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. 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 duke and duchess of cambridge

presenting on radioi promoted their mental health campaign. mike's taken to the slopes this week, trying to keep up with 18 year old millie knight, britain's first world champion para skier. in sport chelsea chase the double — the premier league leaders take on their closes rivals tottenham, in the first of this weekend's fa cup semi—finals at wembley. and we take a look at the weather with them. plenty of dry weather, even some sunshine, but a plenty of dry weather, even some sunshine, buta big plenty of dry weather, even some sunshine, but a big change on the way for the start of next week. something much colder on the way. i will have all of the details later. thank you very much. 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 leila nathoo is at westminster this morning — so it seems the conservatives are rowing back on this one? early days in the campaigning already. tax front and centre. absolutely. this is a nervousness on the half of the tory party that they are alienating, potentially, traditional tory voters by talk of tax rises. theresa may confirmed yesterday she will continue to spend 4.796 yesterday she will continue to spend 4.7% of national income on overseas aid. that's controversial in some parts. she has also refused to guarantee the so—called pensions triple lock. entrants will increase bya minimum triple lock. entrants will increase by a minimum of 2.5% a year. —— that means pensions. this talk of tax,

philip hammond's suggestion that he wa nts to philip hammond's suggestion that he wants to see the end of the commitment not to raise income tax oi’ commitment not to raise income tax or piatti or national insurance. that has caused alarm. conservative sources are playing back down. —— or vat or national insurance. labour says there was a tax bombshell ahead. the lib dems have said that this will hurt the pockets of white van man. labour has said that the richest would pay their fair share of tax if elected. the battle lines are being drawn. plenty of talks of policy before the manifestos have even been published. just one final fought, we are hearing that eric pickles has said that he would step down. 0ther mps have said the same. a very interesting election policy wise, but there will be a high

turnover of mps before the battle has even begun. thanks 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. 0ur correspondent is in paris at the moment. the city returning to a degree of normality. how have the events of the last few days affected preparations for this election? good morning. this is a scene of absolute brassiere normality. a busy marketplace on the boulevard st germain. people are doing what they normally do on a saturday morning. all the more so because this is a day of political silence. just standing here, we have noticed police officers on patrol, armed police officers on patrol, armed police even through a market like this. it shows what is beneath the surface and what is in the background, this sense of high

tension and tight security. france are undera tension and tight security. france are under a state of emergency since november 20 15. and everybody is thinking about what happened on thursday night to some degree when a police officer was gunned down just a couple of miles from here. it turns out that nick garnett from radio five live spoke to him at the reopening of the bataclan theatre. the policeman said to him he was happy to be there. he wanted to defend his country's civic values and say no to terrorism. how sad it ironic that turned out to be. he lost his own life just five months later. let me give you a sense of what the atmosphere is like from the newspapers this morning as we go into this period of silence a day before the election. le parisien, vote amid tension. the police presence very much on the front of

that. le figaro, the shadow of terrorism hanging over the first round of voting. you can see the candidates‘ posters on the police presence. it really sums things up. le monde, one of the main newspapers, the campaign struck by terrorism. although it seems like a normal scene in paris, the day before the first round of the presidential elections, security is very much on people‘s minds. thanks very much. no candidate with an absolute majority. —— if there is no candidate with an absolute majority, it will go to a second round. 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. 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. police in the german city of cologne say the situation is tense, as thousands of demonstrators are gathering to protest against a conference of a right—wing party. 0ne policeman was injured when he tried to prevent an attack on an ‘alternative fur deutschland‘ delegate. 4,000 officers are being deployed in the city, where at least 5 rallies are expected to be held today. the sun newspaper has printed a formal apology to everton footballer ross barkley. former editor kelvin mckenzie compared the footballer to a gorilla in an article for his column. ross barkley‘s grandfather is from nigeria but the newspaper says a racial slur was never intended. kelvin mckenzie remains suspended from the sun. 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 it‘s self on a path of destruction, as it runs out of fuel. —— a nasa probe, flying near the planet saturn has 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 heading straight for saturn‘s atmosphere where it will be destroyed. it‘s hoped before it‘s demise, it will be able to make some last minute measurements of the planet‘s rings, rotation, and length of day. from take—aways and box sets, to prince george‘s favourite tv programme, the duke and duchess of cambridge have spoken about their family life

together on radio one. 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? to be honest, we could probably do a betterjob. peter hunt, bbc news. and relaxed. the irresponsibility to announce number one. some 30,000 people will

ta ke number one. some 30,000 people will take part in the london marathon. 0ne take part in the london marathon. one man is believed to be the only competitor who will combine the run with a karaoke 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‘. i would imagine there would be lots of peoplejoining in i would imagine there would be lots of people joining in along the route. you get amazing support at the london marathon. good luck to graham and everyone else taking part. people really appreciate having the support along the route. i really like that shot. we‘ve had several suggestions this morning

on the best running tracks. you elyou go. out of t" ' w out of number t " out of number ten - out of number ten on f tl: would be " " "f” wzgezg be a general to announce there would—beg gmr§t= it to announce there would—oea generate it took everybody by election it took everybody by surprise. she has previously ruled it out. but injust under seven she has previously ruled it out. but in just under seven weeks we will go to the polls again. a little more than two years since the last general election. let‘s get some thoughts now. andrew pierce, executive editor of the daily mail, and anna lewis, deputy editor of the new statesman. thank you very much forjoining us on

saturday morning. —— helen lewis, deputy editor of the new statesman. what have you learned that you didn‘t already know? what have you learned that you didn't already know? good question. i think some things will happen again. i think it‘ll be a rerun of the 2015 campaign. big focus on the south—west. that is where the tories think they are vulnerable to do some seats to the lib dems. the dead cat, which will happen at some point, the opposition seem to be doing that quite well, someone will say something awful at one point. i have learned that it will be a boring campaign. everybody assumes theresa may is going to increase her majority. so we will have seven weeks of people saying, maybe that is not the case, oh, it is. even 1983 margaret thatcher wasn't this far ahead of michael foot. at the pollsters got it right this time? what i have learned is that it is the utter demise of ukip. even nigel farage doesn't want to run. douglas

ca rswe ll, farage doesn't want to run. douglas carswell, who was their only mp, who we nt carswell, who was their only mp, who went independent, and now is not running, i think that the labour party that is a worry. in a lot of those northern seas where there are small majorities and the tories are breathing down their neck, ukip have thousands of votes. wildie switch back to labour? probably not. they will probably switch to the tories who have given us brexit. —— will they switch back to labour?l who have given us brexit. —— will they switch back to labour? a lot of people say when they meet in, engage with him, he has an effect, people get on well withjeremy corbyn. how do you think they will go about making people understand just what he is about and whether he could be prime ministerial? that photo shoot, even andrew‘s heart must have melted at seeing those pictures. not much. this is the part of politics at seeing those pictures. not much. this is the part of politicheremy corbyn does well in. he is well liked in his constituency. when people talk to him they say he has

time for them. lots of people have said that she is not —— lots of people have said that theresa may is not afraid of going up against jeremy corbyn, even though she doesn‘t want to do the tv debates, but he is quite down the line, and friendly. theresa may‘s weakness is that she can look old and be controlling. the avjeremy corbyn is to get him in front of cameras as much as possible. —— the aim for jeremy corbyn is to get him in front of cameras as much as possible. he looks like the cuddly grandpa. that will neutralise the effects that. there is a suggestion that theresa may is not so keen on getting involved in a debate publicly. that she is staying away from being interviewed, for example. are people going to buy into the idea that that may mean she has a fragility? that her image is all about strength and resolve. her advisers have told her, you are so resolve. her advisers have told her, you are so far ahead. she is about

35 to 40 points ahead ofjeremy corbyn as who is seen as the best pm. she has the most to lose at a tv debate. they could be one slip. why risk a banana skin when you don't have to? when tony blair was in a commanding position he laughed out loud at the idea he would do a tv debate withjohn loud at the idea he would do a tv debate with john major. loud at the idea he would do a tv debate withjohn major. he never did and he won by a debate withjohn major. he never did and he won bya mile. debate withjohn major. he never did and he won by a mile. it's debate withjohn major. he never did and he won bya mile. it's an debate withjohn major. he never did and he won by a mile. it's an issue which gets everybody excited in the westminsterjungle. but which gets everybody excited in the westminster jungle. but in which gets everybody excited in the westminsterjungle. but in the real world i don't think people care very much. one thing people do care about is tax. that has entered the fray with this suggestion. can the tories get away with saying they are going to tax you more? it's about time we had some refreshing honesty with a manifesto. if you look at david cameron's in 2015, there were 600 recommendations. ridiculous. 0ne cameron's in 2015, there were 600 recommendations. ridiculous. one of the most ridiculous pledgers cameron made was no increase in vat, income

tax, or national insurance. do not tie the hands of your chancellor for five years. the tories have a huge lead, so they can be honest and say, if things get rough we may have to put up your taxes. that is honest. voters will respect that, i think. as and when we see the manifestos, don‘t pledge anything! as and when we see the manifestos, don't pledge anything! some people would like to get away with that. i think there will be a much shorter tory manifesto compared with last time because they are so far ahead and they don‘t need to give these m essa 9 es and they don‘t need to give these messages 01’ and they don‘t need to give these messages orfortune. and they don‘t need to give these messages or fortune. i find and they don‘t need to give these messages orfortune. ifind it refreshing, like andrew. theresa may is trying to talk about getting her mandate for brexit, and trying to escape from some of the pledges which were made in 2015. they were never meant to be enacted. they were meant to be bartered away, as andrew has said. we will get a sense of what the government is going to do and what it wants, rather than a mishmash of last government plus a bit of brexit plus a bit of theresa may‘s own ideas about government.

thank you both very much. let‘s take a look at the weather. good morning. many of you will like this weekend more than next week. cold weather on the way. springlike weather to be had this weekend. this was the scene from our weather watcher, frank, had this weekend. this was the scene from ourweatherwatcher, frank, in worcestershire. mainly driver that we can. spells of sunshine, patchy cloud, but this is the satellite picture from earlier. —— mainly dry for the weekend. this cloud over northern ireland will be hard to shift. some cloud over wales, southwest, and eastern england. but a lot of cloud will break up. we will see spells of sunshine. the few showers, particularly over the south—east, and showers continuing over north scotland. some of these will be wintry. if you‘re planning to get out today, it isn‘t looking too bad. the channel islands, south—west england come into the

west midlands, long spells of sunshine, temperatures as high as 17 degrees in places. the odd shower in the south—east. cooler, as well, to the south—east. cooler, as well, to the north sea coast, maybe eight to 9 degrees. many fine in northern england. southern scotland with sunny spells. some sunny spells further north, as well, but with the showers, some of them wintry, and temperatures just around four to 5 degrees over shetland. we will have a largely dry night in most areas. the odd patch of mist. it will get cold in the countryside for a touch of frost. a chilly start is not bad news for the marathon. it‘ll probably be single digits at the start line in london, then warming up start line in london, then warming up and brightening up as the day goes on. across the bulk of england and wales it‘ll be another fine day, plenty of sunshine around, more cloud creeping its way down to north—west england, also for northern ireland and scotland. the odd spot of rain here. heavy rain

developing later run over the northern isles of scotland. with that, strong winds, and that is the first sign of what is to come. this low pressure will bind itself up across north scotland make tomorrow. strong winds for a while. then we turn our eyes to this cold front. it is going to introduce cold air. these northerly winds are all the way from the arctic into the start of next week. 0vernight frosts, chilly days, and the chance of some wintry showers, even some snow, to quite low levels in a few places. we will keep you updated. thanks very much. this is breakfast. time for a look at the papers. carole mundell is professor of extragalactic astronomy at bath university, she‘s here to tell us what‘s caught her eye. we‘ll speak to carole in a minute, we wa nt

we want to talk to you about cassini. cassini has been going around saturn and extracting information. it isa information. it is a probe, isn‘t it? information. it is a probe, isn't it? exactly. it has been taking photographs and gathering information of some of the moons of saturn. some of the exciting results have been over the 12 year lifetime of this mission, the measurements it has made of the moons of saturn, and looking for possible signs of life. it was planned to self—destruct. absolutely. it is all scheduled in. what it is doing from now until september, is doing deep dives towards saturn, it‘ll get closer and closer to the surface. in september it is designed to crash into saturn. it is designed that way to make sure it does not crash into any of the moons because it doesn‘t want to contaminate any of them.|j moons because it doesn‘t want to contaminate any of them. i feel quite sad it is on its way out.

contaminate any of them. i feel quite sad it is on its way outm you look at twitter and some of the comments the cassini tom aggar scientists have been saying, it is clear it has been a phenomenal mission. —— cassini scientists have been saying. we will have all of these measurements. we will learn so much about saturn. the scientists are very sad to see the demise of the mission. your next story. there has been lots of debate about whether artificial sweeteners in diet drinks are safe or not. sometimes they are given a clean bill of health, sometimes not. this new study has shown some potential statistical links between prevalence of dementia and strokes, and the use of dementia and strokes, and the use of diet drinks. it needs a bit more research to look for the physical

drives of this. this was an observational study, wasn‘t it? we ought to be cautious as we are with any sort of health scare. for a long time people have been saying i do not trust the artificial sweeteners. yet, there is this drive against sugar. it is difficult to tell. some other studies have shown that taking large quantities of diet drinks can switch off the body‘s natural mechanism for feeling full. if you have a bit of sugar in a balanced diet you will be mostly fine. i think anything in excess starts to push the limits of what is natural. scientists have been looking more to corroborate these statistics and look for the biological mechanism that might underlie them. the daily mail, we were discussing this earlier, i‘m curious about people‘s personal experiences on this one. this is the story about wearing high heels to work and whether an employer has the right to say you should wear those kind of shoes. that‘s right. the government

decided, following a big online petition, not to change the law on this, but bring in new legislation and strengthen guidelines. campaigners will be disappointed by that. but it goes to something more fundamental about discrimination in the workplace. and what we think of as smart for men and smart for women. if you tell a gentleman, go and put some stilettos on, you know, think of it that way, would you ask a man to do the same? in the work environments you have been income have you been required to dress in a particular way, or in a way that maybe you would not want this to mark —— in work environments you have been in, have you been required to dress in a particular way. it is very much about an individual management at local level dictated to such a degree what somebody wears that it becomes uncomfortable. ultimately it may violate things like the equality act 2010. the

guidelines will probably strengthen hellfire employers can push this. if you are wearing smart, appropriate clothes, maybe forcing women to wear high heels in particular might not be the best thing. this is something which went viral a couple of years ago, the dress that appeared to change colour, or people‘s perception of it being very different. this was a nice story. people were debating online what the colour of this particular dress was. it sounds like a light story. but scientists started to think, how do people perceive colour. going further beyond things like colour blindness and what happens with light and shade and how pigments react to different colours of light. there seemed to be a seasonal difference. backlit, front lit. it is now an extended study now on how people perceive colour late at night, early in the morning, and different biology of the eyes. this dress has triggered some interesting studies. it went viral and then it

gets some interesting findings and discussions. actually quite exciting. back on your turf. are you a boffin? say it loud and proud. no sign of aliens so far are what is this? we have a number of programmes internationally looking for signals that could be associated with extra terrestrial intelligence. the idea is to look in the radio part of the spectrum. when light has a certain wavelength, in radio wave it is about 20 centimetres. so big telescopes pick them up.|j about 20 centimetres. so big telescopes pick them up. i was talking about this the other day, are we hearing aliens? i don‘t think so. are we hearing aliens? i don‘t think so. they might pick up a particular frequency. the idea was to look at around 20 centimetres where hydrogen naturally produces light. they are picking up signals they cannot explain. these are called fast radio

bursts. we think they are a natural phenomenon. but we are keeping our minds open. good, keep your mind open, you never know. thank you very much. this is breakfast. we‘re on bbc one until ten o‘clock this morning, whenjohn torode takes over in the saturday kitchen. john — what‘s on the menu for us? how are things looking? pretty good. we have had a rehearsal, things smell pretty good. 0ur we have had a rehearsal, things smell pretty good. our special guest, jason. how are you? good to see you. you are facing heaven or hell. i'm looking forward to half of it. heaven is black cod with miso. and hell is cabbage. we might be able to convert you. we have two great chefs in the studio and a wine expert. lisa, what are

you cooking? a wild garlic soup with bacon fat potatoes and sour cream. jason happy with that one. richard h turner, back again, great to see you, what are you cooking? steak, chips, cheese, gravy. how is that? and some wine to go with all of that. around the world, delicious flavours, some bargains, we will sample some beautiful winds today with these wonderful dishes. food, wine, saturday morning, and a few laughs. let's not go too far. we will see you all at ten o‘clock. laughs. let's not go too far. we will see you all at ten o'clock. he went too far dissing cabbage. you are a big fan, aren‘t you? big fan, but i‘m irish will stop coming up in the next half hour... what would you have, pizza, chinese? curry. i'm not so good with the spicy food. we will discuss how the

duke and duchess of cambridge‘s surprise outing to radio one picked up surprise outing to radio one picked upafew surprise outing to radio one picked up a few royal headlines. hello, this is breakfast, with charlie stayt and rachel burden. coming up before 10, 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. meanwhile the ukip spokesman on immigration has told breakfast that people should vote tactically to get the version of brexit they want. mrs may said the election is about brexit. of course, we want to ensure that the 17.4 million people who voted to leave get brexit and not a diluted version of it. so, putting country before party, i think we will look at this tactically and look at where i stood a few years ago, i would say to the tory voters there, you can‘t win the seat, but if you send a ukip candidate to parliament, that person would help theresa may deliver brexit. 50,000 police officers are being deployed across france ahead of the first round of the country‘s presidential election. terrorism and security went to the top of the agenda on the final day of campaigning yesterday, after a policeman was shot dead by a suspected islamist militant on the champs—elysees. polls on the french mainland open tomorrow. 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. a huge police operation is under way in co—loan before a far right demonstration. five rallies are expected to be held today. for the first time since the industrial revolution, britain has gone a whole working day without using coal to generate electricity. the national grid said it was a water shed moment

in efforts to remove coal. those are the main stories this morning. lots going on in sport. that cup it up lots going on in sport. that cup it upforgrabs. we have two teams, spurs are scoring forfun and we have two teams, spurs are scoring for fun and playing some amazing football and chelsea are that team that are notoriously hard to break down. so it will be an interesting match. both in the running for the premier league. it is as much about momentum and this could carry them through. imagine the psychological blow if you lose? let‘s start with that tea—time

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 the 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. 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 quarter past five. tomorrow it‘s arsenal against manchester city in the second fa cup semi—final and in the scottish cup, celtic are going for the treble — they‘re up against their old rivals rangers. the first of the semis is this

lunchtime, 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, aged 44, 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. what a big day in manchester city women‘s history, they face a huge test in the semi—finals of the champions league this afternoon, against defending champions lyon. 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 of the first leg on the women‘s football show, tomorrow evening at ten to midnight, on bbc one. widnes are still bottom of the super league despite their first home win of the season. they were trailing st helens going into the final few minutes but a late try from patrick ah van gave them victory by 16 points to 14. ellie downie has made history, becoming the first british gymnast to win all—around gold at the european championships. she was in second place going into the floor routine in romania — her final discipline of four — and beat hungary‘s sofia kovacs into second place. downie will compete in every individual final over the weekend as well. i started the vault differently this time. that went well, the bar went well, the beam was pretty tricky and on the floor i try to not watch anyone else on the floor and go up and focus on myself.

after the second tumble, i was like, i‘m not sure if it‘s enough. but i would have been happy with second, then when the score came through i was speechless. i don‘t have words! britain‘s fed cup team face romania in a crunch world group play—off game. a win, and gb would be back in the world group for the first time since 1993. heather watson is on court first, against world number 5 simona halep — followed by britain‘s own top ten playerjohanna konta. we have got such a strong team, such a strong i guess team spirit, that i think that‘s enough to pull each other through this week. you always hope for a home tie, but the fact it is a sold out arena makes it more exciting and puts us on stage and all of us like playing on the big stages. you can follow all the action this morning on the bbc sport website. heather watson against simona halep underway at 10. the former men‘s world

number one, ilie nastase, is the romania fed cup captain and he‘s under investigation by the international tennis federation for allegedly making a derogatory comment about serena williams‘ pregnancy. the itf says it does not tolerate discriminatory and offensive language of any kind. my goodness what a feast of sport, gymnastic, football, rugby, so much going on. snooker. yes that starts soon. no mike bushell today he is up a mountain alongside some brave competitors. the thought of skiing down a mountain at 80 miles an hour might fill most of us with fear but how about trying it without being able to see? 18—year—old millie knight lost virtually all of her sight at the age of 6, but earlier this

year she interrupted her a—level revision to win a first world championship title for a british paralympic skier. mike has been to train with her. meet britain‘s toughest of teenagers. the fear of doing your a—levels is nothing compared to racing down mountains at 80mph. but at six, millie lost nearly all her sight. she has to listen to instructions from her guide. we have had a year working together. every day we ski we get better. if brett says go, i have to go. you rely on other senses. it is amazing what you can do with your other senses. i'm nervous at times skiing. i can't imagine what millie does. she said if you can't see it, you can't be scared. in brett, millie has

found a perfect guide. he developed his communication skills in the royal navy and now he has steered millie to a world championship gold to confirm themselves as the top pair on the planet. millie‘s made special goggles to replicate how little she can see. i‘m going to put these on and brett is wearing a bright orange jacket and we have got intercom. soi so i can listen to him. all i can see is a slither of very fine slither of light and i can‘t see where my poles are. this is absolutely ridiculous to think of what speeds they get up to like this. 80mph. can you see me? yes, if i‘m tilting my head i can see the orange. am i moving? i‘m not moving, am i? it was the strangest sensation, like being on an

escalator in your sleep. at times i couldn‘t tell whether i was moving or not. and despite my lack of speed, it still came to a painful end. millie knows the pain only too well, due to concussion she couldn‘t ski at the british championships. and that gave her rivals a chance to steal the limelight. two others became the first to win the over all world cup. we have to be ready for anything, if is there a lump you can't see, you don't get off balance. so soft knees all the time! 0ur visually impaired alpine athletes doing the seemingly impossible. having a visual impairment is restricting off snow. the moment you‘re on snow, there is an amazing

sense of freedom that you wouldn‘t experience anywhere else. it has grown my confidence as a person and skiing has made me. fabulous work. it is fascinating and full of respect for what they do. fabulous work. it is fascinating and full of respect for what they dom looked terrifying. 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‘re both keen on box sets, we are a bit box setty in the evening. once the kiddies are in bed. i guess you have to watch all the children's programmes as well? yes, a lot of children‘s programmes! my goodness, there is a lot of them. but some are good. but you have to pretend you‘re really interested, because george gets upset if if you‘re not paying

due diligence to the characters. is it generally mr tumble, that kind of thing? well, fireman sam has taken on a lot. are we at peppa pig stage yet? gone past peppa pig stage. george has gone past peppa pig. charlotte will probably be into peppa pig soon. the royal historian kate williams joins us now from our london newsroom. did relearn anything new do you think, did it shed new light on the royals ? think, did it shed new light on the royals? i think we did. we learned a lot this week about their feelings about mental health. it is unprecedented to see a royal talking intimately about their lives. we saw prince harry saying he struggled with the death of diana and came close to what we may call a break down and kate talking of the loneliness of being a young mother

and william talking about his mother. it is impressive that they talked about their fears and the time they came the lowest in their lives. to see the royals do that, who traditionally have been very keep calm and carry on, and there is a fear keep calm and carry on, and there is afear in keep calm and carry on, and there is a fear in the royals about being too intimate and letting us too much into our lives. whether it is serious, talking or whether it is more fun stuff about fireman sam. they‘re going for a younger audience. they don‘tjust drop into radio one by accident, there is a strategy? yes, it is a two-pronged strategy. it is getting the royals out there. this has been as william said a bit of bad publicity about the holidays about his dancing in a clu b the holidays about his dancing in a club in the ski resort. what you‘re seeing it getting the royals out there. when they speak and work, and

they‘re there, they‘re popular, when they‘re there, they‘re popular, when they don‘t, there is criticism. also getting them out there in a new way and not just the getting them out there in a new way and notjust the walk getting them out there in a new way and not just the walk about and the hand shaking, it is not the prerecorded interview. it is more casual. it is live radio, anything could happen. it is about all, really showing them as people and their sbim masi and what seeing is their sbim masi and what seeing is the fact that of course on friday the fact that of course on friday the queen turned 91. she is an amaze —— she is in amazing fine form. but many people in the palace and the british public think she is, it is time for her to put her feet up and do less. she does a bit less and it is up to the younger royals to take over more and that will be easier when will and kate move to london in september. this is all part of a strategy. do you think the queen is ready to take that step back? she seems on the face of it to be a very

indom nitable person. the queen is incredible and i follow her around and i‘m not 91 and i‘m exhausted by her schedule. she is full of, her health is supreme and yet what we are seeing is a hand over to charles and the younger royals, not only because even, we all see these the longest reigning monarch and deserves more time to herself, but we will see at some point in the future a change of monarchy a and the public have to be prepared and one reason that we are seeing much more of the younger royals and charles is due to that. we are seeing charles take on the foreign travel and william and kate going to paris and now i think we are also seeing them out in the media more in a different way, we are never going to see the queen going into radio one. but it is testament to the

mental health, their efforts in mental health, their efforts in mental health. they have had charitable efforts that haven‘t taken in this way. and mental health is not talked about and as they have said, if diana was here today, it would be what she would be advocating. she always thought about what has been ignored. thank you. love the idea of queen counting down the charts. but it probably won‘t happen. we will have a chat about the weather now. if we look outside, it looks calm and lovely. quite mild. but doesn‘t that look tranquil. enjoy it while it lasts is the message the weather is become turbulent. yes. make the most of it. you may need a reminder that it is spring by the start of next week.

some spring—like photos coming in today. keep them coming in. that one from 0xfordshire and as we go through weekend it will be mostly dry with some sunshine and it will feel spring—like, if not particularly warm. 0n the satellite you can see many of us started the day with sunshine, some cloud in eastern england is producing showers. we will keep a lot of cloud across northern ireland and the showers will keep on coming in the north of scotland and some will be wintry over high ground. at 4 o‘clock the channel islands into the south west, wales the west midlands, should see large amounts of sunshine. just some cloud. more cloud in the south—east and the midlands. maybe the odd shower. and chilly close to the north sea coast. a lot of cloud for northern ireland.

southern scotland dry and only four degrees in lerwick. tonight the showers just keep degrees in lerwick. tonight the showersjust keep on degrees in lerwick. tonight the showers just keep on coming degrees in lerwick. tonight the showersjust keep on coming in northern scotland. elsewhere the showers will fade and it will be dry. the odd mist patch and a touch of frost. a chilly start in the centre of london. that is not bad news for marathon runners. it will warm up news for marathon runners. it will warm up a news for marathon runners. it will warm up a bit. and tomorrow not a bad day for most of england and wales. some sunshine. north—west england will have some cloud. it will turn wet and windy in the far north later. and i have to press this button and show you what happens next. tomorrow night this low pressure spins up a wet and windy spell in the north—east and then this cold front sunday into monday that sweeps south and we have

cold northerly winds from the arctic. that means frosts, day time temperatures in single digits and some snow to low levels for some of us. some snow to low levels for some of us. you will need reminding that it is still spring. what else can you do with that button? not a lot now. i don‘t think anything. that is enough. it could mean anything. the latest arrivals in one east yorkshire village have raised a considerable amount of interest — hedgehogs. 52 of them have been released back into the wilds this week, after being nursed back to health in animal sanctuaries. brea kfast‘s tim muffett went along to meet them. residents of burton fleming await new arrivals. they are a bit prickly, apparently, and in desperate need of a fresh start. are you excited? yes. it will keep the grubs down, hopefully. from an animal sanctuary 40 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... 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 andrew‘s 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. providing everyone puts a hole in the garden fence, to make sure they can move around, we hope that the numbers will improve. we are going to be putting the hedgehogs in our garden, because i have three little boys who have never seen a live hedgehog before.

look at his face. do you like him? assessing 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 1 million. we are taking all the hedgerows away, which is what the hedgehogs need. roadkill, slug pellets, trimmers, bonfires. they have a tough time. the hedgehogs are temporarily marked as male or female, so they can be released in pairs, and then it is time to say goodbye. oh, 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 the village will be looking after them. other villages aiming

for hedgehog—friendly status include windlesham in surrey and portreath in cornwall. 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 is to take an injured or sick hedgehog, make it better, and return it back into the wild. all ready to go. to nature, it is hoped, back for good. just love those pictures. whilst covering last year‘s rio olympics, tv presenter charlie webster was taken ill. she initially put it down to exhaustion after taking part

in a gruelling charity bike ride. but she had in fact caught a rare strain of malaria. she suffered multiple organ failure and at one point was given just 24 hours to live. charlie now campaigns to raise awareness about the disease, and ahead of next week‘s world malaria day, joins us on the sofa. great to see you. i know you have been here before and talked about what you went through, but how are you feeling now? i'm feeling really well. it has only been seven months since i was on life support and the doctors have said i have great a great recover y. my outcome was either die, 24 hours to live at one points, or be severely brain—damaged. i have a kidney problem and a few other things. but i feel really great and energised for life again. the campaign you're involved in now and you make the point, you didn't know much about malaria until you got it. a lot of

people will think the same? yes when we look at malaria, we think these poor people dieing in africa. it sounds so stereo typical. but we look from a far and it is easy to look from a far and it is easy to look from a far and it is easy to look from england where malaria has been eradicated. the only reason it has been eradicated is because of investment. the thing is malaria isn‘t actual lay mosquito disease, it isa isn‘t actual lay mosquito disease, it is a human disease. it means we can end it. specialists have said we can end it. specialists have said we can end it. specialists have said we can end ma hair ya can end it. specialists have said we can end ma hairya in the can end it. specialists have said we can end ma hair ya in the world by —— malaria in the world if we treat people then mosquitoes won‘t bite a human to carry the disease. that is what happened to me. the thing is, yes, we don‘t have it in this country, but five million brits a year travel to malaria areas. that

is 73.5 million per viewpoints in treatment that we spend. imagine how much we could save if we could eradicate. it is about saving money and saving humans and. it kills half of mankind. very simple steps can be taken to of mankind. very simple steps can be ta ken to protect of mankind. very simple steps can be taken to protect people. it is an area if you invest money, it can have an immediate impact? yes there are so many problems at the moment and we can‘t solve them. but malaria, we are trying to work out how to solve that, we know how to solve it and we can solve it for minimal investment, but huge, huge return. are we still talking about nets? yets and also like -- yets and clinics and —— nets and clinics and inoculating people. i had

complicated symptoms, i wasn‘t treated, because it wasn‘t found. it isa treated, because it wasn‘t found. it is a clever disease. why was it hard to diagnose? i think! had is a clever disease. why was it hard to diagnose? i think i had something else that masked it and i was tested for everything like yellow fever, everything you can‘t pronounce, on the tenth day i was tested for malaria. a doctor on a whim, they didn‘t even have testing facilities. this is you at your worst. this is the only time we have shown this picture. that is to show how bad it was. also to show what malaria can do. how do you feel looking at that? it is not very nice. i don‘t want to. i can see you're avoiding it. it makes me upset to see it and i actually, it know what it felt like to be lying there. i was aware. so you saw that picture and i was aware of what was going on in my body and my mind and it was diss tressing and

my mind and it was diss tressing and my mum had to watch that and that brea ks my mum had to watch that and that breaks my heart. that is what malaria is doing now. already this year it has killed half a million people. what happens this week, it is monday, tuesday so tell us about what is happening. this is a big scale, the vent? —— the event. what is happening. this is a big scale, the vent? -- the event. i'm speaking on capitol hill in washington to government and private investors with the un and nothing but nets, a charity and i‘m a ambassadorfor but nets, a charity and i‘m a ambassador for malaria and they‘re doing a campaign to match up what is happening in america. so watch out. i‘m speaking on monday and tuesday. talking about my story. from a personal point of view. hopefully which will help help pull on heart strings and to also show that it can port that we do invest in —— important that we invest in foreign aid. notjust to save humanity,

which we should do any way, but it will help our economy. good luck. thank you for having me. that‘s all from breakfast today. rogerjohnson and tina dahely will be here tomorrow. for now, have a lovely day. goodbye. this is bbc news. the headlines at ten. 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 conservatives play down speculation that taxes will rise if they win the general election. more than 130 people — most of them government soldiers have been killed in a taliban attack on an army base in afghanistan. also in the next hour — phasing out coal by 2025. britain goes a whole 24 hours without using coal to generate electricity for the first time since the late 19th century. and the travel show heads to china ahead of the great wall marathon next month.