that labour are the party who will tackle this issue of the small boats crossings. it'sjust funny, then have labour offered you a peerage? no, what i said i will do, and what i've been asked to do, is contributing the area of housing, which has been a long—standing area of experience for me. i mean, it's absolutely vital that we build the homes the country needs, because under rishi sunak we've seen house—building simply collapse in this last year, and going forward it looks like it will be another missed manifesto promise from the conservatives — not 300,000 homes, but probably half of that number. so, i'm really pleased to be able to join the labour party. labour has changed, and it will be building the homes our country needs. let's speak to henry zeffman, who's in the commons lobby now. really quite a moment. if you had asked me to make a list of the 100

conservative mps most likely to defect to labour —— labour, natalie elphicke wouldn't have been anywhere near it. most would have placed on the right of the conservative party, but as of midday today she is in the labour party. that came as shocked conservative mps and labour mps as well. sir keir starmer is absolutely jubilant nevertheless. let's hear a bit from him now. i'm delighted to welcome natalie elphicke to the labour party. she's got a strong track record on issues such as housing, she is on the front line when it comes to the crisis of small boats, and the reason that she is given forjoining the labour party is very, very important, because i think she speaks for very many tory voters in saying that the tory party has changed, it's left the centre ground, but equally the labour party has changed. we are very clearly the party of the national interest, country first, party second, and i look forward to working with her on the mission to deliver the real change that this country desperately needs.

are there more mps that might be defecting? i think there are very many tory voters who genuinely feel that the party that they may have voted for many, many times in some places, is no longer the tory party that they see, and i say to every tory voter who feels that they want to be part of a national mission to change our country for the better that the project we've built here in this changed labour party is a project that i hope they would feel that they could get behind. you can hear why sir keir starmer is so keen to welcome the deflection because he can make an argument to the country about the way the conservative party has changed and he can save even natalie elphicke cannot be in the conservative party any more, you shouldn't vote for it. there is a bit of unease among labour mps, some of whom are whether she frankly was too right—wing for them to have legitimately accepted.

evidently sir keir starmer disagrees with amongst conservative mps, it is fair to say the initial bafflement has curdled into cold fury will stop a little earlier i spoke to hugh merriman, the transport minister. we have to be is completely consistent to our principles that got us elected, and rememberwhy we are here — and when people just make career opportunistic moves, as you seem to be sort of indicating, then all of us end up looking bad in politics. so, actually, ifeel sad for politics, principles, scruples and what the public must think of us when someone makes such a shameless decision as we saw today. i'm absolutely staggered by it. i think probably the most important thin- i think probably the most important thing we _ i think probably the most important thing we should _ i think probably the most important thing we should take _ i think probably the most important thing we should take from - i think probably the most important thing we should take from this - i think probably the most important thing we should take from this is. thing we should take from this is what _ thing we should take from this is what it_ thing we should take from this is what it says _ thing we should take from this is what it says about _ thing we should take from this is what it says about and _ thing we should take from this is what it says about and will- thing we should take from this is what it says about and will do . thing we should take from this isj what it says about and will do for the conservative _ what it says about and will do for the conservative party's- what it says about and will do for the conservative party's mood. l what it says about and will do for. the conservative party's mood. [it’s the conservative party's mood. it's “ust a the conservative party's mood. it's 'ust a few the conservative party's mood. just a few days since a fairly bleak set of local election results for them. rishi sunak right now in downing street is meeting conservative mps trying to convince them at the general election there is all to play for stop natalie

elphicke has clearly come to a different conclusion and the already flat mood among conservative mps i think is getting worse.— think is getting worse. henry, thank ou. the knifeman who killed three people in a spate of attacks in nottingham lastjune should have a tougher sentence, the court of appeal has heard. valdo calocane was given an indefinite hospital order after admitting the manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility of barnaby webber, grace 0'malley—kumar and ian coates . lawyers are arguing that the initial sentence was "unduly lenient". the judges have said they will give their sentence at a later date. family members of the victims spoke to reporters outside court. the families, you know, we have not called for what's happened today, i think it's important to state that, but we are grateful to the attorney general for taking the decision following the request to refer this as an unduly lenient sentence. we believe the system's flawed in the investigations and in the prosecution, so we are where we are today, we are hopeful that three very, very seniorjudges have listened to all of the information put

forward on both sides, and rather than making the decision today, which is normal, we have been told its seven days, so next week we will finally get some sort of answer, but it's not closure, it's not a full stop. like i say, the system's flawed, we shouldn't be here, we shouldn't be in this situation, our children should be alive, ourfather, grandfather should still be alive, so, yeah, it'sjust an ongoing part of the struggle and the fight that we are in, but, you know, it's one part down. our home affairs correspondent dominic casciani is at the court of appeal in central london. what did we hear in court? it's uuite an what did we hear in court? it�*s quite an important case and it comes down to a fine judgment about what a

harsh sentence means in the case of rivaldo caldocane injanuary. by the time he came through injanuary and six months since the killings of the three people in nottingham, prosecutors had accepted there was overwhelming evidence that he was severely mentally unwell and suffering from an almost untreatable form of paranoid schizophrenia and the court heard he was on the medicine of last resort i'm a conclusion thejudge medicine of last resort i'm a conclusion the judge reached medicine of last resort i'm a conclusion thejudge reached in nottingham was the best way to manage caldocane because he had to accept the plea of manslaughter by diminished responsibility rather than go for a murder trial, the best way to manage him was a secure hospital order, and in such a way that he crafted the order so caldocane's chances of release were very slim indeed. in effect if he ever believes he has ever been cured of his serious illness, he could only be released if the mental

health tribunal that he applies to agrees, so it's not as if he can civilly walk out the door and at the time thejudge said civilly walk out the door and at the time the judge said that was the best way of dealing with him because if he tacked onto the end of that hospital order the possibility of sending him to prison as punishment, at that point he could come off his medication and then return very quickly to becoming a very dangerous individual again, and that would be to the detriment of everybody�*s safety. what the court of appeal has to decide is whether the trialjudge was right in coming to that conclusion or whether or not they should have effectively tweaked the sentence to add the possibility of caldocane going to prison despite the evidential concerns that the trial judge the evidential concerns that the trialjudge had that it could be detrimental. the key thing for the families in this is the evidence. before the prosecution and sentencing, calocane, while being severely unwell, he had taken some substantial planning steps in relation to carrying out the killings and they argue that those steps showed he did not necessarily

act under the mental effect the time of the killings, and therefore there is an element of punishment which needs to be added to his incarceration, his detention at the moment. i think the bigger point is what the families really want is not necessarily this outcome to go their way. of course they would like to see it go their way but what they really want is a public inquiry because they feel calocane's management and the legal issues around that and how he has been prosecuted and sentenced raise bigger and deeper issues about the law of murder and about how exceptionally unwell like him should be treated in the future that will an argument for another day and the families have made clear today that whatever happens in the court of appeal in a week's time when the judges come back, they will fight on because they want a public inquiry. dominic, thank you for that. to scotland now — in the laste few minutes, it's been announced that kate forbes will return to the scottish government as deputy first minister. the former finance secretary was appointed by new first minister

john swinney after opting not to run against him for the snp leadership. she will replace outgoing deputy first minster shona robison. mr swinney is making cabinet appointment at his official residence, bute house, after being sworn in at the court of session. here's that moment. you swear that you will be faithful and bear true allegiance to his majesty king charles, his heirs and successors, according to law. will you now sign the parchments? 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon is in edinburgh. hi, so appointments being made. yes, for the last hour _ hi, so appointments being made. yes, for the last hour or _ hi, so appointments being made. yes, for the last hour or so _ hi, so appointments being made. 133 for the last hour or so we have seen various members of the scottish government enter the doors of the bute house that you see behind me and first amongst those to enter was

kate forbes john and first amongst those to enter was kate forbesjohn swinney had made clear that his party is not as united as he would like it to be an kate forbes was, at one point seen as his main rivalfor thejob last week she decided to step aside and said he would give her a significant role in government and he has delivered, appointing her as deputy first minister. john swinney said she was an immensely talented politician and her new role would prove critical as he focused on the key commitments of eradicating child poverty and investing in public services and supporting economic growth and for her part, kate forbes said this was a moment of extreme privilege. we've seen half a dozen individuals enter the doors here among them neil gray, who was health secretary and it remains to be seen if he remains in the post and angela constance who was just a secretary as well. we will find out later on

this afternoon whether they remain in those positions or if they are moved around and we expect an announcement on that at around four p announcement on that at around four p m. announcement on that at around four . m, ., ~ , ., , . announcement on that at around four hello there. didn't take long for that strong may sunshine to melt away the mist and fog which we had this morning, which was fairly widespread in places. it's going to be a fine afternoon for many with decent sunny spells, most places dry, just an isolated shower here and there. the only caveat to that is this weather front, which will be bringing some thicker cloud and outbreaks of rain to the north and west of scotland. you'll notice more isobars here. so it's going to be breezier. but for much of the country, we're under the influence of high pressure. so the rest of today will be dry for most areas. we'll start to see that rain, stronger breeze pushing into the north and west of scotland and into the northern isles. chance of a shower or two stretching from yorkshire through the midlands down to south west england, but you'll be unlucky if you catch one. most places dry, temperatures into the low 20 celsius in the warmest spots. now, through this evening

and overnight, we'll see that rain continue across the north of the uk. splashes of rain pretty much anywhere across scotland, maybe the far north of england for a time. elsewhere, it's going to be dry and, yes, we will see the low cloud, the mist and fog returning for many of us, temperatures 7 to 11 degrees. for thursday, then, high pressure pretty much on top of the uk. this weather front loitering across the north of the country. but once again we could start off with some mist and fog through the morning, but it won't last. that strong may sunshine will get going, burning it away. and we should see plenty of sunshine for england and wales, central and southern scotland, northern ireland, just some splashes of rain across the north of scotland. but even here later in the day, it'll start to peter out as it moves its way northwards. temperatures 19 or 20 degrees across southeast scotland, 22 or 23 in the warmest spots across england and wales. and winds will remain light, generally from the south. we do it all again on friday, could start up a bit misty, murky, and then we'll see plenty of sunshine through the afternoon, just a chance of an isolated shower, but most places dry. we'll start to see that warmth

and brighter weather pushing into northern scotland as well. so 16 or 17 degrees for stornoway, still on the cool side for lerwick, but mid 20s perhaps for england and wales. stays warm with some sunshine into the weekend as well. but our area of high pressure begins to retreat eastwards, allowing weather fronts and low pressure to start building in from the south and the west during sunday. so yes, there will be some warmth around, again some sunshine, but later on sunday there is a chance of some heavy showers, maybe some thunderstorms moving in from the south.

live from london — this is bbc news. rishi this is bbc news. sunak�*s troubles continue as another rishi sunak�*s troubles continue as another one of his mps, natalie elphicke, defected from the conservatives to labour, saying the prime minister has let the party down. the un says no supplies have entered in gaza yet. the worlds oceans suffer from a record sufferfrom a record breaking suffer from a record breaking year of heat. we take a deep dive into the impact on marine life. prince harry marks the tenth anniversary of his invictus games for wounded military veterans with a special service. a rare visit for prince harry to the

uk to celebrate their movement he started. what isn't on the schedule is any planned meeting with his father, the king. hello, i'm lucy hockings, welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. we start with dramatic developments in uk politics and for the prime minister rishi sunak, who suffered heavy defeats in last week's local elections in england. moments before he stood in parliament for prime minister's questions, one of his own mps natalie elphicke announced that she was defecting from the ruling conservative party to join the labour opposition. this is the moment natalie elphicke crossed the floor in the house of commons. whilst increasing our economic security... you can see her approachng the benches on the right—hand side before taking her seat behind the labour leader, sir keir starmer. she said her former party has become a byword for incompetence

and division and criticised what she called the broken promises