welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: is it all over, prime minister? borisjohnson refuses to resign, despite his government collapsing and some of his closest allies deserting him. so far, there have been 44 resignations. it's a record number in one day, but the prime minister responded with defiance to critics on his own side. does the prime minister think there are any circumstances in which he should resign? laughter frankly, mr speaker, the job of a prime minister in difficult circumstances, when he has been handed a colossal mandate, is to keep going, and that's what i'm going to do.

the prime minister also sacked michael gove, once a very loyal supporter, who turned against him. the opposition labour leader, sir keir starmer, said the prime minister was in the dying act of his career. anyone quitting now, after. defending all that, hasn't got a shred of integrity. mr speaker, isn't thisi the first recorded case of the sinking ships fleeing the rat? - and in other news for you today, japan plans to pump water from the fukushima nuclear plant into the pacific. we hear from the fishermen protesting the move. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to the programme.

it's 7am in the morning in singapore and midnight in london, where prime minister borisjohnson continues to defy calls for him to resign from some of his most senior colleagues, who believe he has clearly lost the confidence of most of his mps. mrjohnson has been inside number 10 meeting cabinet colleagues, some of whom still believe he should stay, but most are convinced his time is up. nadhim zahawi, who was appointed chancellor last night, is believed to be among those who want mrjohnson to step aside. a short while ago, another cabinet secretary, michael gove, was sacked, with a source from downing street describing him as a snake. 44 ministers and aides have left the government in the last 48 hours, after sajid javid and rishi sunak resigned from the cabinet. with the latest, here's our political editor chris mason. the front pages, the photographers, the reporters, all asking the same thing. is it all over, prime minister? the lenses tilt towards boris

johnson leaving downing street, heading for parliament at lunchtime and prime minister's questions. the difficult questions usually come from the opposition benches. today, they came from conservative mps as well. the prime minister constantly tries to deflect from the issue, always tries to blame other people for mistakes and at least nothing left for him to do other than to take responsibility and resign. applause today, i ask him to do the honourable thing, to put the interests of the nation before his own interests, and before, in his own words, it does become impossible for government to do its job. does the prime minister think there are any circumstances l in which he should resign? laughter frankly, mr speaker, thejob of a prime minister in difficult circumstances, when he's been handed a colossal mandate, is to keep going, and that's what i'm

going to do. and when it was the labour leader's turn, he took aim at those in the cabinet. only in office because no—one else is prepared to debase themselves any longer, the charge of the lightweight brigade! laughter have some self—respect! in the middle of a crisis, doesn't the country deserve better than a z—list cast of nodding dogs? mr speaker, the difference between this government and that opposition is we have a plan and they do not. and we're getting on with it. they want to focus on this type of issue, mr speaker, we're going to get on with ourjobs. ian blackford. the scottish national party leader at westminster is often remorselessly barracked by conservative mps. not today. let's face it, it's a minor- miracle that the prime minister has even made it through to prime minister's questions. | and he really ought to see the faces behind him - because, prime minister,

it really is over. - the prime minister is desperately clinging. on to his own fantasy, but the public can't i afford to put up with this farce of a government i a minute longer. all day, it felt at times like every ten minutes or so, conservative mps were sending letters saying the prime minister should go. and just take a look at the language chosen by the now formerjustice minister victoria atkins as she resigned... are we witnessing the collapse of the government, mrjavid? i ..and from a letter to a resignation statement from the man who just yesterday was boris johnson's health secretary.

i call sajid javid. have a look at the body language of the conservative benches as you listen to mrjavid's words. treading the tightrope between loyalty and integrity has become impossible in recent months. and, mr speaker, i will never risk losing my integrity. this week again, we have reason to question the truth and integrity of what we've all been told. and at some point, we have to conclude that enough is enough. i believe that point is now. he said he had been patient, hoping things would improve. but i do fear that the reset button can only work so many times. there's only so many times you can turn that machine on and off before you realise that something is fundamentally wrong. and then there was this — a public, laser—guided attack on those still in borisjohnson�*s cabinet.

they will have their own reasons, but it is a choice. i knowjust how difficult that choice is. but let's be clear. not doing something is an active decision. i'm deeply concerned about how the next generation will see the conservative party on our current course. can i say to the house, there will be no more l personal statements today. bye, boris! but he was back again, down the corridor, a few hours later, facing the liaison committee of senior backbenchers. prime minister, how's your week going? terrific. turns out that they had been keeping up with the news. it's being reported that there's a delegation of your cabinet colleagues waiting in downing street, including the chief whip, the transport secretary and your new chancellor, waiting to tell you when you

finish here today that it's time for you to go. how will you respond to that? you're asking me to comment on... this conversation will happen in a few minutes, prime minister. so you say! but i'm not going to give a running commentary on political events, we're going to get on with the government of the country. this morning, the communities secretary michael gove went to see the prime minister to tell him he thought he should resign. in the last hour, the man who just yesterday sat around boris johnson's cabinet table was sacked by him, with a number 10 source describing mr gove as a snake. this was the scene in downing street this evening — drivers hanging around while cabinet ministers went inside, some saying mrjohnson should go, others saying he should stay. the culture secretary's still supportive. is anyone else backing the prime minister? oh, yes! westminster is a postcode defined by power. today has been defined by it draining away

from borisjohnson. but he's not shifting, at least yet. that was chris mason reporting on that story for us, developments coming fast and furious. i'm joined now by our reporter mark lobel, who is in downing street. mark, what an evening — i think thatis mark, what an evening — i think that is an understatement! as far as you understand it, behind that door, are there still people into talking to the prime minister? what is yoursense —— what might happen? -- what might happen? the liuhts -- what might happen? the lights are — -- what might happen? the lights are still— -- what might happen? the lights are still on _ —— what might happen? tie: lights are still on here in this post could have power, as chris referred to it, and the truth is we are here because we don't know what is going to happen next. that is why am talking to you from downing street and not in the studio. we do know what happened a few hours ago. there was a big

tussle between borisjohnson and some even his own party. some saying he must go and some saying he can stay. there have been development in the last few hours that it's worth reflecting upon. there were these group of cabinet ministers in there, including grant shapps, the transport secretary, and they were saying that they believed boris johnson would lose another vote of confidence and you should set out a timetable for departure. they were saying if he did not, they would resign. simon hart was one of those and he has resigned. another was a secretary for health who was loyal to borisjohnson. there was one way they were putting pressure on borisjohnson. pressure on boris johnson. another pressure on borisjohnson. another is ministers, cabinet ministers and others like the attorney general, suella braverman, calling for him to resign but remaining in their post. she has done that. she is

also the first person to throw her hat in the ring. for those who don't follow politics closely, that is a long shot. and there a third move which we were not expecting which is that boris johnson were not expecting which is that borisjohnson is actually stacking those he things are behind this move to get rid of him. the sacking of michael gove shocked everybody, and a couple of hours ago, boris johnson referring to him as a snake. , ., johnson referring to him as a snake. , . . snake. yes indeed, what a dramatic _ snake. yes indeed, what a dramatic set _ snake. yes indeed, what a dramatic set of _ snake. yes indeed, what a dramatic set of events - snake. yes indeed, what a i dramatic set of events there. mark labelle, just past midnight where you are right there —— mark lobel. huge amount of elements nonactive elements overnight. —— huge amount of developments overnight. and for more analysis, i'm joined now by sianjones. she was a special adviser to the former cabinet

minister — philip hammond — and is now a political consultant for sec newgate in the vale of glamorgan. it is really coming down to it. it is really coming down to it. i should say first of all, huge number of mps calling for him to go. as a political adviser, what would you say to him now? i am not sure what anyone could tell him other than, "the game is up." i don't think anyone can remember a situation like this the more you had 44 ministerial resignations and one day and a delegation of cabinet members going to downing street, all of them telling the prime minister it is time to stand down, but he is time to stand down, but he is refusing to go and is still staying put. and so it is really turning to this quite almost farcical psychodrama now, a battle of wills between the prime minister and the conservative party, so what is going to happen in the next 2a hours is going to be extremely interesting, what i don't think anyone can realistically say the prime minister has much chance of clinging onto power now. . . ., ,

now. indeed, and certainly the world watching _ now. indeed, and certainly the world watching very _ now. indeed, and certainly the world watching very carefully, | world watching very carefully, given the fact that the uk is such an important player not just in europe but out here as well, in asia. and i'm glad you brought up the 9022 committee, because he did win that last no—confidence vote, i should say, he cannot face another vote for another year, my understanding of the rules suggests, but the 1922 committee, which could change those rules, is meeting next week. what do you expect from that? , ., ., ., that? yes, i am almost certain the will that? yes, i am almost certain they will be — that? yes, i am almost certain they will be a _ that? yes, i am almost certain they will be a change - that? yes, i am almost certain they will be a change of- that? yes, i am almost certain they will be a change of rules i they will be a change of rules coming through next week. there is going to be an election early next week to determine who will be sitting on that committee, and what seems to be the case is there are number of mps standing who are pretty hostile to borisjohnson, thereby going to force that will change and thereby bringing about a confidence vote as early as possibly the middle of next week, so i think things will move very rapidly. there was talk of there being a confidence vote as early as

tomorrow, because it was thought that potentially the rules could be changed by the current committee, but they decided not to do that. it seems that graham brady, i believe, went to see boris johnson in downing street and perhaps thought that him putting a hand on the prime minister's shoulder, telling him the game was up, would be enough to and the situation, but appears not. it shows how tenacious and determined the prime minister is to cling to office, so i think it is going to be that mechanism of the 22 using that process to get out. if it comes down to it, as you say, borisjohnson externally determined, but if we do get to a point where the conservative party is looking for a new leader, who do you think it might be? i leader, who do you think it might be?— might be? i think it is a really. _ might be? i think it is a really, really _ might be? i think it is a really, really open - might be? i think it is al really, really open field. might be? i think it is a - really, really open field. one of the names you've heard a lot at the minute is penny trade minister, rishi sunak, who was chancellor until yesterday ——

penny mordaunt. cannot be discounted. you have other names like ben wallace, defence secretary, liz truss, foreign secretary, liz truss, foreign secretary, and you also have players from outside the cabinet, jeremy hunt, former health secretary, who stood in the last leadership contest and is key to have another go, and other outsiders like tom to get hat —— tom tugendhat. an interesting contest that will not be quickly resolved. but the party is hoping for a new leader in place for the autumn of that which is the time we like to have a bit of a political reset and a fresh start. ., , ., political reset and a fresh start. ., ., ., ., start. lots to look forward to. sian jones. — start. lots to look forward to. sian jones, thanks _ start. lots to look forward to. sian jones, thanks for - start. lots to look forward to. sian jones, thanks forjoining| sian jones, thanks for joining us sianjones, thanks forjoining us on the programme even though it is so late where you are! you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: something fishy or normal

nuclear procedure? we look at plans to empty waterfrom fukushima into the ocean. central london has been rocked by a series of terrorist attacks. police say there have been many casualties and there is growing speculation that al-qaeda was responsible. germany will be the host of the 2006 football world cup. they pipped the favourite, south africa, by a single vote. in south africa, the possibility of losing hadn't even been contemplated, and celebration parties were cancelled. a man entered the palace through a downstairs window and made his way to the queen's private bedroom. then he asked her for a cigarette and — on the pretext of arranging for some to be brought — summoned a footman on duty, who took the man away.

one child, one teacher, one book and one pen i can change the world. education is the only solution. applause this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. 0ur headlines: borisjohnson refuses to resign, despite his government collapsing and some of his closest allies deserting him. so far, there have been 44 resignations. it's a record number in one day, but the prime minister responded with defiance to critics on his own side. more on that main story. as we have been saying, prime minister borisjohnson has been refusing to resign despite a record number of mps calling

for him to do so. and one of the questions on the minds of many is, "how will the ongoing political chaos affect the uk economy?" it is right now dealing with a very difficult cost—of—living prices. to find out, i'm joined now by soumaya keynes, britain economics editor at the economist in london. it is great to get you on the programme and thank you for joining us so late in the evening for you. the cost—of—living prices, inflation, not just cost—of—living prices, inflation, notjust issues in the uk around the world for the global economy, but this couldn't really come at a worse time for borisjohnson, losing his chancellor, having to appoint a new one at a time when the economy is in a really difficult situation.— difficult situation. yeah, thin . s difficult situation. yeah, things are _ difficult situation. yeah, things are fairly - difficult situation. yeah, things are fairly fragile l difficult situation. yeah, - things are fairly fragile right now. what you got, essentially, is lots of things happening at the same time. you've got this cost—of—living crisis, you've got an energy price shock which, as you say, is hitting lots and lots of country around the world, but in the uk, seems like it is 20 drag on for an

unusually long time. —— it is going to. you also have this fresh memory of the pandemic. during the pandemic, there was the sense that money was no object, the government was here to help, now we have got these really difficult times, there is this expectation the government shall he do something about it, and that has set up high expectations, this idea the government really should do something. the tricky thing is that the politics of the situation and the economics are tugging into different directions. you've got the conservative party backbenchers, who are praying for tax cuts, and then essentially more targeted support that would help those worst affected.— worst affected. soumaya, the - rime worst affected. soumaya, the prime ministers _ worst affected. soumaya, the prime ministers saying - worst affected. soumaya, the prime ministers saying that l worst affected. soumaya, the | prime ministers saying that he needs to stay on because he needs to stay on because he needs get things done, and complete the mandate that he was given also but as you point

out, it is astonishingly a difficult time economy, can he fix things if he does stay in power —— astonishingly difficult time for the uk economy. difficult time for the uk economy-— difficult time for the uk econom . , , ., economy. the past few days have been fairly _ economy. the past few days have been fairly embarrassing - economy. the past few days have been fairly embarrassing for - been fairly embarrassing for britain and i don't think anyone looking at what has happened would expect there to be a calm, considered, coherence, long—term economic vision coming out of this debacle. i think it is more likely that we would see some kind of positive change in the direction of the economic plan, if forced -- if —— if boris johnson —— if borisjohnson were to lead. that said, there are reports that boris johnson that said, there are reports that borisjohnson is going to lay out some new kind of economic strategy with his new chancellor, and so we will see what they come up with was to my worry it's just going to be tax cuts, rather than things

that really get to britain's underlying economic challenges —— | underlying economic challenges —— i worry. i underlying economic challenges -- i worry-— -- i worry. i am glad you brought _ -- i worry. i am glad you brought about _ -- i worry. i am glad you brought about this - -- i worry. i am glad you brought about this is - -- i worry. i am glad you i brought about this is viewed around the world, because certainly people all over looking at the situation in the uk and i wonder what you might think investors are seeing or thinking about this as a look at this situation butjust briefly, if you don't mind. i think the key at the pound, there has been remarkably little movement there. —— looking at. people have been watching, thinking, oh, dear, but it is not having a huge market effect. that could change if the economy 0utlook were to change significantly, if borisjohnson started to announce a really extreme things. for now, though, i don't think we are on the print of investors fleeing sterling, but it is foolish to protect too much when it comes to those

currency movements —— on the brink of. currency movements -- on the brink of-— brink of. indeed. soumaya keynes. — brink of. indeed. soumaya keynes, thank _ brink of. indeed. soumaya keynes, thank you - brink of. indeed. soumaya keynes, thank you so - brink of. indeed. soumaya| keynes, thank you so much brink of. indeed. soumaya - keynes, thank you so much for joining us on the programme, britain economics editor at the economist in london. moving away from the uk, let's get you some of the day's other news. to japan now, where prime minister fumio kishida has pledged to restart more nuclear power plants to provide more energy as the country struggles with its hottest summer on record. but 11 years on from the fukushima disaster, nuclear plants remain deeply unpopular among the japanese public. and as storage runs low at the fukushima site, treated cooling water is due to be released into the pacific, a policy local fishermen strongly oppose. 0ur tokyo correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes has been back to fukushima and sent this report. this is raw fish, just from the sea off here in fukushima, caught this morning. would you dare to eat this? well, according to this man

here, who caught it, he says there is nothing for me to be worried about. nothing to worry about, it's safe. well, it certainly tastes good! for years after the nuclear disaster, no—one wanted to buy fish from fukushima, the fear of radioactive contamination was so strong. finally, that is starting to change, but now there is a new threat. this is the fukushima nuclear plant today. the site is now dominated by giant water tanks filled with radioactive water. from up here, you really get a sense of the scale of the problem. behind me are more than a thousand giant water tanks, and at last count, they contained nearly 1.3 million tonnes of contaminated water.

the plan now is to treat the water and pump it into the ocean. for fishermen like 0no—san, that would be a second disaster. translation: now, fish from fukushima is popular again. i people know we check every fish for radiation, so they feel safe, but now the government wants to release this contaminated water into the sea. we do not trust them and we do not feel safe. the government says the water will be made safe before it is released, and this is where it will be done. inside this building is the world's largest, most advanced system for removing radioactive particles from water. you can't really see what's going on in here, but in here is all the processes to remove 62 radionuclides from the cooling water so that it will made safe, before it is then eventually diluted

and pumped into the ocean. but the water will not be entirely free of radiation. at this specially built lab, they are testing for one radioactive particle they cannot remove — tritium. translation: tritium is emitted in the cooling water— of every nuclear power plant in the world. we are closely monitoring the levels to assure the public it is safe. we've also invited outside organisations like the ieia —— we've also invited outside organisations like the iaea to check our data. beside the ocean, construction is already under way on a huge pipe that will carry the treated water out to sea. but the fishermen remain almost entirely unconvinced. rupert ring filled haze there with that report from tokyo. ——

rupert wingfield—hayes. you stay with bbc news for the latest headlines. hello there. so far, the weather story this week has been dominated by a lot of low, grey cloud for many. yes, at times, it's felt warm, but just take a look at suffolk yesterday afternoon. it was a fairly typical story right across the country. the cloud was widespread. this was the satellite picture from wednesday. in fact, there was some early morning rain in scotland. that cleared away and a brisk northwesterly wind dominated here. some brightness further south, some warmth, but over the next few days, it looks likely that we are going to see more sunshine and more heat developing. perhaps into next week, it's going to get a bit too hot for some of you. the jet stream is to the north of the uk at the moment. 0nce we're on the southern flank of the jet, we're in the warmerairsource, and this area of high pressure, well, that is keeping things quieter and allowing for more sunshine to come through.

so we will start the day on thursday, for many, on another cloudy, grey note. early morning sunshine in eastern scotland, and then eventually the cloud will tend to melt away and the sunshine really starts to build. the only exception is a little more cloud just running in off the northwest of scotland. perhaps here, temperatures only mid—teens, but highest temperatures through thursday afternoon of 25 degrees — 77 fahrenheit. that cloud into the far north thick enough for a spot or two of light, drizzly rain into the northern and western isles, but elsewhere, we keep some clear skies. it will be a relatively mild start to friday morning, temperatures widely into the mid—teens once again. so, on friday, another dry, settled, sunny day in prospect. again, just the far north and west may welljust keep a little more cloud that's being pushed in by this westerly wind, but with more sunshine coming through, temperatures are going to start to respond. into the high 20s not out of the question by friday afternoon, and that's 82 in terms of fahrenheit. as we move into saturday, the high pressure is still with us.

we've still got, however, the wind direction swinging around that high pressure, driving in more cloud and some showery outbreaks of rain just clipping the northern and western isles. but again, those temperatures for england and wales, where we see the highest values, into 27, 28 degrees. and that trend continues through the weekend and into next week. in fact, the heatwave could be here to stay. with temperatures widely into the low 30s for many, it could be too hot for some.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour as newsday continues straight after hardtalk.