live from london. this is bbc news. tv presenter holly willoughby says she is hurt after phillip schofield's admission about a relationship with a younger itv colleague, which he previously denied to her. the home office says e—gates are now operating as normal after long delays for some passengers travelling to uk airports. in the uk — the post office apologises for using racist language to describe sub—postmasters who were being wrongly investigated as part of the horizon computer scandal. ukraine's most senior security official tells the bbc the country is ready to launch its long—expected counter—offensive against russian forces. it's the final day of campaigning in turkey ahead of one of the country's most divisive presidential elections.

hello. british tv presenter holly willoughby has reacted to phillip schofield's admission to a relationship with a younger employee, saying she is hurt. on friday, mr schofield resigned from itv saying he had lied to cover up the relationship, which he described as �*unwise, but not illegal�*. itv has said it investigated rumours of the relationship but both repeatedly denied it. our correspondent katherine da costa has the latest on holly willoughby�*s reaction. she has been responding to the news that philip schofield had had a younger man on the show, this morning, in 2020. in a statement on her instagram account, holly said, "it has taken time to process yesterday's news.

you betterjust remind us how a big a name in tv phillip schofield is. particularly for people watching around the world who may not know him. philip schofield is a household name here in the uk. he started out as a children's tv presenter and has gone on to present a string of high—profile programmes, including dancing on ice. perhaps he is best known for hosting the itv this morning, a role he had for more than 20 years. he has worked with holly willoughby since 2009. audiences really liked the chemistry he had with his co—presenter. for months, there has been months of speculation online about his personal relationships. last week he left this morning following reports of a rift between him and holly willoughby, something he said was unrelated to this latest revelation. yesterday he admitted that he did have an affair with a younger man that he worked with on the show. he said while the relationship

was unwise, it was not illegal. he was still married at the time of the affair to his wife. they separated in 2020 when he came out as gay. philip schofield said in a statement he was very, very sorry for being unfaithful to his wife and to lying to colleagues and the media and the public about the relationship. and he said he was going to reflect on his very bad judgment in both participating in the relationship and then lying about it. we have heard from holly in the last hour. itv also earlier released a statement? itv says it investigated rumours that philip schofield had an affair with an employee when they first started to circulate in 2020. the broadcaster said both parties had repeatedly denied the rumours. a number of people who worked on this morning were also spoken to, but there was no evidence of a relationship that was found beyond hearsay. itv says it is deeply disappointed

and that his statement confirms that he had lied to people at the company, both at senior management and to fellow presenters. some have suggested that the revelations raise questions about how much the network's managers knew at the time. we can now speak to rhea freeman is a pr advisor and brand expert. we have heard from holly willoughby now. some people wondering why we hadn't heard her previously. what do you make of holly's statement? i think it backs up what philippa said about keeping a secret. she's in a difficult position. what does she say? i think now she said something it will hopefully stop speculation that she knew all about it and all the other things that people have been talking about, particularly online.— people have been talking about, particularly online. what about the

programme _ particularly online. what about the programme then — particularly online. what about the programme then and _ particularly online. what about the programme then and have - particularly online. what about the programme then and have a - particularly online. what about the programme then and have a role l particularly online. what about the | programme then and have a role in it. do you expect her to stay on then? , . , , 4' it. do you expect her to stay on then? , ., , , ,, ., , then? yes, absolutely. i think holly is a hue then? yes, absolutely. i think holly is a huge part _ then? yes, absolutely. i think holly is a huge part of— then? yes, absolutely. i think holly is a huge part of this _ then? yes, absolutely. i think holly is a huge part of this morning, - is a huge part of this morning, as was phil. i don't see any reason why she couldn't carry on with that role and hopefully work with someone else and hopefully work with someone else and become a new dynamic duo. what and become a new dynamic duo. what about itv, and become a new dynamic duo. what about itv. we — and become a new dynamic duo. what about itv, we have _ and become a new dynamic duo. what about itv, we havejust _ and become a new dynamic duo. what about itv, we have just heard about what they said today they have released a statement saying they did investigate this and found nothing more than rumours and hearsay and when they approach both men about it, both of them denied it. there has been some criticism of their reaction, hasn't there? what do you make of where things are for itv now unless? i make of where things are for itv now unless? ., make of where things are for itv now unless? ~' ., make of where things are for itv now unless? ~ ., ., unless? i feel like from what they said about this _ unless? i feel like from what they said about this process _ unless? i feel like from what they said about this process that - unless? i feel like from what they said about this process that they l said about this process that they went through to see what truth was there, it does sound like they have conducted that investigation. but i think it is also important to remember that in normal life, people do have affairs. it is horribly sad that it does happen. if it wasn't

someone in the media spotlight it would be a private issue that wouldn't necessarily impact on their work. but because of who he is on the fact that he is in the media spotlight, it does change things. in terms of, itv, i think they have been quite clear that they have done the work and that they are disappointed that they had been lied to as per every statement that we have heard over the last few days. phillip schofield said he is going to reflect on his bad judgment and going to take some time, what do you think this means that his brand and him now? ithink think this means that his brand and him now? i think it will be really interesting to see how this develops interesting to see how this develops in what he does do. i think if we look back at lots of different people who have had issues that have been brought under intense scrutiny, they do often take that step away to let water go under the bridge, to perhaps talk about what has happened and really, sort of think about how they are going to look after themselves and how they are going to move forward as well. and i think that is a really good

thing to do. i do think as well, we as a public do need to be aware that there is notjust two people involved in this. it moves further out than that to his family, his friends, everything said in his statement. i think it is important to have that space notjust for his career but his personal life as well. i think it will help his career moving away from the limelight and letting some time pass. and then if he wants to come back it does have that time in breathing space to do that and think how he's going to do that. thank you very much- — how he's going to do that. thank you very much- pr _ how he's going to do that. thank you very much. pr adviser _ how he's going to do that. thank you very much. pr adviser and _ how he's going to do that. thank you very much. pr adviser and brand - very much. pr adviser and brand expert, thank you for coming on. the home office says all e—gates at uk airports are working again after a nationwide it issue left passengers facing long queues at passport control. in a statement, it said that following a technical border system fault, all e—gates are now operating as normal. it went on to thank travellers who were impacted and staff for their work in resolving the issue. graham satchell has been looking

at the impact on passengers. gatwick airport — described by one passenger today as an utterjoke. this is manchester, where again there were huge queues for passport control. and at heathrow, arriving passengers were forced to wait more than three hours. there was absolutely chaos at passport control, i waited something like 2.5 hours to get out of the airport. this is wayne fenton at luton airport. already been in the queue now forabout 1.5 hours, in fact nearly two hours. the home office said the problem was with the whole uk border system, in particular e—gates, where passengers scan their own passports stopped working. this is one of the worst outages concerning the e—gates system. in the past when we have seen the odd outage, it has been for two or three hours and fixed fairly quickly, but already we are seeing the scale of this particular outage. the timing of this disruption

couldn't be worse, the start of the busy bank holiday weekend and for many the spring half term. the home office have been saying that they have been trying to fix this problem as a matter of urgency, but when i asked them exactly what the problem is that they're trying to fix, they said it was too sensitive to say. it is now nearly five to three, we landed at five to 12. three hours waiting. an absolute nightmare. wayne finally made it and is on his way home. but this was luton airport, this afternoon still packed and this was bristol. the home office says that the idea she has now been resolved. to turkey now and that big presidential election happening tomorrow — sunday. it's a two—way runoff between the current presdient recep tayyip erdogan. he's been in powerfor two decades.

and his main rival, the secular opposition leader, kemal kilic—daroglu. in the first round of the elction earlier this month, president erdogan won 49.5% of the vote — just over 4% more than his rival. both candidates are now chasing support from nationalist voters. our middle east correspondent anna foster is in istanbul. both of these contenders have really squeezed every last drop out of theircampaigning. they've been out in public — kemal kilicdaroglu in the capital, ankara, recep tayyip erdogan here in istanbul. bringing people around them, really about bringing people around them, really both trying to win those crucial votes that they need for one of them to push over the 50% mark, because that is the key. it's now come down to a straight run—off between these two candidates. the expectation is that we will this time find out who turkey's next leader will be. let's look in a little more detail at who the turkish people are choosing between. recep tayyip erdogan, in power here for 20 years, first as prime minister, then as president. he has been accused of becoming

an increasingly authoritarian leader, changing the rules to keep himself in power. he brought in this executive presidency. also making this a much more deeply religious country, certainly in terms of civil society, the rule of law, than it was was beforehand. he and his supporters say he is a strong leadership candidate, that he is the sort of man that turkey needs to really cement its position in the world and deal with some of the problems in turkish society, like the economic crisis for example. he has been calling just today on his supporters not to be complacent, i think, not to look at the fact he was so close last time round, to go out today and keep voting. translation: are we running to the polls tomorrow? - will we cast our votes from the early hours of the morning? we will not lose anyone who voted in the first round. do we agree on that?

cheering and for whatever reason, if anyone can't go to vote, we will encourage them as well. cheering that is what president recep tayyip erdogan has had to say. the challenger, kemal kilicdaroglu is a very different character. he is a quietly spoken former civil servant. he spent a lot of his campaign talking about his vision of a more secular future for turkey, talking about a more democratic country, saying that he would improve things like free speech. but his critics say that he would not be strong enough on the world stage. that he has not got the leadership experience to really provide a contrast to mr erdogan, to really push things forward the things in the way that he could. but kemal kilicdaroglu has been saying to his supporters and to some of these floating voters that he can solve some of the problem is that turkey has been suffering. translation: the situation that our l country is in right now is not good, l turkey needs to get out of this.

to be able to do that, we need to put up a fight together. no matter how we look at the conditions that we are in, a pessimistic atmosphere has been created for everyone. today turkey has some serious economic problems. we will go to the polls and cast our vote, we will replace an authoritarian government through democratic means. so, how do voters right across the country responded to that? what do they think about the issues that the contenders have really been talking about? the economy is certainly one of the biggest things that people have been considering, turkey's economic crisis has been a long and is deep, people really feeling it in their pockets here. things like the country's response, and particularly the government's response to those devastating earthquakes back in february, a lot of people saw that as slow and lacking. that did not seem to damage president erdogan's support in those southern areas though. increasingly, the issue around refugees, mainly syrian refugees,

there are around 3 million in the country and immigration has become a hot topic. both sides have been trying to outdo each other in terms of how many refugees they can remove from this country and how quickly. so what do people in istanbul think about all this? the poles will open it to clock in the morning. will open and they will spend the day, right through until 5pm, casting their votes. this one is simple — one ballot paper, two candidates. when the polls close at 5pm, the counting will start immediately. we expect that as people in turkey will start to think about going to bed, a lot of that counting will be have been done and we will have a clearer idea of who turkey's next president will be. report there on turkey�*s election taking place tomorrow.

now it's time for a look at today's sport. and i expect quite a few luton town fans. luton town, they are heading back to the top division of english football for the first time in 31 years. their championship play—off final against coventry city at wembley was 1—1 after ninety minutes and with no more goals in extra time, they won 6—5 on penalties. nine years after they were a non league side, luton will be in the premiership next season. our reporterjoe lynskey was at the match. the championship play—off final is perhaps the match with the highest stakes in english football. the lucrative prize at the end of it as premier league football and that £170 million jackpot. league football and that £170 millionjackpot. this league football and that £170 million jackpot. this year the team to win it a luton town. an extraordinary story from the team who are ten years ago were non—league. now they have risen all the way through the divisions and in august, will start their campaign in the top—flight of english football.

they did this by beating coventry city in a tense and nervous final. they went all the way to penalties and then to southern death. where the unfortunate coventry player missed the only cake. six perfect penalties for luton at the end of a match that finished 1—1 in normal time then went through a cagey extra time then went through a cagey extra time period, still level at the end. and so, in a few months' time, remarkably luton town will start their premier league campaign. chelsea women are super league champions for the fourth year in a row after getting the win they needed on the final day of the season. they beat reading 3—0 — sam kerr scoring twice, guro reiten with the other. that result also means that reading are relegated. they finish the season 2 points clear of manchester united who won 1—0 at liverpool. there was a thrilling finish to the german bundesliga — with borussia dortmund handing the title to bayern munich. borussia dortmund went into the final match of the season 2 points clear — but could only draw 2—2

at home to mid—table mainz. and that opened the door for bayern munich — who beat cologne 2—1, thanks to jamal musiala's 89th—minute winner — and they finished above dortmund on goal difference for their 11th title in a row. we see that in each season every year and now here. we have to be ashamed of ourselves honestly. congratulations to bayern munich, the team deserves it but when you outlined her home with 80,000 hair, unbelievable. honestly, unbelievable. slovenia's primoz roglic produced a stunning ride in the penultimate stage of cycling's giro d'italia to put on course for victory. geraint thomas had led the standings by 26 seconds going into the final competitive stage, a mountainous time—trial, but the welshman couldn't hold on to the leader's pinkjersey. roglic, who famously lost the 2020 tour de france

in the final time trial, was a0 seconds faster and will be confirmed as the race winner on the largely processional final stage into rome on sunday. heartbreak for thomas who had led the race for the last week. i am pretty gutted, but i said earlier if i had been told this back in february, march, i wouldn't have bit your hand off but now i am devastated. but want it sinks in i can be proud of what we did. i can be proud. world champion max verstappen is on pole for sunday's formula one monaco grand prix, but onlyjust. aston martin were sure that they'd be at the front with fernando alonso quickest until the red bull driver produced a sensational flying final lap — setting the quickest time byjust 8 hundredths of a second. irish side munster have won the united rugby championship, beating the defending champions

stormers 19—14 in the grand final in cape town. and in the english premiership, saracens are celebrating a sixth title — they beat sale 35—25 in their paly—off final at twickenham. sarries ran in four tries in the victory, to become champions for the first time in four years. very, very busy day of sport this saturday. lots more on the bbc website or your app. i will be back for an update website or your app. i will be back foran update in website or your app. i will be back for an update in the next hour. i will see you then. thank you very much. here in the uk, it's emerged that hundreds of sub—postmasters were racially profiled using racist terms, as part of the post office investigation into its failed �*horizon' it system. more than 700 sub—postmasters were prosecuted for false accounting, based on information from a flawed system — in what's been described as "the most widespread miscarriage ofjustice in uk history". the post office has apologised. our business correspondent, peter ruddick, reports. more than 700 post office branch

managers were wrongly prosecuted when faulty software made it look as though they had taken money. now they've discovered they were also being classified and logged along racial lines, using outdated and racist language. an internal document, which has been made public after a freedom of information request, shows fraud investigators were asked to give all potential suspects a number relating to racial background. the number categories include the terms: chinese/japanese types, dark—skinned european types and an offensive colonial term that refers to people of african descent. baljit ran two post offices in east london with his wife for more than 20 years. he lost his business and was declared bankrupt. after giving evidence to the inquiry into the scandal, he now finds it too traumatic to discuss what he's been through. his son said his family were disappointed but not

surprised by the document. it was quite disturbing and itjust goes to show the post office has had a rotten culture at its core for a number of years and this information wasn't made available by the post office. it came about because of the campaigners and people fighting forjustice from the post office, so this is how it came to light, otherwise it would have stayed buried for a long time further. a spokesperson said... several sub postmasters have now had their convictions overturned. however, there are many, like baljit, who are still waiting for compensation. peter ruddick, bbc news. ukraine's most senior security official has said the country is ready to launch its long—expected counter—offensive against russian forces. in a rare interview,

oleksiy danilov told the bbc the planned assault was an "historic opportunity" — but the government had "no right to make a mistake" — when making such an important decision. james landale reports from kyiv. this is what's left of bakhmut in eastern ukraine. images filmed by russian forces of the ruins they now largely control. mercenaries from the wagner group claimed they're withdrawing, being replaced by regular russian troops. but ukraine insists its forces are still engaged on the ground in the outskirts, as the country's most senior security official told us. translation: we control 'ust a small part of the city, i and we admit that. but you have to keep in mind that bakhmut has played a big role in this war. are the wagner mercenary group withdrawing, as their leader, prigozhin, says? yes, that is happening. but it doesn't mean that they will stop fighting us. they're going to concentrate more on other fronts. our intelligence is following that.

we understand where they will appear next. they are regrouping to other free locations and we're following that. and all the while, ukraine is preparing a counter—offensive. this propaganda video broadcast by military commanders to raise morale and encourage what they called a decisive offensive — but when might it begin? translation: we will figure out | when that will start so that we can have the best result at that point of war. it could happen tomorrow, the day after tomorrow or in a week. it would be strange if i were to name dates or the start of that or another event. that cannot be done. but you're ready? we're always ready. the same as we were ready to defend our country at any time. and it is not a question of time. we have to understand that that historical opportunity

that is given to us by god, to our country, we cannot lose. so we can truly become an independent, big european country. but until that happens, ukraine will remain vulnerable to attacks like this — a hospital in dnipro destroyed by a russian missile that air defences this time failed to stop. james landale, bbc news, kyiv. thousands of people were at liverpool's waterfront today, as the city marked the 80th anniversary of the battle of the atlantic. molly brewer reports. vintage dancing, spitfires and naval ships. today liverpool looks like it has been transported back to the 1940s to mark what is arguably one of the most important battles of the second world war.

the battle of the atlantic facilitated d—day, facilitated the battle... it is probably the most important battle in our country. thousands flocked to the pierhead in the sunshine, and of all ages. i am 84 in august, so i would be about three and a half when at the battle was reaching its peak. and how does it feel to be here today? marvellous. and look at the weather. this is our granddaughter. how old are you, charlie? five. so all generations here today? it's all dying into the past now so the more you can remind people, the better. and there is a reason this is all taking place in liverpool. it is a way where the western approach's command underground bunker was actually based here, when the actual iran and coordinated the whole atlantic convoy system, from here, from liverpool,

a very significant place. that's all for me for this half an hour. you were watching bbc news. don't go away. hello there. the cloud and sunshine amounts will vary over the next few days or so. the sunshine has been back today over england and wales, lots of blue skies captured by our weather watcher earlier today. the cloudy of the many parts of scotland with a weak weather front thinking southwards. high pressure is set to stay with us and will keep us dry and settled through the bank holiday weekend. some more warm and sunny spells. don't forget the sun is strong at this time of year and the uv levels will be high. as he had no this evening and overnight, it will cloud over over parts of northern ireland and western scotland.

temperatures if we have prolonged clear spells could drop close to freezing over england and wales the cloud just moving into the north sea facing coast again into sunday morning. sunday is looking cloudier pretty much across the board. cold front is still sinking its way southwards as we had throughout the day. introducing a lot more cloud. with the onshore breeze, cloudy across northern ireland and for much of western scotland. the best of disc oedema sunshine on sunday will be across wales and south—west england. temperatures peaking at 22 or 23 celsius. let's take a look at bank holiday monday, high pressure still in control. you can see the wind is starting to pick up, the isobars squeezing closer together towards the south of the uk. by bluster across the channel island and kent and sussex as well. it will be some more clouds moving in 20 sea coast, generally windy and callie all across the south. western wales.

in the sunshine not doing too badly either across much of northern ireland and scotland where we could see highs of around 21 celsius in the central belt on bank holiday monday. let's take a look at the rest of the week, high pressure is going nowhere. it is set to keep us dry and settled. there will be variable amounts of sunshine day on day. easterly wind and there will be more cloud towards eastern coastal areas. the best of the sunshine will tend to be further west, temperatures grad recover as we head through the week picking up to the mid 20s. watch out for one or two showers later on in the week.

this is bbc news, the headlines: tv presenter holly willoughby says she is hurt after phillip schofield's admission about a relationship with a younger itv colleague, which he previously denied to her. the home office says e—gates are now operating as normal after long delays for some passengers travelling to uk airports. the disruption, which began on friday night, was due to an it issue which is now resolved it's the final day of campaigning in turkey ahead of one of the country's most divisive presidential elections where the economy and immigration are key voter concerns. huge political rallies have been held to drum up support ukraine's most senior security official tells the bbc

the country is ready to launch its long—expected