hello you're watching the context on bbc news. coming up the uk prime minister will no longer accept donations for clothes after a row over accepting gifts. party conference season is well under way here in the uk — and today reform leader nigel farage opened his party's conference in birmingham. he told supporters britain is broken and said this was the weekend his party would �*come of age'. we do not need to change the mind of a single person living in this country. because the silent majority is already with us on the key issues that we care about. we can win the next general election, just with the numbers of people that agree with our principles, that agree that family,

that agree that community, that agree that country should be the things that absolutely everybody in british public life campaigns for because they are the most important things to all of us that live here. applause the labour party's annual conference will also kick off this weekend — but it comes in a week in which the prime minister has faced criticism over the salary of his closest adviser — as well as donations he and his wife have accepted in clothing. earlier, a downing street source said neither the prime minister, deputy prime minister or chancellor will accept further donations for clothes. the row over expensive clothing and corporate hospitality comes against the backdrop of tumbling confidence — in how consumers feel about the economy and their own finances — as the country prepares for the autumn budget, which the prime minister has already warned will be painful. new figures today also showed

that government borrowing rose unexpectedly last month to £13] billion. our economics editor faisal islam has been looking at what it means. this much watched gauge of consumer sentiment has been running for 50 years. it was gradually improving over the past several months as real incomes, incomes after inflation, had gone up, as you'd expect. and, really, this month — after an inflation, after an interest rate cut last month, you'd expected that to have improved. it has gone down sharply across the board. people's perceptions of the economy, people's perceptions of their personal finance, their willingness to make major purchases, and certainly some economists, some retailers, some business groups, are drawing a connection between the tone we're getting from the government ahead of the budget and what we're seeing. and so some calls may be for some more hopeful optimism from the government, particularly ahead of their party conference. they say that they have to make these tough choices because of the borrowing situation. that got worse, according to other figures released this morning. a tricky balancing act for the chancellor.

michael crick, journalist and broadcaster, kelly hyman, political and legal strategist. labour have been talking down the economy since they took over. the problem is, if you talk it down, it becomes a self—fulfilling prophecy. talk it down, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. yes, it has been — self-fulfilling prophecy. yes, it has been very _ self-fulfilling prophecy. yes, it has been very badly - self—fulfilling prophecy. 133 it has been very badly thought through. labourwere it has been very badly thought through. labour were telling us the one big advantage of having a labour government is that many of the —— many of the policies are not different. one thing they said it would bring us their stability. what happens is that they have been telling everyone things are going to be very tight, and pensioners aren't going to get their winter allowance, some of them. child benefit is going to be restricted at two children. everything is going to be tight for a long time, tax may have to go up in some way or another. it has done the opposite of what they wanted, we haven't got the stability forced up on the contrary, there is doom and gloom. keir starmer has a... and the

chancellor at rachel reeves, have a huge job chancellor at rachel reeves, have a hugejob next chancellor at rachel reeves, have a huge job next week when they meet in liverpool to try to turn that round and cheer everybody up. otherwise, they are not going to get the grace that everyone live everything depends on. that everyone live everything depends om— that everyone live everything depends on— that everyone live everything depends on. how long can the -a depends on. how long can the party that _ depends on. how long can the party that takes _ depends on. how long can the party that takes over - depends on. how long can the party that takes over power i party that takes over power keep blaming the previous one and saying that they have got a lock to fix before people start turning off then? what do you think? do you have a figure in mind in terms of months and years? mind in terms of months and ears? . ., ., , , mind in terms of months and ears? ., , , years? the economy is key. whether— years? the economy is key. whether you _ years? the economy is key. whether you are _ years? the economy is key. whether you are in - years? the economy is key. whether you are in the - years? the economy is key. whether you are in the uk | years? the economy is key. | whether you are in the uk or years? the economy is key. - whether you are in the uk or in the us — whether you are in the uk or in the us. and so, depending on what — the us. and so, depending on what they— the us. and so, depending on what they are saying in regards to how — what they are saying in regards to how long that is going to take — to how long that is going to take them to fix something, something like potentially six months — something like potentially six months or potentially even longen _ months or potentially even longer. it is important to see what — longer. it is important to see what policies in place are going _ what policies in place are going to be implemented in order— going to be implemented in order to _ going to be implemented in order to fix this and how is the — order to fix this and how is the best— order to fix this and how is the best way to do it. and how

long _ the best way to do it. and how long is— the best way to do it. and how long is it — the best way to do it. and how long is it going to take? is it going — long is it going to take? is it going to _ long is it going to take? is it going to take six months? oh yeah? — going to take six months? oh yeah? 0r— going to take six months? oh yeah? orare you going to take six months? oh yeah? or are you looking for something a little bit longer in regards to time periods. i would — in regards to time periods. i would expect six months potentially to a year at least. in the — potentially to a year at least. in the us _ potentially to a year at least. in the us we have president biden basically talking up the economy today, haven't we? he said that several of the federal reserve cut today is a signal that they have entered a new phase in the economy and recovery. very notably though, i suppose just about to go into an election whereas keir starmer has just taken over. that is definitely going to play— that is definitely going to play a _ that is definitely going to play a role. the economy. the economy— play a role. the economy. the economy is— play a role. the economy. the economy is definitely one of the things that are driving people _ the things that are driving people to the force, to the poll. — people to the force, to the poll. not _ people to the force, to the poll, not only that but for women _ poll, not only that but for women reproductive freedom as welt _ women reproductive freedom as well. other issues affecting the american people. but definitely the economy. people are going to look at what the economy— are going to look at what the economy was like under trump. what _ economy was like under trump. what he —

economy was like under trump. what he did, how he had trillions— what he did, how he had trillions to our deficit. how there — trillions to our deficit. how there was a loss ofjobs and what — there was a loss ofjobs and what biden has done. how he has increase _ what biden has done. how he has increase jobs and what he has done — increase jobs and what he has done to— increase jobs and what he has done to the american people. that— done to the american people. that is— done to the american people. that is definitely going to play— that is definitely going to play a _ that is definitely going to play a key role in the november election — play a key role in the november election. ., , , , election. from the republicans, kamala harris _ election. from the republicans, kamala harris has _ election. from the republicans, kamala harris has faced - kamala harris has faced criticism for not stating what she is going to do with the cost of living. what do you think in terms of where people are going to vote? that is the key, isn't it? cost of living. that is their focus when they go to the ballot. it that is their focus when they go to the ballot.— go to the ballot. it is. it is nearly always _ go to the ballot. it is. it is nearly always the - go to the ballot. it is. it is nearly always the focus i nearly always the focus when people go to the polls in whatever country. i sort of partly think, maybe kamala harris�*s advisors have taken a look at how keir starmer got elected in britain with a whopping great majority of seats in the house of commons. although a very low vote in terms of numbers. of course, he and his party gave very little away about what they were going

to do in the run—up to the election day. it didn't actually seem to do labour that much harm. the problem is, i think, contributing to this pessimism, by now people would have expected this government to come out with more detail about how they are going to resolve all of the many problems this country faces. i suppose they had a much greater lead in the polls though. perhaps they were trying not to risk that and saying not very much because they didn't want to risk that. kamala harris does not have that at the moment. it is very tight, isn't it? the race. it moment. it is very tight, isn't it? the race.— it? the race. it is a different picture- _ it? the race. it is a different picture- 2-0 _ it? the race. it is a different picture- 2-0 up _ it? the race. it is a different picture. 2-0 up against - it? the race. it is a different. picture. 2-0 up against madrid, picture. 2—0 up against madrid, you tend to play safe. if you are drawing, you have to do something adventurous. in terms of niel something adventurous. in terms of nigel farage. _ something adventurous. in terms of nigel farage, i _ something adventurous. in terms of nigel farage, i went _ something adventurous. in terms of nigel farage, i went expect i of nigel farage, i went expect you to know too much about him necessarily, kelly. there you have had him over there in the

us. i can talk to about how his party conference has been described as a trump star rally. people wearing baseball caps, saying, let's make britain great again. do you accept, perhaps, the trump rally is something to be exported? it does do some convincing. exported? it does do some convincing-— exported? it does do some convincin-. . , ., , convincing. america is always . reat convincing. america is always great and _ convincing. america is always great and we _ convincing. america is always great and we don't _ convincing. america is always great and we don't need i convincing. america is always i great and we don't need trump to make — great and we don't need trump to make it— great and we don't need trump to make it great again. i would agree — to make it great again. i would agree they —— disagree in terms of harris — agree they —— disagree in terms of harris and trump. he was specifically asked about health care and — specifically asked about health care and what his policy was. he was— care and what his policy was. he was in— care and what his policy was. he was in office for four years and _ he was in office for four years and he — he was in office for four years and he didn't do anything to help— and he didn't do anything to help the _ and he didn't do anything to help the american people in regards _ help the american people in regards to health care. what is your— regards to health care. what is your plan— regards to health care. what is your plan to help the american plans— your plan to help the american plans to — your plan to help the american plans to let people in terms of health— plans to let people in terms of health care? he didn't answer the question, didn't have policy _ the question, didn't have policy. he was talking about cats — policy. he was talking about cats and _ policy. he was talking about cats and dogs being eaten and talking — cats and dogs being eaten and talking about how large his crowd _ talking about how large his crowd sizes wear. harris was

talking — crowd sizes wear. harris was talking about policies and how she grew up in middle—class and what _ she grew up in middle—class and what she — she grew up in middle—class and what she wanted to do for the american _ what she wanted to do for the american people. what she sees for the _ american people. what she sees for the future and is fighting for the future and is fighting for the — for the future and is fighting for the freedom for women. back to niel for the freedom for women. back to nigel farage. _ forthe freedom forwomen. esta; to nigel farage, michael. he has been, they have been very excited at the party conference. people get a bit carried away, it is very exciting getting everyone together and talking about how well they're going to do. he started by saying they need to be more like the liberal democrats, without the sun is like water slides and the like. in terms of targeting specific seats. he also said that there is a chance we could win the next general election. what you make about? i next general election. what you make about?— make about? i think it is very unlikely to — make about? i think it is very unlikely to win _ make about? i think it is very unlikely to win the _ make about? i think it is very unlikely to win the next i unlikely to win the next election. is right in terms of lib dems policy. they concentrate on getting local councillors elected then extend into the constituencies around

that area and take it from there. and nigel farage's parties have never been very good at that. he is right in that respect. they have got five seats now, i think that might well go up. if there are by—elections in this parliament, although by—elections won't be common because it is quite a useful parliament. you are less likely to get mps dying. —— use file. a serious threat to both the conservatives and labour. much more of a threat to labour than they are to the conservatives. in those seats in the north and the working class, working class seats at the north and the midlands where, of course, brexit did extremely well in the referendum. i think he has anything to play for. just think, he almost didn't stand in this election, saying he had to go off to america and help donald trump. well, good thing from his point of view he changed his mind. eta from his point of view he changed his mind. no time for the us now — changed his mind. no time for the us now. i— changed his mind. no time for the us now. i have _

changed his mind. no time for the us now. i have to - changed his mind. no time for the us now. i have to ask i changed his mind. no time for the us now. i have to ask you| the us now. i have to ask you both, are you frequent flyers, do you like aeroplane food? i don't fly enough to... know, aeroplane food has got really bad over recent years. it wasn't bad 40, 50 years ago. well, it has got even worse. on a flight, scandinavian flights from oslo to malaga on wednesday, some people picked up wednesday, some people picked up their lunch and a mouse jumped out of their in—flight meal. causing the plane to divert and make an emergency landing in copenhagen. we were sent this video, telling us what happened. well, yes, it's true what they say. i was experiencing this mouse accident, incident, on a sas from oslo to malaga

a couple of days ago, when the lady next to me opened her box of delicious food, seemingly, and out jumped a small mice... mouse, not mice. um, to be honest, it was very tranquilo situation. people were not stressed at all. it was kind of, should we eat this food or should we just not? um, but then it kind of crept up to us and, like, maybe i should check my socks or myjeans so it doesn't crawl up my legs and find its way to secret places you don't want mouse to go. that was kind of my worry. so i did the socks up myjeans and, uh, just continue enjoying the flight — that had to take a turn and go back to copenhagen. so we changed the planes, waited just two hours more for the delay to to malaga. but now we're here enjoying the golf, enjoying the cerveza,

enjoying the beach. and, uh, the mouse probably doesn't enjoy it that much. he is so chilled out about it, isn't he? i don't think i would have been quite so chilled if a mouse had jumped out at me. what you make of this? $5 a what you make of this? as a frequent _ what you make of this? as a frequent flyer, _ what you make of this? as a frequent flyer, i _ what you make of this? as a frequent flyer, i am - what you make of this? as a frequent flyer, i am going i what you make of this? as a frequent flyer, i am going toj frequent flyer, i am going to be frequent flyer, i am going to he very— frequent flyer, i am going to be very wary when i have my food — be very wary when i have my food on _ be very wary when i have my food on a _ be very wary when i have my food on a play next time. i hope — food on a play next time. i hope that mouse isn't a frequent flyer like myself. that — frequent flyer like myself. that was the first and last flight _ that was the first and last fli . ht. , that was the first and last fliht. , , ., flight. this caused an emergency _ flight. this caused an emergency landing. i flight. this caused an - emergency landing. apparently it was because of the worry the mouse might choose through some wiring. they have very tough teeth and they can chew through anything. that is why they had to actually land the plane. they try to find the mouse, couldn't, so they got another plane and sent people on their

way to malaga. it was actually an emergency situation. the answer is — an emergency situation. the answer is to _ an emergency situation. the answer is to allow _ an emergency situation. tia: answer is to allow cats on an emergency situation. ti2 answer is to allow cats on each plane. answer is to allow cats on each lane. , , ., plane. yes! keep it on board until they — plane. yes! keep it on board until they found _ plane. yes! keep it on board until they found it, - plane. yes! keep it on board untilthey found it, yes. i plane. yes! keep it on board untilthey found it, yes. that until they found it, yes. that is my choice of topic. after this short break, we will find out your choice of car topics —— choice of topics. around the world, this is bbc news.

now it's time for the panel. asi as i said, this is where our panellists get to decide the topic we cover. michael, what you want to talk about?- you want to talk about? well, it is a story — you want to talk about? well, it is a story that _ you want to talk about? well, it is a story that appeared i you want to talk about? well, it is a story that appeared on | it is a story that appeared on the telegraph website this afternoon about how the chinese ambassador to britain had gone to cambridge university and met a group of chinese students at the university. and told them

they should serve the motherland and take patriotism as the foundation of their studies. you might think, well, thatis studies. you might think, well, that is the sort of thing any old ambassador would say to students from his country. but i think it is a rather ominous thing that he said. it will only reinforce the fears of many of us who think that the increasing numbers of chinese students in british universities in recent years comes with lots of dangers. and two in particular. the danger in being unpatriotic and serving the motherland may be theft of intellectual property, which is certainly a widespread fear amongst many of our universities. second, the whole notion of whether students being loyal members of the communist party, loyal citizens, will feel they should report back to beijing on

dissident students. students who speak out against, speak out even in private meetings about hong kong, free speech or whatever. that is a concern in universities in the west to have many chinese students. i think it is... it reminds us there is a big downside to potentially to allowing so many chinese students to come to our universities. we have become hugely dependent on their income. but we may be losing out in other ways.— out in other ways. was there any reaction _ out in other ways. was there any reaction from _ out in other ways. was there any reaction from the - any reaction from the university?— any reaction from the university? any reaction from the universi ? ., ., ., ., ., university? not that i am aware of. i university? not that i am aware of- i think _ university? not that i am aware of. i think they _ university? not that i am aware of. i think they have _ university? not that i am aware of. i think they have refused i of. i think they have refused to comment. just not said anything. to comment. just not said anything-— anything. what about the students _ anything. what about the students themselves? i anything. what about the l students themselves? not anything. what about the i students themselves? not that anything. what about the - students themselves? not that i am aware of- — students themselves? not that i am aware of. the _ students themselves? not that i am aware of. the story - students themselves? not that i am aware of. the story properly| am aware of. the story properly hasn't had a huge amount of coverage yes —— yet. they tend to turn a blind eye to many of these issues. i used to sit on

a governing body. i said, these issues. i used to sit on a governing body. isaid, can't we cap the number of students from china at this university? they said, well, that wouldn't be allowed because of equalities law, you can't put a limit on people coming from any nationality. i said, limit on people coming from any nationality. isaid, how limit on people coming from any nationality. i said, how many students do the chinese send this university? how many tibetans, how many... ? figures weren't kept for that. even though figures on all other sorts of minorities that students regularly keep. i think universities that too dependent on the chinese income, chinese students. there are a lot of good sites, intellectual interaction is great. but i think we need to worry a little bit more about the downside of all this. t the downside of all this. i suppose their argument would be about, in terms of the inverses, a lot of funding comes in from it. exactly. at a time when _ comes in from it. exactly. at a time when the university i

time when the university undergraduate fees have been going down. they haven't gone up going down. they haven't gone up since 2016, barely gone up since 2012. the university seem to have got more dependent on this funding. the number of chinese students has been going up chinese students has been going up until recently. it is another reason why the government, the new government, needs to get a grip on the terrible funding problems that our universities have. and the danger some of our universities are about to go bankrupt. t am are about to go bankrupt. i am so sorry. _ are about to go bankrupt. i am so sorry. kelly. _ are about to go bankrupt. i am so sorry, kelly, michael- are about to go bankrupt. i am so sorry, kelly, michael has i so sorry, kelly, michael has taken all of your time. i do apologise. we are out of time. sorry! apologise. we are out of time. sor ! ., , ., ,, apologise. we are out of time. sor! .mg apologise. we are out of time. sor! ., , ., sorry! no problem. thank you so much, sorry! no problem. thank you so much. both _ sorry! no problem. thank you so much. both of— sorry! no problem. thank you so much, both of you. _ iam lucy i am lucy grey, you can get me on social media. do stay with us here on bbc news.

hello from the bbc sport centre. the new women's super league season is under way and champions chelsea were 1—0 winners at home over aston villa. chelsea are aiming for a record extending sixth consecutive title and went ahead throuthohanna rytting kaneryd after half an hour. villa came close to an astonishing equaliser in injury time when goalkeeper sabrina d'angelo nearly showed her team—mates how it's done but hannah hampton had other ideas. 1—0 it remained and three points for chelsea's new boss. yeah, we always try to have the position of the ball. trying to build up from back line, keeper, i think today you can see the importance has been. beekeeper is about to play with... i think with

confidence, trying always to be together. scanning, using the space on the pitch and trying be smart. stoke and hull city are nearing the end of their match in the championship and it's currently 3—1 to the visitors. it's a first game under new management for the home side but it's not gone to plan for narcis pelach... two goals from kasey palmer either side of this strike from regan slater has put hull on the brink of a first win of the season. they are into nine minutes of stoppage time... the rugby union premiership season got under way this evening with a repeat of last year's final — bath taking on champions northampton saints. and they got some revenge for losing that final with a 38—16 win in front of their home fans at the rec. england international ollie lawrence with one of five tries for bath to get their new season off to an ideal start. bristol beat newcastle 24—3 in the night's other match. it's the final weekend of the regular season in superleague and hull kr

are set to finish second leading leeds rhinos 26—10 while 3rd placed warrington wolves thumped london broncos 54—0. leigh leopards are in a nailbiter against st helens with both bidding to cement their place in the eliminators next weekend. josh charnley putting leigh ahead late on and it's 18—12 to the home side. in cricket news — surrey have been confirmed as county champions for the third consecutive season. that's after their title rivals somerset were beaten by lancashire at old trafford. second—placed somerset lost three quick wickets this morning to lose by 168 runs. it means they can't now overtake surrey at the top of division 1 with one round of games still to play. these were the scenes in the oval dressing room earlier. it's surrey�*s 22nd county championship title since 1890. they have become the first team since yorkshire 56 years ago to win three successive titles. the weigh—in for the all

british heavyweight title fight between anthonyjoshua, and champion, daniel dubois, took place in trafalgar square earlier on friday evening. joshua weighed in at 18st with dubois at a career—heavy 17st 10lb. 96,000 fans are expected to pack out wembley stadium in london tomorrow. dubois won the interim ibf title injune and was elevated to world champion when oleksandr usyk vacated the belt, but he feels he needs to beatjoshua to be recognised as the world champion. matt baldwin has equalled the tournament record to lead by two shots at the halfway point of the bmw pga championship at wentworth. a second round of 66, including seven birdies, saw him end friday 13 under par at the top of the leaderboard, equalling the mark set in 2008 by ireland's paul mcginley. rory mcilroy is four shots further back on 9 under after a birdie at the end of his round. i'm happy with where i'm at.

i could have been a little bit better but i think also it could have been a little worse as well. so, yeah, four behind going into the weekend. not too many people between me in the lead. it's a good position to be in. british driver lando norris was fastest after second practice at the singapore grand prix. the mclaren driver leapfrogged ferrari's charles leclerc by six one—hundredths of a second, with team—mate carlos sainz six tenths off the pace in third. red bull's championship leader, max verstappen, has dropped way down the list and was 15th fastest. norris is looking to eat into verstappen's lead in the driver standings. a thrilling encounter and reached a first rugby union victory in seven attempts. the game ended 24—24. they gave the hosts a famous victory. and that's all

the sport for now. hello. we've had a real mixture of weather across the uk friday. some low cloud and mist across the north—east of the uk, heavy thundery showers in the south, and we've seen some pleasant spells of sunshine elsewhere, notably across parts of the northwest of the uk, where we've also had light winds. now, looking at the weather overnight tonight, it's going to keep a lot of low cloud across some of these north sea coasts. cloud becomes a bit more extensive across england and wales. a few more showers and thunderstorms possible in the south, and probably clouding over in northern ireland as well. temperatures for the most part overnight around 11—14 degrees, so a relatively mild start to the day on saturday, but another cloudy start as well. now, as we go through the morning, most areas will see some sunshine breaking through, but the cloud could again linger across eastern coasts of scotland, where it will be misty and rather cool. temperatures probably around 13 degrees or so. further southwards across england and wales, there will be one or two thundery showers, and some of

those could be quite intense. there'll be a number of places, though, that stay dry and dodge the downpours. temperatures high teens to low 20s. then through saturday night and into sunday, we're going to get some heavy rain moving up. and in the worst case scenario, we could be looking at about a month's worth of rain in the space of 24 hours. and thatjust increases the threat of seeing some localised flooding issues. so, sunday — rain, extensive, heavy and thundery across large areas of england and wales, perhaps avoiding most of northern england, northern ireland and scotland. certainly staying dry. decent sunshine for the north west, but probably, again some low cloud and mist affecting some of our eastern coast of scotland. into next week, areas of low pressure are set to move in off the atlantic, bringing several belts of heavy rain, so that could cause one or two issues. and even as the low pressures pushes through, we'll then start to get this plunge of colder north westerly wind heading in. now, the first sign of that change to colder weather conditions will be with us on monday, as we start to get these colder northerly winds move into northern scotland with some sunny spells

and showers here. some heavy rain still around england and wales where it'll be quite gusty. temperatures not doing too badly — 19 for norwich and london, but certainly turning colderfor northern scotland. 13 degrees in aberdeen. well, that's below average for the time of year. and that colder weather is going to push southwards as we go through the course of the week, eventually arriving across southern england towards thursday. bye for now.

tonight at ten — lawyers for 37 women, who've accused mohammed al fayed of sexual assault, describe him as a monster and predator. describe him as a monster the day after a bbc documentary, former staff members at harrods — which he owned — have spoken publicly about being threatened by him. and tonight, questions about some of his other businesses. i'm here at fulham football club, where former women's manager told me tonight that extra precautions were put in place to protect female players from mohamed al fayed, who owned this club for 16 years. the prime minister, the chancellor and the deputy prime minister will no longer accept donations for clothing — after a row about gifts from wealthy benefactors. a strike on beirut leaves 14 people dead — israel says it's killed a senior hezbollah commander. we'll be speaking to our international editorjeremy bowen. three, two, one, go.