while sinn fein is saying this is a referendum potentially on a united ireland. no doubt the general election will be as hard fought in northern ireland as anywhere else. the but the prime ministers clear northern ireland is a high priority for her, that is one of the reasons why she has put securing a soft border as a priority in brexit negotiations. i know looking ahead she will be doing everything she can to support northern ireland in its effo rts to support northern ireland in its efforts to get a devolved executive back up and running and of course get a successful outcome on the borderfrom brexit get a successful outcome on the border from brexit negotiations. many thanks. let's look at how the other parties have been reacting. liberal democrat leader tim farron says the election isa leader tim farron says the election is a chance for the public to avoid a hard brexit. the liberal democrats have candidates across the country and we are prepared for an election we thought was going to happen in the autumn. we are here in cornwall, the autumn. we are here in

mandatory coalition model, as a basis for government, giving, as it does, madam deputy speaker, sinn feinion of government. sinn fein‘s mps don't take their seats at westminster, so could not reply to, that but another unionist thought it was time to find a new way of doing things. we need to find another way of working together whether it is a voluntary coalition, if we have that, we have to make sure that we look after the minorities, so it is not without difficulties. we could even have a minority government if the two major parties cannot agree. we need to sit down, all of us, and find a way forward, because i know every single person sitting here wants solutions and can work together and yet, one party that isn't here, doesn't make it easy but it doesn't mean the other parties here are not at fault, too. being able to bring english literature books into the exam room would make testing harder, not easier, a labour mp has told the education minister. following a petition signed by more than 110,000 people, the government was taken to task on closed book examinations. do teenagers real

ireland to remain part of the united kingdom, or whether they want to go down the route presented by sinn feinxist, leninist concept of a republic which has been rejected even by most people who accept their nationalism at reject what they stand for in terms of their economic outlook and all the rest of it. and the only way to support the union is by rallying behind the democratic unionist party on the 8th ofjune. she has accused others of playing games in this parliament. in essence, the prime minister's argument is that she has no confidence in parliament, so we have this bizarre situation where we had a referendum that was about taking back control, that was about parliamentary sovereignty, but then we have a prime minister who pronounces she has no confidence in parliament. she doesn't trust parties in the opposition. she confers on them all sorts of exaggerated powers to block out to wreck, and then of course she has complaints about the house of lords. mr speaker, against the european union, for the european union, then against again. against holding a general election, and now determine

that is why it is such a strategy that sinn fein has walked away from the executive and collapsed thea special stages which has been rejected by the irish republic, the european union and even the european parliament when it set out its negotiating position. they want, and we agree with special arrangement, which recognises special circle sciences of northern ireland, so mr speaker, it is essential and the election is going to happen —— special circumstances. there's a clear choice between a party which has walked away and abandoned its responsibilities and a party which will enter in northern ireland and contributes and raises its voice and stands up for northern ireland. the final thing i want to say, on the big issue about going forward in terms of this country, this election will provide clarity and it will provide clarity on the union, that really matters, the union, that really matters, the union of the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland, and on that issue again the people of northern ireland will have a clear choice, they will have a clear choice, they will ha

to really try and break up by sinn fein to really try and break up the union and we need that supportireland special status and also how you look at that manifesto at making sure that we have a workable government in the future, because we need change and that is what the ulster union 's have been about, getting back to the central party is running northern ireland and making sure that the manifesto looks after our armed forces and former servicemen. legacy is playing its way out but not protecting the people that should be protected for doing their duty. we will support the motion today. two colleagues that can help each other. mr alan brown. thank you. as several members have already pointed out, the prime minister heads up a party with a current majority that was gained partly by her party cheating in the last general election and yet today she has the brass neck to stand there and give a speech about leadership, so i wanted, what leadership, so i wanted, what leadership does the prime minister show on this? she refused to answer some questions and also questions from glasgow south

sta ble unionists and sinn fein never that stable but this cost the final row between them, with sinnnd that meant arlene foster was on a mandate out of office because she cannot work in isolation and the stormont executive fell and still has not been restored almost four months on. today, what we're seeing here at stormont is the judge that will show that public inquiry into the renewable heat incentive scandal, setting out some of his plans. he said the inquiry would fearlessly examine evidence and there will be no time limit set on and there will be no time limit set on the inquiry. public hearings are to begin, it is expected, in the autumn. it will look at several aspects of this scheme, for example the rule of civil servants, the role of cost controls. and why such a huge overspend was allowed to happen. just a line of breaking news coming to us concerning activity by armed police in central london, specifically in whitehall, we are hearing armed police are at the scene hearing armed police are at the scene of an incident in whitehall, obviously at the area of government, a witn

sinn fein came within a whisker of toppling the dup has the largest party.ersus nationalism, orange versus green. the key question will be, can sinn fein sustain their support or will the unionists regain ground? in the last westminster election, the two main unionist parties formed a pact in several constituencies to invite —— to avoid splitting the unionist vote. as a result, at least two seats went to unionists which otherwise would have gone to northern unionists. it is likely that unionists will go for another pa ct to that unionists will go for another pact to maximise unionist rippers edition and minimise nationalist representation. we had had a brief reaction from the leader of the dup, arlene foster, saying that the general election will be a chance for people in northern ireland to vote for the union. jerry me adams —— gerry adams has tweeted that sinn fein are up for another election. the broader question, what will happen to the negotiations to restore the government? several deadlines have been missed and negotiations have paused. they are due t

sinn fein nationalist parties contends —— consider a park? out because of among other reasons sinn fein being axed engine tests, they don't ta ke being axed engine tests, they don't take their seats at westminster even when they have mps elected. —— they abstain. the sdlp won't be taking pa rt abstain. the sdlp won't be taking part in any electoral pact with sinn fein. all this happening against the backdrop of a political crisis in northern ireland, the worst than a decade. no devolved government here for the last three months and negotiations are ongoing to restore stormont, but there is already very little prospect of agreement and most think the prospect of another very divisive election campaign has meant prospects for a deal have receded even further. thank you, chris page in belfast, lauren accordingly in edinburgh and thomas gordon in cardiff. now tim bale, author and professor of politics at queen mary university in london. it seems as though the parties are reverting to type. in terms of the arguments... i don't think we will see an

ireland to remain part of the united kingdom, or whether they want to go down the route presented by sinn feint concept of a republic which has been rejected even by most people who accept their nationalism, but reject what they stand for in terms of their economic outlook and all the rest of it. in essence, the prime minister's argument is that she has no confidence in parliament. so we have this bizarre situation where we had a referendum that was about taking back control and parliamentary sovereignty, but a prime minister who pronounces that she has no confidence in parliament. mr speaker, against the eu, for the eu, then against again. against holding a general election, and now determined to have a general election. the record is about as straight as the legendary european union banana. to suggest that she needs a mandate to negotiate brexit isjust ridiculous. she was given that mandate on the 24th ofjune, by a majority of the british people, and it is up to her now to carry that out. there is only one reason why the prime minister wants a general election on the 8th ofjune, and that is,

the two largest parties — the democratic unionists and sinn fein — blame each other for the failure ofhave been paid to the british civil liberties campaigner and broadcaster darcus howe. he's died at the age of 74. he came to mainstream attention in 1970 when he led a protest against police harassment of black customers at a london restaurant. he was tried and acquitted. the bbc has seen evidence of so—called islamic state appearing to use children as human shields in the battle for mosul. it comes as the militants are all but surrounded in the old centre of iraq's second city and there's a growing concern over civilian casualties. we were given exclusive access to iraqi helicopter pilots — flying over mosul‘s front line. here's their report. far below, a city that was once home to two million people. we are flying with the helicopters of the iraqi army as they fight the so—called islamic state. we are now over old mosul, where the battle is at its fiercest, as well as the last isis fighters, there are many civilians still trapped in the narrow alleys. and this footage, taken from our

michelle 0'neill, the leader of sinn fein in northern ireland, saying that this is the opportunity for said that irish unity is closer than ever before. that gives you an idea of some of the issues on the agenda. as regards the bigger picture here, the nation still going on to restore power—sharing that stormont. there has been no power—sharing government here for almost three months. now with another divisive election campaign coming up, i don't think any appetite for, rather —— compromise will be improved with this new general election. be improved as a result of the general election happening now in just over seven weeks' time. general election happening now interesting you use the word appetite, the people of northern ireland could be getting heartily sick and tired of a political system that as far as they are concerned at the moment is not working. as i say, four elections in two years, if you include the referendum, people in northern ireland will have gone to the polls six times in just over three years, and yet, still have political deadlock, still have no devolved government

the idea was for the democratic union party and sinn fein to form at aquatic coalition.ry said that it was a source of deep disappointment and regret. the situation is not sustainable, and beyond a short period of time, will have an impact on public services. what we are talking about here is the health service, schools, voluntary groups, and services for the most vulnerable in society. this isn't what people voted for on the 2nd of march. he said he was hopeful for a positive outcome from the talks. if these talks are successful, it would be my intention, weekly, to bring forward legislation after the easter recess to allow an executive to be formed. it would avoid a second late assembly election for which i detect little public appetite. brexit negotiations in northern ireland are the most sensitive in all parts of the united kingdom. the european commissioner lead negotiator has identified an occasion for the peace process one of three main priorities for him to enter these negotiations and we don't have proper people attending the talks under the gmc. in the backgrou

devolved government in january, which resulted in the unionists losing their overall majority and sinn fein dup as the largest group in stormont. that result and the ongoing brexit debate has led to more torque about whether a united ireland could be possible one day. this general election will be perhaps about unionism versus nationalism more than ever before. in the last 2015 election, the two main unionist parties formed a pact to avoid splitting the vote and that secured two seat which would have probably gone to non—unionist candidates. the biggest question will be whether the devolved and can be restored, there is no sign of a deal and the prospect of another divisive election is unlikely to encourage the parties to compromise. cemlyn davies is in cardiff for us now. here in wales, the welsh first minister, carwynjones, here in wales, the welsh first minister, carwyn jones, has criticised the decision, calling it odd. he thinks it is strange for the prime minister to call a general election while there are another series of elections ongoing, referring to the council elections going o

they are not aware of the existence with veteran officers sending us to sinn fein adult really understood this. so i sat down one evening and sometimes to try out ideas mostly as very few, the one place where i could talk to myself and say anybody who wants to listen to an old guy ran, i never did call it this, but it's title might above then get off my lawn because that is what most of my posts are about. it was strange because it started to get a little traction. interestingly enough from ask as well as laypeople who is noticed by the federalist magazine and sean in bed asked me if they could have it and i said i actually said sure, i don't know if anybody wants to read this guy yelling because again blogs in a sense, in the writing of blogs to me are not particularly academic or intellectually rich sources. can i cite it. i say don't say that. the editor publishes anything. that guy has no standard. we turned it into something else at that point, oxford suggested to me this could be a bug. even then i was still skeptical. the social science folks at oxford said this could be a book. i

one of the significant points in that, sinn fein said they won't serve in a stormont executive led bys her role will be investigated by the inquiry. she was involved in running the scheme. that suggests that particular red line is going to preclude a devolved government being formed here for quite some months yet. many thanks. the government's been ordered to produce its plans to tackle air pollution before the general election. ministers had applied to the high court to delay publication until after the poll on the 8thjune, arguing it would fall foul of election ‘purdah‘ rules. but the judge said it was a matter of public health and ruled that the draft plans must be released by the ninth of may. rod goer a setback for the government? . yes. not the first. the fourth time they have been pushed back in the court. they came here said that purdah rules should override any need to publish. they had been instructed to publish in the first case by the same judge that heard this case this afternoon. they were challenging his ruling on that. he gave them short shift. the government made thei

stormont parties missed last week's deadline for forming an executive after negotiations broke down and sinn feinher political parties on a range of issues, however, the issues and challenges have not changed. the governments in particular are acutely aware of what needs to happen here. we need the implementation of previous agreements. if we can succeed in that then we can move forward toward the establishment of an executive and the rebuilding of this place in terms of public confidence and the services the public are demanding can be laid forward. let's get the previous agreements up and running and we can get this close up and running again. arlene foster said her party wanted a government for northern ireland set up as quickly as possible. our priorities are in and around dealing with vital services for our communities, weather that is in health and education, in infrastructure or have stability for our economy to grow. we have again said we are ready to become involved in an executive, but others have different priorities and therefore they have made it clear that they wanted to do with tho

power sharing collapsed injanuary because of a row between sinn fein and the democratic unionists abouto form a new administration passed without agreement. caring for a relative with terminal cancer takes an average of 70 hours a week in their final months, and costs the carer nearly £1100, according to a new study. research published in the palliative medicine journal says volunteer carers are crucial to the national health service but need more support and training to preserve their own mental and physical health. there's a warning that a third of adults in the uk — or 17 million people — are physically inactive and at risk from coronary heart disease. the british heart foundation says it's costing the health service over £1 billion a year, as graham satchell reports. harriet had no warnings, no symptoms. she was climbing the stairs at home when she had a heart attack at the age ofjust 1m. it was like having the rug pulled from under your feet. i have a very young family, i had a demanding job, which i loved, really enjoyed, so then to suddenly be struck by such a traumatic incident

power sharing collapsed injanuary because of a row between sinn fein and the democratic unionists abouty scheme. last week, a deadline to form a new administration passed without agreement. some sick and disabled claimants of the out—of—work benefit employment and support allowance will now receive nearly £30 a week less. the government says bringing the benefit in line with jobseekers allowance will incentivise people to get back into work. 0ur correspondent nikki fox has more. ulan bator wants to work. but like many others with learning difficulties, she finds it difficult to get a job —— belinda. she's getting by financially because she receives employment and support allowa nce, receives employment and support allowance, an out of work benefit for people whose ill health or disability limits their ability to work. lovely. employment and support allowa nce work. lovely. employment and support allowance is important to me because it helps for me to pay my essentials, my bills, my gas, my electric and basically to get my food in and it helps me to get out and about. those eligible for

unionists lost their overall majority at stormont before and sinn fein came very close to doubling thetion in northern ireland, let's look at what is going on in cardiff. a striking contrast actually in the political response to this decision made by theresa may. incidentally we are told she needed while hill walking in snowdonia last week. broadly speaking, the parties in wales have given an impression of itching to get stock into a general election campaign, probably best reflected in a tweet from the leader of plaid cymru, were she said it was game on. the striking reception to this was the response of the labour party, and the leader of welsh labour, the first minister, usually based behind me in cardiff, questioning the timing, questioning whether it was any national and even questioning what effect it would have on the northern ireland peace process. the glaring omission here is the clear concern behind the scenes that labour in wales will fail ina scenes that labour in wales will fail in a number of marginal seats and they are still the big political presence in wales. two years

power—sharing collapsed injanuary because of a row between sinn fein and the democratic unionists aboutlast week, a deadline to form a new administration passed without agreement. police are looking for a dog on the loose in bolton after armed police shot dead two pit bull type dogs after an attack on a man and a woman ina after an attack on a man and a woman in a street. police were told five dogs were out of control. a woman was bitten on the hand, a man suffered injuries to his legs. two dogs were captured, a fifth managed to escape. police are warning people to escape. police are warning people to be on the lookout for a large dog with short hair and of a muscular build. that is a summary of the latest bbc news. inafew in a few moments, a special report on the financial challenges faced by young people when they leave care at the age of 18. caroline has tweeted to say, i am really pleased to see this as being featured by the programme, and natalie says, so glad councils are offering more support. there are calls for council tax to be waived for care leavers, and some are doing it, b