that was the environment secretary theresa villiers there.ge crowds of pro—democracy activists have been holding another mass rally in hong kong, and police have fired tear gas at protesters in kowloon, where there's been a stand—off between the two sides. others, among them people from mainland china, have attended a rival demonstration in support of the territory's police force. earlier, i spoke to our correspondent stephen mcdonnell, who was in hong kong amongst the protesters. right now, in that same area they have cleaned at the protesters. i cannot count how many advance of a right police have turned up given there are this many officers still here. the reason for that is that although the protesters have gone, we have had local residents here heckling the right police so there isa heckling the right police so there is a large standoff here for about an hour where the right police were in formation and protesters, not protesters but local residents, many of whom have now left with the many police around here and there were just standing

theresa villiers, environment secretary, in the last hour. the participants have just sat down at the news conference. we know we will hear from the police and the environment agency. gavin thomas and deputy chief fire officer. chief operating officer for the canal and river trust. this press conference concerns the ongoing critical incident at todd rick reservoir at whaley bridge. the current situation is that throughout the day, emergency services with assistance from partner agencies, have continued effort to shore up the dam, with the intention of improving the structural integrity. in addition, we have also taken efforts to reduce the flow of water into the reservoir and also pump water out to reduce the volume. we have had fantastic support from across the country. ten pumps from the fire service are at the scene and further pumps are being installed from —— throughout the day and evening. by doing this, we have lowered the water level by half a metre, and further pumps are on route to help lower the level of the dam. i must stress that

theresa villiers, the new environment secretary, has been talking about the government‘s plan if thehe situation to try and prevent that colla pse situation to try and prevent that collapse but extensive plans are being put into place to deal with that situation, were it to arise. you will have seen the pictures of helicopters dropping —— dropping sandbags and high—powered pumps also being used to stabilise the situation as soon as possible. the environment secretary dorgan in the last few minutes. and in fact, i referenced that update for residents. just to tell you, in fa ct, residents. just to tell you, in fact, we do have confirmation that they will be a news conference coming up at 6pm. at 6pm here tonight on the bbc news channel, you will be able to hear that conference. we are expecting to hear from the police and the environment agency about that continuing operation. they have told us that is due to begin at 6pm. if you would like to see that, stay with us on the bbc news channel because we will have all the updates and what it means for the whole town and so many people. so

the environment secretary, theresa villiers says the situation is not yet stable.everal flood alerts including a severe flood warning are still in place for these areas shown here in red. judith reports. this is the front line, a new defence belt back buy—back tonnes of sand and gravel brought in to hold back 300 million gallons of water. raf helicopter is working flat out to shore up the top broken reservoir dam. it's a difficult task, we are getting asked to put a position to drop and go as low as possible you see behind as they are taking their time to get in there because we have to make sure it's done not too high and put my trust —— stress on the damn. it's done not too high and put my trust -- stress on the damn. with the risk of a collapsing, the situation is critical. the environment agency says there is still a danger to life and there has been a national response. crews are coming from across the uk. a meeting of the government's emergency committee. it's not stabilised as of yet and a lot of work is going into to ensure we do everything we can to protec

that was the environment secretary theresa villiers at whaley bridge. the cover meeting on friday. large crowds of pro—democracy activists are holding another mass rally in hong kong, and police have fired tear gas at protesters in kowloon, where there's a stand—off between the two sides. others, among them people from mainland china, have attended a rival demonstration in support of the territory's police force. stephen mcdonnell is in hong kong. talking of the police force, there have been a lot of concerns about the pla getting involved. have been a lot of concerns about the pla getting involvedlj have been a lot of concerns about the pla getting involved. i think the pla getting involved. i think the government has tried to water down those concerts by saying although technically the pla could be called out, that they will not be at this stage was that they are try to say we have this under control. where we are at the moment, though, for example, there was a very large protest here with protesters throwing bricks and other projectiles into a police

it's worth remembering that every member of the cabinet except two, priti patel and theresa villiers, voted of delete or another for the deal borisjohnson voted for it at of delete or another for the deal boris johnson voted for it at the third occasion. it isn't theirfault that it was rejected in parliament. the brady amendment, which was passed by the commons, said they wa nted passed by the commons, said they wanted an amendment to the backstop, and the eu says it isn't possible, so the ball is in the court of the eu, not the government. talking about courts, this court of session in edinburgh... that was a dreadful segway! ajudge is going to rule tomorrow morning, we understand, and whether or not to allow this legal intervention put forward by several scottish mps and also other opposition mps as well. if the judge did rule that it is possible to stop proroguing parliament, what do you think the reasoning would be? the reasoning would be that the advice offered to the queen was unlawful because unreasonable because it undermined the rights of parliament, and that seems to me the

the environment secretary, theresa villiers says the situation is not yet stable.ing a severe flood warning — are still in place for these areas shown here in red. 0ur correspondent, judith moritz, is in whaley bridge for us now. this is the front line, and you defence built back by back, tonnes of sand and gravel brought into hold back 300 millions gallons of water. raf chinook helicopters working flat out to shore up the toddbrook reservoir dam. we are being asked to get a real position drop, we have to get a real position drop, we have to get as low as we can, you get a real position drop, we have to get as low as we can, you can see behind us the guys and girls are taking a little time to get there because we have to make sure it is not done too high so we don‘t put too much stress on the dam itself. with a real risk of the dam collapsing, the situation is critical. the environment agency says there is still a danger to life. there has been a national response, gray is coming from across the uk and a meeting of the government‘s emergency committee. the uk and a

in the last few minutes, we have had a statement from on the environment secretary, theresa villiers,dination is there and to make sure that everything is being done to prevent further damage to the dam, and to protect homes and businesses. she goes on to thank all the emergency services. we can speak now to professor nigel wright from nottingham trent university who is a civil engineer and an expert in flood risk management — hejoins is from beijing. i don't know if you have been able to see the latest pictures that we have been showing of these sacks of sand and gravel being dropped onto the dam — what do you make of the operation which is under way to try to shore up this dam? it's being looked at a national level, it really is a national operation. they are doing a number of the things, they are bringing the aggregate to shore up the dam, they are to adjust the water level in the dam. there are also trying to stop the water getting into the reservoir and the first place. they have been helped a bit today, i have heard there has been no rainfall so far today, that is great news. i