boris johnson's former ethics adviser says he resigned last night because the prime minister put him in an "impossible and odious" position over a plan to risk breaking the ministerial code. in his resignation letter, lord geidt says he came close to quitting over the partygate scandal, but it was a request for advice on a separate matter that left him with no choice but to go. lord geidt says the request would have meant a deliberate breach of the ministerial code, which he could have no part in. we'll be analysing the implications of his letter with our political correspondent live at westminster. also this lunchtime... interest rates up again — to 1.25%, the highest in more than a decade. the the highest in more than a decade. leaders of fran

italy the leaders of france, germany and italy are in ukraine today in a show of european support for the country. the actor kevin spacey appears in court in london, accused of sexually assaulting three men. and hot and getting hotter — britain's heatwave expected to peak tomorrow with temperatures of 3a celsius. and coming up in the sport later in the hour on the bbc news channel. the premier league fixtures have been released for next season. manchester city start the defence of their title against west ham. borisjohnson�*s ethics adviser — who resigned last night — has accused the prime minister of putting him in an "impossible and odious position". in his resignation letter, lord geidt said the prime minister had asked him to consider measures —

understood to be on a trade issue — which risked "a deliberate and purposeful breach of the ministerial code". lord geidt�*s letter also says he came close to quitting over the partygate affair. in response, the prime minister said the resignation had come as a surprise. our political correspondent nick eardley reports. this is lord geidt, the man who was responsible for advising the prime minister on ethics but last night, after making clear his frustrations about downing street, he quit. and this morning, we found out why. in a letter, he told the prime minister... he adds...

that refers to downing street proposals designed to support british industry but which could have broken international trade rules. in his response, the prime minister writes... this was lord geidt in parliament on tuesday, just 2a hours before he quit. this is what he said about rumours he had considered resigning before. . , , before. there are few instruments available to _ before. there are few instruments available to an _ before. there are few instruments available to an independent - before. there are few instruments l available to an independent adviser. he also told mps it was reasonable to suggest the prime minister may have breached the ministerial code after his lockdown party fine. but this isn't a first, the man in the red tie, so alex allan, quit the job as borisjohnson�*s advisor two years ago after being overruled on whether the home secretary broke the rules ministers have to follow. the government said it was disappointed lord geidt had quit but said it did

take ministerial ethics seriously. significant changes were made to the role and status of independent adviser on ministers' interests. as i set out to the house last week, these changes represent the most substantial strengthening of the role of independent adviser since its creation. but role of independent adviser since its creation-— its creation. but others said the roblem its creation. but others said the problem was — its creation. but others said the problem was the _ its creation. but others said the problem was the prime - its creation. but others said the | problem was the prime minister. its creation. but others said the i problem was the prime minister. it is a pattern of degrading the principles of our democracy, the prime _ principles of our democracy, the prime minister has now given up both of his_ prime minister has now given up both of his hand—picked ethics adviser is to resign _ of his hand—picked ethics adviser is to resign in — of his hand—picked ethics adviser is to resign in despair in two years. it is to resign in despair in two years. it is a _ to resign in despair in two years. it is a badge of shame for this government. for it is a badge of shame for this government-— it is a badge of shame for this rovernment. ., ~ , government. for the prime minister to lose one — government. for the prime minister to lose one adviser _ government. for the prime minister to lose one adviser on _ government. for the prime minister to lose one adviser on ministers - to lose one adviser on ministers interests may be regarded as misfortune but to lose two looks like carelessness.— like carelessness. some argue significant _ like carelessness. some argue significant damage _ like carelessness. some argue significant damage has - like carelessness. some argue significant damage has been i like carelessness. some argue . significant damage has been done like carelessness. some argue - significant damage has been done to downing street's ethics regime. borisjohnson is now looking for his third adviser since he became prime minister. and nick is at westminster now. as you say, he is looking for yet another ethics adviser. what are the

political implications for the prime minister in all of this do you think? it minister in all of this do you think? , , ., think? it is interesting that the issue that seems _ think? it is interesting that the issue that seems to _ think? it is interesting that the issue that seems to have - think? it is interesting that the l issue that seems to have pushed think? it is interesting that the - issue that seems to have pushed lord geidt over the edge was to do with trade. it was to do with potential help for british industry. it was not to do with partygate. it has been known for a while that lord geidt had some concerns about his role. there have been rumours in the past that he was going to quit. but the fact it was about trade is something that took downing street by surprise last night. they didn't see this resignation coming. it is also worth pointing out however that in his resignation letter, lord geidt also says it was only by a small margin that he decided to stay in thejob earlier this small margin that he decided to stay in the job earlier this year when questions over his future were last asked. but remember this, questions over his future were last asked. but rememberthis, itjust brings the question about boris johnson's desire to play by the rules back into the four. after all the feed braille questions about his leadership a couple of weeks ago,

the mood at westminster had calmed slightly but once again, downing street and the prime minister are facing questions about whether boris johnson was prepared to follow the rules that he has to as prime minister. ., ., rules that he has to as prime minister-— rules that he has to as prime minister. ., ,, , ., , . minister. 0k, thank you very much, nick eardley. _ minister. 0k, thank you very much, nick eardley, there. _ the bank of england has raised interest rates for the fifth time in a row. the base rate is going up a quarter of a percentage point — to 1.25% — its highest level in 13 years. the move is aimed at fighting high inflation amid soaring energy prices. our economics correspondent andy verity is outside the bank of england for us now. andy, this was widely predicted? yes, a quarter of a percentage point was widely predicted, the bank of england has been raising rates for obvious reasons, we have the highest inflation, 9%, we have had since 1982 and today the bank of england is predicting it will get up above

11% in october. it was saying above 10% before but now it is saying above 11% and as you say, their fifth consecutive rise, the highest interest rates we have had since 2009 and in fact, you can say interest rates are now ten times what they were a year ago because in the pandemic, they were cut to 0.1%. 1.25% is still quite low, though. we have had emergency low levels of interest rates really since march 2009 which was supposed to be something that went on for a few months but it has stayed low because the bank of england has not really felt able to raise interest rates because of weak economic growth and stagnant living standards. but now with global energy prices as you mentioned pushing up the cost of goods and services around the world, they feel they have two act to head off inflation. the idea is that if you make it more expensive to borrow, people will be less likely to borrow and have less money to spend on other things and that should cool down the economy, that

is what they hope. panda; should cool down the economy, that is what they hope.— is what they hope. andy verity at the bank is what they hope. andy verity at the lsank of _ is what they hope. andy verity at the bank of england, _ is what they hope. andy verity at the bank of england, thank- is what they hope. andy verity at the bank of england, thank you. | new figures show the health service in england is still under intense pressure as the country recovers from the pandemic. the number of people waiting for a routine operation climbed to nearly 6.5 million in may — that's one in every nine people in england and the highest since records began in 2007. but the nhs says there are signs of progress, with a fall in the number of people waiting more than two years. in a&e, 73% of people were seen within four hours. that is up slightly on last month but below the 95% target. ambulances in england took an average of a0 minutes last month to respond to emergency calls such as strokes or heart attacks. that's better than the previous month, but still more than twice the target of 18 minutes. our health correspondentjim reed has been speaking to the family of one man who died in march this year after waiting five hours for an ambulance. jerry has been trying to piece

together what happened on the night his father died. he was looking for the ambulance that never came. kenneth was in good shape for a 94—year—old. a retired carpenter, he lived alone in the cotswolds. the bbc applied to see documents from an inquest into his death. they show that at 2:53am, ken got out of bed and fell. he collapsed on the floor and called 999 twice from his mobile. transcripts of the calls are spoken by actors. ken was recorded as an urgent category two case, meaning an ambulance should have arrived in 18 minutes on average. it's clear on the second call that his condition's worsening and he's getting anxious because he's not getting any assurances of an ambulance.

ken waited for an hour on the floor before calling a third time. the details are distressing. it took another four hours for an ambulance to arrive. by then, ken was unconscious. he was taken to gloucestershire royal hospital, where he died that afternoon from a bleed to the brain. he was on his own and he must have felt abandoned, you know, alone on his bedroom floor. that's the most troubling part of it for me. we can't be sure if a faster response time would have saved ken's life, but a five—hour wait for an ambulance is certainly far higher than the target for a call like this, and it's certainly not an isolated incident. across the country, waiting times for ambulances are far higher than they should be. that's down to rising demands,

and because busy hospitals are finding it hard to discharge patients into social care. in gloucester this week, these ambulances were having to queue outside before they could unload their patients, rather than getting back on the road quickly. the healthcare safety watchdog has now launched an investigation into what's a national problem. so harm is happening on a daily basis and that harm is everything from patients deteriorating in ambulances, waiting to go into emergency departments, patients acquiring hospital acquired infections because they're staying in hospital longer than they necessarily need to. so we are seeing harm happening. ken's family say they've lost faith in the ambulance service to be there when they need it. how many other people right now are being made to wait four or five hours for an ambulance and it's having a detrimental effect on their prospects to survive, you know? south western ambulance service describes long delays as an unacceptable risk to patients and says it's working to get crews

back out on the road as quickly as possible. gloucester hospital says that health care nationally is under intense pressure but staff are working tirelessly to ensure patients are cared for. jim reed, bbc news. the leaders of france, germany and italy are all in ukraine today, in a show of european support for the country. emmanuel macron, olaf scholz and mario draghi are meeting the ukrainian president volodymr zelensky. he's expected to press them on sending military aid more quickly. in the past, he's criticised france and germany in particular for dragging their feet over the supply of weapons to ukraine for its war with russia. from kyiv, our correspondent joe inwood reports. we know that the war has... today is all about a show of support from eu leaders who ukraine has previously said has been lukewarm. a tour of irpin was designed to show them there can be no compromise with russia.

translation: here in irpin, - on a site that has been destroyed, where the russian army was effectively stopped, where massacres were carried out, we have seen the first signs of war crimes. later on, they will meet with president zelensky. top of the agenda, ukraine's hopes of one dayjoining the european union. translation: in fact, as of today, we are already so much closer- to obtaining this status than we could have even dreamt ofjust a few years ago. ukraine has done everything possible to become a candidate. but ukraine's more pressing concern is getting more weapons. the us has promised two harpoon naval defence systems, part of a billion—dollar package of military aid. speaking at today's nato summit, america's top general said the new supplies will play a crucial role as russia's stocks run down. the russians have lost probably

somewhere in the tune of 20—30% of their armoured force. that is significant. that is huge. so the ukrainians are fighting a very effective fight. but for now, ukraine remains on the back foot in this war. russia is continuing its attempts to take the eastern donbas region and even far from the front lines, the destruction is devastating. translation: where | are we supposed to go? you see, there is shelling all over ukraine. where would we go? does it make sense to leave? what if we arrive somewhere and there will be another strike? we willjust stay in this city. today is all about a visible show of support for ukraine but as towns and cities across the east endure russian artillery and air strikes, ukraine needs actions as well as words. joe inwood, bbc news, kyiv. the actor kevin spacey has appeared in court in london,

charged with sexually assaulting three men. he was granted unconditional bail at westminster magistrates' court, where he didn't enter a plea, though his lawyer said he strenuously denies the charges. our correspondent, sarah campbell is outside the court. sarah. when the crown prosecution service announced the charges last month, kevin spacey issued a statement saying that he would voluntarily appear at court in the uk to defend himself and that he was confident he would prove his innocence. he flew in from america earlier this week and just before 10am, he arrived here for his first appearance. he is one of the most successful actors of his generation and the number of press who waited hours for his arrival at court reflected the worldwide interest in his case. despite attempts by the court staff to ensure a clear way in, there were chaotic scenes as the 62—year—old made his way to the front entrance.

move to the side. kevin spacey came to prominence in the 1990s, winning two oscars, first for the usual suspects and then american beauty. on television he starred as the fictional us president underwood in the major netflix drama series house of cards. and although american by birth, he spent much of his time in the uk as the artistic director of london's old vic theatre between 2004 and 2015. he was given an honorary knighthood for his services to theatre in this country. his appearance in court one was brief. he was asked to confirm his name as kevin spacey fowler, and address, which he did. wearing a blue suit, he then listened intently as the five charges were read out. they are two counts of sexual assault against a man in london in 2005, one count of sexual assault and a further sexual offence against a second man in 2008, also in london. and finally, an alleged sexual

assault against a third man in gloucestershire in 2013. in court his lawyer said that mr spacey strenuously denied any and all criminality in his case. he was granted unconditional bail which means he can return home to america until his next court appearance, which is set for the morning of the 14th ofjuly at southwark crown court. sarah campbell, bbc news, westminster magistrates' court. the time is 1.17. our top story this lunchtime... lord geidt, borisjohnson's former ethics adviser — who resigned last night — has accused the prime minister of putting him in an "impossible and odious position". coming up... the secrets of britain's past, uncovered by archaeologists working on the route of the hs2 rail line. coming up on the bbc news channel... the long awaited report into allegations of abuse

in british gymnastics — from the elite level down to grass roots — is set to be published this afternoon. the heat is on — across parts of the uk. the sunny weather of these past few days is expected to hit a peak tomorrow, with temperatures in some parts likely to reach 3a celsius, unusualforjune. an area of high pressure over the country has encouraged hot air to move in from the continent. people are being advised to drink plenty of water and keeping out of the sun at peak times. let's go live now to our correspondent, duncan kennedy. he is lapping up the sunshine in surrey. well, it is only lunch time here and already the temperatures here are heading up towards 26 or 27 degrees, in that kind of dry, desert —like

heat, almost windless heat. there are plenty of people enjoying the water and the sand as well. there have been a couple of warnings from organisations like the rnli, warning about the contrast between the temperature in the water from these temperatures under organisations that look after elderly people, warning to ensure people are kept out of the sun and to rehydrate more than you would at other times of year. it's notjust here either. in spain they've got ferocious fires blazing across forests and in southern france there is a huge heat wave that's also drying out and patching much of the southern part of that country. let's start here in the uk where these temperatures are heading up towards 30 degrees. it is the heatwave that is rippling and rolling across much of the uk. as hot as herat, no wonder the enjoyment factor is set to high for these women from reading. what is your view of this weather, which is going to be reaching may 30

degrees today is yellow fabulous. i'm going to enjoy the heat while it's here. i'm going to en'oy the heat while it's here. , , ., , , i'm going to en'oy the heat while it's here. , , ~ , , , ., it's here. just keep my fluids and have good _ it's here. just keep my fluids and have good company _ it's here. just keep my fluids and have good company and - it's here. just keep my fluids and have good company and it's - have good company and it's brilliant. and families too are also taking in the sun, carefully. it can be too hot. we've had to come out of— it can be too hot. we've had to come out of london — it can be too hot. we've had to come out of london today, to try and get some _ out of london today, to try and get some air~ _ out of london today, to try and get some air~ it's— out of london today, to try and get some air. it's going to be 301i hear. — some air. it's going to be 301i hear, tomorrow. now look at spain, where forest fires have broken out in the soaring heat. bone dry soil and vegetation are making it hard to keep the fires under control. and in the capital, the temperatures are past 30 degrees. translation: every summer it's caettin translation: every summer it's getting worse _ translation: every summer it's getting worse and _ translation: every summer it's getting worse and it's _ translation: every summer it's getting worse and it's affecting i translation: every summer it's getting worse and it's affecting is | getting worse and it's affecting is on every level. ifind it getting worse and it's affecting is on every level. i find it hard to cope with the heat. it's very hard but we have to keep going. there is no other way. across the border in france, it's also under this enormous heat blanket. temperatures here also way above 30.

time to enjoy, but also be alert for the wider meaning of all this heat. translation: we are experiencing . lobal translation: we are experiencing global warming _ translation: we are experiencing global warming so _ translation: we are experiencing global warming so this _ translation: we are experiencing global warming so this is _ global warming so this is inevitable. i think every year it's going _ inevitable. i think every year it's going to — inevitable. i think every year it's going to get hotter and hotter. i don't _ going to get hotter and hotter. i don't know if there is anything can be done — in the uk, temperatures could topple over the 30 celsius mark tomorrow, with warnings from health professionals and others to treat it seriously, alongside the fun and relaxation. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in surrey. police in brazil say they've found what are thought to be the bodies of the missing british journalist dom philips, and a local indigenous expert, bruno pereira. they were last seen in a remote part of the amazon rainforest earlier this month. brazilian police have arrested two suspects, one of whom has confessed to burying their bodies. the other suspect has denied any involvement. our south america correspondent,

katy watson, reports from manaus. it was a hastily organised press conference. a panel of military men delivering the awful news after ten days of searching. translation: the first suspect voluntarily confessed _ at the end of last night. he made the criminal confession outlining in detail the crime he committed, and indicated the area where he buried the bodies. early on wednesday morning, he was taken on a boat to help the search teams find the bodies. it was three kilometres from the river bank, in this thick forest, that human remains were found. these photos showing the difficult terrain the search teams faced, needing the help of helicopters, sniffer dogs and divers to get to the site. these are the two men as their friends and family want to remember them. dom phillips, an experienced and passionatejournalist, writing a book on saving the amazon. his travelling companion bruno pereira was an indigenous expert. he knew this community so well

and was loved by so many here. the indigenous communities were the first to raise the alarm on the day they disappeared. and they didn't give up, accompanying the authorities, and even leading them to clues. but in the press conference, they weren't mentioned. i asked the man heading the investigation, why. the indigenous helped a lot in trying to find the belongings of the two men, but nothing has been mentioned of the help that they gave the forces. translation: actually, it wasl a mistake not to mention them. the work was carried out with the help of river communities and indigenous peoples. a lot of them accompanied us on the boats and in the planes, so that was fundamental. this crime has horrified people here in brazil and globally. it's brought into sharp focus the dangers faced by those wanting to save the forest. the criminal activity that takes place in this vast, beautiful, yet threatened amazon. dom's wife ale says...

this brings the search to an end and closure for the families, who pushed so hard in trying to find the two men. but, of course, it also reveals the brutal criminality in the amazon and the lack of ability by the state to control it. the families now say they'll fight for justice. katy watson, bbc news, in manaus. there's a week to go before by—elections in wakefield in west yorkshire, and tiverton and honiton in devon, that will test the prime minister and his government. tiverton and honiton has traditionally been a conservative safe seat, but now the lib dems are seen as the likely challenger to overcome the tories 211,000 majority. our political correspondent helen catt has been speaking to voters there. the bennett family have been running their dairy farm

near honiton for 15 years. agriculture, mainly livestock farming, is the major industry in this very rural constituency. we are in a minority business, but we're actually fundamentally a very important business to the country. like other industries, they're being hit by rising costs. but they say there's also too much legislation around farming, which should be cut. if you've got all these barriers and restrictions holding you back, as a business, you're not actually going to be able to move forward. and do you know which way you're going to vote? i'm going to vote for lib dem. i think we've been a conservative constituency for a long time. - in the young farming community there's a lot of us who feel - like the government hasn't gone far enough. - i'm weighing up between conservative and lib dem. my thoughts are, i'm looking for an mp who's going to look at farming on a more food security. in the last two or three years we've probably gone through some of the worst times we've ever been

through with covid etc, and i think borisjohnson's done a damn good job, really. this is a seat that's been conservative since its creation in 1997. last time, neil parish, the former mp, won by 211,000 votes over his nearest rival. under the normal rules of politics, this isn't a by—election that would usually even raise an eyebrow. but the lib dems are pushing hard here, despite coming third behind labour in 2019. in the constituency�*s other main town of tiverton, opinion is also divided. so if liberal democrats win it, then boris is in trouble. hopefully, all us tories will come out and vote and keep it a tory area. i have always voted conservative and i've liked a lot of what they've delivered in the past. but at the moment, i'm so appalled by the government at the moment. so who i vote for, i don't know. but it won't be boris. to be honest, i'm a labour supporter, but it's not very labour sort of country here.

so i think tactically i'll be voting lib dem. what people here decide next week could have consequences which stretch to the rest of the country. a big moment for a part of devon that perhaps never expected to find itself in the political limelight. helen catt, bbc news, tiverton and honiton. the by—election in tiverton and honiton takes place next thursday. for more information on the candidates standing, as well as the by—election in wakefield, visit the bbc website. archaeologists working on the route of the hs2 rail line have discovered more secrets from britain's past. they've found an anglo—saxon burial ground in buckinghamshire which includes dozens of graves, brooches, knives, spearheads and buckles. there are also ancient personal grooming objects, including ear wax removers, combs, toothpicks and tweezers,

asjo black has been finding out. it is one of the largest anglo—saxon burial grounds ever discovered in britain — 138 graves found on this site in wendover, full of fascinating artefacts from the fifth and sixth century. among them, 15 spearheads, 51 knives, two glass cone—shaped beakers, and this highly decorated pot. the team also uncovered jewellery, including 89 brooches, and this silver ring in the shape of a bird or a snake. and what is this item here? um, so this is a personal grooming kit. we have three objects on a sort of key ring type shape, and there are two longer items that are picks, that could be for picking your teeth or under your fingernails. and then the third, shorter one is shaped like a tiny spoon, and that would be for getting earwax out of your ears. forfive years, around 1,000 archaeologists have been excavating more than 60 sites along the hs2 route.

the rail line is fiercely opposed by many, but what has been uncovered has thrilled many archaeologists and historians. the unique thing about the site is that we have 1111 individuals here. that's quite a large cemetery for the time that we know about. and over 70% of them have been found with objects, which is really unusual. so normally, you might find one or two individuals in a small cemetery who might have a comb with them or something like that. and here, we have so many individuals with multiple objects each, from weaponry to jewellery to grooming kits. specialists will now analyse how these people lived and even how some of them died. this skeleton is one of many found on the site. this person was male, thought to be around 17—25 years old. the staining on the collarbone here is from brooches perhaps holding some sort of clothing in place, and this iron object here could have been a weapon and was found embedded

in his vertebrae. and what do you think it tells us about how we were living back in that time? so i don't like the term dark ages, which is quite often associated with the anglo—saxon period, and it is finds like this and the quality and craftsmanship that really highlights the fact that they weren't the dark ages. people lived in clearly quite some style. for some, even important archaeological discoveries do not justify the construction of hs2. but others see it as an opportunity to understand and explore periods of our hidden history. jo black, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's elizabeth rizzini. we saw a little bit earlier on how hot it isn't getting even hotter? certainly is, we are talking about the exceptional heat in europe and the exceptional heat in europe and the heat and humidity moving northwards over the next couple of

days. we