live from london, this is bbc news. the economy takes centre stage on the campaign trail. the conservatives folk ought dutch focus on pension, and labour say they are the party of business. greater manchester police say no further action will be taken against labour's deputy leader, angela rayner, following allegations she broke electoral law. and the lib dem leader makes a splash with the first full week of campaigning now under way. full week of campaigning now under wa . ., �* ~ ., way. hello, i'm adam fleming, host of newscast— way. hello, i'm adam fleming, host of newscast - _ way. hello, i'm adam fleming, host of newscast - you — way. hello, i'm adam fleming, host of newscast - you will— way. hello, i'm adam fleming, host of newscast - you will shortly - way. hello, i'm adam fleming, host of newscast - you will shortly be - of newscast — you will shortly be able to see us recording today's episode, where we will tell you everything you need to know from the campaign trail. find everything you need to know from the campaign trail-— campaign trail. and our other main headhnes campaign trail. and our other main headlines - — campaign trail. and our other main headlines - israel _ campaign trail. and our other main headlines - israel carries _ campaign trail. and our other main headlines - israel carries out - campaign trail. and our other main headlines - israel carries out some headlines — israel carries out some of its most intense bombing of southern gaza with tanks reaching the southern —— reaching southern

gaza. closing organs begin and donald trump ultimate cost money trial. we will be live from new york. best closing arguments begin in donald trump's hush money trial. hello, i'm martine croxall. the economy has taken centre stage on the campaign trail today. the prime minister says he will protect pensioners from a tax hike if the conseravtives win the next election. rishi sunak launched what's being called the "triple—lock plus" plan which will increase pensioners' personal allowance to prevent more people paying income tax. labour says the plan is not credible. meanwhile, the shadow chancellor, rachel reeves, has said that labour is the "natural party for british business" and unveiled a list of 121 businesses who are supporting them at this election. faisal islam reports.

the prime minister was inspecting china in the potteries today, but there are no delicate ming vases in his campaign. the conservatives' strategy appears to be move fast and break things, with bold policies. today's new offer — no tax for those on the basic state pension. for people who work hard all their lives and put in, then we need to make sure that they have the dignity they deserve when they have finished. and that is why i have already protected pensions and the triple lock and you have seen our announcement today, the triple lock plus, where we will raise the threshold, make sure that pensioners get a tax cut and they will never pay tax on the state pension, as well as the triple lock going up. 30 miles down the a50 at rolls—royce in derby, labour's top two are also talking economics. at britain's world beating exporter ofjet engines, the shadow chancellor, rachel reeves, heralded the support of over 120 business executives for a change of government. i can say with confidence that this labour party is the natural party of british business. it is take off for the election campaign with big calls being made by the two main parties. the conservatives are making almost daily policy announcements that

involve tax and spend, without being fully accounted for. labour say they don't want to follow the conservatives down what they say is a rabbit hole and have a singular message of stability, stability, stability, and they are trying to remind the electorate of what happened under liz truss with the mini budget. no tax rises, says the shadow chancellor, rachel reeves. but nor will she match the pension tax cut. what you won't get from me, either in this election campaign or if i become chancellor of the exchequer in a few weeks' time, is any commitments that is not fully costed and fully funded. because if you do that, you are going down the liz truss route and we saw the damage that she did to our economy. rishi sunak is going down that route, i never will. but you can address pensioners who are thinking about where to cast their x in the ballot box in six weeks' time and at the moment they have an offer from the prime minister and the current chancellor which is,

if you are on the state, basic state pension, you won't get taxed on it if you vote for them whereas with labour, you would. well, pensioners are only looking at paying tax on the basic state pension because of what the conservatives have done. people should not believe these promises from the government because unless a plan is fully funded, you shouldn't have any confidence it is going to be delivered. and that is the problem with the conservative party. in the lake district, some other opposition parties were chasing floating voters, perhaps. the lib dems leader, sir ed davey, said the state pension move was a u—turn. the last thing pensioners need is another dose of conservative government. the last thing the country needs. liberal democrats have some really attractive policies for pensioners. not only are we behind the triple lock, as the ones who began it in the first place, we want to make sure the health service that pensioners rely on is properly funded, that there is a care system there. of course we want to see investments in peoples pockets and making sure . pensioners are seeing a benefit to any economic improvement. in the situation in the country

faces but we are seeing - the consequences of m—and—a—half years of austerity that both - labour and the tories - are committed to continuing. the snp criticising both main parties. at a bowling club in leicestershire, the pm pressed his case with what has been a dependable demographic for his party. the question is whether older voters prefer a tax cut offer for those on the state pension or believe the promise of stability under a changed government. who is on target with this argument could well determine the winner injuly. faisal islam, bbc news, in the east midlands. richard tice is out on the campaign trail and in barnsley, making a speech this evening. let's listen in. �* , ., speech this evening. let's listen in. absolutely, and america, the way

it works - if — in. absolutely, and america, the way it works - if you _ in. absolutely, and america, the way it works - if you get _ in. absolutely, and america, the way it works - if you get the _ in. absolutely, and america, the way it works - if you get the call - in. absolutely, and america, the way it works - if you get the call from - it works — if you get the call from the secretary of state, newly appointed by the president, it is part of your civic duty and national obligation that you'll take a pay cut and go into government and help out. you'll do that for some years, then go back out into the private sector or charitable sector, or whatever. i think that's the right way of doing it. it should be part of our civic duty. if you get the call up — there are great people across all walks of life, we've made mistakes and learn from them, the thing is to not make the same mistake again. but if you try and cover up mistakes, pretend they didn't happen, let me tell you what happens. you get the maternity scandals, the post office scandal, and the infected blood scandal. and frankly it's an outrage. and all this stuff needs reform, you have to be honest with people and say, "we've tried this and we've screwed up. but we've learned from it and we won't do it again." you've just got

to be open with folks, and we do need a higher quality of people. we've got some great people in reform and many people are joining ijy reform and many people are joining by the day. again, i'm truly humbled, successful business people, military people from all walks of life— we can do this, where it is spreading. slightly difficult to hear the questions in the background, our apologies there, but we heard richard tice talking about the need for reform in the way that institutions and government operates, which given the title of his party is reform uk, is on message. they say they are party offering common sense solutions on immigration, cost—of—living and sovereignty. nigel farage says

reform uk is becoming a fast growing party. greater manchester police say no further action will be taken against labour's deputy leader, angela rayner, after an investigation into her living arrangements. she was facing allegations that she may have broken electoral law in connection with a property that she owned in stockport. this evening ms rayner has said she welcomes the confirmation no further action will be taken, and she has thanked those who stood by her. our correspondentjoe pike reports. it's the tale of two houses which has dogged the labour deputy leader for months. i got that advice that is categoric, that i do not owe any capital gain tax on the property. and which, as far as the police is concerned, that is now over. i'm obviously pleased they have come to a conclusion, i never doubted angela hadn't done anything wrong. tonight, angela rayner had welcomed the news, saying conservatives reported her to distract from their record in government.

the tories say she still hasn't provided expeditions for questions around her living arrangements. —— provided explanations. the row is about whether she was honest about where she lived and when. the first home is vicarage road, in stockport, where angela rayner bought a property in 2007, eight years before becoming an mp. in 2010, she married mark rayner, who owned his home around two miles away and appears to have registered all of their children at his address — but on the electoral register, she continued to be listed as living at her house, creating confusion as to where she legally lived. it matters because of capital gains tax. you don't pay it when you sell your main home, but married couples can only count one property as their main home. keir starmer�*s team will likely be relieved that the police investigation has been dropped now, minimising the chances of difficult headlines later in the election campaign. for months, the party's long—time attack dog has been under attack herself,

but perhaps now she will be unleashed. joe pike, bbc news, westminster. with me is labour's shadow chief secretary to the treasury, darrenjones. thank you very much for coming in to see us here on bbc news. we've been hearing from the shadow chancellor today who's promised there will be no additional tax rises, the everything you propose will be fully funded, no if or buts. how then will you balance the books? because we are told by the institute for fiscal studies, and independent think tank, that there is a dark cloud hanging over public finances. mice that there is a dark cloud hanging over public finances.— over public finances. nice to be with ou over public finances. nice to be with you here — over public finances. nice to be with you here in _ over public finances. nice to be with you here in the _ over public finances. nice to be with you here in the main - over public finances. nice to be i with you here in the main studio. over public finances. nice to be - with you here in the main studio. we have set out our tax changes to ensure all of our policies in this selection are fully funded and costed. that's the vat loophole on

private... and the non—dog tax status changes, and the money those will raise fully funds the policies putting forward in the selection. but again, coming back to people who look at the stuff from an independent perspective, not allied with any clinical party, they say that somebody somewhere will have to get real and say, "yes, if you won't put up taxes, how will you make ends meet?" because you won't be able to avoid either further borrowing meet?" because you won't be able to avoid eitherfurther borrowing or cutting further services, even if it's not austerity, cuts are unavoidable.— it's not austerity, cuts are unavoidable. ~ �* ., ., , . it's not austerity, cuts are unavoidable. �* ., . ., unavoidable. we've made no secret of the fact that — unavoidable. we've made no secret of the fact that if — unavoidable. we've made no secret of the fact that if labour _ the fact that if labour wins election this year, it'll be the toughest fiscal inheritance and he party has had since the second world war, it'll be really tough. and the fact is you don't get to see the books until you win the election, so we can only see so much from opposition. but the money we will raise from those loopholes is the initial injection of cash in our public services — for example,

40,000 additional appointments in the nhs every week to help clear the backlog. but then we will have to do the hard yards and turning the country around, and ourfocus is, how do you get the economy back on track and growing so you are generating more income for public services? 50 generating more income for public services? ., ., ., services? so what are you holding back? it's services? so what are you holding back? its very — services? so what are you holding back? it's very difficult _ services? so what are you holding back? it's very difficult that - services? so what are you holding back? it's very difficult that you i back? it's very difficult that you don't want to and vandalize the voter, you don't want to pretend things are better than they are and you just had how hard it will be — but where will all that money come from? because we are struggling to keep up now, if you listen to your party, you said schools and the nhs need more funding. these are huge sums of money. the need more funding. these are huge sums of money-— need more funding. these are huge sums of money. the additional money for schools is — sums of money. the additional money for schools is from _ sums of money. the additional money for schools is from the _ sums of money. the additional money for schools is from the closure - sums of money. the additional money for schools is from the closure of - for schools is from the closure of the vat loophole in private schools, and that money goes into another system. paying for an additional 6500 additional educators across the country, that's why it's a first step. 40,000 additional appointments

funded through changes to the non—dog tax status as well stop what you just mentioned this endorsement, 121 you 'ust mentioned this endorsement, 121 . ., ., , , , , 121 current and former business leaders have — 121 current and former business leaders have thrown _ 121 current and former business leaders have thrown their - 121 current and former business | leaders have thrown their weight behind labour's economic plans, but what's in it for the unions? those traditional voters who have posted labour's coffers for years, they'll be wondering, "what's in it for employees, never mind employers?" labour is a pro worker and pro—business party, you need private sector businesses to be able to do well in our country. and we have a whole set of measures in our policy around supporting workers, for example, in precarious or vulnerable work, because we think that's important for workers, but also for the economy as well. i don't think there's a problem with being pro worker or pro—business, i am a proud trade unionist. worker or pro-business, i am a proud trade unionist.— trade unionist. would you call ourself trade unionist. would you call yourself a _ trade unionist. would you call yourself a socialist? - trade unionist. would you call yourself a socialist? i - trade unionist. would you call yourself a socialist? i don't i trade unionist. would you call. yourself a socialist? i don't know about that, _ yourself a socialist? i don't know about that, all _ yourself a socialist? i don't know about that, all these _ yourself a socialist? i don't know about that, all these labels - - yourself a socialist? i don't know about that, all these labels - i'm about that, all these labels — i'm

part of labour party and prolabor, that's where i'm comfortable. that's where the labour party is today. what about increasing productivity, closing the skills gap? how do you do that, will we see changes corporation tax? will be see more of an apprenticeship levy? so corporation tax? will be see more of an apprenticeship levy?— an apprenticeship levy? so we are ve clear an apprenticeship levy? so we are very clear on _ an apprenticeship levy? so we are very clear on corporation - an apprenticeship levy? so we are very clear on corporation tax - very clear on corporation tax business that it's for the whole of the polling, it's moved around a lot under successive conservative chancellors, and it's difficult to make business decisions. that'll be fixed over the course of a labour government. i fixed over the course of a labour government-— fixed over the course of a labour government. i want to you quickly about the conservatives _ government. i want to you quickly about the conservatives and - government. i want to you quickly about the conservatives and this | about the conservatives and this triple locked plus idea for pensioners whereby some pensioners will never have to pay income tax because the lower the income tax threshold. how do you push back against it? if threshold. how do you push back auainst it? ., , , threshold. how do you push back aainst it? ., _, , , , against it? if anybody believes it, it'll be appealing. _ against it? if anybody believes it, it'll be appealing. why _ against it? if anybody believes it, it'll be appealing. why would - it'll be appealing. why would they not? it's completely _ it'll be appealing. why would they not? it's completely unfunded - l

it'll be appealing. why would they i not? it's completely unfunded - they sent it not? it's completely unfunded - they spent it yesterday — not? it's completely unfunded - they spent it yesterday on _ not? it's completely unfunded - they spent it yesterday on the _ not? it's completely unfunded - they spent it yesterday on the national- spent it yesterday on the national citizenship survey. who is put up taxes so much on working class and pensioners? it's the conservatives, i wouldn't believe the paper it's written on. i i wouldn't believe the paper it's written on-_ i wouldn't believe the paper it's written on. ., ., ., ., written on. i have to ask you about anuela written on. i have to ask you about angela rayner. — written on. i have to ask you about angela rayner, who's _ written on. i have to ask you about angela rayner, who's been - written on. i have to ask you about angela rayner, who's been told i written on. i have to ask you about. angela rayner, who's been told today there will be no police action over there will be no police action over the sale of her council house. it's come at the beginning of the campaign. but what have you as a party learned about this episode? we've learned that conservative mps are willing to waste police time. but what about how absolutely scrupulously open about every single aspect of your life you'll need to be shortly?— aspect of your life you'll need to be shortl ? ,, , ~ ., �* be shortly? sure, but angela didn't do anything — be shortly? sure, but angela didn't do anything wrong. _ be shortly? sure, but angela didn't do anything wrong, that's - be shortly? sure, but angela didn't do anything wrong, that's what - be shortly? sure, but angela didn't do anything wrong, that's what was concluded. this was conservative mps wasting police time to score political points, and frankly they should be ashamed of themselves. good to have you here, darrenjones, thanks for your time. live now to westminster,

and our political correspondent jack fenwick.