hello, this is breakfast, with rachel burden and charlie stayt. the conservatives try to play down speculation that taxes will rise if they win the general election. labour accuses the government of planning a tax bombshell, while the liberal democrats say theresa may intends to hit the pockets of white van man. good morning, it's saturday the 22nd of april. also ahead: 50,000 police officers are deployed across france, as security is tightened ahead of the first round of voting in the country's presidential election. the number one is ed sheeran! the duke and duchess of cambridge as you've never heard them before, presenting the chart show while getting the message across to young people about their mental health campaign. we've put them in the spot because

it is quiet and they will be happy here and they have access into our garden and a neighbour's garden. how this village in east yorkshire has returned many hedgehogs back to the wild. and ben has the weather. good morning. we have a decent weekend in prospect. plenty of dry weather and even some sunshine, but there's a big change on the way for the start of next week. something much colder on the way. all the details in about 15 minutes. good morning. first, our main story. the conservatives are attempting to play down speculation that they will raise taxes if they win the general election. yesterday, the chancellor, phillip hammond, hinted that the government might abandon the pledge made at the last election not to raise income tax, national insurance or vat. labour and the liberal democrats were quick to jump on what they saw as a change of policy, warning that tax rises lie ahead. 0ur political correspondent, iain watson, reports. the american revolutionary

benjamin franklin said the two uncertainties were tax and death and commitments to push tax rates up can prove fatal to political campaigns. on a visit to the united states, chancellor philip hammond criticised the constraints placed on him by his party's previous pledges on tax. all chancellors would prefer to have more flexibility in how they manage the economy and how they manage the overall tax burden down, than to have their hands constrained. then this happened. even some conservative supporting newspapers speculated that taxes would rise if the party's re—elected, so conservative sources were swift to say that the chancellor's comments should be seen as a hint of tax increases to come. what has been remarkable so early in the campaign has been the level of detail that's emerged even before the manifesto is published. we already know theresa may will recommit to the international aid target, with some wriggle room, and she says there will be increases in the state pension. labour is committed to retaining

a policy of putting pensions up by a minimum of 2.5%. theresa may seems incapable of answering any questions about protection of the triple lock on the state pension. well, i give you that commitment now! labour will maintain the triple lock! at the end of this first week of campaigning, policies are emerging and political battle lines are being drawn. 0ur political correspondent leila nathoo is at westminster this morning. i think we are going to get these fows i think we are going to get these rows and this speculation until we get some clarity. good morning, either way. clarity on what is in these manifestoes. absolutely. this suggestion yesterday from philip hammond, that he would like more flexibility to manage the economy, rather than being constrained by the ma nifesto rather than being constrained by the manifesto pledge, not to raise vat, not to raise national insurance, he

—— that was swiftly played down by a conservative sources. some headlines pleading, no, no, prime minister. labour was quick to criticise, saying there was a tax bombshell ahead. the lib dems con —— accusing them of hitting the pockets of the white van man. philip hammond before pledged he would increase national insurance contributions, before quickly realising that he had broken that manifesto pledge. within days after lots of hostility among tory backbenchers theresa may had ordered a u—turn on the policy. it was ditched. so clearly there is a gulf between theresa may, who is a odds with chancellor philip hammond over tax policy, but we will have to wait and see what ends up in the ma nifesto. and see what ends up in the manifesto. thank you very much. more than 50,000 troops are being deployed across france in preparation for voting in the country's presidential election after the killing of a police officer in paris. terrorism dominated the final day of

campaigning and security has been increased before polls in mainland france open on sunday. the french prepare for an election organised under a state of emergency. armed police and gendarmes have been a common sight in the streets since the 2015 shootings in paris. 50,000 of them have been deployed across the country. merci. the french are also used to that presence of soldiers patrolling their cities. when the campaign started, many in france believed it would be defined by terrorism and security. it turned out voters have so far been more concerned about unemployment and the economy. it remains unclear whether thursday's attack will have a last—minute impact on people's choice. we've had enough of anxiety, and things like that, with all the attacks, and so on.

so just wanted to ignore it, personally. so maybe it will have an impact, but i don't know. translation: i'm not worried about sunday in particular, but i am worried, in general, for all of us. ijust don't think our politicians really have a full grasp of the problem. the most important, i think, it's economy, and economic recovery. this is the most important. more than security? yes, sure — for me. the champs—elysees have reopened, and are bustling again. but, on the pavement, a reminder of the attack, in which a police officer was killed and two others wounded. 0n the eve of the most unpredictable presidential election in years, thursday's shooting will have repercussions beyond the french capital. across france, people hope for a peaceful vote. thomas fessy, bbc news, paris. a sports ombudsman should be appointed to protect athletes

from abuse and bullying. that's one of the recommendations of a year—long review commissioned by the government. it was led by the ii—time pa ralympic gold—medallist baroness grey—thompson, following a spate of bullying allegations against coaches, mounting concern over the treatment of injuries and the child sex abuse scandal in football. winning medals is something that i think everyone in the uk would support. we feel better as a nation when we are winning 0lympics, paralympics, football, you name it, it's a moment to celebrate. but i think over the last few years duty of care is something that has slipped away. i don't think it has been intentional or malicious, it's just there are hard targets out there and we want to see british athletes do well. if we get duty of care right we can do as well, if not better. us vice—president mike pence says a us naval strike group will arrive in waters near north korea in a matter of days. there had been confusion earlier this week over

whether the uss carl vinson was heading into the sea of japan or not. however, in a press conference with the australian pm, mr pence said the us wanted to show north korea it had the resources to secure the region. all options are on the table. let me assure you, the united states will continue to work closely with australia, our other allies in the region and with china to bring economic and diplomatic sanctions to bear on the regime in pyongyang until they abandon their nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. taliban gunmen have killed more than 70 troops at an afghanistan army base outside the northern city of mazar—i—sharif. a military spokesman said the insurgents were disguised in army uniforms when they attacked soldiers leaving the base's mosque on friday. the taliban said its attackers had set off an explosion, allowing suicide bombers to breach the base's defences. two men have been arrested in connection with an acid attack, which left two people blinded in one eye.

20 people were hurt in the attack at the nightclub in east london on monday. the two men in their twenties have been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm. police are still urging another man to hand himself into police. from takeaways and box sets to prince george's favourite tv programme, i think it was fireman sam, the duke and duchess of cambridge have spoken about their family life together on radio i. the couple were promoting their mental health campaign on the station's chart show, as our royal correspondent peter hunt reports. please welcome to radio i the duke and duchess of cambridge. oh, my god! with a destiny to fulfil, some dj—ing in the meantime. these are royals bringing their message about mental health to a young audience, and a confession about listening habits. i have texted in, yep. under a different name? obviously, i wouldn't tell you who i was. definitely not! what are you doing texting in your car? obviously i stopped in a lay—by.

i have not texted while driving, because that is illegal. the princely fan, who seeks shout—outs, and who was castigated when he missed a royal event for a skiing and clubbing trip, loves going to gigs. it's not something you can really do all the time? no, and you know, i've got in enough trouble with my dancing recently, so it's kind of best to keep away from that, to be honest. the price of such airtime, questions that wouldn't have amused victoria, like what takes their fancy for a tv supper. yeah, i'm not so good with the spicy food, though. i'm not good at spice. if you do a takeaway, they must never believe you when you're ordering it to the palace, right? it doesn't usually get ordered to the palace, chris. right, i see. we tend to go and pick it up, not ourselves. i've got you, got you. go for a little visit around the area. he's not going to go to chicken cottage, is he? the professionals changed. the royals remained, and were set to work. the official chart with greg james and the duke and duchess of cambridge — go. he had 13 weeks at number one, with shape of you, before harry came along and spoiled his easter. sounds familiar!

radio bringing together briefly two national institutions, the monarchy and the chart show. so, number one is ed sheeran, shape of you. for a couple facing a life of pomp, this was pure pleasure. when i'm on holiday, would you mind stepping in? to be honest, we could probably do a betterjob. peter hunt, bbc news. we will be discussing the more relaxed style of the royals later this morning. that's one of my fantasyjobs, presenting the chart show on radio one. 0bviously presenting the chart show on radio one. obviously i am way too old now! don't rule it out! for the first time since the industrial revolution, britain has gone a whole working day without using coal to generate electricity. national grid said the news was a "watershed moment" in attempts to phase out coal by 2025. taxes on co2 emissions and the falling cost of renewable energy have made coal plants less economical in recent years. the nasa probe cassini is about to put itself on a path that will lead to its destruction

in the clouds of saturn. the craft will pass the planet's moon, titan, this morning. but this will put it on a trajectory from which it can't escape and it will be destroyed in saturn's atmosphere. it is hoped before its demise it can make some last—minute measurements of the planet's rotation and length of the planet's rotation and length of day. this sunday some 30,000 people will take part in the london marathon, good luck if you're among them! one of those is believed to be the only competitor who'll combine the run with a karaoke performance. this is graham burns from broadstairs, who hopes his sixth marathon will see him break £50,000 fundraising for a breast cancer charity. he is expected to sing his a0 track playlist several times around the course, including

such hits as 500 miles and keep on running. that's amazing. he's going to sing all the way! we will have to keep an eye on the race tomorrow. we are told the weather will be good. yes, not too hot. good luck to graham and anyone else taking part. we've had a number of suggestions on the best running tracks. radio one. —— run to the hills by iron maiden. another said the climb by miley cyrus. any more, let us know. you've done the marathon. a couple of years ago. it's tough. it has been dubbed the brexit election and whoever wins injune will have to deal with the complex negotiations of taking britain out of the european union. so what does the summer hold for ukip? its leader paul nuttall says he will take a "positive message to the country". but with its main objective achieved, will the party still appeal to voters? we'rejoined now byjohn bickley,

ukip's spokesperson on immigration. we will talk to you about all sorts of other things as well. ukip is not the party they were and didn't have the party they were and didn't have the same purpose. i know lots of yourcampaigning in the same purpose. i know lots of your campaigning in recent weeks has been about convincing people that you still have a message to get out there. we still do. this election shouldn't have been called. theresa may is telling us it has been called for the sake of the country, but i think it was called for the sake of the conservative party. when theresa may announced the election some of these channels submitted files to these channels submitted files to the crown prosecution service that could lead to potentially the prosecution of a number of tory mps. so quite handy to call a general election. maybe white the slate clea n, election. maybe white the slate clean, so this tory mps on the way. but all of this is a distraction for the fact that actually what the

conservatives are doing is leading the country into what many suspect will be a fairly hard brexit, and people are now turning to men and saying, why vote for ukip when you know we will get the same outcome?” agree that what theresa may has done is give this impression too many people who have been ukip supporters oi’ people who have been ukip supporters or leave voters last year. she has given them the impression that the tory party will deliver brexit. we don't trust her to deliver brexit. remember, the tory party is made up mainly of remainers. she was a remainer. the establishment, the civil service, are mainly remainers. they are all brexiteers now. why is it that your most famous representative, nigel farage, is not running our? nigel has come up with a good reason for him to ensure that we get brexit, to remain in the european parliament where we can hold their feet to the fire. he can

go around europe... we know he has had ambitions to get into westminster for years. he wouldn't have run in elections otherwise. he is running scared, isn't he? nigel is running scared, isn't he? nigel is very clear minded. let's not forget that ukip has caused the biggest change in british politics in a0 years. with very few representatives in parliament, we have had more impact on british politics and the way this country is going to move forward than anyone else in a0 years. a lot of that is down to nigel. nigel is a smart guy and he realises that in the eu parliament he will have an opportunity in pole position to hold the eu to account. we will take your word for it. other people have a different opinion on it. will our banks run with ukip's blessing? aaron has been a generous supporter of ukip over the years, and the party is talking to aaron about how he can help us in this general election, as it does with many

people, and i would say watch this space over the next few days. this isa man space over the next few days. this is a man who insulted many people from liverpool and beyond with his comments which many found distasteful about hillsborough. would you be comfortable having someone would you be comfortable having someone like that bearing the ukip banner? aaron can defend himself. what he said was wrong,.. let's see if he works with ukip in some manner during this election. you have to move on in life, and we all had to apologise for things we do wrong. what i am saying to you as there may bea what i am saying to you as there may be a way in which... i don't know, maybe not. you have talked about tactical voting and have set in some circumstances it might be more appropriate to have ukip supporters put their vote to the conservatives if it is the kind of mp who will get the kind of brexit that ukip would support. so you haven't ruled out that kind of tactical voting. no,

because i think mrs may has said this was an election about brexit and of course we want to ensure the i7.a million people who voted to leave last year get brexit, not some die looted version of it. so putting country before party, we will put this tactically. i would say to all tory voters you cannot win some seats, but if you send the ukip candidate back to parliament, that person would help theresa may deliver brexit. you have no mps now that douglas carswell has stepped back from ukip, he hasn't gone back from the conservatives. you expect to end up with any mps after this election? i think we can, wejust have to be careful how we target certain seats. we have demonstrated that you can have a massive impact on politics even when you are not populating the green benches. thank you very much for coming in to see us you very much for coming in to see us this morning. here is ben with a look at this morning's weather. thank you, a very good morning. the

weekend weather is not looking too bad. for many of us we are getting off toa bad. for many of us we are getting off to a fine start. there are some cloud around, but the sunrise coming through as well. this picture from one of our weather watchers in west wales and it will be a largely dry weekend. there will be some sunshine. we are starting the day with a fair sunshine. we are starting the day withafairamount sunshine. we are starting the day with a fair amount of cloud courtesy of this weather front, a very weak affair. it will be a focus for cloudier skies and maybe one or two showers. but generally speaking high pressure is in charge. a nice slice of sunshine at the moment across south—west scotland, north—east england, done in the east wales, the midlands, parts of the south—east as well. fair amounts of cloud as well but for many the cloud will break up. we will see fair spells of sunshine as well as one or two showers. if you are out and about through the channel islands, into

the south—east of england, wales, west midlands, you will see some spells of sunshine. temperatures around the mid—teens, 15 to 17 degrees. a small chance of a shower across the south—east. you will be unlucky if you catch one. chilly on the east coast, much of northern england seemed patchy cloud and sunny spells. northern ireland will stay quite cloudy through the day. the best of the brightness and southern scotland. northern scotland seeing some showers, some of them quite heavy and wintry over higher ground and a pretty chilly feel here. the showers will continue across northern scotland overnight at elsewhere it will become largely dry. some clear spells, the odd dispatch, and even in our towns, not far away from freezing out of the countryside, cold enough for a touch of ground frost. cold start is not a bad thing for the london marathon tomorrow, getting off to a single figure start. things will warm up as we go through the day and they will probably brighten up as well. the cloud will break up so across england and wales we expect that they are sunny spells tomorrow. more clu bfoot they are sunny spells tomorrow. more clubfoot northern they are sunny spells tomorrow. more clu bfoot northern scotland, they are sunny spells tomorrow. more clubfoot northern scotland, southern scotland, perhaps cringing into the far north of england. the odd spot of rain here as well and by the end

of rain here as well and by the end of the day some heavy rains but across the far north of scotland. and that is the first sign of what is to come. quite a big change on the way. this area of low pressure will initially bring some wet and quite windy weather, and then we turn our highs to this cold front which dives its way southwards during sunday night and monday, bringing some rain. but look at these blue colours racing across the map. we will get into some very cold air. 0vernight frosts, singledigit temperatures by day and there will be some showers around as well, and those could be wintry, with some snow to fairly low levels at times. i hope you can remember where you have left that winter coat. good advice. thank you very much, we will see you a little bit later on. new arrivals in the neighbourhood often get people peering over the fence out of curiosity, but the latest arrivals in one village are more likely to be scurrying under them. 52 hedgehogs were released back into the wilds of east yorkshire this week, after being nursed back to health in animal sanctuaries. 0ur reporter tim muffett went along to meet them. residents of burton fleming await

new arrivals. they are a bit prickly, apparently, are in desperate need of a fresh start. are you excited? yes. it will keep the grubs down, you excited? yes. it will keep the gru bs down, hopefully. you excited? yes. it will keep the grubs down, hopefully. from an animal century a0 miles away, they finally arrived. 52 hedgehogs, all found sick or injured across the north of england. most of these have come in as babies, and we have hand fed them, hand reared them. this one was ina fed them, hand reared them. this one was in a really bad way when she came in. she was very tiny. very sick. veronica and her husband, frank, run the charity andrews hedgehog hospital. they believe the village of burton fleming, now considered hedgehog friendly, will give the animals the best chance. 0ur village doesn't have major roads around it and hedgehogs need to travel and get around different gardens. provided everyone puts a hole in the garden to make sure they can move around, we hope that the

numbers will improve —— a hole in the garden fence. we are going to be putting the hedgehogs in our garden, because i have three little boys who have never seen alive hedgehog for. look at his face. do you like him? assessing hedgehog numbers is tricky, but in the 19505 it a55e55ing hedgehog numbers is tricky, but in the 19505 it is thought there were around 30 million in britain. but now, conservationists believe numbers have plummeted to under! million. we are taking all the hedgerows away, which is what the hedgehogs need. roadkill, slug pellet5, tremors, bonfires. they have a tough time. the hedgehogs are temporarily marked as mail orfemale, so time. the hedgehogs are temporarily marked as mail or female, so they can be released in pairs, and then it is time to say goodbye. 0h sweetheart. they are all out having the time of their lives. we have

been through so much with them. but they are now out where they should be. they are wild animals, we know they have to go. we know everyone in they have to go. we know everyone in the village will be looking after them. other villages aiming for hedgehog friendly status include windle5ham, in surrey, and cornwall. we put them in this spot because it i5 we put them in this spot because it is very quiet, and they will be happy here, and they have access into our garden, into our neighbour's garden. dusk. time to let the hedgehogs go. what is it like when you see a hedgehog returned to the wild? it is what we aim for. our whole purpose in life i5 aim for. our whole purpose in life is to take an injured or sick hedgehog, make it better, and return it back into the wild. already to go. to nature. it is hoped, back for good. people love hedgehogs. life is

better with pictures of hedgehogs in our world. why is that? i don't know. they are gorgeous creatures, really special. should bo55e5 be allowed to force female members of their workforce to wear high heels? currently the law says employers can dismi55 staff who don't meet reasonable dress code guidelines, and allows different code5 for men and women. when nicola thorp was sent home for refusing to wear high heels, she started a petition calling for the law to be changed. however, the government has now rejected that call. nicola joins us from our london newsroom. a very good morning to you. good morning. you must be very disappointed that this is not going further. it is going further. i am disappointed they have decided not to change legislation but the government has said it will enforce the guidelines, and they will set out the guidelines over the summer, what those guidelines are they have not specified yet. it seems like a

wea k not specified yet. it seems like a weak response to such a strong call to action, but we are going to have to action, but we are going to have to see what they come up with. so these guidelines you are talking about, would they be specific? in your case it is about high heels. that was the issue. you were told you had to wear them and he didn't wa nt you had to wear them and he didn't want to, and you were camping at the time. do you wanted to be specific to items clothing such as footwear, or what do you want? —— temping.” think guidelines should be specific because as it stands an employer can distinguish between a mail and female dress code and what often happens in those cases is women end up happens in those cases is women end up losing out, because often there is more expected of women in terms of how they look, with their hair, make—up, high heels, et cetera. and that pressure isn't necessarily put on men. so what i wanted was for the government to scrap that entirely and say, do you know what? it doesn't matter whether you are mail orfemale, as long as doesn't matter whether you are mail or female, as long as you are smart at work. we are not going to enforce

things like high heels and make up upon you. but i don't know whether these guidelines will stay. they might make it clear that employers who do force employees to wear high heels are already breaking the equalities act 2010, which says you have to treat men and women equally. in my mind wearing a smart pair of flat women's shoes is exactly the same as wearing a smart power of flat men's shoes. so why on earth women would be asked to put their health at risk, or hurt their ankles, et cetera, orfeel sexualised in the workplace, ijust don't think it is necessary. nicola, iam don't think it is necessary. nicola, i am really interested in this, because you might think on the face of it, surely the number of circumstances where this comes up is very small but you say a lot of women have been back in touch with you to say things like, i was sacked for not wearing lipstick, or an inappropriate skirt length. for not wearing lipstick, or an inappropriate skirt lengthm for not wearing lipstick, or an inappropriate skirt length. it is thousands, and i would say on the grand scheme of things this isn't one of the biggest issues at all, so why our employers forcing women to

do it, and making women feel uncomfortable in the workplace? there is explicit and implicit sexism everywhere. these are rules in black and white, and are explicit, but even if we brought in the strictest rules to outlaw any kind of overt sexism, laws are only as good as the people who enforce them. so we need to make sure that employers know that this kind of dress code policy is completely unacceptable. there are so many women feel pressured to look a certain way in their daily lives. but to look sexualised, or more attractive in the workplace, i don't think in 2017 that is something we should be expected to do. how would guidelines work in relation to uniforms? can an employer get around something by, if you like, saying what we have is a uniform, and the uniform is what you have to wear, and maybe you don't like it, but thatis and maybe you don't like it, but that is what you have to wear? absolutely, we have all had to wear

uniforms we don't like wearing in our lives. but the difference would be if they made women wear a uniform that was less comfortable than men. iam sure that was less comfortable than men. i am sure you yourself wouldn't like it if, tomorrow, the bbc said part of your uniform is a four inch heel, but it is fine because we are making the women do it as well. itjust wouldn't be fair. that is an image to counter! a nice one to leave us with —— image to conjure! to counter! a nice one to leave us with -- image to conjure! charlie will definitely not be wearing his heels tomorrow morning. headlines coming upjust heels tomorrow morning. headlines coming up just after this. hello, this is breakfast, with charlie stayt and rachel burden. coming up before 8am, ben will have the weather. but first, a summary of this morning's main news. the conservatives are attempting to play down speculation that they will raise taxes if they win the general election. yesterday, the chancellor, phillip hammond, hinted that the government might abandon the pledge made at the last election not to raise income tax,

national insurance or vat. labour and the liberal democrats were quick to jump on what they saw as a change of policy, warning that tax rises lie ahead. more than 50,000 troops are being deployed across france in preparation for voting in the country's presidential election after the killing of a police officer in paris. the bbc‘s karin giannone is in paris. karin, how big a role will security have in tomorrow's vote? it was always going to be an important weekend in france. events over the past few days have changed things a little. what did the like in france? welcome to a scene of parisi and normality. a marketjust a stones throw from notre dame. people are really just a stones throw from notre dame. people are reallyjust getting on with their normal saturday. it is a

day of political silence. they aren't allowed to be hearing any m essa 9 es aren't allowed to be hearing any messages from politicians. that might bea messages from politicians. that might be a relief after months of political batwing. as you mentioned the terrible events of thursday mean police are patrolling all the time. people are wondering what affects that will have on political intentions, the choices people make in the ballot boxes, but also whether the french will be put off from turning out to vote because of security fears and turnout is so important in this election because the top four candidates are really neck and neck. let'sjust the top four candidates are really neck and neck. let's just give you one final thought about thursday night. it has emerged that the victim, the 37—year—old policeman, had been deployed in november 2015

at the bataclan theatre. 0ne had been deployed in november 2015 at the bataclan theatre. one year later he was there at the concert that we opened the concert hall when sting performed. he was interviewed that night and he said he was happy to be there, to defend civic values and say no to terrorists. thank you very much. us vice—president mike pence says a us naval strike group will arrive in waters near north korea in a matter of days. there had been confusion earlier this week over whether the uss carl vinson was heading into the sea of japan or not. however, in a press conference with the australian prime minister, mr pence said the us wanted to show north korea it had the resources to secure the region. for the first time since the industrial revolution britain has gone a whole working day without using coal to generate electricity. national grid said the news was a "watershed moment" in attempts to phase out coal by 2025. taxes on co2 emissions and the falling cost of renewable energy have made coal plants less economical in recent years.

a nasa probe, flying near the planet saturn, is about to set itself on a path of destruction, as it runs out of fuel. cassini will pass the planet's moon, titan, this morning. but this will cause it to change course and head straight for saturn's atmosphere where it will be destroyed. it's hoped before its demise it will be able to make some last minute measurements of the planet's rings, rotation and length of day. are you not going to repeat the noise it made? earlier you made a very scientific noise. those are the main stories this morning. 0ver morning. over to the sport. good morning. we are at the business end this weekend of the fa cup. the teams are just two wins away from the trophy and it's very exciting. we haven't had a semi—final weekend

like this for a long time. two tea ms like this for a long time. two teams in english cup semifinals for the fa cup, really going for it. now they are going to meet in the fa cup and it will be really exciting. hard to call either way, i wouldn't wa nt to hard to call either way, i wouldn't want to say. yes, good morning. it's notjust english teams in cup semi—final action this weekend, scottish teams are aswell. but let's with the teatime kick off at wembley, where the two best teams in the premier league, chelsea and tottenham, meet in the fa cup. for the winners, it's a place in the final and dreams of the double. we will play again one of hte best teams in europe. great manager, great players. players that won european competitions in the world cups. i think we are going to play again one of the best teams in europe. i think tottenham is a great team and they are showing for the second consecutive year to fight for the title. last season they missed.

and this season they are trying again. and that match is live on bbc one and radio 5 live, kick—off at 5:15. in scotland, go for the treble, as they take on rangers in the scottish cup semi—finals. but the action begins this lunch—time, when the holders hibernian face aberdeen. we've seen off hearts already in impressive fashion, so aberdeen, the second—best team over the last few years, they keep improving every year under derek. they've been to the league cup final already and the semi—final. they've had a good season. but you've got four teams in the competition who can win a trophy and i'm just pleased that we are there. ijust want to go and try to win it and get into the final first and foremost to do that.

we've beaten some good teams along the way. ross county, a tough match against partick thistle and another tough one waiting for us. but you don't get to the finals without tough challenges. we've got another one on saturday, but looking forward to it. the england manager gareth southgate said he was "stunned" by the death of his close friend and former team—mate ugo ehiogu, describing him as a "gentleman" and a "credit to football". ehiogu passed away yesterday at the age of aa, after suffering a heart attack at tottenham's training ground, where he was the club's under—23 coach. southgate said, "he was a gentle giant away from football" but "a colossus on the pitch". there was a minute's applause for ehiogu ahead of last night's championship match between norwich and brighton. the game itself was bizarre. the brighton goalkeeper david stockdale scoring two freakish own goals, as they lost 2—0 at norwich. both times, the ball hit the woodwork before rebounding into the net off stockdale's back.

brighton have already won promotion to the premier league. very u nfortu nate. manchester city women face a huge test in the champions league semi—finals this afternoon as they play holders lyon at home in the first leg. this is city's first season playing in europe's top club competition whereas lyon have reached five of the last seven finals, winning three. you can watch highlights on the women's football show tomorrow evening at 11:50pm on bbc one. widnes remain bottom of the super league despite theirfirst home win of the season. they trailed st helens into the final few minutes, but a late try gave them victory by 16—1a. the hosts were trailing 1a—12

going into the final few minutes, but some great defence and patrick ah van's second score of the game, secured the narrow victory. the 2015 world snooker champion stuart bingham has been knocked out of this year's tournament by kyran wilson. wilson had the upper hand for most of the match and had a clear lead when bingham made a hash of this attempt at a pot, allowing wilson to clear up and complete a 13—10 win and become the first player into the quarter—finals. and five—time champion ronnie 0'sullivan will resume his second round match this morning against another former winner shaun murphy with a 10—6 lead. he needsjust three more frames for victory. ellie downie has become the first british woman to win all round called a european championships. britain face romania in the crunch. there could be back in the world group for the first time since 1993. heather watson is on court first against simona halep, followed by johanna konta.

we've got such a strong team, such a strong team spirit, but i think that's enough to help each other through this week. 0bviously that's enough to help each other through this week. obviously you a lwa ys through this week. obviously you always hope for a home tie, but again the fact that it is sold—out arena makes it more exciting and all of us like playing on the big stages. i just of us like playing on the big stages. ijust have to say, how one lucky was the goalkeeper! that's tough. isn't it hard ? i think as you said before, i think everybody will be watching it online. that's the way that happens. they suddenly become household names. for it to happen twice, once, you think there are now. but twice! they are premier league players now. you can follow the tennis on the bbc later today.

i was going to say something about smashy and lighty. do you remember them? they were spoof djs. the duke and dutch —— duchess have had a go. from coping with grief, to the strains of being new parents, the younger members of the royal family have opened up about some serious issues this week. and when the duke and duchess of cambridge dropped in on radio 1 yesterday, the conversation may have centred on dealing with mental health, but it was also a lot more light—hearted, and quite revealing. we are both quite keen on boxed sets. when the get times in evenings. what the kids are in bed. i guess you to watch children's

programmes as well? yes. lots of children's programmes. there are lot of them out there. some of them are really good but you have to pretend you are really good but you have to pretend you a re really really good but you have to pretend you are really interested because george gets upset if you aren't showing due diligence to the characters. fireman sam lot. a are we at the peppa pig stage yet? we've gone past it. charlotte will probably be into it soon. it is funny. so what have we learnt about the younger members of the royal family this week? the royal historian kate williams joins us now from our london newsroom. good morning. we have picked out a clip in which they were talking about some really quite personal and trivial stuff, about family life. what do you make of what they were saying yesterday? well, what we were really seeing was an opening up, and intimacy, for the royals. they were talking about what the children liked, they were talking about how they like take aways and comfortable clothes. they were really talking

about their at home life, aside we never get to see, and throughout history we see a lot of... quite a risky strategy. there was the 19605 documentary which showed prince philip making sausages. that was seen as philip making sausages. that was seen as too much, so it was taken off circulation. we can't see it because we've seen off circulation. we can't see it because we've seen them in too much ofan because we've seen them in too much of an intimate way. so they are sometimes afraid of that. but here they are talking about their family really openly and i think that's because they know that if they want to get the attention, with their heads together, conversations like this really help that. we will talk more about the campaign in a moment. 0n more about the campaign in a moment. on that occasion they walked into a live radio studio. there would have been a time when that was seen as a dangerous thing to do, just because it's a live studio environment. they are it's a live studio environment. they a re clearly it's a live studio environment. they are clearly getting more comfortable with handling that kind of an environment. yes, it would have been

seen as environment. yes, it would have been seen as uncontrolled. any question could be asked. whereas often what was preferred were pre— records, questions approved in advance, everything talked about, no surprises. here they are really saying they are happy to be open to the surprises and happy to talk freely and that's where the best side of the young royals comes out. when you see them outside of the controlled environment you start to see the warm aside, the more intimate side of william and catherine. thing is, they are very popular. we tend to see them doing a lot, we always see katherine playing cricket and sport. we see speaking quite so much, but when she does it really does engage the public and i think that's what the royals have realised and what the palace have realised. they really are the secret weapons in a sense, but they have to talk and what we really want to know

about is the intimate side of their family life. that something that when they talk about gets huge amount of coverage. the more serious side of what they've been doing recently is of course talking about their own motivations linked to william and harry and their mother's death. it's been a very significant moment, hasn't it? both historically and also on personal terms. moment, hasn't it? both historically and also on personalterms. it's been very significant. we saw harry's very groundbreaking interview about his experiences, about the response to his mother's death and we've never heard how they talk about anything like that before andindeed talk about anything like that before and indeed members of the royal family don't tend to talk about bereavement and death and the big sections of their lives. for many people that was a real revelation, here is harry and william especially harry, saying he bottled it up, didn't want to talk about it and it caused a lot of mental distress and he came neara caused a lot of mental distress and he came near a breakdown over the misery and unhappiness, the despair,

he felt over his mother's death. what was very striking when he saw that interview that they did outside on the bench, harry said, you think eve ryo ne on the bench, harry said, you think everyone else's life is perfect. you might think that about a royal, they have money, privilege, the adulation, but harry had been suffering from all these years over the death of diana and also william. the fact that they wanted to open up about that and talk about it, to give hope to other people who were suffering, i think is very striking. because there could be criticised for it, to stop talking, stop moaning, and yet it was their effo rts moaning, and yet it was their efforts to try to say you have to talk about things and then you will feel better. that's very much. we will chat again later in the programme. here is ben with a look at this morning's weather. a bright start for many of us, but don't be fooled. there is cold air

on the way. yes, something called forjust on the way. yes, something called for just about all of us for the start of next week. the weekend starting a decent fashion in shropshire. sunshine of the story for most of us as we go through the next couple of days. here is our first look at the satellite picture this morning. there is a fair amount of cloud around, but a nice slice of sunshine through south—west scotland, parts of east wales, the west midlands and down towards the south coast as well. but even where we start the day with cloud things should brighten up and we will see some spells of sunshine. quite a few showers in scotland, some of those wintry, with a chilly feel and one or two showers elsewhere. the vast majority will stay dry. through the channel islands into the south—west of england, wales, the west midlands, we will see some sunny spells through the afternoon. temperatures up to 16 or 17 degrees but a small chance of a shower across the south—east, east anglia. rather chilly feel close to the east coast at much of northern england dry. northern ireland is likely to stay pretty cloudy through the day.

was southern scotland, northern scotland, a lot of showers and just four degrees the afternoon temperature in lerwick. as we go through the evening and overnight as showers will continue, some of them wintry, but elsewhere are largely dry night. some clear spells and the odd mr patch, a clear night, out in the countryside: for a touch of frost. chilly is not a bad thing for the start of the london marathon. it will be cool to start off tomorrow morning. things should brighten up as we go through the day. they will warm up as we go through the day. they will warm up as as we go through the day. they will warm up as well. many parts of england and wales that is the story. sunny spells through tomorrow. northern ireland and southern scotland, some patchy rain. heavy rain in northern scotland. temperatures six in lerwick, that cold air moving southwards as we head into next week. now on bbc news, it is time for newswatch, with samira ahmed. under the spotlight this week, election coverage, and how to report from north korea. hello and welcome to newswatch. they are off again as bbc news embarks on covering another general election campaign, how much

attention should be given to the views of people like brenda from bristol? not another one. oh, for god's sake! i can't stand this. and correspondentjohn sudworth on the challenges of reporting from north korea, surrounded by government minders. myjob is to work out how far i can push being a nuisance and an annoyance without getting me or my team into difficulty. tuesday morning saw one of those moments when, after an hour of speculative gossip, almost everyone here in broadcasting house listened to an announcement, takes a deep breath and embarks on a period of frenzied, journalistic activity which, in this case, could last for seven weeks. here is the bombshell. i have just chaired a meeting of the cabinet, where we agreed that the government should

call a general election, to be held on the 8th ofjune. all day, reporters and presenters flocked to downing street. 0ccasionally there was some activity. mrjohnson, are you looking forward to an early election? 0k. that's obviously... cabinet ministers have been in there since 8:30am. they're now leaving. mr hunt, are you looking forward to an election? i get a feeling it's going to be a futile task. no one is going to want to trump theresa may. they will be very obedient and walk straight down the street. they did. and when mrs may appeared later, eleanor garnier was just as vocal. the door is just opening now. will this be the prime minister? have you changed your mind, prime minister? another u—turn, prime minister? how many more times are you going to change your mind,

prime minister? no answer. no surprise. the practice of shouting questions at downing street came under attack again from newswatch viewers. here's darryl. alan adams wrote to him after watching eleanor garnier in what he described as... and april dilley summed it up like this. bbc news did ensure it got away from westminster on tuesday to seek some public reaction to the news of the snap election. all this voting doesn't please

everyone, like brenda, in bristol. she's lived through 19 elections. we told her about the 20th. you're joking! not another one. oh, for god's sake. honestly, i can't stand this. there's too much politics going on at the moment. why does she need to do it? this struck a cord with some, such as guy green. brenda swiftly became the overnight media sensation. the bbc rode the wave enthusiastically with a follow—up report on the following night from jon kay. you are trending on twitter. do you know what that means? this was all too much. such as anthony parry, who begged... peter kingston added...

there will be plenty more to say on newswatch about the bbc election coverage over the next few weeks. but, for now, let's leave it with this plea from clare crick. away from all the political excitement in britain, world news has been dominated by escalating tensions between the united states and north korea. satellite images led to news reports that the highly repressive and secretive state was preparing for a fixed nuclear test.

and on monday it warned of all—out war if the united states used military force against it. amid this war of words, the bbc'sjohn sudworth was invited to pyongyang, where he interviewed the vice foreign minister. we asked him on his expectations of the journalistic trip with a difference. north korea is all about shows of strength. the first today came in this tae kwon do demonstration. the journalists, when they arrive, and i've been on a few of these trips now, you are met by at least one government minder, in our case on this visit, two government minders, who were our own personal minders for the rest of the six days we were in pyongyang. so, they basically followed our every step. in fact, more than that, they set our itinerary in the first place.

they knew exactly where our steps were going to take us, and they came along and watched over every interview that we did, occasionally quibbled over questions we asked, or took issue with things that i'd said to camera. my own sort of recorded thoughts for the reporting i was doing upset them on occasion. and it's the same for anyjournalist who is ever given permission to go into north korea. you might think, what's the point, and it's a good question. i would argue there is a point. we can, given all the limitations, still speak to ordinary north korean citizens. and we are able, of course, to attempt to judge for ourselves how much of what they're telling us is what they really feel, or how much is being filtered because they know they are being watched by an official. the dear marshall, kim jong—un, feeds and clothes us, this nine—year—old girl tells me.

even were somebody to want to speak their own mind, to tell something a little different, that would challenge the official line, the risks would be so extreme that we have to assume that we're not getting anywhere close to real opinion. that said, you know, you can stilljudge in people's reactions to the sort of questions you ask. you can tell through the sorts of pauses that they may take before answering. you can sort of see them second—guess the questions, and you can learn a lot from doing that. and even, you know, leaving aside the difficulty of speaking to ordinary people, just to be inside north korea, this most totalitarian of states, to feel for ourselves the way in which every aspect of civil life, of social life, is utterly owned and controlled by the system, i think is useful. it is an extraordinary sight. this is state power expressed...

every now and again, it wants the world to hear something. and on this occasion, of course, we were invited in, along with a couple of hundred other foreign reporters, to witness its grand, great military parade. this was a show of strength. this was a signal to the world, of course, about the state of advancement of its missile technology. and this was, if you like, a message of defiance, that north korea had carefully calibrated, that it wanted to send to one particular audience, of course, in president donald trump. and it wanted the world's media there, to amplify and broadcast that message on its behalf. so we're being used, to some extent. another word of caution, i suppose, about these trips. but again, standing alongside that parade, watching the crowds, trying to judge for ourselves whether the extraordinary emotion

on display is real or manufactured. again, all of that is useful. there have been instances where foreign reporters have found themselves in a tricky situation, as a result of the regime taking issue with their reporting. i think, on the round, it's fair to conclude that, because north korea has invited the foreign media, because they want us to project a certain message on their behalf, that they also understand that, with that, comes a certain nuisance and annoyance. and you know, i think for me, on the ground in pyongyang, myjob is to work out how far i can push being a nuisance and an annoyance, without crossing a line, and getting me or my team into difficulty. we need to afford the people we are dealing with, inside north korea, at least that due respect. as long as we do that i think we are on pretty safe ground. thank you very much

tojohn sudworth. finally, coverage of the gun attack that killed a policeman on the champs—elysees in paris on thursday evening raised again a thorny issue forjournalists, outlined here byjeff richmond from worcestershire. thank you to all of you who got in touch with us this week. if you want to share your opinions, or even appear on the programme, you can call us. 0r e—mail newswatch. you can find us on twitter. and do have a look at previous discussions on the website. that is all from us. we'll be back to hear your thoughts about bbc news coverage again next week. goodbye.