this is bbc news. the headlines at 8... labour opens its annual conference as its leader, sir keir starmer, prepares to set out the dividing lines between his party and the new conservative government. he tells the bbc he would reverse the government's cut to the top income tax rate. we do need to grow our economy, that has been the single biggest failure of the last 12 years of this tory government, but we need to recognise who grows this economy. the head of the rmt union describes talks with the new transport secretary as a good start. the next strike is planned for the first of october. a man has died after a fire in a block of flats in bristol. eight other people are currently being treated in hospital and 90 were evacuated.

voting is under way in italy's general election, which polls suggest may result in the country's most right—wing government since the second world war the iranian president threatens "decisive action" to stop the wave of anti—government protests sweeping the country. sir keir starmer has said a future labour government would reinstate the 45% top rate of tax, which the government has announced it is cutting, but that they would keep the 1p cut in basic rate tax also announced by the chancellor. as the labour party conference got under way, sir keir said the party would take a very different approach to economic growth, partly by promoting green energy. he dismissed the government's

strategy, announced on friday, of cutting taxes to make the uk more attractive to business and investors. here's our political correspondent ben wright. for the first time in years, labour gathers for its conference believing power might be in sight. the party now confronts a new prime minister borrowing billions to cut taxes, in a dash for economic growth — a strategy labour's leader slammed this morning as "wrong—headed". i see a very big political divide because you've got the conservative party now saying the future of this country is one where the rich get richer and we offer nothing meaningful to working people. you've got the labour party saying we do need to grow our economy, that's been the single biggest failure of the last 12 years of this tory government, but we need to recognise who grows this economy. developing green energy is key to labour's long—term strategy, but what about the government's plan for tax cuts now? sir keir said scrapping the 45p top

rate of income tax was wrong. it is hugely risky, it's hugely divisive and i would reverse it. and would you support the government cutting the basic rate of income tax from from 20p down to 19p? yes, i've long made the argument that we should reduce the tax burden on working people. but not everyone here agrees with all of that and this morning, labour's mayor for greater manchester, andy burnham, said the basic rate of income tax should be kept where it is. tax is now a major battleground in politics, and this morning the conservative chancellor suggested he wasn't done yet. there's more to come. we've only been here 19 days. i i want to see, over the next year, i people retain more of their income, because i believe that it's the british people that. are going to drive this economy. this is a labour party feeling pretty chipper. yes, there are activists and union leaders arguing the leadership should be standing squarely behind public—sector workers, demanding inflation—matching pay rises, and the labour movement rarely sings

with one voice, but greater unity has certainly returned. # send him victorious...#. and this morning, a first — the national anthem at the start of conference, in honour of the late queen. a moment intended to show the labour party has changed and deserves another hearing from voters. earlier, i spoke to our political correspondent iain watson, who's in liverpool for us. he told me the gulf between labour and government policy is widening. what we are seeing dividing lines in british politics and we have seen for some time, cutting that additional rate of tax, as they call it, those for earnings over £150,000, is now a clear dividing line

between the conservative government and labour, saying that the better off ought to pay, as they would see it, their fare share during a cost of living crisis. liz truss, is in some ways a unifying force for the opposition, because they are able to say, this is what we would do differently. it gives them greater definition as a result. where there was less agreement was on the question of whether to reverse the proposed cut in the basic rate of income tax, because some in the party, including the party's deputy leader, only a day or so ago, seemed to think perhaps that ought to be diverse too. and andy burnham, a leading figure in the party, a former leadership contender, felt that the money that could have been used to cut that basic rate of tax should be instead to bolster public sector pay. there isn't unity around that position, but keir starmer has been absolutely clear, he believes that it would be sending

the wrong signal for labour to say to people on relatively modest incomes that they would have to pay more in tax, come the next general election. he very swiftly moved to say that he would accept that cut from the government, he wanted to dividing lines between the opposition and government instead to be about what happens to the better off. this is just day one of the conference. i expect there will be many other policy areas where we will get details on what labour would do if it were in a position to form a government. but one of the really thorny topics will be the issue of strikes that we are seeing so frequently now. and actually how labour would deal with that. we got an inkling of that today. what more might we hear? we may hear very little, and that is a story in itself. the former leader, of course, jeremy corbyn, certainly believes that labour mps should be standing shoulder to shoulder with workers who are

on strike on picket lines. keir starmer, the current leader, very keen to tell his senior team, those around him, the shadow ministers, not to be seen on picket line. that has proved controversial. there was an attempt by people on the left of the labour party are determined to have a debate here about whether the front bench team, the leading members of the labour party, should go on picket lines. and also about pay too, and whether labour should be backing inflation busting pay increases. but that would only be debated if it became one of the most popular topics at the conference, and supporters of keir starmer�*s leadership have succeeded in keeping that item off the agenda, so there won't even be in a debate on this issue, which otherwise could have potentially embarrassed keir starmer. i think that is a sign he is solidifying his leadership. some of the trade unions want

a debate, for example, on whether the energy sector should be nationalised, should it be taken into state hands are common ownership. and that is currently being discussed. the main item being pushed by those on the left is that labour mps ought to be out there publicly backing some of those strikes, that is now off the agenda entirely. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at ii.30pm this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are lord kim darroch, the former british ambassador to the united states and kieran andrews, who's the scottish political editor at the times scotland. two teenagers have been charged with murder following the death of khayri mclean 15—year—old. khayri was stabbed outside a school in huddersfield last wednesday. west yorkshire police said that two males, aged 15 and 16 have been charged with murder and possession of a bladed article. both teenagers have been remanded in custody and will appear before leeds magistrates tomorrow.

the head of the rmt union has said talks with the new transport secretary were a "good start" in attempts to solve issues that have led to repeated strikes on the railways. the next strike is planned for the first of october. 40,000 rmt members are due to walk out — in an ongoing dispute about pay and conditions. our business correspondent marc ashdown gave us this update: anne—marie trevelyan had only been in the post a couple of days when she called this meeting with union leaders, so late last week she met with the rmt�*s mick lynch and aslef�*s mick whelan. very interesting, really. this is a marked departure from the stance of her predecessor grant shapps who refused to meet face—to—face with the unions, he said that was the job of the rail operators, not his. so it is important to point out here that this might be

a sea change in attitude, but she is not going in to negotiate with the unions, but it is a step change in the attitude of the government towards the unions. mick lynch described it as a very pleasant meeting, he said she allowed them to explain, in his words, everything that is wrong with our transport system and the railways in particular. he called it a good start, but we now need concrete change to get negotiations with rail operators freely moving forward. he said i'm more optimistic than i was under grant shapps, it is better to have face—to—face dialogue than be locked out of the room, and he hopes anne—marie trevelyan is astute enough to continue this dialogue. a 20—year—old man has been arrested at heathrow airport on suspicion of attempted murder, after four men were hit by a car in hounslow, west london, on sunday, the metropolitan police said.

the latest we know about the casualties, two remaining critical condition, the others were treated for nonlife changing injuries. that update from the met. a 20—year—old man has been arrested at heathrow airport on suspicion of attempted murder, after four men were hit by a car in hounslow, west london, on sunday, the metropolitan police said. the final hours of voting are taking place in italy, as the country holds its first general election since 2018. it's expected to return the country's most right—wing government since the second world war and pave the way for giorgia meloni to become its first woman prime minister. a right—wing alliance led by her brothers of italy party appeared set for a clear victory when the last opinion polls were published two weeks ago. earlier our correspondent, mark lowen, gave us the latest from rome.

the last rays of sunshine are dipping over the eternal city, some things stay the same, but some things change, and among them politics. italy could indeed be in line for a very big political change, if giorgia meloni does indeed do what the opinion polls have suggested she will do and come out top in this election, she would become italy's first female prime minister, and its first far—right leader since mussolini, the fascist leader during the war. she leads a right—wing coalition. she says that her party has consigned fascism to history. it does have neo—fascist roots, but she says she is more like a modern conservative party. she is hardline on immigration, anti—lgbt rights, and some of italy's traditional allies might fear she could turn there is a country towards the socially conservative hungary, for example, of viktor 0rban. she said she is about god,

family and homeland. some of her detractors will think she is about something far darker. italy looks picture—perfect from afar. a delicious combination of food, fashion and folklore. but close up, things are very frayed around the edges. italians voting today are living through an acute cost—of—living crisis. many think this woman has the answers, far—right firebrand giorgia meloni. waiting in the wings today are her chosen coalition partners, tycoon silvio berlusconi and anti—immigration populist matteo salvini. though not all voters are convinced. translation: of course i'm worried about the energy - crisis, the economy,

but i don't trust politicians. i'll vote for the best of the worst. what's most on your mind? "to avoid the populists", claudia told me, "having meloni as prime minister would be unforgivable." but marizio believes meloni's promise of a better future. translation: meloni stands for more italian sovereignty in europe. - that's better for our business, our politics, and economy. - it's hide and seek all over town today for giorgia meloni. we were told she was going to come here to vote and at the last minute, she didn't turn up. she believes she is this close to become italy's next prime minister and she knows everyone is watching. including outside italy. this country is a key player in the eu and nato. here in rome, liars have their hand bitten off in the mouth of truth — according to medieval legend. voters here know they can't believe every political promise made on the campaign trail.

theyjust hope whoever italy's next prime minister is, they're up to the considerable challenge. people will be watching a lot from abroad. nato, for example. giorgia meloni has been supportive of nato. she supports sending arms to ukraine, but in her coallition she has matteo salvini of the far right and ex prime minister silvio berlusconi. both of whom are known to be quite close to vladimir putin, so i think that will cause concerns in western european capitals. let's get the view from up in the northern part of italy, in beautiful verona, where our europe reporter jessica parker is. what is the view up there on meloni? the sense of whether people are voting for her en masse?

talking to people here, and of course elsewhere last time around, the league party triumphed in terms of topping the polls, but this time giorgia meloni, brothers of italy, is expected to do well here. when you talk to people about why they might be backing meloni, a few themes tend to come up. her hard line on immigration, but also her tax cuts plans as well. of course, northern italy, where i am, one of the wealthier areas of the country. that idea of tax cuts seems to have gone down quite well with people and businesses here and i think there is a sense too that in an area where they often back right—leaning politicians, giorgia meloni seems to have the momentum behind. she seems to be generating the most interest. a couple of women we have spoken to have talked about the fact that they would like to see a woman in power for the first time, that they admire her grit, her determination. of course, her detractors,

and there are some of those here as well, are very worried about what she may mean for italy if she were to become prime minister. one person was very worried about her views on lgbt rights, said they were concerned about several years. she has spoken out about the lgbt lobby, as she calls it, could spread hatred and society. she is still polarising, but a lot of people are loosing an interest. she is still polarising, but a lot of people are taking an interest. but having said that, there's quite a lot apathy as well. very interesting hearing about the support going to her up in the north, because her party has traditionally been seen as quite roman, and as you were saying, in the north of italy, it has been more with matteo salvini. you get the sense that the supporters going over to her, and as she is basically taking the place that he has vacated? it does seem to be that sense, we will have to see how the votes shake down, but she is probably the candidate

that has generated the most interest and of course, as you have been discussing, the under leader of a major party who didn't take part and mario draghi's a government of national unity, and she seems to have benefited from that. some voters like the fact that she had been critical of the covid restrictions. the remembered her from speaking out against that. so that seem to have gone or some favourable some voters as well. and are seen as are relatively fresh face. she served in berlusconi's government to ten years ago, so has been kicking around in politics for a very long time, but hasn't held a senior position in government. people casting around for who to vote for seem to be interested in giving her a try, but i mentioned it before, there isn't actually an overwhelming sense of excitement, an overwhelming sense of political change here. if anything, a lot of people seem

pretty fed up by having to go to the polls, and a lot of people still did not know who they were going to vote for. and that level of undecided voters is what the centre—left that they can tap into, to try to peel away her support at the last minute. thank you very much indeed. that desire for change is very much what you hear in this country, where the economy has virtually not grown for 20 years. there is a massive brain drain. la dolce vite, as may be something that is not working here. they have had almost 70 governments since the second world war, and it seems at the moment, if the polls are to be believed, that enough italians are willing to dry something different, to try something different, perhaps a leap into the unknown with giorgia meloni. there will be exit from polling stations close at 10pm london time. we will have all the results and analysis on the bbc news channel.

but i will hand you back to the studio. concerts by pink floyd's co—founder roger waters have been cancelled in poland, after his stance on the ukraine war caused outrage in the country. the controversy was triggered by an open letter waters had sent to ukraine's first lady, olena zelenska. he wrote that "extreme nationalists", as he put it, "had set ukraine on the path to this disastrous war". he made no mention of russia's responsibility for the war. let's get more on this from our correspondent adam easton who's in warsaw. what do we know about the decision, when was it taken in what was the decisive factor? we when was it taken in what was the decisive factor?— decisive factor? we know this decision was _ decisive factor? we know this decision was taken _ decisive factor? we know this decision was taken by - decisive factor? we know this decision was taken by the - decisive factor? we know this l decision was taken by the event promoters, live nation poland and the venue itself. in the south of

poland. all they said was the two concerts next april have been cancelled and gave no reason for that cancellation. when i spoke to a person for the arena, i said is there any connection between roger waters's comments on this decision he said no comment. it is clear these comments you mentioned in the introduction did cause a storm of controversy here in poland which has been a staunch supporter of volodymyr zelensky�*s government, sent a lot of armaments and tanks and welcomed more than 1 sent a lot of armaments and tanks and welcomed more thani million refugees into the country, women and children fleeing the fighting. roger waters's comments caused as the crack of city council said they wanted to declare him persona non grata, they said he was they were outraged he did not mention russia,

just things he wanted ukraine to do, what ukraine should do. you mentioned mr zelensky had failed to fulfil his election campaign to bring peace to the donbas region, that the west was prolonging this war by arming ukraine. talk of these extreme nationalists leading ukraine down a path to war and not a single mention of president putin or the fact that russia had sent the tanks in in an unprovoked attack. that is what has caused a controversy here. as i say, led to calls, many calls for people to boycott the concerts and this decision today with the cancellation by the venue itself to promote, stop those concerts going ahead. rogerwaters promote, stop those concerts going ahead. roger waters has not commented since this decision but he did comment in the hours before, he is onto it in the us and said that

the councillors as he said referring to his famous song and other breaking the world, leave those he said he was the victim of draconian censorship and he said if the concerts were to be cancelled because he did not know, he said that his message of love as he described it, would not be heard by the people of poland and all he wanted was for this conflict to be over. . ~' wanted was for this conflict to be over. ., ~ , ., y wanted was for this conflict to be over. ., ~ i. , . wanted was for this conflict to be over. . ~' ,, y . ., wanted was for this conflict to be over. ., ~ i. , . ., ., there's been a further night of demonstrations in iran with clashes between police and anti—goverment protestors now said to have claimed at least a0 lives. the protests were prompted by the death of a young woman in police custody, she'd been detained for allegedly flouting strict rules on wearing the hijab head—covering. the iranian president has threatened "decisive action" to stop the wave of protests sweeping the country. kasra naji of the bbc�*s persian service has the latest.

explosions. iran last night. there were more protests in at least 11 cities. and this is what they are up against, the riot police and irregular security forces, anyone the government has been able to mobilise, and they have been using their guns to shoot directly into the crowds. iranians are enraged about the death in police custody of a 22—year—old woman, mahsa amini, which has sparked the biggest protests against the government for many years. she had been detained for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly and showing a bit of her hair. not surprisingly, women have been at the forefront of this protest. these women have taken off their scarves and walked through the middle of one of the busiest streets in tehran. theirfaces have been blurred

to protect their identities. in another part of the capital last night, the protesters set fire to the picture of iran's supreme leader. these disturbing pictures have emerged of a mother and her daughter pleading to be allowed to go. suddenly, a policeman throws the daughter hard against the curb. this 20—year—old is the latest victim of the violence, here joining the crowd of protesters. she was killed soon after with a police pellet gun. kasra naji, bbc news. a man has died afterfalling from a block of flats in bristol as he tried to escape from a fire on the 16th floor. eight people had to be taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and burns, 90 others had to be evacuated from the building. pam caulfield has spent the day at the scene. you may find some of the details in her report upsetting.

the fire started in the hallway of this top floor flat, just after two in the morning. it blocked the exit, and those inside tried to escape through a window. one man fell to the ground and died. mark saw the man fall past his window on the fourth floor, so phoned 999 and rushed outside to help. seconds later, glass fell out the building, followed by loads of screaming for help. lots of black smoke, and then followed by some intense fire, and i saw... you see the window at the top left, which is burnt out? two guys climbed out of that, and they were holding onto that for dear life, and then the fire brigade got their ladder out, and it wouldn't reach. this man managed to escape. 11 fire engines were called to the scene. around 90 residents were evacuated

last night, and there's a lot of anger and frustration, because many of them told us the fire alarms didn't go off. they knocked on my door, woke me up. get out, get it. why has no one alerted us? nobody knocked my door i to tell me there was a fire. terry's home is on the floor below the fire. the smoke alarm in the flat itself went off, but there aren't any in the communal areas. regulation say they are not required, but some residents say they don't feel safe. the cause of the blues is unknown, that is being investigated. the cause of the blaze is unknown, that is being investigated. the fire service it was put out quickly, and the evacuation went to plan. it is a difficult scene, but it is something that we train for regularly, and is something in particular since the grenfell tower disaster, we have increased our training. people living on the low levels

are now allowed back in. floor 16, we will put people in emergency accommodation, until we have probably done the work to make sure that their flats are properly habitable. it's not known how long it will be before people can return to their homes. double olympic champion eliud kipchogee has broken his own men's marathon world record this morning in berlin. the 37—year—old kenyan crossed the line in a time of two hours, one minute and nine seconds, beating his previous best by 30 seconds, it was set four years ago, also in berlin. to the capital now, and flocks of sheep have been herded across london bridge, in a tradition dating back to the middle ages, when shepherds would take their livestock into the city of london to sell at market. the shepherds have been exercising their ancient "right" to bring their animals across the river thames into the city, toll free. our correspondent

anjana gadgill was there. this is the annual sheep drive in the city of london, where a flock of sheep herded from one side of london bridge across the river thames to the other. back in medieval times, the sound of sheep bleating and hooves trotting on london bridge would have been familiar as farmers drove their sheep across london bridge into the city of london to sell them at market. those people called freemen and did not have to pay the toll to cross the bridge in recognition of their status as local traders. it is not entirely sure when the practice ended, but certainly by the beginning of the 20th century it was no longer happening, as motor vehicles had taken over instead, but ten years ago the tradition was revived mainly down to a campaign, a charity called the campaign for wool.

the patron is his majesty king charles iii. nowadays, it's reallyjust symbolic, done as a charity fundraiser. any event of this nature in the city is going to attract a flock of people to come and watch. if you are in the city of london, you can expect to get lambushed by a herd of sheep. with the sheep and all the ponds. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren. —— the puns. the wind continuing to strengthen, cloud across the uk, a short spell of rain that moves away from scotland and northern ireland this evening. it sprints southwards across england and wales. the wind direction changes, a northerly wind will bring in some showers. not quite as cold as last night, temperatures in eastern scotland and north—east england down to seven degrees. by the time we get to tomorrow morning, the weather front bringing the rain band is in the english channel, and we have this run of much stronger northerly winds

across the uk bringing colder air all the way from iceland, a mixture of sunshine and showers, pushed in on those very brisk winds,