incident�*. tonight in leigh—on—sea, residents have gathered for a candlelit vigil, in memory of their mp. as the investigation continues — officials say the 25—year—old man in custody was not on a database of terror suspects. the united nations has withdrawn its invitation to matt hancock, to take up an unpaid role, helping africa s economies recover from covid19. the supermarket morrisons say they've been forced to delay opening new stores due to shortages of staff and stock uncovering the secrets of the solar system — a new nasa mission aims to learn

more about how the planets were created. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the prime minister, borisjohnson, and the leader of the opposition, sir keir starmer, have laid flowers together at the site of the fatal stabbing of the mp sir david amess in essex. sir david was killed during a constituency surgery in leigh—on—sea yesterday. the police say they are treating the attack as a terrorist incident which is potentially "linked to islamist extremism". a 25—year—old man who was arrested at the scene remains in custody — and searches have been carried out at two addresses in london. tonight a candle lit vigil is taking

place in leigh—on—sea. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports. a united front in the face of a suspected terrorist attack. the prime minister, the leader of the opposition, the speaker of the house of commons and the home secretary. four of the most senior politicians in the land at the church today where sir david amess mp was murdered. he was killed doing a job that he loved, serving his own constituents as an elected democratic member. and, of course, acts of this are absolutely wrong and we cannot let that get in the way of our functioning democracy. it was formally declared a terrorist incident late last night, with forensic specialists poring over the crime scene, counter terrorism detectives are leading the investigation. the early enquiries suggesting the motive was islamist extremism. through friends, eyewitnesses have suggested that the attacker waited in the queue at sir david's constituency surgery yesterday,

before stabbing the mp several times with a knife and then waiting for police to arrive. sir david was known and loved for his hands—on approach with voters and those who have campaigned with him had warned him of the risks. i used to go out on the doorsteps on the cold, dark nights in the rain and i used to be a bodyguard, many years ago. i said, "david, you should have somebody with you on these things, it's not safe". southend has two representatives in parliament and the other mp, james duddridge, paid this emotional tribute to his friend. the community hasjust been hit sideways by this. it's notjust a member of parliament, notjust the local member of parliament but he really did touch people's lives in a way that most mps don't manage to do. at southend civic centre this afternoon, a simple ceremony to remember an mp that not everyone agreed with but who everyone respected and loved. # amazing grace... #. daniel sandford, bbc

news, leigh—on—sea. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford gave us this update from the vigil. at seven o'clock there were probably more than 200, possibly 300 people here. people here havejust marked a minutes silence and you can see they have gathered with candles, with dogs, reminiscing about the david amiss. almost everyone had a personal story to tell because he was a man that attended so many events in the constituency, that helped so many people with any problems that they had. almost everyone laying flowers at the corrigan today around the scene where the murder happened had some story to tell about how he had helped them or had attended some significant event in their life and this evening a decision was made to gather here at one of the recreation

grounds and spend a bit of time remembering a man who was so much a part of their live since 1997. and was really, in a way that many mps are, a very significant figure in this community. the conservative mp for north west cambridgeshire, shailesh vara, knew sir david amess well and shared his memories of him.( to me he was an extraordinary man. he was lovely, warm and generous and i remember that when i first got elected some 17 years ago he was one of the first mps to come up to me and say, this is a complex place. there are lots of rules and regulations and so if you have got any difficulties or you want a bit of advice my door is always open. and what was extraordinary is that i saw david say the same things to other new members over the years whenever we had general elections are indeed the odd by—election. and

i shall miss him. his office was just around the corner from my mind is and we would in the corridor or meeting the left on the way to votes and walking back and so on. but when you see man of the people. i mean, this was a man who was committed to his constituents for nearly a0 years of dedication and commitment to the people he served and what is extraordinary also is that he was very much a true parliamentarian. he will be missed by members of parliament on both sides and the fact that so many mps across the political divide have been so warm and generous to him with their comments is a tribute to him and he, of course, was an mp since 1983 and was a member of parliament during some fairly tumultuous times and a number of prime ministers and a number of prime ministers and a number of prime ministers and a number of huge events and through it all david remained with his feet

firmly on the ground. he was a man of humble origins and he never let anything get to his head. he never let anything come in the way. he said his constituents well and he spoke up always for them in parliament. i shall miss him as i know many, many other people will too. a review has begun into the security of mps when meeting their constituents — something seen by many as central to their role. 0ne senior mp — tobias ellwood — has suggested that face—to—face meetings should no longer take place. 0ur political correspondent damian grammaticas reports. around the country today, mps continuing to hold their surgeries. robert largan in the peak district saying he'll "keep doing this all year round." craig williams in montgomeryshire thanking welsh police for being there to give reassurance, and kieran mullan in cheshire saying, "we must not let people force us to do things differently."

but already there are changes. here in south wales, a police guard for an mp's coffee morning. we now have cctv at the front and rear of the building. we had to have new security fitted onto the front and rear doors. we have panic alarms in the constituency office that staff often wear around their necks. we have installed panic alarms at my front door, at the side of my bed. you know, this has become too much of the new normal. mps' security was reviewed afterjo cox was murdered five years ago, shot and stabbed by a violent white supremacist as she left a constituency meeting. in 2010, stephen timms was attacked by women who had watched radical islamic sermons online. she was bundled away. and in 2017, four passers—by and pc

keith palmer were all killed outside parliament in what the police called an act of islamist—related terror. the mp who was here that day and tried to save pc palmer's life has said that meeting constituents is vital but they should be paused. the home secretary has announced a review of mps' security and he said that should be completed first. i would recommend that no mp has a direct surgery until... you know, you can move to zoom. there's other ways... you can actually achieve an awful lot over the telephone, you can get things moving far faster than having to wait for the surgery date, as well. but for david amess, meeting constituents was a vital part of his job. so the question now is — how much further should security be tightened 7 many believe things have to be reappraised but mps themselves must decide. it's not a question of carrying on with business as usual and just regarding this as an occupational hazard of being an mp. nor of having close security such as the home secretary has, or the prime minister

or the foreign secretary needs to have. we need to have a discussion about how we strike the balance. but it will be are hard to find. two years ago in the royal albert hall, a fundraiser for people with learning disabilities, championed by sir david amess, a public role loved, but guaranteeing mps' security is a huge challenge. damian grammaticas, bbc news. martin hewitt, chair of the national police chiefs' council, explained what the organisation has been doing to reassure other mps who are concerned about their safety in the wake of the stabbing. we have heard so many parliamentarians over the last 2a hours talking about how they balance their sense of duty and their responsibility to be accessible to the constituents but at the same time as keeping safe. so police forces all across the country work very closely with members of parliament. there is obviously the operation

that takes place in westminster but as everyone knows, the parliamentarians spend a lot of time out in their constituencies and we run an operation called 0peration bridger which was started after the awful murder ofjo cox whereby we have liaison with all members of parliament across the country, obviously in london when they are at the palace of westminster that is covered there, but within their constituencies. what we have done, yesterday afternoon i met with all chief constables from across the country, and we have reached out to every member of parliamentjust to provide some reassurance to ensure they understand what is available to them in terms of security and particularly to think about events coming up in the next few days. and we have reached out to every single member of parliament. the vast majority have had a conversation with us and i would use this opportunity to reach out to any mp that hasn't made contact in their local area to do so into the operation bridger contact so we can do everything we can do to provide advice, guidance and any additional security information they might need over the coming days.

earlier, i spoke to the former labour mpjohn woodcock — now lord walney — and an independent adviser on political violence. there is surely a medium. no one i think it's realistically talking about the kind of close protection for members of parliament that the home secretary and prime minister has but in those days and weeks afterjoe died we certainly did review our security. the increase offices in general but many mps wanted to keep the open surgeries in an open environment and i was one of those and i completely understand why people want to be that now that i think while there was an increased level of communication with the

police as to where we were having surgeries there has not been, to my knowledge, a police, discreet police presence at most of those events and i realise that is an issue that will increase levels of resource for the police. but surely it is something which ought to be on the table now and could be done in a discreet way where conversations between constituents and mps are still remaining in private but there is, you know, just as there will be a routine police presence at a whole range of things across any constituency in any given week we are talking about, you know, an hour are talking about, you know, an hour a week, may be less, may be a bit more for some but, you know, you are not talking about a round—the—clock police presence for mps which i don't think it's realistic nor would any would welcome it. just don't think it's realistic nor would any would welcome it.— any would welcome it. just to be clear with _ any would welcome it. just to be clear with what _ any would welcome it. just to be clear with what you _ any would welcome it. just to be clear with what you are - any would welcome it. just to be clear with what you are saying, l any would welcome it. just to be i clear with what you are saying, you are clearly not talking about having

are clearly not talking about having a kind of police officer looming over the constituent as they talk about their private matters, you're talking more about a visible presence, may be somebody at the door, may be somebody across the road, something thatjust reminds people that this it is not an isolated event. for people that this it is not an isolated event. ., ., , isolated event. for example, in the weeks after — isolated event. for example, in the weeks afterjoe _ isolated event. for example, in the weeks afterjoe cox _ isolated event. for example, in the weeks afterjoe cox died _ isolated event. for example, in the weeks afterjoe cox died and - isolated event. for example, in the weeks afterjoe cox died and we - weeks afterjoe cox died and we were, i was still an mp then and we would give an increased level of information. the police wanted to know whether surgery was happening and they would check it out and, you know, it might be a local supermarket, local morrisons, they would go and pop in at the beginning and the end and there is surely something that can be done in an increased way in that regard that can give a. the terror attacks over recent years have shown that if

people are determined to commit a level of violence against individuals, including of course against a police officer with pc palmer outside the parliament gates, there can be no guarantees but that might be a level of stepping up which isn't happening at present which isn't happening at present which may give an increased level of reassurance but the second thing, there are two main things that came to mind and if you don't mind i think the second big area is, after she died herfriends, many of her colleagues in parliament really pushed on my watch is one of her big ideas which was that we have more in common in the main, as parliamentarians, as politicians, as political activists, from across different parties. we are in general want to do the best of the people. we are different ways of doing it and we should look on our people and other parties as opponents but not as enemies to be hated or denigrated

or dehumanised in some respects and i was reflecting on the her death recently that we felt a long way away from that in knots of the ways that people spoke. yes, there was a real problem of callers on social media and many of my colleagues particularly female colleagues in the commons experience that but also there is a greater need for leadership across those of us in positions of responsibility is to think about how we talk about each other. �* ., ., , , ., ,., other. and want to bring you some breakin: other. and want to bring you some breaking news. _ other. and want to bring you some breaking news. our— other. and want to bring you some breaking news. our home - other. and want to bring you some breaking news. our home affairs . breaking news. our home affairs correspondent have been talking to people in authority may know the background to this and he says that he has learned that the david amiss suspect, the man arrested at the scene yesterday, 25—year—old man who offered no objection to being arrested and stayed waiting for

police after the stabbing, the man in custody is understood to have been referred to the government prevent scheme a few years ago. that scheme is designed to spot signs that somebody is potentially being radicalised and try to draw them out and prevent that and perhaps to kind of bring them back on what the authorities think it is an acceptable path. the scheme is designed, as it says, to stop people being drawn into extremism activity but this man was never a formal subject of interest for the security service m15 so we came onto the radar possibly through a school, may a community group, may be to ask another group to which he belonged, may be a family referral. but it is not clear whether he was in the prevent programme for any length of time or indeed whether he was in it at all having been referred to it and for what length of time. was at the end of it and therefore all the

things that might point to involvement in this terrible incident yesterday. we are obviously waiting for more on that and will bring it to you as soon as we get it. the united nations has withdrawn its invitation to matt hancock, to take up an unpaid role, helping africa s economies recover from covid19. it's understood a decision was taken at senior levels within the un, to rescind the offer — after questions were raised about the former health secretary's suitability for the role. 0ur correspondent, mark lobel has been giving us more details. what led to this embarrassing moment for the former health secretary was looking to relaunch his political career came three days after an exciting moment for him when he announced on tuesday alongside the un's economic commission for africa that he was going to be doing this role, helping africa's economies recover from covert and he was greeted with support from former cabinet colleagues including the foreign secretary, including the

housing secretary and including the culture secretary. and this was not an appointment came to the uk government that they were supportive of it. it was an internal un appointment and there were many in the international community is suddenly questioned matt hancock of�*s expertise for doing this role, his knowledge of africa and also his past mistakes and how that would lead to, you know, good ambassador for this particular role. his friends say that obviously the un was aware of this history and all these other things beforehand but one thing they did not appear to be a way above comes across in matt hancock's statement. let me bring it to you now. he starts by saying and this is after saying it has been withdrawn from him. i was honoured to be a page view and an appointed special representative for the commission for africa to drive forward an agenda of strengthening markets and bringing investment to africa but the un a visit to me to explain that a technical un rule has subsequently come to light which states that sitting members of

parliament cannot also be un special representatives. since i am committed to continuing to serve as mp this means i cannot take up the position. i look forward to supporting the un eca and the mission in whatever way i can i parliamentary role. they can affect your questions, really. idid parliamentary role. they can affect your questions, really. i did take the un so long, a month, really, since they sent that initial letter to invite him to this role to realise that a technical rule existed and secondly, what about gordon brown. he was an mp when he was given a very similar role and my understanding is that he was about to leave parliament. he had announced he was standing down whereas matt hancock intending to do that. britain's fourth biggest supermarket, morrisons, has warned that labour shortages are delaying new store openings and products reaching shelves. its chief executive david potts told the times newspaper that more visas are needed for foreign workers. it follows measures announced by the government to reduce the pressure on supply chains. our business correspondent katy austin reports. the global supply chain is under huge strain as economies reawaken. 0nce imported products reach the uk, a shortage of lorry drivers means

containers are often getting delayed at ports. when you have a shortage of labour in terms of hgv drivers, those domestic drivers, it means that the goods are sitting around slightly longer at the ports waiting to be collected. there are labour shortages in other sectors too, including construction, hospitality and food production. now the boss of morrisons has said that while there are plenty of products on the shelves, underlying strain in the supply chain is affecting availability, while a lack of materials such as cement and bricks is delaying investment in new shops and refurbishments. he called for more visas

forforeign workers. the government has already offered temporary visas for some meat workers. there are 5000 visas available for drivers too. other european countries also have shortages, but this driver in romania told the bbc rising wages in the uk were attractive. translation: a really good friend | of mine left for the uk last week. | he went for three months. everyone who went there tells me the wages are really good. i'm tempted too. but only 20 of those visas have so far been approved. in the latest effort to ease the pressure, particularly before christmas, ministers now plan to let overseas drivers do more deliveries when they're on uk soil. i don't think the change yesterday will make much difference. so what do you think would make a difference, then? we need to encourage young drivers into the industry. we need to make facilities better for drivers. the general public need to treat drivers better. the government says immigration isn't the long—term answer to filling britain's record number of vacancies.

it wants to develop a high—skilled, high—wage economy. some businesses say they still need a better short—term fix. katy austin, bbc news. the government's latest coronavirus figures show, there were a3,a23 new infections recorded in the latest 2a—hour period. that means on average there were a1,359 cases per day, in the past week. another 1a8 deaths have been recorded, that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive test, which means onaverage there were 119 deaths per day, in the past week. 0n vaccinations, 85.9 percent of the population aged 12 and over, have had their first dose, and 78.8 percent have been double jabbed. new zealand has held a national day of action to encourage all remaining unvaccinated citizens to get a coronavirus shot. the "vaxathon" was streamed live on television for 8 hours — while pop—up clinics opened up across the country, including in the cabin of a dreamliner plane. by late afternoon, more than 120,000 people had received an innoculation. before today, just over half of the population were fully vaccinated.

the british—iranian aid—worker, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe has lost an appeal against her second jail sentence in iran. foreign secretary liz truss has described the decision as an "appalling continuation of the cruel ordeal she is going through". mrs zaghari—ratcliffe was convicted in april of involvement in propaganda activity which she denies. her family say that there was no court hearing and now they are concerned she may be sent back to prison. she was first jailed for five—years in 2016 after she was accused of plotting against the iranian regime. after an influx of visitors and overnight campers to the lake district this summer a major clean—up operation�*s taken place on the islands of derwentwater. volunteers canoed over to them for a final litter—pick before winter, and found serious damage, like live trees burned for bonfires. phil chapman reports. you would be forgiven for thinking

islands in the middle of the lake might not fall victim to damage, but this year there has been more than usual, even here. they are burning live trees, setting fire to things on the floor, leaving tents and rubbish on the islands, and even human waste. it won't sustain all this rubbish which is why we are doing this, just to try and get back to a more natural setting. a team of volunteers who love visiting derwentwater took it upon themselves to do something about the mess left by others. over the course of the last year we have seen a deterioration with the environment so we thought we would do our bit and clean up some rubbish. i think people should be more responsible when they drop litter. we have come from carlisle and we come to the - | lakes quite regularly, so weeksj thought it would be nice to give something back. we have found baked beans cans, a lot of wet wipes unfortunately which don't biodegrade, lots of plastic wrappers from food and lots of bottle tops. what did you get?

a googly eye. so perhaps someone has had a toy on the island and it has fallen off. we have found someone trying to set - fire to a tree that is still living. . fortunately this is a yew tree - and you shouldn't burn it because it gives off toxic fumes. the islands should get quieter during the winter months but the team is here hope their services are not needed quite as much next year. nasa has successfully launched its first mission to study jupiter�*s trojan asteroids — two vast clusters of space rocks that surround the planet. scientists believe they are made up of matter that formed the solar system's outer planets. duncan kennedy reports

three, two, one, zero. the start of a a billion milejourney. lift off, atlas v takes flight. the atlas v rocket is carrying a craft called lucy, that aims to go into orbit around jupiter and study a group of asteroids called trojans, some of which are the size of a city. so what are the trojan asteroids? they're asteroids that orbit withjupiter around the sun that ultimately hold the clues to the formation of our solar system... lucy's giant solar panels would only generate enough electricity to power a few light bulbs on earth but around jupiter, it's enough to reach the trojan asteroids and ask questions like — what they made of and where do come from? by going to visit a large number, eight asteroids in total, over the mission lifetime, we'll really better understand all about the asteroids. so if you only see one, maybe you got a bit of a funny one but by seeing eight, you get to really understand what's going on in this population. scientists want lucy to test their theory that the early

solar system was juggled around by gravity, with some objects being thrown in and others out — just like billiard balls. but they'll need patience. lucy's expected to be operating around asteroids for the next 12 years. duncan kennedy, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. a few patches of light rain across eastern england for a time that the best of the sunshine across northern scotland. it also brightened up for a time across wales, southern england, the midlands and east anglia to give some sunny spells. pick a cloud for northern ireland has been bringing rain ever more recent hours and overnight tonight that rain will be moving across from northern ireland into scotland, across northern england into north wales, the north midlands as well. it is going to be a mild night. 11-13 it is going to be a mild night. 11—13 for most but the relatively

cool they're 11—13 for most but the relatively cool they�* re just 11—13 for most but the relatively cool they're just about hanging on in the far north of scotland where it should be a fine start to the day in 0rkney and shetland. sunny spells and one or two showers. a wet start elsewhere in the maintains patria throughout the day. don't buy there aboundin throughout the day. don't buy there abound in scotland and northern england and at the same time we start to see sunny spells develop across parts of the south become very mild. 19 is possible in cardiff.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... tributes are paid to the tory mp, sir david amess, who was killed yesterday at his constituency surgery. police say they're treating the killing as a terrorist incident. tonight in leigh—on—sea, residents have gathered for a candlelit vigil, in memory of their mp. as the investigation continues, the 25—year—old man in custody is understood to have had been referred to the government's prevent scheme a few years ago. the united nations has withdrawn its invitation to matt hancock to take up an unpaid role helping africa's