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 2a 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. good morning and welcome to bbc news.

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. this is just as the friend are preparing to vote at the first round of the presidential elections. —— this is just as the french are preparing to vote in the first round of the presidential elections. terrorism dominated the final day of campaigning after the shooting, and security has been increased before polls in mainland france open on sunday. welcome to a normal scene in paris, a typical saturday market day on the boulevard st germain. 50,000 security personnel deployed across france and to reassure people that it is safe to come out and vote in the first round of sunday's presidential election. but on everybody‘s mind here, which thrusts security to the top of the political agenda, the attack on thursday night

which left one policeman dead just a couple of miles from where we are on the champs elysees. thomas fessy reports. 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. the talk here might be who are you

going to vote for, are you going to vote 7 going to vote for, are you going to vote? but today is a day of political silence, a day of rest before the vote tomorrow, coming as a relief for the french who have had months of political bombardment. what will happen on sunday is that the bill will giving figure of 11 candidates will be reduced to two. they will then go through to a final round in two weeks' time. what are they voting for when they choose a president? the next president of the building behind me will be one of the most powerful people in the world. as leader of one of its largest economies, a country where the state still plays a huge role, and the presidency itself is extremely powerful, much more so than in many other democracies. as well as being

in charge of the nuclear equipped armed forces, the president appoints prime ministers, directs foreign policy, and can dissolve parliament. he or she can also declare a state of emergency, like the one that has beenin of emergency, like the one that has been in place in france since the attacks on paris in november 2000 15. on the evidence of that heightened security is all around, particularly at the moment. the first directly elected president in modern times was this man, general charles de gaulle, in 1969, and war hero of the current fifth republic. if there is no overall majority for one candidate in the first round, the top two go to a second and final round of voting. this is to ensure that the president of france ends up with, at the end of the process, the support of the majority of voters.

what makes this election is such a roller—coaster ride? the current president, france or holland, from the left, is deeply unpopular. he isn't even standing for a second term. the two main political blogs that have dominated french politics for decades have suffered dramatic falls in support. during the campaign they found themselves overshadowed by candidates previously considered outsiders. but there is another factor adding to there is another factor adding to the unpredictability, the under after a year of political drama elsewhere in the world, we should prepare ourselves for at least the possibility of another surprise. —— but there was another factor adding to the unpredictability, the undecided. the number of undecided will be really important. the

candidates are neck and neck in the polls. the number of people at turnout and those who make up their might finally will be crucial. let's return to the events of thursday night, the killing of the policeman on the champs elysees. that policeman actually gave an interview to bbc radio five live back in november last year when the bataclan theatre reopened after the attacks. he was saying to the bbc‘s nick barnett that he was happy to be there, to defend france's civic rights, and to say no to terrorism. —— nick barnett. ican give i can give you a sense of how the atmosphere has been affected. le parisien talking about a vote amid tension. two police officers on the

front. police have been on control, armed police, this morning. so it really is everywhere. the candidates' posters, the police accompanying them, and the shadow of terrorism hanging over the first round of the election on le figaro, one of france's main newspapers. and le monde with a picture after the shooting on thursday night. the selection was already so unpredictable and so unusual. but it has become even more so. thanks very much. looking forward to hearing from you later. and there'll be live coverage of the results of the first round of voting in the french presidential election. that's tomorrow at 6:30pm, in france decides here on bbc news. and there's full coverage on our website, and via the mobile app. 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 that two great certainties were tax and death, and certainly commitments to push tax rates up can prove fatal to political campaigns. on a visit to the united states, the chancellor, philip hammond, criticised the constraints put 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. but 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 emphasise that the chancellor's

comments shouldn't be seen as a hint of tax increases to come. but what has been remarkable so early in campaign is the level of detail that's emerged even before the party's manifestos are published. we already know theresa may will re—commit to the international aid target, though with some wriggle room. and she's provoked questions about guaranteed increases in the state pension. labour has committed to retain the policy of put being pensions up by a minimum of 2.5%. theresa may seems incapable of answering any question about the 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. iain watson, bbc news. the scottish national party's national executive is meeting in glasgow this morning to decide selection procedures. all of the snp's 5a sitting mps are expected to be selected as candidates. 0n

on and michelle thomson sat for the snp but they now sit as independents. —— natalie mcgowan. our correspondent steven godden is in glasgow for us. what preparations are the snp undertaking? this meeting this morning is an important one for them. it has been a fairly low—key affair. we have seen senior figures from the snp arriving in the centre of glasgow to a hotel this morning. that was about an hour ago. we have not heard too much about what they are expecting to discuss, but it is —— but there is important strategy to be talked about by the national executive committee. in general terms they are really looking at how they can repeat the staggering success they can repeat the staggering success they had in the last westminster election. you will remember, of course, the snp won 56 of the 59 seat in scotland. they are looking to see how they might be able to repeat that success, whether

01’ able to repeat that success, whether or not they can. when it comes to candidate selection, they have relatively straightforward decisions to make. the expectation is all of the sitting mps will sit as candidate in the forthcoming snap general election. but as you mentioned in the introduction, that number isn't 56, it is 5a. michelle thompson, the mp for edinburgh west and the mp for glasgow east, they we re and the mp for glasgow east, they were both elected as snp mps, but they now sit as independent mps. that is because they resigned the party whip after police became involved in police investigations. that is what the snp national executive had to talk about, what to do in those two constituencies. and as far as candidates go for the other three constituencies that they did not win last time. only three seats not held by the snp, one

labour, one lib dem, one conservative. how much confidence is theirfor conservative. how much confidence is their for the other parties that they can claw back some of the ground they lost? that is what they are working towards. there is a period of frantic activity at the moment from all parties. just down the road from where the snp are meeting this morning in that central glasgow hotel, labour are holding a meeting of their own. they will be focusing on candidate selection, as well. they only have one mp, that is ian murray. he was back out on the campaign trail yesterday. he will stand again in his edinburgh constituency. but they have decisions to make about where other candidates will stand across the country. we also expecting updates from the lib dems and the conservatives as to who might be standing. all of the parties have a difficult balancing act in scotland. because we have the local government elections coming a week on thursday. so, there is this consciousness that while they don't want overshadow that election, which, until tuesday

when theresa may made the statement about the snap election, that is where people thought all of the focus would be. they do not want overs ha d ow focus would be. they do not want overshadow the contest too much. but at the same time they have to make most of the time available to them before the 8th ofjune. thank you for joining before the 8th ofjune. thank you forjoining us with that update. two senior members of the house of commons have announced they won't be standing at next month's election. labour's graham allen, and the former conservative cabinet minister sir eric pickles, say they're stepping down front line politics. mr allen, who has represented nottingham north since 1987 says he's standing down because of ill—health. sir eric, who's been the mp for brentwood and 0ngar in essex since 1992, says he'll miss the commons "dreadfully". more than 100 people — most of them afghan soldiers — have been killed in a taliban attack on an army base in the north of the country. officials said insurgents targeted people leaving friday prayers at a mosque in the base in mazar—e—sharif. the taliban, which has been fighting

a prolonged war with the afghan government said its fighters had set off an explosion allowing suicide bombers to reach the base. what do we know about the details, justin? the details of those dead stand at 140. the details of those dead stand at 1110. most the afghan troops, as you said. eyewitnesses have said the figure could be higher. there is a large number of injured. 0ne figure could be higher. there is a large number of injured. one man told the bbc he counted 165 bodies. this is a major attack. it has been described as the biggest attack ever on an afghan military base. very significant. ten taliban fighters appear to have entered the base. two of them plastered their weigh in,

two suicide bombers, the others went in dressed in afghan uniforms. —— plastered their way, two suicide bombers, the others went in dressed as afghan soldiers. i have seen images of the mosque. it really is riddled with bullets. they also attacked soldiers who were in the dining area. this is a significant attack. it emphasises just how vulnerable afghan forces are now back the international forces have drawn down their personnel from afghanistan over the last couple of yea rs. afghanistan over the last couple of years. i suppose this is a reminder, although the couple of weeks ago we we re although the couple of weeks ago we were talking about the arrival of so—called islamic state in afghanistan, which prompted president trump to order the dropping of the huge nuclear bomb the americans have. the taliban is really the problem for the afghan authorities, rather than islamic state, is that a fair statement?

absolutely. the taliban control a third of afghan territory. 0nly last month they announced they had reta ken month they announced they had reta ke n a month they announced they had retaken a province down in helmand province, which is an - which