this is bbc news. the headlines at 2... in their race for the french presidency... in their race for the french presidency... independent centrist emmanuel macron faces the front national‘s marine le pen in a fortnight after beating both mainstream parties yesterday. a new iraq in french politics but which way will the voters turn? two macron, globalisation and more europe or to marine le pen for security and control of borders? they have 13 days to decide. parties hit the campaign trail here — with jeremy corbyn pledging to strengthen britain's trade unions and fight for working people. only labour will deliver for working people, small businesses, and our most voluble people. none of the rest would even think of these types of policy. —— vulnerable. a 21—year—old man is arrested after a former royal navy officer was killed by burglars who ran him over with his own car. arthur collins — former

boyfriend of reality tv personality ferne mccann — is charged over the acid attack which injured 20 people. and london marathon's most heart—warming moment. the man who sacrificed his own race time to make sure this exhausted runner crossed the finish line. he said it was the perfect ending to his race. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. for the first time, neither the left—wing or right—wing parties has a candidate in the 2nd round of the presidential elections after they were both defeated by two outsiders yesterday.

this was a full throated rejection of the old system here in france. the two parties who have ruled since the fifth republic in 1928 swept aside in this new kind of populism in france was out of the ashes of the old system comes emmanuel macron, who has never been elected before. he would be the youngest president since the pole on. there is an appetite within europe for the centre ground. —— since napoleon. marine le pen from le front national who it is promising to free france from the ruling elite. james reynolds with the story of the night. macron's porters believe he is one step away from winning the

presidency from france prepares for a choice between macron and marine le pen, pro—eu versus anti ‘s. pro—immigration versus anti—immigration. at the macron campaign headquarters, supporters cheered their candidates into the night. this is the 39—year—old's first ever election. emmanuel macron is the newcomer. he is the insider turned outsider and has made it through to the next round foot appears the favourite to become this countrynext president. in 15 days, i wa nt to countrynext president. in 15 days, i want to become the new president, the president of all the french, the president of the patriots, to counter nationalists. the team gave themselves time to celebrate but they now have to focus on the run—off. they now have to focus on the run-off. we feel the responsibility.

it isa run-off. we feel the responsibility. it is a new page starting in this country. we have marine le pen in front of us. as we say, it is also about the values we want to defend. marine le pen will dispute that. at her victory rally she promised a realfight in her victory rally she promised a real fight in the second round. what i have to offer is a big change, a fundamental change, a new way of doing politics. new faces in power and the renewal you have been waiting for. marine le pen won more votes tha n waiting for. marine le pen won more votes than her party has ever got before. her supporters believe she can beat emmanuel macron. the choice is very clear. macron is for globalisation and marine le pen for a renewed france. during these two weeks we will be able to explain that and marine will gather the patriotically vote. her first stop this morning was a market in northern france. opinion polls

suggest she starts the run—off well behind mr macron. marine le pen will wa nt to behind mr macron. marine le pen will want to make it a referendum on patriotism, europe, on globalism. she is trying to repeat a little bit the american campaign, donald trump versus clinton. the capital cleaning graffiti preparing for the second round. in two weeks' time, france will make its choice. how did the two remaining contenders match up? 39—year—old mr macron and his en marche party is promising a liberal, pro—european investment. plans to get behind renewable energy in a big cut in corporation tax and a way for

companies to renegotiate the 35 hour week. 48—year—old marine le pen took the front leadership from herfather six years ago. policies are strongly right wing. reform in brussels in the eu followed by withdrawal from it. she wants expulsion of illegal immigrants and she is pushing for housing priority to be given to french national is quite a stark choice for the french to make. let's some views from a foreign affairs commentatorfor the some views from a foreign affairs commentator for the guardian. some say it is a defeat because she did not do as well as she was polling. say it is a defeat because she did not do as well as she was pollinglj think she will be happy with the results. she garnered 6.7 million votes. that is a record for le front national party. her father had done

the same, got into the second round, years ago. it is a trend that has been growing. it has been growing on the back of middle—class disgruntlement with the way the economic situation has developed in this country. there is very high unemployment. 24% among young people. this sets france upon from other european countries where populism has grown. populism appeals to young people in this country, which is not the case in britain, was not the case in the us with the donald trump phenomena. there is a specific french ingredient to the rise of this particular party. there isa rise of this particular party. there is a tricky balance. they are throwing their weight behind emmanuel macron. they want him to win. they have to be a little bit careful. in four weeks' time, they are going to the french elections for parliament. they do not want to

ruin ourown for parliament. they do not want to ruin our own chances. democratic voters, throughout the whole political spectrum, with find it quite difficult and not very... it would not look very good for mainstream politicians to not do what is necessary to push back against the far right in this country. the stakes are too high. they are too high, even for the very state of democracy in this country. there are strong social tensions, problems with racism. if you look at the wider european context it is essential france stayed away from the marine le pen win. if she does win, the whole european project will be set to unravel. there can hardly be set to unravel. there can hardly be any that many french people do ca re be any that many french people do care about the european project. they will criticise it and whinge about many aspects of it. it failed to address so many questions, economic growth, the refugee issue. the wide majority of french people

are attached to it and they are attached to the single currency. that is why marine le pen is ready to work towards this. has this become a de facto referendum on europe? there is a degree of that. it is also about what france stands for, exactly. what does it want to be like? for, exactly. what does it want to be like ? what for, exactly. what does it want to be like? what does it want to look like asa be like? what does it want to look like as a society? do we want to be the next stage of the national populist revolution that has been at work? there will be a sigh of relief in brussels because emmanuel macron is through to the second round foot if you look at the way the vote splits down, 40% of those who voted voted for the eurosceptic candidates and 10 million people did not vote at all. they felt obliged to work for europe. that is a bit of an indictment on the european project, isn't it? this vote is quite

complex. it will be interesting to see ina complex. it will be interesting to see in a deeper way what motivated people. the antiestablishment sentiment in this country is huge. people are tired with the old, political structures. you have said this is a revolution against the old parties, the way mainstream parties have dominated politics for years. there is a real urge and hunger for renewal. everything gets lumped into the antiestablishment mood. there has been a search for scapegoats. the rich, the media, foreigners, immigrants. this is all mixed together to produce this vote. none of the two candidates in the second round are from established, mainstream parties. iwould not round are from established, mainstream parties. i would not say this is a vindication of far right views as such. i think there is a

will and a strong well, to defend the colours of a democratic, liberal society in france. that will be at play in the second round. thank you for your time. i was looking at natalie's newspaper today in our interesting grass and statistics. if you want evidence of the divisions, only 5% of those who voted in paris voted for marine le pen. on the map, it is large parts of the north, large parts of the old industrialised east and south. the west and centre of the country are very much for macron. it is two sides of the country. thank you very much indeed. a man has appeared ——

two men are due to appear in court today, charged in connection with an acid attack at a nightclub in east london on easter monday, which left two people blind in one eye. arthur collins, who's 2a and the former boyfriend of the tv personality, ferne mccann, is facing 1a counts of wounding with intent and one count of throwing corrosive fluid with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. we can now cross to our correspondent richard galpin, who is outside thames magistrates‘ court in london. richard, just bring us up to date. yes, our folk collins and andrei phoenix appeared at the court earlier today. one had trouble standing. just to recap the charges. collins is facing 14 recap the charges. collins is facing 1a counts of greediest bodily harm and one count of throwing acid with intent to burn. phoenix is facing another count. both have been remanded in custody. these charges are in connection with the alleged acid attack at an east london

nightclub a week ago in which 20 people were hurt, two of them serious. the young woman and man, both of whom have lost the use of one eye. serious injuries. thank you very much indeed. labour will "never, ever apologise" for the closeness of its ties with the trade unions, jeremy corbyn has said. the party's leader was addressing the scottish trades union congress in aviemore. let's get more from our political correspondent vicky young in westminster. talk us through his comments. jeremy corbyn going to scotland, a country which used to be very, very dominated by the labour party. all of that has changed in recent years with the snp almost, not quite, sweeping the board with the elections last time around. jeremy corbyn wants to show he is travelling to all four corners of

the country, saying he is in this election to win it, despite some predictions that it will be an uphill struggle for him. in scotland in particular, labour will be desperate to claw back some support. today he has chosen to speak about the unions, promising to repeal conservative legislation, which, of course brought him the threshold. ballots. very much talking about the workers. we are standing for the many, not the view. we must ensure the many, standing together, have the power to standing together, have the power to stand up to the rich and the powerful few. the labour party will always cherish, sustain and protect out always cherish, sustain and protect our relationship with the trade union movement and the working

people that all of you in this hall represent. you are our dna and our family. we'll never apologise for the closeness of our relationship with you. jeremy corbyn making this a people versus the powerful kind of election. for the conservatives, interesting today we will not —— we will not be seeing theresa may, despite the fact we are in an election campaign. they have decided to go on the attack over the comments from jeremy corbyn yesterday. he was asked about the renewal of trident and asked whether that policy would be in the party's ma nifesto. that policy would be in the party's manifesto. he answered by saying it would be the view of all —— a review of all defence spending which had to be clarified, saying trident renewal is labour party policy goes that is, according to the tories, makes him unsuitable to be prime minister. labour want to be the next government.

jeremy corbyn is putting himself forward seriously as the next prime minister of this country — somebody who wouldn't authorise strikes against terrorists, who would not support our nuclear deterrent, and who would undermine our defences. so it is very important we do point out this is somebody who could be prime minister in six weeks' time. the line from the conservatives is it would be dangerous to allow mr corbyn into downing street. they say, there will be a coalition of chaos because they say he could be propped up by the snp and liberal democrats. the lib dem leader, tim farron, will be out and about later. he has made it very clear that the liberal democrats will notjoin in a coalition with labour and the conservatives. they will not prop up 01’ conservatives. they will not prop up or allow mr corbyn to be prime minister. it is clear this issue of leadership will be very much at the centre of the election campaign should the conservatives get their way. thank you very much. ukip says it's "standing up

for women" with an election pledge to ban the the wearing of the burka in public places. critics say it would be a violation of religious freedom to tell women they can't cover their faces. ukip made a series of announcements this morning, including disbanding sharia courts and a moratorium on new islamic state schools. the party's deputy leader denied the policies discriminated against muslims. i den think there can be any better way of segregating down by wearing a face veil. that is a literal barrier to integration. i think that is something for which there is great public support getting rid of full stop the point is that we have reached the stage in this country where we have gone down one root which has been about separation, not integration. whether it is trevor phillips or angela merkel and david cameron, people have been saying

multiculturalism was a failure, a bad idea but they have done nothing about it. we are attempting to address it. this is increasing concern to the majority of people in this country. the headlines on bbc news: centrist emmanuel macron will face far—right leader marine le pen in the run—off for the french presidency after the first round of voting. jeremy corbyn takes his election campaign to scotland, telling members of the scottish tuc that he'll fight to protect their right to take industrial action. a man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of a former royal navy officer who was hit as his car was stolen from outside his home in manchester. in the sport, newcastle are on the verge to return to the premier league at the first time of asking. 11 months ago rafale bonito saw his side relegated. if they beat preston in the championship tonight they are backin in the championship tonight they are back in the top flight. flatten

ibrahimovic says he will come back stronger after suffering cruciate ligament damage. —— zlatan. he says giving up is not an option. mark selby is through to the quarterfinals in the snooker. more on those stories at 2:30 p.m.. see you then. a 21 year—old man is being questioned by police investigating the death of a former royal navy officer outside his home in manchester. mike samwell — who was 35 — is thought to have been run over by his own car as it was being stolen in the early hours of yesterday morning. our correspondent danny savage has been in chorlton in manchester and gave us this update. mike some well was asleep about three o'clock yesterday morning and his terraced home in chorley. he was woken up by some sort of intruders,

01’ woken up by some sort of intruders, or disturbance, going on in his house. it is understood he went downstairs to investigate. he was involved in an all to gauge whether people who are in or had been in his house. he was involved in a confrontation in an area behind his terraced home where his car was parked. it appears that these had got hold of his car keys. he was then run over by the vehicle as they made —— he made —— they made their escape from his wife dashed out to comfort him after he had been run over. emergency services were called. mike zlatan died an hour later in hospital after undergoing treatment. the car was found about three miles away. —— m samwell. the police are asking for anyone with information to search their consciences. what happened had crossed the line for the greater

manchester police said they had arrested a 21—year—old man in connection with what happened here. he is now being questioned by detectives. people have been coming along and leaving floral tributes here and messages. we had people from the sub mariner ‘s association in manchester here. he was a formal naval lieutenant, a sub mariner. he will then work in engineering, which is why he worked here. the investigations continue. the government is trying to delay the publication of a report on tackling air pollution until the autumn — despite a court deadline for ministers to outline their plans by today. the government has asked the high court to extend publication of its own air quality strategy to comply with eu legislation — until after the election. i'm joined by our environment analyst roger harrabin. just talk us through this. is it a genuine problem or is the gunmen tried to wriggle out of its commitment? it depends who you listen to. let me take you back. in

2010, the government and other eu governments were supposed to have clea n governments were supposed to have clean up the air. the air in the uk and many big cities is illegally dirty. they are supposed to have clea n dirty. they are supposed to have clean it up but they have not. client earth, and environment legal group took them to task and said we demand you meet the law on egg quality. they lost the case in the high courtand quality. they lost the case in the high court and the supreme court. the issue was sent back to the high court and the judge ruled the government must produce, by today, it's a quality policy. suddenly, we have a general election. late on friday evening, the government says, we cannot publish is today because we cannot publish is today because we have a general election which might be electorally sensitive. you can imagine that client earth are very cynical about the real reasons for this further delay. what visual sense about who will win it. -- it?

the government is on the back foot and will have to come up with a strategy in the summer. i suspect the garment will win. is it really worth the while of client earth to say they are not in breach of the election rules. off till after the election. i think the government has won the long—term skirmish. election. i think the government has won the long-term skirmish. thank you. four drivers have admitted falling asleep while operating trams in croydon, where seven people were killed after a tram derailed in november 2016. drivers have told the bbc a safety device, known as "a dead man's handle", failed to activate and stop their trams. our correspondent ed thomas reports. a speeding tram.

no emergency braking. the sandylands disaster — here, seven people were killed, over 50 injured. have you fallen asleep? yeah. it's happened to me once in ten years. how many drivers do you think have fallen asleep in the cabin? i would have to say most drivers have at some point in their careers. he's admitting what many would consider gross misconduct because of this. it is called the traction brake controller or tbc — the driving lever that powers the tram. inside, the safety device known as the dead man's handle. this driver says when he fell asleep it didn't work. was there an alarm? no. was there any emergency braking? no, none whatsoever. my hand remained on the tbc. that was enough to keep the dead man's handle from being activated. why aren't drivers telling the operators what's going wrong? if we were to come forward and say, "excuse me, i fell asleep", i think you'd just be dismissed. four drivers have told the bbc

they'd fallen asleep in the cab. and they asked us to watch this footage again — a tram driver who appears to be asleep. there's no alarm, no emergency brakes. he's in and out of sleep, isn't he? he's coming to and starting to doze, and coming to and starting to doze. why was there no alarm? why was there no braking? well, because... if he were to completely pass out, if he were to completely lose consciousness, then he would relax his grip. but it's ok just to slightly doze in and out, like we saw in the video footage? no, of course it's not all right. the company who operates the trams for tfl, tram operations limited, says driver fatigue is monitored. and on the driver's safety device, says it is satisfied the controls are fully functional.

we can also reveal at least three trams have been recorded speeding since the sandylands derailment. one was travelling at 65 kilometres per hour in a a0 zone. the operator told us it had increased speed checks since the sandylands crash. it's changed my life. he did everything for us. and still waiting for answers, the families of those who died. my daughters are just devastated. what is the one question you want answering? why... why? investigators are trying to answer that question — to piece together a disaster that changed so many lives. ed thomas, bbc news, croydon. now, let's talk about the london

marathon. these two summed up the spirit of the day. heading down the mall about to finish the marathon in under 2 hours 50 minutes — matthew rees saw an exhausted runner and decided to stop and help — almost dragging him over that finish line. dan johnson caught up with them both this morning. after a test of endurance it was a moment of kindness that summed up the marathon's spirit shared by so many. how are you feeling? with sore legs and swirling social media the it manager from manchester and the banker from swansea spoke about those last few tough and tired steps to the finish. i was just trying to get to the line. my body went and i went to the ground. so, yes, it was really desperate. i saw him in the distance as i was about to sprint, his legs were jelly but he said he was determined to finish.

and then his legs went again and i realised i was going to have to stay with him to make sure he did it. i didn't really think about it. when someone's in need you want to help them out. it was important that he got to the finish line after coming 26 miles and there was only 20 metres left. what did you say to him? i was shouting in his ear, saying, "come on, you can do this, it's 200 metres, we will finish — i'll stay with you". maybe i was a bit overzealous with my support. i needed it! you were telling him to carry on? yes, because we had never met and i did not know what his aspirations were for the day. i just wanted him

to finish his race. matthew was clear in knowing that if he leaves me, there's a chance they will whisk me off and not get me to the finish. and that's so nice. such a gentleman for doing that. if roles were reversed, would you have done the same thing? my goodness, you are the first person to ask me that and that is such a good question. i have not given that any thought. i would love to think i would. i'm sure he would have. yeah, but it was special, what he did. and the crowd loved it, the royals cheering them home. these are two competitive runners who have both put in good times, under three hours. what the general public see is the spirit and this happens all over the place, itjust happens there were quite a few cameras trained on that. at that point, capturing that moment. but it happens everywhere up and down the country.

the friendship formed, more races to come, maybe next time the good samaritan will even finish ahead, because it was the man on his last legs who officially crossed the line first. but taking part is more important than winning, right? they have already shown that. dan johnson, bbc news. you said you had a cramp when you did it. i kept going and made it with a bit of help. have you ever runa with a bit of help. have you ever run a marathon? no, buti no, but i have cycled to paris which isafair no, but i have cycled to paris which is a fair distance. i am more of a sprinter than long—distance runner. the weather is turning colder. the winds racing in from the north. look

at this scene from aberdeen. that rhymed! i didn't mean it too. showers getting into scotland, wintry showers, hail, gusty winds, feeling chilly, close to freezing or below in northern parts but in the south we have not seen the coldness yet. cold air will come south during the course of the night. cloudy skies and quite chilly. too windy for frost to form on the ground but i think snow will settle in northern areas and temperatures in towns will be not far off freezing. tomorrow that cold air is right across the country with lots of showers around and hail showers and thunderstorms as well. if you get caught in one of them, it might be 10 degrees, but when you get it, the temperature suddenly drops because of the cold aircoming infrom suddenly drops because of the cold air coming in from the sky, and temperatures will feel closer to freezing. hello.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 14:30. political newcomer emmanuel macron faces far—right leader marine le pen in the run—off for the french presidency. it is the first time in 60 years that the second round doesn't include a candidate from the two mainstream parties. parties hit the campaign trail here withjeremy corbyn pledging to strengthen britain's trade unions and fight for working people. only labour will deliver for working people, small businesses and our most vulnerable people. none of the rest would even think of these type of policies. arthur collins, the former boyfriend of the reality tv star ferne mccann, has appeared in court charged in connection with an acid attack in his london which left two people partially blind. —— in

east london. and now we can get the latest sports news. hello. newcastle united can be promoted back to the premier league at the first time of asking tonight if they beat preston in the championship at stjames' park. brighton have already secured their place in the top flight next season but rafa benitez‘s side have had a dip in form taking just a single point from their last three games. the other teams, they have to do something, we have got to do our job. the only thing that we can control is our team. we will have to be sure that these three games we are concentrating on doing ourjob properly, to winning our games, and if everything goes in our favour, much better. my target was always trying to go up. the main thing for me is to finish the job. manchester united striker zlatan ibrahimovic says giving up is not an option after finding out he faces several months on the sidelines with a serious knee injury he picked up against anderlecht in

the europa league last week. there had been speculation that the 35—year—old could retire given the nature of the injury. but he's said on social media today that he will come back even stronger, claiming injuries won't decide his future in the game. chelsea's n'golo ka nte says being named pfa player of the year means the world and is a great honour. kante was instrumental in leicester winning the premier league title last season before joining chelsea in the summer. he could of course win a second successive league title with chelsea currently four points clear. tottenham's dele alli was named young player of the year by his fellow professionals for the second successive season. barcelona manager luis enrique has described lionel messi as the best player in history after he scored his 500th goal for the club as they beat real madrid 3—2 to take them to the top of la liga. messi struck twice in a dramatic el clasico. this is his first. real had sergio ramos sent off. it was 2—2 going into the final ten

seconds of injury time when lionel messi scored a dramatic winner. barca are now top of the table on goal difference. andy murray will be playing in this week's barcelona open as part of his build—up to the french open and to maintain his status as world number one. murray was surprisingly knocked out of the monte carlo masters last week in his first tournament back since recovering from an elbow injury. it was hard to maintain your ranking at the top of the game. you know, you have some of the best players of all time playing just now and playing great tennis, this year. and a lot of the young ones are starting to play better and better as well so it is obviously going to be tough. but i am happy to be fit and healthy again and hopefully i can start playing some good tennis soon. whilst murray has a bye to the second round, kyle edmund has booked

his place in round two after a straight sets win over france'sjeremy chardy. he'll play the austrian dominic thiem next. at the world snooker championship, the world number one mark selby is through to the quarter finals after beating xiao guo—dong. selby began with a 10—6 lead against his chinese opponent and rattled off the three frames he needed in under an hour. he made a century break at the crucible for the first time in his career in the first frame of the session and just missed out on another as he clinched the match by 13 frames to 6. 10-6, 10—6, you have still got a co mforta ble 10—6, you have still got a comfortable lead, but he will still be looking for 3—1, then he would be backin be looking for 3—1, then he would be back in the match. to win the first roman get settled was nice and to win it in one go was even better. —— to win the first frame just to get settled was nice. barry hawkins won his fifth consecutive quarterfinal to face maguire. that is all the

sport for now and we will be back in the next hour. thank you. the centrist candidate emmanuel macron and the far—right national front leader marine le pen have made it through to the second round of the french presidential election. macron, who has never run for political office, told his supporters they had changed the face of french politics and it was his job to reconcile the country. marine le pen described her victory as historic and said a vote for her was important for the survival of france. with me is sir peter ricketts, the uk ambassador to france between 2012 and 2016. also i'm joined by james shields, professor of french politics at aston university who joins us via webcam. first of all to you, peter. a predictable result, do you think? was this how you saw it going? yes, this was one result that the pollsters called right. if you have been following the polls, this is

what you expected. if anything marine le pen underperformed a little bit from what the polls were suggesting and macron came in where they were. yes, it is an absolute earthquake in french politics. when you look at how many seats they have got in the parliament, they have got three seats between the two of them. so the maths for the parliamentary elections are astonishing, aren't they? akron has come from absolutely nowhere. he had no party, their organisation, nothing. he was staff at the champs—elysees and i used to call on him five years ago. the magnetic power of being president of france will attract political support to him, even if he doesn't get deputy mp equivalents, a lot of people will be prepared to work with him and there will be a coalition behind the president, i think. rebecca, talking about attracting that power, we know that he has got francois fillon's vote. —— professor. where you shocked that he did not get marine le pen or

melenchon's vote? no, iwas did not get marine le pen or melenchon's vote? no, i was not surprised. melenchon would find it very difficult to call on his people to support macron but then even more difficult to support marine le pen, sony has abstain from giving an instruction. what does that tell you? the candidate of the far left does not feel he has any thing in common with macron? it was a com plete common with macron? it was a complete copout, actually. he said he would ask supporters to say who they want to support. of course it is. it shows how fractured and tribal french politics is. the official socialist candidate got 6.5%. disastrous result for the socialist party. the romantic, idealistic far left candidate did well, but he didn't give a lead on voting against the national front and some of his voters will go and

vote for front national and i think many more will go to macron and some will abstain. do you see this second round as macron's to lose? absolutely. he has a much better chance. he has positioned himself very skilfully at the centre of gravity of french politics. he can appeal for support to the right and the left. and already we are seeing quite a numberof the left. and already we are seeing quite a number of people coming out on both sides and declaring support for him. he is well positioned to bring together what sir peter rightly called the rainbow alliance that he will need. notjust rightly called the rainbow alliance that he will need. not just seats rightly called the rainbow alliance that he will need. notjust seats in the name of his party but the ability to piece together the mosaic supporting his agenda in the national assembly. we supporting his agenda in the nationalassembly. we have supporting his agenda in the national assembly. we have got some shots just national assembly. we have got some shotsjust coming in national assembly. we have got some shots just coming in off emmanuel macron laying a wreath at the commemoration of the armenian genocide. he stands there, looking

very much part of the establishment in essence here. butjust going back to your thoughts, sir peter, there is still a naivety in a lot of his language. for example when he is asked about terrorism and he said it is just asked about terrorism and he said it isjust something asked about terrorism and he said it is just something the french people will have to live with for the rest of their lives. almost as though he hasn't got... i don't know. the pact of the political language yet. and thatis of the political language yet. and that is part of his attraction to many voters. he doesn't talk the normal language about these things. he is pretty frank and he says things as he sees them which is part of his refreshing quality. he has the ability to connect with people and he has used social media very well and he appeals to the younger generation, i think, well and he appeals to the younger generation, ithink, with well and he appeals to the younger generation, i think, with the frank talking and avoiding the cliches of the familiar political parties. if he is elected, he would bring a pro—european, pro—free trade, willing to speak up for immigration set of policies. what is the

implication if he is elected on brexit and his view and france's view of how the wrecks that negotiations should be carried out? as you say, a big pro—european. —— france's view of how the brexit negotiations should be carried out? his first priority will be to get alongside berlin and the new chancellor there and he will negotiate toughly. he will want the eu to come out with advantages from brexit and uk paying the price if necessary but he will not be looking to punish the uk. at heart he is a deal—maker and he will want to negotiate a deal. i don't want to play hypotheticals, professor. but one way of looking at this election is whoever comes out most is the legacy of francois hollande. if macron had not cut himself off as an independent and a different sort of being, would we be looking at a different result this time round?

yes, if he had remained tethered to the francois hollande presidency, his campaign would not have got off the ground and it would have been the ground and it would have been the kiss of death from the outset to his presidential campaign. he had to divorce himself, take his distance and pull off quite a trick to pick himself as an anti—system candidate, an outsider. he has an archetypal insider but he has pulled this off and he has done it plausibly and convincingly and so far, so good. but this into context historically in terms of french politics. the first time in 60 years that we have not got one of the big parties in the second round run—off. not got one of the big parties in the second round run-off. how significant is that? it is hugely significant. the job as significant is that? it is hugely significant. thejob as president, head of state and effectively lead of the government. it is a very powerfuljob, and of the government. it is a very powerful job, and probably of the government. it is a very powerfuljob, and probably the most powerfuljob, and probably the most powerful leader in terms of not many checks and balances on the

president. bidding for that are likely to get it is a 39—year—old who has never been elected to anything and it is a real indictment of the whole french political system and the way that people are sick and tired of french politics and what they see as corruption. feathering their own nest and failing to reduce unemployment. it is a populist rebellion but of the centre and not the right? it is a pro-european, centrist, populist, outsider rebellion. the professor is right in the sense that he is very much part of the french establishment but he had come at it in a completely fresh way and he has appealed to a new set of photos, who i think were disenchanted with the old political class. an antiestablishment candidate from within the establishment! grey. we have run out of time but thank you very much. —— great. the business news in a moment

but first the headlines. centrist emmanuel macron will face far—right leader marine le pen in the run—off for the french presidency after the first round of voting. jeremy corbyn takes his election campaign to scotland telling members of the scottish tuc that he'll fight to protect their right to take industrial action. a man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of a former royal navy officer who was hit as his car was stolen from outside his home in manchester. good afternoon. i'm jimmy robertson. the business use now. —— the business news now. capping household energy bills will not benefit customers and could lead to higher prices according to one of the uk's biggest energy providers. the warning comes after the conservative party said it might intervene to limit energy prices to help the poorest families. shares in gas and electricity firms were hit by the announcement. british gas owner centrica and sse both among the biggest

fallers on the ftse 100 this morning. phillips, the dutch company that makes medical devices and healthca re products, has reported a big jump in profits for the first three months of the year. that's after it sold off its lighting business last year. profits soared to £219 million, compared with just over £31 million in the same period last year. jimmy choo is looking for potential buyers to step forward. the luxury shoe maker is inviting potential offers for a sale of the business. the firm said it had not received any bids yet and was also considering other options. jimmy choo also produces other luxury goods, but sales have slowed in recent years. its footwear is often seen on the red carpet worn by the likes ofjennifer lopez and bella hadid. the american chamber of commerce has urged president trump not to amend

the north american free trade agreement. this is the deal that was signed in 1994 allowing free trade between the united states, canada and mexico. on the campaign trail, president trump called it the worst trade deal ever signed by the united states. mr o'donoghue said that he believed business leaders and policymakers were increasingly aware of need to amend the deal and to do it quickly. let's go live to the new york exchange. give us more detail on what the chambers of commerce are saying. the chamber of commerce will be giving a speech in mexico to the mexican chamber of commerce. in it he is talking about potential negotiations for the north american free trade agreement. as you correctly pointed out, during the election campaign we heard a lot of talk from candidate trump about the agreement and if he could not get

the deal that was better for the united states, he would rip it up and walk away. we have seen a softening when it comes to that kind of language. the us chamber of commerce in its speech have said that what they are expecting to see isa that what they are expecting to see is a renegotiated nafta some time in the middle of 2018. that said, everybody is really waiting to start these negotiations. but from the american point of view, the renegotiations on nafta cannot begin until the trump administration notifies congress, and between the time of notifying congress and when the negotiations can begin, there is a90 the negotiations can begin, there is a 90 day waiting period. since that notification still has not happened, it does not look like the negotiations will begin any time before august at the earliest. what happens in the meantime? does that mean the whole thing is in limbo and it could fall apart? does the free trade agreement keep on taking over?

the free trade agreement still exists in the way that it was written, but what it does is it puts eve ryo ne written, but what it does is it puts everyone an edge, especially when it comes to mexico and to canada. given all that we have heard in terms of the protectionist language coming from the united states, both countries are worried about what will happen and what the framework will happen and what the framework will look like in the end. there have been some little skirmishes p°ppin9 have been some little skirmishes p°pping up have been some little skirmishes popping up about different products, and infact popping up about different products, and in fact right now we heard just last week president trump talking about the dairy industry and he was very critical about what canada is doing with regards to derry. these skirmishes are coming up and getting much more attention. —— what canada is doing with regards to dairy. everyone is on edge and will not come down until the negotiations begin. thank you. british companies are planning to test driverless cars on city roads and motorways in the uk

for the first time. the driven consortium is backed by government funds and led by the artificial intelligence firm oxbotica. it wants to put vehicles through their paces between london and oxford, aiming for a fleets of six vehicles by 2019. goals soccer centres which operates five—a—side football pitches has confirmed it is in takeover talks with rival powerleague. back in 2015 the company posted a loss. early this year it said it has "turned the corner". now a merger was one of what it called a number of "strategic opportunities" it was looking at. us firm ppg has increased its bid for the owners of dulux, akzonobel, from £21 billion to around £23 billion. it's the second time it's raised the offer price. akzonobel has been trying to repel the bid by announcing plans to spin off its chemicals unit and return most of the proceeds to shareholders. and a quick look at the markets. the

french election had a beneficial effect on the french market, which is up. it is also having a knock—on effect on the ftse100, up 1.78%. the dax is up and the dowjones, not because of what is happening in france but because of the upward momentum generally. the markets in america, we have had some pretty good results coming out from big companies particularly the big banks in the last week, adding to the optimism. that is the business news for now. back in an hour. thank you. st david's in pembrokeshire is britain's smallest city but it is bidding to become the uk city of culture. that honour is currently held by hull. towns and cities across the country will soon take part in the contest to win the title in 2021, as nick higham reports. george formby, famous for his ukelele playing and his saucy songs, was born here in 1904. britain's first ikea

opened here in 1987. in 1968, the place was made a new town and the town hall has some spectacular golden gates. but culture...in warrington? has it always been at the forefront of what we've been doing, culture? no, it hasn't. now they want to change all that. as we transition from a new town to a new city, that city has to have a compelling cultural offer, because we know what cities that don't have that end up like. they are abandoned of an evening in the centre. they don't have the vibrancy. they aren't the magnets of talent and for young people that they ought to be. warrington's economically successful and unemployment‘s low but you wouldn't know it, looking at the town centre. this is what they call warrington's cultural quarter. there's a museum and a library. they say it's the oldest public library in england. there is a small concert hall.

there's the pyramid arts centre. but its quiet. the truth is people in warrington who want theatre or major art galleries go to liverpool or manchester. the concert venue's called parr hall. outside, i meta musician and promoter who says warrington's live music scene has enjoyed a modest revival lately but could do much better if the town were city of culture. any kind of artists, really, who are from warrington, you don't get the opportunities in warrington. you have to go abroad to find those. you have to go into manchester or liverpool. so there might not be loads and loads of stuff going on in warrington but that doesn't mean that people from warrington don't have the talents and skills. # then she said that together we could take on the world #. last year, the band viola beach were on the cusp of success when they and their manager were killed in a road accident in sweden. they came from warrington, proof that culture can flourish here alongside the giant soap works and the unexpectedly

tranquil canals. nick higham, bbc news, warrington. tougher punishments for the most serious cases of speeding have come into force in england and wales today. drivers can now be fined one—and—a—half times their weekly wage for the worst offences, that means driving over 50 miles an hour in a 30 zone or 100 miles an hour on a motorway. the tougher punishments for the most serious cases of speeding are now in force in both england and wales. and i think we can go and get the weather now. as predicted, winter has reached northern parts of scotland. check out this picture from aberdeenshire. pretty stormy. white out conditions. slow settling

in shetland earlier. and another from aberdeenshire. the rest of us will not be getting scenes like this but it will be cold over the next few days with hailstorms and thunder and lightning and even snow in other parts of the uk. it is not quite so cold in the south just yet. it will ta ke cold in the south just yet. it will take time before the cold arctic air reaches southern areas as well. this is the cold front and anywhere to the north of that line, that is where the cold air is. this is scotla nd where the cold air is. this is scotland this afternoon. this is what it looks like in the highlands, with snow. not all of it is snow with snow. not all of it is snow with some rain around and some hail. the winds are pretty strong so it is quite chilly. not so bad in yorkshire for the time being but in wales, the midlands and the south, it is overcast with spots of rain with this weather front sitting here. do the south of it we have got milder air. it does not feel too cold across the south. 12 or 13. it feels not far off that but in the

north the temperatures are closer to freezing and even well below in the far north with those gales and that screaming northerly arctic wind. tonight, the cold front passes the south coast and reaches northern france and we are all in that cold ice strea m stream and you can see that averages not far off freezing tomorrow morning. for many of us it starts of beautiful but don't expect to see snow straight. wintry showers will develop throughout the day with hailstorms, thunder and lightning as well. temperatures around seven or ten but if you are caught in a hailstorm, they will be fairly brief, but temperatures will rapidly drop and it might feel like it is closer to zero. it will feel that bit less cold as we head into wednesday that still a risk of wintry showers and hail and thunder across the central and eastern areas. by the time we get to

thursday and friday, we start to see the milder atlantic and returning to the milder atlantic and returning to the uk. -- the milder atlantic and returning to the uk. —— milderatlantic the milder atlantic and returning to the uk. —— milder atlantic air returning to the uk. this is bbc news. the headlines at 3: the race for the french presidency. independent centrist emmanuel macron faces the front national‘s marine le pen in a fortnight after beating both mainstream parties yesterday. a new era in french politics but which way will the voters turn? to macron, globalisation and more europe, or to marine le pen for security and control of borders? they have 13 days to decide. parties hit the campaign trail here withjeremy corbyn pledging to strengthen britain's trade unions and fight for working people. only labour will deliver for working people, small businesses, and our most vulnerable people. none of the rest would even think of these types of policy.

a 21—year—old man is arrested after a former royal navy officer was killed by burglars who ran him over with his own car.