a the brexit party, anti—brexit party takes a few thousand votes against the brexit party, those seats could be held or won by labour, who have said they will promise a second referendum on brexit. there is a risk for the brexit party that if they pursue this, they will let labour have a majority, in which case, we would have a second referendum territory, not something the brexit party wants. there's a strong ultimatum to borisjohnson, when i that is fair to say is unlikely for him to accept, so then it is what the brexit party does, that how that influences labour and conservative voters, which could be crucial for this election campaign. it'll be a complex picture, you, alice. meanwhile, the snp leader, nicola sturgeon has pledged whoever wins the election will receive a formal request to allow scotland to hold another independence referendum. our scotland correspondent, james shaw is in glasgow. good afternoon to you. nicola sturgeon out campaigning as well, and she says that ifjeremy corbyn is the next occupant of number 10, she thinks he would agree to another referendum, even th

within the brexit party. brexit party candidates phoning him last week to tell him they was considering standing aside as candidates, which has clearly been part of the motivation, part of the reason has been that pressure from inside his party. as for the labour party, who nigel farage says he is going to take the fight to now that he's only standing in seats held by labour and pro remain parties, jeremy corbyn said today that a vote for boris johnson's conservatives is a vote to nigel farage and suggesting it's also a vote perhaps for the values of donald trump. nicola sturgeon also today railing against this, saying it shows boris johnson today railing against this, saying it shows borisjohnson and nigel farage are, in her words, joined at the hip. thank you. significant use for the prime minister, that announcement from the brexit party. borisjohnson has been spending the day campaigning in wolverhampton. 0ur political correspondent, alex fosyth, is at the lych gate tavern. what has mrjohnson‘s reaction

, but also from inside the brexit party. brexit party candidates speaking to him last week, we understand, saying that he needs to reconsider his position and he needs to be careful not to split the brexit vote and let remainer parties in through, as they say, a back door. tom, lots of people filing out behind you. they will be part of the 59% in sedgefield who voted to leave. theoretically this is one of those seats that should be an easy win for knoxville farage. this is what he was saying early. "it has been labour held since 1935. the local mp very openly remain." absolutely, phil wilson, the labour mp here, former adviser to tony blair, a very strong remainer mp. as you said, this is a seat where 60% of people more 01’ this is a seat where 60% of people more or less voted to leave. yet it is for tile territory for the brexit party, no denying that. but this is also a labour heartland deceit. very significant majority for phil wilson here. and down the road in hartlepool, where they were earlier today, that is a seat w

that doesn't mean just conservatives and the brexit party. there are labour figures out there that i have spoken to who would more than happily stand in this election if we could put this coalition together. but if it was done, borisjohnson would win a very big majority. and on that manifesto, we really could get brexit done, in fact, to quote a friend of mine, we'd become an unstoppable force. nigel farage said the brexit party was ready to stand in every seat in england, scotland and wales, if boris johnson didn't ditch his brexit deal and form a leave alliance. the chances of that seem slim. we're not interested in doing any pacts with the brexit party, or indeed with anybody else. we are in this to win it, and we know that only a vote for the conservative party will deliver brexit, only a vote will protect the union so we don't have two referendums next year, causing the end of brexit and potentially the end of the union, and ultimately it is only a vote for borisjohnson that will stop jeremy corbyn walking up downing street on friday the

he said the brexit party could play a big role in this election. potentially they will play a big role, even if nigel farage is not standing himself, he made clear this morning that he will be supporting potentially hundreds of brexit party candidates across the country, and were those candidates to take as little as five or 6% of the vote, that would have a significant impact on borisjohnson‘s ability to win the majority he wants, so the brexit party will be a big factor. in what sort of seats do you think the brexit party will be a particular threat to the conservatives? i think the first thing to say is, we have got to see what the strategy is. i imagine the brexit party will not stand candidates against eurosceptic politicians within the conservative party, and that would be a return to ukip's strategy in 2010, when they didn't stand candidates against politicians that wanted a referendum on britain's eu membership. but if they were then to stand candidates in the all—important marginal seats where the conservatives are only a few points be

anyway, the person we are used to seeing in a pub is the brexit party leader, nigel farage. he was not in a pub for once, he was doing a press conference, where he revealed his big news of the election. which is what he's not going to do. he is not going to do what he swore he absolutely would do, which is stand candidates in every single corner of the country. i have to say, having followed nigel farage for quite a lot of years, which alex has done too, its not entirely surprising that he ended up actually changing his mind and doing a reverse ferret. but given that the brexit party were number one in the european elections, and then he was absolutely adamant he was going to take on all comers in the general election, it is quite a big deal that he reverse—ferreted quite like this. shall we have a listen? i have got no great love for the conservative party at all. but i can see right now that, by giving boris half a chance, by keeping him honest and holding into account by getting people in, and by stopping the fanatics of the liberal democrats, who would sign us up for e

you know, that is one to lose, isn't it, for the brexit party? yes, it's an interesting one, because yes, philip wilson and peter, you know, those labour mps have been very vocal, com pletely labour mps have been very vocal, completely unashamed in their support for another referendum, and for remaining in that referendum. unlikejeremy for remaining in that referendum. unlike jeremy corbyn, for remaining in that referendum. unlikejeremy corbyn, they're very to say now, i will campaign for remain, but actually they would argue that the labour code in their seats perhaps overrule their leave voting in 2016. but they would argue that some of that has changed, and actually the labour voters mostly voted remain, so perhaps it wont have so much of an effect as you might think. ok, stay with the telegraph. formersoldier might think. ok, stay with the telegraph. former soldier had been under un—imaginal pressure over worked in syria. we are talking here about james, who was found dead stop yes, real report on the mystery around his death, the former br

how much of a threat are the brexit party? early in the year, towards the end of theresa may‘s premiership, we saw a big surge of support for the brexit party where they were taking lots of conservative votes in some polls, the conservatives fell down to fourth place. the brexit party is a large potential threat to the conservatives. since borisjohnson has come back to power, the brexit party have subsided, borisjohnson has taken most of those votes back. if the brexit party surges again, it could be a big threat for boris johnson because my chances of winning a general election. that he is doing a good job of holding onto those leave voters. what does this say about traditional characteristics of voting in terms of the leave versus remain intentions, how much is it affecting oui’ intentions, how much is it affecting our choices at the polls? to a very large extent. we basically see in the opinion polling, a country that is divided into. when you ask the public, what is the most important issue, seven in ten say brexit. wh

yes, as you say, the brexit party, launching not a ma nifesto brexit party, launching not a manifesto today, but a contract with the people. my understanding is that that document will be relatively short, when it comes to actual ma nifestos, short, when it comes to actual manifestos, not a programme for government as such but outlining some of the policies that you were just talking about there. why are they not doing a manifesto? welcome nigel farage has been explaining this morning. i think a contract with the people makes more sense, i think people understand it. the point i am making is that trust, faith and confidence in our entire democratic system has never been lower than it is right now. and i think we see brexit, as the brexit party, is the beginning of a real, fundamental change, not the end. party, is the beginning of a real, fundamental change, not the endlj think nigel farage will perhaps be trying to reboot his campaign as well, because they have seen a bit ofa dip well, because they have seen a bit of a dip in the polls, not long ago they also announced that they woul

the brexit party. telegraph are potentially up for grabs for the brexit partym telegraph are potentially up for grabs for the brexit party. it will be really interesting, won't it? this radio interview was timed to precede the brexit party's party launch, which nigel farage is going to reveal, i suppose. he has candidates across the country, and they have already said, the conservative party, borisjohnson, has said they will not be doing a deal with nigel farage. there are people, of course, who would argue that the conservative party has moved significantly to the right a nyway moved significantly to the right anyway and has become the party of leave, so to that extent it may make no difference. in fact, in the recent vote for boris johnson's deal, every single conservative mp voted for the deal. so in that respect it doesn't make any difference whether the brexit party is there or not. i don't personally think that they are going to be the force that some people are talking about. certainly the talk

so, the brexit party will now only stand in about half the seats around the country. even though last week, this meeting was rammed with hundreds and hundreds of candidates. mr farage then swore he'd take on all comers. we will run 600 candidates who will offer the electorate the choice to vote for a clean break brexit. that bravado though, rather disappeared. and nigel farage‘s troops, who had hopes of making it to westminster mainly had no idea. lam, of course, very disappointed to be stood down. i was literally having my nomination papers checked just five minutes before nigel farage held his press conference. so i had no idea, really, what was going on. borisjohnson repeatedly turned down nigel faraj‘s turned down nigel farage as as a companion on the trail. the brexit party ignoring tory seats makes it easier for the prime minister to keep the leave vote together. i'm glad there is a recognition that there is only one way to get brexit done and that is to vote for us and to vote for the conservatives. in theory, this makes it easier for the tories to send the

the headlines: nigel farage gives in to pressure from fellow brexiteers and says his brexit party will not stand in tory held seats. the brexit party will not contest the 317 seats the conservatives won at the last election. but what we will do is concentrate our total effort

that doesn't mean just conservatives and the brexit party. there are labour figures out there that i have spoken to who would more than happily stand in the selection if we could put this coalition together. but, if it was done, boris johnson would win a very big majority. and, on that manifesto, we really could get "brexit" done, in fa ct, really could get "brexit" done, in fact, to quote a friend of mine," we've become an unstoppable force". nigel fry said that the brexit party was ready to stand in every seat in england, scotland and wales, if borisjohnson did england, scotland and wales, if boris johnson did not england, scotland and wales, if borisjohnson did not ditch the exit deal and the former leave alliance. —— and form a leave alliance. —— nigel farage. the chances seem slim. we are not interested in any pact, we are in this to win it and we know that only a vote for the conservative party will deliver brexit, only a vote for the conservatives will protect the union so we conservatives will protect the union so we do not ha

how serious a threat is the brexit party? he has been a phenomenal political campaign or, wherever you stand on brexit, you cannot take that away from the man. he has single—handedly effectively led to the —— led the country over many years to the point of voting for brexit. and to that end, his effectiveness cannot be underplayed. the question here is, has he overplayed his hand? at the moment, i think it appears as though he may have done. for starters, you say he will have to organise a big election campaign. andl will have to organise a big election campaign. and i think people will see an inflexibility here which gives the conservatives the opportunity to present boris johnson's deal as the sensible compromise deal. let's turn to the front page of the guardian, same story, pm rejects farage's offer of electoral pack. —— packed. however the prime minister has said if you vote for the brexit party, you are letting injeremy corbyn. vote for the brexit party, you are letting in jeremy corbyn. but one of the things

nigel farage gives in to pressure from fellow brexiteers and says his brexit party will not stand in tory held seats. the brexit party will not contest the 317 seats that the conservatives w011 the 317 seats that the conservatives won the last election. however what we will do is concentrate our total effort into all of the seats that are held by the labour party. a chinese firm confirms a rescue deal for british steel — buying it for 70 million and saving 4000 jobs in scunthorpe and teesside. it has been a big concern, nobody knowing what would happen and whether they would have a job to pay their mortgage. finally something positive. it's good. there are 42 flood warnings still in place in the north of england. ministers will hold an emergency meeting tomorrow as locals underline the scale of the crisis. a state of emergency has been declared in new south wales and queensland as bushfires continue to burn, posing what authorities say, is a "catastrophic" threat. families in england will benefit from two cannabis—based medicines approved for the nhs — but others say they still

, the precursor to the brexit party ijust don‘t see the point in voting for the brexit party. we are so close, we are 90 days away from leaving. if we vote for boris and give him a majority, we break the brexit deadlock in the building behind me, we give him a mandate to get this done, we are out in 90 days. get the data brexit party says it was their policy to keep us in for another six months. i think we need to get this done and we need to back boris. last night the president of the united states said he could not do a free trade deal based on this deal that boris johnson not do a free trade deal based on this deal that borisjohnson is negotiating. is he wrong? with great respect to the president of the united states, i‘m a big fan of the american republic, to —— with great respect i think it‘s for boris johnson and the future prime minister if they decide the terms of those deals, it‘s not for mr trump or those deals, it‘s not for mr trump oertrump ona those deals, it‘s not for mr trump or mr trump on a phoning programme to decide that. he would now, he is th

nigel farage says his brexit party will not stand in conservative—held seats at next month's election. in what's being seen as a boost for borisjohnson, mr farage says his party will instead concentrate all its efforts on labour—held seats. the brexit party will not contest the 317 seats the conservatives won at the last election. but what we will do is concentrate our total effort into all of the seats that are held by the labour party. we'll be analysing what impact the announcement might have on the election. also this lunchtime... hopes that thousands ofjobs at british steel will be saved with a rescue deal this afternoon by a chinese industrial giant. the cannabis—based medicines to help children like indy rose are approved for use by the nhs in england. australian authorities say the threat from bushfires is catastrophic. a state of emergency is declared in queensland and new south wales. and britain falls silent to mark armistice day and remember the fallen. last post plays. coming up in the sport later in the hour on bbc news... can anyone stop liverpool? they are now eigh

it is a seat where the brexit party won't be standing. it isa brexit party won't be standing. it is a conservative held seats. 0ne brexit party won't be standing. it is a conservative held seats. one of a fight between labour and the conservatives to see if boris johnson can keep this seat. it is a former mining town, one that has seen a former mining town, one that has seen a lot of change. that is why there was a change in political leaning at the last election. boris johnson under conservatives campaigning at north nottinghamshire today. he was visiting farm and pushing his views on the environment. is a big message about getting brexit done. later today, the prime minister raising his environmental policies and promising to plant 30 million trees if he becomes prime minister again.|j wa nted becomes prime minister again.|j wanted to ask you about the trees. they had this promise that they are making, the conservatives, as you say that, a large number of trees to be planted but they had made promises like this before and have not been able to keep them. a sceptic would say,

the difficulty for the brexit party is that the campaign moves beyond brexit quite quickly into other policy areas. this party has only been formed for a few months and was formed originally to fight the european parliament elections. and did very well in those. did very well in those elections. the question is whether it has the policy range it would need for a general election campaign. a general selection of policies will need to be available from all parties. this may hinge on how much it is an election about brexit or how much other parties like labour can steer it onto other issues. it does depend to some extent as to whether this is a brexit election or an election on other issues. it seems likely that the public will want to hear about a range of topics. it will be interesting when the brexit party manifesto comes out to see what they will have there in black and white. we will have to wait a bit longer before we get the full policies. it sounds quite an expensive pledge. i think the labour party, with a number of their plans, have some quite big figures attached. they think i

brexit party will be a particular threat to the conservatives?” brexit party will be a particular threat to the conservatives? i think the first thing to say is, we have got to see what the strategy is. i imagine the brexit party will not stand candidates against eurosceptic politicians within the conservative party, and that would be a return to ukip‘s strategy in 2010, when they didn‘t stand candidates against politicians that wanted a referendum on britain‘s eu membership. but if they were then to stand candidates in the all—important marginal seats where the conservatives are only a few points behind the labour party, thatis few points behind the labour party, that is going to cause a big problem for borisjohnson because the overwhelming majority of brexit party voters back at the european elections in the spring were former conservative voters. nigel farage is saying most of his vote comes from labour voters. that may be true in some northern labour seats, but overall, the brexit party is going to primarily hit the conservative par

party but from within his own brexit party. candidates we understand speaking to him last week, putting pressure on him last week, putting pressure on him and the party to do what they've done today and potentially go further as well. from the conservatives some relief but perhaps not as much as relief as you might expect, given the apparent size of the concession here because nigel farage wasjust size of the concession here because nigel farage was just a few days ago talking about how bad he said the boris johnson's talking about how bad he said the borisjohnson's deal was talking about how bad he said the boris johnson's deal was quite talking about how he was going to ta ke talking about how he was going to take the fight to every seat in the country unless the conservatives agreed to a deal with him. there has not been at the alcott borisjohnson saying he will not agree to one and yet nigel farage has made this concession —— there has not been a deal. jeremy corbyn saying that this show a vote for the conservatives is

leaver voters to the brexit party. the way that those dynamics play out... and on the >> lisa: side, you have the remainders voting from dust leaving the labour. is boris johnson right in saying that going into an alliance, you are effectively letting jeremy corbyn into number ten? do the figures show that?” think that there is a threat. most seats in the country are conservative or labour, marginal seats. so the question is, which of those parties can hold onto most of those parties can hold onto most of those votes? so what we will see a lot of in this election campaign is a conservatives saying, if you vote for the brexit party here, it means labour is more likely to get more votes tha n labour is more likely to get more votes than the conservatives. and we will see the flip side, labour saying if you vote for the lib dems or green party, the conservatives will win and push for a brexit you don't like. there will be lots of m essa 9 es don't like. there will be lots of messages about taxes... that is the messages

how much of a risk is it, then, that the brexit party are going to divide the brexit party are going to divide the vote and therefore mean brexit doesn't happen, despite the name of their party? the honest answer is we don't know. that is why there is a significant nervousness about it from conservatives. that is the kind of honesty you think politicians should be given? absolutely agree. my should be given? absolutely agree. my personal view is that as the campaign goes on, the brexit party's m essa 9 es campaign goes on, the brexit party's messages going to get drowned out, both by the major parties, but by the fact that they are a one track pony. they only have one thing to talk about. you mean they won't talk about the nhs, they won't talk about the police? there are any policies wa nt to the police? there are any policies want to get brexit done. boris johnson has tried to do a deal and has run into trouble with the parliament and so the whole point about this election is from his point of view to try and deliver a majority. but the concern amongst tory mps is that in key margin

but honestly, as far as the brexit party is concerned, as far as the brexit party's concerned, people just do not say that. the woman here with the white hair. do you not feel ashamed when you stand in front of a poster that shows refugees escaping from whatever? the "breaking point" poster is the one i'm talking about. this was in the 2016 referendum. we can go back in history if you want to. do you not feel ashamed? refugees, you say? yes, they were refugees and you said they were illegal immigrants. and they weren't illegal immigrants, they were refugees, and they were seeking asylum. i'm sorry. and they were seeking a safe place to be. we have a safe place to be, here. even the european commission... applause. even the european commission said that only 20% of those that came in would, under any normal circumstances, qualify as refugees. and i tell you what, we don't need to take any lessons from europe or anywhere else about genuine refugees. we've done it better than any other european country. what happened there, mrs merkel made a huge mistake and said anyone that wants to com

if she is in be no brexit party candidate. if she isina be no brexit party candidate. if she is in a strong labour leave seat, for example one of the 100 plus labour seats that has never been held by the conservatives in 100 yea rs, held by the conservatives in 100 years, than actually a vote for the conservatives is a vote to let jeremy corbyn in. we are saying there is a lot of tactical voting going on, where people are going to sea, where is my vote best place in order to preventjeremy corbyn from getting in. so that if you vote for a brexit party candidate in a strong labour leave area, that is the best tactical vote. steve asks, why as a pro—uk party, are the brexit party are standing in scottish seats that will potentially split the unionist vote and allow the snp to gain or retain seats and why they think it is a good idea when the snp want to hypocritically cancel brexit for the uk but leave uk and re—join the eu? the answer is that we are not standing against the conservative held seats in scotland. let's remember that more people voted in the brexit refer

a lot of people who moved towards ukip, orthe brexit party, are former labour voters. if people are turning away from them, if people are in favour of brexit, are they likely to go to the conservatives or are they more likely to go back to their original home, labour? how can one know which way they go if they leave? it is curious. nigel farage has been making a big play in the last few days about how dangerous he can be to labour. on the other hand, a lot of number crunching has been done by people in the past around desks suggesting the brexit party and ukip took more votes from the conservatives than they did from labour. the curiosity of some of these opinion polls look like they we re these opinion polls look like they were going to be standing the brexit party everywhere in england, scotla nd party everywhere in england, scotland and wales pretty much and we have learned that is not going to be the case. you wonder how much you can read into that. you have the unite to remain, the alliance of remaining parties can read into that. you have the unite to remain, the

that said, it is clear that the brexit party is more likely to ta ke that the brexit party is more likely to take votes from conservatives than from labour voters, but we know it is absolutely essential to the tory strategy. it's just hard to get those disgruntled labour leaders in places like parts of the mittens and parts of the northeast, that is their target and that is who they are going after that is the gamble because number ten and tory ho, they reckon that we might be looking at this big alignment where people identify more with leave francis remained and they did tory labour, but it was a huge gamble. let's get another brexit question. a little bit speculative. my question is, if the result is a hung parliament with the result is a hung parliament with the conservatives is the largest party, who partnering with the dup be much harder because they are strongly against borisjohnson's brexit deal? and also, i think you guys brexit deal? and also, i think you guys are brexit deal? and also, i think you guys are amazing. goodbye. brexit deal? and also, i think you guys are amazing. g

that's because the fear here is that the brexit party if faced with the vote, the brexit party takes away conservative votes and therefore conservatives loses seats to labour. if labour wins, there will be no brexit. they will hand it back to the people. if you are a ha rd back to the people. if you are a hard brexiteer, the worst thing you can do is vote for the brexit parties. let's look at the daily telegraph. for rog can ruin uk's brexit. eurosceptics saying this stop to it this is what it encapsulates. by spreading that vote and effectively whatever form of brexit... and effectively whatever form of brexit. .. offered and effectively whatever form of brexit... offered so and effectively whatever form of brexit. .. offered so far is not brexiteer enough for nigel farage. he is all most gone full circle and is almost looking like a remainer from where i am sitting. as a remainder, he is my friend because he is the one person putting the spoken the wheel. he is always dumbed down the deal, —— thumbs down the deal. when theresa may offered, he said it was the worst imaginable de

how will the brexit party help to deliver brexit? that is the argument. where does this leave labour? they are trying to fight a vanguard action pointing to this tory nonaggression by effectively saying these brexit party people who, on the face of it would pose a threat by dint of being an alternative for disaffected eurosceptics who do not wish to vote labour but hate the boat for had to vote for tories. jeremy corbyn can now say that they are just turquoise tories. it is a trump alliance. it is what donald trump wanted. it remains to be seen and will be a finer grasp on how labour voters will react. stay with the story but turning to the front page of the sun. he did not say cheers but obviously... ma haswell have. and what about labour? what about the option of forming their own agreements? the idea of labour doing agreements? the idea of labour doing a similarthing and agreements? the idea of labour doing a similar thing and having its own electoral packed with people like the liberal democrats is unlikely, not the least because

and just some other stuff in the brexit party. gone are the days when you would hear nigel farage saying at rallies, maybe we should have much more get rid of the nhs or change how the nhs works or private provision, that is definitely going. there's a lot of stuff in there about investing in nhs and investing in education and the brexit party to plant loads of trees, which is what every moment city. remember where they are trying to win. they are trying to win in labour leaving areas, right? they are not going to in areas like that where they are looking in good and speak, how, in places where hartlepool, in former rock—solid labour parts of the country. so, saying that they're going to scrap the nhs and make everybody pay for private health care, that is not one to fly. so, they are, in, all of party's manifestos are always shaped by where they are trying to win, right? where they think their voters are at this time round. i know we have still to wait for the snp manifesto... wednesday. is that wednesday? but the striking them

i welcome the recognition the brexit party do risk actually preventing a sta ble party do risk actually preventing a stable majority government and i welcome the fact that that has been taken on board by the brexit party. there is still of course the danger that in a number of seats it looks as if they might stand. those are exactly the things that could potentially have voted conservative. the vote will still be split. we still end up with an mp was going to frustrate the brexit process, try to prolong this system whereby the last make—up of parliament, preventing things from happening. james cleverly. authorities in australia have declared a state of emergency — saying tomorrow's weather is expected to be worse than originally forecast. 6a bushfires are still burning and several of them are edging closer to the outskirts of sydney. at least three people have been killed in new south wales and authorities fear more lives are at severe risk. phil mercer sent us this update. syd ney sydney and regions to the north, south and west are on edge. you can already smell the smoke in the ai

but as cannon fodder for the brexit party. they can go out on the doorstep and said the deal is not true brexit because as you heard from the president of the united states it undermines the chances of doing a trade deal. the us presidency and you should do a deal with borisjohnson, you guys would be an unstoppable force if you work together, no doubt good for nigel farage and his public persona, whether it actually makes a difference in this general election, not so sure. that news conference will be at 11am when nigel farage will be at 11am when nigel farage will outline the brexit party's strategy. calculations will be being made by the tories. who would stand to gain most? for the brexit party this is about the fact they are much less strong in the polls than they were earlier this year so back in may they were getting about 23% of the vote and at that stage nigel farage might have fancied his chances in every constituency but yesterday a poll came out saying they were down on 7%. borisjohnson has done well at stealing nig

in other news, scotland yard says it will look into claims of electoral fraud, after the brexit party said its candidates had been offered inducements by conservatives to stand down. two people have been hurt in a large fire at a student accommodation building in bolton. more than 200 firefighters were brought in to tackle the blaze and in half an hour — the bbc‘s technology programme click looks at the perils of the gig economy. hello, very good afternoon, and if you've just joined hello, very good afternoon, and if you'vejustjoined us, welcome to bbc news. in an unprecedented interview, prince andrew has told the bbc that he let the royal family down by staying at the home of the convicted sex offender, jeffrey epstein. speaking to newsnight‘s emily maitlis at buckingham palace, the duke addressed accusations that he'd had sex with a 17—year—old american girl. he said he couldn't remember meeting virginia roberts as she was then called, and denies allegations of inappropriate conduct. our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell reports. he is continuing with royal duties. l

should we vote for the tories or should we vote for the brexit party? they are hugely loyal to nigel. but it is a dilemma that people are trying to deal with at the moment. and there is a danger that in the search for the perfect that we give away the achievable. quiet conversations are happening across the country. when to stand firm, whether to stand aside. we have spoken to other brexit party members concerned about the current strategy of targeting every seat. only a fraction of brexit party candidates have pulled out so far, some half a dozen out of hundreds, but some have said they were attracted to the brexit party when theresa may led the tories because they did not like her approach to leaving the eu, but they are persuaded by borisjohnson. what's key is whether voters might feel the same. many of his supporters are convinced he's right to keep up the pressure, critical of those with doubts. too many people are wavering at the moment. we don't want to spoil a deal if there is one, but boris's deal is not it. i think what they are trying to do a

tories and the brexit party. they make the argument with the deal on the table borisjohnson has negotiated with the eu, the conservatives are in the best place to deliver on the results of the referendum in 2016 and that a vote for the brexit party, in the conservatives eyes, is doing nothing but helping jeremy corbyn into downing street. we will hear arguments against that from nigel farage later this morning when he launches the brexit party's campaign for the general election this year. there has been a debate going on within the party about what the strategy should be. should they field hundreds of candidates all over the uk, with the aim of making a dents in the conservative party plasma majority in certain seats and eating into their vote, making the argument boris johnson does eating into their vote, making the argument borisjohnson does not brexit deal is an in nigel farage's eyes a ny brexit deal is an in nigel farage's eyes any kind of acceptable former brexit? 0r target their efforts much more closely,

election, nigel farage, head of the brexit party. he is not running for a seat himself in parliament, which is quite interesting, what he is saying is my strategy is to support the 600 that are, who will be campaigning across the country. he will support them as opposed to fighting for himself to get a seat. the telegraph says that he could bring ruin the uk's hopes of brexit and let's not forget that the telegraph is very closely aligned to boris johnson, forget that the telegraph is very closely aligned to borisjohnson, to the prime minister who used to be a columnist. he still doesn't guess, occasion, doesn't he? when they say that that nigel farage could ruin his chances, they are quoting see baker who is of the conservative party who was previously quite aligned with nigel farage and the brexit party in terms of what they wa nted brexit party in terms of what they wanted to achieve. he is now coming out saying listen, this is the best deal, and nigel farage is risking putting brexit, getting across the line at all, if he is camp

there might bea the brexit party stands down. there might be a lot of pressure on the brexit party. is it enough to withdraw on the seats? we will see that. that is on the front pages of the newspapers. between the lib dems, the greens and plaid cymru about standing back to that one candidate go forward. this remain alliance, the big party that wasn't pa rt alliance, the big party that wasn't part of the deal was labour and clearly the second placed party, this is a conservative labour contest. the liberal democrats don't have very many. they are not competitive. it's really interesting. the liberal democrats who prefer the labour offer, whether they will switch their votes. it's absolutely fascinating and i get from people is there a real sense churn and change and people are considering voting the parties they have never voted before. a quick out to the panel, there is four weeks to 90, to the panel, there is four weeks to go, still undecided? and sub? people still undecided. what we've seen is a real weakening of party allegiances. a lot of people identify much more with this lea

we turn to the brexit party. the brexit party leader nigel farage has been on the campaign trail in south wales, where he told supporters that his party was the only one which would deliver what he called a ‘clean break‘ with the eu. the brexit party say they will be fielding 600 candidates across the uk, but mr farage himself has decided not to stand. some in the party are questioning the strategy, as our political correspondent alex forsyth reports. nigel farage! just days into the election, but his campaign has gone on for decades and he is not letting up. tonight in wales, nigel farage was still pushing for a brexit pact with borisjohnson. his demand now... boris, please, toughen up on this deal. it's not good enough as it is. the conservatives have ruled out a pact, in which case, he says, he will put up candidates in 600 seats, taking on even tory brexiteers — but earlier insisting they are not his main target. look at where we are now, in south wales, so many labour voters who voted leave and they ar

on the brexit party. but he says that allegations his party offered peerages to brexit party candidates in exchange for standing down is completely unfounded. he went on to say that nigel farage has asked for a packed for months, and we said no, we're not interested. —— pa ct we said no, we're not interested. —— pact for months. he then decided that certain brexit party candidates we re that certain brexit party candidates were going to stand down. the point they had made consistently is that there is no deal, no pact, we will put our candidates up and you can put our candidates up and you can put your candidates up. there are eye—catching lines in here. the threat in itself is significant. he said the conservatives are guilty of the worst corruption and likened it to venezuela. but i think nigel farage has positioned himself in somewhat ofa has positioned himself in somewhat of a confusing manner here, at the start of the week we saw him announcing, making this unilateral pledge, we are going t

this year, the brexit party, yet associated with a party leader, who is very well known and has been known for many years. how do you judge what's fair in terms of both the brexit party and nigel farage? of course, when you're in a general election, you will look back at what happened to the last general election, but you will also look at other elections. and of course, we've just had a uk—wide election in very peculiar circumstances and as you say, there was a brand new party. so that's the sort of thing where it's a new context. you've got to take it into account. how can you be fair to the supporters, let's say, the brexit party without being unfair to the supporters of ukip? because they might well say, well, hang on, quite a lot of the calculation you'll make about coverage for the brexit party is actually based on the performance of ukip from local elections, previous parliamentary elections. is it fair that, effectively, because the same person, the profile, has gone to this new party, that they should take some of that value with them? as i say, electoral support is measur

the tories clearly believe they are strong enough to see off the brexit party challenge and the brexit party think they can hurt them. we can think they can hurt them. we can think that when we see polling day, we will see how the splits between leave and remain have overwhelmed splits in many cases on party lines. we will see splits between nations and regions of the uk, between social classes and between generations. on the personal level we will see how it strains families and friendships. other leaders say it is their mission to reunite the country. that will be a monumental task for them, whoever wins. john pienaar, thank you. the first minister of scotland, nicola sturgeon, says she‘ll make a formal request for another independence referendum before christmas, regardless of who becomes prime minister. the snp leader, campaigning today in edinburgh, said a vote for her party, was a vote to escape brexit, and to put scotland‘s future, into its own hands. police investigating alleged breaches of election law by the official brexit campaign during the 2016 referendum, have passed

and without the brexit party, we will never get a meaningful brexit done. we are determined to deliver brexit. we are equally determined, as you heard earlier on this morning, that politics cannotjust go back to the way that it was before. this country is crying out for genuine political reform and we will campaign on that. during this general election, too, because we really do want to change politics for good. and i know, inevitably, you will ask me about funding? well, i can tell you we have enough money right now for a fully funded election campaign, and by the look of the way money is coming in on our web site, we will have more than enough to fight this campaign. and to fight it well. now, of course, i'm open and flexible to local exceptions. and already we are in communication with a number of employees who are prepared to renounce the withdrawal agreement, to renounce the deal, and they themselves to stand on a ticket of a genuine free trade agreement or leave on wto terms. and, of course, in those cases where employees say this, —— in those cas

the brexit party actually blocks brexit. i know many tories are getting very under the carter —— call her about nigel farage. with him, it is a case of the ego has landed. he is an extraordinarily egotistical man and lots of politicians are but with him it is always about him. even switches parties in order to stay centrestage. not that i and all support brexit, the opposite but i do think if i were a tory member of the european research group or one of the famous martin to have taken this great stand to try and put brexit through, that i would be livid that nigel farage and his massive ego could potentially block brexit. what is you may then of him announcing he would not be standing? i think two things. one is he has run so many i think two things. one is he has run so many other times to be an mp and failed every other times of the safe move is not to run. secondly, what would happen if he won? he would have to be in a constituency and... and the work! work incredible he harder not be able to have this media career an

but the brexit party position looks from the brexit party position looks from the outside like a complete mess, a shambles. people don't quite know really where you are standing, what you are standing for, you've changed your mind, you've changed your tack. what's going on? it's crystal clear. we made a clear, bold decision that millions of people are very grateful for, because we have said we are putting country before party in taking a second referendum off the table. we are standing everywhere against all the other parties who hold seats who want to stop brexit. we are the brexit party. that is the logical, obvious thing to do. we have taken a second referendum hopefully off the table and we are working to make sure we get some seats and hold the conservatives to account. thank you, richard tice, chairman of the brexit party. throughout the campaign, bbc news will be looking closely at the places where the election could be won and lost. we will be visiting ten parts of the uk where seats will be closely contested. today, we're in bishop auckland, which is in the north east of england.

it struck me as an event that the brexit party did that we re event that the brexit party did that were nigel faraj said, this is not brexit to describe the deal, there was polite applause but not a standing ovation and there is an internal conversation still going on about whether or not from their perspective, this could be counterproductive. and there are a lot of tory mps pushing really hard back. so it would be really big for borisjohnson, a back. so it would be really big for boris johnson, a really back. so it would be really big for borisjohnson, a really big problem if members of the burning core of your sceptics had still been kind of flirting with the brexit party that they have been pushing back really ha rd they have been pushing back really hard because they reckon that if the brexit party does well then brexit might slip away altogether but you wa nt might slip away altogether but you want not suggesting that he overpromise the political impact they might have, are you? i'mjust going to take that out of my tea. still make you do not want that to be too strong. it is alrea

the brexit party are gunning for labour votes, too. jeremy corbyn had this to say on mr farage‘s decision not to stand. well, it's obviously his decision. it's a bit weird to lead a political party that is apparently contesting all or most of the seats up in the election, and he himself is not offering himself for election. he's obviously very comfortable on his mep salary. the brexit party will unveil hundreds of candidates here in westminster tomorrow. but the fact that their star name won't be among them may be for some a tacit admission that this could be a tough general election for the party. and perhaps there was a personal calculation for nigel farage too — that the threat of possibly failing for an eighth time to become an mp just wasn't worth it. nigel farage still wants to be part of the brexit debate, but at this election, that doesn't mean standing. nick eardley, bbc news, westminster. let's take a look at some of the day's other election news: jeremy corbyn has been setting out labour's plans to upgrade around 27 mill