want to see sir keir starmer "propped up in downing street" by the snp or smaller parties. here's our political correspondent, helen catt. in the calm after the elections, there's a lot for the prime minister to think about. rishi sunak appears safe from a challenge from his own mps, despite a very had set of election results for the conservatives. mr sunak told the times he was determined that his party would come together and show people they were delivering. a view echoed by his party chairman. i think it's sort of self—indulgent for us to be talking to ourselves and talking about ourselves at the moment. whenever i go on the doorstep, i'd agree with some others who've spoken and said what they want to see is us putting forward a clear vision for the country. you know, i think we've seen a lot of that from the prime minister over the last few days. i just want to say thank you. among the losses, andy street, now no longer the mayor of the west midlands,

along with nearly 500 councillors. mr sunak has said those losses were bitterly disappointing. yesterday the former home secretary suella braverman said the prime minister had to own the results and change course. i think he needs to show people that he really cares _ about some of the things that he's talked about. _ he needs to actually lower taxes i in a way that people will feel, i not tweaking around the edges. if he's serious about migration, he needs to put a cap _ on legal migration. he needs to take us out of the - european convention on human rights. that's how you actually send i the message that he's serious about stopping the boats. and while some are urging mr sunak to change position, others in the conservative party are clear that their best chance is to stay firmly in the centre ground. so while any imminent threat to eject mr sunak from here seems to have gone away, the long—term pressure on him to change conservative fortunes has not. for labour, this week holds a very different picture. they won the blackpool south by—election, along with a number of councils and police

and crime commissioners. the man in charge of their campaigns said the challenge they had was not to get complacent. there is a sense of belief there, but that sense of belief should never be confused with any sense that the job is done. here's to four more years. rishi sunak was out on friday celebrating the one bright spot for the tories — ben houchen keeping hisjob as mayor of tees valley. the prime minister is expected to be back out from today showing he's getting on with the job, knowing some of his mps think that the prime minister is expected to be back out from today showing he's getting on with the job, knowing some of his mps think that might not be enough. helen catt, bbc news. for more on this, political correspondent for website politichoe — ava—santina — joins me now. there is this line push by the government this morning that it could, if we extrapolate from the local elections could be hung parliament in the general election. presumably that suits them? i was presumably that suits them? i was confused when _ presumably that suits them? i was confused when i _ presumably that suits them? i was confused when i saw _ presumably that suits them? i was confused when i saw this _ presumably that suits them? i —" confused when i saw this headline on the front page of the times because

i think this will be more helpful to labour and i think this will be more helpful to labourand keir i think this will be more helpful to labour and keir starmer and the team will be quite pleased with this front page because what they have been, the labour leadership, the antipathy amongst voters, complacency about getting voted out to put the ballot in the boxes on voting day and this headline suggests that if we are heading towards a hung parliament this is going to get people out because they either want a labour government they don't and this will push them out of their houses. don't and this will push them out of their houses-_ their houses. how difficult is it to extrapolate _ their houses. how difficult is it to extrapolate from _ their houses. how difficult is it to extrapolate from what _ their houses. how difficult is it to extrapolate from what you - their houses. how difficult is it to extrapolate from what you see i their houses. how difficult is it to extrapolate from what you see in | their houses. how difficult is it to l extrapolate from what you see in a local election and mayoral election to the general election picture? very difficult because it is quite surprising that this polling has been taken as seriously as it out of this research because people who have conducted it say it is very difficult to extrapolate from local elections on to the general election, particularly because a lot of independents run during the locals and people tend to go to the ballot box thinking about local issues or they might take a gamble

on a green candidate or lib dems candidate but when it comes to a general and you are looking at a two course race, you might thenjob out to one of the two main parties. eaten to one of the two main parties. even so, there to one of the two main parties. even so. there is — to one of the two main parties. even so. there is a _ to one of the two main parties. even so, there is a lot _ to one of the two main parties. even so, there is a lot of _ to one of the two main parties. even so, there is a lot of analysis - to one of the two main parties. even so, there is a lot of analysis on all sides about what this picture tells him that where the areas of weaknesses and strengths are. what you think the labour party need to concentrate on after this? the you think the labour party need to concentrate on after this?- concentrate on after this? the big weakness for _ concentrate on after this? the big weakness for them _ concentrate on after this? the big weakness for them is _ concentrate on after this? the big weakness for them is going - concentrate on after this? the big weakness for them is going to - concentrate on after this? the big weakness for them is going to be | weakness for them is going to be their line on palestine and we have seen that in oldham, we have seen the way to oldham council reacted to that. we have got many pro—palestinian candidate elected on single mandate. if you have got elsewhere around the country, there are a few areas are constituencies where there are very slim majorities and in those there are large student population is where you might have a large muslim population. i hate saying that because muslims never vote as a monolith but it is aligned bandied about by the constituency, but in those areas they will have to reconsider their line on palestine

because if there is a candidate like for example in ilford where the shadow health secretary standing, wes streeting, there is a candidate just running on a single mandate pro—palestine and that could split the vote. pro-palestine and that could split the vote. �* ., ., , ., , the vote. and for the conservatives, is there a patent _ the vote. and for the conservatives, is there a patent if _ the vote. and for the conservatives, is there a patent if there _ the vote. and for the conservatives, is there a patent if there is - the vote. and for the conservatives, is there a patent if there is what - is there a patent if there is what they need to do?— they need to do? they are not quite clear on the — they need to do? they are not quite clear on the path. _ they need to do? they are not quite clear on the path. if— they need to do? they are not quite clear on the path. if you _ they need to do? they are not quite clear on the path. if you listen - they need to do? they are not quite clear on the path. if you listen to i clear on the path. if you listen to suella braverman yesterday she was calling for rishi sunak to go closer to the right, pull out a bit echr, a cap on immigration but if you listen to damian green he was speaking last night he was saying that the conservatives need to move more towards the centre ground. so if the conservative party is a broad church but the messaging seems to be very confused at the moment. i don't really know voters understand what the party are going for. tell really know voters understand what the party are going for.— the party are going for. tell us about toner — the party are going for. tell us about toner because _ the party are going for. tell us about toner because people i the party are going for. tell us i about toner because people often the party are going for. tell us - about toner because people often say local elections, turnout is low so we don't know what they are thinking? is that valid? or do you thinking? is that valid? or do you think what we have seen from the polls and the by—election means we

have a clear idea what will happen? the conservatives were very pleased about turn out in blackpool south because they were arguing that fewer people are turned out to bid for the labour candidate who won in blackpool south and turned out to vote for the labour candidate who lost during the last election. now whenever there is a by—election or local election, turnout is always lower but it was fascinating around london because the outer boroughs of london because the outer boroughs of london have a very high turnout, the highest turnout we have ever seen during the mayoral election, some of them were around 47 to 49% which is absolutely extraordinary. it shows you that people are really concerned during that mayoral election in london, people were concerned about either the conservative candidate getting in the labour candidate getting in the labour candidate getting in the labour candidate getting in and they were incentivised to go out and vote. thank you very much indeed. rail passengers are facing widespread disruption this week as train workers begin a fresh round of industrial action. members of the aslef union start a six—day overtime ban today, which is expected

to cause widespread disruption. a series of one—day strikes are also being staged at 16 rail companies throughout the week as part of a long—running dispute over pay. our business correspondent, marc ashdown explains. it's going to be another frustrating week for rail passengers. drivers say working overtime is crucial to keep the network moving, so a six—day ban is likely to cause widespread delays and cancellations. on top of that, they're staging a series of one—day walk—outs from tomorrow. services on lines mainly in and around london in the south east will be the first to be affected. then on wednesday, six lines which serve the midlands, west of england and wales will be impacted. and on thursday, drivers in the north of england and on some services running into scotland will walk out. this dispute over pay has been rumbling on sincejuly 2022, and the last formal talks were held more than a year ago.

the rail delivery group, which represents the 16 train companies involved, tabled an offer of a 4% pay rise for two consecutive years, but said ways of working also needed to change. aslef dismissed the offer as risible. last week, the rdg reached out to the union to try to find what it called common ground in order to get back round the negotiating table. aslef leaders said they were open to the possibility of fresh talks. so there is a glimmer of hope for a resolution, but another week of travel misery looms for passengers. marc ashdown, bbc news. the latest figures for england and wales show that 2a7 people lost their lives as a result of knife crime betweenjuly 2022 and june 2023. mikey roynon was just 16 when he was stabbed to death in somerset last year. our correspondent danjohnson has been following the case and sent this report. the iothjune last summer, and teenagers are heading to a birthday party in bath that's

been advertised on snapchat. this is mikey travelling from the edge of bristol with some friends. he was about to come across this group of teenagers from wiltshire heading to the same party. this is the ambulance service. is the patient breathing? he's been stabbed at a house party. police. there was a violent confrontation, and mikey was stabbed in the neck. it was shane cunningham who stabbed mikey, he claimed in self—defence, but he was convicted of murder. cartel bushnell and leo knight were given nine years for manslaughter for encouraging and supporting the attack. was it you that stabbed him in the neck? shane cunningham didn't give any answers in custody or in court, so we may never know what sparked the confrontation. thejudge passed a life sentence and said he must serve at least 16 years. bristol and its surrounding areas are in the middle of a plague of knife crime.

the plague has continued since this trial finished. the lives of young boys who carry knives continue to be taken at the hands of other boys who carry knives. this family's campaigning now to highlight knife crime and how many children are armed and prepared to take lives. danjohnson, bbc news, at bristol crown court. the boss of eurotunnel has insisted there will not be long queues of cars at its terminals when a new eu travel system starts in october. brits heading to and from europe will need to register fingerprints and a photo at the border, which has prompted warnings of delays. meanwhile, today marks 30 years since the opening of the channel tunnel — a mammoth engineering project which connected england with france — and it remains the world's longest undersea tunnel. our transport correspondent katy austin has been looking at impact of the project, and what's next. a moment in history. 30 years ago today, queen elizabeth

and french president mitterrand officially opened the new connection between their two countries, which made an idea dreamed up centuries earlier a reality. since the queen made herjourney through the channel tunnel, 480 million passengers have done the same. these days, 400 trains speed through it each day. we're now going at about 120 kilometers per hour, which is roughly 75 miles per hour. and we're coming up to the middle of what is still the world's longest undersea tunnel. driver martin has been here since the beginning. people have this concept that it's just straight through to france, and it's totally not. the tunnel itself is up, down, round the corners and everything. it's no straight lines at all. so you sort of know this tunnel like the back of your hand? absolutely, yeah. it's like a second home, really. building it was an exceptional feat of engineering. there are actually three tunnels. the one i'm standing in right now

with my high—vis and my hard hat isn't for trains. it's used for ventilation, access for maintenance and evacuating people in an emergency. we're now on the france side, and the uk is 32 miles that way. the tunnel carries a quarter of trade between the uk and the eu, plus plenty of holiday—makers, whether on the eurostar to paris and beyond, or using the car shuttle to reach somewhere like le touquet, an hour's drive from eurotunnel�*s calais terminal. drove down to folkestone, jumped on the tunnel, half an hour, calais, 40 minutes down the coast. perfect. nice and easy. no problems at all. have you done that before? yep. we've been to le touquet sort of three times, so we've always come through the tunnel. tunnel tourists help keep the wheels moving for small businesses, including this one. translation: i drive the little train. i lots of english people come at the weekend in cars, in the shuttle. it's very good.

plenty of brits swing by the town's golf course. every year we've got 45,000 visitors. - and basically 20,000 of those visitors are english people. i charles thinks the shorter journey compared to ferries means a longer holiday. which is an extra round of golf. so that's more fun for them and more business for us. l the tunnel�*s financial journey hasn't always been smooth. it opened £2 billion over budget. at one point, the company which runs it nearly went bust. predicted passenger numbers were never reached, but eurotunnel became profitable. more recently, new challenges — the pandemic and brexit meant putting millions into new systems to deal with additional customs rules. what's next? well, the boss here wants more trains running. that could include for the first time rivals to eurostar running passenger services. three new companies have said that they want to launch

new services within the five next years in the tunnel. we are very confident that within the ten next years there will be a doubling of the direct connection between london and europe. before then, change is on the way for people crossing the channel. eurotunnel is building an area to cope with the eu's new border system, starting this october. we were the first to film the machine that passengers will use at calais and folkestone to register fingerprints and a photo instead of having their passport stamped. the crossing time will be extended by five to maximum seven minutes for each customer, and as we have extended the number of lanes, there will be no delay on the highway. nothing. the cost of all this? £70 million. the tunnel�*s 30—year history has already proved eventful, and it's far from the end of the story. katy austin, bbc news.

the final of this year's eurovision song contest is coming up next weekend but contestants have already been putting on the style for the event's official opening in malmo. as many as 100,000 visitors are set to descend on the swedish city for the world's largest live music contest. poppyjeffery reports. in eurovision, you don't get a red carpet. you get a turquoise one. # ooh, see that girl # watch that scene # digging the dancing queen... this year's contest has been officially opened in the swedish city of malmo, ahead of what is a very busy week for the 37 representatives taking part. from the refined to the quirky... hello! my name is windows 95! # she's unforgettable... tomorrow is the first semifinal, with half of the acts performing in the hopes of making it to the grand final on saturday. the uk is part of the big five, the countries that contribute the most to the ebu, and they automatically get a place in the final.

but for the first time they will perform live in the semis. and it's fair to say that olly alexander isn't doing things by halves. # take me back to the beginning again... but this year's contest has an undertone of tension, with calls for some acts, including the uk, to boycott the event over the israel—gaza war. i think it's really important that people are able to to protest and people voice their opinions. also myself, i think it's really important to... ..to not stay silent. that is why i also collaborated with several _ that is why i also collaborated with several artists this year to write a written _ several artists this year to write a written letter which is still on my instagram. written letter which is still on my instagram. # every day i'm losing my mind... israel is competing.

eden golan's song hurricane is a rewritten version of her first entry, october rain, which was thought to reference the hamas attacks of october the 7th. the tension means security is a real focus, but police in malmo say they are ready. we have high security around the israeli delegation, but we also have a high security for the other delegations from the other countries. so i think it's important for us that all of them feel safe when they are coming to malmo. so even if they are not from israel, we try to keep them in a good mood and feel safe no matter what country they're from. and they are definitely in a good mood. chicken noises. the permanent slogan of eurovision is "united by music", something that's not lost on those taking part. it boils down to those three minutes of music, really.

it boils down to those three minutes of music really. that's a completely non—intellectual experience. and when you don't think any more, you just experience, you don'tjudge, you don't divide. that stuff goes away. and we need to foster those moments where we experience that together. and with that, the eurovision song contest 2024 is good to go. peppyjeffrey, bbc news. he's one of the best—known faces in british tv — and despite standing down from his comic relief presenting duties, sir lenny henry has never been busier. he's a regular on screen, a playwright and author — and next week he'll return to the stage to talk about his life and career. miranda shunker reports. # lenny henry show. # two, three, uh...# when it comes to comedy and showbiz, sir lenny henry has pretty much done it all.

his customary warmth and wit embraced by audiences, including those he famously mimicked. he also said it's going to be a lo—ong time before it's clear. much of his career is detailed in his recent memoir called rising to the surface, covering his early years of stand up, to appearing in many tv and stage productions. i hope it's a journey that takes people through, you know, post—tiswas, three of a kind, lenny henry show. you know, i went to america to make a disastrous movie. i came back, iformed a production company, adopted my daughter, and then proceeded from there. it's so lovely to see everybody and to see you here and to see those people. the 65—year—old from dudley also co—founded comic relief 39 years ago, hosting his final show in march. an emotional — but proud — moment for what its fundraising has achieved.

and although we've raised over £1.5 billion with the help of the brilliant british public, it's somebody else's turn to come up with new ideas, new comedy, new characters, and new initiatives that will make comic relief even bigger and better in the future. life is far from slowing down, though. as a published author, sir lenny has always taken a big interest in the literary world, and will soon be guiding audiences through his life and work in conversation with bbc newsreader clive myrie. yeah, clive's great. i love him. he gave an interview for my college magazine the other day and he's so frank and forthright and honest that it's going to be a joy to speak to him. and it's an honour to have clive myrie interviewing me at the tunbridge wells literary festival. i can't wait. it's going to be brilliant. the festival will start on may 9th. rapping like a superstar in my technicolor dream jamas on the brand—new...

with a new series of doctor who starting later this month, one of the key figures in the programme's success is being celebrated in her home city of coventry. back in 1963, delia derbyshire arranged the show�*s theme tune, which has excited — and possibly terrified — generations of fans ever since. our reporter kevin reed has more. theme from doctor who it's probably the most familiar british tv theme ever, and it was coventry woman delia derbyshire, who created the unusual and enduring sound while she worked at the bbc�*s experimental studios, known as the radiophonic workshop. these particular pictures, we can record on this machine here. and now, more than half a century on, she's finally getting the recognition many believe she deserves with the delia derbyshire building. coventry university has equipped it with the latest in production technology with industry standard studios. now that you've got all this digital technology at your disposal, it's nice to be able to go look

what you can do with a turntable, with a reel—to—reel machine and literally a loop of tape and just a sense of adventure. broadcaster stuart maconie has made documentaries and written about it. and he's been brought in to host the launch. the rediscovery and celebration of her work over the last decade or so is fantastic. it shows we've come on a lot. there's a lot of work still to be done. but she'd be delighted and really proud, i think as a proud coventryite — a cov kid, you know — to be honoured in this way by her hometown. it's fitting, too, that the new building is a stone's throw from some of her childhood inspirations. she heard the sound of the blitz and inspired her love of sound. i mean, i know it's a weird thing to say, but she says there was air raid sirens that she heard and the noises woke her up to a world of extreme sonic effects. and so coventry is in her dna, yeah. delia is often cited as a major influence on electronic music, and her legacy is not being forgotten, at least here in coventry.

we've got an amazing building with amazing facilities for our students, with studios for immersive ar vr practice. 360 motion capture, 360 sound. film studio, photography studio. you know, delia was a pioneer in herfield. she used innovation and technologies creatively to push the boundaries of what music could be. it's exactly what we want our students to be able to do. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith—lucas. hello there. we're set to see a bit of a mix of weather types through the bank holiday monday. we have got some warm sunshine out there for some of us, but in other areas, some pretty heavy downpours and more persistent rain around, particularly across the southeast of england and southeast scotland as well. close to areas of low pressure that are still driving our weather at the moment, this low pressure towards the south will slowly ease away through the day and higher pressure is going to build in as we head through the rest of the week. but back to today, then, for the rest of monday, we've got that rain sitting across the southeast of england,

fairly patchy in nature, but a few heavy spells. there could be the odd thunderstorm. it's fairly cloudy here. there'll be more sunshine through parts of devon and cornwall, into wales, through the midlands as well. so sunny spells but also a peppering of showers, if you do catch one it could be heavy and thundery, some of the warmest spots, for instance, up to about 19 degrees. but we're typically looking at the mid to high teens for northern ireland and northern and western scotland, a fair amount of dry weather on the cards, some sunshine, a bit more cloud working into the north here. but for central and south east scotland, you're going to keep the cloud. the rain will be easing out through the day. and into the evening hours, most of us lose the showery rain. it'll slowly clear away from the southeast, but mayjust linger for the likes of kent, for instance, to start your tuesday morning. and there'll be some low clouds, some mist and some fog patches, especially for scotland where we've got that wet ground. eastern england for instance as well, a few fog patches towards the southwest, but it should brighten up through the day tomorrow. so some sunny spells for many of us. still some showers bubbling up through the day, but they won't be as heavy or as frequent

as the showers we've got out there today. top temperatures probably a degree or so warmer, i9, 20 degrees for some of us. but if you are stuck under the cloud across parts of scotland, for instance, about 13 for aberdeen. now, into wednesday, high pressure is building in. so it's squeezing away most of the showers. a lot of dry weather for england and wales, can't rule out the odd showery showery spell, but for most places a much drier spell of weather. a bit more cloud working in from the north west ahead of this area of rain. but top temperatures quite widely around 19 or 20 degrees. and then high pressure stays with us towards the end of the week. it's just sitting towards the south. so we'll start to see a few weather fronts toppling around the northern end of that high pressure. at times that'll bring a little bit of showery rain to parts of scotland, northern ireland too. but for most of us things are looking much drier through the week ahead and it'll be warming up. we could see those temperatures in the mid 20s by next weekend. bye— bye.

live from london. this is bbc news. israel's military begins what it's calling a "limited and temporary" evacuation of civilians from rafah in southern gaza. this is the scene live in al—mawasi in gaza, where some of the displaced have been told to move to. chinese president xi jinping arrives in france on the first leg of his european tour — his first visit to the continent in five years. john swinney�*s expected to be confirmed as the new leader of the scottish national party shortly, after a potential challenger pulls out of the race.

# unforgettable... # and the wait is nearly over for the world's largest live music contest — eurovision week kicks off in style in sweden. israel's military has begun ordering palestinian civilians to leave parts of eastern rafah ahead of a planned operation in the southern gaza city. this video, from the israeli defence forces, urges people to move to what they call a "humanitarian zone" in the al—mawasi and khan younis areas. the idf are calling it a "limited operation" affecting about 100,000 people. these are the latest pictures that have come into us from rafah, where you can see a leaflet that the idf has been handing over to residents. some have already started leaving rafah. and here are live pictures coming into us from al—mawasi, where some people have been told to go.

some black smoke has been on the horizon.