Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News At Five 20240714

Brecon and radnorshire by election. Borisjohnsons effective majority in parliament is nowjust one. My very first act as your mp, when i arrive in westminster, will be to find mr borisjohnson, where ever he is hiding, and tell him cloud and clear, stop playing with the future of our communities. Two holiday firms, with bookings from more than 50 thousand people, have ceased trading. England make stready progress in the first ashes test at edgbaston 0pener rory burns is closing in on his century. Well, thats dissapointing. And coming up on the film review, Jason Solomons shares his thoughts on the latest angry birds movie along with the rest of this weeks cinema releases. Welcome to the bbc news at five, im jane hill. Raf helicopter crews are trying to save a dam in derbyshire amid fears it could burst and engulf much of the town of Whaley Bridge. The chinooks are dropping bags of sand, gravel and stone to shore up the dam wall. Experts say the situation is critical. About 1,500 residents have been moved out of their homes the Prime Minister has said his thoughts are with them. The governments Emergency Committee cobra has been meeting this afternoon. From Whaley Bridge, laura foster reports. The rain has gone but the hard work goes on. Chinooks have been flying every ten minutes since 530 this morning, each armed with tonnes of sand and gravel. They have moved 200 tonnes so far but engineers say they need to move at least double that to shore up the dam wall. All of the gravel coming from local quarries. It isa gravel coming from local quarries. It is a difficult task, we are being asked to get a real precision drop, you have to get as low as you can. The guys and girls are taken as a bit of time to get in there because we have to make sure it is done not too high so we dont put more stress on the dam itself but also we have to get into centimetre square areas so to get into centimetre square areas so it is like a big lego block that we are building, we have a foundation there and we are building each on top of the other. The problem is this spillway, damaged after a months worth of rain fell in after a months worth of rain fell in a week. It is putting hundred of homes injeopardy. A week. It is putting hundred of homes in jeopardy. The plan for the fire service is to stop what is coming into the reservoir, using the chinooks and raf can a it to dam up those inlets, at the same time to get as much water out of the reservoir out so get as much water out of the reservoir out so we can get as much water out of the reservoir out so we can take pressure out of the reservoir. It could collapse. The Structural Engineer on site is very concerned about that and basically the information we have had is we have to do something here because it is not going to go away on its own. Meetings like this have been happening throughout the night and all through this morning, it is a really joined all through this morning, it is a reallyjoined up all through this morning, it is a really joined up operation all through this morning, it is a reallyjoined up operation here. Right now, the engineers are trying to clear land so they can put more water pump same, the idea is that if you can reduce the amount of water in the reservoir it reduces the pressure on the dam. After the dam is lack spillway partially collapsed yesterday afternoon, People Living in Whaley Bridge were told to evacuate, as the town could be flooded. Most stayed with friends and family, some were put up in hotels, others used camper vans. Our houseis hotels, others used camper vans. Our house is about 30 feet from the river so it is pretty, pretty risky really. I dont know, if the dam went, i dont think we would have a house, to be honest. Engineers are still assessing what caused the dam to partially collapsed but all the people who live here care about is that the warm sunny weather continues and if and when they may be able to go back home. The chinooks are still very much in operation, that work is ongoing trying to shore up the dam and while we look at those pictures, lets bring in our correspondent, laura foster, who we were just hearing from. Certainly, a second night facing local people, a second night out of their homes, and i think they are being held at more information about everything as we speak. Yes, residents meeting starts at 5pm, where the urgency Emergency Service are telling residents what the latest situation is, what i have done so far, and what they will do next. At the moment, everything remains the same as it did this morning. Whaley bridge still not allowed in, residents still not allowed in, residents still not allowed back into their homes. As you can see, the Chinook Helicopters which have been coming since early this morning, they are still arriving, still bringing with them. What has been happening this afternoon is quite. It is all part of water pumps, they were originally planning to bring in four, now it is six and now we are hearing aid will be brought in. High volume water pumps, they are still being petered together by the fire service and the engineers. When that is operational, they will be able to start reducing they will be able to start reducing the water level in the reservoir even more than they have done already. We understand it is about over half a metre that has dropped so over half a metre that has dropped so far, and the weather has stayed dry, so the weather is on their side. In truth, the engineers wont be happy until the level of the reservoir is lower than the problem here. Laura, thank you so much, i know you will be back to us once we hit a little more from that residents meeting that as you say is going on at the moment. Lets talk to someone else going on at the moment. Lets talk to someone else now. Dr paul shepley is a lecturer in Geotechnical Engineering at the university of sheffield. As you are watching these pictures and following all of this on television, what strikes you about this operation . Should we even be in a position where this work is necessary . I mean, i think a position where this work is necessary . I mean, ithink we a position where this work is necessary . I mean, i think we should be focusing of the succession of the operation so far. The conditions in the field will be fought, they will be tense. Youve got to give them testa m e nt to be tense. Youve got to give them testament to the success of getting the pumps in, get in the raf involved and bringing the situation closer to being under control. Given your experience, do you think it is possible to get it under control . Because we keep hearing from, well, we sadly heard from the police and the Environment Agency that there is a real risk that the dam could collapse. I think the risk remains thatis collapse. I think the risk remains that is something that everyone is concerned about. So far, everything has gone as best as you can imagine. The fact that the weather is dry, the water level has dropped, just over half a metre at this point, the fa ct over half a metre at this point, the fact that they have got so much material into the eroded zone bodes well. This is as good as it could be, andi well. This is as good as it could be, and i think wejust need to give them time and space to operate and hopefully that will continue to be successful. Of course. Is this a potentially very lengthy operation . This could well take two to three days to get anywhere close to what, being safe, because obviously you have been hearing that the number of pumps has doubled, in terms of how much that was required. We are looking at thousands of metre cubes of water that needs to be removed. In terms of this huge operation that is under way at the moment, i am very much using an immense manga language, but is this a temporary stepping plaster . Sticking plaster . Getting people safely in their homes and then another team will have to look to the future and think about what needs to be done to ensure that it doesnt happen again . Absolutely. This is definitely a kind of how do we get the situation back under our control . How do we bring the water level is below the open gate that is there . How do we get residents back in their homes and businesses to open . This is the first step of what will take a few yea rs, first step of what will take a few years, in terms of repairing this to its former glory. To go back to where we started, should people be concerned about these that are of course very old structures . These exist in lots of places up and down the country. If you are losing living in a flood risk area, somewhere where you have had problems in the past, our people rightly going to be a bit nervous . Its a difficult one to answer. I will segregate flood risk from living in the shadow of the dam first. These are earth dams, there are hundreds of them in the uk, thousands of them worldwide, they are generally a phenomenally safe structure, they have been holding back water for hundreds of years in some instances, they tend to be quite stable. Where we get problems of this type is where we get unprecedented levels of rain, where we can is to date these spillway structures that are only there in terms of high emergency points, and where these things can occasionally go wrong. Yes. Well, it is really good to have your expertise, we appreciate the remarkable work that the teams on the ground are doing. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you so much for your time. Borisjohnsons effective parliamentary majority has been cut to just one after the liberal democrats won the by election in brecon and radnorshire. The party overturned a conservative majority of 8,000, to clinch the seat by just over 1,400 votes. Labour were beaten into fourth place by the brexit party. The new mpjane dodds said voters had chosen hope over fear. 0ur wales correspondent tomos morgan reports. In a brexit voting area, a remain party coming out on top. I do hereby declare thatjane dodds is duly elected member of parliament for the said constituency. The clear message from the constituencys new mp to borisjohnson. My very first act as your mp, when i arrived in westminster, when i arrive in westminster, will be to find mr Boris Johnson, wherever he is hiding, and tell him it loud and clear, stop playing with the future of our communities. It was celebrations all around in brecon this morning. The liberal democrats victory means the party finally has a seat again in wales and it is a first boost for their new leader. This result sends the message that liberal democrats are winning again. And it comes off the back of her local election success, our best ever European Election results, and it is clear that people dont have to settle for either borisjohnson orjeremy corbyn. The liberal democrats are providing a positive alternative and here in brecon and radnorshire people have voted for that in their droves. This by election was triggered following conservative chris davies conviction in march of submitting false expenses. The result means the tories have a narrow majority ofjust one in westminster. It is never easy having a tiny working majority but the broader point is it will not distract us from what we have explicitly promised to do. That is deliver brexit so we can seize the opportunities it provides. This constituency lies within the county of rural powys, where the brexit party came out on top in the european parliamentary elections. It comes as no surprise that the brexit party came third. And brexit was no doubt a hugely contributing factor amongst constituents. We voted to come out and that is the reason we are here. It is driving us up the wall. I have heard too much about brexit, yes. I dont believe in brexit. I voted liberal alliance. The narrow victory for the lib dems was helped by the other remain parties, clyde comrie and the greens, choosing not to stand, handing the victory to jane dodds with just over a thousand votes. Labour suffered a significant blow, falling to fourth, prompting further questions about its stance on brexit. Ambiguity has not helped us in the last few years. We have tried to say to brexit voters, we are in favour of brexit, but we are in favour of remain. Without a doubt this is a blow for the new Prime Minister. He was in wales only on tuesday and came to the constituency to try and gather support for his man, but that just wasnt enough. His first Electoral Task failed. Borisjohnsons task of getting any future brexit vote through parliament has become trickier. So how do the numbers now stack up in parliament . There are 650 seats in the house of commons. The government now comprises 320 of those seats ten of those are members of the Democratic Unionist Party theyve propped up the government since the 2017 general election. 319 seats now belong to Opposition Mps from labour, the liberal democrats, the snp, the greens, plaid cymru, change uk and independents. 11 seats in the commons belong to members who do not vote in parliamentary ballots they include sinn fein mps, the Commons Speaker and his three deputies. The outcome of the brecon and radnorshire by election means the government now has a working majority ofjust one mp. Nick eardley is in westminster. It emphasises just how tough it is going to be how borisjohnson to get anything through parliament over the next few months. If you add up eve ryo ne next few months. If you add up everyone who votes with Boris Johnson in terms of Political Party affiliation and all those who vote against him, he hasjust one more, and that means in theory if one conservative didnt like a policy and voted the other way, it wouldnt go through. It is much more complicated than that. There are some people in parliament who dont sit with the tories who might vote for them. And we all know when it comes to brexit that some of the normal party allegiances ball away because there are some of the labour side who will vote with the government and some of the tory side who wont. It emphasises to the new Prime Minister as he tries to navigate extraordinarily tricky waters here over the next few months, that it can be much more challenging. It is always dangerous, isnt it, to extrapolate a by election result into a general election result . But i suppose my this is unlike any other scenario we have been in, and october the 31st is not that far away. You are absolutely right and what i find really interesting about this result is the role that tactical voting played. As you heard in that piece there, you had played camry and the greens are standing aside so the lib dems could have crack the whip because they had the most chance as a remain party of winning. 0n the other side, that didnt happen so the tories went up against the brexit party and that potentially cost them the sick. The consent it got all the photos that went for the brexit party, they would have won. So there are huge questions for that number parties to look at over the next few months. Cute questions for labour as well. A humiliating result to almost lose your deposit, 5. 1 , and again there are people in the labour party saying today we are suffering for not having a clear position on brexit, those people who wa nt to position on brexit, those people who want to stay in the eu know where to 90, want to stay in the eu know where to go, the lib dems, those who want to get out know where to go, the tories at the brexit party, labour, some would argue, are stuck in no mans land at the moment. There are huge tactical questions for how by elections are approached in the next few months, also about how a general election might be approached, that comes up as well. But the main thing borisjohnson will be thinking about in downing street tonight is he has a hell of a ha rd street tonight is he has a hell of a hard time to get anything through parliament. These are tonights headlines. Raf crews race to shore up a collapsed dam wall thats put a derbyshire town at risk of flooding. The lib dems win the brecon by election, reducing borisjohnsons working majority tojust one. Two holiday firms, with bookings from more than 50,000 people, have ceased trading. In sport, rory burns scores a maiden test century as england eat away at the first innings on the second day of the first ashes test. England trailed by 7a runs, 210 for four at edgbaston. Harry maguire will become the world for that most expensive defender after Manchester United agreed to pay £18 million to buy the england internationalfrom leicester. And three english women are within three shots of the lead in the british open. Ill be back with more on all those stories at 5 30pm. Yes, its the holidays and a terrible time for a holiday provider to go under. In this group, super break has has 400 people overseas and 53,000 forward bookings, many of those within the uk. Then there are customers who have booked hotels via laterooms. The advice is, because the payment goes straight to the hotel, they should be ok. The stories have been emerging on social media of people who think their breaks may be ruined including winter bookings in iceland, for instance. Weve researched the company thoroughly before we actually sort of paid out the money and there was no hint. No. At that time, just a month ago, that there was any Financial Difficulties at all. Super break was drumming up business close to its end. Never too late to visit manchester, it said. And in a statement after its failure, it added that hotel only bookings could be cancelled and people might be asked to pay twice. This is a massive worry for thousands of people, who might have booked tickets to shows in londons west end, or entries to a theme park, along with the hotel rooms to put the family up for the night. And the concerns are, well, the hassle factor, trying to sort it all out, whether theyll be allowed in and whether theyll lose their money. There is some reassurance. The deep, hulls aquarium, said it would honour entry vouchers from affected families, saying it wasnt their fault. The owners of legoland and alton towers said theyd charge 50 of the gate price. But the travel body abta says many should be able to get their money back later. If youve got rail tickets plus a theatre ticket, for example, that is a package holiday, which will be protected by abta. If youve got a package holiday which involves a flight, that will be protected by atol. So, if youve got what we call accommodation only so, for example, a Hotel Booking on its own, that typically wouldnt be protected. Abta advises that those on a break having to pay again for the hotel should get receipts, and if its a package, theyll be reimbursed after making a claim. Simon gompertz, bbc news. A powerful earthquake has struck off the coast of the indonesian islands of sumatra and java, with a magnitude of six point nine. Tremors were felt in many cities, including the capital, jakarta. Guests at a hotel in indonesias west java were seen running in panic as the earthquake hit. A tsunami warning was issued urging people in coastal areas to go to higher ground, but has since been lifted. A woman who murdered her two young daughters because they got in the way of her six life has been jailed for life Louise Porton suffocated 3 year old lexi and 17 month old scarlett last year. The judge said the two young girls were plainly vulenerable and described portons actions as evil and calculated. Unionist mps in Northern Ireland have called for all portraits of the queen to be put back up in the Northern Ireland office in belfast. Its emerged that pictures of her majesty were removed after a senior Civil Servant received compensation, claiming he was offended at having to walk past them every day at work. We can cross now to stormont and speak to our ireland correspondent, emma va rdy. All of this sounds extraordinary on the face of it. Explain a little bit more about the background on what has been going on here, emma. What is important to explain for viewers first of all is that here in Northern Ireland, because of the political divide between unionists and nationalists, they will be many people here who consider themselves irish and do not consider the queen as the head of state. We have seen a number of arguments over the years, contentious things over any sort of symbols of britishness, for example, british flags on council buildings, that could often provoke debate. What has been revealed in this case as there was a Civil Servant working in the Northern Ireland office at stormont house who made a complaint about the portraits of the queen that were up in public areas of stormont house, and as a result of this, they settled out of court, he was given £10,000 as a result of his complaint, and in the wake of that, all the portraits, the pictures of the queen, were taken down. That has only been revealed recently in the house of lords, it has all come to light. The new secretary of state for Northern Ireland, julian smith, he tweeted the other day that when he tweeted the other day that when he arrived in his Northern Ireland 0ffice he arrived in his Northern Ireland office that there was a picture of the queen on his desk, that he was delighted to have it there, but as a result of all of this, it has caused a row with many union mps saying pictures need to go back up and the secretary of state has ordered a review of what happened. Thank you very much, emma vardy, at stormont. The governor of the bank of england mark carney has warned that many businesses could quickly find they are not viable, if the uk leaves the eu without a deal at the end of october. He also told the bbc that food and fuel prices may rise, and incomes could be hit. Andy verity reports. It isnt your usual halloween nightmare, but the fear is that come october the 31st, a no deal brexit could lead to a slowdown in imports entering the country. This time, it could also hit firms hard, making many of them unprofitable. Mark carney says hes not playing up the scare. With no deal, the shock to the economy is instantaneous. And that instantly, you have these supply, notjust disruptions so im not talking aboutjust the issues at the ports, which are real but you actually have businesses that no longer are economic. The well known risk is that a shift to the World Trade Organisation regime means higher tariffs added to imported or exported goods. But what mark carneys saying is that it could also be inflationary in other ways. Mark carney has highlighted two things that could happen in a no deal brexit. One is that the pound gets weaker, so your pound buys you fewer dollars or euros to buy imported goods with, so those prices go up. The other thing that could happen is that the supply of goods from abroad going through our ports and airports slows down, and that too could push up prices. It may take a while to get to borisjohnsons vision of sunlit uplands after a no deal brexit, mr carney said, because the weaker pound expected on the markets may hit consumers purses and wallets at petrol station forecourts and grocery stores. But his own data shows most businesses are now as prepared as they can be, and mr carneys view isnt the only one. I think its important to note there are many different types of no deals, and mark carney seems to be talking about the worst possible type, which i dont think is actually going to happen, because at least some businesses have done some preparations. And it would actually be really useful if rather than just throw us a few scary sound bites every now and then, mark carney and his team at the bank could actually provide a full set of forecats of what they actually think would happen. Theres no sign yet that the bank of englands ready to do that. No need to really scare people, its not halloween yet andy verity, bbc news. Before we move any further, we will ta ke before we move any further, we will take another look at the scene in derbyshire. So much focus all day in weybridge Whaley Bridge. So many people facing a second night out of their homes, and that chinook helicopter still part of the attempt to save that damn. This is a long, ongoing operation. The expert i was talking to saying this could take several days as these emergency crews tried to save the reservoir, to repair the reservoirfor now, essentially. The entire town of Whaley Bridge at risk so the chin ups have been period 0akley dropping bags of cement and others to try and shove this up, to try and save those homes and businesses which could be flooded there at the foot of the dam. Part of the wall, that section that we can see there, collapsed yesterday afternoon, and about 1500 people moved out of the town. Worth saying as well in fact that the residents there are in a briefing, probably right at the moment, i imagine that briefing is still going on, because local people have been called to that, to get an update from the various Emergency Services and the police, in terms of what is happening in the next term few hours and days. Once we get more details, we will bring it to you. As you see, the chinook helicopter, all the emergency helicopters emergency teams working in that area. Theresa villiers, the new environment secretary, has been talking about the governments plan if the dam collapses. The government and all the Emergency Responders are working at pace to do everything we can to ensure we stabilise the 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, that is to come. Right now, we will take a pause and we will catch up with the weather prospects where ever you are in the country. Darren bett has the latest details. It has been a dry day at Whaley Bridge, a few shattered scours, it has been lighter this evening and they will start to decay. It becomes dry over night tonight, some clearer skies arriving at temperatures down to about 1k degrees or so. Many places tomorrow will also be dry. There are some of this high cloud coming in from the west and eventually it may introduce one or two showers eventually it may introduce one or two s howe rs a cross eventually it may introduce one or two showers across these western areas, especially in the north west of scotland, towards evening time. These are the temperatures, they are similarto these are the temperatures, they are similar to what we had today. The second half of the weekend, a bit more rain around. Later on in the day, through the evening, it will turn much wetter across scotland and northern england, the shower becoming heavy and thundery. Towards the east, a dry day and warm and muqqy the east, a dry day and warm and muggy, 27 degrees, that will be the peak of the temperatures in the next few days. This is bbc news. The headlines. Raf crews race to shore up a collapsed dam wall thats put a derbyshire town at risk of flooding. More than 1,000 residents have been moved out of the derbyshire town. Experts say the situation is critical. I do hereby declare thatjane dodds is duly elected member of parliament for the said constituency. Cheering and applause. The liberal democrats win the brecon and radnorshire by election. Borisjohnsons effective majority in parliament is nowjust one. Two holiday firms, with bookings from more than 50,000 people, have ceased trading. Were going to talk more about that result. We have the film review as well. But now here is the latest sports news. Here is holly. We started with the ashes. He has scored a mid test century. We go straight to edgbaston right now to speak to adam wilde. Theyre on top at the moment. They certainly had the better of it today. We have to worry burns with his first test century for england but my word didnt he make this edgbaston crowd wait for it. He seemed like he was stuck in those nervous 90s and an eternity. Even when that century finally did come, there were a few nerves jangling as well. The umpires had to go for referral to check that he had made his ground. He had and this edgbaston crowd normally appreciating warmly preaching his contribution today. Vital for england as they close the gap on australia. There are 222 4. The wickets to go down today, england looked to be having a bit of a wobble. Job route, he came in and steadied the ship. A Steady Partnership between him and worry burns. Joss butler didnt make any serious inroads on that scorecard. But it has been his day. He is 104 not out. He has had lovely shots. There was a halfhearted appeal early on in his innings and had it been referred i think he would have been given out. But you do need that bit of luck. He got it and he has built on it. England having the better of the day and closing that gap. It is nowjust 63 runs behind australia. Adam wilde thank you for some Manchester United booklet they will break the world transfer record for a defender. They have reached an agreement to sign chaim mcguire. It is believed to be around £80 million. That clips is what liverpool paid for virgil van dijk. Hes expected to be at the club at the weekend. 0nto the open golf and there is british interest at the top of the leaderboard. The defending leader georgia hall shot a second round of 69 including four birdies to finish six under par. Bronte loft put herself in contention. Two shots off the lead on seven under. And charlie hall who is playing on her home courses also in the masks. She birdied the 17th hole on her way and finished on seven under par. Here is a look at the leaderboard then. Two metres currently at nine under. Red bull is pr was fastest in the second practise at the hungarian grand prix. The french and came in less than a tenth of a second ahead of max for stepan. He was third fastest last weekend. And finally some history to tell you about from glorious goodwood. The horse ridden myjim crow eight became the first time winner of the king george six with a third successive victory in the pfeiffer lawn spirit. That is all your support for now. We will have more at half past six. Thanks holly see you later. More now on the by election in brecon and radnorshire which has been won by the liberal democrats. The party overturned a conservative majority of 8,000 to clinch the seat by just over 1400 votes. The result has cut borisjohnsons effective parliamentary majority to just one. Professor Roger Awan Scully joins me, head of politics and International Relations at cardiff university. Good evening to you. This was a really interesting strategy that we saw in this constituency overnight with the plad cymru and the green party and the pack that there was with the liberal democrats. Is that we could see repeated . with the liberal democrats. Is that we could see repeated . I think it could be possible. There may be a desire to repeat it because of the success of this pact. We saw growth ofa success of this pact. We saw growth of a now success of this pact. We saw growth ofa nowa success of this pact. We saw growth of a now a victory for the liberal democrats in that seat in producing a programme and p. Had there not been an agreement with plaid cymru and the greens to stand down and support the liberal democrats, it is likely that the liberal democrats wouldve fallen just short in the seat. So the success of the strategy in this once each will i think at least prompt attem pts each will i think at least prompt atte m pts to each will i think at least prompt attempts to generalise it to other places as well. And top people within the conservative party in charge of monitoring the sort of thing and plotting strategy where there to be a general election they will be acutely aware of this. This is the challenge for them now, isnt it . Its something the conservatives will have to be aware of. I think it will have to be aware of. I think it will be very difficult to really roll out this sort of strategy in a major way right across mainland britain. The west significance difference and rivalries between these parties certainly in scotland we see major differences between the snp on the one hand and the liberal democrats on the issue of scottish independence. If you look at some of the other places where the liberal democrats and plaid cymru might look to work together, there is also the history of what you do about pro remain labour mps. Does it really makes sense to have a mean alliance in seats where you would be opposing a very clearly pro remain labour mp. The details of this may become a kitten and there might not be much time to do that. No as we reflect on so many levels. The conservative party presumably want to try and ca ptu re party presumably want to try and capture votes and take votes away from the brexit party but then i suppose that depending on which part of the country, which part of the uk you are in, you have different problems in different places as you have partly outlined there. The electoral geography of the uk have become increasingly complex. Certainly one of the things the conservatives will be looking to do, borisjohnson is clearly looking to do, is to get back many of those voters who deserted the conservatives in the may European Elections, went to the brexit party, he wants to get the what of the support back to identify the conservatives clearly as the party to deliver brexit. But that could potentially come with its own problems because while he is seeking to reach out to those strong supporters of brexit amongst the public, he also needs to remember that the conservative coalition includes some moderate one nation conservatives, some who may be quite dubious about brexit, and there are certainly a number of conservative mps including one or two quite recent cabinet ministers who are very dubious about the possibility ofa very dubious about the possibility of a no deal brexit. Reaching out for the conservatives towards the party voters at one end of the spectrums may mean them losing supporters and even losing mps and parliaments on the other end. Very interesting to hear your perspective. We may well be talking again. Thank you for your time. The United States has formally withdrawn from a Nuclear Weapons treaty with russia raising fears of a new arms race. The agreement, signed in 1987 by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, banned intermediate range nuclear missiles. The Trump Administration has blamed russia for breaching the terms of the treaty, an accusation moscow denies. 0ur Diplomatic Correspondent James Landale reports. It was a crucial moment towards the ending of the cold war the moment, in 1987, when the leaders of the United States and soviet union signed the intermediate range Nuclear Forces treaty. Ronald reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev promised to destroy all their missiles with ranges of between 300 miles and 3,400 miles, eliminating at a stroke an entire class of nuclear weapon. The mobile ground launched Nuclear Weapons were hard to detect and could strike anywhere in europe within minutes, but in recent years, russia has begun testing and deploying a new cruise missile, which the us says breaches the inf treaty. So theyve withdrawn from the agreement, much to the concern of the international community. The world will lose an invaluable brake on nuclear war and this will likely not reduce the threat caused by ballistic missiles. Regardless of what transpires, the parties should avoid destabilising developments and urgently seek agreement on a new common path for International Arms control. The us had given russia six months to comply with the treaty, but moscow denied its new missile broke the rules and blames the us for ending the agreement. The risk now is that the demise of the treaty sparks a new arms race between russia, china and the us. Nato leaders promised to ensure that the alliances defences remain credible, but said they would not mirror russia and deploy new land based missiles. We dont want a new arms race. Thats the reason why we will respond in a measured and defensive way. And thats also the reason why we continue to work for arms control, nonproliferation and disarmament. Three decades ago, the leaders of the worlds super powers acted to reduce the Nuclear Threat in europe. Their treaty is now dead, and yet another part of the International Rules based order has been consigned to history. James landale, bbc news. A battle of britain veteran has died just hours after separating his 100th birthday. Archie mcinnis who retired to cambridge flute to hurricanes over the skies of southern england which became a turning point in world war ii. He celebrate becoming a centenarian on wednesday. He died later that night. Now, just to remind you that coming up now, just to remind you that coming up expected at 6pm this evening on bbc news is a News Conference which should give us more details about that operation that we have been talking about all day to shore up the dam in wayne bridge. We expect them to hear from the police and Environment Agency among others. Stay with us, we will bring that news co nfe re nce stay with us, we will bring that News Conference as soon as that gets under way. That absolutely vital operation there in derbyshire. Right now, a reminder of todays headlines. And that is our main story. Raf crews race to shore up a collapsed dam wall thats put a derbyshire town at risk of flooding. The lib dems win the brecon by election, reducing borisjohnsons working majority tojust one. Two holiday firms, with bookings from more than 50,000 people, have ceased trading. July may have been the hottest month the world has ever had. Provisional figures suggest Global Temperatures last month were 1. 2 degrees above preindustrial levels. The uk recently experienced its highest ever recorded temperature, 38. 7 degrees in cambridge and this summer has seen weeks of sweltering weather across europe. All the details from our science correspondent. It is not water they are walking through but a heat haze on the streets in japan. Through but a heat haze on the streets injapan. And it has been the same story across many parts of the same story across many parts of the world. Record temperatures in finland. Three week heat wave in china too. And now it is official. July is one of the hottest if not the hottest on record. And july isnt alone. 2019 has been very warm globally. Each month so far is among the four warmest for the month in question and june has been the highest ever. This particular month has been very warm. But to me this is not the main point. The main point is that not only this month has been warm but last