this is bbc news. i'm tadhg enright with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. a crushing double defeat for prime minister borisjohnson, as the conservatives lose long—held seats at by—elections in tiverton and honiton and wakefield. tonight, the people of wakefield have spoken on behalf of the british people and they have said unreservedly, boris johnson, your contempt for this country is no longer tolerated. so where does this leave boris johnson? currently at a commonwealth leaders�* summit in rwanda, he had suggested it would be "crazy" for him to quit if the party lost the two seats.

the us supreme court strikes down restrictions on carrying guns in new york, signaling a shift that will reverberate nationwide. the taliban appeals for international support after wednesday's devastating earthquake in afghanistan, with survivors saying they have no food or sheltera. with survivors saying they have no food or shelter. the panel investigating last year's us capitol riots hears about the pressure former president trump put on thejustice department to overturn the 2020 election result. # upside down, by you turn me. we speak to excited festival —goers. hello and welcome

to the programme. we start with the news that has broken in the last hour. the conservatives have suffered crushing defeats in two by—elections in england. the results will put renewed pressure on prime minister, borisjohnson, who recently survived a leadership challenge. the liberal democrats ousted the conservatives in the seat of tiverton and honiton, in one of the biggest ever by—election swings. the labour party re—took the seat of wakefield, they lost three years ago. mark lobel reports. cheering and applause. one of borisjohnson�*s conservative safest seat until now. boris johnson's conservative safest seat until now. richard foord, liberal— safest seat until now. richard foord, liberal democrat - foord, liberal democrat 22,000...— foord, liberal democrat 22,000. . . foord, liberal democrat 22,000... they have lost in what was — 22,000... they have lost in what was a _ 22,000... they have lost in what was a rocksolid - 22,000... they have lost in what was a rocksolid area . 22,000... they have lost in| what was a rocksolid area for his party in the southern england, for decades. the liberal democrats with a record win and the clear message. x�*t�*aur

win and the clear message. your extraordinary — win and the clear message. your extraordinary efforts _ win and the clear message. your extraordinary efforts have - extraordinary efforts have delivered and historic result and sent a shockwave through british politics. tonight, the people of tiverton and honiton have spoken for britain, they have spoken for britain, they have sent a loud and clear message, it is time for boris johnson to go. and go now. at johnson to go. and go now. at the other end of the country, in northern england, afterjoy for the opposition labor party, another upset for the government who have lost a key brick in the so—called �*red wall�* that symbolise their sweeping victory over labour two years ago. now it is labor�*s turn to celebrate. tonight, the people of wakefield have spoken on behalf of the british people. they have said unreservedly, boris

johnson, your contempt for this country is no longer tolerated. your government has no ideas, no plan to address the issues facing our country. it is not acceptable. it facing our country. it is not acceptable.— facing our country. it is not acceptable. it was the british forei . n acceptable. it was the british foreign minister _ acceptable. it was the british foreign minister 's _ acceptable. it was the british foreign minister 's first - foreign minister �*s first election test since the party gate scandal and vote of no confidence called from his mps. he is in rwanda but he will have some explaining to do at home and a key question to answer, whether he remained a vote winner. mark lobel, bbc news let�*s get the thoughts of bbc newsnight�*s policy editor, lewis goodall. priced in for weeks, what do you read into the scale of the swing? ido i do not think... i think

wakefield was priced in, not a 12% swing. perhaps labour people were good at managing expectations. but there was a feeling it would be less than that. 10% is the magic number, the swing the labor party required to get a majority of one at the next election. with 4% they would do it. the last time they won back into thousand 12, corbett was significant. —— 12%. lib dems was not priced in. they were hopeful they would win. this is a swing of 30% and what makes it significant, you add this on as part of a trio of lib dems wins against the conservatives. you put that together and start to see the labour resurgence,

the lib dem resurgence in the south. ., 1, , the lib dem resurgence in the south. ., south. for boris johnson in the here and now. _ south. for boris johnson in the here and now. a _ south. for boris johnson in the here and now. a vote - south. for boris johnson in the here and now. a vote of- here and now. a vote of confidence a few weeks ago. they had written of these seats. he survived the confidence vote, onlyjust. will this change of heart and mind? , �* ., , mind? there will be boris johnson's _ mind? there will be boris johnson's opponents - mind? there will be boris johnson's opponents who | mind? there will be boris - johnson's opponents who rather johnson�*s opponents who rather wish they had waited because i am pretty sure had they waited and we had these results, we would be looking at a no—confidence vote on boris johnson first thing on monday morning and it would be hard to maintain he is a vote winner because there is now substantial evidence he no longer is. what a transformation from a year ago when they were winning a by—election. it is damaging for

borisjohnson in particular because for many people in the conservative party, it was i was a transactional government. getting brexit done. that he was uniquely able to get part of the electorate other conservatives cannot. the idea he can no longer do so, is very diminishing for his overall authority. diminishing for his overall authority-— diminishing for his overall authority. you talk about a pathway — authority. you talk about a pathway for _ authority. you talk about a pathway for the _ authority. you talk about a i pathway for the conservatives to lose a majority but in reality, is there an alternative government rating in the wing? now that labour has effectively lost scotland, unlikely to get a majority into the general election, would there be enough seeds for the lib dems, could labour do a deal with the scottish national party? we know what nicholas —— nicola sturgeon�*s price would be. nicola sturgeon's price would be. , ., ., ., be. the important thing to remember. _ be. the important thing to remember, although - be. the important thing to remember, although the l

remember, although the conservative majority is large and the gap between them and the labour party is large, remember the conservatives only need to lose a0 seeds to lose the majority and as soon as they have done that, they are in big, trouble because their problem is they have no coalition partners. —— seats. probably even the dup. the moment they dip beyond this number, they would essentially be injected from government. the labour party would be able to state — and we�*re getting ahead of ourselves thinking about the general election — they would day thes and p, do not vote us out. but that is all for the future. —— the snp.

the last time this happened, in 1991, both seeds the government lost, they went on to win at the general election. i�*m joined by political editor at bbc south west, martyn oates. he�*s watching all the goings—on in the constituency of tiverton and honiton. did you see here an example of labour and the lib dems not overtly working together but subliminally labour stepping back to allow this lib dem winner? , . , back to allow this lib dem winner? , ., , ., back to allow this lib dem winner? , ., . . winner? this was a classic example _ winner? this was a classic example of— winner? this was a classic example of tactical - winner? this was a classic| example of tactical voting. winner? this was a classic- example of tactical voting. the labour activists calling this result first saying that vote

collapsed to the extent they risk losing that deposit and that was clearly a necessary condition for this lib dem victory today. it is usually significant. also, simply anything context of recent political history in the south—west, you cannot overestimate the crushing and seemingly semipermanent nature of the defeat across the south—west peninsula seven years ago in the 2015 election. there has been a resurgent here but also in other areas. this is different, very euro sceptic. if the lib dems are seriously back in business, the conservatives would be worried. obviously the lib dems the most

pro— european of all the parties. they have a by—election machine looking at where the wind is blowing. did you see evidence of that there? absolutely. they absolutely through the kitchen sink at this. ed davey was here four times during the campaign. posters again and finally, that has turned into reality. of course, come a general election, there is the issue of resourcing in the activists on the ground to co—ordinate campaigns across multiple constituencies but certainly a formidable local blessing campaign during this election. i hope you get a good nights sleep. thank you very much.

so let�*s get more reaction to the results and talk to sean kemp, former special adviser for the liberal democrats in number10 during the coalition years. how do the lid dems keep this momentum going and capitalise in general election? known for having a highly effective by election machine, but when it comes to a general election the picture is different. it election the picture is different.— election the picture is different. , ., ., ., different. it is hard to hold onto by-election _ different. it is hard to hold onto by-election gains, . onto by—election gains, particularly the more stunning ones. in the short—term, taking advantage of the publicity this gets them. quite a lot of the time the media is not really paying attention to the lib dems so they will pay attention for the next 2a hours, get across the airway to get that

message across. in the long—term, using the by—election victories, results like wakefield, to show people that if they want to form an anti— conservative voting coalition they can do that, the potential is there and the labour and potential is there and the labourand lib potential is there and the labour and lib dems can lend each other provides. when a general election comes, they can grab a lot of the conservative facing seeds, which are the main targets in the next election. mo hussein is a former special adviser to amber rudd as uk home secretary and former number 10 downing street chief press officer under david cameron. thank you for being with us. what is happening in downing street right now? what will they be talking about on whatsapp groups of mps who backed johnson�*s

leadership? i think there will be at the public and the private. publicly they will speak about mid—term lose, we have been in power for 12 years so is it that surprising. lib dems throwing a lot of resources and will they hold them again in the next general election. privately, there will be more concerned. these are very different parts of the country with different demographics. tiverton and honiton very, very ultra seats. and i think trying to work out where mps are now. mps cannot do anything as things stand. they have had their chance and it did not work. the prime minister winning the vote of confidence. but trying to work out who will

be wavering, worried, because there is no such thing as a safe seat. can this person help us when. .. safe seat. can this person help us when... inaudible... report comes back in. even though the process does not exist a lot of concern about what mps will do next. and to former labour party adviser ayesha hazarika. champagne will be popping, but is this a vindication of current leadership? keir starmer was called, apparently, boring by some of his own shadow cabinet not too long ago. his own shadow cabinet not too lona auo. ~ , ., his own shadow cabinet not too lonurao.~ , ._ ., his own shadow cabinet not too lona auo.~ , ._ ., ., ., long ago. well, 'ust a year ago when mabel — long ago. well, just a year ago when mabel lost _ long ago. well, just a year ago when mabel lost hartlepool, . when mabel lost hartlepool, everybody was up in arms about it, saying this is an absolute disaster for the labour party. the fact the labour party has had an historic win, they have won a seat of the conservative

party, they have won it back in this red wall area and they have one it with the biggest swing then they would need to win a general election — all of thatis win a general election — all of that is factually good news. the other thing that�*s really interesting is if you look across these by—elections, if you look at the picture from the local elections right through to all of the by—elections we�*ve had to where things are now, there is a very powerful and active anti— conservative, and he boris johnson alliance forming by the voters. and that should give the conservative party a huge amount of cause for concern. if you look at where the poles are, if you look at where these swings are and of course you have to be very careful this does not necessarily mean this is what will happen at a general election these are important currents and trends and it does look like keir starmer is on track to become prime minister, perhaps in a hung parliament. it does look like the conservatives will be losing power come the next

general election. we�*ve got the cost of living crisis, we�*ve got the remnants of partygate, we�*ve got big questions being asked about the character of the prime minister and also, this is somebody who, just two years ago, they were saying this is a vote winning machine but it now looks like he is a bit of a drag anchor and there will be many, many conservatives in red wall seeds and conservatives where the bill democrats have come second and they will be very, very nervous because i think what the results show us is there is no such thing as a safe conservative seat right now —— whether liberal democrats have come second.— come second. sean kemp, mo hussein and — come second. sean kemp, mo hussein and ayesha, - come second. sean kemp, mo hussein and ayesha, thank- come second. sean kemp, mo i hussein and ayesha, thank you. i�*m joined byjon tonge, professor of politics at the university of liverpool. jon, thank you for being with us. some people write off by—election results as a mid—term protest. let�*s face it, johnson has

shaken off setbacks before. as lewis goodall was pointing out earlier, could he shake this off and go on to actually win the next election?— the next election? boris johnson _ the next election? boris johnson could _ the next election? boris johnson could shake - the next election? boris| johnson could shake this the next election? boris - johnson could shake this off but he�*s got two problems. one is the red wall that he painted blue at the 2019 general election is being painted red again in the north of england and then, in rural areas and particularly in the south, things have been painted orange with the big lib dem revival and running second to the conservatives in a lot of and threatening some of the most senior conservatives in their own seats. borisjohnson has up to 2.5 years to turn this around but he is no longer being seen as the electoral acids that made him the leader in the first place and the bad news may not get end for boris johnson because the next set of big elections coming up will be in those conservative inaudible counties come next may. the conservatives have an awful lot of things to be found there so there may be for the pain to

come, there is plenty of political headaches, whether the inaudible relation situation, partygate, cost of living and the parliamentary privileges enquiry that will take place this autumn so it�*s very, very difficult for boris johnson and how does he please those different types of voters in those northern seats, compared to the more rural and southern seats? there is no magic formula that will satisfy all of those different constituencies.- all of those different constituencies. , ., ., . constituencies. john tong at the university _ constituencies. john tong at the university of— constituencies. john tong at the university of liverpool, | the university of liverpool, thank you. —— jon tonge. let�*s talk to bbc newsnight�*s policy editor, lewis goodall. how does today and the next few days pan out? i think we will certainly see ed davey get his hammer out, we saw with the tweets that he would basically be doing that earlier this evening and we knew that�*s how he won because he was saying we will need a bigger hammer referring to the blue wall so will see keir starmer, without doubt, in wakefield. the prime minister i doubt we will see much of. he is in rwanda for the commonwealth conference. he

will do a pull clip, i�*m sure, and he will be asked about this and he will be asked about this and i�*m sure he will say, as will indeed his ministers, that this is a sort of midterm blues, the economy is struggling, they have struggled to get their message out there because of partygate. i think certainly that sort of works for the first by—election or the second one but the third one? fourth one? if you put these two together? it�*s more difficult. his mps will want an answer as to what the strategy is to get over this problem. because many of the planks, the pillars that he ran the 2019 general election on, it�*s brexit, jeremy corbyn, his own popularity, such as it was, all of those pillars are being taken away and on top of that is being infused economic malaise, a sense of not much policy direction and a sense that the conservative coalition is fraying and it is not easy to continue to bind these two

quite different sorts of constituencies together, as we�*ve seen tonight. constituencies together, as we've seen tonight.- we've seen tonight. lewis goodall. _ we've seen tonight. lewis goodall, thank _ we've seen tonight. lewis goodall, thank you - we've seen tonight. lewis goodall, thank you for - we've seen tonight. lewis - goodall, thank you for sharing your thoughts. goodall, thank you for sharing yourthoughts. let�*s goodall, thank you for sharing your thoughts. let�*s park our election coverage there and move on to other news. the us senate has passed a gun control bill — the most significant firearms legislation in 30 years. the new bill includes tougher background checks for buyers younger than 21 and billions in funding for mental health and school security. the reforms fall short of the demands of gun control this is not a cure all full —— for all of the way gun violence affects our nation but it is a long overdue step in the right direction. passing this gun safety bill is truly significant and it�*s going to say lives. —— save. steve greenberg is a criminal defence attorney and advocate for gun control.

forgive me, i think we�*re some connection problems. we can go to peter bowes, our correspondent in los angeles, monitoring developments. how significant is this? this is the most significant gun legislation to come out of congress in almost 30 years. it is not a done deal yet. it�*s been passed in the senate and it now goes to the house of representatives where it is also expected to pass. it could happen very quickly, in the next day or so, then to the desk of president biden, where he will sign it into law. this is legislation that the president wanted to see. it is not as far as he and many others wanted. it is not a ban on assault style weapons, for example, all those high—capacity example, all those high—ca pacity magazines example, all those high—capacity magazines but it does include a raft of other measures that there is bipartisan support for. we�*ve had 50 democrats, 15 republicans in the senate who,

if you think of recent little history, it�*s a significant situation to get that level of agreement on legislation and especially gun legislation, so we have this bill that, for example, includes increased background checks for people under the age of 21, if they want to buy a gun, there will be financial assistance for the states to enforce so—called red flag laws, where guns can essentially be confiscated from individuals if they are deemed to be a threat or a danger to themselves or to other people and there will be a tremendous amount of money, millions of dollars to spend, on mental health programmes and also security in schools.— security in schools. peter bowes. _ security in schools. peter bowes, thank _ security in schools. peter bowes, thank you - security in schools. peter bowes, thank you very i security in schools. peter. bowes, thank you very much security in schools. peter- bowes, thank you very much for joining us. as i was promising you, steve greenberg. he is a criminal defence attorney and advocate for gun control. hejoins me now from chicago. let�*s talk about the decision by politicians because us supreme court has also made a

decision about gun control in the past few hours. the politicians bubbly not as much progress as you would have liked but is it nonetheless welcome?— liked but is it nonetheless welcome? �* , , , ., ,, welcome? anything is progress. they have _ welcome? anything is progress. they have not — welcome? anything is progress. they have not done _ welcome? anything is progress. they have not done anything - they have not done anything about gun control in years and the fact is this bill will make it harderfor a few the fact is this bill will make it harder for a few individuals to obtain guns. most of it is reactionary and most of it is political and allows them all to put out press releases and so forth. it does not restrict the kind of weapons that are plaguing our society, which are these highly automatic weapons, machine—gun, if you will. and there�*s no real reason that anyone needs those in urban or for hunting. anyone needs those in urban or for hunting-— for hunting. and looking at the decision by _ for hunting. and looking at the decision by the _ for hunting. and looking at the decision by the judges - for hunting. and looking at the decision by the judges of - for hunting. and looking at the decision by the judges of the i decision by the judges of the us supreme court, granting, saying it is constitutional or it is not constitutional to tell people in certain us states which had outlawed it that they can carry concealed

weapons. what difference does that make? what signal does it send to the direction that it is taking?— is taking? that is certainly far more _ is taking? that is certainly far more reaching, - is taking? that is certainly far more reaching, that. far more reaching, that decision. that decision said that basically, anyone can carry a concealed weapon anywhere they want in the united states. except for certain locations like government buildings and stuff, you could still restricted in. they claimed that the second amendment, which was enacted shortly after the revolutionary war, it gave people the right to bear arms for a well—regulated militia, it somehow extends to the everyday concern that people may have over soft events. the problem with that is that when the second amendment was passed, people had a musket, you know, it took a while to load. now, people are carrying around, in their concealed carry, a glock with a magazine that carries 15 shells. ifearthat with a magazine that carries 15 shells. ifear that it with a magazine that carries 15 shells. i fear that it is a

decision that will lead to far more bloodshed than the bill that was passed but it is going to prevent. that was passed but it is going to prevent-— to prevent. where do you see the wind blowing _ to prevent. where do you see the wind blowing there - to prevent. where do you see the wind blowing there in - to prevent. where do you see l the wind blowing there in terms of public support? with each excessive mass shooting, people say my goodness, this has to be the last. the americans need to see sense. after this latest one in texas, where to start, you know, into the dial? i don't know that it moves the don�*t know that it moves the dial at all because we�*ve become a society and the country of extremes and there are people who are very firmly dug in at each side. one of the things i think that makes this country great, and england great, is that you don�*t suppress the views of the minority. i think people who want everyone to have a weapon and want to have these kinds of weapons are in the minority but the courts say that the constitution protects their right to have these weapons. let�*s be realistic here, there

is no reason that anyone needs an ar—15 to carry around in their backyard. an ar-15 to carry around in their backyard.— their backyard. steve greenberg, - their backyard. steve greenberg, thank - their backyard. steve| greenberg, thank you their backyard. steve - greenberg, thank you very their backyard. steve _ greenberg, thank you very much for sharing your thoughts on —— with us today. the taliban have appealed for international support after the devastating earthquake which struck afghanistan on wednesday. survivors of the deadliest quake in two decades say they have nothing to eat, no shelter, and fear a possible cholera outbreak. the bbc�*s secunder kermani reports from paktika province. aid agencies have been transporting food and tense to the earthquake hit parts of the districts here in paktika province, travelling along the long dirt, bumpy road from shareina, the nearest big city which is where we are now. culibao military helicopters have also been used to fly in supplies because the location is so remote. other barn officials told us that search and rescue operations are now over and now the focus is on

those who survived this earthquake and getting them adequate food and shelter, mobile health teams are also visiting these villages. yesterday, in a briefing at a security council, a senior un official described this disaster as a tragic reminder of the myriad dangers facing the afghan people at this moment, the country was already in the middle of an economic and humanitarian crisis with average income slashed by around one third, that�*s in a country where many people were already struggling just to survive, and while humanitarian aid, that immediate short—term aid, that immediate short—term aid is been delivered, wider international development funding that the previous government used to rely on, well, much of that has been cut off ever since the taliban took power last august. secunder kermani. the latest hearing in washington on the january the sixth storming of the capitol has been discussing the pressure that president trump put on thejustice department to overturn

the 2020 election results. it heard that donald trump wanted to fire the acting attorney general at the time and replace him with jeffrey clark. three formerjustice department officials testified before the committee earlier. one of them was richard donoghue. had similar laid had similarlaid in had similar laid in at one point, i remember, saying that letter that this guy wants to send,it letter that this guy wants to send, it is a murder suicide pact, it will damage everyone who touches it.— pact, it will damage everyone who touches it. time for some aood who touches it. time for some good news- —

over the past two days, 200,000 visitors have been arriving for the first glastonbury festival in three years. the music programme is due to start in the next few hours with billie eilish, foals and little simz topping the bill on the first night. our correspondent colin paterson has been meeting some of the festivalgoers. concern about what mps will do next. where have you come from? tennessee. who are you really wanting to see?— tennessee. who are you really wanting to see? paul mccartney. i don't wanting to see? paul mccartney. i don't know. _ wanting to see? paul mccartney. i don't know, it _ wanting to see? paul mccartney. i don't know, it seems _ wanting to see? paul mccartney. i don't know, it seems like - wanting to see? paul mccartney. i don't know, it seems like a - idon't know, it seems like a spedal— i don't know, it seems like a special opportunity.- i don't know, it seems like a special opportunity. who is the bi . . est special opportunity. who is the biggest fan? — special opportunity. who is the biggest fan? i _ special opportunity. who is the biggest fan? i see _ special opportunity. who is the biggest fan? i see the - special opportunity. who is the | biggest fan? i see the problem, rolling stones _ biggest fan? i see the problem, rolling stones t-shirt. - biggest fan? i see the problem, rolling stones t-shirt. is - biggest fan? i see the problem, rolling stones t-shirt. is that i rolling stones t—shirt. is that going — rolling stones t—shirt. is that going to — rolling stones t—shirt. is that going to be a fight? you rolling stones t-shirt. is that going to be a fight?- going to be a fight? you give us a line each. _ going to be a fight? you give us a line each. # _ going to be a fight? you give us a line each. # blackbird l us a line each. # blackbird sinrain us a line each. # blackbird singing in _ us a line each. # blackbird singing in the _ us a line each. # blackbird singing in the dead - us a line each. # blackbird singing in the dead of - us a line each. # blackbird i singing in the dead of night... round — singing in the dead of night... round one _ singing in the dead of night... round one to paul mccartney. where are you from? we are