chris page at stormont. _ real deadline. chris page at stormont, thank _ real deadline.hank you. - borisjohnson has told his cabinet to cut up to 91,000 civil service jobs to free up cash for measures to ease the cost of living. it amounts to a fifth of the current workforce. the prime minister wants to reduce staffing levels to where they were in 2016. he described a suggested saving of £3.75 billion a year as "realistic". but a civil service union called the plan "ill—thought—out" and warned it could affect services. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley reports. jobs, jobs, jobs is the answer. that's his solution when it comes to the cost of living. but the prime minister now says the government employs too many people. he wants to cut 90,000 civil service jobs employs too many people. he wants to cut 90,000 civil servicejobs in employs too many people. he wants to cut 90,000 civil service jobs in the next three years and has told ministers to draw up plans within weeks. ., , ., ., , ministers to draw up plans within weeks. ., ,., ., ,, weeks. you should always spe

chris page, bbc news, belfast.y's move by the dup prevents the formation of a power—sharing executive to govern northern ireland. sinn fein�*s election victory last week was the first time in the province's history that a party who wants to see a united ireland has the most seats in the assembly. one of the main factors in today's deadlock is the northern ireland protocol. our home editor mark easton assesses the impact of that agreement. you can't see it, it's not on any nautical map, but somewhere out here is the invisible border that threatens to paralyse northern ireland politics. the brexit deal that britain signed with the eu sought to prevent reviving hostility at the land border with the republic just down there. so they moved customs checks out to a mythical point here in the middle of the irish sea, drawing a line between northern ireland — over there — and great britain. in doing so the prime minister broke a promise he had repeatedly made to unionists. i'm afraid that the right honourable lady is simply

chris page, bbc news. sinn fein was a party ostracised by many in the political sphere. during the 30 year conflict in northern ireland known as the "troubles" it was seen as being associated with a campaign of violence. but once the party decided on a way forward through politics, and in the 1980s had members elected as mps, it began to gain popularity. our ireland correspondent emma vardy looks back — her report contains flashing images. steeped in the violence of the past, sinn fein�*s political aims were born out of a northern ireland's darkest days. the freedom fighters of the ira are now continuing the struggle against foreign occupation and domination! during the 30 year conflict here, sinn fein were the voice of the paramilitary group the ira... explosions ..who fought an armed campaign to try to break british rule in northern ireland. gerry adams, the leader of sinn fein during some of the worst of the ira violence, became both a hated and revered figure. i haven't gone away, you know! today, the

chris page, bbc news.ondent danjohnson is at stormont and he sent this update about what's expected to happen next the parties have to get and discuss whether they will actually share power and whether there will be a devolved executive at stormont. they may have to look at the westminster government. the blockage each year even before the election was the northern ireland protocol, the trade rules that no mean checks on goods coming into northern ireland from great britain. that is what the dup objected to and why it pulled out from power—sharing in february and why it is refusing to commit to going back into power sharing now. reform of the northern ireland protocol needs to be negotiated with the uk westminster government and the european union so it may be parties are now looking to the uk government and for those negotiations to progress before we can move to power—sharing here but it means we are looking at political paralysis, blockage at least for the next few days, weeks or maybe even months. impl

our ireland correspondent, chris page, has this report — which contains flashing images.s, flashes and cheers were the sure—fire signs of sinn fein success. the party retained its 27 seats. that was enough to top the table. the sinn fein vice president, michelle o'neill, is in line to become the first irish nationalist to be northern ireland's first minister. my commitment is to work through partnership, not division. st we will work with those who serve all other political perspectives. we will work together. we will show respect, and we expect to be shown respect. another major indication of change was the advance of the party which is neither unionist nor nationalist. alliance has more than doubled its number of seats, moving from fifth place to third in the assembly. but the democratic unionists have lost their position as the leading party, which they've had for almost 20 years. the dup lost significant votes to a more hardline unionist group. a stronger unionism is a stronger partner for others in government. and we cannot continue with the divisions that are there.

chris page, bbc news, belfast. upon us once again, and, while ukraine's entry is this year's firm favourite — unusually, the uk entry is also among those tipped to win — as david sillito reports. one, two, three... yay! sam ryder. the uk's eurovision hopeful is already a hit in turin. his song, "space man", is being hotly tipped. eurovision has helped transform his life. two—and—a—half years ago, december 2019, where was your singing career? i did a little bit of everything. i was a labourer, a dogsbody, basically. so, december2019, yourjob is a labourer? yeah. his journey to fame began with this tiktok video. i thought nothing of it. i went to bed that night and just thought, that was funny. i woke up and two million people had seen it. you had two million views? yeah, yeah. and it was that that led to eurovision. it was lovely to meet you. let's go for a walk. and to understand what that could mean, meet italy's mahmood. this is mahmood's second eurovision. and it's made him a star. you've got a few fans around h

chris page, bbc news.say a humanitarian operation to evacuate civilians from the besieged azovstal steelworks in the southern port city of mariupol has been completed. their departure comes after heavy russian bombardment of the plant in recent weeks. many civilians have gone to the city of zaporizhzhia. our correspondent, laura bicker is there. we've heard from ukrainian officials that women and children have been allowed out and they say that all of them have made it out of the steel plan. remember these are people who have been inside come in the dark, in these maze—like tunnels far more than 60 days. they finally got out. we heard from the ukrainian fighters who have said on social media they have given an idea of how this works. they say there are white likes to signal civilians were on their way. that would imply a degree of coordination between these two sides, however, over the past few days there are reports that russia has continued to shell the steel plant. certainly when you've seen some of the

chris page, bbc news, stormont. curfew, after violent clashes between rajapaksa supporters and anti—government protesters in colombo. protests against soaring prices and energy shortages started last month, as our south asia correspondent rajini vaidnayathan reports. an island nation sinking fast. an explosion of anger after weeks of anti—government protests. as the two sides came face—to—face, supporters of the prime minister attacked the south are peaceful demonstrators who were calling for the government to go. they accuse the police of failing them. as you can say, these scenes are extremely tense here. this is outside the prime minister, mahinda rajapaksa�*s house. violence once plagued this nation, during decades of civil war. now an economic emergency has left millions struggling to survive. it economic emergency has left millions struggling to survive.— struggling to survive. it shouldn't be happening _ struggling to survive. it shouldn't be happening in _ struggling to survive. it shouldn't be happening in

chris page instalment for us.nd protest. i think a lot of people right now are - reaction and protest. i think a lotj of people right now are grappling with the idea that something that has been codified in the constitution may no longer exist. for women like myself and several thousand others this has been the law of the land for our entire lives. so i think now that the shock has sort of worn off, i think people are now asking questions about, what does this mean? i think specifically for us lawmakers, what this means is there needs to be more action taken. so in reaction to the law enacted in texas and the similar law that was just enacted in oklahoma banning abortions after six weeks, we are seeing lawmakers are trying to put forth a new rule that is titled with the women�*s health act and try to give the same protections that were included in roe versus wade and codify that into us law. now, of course, as everything in washington is going to require a lot of support from both sides of the aisle and i think de

chris page - thanks for that. chris page reporting from hillsborough. good afternoon for the we've been hearing that the protocol, the trade arrangement that was agreed with the eu post—brexit is causing this deadlock. could you just talk to us about the protocol? what is this problem that the uk government is trying to solve? flit problem that the uk government is trying to solve?— trying to solve? of course. as part of ensuring — trying to solve? of course. as part of ensuring that _ trying to solve? of course. as part of ensuring that there _ trying to solve? of course. as part of ensuring that there is _ trying to solve? of course. as part of ensuring that there is no - trying to solve? of course. as part of ensuring that there is no need i trying to solve? of course. as part| of ensuring that there is no need to have any formal trade border between northern ireland and ireland, as part of a draw of the european union, the uk agreed that northern ireland would remain de facto within the eu single market for goods and also in practice within its custo

chris page, bbc news, belfast.s from danjohnson, who's at the count centre in belfast. yes, more results coming in here all the time. another round of applause, which sounds like another successful the alliance party. in terms of power—sharing resuming, a major sticking point for the democratic unionist has been over the northern ireland protocol. the cheques coming into goods —— coming into northern ireland. there are tough negotiations which have been tried already and have not brought about the sort of success the dup says it needs. it looks like they are going to refuse any immediate future to go back into power—sharing. that means sinn fein, despite its success in these elections, may not be able to take up the role of first minister and that means they are not able to inaction all the policies they want to put into place in northern ireland, never mind considering moves towards a united ireland once again. moves towards a united ireland once aaain. ., ~' ,, the education secretary nadhim zahawi has said the g

chris page, bbc news, belfast. 0ur ireland correspondent, emma vardy, is here.result in a fully functioning government? at the moment the chances are pretty slim here in northern ireland. this place could be on four months more uncertainty and that is because even if there is a sinn fein victory, which would be an historic moment, very symbolic result in these elections, the power—sharing rules mean the first minister roll and deputy first minister roles are a joint office, they are equal and you cannot have one without the other. the dup has made it pretty clear they are not going to go back into they are not going to go back into the executive unless their demands around getting changes to the brexit arrangements are met, and if there is that sinn fein victory then there is that sinn fein victory then there is probably going to be even less appetite in the party for going back into power sharing. so the most likely scenario we will see is this period of negotiation between all the parties after polling day that could drag on potentially for months. in the mean

chris page, bbc news, belfast.elfast constituency, we carry the speech a little earlier. i thought it was a nice touch when you paid tribute to the late dup representative for the area. ed edwin poots had paid tribute before that as well and you did as well and i thought it was a very human moment, irrespective of political traditions, you were reaching out there. i suppose a lot of people watching this and looking on will say, why can�*t politicians in northern ireland do more of this and what is it going to take to get and what is it going to take to get a functioning executive back up and running? a functioning executive back up and runnina ? , ., , a functioning executive back up and runnina ? , .,, ., , running? christopher and i grew up in belfast and _ running? christopher and i grew up in belfast and working _ running? christopher and i grew up in belfast and working class - in belfast and working class communities and there are commonalities we shared. often i think that is the politics people don�*t alway

chris page reporting there.by the dup prevents the formation of a power—sharing executive to govern northern ireland. sinn fein's election victory last week was the first time in the province's history that a party who wants to see a united ireland has the most seats in the assembly. one of the main factors in today's deadlock is the northern ireland protocol. our home editor mark easton assesses the impact of that agreement. you can't see it, it's not on any nautical map, but somewhere out here is the invisible border that threatens to paralyse northern ireland politics. the brexit deal that britain signed with the eu sought to prevent reviving hostility at the land border with the republic just down there. so they moved customs checks out to a mythical point here in the middle of the irish sea, drawing a line between northern ireland over there and great britain. in doing so the prime minister broke a promise he had repeatedly made to unionists. i'm afraid that the right honourable lady is simply wrong, there

chris page, bbc news, belfast.ate with the relative positions of the parties. i think we can show it on our screens. there you have it. sinn fein leading the way followed by the dup and then with alliance, that centre ground party, as we mentioned, performing very well, clearly that is one of the big stories at this election. i'm joined byjon tonge, professor of british and irish politics at the university of liverpool. the fact sinn fein has become the largest party in northern ireland, they declined to use the term northern ireland, for them to become the largest party here is a seismic development. it won't change things dramatically. there will not be able to poll any time zone or a constitutional referendum around the corner but sinn fein becoming the largest party entitles them to nominate the first minister of northern ireland that michelle o'neill will be nominated as the next first minister. whether the dup will then go and nominate a deputy there is a minister is a big question. there is a minister is a b

chris page, bbc news, belfast.o live to our correspondent danjohnson at the count centre in belfast. it isa it is a gripping one, isn't it? unprecedented results coming through. unprecedented results coming throu~h. , ., ., , unprecedented results coming throu~h. , ., ., ., ., through. yes, we already know that sinn fein is — through. yes, we already know that sinn fein is going _ through. yes, we already know that sinn fein is going to _ through. yes, we already know that sinn fein is going to be _ through. yes, we already know that sinn fein is going to be the - through. yes, we already know that sinn fein is going to be the largest| sinn fein is going to be the largest party. that is a significant achievement, the first time that a nationalist party, party that once a united ireland will be the largest party and entitled to take the first minister role. the counting is still going on, it is a long and complex process. it will be some time yet before we note the full final results and the allocation of seats in t

our ireland correspondent chris page is in belfast.ce the election in northern ireland which changed many things in politics in this part of the uk. sinn fein became the first irish nationalist party to win most seats. the cross county alliance party moved up to third, but it is the party in second place, the democratic unionists which hold the key to ending this dispute that is holding up the establishment of a power—sharing devolved government. and not for the first time, northern ireland is finding itself on the front line from from the fallout from brexit. the prime minister is on the move. heading across the trade border between great britain and northern ireland. his objective, he says, is to try to get goods moving across the irish sea more quickly. boris johnson is planning legislation which will give him the power to change parts of the northern ireland protocol. but even league leaders are urging him not to and insist the sticking points can be resolved through negotiation. the willingness ofthe through negotiation. the willi

chris page, bbc news, belfast. 0ur ireland correspondent, emma vardy, is here.big day on thursday. how could pan out after the elections? the - a big day on thursday. how could pan out after the elections? the short - out after the elections? the short answer is we _ out after the elections? the short answer is we could _ out after the elections? the short answer is we could see _ out after the elections? the short answer is we could see stormont| out after the elections? the short i answer is we could see stormont in the same scenario we are in now, so evenif the same scenario we are in now, so even if there is an historic result that's been indicated by the polls, the power—sharing rules mean that the power—sharing rules mean that the first minister, deputy first minister rolls are joint roles, they are equal and you cannot have one without the other in the dup has made it pretty clear that they are not going to be going back into the executive unless their demands around getting changes to the brexit arrangements are met and if there is arrangements are met a

chris page, bbc news, belfast.t thames magistrates' court. our sports correspondent natalie pirks is at the court it was back in 31 footage and emerged on social media, film by his brother, of kurt zouma kicking his bangle cut across the kitchen and then slapping it across the face in front of his shocked seven—year—old son. the footage ends with him saying, i'll pillage, i swear i'll kill it. kurt zouma pleaded guilty to two counts of causing suffering to two counts of causing suffering to a protected animal and his younger brother pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting unnecessary suffering. kurt zouma had already been fined £250,000 by his club and lost lucrative sponsorship at the prosecution argued he caused the cat fear, pain and anxiety at the suffering was deliberate. zouma has agreed for his two cats to be rehomed by the rspca, which says it welcomed the guilty plea, and the two brothers will be sentenced next month. . ~' ,. two brothers will be sentenced next month. ., ,, , ., ., ., hundreds of people queu

chris page, bbc news, belfast.of seats won by the respective parties so far. i think we can put that up on the screen for you, there we go. the state of play, sinn fein, 2i you, there we go. the state of play, sinn fein, 21 seats. the dup on 19. the alliance party on 15, up six. the alliance party on 15, up six. the big success story of this election really in terms of their share of the vote and seats won. the ulster unionist party on seven, including their leader, doug beattie returned. the sdlp on five. tuv, another anti—protocol unionist party has one. and an independent elected as well stop so those are the figures for you. a quick calculation, around 20 seats left to declare. let's assess where we are with this election and what might happen next with the commentator brian rowan, author of the book political purgatory. i was very interested when i read that book on what you wrote about the middle ground here in northern ireland politics, the alliance party, which has done exceedingly well in these elections,

w heard from chris page a little while ago here is more from him on what has been happening in thesen belfast. chris: the dep says it wantsn essence an end to the checks on goods arrivinhere in northern ireland from great britain under the terms ofhe brexit termed the northern ireland protocol. in order to prevent checks on the land border between northern ireland and the irish republic, it meansnstead there are checks on goods that arrive here from britain because the e.u. needs to protect its own single market and needs to prevent any goods moving from britain into the single market by going across the open land border into the republic. so it has been a really difficult circle to square. it is an issue that was huge during the brexit negotiations. the du p is a poster that border as unionist and view it as an economic barrier within their own damages northern islands place in the u.k.. sinn fein would say brexit on the whole is a very bad thing. they have criticized boris johnson for planning to take unilateral action for being able to scrap parts of the protocol. balancing the cr

chris page reporting there. how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30pm and 11:30pm this evening in the papers. our guestsjoining me tonight are the mirror's aletha adu and sam listerfrom the daily express. borisjohnson has told his cabinet to cut up to 91,000 civil service jobs to free up cash for measures to ease the cost of living. he wants to reduce staffing levels to where they were in 2016. he described a suggested saving of £3.75 billion a year as "realistic", but a civil service union called the plan "ill thought—out" and warned it could affect services. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley reports. jobs, jobs, jobs is the answer. that's his solution when it comes to the cost of living, but the prime minister now says the government employs too many people. he wants to cut 90,000 civil service jobs in the next three years and has told ministers to draw up plans within weeks. you should always spend taxpayers' money as efficiently as possible. governments have no mo

and live at stormont now is our correspondent chris page. result, chris, is there a way through the post brexit issue that could get a devolved government back in place for northern ireland? well, the shape of the devolved assembly is now clear about the future of devolution certainly is not. the democratic unionist party if anything has toughened its position, it insists it will block the formation of a power—sharing coalition unless the trade border with the rest of the uk is removed. i cannot tell you how unbending they have been sounding on this today. whenever it comes to the trade border, they view it as an economic barrier in their own country, a red line, it is also worth bearing in mind that one of the reason for the dup decline is that it shed votes to the tuv which has criticised the dup for being too weak on the issue. tomorrow brandon lewis will meet party leaders and you can expect newly elected politicians to arrive here and have photocalls in front of the building behind me and most of them will say they want to get straight

here's our correspondent chris page.cal shift in the politics of northern ireland for the for the first time the irish nationalist party, they party that's committed to taking northern ireland out of the uk making it 100 with the republic of ireland. the party is sinn fein. the second biggest party now is the party that was the biggest party for the last 19 years, the democratic unionist party whose to keep northern ireland within the united kingdom. it is a significant move at the top. another big change was the cross community alliance community, the party that divides itself is neither unionist or nationals has moved on from this paid to third, more than doubling its numbers in the stormont assembly chamber. once he hasn't changed and thatis chamber. once he hasn't changed and that is the sense of deadlock. the democratic unionist party has been blocking the formation of a devolved government, indeed it's been blocking the storm and assembly from meeting at all. in northern ireland, the government's power must be shar

but i asked chris page to make it simplerfor us.orthern ireland is completely different to england, scotland and wales. you have unionist parties who define themselves by wanting to maintain northern ireland's place in the uk. irish nationalist parties, whose real aim is ultimately to merge northern ireland into the republic of ireland. the issue with the protocol, really, is that it goes to the very heart of that basic division — britishness or irishness. to unionists, again if you take things down to the core principles, the protocol feels like it is separating northern ireland economically from the rest of the uk and it's something that is damaging northern ireland's place in the uk. to irish nationalists, though politically they maybe wouldn't characterise it quite like this, well, it can feel that the protocol is something that is moving northern ireland a little bit out of the uk's orbit and slightly closer to the european union economically. that means in essence it is moving northern ireland just that little bit closer to du

chris page, bbc news, belfast.en paid the gardens a visit yesterday. other themes this year include wildlife and wellbeing. it's the end of an era in new york where the last phone box in the city has been removed. the city began replacing them with wi—fi hotspots in 2015, which allows people to charge their devices and make free phone calls. people gathered to use their new phones to film the last old phone taken away. that is search, have a good day. —— that it, have a good day. hello again. today really is going to be a day of bright spells, sunshine and showers, and some of the showers will be heavy and some of them will also be thundery later across parts of the south—east and the east. but many of us will miss the showers and have a dry day with either bright skies or some sunshine. and then later on, a ridge of high pressure builds in from the west. so many of the showers in the west will fade. it's going to be a breezy day, with highs today between 11 and 18 degrees. now, as we head on through the evening an

chris page, bbc news, belfast. questions about the key issues directly to the leaders of northern ireland's main parties. that vote 22 and and i leaders debate here on the bbc news channel. on this — world press freedom day — there's a warning that unregulated online content is spreading disinformation and propaganda, which have amplified political divisions worldwide and even contributed to russia's invasion of ukraine. the warning came from reporters without borders, as it published an annual world press freedom index, ranking 180 countries based on the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists. these are the lowest ranked nations — china, myanmar, iran, eritrea and north korea at the bottom. hong kong has plummeted in the index to 148, while russia comes in at 155, after the propaganda war which preceded its invasion of ukraine. the uk comes in at 24th. joining me is rebecca vincent, director of operations and campaigns at reporters without borders. good to have you with us. what stands out for you particularly t

chris page, bbc news, belfast.et. our transport correspondent katy austin reports. just after 6am and the doors were finally open. passengers streamed into new stations, including here in woolwich in south—east london, to catch the first trains... good morning everyone and welcome to your brand—new elizabeth line service. ..as the country�*s newest railway got up and running. i turned up really early, i have been waiting for nearly ten years for this thing to open. just shorter travel for me, - very convenient for me, yeah. once—in—a—lifetime opportunity. a transport line, in a city like london, opening, it probably won�*t happen again in my lifetime. the journey time between canary wharf and whitechapel blew my mind. the line links reading in berkshire with shenfield in essex, via central london. it is initially running in three separate parts. from today, the newly built section between paddington and abbey wood will run monday to saturday with a train every five minutes. seamless end—to—end travel will come late

chris page, bbc news, belfast.er you heard a moment or two ago that was, as i thought, another win for the alliance party in the constituency of south belfast. they had one seat last time around in 2017. now they have too. that was kate nichol, the current mayor of belfast it was selected at the expense of the green party candidate clare bailey so another win for that centre ground party at the alliance party. let's discuss this a little bit more and look at what the papers are making of this this morning. i'm joined now by freya mcclements, northern editor at the irish times. great to have you with us. let's start with your paper in your reaction to the election so far. in common with many of the pages here this morning the focus is about sinn fein leader mary lou mcdonald whose significance of sinn fein leader in the north election and that is because we are talking about a historic victory here and talking about a shift in leadership and government in northern ireland. sinn fein poised to be the tender is the la

our ireland correspondent, chris page, has this report — which contains flashing images.heers were the sure—fire signs of sinn fein success. the party retained its 27 seats. that was enough to top the table. the sinn fein vice president, michelle o'neill, is in line to become the first irish nationalist to be northern ireland's first minister. my commitment is to work through partnership, not division. we will work with those who serve all other political perspectives. we will work together. we will show respect, and we expect to be shown respect. another major indication of change was the advance of the party, which is neither unionist nor nationalist. alliance has more than doubled its number of seats, moving from fifth place to third in the assembly. but the democratic unionists have lost their position as the leading party, which they've had for almost 20 years. the dup lost significant votes to a more hardline unionist group. a stronger unionism is a stronger partner for others in government. and we cannot continue with the divisions that are there. and the unionist

trade barriers with the rest of the uk that have arisen out of brexit. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page keys to the first minister's office but she can't unlock the door unless her political rivals become her partners. applause the sinn fein vice president is in line to be the first irish nationalist to take the job. it would be a hugely symbolic moment for the party which wants northern ireland to leave the uk. it's time for us all, as political leaders, to have the courage to step forward with unity of purpose and determination, to deliver a stable power—sharing coalition, one that works, and mostly, one that delivers. the people want government and we all want change. and i am committed to both. but the democratic unionist party is committed to changing the brexit trading arrangements, which it says have created an economic barrier with england, scotland and wales. the northern ireland protocol means certain goods like milk, eggs, medicines and parcels are inspected when they arrive here from great britain. the arrangement was put in place to keep open the border with the republic of

president of the european commission tomorrow for further talks on the issue. 0ur ireland correspondent chris pageer and is all of is still affecting northern ireland? itinfoil any closer and is all of is still affecting northern ireland? well not for the first time _ affecting northern ireland? well not for the first time northern _ affecting northern ireland? well not for the first time northern ireland i for the first time northern ireland feels as if it's on the front line of the fallout from brexit and one reason brexit has been contentious here is in many ways the various issues around it go to the heart of the political parties in the core reasons for being if you like. so now we are at an impasse in which the future of devolved government here depends following elections last week, democratic unionist party sticking to their position that they will not go back into power—sharing government and therefore prevent the formation of devolved government unless the checks on goods arriving here at belfast port from the rest of the uk are scrapped. they are in place because of the northern ireland

in a moment we'll hear from james cook in glasgow, hywel griffith in barry and chris page at stormontolitical correspondent, jonathan blake, who's at westminster. and most of the votes cast in england tomorrow will be in towns and cities from parish councils to elected mayors. largely in london local authorities providing local services from libraries to dustbin collection, planning and potholes. but they will also provide the best indication for some time of the national, political picture. so the conservatives will be braced for the voters' verdict on their handling of the cost of living crisis. for many the cost of living crisis. for many the government's response to the war in ukraine at the partygate saga. labour's leader, sir keir starmer, is attempting to talk about his party's plans is attempting to talk about his pa rty�*s plans to tackle is attempting to talk about his party's plans to tackle rising household bills, but he still faces questions over his own conduct during lockdown. the liberal democrats will be looking to take seats from the conservatives in the south, labou

the first time a nationalist party in northern ireland has won the most seats. 0ur correspondent chris pagelashes and cheers, were the sure—fire signs of sinn fein�*s success. cheering the party has retained its 27 seats, and that is enough to top the table.

chris page, bbc news, belfast. this arrangement as _ talking point. in a nutshell, it was this arrangement as part - talking point. in a nutshell, it was this arrangement as part of i talking point. in a nutshell, it was this arrangement as part of brexit between the uk and the eu to keep an open border on the island of ireland, because northern ireland, part of the uk, was leaving the eu, the republic of ireland is still in the republic of ireland is still in the eu, and there are strict rules about food products and medicines needing cheques, and so they had to go somewhere, and rather than on the irish border, back in 29 it was bowed out no less, along with the eu, who agreed that these goods would take place coming into northern ireland first. —— back in 2019 it was borisjohnson no less. that is what has caused a real political row here locally, because unionists say you have separated us from the rest of the uk, we are following eu rules, which was totally against the point of brexit. they talk about it damagi

chris page reporting. joining me now is northern ireland political commentator mark devenport. go from here. good evening. i think we probably _ we go from here. good evening. i think we probably go _ we go from here. good evening. i think we probably go into - we go from here. good evening. i think we probably go into weeks l we go from here. good evening. i | think we probably go into weeks if not months of difficult negotiations, because we have got on the one hand the unionists, the dup, saying that they want to do away with the northern ireland protocol that chris has just described, and on the other, the majority of mlas, assembly members that have just been returned to stormont, whilst they might not be fans of the protocol in a completely unchanged form, then maybe want some kind of flexibility built into it in order to help local businesses, they would prefer to haveit businesses, they would prefer to have it there than not have it there, so there is the conundrum for there, so there is the conundrum for the government, and the government is notjust looking at of cours

we'll hear from chris page in belfast and lorna gordon in glasgow in a moment, first let's hear fromng that in the next _ tomos. yeah, we should be expecting that in the next half— tomos. yeah, we should be expecting that in the next half hour _ tomos. yeah, we should be expecting that in the next half hour over- tomos. yeah, we should be expecting that in the next half hour over in i that in the next half hour over in west wales, and since the brexit vote in 2016, the tories have been making gains and tells 2019. since the pandemic, labour have slowly been making gains, as we saw in the senedd elections last year, when they did much better than expected. they lost a huge number of seats in the local elections in 2017, but they are quietly confident here, quietly confident of winning back the three councils where they lost a majority across south wales, and really hopeful of making significant gains in north—east wales, the historical heartland where they have lost votes to the tories in recent times. the tories in wales, i think, are far less confident than in england, they are now

let's speak to our northern ireland correspondent chris page.etary liz truss and her counterpart in brussels was described by one source as tetchy. certainly the statement issued by both sides afterwards suggest the tone of the conversation was at least that. he said he would be seriously concerned by the prospect of the uk taking action on its own to remove or suspend parts of the northern ireland protocol, and he put it —— pointed towards the fact the protocol was signed off by boris johnson's government and the eu in the run—up to britain's departure from the european union about 18 months ago. he said if the uk was to take unilateral action, it would amount to in effect breaking an international treaty. liz truss on the other hand said the protocol wasn't serving its original objectives, it was the greatest blocked a power—sharing in northern ireland. blocked a power-sharing in northern ireland. , ., ,, i. , ireland. chris, thank you. chris paile in ireland. chris, thank you. chris paige in belfast. _ rebekah vardy has broken down in tears w

chris page, bbc news, belfast. power—sharing executive, because we obviously _ power—sharing executive, because we obviously have the shock to the unionist — obviously have the shock to the unionist system, the dup being pushed — unionist system, the dup being pushed into second place, but on top of that, _ pushed into second place, but on top of that, we _ pushed into second place, but on top of that, we have real concerns within— of that, we have real concerns within the _ of that, we have real concerns within the unionist community about brexit— within the unionist community about brexit arrangements, the protocol which _ brexit arrangements, the protocol which has — brexit arrangements, the protocol which has put in place a trade border— which has put in place a trade border down the irish sea, and even before _ border down the irish sea, and even before the _ border down the irish sea, and even before the irish sea, and even before — before the irish sea, and even before this election, the dup pulled out a gov

trigger months of uncertainty and negotiations over who leads the executive. 0ur correspondent chris pagepolitics in this part of the uk tends to be very predictable but in this election, there is a significant possibility of a huge shift. for the last five elections to the devolved assembly here at stormont, the democratic unionists have won the most seats and sinn fein has come second. however, polls are suggesting that there could be a surge in support for the cross community alliance party and that sinn fein could emerge as the largest party. that would put the party's vice president michelle 0'neill in line to become the first ever irish nationalist to hold the first minister's position in northern ireland. now aside from the battle as to who comes out on top, the other issues prominent in this campaign have included the rising cost of living and the health service. northern ireland presently has the longest hospital waiting times in the uk by far. but there's serious doubt as to whether a devolved government will be formed at all after this election. under the power—sharing system,

chris page at hillsborough castle in northern ireland, thank you very much. is suzanne lynch who is the author of a book and a northern ireland journalist. thank you very much a being with us on bbc news this afternoon. where do you think we are in this process of changes to the protocol? i in this process of changes to the rotocol? ~ , ., ., _ protocol? i think it is fair to say that the attention _ protocol? i think it is fair to say that the attention of _ protocol? i think it is fair to say that the attention of the - protocol? i think it is fair to say that the attention of the eu - protocol? i think it is fair to sayj that the attention of the eu has protocol? i think it is fair to say - that the attention of the eu has not beenin that the attention of the eu has not been in brexit over the last few months. people are very exercised by the war in ukraine and getting a coherent eu response to that. however, there really is a sense in brussels that brexit is back and we are back to some kind of brinkmanship that we saw throughout the process between the e