TV presenter and bird lover Bill Oddie has waded in to urge people to vote to stay in the EU - for the sake of migrant birds and other wildlife.

Mr Oddie, who became famous in the 1970s as one of the The Goodies, is backing a call from leading charities the RSPB and the WWF - who say a vote to remain in the EU will be safer for the environment.  

Breaking away from the EU debate momentarily, former Labour minister Frank Field describes news that BHS is set to close as "appalling" and a "terrible outcome".

The retail group is to be wound down after administrators failed to find a buyer. Eleven thousand jobs are under threat after the business was placed into administration six weeks ago.  

Mr Field, who chairs the influential Commons work and pensions committee, says workers in the BHS pension scheme face a "rough" future as no one would be responsible for the pensioners, the money in the scheme or the sums being paid out.

He hopes there would still be an attempt to sell as much of the company as possible.

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UKIP Leader Nigel Farage says there is now "momentum for leave" as he praises Boris Johnson and Michael Gove for having a positive impact on the Brexit campaign.

Speaking as he placed a £1000 bet on the UK voting to leave the EU - where the bookies' odds for Leave were 5/2 - he told reporters he can “see a swing” and a “change” in people around the country.

He said the intervention of Conservative heavyweights and Leave campaigners Boris Johnson and Michael Gove on the issue of immigration had been a "big decisive factor".

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David Cameron says the European Union has helped protect Britain's environment, adding that a vote to remain in the EU is “a vote for nature".

It comes as two wildlife charities, the RSPB and the WWF, say that Britain's wildlife is safer if Britain stays in Europe.

The prime minister says the EU played a "key role" in getting the Paris Climate Change Agreement and it helps protect Britain's natural environment.

Mike Clarke, the RSPB's chief executive, says: "We have always believed that because nature transcends national boundaries, it needs cross-border co-operation to protect it and a common set of international standards that enable it to thrive."

Former Paralympian Baroness Grey-Thompson warns leaving the European Union would prevent British people with disabilities benefiting from plans to boost accessibility.

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Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel should "stay out" of the debate over whether Britain leaves the EU or not, Labour former minister and Vote Leave campaigner Kate Hoey has warned.

Ms Merkel says she hopes the UK will stay in the EU, "for the benefit of all of us" - but the one time sports minister argues that while it's in Germany's interests for the UK to stay, it is not necessarily in the UK's.

She also doubted if Ms Merkel's comments would influence British voters.

Ms Hoey says she does not believe the EU can be reformed "even with a radical Labour government" - flatly contradicting Jeremy Corbyn's claims that in office his party would push for reforms.

She also rejected Mr Corbyn's assertion that British workers had benefitted from rights initiated by the EU, claiming most of these had come about through the efforts of trade unionists and campaigners.

And she dismissed as "nonsense" claims that workers' rights - enshrined by British law - would be impacted by Britain leaving the EU.

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Major UK housing developers have lined up to respond to Liam Fox's claim that immigration is to blame for growing competition to buy homes. Bosses from Hopkins Homes, Norfolk Homes, Crest Nicholson and L&Q say that Brexit would instead stall the economy and the construction of new homes.

James Hopkins, executive chairman of Hopkins Homes, said:

Meanwhile, in other news... Nicola Sturgeon has acknowledged that figures showing the country's pupils are doing less well in maths are "not acceptable".

But she insisted that plans to publish the results of new national school tests had not changed.

The Scottish Conservatives claimed the first minister was backtracking from the proposals.

The exchange came during the first session of first minister's questions since May's Holyrood election.

For the first time, the session was extended to 45 minutes rather than the previous half hour.

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Young people will be forced to live with their parents for longer if the UK does not vote to leave the EU, a Conservative former Cabinet minister has claimed.

The ex-defence secretary Liam Fox says immigration is to blame for rising rent costs and growing competition to buy homes, as he appealed to young people to vote for Brexit.

Mr Fox, who delivered his speech at Vote Leave's campaign office, said:

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Pat McFadden, for the Labour In campaign, says the campaign has been dominated by "blue on blue" attacks and there was a danger that Labour voters would see the whole thing as Conservative in-fighting.

"I hope people see this vote in a few weeks time than a much bigger thing than an internal Tory argument," he tells the BBC.

He said Labour could not afford to just "sit back and watch" as the Conservatives fought among themselves:

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Would David Cameron quickly see his premiership cut short, should the UK vote for Brexit? Not a bit of it, says leading Leave campaigner - and potential Tory leadership contender - Boris Johnson.

Asked by Peter Allen on BBC Radio 5 live Daily about the prospect of the PM stepping down, the former London mayor said "No. I don't believe that to be the case for a minute... The existing regime would continue for at least two years."

He added:

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Tim Roache, the new GMB leader who has said Jeremy Corbyn needs to do more to get out the Labour vote for the EU referendum, has also said the party was failing to get its broader message across.

In his full interview with Laura Kuenssberg, broadcast on BBC Radio 4's World at One he said: "I think the election of Jeremy Corbyn was a breath of fresh air to the movement. 

"I think we lost touch with ordinary working people... however what we've seen now since is the Labour Party frankly tearing itself apart."

He says Mr Corbyn's team have to do better in terms of getting his message out there - while others need to  "get behind" the leader and "see what can be achieved". 

"People will not vote for a divided Labour Party" he says. 

Image source, Reuters

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said it better for Britons if London wielded power within the EU, rather than being outside it. In a news conference she also stressed that it was up to the British people to decide whether or not to stay in.

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Norman Smith
Assistant political editor

The BBC's assistant political editor Norman Smith says Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn's speech was significant because, for the first time, he went out of his way to acknowledge public concerns over immigration. Norman Smith says many union leaders will be heaving a huge sigh of relief that the Labour leader is "relaunching" his referendum campaign by talking about issues which matter to Labour's traditional voters.

Jeremy Corbyn says the EU has brought jobs and protection for workers, consumers and the environment as he puts the case for the UK staying in.

Boris Johnson has urged the UK to believe in itself because it "can do brilliantly outside the EU".

In a speech to farmers, after auctioning a cow, he urged them not to be "apprehensive about getting out", claiming the UK has "a fantastic economy".

He argued that the EU wants to "turn itself into a defence act", adding that Nato had protected the nation since the Second World War, rather than the EU which had been a disaster, particularly in sorting out crises in Bosnia.

He added: "At the moment we don't have the power to control our immigration system - we'll be taking that back."