this is bbc news. the headlines at five. a global emergency is declared by the world heath organisation, as the international monkeypox outbreak worsens. we have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly, so new modes of transmission, about which we understand too little. officials in kent declare a major incident, as long queues form for a second day in dover. rishi sunak and liz truss take to the campaign trail as the race to become the uk's next prime minister heats up. i will deliver tax cuts, but tax cuts you can believe in. i will make that happen. what i'm about is about cutting people's taxes, reversing the national insurance increase to put more money in people's pockets and making sure those who work hard, go out to work, are rewarded.

delays are also being reported by travellers heading for the eurotunnel in folkestone, with traffic crawling on approaching routes. and russian missiles hit the port of odesa — a day after ukraine and russia agreed to restart grain exports. welcome to bbc news. in the past hour — the head of the world health organization has declared the outbreak of monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern. the who director general says 16,000 cases of the disease have been reported in more than 75 countries, and five people have died. dr tedros says monkeypox

represents a high risk in europe, with a clear risk of further international spread. we have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission, about which we understand too little, and which meets the criteria in the international health regulations. for all of these reasons, i have decided that the global monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern. dr chris smith is a consultant virologist at the university of cambridge and the host of the naked scientists podcast. the uk was one of the first countries to begin to pick this up, and in fact we are one of the countries with the most cases, we have more than 2,000 cases in the uk. in america they also have about 2,000 cases. normally when we see monkeypox there is a history of travel

to what we call the endemic area. it's naturally found in small rodents, we think, animals like rats, squirrels, small rodents basically that live in parts of western africa and parts of central africa so usually when we see cases and every couple of years we get a handful of cases, there is a travel history, people have been to the affected area, they have been exposed in that area, they come home, because the disease is quite dramatic, the symptoms are quite obvious. people get isolated and it stops. but what we began to see in may was a sudden number of cases that had not got any kind of travel history, and when investigations were carried out it appeared there was a specific group of people that were time and again coming up as being affected and infected, and those were young men, who chiefly, 99% of the time were gay, and this suggested that there had to be some kind of outbreak among the gay community. but having alerted the world, it then popped up in a a number

of other countries as they began to do surveillance, and what has now provoked the world health organization to make the announcement today, is that a few hundred cases quickly snowballed to become 14,000 cases, in more than 70 countries around the world, and that is more cases than we have seen in all of the time that we have known about the existence of monkeypox over the last five decades or so. if we can break some of that up, if i may pick up on some of the detail, because i think this is for a lot people it's kind of almost information they know about, they have heard about monkeypox, they don't know much more about it. first of all, monkeypox is a bit of misnowmer, it is rodents but it happens to have ended up being called that, so we shouldn't get too distracted by the name of it, but in terms of symptoms what are the symptoms, and what from the health risks associated with those symptoms? you are right. it has as little to do with monkeys as chicken pox has

to do with chickens, and the symptoms as we used to define them in africa, was of an abrupt on set of a febrile illness. prostration, they would be knocked out, very low energy, muscle aches and pain, headaches and swollen glands, and this would be followed by the emergence of a pustular rash. you would get these spots, a bit like the chicken pox rashes that we see frequently but also like the smallpox rash that we used to see before we eradicated smallpox, and that is not surprising because they are quite close relatives of each other, the incubation period is normally about a week, it can be three weeks, at most, and people are usually ill for a week and then they get better, but in the case of about 3% of people, in the cases we had documented historically, it was the severe disease and people what is surprising out of the 14,000 cases that have been identified, the number of people who have lost their lives is thankfully very few, it is about five people, and that suggests that the data

we were using in africa based on cases coming from africa about the severity are misleading and probably that reflects it was hitting people who were had underlying health problems so they were probably more vulnerable and that is why there is that misleading mortality statistic this is slipping under the radar and that is slipping under the radar and that is probably why it got away from us for so long. is probably why it got away from us for so long. probably less well nourished. our correspondent imogen foulkes updated us on how the decision to class monkeypox as an international public health emergency was made. the emergency committee would hope to reach consensus, and it hasn't this time. nine apparently saying, no, this is not quite an international emergency yet, six saying it was. and the world health organization, the director—general, doctor tedros, he has the right to take their advice but then make his own position, and that is what he has done today. he explained that based on the rapid spread,

he mentioned some of the numbers in your previous interview there — 3,000 or something last month, more than 16,000 actually recorded this month. it's present in more than 70 countries now. so, that is one of the reasons doctor tedros has made that decision. this is the world's public health body, they must not be too slow. some of your viewers will remember what happened over ebola, where they were actuallyjudged to be too slow. they want this to be a wake—up call for governments, particularly in europe, which is viewed as at high risk, to be aware and start, as your previous interview partner said there, a really strong public information campaign. and that is clearly going to be hugely important. a lot of that will actually end up being delivered by governments, won't it? but there was also good news from the who about vaccines.

i mean, this is not something that we are going into this unprepared? no, we are not. but at least we know this virus. make no mistake, this is not covid. but the vaccines and the treatments are actually in short supply at the moment. as ever, we didn't expect this outbreak, you know, so here we go again. and we are facing, here in europe at least, a long hot summer with millions of young people who have not been to a music festival for two years, and they are all going. let's be blunt, that's where you get some of the close contact that can spread a virus like this. so, governments in europe, they are i think — what the who are saying — they are going to have to get their act together, get the posters, get the leaflets, get the warnings out there. because, otherwise, it's going to keep on spreading, and it is spreading pretty fast. a major incident has been declared by the authorities in kent, after a second day of gridlock around the port of dover. officials are expecting to process 10,000 cars today, and travellers have been advised to allow at least three to four hours to reach the port and clear

all security checks. our correspondent in dover, ramzan karmali, sent this report. the queues on the motorway leading into dover. it's becoming a familiar sight. yesterday's chaos seems to be repeating itself today, and for many holiday makers this has become the worse possible start to their summer break. but for those who set off early, there was an air of optimism. i'm assuming at some point we'll stop and sit in traffic for hours and hours, but so far we keep creeping forwards and it has been fine. the police seem to be doing a good job and getting the tourists moving and stopping the lorries coming in on the a2, because they were told to come in on the m20. how long would this journey normally take you? about two hours, so we are now into four hours. but it is fine. cars and lorries continue to try to get through the border control here at dover. in fact 8,500 tourist vehicles tried to make the crossing yesterday and today that is expected to be

higher at 10,000, so officials are warning there will be delays, and it is feared these delays could become commonplace throughout the summer. 3,000 lorries are also expected to make the crossing today. yesterday the port of dover boss blamed the delays on the french authorities for not providing enough staff to carry out passport checks, which are now compulsory since brexit. today he is confident that situation won't be repeated. after the terrible disruption from yesterday and all the impact it had on travellers and truck drivers and our local communities, i am pleased that police have turned up with a strong complement of officers to man the booths. we have had 12 in from the early hours, we have anotherfour on the way, and so the processing time through the port is improving. that time through the border may have been reduced, but the local mp still believes there is room for improvement

further down the line. it is really important we invest now, in order to make the most of those opportunities that we have. that means more border control facilities here, it means lorry parking facilities to take the lorries off the roads, making sure we expand the a2 and having some additional border control facilities, which we don't have now, so we need to invest in order to grow. today is likely to be the port of dover's busiest day since the pandemic, with thousands of families trying to travel abroad for the first time in three years. ramzan karmali bbc news. we can cross live to dover and our correspondent danjohnson. we have heard notjust about what is happening in dover but what is happening in dover but what is happening at eurotunnel folkestone, presumably they are interlinked? yes, it has been another frustrating day for drivers across kent, really, not everyone people trying to cross the channel, it has been a difficult day for people who live here, even further out from dover, folkestone, other part of the south—east because so many of the roads have been snarled up. there have been

accidents which have added pressure and made it difficult for people to get where ever they need to go but the pinch points are the ferry terminal and the eurotunnel terminal at folkestone and although things are starting to move more freely now and that i say they are starting to eat into the backlog that built up yesterday, no doubt, it is still been a difficult afternoon for so many drivers who are warned to bring food and water bernie ecclestone expecting delays of four or six hour o it has been a hot day so it has been uncome fortable for people in their car, lots of motorists are asking how has it come to this? they know how many cars are going to turn up know how many cars are going to turn up to get on the ferry, they know that passport checks have increased since brexit, what has changed this weekend second the volume of traffic because of the start of the summer holidays, the busiest weekend and it is the first teem really the new passport checks have been in place with the pressure on, when the efrench border staff didn't turn up in the right numbers yesterday, that

started the problems, we are told there are enough staff but the volume of traffic, cars and lorries means they are still struggling to clear that backlog but starting to make improvements and hoping things will be back to something like normal tomorrow, there could be further disruption because the smallest thing going wrong has a bigger impact down the motorway network on others and that is why the message has been resolving this longer term may mean a bigger look at the infrastructure, on the roads, motorways leading here through kent. you made an interesting point about that, something that roger gough the leader of kent county council raising, —— raised. it was something the mp for calais said, this sense that dover port and the physical spaceis that dover port and the physical space is no longer enough for the demand national are placed on it, notjust by holiday traffic or people going across on the ferry but by the commercial needs as well.

we should bear in mind the lorries have been put back down the queue, some have been waiting for 18 hours or more, the tourists is a been prioritised to get people on the ferries for their holiday, in terms of improving capacity here, the french said an offer had been made to place more french border control staff here just a few months ago and that has been turned down by the port authorities and the british government because it would have meant putting more border posts in position, which they weren't able to do because there is such limited space here at dover, and so much pressure on, so perhaps longer term it is going to need a bigger look, if they are going to carry on with the passport checks as they are at the passport checks as they are at the moment, if we are going to see this level of demand continuing through the summer at least and they may need to look at how they managed the traffic or what they could do in terms of the changing the infrastructure here, to try to keep things moving. notjust people trying to get over the channel but for the local population who say

they have never seen things this bad here. g. ,., they have never seen things this bad here. g, ,., they have never seen things this bad here. g ., ., ~ here. dan johnson in dover, thank ou ve here. dan johnson in dover, thank you very much- — less than 2a hours after a grain supply deal was signed with russia to guarantee the safe passage of cargo ships, the ukrainian port city of odesa has been hit by a missile attack. reports suggest several long range missiles were fired by russia — some were shot down but explosions were heard and smoke was seen rising. this is the region where it was hoped millions of tonnes of grain would be exported in the coming days. paul adams is in kyiv with the latest on the airstrikes. judging by what we saw this morning, this does appear to have been an attack using sophisticated calibre cruise missiles. so there's every sign that this was a russian attack. but this does raise an interesting question. given the sophistication of those weapons, highly accurate weapons, they don't seem to have really hit very much or caused very much damage.

yes, one or two did land in that vast port area of odesa. but we do not now think that any grain related facilities were damaged, as was previously reported, and there were also no casualties. and ukrainian officials are saying that they are still planning to go ahead with implementing the deal reached yesterday in istanbul. so, given that, it does raise all sorts of questions about exactly what the purpose of this attack was, perhaps it was just to send a signal that ukraine shouldn't be too complacent, that it's somehow won this round and there's going to be plain sailing from now on. it's interesting that having used those weapons, they didn't use them to greater effect. the headlines on bbc news... the world heath organization delcares a global emergency over the international monkeypox outbreak.

russian missiles hit the port of odesa — a day after ukraine and russia agreed to restart grain exports. officials in kent declare a major incident, as long queues form for a second day in dover. the conservative leadership candidate rishi sunak has pledged to get inflation under control at a campaign speech in margaret thatcher's hometown of grantham. he insisted he was the only candidate able to beat labour at the next election — but also claimed he was the "underdog" in the race to become the next prime minister. our political correspondent, matt cole, was listening. one can but wonder what she would have thought of the two candidates vying to occupy her old flat in downing street. to press his claim, rishi sunak turned up in margaret thatcher's home town, grantham, to begin campaigning in earnest. i do believe that what i'm proposing economically is what i would describe as common—sense thatcherism. the number one economic challenge our country faces right now is inflation

and we must get a grip of inflation now, and not risk making the problem worse. repeatedly saying his party had to tell the truth, the former chancellor said what his rival liz truss is proposing — cutting tax by borrowing more — was not moral. after pledging earlier to put a sunak government onto a crisis footing from day one, he also outlined plans to tackle nhs backlogs. we will take the best of our covid response and apply those lessons to clearing the massive backlogs in the nhs. but team truss has a different truth. the truth is that we're in a situation now where we're getting no growth, if not negative growth in the economy, and liz's plans, which include a cut to corporation tax, which at the moment is higher than france's — just let that sink in, two years after brexit — is basically about the rounded idea of growing the economy so that tax revenues will increase over time,

and then you can get the public services we all want. she voted remain, but in this morning's papers liz truss was pushing her brexiteer credentials, promising a bonfire of red tape to remove all eu law from the statute books by the end of next year. with the first head—to—head tv debate on bbc one on monday, the next few days of campaigning could prove crucial, not least for winning support from conservative party members who can start voting this week when their ballot papers begin to arrive. matt cole, bbc news. speaking in marden in kent the conservative leadership candidate and foreign secretary liz truss laid out some of her plans to help businesses, and responded to some comments made by her rival rishi sunak that her tax plans were "immoral". what i am about is about cutting people's taxes, reversing the national insurance increase to put more money in people's pockets and making sure those who work hard, go out to work, are rewarded. rishi

sunak said _ out to work, are rewarded. rishi sunak said today _ out to work, are rewarded. rishi sunak said today tackling the nhs backlog is is a priority for him and he has a plan to do that, what is your reaction? i he has a plan to do that, what is your reaction?— he has a plan to do that, what is your reaction? i am very clear we need to tackle _ your reaction? i am very clear we need to tackle the _ your reaction? i am very clear we need to tackle the nhs _ your reaction? i am very clear we need to tackle the nhs backlog l your reaction? i am very clear we i need to tackle the nhs backlog and your reaction? i am very clear we - need to tackle the nhs backlog and i would put in place a strong health secretary that would get that done, but in order to pay for the public service, we need a growing economy, thatis service, we need a growing economy, that is so vital that we unleash those post—brexit opportunities, we get rid of those pointless eu regulations and we also cut taxes, to make sure that we are getting people to set up businesses, and help grow the economy. mr people to set up businesses, and help grow the economy. mr sunak said increasin: help grow the economy. mr sunak said increasing government _ help grow the economy. mr sunak said increasing government borrowing - help grow the economy. mr sunak said increasing government borrowing to i increasing government borrowing to fund tax cuts would be immoral? i fund tax cuts would be immoral? i think it's wrong to be taking money from people that we don't need to take, when people across the country are struggling with the cost of living crisis, we know fuel bills are higher, we know that food bills are higher, we know that food bills are higher, we know that food bills are higher, and what my changes would do, is help people with the cost of living, but also, drive growth in the economy that is going

to lead to hiring tax revenue, so we can pay back that debt. what to lead to hiring tax revenue, so we can pay back that debt.— can pay back that debt. what about rishi sunak's _ can pay back that debt. what about rishi sunak's suggestion _ can pay back that debt. what about rishi sunak's suggestion you - can pay back that debt. what about rishi sunak's suggestion you are i can pay back that debt. what about | rishi sunak's suggestion you are not being honest about the situation the economy is in i being honest about the situation the economy is i— economy is in i am being very honest, economy is in i am being very honest. we — economy is in i am being very honest, we face _ economy is in i am being very honest, we face the - economy is in i am being very honest, we face the biggest l economy is in i am being very - honest, we face the biggest economic crisis we have for a generation and now is not the time for business as usual. now is the time for bold action, to get the british economy going, to unleash the talent we have, to unleash the businesses to produce more, and that is why i favour keeping our taxes low, not raising corporation tax, which will put off those people who want to invest in britain.— invest in britain. rishi sunak has described himself _ invest in britain. rishi sunak has described himself as _ invest in britain. rishi sunak has described himself as the - invest in britain. rishi sunak has i described himself as the underdog and said today forces that be want you to be the next prime minister, what do you make of that? i am somebody _ what do you make of that? i am somebody in — what do you make of that? i am somebody in every _ what do you make of that? i am somebody in everyjob - what do you make of that? i am somebody in everyjob in - what do you make of that? i —n somebody in everyjob in government i have done, whether it is for the foreign office, trade, i have got things done, i push through the northern ireland protocol bill, i have delivered trade deals that people said wouldn't be possible, and i have stood up to vladimir putin after his appalling invasion of ukraine. i am somebody who gets

things done, that is what i am talking to conservative party members about and i am running a positive campaign. fire members about and i am running a positive campaign.— positive campaign. are you come waitier positive campaign. are you come wapitier being — positive campaign. are you come wapitier being the _ positive campaign. are you come wapitier being the front - positive campaign. are you come wapitier being the front runner? | positive campaign. are you come| wapitier being the front runner? i want to see a country where everybody can succeed regardless of their background, that is what i am out campaigning about today, i am not taking anything for granted, i want the support of conservative members, i am somebody who is campaigning as a conservative, and will govern as a conservative. rishi sunak was in grantham today, dough do you think he is a thatcherite and are you? i dough do you think he is a thatcherite and are you? i think we need to move _ thatcherite and are you? i think we need to move on, _ thatcherite and are you? i think we need to move on, we _ thatcherite and are you? i think we need to move on, we are _ thatcherite and are you? i think we need to move on, we are in - thatcherite and are you? i think we need to move on, we are in the - need to move on, we are in the 20205, need to move on, we are in the 2020s, we are facing a the global economic crisis and what we need is bold action. that is why i would make sure that people who work hard, are rewarded. i would make sure that businesses have those incentives to invest in britain, so that we can get thejobs and invest in britain, so that we can get the jobs and growth we need to succeed at the next election, and to drive britain forward in the future, i don't believe in the councils of decline, i don't think it is

necessary that the country should go into recession, what i want to see is economic growth that will drive future progress.— is economic growth that will drive future progress. is economic growth that will drive future rouress. ~ ., ., .., .,~ ., future progress. what do yao make of the chaos at — future progress. what do yao make of the chaos at dover, _ future progress. what do yao make of the chaos at dover, has _ future progress. what do yao make of the chaos at dover, has that - future progress. what do yao make of the chaos at dover, has that been - the chaos at dover, has that been caused by brexit? the the chaos at dover, has that been caused by brexit?— caused by brexit? the fact is that the french _ caused by brexit? the fact is that the french authorities _ caused by brexit? the fact is that the french authorities have - caused by brexit? the fact is that the french authorities have not . caused by brexit? the fact is that i the french authorities have not put enough people on the border, and i am in touch with the french authorities, i am very clear that we immediate to see action from them, to resolve the terrible situation that people are facing. [30 to resolve the terrible situation that people are facing.- to resolve the terrible situation that people are facing. do they not need more — that people are facing. do they not need more people _ that people are facing. do they not need more people there _ that people are facing. do they not need more people there because l that people are facing. do they not| need more people there because of having to control things post—brexit? is this not a situation that has been caused by leaving the european union? this that has been caused by leaving the european union?— european union? this is a situation that has been _ european union? this is a situation that has been caused _ european union? this is a situation that has been caused by _ european union? this is a situation that has been caused by a - european union? this is a situation that has been caused by a lack- european union? this is a situation that has been caused by a lack of. that has been caused by a lack of resource at the border, and that is what the french authorities need to address, and that is what i am being clear with them about. the address, and that is what i am being clear with them about.— clear with them about. the ukraine said that russia _ clear with them about. the ukraine said that russia has _ clear with them about. the ukraine said that russia has immediately . said that russia has immediately broken its promises by attacking the port of odesa, what is your response to that? it port of odesa, what is your response to that? , ., , ,., , port of odesa, what is your response tothat? to that? it is absolutely appalling, that onl a to that? it is absolutely appalling, that only a day — to that? it is absolutely appalling, that only a day after _ to that? it is absolutely appalling, that only a day after striking - to that? it is absolutely appalling, that only a day after striking this | that only a day after striking this deal vladimir putin has launched a

completely unwarranted attack onned so is a. it shows not a word he says can be trusted and we need to work with our international partners to find a better want i of getting the grain out of ukraine, that doesn't involve russia, and their broken promises. liz truss there. joining me now is the conservative health minister and rishi sunak supporter, maria caulfield mp. she is minister of state at the department of health. thank you for joining us and patiently listening to all that went before. listening to all that went before. listening to liz truss, she can speak in the present tense because is still a member of the cabinet. rishi sunak a former chancellor, are you worried that the loyalty question might count against rishi sunak, because he resign and helped bring down borisjohnson? because kiths have been traditionally not been sympathetic to challengers who do that. i sympathetic to challengers who do that. ~' ., , ., , ., that. i think there was a number of ministers that _ that. i think there was a number of ministers that resigned _ that. i think there was a number of ministers that resigned over - that. i think there was a number of ministers that resigned over the i ministers that resigned over the last few weeks and i think we moved on from that now, this is about who

is best placed to run the country, and for me, rishi sunak is our number one issued round the cost of living pressures that people are facing now, we heard in your report, the affects of the war in ukraine is having on us and we need one who has shown and demonstrated when he was chancellor how nimble he could be in the face of a crisis, during the covid pandemic i know i speak to my constituents i have 13,000 people on furlough, during the pandemic, who thankfully have got theirjobs back but furlough was a life saver, i have businesses who say if it wasn't for the help from rishi they wouldn't have a business now. he has a proven track record and that is what counts, what will he do when he is prime minister. the what counts, what will he do when he is prime minister.— is prime minister. the difficulty i su ose is prime minister. the difficulty i suppose is _ is prime minister. the difficulty i suppose is in _ is prime minister. the difficulty i suppose is in a — is prime minister. the difficulty i suppose is in a debate _ is prime minister. the difficulty i suppose is in a debate as - is prime minister. the difficulty i suppose is in a debate as we - is prime minister. the difficulty i suppose is in a debate as we are| suppose is in a debate as we are having at the moment which is about the effects that global inflation is having on people's day to day lives, the additional taxes that the chancellor is levied, in part to pay

back some of that money has added to people's burden, it is an attractive message to say question can cut taxes and do it now we message to say question can cut taxes and do it nov— message to say question can cut taxes and do it now we have 'ust had one of the largest * taxes and do it now we have 'ust had one of the largest tax h taxes and do it now we have 'ust had one of the largest tax cuts _ taxes and do it now we have 'ust had one of the largest tax cuts in]- taxes and do it now we have just had one of the largest tax cuts in a - one of the largest tax cuts in a decade with the lifting of the national insurance threshold, most poo who pay it that is an extra £330 in their pockets so he shows where he can cut tax he will. let us not be misleading on this, at all, the biggest pressure we face is inflation, the bank of england estimate that will rise to about 11% before it starts to fall early next year, if you give tax cuts now or pay above inflation pay rises people won't feel that because that will do is push inflation even further forward. we have supply inflation, if we start to lift other things to match inflation, they will have a knock on effect and what we need to do, just as margaret thatcher did when she became leader is to reduce that inflation, get it under control

and you can get give the tax cuts and you can get give the tax cuts and pay risings and people will feel the benefit. it is and pay risings and people will feel the benefit. , , , ., the benefit. it is interesting you mention margaret _ the benefit. it is interesting you mention margaret thatcher - the benefit. it is interesting you | mention margaret thatcher when the benefit. it is interesting you - mention margaret thatcher when she became leader, three—and—a—half years before she became prime minister. at the time she was understood estimated and people certainly by themselves thought better qualified to be leader of the conservative party. she surprised people. are now not underestimating liz truss. , ., , people. are now not underestimating liz truss. , . , , liz truss. rishi has said he is the underdo: liz truss. rishi has said he is the underdog and — liz truss. rishi has said he is the underdog and people _ liz truss. rishi has said he is the underdog and people are - underdog and people are underestimating him. his back story, people often are critical about him... but... his dad was a gp. his mum wasa him... but... his dad was a gp. his mum was a pharmacist, he got a scar ship to go to a good university, thatis ship to go to a good university, that is the opportunities we want for everyone, and i think when people hearfrom rishi, hear his story, hearwhat people hearfrom rishi, hear his story, hear what he has to offer the country, i think they will be

surprised. country, i think they will be surprised-— country, i think they will be surprised. country, i think they will be surrised. , ., ., , , surprised. the question that i guess our -a surprised. the question that i guess your party activists _ surprised. the question that i guess your party activists will _ surprised. the question that i guess your party activists will be _ surprised. the question that i guess your party activists will be ask - surprised. the question that i guess your party activists will be ask in - your party activists will be ask in lewes and all over the country, we don't know how many there are because your party doesn't give figures but it is estimated about 160,000 people, it presum bly who can win the next general election for the kith, you would acknowledge would you not least representing a set seat that has not been conservative at some point, it is going to be tough to win a fourth general election, is that how much of a calculation is that in your decision to back him? it’s of a calculation is that in your decision to back him?- of a calculation is that in your decision to back him? it's a big calculation. — decision to back him? it's a big calculation, on _ decision to back him? it's a big calculation, on the _ decision to back him? it's a big calculation, on the polling, - decision to back him? it's a big | calculation, on the polling, only rishi is able on to beat keir starmer at the moment and for conservative members whether it is for the local elections in may or the general election that follows after that, they want conservative councillor, they want a conservative government and when the polling shows only rishi can beat labour and keir starmer and the liberal

democrats, then that will influence their votes up i am pretty certain. what then did you make of the survey the express published this morning, in a yougov survey narrow lead for liz truss, by contrast in a head off between the two, the same people who are polled said 40% preferred keir starmer and only 36% preferred rishi sunak, that would suggest at the moment liz truss has an edge. brute moment liz truss has an edge. we have seen moment liz truss has an edge. - have seen polling that suggests the opposite, that only rishi can beat sir keir starmer, and the labour party, i have done quite a big survey of my own constituents and very much he is in the lead there, as you say i'm in a marginal seat, to hold on to government we need to be winning in seats like mine m it does have an influence, i have been

speaking to people on the doorstep steps and asking them to let me know their views and they have been strong in their indication to me. thank you very much. we will have full coverage of the bbc debate on monday evening with sophie raworth and chris mason and we will have full coverage between eight and nine in the run up and in the aftermath reaction from both camps. join me for that on monday evening. before we go pictures of crop fires. eight fire engines, all terrain vehicles and a bulk water carrier were sent to the scene. firefighters took people in the area to safety. there are no reports of any injuries.