sex abuse ring. it was a harrowing, hard watch and has been praised for how close to the truth it was. there is no such thing as a child prostitute. what there is is a child who was being abused. by two? by men who was being abused. by two? by men who pick on vulnerable girls. well, a little later we'll be talking to sarah rowbotham, the sexual health worker who blew the lid on the scandal. hello, welcome to the programme. we're live until ”am this morning. lots coming up today, that special report on autistic children undergoing shock therapy in america, is it cruel or a way of helping them have a better life? do get in touch on all the stories we're talking about this morning — use the hashtag #victorialive. if you text, you will be charged at the standard network rate. our top story today — brexit dominated the televised leaders' debate, which was held last night despite the absence of theresa may and jeremy corbyn. the itv event saw little disagreement between the lib dems, green party, plaid cymru and snp, but they repeatedly clashed with ukip‘s paul nuttall. our political correspondent tom symonds reports. five party leaders took part, four support britain remaining in the eu. in theresa may and jeremy corbyn‘s absence, they turned on the one leader who didn't, ukip‘s paul nuttall, attacking his support for a hard brexit and his tough line on immigration. theresa may may not have had the guts to be here tonight, but her spokesperson in the form of paul nuttall certainly appears to be here in her place. i know immigration is a difficult topic for politicians, people have understandable concerns, but when we talk about european migrants, we're talking about people who work in our national health service, we're talking about people who serve us in our restaurants, we're talking about people who make a contribution. the ukip leader said brexit would offer britain enormous trade opportunities, and controlling immigration would free—up pressure on resources. one of the reasons that wages have stagnated in recent years, and have probably stagnated since about 2004, is because of the levels of immigration. we have an oversupply of labour. that's the answer to everything, isn't it? we have an oversupply of labour in this country, it is as simple as that. the leader of the greens, caroline lucas, said there was no question for which the answer from ukip wasn't immigration. as for labour... not only did labour give the tories a blank cheque for a hard brexit, they basically gave them a lift to the bank and helped them cash it in. the liberal democrats are offering a second vote on whether britain should accept a future brexit deal. their leader, tim farron, believes it's better the people decide than theresa may. she's putting together a plan which appeases the paul nuttalls and nigel farages but damages our children's future. that is why you should have the final say on the brexit deal, not the politicians. the plaid cymru leader, leanne wood, was concerned that restrictions on trade post—brexit could harm wales' aerospace companies by introducing stiff tariffs. do you think they're going to stay there? no, of course they're not going to stay there. that's 6500 well—paid jobs in wales that you are prepared to just lose down the swannee. natalie, we have a huge trade deficit... i'm leanne. twice, underfire, mr nuttall appeared to confuse the name of his tormentor. audience members asked how the leaders would invest in schools, hospitals, social care, and the future of younger people. there was general agreement money would need to be found, but when ukip‘s paul nuttall insisted there would be a financial benefit to britain leaving the eu, this was the reaction. £350 million a week?! is that going to the health service, or where? where's your bus? a reference to the infamous battle bus and its promise of £350 million for the nhs. the bus is going to come driving past any minute! brexit continues to dominate this unexpected election race. tom symonds, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent eleanor garnier joins 0ur political correspondent eleanor garnierjoins us now 0ur political correspondent eleanor garnier joins us now from westminster. the debate last night, you wonder whetherjeremy corbyn and theresa may thought they had missed a trick by not appearing? it was certainly interesting to hear the party leaders that did turn up discuss issues like brexit, migration and social care but of course there was lots of criticism for theresa may and jeremy corbyn for theresa may and jeremy corbyn for not turning up. interestingly because four of the party leaders on that stage backed staying in the european union in the referendum last year, most of the attacks ended up last year, most of the attacks ended up being directed at ukip‘s leader paul nuttall, but realistically none of those party leaders are going to end up those party leaders are going to end up in numberten those party leaders are going to end up in number ten after the general election and that is why so much of the focus this morning is on the conservative party manifesto and changes to social care, that people's properties will now be included in those means test for ca re included in those means test for care at home. the conservatives saying you will not have to sell your home to papal social care and the threshold will rise to £100,000, nevertheless labour saying those changes are sick and sneaky, tim farron for the liberal democrats calls it at dementia tax. theresa may did say yesterday there were some big and difficult decisions to be made, i think she and her team will be well aware that some of these policies could risk ending up alienating some of the traditional tories. this week we have seen the manifesto launches by several parties, at last. what is going to happen today? we will hear more from labour today, they have a press conference in the next hour or so and unsurprisingly they will keep up the attacks on the conservatives, not just they will keep up the attacks on the conservatives, notjust on the social care issue but saying the tories did not put out a fully costed manifesto, there wasjust tories did not put out a fully costed manifesto, there was just not enough detail in there, they say. 0ne enough detail in there, they say. one big issue, immigration, we heard from the defence secretary michael fallon last night, of course the conservatives recommitting to bring net migration, the difference between those who arrive and those who leave, back down to the tens of thousands, michael fallon admitting last night they have not done the working out on that, they don't know when they will hit that target and therefore don't know how much it will cost. john mcdonnell philae but this morning saying it is a complete joke. it is true to say that unlike labour and the liberal democrats, the tories, with their manifesto, did not put out a single document with the costings in it. thank you very much, eleanor garnier in westminster. annita mcveigh is in the bbc newsroom with the summer of the day's news a man who drove a car along three blocks of pavement in new york's times square, killing a teenager and injuring 22 people, said he had "heard voices", according to law enforcement sources. richard rojas, a us navy veteran who was arrested twice previously for drunk driving, is now in custody. new york mayor bill de blasio said there was "no indication" it was an act of terrorism. american warplanes operating over syria have attacked a convoy carrying pro—government militia forces. the us—led coalition said it was moving towards a base used by western special forces near the border with iraq. last month, the americans fired 59 cruise missiles at a syrian government air base. but washington has insisted its latest military action does not mean it is stepping up its role in the syrian war. president trump is set to embark on his first foreign visit since taking office today. he's going to saudi arabia, israel and the vatican. he will be hoping to leave behind the controversy over allegations of collusion between his campaign team and russia. last night, he publicly denied asking the sacked fbi director, james comey, to back off an investigation into his former national security advisor, michael flynn. thousands of police officers across the uk have not had up—to—date background checks to ensure they are suitable to serve. bbc analysis of figures obtained under a freedom of information request showed 90% of officers in one force had not been properly vetted. the process checks finances, employment history, as well as making a detailed search for any convictions. andy moore reports. in 2012, the association of chief police officers recommended a thorough background vetting for all police officers and community support officers. it's a process that takes several months and checks on all aspects of a person's background. it's designed to ensure that nobody unsuitable is employed. peter bunyan was a devon and cornwall community support officerjailed for misconduct in the 2013 after using the police database to contact women. an investigation by the independent police complaints commission found he would have been rejected if he had undergone proper vetting. the devon and cornwall police force still has more than 100 front—line staff who haven't been checked according to the latest guidelines. the bbc made a freedom of information request asking other forces what was the situation in theirarea. it found that a total of almost 111,000 police officers hadn't undergone thorough checks. in northumbria, almost nine out of ten of its officers, that's around 3000 people, hadn't been properly vetted. the force said a retrospective programme of vetting was about to start. her majesty's inspector of constabulary, mike cunningham, said forces needed to address this matter urgently, while the police federation, which represents rank—and—file officers, said it was disappointed to see such a huge backlog. andy moore, bbc news. a bbc investigation has found flaws in the voice—recognition security used by one of britain's biggest banks. hsbc‘s system analyses customers' voice patterns to allow them access to their accounts. the bank says every person's voice is unique and that makes its system secure. but the click technology programme has shown that it is possible for someone to log into an account that's not their own. one of britain's airports is moving it's control tower around 100 miles away from the actual runway. london city airport is to become the first in britain to abandon its bird's—eye view of the runway and use digital technology to monitor planes remotely. 0ur transport correspondent richard westcott reports. modern airports are dynamic, fast—flowing, hundreds of pieces being moved around every minute, and all of those movements must be tightly choreographed to keep it safe. this is london city airport, and that is just one of the 300 or so take—offs and landings that happen here every day. until now, all of those flights have been coordinated by a group of controllers who look out of these windows here. but in the future those windows are going to be replaced by these high definition tv screens. controllers won't just see the airport, they will be able to hear it as well. the thing is, this digital control tower is 120 miles away from the airport. we've been shown this simulation, but by 2019 controllers will be sitting here directing traffic for real, using pictures fed from a new camera tower next to the runway. unlike the old tower, they can zoom in for a better view, put radar data onto the screen to track aircraft. critically, for safety, the cameras can pick out rogue drones near the airport and light the runway at night. my initial reaction was sceptical because i'm used to being at an airport. they give the controller more information in terms of what they can see, what they can hear, how they can identify targets, how they can track targets. the awareness that the controller gets, it's all about being heads up, they're no longer looking down. a tower controller's job is we get paid to look out of the window, so it makes thatjob much easier. now i know exactly what you're thinking. the number one question i've been asked by everybody i've told about this is, what if the tv screens go down, what if the system is hacked? how secure is it? so, highly secure. the system has been independently stress tested by security specialists. we have three cables that are in place between the airport and swanwick, in the control centre. if one of those was to fail, there's a back—up. and in the event that that fails, there's another cable. and they're all routed, taking different routes between the airport and swanwick. london city is convinced the new system will make their operations more efficient and more safe. the idea of a control tower miles from the airport may seem odd, but it isn't far away. richard westcott, bbc news. that's a summary of the latest bbc news — more at 9.30am. this morning we are talking about political party manifestos and also about the bbc drama three girls. do get in touch with us throughout the morning — use the hashtag #victorialive. if you text, you will be charged at the standard network rate. let's ta ke let's take a look at some of the sports stories at the moment, 0llie foster is with us this morning. some dramatic football matches last night? yes, we have had the play—off semifinals over the weekend, a couple of days ago huddersfield and wedding got into that £200 million play—off final in the championship to get into the premier league, that was dramatic in itselfjust by the fa ct was dramatic in itselfjust by the fact there is so much riding on those play—off semifinals, that is coming up in ten days, something like that. a bit lower into league1 and league 2, two incredible play—off semifinals last night. blackpool had been in a bit of a death spent in the premier league but they have just squeaked into the play—offs by a single point in the two, it was 3—2 on the night against luton, 5—4 on aggregate, and look at that, luton‘s goalie, stuart moore, it was an own goal in the end, i think it was coming in, that was in stoppage time. luton finished third in the league, by far the strongest tea m in the league, by far the strongest team in the play—offs, but that is what the play—offs are all about, blackpool are into the wembley final and they will be playing exeter, who played carlisle last night. very similar, this finished 6—5 on aggregate. carlisle had just equalised, the tie was heading for extra time, that man celebrating there, jack stacey, he spent a bit of time on loan at carlisle last season, of time on loan at carlisle last season, so of time on loan at carlisle last season, so they are heading to wembley to face blackpool on may the 28th, nervous occasions, those wembley finals. i meant to ask you about a meaningless match in the premier league involving leicester! recovered the leicester story last year, with all those celebrations but not much riding on this. leicester tried to defend their title but just hoped leicester tried to defend their title butjust hoped to finish in the top half of the table. spurs, some unfinished business, they missed out to leicester to the title last year and they went to the king power last night and absolutely thrashed leicester 6—1. harry kane is now top scorer in the league with 26, two clear of romelu lukaku heading into the final game also he has 32 in all competitions. these we re has 32 in all competitions. these were a couple of his goals. he scored four on the night, his fourth hat—trick of the season, the first time he has scored four in the game —— simmons on got the other two. it equals spurs' biggest away win in the top division. this week has had a couple of stinking games, manchester united against southampton was terrible! it had a bit ofan southampton was terrible! it had a bit of an end of term feel. but 6—1, spurs really enjoy that. in the scottish premiership, that also concludes at the weekend, celtic are still unbeaten, they are up to 103 points. they beat partick thistle 5-0 points. they beat partick thistle 5—0 last night. they are 30 points clear of aberdeen. the last time they went through the whole season unbeaten was 1898, that is what is riding on their last match of the season. riding on their last match of the season. meaningless but at the same time you always find something to play for. 30 points is what they call a convincing lead! thank you. children in america are undergoing electric shock treatment in growing numbers. now known as electro convulsive therapy, or ect, the controversial treatment is being used on severely autistic children who self—harm. the bbc has been given access to film a child being treated using ect. 0ur world's chris rogers has been to meet parents who say the treatment is helping their children, and the critics who say it is barbaric. and just to warn you that the film shows children self—harming and undergoing electro convulsive therapy — images that some of you may find upsetting. you may wish to leave the room. 16—year—old jonah is about to have electroconvulsive therapy, "ect", today in america. we're doing bilateral electro placement, 20%. 0ur cameras have been invited for the first time to film this controversial treatment on a child. modern ect is a very simple, safe, quick procedure. some call for a total ban on ect for children. it's traumatic brain injury. very much like somebody who has just endured a severe concussion. butjonah‘s mother, amy, is campaigning to allow more children like him to have the procedure. there is no doubt that ect is the only reason that jonah has any quality of life. jonah is autistic, and before the treatment he used to lash out, and punch himself. ect is rarely used in these cases. but some families feel it's their only option. in 2009, us army intelligence officer chad calvaresi and his wife casey travelled to serbia, to adopt five—year—old sophia. sophia had spent much of her short life suffering neglect and abuse in serbian orphanages. and she was autistic. the first day we were with her, she hit us all and bit us all and pulled my hair, and punched our youngest son. 0w! determined to give sophia a better life, they brought her back to america. we had great hope that, you know, we kept saying i can't wait to see where she will be in five years. but that... at that point, i was convinced that our love would heal her. but over the next few years, sophia became increasingly violent and uncontrollable. itjust increased and increased and increased up to the point that we weren't even sure how to keep her safe. it's kind of the worst—case scenario, we had to bring her to the er twice. oh my gosh. this is the last time, where she had beat herself so bad her nose was busted and was bleeding, her lips were busted open and bleeding. she gave herself black eyes. it's estimated one in ten autistic children seriously self harm. no one really knows why. some theories linking to anxiety, caused by an overload of sensory signals. others to frustration — autistic children can struggle to communicate. behavioural disturbance is very common in children with autism. often times it is readily amenable to behavioural treatments, but sometimes those behaviours cannot be easily curtailed, and can become quite dangerous for the child. in early 2016, for her own safety, sophia had to leave home and go into a secure unit at the renowned kennedy krieger institute for brain disorders. it often took three highly trained care staff using special techniques to prevent sophia injuring herself and others. we have tried years of behavioural therapy, years of medication, and we have proven time and again that, for sophia, these don't really work. so, like every other mum dealing with any problem with your kids, i went to google and said, right, doctor google. autism, self injury treatment. casey came across author and campaigner amy lutz, whose own violently autistic son jonah has had ect forfive years. well, ect has been transformative forjonah's life and for our life. we went from a period of time for years where jonah was raging, often multiple times a day. the only reason he is able to be home, and with us in atlantic city, the only reason he is able to do that is because of ect. many are far less enthusiastic. some human rights organisations call for a total ban. especially for children. crowd chants: outlaw ect! leading the fight against ect is doctor peter breggan, who has long campaigned against the psychiatric establishment. after seeing for myself the desperation of sophia's situation, i want to know why he thinks ect should never be an option. it's traumatic brain injury, tbi. the electricity not only travels through the front lobes — that's where the electrodes are, that's the seat of intelligence and thoughtfulness and creativity. it also goes through the temporal lobes, just the tip of the temporal lobes, a little further back. that's the seat of memory. you are blasting with an electric current the seat of memory. you are damaging the very expression of the personality, the character, the individuality, and even if you believe it, the expression of the soul. jonah is heading into new york for his latest ect session. he is one ofjust a few hundred self injuring children to have the treatment since it was introduced a decade ago. with the long—term effects not known, its use on children is blocked in some countries and in a handful of us states. butjonah‘s doctor is so convinced it is effective and safe, for the first time, he is allowing amy and our cameras to witness it. i think almost all the problem with ect is misinformation, misunderstanding about what modern ect is, and continued perpetuation of the sensationalist portrayals of the past. that's the problem. jonah has had around 260 ect sessions. the modern treatment is carried out under general anaesthetic, with muscle relaxa nts to prevent violent convulsions. we are doing bilateral electro placement, 20% at 0.5. doctors admit they don't know exactly how ect works. there is a lot of interesting new neural imaging research showing that ect actually reverses some of the brain problems in the major psychiatric illnesses. we don't exactly know why it works in people with autism and superimposed mood disorders, but we think it probably re—regulates the circuits in the brain that are deregulated in these diseases. doctor kelner administers just an amp of electric current in a series of very short pulses. it's good. treating at 20%. beeping. the current induces a seizure. ect specialists believe this in some way resets the malfunctioning brain. any thoughts, amy, now that you have seen it yourself? i mean, it is... not scary. you know, there is a little bit of movement. i have seenjonah have a real grand mal seizure before and that's way, way scarier. it's kind of what i was expecting. the ect alleviates jonah‘s self injuring behaviour for up to ten days. but it is not a cure. it's generally a very simple and safe, easy, quick procedure like that. still, medical experts are very sceptical that ect does anything in particular for children like jonah, and that it is cruel as well? i think those are uneducated criticisms, and the way to counter them is to show people what modern ect is really like, and show them the results with patients like jonah. what about long term though? some doctors say that they can suffer memory loss? well, we know a lot about long—term effects, because there are patients with more typical indications for ect who have been getting maintenance ect for many years, some for decades. there really are no cumulative adverse effects of the treatment, so it seems to be very safe even to continue it for a long period. worldwide, about 1 million people have ect each year. most for severe, often life—threatening depression. around 1% are under 18. memory loss is the main side effect. though the severity and even the definition is hotly disputed. studies by ect doctors suggest most memory lapses are very short term. with memory function soon returning to normal. those against ect have produced surveys showing more than half of patients suffering long—term memory loss. when the person wakes up, they have all the signs, if they can speak, of traumatic brain injury. they may not know who they are or where they are, what has happened to them. a referee would stop a boxing match if the boxer got hit and looked like somebody coming out of ect, because they come out concussed. in baltimore, sophia has been in the kennedy krieger neurobehavioural unit for seven months. there has been little improvement. it's heartbreaking, because... i want to be able to bring her home. one month later, sofia's doctors give the go—ahead for ect. probably after the third or fourth treatment, we really started to see a marked improvement in her mood. and an additional 30 to 40% reductionjust in the sheer number of behaviours. and in september, having been in the unit all year, sophia is allowed home to live with her family. hello. hello, fellas! hi, sofia. hi. hi chris. hello! great to finally meet you. the family say they have seen a huge improvement. when she has behaviours, they are much shorter, much less intense. she used to have bursts of behaviours where she was aggressive, and hurting herself for hours. now it will be a matter of a few minutes for her to calm down. each week day, sophia has school lessons with a specially trained carer. my biggest concern was that she was going to lose quality of life, that she would have brain damage. now she is back to loving doing multiplication and division. who's that? a dog. when she started ect, she was doing zero academic work at all. good job. idid it! but later that afternoon, six days after her last ect, sophia's behaviour deteriorates. chad and her carer have to use approved restraint techniques to stop her injuring herself. can i go to the beach? you know the answer to that. you said yes. no. what's sparked this? couldn't tell you. uptick in any type of aggression usually towards one or two days, a day—and—a—half prior to her usual scheduled ect. it's usually what we see. ect for severely self—injuring autistic children like sophia is still in very limited use. and without a long—term scientific study, it remains highly controversial. sofia, do you want to hold this? right now, sofia's parents have no regrets. she's a joy. she brings usjoy. she loves life. and she had zero quality of life. what about the thought of ect every single week for the rest of her life? it's overwhelming. if i think about it. but, what future did she have without it? we have had reaction already do that very powerful film. we have had reaction already do that very powerfulfilm. i we have had reaction already do that very powerful film. i tweet says, ast, sensory deficit kids being given an electric shock treatment for self harm is alarming that well covered. natalie says, my son has asd and i think this is an evil treatment to give to anyone let alone a child who cannot voice their own opinion. luis days, i believe ect is a cce pta ble luis days, i believe ect is acceptable for autistic children who exhibit severe self harm and only as a last resort. thank you for those comments. you can see a longer version of chris rogers‘ film, "my child, ect and me", on our world on the bbc news channel at 9.30pm on sunday and on the bbc iplayer. and later in the programme we'll be discussing whether this therapy should ever be used to treat autistic children here in the uk. still to come... after a week of manifesto launches, we'll be having a look at three of the issues you tell us are most important. we'll also be speaking to politicians and later to undecided voters to see if it's made things any clearer. and after the chilling finale to last night's three girls, which tells the true story of child sexual abuse in rochdale by a gang of asian men, we speak to the woman who blew the whistle on the scandal. here's annita with a summary of the day's news. good morning. brexit dominated the first televised leaders' election debate, held last night without theresa may and jeremy corbyn. the itv event saw little disagreement between the lib dems, green party, plaid cymru and snp, but they repeatedly clashed with ukip‘s paul nuttall. and at 11.30am on the bbc news channel, it's your opportunity to put your questions about the election and the nhs to our health editor, hugh pym. you can get in touch via twitter using the hashtag #bbcaskthis, or text your questions to 611211, and you can email us as well at askthis@bbc.co.uk a man who drove a car along pavements in new york's times square, killing a teenager and injuring 22 people, said he had "heard voices", according to law enforcement sources. richard rojas, a us navy veteran who was arrested twice previously for drunk driving, is now in custody. new york mayor bill de blasio said there was "no indication" it was an act of terrorism. thousands of police officers across the uk have not had up—to—date background checks to ensure they are suitable to serve. figures obtained by the bbc under a freedom of information request showed 90% of officers in one force — northumbria police — had not been properly vetted. the inspector of constabulary is urging forces to address the issue urgently. that's a summary of the latest bbc news — more at 10am. let's check out all of the sports news now with 0llie. a very dramatic night in the league two play—off semi—finals with two late winners. blackpool, who were in the premier league six years ago, have reached the final after a stoppage—time goal at luton that made it 6—5 on aggregate. they will play exeter after an equally nervy night at stjames park. that was also balanced at 5—5 and heading to extra time harry kane scored four goals last night in tottenham's 6—1win at leicester — he is two goals clear of romelu lukaku in the race for the golden boot. celtic are still unbeaten in the scottish premiership with one game to play they beat partick thistle 5—0 last night. british rider geraint thomas has pulled out of the giro d'italia — he was involved in a nasty crash on sunday, when he was in second place overall, but he injured his shoulder and decided not to carry on. this week three of the main parties have published their manifestos. these are their plans for how they'd run the country if they win the general election. so what have they said? well, all three parties have made bold claims to appeal to their voters. labour would scrap university tuition fees, the lib dems want to give dads an extra month of paid paternity leave, and the conservatives say they'll cut net migration to below 100,000. but what about the key issues? we've taken three areas — social care, brexit and welfare benefits — that our viewers have told us are important, and broken down what each of the parties is offering. we've also invited back some of the undecided voters that we've had on the programme during the campaign to see if any of the manifestos will swing them. we'll speak to them in about half—an—hour‘s time. we're going to be talking to labour candidate for brent north barry gardiner, and liberal democrat candidate for kingston and surbiton ed davey. we naturally asked the conservatives to take part in the discussion, but they've declined the offer. firstly, on brexit. the conservatives want to leave the single market. they've made no commitments on freedom of movement. labour say they would rip up the existing plans, and make staying in the single market a priority. they'd also secure the rights of all eu citizens living in the uk. the lib dems would offer a second eu referendum, this time on the final brexit deal, with an option to stay in the eu. good morning to you both, thank you for joining good morning to you both, thank you forjoining us. last night's debate was very much focused at times on brexit, it has been billed as the brexit, it has been billed as the brexit general election campaign. 0ur relevant, though, when you are campaigning on the doorstep, is brexit? interesting, because actually people tend not to bring up brexit on the doorstep. the things that are coming out on the doorstep of the worries they have over the conservatives' plans to erode the value of their houses in old age, the way in which the schools are being starved of funding, and, in my area, sometimes it is up to £1000 per pupil bossed by schools. that is huge and parents are really worried about this, and of course the other things coming up are about the housing crisis, and we need more homes for our young people to be able to even just rent at an affordable cost, so building homes is really, really critical. what about for the liberal democrats, how much resonance does brexit have for you, given that if the liberal democrats —— if the conservatives get the majority they are hoping for, they will be able to do whatever they like with brexit? for, they will be able to do whatever they like with brexit7m oui’ whatever they like with brexit7m our parliament, if you have a good opposition, people with experience, we can challenge the negotiations of the tories, expose them, so their threat to pull britain out of the single market is going to be shocking to people's jobs, single market is going to be shocking to people'sjobs, people are going to lose jobs hand over fist if they pull us out of the single market and i think if we have liberal democrats in parliament to expose that, they will have to change their negotiating position. but this was warned before, the remain camp said it is going to be disastrous for the economy, it hasn't been so far... we haven't left! people might have to see it to believe it? possibly but people do like argument and the fact that the conservatives won't turn up today, didn't turn up to the leaders debate, i have to tell you and your viewers that they keep refusing to turn up to debate, that is the shocking part of the selection, the fa ct shocking part of the selection, the fact the tories won't even debate, and the reason they don't want to debate is this, so many of their policies are damaging ordinarily people, taking money from the schools, the health service, from the most vulnerable and poorest people in our society. i'm not surprised they don't want to turn up because it is a shocking policy they have got. and yet they seem to be appealing beyond their normal heartland... it is not the conservative party but the tabriz may party. what they are trying to do is keep the british people that they are just voting for her, like a presidential election. they are not, they are voting for the conservative party, right—wing politicians with a right—wing agenda that will hurt most people in our society. the most important thing is to talk about the issue here and the issue about brexit is this, where we disagree and the labour party from the liberal democrat if we accept the result of the referendum, we say we are going to leave the european union but the way in which we do that has to be resolved. the way we disagree with the conservative party is simply this, they want to put their immigration policy at the heart of the brexit negotiations and they will sacrifice our economy, the jobs and the wealth creation that we need, for the immigration policy, and that is why we are saying no, we start with the economy as the main thing, it is people'sjobs start with the economy as the main thing, it is people's jobs that are most important and therefore we need to negotiate, we won't be members of the internal market but we need access, the internal market but we need access , we the internal market but we need access, we need all the benefits that came from friction free access into those markets both through the single market and the customs union is that we will no longer have. brexit means we leave but then we have to negotiate the terms not dictated by immigration policy but negotiated by jobs dictated by immigration policy but negotiated byjobs and the economy. why do you not emphasise what you have in common over brexit, which may be an acceptance that we leave but why not club together and say, let's give people a second vote on how we leave, the terms under which we leave? there is a problem, the labour party voted for article 50 and wanted it to go ahead in the way it is going... wasn't that just recognising that we have voted to leave in the referendum? no, it wasn't, because it is how you leave, we we re wasn't, because it is how you leave, we were not told how you leave and the liberal democrats wanted to make sure that the negotiating agreement had to protect the rights of eu citizens. barry, i have to say, let me finish, you were incorrect about the liberal democrat position and people need to know what it is. we acce pt people need to know what it is. we accept the result of the referendum, liberal democrats would negotiate a brexit deal and then at the end of those negotiations, which is probably going to take three or four years, possibly longer, at the end of those negotiations, when we eventually know what brexit means, because we still don't know, we are saying that should be put to the people, it should be decided by the people. this thing started with the people, it should end with the people, it should end with the people and not forced on by people like barry or theresa may.|j people and not forced on by people like barry or theresa may. i want to move on. . . like barry or theresa may. i want to move on... i'm happy to but can i make one quick point? that is that when they vote, the point is they should not be able to counter the referendum result, and that is...m the brexit deal is a bad deal... you not to talk over you, ed. the reason for that is because you and you and iand for that is because you and you and i and every other politician during that referendum debate, we went out there and we said, this is important, this is really important because if you vote in the referendum you are deciding what happens to this country... you are interrupting me again. we could decide whether we left or not. we could keep talking about this, or we could keep talking about this, or we could examine another issue! now to healthcare. all parties have pledged to put billions more into the nhs. where they differ is on social care. the conservatives say they'll provide free social care but only once people's assets fall below £100,000, and that includes the value of their home. labour wants to create a national care service, and put an extra £8 billion into social care over the next five years. the liberal democrats plan to add 1p more onto each rate on income tax and spend some of that money on social care. how can it be, then, ed davey, that the conservatives in the last two yea rs, before the conservatives in the last two years, before that inca religion with your party, have been in charge of the nhs, in charge of social care, people say that they want better social care, they want a fit for purpose nhs, and yet many of them are saying they still trust the conservatives to do the right thing by it? people waking up today will hear what the tories announced yesterday in the manifesto, and what they announced in the manifesto is people who worked hard all their lives, bought a house, paid off the mortgage, if they are unlucky in the lottery of life to need a lot of ca re lottery of life to need a lot of care through maybe not dementia in later life, they will lose all those savings down to the last £100,000, so savings down to the last £100,000, so basically what the conservatives have done yesterday is reduce the inheritance tax threshold, which is about £300,000, and put it down to £100,000, taxing people at 100%, so if you have got home, got a pension and you are old, i would be worried because the conservatives are coming after you. your family will have the trauma of having looked after you with your long—term dementia care needs and then they would get any inheritance. this is a tax on saving, a tax on death, a tax on inheritance and when people hear what the tories proposed yesterday i think they will think twice about voting tory. but they will be allowed to keep why shouldn't people have to pay for their own social care? not everybody will need it. the point is this, there was an agreement to cap the cost of social care, it was indeed do not purport and the government committed itself to its seven years ago. what happened there is they said there would be a feeling of £76,000, nobody would have to pay more than that, it would rise with inflation... they would get a new mandate this way. that is what they are seeking, they are transferring the burden of your social care from the burden of your social care from the insurance policy that is our society, that we pay national insurance contributions in order to get, they are transferring the burden of your social care from the society to you, and they are saying that if you have a home, any homeowner receiving care in their own home now, instead of not having to pay if they have less than a certain threshold in cash, will pay the full cost of their care right the full cost of their care right the way, if that house is worth half £1 million, in london that is not a very big house, they will pay the full cost of their house down to that last £100,000. 0lder full cost of their house down to that last £100,000. older people are worried, sitting there thinking, all that i have built up in my life is being eroded, i wanted to pass something onto my children and the only way i can stop this process is by dying. that is appalling! it is absolutely horrific! 0ld by dying. that is appalling! it is absolutely horrific! old people will be afraid of living too long so that they cannot pass something onto their children, that is what this conservative government is doing. i'm going to talk about a related subject which is welfare and benefits. the conservatives would scrap the current protections on pensions payments and start means testing for winter fuel payments, taking away £300 from wealthier pensioners. labour say they would abolish bedroom tax and reverse some benefits cuts. they'd also freeze the pension age at 66. the lib dems would reverse the cuts to universal credit and the cuts to housing benefit for 18—21 year olds. we need to be quite quick on this i'm afraid. means testing a universal benefit, surely that make some sense, to try to rebalance with the different generations are getting. the benefit cuts the tories are putting in which you have not cove red a re are putting in which you have not covered are probably even more shocking. if you lose your partner, your husband or wife, and you are widowed, they used to be a bereavement benefit to help you and your children deal with that. they are slashing that back in the most extraordinary way. i feel passionate about this, my mother was widowed at 36 with three boys under ten and she died when! 36 with three boys under ten and she died when i was 15 and that bereavement benefit was essential for my family and my mother to look after those children and the conservatives are taking valuable resources away from people who lose their husband or wife. it is one of their husband or wife. it is one of the most disgusting things i've ever seenin the most disgusting things i've ever seen in british politics and the tory mps and theresa may who proposed this should hang their heads in shame. i agree with that and that is why the labour manifesto said we would put back that bereavement support and reversed that can't. the question was about winter fuel payment, and what is behind that, is if wealthy people should get those payments as well, why it should wealthy people who maybe don't need that allowance get it? the answer is simply this, it is a universal benefit. the importance of universal benefit is quite simply that nobody feels that they are subsidising other people getting things when they are not getting them themselves. we want people to understand that actually we are all pa rt understand that actually we are all part of society and that people who are paying their taxes are getting the same benefit. it is right, not a charity. and if it is means tested, there is the cost of and also, old people say if i have to fill out a form to do this, i don't feel co mforta ble form to do this, i don't feel comfortable actually telling people what might income is and what i'm doing. they don't claim it. and that means they would rather go without lunch or a huddle under a blanket than actually feel they are taking what they see as charity. it's not charity, it is your right to be warm in old age and we as a society have to a cce pt in old age and we as a society have to accept that. we have scratched the surface and had not had enough time but thank you very much for answering those questions. you can see a full list of advocates for brent north and kingston and surbiton on our website. —— of candidates. and we're going to be in dunstable in bedfordshire on monday 29th may for a big election audience debate. if you've made up your mind already who you're going to vote for, still deciding or don't think you'll bother, and would like the chance to share your views and grill senior politicians on their policies, get in touch to apply for a place. victoria@bbc.co.uk. that is the e—mail address. there are more details on our facebook and twitter pages. the last episode of three girls aired last night. it's been watched by up to 5 million of you. it tells the story of the young girls who were groomed by a group of men in rochdale. in 2012, nine men were jailed for their part in it. the men — mostly british pakistanis — started by giving the girls free alcohol, cigarettes and taxi rides, but then went on to demand sex and later they trafficked the girls. here's a clip from three girls where the sexual health worker sara rowbotham tries to explain to the parents of the one of the girls what has been happening. she's not a prostitute. we don't know what to think. we don't know who to believe. listen to me. holly is categorically not a prostitute. is not now, and never has been. plus there's no such thing as a child prostitute, what there is... is a child who has been abused. by who? by men who pick on vulnerable girls. the scum she hangs around with. a small excerpt from three girls. well, we can speak now to the real life woman behind maxine pea ke's character, sara rowbotham, the sexual health nurse who blew the whistle on the sex abuse scandal. we're also joined by alison worsley, deputy director of policy and public affairs at the children's charity barnardo's. good morning, welcome to both of you and thank you forjoining us. how accurate portrayal was this drama? it was really accurate, absolutely the truth. what the writer was able to do was combine all of our truths, the truth of everybody involved in the truth of everybody involved in the drama, the parents, the young people, maxine played me but i was a real combination of the team i managed at the time. everything i said, or rather the character said, was a true reflection and a true scenario. those events actually happened and it not to me, to one of my team. when we saw that enormous chart of the names of the men who we re chart of the names of the men who were abusing those girls, how realistic was that, but you are trying to keep all of those notes? yes, we did do that. it was actually really naive, it wasn't anything, it wasn't kind of skilled, we just thought that was the best way of trying to collate the information. alison, how important a drama do you think this will prove to be, an important thing for all of us to watch the young people and parents? it is absolutely vital, it was confronting and harrowing but everything that sara has said reflects from what we know from our work across the country. this is happening to boys as well as girls throughout the country, we worked with 5000 last year. to raise awareness and for parents to be able to have a conversation with their children, it is pivotal. you made so many referrals to the police and yet got knocked back. what kept you going? the girls. the girls. we had to make them safe, we had to make it stop and make it safe. we were not best placed to be able to do that, there were other people who were best placed so of course i had to keep telling people. these cases are often described as historical sex abuse cases. how accurate and helpful is the word historical for you? it's really not helpful and thatis you? it's really not helpful and that is one of my continued bugbears. using the word historical, it provided a level of reassurance to lots of people but this is something that probably happened in the distant past but for us who are involved, or for victims of abuse, there is no history, it is one long continue. it is not something that happened in the distant past that you've moved on from easily, it is something that stays with you and it is just something that stays with you and it isjust a something that stays with you and it is just a continuum, something that stays with you and it isjust a continuum, people something that stays with you and it is just a continuum, people are affected by daily. using the word historical abuse is really diminishing and dismissive of the people who went through it. what struck me was the tenacity with you and your team struck me was the tenacity with you and yourteam and struck me was the tenacity with you and your team and the bravery of those girls showed when nobody else was believing them but they kept trying to speak up. what happened to you after this case had ended? at the end of the drummer we saw you giving information and evidence to a select committee —— the end of the drama. i went to london to the houses of parliament and i was able to give evidence to the home abed select committee. —— at the home affairs select committee. it was a traumatic time for me personally and i was absent from work because i was quite poorly. the organisation i worked for, the powers that be in other organisations did not feel that they wanted my contribution in any future developments. i very quickly realised that doors were being closed and i was not invited to make any real contribution at all to make any real contribution at all to the development of future services or to the whole agenda around what should be taking place around what should be taking place around child sexual exploitation. nobody really felt as though i could make a valuable contribution. a lot of people will find that very surprising and today there has been a lot of support for you on social media saying you have been treated appallingly. how have attitudes changed within the police? how far policy is changed, how more likely is it for young girls in this predicament to be believed? hopefully, that is the core of this, hopefully young people will be believed now, that is what we want to see. if you think back to when we first raised this in 1998, child prostitution was still a term on our statute books, it did not get removed until 2015. if you think about the context that the police we re about the context that the police were working in then, the language that was used, those ingrained attitudes, i would like to think things have changed but this is still one of the biggest child protection issues of our time and we must keep raising awareness, would the programme is doing, and educating people and knowledge like sara as god is vital so we can train people to spot the side of abuse and make sure young people are believed —— that sara has got. make sure young people are believed -- that sara has got. and you have a lot of thought about how communities can be made less susceptible but i wa nt to can be made less susceptible but i want to end on a slightly lighter note. what was it like having maxine peake, an extraordinary actress, playing your role and bringing together all of those efforts that your team made to keep those girls safe ? your team made to keep those girls safe? it's a bit weird! when maxine peake came to my house, i had to stop myself from simply describing her as bafta nominated maxine peake, would you like a biscuit! bafta nominated maxine pea ke! would you like a biscuit! bafta nominated maxine peake! it was a bit awesome, that you are able to say, a film made about you and it was maxine peake, film made about you and it was maxine pea ke, the film made about you and it was maxine peake, the nation's sweetheart, the best actor in the country, who represented me. that's amazing really. i'm not surprised it has made you emotional. thank you so much for talking to us today and thank you for your time as well. let's catch up with the latest weather with simon. yesterday turned out to be a very wet day across central and eastern parts of the uk. the rain continued overnight but this morning we have had a lovely start with some blue skies in port talbot. through the day there will continue to be sunshine but also some pretty heavy showers developing. they are already in south—west england and parts of wales and will continue to develop and get heavier. there will be some thunderstorms in the south—west area. further north and east, the rain continues to move in that direction and a chilly day on the east coast of england but sunshine elsewhere and it might feel quite pleasa nt elsewhere and it might feel quite pleasant between the showers. tonight the rain continues moving northwards into scotland but elsewhere clear skies into saturday morning so it could turn chilly in the countryside with temperatures around eight to 10 celsius. 0n saturday we continue with the theme of sunny spells and showers but like today, some showers could be heavy in parts of wales and southern england and wide showers in northern england, scotland and northern ireland and top temperatures tomorrow 13 to 18 degrees. hello, it is friday, it is 10am. our special report on the growing number of children in america undergoing electric shock treatment. the controversial therapy is being used to help children who are severely autistic and self—harm. is the treatment cruel and unnecessary? or is it a life—saver? my biggest concern was that she was going to lose quality of life, that she would have brain damage. now she's back to loving doing multiplication and division. who's that? a dog. yeah! when she started ect, she was doing zero academic work at all. we'll be talking to a father whose son has severe self—harming autism and a doctor who performs the treatment to help with mental illness. security software designed to prevent bank fraud has been fooled by a bbc reporter and his twin. they say it's secure. my voice is my password. but a simple experiment with my nonidentical twin brother... 'welcome to hsbc advance.‘ ..proves otherwise. my financial details and the ability to transfer money were wide open. bbc click reporter dan simmons and his non—identical twin joe will be here to tell us how they duped the bank's voice—based security system. grime star skepta wins two awards at last night's ivor novellos, including songwriter of the year. you never think, when you are wrapping and writing, you never think your song is on the pedestal of like chris martin, you know what i'm saying? i don't think that. everything i'm writing... it's very important, isn't it? and we'll be talking live to the winner of best album, laura mvula. here's annita in the bbc newsroom with a summary of today's news. good morning. brexit dominated the first televised leaders' election debate, held last night without theresa may and jeremy corbyn. the itv event saw little disagreement between the lib dems, green party, plaid cymru and snp, but they repeatedly clashed with ukip's paul nuttall. and at 11.30am on the bbc news channel, it's your opportunity to put your questions about the election and the nhs to our health editor, hugh pym. you can get in touch via twitter using the hashtag #bbcaskthis, or text your questions to 611211, and you can email us as well at askthis@bbc.co.uk the former entertainer rolf harris has been released on bailfrom stafford prison. he was convicted in 2014. he is on trial at southwark crown court accused of indecently assaulting three teenagers between 1981 and 1983. he denies the charges against him. a man who drove a car along pavements in new york's times square, killing a teenager and injuring 22 people, said he had "heard voices", according to security sources. richard rojas, a us navy veteran who was arrested previously for drink—driving, is now in custody. new york mayor bill de blasio said there was "no indication" it was terrorism. american warplanes operating over syria have attacked a convoy carrying pro—government militia forces. the us—led coalition said it was moving towards a base used by western special forces near the border with iraq. russia described the action as "absolutely unacceptable". a 24—year—old man will appear before manchester magistrates today charged with six counts of raping a child under 13. 0sman ali is accused of raping a child in rochdale, following an investigation by the multi—agency rochdale sunrise team into child sexual exploitation. that's a summary of the latest bbc news — more at 10.30am. do get in touch with us throughout the morning — use the hashtag #victorialive. if you text, you will be charged at the standard network rate. time for more sports news now, cannot get enough of it! the line—up for the three play—off finals at wembley is now complete, two very dramatic semifinals in league 2 last night. blackpool were in the premier league six years ago and their tie against luton was heading for extra time until this happened in injury time. it went down as an own goal from the hatters' goalie. a bit unlucky. blackpool heading to wembley after winning 6—5 on aggregate. that was the same score over two legs between exeter and carlisle. the cumbrians had levelled it but that man, jack stacey, got the exeter winner, he spent time at carlisle on exeter winner, he spent time at ca rlisle on loan exeter winner, he spent time at carlisle on loan last season as well. they will face blackpool at wembley on the 20th of may for a place in league 1. harry kane looks set to win the premier league's golden boot. he scored 25 last season, up to 26 this one after scoring four against leicester last night. they won 6—1. he is two goals clear romalu lukaku with just one game to play. it is his fourth hat—trick of the season, the first time he has scored four in the first time he has scored four in the league, though. it equals the club's biggest away win in the top division in the club's history. 0bviously delighted to get four goals for the first time in my professional career doing that, so a good moment to do it as well because there has been a bit of build—up in there has been a bit of build—up in the week with the golden boot race, soi the week with the golden boot race, so i thought, get one or two tonight to put the pressure on so to get four is an amazing feeling. celtic are still unbeaten in the scottish premiership with one game to play, 1898 was the last time they went through our whole league season without defeat. they only matches back then. last night they won 5—0 at partick thistle. their 33rd win in 37, it thought them equal their record points tally for a season, 103, 30 points tally for a season, 103, 30 points clear of second placed aberdeen. they have hearts on the last day of the season. cycling news, british rider geraint thomas has pulled out of the giro d'italia. he was involved in a nasty crash last weekend, a pilot in the peloton when they collided with a stationary police motorbike. he had been second overall going into that stage, picked up a couple of nasty nick goals and knocks there on his shoulder but it is his knee that has been giving him trouble in the last couple of stages. he says carrying god would be trying to survive each day rather than racing. —— carrying on. more in the next up an hour. thank you, some breaking news now regarding julian assange, the founder of wikileaks. we are hearing that sweden's director of public prosecutions has decided to discontinue the investigation againstjulian assange. you may recall thatjulian againstjulian assange. you may recall that julian assange has againstjulian assange. you may recall thatjulian assange has been living for some years in the ecuadorian embassy in london, since 2012, taking refuge there to try to avoid extradition to sweden over the allegation of rape, which he denies. the public prosecutor in sweden saying that she will discontinue the investigation into julian saying that she will discontinue the investigation intojulian assange, the founder of wikilea ks. investigation intojulian assange, the founder of wikileaks. whether or not this will make him feel that he can leave the ecuadorian embassy any time soon, we will have to find out. so, just how clear are you about who to vote for in the general election, given that the manifestos of all the main parties have been published? we have four peoplejoining us who are undecided on who to vote for, and who have all voted differently in the past. we're going to look at some of the key issues — brexit, the nhs and welfare — and what could help these voters decide on which policies, and party, to back. firstly, on brexit. the conservatives want to leave the single market. they've made no commitments on freedom of movement. labour say they would rip up the existing plans, and make staying in the single market a priority. they'd also secure the rights of all eu citizens living in the uk. the lib dems would offer a second eu referendum, this time on the final brexit deal, with an option to stay in the eu. joining us now, samjennings, jordan white, rickael modeste and lanre sulola. let's look at the brexit issue. jordan, you were concerned because of the potential for there to be the new hard border between northern ireland and ireland. how have the ma nifesto ireland and ireland. how have the manifesto launches that we have seen this week helped you decide? they haven't helped me decide, they have made me more confident that i want to spoil my ballot. the debate so far is the same rhetoric of what can brexit secure for middle england, it has strengthened nicola sturgeon's hand in scotland and have given some life to plaid cymru. how far does brexit have to go, how hard does it have to be before the northern ireland assembly is thought about? there is no assembly in northern ireland, no government, just political talks which have collapsed again because of theresa may's cool for a general election. lanre, you voted remain in the referendum. what about alternative ideas, for example the liberal democrats putting forward that they would want to have a second referendum when we know the terms of the deal, is that going to sway you? i think ultimately with the referendum there was a lot of misinformation, there were a lot of people, a lot of rhetoric and who knew what was true and what was going to be the case? we are still ina going to be the case? we are still in a place of instability, uncertainty, let's fall off a cliff, no deal is a good deal, i don't buy it, it is a dangerous place to be in. maybe if it is a case of when we know what we are going to be getting into, let's have a vote again, that is maybe a good idea, but i think they're definitely has to be something other than we are just going to go through this and whatever happens happens. sam, how important would that be for you, or do you feel like a lot of people, we have decided to leave, get on with it? i do think we should get on with it but i like the manifesto that jeremy corbyn is saying about protecting the rights of people already here in the eu, so if somebody has established a life peer, they should stay. i don't want to stop immigration, but there does need to be controlled. you were thinking potentially voting conservative, you have voted conservative, you have voted conservative before, are you clear now? no, because i thinka lot conservative before, are you clear now? no, because i think a lot of the labour policies are good policies, not sure if they could actually implement them. some of the tory policies are ok but i haven't read the full manifesto and nothing has lit me up tojump straight in and vote for them. rickael, you have voted for labour in the past, how much clearer ayew that they could get your vote this time? more, for me it is pretty consistent the sort of thing the labour tented come up with, you know what you are going to get. my reasons for voting for them in the past was not so much their policies but my local mp, who is very well respected in hammersmith and fulham, that has been my reason for voting for labour in the past. looking at the two manifestos, i think that, as we have touched on, a lot of these things, there is not a lot of these things, there is not a lot of these things, there is not a lot of su bsta nce lot of these things, there is not a lot of substance behind it, lots of things have been said that we cannot guarantee will happen, especially in such uncertain times. if it is in the manifesto, they are meant to implement it, aren't they? they are meant to! let's look at social care, some big announcements this week. there was a suggestion that it would be capped at 76,000 per person, i know social care and welfare is a bit of a concern to you, particularly sam. what do you make of the idea of expecting people to fund their own care until they only have 100,000 in assets left? as somebody who will probably never have 100,000 in assets, i think if somebody has got that much money, and that is a lot of money... even including their property these days? probably not, with the way the property market is going, but people who have more should pay more. i don't think welfare should be there to help people who already have money in the bank. lanre, what about the idea of making people pay rather than increasing tax, which is what the liberal democrats are saying, but an extra 1p on income tax and then you raise more money and have more money in the bank to pay for this stuff? i do agree in some respects because there are people in that position who can do something but it is means testing and making sure that it is right for the right individual, not this blanket whoever you are because it is putting people in dangerous positions. but the welfare budget, there are so many different parts of the community that need welfare, the unemployed, if you have a disability, in care, soi if you have a disability, in care, so i think more thought needs to be put into it. if you can pay more than you probably should be the reason for working order life is that you have some money aside to help you in difficult times and it should be reviewed on a regular basis. it is a tough decision, i agree. a slightly connected subject is the issue of welfare benefits, a lot of people who previously would not have voted conservative are now saying in this election that they trust theresa may, they'd think she will do the right thing even on welfare benefits, even though some of those people will have seen their welfare benefits cut. how important do you think the leader of the party is in this election as to how people will vote? it is important, especially something like welfare where everybody has an opinion whether you are at the top end and have no need for it, you have an opinion because you are a taxpayer full is up and somebody who relies on those sorts of benefits, who may feel they are co nsta ntly of benefits, who may feel they are constantly being judged, people think they are using or abusing the system, regardless of where you are in the spectrum, you will have an opinion of who you should vote for based on welfare. i think leadership within parties is mostly who can articulate themselves the best and who can afford the best spin doctor. i don't know if you managed to watch the debate but the leaders of the two biggest body did not even turn up. jeremy corbyn so far is slightly right in that he wants to debate theresa may but he has had plenty of times to do that, it is prime minister's questions, and he has said is that line thrown at him to ta ke said is that line thrown at him to take a hit at her and he said is that line thrown at him to take a hit at herand he has said is that line thrown at him to take a hit at her and he has not done it. theresa may does not want to debate because i feel she is only good when she is fed the line, she repeats the line with somebody made up repeats the line with somebody made up for herand repeats the line with somebody made up for her and she can't debate when she's on the spot. i suppose this is a question designed with undecided voters in mind, if you can't find someone to vote for, how ripe is the time for a new party to come to the fore? like we have seen in france with emmanuel macron. how welcome would that be and what would they need to offer you ? would that be and what would they need to offer you? they would need to listen and understand that we have many different people in our communities and many different needs. you have to do something to meet these different needs and also be true to your word. we have seen similar politicians saying they will do this, not raise tuition fees, you name it, every single one is guilty and you can't trust them. somebody who is authentic and does what they say and has a proven record of doing that, maybe, just maybe, you might listen to them and follow them. you have a few more days to decide god i hope you manage to decide that there is one that will get your vote —— a few more days to decide, i hope you get one to decide on. we can go back to the news from sweden aboutjulian assange. it has dropped in the last few minutes, what do we know? the swedish prosecutor had until today to decide whether to renew this arrest warrant forjulian assange on this allegation of rape or to drop the case and they have is added to drop it. we don't know the reasons, we should understand in the next half hour or so. what does it mean for him? he is not under threat of arrest to be sent to sweden to face the prosecuting authorities there but he has always said his main concern is actually whether the swedish authorities when he got that would extradite him to the united states where they are very angry about the fact that wikileaks published more than a quarter of a million various official secrets from the bomb and authorities. they wa nt to from the bomb and authorities. they want to prosecute him in regard to espionage. he has always said that is his main concern but the british authorities are also just as likely to a cce pt authorities are also just as likely to accept any extradition request from the us as the swedish authorities. so he might feel he doesn't want to leave the ecuadorian embassy yet? we don't know exactly until we hearfrom embassy yet? we don't know exactly until we hear from him, embassy yet? we don't know exactly untilwe hearfrom him, but embassy yet? we don't know exactly until we hearfrom him, but that is my sense of it at the moment, that britain would almost certainly cooperate with an american request for extradition and he would still be liable to arrest by british authorities for being in breach of his bail conditions. it is all about elements that have created a great deal of fascination with this story. yes, he is seen by many as a litmus test for whether or not speech can be truly free. the americans and particularly the current department ofjustice have particularly the current department of justice have made particularly the current department ofjustice have made it clear they believe that what he has done is something that undermined the united states, something that should be prosecuted. donald trump has said on record in the past that he believes people who leak state secrets should be executed. thank you very much. back to politics now. leaders of five political parties took part in a live tv election debate last night, without theresa may and jeremy corbyn who both turned down the invitation. brexit seemed to dominate as the leaders of the lib dems, the green party, the scottish nationalists and plaid cymru repeatedly clashed with ukip's paul nuttall over the issue. mr nuttall said the uk should be bold in its brexit negotiations and on controlling immigration. of course the deal will be better, because it couldn't be much worse than the deal that we've had whilst we've been within the european union. and i encourage the prime minister and david davies, when you go into these negotiations, be bold, have courage. promote how great our country actually is and accept that, in many ways, the european union needs us far more than we need it. we have a huge trading deficit with the eu. there are six million jobs on the continent which are dependent on british trade. and i want to say to the prime minister, be bold on immigration, because when people voted to leave the european union they didn'tjust vote to control our borders, they voted to control immigration. say no to any divorce bill that is put on the table, because since we've been members of this club we've paid in over £180 billion in membership fee alone. the deal will be better, but only if theresa may and david davies have backbone. paul nuttall, the ukip leader. the snp leader, nicola sturgeon, said people should unite against the pursuit of what she called a hard, extreme brexit, which she claimed would hit tens of thousands of jobs in scotland. i campaigned passionately for the uk and scotland to stay within the european union, and i still believe that for all its faults, we are better off in the european union than outside of it. and i believe — not now, but when the time is right at the end of this process — scotland should have a choice about our own future. but the priority now is the brexit negotiations, because theresa may is notjust pursuing brexit, she is pursuing a hard, extreme brexit. even today when she published her manifesto she threatened again to walk away with no deal. that would be an economic catastrophe. that would cost, in scotland alone, 80,000 jobs. so my message for people in scotland, whether you voted remain or to leave is to vote snp to strengthen our hand to get a deal that does not sacrifice scottish jobs and the economy. nicola sturgeon the snp leader speaking last night. we can speak now to snp member stewart mcdonald who was watching the debate last night. thank you forjoining us. how worthwhile was that debate without theresa may orjeremy corbyn from the biggest parties? it is quite something that the prime minister and the lead of the labour party cannot turn up to a debate with five other people and yet both of them wa nt other people and yet both of them want us to believe that they are the ones who can deliver up against 27 other eu countries. it shows them to have a complete brass neck but nicola sturgeon did the right thing and turned up and made the case for scotla nd and turned up and made the case for scotland to have a say in the brexit deal. nicola sturgeon has criticised theresa may for saying she wants a free hand on brexit but surely that is what the snb has been seeking all along for scotland and potentially a second independence referendum —— the snp. you are right that the primers that what is that once the —— the promised want a free hand but it is not ourjob to give her one of ourjobis it is not ourjob to give her one of ourjob is to provide good solid opposition to make sure that ukip don't get to hijack the brexit which they seem to be doing at the minute, and make sure we get a deal that works for all of the uk and in particular from works for all of the uk and in particularfrom our works for all of the uk and in particular from our point of view, for the people of scotland. how concerned are you and your party that the conservatives under ruth davidson seem to be enjoying greater popularity than ever before? she is encouraging labour voters to vote for her to keep the snp out. encouraging labour voters to vote for her to keep the snp outm encouraging labour voters to vote for her to keep the snp out. it is quite something, since the alliance they formed in 2014, the tories essentially have grabbed all about political ground in terms of the unionist vote in scotland and are taking votes away from labour left right and centre. it shows the mess labour are right and centre. it shows the mess labourare in, right and centre. it shows the mess labour are in, particularly here in scotland. but we continue to be popular even after ten years in government, and we will continue to make the message and take it to the people of scotland that only by voting snp can you get a strong opposition. tory mps will give that three and two theresa may which even those who voted for brexit don't wa nt those who voted for brexit don't want her to have, they want a strong opposition and they will only get that from the snp. you mentioned the mess that you perceive labour to be in but kezia dugdale, according to one of the polls i have read, is enjoying a boost to her rating. you are snorting at that... come on! look at what has happened to scottish labour! they have been replaced by the conservative party in the scottish parliament that they themselves created when last in government, they are in a woeful mess, they have come badly across scotla nd mess, they have come badly across scotland in the recent council elections just two weeks ago and they are no longer a major part of they are no longer a major part of the conversation here. it is a straight up fight between the snp, arguing for progress and fighting the corner of scotland, and an increasingly right—wing conservative party. stuart mcdonald, thank you very much. and we're going to be in dunstable in bedfordshire on monday 29th may for a big election audience debate. if you've made up your mind already who you're going to vote for, still deciding or don't think you'll bother, and would like the chance to share your views and grill senior politicians on their policies, get in touch to apply for a place. victoria@bbc.co.uk. that is the e—mail address. there are more details on our facebook and twitter pages. still to come... a growing number of children in america are undergoing electric shock treatment. the controversial therapy is being used on severely autistic children who self—harm. we'll be speaking to the father of a severely autistic child and to a psychiatrist who uses the treatment on adults to help treat depression. how secure is voice recognition software? a growing number of banks use it, including hsbc, but can it be fooled? we put it to the test. with the news here's annita in the bbc newsroom. good morning. swedish prosecutors have dropped their investigation into the wikileaks founder, julian assange, who had been accused of rape. mr assange is currently holed up in the ecuadorian embassy in london to avoid extradition to sweden. the former entertainer rolf harris has been released on bail from stafford prison. rolf harris, who's now 87, was convicted and sentenced in 2014. he's still on trial at southwark crown court, accused of indecently assaulting three teenagers between 1971 and 1983. he denies all the charges against him. brexit dominated the first televised leaders' election debate, held last night without theresa may and jeremy corbyn. the itv event saw little disagreement between the lib dems, green party, plaid cymru and snp, but they repeatedly clashed with ukip's paul nuttall. and at 11.30am on the bbc news channel, it's your opportunity to put your questions about the election and the nhs to our health editor, hugh pym. you can get in touch via twitter using the hashtag #bbcaskthis, or text your questions to 61124, and you can email us as well at askthis@bbc.co.uk russia has described an attack by american warplanes on a convoy in syria carrying pro—government militia forces as "absolutely unacceptable". the us—led coalition said the convoy was moving towards a base used by western special forces near the border with iraq. thousands of police officers across the uk have not had up—to—date background checks to ensure they are suitable to serve. figures obtained by the bbc under a freedom of information request showed 90% of officers in one force — northumbria police — had not been properly vetted. the inspector of constabulary is urging forces to address the issue urgently. that's a summary of the latest news. join me for bbc newsroom live at 11am. thank you very much. more sport now. hello again, these are the headlines, we now know the full line—up of the play—off finals coming up next week with some dramatic winners in the league 2 semifinals last night. two late winners. black bull, who were in the premier league six years ago, had reached the final after a stoppage time goal at luton which made it 6—5 on aggregate and they will play exit like —— exeter after an equally nervy night at stjames park. like —— exeter after an equally nervy night at st james park. that was heading to extra time but jack stacey was heading to extra time but jack sta cey got was heading to extra time but jack stacey got the winner to put them in the final at the end of the month. 0ne match in the premier league last night and harry kane scored four goals in spurs' 6—1win at leicester, he is now two goals clear of romelu lu ka ku leicester, he is now two goals clear of romelu lukaku in the race for the golden boot. celtic are still unbeaten in his goddess premiership with one game left, having beaten partick thistle 5—0. geraint thomas has had to pull out of the giro d'italia in cycling, he was involved ina d'italia in cycling, he was involved in a nasty crash last weekend and was in second place overall but he injured his shoulder and his knee and has had to pull out of the race altogether. he said he isjust surviving day to day rather than actually racing. that is all for now, i'm back on bbc news after 11 o'clock. now, the film we are about to show you, contains some distressing scenes of children self—harming and undergoing electro—convulsive therapy, so if you are watching with children you may not want them to see. children in america are undergoing electric shock treatment in growing numbers. now known as electro—convulsive therapy, or ect, the controversial treatment is being used on severely autistic children who self—harm. the practice cannot be done on children here in the uk and its critics say it's barbaric. we'll be discussing whether or not it's something the nhs should be considering, but first let's here from one parent in america who is using this technique. just to warn that it contains images some of you may find upsetting. the family say they have seen a huge improvement. when she has behaviours, they are much shorter, much less intense. she used to have bursts of behaviours where she was aggressive, and hurting herself for hours. now it will be a matter of a few minutes for her to calm down. each week day, sophia has school lessons with a specially—trained carer. my biggest concern was that she was going to lose quality of life, that she would have brain damage. now she is back to loving doing multiplication and division. who's that? a dog. when she started ect, she was doing zero academic work at all. good job. idid it! but later that afternoon, six days after her last ect, sophia's behaviour deteriorates. chad and her carer have to use approved restraint techniques to stop her injuring herself. can i go to the beach? you know the answer to that. you said yes. no. what has sparked this? couldn't tell you. uptick in any type of aggression usually towards one or two days, a day—and—a—half prior to her usual scheduled ect is usually what we see. ect for severely self—injuring autistic children like sophia is still in very limited use. without a long—term scientific study, it remains highly controversial. sophia, do you want to hold this? right now, sophia's parents have no regrets. she's a joy. she brings usjoy. she loves life. and she had zero quality of life. what about the thought of ect every single week for the rest of her life? it's overwhelming, if i think about it. but, what future did she have without it? you can see chris rogers‘ full film, "my child, ect and me", on our world on the bbc news channel at 9.30pm on sunday and on the bbc iplayer. let's talk now to phill wills, whose son, josh, has severe self—harming autism, carol povey, the director of the centre for autism, and professor george kirov, a psychiatrist who administers ect for to help with mental illness. welcome to you all. phill, tell us about your son and the kind of issues he and you have to cope with? hello, sorry for holding my earpiece! josh is 16 now, but he suffered from, as they suffered, it was horrendous, when he was 11 he was horrendous, when he was 11 he was self—harming, self injurious behaviour so badly that he had to be hospitalised. he had several surgeries through the summer of 2012. it was classed as life—threatening, so he had to be hospitalised. and then in october 2012, just after his 12th birthday, he was moved to an assessment unit in birmingham the 12 weeks but he ended up staying there for three yea rs. ended up staying there for three years. the care was good in birmingham, the staff were lovely. it was always about the miles, but he needed specialist treatment that we couldn't give him at home. we fought a very public battle to get in the care back home in cornwall which he now has, he is here in cornwall with us, with an organisation called spectrum. he has proved beyond doubt that the spoke personalised care is the best way to 90, personalised care is the best way to go, and it is slightly off topic but there are still so many children likejosh, there are still so many children like josh, and adults, there are still so many children likejosh, and adults, that are being treated away from home in units, it is certainly not as good asjosh units, it is certainly not as good as josh received, units, it is certainly not as good asjosh received, and that is another big topic at the moment that we need to look into. phill, canada's as, when you hear about pa rents canada's as, when you hear about parents in america, can you understand the despair that makes them feel they need to try anything, even treatments that some people may find controversial or even an acceptable? i can, i mean, iwatched my son, we, josh's family, watch our son deteriorate in front of our eyes, nothing we could do about it. he injured himself severely, he lost the front third of his tongue, he lost most of his bottom lip, i won't go into details, but there are things that i have seen that i will never ever be able to extinguish from my mind. so, how bad does it have to get? how bad does it have to get where you have to choose a treatment like this? it is not a cure, just to briefly run through, i posted it on my facebook last night just to get a reaction from the circle of autism parents that i am involved with, barbaric, the long—term effect on memory, one pa rent long—term effect on memory, one parent would want to try it themselves first. what worried me as well, to be honest, is the general anaesthetic. i know the young man, i think he has had it 200 times, i watched josh being put under general anaesthetic three times in one week, he had to be for surgery, but who knows what that can do? it is unimaginable what you have had to cope with, and those parents in america. stay with us if you will, we will come back to you. carol proby from the centre borders, where is the evidence that this will help autistic children and, if there is evidence, should it be available here? there is no evidence at all that it helps, we have no evidence based at the moment, so we certainly would never advise parents to go down this line. but i do recognise, asjosh's dad is saying, the immense despair and distress that whole families go through when they are experiencing what is very extreme and complex self injurious behaviour from some children. but without that evidence base, we don't know what the long—term effects of a treatment like this are, certainly we would always say it should not be used in this country, and it is not. professor kirov, i understand you'd use ect on adult in various conditions, can you explain how it works and how you would answer critics who say it is barbaric therapy? the way ect works, it does look a dramatic treatment, you put electrodes on the head of the patient and pass an electric current, it is actually not very high voltage, it is a repetitive current but it introduces an epileptic fit. the patient is under general anaesthetic and when they wa ke general anaesthetic and when they wake up they don't remember anything of that, so the only distress for them at this point is the needle going in the arm. they do get confused for, on average, half an hour after the fit, but after an hour after the fit, but after an hour old two they are able to go home and they are more or less re cove red. home and they are more or less recovered. some people get confused for a longer time. we know that what is therapeutic is the epileptic fit, and actually we want to elicit a strong epileptic fit. 0ne criticism of ect is that epilepsy is a bad thing. people who have epilepsy have a problem, but the fix that we elicit in the ect sweet are controlled, so first of all they get oxyge n controlled, so first of all they get oxygen so during the epileptic fit a sufferer might have reduced oxygen which can lead to rain damage, they can also fall and injure themselves, these things don't happen in the controlled environment. can ijust ask how appropriate you think it would be for children with autism, as we see it being used in some cases in america? i haven't used it in children, i don't know how effective it would be. from what i have heard, and these are only stories like the ones we have heard, there was also a book published by an american, i'm not sure if this was brought up earlier in the interview, but they are anecdotal stories that it is effective. i think if it is going to be effective, it is notjust for autism in general, it will be effective for certain very serious behaviours, so maybe it will be effective for severe self injurious behaviour or severe self injurious behaviour or severe mood symptoms. from what i have seen over the years, ect is most effective when the condition is very serious, so the more serious the depression you treat, the more likely it is that the patient will re cove r. likely it is that the patient will recover. phill, i think likely it is that the patient will recover. phill, ithink you likely it is that the patient will recover. phill, i think you want to respond? well, in this country, i think there is a big problem at the moment with the over medication of children with autism and learning disabilities. josh was on an anti—psychotic drug for a couple of yea rs before anti—psychotic drug for a couple of years before he severely self injured. what we need to do first is what we have done withjosh, to understand the person, to develop the right support, to get to the root of the cause. early intervention is the key, it didn't happen with josh and intervention is the key, it didn't happen withjosh and now that he is home, now that he is being looked after nearer to his home with family, which he asked for the three yea rs, family, which he asked for the three years, he has improved physically and emotionally. too many families are going through this at the moment. like i say, it worries me about the general anaesthetic side of it but you need to get to the root cause first, and is this a last resort treatment? i'm not sure if you are going to ask me the question about whetherjosh would consider it but i don't think i could watchjosh go near the electrodes, lie on the bed and go through that again. thank you very much. very briefly, carol, we heard about the importance of treating the individual, supporting a family, it seems there is a unique set of care packages that need to be put together for people? that is absolutely right, every person with autism is completely different and at the national autistic society we run schools and services and many of the young people in our services have very, very complex, very severe self injurious behaviour and with the right support, based around positive behaviours support, they can make enormous strides to develop really good lives over time. that will be music to the ears of parents who are struggling with children with these very complex issues. carol povey, director of the centre for autism, phill wills, and professor kirov, we appreciate you joining us today. some breaking news, british police said julian assange will be arrested if he leaves the ecuadorian embassy in london. scotland yard said it was obliged to execute a warrant issued by westminster it scored for the arrest of mr assange following his failure to surrender to the court in june 2012, should he leave the embassy, despite the dropping of a rape investigation by sweden. there will be more on that on the bbc news channel at 11am. still to come... we'll be looking at last night's ivor novello awards a security software designed to prevent bank fraud has been fooled by a bbc reporter and his twin. dan simmons, a reporter for the bbc‘s technology programme click, set up an hsbc account and signed up to the their so—called voice id authentication service. hsbc says the system is secure because each person's voice is unique. but the bank let dan simmons‘ non—identical twin, joe, access the account via the telephone after he mimicked his brother‘s voice. after the tone, please complete the phrase "my voice is my password". beep my voice is my password. welcome to hsbc advance. the balance of your account is £1.21 credit. i'm off to the bank! for your available balance... thought it was going to be more than that, dan! they had a lot of fun doing that! we arejoined by dan and joe simmons. tell us what you did. we thought we would try to break into several biometric security systems, we had time on our hands! it was for click, the technology show, and we wanted to do different banking applications to do different banking applications to see if we could get in and this particular one, hsbc‘s voice id decided that it would play ball and let us in. i set up my account and when you set up your account, if you set it up with hsbc, all you have to do is say, my voice is my password five times. when you have done that, the bank has a boy sprint. all that my brother needed to do was take my account number, might sort code —— the bank has a voice print. those things are relatively easy to get hold of, and my date of birth, you know that. i do, because i was born first! you sound different to my ea rs first! you sound different to my ears so how hard was it? my voice is slightly lower, and the film crew said, you don't even sound alike so we are not expecting it and i was full of apologies because i have only had to hours sleep! i thought we we re only had to hours sleep! i thought we were not going to cut the mustard and it was only when the camera crew we re and it was only when the camera crew were out and we were filming on your phone that i relaxed and everything fell into place. you are starting to sound more like each other! and i raised the pitch, a little bit, and my voice is my password and then what you saw. it is reckoned to be a secure system so what have they said in response? hsbc have said the system is very secure. they have said that it helps to prevent fraud. 0n said that it helps to prevent fraud. on their posters they say, your voice is unique and that is what makes voice id secure. your voice may be unique, that is up for debate by the way, but even if it is unique, it doesn‘t make the system secure. i think we have proven that. the suggestion is you need more than one security measure, notjust your voice. i have had people on facebook today saying that hsbc are saying, use our voice recognition system and they are saying they are glad they haven't. maybe the system needs updating. it needs some work. i spoke to some expert who said that you need two factor authentication on anything to do with something like banking. that is about something you know, something you have or something you are. more on click? yes, on the show this weekend across the bbc news channel and on bbc world news. i'm glad you're not identical! thank you for coming in. john mcdonnell is speaking in central london at a live event as pa rt central london at a live event as part of the labour election campaign and we can listen in. 9596 of tax grows, no increase in vat or national insurance contributions. labour plan that will invest in vital public services. that is the choice at this election. a clear threat to working people‘s living standards or a labour party that will stand up for the many, not the few. let me just mention the issue with regard to older people. yesterday the conservative party abandoned older people. there was a triple whammy. the tearing up of the triple whammy. the tearing up of the triple lock, the attack on the winter fuel allowance and yes, the plans on care costs where people could lose control of their homes. i wa nt to could lose control of their homes. i want to mention the issue around the winter fuel allowance. to be want to mention the issue around the winterfuel allowance. to be frank, i‘m angry. i‘m winterfuel allowance. to be frank, i‘m angry. i‘m one of those people who campaigned against fuel poverty for a number of years and welcomed the introduction of the winter fuel allowa nce. the introduction of the winter fuel allowance. there are 1 the introduction of the winter fuel allowance. there are! million pensioners and more living in fuel poverty, 30,000 excess deaths a year in winter in this country. it looks as though, as the resolution foundation has said, the means test could hit those not all on pension credit, 10 million people. we also know that the third, because it is means know that the third, because it is m ea ns tested know that the third, because it is means tested on pension credit, a third don‘t claim. this is a savage attack on vulnerable pensioners, particularly those who are just about managing. it is disgraceful and we are calling upon the conservative party now to withdraw it today, to withdraw it today. we will not stand by and allow our pensioners‘ winterfuel will not stand by and allow our pensioners‘ winter fuel allowance to be cut in this way and for so many of them to be back in a situation where they have to choose whether they heat or eat. visit the fifth richest country in the world, we should be able to keep our pensioners safe and warm in winter. thank you. we have a little time for questions from the media and i will ta ke questions from the media and i will take them in groups of three. we are going to leave it there. that was john mcdonnell speaking in central london as part of the labour election campaign and we will have more on that later on bbc news. laura pulp said she felt vindicated for winning album of the year at the ivor novello awards —— laura mvula. grime artist skepta picked up two awards. the awards were yesterday, late afternoon. they celebrate into the night! who were the winners? the creme de la creme turned up because it is all about the songwriting, the artand it is all about the songwriting, the art and creativity about writing songs and composing music. coldplay beat themselves, they won best performed song for their track him for the weekend and were nominated twice in that category alongside adele. florence welch won the international award and she thanked her dad for that and dedicated it to her, who helped her in her early career but skepta was the big name of the night. normally the awards go to what some media critics called light of this, with ed sheeran and adele winning before and he was humbled and pleased to win the award. he talked about the fact that he was not somebody who had done this his whole life, he didn‘t grow up this his whole life, he didn‘t grow up at the age of 14 writing songs or trying to do anything that would build a music career, he other stuff. he was willie happy that the won an award for songwriter of the year —— really happy. it's surprising because, again, you never think, when you're rapping and you're just writing you never think your songs are like put on a pedestal of like chris martin, you know what i'm saying? i don't think that. now i understand, everything i've been writing, it's very important, isn't it? it is. so i'm going to take a lot of pride in my next work. and he normally takes his parents with him? at the mercury awards last year he had his mum on dad —— ‘s mum and dad on stage but this year the award was presented to him by his sister. he did say that he couldn‘t imagine what they were thinking about his career right now. laura mvula won album of the year and said she felt vindicated. she was actually dropped by her record label in march and she says she is busier than ever and so happy she has been recognised for her talent. thank you very much. let‘s return to the story about julian assange and the director of public prosecutions in sweden who has dropped the investigation into those rape allegations. 0ur report it in the stockholm where a news conference on the decision to drop the case is about to happen. it has all happened in the last few minutes? we are expecting the press conference to take place at any moment but there has been a document released by the prosecution service here in sweden saying the investigation into those sex crime allegations against julian assange is not go to continue. all we know so far is that this is the result of him being questioned recently at the ecuadorian embassy in london which all happened via translators. we know swedish prosecutors have looked at the transcripts and they say they continue the investigation and have decided not to continue. they have responded to his lawyers requests to drop the european arrest warrant against him and that is now going to be dropped. we are expecting more information from prosecutors in the next few minutes but this is a big development in the case and essentially his future is now unclear. it may be that he can leave the embassy in london although police have said they still want to question him and of course he is still wanted for questioning in the united states over the leak of all those top secret cables through his wikileaks website. that was almost what he said, not so much being extradited to sweden which would trouble him but what might happen to him afterwards. he has always strongly denied the allegations against him which involved molestation and rape. the molestation and rape. the molestation charges expired under swedish law in 2015, the rape allegation still stood. he protested his innocence and had long fought for prosecutors to come and question him in london early in the process which has been going on for some seven which has been going on for some seve n yea rs which has been going on for some seven yea rs now which has been going on for some seven years now but he did fear that if he landed on swedish soil it would result in him being extradited to the us. we are watching closely to the us. we are watching closely to see what happens later. to the us. we are watching closely to see what happens latenm to the us. we are watching closely to see what happens later. it has been a big story here with public and media interest but how much attention has there been in sweden? a lot less, the press room had a lot of internationaljournalists including swedish ones but generally there has not been as much focus on there has not been as much focus on the amount of taxpayers money that has been spent on this case. it was said in 2016 that £12 million, and that number would have gone up, we asked police for an updated figure but could not get that before this press co nfe re nce . but could not get that before this press conference. it has been lower key in sweden but it takes sex crimes and rape allegations seriously and the definitions of those crimes are broader than in other countries so that despite that is white prosecutors say they were taking this investigation seriously. —— that is why. taking this investigation seriously. -- that is why. it seems to have taken a long time to come to this decision and drop it? absolutely and thatis decision and drop it? absolutely and that is what the criticism has been from julius —— von julian that is what the criticism has been from julius —— vonjulian assange‘s lawyers. that link the convent is about to start in a few minutes. —— at the press conference. thank you very much. that was from stockholm where they are waiting for the press conference to start. a reminder that he police in london have said that they would arrest julian he police in london have said that they would arrestjulian assange if he left the ecuadorian embassy. he has been living there, seeking refuge from arrest since 2012. he is 45 now and has been living there for almost five years. this story is not over by any means. bbc newsroom live is coming up next. thank you for your company today. have a good day. and the weekend. goodbye. this morning some of us woke up to sunshine and this was the scene this morning in somerset with the blue sky. the clarets stopping the build—up and through today there was the chance of some pretty heavy showers. some of them will turn thundering across wales and the south—west of england this afternoon but in the meantime this area of brain is quite. a much cooler day on the east coast, 10 degrees in newcastle. further south and west in between the showers with that in time, temperatures in the mid teens. 0vernight the rain will continue to move northward into much scotland. it could eventually the countryside across in wet and wales. 0n saturday, the start of the weekend, still quite wet in scotland, showers developing in the afternoon. i‘ll swear that mixture of sunny spells and showers and some of those could be heavy with temperatures of 13 to 18. this is bbc news — and these are the top stories developing at 11: swedish prosecutors have decided to drop the rape investigation into the wikileaks founderjulian assange. misses the scene live outside the ecuadorian embassy in london where julian assange has been living since 2012. scotland yard says that it is still obliged to arrest him if he leaves the ecuadorian embassy where he has lived since 2012. david davis says the immigration policy is a major policy imperative. american warplanes operating over syria have attacked a convoy carrying pro—government militia forces close to a base used by western special forces. also this hour... the first airport in the uk to get remote air traffic control.

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