this is bbc news. i'm jane hill at westminster as official election campaigning gets underway. the prime minister has visited the queen at buckingham palace to mark the dissolution of parliament. on her return to downing street, theresa may accused european politicians and officials of seeking to influence the result of the general election through threats. threats against britain have been issued by european politicians and officials. all of these acts have been deliberately timed to affect the result of the general election that will take place on the 8th june. in brussels, the eu chief negotiator warns that brexit negotiations will not be quick and painless and insists the uk must honour its commitments. there is no punishment. there is no brexit bill. the financial settle m e nt brexit bill. the financial settlement is only about settling

the accounts. whilst we will meet out the accounts. whilst we will meet our international obligations, we will meet the legal ones, not the best guesses of the commission. i'm ben brown. the other main headlines this hour: a student is found guilty of planting a home—made bomb on a busy tube train. police investigating the murder of a man shot at his home in dorset have arrested two men and a woman. smartphone users only get access to the ag signal about two—thirds of the time according to a new survey. and concern for the uk's killer whales after scientists find shocking levels of a toxic chemical in a member of the last resident pod. good afternoon.

the prime minister has just returned from her audience with the queen, formally marking the dissolution of parliament and the official start of the general election campaign. speaking in downing street in the last few minutes theresa may accused european politicians and officials of seeking to influence the result of the general election. she said the events of the past few days showed that some in brussels didn't want the uk to succeed. in the last few days we have seen just how tough these talks are likely to be. britain's negotiating position in europe has been misrepresented in the continental press. the european commission's negotiating stance has hardened. threats against britain have been issued by european politicians and officials. all of these acts have

been deliberately timed to affect the result of the general election that will take place on 8thjune. by contrast, i made clear in my letter to the president of the european council invoking article 50 last month that in leaving the european union britain means no harm to our friends and allies on the continentment we continue to believe that no deal is better for britain than a bad deal, but we want a deal. we wa nt than a bad deal, but we want a deal. we want a deep and special partnership with the european union and we want the eu to succeed. that's part of what theresa may had to say after her return from her audience with the queen. let's go to downing street and eleanor garnier was listening to that and some very striking and very strong words right at the outset of that statement in light of much of what we've been hearing perhaps eleanor with particular reference to those

comments from michel barnier at the start of the day? yes, i think we we re start of the day? yes, i think we were incredibly struck by the strength of the words, the language that theresa may used in reference to the threats, the fact that britain's position had been misremented in the continental press, that there are some in the eu who do not want these talks to succeed. for so long, we have understood that number ten and especially theresa may likes to do these things behind closed doors and she certainly wanted these talks to be done behind closed doors, but i think what we saw just then was her coming out very publicly obviously and hitting back at some of the things that have been coming up in the last few days. that article in the last few days. that article in the german press about what had supposedly happened at the dinner in downing street last week between michel barnier and jean—claude juncker and the prime minister and then talk this morning about a

potential 100 billion euro pound bill that britain, it was suggested, might have to pay. well, the brexit secretary, david davis, dismissed that and said britain would only be paying what it was legally due to pay, but certainly, after returning from the queen, from buckingham palace, and stepping out in front of the lectern, she, the prime minister certainly did not pull her punches when it came to responding to some of the things that have come out of the eu this week. she did, of course, then turn to some of the politics of the general election. suggesting, of course, that she has been saying all along britain needs a strong leader to deal with these tough talks that are going to dominate the next two years of political life here in britain. but, it was, interesting to hear such strong language from theresa may and it wasn't something that we were expecting. no, eleanor, thank you for now. eleanor garnier. let's get the thoughts of our europe correspondent

kevin connolly who is in brussels, and very striking language, kevin, there are some in brussels who don't wa nt there are some in brussels who don't want the talks to succeed says the british prime minister. who is she talking about and how is that sort of language going to go down? well, i think there is always been a suspicion on the british side that there are true believers in the european project around the european commission in particular who hope that the brexit process will be difficult enough to make sure that no other member state in the foreseeable future would consider leaving so that would give them an incentive to make things as complex as tough, as expensive as possible. that suspicion certainly has been around on the british side. the context of the day don't forget was set by newspaper reports suggesting that the european side maybe preparing to ask the british for as muff as 100 billion euros which is vastly in excess of any figure that britain would be prepared to

consider and we've also been hearing today from the chief european negotiator michel barnier, and he has been warning britain pretty explicitly that they shouldn't expect that the brexit process will be easy or painless. so there has been a steady drum beat of those kind of things in the air and i think that is what triggered theresa may's reaction in these very strong terms. kevin, thank you very much for now. kevin, thank you very much for now. kevin connolly there in brussels. let's turn to the coming weeks, the next few weeks of this general election campaign and reflect on what we heard from theresa may because i'm joined outside the houses of parliament by patrick 0'flynn from ukip. i don't know how much of theresa may's statement you heard at the

podium there a few moments ago, but a clear sense from her that she sees this general election as being all about brexit, it is about sleging someone about brexit, it is about sleging someone who can do the best negotiating over the next cull of yea rs negotiating over the next cull of years in terms of our departure from the eu. your thoughts on that, patrick 0'flynn, first of all? the eu. your thoughts on that, patrick o'flynn, first of all? well, my initial reaction, it is up to the voters to decide what a general election is all about. 0bviously, brexit will be an absolutely crucial issue, probably the dominant issue of the campaign and i congratulate downing street spindoctors on their choreography, they got the prime minister in front of downing street looking prime ministerial. the message hasn't been heard in brussels or they wouldn't be talking about the divorce bill or the terms of departure. i don't think anyone believes that theresa may is prepared to walk away without

signing a deal and until she gets that message across and really means it, i think millions of ukip voters will worry that we're going to be leaving on the worst possible terms. she said no deal is still better than a bad deal, but she wants to try and get a deal... well, she was campaigning for remain a year ago. she has a reputation of being a cautious and inch by inch type leader and she hasn't yet for me projected the self—confidence in our nation, in our economy, the british people weren't bluffing on 23rd june last year. theresa may needs to make clear to brussels that the government is not bluffing today. 0k, we'll come back to some of that. your thoughts first of all, jonathan on? this election is bigger than brexit. it is a huge decisions. theresa may is floundering. we saw in the initial time that she was invoking article 50, her making the threats over intelligence, we saw the debacle over gibraltar and it

has been covered up by the general election as if we had forgotten it. i don't think it is a prime minister that's in control. i think she is panic kment we have got to have honest conversations about the future. the 100 billion bill is frightening. i don't think party is being realistic about the tax. the green party are clear, there will be bills that will need to be paid. the money needs to come from the richest. we have seen growing inequality and a lost decade since the financial crash and we have got to be better than that. we can create a caring, compassionate britain, a britain that's fit for the 215t century, but the prime minister clearly isn't the person to do that and i don't think brexit is the route to doing that and clearly no deal is not better than a decent deal and better still, let's put the whole thing to the british people. the referendum should have been the start of a process that involved people. we have had to drag the government kicking and screaming into this process to get a vote in parliament on the final deal. let's have the ratification referendum. you mentioned a lot of topics that weren't addressed in the eight

minute or so statement at the podium, but by the same token isn't it the case that whatever one's view on britain's departure from the eu, thatis on britain's departure from the eu, that is going to dominate political life for the next couple of years and therefore, theresa may's point is, you have to have a strong leader who is going to do business because we have got to try and get the best dealfor this we have got to try and get the best deal for this country. but we need a leader that has a vision for the kind of britain that we can be and we must be. i don't want my children to grow up without the benefits of freedom of movements or the nhs opened up to private identitiesation. we need to have a prime minister with vision. at the moment what we've got is the ukip sayingjump, moment what we've got is the ukip saying jump, the government saying how high? you may not have any mp5, but you have been calling the shots. it has been a right—wing coup. this is the wrong path. we are at a fork in the road. we have go two visions of what we want to be, an inward

country, that turns its back on migrants and refugees or we can say we will get the money from the rich and put it back in the right hands and put it back in the right hands and create an economy that's fit for the 215t century. i bet she didn't mention climate change once. the biggest thing that's facing the country. she hasn't mentioned it in the debacle over brexit. we know that a third of the protections that we got from europe won't be translated through the great repeal bill back into british law. that means less clean air and the waters around our coastline put into jeopardy again. no, she didn't mention climate change! that was a safe bet. i bet she didn't mention the foreign aid budget or the need to be tougher on law and order. we are going to have having our issues we wa nt are going to have having our issues we want to add to the brexit debate. iam we want to add to the brexit debate. i am sorry to hear the green party joining the so—called progressive parties that want to deny the results of the referendum. we have

made our decision to leave the european union and you hearfrom the greens... and never have another general election again. how can you treat the british people with that contempt? the prime minister is billing in as a brexit general election on top of that. my advice to the parties who are trying to d efy to the parties who are trying to defy the will of the british people is that will be taken very amiss and you will go out and make your case in the weeks to come. the people wanted back control and they wanted to be involved and you're denying them that. theresa may laid it out clearly, she was in essence saying this is choice between me and jeremy corbyn. those are 2002 people who go to europe and negotiate brexit and that's your decision now. ukip'sjob is done? it is obvious why the lead are of the conservative party wouldn't name check ukip at the beginning of a general election, but the point is theresa may has used that line about there is only two people who could be prime minister.

the election is unusual in really everyone's view, there is only one person who is going to be prime minister and that's theresa may and she is heading for a big majority. ukip has agreed in the interests of the nation to stand aside in certain seats where there are very stout brexiteers particularly in numbers, it is conservative mps, but we remember a year ago, theresa may was campaigning to keep britain in the european union and i point again to the fact in brussels the idea that she understands the power of britain's leverage in the negotiations and would be prepared to walk away, that message is just not being heard. it's not convincing. david davis this morning said we wouldn't pay 100 billion euros. what he didn't answer is how much the conservative party is willing to pay? thank you very much. much to discuss in the next five weeks. let's also talk to hywel williams who is from

plaid cymru. i don't know if you heard that debate between ukip and the green party, i would like to get your thoughts on theresa may's very strong line in the last half an hour saying this is a brexit general election. it doesn't look good for her campaign if she has got to point to foreign devils at the start like this. it is something politicians do when they are in desperate straits. she might as well say there is a lion loose in parliament square for the effect that it has. most people think eventually that elections are about things like the economy, health and education, about roads, and all those bed and butter subjects which will come back to haunt mrs may in the next few weeks. her point would be though, i think, that you're right, some of those issues weren't mentioned in that statement in the last few minutes, but her point would be that the

negotiations to remove this country from the eu are so tricky and all—consuming and so important to get right that actually when people go to the ballot box on 8thjune, that's what they have to have upper most in their mind. we have to get the best deal for the country irrespective of how you voted in that eu referendum. is there not any truth in that? i'm sure it's a very important issue. it's an important issue in wales. but mrs may doesn't do diplomacy very well as she demonstrated today. is she the best person to carry out the negotiations. is there someone else in the conservative party who is clearly going to win this election? what about the role of mr david davis? i thought we were paying him a large amount of money to do the negotiation for us? clearly, it's going to be a very difficult process and those people in ukip and people

who support them who say well, let's get on with it, let's pull out and have no deal, they should realise the deal we will get is the world trade organisation deal with the ta riffs trade organisation deal with the tariffs and the rules. eu rules are the world trade organisation rules andi the world trade organisation rules and i know which ones would be worse for wales and which ones would be worst for the uk. what will your party be saying to voters on the doorstep in the fection five weeks then? well, on the eu issue, we are very much in favour of protecting wales' situation as an exporting country. we have a surplus of exports from wales and certainly we have a very important trade with other eu partners for example 90% of our food and other eu partners for example 90% of ourfood and drink other eu partners for example 90% of our food and drink exports go to europe. we don't want for example a 40 europe. we don't want for example a a0 pence tariff on those sorts of exports. we are looking at hour hi—tech industries who are in partnership with european companies.

we wa nt partnership with european companies. we want to protect those as well as well as the social provision that people aren't talking about. that's another strand of mrs may's agenda. she wants to attack social protection and workers' rights so we will be looking at those issues as well. hywel williams from will be looking at those issues as well. hywelwilliams from plaid cymru, thank you very much for your timement thank you forjoining us from banker. political parties have taken to the streets in the last day of campaigning ahead of tomorrow's local elections. nearly 5,000 council seats are up for grabs across england, wales and scotland. the poll will give voters a chance to deliver their verdicts on the main parties before the general election next month. there are also eight mayoral elections. we will have more from westminster after a.30pm. thank you, jane hill.

theresa may has accused politicians and officials in brussels of trying to influence the general election with threats saying some want the brexit talks to fail. she was speaking after the eu's chief negotiator set out the eu's priorities saying that talks will not be concluded quickly or painlessly. in other news, a student is found guilty of planting a rucksack packed with explosives on a busy london underground train. the iaaf president lord co says he will consider the proposal put forward by european athletics to erase all world records before 2005 because of insufficient doping controls. in the past, paula radcliffe is a strong anti—doping advocate would lose her marathon mark. after announcing her retirement, goldie sarks awyers says she leaves

athletics with a deep sense of injustice. she was denied a medal by a cheat. i will have more in the next ten minutes or so. 0lly, thank you very much indeed. a student has been found guilty of planting a home—made bomb on a busy tube train on the london underground. damon smith was 19 when he packed a rucksack with explosives and ball—bearing shrapnel and left it on a train timed to go off within minutes on 20th october last year. june kelly reports. alone on an london underground platform damon smith is caught on cctv priming his device to explode on the tube. it's inside a rucksack and he has timed it to go off after 11al. timed it to go off after 11am.

surrounded by passengers, he feigns interest in his bookment he feigns interest in his book. further down the line, he gets off, but he has abandoned the rucksack in the carriage and left its lethal contents to explode. the rucksack was eventually spotted. north greenwich station was evacuated. passengers frightened that as on 7/7 the underground system was once again a terrorist target. although parts of the device were viable, it failed to explode. if had it had detonated it would have endangered life. without a doubt it would have caused mass casualties and would have caused substantial damage to the underground system. he had an unhealthy interest in firearms and violence particularly mass shootings in america. although he was in possession of some is material we cannot prove his motivation or his ideology. damon smith was arrested close to london metropolitan university where he had just begun a degree course. in his bag was a copy of the koran.

despite his interest in islam, he wasn't a muslim. helling owe everyone. i'm going to shake my gun. described as fascinated by weapons, he had posted this video on the internet. this pistol fired plank rounds the he owned another one which fired ball—bearings as well as this knife. it has got a nine centimetre blade and a 11 centimetre grip. he posted also post this picture of himself on facebook with a knuckle—duster. islamic state propaganda was found on devices at his home. he was said to have used an online al-qaeda bomb—making manual to help him construct his device. the explosive was contained in a thermos flask with a wall clock as the timer. he'd packed the device with ball—bearings to produce a shower of shrapnel when it blew up. written on a list of components were the words and "keep this a secret between me and allah". damon smith has asperger‘s syndrome.

this was him talking about his academic achievements. i've got a distinction star in it. the jury was told that his intelligence was not impaired by his condition. his one—time best friend witnessed his developing interest in extremism. he was showing me videos of isis grabbing and knife and cutting off people's head slowly and burning people's head slowly and burning people in cages and drowning them this cages. it was don't this look fun? iwas this cages. it was don't this look fun? i was like, no, this cages. it was don't this look fun? iwas like, no, it this cages. it was don't this look fun? i was like, no, it doesn't, this cages. it was don't this look fun? iwas like, no, it doesn't, it looks a bit wrong actually, i don't agree with this sort of stuff. damon smith claimed he left the device as a prank, but thejury smith claimed he left the device as a prank, but the jury decided this wasn't a bomb hoax and that he did deliberately set out to attack the london underground system and the people travelling on it. police investigating the murder of a man

at his home in dorset have arrested three people. guy hedger was killed in the early hours of sunday morning after intruders broke into his home in the village of st ives, near ringwood. 0ur correspondent duncan kennedy is in st ives. the house is just over my shoulder. he was shot in the early hours of sunday morning and taken to hospital where he later died of his wounds and a postmortem examination has confirmed that those wounds were inflicted by gunshot. in the last couple of hours, dorset police issued a statement saying they made three arrests of people in bournemouth. the arrests were made yesterday, but the information has only come out in the last couple of hours. they are a a1—year—old bournemouth man arrested on suspicion of murder and burglary, a aa—year—old bournemouth man and a a0—year—old bournemouth woman have been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary. all three people are being questioned by detectives. the same detectives tell us they are still

looking for information from members of the public and if they have that information, they should contact the police as soon as possible. it is ten years ago today that three—year—old madeleine mccann went missing from a holiday apartment in the portuguese village of praia da luz. her disappearance sparked a huge police search and worldwide attention which cast a shadow on the resort. but a decade later, despite extensive international inquiries there've been no firm leads and the investigation remains open. jon kay reports. ten years. ten years since everything changed here. a little girl vanished on a holiday with her parents. it's unbelievable that nothing, there's been nothing. you know, nobody‘s found anything. they haven't found the child, they haven't found anything. jenny murat remembers it like it was yesterday. she only lives a few yards from the block where madeleine disappeared.

back then she set up a stall outside, appealing for information. she never imagined the case would still be unsolved a decade on. this comes into my mind every day. every single day. everything you look at and you see all around you is... it connects somehow to the fact that a poor little girl disappeared. there are still so many theories. this week it's been claimed that on the night madeleine disappeared a mystery woman was seen outside the family's apartment. jenny told me she saw this woman who is now reported to be a significant part of the investigation. i noticed her there and she kind of looked as if she was trying to hide from me. i do remember that she was wearing a plum coloured top. for the first time, jenny has also told us about a car she saw that night speeding towards the mccann's apartment, heading the wrong way down a one—way street.

itwas a... one of the small cars, like a rental car, the normal everyday sort of rental car. were you able to see the driver? i saw the driver. i was beside the driver. both of us looked at each other. i think he had a very british look about him. please give our little girl back. she repeats her plea in portuguese. ten yea rs of unprecedented publicity. of appeals, but no answers. it's had a huge impact on my personality... jenny murat‘s son robert was the first to be named a suspect in the case. a decade on, his name may have been cleared, but he still cannot bear to look online. the internet is full of theories. i'd like to know the truth. not theories. i just want to know

why that was the case. it didn't only lead to me being destroyed, it led to my whole family being destroyed and affected by those allegations. it was completely untrue. and you are adamant that you were not there that night? 100%. ten years ago this was just another sleepy village. now it is the place where madeleine disappeared. a british couple have been killed in mauritius after a taxi they were travelling in was involved in a road accident. hugh and liz vaughan from prees heath, near whitchurch in shropshire, were on holiday on the island. the foreign office say they are "supporting the couple's family and remain in contact with the mauritian police." mobile ag connection in the uk varies wildly according to new research by the consumer group, which?. it says smartphone users only have access to ag two—thirds

of the time on average. it very much depends where you are in the country. our technology correspondent, rory cellan—jones told us more about the findings. they looked at the top 20 cities, and right at the top came middlesbrough with 83% connectivity. right at the bottom of those 20 came bournemouth, where 68% was the figure. and london came pretty far down the list compared with middlesbrough, it was at 7a%. 0verall, if you put in all the cities in all the countryside, the average amount of time people were connected to ag was 65%, so about two—thirds. a third of the time, people can get a connection. annoying if you can't get a connection, but why does it matter other than that? well, we are trying to become an advanced connectivity nation. 0fcom have set a target of 98% coverage in people's homes, that's the key thing, by the end of 2017, by the end of this year. now 0fcom has a different method of measuring this from the ones used by which?, but says we 71% on the way to that 98%.

a long way to go this year. and businesses will tell you that faulty connectivity is vital if we are to have a prosperous economy in the next decade. now a look at the weather with nick miller. lots of sunshine to end the day in scotland and northern ireland, parts of northern ireland and wales. cloud has been increasing elsewhere, patchy rain in south—east england, that cool north—easterly breeze. if you light showers overnight. the clearest whether the parts of northern england but especially in the northern ireland and scotland, chilly in the countryside and a few spots getting close to freezing, maybe a bit below, for a touch of frost. going into tomorrow, sunny spells in scotland, northern ireland and northern england, maybe not as much clear blue sky as we have seen today. still a lot of cloud around, if you showers, more in southern england but most places will stay dry. chilly north—easterly breeze

picking up if anything, pegging those temp just back across the east coast. in the west temperatures will be down compare with today. more of a wind generally across the uk on friday. gusty especially in the south, the best of the sunshine in northern england, northern ireland and scotland again. you are watching bbc news. the latest headlines for you with the tyne at a:32pm. the prime minister launches a stinging attack on the ‘bureaucrats of brussels' , accusing some of them not wanting wanting britain to prosper, and trying to influence the general election. theresa may's statement came after she met the queen, formally marking the dissolution of parliament. every seat is up for grabs, as the 2017 general election officially begins. the eu chief negotiator, michel barnier, says the eu must honour its commitments, but there will be no punitive brexit bill for britain. a student is found guilty of planting a home—made bomb on a busy tube train. let's catch up on all the very

latest sports news with 0lly foster. lord coe says he is jackie bound to consider the proposal that all world record set before 2005 should be raised. european athletics has put forward the idea, saying there can be no confidence in past performances because of insufficient doping controls at the time. british athletes paula radcliffe, colin jackson and johnathan edwards would all be removed from the record books. these proposals actually underpinned three really important things. first of all it toughens up our stance on anti—doping. secondly, it make sure that world records are set in an environment where we now there is proper measurement and proper technology, and thirdly that the samples of those athletes that

set a world record are now going to be held for ten years. these are all important proposals, but they do need to be discussed, and clearly detail needs to come through, and i wa nt to detail needs to come through, and i want to hear from the athletes, and the athletes will make their voices very clear. and there needs to be a global debate about this was the goldie sayers says she is going to leave athletics with a deep sense of injustice. the 3a—year—old who won 11 british javelin title injustice. the 3a—year—old who won 11 britishjavelin title is confirmed her retirement from the sport today after 20 years, which saw her compete at three 0lympic games. she is still waiting to receive her bronze medalfrom games. she is still waiting to receive her bronze medal from the 2008 games, where she came forth behind the russian doping cheek maria back over, who won silver. —— doping cheats. the best moment of my career was stolen, which is incredibly frustrating. i have been angry about it but also happy that i can say that, potentially, i'm an

0lympic medallist, having produced such an important performance on the day it was not as if i threw solidly and missed out on a medalforced broke the british record and produced one of the furthest performances ever finishing outside the medals. that performance that they would have been a solid silver medal in every subsequent 0lympics. it isa medal in every subsequent 0lympics. it is a bitter pill to swallow. much better injury news for manchester united on the eve of a europa league semifinal against celta vigo. they welcomed for players back to training today before flying off to spain. paul pogba who has missed the last couple of matches with muscle fatigue took part. defenders eric bailey, chris smalling and phil jones also back in contention for selection of that first leg tie. after his behaviour at last month's fed cup tie, ilia nastase will not be given a invitation for the royal box at wimbledon. he was injected from the stadium after swearing at the british captain, anne keothavong

and the british 11 johanna the british captain, anne keothavong and the british 11johanna konta and the umpire. he has been provisionally suspended by the international tennis federation. maria sharapova will find out on the 20th of june maria sharapova will find out on the 20th ofjune she will get a wild ca rd to 20th ofjune she will get a wild card to compete in wimbledon qualifying. the 200a champion has only just returned to qualifying. the 200a champion has onlyjust returned to playing after a15 onlyjust returned to playing after a 15 month doping ban. the all—england club will wait to see if the russian can qualify by right before making a decision on giving her a wild card. she needs to be inside the world's top 200 to get into qualifying, or the top 100, which is very unlikely, to go straight into the main draw. fernando alonso is driving an indycar for the first time today as pa rt indycar for the first time today as part of his preparation in the indianapolis 500 dead of the monaco grand prix. the spanish double f1 world champion says it wants to try to co m plete world champion says it wants to try to complete motor racing's triple crown of winning monaco, f1, the indy 500 and the lamont 2a hour race. as an indycar rookie, the

mclaren driver needs to prove he can handle his quiet car at the required speed to take part of the race at the end of the month. looks quick of today but what do i know? that is all the sport for now. you know plenty, 0lly foster with the sport. back to westminster now whether prime minister has launched that attack on what she called the bureaucrats of brussels, saying some of them don't want britain to prosper, and that they are trying to influence the result of the general election. back to jane hill. i will be talking to people who know plenty about all of this. i am joined outside the houses of parliament by barry gardner filleted, shadow secretary for international plymouth for shadow secretary for international trade and climate change, and lord fox from the liberal democrats. alsojoining us is stephen gethins from the scottish national party, who is in dundee. welcome gentlemen. we have been reflecting on the theresa may's statement outside number ten. i know you didn't hear all of it but there

was a certain amount of strong language about those in europe who don't want britain's brexit negotiations to succeed, and then clearly laying out that this is as far as to sane is concerned a brexit election, this is what people will be voting for on the 8th ofjune. barry gardner, your thoughts on that? brexit is very important and it isa that? brexit is very important and it is a key element of this election but it is not the other is to this election. i think every conservative on the doorstep will be asked why is it that the average earnings now are 10% lower than they were in 2007? why is it that you haven't managed to cut the deficit as you said you we re to cut the deficit as you said you were going to do, you said you would eliminated by 2015, then you said 2020, now you are saying we're not going to set a target for it. there are real questions. today in the newspaper the government has abandoned its funding formula for

schools. a lot of pressure coming on the government because we are putting forward a lot of policies and people are looking at them, labour is giving the triple lock, that's great, what other tories doing? these are policies that people saying actually, i like labour's policies and it is about more thanjust labour's policies and it is about more than just brexit. and labour's policies and it is about more thanjust brexit. and on brexit we have to be absolutely clear, we need a deal that will be based around our economy, not on anti—immigration sentiment. that is what people fear. that the prime minister is going for this hard deal, this potential deregulated tax haven off the coast of europe, and none of us want that. they will not be good for our economy. barry is looking back somewhat, but looking forward , looking back somewhat, but looking forward, brexit will underpin almost every decision i think any government can make over the next ten or20 government can make over the next ten or 20 years. so yes, this election absolutely is about brexit because brexit will define what kind of public services we have, it will be hammered running we have to spend

in our schools. if we go for a hard brexit, which seems to be where she is headed, we will absolutely not have the money to spend on these services. so this is a brexit election. of course people care about the health service and about schools. we will be talking on the doorsteps about what the liberal democrats can bring to those important public services, but underlying all of this is brexit. what is her vision? she says she has a vision but she has not told is what it is. it looks like what she can get away with in the negotiations, and she does know what thatis negotiations, and she does know what that is yet, unless she is prepared to spell out what she wants from brexit, what is she trying to get? she is not telling us. one of the things she said is it is a straight choice between jeremy things she said is it is a straight choice betweenjeremy corbyn and her in terms of who can negotiate the best deal, the thing that underpins everything as lord fox suggests. aren't you on the doorsteps, people from your party, going to get that? you will have people saying can

jeremy corbyn really negotiate brexit? actually and you would have said what michel barnier said about the way to lose anais has gone about it. the way they said in that she is ina it. the way they said in that she is in a different galaxy. i don't think she is in a different galaxy, i think she may be in a far flung she is in a different galaxy, i think she may be in a farflung part of this one but i think if people look at the way in which she and the conservatives have gone about this, they have not sought to set these negotiations offer around principles. they are adopting a very ta ke principles. they are adopting a very take it or leave it strategy, which they themselves are saying they end up they themselves are saying they end up in us leaving without a trade deal at all. the people that we currently do a5% of all our export trade with, they are saying we might not have a trade deal with them at all. the effects of that, of what she is talking about, of her negotiations, the effects of that on

the british economy would be absolutely devastating. so i think the way in which she is negotiating and seeking to the these bigger issue nations has so far been disastrous. i far prefer the approachjeremy disastrous. i far prefer the approach jeremy corbyn has disastrous. i far prefer the approachjeremy corbyn has had, he has met with all that european leaders, all of the compatriot parties, and he is trying to build consensus about the way in which these the scotians should take place. if i was theresa may, i would characterise this election as her againstjeremy corbyn, characterise this election as her against jeremy corbyn, because that is what she wants. she wants a spineless and basically useless opposition going into the next parliament. but the country needs is people who will actually stand up to herand people who will actually stand up to her and actually will act as an opposition, and not just her and actually will act as an opposition, and notjust waved through article 50, and the process is going forward. she doesn't want the liberal democrats, she doesn't wa nt the liberal democrats, she doesn't want us there so of course she will characterise it as a straight fight but there are a lot of seats around this country where it will be liberal democrats or the conservatives. there aren't going to

be many labour candidates taking sits off the conservatives. the only people who will will be liberal democrats. let me be clear, at the moment the liberal democrats have nine mps in parliament, we have 229. if you look atjeremy corbyn, someone who has maintained and kept clear lines for 30 years in parliament, he is someone who sticks to his principles. the username is someone who has gone back on each one of 0nuachu promise that the last election. we have another five weeks to discuss all of this. think so much. let us also get the views of the scottish national party. stephen gethin ‘sjoins me from our studios in dundee. thank you for your time. theresa may, as we have been reflecting, saying that this election is absolutely about brexit as far as she sees it, a straight

choice between her and jeremy corbyn. your thoughts about that? good afternoon. it was trysting talking about the last pair arguing about this. in the last parliament that i was in, the snp were described as being the only effective opposition to the conservatives. i think in the next one it is increasingly clear that just having a strong voice for scotland, a strong group of snp mps will continue to provide that strong voice and that effective opposition to the tories. that will be important. 0n the issue of leaving the european union, we have to remember this next parliament will be so important for everybody, in scotla nd be so important for everybody, in scotland and the uk. if you think about eu nationals, you think about research money that the universities get, not least those in st andrews, dundee, where i am, get from a relationship with europe. if you think about the single market and what a relationship is like, our trading relationship was that we are

ina trading relationship was that we are in a situation that we noted a theresa may is rapidly losing friends and influence, just when she really needs them. so i think what we need is a strong and effective group who will challenge the tories, and also tried to put the questions that we need to be putting to the tories about our future relationship with europe. that will impact on us all. theresa may also said there are some in brussels who don't want our talks to succeed. i think that was a direct quote. she is hitting back pretty firmly that those who she clearly feels in brussels are not being as cooperative or open—minded as they might be. what is your take on the fact that we sing to have both sides really at loggerheads, it is like a face—off? both sides really at loggerheads, it is like a face-off? i am not sure the best negotiating tactic when you are trying to get a good deal is to attack those with whom you are negotiating. that would strike me as being basic. there are so many

areas, environment, opportunities for young people, the food and drink sector, that rely on a relationship with europe and rely on whoever is prime minister having a good relationship with whomever she is negotiating with. this is not a great start. look at one example. universities in st andrews, abertay and elsewhere in the uk rely a marvellous job with other european universities, in terms of funding, collaboration, that benefits each and everyone of us. if we are going to get a good deal, we need ministers who are being put under scrutiny. we also need ministers who are willing to build relationships with those elsewhere in europe. we have asked the difficult questions. this country needs a parliament that will scrutinise the work of the tory government like never before. in terms of the eu referendum, we are where we are. the situation is what

it is, irrespective of how people voted. so her pitch would be however you voted in that eu referendum, we now certainly have to try to get the very best dealfor this now certainly have to try to get the very best deal for this country because it affects everybody. she would say that is why it is a straight choice between her or labour come in terms ofjeremy corbyn. the snp has been described as the effective opposition to the tories at westminster, because i took the eu bill through parliament. it was our amendments that were being taken on the appeal of article 50, it was the snp putting the difficult questions to the tories. we can't sign off a blank tech di check to may. —— a blank cheque. when it comes to the point you made about the negotiation itself, theresa may has got off to the worst possible start by attacking those

with whom she is negotiating. look, everybody in the uk, if there is going to be a negotiation, if scotla nd going to be a negotiation, if scotland is to be dragged out of the european union, we need for those negotiations to go well. the scottish government offered a copper buys to try and retain our place in the single market, and it was welcomed by european political leaders and business leaders around europe. i think the prime minister needs to do a bit more listening. we shouldn't be giving the prime minister a blank cheque. today underlines the damage that will be done with a tory blank cheque on these crucial european negotiations. stephen gethins from the snp, thank you for speaking to us from dundee. more from here after 5p. we will be talking to a number of mps who in fa ct talking to a number of mps who in fact are going to be standing down at the next election —— after 5pm. we will perhaps their reflections about what the election campaign might hold in the coming weeks. more from westminster at 5pm. in a moment

we will be looking at how the financial markets in europe have closed the day with rachel, but first the latest headlines. theresa may accuses politicians and officials in brussels of trying to influence the general election with threats — saying some want the brexit talks to fail. she was speaking after the eu's chief negotiator set out the bloc‘s priorities, saying brexit talks will not be concluded quickly or painlessly. a student is found guilty of planting a rucksack packed with explosives on a busy london underground train. hello, iam rachel hello, i am rachel horne. hello, iam rachel horne. let's hello, i am rachel horne. let's take a look at how the markets have been trading in europe. stock markets have been trading down today — the ftse the dax and the dow all opened lower — the focus is really on the states.

markets are waiting to hear what the federal reserve has to say after knocking heads for two days — making their latest decision on whether to hold or change the interest rate — its expected to hold this month — but two hikes are forecast for later in the year, possibly kicking off injune. on this side of the pond, growth in the eurozone remained steady at 0.5% in the first quarter despite the unknowns of brexit and the french presidential election. the figure was the same as the last three months of 2016 and in line with analyst forecasts. and we've mentioned the b word — it hasn't knocked eurozone growth off course, but with headlines claiming the cost of the uk's split from the eu could be anything from 50 to 100 billion euro — what impact is this having on the financial markets? let's start there with christian schulz, director of european economics at citigroup... christian, thanks for joining christian, thanks forjoining us this afternoon. let's start with that, the cost of the uk leading the

eu. we have had lots of figures bandied about. the markets reacting to those figures? the markets aren't reacting very much at the moment. if you want to find some evidence perhaps in the euro £2 exchange rate -- euro- perhaps in the euro £2 exchange rate —— euro— pound exchange rate. that has been off, but against the dollar sterling are still up against it. guild moves, not much. much bigger moves will be sore right after the referendum, or in early october when the talk of hard brexit became more substantial. markets are still worried about the outcome of brexit but there are still lots of time, the negotiations can still spring some positive surprises as well, and at the moment people are seeing this as noise, i guess. let's moved to the us. we are expecting a statement from the federal reserve in about two hours' time. we are expecting them to hold their interest rates, and why in the uk do we care about what the us do with their interest

rates ? what the us do with their interest rates? the biggest central bank in the world, the biggest currency in the world, the biggest currency in the world, the biggest currency in the world, a matterfor the rest of the world, a matterfor the rest of the world. if the fed moves, as we expect later this year twice, and perhaps even starts selling some of the enormous amounts of bonds, which they purchased after the financial crisis, then that leads to higher interest rates in the us, potentially a stronger dollar, and exerts some drag on other central banks around the world, including perhaps the bank of england at some point. interest rates could go up globally at some stage full stopfi is talk about eurozone growth, holding steady at half a percent. is that a surprise, given the uncertainty we have had over brexit, and the french presidential elections? yes, it is a surprise. the economy and the eurozone is not very well. the french elections are very well. the french elections are very risky, before that we have the dutch elections, we had an italian referendum, we have brexit, trade relations with the us particularly

under pressure. it shows a certain resilience in the eurozone, which we are not used to. the european central bank probably take some credit for that, but also the reforms we have seen. so we are seeing some momentum there. the one downside, i think, seeing some momentum there. the one downside, ithink, is seeing some momentum there. the one downside, i think, is that it is mainly driven by countries like germany, austria, the core countries, which are healthy anyway, not so much the periphery, spain and italy. christian schultz, thank you very much real—time. before we go, i will remind you that the federal reserve statement is coming about 7pm uk time. royal dutch shell and morrisons, results expected tomorrow. that is it for me for now. there are just eight of them left in the waters around the uk — and now there are serious concerns about the future of britain's last remaining killer whales, after one of the pod was found dead on the coast of west scotland last year. scientists say it had been

contaminated with "shocking" levels of a toxic chemical banned in the 1970s. 0ur science correspondent, rebecca morelle reports. they are the uk's last killer whales. found off the west coast of scotland, today this pod has just eight animals. but they're in trouble. last year, the group lost a female. lulu was found dead on the shores of the inner hebrides. she'd become caught up in fishing line. this is lulu's skull, this is the head... her skeleton is now stored at the national museum scotland. tests showed she was heavily contaminated with man—made chemicals, called pcbs. the levels that we found in lulu were 20 times higher than the levels we would expect in citations that weren't suffering any effects of pcbs. that puts her as one of the most contaminated animals on the planet. in killer whales, the chemicals can stop the animal from bearing young. they harm the immune system,

and also the brain. for lulu, one theory is that pcbs may have severely impaired her intelligence, perhaps leading to her deadly entanglement in fishing nets. here in the laboratory, securing effective heat is shown... the curing effective heat is shown... pcbs were once man—made wonder chemicals. used in everything from plastics to electrics. but it was later discovered they were toxic, and from the 1970s a series of bans around the world were put into place. but they have stuck around. especially in landfill sites that contain the materials they were once used in. today, the pcb problem lives on. especially in our oceans. the chemicals are long—lasting, they do not break down easily. and it is estimated that there is still more than a million tonnes of contaminated material in europe, and this is leaching from the land into the sea,

and on into the marine food chain. some scientists say more needs to be done to clear pcbs from the environment. but uk officials say levels are declining. the controls we have in place are working, it is just that they take a very long time to disappear. and they're probably disappearing into the sediment at the bottom of the sea, and occasionally when that sediment is stirred up it brings them back to the surface. so it is going to take a very long time for them to disappear completely. pcbs are of global concern, but with so few killer whales left in the uk, it is a problem that is sharply felt. it is likely the rest of lulu's pod is also heavily contaminated, making their future very uncertain. rebecca morell, bbc news. time for a look at the weather now with nick miller. big weather contrasts continue across the uk,

from glorious sunshine scotland, northern ireland, parts of northern ireland and wales today. a lot of cloud, and quite a brisk and code north—easterly wind blowing into especially east anglia and south—east england, which is really held the temp jordanne, south—east england, which is really held the tempjordanne, some of us just seven, eight, 9 degrees. we have hit 20 in western scotland, 19 northwest england and wales. the sunshine making a difference, we continue with a bit of patchy rain. parts of south—east england going through the night, the odd light shower popping up overnight, then this cloudy zone covering part of an elan wales, where the majors will hold up. they will be colder in the countryside, especially clear parts of northern england, northern ireland and scotland, sunspots getting close to freezing. maybe just an isolated pocket of frost here and there. into tomorrow, a bit more cloud around in scotland, not quite so much clear blue sky but still satisfy those in the northern ireland and for much of northern england. as we come south, largely cloudy. there will be one or two

showers around. parts of the midlands and the southern england, very hit and miss. the vast majority will start drive that cloudy. cool again in this breeze. temperatures may not have gone down very far overnight but they will not come up very far during the day first will bea very far during the day first will be a breezy to win the day across the uk, the breeze picking up further as the day goes on. one or two showers around. there will be if you brighter breaks but as you can see, parts of wales but especially northern england, northern ireland and scotland seeing those sunny spells. warmest in the west that they were not quite as warm as it has been over the past few days. thursday night into friday, it could continue with a lot of dry weather. the cloud in the south, but most places will stay dry with that temperature contrast between east and west. just looking at the start of the weekend, this weather system coming towards the south which may threaten sunspots in southern england, saturday with a bit of rain. a lot of uncertainty about this, its northward progression. it may just be into this, its northward progression. it mayjust be into the channel islands

rather than fringing southern england. we will keep you updated on that over the next few days. gone by sunday. we have a lighter wind then as well, western area seeing some sunny spells, more cloud towards the east, and still cool on those north sea coasts and that is how we go into next week as well. keep up—to—date online. today at 5, theresa may accuses eu officials and politicians of using threats to influence the outcome of the general election. after visiting the queen at buckingham palace — theresa may walked up downing street to launch her outspoken attack saying britain's position has been misrepresented and the european commission's stance had hardened. threats against britain have been issued by european politicians and officials. all of these acts have been deliberately timed to affect the result of the general election that will take place on the 8th ofjune. theresa may and david davis appear to open with megaphone diplomacy threatening europe that we'll become some kind of tax haven on the shores of europe. let's approach this sensibly because yes we are leaving the european union but we have to have a good relationship with them in the future.