The UK's Trident nuclear weapons system could be rendered obsolete by cyber attacks, former Defence Secretary Lord Browne has warned.

The ex-Labour minister told the BBC unless "weak spots" were protected, there was "no guarantee" of a reliable nuclear deterrent for the PM "when he needs to reach for it".
Ex-Conservative Defence Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind played down the risk.
The comments come ahead of a Commons debate on the future of Trident.
On Monday it was revealed the cost of renewing the system had risen to £31bn.
The government also said the start date for the replacement submarines had been put back until "the early 2030s" as it unveiled its Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR).
The review said the UK was a "world leader" in cyber security.
Lord Browne, who was defence secretary between 2006 and 2008, told BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg that ministers had an "obligation" to assure MPs all parts of the nuclear deterrent had been assessed against the risk of a cyber attack and that protections were in place.
Lord Browne added: "If they are unable to do that then there is no guarantee that we will have a reliable deterrent or the prime minister will be able to use this system when he needs to reach for it."
But Sir Malcolm said: "The whole point of our nuclear weapons is not whether they would work - 100% guarantee - if they were ever required. You think they will do.
"The question is whether an enemy contemplating aggression would be prepared to take the risk."
£31bn
In case costs overrun, the government will also set aside £10bn
Previous estimates put the cost at up to £25bn
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "We wouldn't comment on the detail of our security arrangements for the nuclear deterrent but we can and will safeguard it from any cyber threat.
"We are investing more than ever before on the UK's defensive and offensive cyber capabilities to protect our national interests.
"Last week the Chancellor outlined a plan for £1.9bn in cyber investment, including a £165m Defence and Cyber Innovation Fund, to support innovative procurement across both defence and cyber security."
In the Commons on Monday, Prime Minister David Cameron confirmed MPs would get a non-binding vote on whether to renew the four submarines carrying the UK's nuclear missiles.
Official Labour policy remains to renew Trident, but party leader Jeremy Corbyn is firmly opposed and a review is taking place to consider the party's stance.
By Laura Kuenssberg, BBC political editor
Lord Browne's comments may be seized on by supporters of Jeremy Corbyn, who are trying to persuade the Labour Party to abandon its support for the deterrent.
The party's leadership is urging its MPs to abstain in a vote later, called by the SNP, that seeks to reject the renewal of Trident.
The vote will not be binding, but Britain's nuclear deterrent is an increasingly expensive, and politically troublesome issue.
Read more from Laura
Labour MPs are being asked to abstain in the vote - but as many as 20 are thought to be prepared to rebel and vote for Trident to be renewed.
Following a meeting of the party's MPs at Westminster on Monday night, shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the debate was an "SNP stunt".
The SNP has criticised the "ballooning" cost of Trident, saying the Commons vote could be "the last parliamentary chance to stop this utterly awful project".
Speaking during the SDSR debate, Angus Robertson, the SNP's Westminster leader, said it was a "super-expensive vanity project" which had failed to deter "against terrorism or cyber attack or conventional attacks on the UK and its allies and friends".
The defence review committed the government to a debate on the future of Trident, describing renewing the system as a "national endeavour".
It did not commit the government to a vote on the main renewal decision, however, during the Commons debate, Mr Cameron said he was "keen" to hold a vote "at the appropriate moment".
The review said the revised cost - including a £10bn contingency - and timescale of the project reflected the "greater understanding we now have about the detailed design of the submarines and their manufacture".
It also pledged £1.9bn over the next five years to protect the UK from cyber attacks.
Other measures in the government's £178bn defence spending plans for the next decade included:


Joe Lydon has been appointed head of international player development for the Rugby Football Union.

Lydon will leave his role as head of rugby at the Welsh Rugby Union to take up his new post.
The WRU has already started the search to find his successor.
"I am sad to be leaving Wales, but the challenge of playing such a pivotal role in the development of English rugby at this time is one I had to take up," said Lydon.
"Welsh rugby is in great shape and I leave behind a team of people more than capable of achieving the goals we have set.
"The experience I have gained across the past five years with the WRU will set me in great stead for the exciting new challenge ahead."
Lydon arrived in Wales with a rugby CV that included 32 Great Britain rugby league caps, experience as technical director of the Rugby Football League and as a rugby union coach with the England Sevens and the senior England team.
He was appointed by the WRU in November 2008 to be responsible for the development programmes across all tiers of Welsh rugby for players, coaches and match officials.
Lydon's new role in English rugby will see him report to England head coach Stuart Lancaster in the new international performance department at Twickenham.
"This is a significant appointment for the future of England Rugby, made following a rigorous selection process," said Lancaster.
"Joe has a huge amount of experience as a player, coach and head of a successful performance and development structure in Wales and I am looking forward to working with him.
"He will be responsible for developing and managing a world class system of international player development for all our teams.
"We would like to build on the current system of talent identification, development and selection process that ensures that we have continual supply of high quality international players for England."
Lydon's remit will include Saxons, U20s, U18s, Sevens, and the Women's senior, Sevens and U20 teams.


A temporary public swimming pool is due to be opened in Hampshire, following protests from campaigners.

The current pool and sports hall in Andover shut in March with a new Â£16m complex not due to open until 2019.
Campaigners had criticised closing the centre without providing any temporary facilities, as the alternatives were located about 20 miles (32km) away.
Test Valley Borough Council has now approved plans for a 25m temporary pool to open in August.
The temporary pool in Shepherds Spring Lane, would then remain open until the new centre was operational, the council's corporate director, Andrew Ferrier, said.
"I am sorry that people will experience disruption to their swimming activities while the temporary pool is built," he added.
In the meantime pool users will have to travel to either Romsey or Basingstoke to use alternative public facilities.


Five-time US Open champion Roger Federer put in a commanding performance to beat Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber to reach the US Open fourth round.

Second seed Federer lost his serve for the first time since Wimbledon but still easily won 6-3 6-4 6-4.
In the same half of the draw, fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka and Britain's Andy Murray also progressed.
Second seed Simona Halep of Romania and fifth seed Petra Kvitova both won in straight sets.
Halep beat American qualfier Shelby Rogers 6-2 6-3, while Kvitova routed Slovak Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2 6-1 to secure a last-16 meeting with Briton Jo Konta.
Konta, 24, beat German 18th seed Andrea Petkovic 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 to extend her remarkable winning run to 16 matches.
The British number two had never been past the second round at a Grand Slam before this week.
Since recruiting Stefan Edberg to his coaching team in December 2013, Federer has varied his game with more approaches to the net to counter the baseline prowess of the likes of world number one Novak Djokovic and Britain's Andy Murray.
However he revealed he stumbled on his recent habit of advancing in behind his return almost by accident during a jet-lagged practice session with Frenchman Benoit Paire during August's Cincinnati Masters event.
Federer explained: "I said, 'OK, I'm going to chip and charge and just keep the points short. I'm tired. I want to get off the court soon anyway.' That's when I started to run in and hit returns. I hit a couple for a winner. They were ridiculous.
"I tried it the next practice and it still worked. That's when coach Severin Luthi said, 'Well, what about using it in a match?' I was like, 'Really?'
'We sort of came up with that name, 'sneak attack by Roger' or 'Sabr' for short. I don't know. Call it 'Fed Attack', call it whatever you want."
Former world number one Victoria Azarenka beat German 11th seed Angelique Kerber 7-5 2-6 6-4.
The Belarusian 20th seed converted her sixth match point to end one of the best matches of the tournament on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Azarenka is a two-time finalist but battling her way back up the rankings after two years interrupted by injuries.
"It's probably the most you can miss when you're an athlete, not just a tennis player. That intensity, that feeling of the battle, heat of the moment. Personally that's what I live for."
Richard Gasquet secured his spot in the fourth round by beating Australian Bernard Tomic in straight sets, 6-4 6-3 6-1.
The shot of the match came when a thick net cord allowed Frenchman Gasquet to play a winner around the net post and he continued running to receive a congratulatory fist bump from Tomic on his opponent's side of the net.
"Bernard is a great friend of mine so I think I can do it with him," said Gasquet about the fist bump. "You don't do it with guys you don't like."
Gasquet will play Czech Tomas Berdych, who beat Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 6-3.
Swiss fifth seed Stan Wawrinka saw off Belgian Ruben Bemelmans 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 6-4, while American 13th seed John Isner led Jiri Vesely 6-3 6-3 when the Czech retired with a neck injury.
In the men's doubles, Scotland's Colin Fleming and Treat Huey of the Philippines overcame Australia's likely Davis Cup team of Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth 6-3 6-4.
Fleming and Huey, who had never played together before the US Open, will face Leonardo Mayer of Argentina and Portugal's Joao Sousa in the next round.
"My voice feels like normal again. Still dull, obviously." Andy Murray is over the head cold he was suffering and back to his normal self.
"Between 'finish' and 'punish', he came up with 'pinish'". Victoria Azarenka reveals that hitting partner Sascha Bajin has been inventing a new motivational language to help her.
"It was 90% you guys, 10% me. I was on the other end of one of those against Andy Murray in Scotland so it is nice to have you guys 100% for me." American Donald Young, who was beaten in four sets by Murray in the Davis Cup in Glasgow in March, revels in the home-crowd support after coming from two sets down to beat 22nd seed Viktor Troicki of Serbia.
"For the coffees I'm going out, but otherwise I'm staying in the room." Petra Kvitova is taking a simple approach to her pre-match preparation.
"I have done mistakes when I was younger, you know. Playing video games until too late and feel tired the next day." Roger Federer reveals his past misdemeanours.
Maria Sharapova, missing from the tournament with a knee injury, is keeping the US Open's official Twitter feed honest.


Asian stock markets were trading mostly higher, despite the value of China's yuan falling for a third consecutive day.

Thursday's yuan guidance rate was set 1% lower, a smaller margin than the shock cuts earlier in the week.
The midpoint is a guiding rate set by the government, from which trade can rise or fall 2% during the day.
The Shanghai Composite index closed up 1.8% at 3,954.56, with hopes that the lower yuan will help exports.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng ended up 0.4% at 24,018.80.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index, closed the day 1% higher at 20,595.55 rebounding from hefty losses the previous day.
That was despite the release of official figures showing Japan's core machinery orders fell 7.9% in June, the first decline for four months.
In South Korea, the Kospi index finished the day 0.4% higher at 1,983.46. The country's central bank kept interest rates unchanged at 1.5%, as expected.
In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed almost flat at 5,387.90.
Shares in mining giant BHP Billiton rebounded slightly, rising 1.2%, while a rise in gold prices sent other mining companies higher.


A zero-emission zone planned for the centre of Oxford by the county council, has been branded "ridiculous" by the city's authority.

Oxfordshire County Council has proposed a zero-emissions zone for all vehicles from 2020, to improve air quality.
John Tanner, board member for Cleaner, Greener Oxford, said the city council would "oppose any idea" that meant people could not drive into the city.
The Road Haulage Association also called the proposals unworkable.
A low-emissions zone is currently in place in the city centre for buses.
Oxfordshire County Council wants to apply a zero emission zone to all vehicles on a number of roads, with the zone expanding over time as electric vehicle technology develops.
Mr Tanner said a "blanket ban" was problematic, especially with the likes of the Westgate shopping centre redevelopment including a large underground car park.
"The idea of banning cars from the city centre is just ridiculous.  We've got to look at who the culprits are in producing the pollution.
"They are the buses, and to some extent the lorries and the taxis, they're certainly not the ordinary car, although I think we want to encourage people to use electric cars.
"What the city council will support the county council on is reducing emissions over time."
Nick Payne, of the Road Haulage Association, argued newer lorries were cleaner than cars.
He added: "If you stop lorries coming into the town what you'll have is a multitude of vans and what that will create is even more traffic chaos.
"There are electric lorries around but their range is 45 miles. [This isn't going to work], not the way technology is today."
But Dr Penny Woods, from the British Lung Foundation, said she thought the proposals were ambitious and "really positive".
She said: "We need real action if we are going to clean up the air we breathe, especially for the people who are most vulnerable to the effects of dirty air."
A spokesman for the county council said a total ban on petrol or diesel vehicles from 2020 would only apply on "a small number of roads in the very centre of Oxford".
He added that if technology had not advanced enough by then the council would change its timescales.
The county council will debate the proposals in September, after which there will be a consultation if they are approved.


The chair of Stormont's health committee has said she has called Health Minister Jim Wells before the committee to explain his comments on same sex relationships.

Mr Wells apologised on Friday after he linked gay relationships and the abuse of children at a hustings meeting on Thursday night.
Maeve McLaughlin welcomed the apology.
However, she said she wanted Mr Wells to explain the nature of the alleged research he had quoted at the event.
"While I welcome his apology and retraction of the offensive comments, questions still remain for Jim Wells to answer," Ms McLaughlin said.
"I look forward to the minister's appearance before the committee and I hope he will take the opportunity to completely and unequivocally refute his baseless claims."
Police are investigating the comments by Mr Wells.
He told a hustings event: "You don't bring a child up in a homosexual relationship. That a child is far more likely to be abused and neglected..."
The minister was then interrupted by uproar from the audience.
In a later statement, he said:  "I accept that one line of what I said caused offence and deep concern."
Mr Wells added: "I regret having wrongly made that remark about abuse and I'm sorry those words were uttered. The comment did not reflect my view nor that of my party."
The police said they had received a complaint and officers were currently making inquiries.
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said:  "Those comments have lifted the lid on some really unpleasant views. The mask has slipped.
"I've been warning for weeks that while, of course, we should be alarmed about the prospects of Ed Miliband dancing to the tune of Alex Salmond, we should be equally alarmed at the prospect of a hapless David Cameron, minority Conservative administration, dancing to the tune of Nigel Farage, the right wing of his own party and some of these truly, truly, backward looking views from the DUP."
Mr Wells, the DUP South Down candidate in the 7 May election, made the comments during a discussion on gay marriage.
In a second statement on Friday morning,  Mr Wells said the past few weeks had "been extremely difficult" for him personally as he had "just come from a hospital visit".
He added: "Within seconds of realising this error, I asked the chairman to let me back in and twice corrected my remarks before the debate moved on."
The Ulster Unionist Party said the comments were "absolutely appalling... and totally wrong".
UUP leader Mike Nesbitt told the BBC's Nolan Show that an electoral pact between his party and the DUP, in four Westminster constituencies, remained in place.
However, he added: "Jim Wells needs to do more in deed and in action to prove that the real Jim Wells is reflected in this morning's statement rather than in yesterday's comment."
South Down Conservative candidate Felicity Buchan also attended the hustings event.
"The Conservative Party and I personally do not in any way agree with what was said."
Alliance North Down MLA, Stephen Farry, said: "There is absolutely no link between the incidence of abuse and neglect and the sexual orientation of parents," he said.
"Nor indeed, is there any difference between two-parent and single-parent households."
The SDLP said it was going to submit a motion of no confidence in Mr Wells.
Margaret Ritchie, who is standing as an SDLP candidate,  said his comments were "completely unacceptable".
Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, Ivan Lewis, said: "It is right that Jim Wells has apologised for these highly inappropriate remarks. There can be no  justification for false and stigmatising statements about LGBT people.
"There should be a commitment to zero tolerance of homophobia across the United Kingdom, including in Northern Ireland."


Former Middlesex and Sussex opening batsman Toby Radford has been named national academy and performance manager by Cricket Ireland.

The 44-year-old has previously been head coach at Middlesex and Glamorgan.
Ireland hope Radford will help in their long-term goal of becoming a full member of the International Cricket Council, and playing Test cricket.
"I'm looking forward to joining Cricket Ireland at such an exciting time for the organisation," said Radford.
"Ireland have forged a strong and well-established reputation for producing high-quality young cricketers, and its national team has performed with great distinction on the international stage over the past decade," he added.
"I have always been passionate about unearthing and coaching young talent and the opportunity to do so with Cricket Ireland, as it seeks to obtain full Test match playing status, is hugely motivating."
Radford has also had coaching roles with West Indies and England Lions.
"We are now looking to develop our talent into world-class players who are capable of performing against the best in the world in all three formats," said Cricket Ireland performance director Richard Holdsworth.
"Toby's experience of coaching at international and first-class level will bring great understanding of what it takes to perform at the highest level."
Ex-England batsman Chris Adams was appointed as national academy manager in May - but two days later, reversed his decision for family reasons.


A heavily pregnant woman and her soldier husband were savaged by two large dogs as they tried to defend their pet Chihuahuas.

Emily Vickery, 23, and Sam Myford say they were left covered in blood after the attack at the Westbury White Horse monument in Wiltshire.
Both were treated in hospital for multiple bite wounds, and there were fears she had entered premature labour.
The owner of the bull mastiff-type dogs drove off without leaving her details.
Police say they are looking for a woman in a green Mini over the "extremely terrifying" attack.
The council worker, who is 37 weeks pregnant, was walking with her 27-year-old husband and their two dogs at about 19:00 on Tuesday when it happened.
Emily's sister Alice Withers said: "Emily and Sam picked up their two dogs to protect them, but they were attacked and bitten all over.
"There was a tug of war going on with one of their dogs," she said.
Latest on this story and other news from the West of England.
"Emily was bitten all over her hands, legs and bum, and was pushed over at one point."
She said the ordeal could have been worse had it not been for "our hero" Kim O'Mally, from Trowbridge, who came to the couple's rescue.
Ms Withers said that although 30 to 40 people were in the area, no-one else came to help, "despite Emily's screams".
But Mr O'Mally managed to get them inside his vehicle, although she said the dogs "were still jumping up at the car windows trying to get at them".
She added: "I'm hoping the cowards who watched it all come forward now.
"They are both really shaken up, they were both covered in blood."
The couple's Chihuahuas were also injured, with one needing an emergency operation.
PC Matt Fry from Wiltshire Police said: "The dogs are described as being large, muscular in appearance, with short, tan-coloured fur. Neither had a collar on."
He described their owner as being aged in her late 60s, wearing glasses, a black jacket, black leggings and brown boots.
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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says his side can win the Premier League after a "bit of bad luck last season".

Liverpool started the 2016-17 season strongly and were only six points behind leaders Chelsea in January.
But they fell away with only one league win in January and February, and finished fourth, 17 points behind the champions.
"We'll be playing for the championship. We don't start a season by not having any ambitions," said Klopp.
"We have to have our goals and I think we have a very good team now. We did have a bit of bad luck last season.
"I think we can play a little bit better. Let's hope everything will work very well and that there isn't much more to improve."
Klopp said on Monday that playmaker Philippe Coutinho was not for sale, despite interest from Barcelona.
His side face Bayern Munich in the Audi Cup on Tuesday as part of their pre-season preparations.
They will be without forward Divock Origi, who has a muscle problem, and defender Joe Gomez, who has a knee injury.
They begin their Premier League campaign on Saturday 12 August at Watford.


Sweden will again be without right-back Mikael Lustig due to a groin strain.

Coach Erik Hamren looks set to stick with Marcus Berg up front, ahead of fellow misfiring forward John Guidetti, as Zlatan Ibrahimovic's strike partner.
Belgium midfielder Mousa Dembele is unlikely to be risked after suffering an ankle injury against the Republic of Ireland, so Radja Nainggolan may start.
Defensive duo Jan Vertonghen and Thomas Vermaelen will both start the game a booking away from a suspension.
Belgium only need a point against Sweden to secure qualification as runners-up. They would go out if they lose and the Republic of Ireland win.
Sweden will qualify as runners-up if they win -  as long as the Republic of Ireland don't beat Italy by at least three goals.
If Sweden and Ireland both claim victories and the Irish win by at least a three-goal margin it becomes possible for Sweden to drop to third - but four points would guarantee they qualify as one of the best third-placed sides.
Defeat would eliminate Sweden - as would a draw coupled with an Ireland win. If Sweden end third on two points they are unlikely to go through as one of the best third-placed teams.
Euro 2016: Who will qualify for the last 16?
It's a tale of two strikers in Nice. Romelu Lukaku put a disappointing outing in Belgium's opener behind him with a two-goal display against the Republic of Ireland. Meanwhile Swedish star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is yet to score at Euro 2016 and is goalless in his last four games for Sweden.
The 34-year-old will retire from international football after the tournament and is still hoping to bow out in style. "To finish with a disappointment - never," he said on Tuesday.
Lukaku's goals were vindication for Belgium coach Marc Wilmots, who opted to stand by the forward despite calls for him to be dropped after their opening game defeat.
The situation could not be more different for Ibrahimovic. The Swede entered the tournament to much fanfare, yet he is still to test an opposition goalkeeper as indeed are any of his team-mates. Sweden are the only country yet to have a shot on target.
Head-to-head
Sweden
Belgium


A couple from Carmarthenshire has urged a coroner to unlock their son's Apple iPhone to find clues about his death.

William Thomas, 16, was found hanged at the family's farm in Llangyndeyrn on 22 August - two days before he was due to get his GCSE results.
The Llanelli inquest heard his parents have asked police to check his phone calls and text messages but they were unable to without his pin code.
The inquest has been adjourned until next year for the phone to be unlocked.
His father David Thomas told the hearing: "If it was the phone of a suspected terrorist I'm sure they would get into it.
"We are clutching at straws to find out what happened."
The schoolboy, a pupil at Ysgol Bro Myrddin in Carmarthen, was described as a brilliant rugby player and all-round sportsman who had been selected to train with the Llanelli Scarlets.
The inquest heard he passed his GCSEs with three A-grades, four Bs and one C and was due to return to school to study for his A-levels in September.
Parents David and Kelly Thomas said there was no reason why their son would want to end his own life but the phone could contain important information.
The inquest heard the phone was sent away to a specialist company but it could not unlock it. Apple were also approached but the phone remains locked and its contents are still a mystery.
Carmarthenshire coroner Mark Layton said: "I believe it's possible to get information off that phone and I will do everything in my power to get that information.
"It may answer some of your questions, it may not. But at least we can try."
Mr Layton said the police would send the phone away again to experts but he could force Apple to come to court to give evidence if necessary.
Adjourning the inquest, he added: "It seems to me that if the family want to know what's on the phone, then they should."


The interior of a flat in Londonderry has been extensively damaged in an arson attack.

There was no-one in the property at Bayview Terrace when the alarm was raised after 22:30 BST on Friday.
A number of residents in adjoining flats had to leave while fire crews worked to put out the fire.
Police have appealed for anyone with information to contact them.


Zlatan Ibrahimovic came off the bench to score the winner as holders Manchester United had to work hard to beat Championship strugglers Blackburn in the FA Cup fifth round.

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Striker Ibrahimovic was allowed too much time in the box to latch on to fellow substitute Paul Pogba's pass and tuck in from close range to set up a quarter-final tie against Premier League leaders Chelsea.
Danny Graham had given the hosts the lead with a rising finish following excellent play by Marvin Emnes, who himself had tested Sergio Romero with a thumping effort moments earlier.
In response, Rovers goalkeeper Jason Steele pushed away Ander Herrera's fierce shot, but Marcus Rashford equalised for the visitors by going round the goalkeeper and slotting in from Henrikh Mkhitaryan's precise pass.
Rovers striker Anthony Stokes had a goal rightly ruled out offside following Romero's triple save late on.
Relive Manchester United's win over Blackburn
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Victory for United maintains their hopes of a cup treble this season, as they travel to Saint-Etienne in the Europa League on Wednesday with a healthy last-32 first-leg advantage, and face Southampton in the EFL Cup final next Sunday.
Jose Mourinho's side did not have it all their own way at Ewood Park and were slow and sloppy in possession, while struggling to carve open clear-cut opportunities.
But they had summer signings Ibrahimovic and Pogba to thank as the two players combined for United's winning goal, with the side now losing just one of their last 10 away games in all competitions.
World-record signing Pogba, who reportedly said he left the club in his first spell after failing to play against Blackburn in 2011, picked out Ibrahimovic with an inch-perfect pass, although the home defenders should have done better to close the Swede down for his 24th goal of the campaign.
It was also Mkhitaryan's incisive, outside-of-the-foot pass which opened up the Blackburn's defence for the opening goal. The excellent Armenian controlled much of the match with his intricate passing and pacy forward play, driving a strike narrowly wide in the first half.
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Premier League title rivals against United during the mid-1990s, Rovers have fallen on difficult times since and find themselves at the wrong end of the Championship, in real danger of being relegated to the third tier.
When once they could boast the likes of Simon Garner, Alan Shearer and Andy Cole in their starting line-up, this side is mostly put together from free and loan signings.
Nomadic front man Graham, acquired for nothing from Sunderland, has impressed this term and rolled back to happier times for Rovers with a well-taken effort after 17 minutes, turning Chris Smalling and striking high past Romero for his 12th goal of the season.
Graham's spin and shot when looking for a second provided no problems for the United goalkeeper and winger Craig Conway was wasteful by lashing over the crossbar from a promising position.
Defeat means Owen Coyle's men have won only once in five games and now turn their attention to preserving their Championship status.
Blackburn boss Owen Coyle: "We gave a very good account of ourselves but nobody likes losing games. We did enough to get another shot at it today.
"We now have to show that display week in, week out in the Championship.
"We know we have good footballers here, nobody could see they are short changed by us when it comes to entertainment.
"We showed great spirit and courage to try and get an equaliser at the end and we will need those qualities for the rest of the season."
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho: "Did they give us a good game? More than good, they gave us a hard game and congratulations to them. Their approach was brave, strong. They had real competitors and if we didn't have the right attitude from everybody we would be in real trouble.
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"For long periods of the game you couldn't feel which one was the strongest team, they were brilliant. If they transfer this quality to the Championship they will have a big chance to survive.
"We conceded a brilliant goal. It was a brilliant goal. The movement and shot was really good, it didn't affect any player individually for us. We kept stable and we then scored a great goal."
Blackburn travel to Burton Albion in the Championship next Friday (kick-off 19:45 GMT), while Manchester United head to Saint-Etienne for the second leg of their Europa League last-32 tie on Wednesday (kick-off 17:00 GMT).
Match ends, Blackburn Rovers 1, Manchester United 2.
Second Half ends, Blackburn Rovers 1, Manchester United 2.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Anthony Stokes (Blackburn Rovers).
Corner,  Blackburn Rovers. Conceded by Chris Smalling.
Substitution, Manchester United. Juan Mata replaces Marcus Rashford.
Foul by Matteo Darmian (Manchester United).
Connor Mahoney (Blackburn Rovers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Offside, Blackburn Rovers. Marvin Emnes tries a through ball, but Anthony Stokes is caught offside.
Attempt saved. Marvin Emnes (Blackburn Rovers) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Attempt saved. Anthony Stokes (Blackburn Rovers) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Attempt saved. Connor Mahoney (Blackburn Rovers) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Willem Tomlinson.
Foul by Paul Pogba (Manchester United).
Connor Mahoney (Blackburn Rovers) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Ander Herrera (Manchester United).
Craig Conway (Blackburn Rovers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Blackburn Rovers. Willem Tomlinson replaces Danny Guthrie.
Matteo Darmian (Manchester United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Connor Mahoney (Blackburn Rovers).
Attempt blocked. Paul Pogba (Manchester United) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Substitution, Blackburn Rovers. Anthony Stokes replaces Danny Graham.
Goal!  Blackburn Rovers 1, Manchester United 2. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Paul Pogba with a through ball.
Attempt blocked. Ander Herrera (Manchester United) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Chris Smalling (Manchester United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Charlie Mulgrew (Blackburn Rovers).
Corner,  Blackburn Rovers. Conceded by Matteo Darmian.
Substitution, Blackburn Rovers. Connor Mahoney replaces Liam Feeney.
Ashley Young (Manchester United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Ashley Young (Manchester United).
Craig Conway (Blackburn Rovers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner,  Manchester United. Conceded by Darragh Lenihan.
Attempt blocked. Ander Herrera (Manchester United) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Corner,  Manchester United. Conceded by Jason Lowe.
Attempt blocked. Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Paul Pogba.
Attempt missed. Ander Herrera (Manchester United) right footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Paul Pogba following a corner.
Substitution, Manchester United. Zlatan Ibrahimovic replaces Anthony Martial.
Substitution, Manchester United. Paul Pogba replaces Jesse Lingard.
Corner,  Manchester United. Conceded by Derrick Williams.
Corner,  Blackburn Rovers. Conceded by Ashley Young.
Hand ball by Marvin Emnes (Blackburn Rovers).


The UK has a strong tradition of public service broadcasting and an international reputation for creative programme-making.

The fledgling BBC began daily radio broadcasts in 1922 and quickly came to play a pivotal role in national life. The Empire Service - the forerunner of the BBC World Service - established a reputation worldwide. The BBC is funded by a licence fee, which all households with a TV set must pay.
Commercial TV began in 1955 with the launch of ITV. Commercial radio arrived in the 1970s, although ship-based stations flourished in the 1960s before being outlawed. Hundreds of privately-owned radio and TV stations now compete with the BBC for listeners and viewers.
Home-grown soaps top the TV ratings, and many British viewers follow the ups and downs of life in East London's Albert Square, the setting for the BBC's EastEnders, and Coronation Street - ITV's soap about northern English working-class life. Programmes which catapult ordinary people into the public eye - known as reality TV - attract large audiences.
Once-dominant terrestrial TV networks face strong competition from digital satellite and cable, which offer hundreds of channels, and digital terrestrial TV (DTT), which carries a smaller number of mainly free-to-air channels. Terrestrial digital radio (DAB) has had a slower start. In a rapidly-changing digital world, British media providers are reaching out to online audiences.
The media are free and able to report on all aspects of British life. The variety of publications reflects the full spectrum of political opinion. In recent years, printed newspaper circulations have been sliding while online readership has surged.
News Corp, owner of The Times through its News UK subsidiary, has spearheaded attempts to make money from online content by charging readers for access.
In 2012, a judge-led inquiry recommended a new system of self-regulation for the press, backed by legislation. The inquiry followed a phone-hacking scandal at a News Corp title.
Politicians agreed to set up a new watchdog with powers to impose heavy fines and force newspapers to publish corrections. In 2013, the new system was backed by a Royal Charter, rather than by law.
But the industry objected and said the Royal Charter plan would give politicians too much power. Most publishers have stayed outside the new system.
There were more than 60 million internet users in the UK by 2016, nearly 93% of the population (Internetlivestats).
The internet accounts for 12.4% of the UK's gross domestic product (GDP), the Boston Consulting Group reported in 2016.
Around 72% of adult internet users have a social media account (Ofcom, 2015). Facebook is the leading platform.
The BBC is Britain's most popular online news destination.


China's most senior diplomat has called on Japan to immediately release the captain and 14 crew of a fishing boat seized in disputed waters last week.

State Councillor Dai Bingguo warned Tokyo to make a "wise political decision" over the matter.
On Friday, China postponed a session of planned diplomatic talks after a Japanese court ruled the boat's captain could be detained for another 10 days.
Prosecutors say his vessel deliberately rammed Japanese patrol boats.
The area where the Chinese trawler was seized on Tuesday is close to uninhabited islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, which are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan.
Closer to Taiwan, the islands and Taiwan itself were ceded to Japan by the Manchu emperor in 1895. After Japan's defeat in World War II, Taiwan was returned to the Kuomintang government, but not the islands.
On Sunday, Mr Dai increased pressure on Japan by summoning its ambassador, Uichiro Niwa, to again demand the release of the fishermen.
It was the fourth time that the Japanese envoy had been called to the foreign ministry over the incident, but correspondents say it is highly unusual for someone as senior as the state councillor to intercede.
Mr Dai advises China's leaders on foreign policy and serves on the State Council, outranking the foreign minister within the Communist Party.
"[He] solemnly stated the Chinese government's major concerns and urged Japan not to misjudge the circumstances and to make the wise political decision of immediately returning the Chinese fishermen and their boat," the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Meanwhile, Japanese coast guard officials took the trawler and its crew out to sea off the southern island of Okinawa to test its capabilities and recreate the circumstances of the collision to help investigators.
Officials are also reportedly trying to ascertain if the boat illegally entered waters which Japan considers its territory.
The Chinese foreign ministry said it firmly opposed any form of investigation by the Japanese authorities into the incident.
"Japan's so-called gathering of evidence is illegal, ineffective and futile," spokeswoman Jiang Yu said. "China urges Japan to stop actions that escalate the situation."
But Mr Niwa gave no indication that Japan was preparing to back down.
"We have maintained the position that we will solemnly handle the case in strict accordance with domestic law", he said, according to the Kyodo news agency.
A Japanese court has allowed prosecutors to keep the captain, Zhan Qixiong, in custody until 19 September before deciding whether to press charges. His crew have been told they are free to return to China.


Castleford ran in eight tries to win the Super League derby at neighbours Wakefield and move above their West Yorkshire rivals in the table.

Trinity led 16-10 at the break after tries from former Cas centre Joe Arundel (2) and stand-off Jacob Miller.
Cas had mustered two first-half scores by Greg Minikin and Oliver Holmes
But they added six more after the break through Andre Savelio, Luke Gale, who also kicked seven goals, Junior Moors, Ryan Hampshire, Minikin and Holmes.
It was a debut try for forward Savelio, who only joined the Tigers on loan from St Helens on Wednesday, but Cas lost Rangi Chase with a back problem while Super League's leading try scorer winger Denny Solomona pulled out with food poisoning..
Wakefield, who lost centre Bill Tupou, second rower Jonny Molloy and loose forward Mickey Sio with injuries, managed just one score in the second half, from winger Reece Lyne, while Liam Finn failied to add to his two first-half kicks.
The Tigers' storming finish, in which they scored five tries in 22 minutes, secured a fourth successive derby win to climb a place into sixth above Wakefield.
Trinity drop to eighth thanks to Widnes beating fifth-placed Catalans, although they were all already guaranteed a top-eight finish ahead of the Super 8s split.
But for Salford's six-point deduction, the injury-hit Wildcats would have ended up in the Qualifiers.
Instead, they can now turn their attention to next Saturday's Challenge Cup semi-final against Warrington at Leigh Sports Village  - and their bid to reach a first Wembley final for 37 years.
Wakefield coach Chris Chester:
"We had one guy fit on the bench for the last 35 minutes and that really hurt us. We had a front-rower (David Fifita) who played 65 minutes in the middle which was a great achievement.
"It was a good even contest for 50 minutes then we get a penalty, miss touch and we give a penalty away and concede. It took it away from us.
"I'm not overly disappointed because there was bags of effort out there but we just ran out of troops, and Castleford were too good for us.
"Bill came off with a hamstring injury, Jonny Molloy has got a pectoral issue and Mickey Sio got a sternum injury so those three couldn't come back."
Castleford coach Daryl Powell:
"It's been an incredible effort for us over 23 rounds. 14 players couldn't play today. It's been really tough.
"So for us to end up finishing sixth is an awesome achievement. I'm really proud of the players. We'll reap the rewards in the long run from what's happened this year."
"We were a bit helter-skelter at times but it was really pleasing how we grabbed the game in the second half.
"Savelio did really well. He's trained with us a couple of times and he handled himself really well. He's a good player. I've always rated him - and he fitted into our team really well."
Wakefield: Jowitt; Lyne, B Tupou, Arundel, Hall; Miller, Finn; Scruton, Sio, Fifita, Walton, Ashurst, Molloy.
Replacements: Crowther, Arona, Moules, A Tupou.
Castleford: Hampshire; Flynn, Crooks, O Holmes, Minikin; McShane, Gale; Springer, Milner, Patrick, Mariano, Millington, Moors.
Replacements: Savelio, T Holmes, Cook, Maher.
Referee: Joe Cobb (RFL).


The Scottish Parliament vote in May will be Scotland's first "tax and spend" election, Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale has argued.

The Scotland Bill is to give Holyrood control over several areas of welfare, as well as income tax rates and bands.
Speaking to party activists in Glasgow, Ms Dugdale proposed using the new powers to help groups including carers and new mothers from poor backgrounds.
The Scottish government will outline its proposals for welfare on Tuesday.
In her speech, Ms Dugdale set out key changes she plans to make to the welfare system, and stated that Scotland "can and must" do things differently to the Conservative government at Westminster.
A range of benefits including the Carer's Allowance, benefits for people with disabilities like the Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment and Attendance Allowance, and other benefits which are targeted at low-income households such as maternity grants and funeral payments will be devolved in the Scotland Bill.
Ms Dugdale said: "Unlike any previous election, it will not be the constitution which is the centre of this Scottish election but rather how we use our powers. 2016 will be the first Scottish tax and spend election.
"Scottish Labour will never look for an excuse not to act. We will use the new powers we hold and grasp with both hands the possibilities they provide."
Her proposals included:
She said that raising the level of Carer's Allowance to match the level of Jobseeker's Allowance would be worth about £600 a year extra to carers, which would "help to tackle poverty amongst a group in society who give so much to others."
Ms Dugdale also said that the Sure Start maternity grant has been set at £500 for 14 years, while the cost of having a baby has increased.
"We would bring it more up to date by more than doubling it to £1,030, helping families with the average cost of a cot, buggy, car seat and nappies for a year", she will pledge.
The Scottish government said at the weekend that it wanted to reduce the stress of applying for benefits when new welfare powers are devolved.
Social Justice Secretary Alex Neil also said SNP ministers would be looking to remove the stigma that can be attached to claiming social security.
Just over 15% of welfare spending north of the border will be devolved, the Scottish government has said, with the legislation also giving the parliament in Edinburgh the power to create new benefits and top up existing payments.
Mr Neil will use a debate on Tuesday to set out the key principles that he argues will underpin the Scottish government approach to welfare - that social security is an investment in the people of Scotland, with respect for the individual at the heart of the system.
Also at the weekend, Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie told his party's spring conference that he would put forward a "big, bold agenda" for change in the run-up to the election on 5 May.
He pledged the party's policies - including plans to raise £475m for education by increasing the income tax rate in Scotland by 1p - would make the country "fit for the future".
Changes to drug policy which aim to treat addiction as a health issue rather than a criminal justice problem will also be included in its manifesto, along with plans to put the treatment of mental health problems on an equal standing in law with physical ill health.
The Lib Dems also want more NHS funds to go to GPs in a bid to address recruitment issues, and say councils should have the power to set local taxation.
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said the new devolved powers would allow the Scottish government to make "real choices" about the level of benefits in Scotland.
She added: "We are glad to see Labour finally catching up with my call last year for an increase in the Carers' Allowance - which we believe is the right thing to do.
"However, all political parties need to be sure there is a fair balance between helping people who need our support, as well as the taxpayers who fund it.
"That means that when these new welfare powers are devolved, we will press the SNP to support a welfare system that provides a safety net, but one which also helps people back into work - which will always be the best route out of poverty."


The mysterious stuff known as dark matter just became less ghostly.

It makes up 85% of the total matter in the cosmos and comprises some 27% of the known Universe.
For the first time, the enigmatic quantity may have been caught interacting with other dark matter in a cluster 1.4 billion light-years away.
Previous studies of colliding galaxy clusters have shown that dark matter barely interacts with anything.
And the finding, published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, may hint at exotic physics - beyond the scope of current theories.
According to widely accepted ideas, the visible matter in galaxies exists inside clumps of dark matter. Without dark matter's gravity to stabilise them, galaxies like the Milky Way would tear themselves apart as they spin.
Yet despite its all-importance, dark matter's true nature remains elusive. It has been shown only to interact with the fundamental force of gravity.
And while it is widely believed to be associated with a specific particle, the current theory of physics known as the Standard Model does not account for one.
A team of astronomers led by Dr Richard Massey of Durham University studied a simultaneous collision of four galaxies in the cluster Abell 3827.
Although dark matter cannot be seen, the team was able to deduce its location using a technique called gravitational lensing. While dark matter does not absorb or emit light, it does have gravity.
So it bends the path of light passing nearby, warping our view of anything on the other side of it. The dark matter in Abell 3827 bent the path of light rays coming from a distant background galaxy, which happened to be aligned just right for the team's purpose.
The researchers found that one dark matter clump appeared to be lagging behind the galaxy it surrounds. Such a lag between the dark matter and its associated galaxy would be expected if the mysterious stuff was interacting with itself - through forces other than gravity.
When Dr Massey and colleagues previously studied collisions between enormous conglomerations of galaxies, such as the Bullet Cluster, they found that the dark matter hardly slowed down.
How do studies link together?
"The Bullet Cluster collision took place at incredibly high speed," Dr Massey told BBC News.
"But in this individual galaxy, the collision could have been going on for a long period of time.
"You would expect a small tiny force to build up over time, giving you a bigger offset to detect whether the dark matter interacts - just slightly. That's why we looked at them."
This slight interaction seen in the dark matter probably requires exotic physics beyond that explained by the Standard Model, Dr Massey said.
"You just need the special conditions to enable this to be seen," he explained.
Dr Thomas Kitching, a co-author of the study from University College London, said: "What we measured, with high significance, is an offset between the light emitted from the galaxies in this cluster, and the total mass.
"It's too early to say if this is a dark matter effect, or caused by normal astrophysical processes. What we need to do now, is make simulations of these collisions to distinguish these possibilities."
Research published by the same team last month placed an upper limit on the interaction of dark matter with its surroundings, while this research specifies the lower limit.
"We are finally homing in on dark matter from above and below - squeezing our knowledge from two directions," said Richard Massey.
The Large Hadron Collider will take another approach to cracking the mystery during its second run, which began this month. The giant machine under the French-Swiss border will search for dark matter particles by smashing protons together at unprecedented energies.
Follow Paul on Twitter.


Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom are in the final round of the contest to succeed David Cameron as Conservative Party leader and prime minister.

Here's a guide to how the contest will unfold.
The candidates: Home Secretary Theresa May and energy minister Andrea Leadsom
Key dates: Ballot papers will be sent out to the party membership mid August. Voting closes at noon on Friday 9 September.
Events: Hustings will take place across the UK. Dates to be announced
Who can vote? "Qualifying party members" of more than three months' standing can vote. In practice, anyone who joined the party by 9 June
The voting system? Members vote for their preferred candidate. They can do so by postal ballot or online. Votes will be counted electronically.
By Tom Bateman, BBC political correspondent
The size of the current Conservative Party membership is not clear - the number is thought to range between 130,000 and 150,000.
The most recent study of Tory membership was carried out by Professor Tim Bale and his colleagues after the 2015 general election as part of the Party Members Project by the Economic and Social Research Council.
The survey of 1,200 Conservative party members provides a useful insight into the people who will choose the next prime minister.
It suggests more than half of party members are over the age of 60, they are overwhelmingly middle class and they are disproportionately based in London and the South East of England (55% of the membership).
Just over a third have been to university - a lower number than is the case for Labour where about half are graduates.
Fewer than 5% read the Sun, compared with 17% who buy the Daily Mail and 33% who take the Daily Telegraph.
The majority are likely to agree with the view that young people today don't have enough respect for traditional British values, that schools should teach children to obey authority and that people who break the law should be given stiffer sentences.
But many stereotypes about the famous "blue-rinse brigade" simply don't hold, according to Professor Bale.
Britain's next female prime minister will be chosen by an electorate that is disproportionately male (70% of members).
They are not "gung ho, slash-and-burn neo-liberals". This large number of retirees is concerned about protecting the NHS and pensions.
But there is a tried and tested rule about leadership elections: Conservative Party members love winners.
Read more
The party's 1922 committee of backbench MPs is overseeing the contest, and it has set a spending limit of Â£135,000 per candidate. Here's a timeline of events:
Thursday 30 June: Nominations to get on the ballot paper closed at midday, with candidates needing at least two MPs' support. Theresa May, Michael Gove, Stephen Crabb, Andrea Leadsom and Liam Fox are in the running.
Tuesday 5 July: The first of two secret ballots of Conservative MPs is held as part of a process to whittle the field down to two. Liam Fox came last and was eliminated. Stephen Crabb came fourth and dropped out. Both gave their backing to Theresa May.
Thursday 7 July: With just three candidates remaining - Theresa May, Andrea Leadsom and Michael Gove - MPs vote to decide which two should go forward to the final vote of party members. Michael Gove comes last and is eliminated.
Summer: Hustings will take place across the UK, as the leadership hopefuls vie for support
9 September: Voting by the party membership closes at midday. The new Conservative leader and prime minister will be announced.
One of the longest-serving home secretaries in history, Mrs May - who turns 60 later this year - has long been mentioned as a potential future leader of the party.
She is now seen as the frontrunner, having won the support of 165 MPs in the first ballot - more than all the other candidates combined - and 199 in the second round.
She said she had won support from MPs "across the party", including those on the Remain and Leave side.
Mrs May is regarded as one of Whitehall's toughest and shrewdest operators and is being touted by her supporters as the candidate with the experience and know-how needed to deal with the fallout from the vote to leave the EU.
She entered Parliament in 1997 and in the fallow years after the Conservatives' 1997 landslide defeat, achieved notoriety by famously saying the Conservatives were referred to by some as the "nasty party".
The MP, who revealed in 2013 that she has type 1 diabetes, was praised for her unflappable handling of the often problematic Home Office brief although her wider political appeal has yet to be tested.
While coming out for Remain during the EU referendum, Mrs May maintained a relatively low profile during the campaign, enhancing her potential appeal to MPs on the other side of the debate.
Where she stands on Brexit: Backed Remain campaign but says vote to come out must be respected: "Brexit means Brexit... There must be no attempts to remain inside the EU, no attempts to rejoin it through the back door and no second referendum." Mrs May also said there should be no general election before 2020 and no "emergency" Brexit budget - and that she would abandon the target of eliminating Britain's Budget deficit by the end of the decade, a day before the chancellor himself abandoned it.
Setting out her priorities for Brexit negotiations, she said "it must be a priority to allow British companies to trade with the single market in goods and services but also to regain more control of the numbers of people who are coming here from Europe". "Any attempt to wriggle out of that, especially from leadership candidates who campaigned to leave the EU by focusing on immigration, will be unacceptable to the public."
The 53-year-old former City banker was one of the stars of the Leave campaign, giving a composed performance as she took her place alongside Boris Johnson in its TV debating team.
A former district councillor, she became MP for South Northamptonshire in 2010 and - after serving as a junior Treasury minister and as a member of the Treasury select committee - she was made a junior minister in the energy and climate change department in May last year.
Announcing her decision to stand for the party leadership, she tweeted: "Let's make the most of the Brexit opportunities!"
Following Boris Johnson's exit from the race, her stock has risen hugely with many of Mr Johnson's supporters transferring their support to her, enabling her to come second in the first round of voting with 66 votes.
By the second round, she had picked up more support, securing second place with 84 votes, pushing Michael Gove out of the final contest.
But question marks have been levelled about her level of experience in her previous City career and as a minister, her position on the EU - she said in 2013 that leaving the EU would be a disaster - and her family's tax affairs. She has said she would publish her tax returns if she made the final two.
Where she stands on Brexit: She has described the referendum result as "a huge opportunity for our great country". She believes in scrapping free movement and wants to do free trade negotiations with the rest of the world.
Mrs Leadsom told Sky News: "My personal view very genuinely is the next leader is someone who has to deliver on the promise of the referendum because they can see the huge advantages and they believe in them. I think it's very difficult for somebody who campaigned to stay in, who thinks that there will be disaster if we leave to suddenly turn it around and start believing we can make a go of it."
The 48-year-old justice secretary has gone out of his way in the past to put a limit on his personal ambitions, even going so far as to suggest that he was not equipped to do the job of prime minister.
So it was a shock, verging on a political earthquake, when the former Times journalist and Leave campaigner abandoned his support for Boris Johnson and said he would stand for the leadership himself.
Mr Gove has spoken of his "burning desire" to change the country but many of Mr Johnson's supporters did not take kindly to his spurning of their man and Mr Gove could only finish third in the first ballot of MPs, securing 48 votes, and was ejected in the second and final round.
Mr Gove, who entered Parliament in 2005, has been a close personal friend of David Cameron and George Osborne and was a key figure in the party's modernisation but those relations are said to have been strained by his decision to campaign to leave the EU.
He subsequently became a reforming, if controversial, education secretary and is regarded as one of the party's intellectual heavyweights. He ruled out a snap general election if he became PM - and he said he would abandon Chancellor George Osborne's target of eliminating Britain's budget deficit by 2020. Mr Osborne himself has since abandoned the target.
Where he stands on Brexit:  "The British people voted for change last Thursday... they want Britain to leave the European Union and end the supremacy of EU law. They told us to restore democratic control of immigration policy and to spend their money on national priorities such as health, education and science instead of giving it to Brussels. They rejected politics as usual and government as usual. They want and need a new approach to running this country."
He said he would wait until at least until 2017 to kick off the two-year process of negotiating the UK's withdrawal by invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. "I will only trigger it after extensive preliminary talks ... so I have no expectation that Article 50 would be triggered in this calendar year," he said.
One of the rising stars of the Conservative Party, and the first Conservative cabinet minister for generations to sport a beard, the 43-year-old launched a leadership bid on a joint ticket with Business Secretary Sajid Javid.
However, the work and pensions secretary pulled out of the race after coming fourth in the first ballot, amassing 34 votes. He then signalled he would be supporting home secretary believing she was the candidate most capable of uniting the party and the country.
In his campaign, Mr Crabb who was born in Scotland, spoke of the need to bring the United Kingdom together following the referendum result, and said controlling immigration was "a red line" in Brexit negotiations.
Raised by a single mother on a council estate, Mr Crabb - who became an MP in 2005 - has spoken openly about his family's dependence on benefits and the importance of work, education and his Christian faith in promoting self-reliance and economic independence.
He was promoted to the cabinet in 2014 as Welsh secretary and later succeeded Iain Duncan Smith at work and pensions. While praising his qualities, many felt the opportunity came too early and his support for Britain to remain in the EU held him back.
Where he stands on Brexit: Campaigned for Remain but now says: "The result was for the UK to leave the European Union. There can be no stepping back from that. It's a clear instruction to the government. There can be no attempt to dilute it, to sidestep it. And there will be no second referendum."
Mr Crabb has set out three aims for the EU negotiations: "One: controlling immigration, and for us this is a red line. The one message that came through louder than any other in the vote last week is that the British people want to control immigration. Two: it is vital that we seek to achieve as close an economic relation with the EU as we have now. Three: the end of the supremacy of EU law."
The former defence secretary, 54, threw his hat into the ring for a second time after coming a close third in the 2005 leadership contest.
However, he was eliminated in the first round of voting after finishing bottom with 16 votes. He then said he would be transferring his support to home secretary Theresa May.
He has been a forceful voice for the UK leaving the EU on the backbenches but also for Conservative unity after the referendum.
His cabinet career was cut short in 2011 following a lobbying row, which led to his resignation. Mr Fox was found to have breached the ministerial code over his working relationship with his friend and self-styled adviser Adam Werrity
Where he stands on Brexit: "I do not believe there is room for membership of the single market if it entails free movement of people. Those who voted to leave the EU would regard it as a betrayal and frankly they would be right. We do not need to be part of the single market to sell into it. Countries like the United States manage to do that very well. It is in our mutual interests to have a free and open trade relationship with our European partners but we cannot accept the concept of free movement of people as its cost."
The former mayor of London was immediately installed as the bookies' favourite to be the next occupant of Downing Street when David Cameron announced he was standing down.
But he shocked supporters and foes alike when he used an event at which he had been expected to announce his candidacy to say that he could not provide the leadership and unity required and would not be standing.
His withdrawal came hours after the last-minute entry into the race of Michael Gove, who had previously backed the mayor of London and was masterminding his campaign.
But Mr Gove said he had reluctantly come to the conclusion that the 52-year-old journalist-turned-Conservative politician, one of the most familiar faces in British politics, was not up to the job of being prime minister.
Long thought to harbour ambitions to be prime minister, Mr Johnson has now said he is backing Andrea Leadsom.
The chancellor has said he will not enter the contest to succeed David Cameron as Conservative leader, saying he does not believe he is the right person to unite the party. He has also yet to indicate who he will support.
Many commentators believed Mr Cameron's right-hand man and political soulmate yearns to move the short distance to No 10 from 11 Downing Street - where the 45-year-old has spent the last six years as chancellor.
Although he has a strong power base in Parliament - so-called "friends of George" occupy many of the seats around the Cabinet table - his stock among backbenchers on the right of the party has never been so low and his fortunes have been closely entwined with Mr Cameron's.
His high-profile backing of the Remain cause, which culminated in his warning that there would have to be a tax-raising emergency Budget in the wake of a Brexit vote, meant he'd have had a long way to go to win back the Eurosceptic side of the party.
The health secretary, who joined Parliament in 2005 and is politically close to David Cameron, said he was "seriously considering" running for the leadership of the Conservative Party - but on the day nominations closed he announced he would be backing Theresa May's candidacy instead.
He said now was "not the right time" for him to stand, and added: "I have decided that now is not the right time for me to run for the leadership - though I remain completely committed to ensuring we secure our position as a great trading nation with sensible controls on migration.
"I believe that Theresa May has the strength, judgement and values to deliver those things. She is the right choice to lead Britain in a challenging period and will make a truly outstanding prime minister."
The 49-year-old has previously said he expected the health brief "to be my last big job in politics" but has since said: "I said it might be... things change in politics very, very rapidly.
The education secretary said she was "actively considering" whether to throw her hat into the ring, saying it would "be good" to have a woman in the final two on the ballot paper - but she decided to throw her weight behind Michael Gove.
She said the next leader "must have the skill and credibility to put together the right team to renegotiate our exit from and future relationship with Europe and explain the final terms to the British people," adding that "the right person to do that is Michael Gove."
On the centre-left of the party, she was a strong supporter of the campaign to stay in the EU, saying the referendum result showed a "divided" country and said the Conservatives need to bring it back together.
She has also urged the party to make the "positive case" for immigration. And she said the Conservatives need to make "a big bold offer" to younger voters, many of whom are "disillusioned" by Brexit, and called for votes for 16 and 17-year-olds.
Mr Baron, who represents Basildon and Billericay in Essex, said he had been asked to consider running for Tory leader and was taking soundings but was not among the official candidates when nominations closed.
The 57-year-old was instrumental in pushing the Conservative leadership into committing to the referendum, with a letter to the prime minister, signed by more than 100 MPs, followed by a rebel amendment to the 2013 Queen's Speech.
After studying at Cambridge University he joined the Army and later worked in the City of London.
Mr Baron is a former shadow health minister who resigned from the front bench in 2003 to vote against the Iraq War. He also voted against military intervention in Syria last year.


Prime Minister David Cameron is to meet French President Francois Hollande in Paris shortly - the latest leg in his drive to negotiate new EU membership terms for the UK.

After the draft deal was published two weeks ago, an irate editorial in the French newspaper Le Monde fumed that the concessions made to Britain were "exorbitant".
And while some in Mr Cameron's own Conservative Party dismiss his renegotiation as a watery fudge, politicians in Paris have a very different view.
Of particular concern here is the question of future financial regulation. UK ministers, too, think this is the most important part of the whole renegotiation.
The issue is this: The majority of EU countries that have the euro are integrating further and building a banking union with common rules and regulations. That process will deepen in the coming years.
Mr Cameron wants legal guarantees that the eurozone will not rig the rules in a way that could harm the interests of countries that do not have the euro. But France frets that the UK is seeking special treatment for the City of London, that could harm the single market in financial services.
France is also concerned a new mechanism that would allow non-euro countries to escalate their concerns could clog up decision-making.
The UK insists it is not asking for any veto or competitive advantage, but this is likely to be the focus of the hastily arranged talks here this evening.
President Hollande also faces an election next year - and while he wants the UK to stay in the EU, he will not do a deal that gives his opponents a chance to claim he sold out to Britain.
EU renegotiation: Did Cameron get what he wanted?
Referendum timeline: What will happen when?
The view from Europe: What's in it for the others?
More: BBC News EU referendum special


All UK flights to and from Sharm el-Sheikh have been grounded after the government said intelligence suggested a plane crash in Sinai on Saturday could have been caused by a bomb on board the aircraft.

British holidaymakers who are stranded in the resort, and those due to travel to the area, have been sharing their experiences with the BBC.
Here is a selection of what some said:
Kate Dodd from Didsbury in Manchester was on board her plane when all passengers were told they were being taken to a resort overnight.
"We were on board the cancelled Thomson flight to Manchester yesterday evening. There was very little information about what is going on and communication from Thomson hasn't been great.
"I only found out what was going on by calling my parents in Cheshire from the plane. Thomson did well in organising things once we were off the plane.
"We have all been put up in nice accommodation now. I'm travelling with a four-month-old and a five year-old so things are a bit stressful."
British tourist Paul Modley is stranded with two friends in Sharm el-Sheikh.
The 49-year-old from west London has been to the region seven times in the last nine years and said he worries about the future for the local population.
"We understand why the government has done it, but I am really worried for the Egyptian people because - particularly in the Red Sea resorts - they are so dependent on tourism.
"The staff at the hotel are putting on a very positive face. I do not think they fully appreciate it right now but if this carries on for some time they will start to see the impact," he said.
Leon Chlon from Cambridge was due to fly to Gatwick on Thursday afternoon but is still stuck in Sharm el-Sheikh after his flight was cancelled.
He said: "There is general confusion and a bit of panic in my hotel, as there are many Russian tourists staying here. There's a lot of tension."
Sarah Cotterill from Portsmouth remains in Sharm el-Sheikh after flight suspensions were announced on Wednesday, just as she was boarding an Easyjet plane to the UK.
She told the BBC: "After spending about three hours at the airport we were bussed back to our hotel, and that's where we are at the moment.
"At the airport we had practically no information, and there were a few members of the Egyptian staff at the airport trying to tell us what they knew, but that was practically nothing.
"Just as we were leaving, some embassy staff turned up and they travelled with us to the hotel."
Joanna Newman, 40, was due to fly to Sharm el-Sheikh with her husband Andy on Thursday morning. They have been travelling there for 15 years.
She said: "We have been told not to go to the airport and are just waiting to see what we are told about our flight. We didn't know whether to go home to Norfolk or book another night in the hotel.
"We have never had any concerns over security in Sharm el-Sheikh, and they seem to be doing more checks than ever now. If anything, security seems to have gone up a notch in recent years."
Peter and Yvonne Tuffy are in Edinburgh and are due to fly to Sharm el-Sheikh on 21 November.
Mr Tuffy said: "We are due to fly out for eight days with Thomson on the 21st November. I contacted the travel rep in Edinburgh on Monday and was told I could change the flights for Â£50.
"They phoned back to say the information was wrong, we couldn't change our holiday. As part of their 28 days policy, changing holiday would be a 90% charge. By Saturday it will be 100%.
"Unfortunately, it seems in our case, they say we are too close to our flying date to change it even though people are being brought home immediately.
"I thought this would count as extenuating circumstances. It's strange to hold onto booking conditions when the situation looks pretty bad."


Residents of a Highlands community have become "increasingly angry" at a local authority's response to their calls for road safety improvements.

People in Elphin, 15 miles north of Ullapool, raised a petition in 2015 asking for a 40mph speed on approaches to the village to be reduced.
Highland Council has yet to put in place any of the speed calming measures suggested, say residents.
The local authority said it would investigate.
A council spokesperson said "no guarantees have been given regarding the outcome of these investigations".
Elphin, a community of about 44 houses, is on the A835, which forms part of the popular North Coast 500 (NC500) tourist route.
When the petition was raised in 2015, residents asked Highland Council to reduce the speed limit on bends in the road to help better protect children catching a bus to school.
Since then, residents said traffic had increased due to the popularity of the NC500.
Bill Badger, a spokesman for the community's campaign for improved road safety, said electronic signs warning motorists about their speed had been offered nine times and should have been installed late last year.
He said the community's anger and frustration at Highland Council's response was made clear to a senior roads official at a meeting earlier this week.
A council spokesperson said the local authority would investigate the "possibility of pursuing speed reduction and traffic calming measures" in Elphin, including the extension of 40mph speed limits either side of the village and the introduction of new 30mph speed limits within the village.
The spokesperson added: "The council is proposing to improve signage and to introduce double white no overtaking lines.
"No guarantees have been given regarding the outcome of these investigations as members will need to be consulted, and permanent traffic orders - which would require to be advertised for public scrutiny - would also need to be made."
Councillors sitting on the local area committee would be asked to make any decision on the measures.


Nicole Kidman fans may want to head to the French Riviera next month - the star is in four productions that will be shown at the Cannes Film Festival.

Two of the Australian actress's films will be in competition for the Palme d'Or, both also starring Colin Farrell.
They are Sofia Coppola's One is The Beguiled and The Killing of a Sacred Deer, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos.
Her sci-fi rom com How to Talk to Girls at Parties and an episode of TV drama Top of the Lake will also be screened.
Elsewhere, multiple Oscar-winning director Alejandro Inarritu will show a short virtual reality film titled Carne Y Arena (Flesh And Sand).
Filmed by renowned cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, the experimental film will explore the experience of a group of immigrants and refugees crossing the border between Mexico and the US, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
It is a theme explored by a number of film-makers. Happy End by Austria's Michael Haneke is another refugee story, this time set in Calais.
Actress Vanessa Redgrave also examines the refugee experience in her directorial debut, Sea Sorrow.
Among the big-name directors competing for the Palme d'Or are Michel Hazanavicius, the man behind the Oscar-winning silent movie The Artist, whose film Le Redoutable is about the romance between director Jean-Luc Godard and actress Anne Wiazemsky.
Carol director Todd Haynes will premiere his period drama Wonderstruck, starring Julianne Moore.
Lynne Ramsay is the only British director with a film in competition. Her latest feature, a thriller titled You Were Never Really Here, stars Joaquin Phoenix.
As usual, there will be a number of special screenings out of competition. This year, Barack Obama and Donald Trump will be seen in a An Inconvenient Sequel, Al Gore's follow-up to his 2006 climate change documentary An Inconvenient Truth.
The Cannes Film Festival runs from 17 to 28 May 2017.
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A new video featuring John Cantlie, the Briton held in Syria by the Islamic State militant group, has been issued.

The nine-minute film, the latest in a series titled Lend Me Your Ears, shows the photojournalist behind a desk and apparently reading from a script.
This followed the pattern of most of the previous videos featuring Mr Cantlie.
The 43-year-old was seized in late 2012 and the Foreign Office says it is "analysing" the latest footage.
Since August, IS has posted videos online showing the deaths of two British and two US hostages.
In the new video, Mr Cantlie, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, said he accepted "long ago" that his fate is "overwhelmingly likely" to be the same as his "cellmates".
He referred to the policy of the UK and US of not negotiating the release of hostages through means such as ransom payments.
He also claimed there was a rescue attempt by US forces in July but it failed because the hostages had been moved to a different location.
There is no indication as to when the video was filmed, although Mr Cantlie does refer to the death of British aid worker David Haines, which happened in September.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are aware of a further video and are analysing its contents."
Mr Cantlie has been held captive in Syria twice. He was kidnapped first in July 2012, but escaped with help from the Free Syrian Army.
He was then kidnapped for a second time when he returned to Syria towards the end of 2012.
Last month, Mr Cantlie's father Paul, 80, died from complications following pneumonia. It came two weeks after he recorded a video message from his hospital bed urging his son's release. Mr Cantlie's sister, Jessica, had earlier appealed for "direct contact" with the militants.


The majority of machines hit by the WannaCry ransomware worm in the cyber-attack earlier this month were running Windows 7, security firms suggest.

More than 97% of the infections seen by Kaspersky Lab and 66% of those seen by BitSight used the older software.
WannaCry started spreading in mid-May and, so far, has infected more than 200,000 computers around the world.
In the UK, some hospitals had to turn away patients as the worm shut down computer systems.
Many suggested that the reason UK hospitals suffered was because many of them still relied on programs that required Windows XP - a version of Microsoft's OS that debuted in 2001.
But infections of XP by WannaCry were "insignificant" said Costin Raiu from Kaspersky Lab.
Windows 7 was first released in 2009 and the most widely infected version was the x64 edition, which is widely used in large organisations, showed figures from Kasperksy.
Many organisations seem to have been caught out because they failed to apply a patch, issued by Microsoft in March. that blocked the vulnerability which WannaCry exploited.
Spanish telecoms firm Telefonica, French carmaker Renault, German rail firm Deutsche Bahn, logistics firm Fedex, Russia's interior ministry and 61 NHS organisations were all caught out by WannaCry.
After encrypting files, the WannaCry worm demanded a payment of Â£230 ($300) in bitcoins before they were unfrozen. So far, a reported 296 payments totalling $99,448 (Â£76,555) have been made to the bitcoin wallets tied to the ransomware.
There have been no reports that anyone who paid has had their data restored by the gang behind the attack.
Security experts also found that the worm spread largely by seeking out vulnerable machines on the net by itself. Before now, many thought it had got started via an email-based phishing campaign.
Adam McNeil, a senior malware analyst at Malwarebytes, said the worm was primed to look for machines vulnerable to a bug in a Microsoft technology known as the Server Message Block (SMB).
"The attackers initiated an operation to hunt down vulnerable public facing SMB ports and, once located, used the newly available SMB exploits to deploy malware and propagate to other vulnerable machines within connected networks," he wrote.
Mr McNeil said he suspected that whoever was behind the worm first identifed a "few thousand" vulnerable machines which were used as the launch platform for the much larger waves of infection.


A lorry driver whose runaway vehicle caused the death of a pensioner has been cleared of blame.

Steven Wood, 27, had been chatting to road workers after delivering a load of tarmac before the incident happened in Largs, Ayrshire, in September 2013.
John Woods, 86, died after the lorry rolled down Waterside Street and collided with a car, which struck a house and garage before hitting him.
A jury found Mr Wood not guilty of causing death by careless driving.
Giving evidence at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court, Gary McRoberts, who had been driving a road roller when the lorry started to move, said: "Steven tried to run after it but it was going too fast by that time. Everything happened quite quick.
"By the time I turned around Steven was chasing it but it was going too fast and getting away from him. It was picking up speed all the time."
Mr Woods suffered fatal injuries in the incident.
Prosecutors had claimed Mr Wood, from Hurlford in Ayrshire, left his engine running and failed to properly apply the handbrake or turn the wheels to the kerb when he stopped.


A labradoodle called Pepper who fell over cliffs in East Sussex resisted rescue attempts by Coastguard teams for more than 26 hours.

The dog slipped over the edge while she was off the lead at Ecclesbourne Glen, near Hastings on Wednesday afternoon.
Rescue teams from Hastings and Rye Bay finally managed to persuade her to come close enough to be rescued at 17:30 BST on Thursday.
Pepper was hoisted to the cliff top unhurt but thirsty and exhausted.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the maritime rescue co-ordination centre at Dover (MRCC) was alerted by Sussex Police when the dog fell off the cliff.
MRCC teams located her on a narrow ridge and spent four hours trying to persuade her to come to them but she refused.
They then approached from the other end of the ridge and tried to tempt her with dog treats and meat, but had to call off the rescue attempt in darkness at 23:00 BST.
It resumed on Thursday morning and it took all day before Pepper would move to a position where she could be rescued.
Her owner, from London, said: "I never thought that she would run through the gorse and no idea that there was a sheer cliff on the other side of it.
"I will never again walk Pepper off the lead near a cliff and would strongly advise other dog owners to learn from our experience."


The UK should leave the EU on 1 January 2019, Conservative leadership candidate Liam Fox has said.

Mr Fox said official negotiations should begin this year, warning that momentum cannot be lost "by stealth or the ideological rigidity" of Brussels.
Free movement must end or this would be a "betrayal" of the Brexit vote.
As a former defence secretary, Mr Fox said he had sat round the table with world leaders and had the "necessary breadth of experience" to do the job.
Mr Fox is one of five candidates, alongside Theresa May, Michael Gove, Andrea Leadsom and Stephen Crabb, in the race to succeed David Cameron as Conservative leader and prime minister.
The first ballot of Tory MPs takes place on Tuesday, with the eventual outcome due on 9 September.
Launching his leadership bid, Mr Fox - who campaigned for the UK to leave the EU - said he believed the process of exiting the EU could be concluded in about two years and he urged his rivals to be equally "explicit" about the deadline for leaving to prevent any slippage.
"We cannot have a contest where doubts about the exit process remain among my colleagues and the public," he said.
Insisting politicians should not "second-guess or water down" the UK's decision to leave the EU, he said there was no justification for the UK remaining in the single market and therefore having to accept unrestricted EU immigration.
"If the price of the relationship with the single market is free movement of people, it's a price I'm not willing to pay. I believe the British people have made their view very clear. It is not for politicians to water it down or second guess it," he said.
Home Secretary Theresa May: The 59-year-old has replaced Boris Johnson as the bookies' favourite to win the contest. She's held the Home Office brief - often something of a poisoned chalice - since 2010, and is a former Tory party chairman.  She says she can offer the "strong leadership" and unity the UK needs, and promised a "positive vision" for the country's future. She backed staying in the EU. Theresa May profile
Justice Secretary Michael Gove: The 48-year-old former newspaper columnist was a key figure in the party's modernisation that led to its return to power in 2010. He was a reforming, if controversial, education secretary between 2010 and 2014, and now holds the Ministry of Justice brief. He was a leading player in the Brexit campaign - which put a strain on his close friendship with David Cameron. He has pitched himself as the candidate that can provide "unity and change". Michael Gove profile
Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb: The 43-year-old was promoted to the cabinet in 2014 as Welsh secretary, and boosted his profile earlier this year when he took over as work and pensions secretary. A rising star of the Tory party he has promised to unite the party and country following the referendum result and provide stability. Raised on a council estate by a single mother, he has a back story to which many Tory MPs are attracted. Backed Remain. Stephen Crabb profile
Energy minister Andrea Leadsom: The 53-year-old former banker and fund manager was one of the stars of the Leave campaign. A former district councillor, she became MP for South Northamptonshire in 2010 and - after serving as a junior Treasury minister and as a member of the Treasury select committee - she was made a junior minister in the energy and climate change department in May last year. Andrea Leadsom profile
Former cabinet minister Liam Fox: It's second time around for the 54-year-old ex-defence secretary and GP, who came a close third in the 2005 leadership contest. His cabinet career was cut short in 2011 when he resigned following a lobbying row. A Brexit campaigner, and on the right of the party, he has said whoever becomes PM must accept "the instruction" of the British people and not "try to backslide" over EU membership. Liam Fox profile
Mr Fox also said that he would seek an agreement where EU citizens currently living in the UK would be granted "full rights to remain".
"I would like to see rules apply to future movement, not to those who are currently here and I think that removing the element of fear that I'm afraid the Remain campaign encouraged during the referendum would be a very positive thing."
However he said that would be part of a mutual agreement, allowing British citizens living on the Continent to remain as well.
Mr Fox said the UK's future outside the EU and the single market was an "optimistic" one, citing the reputation of UK contract law, its benign industrial relations, competitive taxation regime and the attraction of the English language as factors likely to encourage employers to continue to invest and trade.
'Use it or lose it'
In his speech, Mr Fox - who also stood for the leadership in 2005 - said national security would be his number one priority while housing and health would also be key planks of any government he would lead.
He called for a "use it or lose it" clause on developers to require building with a certain period and infrastructure audits to determine the impact that new developments would have on school places and the availability of GP appointments.
Mr Fox, who was a doctor before entering Parliament in 1992, urged an end to structural re-organisation within the health service, saying there should be "more medicine and less management" in the NHS.
He suggested he was the only candidate in the field who combined a long-standing passion for Brexit with top level cabinet experience, saying he had "sat round a table" with President Obama and Chancellor Angela Merkel.
He also called for Heathrow expansion to be given the green light and said the government's deficit reduction strategy needed to be intensified, suggesting it was "convenient" for the Treasury to use Brexit to drop its fiscal rule targets.


A Galloway road has been closed for the second time as a renewed attempt is made to recover a toppled crane.

The A712 between Newton Stewart and New Galloway was shut before Christmas after the vehicle left the road.
It has since reopened but operations near Clatteringshaws to recover the vehicle have so far been unsuccessful.
A second closure started at 09:30 on Monday and the road was expected to remain shut until 07:00 to remove the crane.


Shares in Asian makers of Android mobile phones have risen, after Google said it would buy Motorola's handset business for $12.5bn (Â£7.7bn).

The agreement is expected to give the likes of HTC and Samsung Electronics a greater degree of protection against possible patent disputes.
Shares in Samsung rose more than 4%, while HTC shares were 2% higher on Tuesday.
Google is the primary developer of the Android software for mobile devices.
However, because many companies own related patents, the internet giant is open to being sued by rivals.
Its purchase of Motorola Mobility gives Google ownership of 17,000 mobile patents, with thousands more pending.
That means mobile phone makers that license Android software may now receive more protection against future patent lawsuits.
"We welcome the news of today's acquisition, which demonstrates that Google is deeply committed to defending Android, its partners, and the entire ecosystem," HTC chief executive Peter Chou said in a statement.
Besides HTC and Samsung, other companies that use the software include Sony Ericsson and LG Electronics.
So-called contract equipment manufacturers, which make phones for brands other than its own, also received a boost from the Google deal.
Shares in Taiwan's Foxconn rose by more than 14% while Compal Communications jumped by more than 7%.


The Tories' "imposition" of a general election candidate in Bridgend could cost the party one of its main target seats, a regional official has warned.

Karen Robson was confirmed as Conservative candidate for the constituency on Tuesday evening.
South West Wales Tory chairman Alex Williams said Bridgend members felt "aggrieved" that a local candidate had not been added to the shortlist.
Labour MP Madeleine Moon will defend a 1,927 majority over the Tories in June.
Ms Robson said: "I am honoured to have been selected to be the Conservative Party candidate for Bridgend."
Mr Williams and another party figure told BBC Wales that Conservative Party headquarters initially shortlisted Ms Robson, who has previously stood for Westminster and assembly seats in Cardiff, and Dan Boucher, a regional Tory candidate for South Wales West in the 2016 assembly poll.
This prompted the Bridgend branch to ask for a "local" candidate to be added to the shortlist, but party headquarters then decided to select Ms Robson without a branch vote.
Mr Williams, who is also on the board of the Welsh Conservatives, said: "I'm personally very disappointed, it's highly undemocratic and has caused significant problems.
"Many members are aggrieved and many are thinking of leaving the party as a result.
"It appears the motive is to ensure more Welsh Conservative female MPs.
"We mustn't ensure gender balance in the parliamentary party by enforcing female candidates on local branches.
"This has given Labour ammunition to say the Conservatives don't have a local candidate - the decision could cost us the seat."
Ken Watts, the only Conservative on Bridgend council, said he was "angry and disillusioned" members were not given a chance to select a "local" member.
He believes members should have been able to select Mr Williams, who is also the agent for Tory candidates standing in Bridgend in Thursday's local election.
"I will find it extremely difficult to campaign for her," he said of Ms Robson.
"It's a point of principle - nothing personal.
"It's been a four-year struggle to get Bridgend as a target seat and we've finally achieved that.  Alex fought really hard to help make that happen.
"I'm very disappointed in the approach from CCHQ [Conservative Campaign Headquarters] - I'm angry and disillusioned, some senior members feel it could cost us the seat."
Plaid Cymru has selected Rhys Watkins as its candidate for Bridgend.
BBC Wales understands a Conservative candidate was also imposed in Newport West, where Angela Jones-Evans has been selected, despite local activists wanting to have a choice.
Sources in the city said that there had been only one candidate available for the Newport West conservative association to choose from.
Activists told the BBC that they liked Mrs Jones-Evans as a candidate, but believed it would have helped her if members could have voted for her from a shortlist of more than one.
There had been hopes the party would change its mind, but at a selection meeting on Sunday only one candidate was put forward.
There was known to be some limited opposition to the imposition of a candidate at the meeting, but the association in the end endorsed Mrs Jones-Evans.
Nick Webb, a local Tory activist and the candidate for Newport West in 2015, was understood to have wanted to have run and is known to have been upset that his proposed candidacy was not put to a vote of activists.
The Plaid Cymru candidate in Newport West is Lewis Greenaway.
Labour MP Paul Flynn will be defending a Labour majority in Newport West of 3,510 over the Conservatives.
A full list of candidates will be available following the close of nominations on 11 May.


A juvenile jackdaw that swallowed a pair of tweezers has survived after emergency surgery.

The weeks-old baby bird has made an "incredible" recovery since eating the tweezers while being hand-fed, an RSPCA spokesman said.
The male jackdaw was rushed for specialist animal surgery in Cheshire on Monday from a garden in Swadlincote, Derbyshire, where it was found.
The tweezers stretched almost the full length of the bird's body.
Vets were concerned the young bird would die from the internal damage but it is now on the mend after an "intricate hour-long procedure", RSPCA vet Bev Panto said.
"When I saw the X-rays and the size of the tweezers he had swallowed, I thought there was absolutely no chance this poor jackdaw could survive.
"The tweezers stretched the whole length of his digestive system - right from his crop to his intestines and the sharp ends were piercing through his skin."
The vet said the tweezers were removed by opening up the bird's stomach.
"We think it is possible this bird was being hand-fed and then tried to eat more than just the food.
"He has proved quite the little fighter. He seems as right as rain and has been eating well ever since.
"He obviously has quite the tweezer fetish though so we have to be extra careful when feeding him!"
She said it was "the most incredible case" she had ever seen in six years as a wildlife vet.
"Whilst he still has a long way to go, and lots of healing to do, he has amazed us all so far, and we are hopeful we will be able to see him through to release."