tonight at ten — rishi sunak puts tax cuts at the centre of the conservative election manifesto — will it be enough to turn things around? he pledged another cut in national insurance, the eventual scrapping of the tax for the self—employed — and help for first time buyers. he also made this admission... i'm not blind to the fact that people are frustrated with our party and frustrated with me. things have not always been easy and we have not got everything right. but we are the only party in this election with the big idea is to make our country a better place to live. we'll be looking at the political challenges with chris mason — and at whether the figures add up with faisal islam. also tonight:

president biden�*s son hunter is found guilty by a court in the us of lying about his drug use when buying a gun in 2018. hunter biden was addicted to crack cocaine when he purchased that revolver and today is the first child of a sitting president to be convicted of a crime. england limber up in germany, ahead of the start of their euros campaign. and stay with us here on bbc news for continuing coverage and analysis from our team of correspondents in the uk and around the world. good evening. the big challenge for a conservative party trailing badly in the polls is how to persuade voters to give them another five years in power — today we got their answer, as they put tax cuts at the heart

of their manifesto. among the policies announced was a 2p cut in national insurance, and scrapping the main rate of national insurance for the self—employed. they pledged a new help to buy scheme and that they'd abolish stamp duty for first—time buyers on properties up to £425,000. in a minute we'll get the latest from our economics editor faisal islam on how the conservatives plan to fund these commitments, but first here's chris mason who was at silverstone circuit for the manifesto launch. halfway through this election race — it's the moment for the cardboard boxes. within them, bundles of promises, not always kept, that set out a party's blueprint for the next five years. so, the manifesto is here, so is the cabinet, then the prime minister... music, applause, an ovation from party supporters,

yes, but also this — a candid acknowledgement from rishi sunak about how you may feel about him and the conservatives. i'm not blind to the fact that people are frustrated with our party and frustrated with me. things are not always been easy and we have not got everything right. but we are the only party in this election with the big ideas to make our country a better place to live. a central theme of this manifesto is tax cuts, including a promise of another 2p cut in employee national insurance. by 2027, we will have halved national insurance to 6% — that is a tax cut, my friends, worth £1,300 to the average worker. rishi sunak praised the enterprise and risk—taking of the self—employed and said this... in the next parliament, we will scrap entirely the main rate of self—employed national insurance.

and having acknowledged on bbc panorama last night that it has become harder to buy a home in recent years, the prime minister said he wanted to make it easier... for the first—time buyers purchasing a home up to £425,000, we will abolish stamp duty entirely. stamp duty is a tax on buying a home in england and northern ireland. next, what about the plan to send some migrants to rwanda? some conservatives say it's time the uk left the european convention on human rights, or echr, to make this easier, but mr sunak stopped short of saying that. if we are forced to choose between our security and the jurisdiction of a foreign court, including the echr, we will always choose our nation's security. for much of the last 18 months, you have tried everything to try

and revive conservative fortunes and not much appears to have worked. could we rename this document today your last chance saloon? well, chris, i've been very clear when i got this job that we'd been through a very difficult time as a country. if you want a secure future, if you want lower taxes, if you want your pensions protected, if you want a more sensible approach to net zero and you want your borders secure, vote conservative at this election. and there ended, perhaps, this man's last big set piece moment to change his fortunes. time, then, to scuttle through the crowds and talk to some cabinet ministers. what do you make of that? i think this is a really exciting manifesto for the future and what i love about it is that it addresses every stage of our lives. mr gove, if this is a game changer, why are you standing down? me? well, i'm an old war horse who has been put out to grass because we need a new generation to support the prime minister in the future. it's a "fudge—arama" on the european

convention of human rights? if there is a contradiction between an adjudication in a foreign court and our ability to protect our borders, we protect our borders. are you going to win? this is absolutely in our grasp. i know we're behind in the polls... i notice you're not saying yes. well, it's an election and i can't predict the outcome of an election, that's not my job. the outcome of the election is yourjob at home. the cases the different parties are making are becoming clearer. chris mason, bbc news, at silverstone. well, the conservatives are insistent that their sums add up, but after a significant tax raising parliament, they're now trying to convince voters that things will change. but how will they pay for any tax cuts. 0ur economics editor faisal islam has been taking a look. the manifesto is a £20 billion a year change to tax and spending designed to communicate really one thing, the conservatives want voters

to trust them that taxes can now be lowered after an increase in tax and the size of government since the pandemic. let's take a look at how they say it all adds up. the big three tax cuts first. that further 2% cut to national insurance, essentially a tax on work. 1% next april, another in 2027, adding up to a £10 billion giveaway. and a smaller cut from the abolition of self—employed national insurance, and about the same again from some state pensioners�* tax bills. this is how they're funded. essentially, two crackdowns on tax avoidance and welfare saving £18 billion. let's take that £12 billion on welfare. the conservatives describe an agenda for dealing with the challenge, not going ahead with a massive post—pandemic rise in benefits for working households. could you raise many billions? yes. but it's not a detailed plan. we don't know the specific policies, and so those who are affected. so you put that in a chart,

a total £17 billion of tax cuts giveaway over there, the biggest element cuts to national insurance worth £450 a year in a couple of years. balanced by what the conservatives assert they could raise from an £18 billion double crackdown. but the tax cuts over there are certain in costs and impact. the savings to fund them rather less so. all of the money to pay for that comes from quite uncertain things, tax avoidance, cutting civil service jobs, efficiencies in quangos, cutting welfare spending without definite plans. so we've got definite promises of goodies, of giveaways, with very uncertain ways of actually funding those promises. now, all of this doesn't include some already announced policies of similar size, a bumper income tax hike from the ongoing freeze in the starting levels for tax, the thresholds. also, an implied real cut to some government departments like courts

and councils. this manifesto is basically asking voters to trust that now the crises are over, the conservatives can, will and want to shrink the welfare bill and the size of government in order to afford specific tax cuts, or rather, to give back some part of the recent rise in tax bills. so how's the conservative manifesto going down in the party's heartlands? aldershot is usually a safe conservative seat in hampshire — it's returned a conservative mp to westminster for over a century. it's low on labour's target list — but labour took control of the council that covers the area in the may local elections — and now they're actively campaigning there. danjohnson has spent the day in the town. who do you think should serve? david's always opted for conservative prime ministers. rishi sunak: security also means the security of knowing that - you will have dignity in retirement. so, the promise of a tax

cut for pensioners, do you like the sound of that, david? i'm blessed with enough that it won't make a significant difference to me, but for many it will be a great help, yes. do you think you're any more likely to vote for rishi sunak this time, having heard what he's had to say? not more likely at this stage. i have to hear what others offer and mull over the real meaning of what rishi sunak is saying before deciding. a growing town means gps under pressure. neman spent his lunch time reading the tory pledges. what do you think of what you've read? i think there's two things that i like and that grab my attention. i'm really pleased that he's still planning to put the vaping ban into place and secondly, he's talking about it. my current it in this surgery is not up to standard. have you heard enough to make you vote conservative? sadly, no. this is a military town with a conservative tradition, but all sorts of things in aldershot are changing and political loyalties are shifting too.

so much so that labour could now have a chance here in a seat that's been conservative for over 100 years. they're supposed to be changing the stamp duty in the hope of making it easier to buy a house. that would be a very big deal, actually, cos i'd love to get on the property ladder. renting is not great, so having my own place would be lovely, yeah. would that sway your vote? probably, yeah, actually, cos it's within my interests. ijust know i'm not going to vote conservatives. whatever they say in their manifesto? yeah. you've already made your mind up? yeah. can i ask how and why? ijust don't really think that it's going very well at the moment, and i feel like we need a change. sharon's living with parkinson's and feels she hasn't heard her priorities reflected. make our streets safe i and make our roads safe and the potholes filled - in and all the little things that are making our country look untidy. there'd be nobody strong enough, i

in my opinion, in the conservatives, to govern our country. so will you vote labour this time? yes. 0r reform. i can't decide. more parties are making promises and marking turf. just past mine. in this contest, we'll all decide. danjohnson, bbc news, aldershot. and a full list of the candidates standing in the general election is available on the bbc news website. so our political editor chris masonjoins me now. chris — some big promises here, but is there anything game—changing here? the conservatives need something game changing, and the question is whether the 76 pages can offer that and whether it would be realistic for anyone thing to offer that, and the controlling thought in this manifesto is tax cuts, we have heard about the national insurance and the stamp duty, but there is nothing about inheritance tax or about

income tax which plenty of conservatives would have loved to have seen. 0n the question of rwanda in small boats, there is a commitment to the rwanda policy but not withdraw from the european convention on human rights, and what strikes me, would you take those examples, this is a manifesto in rishi sunak�*s image, and his supporters would say, that is pragmatic and deliverable, and thought through, but his critics within the party whispered it is not bold enough, that it is not game changing enough, atjust the time they would say when that is desperately needed. one senior conservative texted me to say, i doubt it will make any difference. another thing i have noticed today, in the room, and also in conservative adverts, there is an undercurrent now to conservative utterances, that matches what i have heard in private for a long time, an acknowledgement of the possibility, even the likelihood of defeat, and

it is a framing that acknowledges that yes, conservatives want to keep on campaigning for as long as they can, to maximise the conservative vote but that might mean trying to minimise the labour victory rather than prevent it, but i should emphasise, three weeks down, three weeks to go. emphasise, three weeks down, three weeks to 90-— weeks to go. chris mason, thanks for “oininu us. elsewhere on the campaign trail today, a man has been arrested after objects were thrown at nigel farage in barnsley. the leader of reform uk was on top of a bus, and he's posted a video of the incident online. police say a 28—year—old man has been arrested, on suspicion of a public order offence. labour is promising to create 100,000 extra dental appointments for children, in a bid to clear backlogs in england. the new appointments would be for urgent and emergency care, and on evenings and weekends.

access to an nhs dentist has become increasingly difficult in many areas, with tooth decay the most common reason for children aged five to nine being admitted to hospital. and the liberal democrats are calling for a new rural gp fund to support doctors' surgeries around the country. they say it would form part of a package of measures worth £1 billion, aimed at improving medical services and giving patients a legal right to see a gp within a week. with pressures on the nhs a key part of voters' concerns, our social affairs correspondent michael buchanan has been to telford in shropshire to see the struggle people are having to see their doctor. it's the final report in his series on the challenges facing public services in that town. i'll tell you, 80 years of practice... in this supported living complex are people who for decades lauded the nhs. tell me about the doctor. the doctors. well, do they exist? — i ask. you just can't get them. brenda is a forceful 90—year—old who's had some problems with her eyes.

i got timed out twice this week on the telephone. never did speak to them. and it's just heartbreaking to try to get ill. you're afraid to be ill. i went over to the receptionist over the road and they said, "we're not making appointments. " so i said, "what do i have to do then to get one?" she said, "ring up at 8:00 in the morning and get one." so i rang up the following morning. nothing happened. they said, no, they haven't got any appointments. so it's five years since i've been to the doctor for anything and i still can't get one. not far at all. - i mean, it'sjust here. adding to their frustration is that the gp�*s surgery is less than 100 metres from their living quarters. the surgery is, however, part of a group of practices so patients can be sent anywhere in telford, if they can get an appointment, that is. good afternoon, you're through to teldoc. automated message: you are caller number 23 in the queue. _ automated message: caller number 46 in the queue. -

automated message: our call queues are currently at capacity, _ we are not able to present your call to be answered. call back at another time. line rings out i had a case this morning, an 86—year—old lady, we've been trying to get an appointment for the doctor's for over a week now. julie vernon spends her days travelling, visiting elderly clients who need help with everyday tasks, such as shopping and repeatedly getting doctor's appointments. we phoned the gp again this morning at 8:00 and, no, fully booked. asked to phone 111. phoned 111. they called an ambulance out. ambulance came out and did an assessment. and then the ambulance said she needs a gp appointment and got her one tomorrow. so that's how many services have been involved just to get a gp appointment. the gp group called teldoc told us that the population of telford had grown substantially in recent years, but that funding wasn't available to expand its services. it said access to general practice is a national issue and that it appreciates

its services can sometimes fall short of expectations. good, timely health care is the bedrock of any society. and too often now it is simply not happening. michael buchanan, bbc news, telford. tonight, the leaders of scotland's five main political parties clashed in a special debate programme on a range of issues — from how to tackle the cost of living crisis — to the problems faced by the nhs — as well as scottish independence. 0ur scotland editor james cook was watching. 60 minutes, five party leaders, one general election that could change the country. and three big topics. first, the economy. what worries me about what lies ahead is that there is the threat of more spending cuts. anas is not being straight with us. lam being i am being straight with you. there is going to be £18 billion of public spending cuts and we have had enough austerity from the tories. we don't want it imposed on us

by any incoming labour government. let me be straight| with you, john, let me be straight with the public as well, i we will raise revenue and we _ will raise revenue by a windfall tax on the oil and gas giants which - would raise £10 billion, - a measure that you oppose. read my lips, no- austerity under labour. i have seen poverty, i've never seen anything like this, this is the worst cost of living crisis since the end of rationing. the liberal democrats immediately would reverse the two child cap on benefits. if we look at the covid pandemic and the war in ukraine, there has been a massive shock to not only our domestic economy but economies across the globe and the government at the uk level have tried to provide some universal support and some targeted support. it is disingenuous of douglas ross to pretend that times are hard. i times are not hard i for the super wealthy.

they have made out been like bandits since covid, their wealth has - doubled and tripled. tonight's second topic, the nhs. my mother, who is 93, waited six hours for an ambulance, another two hours outside the hospital before she was admitted. is our nhs broken? the nhs is run from edinburgh but the scottish government's budget is determined in part at westminster. that austerity, that cutting taxes for the wealthy, it means you have to cut to the bone and cut again and again. and that took us to the third topic... independence. 0n the economy, on poverty, j on health, on public services, they are all crying out - for ministerial attention, that has been starved because of- the constitutional debate that has gripped our politics for so long. i don't support independence, i don't support a referendum, but i can understand why so many people across scotland are looking for an escape route from a tory government they thought we could not get rid of or from a labour party that they thought could not win. people are really struggling

in scotland today because of the effects of 14 years of austerity and because of brexit, and the cost of living crisis, all of those are a product of decisions taken at westminster. tory decisions. they are all a product of decisions taken in westminster. it is not the nhs we have been discussing today, it is not the. education system, it is not carers, it is going to be independence - above everything else, | and scotland will suffer as a result of that. audience and politicians all had plenty to say tonight. 0n 4thjuly, it is your turn. james cook, bbc news, glasgow. in the us, the president's son, hunter biden, has been found guilty of lying about his drug use to buy a gun illegally. the jury in the trial in delaware convicted him on all three counts — he could face a maximum of 25 years in jail. sarah smith has been following the trial and reports from wilmington in the state of delaware. hand—in—hand with his step—mother, the first lady, as well as his wife, hunter biden left court

a convicted felon. this trial peppered with lurid details from his private life and previous addiction to crack cocaine has clearly put great stress on the whole family. joe biden appeared after the verdict, ironically at a gun safety event, not mentioning his son. in a statement, he said he loved hunter and he's proud of the man is today. and he's proud of the man he is today. he then set off to travel to delaware to be with his son this evening. during the trial, prosecutors argued that hunter biden had committed a crime by lying on a form about his drug use when buying a revolver in october 2018. that gun, along with remnants of crack and drug paraphernalia, were discovered in his car by his then partner hallie biden who was also his sister—in—law, the widow of his brother beau who had died of cancer three years earlier. prosecutors showed video of her trying to dispose of the weapon in a dumpster

and she told the court, "i realise it was a stupid idea now, but i was panicking." "why did you panic?" asked the prosecutor. "because i didn't want him to hurt himself, and i didn't want my kids to find it and hurt themselves." hunter biden had already described his drug addiction in a book. excerpts of the audio version read by the author himself were played in court. smoking crack cocaine every three days and soon became smoking every two days, then every other day, then every hour of every day. his defence argued that hunter biden wasn't using drugs around the time he bought the gun but the jury rejected that. donald trump insists he was only convicted because president biden is using the legal system to persecute his political opponent. claims that are undermined by the guilty verdict against the president's own son. thank you very much. the justice department said they care only about the law, not politics. no—one in this country is above the law. everyone must be accountable for their actions, even this defender.

however, hunter biden should be no more accountable than any other citizen convicted of this same conduct. hunter biden's wilful refusal to comply... i hunter biden has also been investigated by republicans in congress who accused him of peddling influence while his father was vice president. no charges have resulted from that and attempts to impeachjoe biden in connection with his son's business dealings have come to nothing. president biden has now arrived in delaware and he was greeted by hunter biden, his wife and his son and they are all spending the evening in the family home here in delaware. it shows you how close—knit this family is and how worried the president must be about his son. sentencing isn't going to happen in this case for a few months. hunter biden could be sent to jailfor months. hunter biden could be sent to jail for these months. hunter biden could be sent to jailfor these crimes, months. hunter biden could be sent to jail for these crimes, but it is very unlikely as it is his first offence. but he is still facing another criminal trial in september,

this one for tax avoidance for failing to pay more than $1 million in tax and that is going to be happening in the run—up to the presidential election in november which isjust one more presidential election in november which is just one more thing for his father to be worrying about. sarah, thank you very much, sara smith reporting. and there's plenty more on that story over on bbc two shortly with newsnight. here's kirsty wark. as you have just heard, joe as you havejust heard, joe biden's son hunter biden is found guilty in federal gun charges, so what does this mean for the first family? and is nigel farage has objects thrown at him for the second time in a week, we will ask whether we are taking the threat of violence on the campaign trail seriously. we will have a full talk about the tori manifesto on bbc two, bbc news and iplayer at 10:30pm. thank you, kirsty. at the european athletics championships in rome, britain's daryll neita narrowly missed out on gold tonight in the women's 200—metres final. she crossed the line in 22.50 seconds — just 100th of

a second behind the winner, mujinga kambundji of switzerland. neita's silver medal came after britain's megan keith took bronze in the women's 10,000 metres final. england have been training for the first time since arriving in germany ahead of the start of their euros campaign this year. it's been almost two decades since the germans hosted a major footballing tournament, so what's at stake for them? here's our sports editor dan roan. england hope to make a big impression here in germany. and they've made a promising start. the squad the star attraction this afternoon as they held their first training session in front of hundreds of local schoolchildren near to their erfurt base. the last major men's tournament hosted here, the world cup in 2006, unleashed huge national pride, showcasing a modern and unified germany. but 18 years on, this feels a less confident country one

confident country, one facing mounting economic and political uncertainty. the man who represents 70 football fan groups across germany is hopeful the euros could help. 2006, the general mood was much more friendly, more open to europe as well. not as fractured as it is now, not so many conflicts. can this tournament be a unifying force then? these four weeks, definitely. they will open a window. a window where things are better. football can bring people together. and this will happen in germany as well. well, england will enjoy plenty of support out here in germany, with more than 250,000 of their supporters expected to travel here during the course of this tournament. and around 40,000 are expected in gelsenkirchen on sunday for the opening match against serbia. but that game also presents the organisers with a challenge. serbian football has been sanctioned over the behaviour of its fans several times in recent years, with hooliganism linked to far right, pro—russian groups and the local police have said

they believe there is a threat of violence. they have shared that inter—intelligence with us. intelligence with us. the man in charge of the tournament today told me security was a priority. the authorities rated that match from the start as a high—risk match. serbia has not been in the tournament for some time, so there was as well some unknown factors. how are the two fan groups going to react? our records do not show a high risk of clashes, but of course the match has a bit of a potential, and if we are not taking care of that, it could escalate. commentator: germany rules the world aaain. germany remains synonymous with success in the sport. a fourth world cup in 2014 cementing its status as a footballing heavyweight. but it's been a steep decline since with no knockout win at a major tournament for eight years.

especially after the last tournaments we have to prove ourselves, but we are excited. the mood in the team isjoyful. i hope we will be able to cope with this whole situation. that will start on friday. germany today continued preparations for their opening match against scotland on friday. for the hosts, plenty at stake, both on and off the pitch. dan roan, bbc news. historians have found eight perfectly preserved giant stone balls which they believe were catapult missiles. they've been found by english heritage and it's believed the were used to attack kenilworth castle in warwickshire. historian will wyeth has been telling us about them. the larger of these stones are enormous. they are over 100 kilos. and these would have been launched by war machines, 200 or 300 metres at the castle. those ones are probably designed to attack walls and doors and towers. the smaller ones, about the size of a grapefruit, kind of upwards, were probably more to attack people, whether it's archers or people mounting defences, etc. they would have been terrifying. you know, historic sources talk

about how once the king henry iii had set up the siege at the castle, he told his nine war machines to fire continuously for 172 days. so it would have been kind of cinematic quality siege that these stones are part of, really. terrifying indeed! time for a look at the weather. here's the peaceful stav danaos. it hasn't felt too bad in the strong june sunshine where you have had it but january temperature is below par for the time of year, tomorrow look similar but sunny spells around, more than we have had today and a few showers as well, through this evening and overnight the showers will continue under the thick cloud, eastern scotland and eastern england but skies clearing out west, wales, south—west england, northern ireland, western scotland, here we will see temperatures drop close to freezing in one or two sheltered locations but these are towns and city values so still achievable wherever you are. the high pressure should kill off a lot of the showers through tomorrow, lighter winds,

should kill off a lot of the showers through tomorrow, lighterwinds, but the blue is hanging