and through or improvements and through or broadband programme. we have taken every opportunity to support a vibrant green economy, that support has helped us become a world leader in renewable energy. but we know that one of the most important things any of us can do to build a stronger economy is to tackle inequality. the evidence is clear that greater inequality has a negative impact on economic growth and that's why creating a more equal society is always will be at the height of our economic policy. we know from experience and from evidence and from research that strong trade unions play a hugely important role in helping to achieve that. that is why we value trade unions

and the contributions you make to oui’ and the contributions you make to our economy, it is why we were so opposed to the uk trade union act. that legislation represents a direct threat to unions, to the fundamental rights of workers and the collaborative approach that we seek to ta ke collaborative approach that we seek to take here in scotland. let me reiterate again today, the snp supports the immediate repeal of the trade union act. but in the meantime, through our trade union fair work meantime, through our trade union fairwork and meantime, through our trade union fair work and modernisation fund, we have sought to limit the negative impact of the act and today i am announcing that over the next year we will provide an additional £250,000 to that fund. it will ensure that trade union wraps are not needlessly diverted by the burdens of legislation from the most important role, supporting members

and promoting the work practices. whether scottish government has the power or discretion as an employer, we will not invoke the positions of the act against trade unions, we will ensure... we will ensure that it remains and is not delivered at costs which penalises unions and we will use our discretion as an employer to ensure the minimum notice for industrial notices required. we should be an absolutely no doubt at all, the tories‘ legislation is designed deliberately to wea ke n legislation is designed deliberately to weaken trade unions, it is designed to cast you as the enemy. you are not the enemy, you are our partners. at times, you are critical, very critical, and that is exactly as it should be, but you are vital partners, so my pledge to you

is that we will always stand with you because, working together, we can build a better society, and that is our objective. it is because of that that mitigating the trade union act is not enough. we want to work with you to build a fairer country will stop for example, the government have recently agreed to work together on a project examining the impact of technological advances in the labour market because we know that will be one of the key issues affecting voters. it is vital that government, unions and employers work together to understand and adapt to the implications. that kind of partnership approach underpins oui’ of partnership approach underpins our the work convention. the convention brings together representatives from unions to help shape and drive our agenda for fair work. the living wage is a big part

of that agenda. the scottish government was the first government anywhere in the uk to pay the real living wage and, whether we can, we use procurement to extend its use in public sector contracts. through the initiative that the scottish government funds, more and more scottish —based organisations are becoming living wage accredited employers. when i spoke at this congress two years ago, there were 150 companies signed up to the accreditation scheme and today, more than 780 organisations are signed up and we intend to get 1000 by the automatic this year. we have also got 350 companies signed up to our business pledge, companies committing themselves to good employment practices. one of the values the pledge seeks to encourage is gender equality in the workplace, and that is another major focus of the fair work agenda. we know that

we need to close the gap between the promotion... proportion of men and women in the workforce. our commitment to double free childcare will help achieve that by removing one of the main barriers that prevents women returning to work. we also want to address the lack of women in senior positions, which is why, later this year, we will legislate to ensure gender balance on public sector boards. as you all know, there are employment inequalities across other protected characteristics as well. i can announce today that, through our new equality fund, we will provide an additional £500,000 to address these disparities, that money will go to groups that demonstrate their effo rts groups that demonstrate their efforts will help people overcome barriers to employment. that is

quite a small but potentially hugely significant way in which we can address a major economic and social issue, and it is in keeping with the broader principles of the trade union movement by ensuring that eve ryo ne union movement by ensuring that everyone in society is able to flourish, everybody in scotland will benefit. since the very outset of devolution, since the establishment of the scottish parliament back in 1999, there is tuc has worked with different scottish governments to make scotland a more equal, inclusive and successful country. you have helped us legislate for social progress and been at the vanguard of making workplaces more productive and protecting people in scotla nd productive and protecting people in scotland from the worst effects of austerity. as i said at the outset of this speech, this is a challenging time for scotland. we face the prospect of brexit implemented by a hardline tory government but, through all of the

challenges, we have faced and all the challenges we will face, our trade union movement remains a source of huge strength for our country, not just to source of huge strength for our country, notjust to the thousands of trade union members, but to the country as a whole. i want to end where i started by thanking you for that you do. you make a hugely positive contribution to this country of ours and i want to pledge that the scottish government, for as long as the leader, will continue to work with you to make scotland a fairer, more prosperous and equal nation. i wish you every success for the rest of congress. thank you very much indeed. nicola sturgeon addressing the congress in aviemore in scotland, explaining there are challenging times ahead for brexit. we will take you straightaway now the tim farron, the lib dem leader who has been speaking with

supporters in south london. who has been speaking with supporters in south londonlj who has been speaking with supporters in south london. i made a target, a plan, before the party two yea rs target, a plan, before the party two years ago and said, let's make sure we get to 100,000 members before the next general election. at that point, i thought that would be in 2020! this morning, we got the 100,000 members! for what it's worth, we will beat our record of 101,000 members as a party throughout our history in the next day or so, maybe the next key ours, if we keep this up. this tells you something. there is an appetite for change in british politics and that the liberal democrats are the vehicle for that change. it seems to me that there is a very clear distinction between the

conservatives who want to take us out of the single market, desperate for them not to be a clear and decent opposition to them, you want this to be a coronation not to. the people should have the final say in the deal of the brexit negotiations. but as people are entitled to stay in the european union if they wish to in the end. it should be the people who decide, not the politicians. it is also vital to say that, in this democracy, britain desperately needs a decent, functioning opposition, and that without questions is the liberal democrats. we stand here in boxall, and you talk about opposition. one of the opposition parties over the weekend decided to back another of the opposition parties. you might have seen paul nuttall on television

on sunday morning, saying that ukip can the deterrent boxall is kate hogan, and we have a coalition of chaos, conservatives, labour ukip, or lined up, backing the hardest of all brexit, except from the single market and cutting off all our ties with our friends and neighbours market and cutting off all our ties with ourfriends and neighbours in europe, despite those things never been on the ballot paper. we say that the british people could choose a different future. this is about britain being able to make an alternative choice. that is why i am proud to the back george and eve ryo ne proud to the back george and everyone working so hard to make this heavenly remain constituency elects a liberal democrats member of parliament. opposition is vital in a democracy.

let's not pretend for one moment we ta ke let's not pretend for one moment we take seriously theresa may's claims that the reason she called the selection was in order to get a mandate for brexit. she needs no mandate for brexit. she needs no mandate for brexit. the referendum gave her the mandate to start negotiations and the labour party gave her the number she needed in the house of commons. she has called this election because she looked across the dispatch box and saw the worst opposition in human history and could not resist the temptation of trying to do the political equivalent of stealing candy from a baby. we will not allow this to be a coronation, we will make a contest. go out there and make it happen. thank you. tim farron in boxall. there is of course the prominent laxity, the labour mp, and farren is targeting places with heavily remain

bodes on the last referendum injune and says he believes the lib dems can take some of the seats of labour. let's go to our chief political correspondent. what did you make of what he had to say? you can see why the liberal democrats are doing this. they are very much the pro—eu, pro—european party. the problem is the strategy though, there are not that many seats are up against labour or labour mps, who voted to leave. the real heartland is in the south—west of england, an area which voted to leave the eu. that could cause them problems. they are very confident they will do better than last time around. that's not hard. the almost wiped out and went down to eight mps, they have a by—election win in richmond—upon—thames where they campaigned as the pro—eu party, but

they say there are very many millions of people out there who, even though they might think we are leaving the eu, the think the uk should be in the single market. he also talked about a credible opposition. the argument, very similarto opposition. the argument, very similar to the argument made by ruth davidson in scotland, is not that the liberal democrats will be in power or government, but thatjeremy corbyn is weak and he is to weaken labour are too weak to oppose the tories, that is why he is calling on people to vote on the liberal democrats in this election. so tim farron making it clear that he sees this election is about brexit in the eu? that's right, which chimes with theresa may. she says she has called this election because she wants to get a mandate for brexit. the liberal democrats' argument is she is heading for a high brexit, so

they say every liberal democrats mp will be one that will fight for different brexit. they believe there should be a second referendum on that final deal. his announcement today was about the membership. he said the lib dems of over 100,000 members in the party, getting close to the record number of members, and many are here in london in the capital. there are seats in the south—west of london and elsewhere which they think they can take from the conservatives. but privately, they are trying not to up expectations too much. they know they have a really long way to go. many of those seats they lost to the tories last time in the south—west. they lost by 10,000 votes. so coming back from that is very difficult. they also think the ukip vote, many of those voters will switch to the conservatives, which could really

bolstered theresa may's position. what tim farron is doing is very much trying to get the message out, and they think they have that unique message, they think they can take from both labour and the tories. labour and the liberal democrats are the two parties which have declared candidates in boxall so far, and the labour it is the current mp for the liberal democrats it is george. the headlines on bbc news: french president francois hollande calls on voters to back emmanuel macron in the second round of the presidential election saying support for the far—right puts the country at risk. and in sport: newcastle

are on the verge of a return to the premier league at the first time of asking. 11 months ago, rafa benitez saw his side relegated but if newcastle beat preston in the championship tonight they'll be back in the top flight. and defending champion mark selby is through to the quarterfinals of the world snooker championship after beating china's xiao guo—dong by 13—6. i'll be back with more on those stories at az30pm. for the first time emmanuel macron

only set up his party a year ago, the youngest ever french president if he wins. but he has got to beat marine penn who is campaigning against immigration, globalisation and the eu. francois hollande urged voters to choose emmanuel macron, who would defend french values. the far right would be deeply divisive for france. by demonising part of our society because of the heritage of religion, they would endanger our freedoms and the founding principles of our republic. this is why, in the face of such a danger, i cannot be quiet. there is nothing to be gained by standing by. there is no choice but to take action, and there is a clear choice. as for me, i will be

voting for emmanuel macron. emmanuel macron worked within his government during the last few yea rs. james reynolds reports from paris. the centrist candidate emmanuel macron began his run—off campaign this morning. his supporters believe he's now one step away from winning the presidency. france now prepares for a choice between macron and marine le pen, pro—eu versus anti—eu. pro—immigration against anti—immigration. at the macron campaign headquarters supporters cheered their candidate into the night. this is the 39—year—old's first ever election. macron is the newcomer, the insider turned outsider, making it through to the next round. and he is now the favourite

to become this country's next president. translation: in 15 days, i want to become your president, the president of all the french, the president of the patriots to counter the threat of the nationalists. the macron team gave themselves time to celebrate but they now have to focus on fighting the run—off. of course, we feel the responsibility, it's a new page starting in this country and we have marine le pen in front of us so it is, as we say, it's also about the value, we want to defend. marine le pen will dispute that. at her victory rally she promised a real fight in the second round. translation: 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

that you have been waiting for. marine le pen won more votes than her party has ever got before. her supporters believe that she can beat macron. the choice is clear, macron is for globalisation, marine le pen is for a renewed france. we have a clear political choice and i believe in these two weeks we will be able to explain that and that marine le pen will gather the patriotic vote. her first stop this morning was a market in northern france. opinion polls suggest that she starts the run—off well behind emmanuel macron. marine le pen will want to make it a referendum on patriotism, on europe, on globalism. she is trying to repeat a little bit the american campaign. trump versus clinton. the capital, here cleaning anti—le pen graffiti, is already preparing for the second round. in two weeks' time france will make its choice. and there is, of course,

much more on our website, including live updates right now of all the latest reaction. a man has appeared in court, charged in connection with an acid attack at a nightclub in east london which left two people partially blind. 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. arthur collins appeared at court here earlier today. collins in fact was on crutches and appeared to have difficulty

standing when he was asked by the districtjudge to give his name, address and age. just to recap the charges, collins is facing 1a counts of grievous bodily harm and one count of throwing acid with intent to burn. andre phoenix is facing seven counts of throwing corrosive fluid with intent to burn. both been remanded in custody. these charges are in connection with the alleged acid attack at an east london nightclub a week ago in which more than 20 were hurt, two of them serious. a young woman and a man both of whom have lost the use of one eye, so serious injuries. we have heard from the metropolitan police in the last few minutes, saying they are actively seeking to

arrest more people in connection with the acid attack at the nightclub last week. they are actively seeking to arrest more people in connection with the attack. a number of lawyers have appeared before the solictors regulation authority on charges of falsely accusing the british army of murdering, torturing and mutilating innocent iraqi civilians. the lawyers from the firm leigh day are accused of representing clients even though they knew that they were members of a militia and were pursuing dishonest claims. martyn day, sapna malik and anna crowther face 19 charges. they have denied any wrongdoing. our legal affairs correspondent, clive coleman, is in central london for us. this is a complicated case because it covers two different aspects of the same appeals they were running. it isa the same appeals they were running. it is a complicated case. it has been prosecuted by here. it is

complicated but setting the case out for the authority today, the qc said at its heart it was a simple case. he said over a period of more than seven yea rs, he said over a period of more than seven years, martyn day and the other two maintained allegations that soldiers in the british army had murdered, tortured and mutilated innocent iraqi civilians. the allegations were falls and should never have been advanced in public. he said that, from 2004 onwards, the firm had a detainee list which undermined the clients 5 case to be innocent bystanders, the battle of danny boy took place north of basra in 2004. this list showed they were members of the british militia and the firm failed to provide that

document whose relevance was described by martyn day in an e—mail in 2013 is paid to the obvious and of massive significance. the bill to disclose that to anybody for nine yea rs. disclose that to anybody for nine years. he went to go on to say that his clients and agents were being manipulated, threatened and blackmailed by another client. he said it is likely that the £29 million public inquiry eventually found that these allegations were a result of deliberate lies. it is unlikely that would've taken place and that dish soldiers and their families would not have enjoyed yea rs of families would not have enjoyed years of torment as a result of these fools allegations. leigh day received £9.5 million in totalfor its general iraqi claims work. that

sum was described in court as used to pay what was described by two solicitors at the firm in e—mails as bribes. they deny they thought they we re bribes. they deny they thought they were paying bribes. they say the use of the word bribe in e—mails was an u nfortu nate of the word bribe in e—mails was an unfortunate description. mr dutton was withering about baton said what was withering about baton said what was going on was an exercise in revisionism, they were seeking to go behind the real meaning of the words of contemporaneous documents. leigh day has always been clear that, in relation to this key document, it was human error and it should not been disclosed but are not guilty of any professional wrongdoing. this was an example of human error. this tribunal, which is due to be the longest in history, is due to go on for seven weeks or so and we will hear from for seven weeks or so and we will hearfrom leigh for seven weeks or so and we will hear from leigh day for seven weeks or so and we will hearfrom leigh day in due course, its partners and members of the firm. 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 samwell was asleep about three o'clock yesterday morning in his terraced home in chorley. he was 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 altercation with the people who were 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 the thieves had got hold of his car keys. he was then run over

by the vehicle as they made their escape. his wife dashed out to comfort him after he had been run over. she was calling for help. emergency services were called. mike died an hour later in hospital after undergoing treatment. the car was found about three miles away. the police were asking for anyone with information to search their consciences. they said it was more than criminal. what happened had crossed the line, and 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. mike was a formal naval lieutenant, a sub mariner. he served in the royal navy for many yea rs. he then work in engineering,

which is why he lived here. the investigations continue. for some of us, it has been a shock to the system. we have seen widespread wintry weather, particularly to the north of the uk. some snow lying on the ground in aberdeenshire. a couple of showers in the northern half of the uk. cold air is coming in behind this band of cloud, which is a cold front, moving its way southwards. for the wintry showers for northern scotland and the eastern side of england and the western side. but clear skies for many of us, it will turn cold. a fairly widespread frost to start the day on tuesday. many of us. with sunshine, particularly those on land areas, but early on, windy, wintry

showers. through the afternoon, showers. through the afternoon, showers crop up almost anywhere. they could be heavy with hail, thunder and strong, gusty winds. but the showers, long in those strong downdraughts, it will feel like it is close to freezing. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines at 4.30pm: french president francois hollande calls on voters to back emmanuel macron in the second round of the presidential election saying support for the far—right puts the country at risk. parties hit the campaign trail here with nicola sturgeon criticising the direction that the conservative government is going in. they see, many of them, brexit as a means to an end and the end for too

many tories, too many in the current uk government is a low tax, low wage, low regulation uk. elsewhere, the lib dems say the party now has more than 100,000 members. lib dem leader tim farron used a speech to set out the policy differences between his party and the conservatives. there is a very clear dinks between the conservatives who want to take us the conservatives who want to take us out of the single market and who are desperate for there not to be a clear and decent opposition to they will. who want this to be a coronation and not a contest and the liberal democrats who believe that britain should be in the single market. a man has been arrested over the death of an ex—royal navy officer who was hit as his car was stolen from outside his home in manchester. a 21—year—old is being held on suspicion of murder and is due to be questioned. now the sport. 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 to do ourjob. so the only thing that we can control is ourteam. we the only thing that we can control is our team. we have to be sure that we are consent brated on doing our job properly. my target always was to try to go up. so the main thing is we finish ourjob. league one champions sheffield united are attempting to re—sign striker ched evans from chesterfield and a fee of around £500,000 has been agreed. evans joined chesterfield, who have been relegated to league two after having a rape conviction quashed in april last year. he was then found not guilty following a retrial. the 28—year—old last played

for sheffield united in 2012 before he served two and a half years in prison. he is due to have a medical later this week. former british heptathlete kelly sotherton is set to be upgraded to her third olympic bronze medal. it comes as a result of the international olympic committee disqualifying russia's tatyana chernova for testing positive for a steroid at the 2008 games in beijing. chernova's positive test is only the latest in a long line from the ioc‘s re—analysis of stored anti—doping samples from the 2008 and 2012 games. after his early exit from the monte carlo masters, andy murray has squeezed in an extra tournament as he continues his build up to the french open and his attempts to stay as world number one. he's entered the barcelona open which will be just his second competition since recovering from an elbow injury. it is hard to maintain your ranking at the top of the game. you have some of the best players of all time

who are playing just now and are playing great tennis this year and lot of the young ones are starting to play better and better as well. so it's going to be tough, but i'm happy to be fit and healthy again and hopefully i can start playing some good tennis. while 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. and joining them is briatin's dan evans who's beaten thiago monteiro of brazil 7—2 in a deciding set tie—break in barcelona. it's his first ever win on clay on the atp tour. defending champion mark selby is through to the quarter—finals of the world snooker championship after beating xiao guodong. selby resumed 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 this year in the first frame of the session and just missed out on another as he clinched the match by 13—6. it isa

it is a comfortable lead. to win that first frame and get settled was nice and to win it in one visit was even better. barry hawkins willjoin mark selby in the last eight of the championship. he tookjust under hour this lunchtime to complete a 13—6 victory over scotland's graeme dott and reach his fifth consecutive quarter—final where he'll now face another scot stephen maguire. it sounds disrespectful to graeme, i played solid enough. i did some good clea ra nces played solid enough. i did some good clearances when i needed to. i had a few breaks. not probably scoring as heavy as you would like really, but i'm winning and that's the main thing. that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. hugh, 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 ahead of the general

election in june. we are standing for the many, not the few. and it is through our collective power in a trade union that we ensure the many standing together have the power to stand up together have the power to stand up to the rich and the powerful few. the labour party will always cherish the stain 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, you are ourfamily and we will never ever apologise for the closeness of our relationship with you. applause the defence secretary sir michael fallon has branded jeremy corbyn as a security risk for refusing to back a nuclear deterrent or state if he would order a drone strike against terrorists. well, 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 wouldn't support our nuclear deterrent and who would undermine our defences so it is very important that we do point out this is somebody who could be prime minister in six weeks' time. ukip says it's "standing up for women" with an election pledge to ban 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 peter whittle denies the policies discriminated against muslims. i don't think there can be any better way of segregating them from wearing the face veil. that's a

literal barrier to integration and i think that is something which there is great public support for getting rid of and i think that the point really is that we we have reached the stage in this country where we have gone down one route which is about separation and not about integration. it is notjust ukip, whether it is trevor phillips or angela merkel, or david cameron, people have been saying multi—culturalism was a bad thing, but they have done nothing about it. this is something that's a concern to the majority of people in this country. the high court had given ministers until this afternoon to set out d raft until this afternoon to set out draft measures to combat illegal levels of any fro general dioxide pollution. responding to an urgent question by the labour mp, within

the last hour, the environment secretary defended the government's decision saying it was safeguarding democracy. in the course of developing our d raft in the course of developing our draft plan it was very clear that local authorities will have to play a central role in delivering the finalair a central role in delivering the final air quality plan. so government initially sought to defer publication of the plan and the launch of the consultation on it until after the period for local authority elections. since that application was lodged the prime minister called a general election and a further period commenced on 21st april. as she will know government normally seeks to avoid launching consultation exercises during purda periods of the it is vital that we get this done and it is our intention that we will publish this on 30thjune which she says within 30 days of a labour administration they would be publishing, that would be later than the intention of this government.

i also... the intention of this government. ialso... i the intention of this government. i also... i also want to make very clear that we now have entered a period of time where we are strongly advised not to be publishing consultations and so what we are trying to do is a very short extension which we do not believe will make a difference to the implementation of our plans, but statement we are safeguarding our democracy. —— but at the same time we are safeguarding our democracy. the first female commander of the international space station, peggy whitson, has broken the record for the longest time in space of any us astronaut. within the last hour, president trump spoke with dr whitson and herfellow astronaut, jack fischer, and he asked her how she feels to have broken another record. how does it feel to have broken such a big and important record? well, it's actually a huge honour to break a record like this, but it's an honour for me, basically, to be representing all the folks at nasa who make this

space flight possible and who make me setting this record feasible. and so, it's very exciting to be at nasa. we are all very much looking forward, as directed by your new nasa bill, we are excited about the missions to mars in the 2030s. and so, we actually physically have hardware on the ground that's been built for the sl5 rocket that's going to take us there and, of course, the hardware being built now is going to be for the test flights that will eventually get us there. but it's a very exciting time and i'm so proud of the team. great. and what are we learning from having you spending your time up there? i know so much research is done. i'm getting a glimpse of some of it right here in the oval office. what are we learning by being in space? well, i think probably the international space station is providing a key bridge from us

living on earth to going somewhere into deep space. so, on those mars missions, we need to better understand how microgravity is really affecting our body and we need to understand it in great detail, so many of the studies are looking at the human body. we are also looking at things that involve operations of a space vehicle on these long duration missions and the technological advancements that will be required. for instance, on a multi—year mars mission, we are going to need to be able to close the life—support system, and that means we, right now, for instance, are taking solar power that we collect and using it to break apart water into oxygen and hydrogen. the oxygen we breathe, of course. we use the hydrogen, combine it back with c02 that we take out of the air, and make more water, but water is such a precious resource up here that we also are cleaning up our urine and making it drinkable,

and it's really not as bad as it sounds! that's good, and glad to hear that. better you than me! there is no real answerfrom that. even from a president! i don't think president trump enjoyed that thought. for the first time, neither the left—wing or right—wing parties has a candidate in the second. it's the biggest political upset in france for 60 years. for the first time neither of france's main left—wing or right—wing parties has a candidate in the second 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. 58% and the proportion has been rising since the last electoral success of the party since the european elections of 2014. that means that her very success frightens other voters. the other wea kness frightens other voters. the other weakness is that she is not considered only by less than a quarter of the french as being capable of being a president of france the she doesn't have the necessary skills in the opinion of the majority. if you look at short—term factors, she didn't do an excellent campaign. she hesitated between the soft image linked to her strategy and appealing to the ha rd core of strategy and appealing to the hardcore of the party being tougher

on immigration and islamic fundamentalism and of the memory of the anti—semitic measures and that played against her. what do you think, if emmanuel macron wins as a centrist from outside the main political parties, the main political parties, the main political establishment if you like, what does that mean, do you think for french politics? well, there is a very clear opposition between emmanuel macron and marine le pen. it is the choice between two societies and on the side of emmanuel macron it is an open society. open to european integration, open to globalisation, without the idea that we must hide behind high walls and borders and a permissive society. on the side of marine le pen she is offering the opposite. a closed society. barricaded behind her borders and a far more authoritarian and repressive society. it is interesting because the voters of

emmanuel macron they look towards the future, they are optimistic, the voters of marine le pen they are turned against the world and towards a golden age that never existed. so, the fact that emmanuel macron won over marine le pen is important. thank you for the moment. do you, is there any way that you can see marine le pen winning? is this emmanuel macron's to lose this election? well, if he is to lose, it will not be out of his own merits of the it is part of a big picture of how politics work in global politics and in france. marine le pen has a very high success, but is not com pletely very high success, but is not completely new because her father in 2002 came very close again in the

first selection of the elections so there is a bigger part and a longer pa rt there is a bigger part and a longer part of the front national being successful in french politics, but i don't think that they are going to pull the string at the end of the this emergence of emmanuel macron, this young man from outside the main political establishment, although, of course, he was a government minister, but so recently setting up his own party sflt that a permanent change in french politics or is this a one off, do you think? again, i would like to see the french elections in relation to past elections in relation to past elections and i'm going back to the early 2,000s, if we look at election of 2002, and 2007, in 2002 the front national received a high percent ableg of votes and in 2007 we had two new faces which were a woman and you have sa rkozy

two new faces which were a woman and you have sarkozy campaigning and so, the fact of having a youthful person coming into the political scenario is important in its own terms. emmanuel macron is breaking the ground in that he's not part of the established political system, but on the other hand, he is supported by the other hand, he is supported by the established political parties who are looking unable to win the election on their own. so in a way he is the product of a coalition. in a way, i think, those who are backing him have looked at the success of other non traditional success of other non traditional success and the new type of politicians like trump and the five—star party in italy and so on. there is a factor in terms of novelty which in itself attractive. we have to remember that politics does not work along clear ideological lines nor the line of

rationality work. we are in a moment of politics where emotions count primarily. thank you very much indeed. back to the expert on the french par right. is there anything you think that peb pen —— marine le pen can do to give her a chance of victory? what does she need to do in the next few day ins your opinion? if she wants, she needs to show a softer image than the one she gave in the last two weeks of the campaign. and she must try to prove that she has the skills to be president so it's going to be very difficult in the very short time that's left in the two weeks. but if she softens her image too much, she risks losing some of her more hard—line supporters? absolutely. that's what her father used to say. nobody likes a nice

national front. so, that's the problem of her party. she is always caught in the middle somewhere the if she is too nice, knee loses the protest radical base. if she is not nice enough, no mainstream party will ever make alliance with the national front. thank you very much, both of you. in a moment a look at how the financial markets in europe closed the day, but first the headlines on bbc news: the outgoing president francois hollande calls on voters to back emmanuel macron in the second round of the french presidential election saying support for the far—right puts the country at risk. addressing the scottish tuc, first minister nicola sturgeon said the electorate couldn't trust the conservatives with worker's rights post brexit.

the lib dems are on course to reach its highest ever membership — over 12,000 people have signed up to the party since theresa may announced the snap general election last tuesday. good afternoon. now a look at how the markets in europe have ended the trading session. all of them have been affected by the french election. the gains stemming from the french election. the european stocks market did well. the nasdaq dominated by tech companies, apple and google's pa rent tech companies, apple and google's parent company, alphabet is at a record high. so the french market

was the biggest winner, up over 4%, but the euro did very well. the euro currency rising 2%. that really demonstrates the importance of the election and emmanuel macron to the whole of the eu, notjust france. energy stocks are strong. emmanuel macron proposed sweeping changes for the hole sector. the uk, even though we saw the ftse up 2%, energy shares took a dive. companies like centrica fell almost 5%. this was on news that the government was proposing capping energy prices. also, the oil price has been falling which had an effect on the energy companies. in the us, the stock market looking strong supported by the result in france and though because of ot meusm over good financial results coming out of the big us companies. we will have more this week of the that's all from me from business the we will have more tomorrow. bye. short and sweet, jamie, thank you very much indeed. 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, 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 it's 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. we have leave you at this point, but huw edwards is coming up with the news at 5pm. for from paris with christian fraser as well. now the weather and jay wynne. we have seen wintry weather today. it is not unusual to see snow in april, but it is not necessarily all that welcome. here is the view from

one of our weather watchers in aberdeenshire. not so long ago. you can see the cloud that brought the snow. this band of cloud is bringing outbreaks of rain. behind it, you can outbreaks of rain. behind it, you ca n follow outbreaks of rain. behind it, you can follow the isobars back up into the arctic. yes, some cold air is spreading its way across all parts over the next day or so. yes, overnight tonight, we will see low temperatures. it will be frost. there is further wintry showers to be had. most of the showers overnight will be across northern scotland. wintry up over the hills. some of that will get down to lower levels. there will be showers for eastern parts of england and further west, wintry showers, but many inland areas will be dry. it will turn cold. from early on, we will see some frequent, heavy, wintry showers in scotland, rain at lower levels and sleet and snow at tiles as well.

there will be a few early showers, but across the bulk of england and wales, it will start on a kld and frosty note, sunshine for many first thing. it will be cold in the wind. three orfour thing. it will be cold in the wind. three or four celsius typical. if you start with sunshine make the most of it, by the afternoon the showers will be widespread with hail and thunder. there will be sunshine in between. it won't do much for the temperatures. six to 12 celsius, but it will feel colder than that and particularly cold when those showers come along. if you are under a hail shower, you will get down drafts as well and it will feel closer to freezing. temperatures up and down tomorrow. the showers are still there through the early evening and becoming confined to eastern areas, but it will be cold across the western areas. there will be a widespread frost here to start the day on wednesday. and again, it is eastern areas which

are at most at risk of showers. the further west you are, there should be more in the way of drier and brighter weather. temperature wise, they will be creeping up a bit towards the end of the week there is a lot going on over the next few days. if you want more details for where you are or where you're going, head to the bbc weather website. bye for now. today at 5, the final battle lines are drawn in the race for the french presidency. macron and le pen will contest the final round in just under a fortnight, pushing aside the traditional mainstream parties. the outgoing president, francois hollande, is the latest figure to throw his weight behind mr macron's campaign. it was a brutal night for the centre right and centre left. the ruling

socialists took just 6% right and centre left. the ruling socialists tookjust 6% of the vote and in the path of an hour, francois fillon has resigned as leader of his party. —— past half an hour. we'll have more from christian in paris in a moment. the other main stories on bbc news at 5: following the murder of a former royal navy officer in manchester, police say they've arrested a 21 year—old man. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn tells trade unionists in scotland