this is bbc news. the headlines... the key economic pledge from labour. no increase in income tax, national insurance or vat, labour's pledge to 95% of workers, if it wins the election. higher earners will pay more to fund public services. the conservatives promise more money to fund mental health staffing in the nhs, and say fewer people will be detained against their will. the liberal democrats commit to keeping the "triple lock" on pensions, but those on higher incomes would lose the winter fuel payment. the french are choosing

between emmanuel macron and marine le pen to be their next president. finally freed , the 82 nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by islamist militants three years ago. also in the next hour. more billionaires are based in the uk than ever before. brothers sri and gopi hinduja top the annual sunday times rich list, only one person in the top ten was born in britain. stories about charlie chaplin's extraordinary life are told in witness in half an hour on bbc news. good morning and welcome to bbc news. parties campaigning in the general election have

made a series of policy announcements this morning. labour have pledged not to raise tax on people earning less that 80 thousand pounds a year, the conservatives say they'll replace current mental health legislation in england and wales, and the liberal democrats commit to maintaining the so—called wtriple lock" on pensions. looking at all of this, studying what they are saying is our political correspondent, eliot prize. let's start with labour and tax pledges. it is always a good idea in an election campaign not to put taxes up. labour has managed to attract some of the newspaper headlines. labour says it will not put up the standard rate of vat, will not put up national insurance contributions or income tax for those earning up to £80,000. they say it would benefit about 95% of taxpayers, with the top earners

being asked to pay a little bit more. they have not given any detail of how much more the top earners would pay. in an interview this morning they did not rule out setting up a higher rate of tax for the higher rate taxpayers. anyone earning under £80,000 you will not have an increase in income tax or vat. for those above that amount, we will be asking them to pay a moderate bit more. you put the good question to theresa may about nurses last week. an 11% cut in wages. some of them having to go to food banks was that cannot be right. we are going to ask some of our higher earnersjust to we are going to ask some of our higher earners just to pay a little bit more. the conservatives not talking about brexit, for a change. this is about

mental health issues. the conservatives say this will be the biggest shake—up of mental health legislation in more than 30 years. they say they want to prevent discrimination in the workplace and to prevent unnecessary detention of file of all people. they want to employ 10,000 extra staff working in the nhs to deal with mental health treatment by 2020. jeremy hunt was also on the andrew marr programme this morning. if you have a child with mental health problems instead of being treated by the nhs the end up in a police cell. that is very bad for the child and the police. we want to stop that and stop the fact that one in six of us have a mental health disorder, depression, anxiety. we wa nt disorder, depression, anxiety. we want to stop the fact he could lose

yourjob for that and suffer discrimination in a way you would not be able to suffer now if you we re not be able to suffer now if you were disabled, or other conditions. we want to address this. the liberal democrats back to tax. certainly a big spending commitment for that they say they would scrapped winter fuel allowance for pensioners earning more than £45,000 a year. it is part of a push from them to show they are thinking about some of the problems related to pensions and the ageing population. crucially they say they are committed to the so—called triple lock on pensions, where pensions rise with average earnings, or inflation, or 2.5%, whatever is the highest. that was introduced under the coalition government. so far the tories have not committed to that in this campaign so far. the lib dems are seeing this as one of their key

pledges. what about the party ma nifestos, pledges. what about the party manifestos, when they set this stuff in stone? there were 32 days left of this campaign. we are expecting hopefully because we will have more to talk about within the next week 01’ so. to talk about within the next week or so. john mcdonnell is suggesting his manifesto would be the week after next. plenty to talk about. interesting, some of the big policy being fleshed out. thank you very much. i am joint by someone from the institute for fiscal studies. can we get the business of tax and where people might stop paying it. it sounds a lot money for a lot of people. for a couple living particularly in london it would not be that much, would it? you are right. £80,000 a yearfor an

individual is in the top 5% of income tax payers with your better off than 95% of the population. if you are in the family, you are earning 80000 and your spouse might not be earning, you have children and a mortgage and so on, you might not feel so fantastically well. what to make of it went politicians say people over £35,000 would pay more tax? we get arbitrary lines and limits, don't we? how do they come up limits, don't we? how do they come up with them. it is all about reassuring those people they will not be paying tax. it is part of this rather, i think, not be paying tax. it is part of this rather, ithink, not not be paying tax. it is part of this rather, i think, not entirely honest conversation that politicians wa nt to honest conversation that politicians want to have with the electorate, which is to say someone else will pay for the public service. whether thatis pay for the public service. whether that is the rich, or companies, or what have you. it is important to

rememberfirst of what have you. it is important to remember first of all those earning £80,000 year already pay a very, very high fraction of all taxes. despite what people think, they have seen some pretty big increases in tax over the last seven or eight yea rs. tax over the last seven or eight years. you cannot get that much more by putting a few pence on income tax for the highest earners will do if you really want to raise significant amounts of money to support public services, you cannot just amounts of money to support public services, you cannotjust be other people who pay, it has to be all of us. people who pay, it has to be all of us. what we have not heard so far, maybe it will be in these famous ma nifestos. maybe it will be in these famous manifestos. we have not heard about tackling big companies, overseas companies, some of the multinationals. presumably that would be a way, if politicians could do it, to get around some of the other problems. that could be big earning, couldn't it? in 2015 all

other parties were saying they could raise significant sums on clamping down on tax avoidance. this is another not entirely honest way of dealing with the electorate. there's like huge pot of gold waiting to be collected. it is not the case that chancellors, over the last few yea rs, chancellors, over the last few years, have seen many and cannot be bothered to go and pick it up. yes, there might be a little bit of money you can get by changing some of the rules. quite a lot of the rules have changed already. there is not a pot of gold to be got from corporate tax avoidance, i am afraid. let's talk about the 80,000 figure that the labour party has been talking about. if they would but 1p on their income tax rates, do you know what sorts of sums of money would be raised question would it be many billions? 0h, question would it be many billions? oh, no. less than a billion. not

enough to make a significant difference to public finances. you have to raise it by several pence to get into even a couple of billion. and you are risking some of the revenue we already have. the independent office for budget responsibility has already said if you start to raise the top rate above 45p, the rate on people earning more than 150,000, you might not get any more money at all. people put in more money to avoid it, move to other countries and what have you. there is a lot of uncertainty about that. the scope for raising significant sums is january rather limited. the business of the triple lock is a phrase that is bandied about so much. what might be the effect if it is demolished in the future? the triple lock over the last several years has made quite a big difference, partly because inflation and earnings have been so

low. the 2.5% increase has kicked in quite a few times. the pension is 110w quite a few times. the pension is now higher than it would otherwise have been. if you look over the next five years, because we are expecting inflation to be somewhat higher, it might actually have rather less effect. the cost of promising a triple lock over the next four, five yea rs, triple lock over the next four, five years, might turn out not to be very big. wejust do not to be very big. we just do not know. it is offering a random increase in the real value of the pension. it means if earnings and prices do terribly badly, then pensioners will do terribly well. if they don't, the pension willjust go up in line with earnings, or prices. it would be much better to say what we think the pension ought to be, 20% or 25% of average earnings. that is what we willaim average earnings. that is what we will aim for crack not say we will

increase it by some unknown amount each year into the future. thank you very much indeed. people in france are voting in the final round of the presidential election. they're choosing between the centrist, emmanuel macron, and the far—right leader, marine le pen. both have promised change, but their policies on europe, tackling terrorism and managing the economy are radically different. karin giannone is in paris for us: here she is right now. hello. welcome to a school where there is a polling station. it is pretty busy 110w. polling station. it is pretty busy now. it started with a rainy start to the day. the polls have been open forfour to the day. the polls have been open for four ours to the day. the polls have been open forfour ours of to the day. the polls have been open for four ours of that people are bringing their children read them and pets. 20 people have been coming. we wondered if the rain would affect turnout. traditionally, in france, a presidential election gets a turn out that british

politicians can only dream about, around 80% of the rain would affect turnout. traditionally, in france, a presidential election gets a turn out that british politicians can only dream about, around 80% of that this particular pollen station had today's vote is being seen as the most important in france for decades. the two candidates have very opposite views of europe and the future of france in the wider world. the national front‘s marine le pen would close the borders and quit the euro currency. emmanuel macron wants closer european cooperation and an open economy. he is a former economy minister who last year quit the current socialist government to concentrate on his new independent political movement. his campaign was the last—minute victim of a hacking attack, which saw an online leak of thousands of emails and documents. the french election watchdog has advised the media not to publish details from the documents, warning it could lead to criminal charges and that some of the documents are probably fake. polls are open today until early evening, but some french nationals living abroad were able to cast their vote

from yesterday, including about 100,000 people who live in the uk. the winner is expected to be announced later tonight. so, the french have been voting so far. let's show you a couple of significant voters who have dropped in to cast their ballot. good —— a warning there is some flash photography on this. emmanuel macron is the favourite going into this alongside his wife, brigitte, casting his vote in the north of france. in the last hour or so we have seen marine le pen of the far right national front was she has been casting have ballot in her electoral base. let's see how the papers are reflecting this. this is

a guide to your electoral evening. as soon as the polls close, we get a projection of the result at eight o'clock local time. it is pretty definitive. then talking about all the different reports, abstentions putting a blank in the ballot, saying you do not like either candidate. talking about president it tension in the campaign. it has been so divisive. the catholic newspaper talking about casting a vote, unpolitical in its front page. thinking about the common good when you cast your vote. this one talking about macron on the front page, almost as if he has won already. what is in his head? his plans and the things he would deal with if he went into the elysee palace. le

figaro showing the choice that france has. standing in front of it, looking at the two candidates, marine le pen and emmanuel macron, and the two posters, that is the choice for france today. france is under a state of emergency and has been since november, 2015. there are 50,000 extra police, 7000 soldiers across france, to protect people going to the ballot today. while people are thinking about who they will vote for and which candidates to choose, security authorities are focusing very much on keeping everybody safe. thank you very much indeed. french nationals who live in the uk are able to cast their votes at special polling stations which have been set up today. 0ur correspondent, andy moore, is at one of them in west london for us. yes, it has been very busy here. there has been a steady stream of

voters here since the polling station voted at eight o'clock this morning. before that there were people queueing up to several hundreds, if not thousands have been here for an hour or two. this is one of two locations in london where french people can vote. there are similar polling stations in cities around the uk where french people can around the uk where french people ca n vote. around the uk where french people can vote. it is estimated there are about 300,000 french people living in great britain and about 100,000 of those registered voters. i was told there is no postal voting in this election in the uk. if you want to vote, you have to turn up in person 01’ to vote, you have to turn up in person or by proxy. the voting system is very different from what we are used to there is no take or ci’oss we are used to there is no take or cross in the box. you go in, you produce your identification, then you two pieces of paper, each with the name of the candidates on. in the name of the candidates on. in

the privacy of a polling booth you put a piece of paper in a small brown envelope and put that in the ballot box, the transparent ballot box. 0ne ballot box, the transparent ballot box. one of the alternatives is you can box. one of the alternatives is you ca n vote box. one of the alternatives is you can vote blank. that is not to put any of the names in the envelope. you are registering that you do not like either candidate, though you support the democratic process. this polling station is open until seven o'clock this evening. the same time as the polling stations close in france. we get the results very soon within a few hours. andy moore in west london, thank you very much. and you can see live coverage of the election result here on bbc news today. coverage begins at 6.30 on the bbc news channel — that's in france decides: the presidential election 2017. now for a look at the headlines. labour is promising not to raise

income tax for anyone earning less than £80,000 a year as it declares itself the party of low taxes for middle and low earners. the prime minister has announced plans to replacement or health legislation in england and wales with a new law tackling discrimination and the unnecessary detention of vulnerable people. the lib dems say their pledge is to keep the triple lock on pensions but those with incomes over £45,000 would lose the winter fuel payment. now for the sport. it is the second one—day international between england and ireland, the first time ireland have ever played at lord's. in the early stages of the match england are without loss in four overs. in a warm upfor without loss in four overs. in a warm up for the champions trophy

with seven wickets in bristol on friday. swansea city's premier league future is in their own hands after they beat everton to climb out of the bottom three. a couple of the other sides fighting relegation, hull city and crystal palace lost. fernando llorente was the hero for swansea. he scored the only goal of the game to give the welsh side a crucial three points. it means they will stay in the top flight if they win their last two matches. they are away at already relegated sunderland next and then face west brom on the final day of the season. but the swans boss says his team must not get ahead of themselves. absolutely. it just absolutely. itjust shows absolutely. it just shows what happened this weekend. the swing can go one way for you one week and the next it goes against you. we need to perform really well and do the best we can against sunderland, tried 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 in this moment, the next match day. not chelsea, not tottenham, not liverpool, city, united, arsenal. there is no opportunity to rest. we have to fight with all we have four step that is what makes the league so step that is what makes the league so exciting. a former premier league champion, a two—time european cup holder or a recent league cup winner. by two o'clock this afternoon on sunday, one of them will be a league one club. they are blackburn rovers, birmingham city and nottingham forest and they are fighting it out to avoid the drop from the championship. rovers and forest are in most danger of being relegated — they play brentford and ipswich town repectively, while blues could also fill the one remaining spot in the bottom three, depending on how their match against bristol city goes. kick off is at midday. it isa it is a difficult one when you asked

dad trying to get a result. there are other results that can affect two. the key is for us to win, we have to win. a draw is no good. you might as well lose as drawer. it makes no difference. if the other two tea ms makes no difference. if the other two teams win and we draw, we are gone. we need three points. 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. great britain's rowers have been in the world cup. the three 0lympic champions competing in belgrade, two of them won gold in the first big race of the day, the men's four. they finished strongly ahead of the

netherlands and spain. britain's number 1 johanna konta has lost in the first round of the madrid 0pen. she was beaten in three sets by germany's world number 30 laura siegemund. konta, lost five games in a row to lose the deciding set. the match finished around quarter past two in the morning local time. olympic gold medallist bobsledder steven holcomb has died, aged 37. he competed in three winter olympics and piloted the us four—man bobsleigh team to gold at vancouver 2010 — the country's first 0lympic title in the event in 62 years. he won bronze in both the two—man and four—man bobsled in sochi in 2014. that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. 82 nigerian schoolgirls who were abducted 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. stephanie hegarty reports: they were taken over three years ago as schoolgirls, but they will be coming back soon as young women. after lengthy negotiations between the government and militants, 82 of the kidnapped chibok girls have been released. it was essentially a prisoner swap. the presidency said in a statement that some boko haram suspects were freed in exchange for the girls. the young women are now in the care of the nigerian army and are expected to be brought to the capital abuja today. it is the second time that the government has successfully recovered a group of chibok girls. last 0ctober, these 21 young women were returned to their families. the chibok girls were taken from their school by islamist militants in 2014, just as they were about to sit theirfinal exams. their kidnapping inspired a global

campaign calling for their release. many families in chibok will be rejoicing today, but of the 276 girls taken that night, over 100 are yet to be returned. chibok is by far the most high—profile case, but thousands of people have been kidnapped by boko haram in the eight years of this insurgency. stephanie hegarty, bbc news, lagos. i spoke to stephanie a little earlier. she reminded us that in spite of this deal, many girls are still missing or being held. there are 115 girls are yet to be returned for that we have very little information about where they might be, if indeed they are alive. it is assumed some of the girls may

not have survived over three years at boko haram. those who have come back before, what conditions are they in? what sort of experiences do they in? what sort of experiences do they tell? have they had a really terrible time or been reasonably well treated? the girls came back in 0ctober well treated? the girls came back in october and they have since been held by the nigerian government. there were 21 of them. we have had very little access to hear their stories and what they have been through. it is assumed often that these girls taken by boko haram become boko haram wives and married marriage of two soldiers, two militants. in the case of those 21 that does not seem to be the case. this is a much bigger group, 82 girls. it remains to be seen over the next few weeks and months, it remains for us to hear their stories. if we hear other girls we

have met with thousands have been kidnapped by boko haram. we have met them over the past few years and they do tell very horrifying stories of being forced marriage, forced rape, some being forced into becoming suicide bombers. whether they had the same experience, we do not know. what about hopes for releasing others who are known to have been ta ken? releasing others who are known to have been taken? the presidency last night, ina have been taken? the presidency last night, in a statement on this release, said they are still pursuing negotiations for the release, not only of more chibok girls. it was suggested that lines of communication were open with boko haram. intimations were made that there may be peace talks one—day. he delicately addressed that issue. stephanie reporting from lagos. in

the last few minutes, we have heard that the girls released by boko haram have arrived in the nigerian capital, abuja. an 85—year—old nepalese man who was attempting to become the oldest person to climb everest, has died at everest base camp. the death of min baha—dur sher—chan was confirmed by nepal's tourism department. the former gurkha was trying to reclaim his record from a japanese climber who reached the peak aged 80 in 2013. 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. joe lynam reports. sri and and gopi hinduja 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 a single year. not far behind on £16 billion

is the ukrainian music mogul len blavatnik. he owns warner music as well as 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 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. joe lynam, bbc news. what about the prospects over the

next few days question that let's get the latest. quiet over the next few days if you are looking out for significant rain, not that much to come. towards the end of the week we might see something for the gardeners and the farmers. for now lots of sunshine. a beautiful morning across parts of northern ireland was you could see highs of 20, 20 ireland was you could see highs of 20,201 ireland was you could see highs of 20, 201 degrees. lots of sunshine out to the west. a slightly different story again in the east. more of a breeze, gusting to gale force in the northern isles, where it will feel rather cool. the sheltered western areas seeing mid to high teens. we will be lucky to see 21 through northern ireland today. with the clear skies tonight, temperatures will fall away.