this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. the headlines at apm: the labour party approves its manifesto after it was leaked — it contains plans to renationalise the railways and scrap university tuition fees. we have a manifesto that will work for the many, and not for the few. this is an extremely modern, progressive, progressive set of proposals and it's looking to the long term future and most people are extremely excited the bank of england gives a cautious assessment of the economy — warning that 2017 is likely to be the low point for wage growth. this is going to be a more challenging time for british households over the course of this year. wages won't keep up with prices for the goods and services they consume. waiting times for key nhs services in england are at their worst for five years according

to new analysis. three women including a mother and daughter appear in court charged with terrorism offences and conspiracy to murder. i'm rebecca jones and in the next hour: a record £400,000 fine for making over 100 million nuisance calls. marketing firm keurboom communications made repeated calls, sometimes at unsocial hours, trying to get people to make compensation claims. where do you want me? bouncing on my knee. where do you think i want you? and david beckham makes his big screen debut in king arthur, but his cameo performance gets mixed reviews. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn says

the party has unanimously agreed it is election manifesto. senior labour figures met today to finalise the document, after a draft version had been leaked to the media and that d raft been leaked to the media and that draft included radical plans to renationalise the railways and royal mail, to scrap university tuition fees in england, and to end the public sector pay. mr corbyn has been speaking in the last few minutes and said that there are some amendments to that draft document. vicky young is our chief political correspondent following events for us. correspondent following events for us. asjeremy corbyn was just saying, this was a unanimous decision by the shadow cabinet national executive, surely meeting to agree their manifesto. but from the drug that has been leaked, what do we know about what they will be promising? —— draft. this meeting went on for about four hours and

whenjeremy went on for about four hours and when jeremy corbyn came went on for about four hours and whenjeremy corbyn came out he did talk about the fact that it had been passed and usually this kind of process would take a very long time, putting together an election ma nifesto. putting together an election manifesto. 0bviously, on this occasion, with a snap general election, they have had to do it more quickly, but as you say, the entire thing, the entire draft was lea ked entire thing, the entire draft was leaked last night and so we have got an idea of what kind of think he is putting forward and it is very much ajeremy corbyn putting forward and it is very much a jeremy corbyn vision. it is what he believes in and he believes he has got very, very popular policies, so has got very, very popular policies, so ideas such as abolishing tuition fees, a clear attempt to try to win over young voters. the idea of nationalising the railways, because they feel that passengers just feel that it they feel that passengers just feel thatitis they feel that passengers just feel that it is not working. the same with the energy companies and the energy market, so pretty radical stuff. a lot of labour to talk about. of course, the league is embarrassing. it shows a certain amount of chaos going on, but i think they feel the more quickly you

move on from that and start talking about the actual policies themselves. this is whatjeremy corbyn had to say as he emerged from that meeting a few moments ago. thank you very much. can i do say this? first of all, thank you all for coming here today. we havejust concluded or meeting, arejoint meeting of the shadow cabinet and the national executive and we have discussed or manifesto for the general election. we havejust unanimously agreed the contents of it. we have amended the draft document that was put forward in the most informed, interesting, sensible discussion and debate in our party. and we will present this manifesto to the british people in the next few days. 0r manifesto will be an offer, and we believe the policies in itare offer, and we believe the policies in it are very popular. an offer that will transform the lives of many people in our society. and ensure that we have a government in britain on june the

ensure that we have a government in britain onjune the 8th that will work for the many, not the few, and give everyone in our society a decent opportunity and a decent chance. so nobody is ignored, nobody is forgotten, and nobody is left behind. the details will be published in the next few days. the details will be set out to you including the costings of all the pledges and promises that we make. and i know you are all looking forward to reading it in great detail at that time and at that point... at that point you will be able to ask all the questions you'd like, but for today thank you all... thank you all... can i say, thank you all very much for coming here today. mr corbyn they're saying there had been some amendments. i am told that they are just tinkering, saw nothing radical. it seems that it was not too contentious and that has now been signed off by the

seniorfigures in the labour party who needed to do so. we have just seen who needed to do so. we have just seen that clip of him. he was not very keen to answer questions at this stage. he said when the thing is published, that is the time for questions. yes, and i think the fact that it has been leaked has obviously thrown their election timetable as it were into a little bit of turmoil because they wanted to make a series of announcements and then there is the issue of the costings, which will be the crucial thing. they are adamant that it will be carefully costed. we have had some hints about how things might be paid for. we are told that there will be income tax rises for those earning more than £80,000. they have also talked about increasing corporation tax. they are pledging to put billions more into the nhs and social care. there is also the question of borrowing a lot more for infrastructure programmes. so there will be a lot of detailed questions next week, once they have formally launched this manifesto, about how

they are going to pay for it, and it will not be a surprise to hear that the conservatives have seized on it and are saying that it is taking the country back to the 1970s and 1980s. they said that labour's maths and there summing up of all this is not credible and they can't be treated with the economy. i think now there will be labour mps who said that the leadership issue, the issue of jeremy corbyn as the next prime minister is coming up on the doorstep and they do not think it is a positive, vote winning asset. this does allow them to talk about policies, which many of them will think that some of these policies certainly can go out and sell on the doorstep. they want to really start talking about the issues that they think voters care about such as housing, health, and education at all the rest of it, rather than just focusing on the issue ofjeremy corbyn‘s personality. all right. thank you very much. two key policy areas in labour's leaked manifesto are transport and education.

0ur correspondent gillian hargreaves looks first at the party's pledge to abolish university tuition fees in england. cheering they've got cause for celebration, because if you're a graduate, you earn around £200,000 more in your lifetime than somebody who didn't go to university. which is one of the reasons why the coalition government raised fees to £9,000 a year for students in england. but when they did, there were riots on the streets, and now labour promises to scrap fees altogether. so what do students think? i reckon it's a good idea for the students, but for the treasury, not so much. up until now, my education has been free. why now? why do i have to pay at 18 onwards, nine grand peryear? well, perhaps some students would say that. but labour's plan is going to cost. when 7% of the population went to university, the government could afford to pay tuition fees, but now more than half of all 18—year—olds

enter university each year. if the government paid for all of their tuition fees, the bill would be huge. well, abolishing tuition fees adds to borrowing in the short run by about £10 billion. of course, the government is already paying for student fees, it's just getting that money back, well, two thirds of that money back from graduates in the long run. so the long run cost to the government of abolishing fees is still really pretty significant. when it comes to paying for university, labour is heading in the opposite direction to the tories, but there's little detail yet on how and when it would introduce the change. gillian hargreaves, bbc news. another pledge in the leaked manifesto is to re—nationalise the railways. richard lister at kings cross station in london has more. i did that thoroughly unscientific survey of the first ten

people that i came across. seven of them said they were in favour of nationalisation. three said they were against it. what does that prove? well, absolutely nothing. it was a very small survey, but it does chime remarkably closely with what opinion polls have been saying nationally for the past few years, when a clear majority of people tell opinion pollsters they are in favour of nationalised railways. and that's quite remarkable when you consider the bad old days of the old nationalised british rail, which was really something of a byword for british decline by the time it was fully privatised 20 years ago. labour says this time it would be different. if you put the passenger first on your spending you can freeze fares, you can give free wi—fi to everybody on board and you can improve disabled access to trains. of course, few would argue that privatisation has been an unqualified success over the past few decades. certainly fares have increased more sharply than inflation and trains, many trains, are hugely overcrowded. now the tories say that's

still better than british rail and they point to the fact that privatisation has led, certainly since about 2000, to a much better safety record and also much more punctual services. the counter argument to that is that network rail is responsible for a lot of those improvements and labour point to the fact that network rail, in charge of tracks and stations, is a public body and it's taxpayers' money which has gone into improving the services which we now use. the conservatives say they will honour the nato commitment to spend at least 0.2%. they will also spend more than 0.5% above inflation every

year. mrs may said her party would also continue to meet the pledge to spend at least 2% of national income on defence. well, this is a pretty quiet, average street now with people going about their daily business butjust a few hours ago it was a hive of activity. there were members of the media here because the prime minister arrived here in southampton to do some campaigning as part of this general election. theresa may came here, she knocked on some seven or eight doors along this street. she was met on the doorstep by people in their houses. part of the reason for this type of visit by the prime minister today was there had been some criticism of the conservative campaign, people saying it is too controlled and theresa may has not been out there interacting with the public in the same way some of the other party campaigns have so far. so today theresa may wanted to be seen on the doorstep talking with residents here and overall the reaction was pretty good. i spoke to a few people afterwards who had had a visit from the prime minister and as you might expect one of the overriding reactions was one of surprise. there was one couple who have lived

here for 60 years and they say they have had politicians knock on their door before, but never a prime minister. it is also interesting that theresa may chose to visit this constituency because this street falls into southampton test. that is currently held by labour, but it is a marginal seat, so just a few thousand votes in it. southampton is also one of the places that voted to leave the european union and there was a fairly substantial ukip vote here in the last general election as well. it appears this is part of theresa may's strategy. she wants to go out and target labour held seats where she thinks perhaps her message on brexit, the argument we have heard her make repeatedly, that she is the one to go in and lead these brexit negotiations overjeremy corbyn, she seems to be hoping that can win over perhaps some former labour voters, some ukip voters, to her way of thinking, so a very deliberate choice of constituency for the prime minister to visit today and a very deliberate choice of campaigning technique. she wanted to be seen getting out there and interacting with people. meanwhile, the liberal democrat

leader has been out and about campaigning as well, in wales and the west of england. tim farrand visited a refugee charity in gloucester and promised to allow syrian refugees to settle in the uk over the course of the next parliament if the liberal democrats won the election. —— tim farron. the green party have launched their election manifesto in london. in a speech, the party's co—leader caroline lucas said that britain's prosperity depends on the natural world. we're the only party that puts the environment at the heart of all of our policies. and we do it quite simply because a prosperous, thriving future will be green or not at all. and a reminder — you can keep up to date with all the developments throughout the campaign, and live

events, on the bbc news website — bbc.co.uk/news. and if you're on the move you can follow the election via the bbc news app. the headlines on bbc news: senior labour and trade union figures meet to finalise the party's election manifesto — after extensive details in a draft version were leaked. the bank of england sounds a note of caution about the economy — growth forecasts are downgraded, because the governor says household spending is slowing. there's been a record fine for the company that made 100 million cold calls — their automated messages encouraged people to make insurance claims. and in sport, ross barkley is given a ten—day deadline to sign a new contract at everton or ronald koeman says he'll sell the england international. barkley has a year left on his current deal. alex hales is piling on the runs at trent bridge again. the batsman, who hit an england record score there last year,

is playing for nottinghamshire in the one day cup. and andy murray is playing for a place in the quarter finals of the madrid 0pen. you can follow his progress against borna coric on radio 5 live sports extra. i'll be back with more on those stories. the fallout in the united states keeps coming as more details emerge from the extraordinary sacking of the f by it from the extraordinary sacking of the fbyiti from the extraordinary sacking of the f by it i directorjames komi. -- fbi. the white the f by it i directorjames komi. —— fbi. the white house denies it was trying to close down the fbi investigation into links with russia and has rejected calls for a special

prosecutor. meanwhile, mike flynn, the former head of the national security agency has been accused of not cooperating with the senate investigation into the matter. in the last few minutes, the acting head of the fbi has been giving evidence to a committee of senators and he was asked whether the sacking ofjames and he was asked whether the sacking of james comey has and he was asked whether the sacking ofjames comey has had an impact on the organisation's ability to do its job. this is what he had to say. as you know, senator, the work the men and women of the fbi continues despite any changes in circumstance, any decisions, so there has been no effort to impede our investigation today. simply put, sir, you cannot stop the men and women of the fbi from doing the right thing, protecting the american people, and upholding the constitution. there we i. that is the acting boss of the fbi saying you can't stop the fbi from doing the right thing. you can stop our correspondent from

reporting from washington either. bring us up to date with the way things look a day after that shock dismissal ofjames things look a day after that shock dismissal of james comey. well, eve ryo ne dismissal of james comey. well, everyone was really focused on what the leader would have to say this morning and what you heard was what you would expect to hear from morning and what you heard was what you would expect to hearfrom him. he was also asked intriguingly whether he knew, for example, about any conversations between donald trump andjames any conversations between donald trump and james comey, which the president says he was assured three times that he was not being investigated by the fbi and when he was asked that this morning, he said he could not comment on that. so that mystery remains. i think what you will see from the democrats is attem pts you will see from the democrats is atte m pts to you will see from the democrats is attempts to push the acting fbi director into giving some more information about whether he is seeking more resources for the investigation, or whether he will give it the same priority that james comey gave it. apparently he was giving updates every day. and of course, the search for a new fbi director has begun already, so names

being floated, mike rogers, a former commerce, former chair of the homeland security committee in the house, he has been prominent in some of the rumours this morning. 0ne house, he has been prominent in some of the rumours this morning. one of the rumour which was intriguing i think it highly unlikely was chris christie, would you believe. he was mentioned as a possible, although i think his role perhaps in prosecuting jared kushner‘s father, jared kushner being donald trump's adviser makes unlikely. and the question we have heard about a special prosecutor into the whole issue of the trump campaign and links with russia, is that pressure building or will donald trump hold on against that? i was just talking toa on against that? i was just talking to a republican senator here if you minutes ago, bill cassidy, and he was telling me that there is no appetite for a special prosecutor at the moment, the senate can do its job. however, marco rubio, another

republican said this morning that the time has not come for that yet, so there is some room there but as it stands a special prosecutor has to be appointed by the department of justice, attorney general, there is no sense that there is any appetite there for that. because of course, you do that, and those people are the norm is latitude then. they are not accountable then, apart from the odd update they have to give to congress. they do not have to tell the department ofjustice what they are doing. they have investigatory powers and resources and can read all sorts of places, and if, as a model democrats believe, the white house wants to do its best to close things down on this, then that is the last thing he would want to do. for the moment, thank you very much indeed. theresa may has pledged £21 million to somalia. she has pledged to

support the country, saying it would provide training to the somalian army to improve security. more than 3 million people in somalia faced the threat of food shortages. let's get more on this now from james langdale. just tell us a little bit more as to why theresa may has pledged this money. well, it is very simple. there is a growing need in somalia. notjust far simple. there is a growing need in somalia. not just far more simple. there is a growing need in somalia. notjust far more emergency humanitarian aid, because there is a drought that many people fear will turn into a famine, but also because the security situation still remains pretty bleak. there is a new government in somalia and a lot of weight is being placed on this new administration to try and somehow bring this country together. it is a very, very fragile state. there are very, very fragile state. there are very few basic essential functions ofa very few basic essential functions of a state they're in terms of services and police and army and taxes and things like that. and so what this conference here in london

is designed to do is to essentially create a new plan for the security of somalia, so that slowly but surely over time the international community, britain and others, can help train somali forces so that all the african union forces that have all come in from uganda and elsewhere, they can gently pull out. is there any suggestion that in the future, say a conservative government is re—elected, that there would be more interventionist policies in somalia ? would be more interventionist policies in somalia? no, i don't think so. i think what basis is a conference designed to do two things. one is to keep somalia on the international map, to remind everybody in the international community that somalia is still there, it is still very, very fragile, and if it actually retreats and goes backwards, then the security threat to the region and the wider world will get worse. and i think the second reason why this conference is taking place is very

simple. the british government wants to send a message to the rest of the world that despite brexit it is still engaged with the world as such, and they want to use somalia and other countries like libya, saying these are countries around the world with the uk government is willing to get stuck in, to hold conferences, to try to galvanise the international community, just to say, look, we can make a difference there. that is their aim. i have to say that the problems of somalia are very, very deep—seated. it is very difficult, this idea of creating a new national army. i can remember being told by british governments about how they were creating new armies in afghanistan and elsewhere in the process of training troops ta kes a in the process of training troops takes a very, very long time, so we are very much at the start of the process here, but at least there is a very high—level conference and the international committee is at the very least ill —— engaged. it also sends a signal that even though the

united kingdom is leaving the european union, it still has a ball to play on the world stage. yes, it is really interesting. whenever you hear theresa may talk about brexit and what she called global but britain, which is her phrase, she a lwa ys britain, which is her phrase, she always mentions the usual list, that britain is in remember of the permanent security council, nato, it spends 2% of its national gdp on defence and a certain percentage on international aid. what she is doing here is saying, look, somalia is also something that she is investing in and that is why she has taken time out of the election campaign to comment host ensured the opening session this morning. it is quite unusualfor a prime session this morning. it is quite unusual for a prime ministers session this morning. it is quite unusualfor a prime ministers to ta ke unusualfor a prime ministers to take time out during a campaign to spend on international affairs. there is clearly a very large somalian dyas pariah within the united kingdom. the figures are uncertain but about a quarter of a

million people, so clearly many people who live and vote in the united kingdom have a huge interest in what is going on in somalia, but thatis in what is going on in somalia, but that is not white she is here. she has here just to say that somalia is on the map and this is what the international community should be doing. she has urged the rest of the international community to do more and to increase the amount of humanitarian assistance. the un secretary—general is also here on his first big visit to britain since he took up the post. he warned that the amount of money that is required to meet the humanitarian needs in somalia this year is $900 million. that is about £700 million short. that is about £700 million short. that is a huge amount of money for the international community to raise injust six months. the need is great. and that is what they are trying to address here. james, really good to talk to you. many thanks. the bank of england is predicting only moderate growth

for the uk economy this year — with a squeeze on households' incomes, as wages rise more slowly than prices. interest rates have been kept at 0.25%. looking further ahead, the forecast is brighter — although as our economics correspondent andrew verity reports, a lot depends on the brexit negotiations. here is one element of the cost of living that is shooting up. the wholesale price of butter has doubled in the last year, according to dairy farmers. producers and shops are passing on some, but not all of that to us, the consumers. at the last count, the retail price of oils and fats like butter was up by 15.5% compared to last year. for the price of butter, as for the whole economy, the big question is, is this inflation temporary, or will it last? i think for the bank of england, they are really trying to work out how persistent the rise that we are seeing in inflation at the moment is going to be, and juggle that against the context which is a uk economy that is weakening, a housing market that is looking a little bit soggy, certainly in terms of activity, people looking for new houses and

properties coming onto the market. a uk economy that is also facing brexit headwinds. the official consumer price index measure of inflation got down below zero in 2015. but now, it's back above the 2% target. the bank of england is now predicting it will carry on rising, peaking later this year at 2.8%. the wages that people are getting are not going to be sufficient to compensate for the rises in consumer prices, the prices in the shop. and so this is going to be a more challenging time for british households over the course of this year. one big reason for higher price rises is the pound. because it dropped in value both before and after the referendum, you need more pounds to get hold of the dollars and euros we need to buy imported goods. and most of our goods are imported. the projected inflation entirely reflects the effects on import prices of the fall in sterling since late 2015, a depreciation caused by market expectations of a material

adjustment to the uk's medium term prospects as it leaves the eu. the bank's confident prediction is that the effect of the weaker pound will peter out next year and that workers will not seek to beat inflation by demanding much higher wages. on that basis, interest rates may have to rise a little in the next three years, but only very slowly. andy verity, bbc news. waiting times for a number of key nhs services in england were the worst in five years, according to analysis of figures for the year to the end of march. more people waited more than four hours to be seen in a&e, and cancer referral times also worsened. 0ur health editor hugh pym has been looking at the figures. this is key performance targets for the nhs in england, looking at the whole financial year. we got figures for march today, giving us the picture for the financial year. an analysis by the health foundation, which shows across the whole year there were 2.5 million people waiting

longer than the four hour standard to be treated or assessed in a&e, and that's a really big increase on five years ago, when the figure was more like 725,000. on another key performance benchmark, how long you have to wait for cancer treatment once there's been an urgent referral by your gp, it should be 62 days, two months. for the full year, it was 26,000 people waiting longer than that. again, quitea big increase on the figure for 2011—12, which was just over 14,000. so a worsening across all these key measures. now it is time for the weather. it has been a decent day but we are beginning to see a change to something a little bit wetter. some showers and thunderstorms across the

south—west. chalmers coming in from the south, effecting the south—east for a time the south, effecting the south—east fora time and the south, effecting the south—east for a time and it will turn wet in northern ireland. breeze coming in from the south. it is a warm wind, fairly humoured. 13 celsis will be the lowest temperature is for cardiff and london. tomorrow will be different. showers and potential blunders storms, drifting ever northwards on that breeze. some sunshine in between those showers. they could be heavy. largely dry on the eastern side of scotland, but only 10 celsius. warmer on the west. through the evening, in a lot of showers fade away from the south—east. then we will have further showers drifting northwards and pretty grey on the eastern side of scotland. into the weekend, sunny spells for some and showers for others. also things turning fresh as we head towards sunday. this is bbc news, the headlines:

the labour party approves its general election manifesto after a draft version was leaked to the media. jeremy corbyn said the manifesto would be an offer to the people. 0ffer offer that will transform the lives offer that will transform the lives of many people in our society and ensure that we have a government in britain on june the ensure that we have a government in britain onjune the aid that will work for the many, not for the few. the bank of england issues a note of caution about the economy as it downgrades its growth forecast. it says household spending is slowing, with weak retail sales and a sharp fall in new car registrations in april. waiting times for key nhs services in england were the worst in five years in the latest financial year according to new analysis with 2.5 million people waiting longer than four hours to be seen in a&e. three women, including a mother and daughter, appear in court charged with terrorism offences and conspiracy to murder.

a cold—calling firm is fined a record £a00,000 for making almost 100 million nuisance calls. marketing firm keurboom communications called people, sometimes at unsocial hours, trying to get them to make compensation claims. hugh ferris has all the spot. the everton boss ronald koeman says he's prepared to lose ross barkley if he doesn't sign a new contract soon. the england midfielder still has a year left on his current deal. and koeman says the club must have an answer by the end of the season in ten days' time believing the longer it takes the more doubts barkley must have and koeman says he prefers to work with players who want to stay. the fa chairman greg clarke has defended the rights of football clubs to pay agents whatever they see fit. clarke has spoken in the light of a fifa investigation into the £89 million transfer

of paul pogba from juventus to manchester united last summer. they have written to united asking for clarification after allegations that pogba's agent mino raiola, was paid £41 million for the deal, 22 of which, it's claimed, came directly from united. if manchester united want to pay an agent that much money, and i do not know, i have not looked into each individual transfer, that is what they will pay. they are accountable to their owners and fans. if they think it is good value for money, how much should we pay to players and agents? if football wants to change that and limit the amount of money agents get, we have to sit down as again led by the professional game and the premier league and the efl and the clubs and talk about that. manchester united will attempt to do something tonight they've never done before — reach the final of the europa league. they're defending a 1—0 lead from the first

leg of their semifinal against celta vigo at old trafford. united managerjose mourinho won the competition with porto back in 2003 and has made it his priority in recent weeks as winning the trophy would mean a place in next season's champions league. it was not a gamble, it was a consequence of our situation. so we are in this situation now and we have to fight for it. let's see if tomorrow we can do it and if we can go to the final. a host of england players are featuring in the one match of the day in the royal london 0ne day cup with nottinghamshire playing durham at trent bridge. durham won the toss and put the hosts into bat. england's alex hales has been making hay in the nottinghamshire sunshine and managed to find the only window open in a radio commenatary box with one of his sixes. hales has been dropped three times. he finally bowed out for 104.

british riders geraint thomas and adam yates are still second and third at the giro d'italia, ten seconds behind bob jungels of luxembourg. it was stage 6 out of 21 today, the race has reached the italian mainland after passing through sardinia and sicily. no change in the battle for the overall race win because a small breakaway group managed to hold off the main bunch for the whole135—mile stage. a great day's work for swiss rider silvan dillier, who took his first stage win at a grand tour. they're under way at the players' championship. often described as golf‘s unofficial fifth major. and ahead of his tee time injust over two hours' time rory mcilroy is looking for a turnaround in fortunes after announcing he'll be

using a new club manufacturer. i have been trying to shed a few pounds before here. ifeel like my game is in good shape and i needed to address a few issues in between augusta and here and that is where i was the first ten days after augusta and then i turned my attention elsewhere, but i feel really good coming into this event. andy murray has lost the first set of his madrid open match against borna coric. they are currently on serve in the second set. you can follow it on five live sports extra. more in the next hour. three women have appeared in court in london charged with preparing a terrorist act and conspiracy to murder. they include 21—year—old rizlaine boular, who was shot

by police during a raid at a property in willesden two weeks ago. seven other people, arrested as part of the investigation, have been released from police custody. dominic casciani was in court. this was a very unusual hearing this morning. in the dock we had a mother, mina dich, 43, her daughter, rizlaine boular, 21, and a third woman, khawla barghouthi. the first fence was conspiracy to murder and the second was an act of terrorism. in investigating allegations, they say there is an allegations, they say there is an allegation against the mother and daughter and a third woman. it is said that rizlaine boular was involved in

planning an attack that involved knives in the capital. she is further accused of engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism and her mother and the third defendants are accused of helping her in that game. when they came into the dock this morning the mother and daughter were wearing full islamic dress, their faces were fully veiled. the senior district judge, ella arbuthnott, asked both women to partly remove the face covering so their eyes could be seen and they agreed to do that. then the mother brought the covering back down again over her eyes. there was no application for bail, so the judge reminded them in custody to next appear at the old bailey a week on friday.

a marketing company which made nearly 100 million nuisance calls has been fined a record 400 thousand pounds, by the information commissioners office. keurboom communications made automated calls to people encouraging them to make insurance claims. a little earlier i spoke to john mitchison from the direct marketing association which represents telephone marketing companies. it was initially a surprise when you see the scale of the fine, but when you hear about the calls being made it was proportionate. 100 million calls. about 200,000 a day. we welcome this kind of fine. rogue companies like this that make illegal calls to people brings the legitimate industry into disrepute, so this is a good sign. what is their business model? if they are

making 100 million calls, how many of them are they hoping will pay off and make it worthwhile? a company like this can do it on a low—cost scale. they can get simple software and a computer and they may even just dial the number is randomly because they know the format of uk numbers and they keep dialling and playing a recorded message. when it hits a live number a person may respond. press five to speak to an operator and you leave the details. that information for ppi or accident claims may then be sold on. it is a lead generation system, collecting people was backdated to sell on. it is not marketing in the way most releva nt is not marketing in the way most relevant organisations would recognise it. it is a nuisance and upsetting for a lot of people, elderly people and so on. is this a growing problem or has it been brought under control? it is a very significant problem. i am not sure

it is growing at the moment, it has been at a high level for a number of yea rs. been at a high level for a number of years. there have been a lot of actions taking place to try and stop this. a lot of fines have been issued. that is all very good. what happened in this case is the company has gone into liquidation, so it might be difficult for the ico to claim the money. but what we would like to see is for all directors to be held personally liable. we might go even further and say custodial sentences for the worst cases such as this might be appropriate. you think that would nail it as a problem? at the moment companies seem to be able to get away with it. it is difficult to track these companies down. 0rganisations overseas, it is even more difficult. a lot are from overseas? a lot of them are, but the call may be

initiated from overseas, but it is generally there to gather data which is used by a uk organisation. if you track the data and where the money goes, you can normally trace a uk company and if they are buying pulley collected data, they are just as liable. the european union's chief brexit negotiator has addressed the parliament of ireland. he addressed issues relating to the border with northern ireland. our ireland correspondent gave us this update a little earlier. ireland had given him very special treatment here today. before today the only visitors invited to speak to the irish parliament were presidents and prime ministers like ronald reagan, nelson mandela. the fact michel barnier has been invited to give a speech in the houses of parliament

here is a sign of how serious the irish government is treating the issue of brexit which has been dominating the political agenda here. what michel barnier had to say reflected what was in the eu draft negotiating guidelines on brexit. the issues around the border have to be resolved in the first phase of talks with the uk. the irish government are pleased about that, that the issue has been pushed high on the overall exit agenda. the trickiest issue will be what happens to the border between northern ireland and the republic of our alone. at the moment it is an open border, you hardly notice it is there, but will control is coming after brexit? everybody involved all say they do not want that to happen, but if the uk is leading the european customs union, and it is, what will happen regarding monitoring of goods as they cross the border? that is something michel

barnier spoke about in his speech to the parliamentarians here today. brexit changes the borders with the eu, buti brexit changes the borders with the eu, but i will work with you to avoid a hard border. the uk's departure from the eu will have consequences. departure from the eu will have consequences. we have a duty to speak the truth. we have together the duty to speak the truth. customs controls are part of order management to protect the single market, to protect our food safety and our standards. but as i already said many times, nothing in these negotiations should put peace at risk. a strong expression of will on behalf of michel barnier, that the eu will do their best to avoid a ha rd eu will do their best to avoid a hard border on the island of

ireland. that is a priority for them, but as you heard he puts the customer ‘s conundrum in a nutshell and it is that brainteaser that will be occupying the minds of the officials in belfast, brussels, london and dublin as the brexit process unfolds. the focus has been very much on michel barnier‘s speech here in dublin. ireland is likely to be the nation most affected by brexit, apart from the uk itself. in a moment at look at how the financial markets in europe closed the day. first, the headlines. senior labour and trade union figures finalise the party's election manifesto after extensive details in a draft version were leaked. the bank of england sounds a note of caution about the economy. growth forecasts are downgraded, because the governor says household spending is slowing. there's been a record fine for the company that made 100 million cold calls. their automated messages encouraged people to make insurance claims.

hello, now the business news. now a look at how the markets in europe have ended the trading session. it has been a pretty flat today. here mixed economic news affected the markets. here in the uk some mixed economic news really affected trade. in the us retail and tech have been coming under pressure. let's look at the detail. snapchat‘s results were much worse than expected. the company lost 2.2 billion dollars in the first three months of the year. the share price fell by almost a quarter after the news, though it has recovered a bit since then. bt is cutting 4,000 jobs over the next couple of years. most of those are going to come from back office staff and managers. and the boss his losing his bonus.

profits came in at 440 million pounds in the last quarter. that's a drop of almost a half. there's been a warning from the bank of england about inflation. it says the impact of the fall in the pound after the brexit vote is already starting to force prices up. it also said that growth in wages was weak. this came as it kept interest rates on hold once again. helal miah, investment research analyst at the share centrejoins me now. low growth in wages and higher inflation, this will hit us in our pockets. yes, they have downgraded 2017's gdp forecast only marginally, but inflation is rising as a result of sterling's fall and that has been hitting the consumer sector pretty hard. 0ne hitting the consumer sector pretty hard. one thing we are noticing is that the wage growth for the last couple of years and this year will

still be relatively weak. but the positives are at the fact that in 2018 and 2019 the bank of england has marginally raised its growth forecast and it does expect a reversal of the inflation rate and the wage rate, so expect that wage rates will pick up and we could the real incomes rise in 2018 and 2019. what is the evidence? what will drive that? the fact that sterling is weak, the export sector will benefit in time and business inventories and investment should pick up over time as well and that should feed into capacity, corporate capacity being relatively low going forward if global growth picks up and we should see a pick—up in wage rate. we might see a much more aggressive stance on interest rates in the future. that seems to be the

implication, although the fact they have reduced the gdp numbers for 2017 did have a negative impact on interest rates in the short—term, but going the fact that inflation day forecast would remain above 2%, possibly 3%. and in future they could raise interest rates faster than expected. let's have a look at bt, not great news. the boss is losing his bonus, is he safe? that is difficult to say. bt has been under pressure for a good number of yea rs. we have under pressure for a good number of years. we have seen slower markets in the uk public sector and in the global corporate sector. there has been the italian accounting scandal as well and on top of that it has got a very large pension deficit. a number of issues to contender with. what we may see going forward is the

fa ct what we may see going forward is the fact this company could be rescued by its consumer division, the division relating to mobile, broadband and tv, although in the fourth quarter the tv subscription numbers were relatively good. but overall the market was disappointed because the earnings before interest tax fell short of expectations and the dividend was raised, but the expectations are that it will grow atafar expectations are that it will grow at a far slower rate previously anticipated. thank you very much. mixed economic news on the stocks in the uk. not much action. in the us the uk. not much action. in the us the row over the firing of the fbi bossis the row over the firing of the fbi boss is causing concern. investors are worried it could hamper donald trump's plans to fire up the economy. that is it from me, thank you very much. see you tomorrow. why not?

recent results have shown opinion polls are not always quite as reliable as they should be as an indication of what will happen at the ballot box. before the election nick robinson will be crossing the united kingdom to see how voters reveal about the parties and he has been to halifax to meet a group of voters there. this wiki is looking at labour's prospects. we are here above a pub in halifax. it may look like a church because this is no ordinary pub. this is where the halifax building society was founded and hence the oak panels and the stained—glass windows. we are here to talk about politics with a bit of a curry. we know all of you voted for brexit. what are you looking for in the person who leads the negotiations. somebody strong and who will get the best deal for britain. we are not going to take

the 85 billion euros building they throw at us. confident. not easily led. nicola? throw at us. confident. not easily led. nicola ? strong. throw at us. confident. not easily led. nicola? strong. use a trustworthy as well? yes. that is what you want, so is there anyone who feels that role at the moment? nigel farage. he is staying in europe to make sure we get a decent deal when we come out. we need someone who does not exist at the moment. somebody with a bit of backbone. we need somebody who is a realist and who will listen to the people and take what the people have spoken. somebody who understands the needs of somebody from a working—class background, not somebody born with a silver spoon in their mouth. is there anyone else?

jeremy corbyn. he is definitely the most down—to—earth, the biggest realist out of them all. he is probably the most trustworthy. there's anybody else likejeremy corbyn? no? not sure? just me, i am on my own. nobody said theresa may. i voted labour the past few times, but i do not know if i will vote labouragain or but i do not know if i will vote labour again or this time. theyjust seem to be doing round turns on themselves. there is in—house arguing, they cannot get their own house in order and if that is the state of their house, i don't want them coming to my house, sorry. can you remember ever voting for a different party? probably in the 80s and early 90s i voted conservative. but you have been labourfor a long time? yes. can you make thejourney

back? i don't know, it is a sticky wicket. you will not go as far as voting tory? no, however, never say never. if they have got something good and solid and something they can prove, well then maybe i could be swayed towards that. you said you would vote tory. yes, i would. we are talking about somebody speaking for the working class, but the working class say i can vote tory. jeremy corbyn does not have the charisma. he reminds me of somebody from the 705 like michael foot, he i5 from the 705 like michael foot, he is nice and cuddly, but he has got no charisma for me. i could not vote for him. a lot of labour mp5, i can think of three, jeremy corbyn, diane abbott and... i cannot remember three. i

abbott and... i cannot remember three. lam abbott and... i cannot remember three. i am lost in a loop and i do not know who anybody is. you feel strongly about him? yes, i do. labour created a mess and they should come back in and clean it out. make a bigger mess. i do not think they will. they will write their wrong. you have to believe in that person and what they say. and you do not? no. nick robinson with voters in halifax. david beckham has made his speaking debut on the silver screen. he was greeted with cheers at the premiere of the film king arthur, although the reception for his cameo performances as a soldier has been mixed. david sillitoe reports. david beckham. you could probably say he's got it all.

the footballing talent, the looks, the global fame. and he just looks right on a red carpet. no wonder the movies have called. there are rumours, the legend of the sword of a king other than yourself. find him. this, an all—action retelling of the king arthur story. it is, of course, far from his first time on screen. he had a cameo in the man from u.n.c.l.e, and was the moody, silent star of this short film. however, there's more. i think people are going to love it. 0bviously, with guy's movies, you know what you're going to get, but there's a few surprises. one of them being, we both see and hear mr beckham's acting. right, where do you want me? bouncing on my knee. where do you think i want you? hands on the hilt, stupid! the reaction — more than a few critics have been a bit critical. let's have another listen. right, where do you want me? bouncing on my knee. where you think i want you? hands on the hilt, stupid! all these negative comments

are terribly unfair, say his defenders. and the director. yeah, i love him. and i think he's great on screen. i find him very talented, yeah, i love him. david beckham, meanwhile, says he has no plans to take up acting full time. and now the weather. it has been a decent day across large swathes of the uk, but changes are on their way. this low pressure system is bringing thunderstorms and also dragging in some warm airfrom quite a long way south, so it is humid across parts of england and wales. it is all drifting its way northwards. we are changing the script to something a bit more settled over the next few days.

those showers are drifting through wales and it will push into the south—east part of the midlands. quite cloudy in the north east with local out. tablet as are holding up quite nicely in the south. but it will be a great start for many southern counties with a lot of pride and some rain in the morning. maybe a few breaks in the cloud here and there. the north east of england will be grey and the north west will be bright. easter is sees a lot of low cloud in the morning. northern ireland is grey and wet, but western scotla nd ireland is grey and wet, but western scotland will do well with some sunshine. it will be worn in the west and chilli underneath the cloud in the east and there will be a fair bit of rain in northern ireland. scattered showers and thunderstorms

in england and wales. there will be some dry interludes as well, but the showers are heavy and thundery. in the south it is in the low 20s and a fairly humid feel. at the weekend there will be some sunshine and showers and things will turn a bit fresher as we get into sunday. let's ta ke fresher as we get into sunday. let's take a closer look at things and on saturday staying mostly dry for most of the day in the south east, but showers likely in the north and west of the uk. temperatures round about 15 or16, of the uk. temperatures round about 15 or 16, but 19 or 20 in the south east. 0n 15 or 16, but 19 or 20 in the south east. on saturday night into sunday, rain comes into all parts, and behind that the air is fresh coming in off the atlantic. there will be some scattered showers on sunday and temperatures in the middle to upper teens. the next couple of days has a fairly humid feel to things with

some potentially thundery showers. today at 5pm: labour's election manifesto has now been formally approved by the party leadership, and will be published within days. after a four—hour meeting, jeremy corbyn said the policy programme had been unanimously agreed, and said it contained very popular proposals. an offer that will transform the lives of many people in our society and ensure that we have a government in britain onjune the 8th that will work for the many, not the few. but earlier, mr corbyn had failed to attend labour's big poster launch, amid confusion over a leaked version of the labour manifesto. we'll have the latest on the labour manifesto, we'll be looking at some of the policies in more detail, and we'll have reaction. the other main stories: the bank of england downgrades its forecast for economic growth this year, with a warning of a squeeze on consumer spending.