this is bbc news, the headlines: jeremy corbyn says labour faces an historic challenge to win back power in the general election. theresa may says she's not taking anything for granted. a penny in th epound on income tax to generate billions more for the nhs and social care, a pledge from the liberal democrats. french presidential candidate emmanuel macron says he's the target of a massive hacking attack the day before france goes to the polls. determined to get back behind the wheel, the teenage british racing driver who lost both legs in a formula 4 crash. i definitely want to take the positives out of this and make sure i use it in a positive way for the rest of my life now. i have still got a few years left in me for sure. also in the next hour: the boogie woogie wonderland of bakers hoping to rise to the occasion. choreographers get in on the mix at the first ever national festival of making in blackburn.

chelsea are on the brink of winning the premier league title after spurs lost at west ham last night. the war of words in the uk and french elections and the search for peace to the middle east. that's all in dateline london in half an hour here on bbc news. good morning. welcome to bbc news. theresa may has sought to play down talk of a landslide general election victory after the conservatives made major advances at local elections. the tories gained 500 seats and seized control of ii councils, with the gains mostly coming at the expense of labour and ukip. the tory leader said she would fight for every vote on 8thjune to strengthen her hand in brexit talks.

labour leaderjeremy corbyn said his party faced a challenge on an "historic scale" to win back power, but insisted he could close the gap on the tories. meanwhile, the lib dems say they would raise income tax by a penny—in—the—pound to raise £6 billion for nhs and social care. the conservatives did well in the votes for six metropolitan area mayors and although former labour cabinet member andy burnham won greater manchester, his party also one in liverpool. the former retail sector boss andy street won a tight contest with labour for the west midlands area around birmingham. he says he hopes the government will continue to invest in the region. the good news is that in the deal between the west midlands and central government to set up the major role team that combined the authorities, we did get substantial new money. we can make a good start with the money we have already won. another thing the mayor has got to doa another thing the mayor has got to do a champion this region and say there is a brilliant case for

central government continuing to invest in the west midlands. of course i will be talking to the prime about that. —— prime minister. labour's national campaign coordinator, ian lavery, has admitted the general election will be "challenging" but says the party will be talking and listening to people. and speaking on the today programme he rejected the idea that the new mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham, had snubbed jeremy corbyn by not appearing with him at a rally in manchester. jeremy did exactly what was expected of him. because andy was not there at that particular time, i am not sure why. i have got to dispel this myth that there is a rift between jeremy corbyn and andy burnham. there isn't. they are quite good friends. and they actually served in the shadow cabinet forjeremy corbyn right up until the time where he decided to seek nominations for the mayoral contest in the northwest. that isn't a rift. there is no way

there is a rift betweenjeremy corbyn and andy burnham. that is simply not true. earlier i spoke to our political correspondent. i asked earlier i spoke to our political correspondent. iasked him earlier i spoke to our political correspondent. i asked him with the general election fewer than five weeks away, what does this paint on the uk be little scene? it has drawn up the uk be little scene? it has drawn up some interesting results. not least that west midlands metro mayor, a crucial battle ground area, the west midlands full stops in tate sees labour would have opened to have taken. quite a blow not do. interesting we will see the big party leaders in their broader region today trying to capitalise and boost their support. we must be careful with the local elections not to read too much into the general elections. people vote on local issues, voter turnout is different. but with that caveat, the broad general thrust of the results suggested the conservatives are and are doing very well indeed, labour less well. although a small bit of hope for the liberal democrats. they share up significantly from where

opinion polls have been suggesting they are. different from you get. 146, six sees defended, hundred and 46 seats lost. not good for them. interesting the ukip effect because i was talking to rob board of the university of manchester yesterday who has charted the ukip performance, the ups and downs over several years. he said there is evidence that the ukip the boat has switched for the conservatives. maybe not all of it, maybe half of it or slightly more has gone directly across this time but the effect of that might be not only to reward the tories with extra seats at the general election, but also actually to make the liberal democrats task that much harder in areas like the south—west where they had been hoping they would be picking up again parliamentary seats. absolutely. the liberal democrats were reduced rate down from just sigh of 60 seats down to eight in the general election. they are going into this election with nine to defend. it will be hoping that many of those seats lost were

to the conservatives, no presenting themselves that the only pro—positive brexit particle. i'm not sure how they would want to phrase it. versus the hard brexit people paint theresa may are seeking. the liberal democrats would have hoped. if the bar has been raised that much higher, it is going to make it that much more difficult if ukip‘s vote has just disappeared. we have not heard directly from paul nuttall the ukip litre yet. he put out a statement blaming their demise in the county council elections on their own successful stop leaving their own successful stop leaving the tories are benefiting from the photo they have ploughed. what about the risks here for the conservatives that people look at their newspapers this morning and see it is all over. maybe not all the think they do not need to bother turning out on the 8th ofjune because she has got it in the can but also that even some of the party workers become even a little bit complacent about their prospects. how big a danger do you

think that it's the conservatives? if you listen to the language of preserved asbo people out and about yesterday, they were talking down the fact that they had won 563 seats —— conservative spokespeople. yesterday we had labour who had done pretty badly talking up how well they had done, the conservatives who had done well in scotland and wales and england, saying it is not so good. it is the best of a governing party, the best results in four decades. they were saying they cannot take anything for granted, theresa may said that. that is a danger. it is theirs to lose this general election. you have to make sure you win it. you cannot expect that your supporters will turn out, that your supporters will turn out, that your supporters will turn out, that your voters will turn out. and indeed that fought apathy is a potential risk for them because there are plenty of seats that are marginal, nobody is quite certain how much the potential remained vote could come in. yesterday most of the

areas where there were big elections we re areas where there were big elections were in areas where people voted leave. nothing in london for example. exactly. interesting to see how that unfolds. whether there is a lingering remained vote eight which will switch to party candidates they feel still reflect their hope of mitigating the impact of brexit. the liberal democrats are promising to increase funding for the nhs and social care by raising the income tax rate by a penny—in—the—pound. their health spokesman, norman lamb, said the policy would allow six—billion pounds of extra spending on the health service each year and marked a clear distinction between the lib dems and the conservatives. the very clear political choice. the conservatives have been very clear they will not make this decision in their response to our announcement. we are saying, for the average worker, this would be £3 extra a

week. it is about the cost of less than two copies. —— cups of coffee. i think that there's a price paying to ensure our loved ones get the ca re to ensure our loved ones get the care they need when they need it. i am particularly passionate about ensuring people with mental ill—health get access to care when they need it. we are 1 ill—health get access to care when they need it. we are1 million miles away from achieving genuine equality for people with mental ill health. there is so much that this country depends on in our national health system and we are allowing it to decline without the conservatives being will eat things like willing to make the... we will have more election news in the course of the morning. the party leaders are out and about campaigning. we will bring what they have to say to you on bbc news as soon as we get it. let's ci’oss news as soon as we get it. let's cross the channel. the campaign team of the french presidentialfrontrunner

emmanuel macron say they've been the victim of a massive hacking attack after thousands of documents were released online. they say genuine e—mails were mixed up with fake ones ahead of voters going to the polls tomorrow where mr macron will face his far—right opponent, marine le pen. the electoral commission said any media publishing the content of the documents would face criminal charges. earlier our correspondent in paris explained to me the significance of the timing of this attack on the campaign. the timing is fascinating. these e—mails we understand began to circulate on social media sites last night. then at 1156 pm, the macron campaign said they had been hacked, they did not name the hackers but they did not name the hackers but they said it was an attempt to destabilise the democratic election. clearly they will be worried about the impact. they have said that the

documents themselves contained routine campaign communications mixed with a few doctored documents. whether or not it will have an impact is very difficult to tell. french media and other media in france operate under election restrictions, today and tomorrow, the day of voting. they cannot speculate hugely about effects on the campaign. looking at french websites, stories are reported but it is reported minimally. other french people are doing other things. in terms of the period to know that we are in, this period of no campaign, it must be as period of intense political interest after such a long campaign. it is fascinating for those of us to come to france having covered other elections where the razzmatazz and debate carries on rate until the person casts the first ballot. here

there is this 36 hour quiet period before people go to the polls. people are meant to reflect without distraction. the problem this time round is there is a distraction. of the campaign e—mails having been hacked. whether or not that has any impact isa hacked. whether or not that has any impact is a different question. the teenage racing driver who lost both of his legs in the crash said he is overwhelmed with the support he is overwhelmed with the support he received from around the world and in this country. he was racing at the formula for championship last month when he collided with a stationary car. he has vowed to race again. his story has touched motorsport fans around the world and billy monger, or billy whizz as he's known, can't quite believe global superstars have wished him well. that's amazing. to turn over and read the signatures from many world champions, lewis hamilton, niki lauda, that really touched my heart. tragedy struck less than three weeks ago. billy was racing in the formula 4

championship at donington park when he was involved in a 120mph collision with a stationary car. he was flown to the queen's medical centre in nottingham where it was decided he would have to have both legs amputated. now on his birthday, billy has thanked staff who helped him through the ordeal. without them i wouldn't be here today so a massive thanks to every single one of the staff that have helped me. £800,000 has been raised for billy and his payback will be to race again. i definitely wanna take the positives out of this and make sure i use it in a positive way for the rest of my life now. still got a few years left in me for sure. billy has celebrated turning 18 with his first legal pint. today there'll be more cheer as this brave teenager returns to the family home in surrey. nick quaraishi, bbc news.

the headlines on bbc news: labour leader, jeremy corbyn, says his party is facing a challenge on an "historic scale" to win back power, but insisted he could close the gap with the tories. theresa may has sought to play down talk of a landslide general election victory. the liberal democrats say they would put a penny in the pound on income tax to generate billions more for the nhs and social care were they to get into power. french presidential candidate, emmanuel macron, says he's the target of a massive hacking attack on the day before the people of france go to the polls. three men have appeared in court this morning charged with murder of a businessman from dorset. he was attacked and killed in his home in ashley early last saturday morning —— sunday morning. a 41—year—old and

another from —— sunday morning. a 41—year—old and anotherfrom bournemouth —— sunday morning. a 41—year—old and another from bournemouth appeared at the magistrates‘ court alongside kevin downton from dorset. 0ur congress bond and has been in court this morning. duncan, what can you tell us? that's right. guy hedger was shot at his home on the early hours of last sunday morning. the 61—year—old businessman was taken to hospital but he later died of his wounds. a postmortem examination confirmed those wounds were the result of gunshot. this morning three men have appeared at the mad ash is caught by amy here. charged with his murder —— magistrates‘ court. those three men are kevin downton, 40, from dorset, jason bacchus, 41, also from bournemouth and scott keeping from the same place. this was a short hearing, five minutes long. the men only spoke once to confirm their names and dates of birth, there was no

application for bail and all three we re application for bail and all three were remanded in custody. they will next appear via video link on tuesday the 9th of may at winchester crown court and one other development in this case, a 40—year—old woman who was arrested earlier this week in connection with it has been released pending further police investigations. thank you very much. traditional craft skills like sewing and painting along with baking have had a bit of a resurgence here in the uk of late. so this weekend, the first ever national festival of making begins, celebrating everything to do with britain‘s manufacturing, food and creative industries. colin paterson has been to meet some balletic bakers in burnley. two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight and go. every day 80,000 muffins and cakes are made at the cherrytree bakery. that requires a lot of repetitive movement. the latest creation to emerge from the factory floor,

it‘s chorley cake meets swan lake. the workers‘ actions turned into dance. the idea of making bakers in burnley balletic came from choreographer ruth jones. these machines now make the workers work really fast, so when they do many mini—muffin day, they‘re squeezed up like this and they‘re working really, really fast, whereas in the olden days they could move, it was slower and they have more space. and this is incorporated into the piece? it‘s all incorporated into the piece. we wanted to be inspired by all the activity that goes on on this factory floor. the movement is unique. and it was a very

collaborative process. i showed her how to decorate brownies. we have to take a piping bag and do circles on the brownie. it was so beautiful to see how our moves at work, what we are doing, became such a beautiful dance. it was beautiful. amazing, really. it was great, it was really inspirational. we didn't think we could do that just by our general movements in a bakery. it was really fun to watch and to learn. and go. two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight... again, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight... the idea that it could be beneficial to the staff was a big part of why the bakery allowed a choreographer into the mix. there is actually method to this, that it could improve performance? that‘s what the choreographer said to us, that in terms of being more conscious of your movements and maybe changing

the way you do it so it‘s a little bit better for your body. you‘ve actually opted to take part yourself. any reservations? a lot, but i felt i couldn‘t really ask them to do something i wasn‘t willing to do myself, so i was, like, 0k. with four performances this weekend at the festival of making, it‘s hoped the bakers will rise to the occasion. i wonder if we can persuade our friends in the bbc canteen to have a go at that. let‘s move abroad and syrian activates sake shelling and gunfire has been hired in rebel held areas of the country shortly after an agreement to set up safe sills and parts of syria came into force. the de—escalation deal was agreed on thursday between russia and iran which both back and syrian government. syria‘s civil war has left more than 300,000 people dead

and drawn in global powers. the safe zone is aiming to halt the conflict between government forces and rebels in specific areas and allow food and medicine to get in. in moscow, russia‘s defence ministry said the deal would come into effect in the early hours of saturday. translation: within the boundaries of the de—escalation zones, the military activities between the government forces and the armed opposition, who have already joined, all willjoin, the ceasefire agreement will be ceased. it covers the use of all types of weapons, including air strikes. but he also stressed that russia‘s air force would continue striking so—called islamic state elsewhere in syria. the four designated safe zones will cover rebel held idlib province and adjoining districts, parts of homs province and rebel enclaves near damascus are also included. and in southern syria, two provinces complete the list. the deal was signed at thursday‘s

talks in kazakhstan between russia and iran, which both back syria‘s president assad. turkey, which supports syrian rebel groups, agreed to act as a guarantor. but in the middle of the signing, some rebel delegates stormed out, angry about iran‘s involvement. while a senior un official described it as an important move forward. de—escalation of violence, reduction of what has been seen as a constant instead increased in many areas, particularly those four areas of violence. the talks were meant to shore up an often violated ceasefire originally agreed in december. in aleppo, news of the safe zones was greeted with caution. translation: we support any proposal that stops the shedding of blood of the syrian people, but we have no faith in russia or any proposal that it makes. and shortly after the agreement came

into force, syrian activists say shelling and gunfire have been heard in rebel held north western areas. let‘s get some sport now at the bbc sports centre. hello again, mike. the first match in the premier league isjust over the first match in the premier league is just over an the first match in the premier league isjust over an hour away, manchester city could move up to third. 0pponents crystal palace could still technically be relegated. it is a hurdle that we need to get sick. and not rely on others slipping up. that can make you nervous. you have got to be capable of holding your now and delivering an outstanding performance to get over the line. in the scottish premiership, celtic wrapped up the title weeks ago of course, but the early game today is a crucial one for

the teams at the bottom. bottom club inverness caledonian thistle welcome fellow strugglers hamilton academical — that kicks off at 12.15. england have travelled have a way around the world to play the final test match for the rugby league world cup. they are playing some light in sydney. despite being midway through the super league season. midway through the super league season. wayne bennett‘s side have taken an early lead. england currently leads the attack approaching half—time. he‘s one of the biggest names in horse—racing, taking home 11 champion jockey titles during nearly half a century in the saddle. now 81, lester piggott has been reflecting on his extraordinary career, ahead of the 2,000 guineas at newmarket, a race he won exactly 60 years ago. our sports news correspondent richard conway reports. as legends of horse racing these two are used to photo finishes. frankie dettori may be a household name, but, back in the ‘80s, lester piggott was amongst those who mentored the then unknown italian when he first came to britain. a while ago, anyway, but we had some good times. but a great teacher,

i would imagine? yes, yes. he comes from the best. you‘ve got to listen to everything he says. he doesn‘t say very much very often, but when he says something, i listen. that reverence stems from piggott‘s insatiable appetite to win. commentator: already winner of the 2000 guineas, with lester piggott on his back, he is calm and confident. it‘s now 60 years since he triumphed for the first time in one of the sport‘s biggest races, the 2000 guineas, in a season that also saw him claim the derby on a horse called crepello. a beautiful horse. one of the best i ever rode. in all, 28 more victories in horse racing‘s classics were to follow. later today, a new 2000 guineas winner will be crowned. but, for lester piggott, having won this race five times, newmarket remains a place of special memories. frankie dettori also knows what it takes to win the 2000 guineas, partnering galileo gold to victory last year.

but with piggott serving a year in prison in 1987 for tax evasion, and then stripped of his 0be, his friend believes greater recognition is long overdue. you have to go back and look at the archives and the books and everything that has been written about him, and the records. then itjust puts him way beyond everybody else. he deserves a knighthood. he has been through thick and thin. he should be recognised for the sport. honours don‘t seem to trouble the man nicknamed the long fellow, though. a lot of people think that. i don‘t... i never think about it, no. it doesn‘t bother you? no. instead, he‘s happy for his 4500 winners to do the talking, including this victory in the 2000 guineas in 1968 on sir ivor, a horse he considers the greatest he ever rode.

i am the passenger. you are the passenger! you seem quite humble in that you give the success to the horse. yes, you can‘t go without the horse. but where would all those horses and british racing be without lester piggott? richard conway, bbc news, newmarket. that‘s all sport for now. now the weather with louis lear. hello. mixed fortunes for many of us today. the best of the sunshine further north and west. look at this weather watchers picture from the la ke weather watchers picture from the lake district. blue sky and sunshine, certainly the best place to be. there is rain and the forecast, so a day of contrasts with the southwest. 0r forecast, so a day of contrasts with the southwest. or not, the isles of scilly and channel islands seeing heavy and persistent rain. welcome rain, we are desperate for somewhere to weather but it is only going to be at the extreme south—west. some

showers ahead of it brushing with devon and somerset. thicker cloud across south of england. hopefully that will thin and break from time to time and if that does happen then temperatures will respond. certainly the western half of scotland through the western half of scotland through the highlands will see highs of 19 celsius." an inn of the north sea making it feel cooler year. northern ireland north west england seeing lovely spells of sunshine and someone. lovely spells of sunshine and someone. through this afternoon, for many we will only see around 13 or 14 celsius. if we get the cloud breaking up, the south coast could see temperatures of 19 celsius weather rain lingers in the south—western could be different. the front was hurt after the neo—con didn‘t do saturday night and into sunday morning. a quiet night to follow, cloud continuing and some isolated showers with some mist and fog patches into the north. winds will strengthen, change direction and we could see some gale force gusts of wind across the northern isles by the end of the day. that

strong wind will make it feel quite chilly again across the east coast. further west, little more shelter and more want to go with it. around 10 celsius. sunshine coming through, up 10 celsius. sunshine coming through, up to 18 celsius not out of the question for sunday. this quiet story is set to continue for the early half of next week as well. dry weather again in the story, but there will be some changes to the theme of the weather. this week we have seen the best of the weather particularly had to the west, temperatures at around 21 celsius. with a change of wind erosion, a change of feel in the north—west in particular. temperatures will struggle. along the east coast where it has been bleak this week, a lot of local out and a breeze coming in from the sea has made it feel cold, without change of wind direction we could see things warm up and get a little brighter. take care. hello and welcome to dateline london. this week, the war of elections

in france and the uk, and a new round ofjaw—jaw to try to bring peace to the middle east. to discuss that, four eminent "jaw—ers" — british conservative commentator alex deane, thomas keilinger who writes for germany‘s die welt, and agnes poirier, uk editor of marianne in france. if emmanuel macron wins, what kind of france will be get? nobody knows. we have seen him at the debate with marine le pen. marine le pen had a disastrous car crashed debate he held the fort.