you mentioned so keir starmer, he said it is her duty to explain this to the house of commons. suggested there should be an investigation and she should be suspended while that happens. does it look like she is under any imminent threat? not really. earlier, health secretary matt hancock defended her, saying she was determined but courteous. there are signs that this may not yet be about to die down completely. the bbc has been told there was a formal complaint against her when she was a minister in the department for work and pensions back in 2016. a spokesman for priti patel says he is not aware of this and we don't know what happened, whether it was upheld, but what it suggests is that these leaks, upheld, but what it suggests is that these lea ks, these upheld, but what it suggests is that these leaks, these tensions, may not be about to go away anytime soon. helen, thank you very much. storm jorge is bringing heavy rain and strong winds to the uk today, causing yet more disruption to flood—hit areas. dozens of flood warnings are still in place across england, wales and sco

organisations has been calling for that, labour opposition and candidates for leadership and cure starmerto go into peoples pockets straightaway in the statement this afternoon, quite flimsy, will back businesses and in turn, businesses need to back their employers and their employees, but i do not think that is good enough. we really would urge you not to let your staff go, that is not enough and he needs to be about either putting money in peoples pockets are really doubling an increasing even at statutory sick pay, we have to see what the chances are. every time you have these press conferences, it elicits more questions. finally, from the national papers, the national, the independent, so that we no longer printed newspaper but asa we no longer printed newspaper but as a front page for us and maybe this is what turning the tide might look like if china, china feels that they can actually embrace because they can actually embrace because they have reached that milestone of not having a new case of covid—i9 today. and the message that we can turn the tide, the headlines are being optimi

joined him all the parliamentary moorings to prevent a referendum from being implemented to care starmer let me just say obviously associated according to the un with the persecution of julian a son from whom and because of whom we know so much more about iraq than we have a did back then how frightened are you for julian assad's can i just as the founder of wiki leaks given he's in belmarsh prison and governors of prisons in this country obviously are worried about the spread of coronavirus most truly worried about truly moon for many many. i mean initially it seemed that they were imposing a regime not really cheating on him in that prison which could have led to a no the debt that is what a number of doctors said and then the governor of the prison. brutish rager who none of the judges wanted to try to change because it's not neagle that's the governor's domain which is not that good for breast baring befall them is not an offense state to give evidence they have every right to challenge. the governor of the prince who julian is deliberately being mistreated the case is completely man

the leader leadership account, keir starmer, called her to come to westminster to give a statement onwas bullying staff. the shadow chancellor said she should be suspended while an inquiry is carried out. but explicit backing from the prime minister tonight. he said she has been a fantastic home secretary. but he says he is full of admiration for the civil service. i think is that a he wants the war of words to end. unless he gets civil serva nts words to end. unless he gets civil servants on side, his pledges on policing and other things will be harder. thank you. the former us vice president, joe biden, has dramatically revived his bid to become the democratic party's nominee to take on donald trump in november's presidential election. mr biden won a resounding victory in the primary in south carolina, after performing poorly in three previous state ballots. our north america editor jon sopel reports. so it would seem reports ofjoe biden‘s imminent demise were much exaggerated. the former vice president's southern firewall proved to be rock solid his first victory tasted sweet. now,

facing criticism from they have been facing criticism from the labour party already and sir keir starmerainly well—placed to be the next labour party leader, saying really the government isn't being transparent about the figures behind the calculations that have led to all of this. i think the international comparisons are quite important. president macron saying no business would suffer and go out of business asa would suffer and go out of business as a result of this crisis. the thing about what rishi sunak has announced today is that it has that extra element of credibility. i'm not sure people really believe president macron can necessarily deliver on that, and there is a question, let's be honest, about whether every business deserves to survive the crisis. thinking of the airline industry in particular. many would argue there are too many airlines in europe and if as a result of this there are fewer, in the long—term... result of this there are fewer, in the long—term. .. it result of this there are fewer, in the long—term... it sounds a brutal thing to say but in the long—term it

the labour leadership candidate kier starmer has called for her to make a statement to mps in parliament most senior official in her department, sir philip rutnam. in addition to that, the shadow chancellor, john mcdonnell, has said there should be an enquiry into priti patel‘s behaviour and during that enquiry she should be suspended from the home office. and the bbc has been told that there was a formal complaint about priti patel‘s behaviour, not at the home office, but when she was an employment ministerfour years ago. her spokesman says he has no knowledge, indeed she has no knowledge of that complaint, and we do not know if it was pursued, but clearly there are people willing to pile on the pressure on the home secretary, so she will be relieved that some of the pressure appears to now be coming off her position because borisjohnson has given her his full backing this evening and made it very clear that she still has a big job to do as home secretary. i absolutely do have confidence in priti patel, i think she's a fantastic home secretary. it is never an easyjob, anybody who has be

calling for ashworth and keir starmer calling foer ashworth and keir starmer calling for mrjohnson tof that. we have seen a lot of leaders around the world falling ill, is there a procedure or a plan if the prime minister goes down with this virus? number ten was asked about that this morning and journalists were told that if the prime minister does contract it, dominic raab will step up and take responsibility, though i imagine a lot of the day—to—day management of the outbreak will still fall to for example, matt hancock, the health secretary and to a lesser degree, grant shapps and of course to the chancellor who is expected to come forward with further measures to help the self—employed, 5 million of whom as we know are left in some anxiety because they really haven‘t been given much assurance about what happens to their business, given that demand has dropped off a cliff, all they have been told really is that you can claim the same as sickness benefit which isn‘t a massive consolation for the millions of self—employed people, so in the first instance, dominic raab steps up first

unlike her rivals rebecca long— bailey and keir starmer she isn‘t part ofjeremy corbyn‘s top team, andd morning to you. good morning. why should the brexit transition period be extended past december in your view? this isn'tjust a public health crisis. it‘s a global economic crisis in the making. already businesses are starting to feel the impact. we saw what happened with flybe and the level of uncertainty that coronavirus has caused, the fall in demand for services like flights because of what‘s happening around the globe. we are hearing this morning british airways cancelling flights to italy. what i‘m really worried about is the very, very many small businesses in this country that don‘t have the resilience to deal with this and when you add the fact that in 11 months‘ time we are leaving the european union and those businesses don‘t know, we‘ve already left, but we are living potentially without a trade deal, those businesses don‘t know if they are going to be able to trade. they don‘t know what terms they will be trading on. the lesson from all of the different global economic cr

sir keir starmer is hoping that will happen. downing street was asked about this last night.me minister has full confidence in his cabinet. it is semantics, but sometimes that can be significant. there is not any immediate suggestion that priti patel‘s job is at risk. sir bob kerslake has patel‘s job is at risk. sir bob kersla ke has previously patel‘s job is at risk. sir bob kerslake has previously suggested that it made be difficult for her, depending on what would come out at a tribunal or not. so it's a case of watching and waiting. certainly there doesn't seem to be a suggestion that herjob is that any sort of immediate risk. you know, ministers have defended her over recent weeks. this morning, the health secretary matt hancock told sky news she was determined but courteous. she is getting a measure of support and allies in private have been suggesting that perhaps philip rutnam was not up to the job. we should speak about coronavirus. we should speak about coronavirus. we expect to hear on the andrew marshall today of new measures the government is looking at. —— the a

just three candidates remain in the race — sir keir starmer, rebecca long—bailey and lisa nandy.he labour leadership contest, our political editor, laura kuenssberg, has been speaking to the wigan mp, lisa nandy. can't ijust go in with louise? it's more normal, isn't it? campaigning is not exactly glamorous. i'm not britney, am i? i'm just going to have a chat. lisa nandy‘s been on the road with the other contenders for weeks. with her diagnosis of what went wrong. there's been a sense for such a long time that labour is a party that has become very top—heavy and centralised in central london, a small group of people who make decisions about the lives of people who they know very little about, and that we often go into areas saying, "we know what your problems are, we know how to fix them, and we are at the right people to do it" at election time. people are fed up with that sort of politics. and they want to see things change. this isn't just about north versus south. this is about people feeling they've too little ability to influence the circumstances of their lives. you're ac

three candidates remain in the race, sir keir starmer, rebecca long—bailey and lisa nandy.itical editor laura kuenssberg has been speaking to the wigan mp lisa nandy. can't ijust go in with louise? it's more normal, isn't it? campaigning is not exactly glamorous. i'm not britney, am i? i'm just going to have a chat with the members. lisa nandy‘s been on the road with the other contenders for weeks. wow. with her diagnosis of what went wrong. there's been a sense for such a long time that labour is a party that has become very top—heavy and centralised in central london, a small group of people who make decisions about the lives of people who they know very little about, and that we often go into areas saying we know what your problems are, we know how to fix them, and we're at the right people to do it at election time. people are fed up with that sort of politics and they want to see things change. this isn't just about north versus south. this is about people feeling they have too little ability to influence the circumstances of their lives. you're actually there agreeing

s are coming out to say that we need more restrictions tougher measures including secure starmer andjohn ashworth the shadow health secretary both throwing their weight behind this argument of tough tough of measures just ahead of that press briefing that we're expecting later this afternoon to try and urge the prime minister to go a step further of course the latest press briefing saw mixed messages coming from boris johnson on the one hand he was saying don't think that you can go out into the fresh air and be immune to such a virus but on the other hand saying that going out into the open air will be good for your mental wellbeing so not exactly the clearest message but what he did stress is that 2 metres apart is essentially the same advice you have to stay 2 metres apart you have to follow the social distancing advice and even if you think that you are personally. invulnerable there are plenty of people that you could infect and whose lives will then be put at risk and. i see the snow. on sunday afternoon sunday evening and i take this advice seriously follow it because it's abs

unlike her rivals, rebecca long—bailey and keir starmer, she is not part ofjeremy corbyn‘s top team andnstituency parties and trade unions, but it is labour's members and registered supporters who will choose the party's next leader in the coming weeks. i spoke to her on tuesday. i wonder if you agree that it feels like, in this contest, you cannot win the labour leadership contest if you criticise jeremy corbyn? but perhaps you can't win a subsequent general election unless you criticisejeremy corbyn? i just think we've got to be honest, that's what i've done since the moment i said i was standing for this leadership contest and it's what i've done over the last few years. it's why i was honest about saying we are about to see our labour base collapse across the country in seats that had returned labour mps for 100 years, but i've been honest, too, about what we've got right and what we've got wrong in the last four years. and i've never shied away from speaking up about that because on issues like anti—semitism, that is really, really important. labour, as harold wilson once famously

we are expecting keir starmer to be the next leader, and jeremy corbyn has done his last prime minister'smic package to try and get the economy through the coronavirus crisis. self—employed people have been very concerned there has been not much for them in there has been not much for them in the first two packages, the chancellor trying to address that today with this bailout, which essentially means that byjune, the government will pay 80% of the wages, up to £2500 a month, for those who are self—employed. it is a very complicated scheme. the treasury have been working day and night to bring this thing together, but it does have two caveats that people are criticising, and i am not really sure there is a way around it, because self—employed by its very nature is much more flexible and hard to get your head around. first of all, if you are earning more than £50,000 a year, then you are not covered by this scheme, and the treasury have said that the majority of those people are earning on average £200,000, so they are not too concerned about those, they are assuming they have decent savin

keir starmer wants her to make a statement to parliament, he also wants a senior committee of mps tote the workings of government more “— mps to investigate the workings of government more —— more widely. there have been calls for boris johnson to make a statement. i think the pressure that is growing. although priti patel hasn't responded publicly, allies of the home secretary are privately saying that they believe sir philip wasn't up that they believe sir philip wasn't up to the job. but the prime minister was asked if he had full confidence in priti patel and a downing street source said he had full confidence in his cabinet. interesting timing that yesterday, on the same day, we heard the announcement that the prime minister and his partner, carrie symonds, are expecting their first baby together and are engaged to be married. lots of comments on the timing. yes, of course. yesterday was a really bad day for the government in the morning, certainly, and then we had this news late in the afternoon. there has been women swelling it was mrfor there has been women swelling it was mr

the labour leadership contender keir starmer is calling on priti patel to make a statement on the allegationscellor, john mcdonnell, has said there should be an inquiry, and priti patel should be suspended from the home office while that inquiry ta kes the home office while that inquiry takes place. but in the last few minutes, the prime minister says not only does he have full confidence in the home secretary, but she is doing a fantasticjob. now, the home secretary, but she is doing a fantastic job. now, jane, the home secretary, but she is doing a fantasticjob. now, jane, we found out that when she was a previous minister, at the department for work and pensions, and employment minister, there was a formal complaint made about her behaviour then,in complaint made about her behaviour then, in 2016. but her spokesman said she was not aware of this. we don't know if the complaint was pursued, and, in addition to that, no complaints have been made at the home office. why does this matter? the home office has to deliver key election pledges behalf of the government, on policing and immigration.

sir keir starmer, the health secretary both saying publicly that they hope boris johnson will set outg public transport, the number of people driving particularly in london where the outbreak has been more serious and yesterday, a p pa re ntly more serious and yesterday, apparently around one third of cars we re apparently around one third of cars were still out on the road. not merely a big enough fall to avoid a lockdown, i would suggest. quite possible that if not this afternoon, probably within the next 2a hours we may see further restrictions added to which, that has been the story of this crisis. we have tended to follow what other european countries have done and the brutal truth as the facts are changing around us. we know high—street stores, a number of big—name stores are closing up. city councils and local authorities closing play parks and the like and we have seen organisations like the national trust shutting their gardens so it is already happening around us and i would suggest it is only a matter of time, probably a very short time, before the government does likewise.