hello, this is breakfast, with katherine downes and ben thompson. income tax, mental health and pensions — the political parties make major policy pledges ahead of the general election. labour says it won't raise income tax for 95% of people, while theresa may is promising to tear up what she says is outdated mental health legislation. good morning, it's sunday the 8th of may. choosing their new president — the polls havejust opened in france as voters choose between marine le pen and emmanuel macron. 82 of the kidnapped nigerian schoolgirls have been freed more than three years after they were captured by islamist militants. polished story is cooperating with

the british navy are visited by the polish president. the polish warship responsible for protecting the isle of wight in the second world war — and how it's still being remembered today. in sport, swansea's premier league future is in their own hands, as they win and the teams around them slip up. and louise has the weather. it is another quiet day of the weather. mostly dry and yet again, west is best in terms of sunshine and the warmth. more details from me later on. good morning. first, our main story. with just over a month to go until the general election, the political parties are making key pledges today. labour says if it wins, it will not raise income tax for those earning less than £80,000 a year. the conservatives are planning to reform mental health services, while the liberal democrats are vowing to protect pensions. 0ur political correspondent ellie price, can tell us more. ellie, the parties are making big promises today? good morning. they are certainly

putting up taxes, sorry, not putting up putting up taxes, sorry, not putting up taxes is always a good tactic in a campaign and it has captured the front pages of the newspapers this morning. labour say they will not raise the standard rate of vat nor will they raise the national insurance rates, nor will they raise income tax for those earning up to £80,000 a year. they think you will benefit around 95% of taxpayers and they say they will get those paying they say they will get those paying the highest rates of tax to pay a little bit more. if this sounds familiar it is because the conservatives had isn't similar pledge in the last election although they have not made a similar commitment this time around. in fact the tories have criticised labour this morning saying that the sums do not add up and there will be a gaping hole in finance. elsewhere, the liberal democrats have suggested

they will cut the winter fuel allowa nce for they will cut the winter fuel allowance for the highest income pensions, those earning about £45,000 a year. what they have said is that they will keep the triple lock on pensions. where pensions increase but the average earnings, by inflation or by 2.5%, whichever is higher. the pledges from the parties as morning and we have yet to have the manifestoes but as i say, some gaps being filled in. being filled in. let's get more on the conservative announcement about plans to replace mental health legislation in england and wales with a new law. our health editor hugh pym reports. injanuary, theresa may read a speech outlining plans to transform attitudes towards mental health with extra support for schools and employers. now in what is billed as the conservative‘s first major domestic policy announcement of this campaign the prime minister has unveiled plans for new legislation if returned to downing street. she says she wants to scrap the mental health act which is over 30 years old. is

she says it has brought discrimination and injustice with concerns that individuals are being held unnecessarily in hospitals and police cells, with black people significantly more likely to be detained in secure mental health wards. the party has also pledged to increase by 10,000 the number of staff working in mental health in england, currently around 200,000. but labour said the number of mental health nurses had fallen by 6000 since 2010 and was unclear where the funding would come from. the liberal democrats said the promise of thousands of additional staff was based on thin air and reforms to the mental health act had been proposed two years ago but delayed by the conservatives. we'll be assessing the conservative‘s election pledge with a mental health charity at around ten past seven. eighty of the nigerian schoolgirls who were kidnapped in the town of chibok in 2014 have been freed. 276 girls were abducted three years

ago by the islamist militant group boko haram, causing an international outcry. joining us now from lagos is the bbc‘s stephanie hegarty. it is good to see you. can you explain to us what has happened in the latest? what we know so far is that yesterday 82 girls were released by boko haram. we have very few details as to the condition of the girls at this stage but what we do know is that they were taken from someplace in the bush, in the forest, a rural area, to an army base near the cameroon border. the presidency said that the girls will be airlifted to the capital today where they are expected to meet the president. we don't know how well or healthy they are. we expect... we

had a release of girls in october, twin one girls, many of whom were ill and needed urgent medical attention is that we expect it may be this group today. —— 21 girls. released in october. france is going to the polls today for the final round of its presidential election. voters are choosing between the liberal centrist, emmanuel macron, and the far—right leader, marine le pen. the bbc‘s karin gianonne is in paris for us this morning, karin, the polls havejust opened? yes, they have. the first few voters have been turning up and going into the polling station. you may have noticed that the weather is awful, certainly here in paris it has been pouring down with rain and it is a mixed picture across france. it is thought that that may affect turnout. the turnout is historically around 80%, something other

democracies can only dream of. anything below that will they would think is low. here in the last round of the election they had 86% are not. but the choice that voters have in front of them today not be more different. emmanuel macron, the modern gullibility wants to integrate france into europe against the far right marine le pen who wa nts to ta ke the far right marine le pen who wants to take france out and close its borders and stop immigration. a flavour of the papers as we went into this weekend. we have a symbolic picture on the front page here. two voters standing with posters of the two candidates, marine le pen, emmanuel macron, talking about the decisive stakes for france as it goes into the second round of this historic election. neither of the main parties that have dominated french politics for decades have anything to do with the second round. they are completely out in the first round. talking about the end of the campaign in this paper, solidifying the lead of emmanuel macron. in the

polls, here is just the lead of emmanuel macron. in the polls, here isjust before the lead of emmanuel macron. in the polls, here is just before the electoral silence period kicked in this weekend, he was on 63% compared to marine le pen on 37%. a dramatic election, not malisse because of news of an e—mail hacking scandal for macron‘s campaign as well as the security situation. that is not gone away. france is still under a state of emergency. we had an attackjust over two year weeks ago on the streets of paris. we have extra security police, 12,000 soldiers and police just here in security police, 12,000 soldiers and policejust here in paris alone. so while the people of france are focusing on politics and who they will choose for president, the focus of the authorities is in keeping france of the authorities is in keeping fra nce safe of the authorities is in keeping france safe today. the results start coming and we will keep you up—to—date. the number of people ripped off by holiday booking scams rose by almost a fifth last year,

new figures have revealed. actionfraud, the uk's fraud and cyber crime reporting centre, says there were almost 6,000 reported cases in 2016, with each victim losing an average of £1200. around 50,000 people will be evacuated from the german city of hannover later so experts can remove five unexploded wartime bombs. the bombs were found during work at a building site. some 2,500 firefighters, rescuers, and police officers are being deployed to help with the operation which affects around a tenth of the city's population. more billionaires are based in the uk than ever before, you know what effect a wind unexploded bomb has, but five? 0ne tenth of a population of the city, what an evacuation. more billionaires are based in the uk than ever before, according to the annual sunday times rich list published today. the hinduja brothers, who made their money from banking and manufacturing, top the table and are said to be worth more

than 16 billion pounds asjoe lynam reports. these brothers have been associated with the labour party since the mid—1990s and acquired british passports in 1997. their investments in oil, it, energy and the media have made them worth £16.2 billion according to the sunday times rich list. up by a quarter in one year. not behind on £16 billion is a ukrainian music mogul. he owns warner music and stakes in a number of other companies. at number nine, the duke of westminster, worth £9.5 billion, is the highest ranking british—born person on the list. he owns property in large parts of central london. there are a record 134 billionaires in this year's top 1000 on the list with an accumulative wealth 1000 on the list with a cumulative wealth of £658 billion. in order to get on the list you need to be worth

at least £110 million. although there are no women in the top 20 who became billionaires in their own right, the sunday times says this year's list is more diverse than ever. it says that many have benefited over the past yearfrom booming stock markets in europe and north america. in what's being billed as their first major domestic policy announcement of the election campaign the conservatives say they will reform mental health services. theresa may says if elected she will introduce new laws on treatment and ensure that england has 10,000 more staff working in the sector by 2020. but labour says the tories don't appear to be offering any extra funding to back this up. joining us from our london newsroom is majorie wallace from the charity, sane. good morning to you. first of all, could we have your verdict on what you have heard ? could we have your verdict on what you have heard? how welcome is this announcement? it is a major fit to

agree for all of us who've been campaigning to have mental health recognised as having a huge impact families and society. 30 years ago when i founded sane, such an announcement would have been unthinkable. there are very good parts of her ideas. but it is really rather resort of grand vision which is painting over the cracks and dangerous flaws in the mental health services which are currently really ina services which are currently really in a state of meltdown themselves. the 1983 mental health act, these proposals would replace that. in your view, what is wrong with that act? we do need a radical reform that theresa may is asking for. we need is a more safeguards for people in detention but we also need to go for more positive rights to caring treatment rather than negative rights. mental health currently in the news and we have seen the royal family get very involved and a

number of charitable causes raising the profile of mental health issues, particularly in the workplace and the idea that it is ok to talk about it and discuss it with colleagues. all very welcome, of course, but you think these proposals need to go further? what is missing is what we need to look at. what is missing is that it does not mention restoring some of the psychiatric units and beds we have lost. we have lost 25,000 psychiatric beds since 2000 which means that when a person goes for help, if we would have a breakdown now we would go for help and find that there were no beds available, we would be shunted hundreds of miles around the country to get one available bed that maybe they are. we would be possibly sent just home, even if we were suicidal 01’ just home, even if we were suicidal or self harming, just home, even if we were suicidal orself harming, in just home, even if we were suicidal or self harming, in prices. we would wait through community came to visit us, sometimes we hear all the time of people waiting and not being visited. and then you need to take

into account that the mental health patients under these crisis resolution teams in the community, the suicide rate has trebled. we are looking at a very low base and what we really need for her proposal and her great ambition is for it to first of all make sure that we get far more resources, frontline resources . far more resources, frontline resources. i wanted to pick up on that idea of ring—fenced services because there are so many competing interests, competing interests for a finite supply of money and in this election campaign we will debate the pros and cons of spending on the nhs. but in your view, you want to see that separated out? you want a distinct ring—fence from full mental health service? it is hard to do but at the moment our experience is that the money that is already being pledged is simply not reaching frontline. day after day we hear about people struggling, people not getting adequate help, families being sidelined and tragedies

happening because the help simply is not available. we know that she is saying that there would be 10,000 new workers but, you know, we have already lost psychiatric nurses. to replace that and to replace these services which are quite fragmented now, most are talking about cuts and closures. what we need to do is to be need to get this right, to get far more help and media help at the frontline and ongoing help for people with long enduring mental illness. and, then, all of these great ideas of and well—being, bringing it into schools and reforming mental health acts will be able to take place. clearly a big issue for everybody to weigh up. thank you. here is louise with a look at this morning's weather. and it is still sunny out there.

yes, thanks, catherine. it is going to bea yes, thanks, catherine. it is going to be a glorious day for some of us indisputable sunrise in belfast was sentin indisputable sunrise in belfast was sent injust half indisputable sunrise in belfast was sent in just half an indisputable sunrise in belfast was sent injust half an hour ago. in northern ireland you can see the warmest day of the year so far. we have not had the rain that we had yesterday in cornwall. patchy fog around at the moment and grey skies but hopefully and improving picture for you as well. through the day to day, west is best. it will continue to drag in quite a lot of cloud, but sheltered western areas not too bad. it was that wind erection it may well not be quite as warm in western scotland as it has been this week. nevertheless still 16 to 18 degrees not out of the question. we could see 21 degrees into somewhere in northern ireland, and generally speaking with some sunshine we may well see

temperatures into the high teens dotted around the country —— wind direction. around the east coast, disappointing. with a little bit of cloud coming off the north sea, ten 01’ cloud coming off the north sea, ten or 11 degrees at rest. a quiet story, and in the sunshine it will feel pleasant but where we have the best of the sun during the day, with clearer skies at night, we will see temperatures fall away. gardeners ta ke temperatures fall away. gardeners take note. we are not out of the woods yet. there could be a light fog. anywhere north of wales out to the west is likely to see actually start to your monday. again, you will see the best of the sunshine, so will see the best of the sunshine, so you can't complain too much. that nagging north—easterly breeze dragging the cloud of the north sea, taking back those temperatures a degree or so. nine to 11 degrees on the east coast, not as promising in the east coast, not as promising in the monday but nevertheless one or two if you get some sunshine could see mid—to—high teens. 0ut two if you get some sunshine could see mid—to—high teens. out of monday into tuesday and wednesday, not much in the way of change. we still have

this region of high pressure in the driving seat. a good deal of quiet weather in the story, so from the early half of... that is a typo, it should save the early half of this week, saying dry and sunny spells. thursday and friday we could see a band of organised rain, and the gardeners and growers will be celebrating. we know exactly what you mean, louise. early next week means monday, tuesday and wednesday. don't want to think about monday just yet, you have the rest of sunday still to go. some 50,000 people in the german city of hannover are getting ready to evacuate their homes so experts can remove five unexploded world war two bombs. the operation will affect a tenth of the city's population. among the buildings affected are seven care homes, a clinic and a tyre plant. we are joined now from hannover by journalist tobias morchner. thank you so much. this is an enormous story for hannover. how do they go about finding the bonds in

they go about finding the bonds in the first place? there is a field where they have to search for world war two bombs, where they have to search for world wartwo bombs, and where they have to search for world war two bombs, and that is where they found 14 spots at first, and now there are only five left. and so we have to wait and see what happens today. at people talking about it on the streets of hannover, it is affecting a 10th of the population. is there a buzz around the city of this going on, or does it happen all the time? no, it is the biggest story in hannover for the last couple of weeks. 53,000 people had to be evacuated today. it is the biggest evacuation the city of hannover is facing in history and everybody is planning four weeks what they are doing on this specific day. so what do they have to do, when do they have to be out, and how long do they have to stay away? they have to leave their homes by 9am, which is in a couple of minutes, and it is not quite sure when they will be returning to their homes, because the authorities can't really tell

how long it is going to take. we think they are ready until this evening, but you never know with these all bombs and how long it ta kes. these all bombs and how long it takes. do you know anything about how they go about dismantling these bombs and making it safe? they have to dig it out at first, because it is not quite sure if these five spots are really with bombs, or if there is something else. theyjust know at this specific minute when they dig it out, and then they can think about what they are doing with these bombs. and do you know what people are going to be up to? with the day that they have to spend away from their homes, it is a sunday, is there somewhere they can go? 0ther events being organised? are people making the most of it, do you think? yes, they do. i live in this area as well, so i have to get out soon after this interview. most of the people visit relatives or friends around hannover. but for those

people who can't go away, there is a big cultural programme organised from the city of hannover. museums are free today. there is music and theatres who do special shows for those people who have to stay in the city, and the cinemas are free for those people. so there is a lot you can do in hannover while you have to be evacuated. and you have to be evacuated. what are you taking with you? it evacuated. what are you taking with you ? it is evacuated. what are you taking with you? it is like that age old dinner party question. you have to leave your house because there is a world war two your house because there is a world wartwo bomb, your house because there is a world war two bomb, what do you take with you? i take my laptop, and my family will take things for the night, just in case it happens a little longer this day so we have to sleep over somewhere. i hope it all goes really well and you are back home and in your own bed tonight. thank you very much for speaking with us. thank you very much for having me. later in the programme, we will be speaking to a former bomb disposal officer about how difficult it is to make wartime bombs safe.

you are watching breakfast from bbc news. it is time now for a look at the newspapers. politics lecturer victoria honeyman is here to tell us what has caught her eye. victoria, thank you so much for coming in. we will speak to her in a minute. first let's look at the front pages. the sunday times has the story we have been talking about, their rich list. and we will be discussing with the author of the report, of course they do it every year, he spent his entire year looking through accounts, statements, banks on the counts, all that sort of things, to compile the list. it can be pretty political —— bank accounts. some wa nt to political —— bank accounts. some want to be the list, some do not wa nt to

want to be the list, some do not want to be the list, some do not want to be the list, some do not want to be the list. and the picture on the left is a picture of adele, who features on the list. she is dressed up as the catherine tate comic character nan to mark the 29th birthday this week. hardly nan age. the sunday telegraph: labour to tax workers on £80,000, looking at higher earners who labour say they will be asking to pay a little bit more in terms of income tax. they will not be raising income tax for workers on less than £80,000, and the big picture as well of prince harry's girlfriend. the paper very excited about what this might mean to their relationship but as far as ican to their relationship but as far as i can see she just went to watch him play polo. the observer, we will fund spending by raising tax on £80,000 earners, according to labour. and lots of detail on the

election results on the front of the observer. thank you for sitting patiently through those front pages and you have been digging around the inside pages as well. we will stay with politics, but of a very different nature. it is eurovision coming up soon, and just when you thought eurovision couldn't get any more political, tactical voting, quite interesting this year whether brexit has an effect. we thought we would start highbrow. this is about brexit, and the impact of racks at generally, but also the political nature of eurovision —— brexit. we all know that it is political. i will review some of the heartfelt lyrics. i will never give up on you, i don't care what i have got to lose, just give me your hand and hold on. there is a suggestion in the sunday telegraph that this is a plea to the rest of europe about britain on behalf of brexit. i'm not

sure if they are reading too much into it, but nonetheless that is our eurovision entry. i wonder if that will get null points. and the russians are not attending, because of the political issues around crimea they will not be attending this year. they came third last time. and we spoke about this on brea kfast time. and we spoke about this on breakfast on thursday, the craze getting teachers in a spin. we had fidget spinners, who spin around on your finger, fidget spinners, who spin around on yourfinger, and fidget spinners, who spin around on your finger, and we talked to a fidget spinners, who spin around on yourfinger, and we talked to a girl who had autism, and she said it helps her to focus on class to have something else to concentrate on, but teachers say it is so distracting when they are standing up distracting when they are standing up teaching. exactly, every so often something comes out which has to be banned, and these have made it to the mainstream. they are constantly flicking them, they spin around. i think anyone over the age of about 13 doesn't really understand the

fascination with them. clearly teachers feel they are distracting pupils, and therefore they are being increasingly banned. they are the toy everyone wants, no one can get, and there is a plea not to take them to school. i was watching horse trials yesterday afternoon, and there were people in the crowd with them as well. at a live sporting event. they seem really dull to me. i don't get it. to something entirely different, fashion. i don't quite know where to go with this one. to me that looks like someone coming back from scout camp, a teenager after a weekend at in the countryside, with a sleeping bag. but there is a serious message in some of this. it is a statement about the refugee crisis. it is essentially about what we are all going to be wearing and it seems to be part influenced by images on the news and part influenced by the new alien movie which is coming out. a p pa re ntly alien movie which is coming out. apparently we are going to go back to looking like we have been involved in some sort of alien

invasion. they are saying celebrities like ka nye invasion. they are saying celebrities like kanye west and madonna have inspired this look, i don't know what word to put in front of it, but this particular look. very utilitarian, i suppose. you look as though you may have come back from a rather unfortunate camping trip. but that will be the look on the high street. it looks like festival—goers after glastonbury, doesn't it? it would be like if you fell over on your way here, you would be protected by the enormous sleeping bag. here, you would be protected by the enormous sleeping baglj here, you would be protected by the enormous sleeping bag. i dream of a coat like that in wintertime, a head to toe duvet. and ed sheeran is an amazing wrapper, and apparently he had a starter and got over it by rapping to eminem. —— rapper. had a starter and got over it by rapping to eminem. -- rapper. his uncle bought him the eminem album, which is full of some colourful

language, and the speed of what he was trying to copy helped him get over his starter. he is saying get out there, listen to the music you like and see if it can help you ove rco m e like and see if it can help you overcome your difficulties, whether it be social, whether it be difficulties with a stutter, music can difficulties with a stutter, music ca n always difficulties with a stutter, music can always help you. and we will talk again a little later. the andrew marr programme is on bbc one at 9:00am. what have you got coming up today, andrew? i think two big political stories. theresa may's announcement on mental health, jeremy hunt, the health secretary, will be talking about the nhs under the tories and what the future would be for it if they are re—elected. and labour's tax plans. nobody to pay more tax until they earn £80,000 a year. the shadow chancellor, john mcdonnell, is on. i have the archbishop of york, and rag and bone man playing us out. and

much more on the pledges from the political parties. stay with us. headlines coming up. hello, this is breakfast with ben thompson and katherine downes. coming up before nine louise will have the weather. but first, a summary of this morning's main news. labour is pledging not to raise income tax for those earning less than £80,000 if it wins the general election. the party says it will not increase vat or employee national insurance rates. but says the top 5% of earners will pay more to fund public services. the conservatives, who have also ruled out a rise in vat, say there is a $45 billion black hole in labour's tax proposals. meanwhile, the prime minister says that if her party is re—elected, the conservatives will replace current mental health legislation in england and wales, with a new law tackling discrimination and the unnecessary detention of vulnerable people. the party is also promising 10,000 more staff working in nhs mental health treatment by 2020.

labour says the tories appear to be offering no extra funding to back the plans. the polls have now opened in france for the decisive round of the presidential election. french nationals who live in the uk are able to cast their votes at special polling stations which have been set up today. 0ur reporter, andy moore, is at one in west london, we are trying to speak with him, and we will talk to him now. something like 100,000, maybe as many as 150,000 people will vote and it seems that hundreds of them are here at this one polling station in london. you can see some of the officials gathering behind me. this is the shoals of all french school.

there are people waiting to get in and you can see behind me have been here for about one hour already. the queue goes down the end of the road here and then around the corner and extends for some way beyond that. a lot of enthusiasm. another queue on the other side of the building, many people will cast their vote. voting will go on all day and we should get the result early this evening. thank you very much. what a remarkable queue of people in london. absolutely. we will state was that story for you when polls open in london. —— stay across that story for you. the nigerian presidency has confirmed that 82 schoolgirls who were kidnapped by islamist militants in 2014 have been freed. they were among more than 270 girls seized from a boarding school in the town of chibok in a night time attack. more than 100 girls are still missing. the italian coastguard says about six,000 migrants trying —— 6,000 migrants trying

to reach europe have been rescued from the mediterranean in the past 48 hours. officials said they'd co—ordinated around 40 separate emergency missions. many of the migrants were trying to cross from libya in rubber dinghies and other makeshift vessels. the number of people ripped off by holiday booking scams rose by almost a fifth last year, new figures have revealed. actionfraud, the uk's fraud and cyber crime reporting centre, says there were almost 6,000 reported cases in 2016, with each victim losing an average of £1200. around 50,000 people will be evacuated from the german city of hannover later so experts can remove five unexploded wartime bombs. the bombs were found during work at a building site. some 2,500 firefighters, rescuers, and police officers are being deployed to help with the operation which affects around a tenth of the city's population. what a feat of engineering to make sure that all goes without incident.

it was a day to the bottom end of the table yesterday, wasn't it? the relegation battle in this premier league is starting to heat up and swa nsea fa ns league is starting to heat up and swansea fans are smiling. they won. a few teams around them was, whole and crystal palace so that future of swa nsea and crystal palace so that future of swansea city is in their own hands. fernando lorenzo was their hero against everton, he scored the only goal of the game. it means they are now one point clear of the relegation zone and will stay in the top flight if they win their last two matches. they will play sunderland next and then west brom on the final day of the system. but the swans say his team must now get ahead of themselves. it shows what happened this weekend, it can go one way for you one week and then the next week goes against you. we need to make sure we perform really well and do the best we can against sunderland, and try to pick up all

three points. today is all about the chase for european football. it's fifth versus sixth as arsenal host manchester united in the late kick off. before that liverpool take on southampton, asjurgen klopp's side chase a place in next season's champions league. there is absolutely no club in the top spot who can waste points right now. that's how it is. not chelsea, not tottenham, not liverpool, city or united, arsenal, no club has the opportunity to rest. we all have to fight with all we have and that makes the league so exciting. in scotland, inverness caledonian thistle are still fighting to stay in the premiership. the bottom club are nowjust four points adrift of safety after a 2—1 win against relegation rivals hamilton. brad mckay scored their first on ten minutes. they doubled their lead with a penalty and hamilton could only manage a late consolation goal. elsewhere there were wins for dundee, ross county and champions celtic. and congratulations to portsmouth who have been crowned league two champions.

they thumped cheltenham 6—1 at fratton park to seal the title and jump from third place as both sides above them, doncaster and plymouth, dropped points. doncaster were beaten by hartlepool united. but because of results elsewhere the north—east side were relegated ending their 96—year stay in the football league. wasps have finished top of rugby union's premiership for the first time in 20 years. exeter also secured a home semifinal. wasps ran in five tries against saracens. patrick was scored in the wind. scrum half ben youngs has withdrawn from the british and irish lions tour to new zealand. he's staying in england to be with his family after his brother's wife was diagnosed with terminal cancer. scotland's greg laidlaw will replace him. and finally,

motogp riders are often some of the toughest sportspeople around, racing with broken bones and all sorts of injuries. turns out they have an achilles heel. wasps. cal crutchlow qualified third for today's spanish grand prix but on his cool down lap — something gets into his leathers and he doesn't like it one bit. he even pulls over and tries to get the insect out. crutchlow said he'd been stung about five or six times. that does look nasty. i could not understand how the wasp got in there? could it get in through the helmet? it couldn't, maybe, but how did get his body? i don't know. they are crafty. they will work out how to do it. it isjust are crafty. they will work out how to do it. it is just painful. difficult to watch. we are here on the bbc news channel until nine a.m. this morning. coming up for you in the next tower, can you tell the

difference between the song of a thrush and of pheasant? we will tell you what to listen out for during the dawn chorus. and we will speak toa bomb the dawn chorus. and we will speak to a bomb disposal expert about a mission to remove five world war two bombs in hanover. stay with us, we will be on the bbc news channel until nine. thank you for staying with us. 75 yea rs thank you for staying with us. 75 years ago during the height of the second world war, the isle of wight came under ferocious. 75 years ago, during the height of the second world war, the isle of wight came under a ferocious aerial attack by the german luftwaffe. 70 people lost their lives in the air raid. but the destruction would have been much worse had it not been for the actions of the crew

of a polish warship. this weekend, their heroism is being remembered, as kasha madeira reports. archive: polish destroyers, co—operating with the british navy, are visited by the polish president... the blyskawica, one of two grom destroyers built in cowes, was the pride of poland. during a refit, back on the island, the crew could not have foreseen the role they would play in defending cowes against that devastating air raid. ..you are not only serving the cause of poland, but the cause of mankind. josef wlodarczak is last surviving crew member. he recalls how all on board had a critical role to play. translation: when it comes to the isle of wight, our guns were blazing. i was down in the engine rooms ensuring the motors were running, so the gunners could keep firing. whilejosef was in the engine room, tom guy was next to the ship, on dry land. it was dangerous, because the guns were so red hot, and i can prove it. i could actually see them. they was red hot, they was. they put water on them all the time. but that decision to fire was controversial. while in dry dock, the blyskawica should not have had any live ammunition on board. yet her captain, wojciech francki,

was convinced an attack was imminent, after seeing german reconnaissance flights. june week's father saw the same planes. he was looking out of his bedroom window, and these german reconnaissance planes were so low, he could actually see the swastikas on them. they were really, really low. and he said to my mother, we're going to get it soon. the isle of wight was used to coming under attack. the luftwaffe would use the light reflected off the medina as a guide to fly further north, to attack cities on the mainland. but that night the attack was unprecedented, because they were aiming directly cowes itself. captain francki was denied permission from the admiralty to arm the blyskawica, and in doing so, he risked court—martial. playing at his commemorations, his granddaughter said he took the initiative. when the bombing started, he sent smokescreens out, which actually they did afterwards praised him for his initiative in that, because that was quite an unprecedented thing to do, to disguised the ship, to kind of create a fog. his action and that of the blyskawica's crew saved countless lives. today, a modern polish navy destroyer is anchored off the coast of isle of wight, not to defend, but to honour the blyskawica's memory. a really interesting story of heroism from those polish seaman, ——

seamen, causing all that confusion and saving lives. you are watching breakfast from bbc news. the main stories this morning: the conservatives, labour and the liberal democrats all make key policy pledges ahead of the general election. french voters go to the polls today in the final round of the country's presidential election. here is louise with a look at this morning's weather. sunny for now, but we may see some rain later in the week. yes, thursday or friday. we are desperate for some rain, for the gardens, and the farmers as well are desperate for it but the potential for some significant rain, thursday into friday. for the here and now, look at what a beautiful sunrise it has been in belfast. northern

ireland could see the warmest day of the year so farfor ireland could see the warmest day of the year so far for you guys, not so to the east of the pennines. in north tyneside, a lot of low cloud and a little bit of drizzle. a rather damp and grisly start to the day, unfortunately. still got that really is dragging the cloud of the north sea, and you can see sheltered northern and western areas seeing beautiful spells of sunshine. subtle differences with the story today because the wind direction is changed and we are starting to see some call they are pushing down from the north. gail is likely into the northern isles and that means the warmest of the weather today just that little bit further south. there will be some lovely spells of sunshine, and despite temperatures not quite as impressive in the western half of scotland, still a beautiful day and we could see 16 to 18 degrees. cold and windy into the far north and east. a beautiful afternoon in prospect for much of northern ireland, north—west england and wales as well, with some sunshine and a bit of shelter it will feel very pleasant indeed only

the east coast staying rather cloudy and a little bit disappointing, i'm afraid. 0ut into the south—west, although it is cloudy with patchy mist and fog around at the moment, you could see temperatures in the. where we see the best of the day's sun, through the night we will the clear skies and if you are a gardener, bear in mind we are not out of the woods. there is the potential for a light frost and anywhere north of wales could see those temperatures hovering around orjust those temperatures hovering around or just below freezing. those temperatures hovering around orjust below freezing. again, west will be best for sunshine with a little bit of shelter from the north—easterly breeze. a little bit more cloud around the east and so temperatures around nine to 10 degrees but just like temperatures around nine to 10 degrees butjust like today, the warmest of the weather looks likely potentially to be in the best of the shelter in the further south and west, 16 degrees not out of the question on monday across cornwall. it keeps fairly quiet, in actual fa ct, it keeps fairly quiet, in actual fact, through tuesday and wednesday. we still have this ridge of high—pressure staying with us. there

will be a good deal of dry and sunny weather for the early half of this week, with that sunshine staying with us. as i started off by saying, it looks as though we could, fingers crossed, see it looks as though we could, fingers crossed , see some it looks as though we could, fingers crossed, see some rain into thursday and friday. some people looking forward to that rain, gardeners, et cetera. how unusual is it to have 18 or19 cetera. how unusual is it to have 18 or 19 during the day and freezing at night? that is the kind of classic weather conditions we get at this time of year. it is not unusual to see 19 or 20 and the western highlands could see the best of the weather through the week. clear skies by day and at this time of year those temperatures really falling away sharply. and if that chilly wind went away, we would be happy. good news for gardens, but as louise was warning you, a bit of frost around the country. looking at the papers, the sunday times features as rich list. details of

who is making the money and where the money is coming from. they say brexit brings a bonanza for billionaires, and a lot of self—made early on as on this rich list, but we have been discussing with the author of the report that not a lot of women on there so we will talk about where that wealth has come from and which industries seem to be doing pretty well. the picture is the singer adele, who features on the singer adele, who features on the list. she turned 29 this year, dressed up as a catherine tate character. the front of the daily mail, criticism for a bbc drama. a paternity slur against harry, a drama about the royal family which sta rts drama about the royal family which starts on bbc two this week called king charles iii. and also a picture of harry's girlfriend cheering him on at the polo yesterday, lots of the papers saying what does this mean for their relationship? has gone to the next level, she is out in public supporting him. i think

she has just in public supporting him. i think she hasjust gone in public supporting him. i think she has just gone to watch her boyfriend play polo, hasn't she? maybe it means that things are getting very serious and there will be another royal wedding. you will not be a good headline writer, with that. she has just not be a good headline writer, with that. she hasjust gone not be a good headline writer, with that. she has just gone to watch the paula! the observer has news from the campaign trail for both the conservatives and labour. labour saying it will increase income tax for people earning at least £80,000 ifjeremy corbyn becomes prime minister. that could be the criticism as a result of disappointing local election results. the conservatives as we have discussed also laying out plans to reform the laws on mental health. the sunday telegraph, i was leafing through to find a paper with a different story on the front, but the sunday telegraph going with that labour pledge to keep income tax as it is for workers under £80,000, and to ta ke it is for workers under £80,000, and to take a little bit more from workers on a higher wage bracket, over £80,000, and began prince harry

at the polo. if you are just waking up at the polo. if you are just waking up this morning, open your window and maybe you can hear the dawn chorus. we will talk about whether you can tell the difference between these sounds, a thrush, robin or a blackbird. most of us can't, so we will teach you to recognise some of the most common birds. and we will have all the rest of the morning's headlines in ten minutes. but first, from the world's holiest city to one of the uk's most photographed landscapes. it's time for the travel show. coming up this week on the travel show: rajan is in jerusalem, the world's holiest city. this is, for christianity, the most important place in the world. quite an incredible experience to be here. and taking the perfect snap — we head to the lake district to capture one of the uk's most photographed landscapes.

jerusalem is one of the world capitals of religious tourism. and easter and passover make for its busiest weeks. and a particular hotspot is the church of the holy sepulchre, where some believejesus is buried. rajan got rare access to the newly renovated tomb. they calljerusalem the world's holiest city. it's also one of the most conflicted. politics aside, the fact is jerusalem has monuments that are sacred to three of the world's biggest religions. like the western wall, for those of the jewish faith. for muslims, there is the distinctive dome of the rock shrine. and then, deep in the heart of

the old city, through the damascus gate, is christendom's most important church. so tucked away on the edge of the muslim and christian quarters, right in the marketplace, is the church of the holy sepulchre. not easy to find. but it's somewhere around here. and look. tiny little sign. holy sepulchre. and i can hear something happening. now, what's unusual about this church is that it's actually shared by six different christian denominations. to be precise, roman catholics, greek orthodox, armenian 0rthodox, syrians, coptics and ethiopians.

this ceremony is led by the armenian church. they come from all over the world. 3.5 million people a year, they reckon, to visit the church of the holy sepulchre. it's a pilgrimage that evokes a response like no other. for us it's no more, no less than the holiest place on earth. that's wherejesus died, that's where he was crucified, that's where he was risen three days afterwards. so for us that is, i mean, the history of humanity, that's what makes that there is before and after christ. it simply changed the history of humanity. 2,000 years ago, this was an empty plot of land outside the old city walls. now look at it. they might all agree

the resurrection of christ took place here, but the truth is that the six different denominations haven't always been ideal housemates in this church. sometimes we didn't agree. there have been fight inside the holy sepulchre, that's for sure. physicalfight? even physicalfights. disaster has struck twice over the centuries, with a fire and an earthquake causing extensive damage. and throughout, arguments became very fierce and protracted between the different denominations, as to how and who was going to fix the thing. it took a long time for all the parties to agree on a restoration plan for the ageing church. and even after that, it's taken 60 years to renovate the shrine. we were lucky enough to be granted a truly rare privilege,

to go and film inside the newly renovated burial chamber, called the edicule. this is where christians believe jesus‘s body was laid to rest after he died on the cross. this is for christianity the most important place in the world. just this little square of two or three metres. exactly at the heart of it all. quite an incredible experience to be here. billions of christians think of this place as the spiritual centre of their universe. the extensive restoration work took nine months, working on the small structure above the tomb. there are two marble slabs over the sepulchre, one exactly covering the bench carved from rock thatjesus is said to be laid on. archaeological proofs are quite

consistent to say thatjesus was crucified inside this building. and laid into the tomb, which is inside also. afterwards, what happened three days afterwards, it belongs to the faith, as we believe he was risen. jesus of nazareth, that he was crucified and laid in the tomb, there is many, many proofs, historical proofs that are showing that. the one side is the conflict, but the other side is the effort to run this place and to be together. and i think that's somehow a miracle. and that's a thought echoed by the many other millions of pilgrims who come here each year, delighted that restoration has finally been achieved, and cohabitation of all churches continues.

now, to end this week's show, let's head to the north of england and the lake district. its landscapes have inspired a thousand artists and painters over the centuries. but now we've met a photographer who captures its rugged beauty with the camera. and sometimes he'll go to extraordinary lengths just to get the right shot. my name's terry abraham. i'm a self—taught, independent film—maker. i've always had an interest in film and video. i always wanted to be hands—on, outdoors, doing something like that. i love all the british countryside, and i think britain's fantastic in the variety, the terrain, the geology. the aesthetic appeal

of the landscapes that we have, in such — you know, this small group of islands. i don't think there's anywhere else in the uk like the lake district. you know, every mountain, orfell, as they're known around here, has its own character. it looks different. they're all individual. and that's the same for the valleys, as well, you know, with all the lakes, the stone walls, the beautiful, picturesque postcard cottages, and all that kind of thing. and i can see why four centuries public, artists, writers have been drawn here, inspired by this landscape, and i'm no different. i'm a self—taught film—maker. i'm born of the digital age, if you like, you know,

with the likes of youtube, how it democratised film—making. being able to edit videos on a laptop or computer and the technologies developed with smaller professional cameras, has enabled me to go out there and chase a dream of producing documentaries, these landscapes. i tend to wild—camp, which is basically pitching up a tent on the top of a mountain, totally self—reliant. you have your food, you seek your water, because that enables me to be there, ready and prepared, and nice and fresh at those special moments. i don't think there's anything special about the way i go

about capturing the shots that i do. any photographer worth their salt will tell you the best times of day for capturing a landscape is arguably, more often than not, dawn or dusk. i want people to see my pictures and think, wow, you know, that's inspiring. but it's something they can see with their own eyes. i certainly wouldn't go back to the deskjob, or working in a pub, and stuff like that, that i used to do before. look at it, you know. it's fantastic. and i get to enjoy this all the time. it really is about being in the right place at the right time. and there is a large element of luck as well. terry abraham and his beautiful photos of the lake district. well, that's it for this week.

join us next week if you can, when we're in colombia to visit the hometown of one of its most infamous residents, pablo escobar. if you look in here, there's a plaque on the wall with little white crosses. and that's a memorial to, i think, the amount of people they think were killed here when pablo was here. but is it right to build an industry around a former drug lord? that's next week but in the meantime you can catch up with us an social media and online. all the details on the screen now. but for now, from me, christa larwood, and the rest of the travel show team, it's goodbye. hello, this is breakfast, with katherine downes and ben thompson. income tax, mental health and pensions — the political parties make major policy pledges ahead of the general election. labour says it won't raise income tax for 95 per cent of people, while theresa may is promising to tear up what she says is outdated mental health legislation. good morning, it's

sunday the 7th of may. also ahead. choosing their new president — the polls have opened in france as voters choose between marine le pen and emmanuel macron.