through brighton jetskis through brighton marina. he will give his speech on tuesday. the third largest party in the house of commons, the lib dems, are positioning themselves as a constructive opposition. sir ed spoke to laura kuenssberg of the bbc this morning about their plans, and here is a taste of what he said. ~ ., , , said. we absolutely will challenge _ said. we absolutely will challenge the _ said. we absolutely will i challenge the government said. we absolutely will - challenge the government where we disagree with them. we are going to be a better opposition than the conservatives, who are so divided and going off to the right. what we are going to do is what we said to the british people during the general election, it is really important we keep the trust we built up. we're going to talk about the nhs, care, sewage, the cost of living. already the government has made two big mistakes in those three areas, at least, and we are holding them to account. on the cost of living a they are withdrawing the winter fuel payments from millions of pensioners who are struggling, when energy bills are going up by over 10% this winter, so they are making a mistake on the cost of living. we are opposing them on that.

we are opposing them on that. we are opposing them on that. we are worried that in the nhs debate, they are talking about reform before investment, when we think there needs to be reform and investment. so, we will hold them to account. but we will be different from the conservatives, because being constructive means you don't do the kind of politics which people are sick of, and you also put your alternatives forward. at the prime minister's questions just last week, when i was opposing the government's withdrawal of winter fuel payments, we were saying, yes, there is a financial deficit left by the tories, we agree with you on that, but there are other ways to deal with that problem, and we put them forward. we to deal with that problem, and we put them forward.- to deal with that problem, and we put them forward. we can go live to brighten _ we put them forward. we can go live to brighten out _ we put them forward. we can go live to brighten out to _ we put them forward. we can go live to brighten out to speak - live to brighten out to speak to our political correspondent who is at the party conference. sir ed talking about constructive opposition, but he needs to carve out the dividing lines with labour, and i assume thatis lines with labour, and i assume that is what he is going to try and do at the conference over the next few days?

education day, and we are expecting to hear very shortly from the liberal democrats education spokesperson, munira wilson, who will be talking about expanding free school meals to more pupils. so, at the moment, there are various ways that children can be eligible for free school meals, but one of them is that their parents have to be on universal credit, with a household incomes of less than around £7,500. the liberal democrats want to see that expanded hugely, so that the threshold will be set at £20,000, rather than £7,400. they say that would mean that almost i million extra children would become eligible for free school meals, which, for many, they say, is their only meal of the day. they see this as a way of tackling child poverty, and also munira wilson will say it

would lead to better academic progress, better behaviour, better concentration, better outcomes overall. so, that is one of their policies, and one of their focuses. we are also expecting to hear her talk about children with special educational needs and disabilities, calling for a new body to support them. she will describe the current system is broken, with many parents struggling to access the support that their children need. and the idea is that this new body would take responsibility for the support that children with special educational needs and disabilities would need. it would apparently pay any gusts above a set threshold, it would enter the postcode lottery, the liberal democrats say. so, we are expecting to hear these kind of ideas in munira wilson's speech when she takes to the stage at conference. and this is just one area where i

think the liberal democrats are trying to push labour to go a bit further, in the spirit of that constructive opposition that constructive opposition that they keep talking about. they're setting out their ideas. being quite specific in some of the policies, in terms of what they say that labour could do more. there is of course that question of the public finances, labour keep talking about the need to take tough decisions, because of the state of the public finances, as they are, labour claim that on the conservatives, there is a healthy dollop of blaming the conservatives going on here at lib dems conference as well, because of course they won many seats from the conservative party, and they want to maintain that and even build on it even further. but the liberal democrats insist that all of these policies that they are setting out our fully costed, they say that they have done their workings and their calculations and they say that these things would be affordable. forthe these things would be affordable. for the chancellor, rachel reeves, sitting there in the treasury, there are all

kinds of different priorities. but what we are seeing from the liberal democrats at conference, as is their right, is really them saying, these are the things that we think you ought to be pushing on. we are expecting munira wilson to start speaking very shortly and we will go straight inside the hall as soon as that happens. i assume, hannah, the mood amongst the delegates there is high after such a good general election, as you have already mentioned?— election, as you have already mentioned? yeah, i have lost count of the _ mentioned? yeah, i have lost count of the number - mentioned? yeah, i have lost count of the number of - mentioned? yeah, i have lost count of the number of times | count of the number of times people have said to us, we have got 72 mp5! and what a significant increase that is for them after the last general election in 2019. there is definitely a celebrated remote to this. and i think also they have talked about being the third biggest party in parliament, being a big responsibility. there is an awareness that while ed davey loves doing all of these stunts and they think that those capture people's imagination and make politics a little bit more fun for the general public, they are aware that they do notjust want

public, they are aware that they do not just want to public, they are aware that they do notjust want to be seen to be celebrating, they want to be seen to be doing something with the newfound position that they have. i think the liberal democrats in that sense are trying to use this to set out various different policies, but there is absolutely no denying that mps are thrilled to be walking past posters that say that they have got more mps than ever, to be having these photo opportunities on rollercoasters is, and out on the jets opportunities on rollercoasters is, and out on thejets key, and parading their mps, getting them known to the media, known to the general public, getting them seem to be championing causes in their local constituencies. one of the new mps are said to me, in some ways this is a hole opportunity for them, ways this is a hole opportunity forthem, because ways this is a hole opportunity for them, because the party does come together, it is an opportunity for them to be pitching in ideas that are important to their constituents and trying to get them on the national party's agenda. but with 72 of them all trying to do that now, there is a lot more ideas and a lot more

constituencies to listen to, but they are certainly very proud of that. i but they are certainly very proud of that.— but they are certainly very roud of that. ., , proud of that. i am interested, hannah, proud of that. i am interested, hannah. we — proud of that. i am interested, hannah, we have _ proud of that. i am interested, hannah, we have heard - proud of that. i am interested, hannah, we have heard ed - proud of that. i am interested, i hannah, we have heard ed davey mentioning the nhs and social care, i wonder if the word brexit has come up? well, not so much. _ brexit has come up? well, not so much. to — brexit has come up? well, not so much, to be _ brexit has come up? well, not so much, to be honest. - brexit has come up? well, not so much, to be honest. but. brexit has come up? well, not| so much, to be honest. but we did have yesterday the conference passing a motion which backs the idea of a youth mobility scheme, for young people under 35 to be able to go and live and work and volunteer in european countries. it's something that the european union is understood to be relatively open to and something that the liberal democrats have suggested. they are really quite firmly in favour of it. there has been some criticism among a small number of people in the conference about weather or not the leadership is being too gradual in its support for rejoining, well, not necessarily rejoining, but having closer ties with the

european union. ed davey�*s leadership has been very much taking the reality of where things are out now, we are not members of the eu, but kind of suggesting things like the youth mobility scheme, where it might be possible to have some closer ties, might be possible to have some closerties, but might be possible to have some closer ties, but for a party that five years ago was campaigning to stop brexit, i think there is a firm acknowledgement now that that argument has happened, they clearly would like closer ties with the european union, but they're not necessarily trying to have that argument all over again. they want to move on from, the general election, they did not really campaign on, in particular, they focused much more on other issues, like sewage, like the nhs and social care. that is what they really want to be talking about, and brexit in that sense has taken much more of a back seat. i think it is worth talking about about the nhs and social care proposals that they are putting

forward as well. that is something that was mentioned yesterday in the opening speech, ed davey then doing interviews on today, and it's not officially all being discussed here at conference until tomorrow, discussed here at conference untiltomorrow, but discussed here at conference until tomorrow, but they very deliberately want to be seen to be a party that is tying social care up with the nhs and really talking an awful lot about their plans for that as well. hannah, it looks like the stage is set for munira wilson to do her keynote speech on education, so let us cross over to the conference hall, and we will have a listen in. there, you can see the stage is set. as we said, munira wilson is the liberal democrat education spokesperson, as hannah said, we are expecting her to call for an extension of preschool meals and a national body for special educational needs. also, hannah, mental health, she is also expected to talk

about that amongst children? yes, and the need to improve mental health outcomes, and the crisis that that is causing for many children and a significant issue in terms of their education and things as well. i think the liberal democrats, really trying to position themselves in this speech as kind of champions of children and young people, trying to set out what they can do for children and young people, and particularly focusing on those from more disadvantaged backgrounds. as i say, they have been looking to expand preschool meals, they also were talking at conference yesterday about increasing the amount of money that is spent on the pupil premium that schools get to support... pupil premium that schools get to suoport- - -— to support... hannah, i am auoin to support... hannah, i am going to — to support... hannah, i am going to interrupt - to support... hannah, i am going to interrupt you - to support... hannah, i am i going to interrupt you because munira wilson has just appeared on stage. munira wilson has “ust appeared on staue. , munira wilson has “ust appeared on staue. ., on stage. good morning, conference. _ on stage. good morning, conference. on - on stage. good morning, conference. on monday i on stage. good morning, . conference. on monday 10th on stage. good morning, - conference. on monday 10th of

june _ conference. on monday 10th of june something extraordinary happened. yes, there was the launch— happened. yes, there was the launch of— happened. yes, there was the launch of some liberal democrat manifesto, but i will come back to that — manifesto, but i will come back to that. no, what was extraordinary was that i, munira _ extraordinary was that i, munira wilson, finally became a cool parent. why? because my boss _ cool parent. why? because my boss ed — cool parent. why? because my boss ed davey asks me to go on a rollercoaster with him. and suddenly, _ a rollercoaster with him. and suddenly, having a politician as a — suddenly, having a politician as a mum _ suddenly, having a politician as a mum sounded way more fun. at least— as a mum sounded way more fun. at least that is what i had hoped _ at least that is what i had hoped. turns out when i got home — hoped. turns out when i got home and _ hoped. turns out when i got home and we watched the news that evening, my ten—year—old daughter— that evening, my ten—year—old daughter declared that i was weird — daughter declared that i was weird and embarrassing. laughter but i don't care, conference, because i had a whale of a time. in fact when all the cameras had gone, bobby deen and i went on the biggest, scariest ride we could find. i am a bit surprised that the press team did not stop us, because stealth does 0—80 in 1.8 seconds, and the rain was lashing down so hard that it closed for safety reasons immediately after we got off

the ride. so, given that nominations have closed, consider yourselves all lucky that you are not out of delivering leaflets in the double by—election right now. instead, what happened? well, bobbyjust went and instead, what happened? well, bobby just went and won carshalton and wellington by almost 8000 votes! applause and yes, conference, what a campaign it was. 72, 72 liberal democrat mps tearing down the blue wall brick by brick. but now, we have a seriousjob blue wall brick by brick. but now, we have a serious job to do. while the conservatives are divided, and hopelessly adrift, we must be the constructive opposition. where they took people for granted, we must campaign with care and compassion. when labour repeats the mistakes of the past, we must hold them to account. and where country cries out for change, we must be bold and

ambitious. and no more is there is needed than in our nurseries, our schools, is needed than in our nurseries, ourschools, our colleges and our universities. because our children have been sidelined for too long. it has always been our liberal mission to put them, children, the very future of our country, at the heart of our policy—making. not just when we were in government, but every day, in town halls up and down the country. my message is this — our nation is bursting with ambition. people young and old who work and study hard and have hopes and dreams for themselves, theirfamilies have hopes and dreams for themselves, their families and their communities. and liberal democrats, we can provide division, the positive policies, to help them get there. applause now, during the campaign, we had moments like this on the

doorstep. parents who drive hour—long roundtrips to take their children to a sports match or a music rehearsal or take on second jobs to put food on the table for their families. all hope that their children might have opportunities that they never had. they know that education is the best investment we can make in our children's potential and our country's future growth. education turbochargers talent, it cultivates creativity and it creates conscientious citizens. and they looked to the conservatives to make that investment. but what did they get? teacher training targets missed for eight of the last nine years. nurseries ordered to expand rapidly, with no proper plan to front it. a decade's work closing the attainment gap wiped out by a lack of investment in covid catch up. one in five people aged 8—25 with a probable mental health disorder.

out of the blue, from the schools minister. he would tell me that thousands of children had missed their first day back at school because their buildings were full of crumbling concrete and were not safe to open. through years of neglect, the conservatives have failed the most basic —— had failed the most basic —— had failed the most basic —— had failed the most basic of its duties in government, to keep our children safe. well, by the end, the conservatives were negligent unfit to govern, and boy, did the public know it? now, you know the nine education secretaries we had in just eight years? do you know what happened to them? well, there was no him said, who

stood down in stratford on ivan. —— there was nadhim zahawi. who is the new mp there? it is a liberal democrat. applause then there was michelle donelan, secretary of state 48 hours. her constituency got split into. anyone know who won both of them? the liberal democrats! thank you! and of course, who can forget gillian keegan? she told us showers the only one sat on her cars doing nothing. well, we decided to get off hours and win her seat as well! yes,, conference, for as well! yes,, conference, for a decade ambitious conservative ministers used the department for education only as a step on the greasy poll. well it turns out to much grease, and you're all slipped down that hole again. so it now falls to

bridget phillipson to clean up the toxic mess, and she will achieve far more than her predecessors by simple staying on the job. predecessors by simple staying on thejob. our nurseries, schools colleges and universities will benefit hugely from civility and continuity. so, liberal democrats will work constructively with the government to fix the foundations. already, we have seen small, positive steps. protecting btecs, reforming ofsted inspections, and ending the tories' pointless phoney war against our universities so that the government will once again champion them as powerhouses of learning and research, economic growth and soft power. applause but the cleanup requires far more than just tinkering. too much damage has been done. take our early years of sector. the expansion of free childcare hours has cross—party support, but the conservatives did nothing to prepare the ground for what was to come. there was

no discussion with providers, a hopelessly unrealistic timetable, and no proper funding. the result? chaos. conference, for our early years of sector to succeed, childcare must be flexible, affordable and fair. we need to attract and fair. we need to attract and retain more staff, most of the early years pupil premium and expand the entitlement for disadvantaged children that those who benefit most from early help will not lose out. and crucially, we must review the funding rates, so that our nurseries and preschools can meet the actual costs of delivering high quality early years education. and where do i start with special educational needs? a system where tens of thousands of parents must fight the council in the courts to get the support that is their child's legal right. when parents win almost 98 times out

of 100, you know the system is broken. applause a system where the only reason why dozens of councils aren't bankrupt is because they can keep sen support off the balance sheet. liberal democrats have plenty of proposals, such as a new national funding proposals, such as a new nationalfunding body proposals, such as a new national funding body so that the most severely disabled children can have their support paid for centrally, freeing up our councils to help others in need. one early years, send and more, we will be a constructive opposition to send. yet in other parts of our education system, we must call them out for the mistakes they have and they will make. no—one can doubt the scale of the mess they inherited, but in trying to look too tough, they, too, risk showing a lack of care and compassion, values that drew millions of voters to the labour cause. take child

poverty. there is a constituent of mine who told me that she stopped buying her medication so that her daughter at college could afford some lunch. i have heard stories of pupils pretending to eat out of empty lunchboxes to hide from their friends that there is no food at home for that cannot be right in modern britain. scrapping the two child benefit would lift 300,000 children out of poverty. its impact would be immediate and cost—effective, but keir starmer said no and he has suspended any labour mp who defied him. a free school meal for every child in poverty would give 900,000 more pupils a full stomach each lunchtime. that means better progress, better behaviour and concentration, better health outcomes. but labour have stayed silent. meanwhile, our teachers feel at times like the fourth emergency service, filling in for under resourced public services across the country for poverty and mental

ill—health are driving staggering numbers of children to miss lessons. because roughly half of mental health conditions begin before the age of 14, liberal democrats will keep making the case for a dedicated, qualified mental health professional in every school, primary and secondary. applause you know, i remember the mother of a seven—year—old who came to my surgery. her daughter had been waiting 16 months for a mental health assessment, and she was told she may have to wait a further year still. she is a little girl who should be enjoying play dates, parties and playgrounds. instead her mother told me she isn't really living, just existing. this is the scale of the crisis we face, and ifear labour the scale of the crisis we face, and i fear labour haven't grasped it. they urgently need to expand their own mental

health plans to include primary schools as well. now, the government cannot ignore these injustices by looking itself in a doom spiral, saying that things must get worse before they get better. because investing in our young people, investing in our young people, in the future, is what drives us out of the mess we are in. education fights against poverty, ignorance and conformity, it grows our economy and it improves our health outcomes, generating returns for generations to come. liberal democrats, we choose to invest in education so that our nation is equipped to tackle the challenges of our age. families up and down the country simply can't afford to wait. but there is a second mistake labour is also making. too often they get in the way of ambition that people have for themselves, their families and for their communities. parents will move heaven and earth to give their children a good start in life. they will

do all they can to give them the opportunities they never had. but labour's stance on private schools is just a divisive distraction, particularly for those families of children with send who tried to time again to find a state school for their child but they are just could not thrive and make it work for so, conference, to keep hold of the trust of voters, you must deliver the change that matches the ambition people have. you have to listen to their hopes, their dreams for their children, and you've got to say, we want that, too, and here's how we're going to help. it's why liberal democrats introduced the pupil premium, giving schools the freedom and the funding to boost the attainment of children from low—income backgrounds. it's why we are now campaigning to extend it to colleges baszler it's why we push for closer ties with europe to broaden our young people's horizons by rejoining erasmus and signing a youth mobility scheme. and it's

why we would raise the apprenticeship minimum wage and roll out lifelong skills grants, opening up opportunities for learners of all ages to train and upscale. and it is why conference yesterday you called for a tutor guarantee on all state schools and colleges. 12 weeks of small—group teaching for nearly 2 million young people in subjects such as english, maths or science, rocket posting not only their performance, but their confidence and their school attendance has because we are not prepared to let unfulfilled potential be something that only a privileged few can afford to unlock. conference, this is the politics of ambition, empowering our educators so that they can unleash our children's potential to flourish. listen to what dylan, a college student, had to say about the tutoring he received. i dreaded mass, he said, because i didn't enjoy it but my tutoring

sessions were amazing and they really helped boost my confidence in maths. when i found out i had passed my maths gcse, i literally was flabbergasted. liberal democrats, i want to million more dylans in this country, because the hope and excitement he had of fresh opportunities to progress his studies and pursue his dreams, well, that isjust pursue his dreams, well, that is just priceless. applause and this is my goal in this parliament and beyond, to see a generation of young people free to pursue their dreams. where their classrooms are crumbling and their nurseries are full, we will hold the government's feet to the fire. where the conservatives lacked care and compassion, we will offer hope. where labour lacked ambition, we will show parents and pupils that we share their hopes and dreams. fighting to fix the early years and the high needs

postcode lottery, campaigning tirelessly for free school meals and a councillor in every school, making the case to turbocharge tutoring and broadening our children's horizons. ambition and optimism, care and compassion, hope and opportunity. that is deliberate mission. that is our job, let's get to work. applause studio: so, that his munira wilson getting the applause at the liberal democrat conference, she is the education spokesperson, ending her keynote speech to the party's her keynote speech to the pa rty�*s conference her keynote speech to the party's conference in brighton. she talked about free school meals, mental health services and the pupil premium and special educational needs. she began her speech by talking about how the liberal democrats have a serious job to do, being the constructive opposition to the constructive opposition to the labour government, as she said the conservatives were

divided. listening to that was our correspondent hannah miller. hello, she went on a number of issues, starting off on criticising the tories and the fact they were divided, but then also saying they would hold labour to account? yeah, that attack _ hold labour to account? yeah, that attack on _ hold labour to account? yeah, that attack on the _ that attack on the conservatives for having many education secretaries over the period that they were in government, perhaps a little predictable, in some ways, now, at this labour conference and indeed over the past few months we have heard them criticising the conservatives and their record many times. but we are seeing now quite clearly, i think, the areas where the liberal democrats are trying to push labour to go further, in that spirit, they keep using the phrase, of constructive opposition. and wejust the phrase, of constructive opposition. and we just heard there from munira wilson, that it's areas such as free school meals, such as the pupil premium, putting a mental health counsellor in every and also school, around the issue

of funding for nurseries and preschools. of course there is as she said cross—party agreement about the expansion of free or state funded, essentially, childcare for children and expanding that much further, but the question of how much money nurseries actually get for that is one that has caused quite significant concern. i think the other thing, it was just a tiny phrase that she used, but which struck me as interesting, she talked about pushing for these things in government but also in town halls. and that is something where a lot of these issues, if you're talking about children's services, special educational needs, of course there are questions of central government funding here, but they are often areas that are governed by local authorities, which themselves have been stretched for money, and i think in that sense, the liberal democrats, having quite a number of councillors and pitching themselves as local community champions, trying to

suggest that they can do these things at a local level as well as pushing for it in government.- as pushing for it in covernment. government. anna wilson, live in brighton. — government. anna wilson, live in brighton, thank _ government. anna wilson, live in brighton, thank you - government. anna wilson, live in brighton, thank you very - in brighton, thank you very much indeed. and we will have further coverage of the liberal democrat conference in brighton throughout the week. we are expecting the deputy leader daisy cooper to speak tomorrow, and ed davey on tuesday. of bbc news, 11.30, time for the headlines with lucy graham. this is bbc news, the headlines: eight more people have drowned while trying to cross the channel from france to england. the migrants' rubber boat sank not far from the french coast, north of boulogne—sur—mer. rescue services said they'd been alerted at around 1:00am in the morning that the vessel, with about 50 people on board, had started to sink. the polaris dawn space mission has come to a successful end, after its spacex dragon capsule splashed down off the coast of florida. on thursday, members of its civilian crew successfully completed the first—ever

commercial spacewalk. israel's prime—minister warns the houthis in yemen of a �*heavy price', after a ballistic missile managed to enter israeli airspace before being shot down. the houthis said their attack was only the beginning and showed israel was completely exposed. now on bbc news, path to the presidency. i've talked to three undecided voters. you found the three! yeah! they might be the three who decide the election. ok, so somebody�*s in a very noisy place... that's me. ..somebody�*s in a quiet library. i'm in london. we are really spread out at the moment. um, ithink... sumi, how are you? are you in, like, a nightclub or something? i wish i were. i wish! but if i were in a nightclub at, i don't know, midday on a thursday... i'd be... i would be impressed. yeah, i would be impressed

with myself as well.