this is bbc news at two. the headlines... theresa may has been campaigning in key general election battle grounds in the midlands and has sought to play down talk of a landslide victory. labour leaderjeremy corbyn is in leicestershire urging party activists to dust themselves down and take the fight to the tories, after suffering heavy losses in the local elections. he says people should not be held back by a system which is right in favour of the rich. a penny in the pound on income tax to generate billions more for the nhs and social care — the pledge from the liberal democrats. paul nuttall says ukip has a bright future and voters will return in their droves if theresa may fails to deliver on brexit. french presidential candidate emmanuel macron says he has been the target of a massive hacking attack the day before france goes to the polls. three men appear in court charged with murdering businessman guy hedger, who was allegedly fatally shot during a botched burglary. also in the next hour, the boogie 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. manchester city are looking to move back above liverpool in the premier league. and the travel show heads to the church of the holy sepulchre injerusalem. that is in half an hour, here on bbc news. good afternoon. the liberal democrats have pledged to increase spending on the nhs and social care by raising income tax by a penny. they say the extra £6 billion would be ringfenced in england but scotland, wales and northern ireland would be able to decide how to spend the extra cash.

it comes as party leaders are out campaigning this weekend for the general election, following the conservatives‘ success in the local elections. here is our political correspondent, matt coles. with 33 days until the election, it is game on. and on that first weekend of the campaign proper, the liberal democrats have confirmed their key spending pledge — a 1% rise for all income tax bands, with the tax raised guaranteed to go to the nhs and social care. if we want the best health and social care for our families and loved ones going into the future, we have to provide the money to pay for it. everybody else is pretending it can be done on the cheap. it cannot. the liberal democrats today are offering to spend £6 billion, raised by a penny on income tax. labour is hoping its soon—to—be unveiled manifesto will equally win over voters, with jeremy corbyn admitting his party faces an "historic challenge", after facing disappointing election results. the election coordinator says the

programme for government will be popular. people will be excited by a manifesto which is completely different. we will be bringing out a manifesto next week which will transform the lives of millions of people in the uk and it is really exciting. theresa may will doubtless be celebrating their gains in this week's council elections and victory in three metro mayor contests. her task now is dampening expectations, making sure tory supporters turn out injune and do not assume this week's wins mean the general election is in the back. and how bad a place is ukip in? losing all 136 council seats it was defending this week. is it all over? ukip has a great future. it has to stay on the pitch and people will come back to us. is it really all to play for?

answers in one month. in the last few minutes, theresa may, who has been campaigning in wolverhampton has been talking about the local election victories. we have enjoyed very good results, particularly here in the midlands. but people love to think about whether people want to vote for myself orjeremy corbyn. none of the votes for that have been cast. i am taking nothing for granted. i need support from across the united

kingdom to strengthen my hand. only a vote for me and my team will mean britain has the strongest and stable leadership that means we will get the best possible outcome from brexit. earlier that week, you give the impression that you believe people in brussels are trying to meddle with the election. what proof that you have about? what i have seenin that you have about? what i have seen in the last week is that the negotiations are going to be very tough at times. we need strong and sta ble tough at times. we need strong and stable leadership and the united kingdom to bring that to the negotiating table. when it comes to the choice, people will remember, there will be 27 countries on one side of the table and only one person standing up for the united kingdom. the question from the general election is who will give a strong and stable leadership, myself

oi’ strong and stable leadership, myself orjeremy corgan? strong and stable leadership, myself orjeremy corgan? but how does it matter? it doesn't matter whether majority is 6140. every single vote will count in this election. every vote is a vote to strengthen my hand in these negotiations so that i can get the best possible deal for britain in the brexit negotiations. with me is our political correspondent matt cole. can they talk first of all about ukip? the party we does seem that they have something to come back at they have something to come back at the general election. they are actually saying, we will be here if

the prime minister messes it up? is that a reality of them saying that they are not going to really do anything? it is a rather confused message. i think really what the party is all about has been leading beer. 146 seats they were defending, they lost all of them. most of these results haemorrhaged to the conservative party. they have not named candidates. the party leader is probably thinking to himself this is probably thinking to himself this is going to be a difficult line to walk. he lost a lot of seats in areas which are traditionally very strong ukip areas. can he get anyone

in parliament to be the car door golf brexit? let us talk about the liberal democrats. this idea of raising income tax on all the bands by one pin1p raising income tax on all the bands by one pin 1p in the poem to these £6 billion for the nhs. what are the calculating with this? why do they think this is potentially something which the public will like? this is a actually talking about the real cost of the nhs and the cost of social care. they believe they could ever next £6 billion a year, on top of what the conservatives have been pledging. they say it will also be

ring fenced in england. wheels, scotla nd ring fenced in england. wheels, scotland and northern ireland, because of devolution, they will make their own decisions on. this is really to with england. they believe they have made the political calculation, that this will be popular. after all, remember what happened with the famous bus during the european union debate. £350 million for the nhs. that seemed to go down very well. we can join ian, who has been listening tojeremy corbyn in leicester. what has been the reaction to the disappointing local election results for the labour party? you can see people

leaving having listened tojeremy corbyn speaking. these local election results were disappointing. the pose a huge challenge. but he asked the audience, are we up for the challenge? no surprise, the audience shouted in agreement. he said there was a need for the party to go to campaign even more strongly. he said people should be out campaigning rather than watching leicester city today! he said they we re leicester city today! he said they were standing up against the elite. he said he was pitching himself as the underdog, the antiestablishment figure. he said the gap between the conservatives and the labour party following the election results in

midweek was not as great as the pundits had been predicting. he has suggesting the election is still react to be won. jeremy corbyn supporters are calling for a fee are hearing for him in the media. supporters are calling for a fee are hearing for him in the medial supporters are calling for a fee are hearing for him in the media. i know you are going to go off and try and grab you are going to go off and try and gmba you are going to go off and try and grab a chat withjeremy corbyn. three men have appeared in court charged with murdering a businessman who was fatally shot, allegedly during a botched burglary. 61—year—old guy hedger was killed after at least two intruders entered his home in dorset. from poole, duncan kennedy reports. it was in the early hours of last sunday morning that guy hedger was shot in his homejust outside bournemouth. he was taken to hospital and later died. the 61—year—old businessman had worked in marketing and was a director of the schools academy trust. today, three men were brought to the magistrates‘ court in dorset,

charged with the murder of guy hedger and with aggravated burglary. the three men are kevin downton, 40, jason baccus, 41, and scott keeping, who is 44 years old. the hearing lasted just five minutes. there was no application for bail and all three men wee remanded in custody. they will appear on video link on tuesday. a 40—year—old woman arrested in connection with the case has been released, pending further police investigations. easy stea m easy steam out looking in a forest in northern france looking for an irish teacher who was kidnapped by

the inla. the search teams say they have now found human remains. the campaign team for the french presidential candidate emmanuel macron says it has been the target of a massive hack of e—mails and documents. it comes ahead of tomorrow's run—off vote with the far—right candidate, marine le pen. france's electoral commission has warned that any media revealing hacked material risked criminal prosecution. our correspondent, james reynolds, is in paris. in a statement it released just before midnight last night, it

said the stolen documents were essentially routine messages, contracts and accounts, but it also warns there were a number of entirely made—up documents which have also been posted online. it urges caution about anyone trying to look at those. the macron campaign itself has said the people who try to do it were trying to destabilise democracy and it has made a direct reference to the campaign in the us presidential election last november. they see the contained routine electoral documents, mixed in with some falsified ones. but the media here cannot speculate about what these might include. a lot of french people simply do a lot of things today. this period of no campaigning. it is the story of

intense political interest in such an unpredictable election campaign. it is fascinating for those of us who come to france, we have the razzmatazz we are so used to. here, there is this 36 hour period before people actually vote. it is a time for people to supposedly reflect. this is obvious distraction, but whether it has surely has any effect, it is too early to see. the headlines on bbc news. theresa may has been campaigning in key general election battle grounds in the midlands and has sought to play down talk of a landslide victory. labour leaderjeremy corbyn is in leicestershire urging party activists to dust themselves down and take the fight to the tories, after suffering heavy losses in the local elections. he says people should

not be held back by which is in favour of the rich. a penny in the pound on income tax to generate billions more for the nhs and social care — the pledge from the liberal democrats. the teenage racing driver who lost both his legs in an horrific crash says all the support he has received has made him determined to get back behind the wheel. billy monger crashed into the back of a stationary car at 120mph at donington last month. £800,000 has been raised for him. richard lister reports. billy whizz they them but instead of racing this weekend, he is reading m essa g es of racing this weekend, he is reading messages of support from some of the legends of the motor racing world. to see signatures from many world champions. that really touched my heart.

i was lost for words. three weeks ago, he was racing at donington park at 120mph when he struck a stationary car. he was airlifted to the queens medical centre in nottingham, where surgeons carried out a partial amputation of both legs. today, he was preparing to go home, grateful to the staff who saved his life. without them, i would not be here today. a massive thanks to every single one of the staff that have helped me. it is going to be emotional saying goodbye to them all. billy turned 18 yesterday and is contemplating a return to racing, eventually. his team has already helped raise more than £800,000 towards his recovering and those who will be racing at thruxton this weekend are ensuring that, though, he will not be there, his nickname will still feature on the grid. it shows you that when a tragic event like this happens, how people are brought together. i definitely want to take the positives out of this and make sure that i use it in a positive way for the rest of my life now.

i've still got a few years left in me, for sure. what this space. good luck to him. jeremy corbyn has been speaking to supporters in leicester. this is what he had to say. the local election results were disappointing for the party, but we had some terrific results in manchester, liverpool and other places. but we have lost too many fantastic councillors who work tirelessly. we face a huge challenge in the next forerunner of weeks. but this election is also an opportunity, a chance to breakfree.

to create a society that no longer is held back by a system rigged in favour of the rich. a chance to rebuild britain for the many, not the few. there is also a huge danger. the conservatives are a few mongering and the spin machine telling people to settle for less than they should. just how many more burdens will the conservatives impose if they are not altered by others? we know that

after the election results, the gap between ourselves and the conservatives is not as large as people had predicted. but we do have a lot of people still to convince. we can do that. are we up for the challenge? all: yes! the scottish national party leader has been in glasgow are celebrating the election success. the glasgow city council for the first time from labourfor over 30 years. city council for the first time from labour for over 30 years. we are by farand labour for over 30 years. we are by far and away the leading party in scotland. we have got more councillors and more council control than we have heard notjust before,

but more than every other party in scotland. we then have the scrap for second place between the labour party and the conservatives. the conservatives had a good day, but entirely at the expense of labour. for the scottish national party, our responsibility as the leading party in scotland, is to represent the people. we are the largest party in 19 councils. it gives local councils in scotland a massive opportunity to prove former scottish national party administration. in wheels, plaid

made some advances. party leader leanne wood said she was pleased. we need deans in many different parts of the country. i got was a landslide for the conservatives in england, here, the only took 15%. as far as we england, here, the only took 15%. as faras we are england, here, the only took 15%. as far as we are concerned, it is game on for the general election. we are looking to take many more seats. school governing bodies are being given new powers to psych incompetent or corrupt school governors. there was a loophole

stopping elected governors from being moved in the past. now, many craft skills have made a big return in recent years. colin paterson has been to meet beakers internally as you have never seen them before. 5678. everyday, 80,000 muffins and ca kes a re 5678. everyday, 80,000 muffins and cakes are produced here. that requires a lot of repetitive movement. the latest collision the workers actions have turned on to

dance. the idea came from choreographer ruth jones. during the course of the day, they are clearly close together, free as in the older days, they were much more spaced out. and this has been incorporated? yes, very much. i wanted to be inspired by all the movement which goes on in this factory floor. the movement is unique. and it was a very

collaborative process.|j unique. and it was a very collaborative process. i showed her how to decorate cronies. it was so beautiful to see. it was such a beautiful to see. it was such a beautiful dance. amazing. beautiful to see. it was such a beautiful dance. amazingm beautiful to see. it was such a beautiful dance. amazing. it was great. it was absolutely inspirational. i never thought they could do something like that. the idea that they could be beneficial to the staff bringing choreography to the staff bringing choreography to the staff bringing choreography to the mix. there is method in this? yes, it is all about making people being more conscious of the way the move. you were taking part yourself? any reservations? very much so. with

four performances this weekend at the festival, we are sure of the beakers will rise to the occasion. the musician lily allen will be among those at an event today aimed at helping women be heard by the music industry. the getheard campaign aims to provide 100 young women aged 16 to 30 the opportunity to showcase their original music to a panel of industry experts. the event will cross all genres of music with a diverse mix of music experts there to listen, encourage and critique their work. a short time ago i spoke to our correspondent colleen harris who is at the event. music executives get sent the music all the time and, with luck, this could end up on an album. i am joined by lily allen.

and also by the songwriter, carla. how big a problem is this? i do not think it is a problem, there is a solution and people are talking about it. it is a positive day, not negative. more girls are getting involved in songwriting and production. it is brilliant. things are happening. as a young woman coming through the ranks, how did you find your voice and make your mark? truth and honesty. that is all i had to offer. as long as i hone my craft and make sure i am being as honest and truthful as possible, itjustifies it. events like this help and do lots for that, is that what we need to see more of? collaboration with women? yes, creating communities where people share their experiences can only ever be a good thing and is the only way we can learn. these kind of things are vital. a lot of this is down to you. all of it! you've work with beyonce and britney spears. what is the purpose of today? the purpose is to encourage more

females to come forward. we want to hear more female producers, more female songwriters and we want to get people heard. you are testament to that. you are from north london yourself. i am from north—west london! how difficult has it been for you to push through and break those barriers? very difficult. it is like a roller—coaster and you to hold on for the ride. there are ups and downs. it is all about persistence. i want to be successful and successful in the music industry, so i keep pushing. how did you hand—pick the talent we will have in the room? with a lot of stress. we had over 500 submissions today and we could only facilitate 100. we have spent a long time going through the submissions and we were listening to demos until 6am today. we hope we can get more funding and put on more events like this and

get more girls heard. thank you very much. the event carries on for the rest of the day and in a couple of years, we could see one of these girls writing for the next big band. i noticed the little earlier, we we re i noticed the little earlier, we were getting a bit of movement from you being. it does not really get much better than that. good afternoon. it may be tame for a bit of the rain dance. there's some today, but really isolated them to

the south west of the country. farther north, this big lump of cloud over much of the english mainland. the best of the sunshine in northern ireland and western scotland. this evening anthony, the rain pushing south into the continent. it will turn rather cloudy and murky. patchy drizzle in the north. tomorrow, a fairly quiet day tomorrow. best of the sunshine in the south and west. high temperatures of eating— 19 celsius.