the lib dems say an investigation should start immediately. led to pressure on the main players and while that and the need to act has been known for a while, news of the talks between sainsbury‘s and asda has onlyjust surfaced, and yet what would be a huge deal could be put forward as early as tomorrow. simon clemison, bbc news. it's been claimed thousands of russian twitter accounts could have been used to rally support for labour, before last year's general election. an investigation by the sunday times and swansea university identified six—and—a—half thousand russian accounts which tweeted supportive messages for labour. the culture secretary, matt hancock, has described it as "extremely concerning". australia is promising to spend 290 million pounds to help restore and protect the great barrier reef. the world's largest reef system has been damaged by warming sea temperatures, which has bleached large swathes of coral in recent years, as well as pollution and run—off of pesticides and fertilisers from farms. phil mercer reports from sydne

the lib dems say an investigation should start immediately.d to pressure on the main players and while that and the need to act has been known for a while, news of the talks between sainsbury‘s and asda has onlyjust surfaced, and yet what would be a huge deal could be put forward as early as tomorrow. simon clemison, bbc news. well a little earlier i spoke to the former business secretary, and now lib dem leader, vince cable. he told me he understood the business reasons why the two firms wanted to merge, but said the focus should be on the potential impact for consumers. you are going to get a very substantial concentration of power in the marketplace. i mean, in the mid market where this new group will be competing with tesco, they will have a dominant position, and more important, at local level, you will get lots of local monopolies being created. but i was intrigued by the arguments being put out that one of the arguments for this merger is that they will be able to get much better procurement. what that means, they will squeeze the farme

the lib dems say an investigation should start immediately.and the need to act has been known for a while, news of the talks between sainsbury‘s and asda has onlyjust surfaced, and yet what would be a huge deal could be put forward as early as tomorrow. simon clemison, bbc news. on his first visit to the middle east as the new us secretary of state, mike pompeo has condemned what he called iran's efforts to destabilise the region. after talks in saudi arabia, mr pompeo reiterated america's determination to prevent the iranians ever getting a nuclear weapon. he blamed tehran for supplying weapons to the houthi rebels in neighbouring yemen, who fire missiles into saudi. but he also called for a political settlement to yemen's war, in which the saudi's have sided with the government against the rebels. in a news conference the us secretary of state said saudi leaders gulf unity is vital and must be achieved. we all must honestly confront the crisis of islamist extremism. and the islamist terror groups that it inspires. and this does indeed mean s

coalition took overin conservative lib dem coalition took over in 2010.ive is the direction of travel in terms of how they began to deal with immigrants. the home 0ffice deal with immigrants. the home office under the coalition decided to be much stricter an immigration. if you are someone living in the uk, you had to prove you are legally here. a lot of these people did not have that proof so they were then denied rights to health care, they lost theirjobs, some people were deported. that is why we got to this point where the home secretary and the prime minister have been apologising in this last week. embarrassing because we have had the commonwealth heads in the country. she has had to apologise for this saga. when it comes to how this looks, of course, this whole issue of immigration and people coming into the country and want to stay, it plays into the hands of people who might be looking to criticise the brexit process. one of the key issues in the brexit negotiations with the eu at the moment is about the ec] and whether it needs to have jurisdict

the lib dems decided by a casting vote i think it was the literature lives a cast that vote in their meeting against coming into a coalition now whether it will work tonight i don't know i was out of this empty by then of course when yours is leading clyde and the question was can you sustain with just a majority of one of the new sustained with and they'll be a majority but i think we would we would have been challenged but we were up for it and the opportunity didn't come so when that went by the wayside went to coalition with labor in order to deliver things for wales particularly the constitutional changes brought us up to the same constitutional status of scotland had the reserve model which we hadn't had before and it was necessary first to go through that step to get a real parliament as opposed to a little bit of a talking shop as the assembly was but then in two thousand and ten your marriage back again last time reincarnated and they and the house a lot of waiting room to heaven it was a shock for a lot of people the background to that was this that as the constitutional mo

we've had the greens here, the tories, labour, the lib dems.decide whether we are better off staying in the eu. you will have to persuade mps, presumably, to come onside with this campaign, because you will have to amend a bill in some way to get this to happen, is there any sign — given that the labour front bench and conservative front bench are not in favour — is there any hope this could be achieved for you? well, this is an extremely fluid situation. parliament will not decide on the treaty until october, november. and we don't know what the terms of that treaty are going to be. we know there are problems about trade, the border in ireland, the money and the £39 billion exit fee we now have to face. once we actually see the terms of the in the terms of the deal in october and november and mps judge it, my prediction is, in massive movement of parliamentary opinion towards the people and they will vote for the final say. and it will be led by my party, the labour party, which is the people's party. we are all in favour of democracy. and i t

the lib dems say an investigation should start immediately.d to pressure on the main players and while that and the need to act has been known for a while, news of the talks between sainsbury‘s and asda has onlyjust surfaced, and yet what would be a huge deal could be put forward as early as tomorrow. simon clemison, bbc news. let's speak to the liberal democrats leader and former business secretary sir vince cable. it's clear that this is a response to huge pressure in the industry particularly from amazon and online, do you understand the reasons for this merger? i can understand the commercial reasons but we have to ta ke commercial reasons but we have to take account of public interest, you are going to get a very substantial concentration of power in the marketplace, in the mid market for this new market will be competing with tesco, they will have a double their position and more important at local level you will get lots of local level you will get lots of local monopolies being created but i was intrigued by the argument being put out

an alliance of labour, lib dems, crossbench peers and some conservatives voted to retain the option of from brexit supporters that this was an attempt to undermine the referendum result. ministers say they will try to reverse the vote at a later stage, as our deputy political editor, john pienaar, reports. brexit isn‘t always bad tempered, but it is still a struggle, and today the opposing sides in the lords up were up for it. many peers dislike brexit and today it showed, in a push for the government to explore staying in a european customs union. if in the end we do leave, it should be in a way that limits the damage to the country‘s wellbeing and the future of our children, and that‘s why i believe it makes sense for the government to be asked to explore customs union. only between 10% and 15% of companies in the country actually do serious exporting, they're mostly medium sized or large companies, and guess what they want? they want access and the best access possible to the closest market, and where's that? the answer was europe, with no customs checks or duties, even if it meant

i think diane abbott is really pushing her lib dem.me secretary to put it into place —— pushing her lead there. putting in that theresa may was not home secretary. we are on the ball tonight. let us look at the government reaction. an interesting one from michael gove. very fulsome in his praise and heavy she comes back soon. he is terribly polite. all his ministry colleagues these days. isn't it remarkable? he is very polite to everybody. he is generally very polite, except to boris one time. it is interesting that there is quite a lot of warmth towards amber rudd from conservatives. that does suggest she could come back if nothing else goes wrong. even people on the other side of the fence on brexit. exactly. it ina of the fence on brexit. exactly. it in a sense in one year brexit will be less of a divisive issue in the conservative party, one imagines. the labour attack is interesting, the important thing is that amber rudd had changed the hostile environment policy. she had changed the terminology. it was called the complaint envir

and this is and showing leadership and this is an amazing transformation because not long ago as lib demsto fight to get the conservatives to back banning plastic bags. fight to get the conservatives to back banning plastic bagsm fight to get the conservatives to back banning plastic bags. it was this massive fight. she has a house full of cotton buds! nick clegg is using all of the cotton buds! to move the story on, you go around being an environmentalist! in the greater scheme of things this is a good announcement, we have seen blue planet. something has to change. next it is nappies, that is what i wa nt to next it is nappies, that is what i want to see, biodegradable nappies. the sun. the sad news, dale winton, dead at 62. people will think about supermarket sweep and the national lottery, a huge loss. just broken at a quarter to lottery, a huge loss. just broken at a quarterto ten, lottery, a huge loss. just broken at a quarter to ten, from his publicist. tragic event, we have lost a lot of very well loved people. ray wilkins, dale winton. lost a lot of very well loved people. ray wi

us a plug, as a mixed—race brexit folder i was deeply disgusted and offended by the leader of the lib dems, it means having more diversity and being open to more inclusive immigration systems. vince cable is the leader of a small lyrical party, i think they felt in retrospect that he was maybe a bit too sharp with some of his language but i think what you key in two, one of the things that the brexit campaign was, full of lots and lots of different strands, for a lot of people it was about immigration, everybody will remember the nigel farage controversial poster that he stood in front of with the breaking point slogan. i know lots of brexiteers and people we met around the country were cross about that, appalled by that, they thought that was crossing a line, not what wrexham was about bad for them but i think it's also true immigration for lots of people was a motivating factor. —— lots of people was a motivating factor. — — not lots of people was a motivating factor. —— not what brexit was about. i think it's whether immigration is used as a bargaining chip, actually. because amber rudd

we have a liberal party, the lib dems, and they are not doing well.they are looking at something similar to emmanuel macron‘s party in france. something similar to emmanuel macron's party in france. that really worked but it is a different system. that's right. andrew lansley makes an interesting point. history suggests this is doomed to failure because of the sdp, like you said, the first past the post system is difficult to crack. but he points out that history has been a bad guide to political developments in re ce nt guide to political developments in recent years, from brexit, trump, the rise of jeremy recent years, from brexit, trump, the rise ofjeremy corbyn, so maybe it would be complacent to say this simply will not work because we are in an area where we thought of things that wouldn't work seem to be working very well. let's move on to crime. we've seen terrible incident of stabbings, and shootings in the capital. that has become a political debate now about how to stop it. the mail on sunday says stop and search u—turn on gang wars. mail o

, by the conservative peer ladyjenkin of kennington and by the former mp lady kramer who is now a lib demheard the from a lady talking about the house now and in the future, let us take a step back, what do you think would have happened to the lords if we had not had the life peerages act? i think it would have fallen into complete disrepute. as they said in the interviews you had on the tape, there were a large number of hereditary peers, some of them took it seriously but most of them did not. all of the accusations, which are probably wrongly now directed at all of us, being unelected, so i and so forth, would have been far louder and far stronger if there had not been the changes that were made both in the life peerages act, but, in my view, much more importantly, in the 1999 act which got rid of the majority of hereditary peers. that was when you saw the real change. let's stick to the life peerages act now. there was a lot of opposition? there was. i hope you will forgive me from reading a quote from one of the hereditary peers which i think will shock viewers. "frankly, i find wome

he said the lib dems were winning local council by—elections in all areas, which had gone unreported.or local elections. the former chelsea and england captain ray wilkins has died at the age of 61. he was being treated in hospital in london after suffering a cardiac arrest last week. ray wilkins made his name at chelsea and went on to play for manchester united, ac milan, rangers and qpr. this afternoon his family thanked friends, colleagues and the public for all the messages they've had since he was taken ill. richard conway reports. commentato ry: wilkins has curled one, and that's absolutely magnificent! goals and glory weren't the biggest part of ray wilkins' game, but he provided plenty of them nonetheless. such as here in 1983 fa cup final. for club and country he was the oil in the team's engine, emphasising passing and possession long before those qualities were as widely appreciated as they are today. that was my philosophy of the game, keep the ball. make the opposition work, so when they receive the ball you know, they are tired because they have had to work hard to get i

riot for opposing the war in iraq for having the all dust city to agree with my then leader in the lib dems charles kennedy who said that this war was being conducted on a false prospect practice of course what we now know is that was completely true it's interesting how you and kennedy and jeremy corbyn know more than the security services of this country haven't and as a. taxi driver in iraq for getting this information exactly the right question the security services probably did know the truth and they probably did advise over well in my opinion i'm expressing my pain in my view they did advise tony blair actually i would challenge that and i think that retrospectively we can see that the security services were more cautious than the politicians but where it goes wrong is when there's a political expedience at stake there was clearly that going on under tony blair when he decided to support america with the in my view unjustified incursion into iraq and it's quite possible we're seeing history repeating itself now with the finger of accusation being pointed towards russia without any su

he said the lib dems were winning local council by—elections in all areas, which had gone unreported.ections. tributes have been paid to the former england football captain ray wilkins, who has died aged 61. he'd been critically ill in hospital after suffering heart problems. in a long and distinguished career, he played for chelsea, manchester united and glasgow rangers as our correspondent, richard conway, reports. commentatory: wilkins has curled one! and that's absolutely magnificent! goals and glory weren't the biggest part of ray wilkins' game, but he provided plenty of them nonetheless, such as here in 1983 fa cup final. for club and country, he was the oil in the team's engine, emphasising passing and possession long before those qualities were as widely appreciated as they are today. that was my philosophy of the game, keep the ball. make the opposition work, so when they receive the ball you know, they're tired because they've had to work hard to get it back. don't give the ball away cheaply. normally as a player, you have one thing that you can do quite well. and i would li

an alliance of labour, lib dems, crossbench peers and some conservatives voted to retain the option oflater stage, as our deputy political editor, john pienaar, explains. brexit isn‘t always bad tempered, but it is still a struggle, and today the opposing sides in the lords up were up for it. many peers dislike brexit and today it showed, in a push for the government to explore staying in a european customs union. if in the end we do leave, it should be in a way that limits the damage to the country‘s wellbeing and the future of our children, and that‘s why i believe it makes sense for the government to be asked to explore customs union. only between 10 and 15% of companies in the country actually do serious exporting, they're mostly medium sized or large companies, and guess what they want? they want access and the best access possible to the closest market, and where's that? the answer was europe, with no customs checks or duties, even if it meant obeying eu rules and no right to strike trade deals around the world. brexiteer peers were having none of it. what is going on here is an

lib dem argued that the government had plenty of opportunities to change the bill when it was going throughow, the department of housing, communities and local government are exploring options, when there were so many chances before, it does seem extraordinary. the database was developed as a tool to enable local housing authorities to enable local housing authorities to identify roads and target enforcement action accordingly. to identify roads and target enforcement action accordinglym isa enforcement action accordinglym is a shared resorts across all housing authorities and allows them to pool their knowledge and information will stop my lords, we are unable underthe information will stop my lords, we are unable under the present legislation, as i think my noble lords appreciate, to extend that. it will require a fresh look and possibly, probably fresh legislation. finally, time to talk a bit of rubbish because fly tipping of some familiar and unfamiliar household items is on the rise in large parts of the uk. both rural and urban areas are affected, so can anything be done to stop at? m

that is something the labour party and the lib dems and others had spoken of the need for.ithout a majority in the house of commons, they believe theresa may doesn't have the authority to take this decision. it is only convention that says has to bea is only convention that says has to be a vote in parliament, but i think when theresa may returns the parliament after recess on monday, she will face tough questions. she is due to speak in an hour or two. i am sure some of those questions will be put by us and others then. she is insisting there was no alternative to this. she said it is in britain's national interests, that the use of chemical weapons does not become normalised on the streets of the uk oi’ normalised on the streets of the uk or anywhere else in the world. jeremy corbyn has been saying there is an alternative, that there should be more talking, concentration on a peace process and diplomacy rather than military action. she will face that accusation when she gets back to parliament and in the media over the next few hours and days. absolutely. these are the qu

the lib dem leader and former business secretary vince cable has warned that a deal between asda andated by a few big players. a sainsbury‘s spokesman said further details would be released tomorrow morning. officials in seoul say the north korean leader has pledged to dismantle his country's nuclear test site next month, with foreign experts invited to ensure transparency. kimjong—un is also reported to have told the south korean president during their summit on friday that he would change the country's time zone to match the south. meanwhile, president trump has announced that he plans to meet with north korean leader kimjong—un within a month. speaking at a rally in michigan last night, he told supporters he hoped talks would be successful but added that he was ready to walk away if they did not work out. the denuclearisation of the korean peninsula of north korea — de—nuke! de—nuke! more than 200 mps have written to theresa may calling for the assurances given to the windrush generation about their citizenship to be written into law. the letter, coordinated by the labour mp david

but we have to mention the fact the lib dems are fielding a full slate of candidates in the city forr a number of years. but if the ward is deemed a safe seat, i am told candidates are scarce. very few people come our way, general elections, local elections, you never see anybody. defence is a vital industry here. transport links are vital industry here. transport links a re often vital industry here. transport links are often criticised. the ambition of the city is to grow from 260,000 people to 360,000. but as the population ages, the challenge will be to take care of the elderly while providing enough opportunity for a workforce to pay the bills. bbc news, plymouth. you can find more about that out on the bbc website. if you thought all of that glorious sunshine was a sign of summer to stay, philip will put you right. well, you saw that, people flocking away in their millions. a glorious start to the weekend, plymouth looking none too cheery there but obviously glorious in many areas because we are still, at the moment, he said ominously, have the high pressure that has brought al

it is inevitable defeat, there are whole group of peers and the opposition joined in and the lib demsly needed because it is now out of date concept to be conducted within, andi out of date concept to be conducted within, and i voted to stay in but the country left did they wanted to stand aside from the eu centralised system, i do not think there is much future for customs unions, this is not a world in which these protectionist blocks which keep out a lot of trade amongst poorer countries have really got much of a place, we now have huge global supply chains and value chains winding across asia and china to india to britain and back again predator made in several places, anything you pick up is probably made in 15 different countries, this isa made in 15 different countries, this is a different world and clinging to an old—style customs union is understandable but for me it is yesterday. thank you forjoining us. this next story is a lesson in the art of the put down. last weekend the us ambassador to the un, nikki haley, seemed pretty sure that the administration was about to implem

can ijust say, for the benefit of the uk that we allowed babies into the chamber, a lib dem empey was quickly to the senate floor, i think we can go to capitol hill, because tammy duckworth is there at the moment! that is not her! here is a bunch of elderly white guys, probably the same ones who raised the question is about a bunch of babies! do we know the baby is in there? if we had more female senators, we only have 21, these questions would not arise, and there would indeed be a bunch of babies on the senate floor. moving on, i am told! now, we have spent three—quarters of an hour, and we have not christian won't rest unless we talk about it. it was a scorcher here in the uk, the hottest april day for 70 years. 29.1 degrees here in the capital, 84.1; fahrenheit, hotter than athens. the last time it was this hot, 19118, pee wee hunt were top of the uk charts with twelfth street rag. are you serious?! ragtime music plays that was at number one for seven weeks, quite right too! i went to see chris fawkes from the weather team, he says there is this high pressure over the uk that is s

lib dems leader vince cable seems less fussed about the legality, he wants more certainty about whethers a one—off strike or part of a sustained campaign. theresa may is coming to the commons to make a statement and is likely to be on herfeet for two or three hours taking questions from mps, that clearly won't be enough for some, but there is the issue here of who can make these very important decisions. some will say it's quite right that the prime minister, the cabinet, should have that flexibility to be able to make these decisions. that's right. there has been a convention, unenforceable, if you like, that the prime minister would bring these decisions to parliament. but in this case, she clearly has not done that, labour want to stop that and introduce what is called a war powers act. according to the press release at midday today, they want to enshrine in law that the government must get pa rliament‘s approval before committing to action. calls for a war powers act have been called after interventions in afghanistan, libya and iraq. stronger than this unenforceable act. tentative

he said the lib dems were winning local council by—elections in all areas, which had gone unreported.50 yea rs it is a special day in america, 50 years since the murder of doctor martin luther king. narrations are going on around the country to order him. here are the latest pictures from washington. the biggest event is being held in memphis, where our colleague clive mhairi spoke to civil rights activistjesse jackson. 50 years on, his legacy was that people need to stand up and fight. how far have african—americans, do you believe, since ‘68? you know, he bequeathed us the right to vote. we went from the balcony in memphis to the balcony of the white house in 40 years. the willingness we organised, but we never stop fighting. we would not let one bullet kill the movement. so, from this balcony to the balcony in the white house in 40 years is quite a journey. and yet, today, we're facing fierce right—wing reaction, and we'll win again. we're optimistic and hopeful about that. let's stay in memphis now, and get ron christie, a former advisor to president bush, back with us. listening

a little earlier, sir vince cable, the leader of the lib dems, spoke to the bbc about what his party parliament can and should be re called parliament can and should be recalled immediately and a vote held oi'i recalled immediately and a vote held on this issue. the position is a very dangerous one, because of russian involvement, also because of the erratic president of the united states. i don't rule out the fact that the liberal democrats might support the government if a case is made, but it has too been made when we support intervention in 2013, parliament declined to support it. the mandate has to be secured. jeremy corbyn certainly agrees with that, saying there must be no military strikes without parliamentary approval. it is very ha rd to parliamentary approval. it is very hard to see how he would ever support military action in these circumstances. the question, of course, for the labour party more broadly, dozens decided in 2013 that they would vote for military action. have they changed their mind? would they go along with it if it came to it? the other point is parliamen

the coalition was seen here as a deal with the devil and the lib dems paid the price but the cuts thatb was created back in 1982, a pub where dreams are born. some bigger than others. do think conservatives genuinely think they can make inroads? do you think conservatives genuinely could make inroads in liverpool? we are hoping to. we have some really good young candidates, most of whom weren't actually born when margaret thatcher was in power nationally. what do you make of that? yeah, it's fantasy politics really. one thing people aren't in this city is stupid. they recognise my hands are tied because of the government cuts. the reality is there hasn't been a conservative councillor in liverpool for more than 25 years, but blues and yellows are pinning their hopes on potholes and parks, prompting a renaissance. they're tired of some of the decisions, such as building on our green spaces. we've got situations like we've got the money to be able to invest in new football stadiums but we're not putting that money into front—line services. funding front—line services here isn't easy. cou

they were destroyed a year later, in 2010, under the conservative and lib dem coalition government whenou prove you've been in the uk for a long time? which is what windrush migrants are being asked to do? they're required to show they've been in britain continually since 1jan 1973, when they were granted the right to stay in the uk permanently. but, the home office didn't keep records of those who it granted indefinite leave to. to gain official recognition people must apply for a stamp known as no time limit, which costs £229. until this week, the home office required people to provide four pieces of evidence for each year they'd been in the country. after the row erupted this week, the home office softened this, saying any evidence will be considered, including where you went to school, where you've worked, and whether you have family here. the 2014 immigration act requires landlords, employers, banks and the nhs to check people's immigration status. it's designed to restrict illegal immigrants access to work, healthcare and benefits. but some people who arrived legally decades ago a

to the viewers, we have vince cable, leader of the lib dems, and bob seely, the conservative mp for thet must decide. maria says, the public should also get a vote, look at iraq and libya, disasters. martin says it should be a matter for parliament to decide not one person and her team of yes— people. michael says any involvement in syria will result once more in bombs on london streets, shame on theresa may if she takes this country to war. iraq and afghanistan were complex but they were not disasters. it was iraq and libya. some might say they were disasters. it was iraq and libya. some might say they were disasterslj it was iraq and libya. some might say they were disasters. i served in both and there are pros and cons for both. you say you trust theresa may more than other leaders but she obviously doesn't trust people like you, obviously doesn't trust people like you , even obviously doesn't trust people like you, even her own tory mps, that is why there will be no vote in parliament. government decides, parliament. government decides, parliament is the legislative body and we will

the lib dems had never signed up to that, but nevertheless, theresa may pursued it as an objective underuropean union, we stillare, so course we were still in the european union, we still are, so controlling eu migration was not possible. so theresa may, in order to try to get this target achieved, had to focus on non—eea migrants, huge majority of whom are from the commonwealth, and illegal migrants, so she had a five—year programme during her time as home secretary going relentlessly through everything to try and make life a bit harder for illegal immigrant is, particularly making it really difficult to survive without the right paperwork to get by, so this doctrine of creating a hostile environment was developed. so that you had to be able to produce papers to get benefits, but then for the first time, nhs treatment, they wanted to see papers to get kids into schools. nick has talked very distressingly about losing his driving licence, and that was something where the home office worked very deliberately with the dv la worked very deliberately with the dvla and the department for tran

across the political spectrum to amber rudd's resignation, with shadow home secretary diane abbott and lib demto announce whether an expected merger with asda will go ahead. ben will speak to chief executive mike coupe. and after 9:00, we'll chat to legendary fashion photographer ellen von unwerth who launched the careers of kate moss, claudia schiffer and naomi campbell, to name a few. good morning, here's a summary of today's main stories from bbc news. the home secretary has resigned, saying she inadvertently misled parliament. amber rudd came under fire for her part in the windrush scandal. pressure grew when she was questioned by mps, and appeared not to know whether her department had targets for removing illegal immigrants. 0ur political correspondent, iain watson, has more. morning, home secretary! morning. for most of the past week, amber rudd has been under pressure. home secretary, will you resign over windrush? late last night, she did just that. and in a letter to the prime minister, she says she: . and that's why she's going. it was the windrush scandal that marked the beginning