you're watching bbc news. i'm ben brown in bradford wherejeremy corbyn has launched labour's election manifesto, promising a radical blueprint for britain he said labour would expand childcare, scrap university tuition fees and boost wages for the low—paid — funded through tax rises for high earners. we are asking the better off and because orations to pay a little bit more. “— because orations to pay a little bit more. —— big corporations. the tory campaign is built on one word, fear. in the next hour. the cost of living goes up to its highest level for almost 4 years. official figures show inflation at 2.7 per cent, driven by a rise in clothing, energy prices and air fares. the white house denies a report that president trump revealed classified intelligence to the russian foreign minister when they met last week. greater manchester police say the death of the moors murderer, ian brady, won't stop them looking

for the remains of keith bennett whose body was never found. i'm ben brown live in bradford where the labour leader jeremy corbyn has officially launched the pa rty‘s general election manifesto, some of the details of which were leaked last week. he said it was a radical blueprint for britain. let's just tell you what we know so far from what has been published today. it includes proposals to renationalise the water companies, as well as the railways and the royal mail. there would be more free

childcare for two—year—olds and some one—year—olds. and university tuition fees in england would be scrapped. 0n taxation, it proposes a 45p tax rate on earnings of over £80,000. and a 50p rate for those earning more than £123,000. there will also be a levy on companies which pay staff over £330,000 pounds a year. mr corbyn called the manifesto a "radical and responsible" plan for government. from bradford, where the manifesto was launched, here's our political correspondent, iain watson. jeremy, the country is behind you! they say it's often better to travel hopefully then arrive. labour is still behind in the polls so its leading politicians are crossing their fingers that the official launch of a detailed manifesto will turn things around. the labour leader says his manifesto is radical and responsible.

the emphasis was on the former, not the latter. labour will take our railways back into public ownership and put passengers first. we will take back control of our country's water by bringing them into regional public ownership. and we will take a public stake in the energy sector to keep fuel prices down and ensure a balanced and green energy policy for the future. jeremy corbyn chose to launch his manifesto at the university of bradford. it's hoped that young people will be registering to vote and be more radical than their parents. his commitment to abolish tuition fees in england will be used as a rallying cry. labour will scrap tuition fees, lifting the debt... cheering

and that will lift the debt cloud from hundreds of thousands of young people. you might have a sense of deja vu because much of this manifesto leaked last week. but how they will pay for it, didn't. jeremy corbyn set out the labour approach to tax and spending, but did not provide estimates as to the cost of renationalising key companies. all this is costed as the documents accompanying the manifesto make clear. the revenue—making plans ensure we can embark on this ambitious programme withoutjeopardising our national finances. we are asking the better off and the big corporations to pay a little bit more. this is a programme of hope. the tory campaign, by contrast, is built on one word — fear. what are the key tax changes? people will start paying tax at 45% when they earn more than £80,000 per year, not £150,000 at present. and those earning more than £123,000 will start playing at 50p

will start paying at 50p in the pound if labour is elected. companies that pay employees more than £333,000 per year will also be subject to a new levy. labour is insisting that the proposals, even on higher nationalisation and taxes for the better off, are popular with the wider public. the problem is, quite frankly, that he, the party leader, isn't. so unless labour can have a campaign focused on policy rather than personality, it's a huge challenge between now and june 8th. for the many, not the few. thank you very much. he's off on the campaign trail. whether radical or responsible, or a bit of both, his manifesto will give a clear choice for the public between the government and the opposition. iain watson, bbc news, bradford.

whyjoin northern smith. lots of applause and rapture forjeremy corbyn, but there is already some uncertain say on what he is saying on benefit. jeremy corbyn was asked whether he would look at benefits. they are talking about expanding personal independence payments given that the court ruling the other day. it would cost £2 billion which is an expensive move. there are long—term changes to our security system and

they have suggested that they won't press ahead with raising the state pension age to beyond 66. that is potentially expensive. as we go through the detail, we are beginning to find little bits and pieces where they seem to be more costs built in. there's a lot of talk about nationalisation, and how politically radical is this? will this appeal to floating voters in swing constituencies? ya lie it's genuinely —— it is genuinely radical, but whether it appeals remains to be seen. encouraging

local authorities to bring services back into control, pushing back on the private sector, it is also radical in our marked economy which has been traditionally pro—businesses, and that was the accepted political consensus. he wa nts to accepted political consensus. he wants to change that. he says that business has to pay higher wages, they have more obligations in term of conditions in terms of employers, and part—time workers full rights. they will pay more in tax and we don't know the impact of that. he in visit g is that smack he is envisaged in a different sort of economy. he's also added water companies coming into public ownership. the idea of a levy on

companies that pay really big salaries, safe you pay one of your people more than £330,000, then you have to pay a substantial lead people stop if you earn more than half a million social care, a massive issue. theresa may is positioning herself for a big announcement on that. labour suggest they would be open to looking at wealth and employer taxes to pay for a revamped social care system. thank you, norman. sorry for the interruption in that interview

with norman. labour say their ma nifesto with norman. labour say their manifesto is fully costed. well members of the conservative party have had their say on the contents of labour's ma nifesto. the treasury minister, david gauke said the proposals would damage the economy. labour says it's spending commitments are fully costed — but do they really add up? the bbc‘s chris morris has been giving the figures a reality check. but where does labour say the money is coming from? well, it estimates an extra tax take of £48.6 billion. let's break that down a little, income tax first. higher earners will pay more, and we're talking about roughly the top 5% of earners. and we're talking about roughly we reckon that's about 1.2 million people. earnings above £80,000 will be taxed at 45%. with a new 50% rate on earnings above £123,000. labour says this will raise £6.4 billion per year. but the biggest increase in tax take, according to labour's plans, will come from an increase in corporation tax. it's currently 19% and labour plans to increase that rate to 26% by 2021. 0nce that's done, labour says its corporation tax plans will raise £19.4 billion per year.

labour itself acknowledges that companies and individuals change their behaviour when tax rates change, and you also have to take account of the overall health of the economy. raising tax rates doesn't always increase the overall tax take as much as predicted. there are other measures to raise revenue. vat on private school fees, for example, and a levy on what labour calls excessive pay, starting with a 2.5% levy paid by employers on pay packages over £330,000. the manifesto also says £6.5 billion will be raised from an aggressive programme to crack down on tax avoidance. political parties always say they'll do that, and it can be done, but it's a pretty inexact science. overall, though, labour says it can finance all its current spending plans through changes in the tax system. £48.6 billion out, £48.6 billion in. does it add up? they are suggesting

a £50 billion increase in tax, and it would take the burden to the highest level it's been in about 70 yea rs. highest level it's been in about 70 years. there's a lot of uncertainty as to whether you could raise that tax. you are talking about very large increases on companies that might reduce the investment that they do. the amount you could get could run into the tens of billions but certainly not the 50 billion that labour are claiming. there's also those nationalisation plans. labour says it will borrow money for future investment. it's talking about a national transformation fund of £250 billion, but there's no

detailed costing of that in their ma nifesto. detailed costing of that in their manifesto. that will be the source of controversy and political debate, but it makes one bold promise. it says it will ensure that the national debt is low at the end of the new parliament than it is today. here in bradford, we've been focusing on labour's manifesto. let's cross to south queensferry where the snp leader nicola sturgeon is about to speak. in this election, it's vital that we elect strong snp mps who will stand up elect strong snp mps who will stand upfor elect strong snp mps who will stand up for scotland and protect scotland's interest at westminster. we know the biggest risk to scotland in the years ahead is an increasing hardline tory government, intent on more austerity, more cuts and

intend, not just more austerity, more cuts and intend, notjust on brexit, but the most extreme form of brexit possible, so we need to make sure that after this election, scotland's voice is heard, loudly and clearly. it is more important than it has ever been. and's voice to be heard. the mps from scotland to stand up for scotland and protect our interests. tory mps will be rubber sta m ps interests. tory mps will be rubber stamps for what ever theresa may wa nts to stamps for what ever theresa may wants to do. snp mps will be there to stand up for our interests. we are strongerfor to stand up for our interests. we are stronger for scotland, we always have been and we always will be. let's get out there and win this election for scotland. how are you all? there is nicola sturgeon, the

snp leader, speaking in south queensferry to mark ten years of the snp in government. let's come back to bradford now and a little bit of confusion in his remarks about benefits. 0ur political editor spoke tojeremy benefits. 0ur political editor spoke to jeremy corbyn after the benefits. 0ur political editor spoke tojeremy corbyn after the launch and this is what he told her. it's taking over the train operating as the contracts expire. we have london transport operating and in the suburbs. we have publicly owned merseyrail which will be a continuation of that and that will mean you will have the benefits of the huge investments that we have all paid. for big nationalisations that you are proposing. there's no guiding manifesto as to the scaler that change, or example, the

waterboard, the electricity. you are not giving people the information you have promise. water bills have gone up 40% since privatisation. dividends have gone up massively to other people in other parts of the world, and water companies have been fined for polluting our rivers. it should be in public ownership as it is in scotland, and the process of doing that may be a bond issue in exchange for shares, and it will be taken into public ownership and instead of the profits being siphoned off elsewhere, they will be here, investing in good quality water, good quality construction. why in this manifesto is there no scale, no ballpark figure for how much it might cost the public purse

to renationalise for major industries. we don't know what the share price would be at the time that we will do it. there's a neutral cast on it and i believe in the case of water it will be regarding the bonds. we are not proposing nationalisation of the dnc... waita proposing nationalisation of the dnc... wait a minute, excuse me, proposing nationalisation of the dnc... waita minute, excuse me, i'm trying to finish. the national grid should be publicly owned because it's a key part of our consecutive and infrastructure. in nottingham, you have various companies around the country and they are actually producing cheaper electricity. we wa nt to producing cheaper electricity. we want to cn investment in energy needs for the future in which about 60% will be from renewables, so we

will be investing heavily in renewable energy and building on what has been successful wind farms in the tens estuary and the dogger bank. you haven't promised to reverse all the tory welfare cuts, so that the disappointing for some of your supporters? what i have to say 0n of your supporters? what i have to say on that is this, we have set aside £2 billion to deal with the worst effects of the benefit cuts. the benefit cap has perverse effects, worst in the areas of high cost, private sector housing... to be completely clear... can i finish? we will deal with these issues with the housing, we will increase living wage so those with in work benefits

will obviously change and it will affect them. for those on disability benefit, who are going through the indignity of the capability for work assessment, that will become an medical assessment and not bureaucratic. they will be a lot of changes there. the 2 billion i have set aside is to deal with the worst effects of the way the cap operates. we will make sure that people don't end up on unreasonable, and their sanctions, and frankly, some commit suicide. so you are making some changes? you will see those changes, but bear in mind that we have had two weeks to prepare all these policy issues. i accept the challenge. we have produced i think, a well thought out manifesto in a short space of time. it will be up

to the voters! i look forward to their decision. at prime minister's questions, you have used questions from voters. my tablet a question to you from a voter, in those private moments at the end of the day, does jeremy corbyn in his heart of hearts think he will move into number ten? iam think he will move into number ten? i am proud to lead this party with an opportunity to give some real chance, some real hope so that every child in this country can have a fair chance, dealing with these horrendous levels of inequality. i am not happy to see people sleeping on the streets, people eating at food banks, i don't want to see that. i want to see a country that is fair. do you think be minister

next month? we are doing well in this campaign. look forjune nine. look forjune the nith. david gauke says it will damage the, economy. gayle it will feed through into hitting wages. the people who will pay the price that he pledges we have heard today from the labour party will see their taxes rise. that's the only way we can see the money coming from what we have heard today. i am joined money coming from what we have heard today. iam joined here money coming from what we have heard today. i am joined here at the university of bradford by its politics professor. thank you for being with us, paul rogers. can you

tell us about bradford. the labour heartland. this is wherejeremy corbyn came to launch his manifesto today. it's very multicultural, part ofa today. it's very multicultural, part of a wider west yorkshire region. there is a very strong lib dem tradition here, and one of the bradford seats was lib dem. it's an interesting area to come to and interestingly, he had most of the afternoon here yesterday. it's odd because this meeting today had about 150 labour party members and the rest was open to students and the public. it was very busy. this is the experience they were having at leeds yesterday. there's a disconnect between the public image and what happens when the guys on

the road appear. whether that means something, i don't know, but it does come back to costings. but what you can say is this a very clear choice that there wasn't a week ago. i think these few weeks will be really interesting and more open than people would currently predict. there's a lot of talk about public ownerships, renationalise in the water companies which wasn't in the league of the draft manifesto last week. it is very radical. water comes as a surprise week. it is very radical. water comes as a surprise because it could be pretty expensive but it would depend how they did it and over what period and it's therefore the intention. of course, if you go back to the most notable labour government it was more radical than this. this is different compare to

the last 20 years. it's not so much about going back to the roots, it's about going back to the roots, it's about taking those routes and ringing them on in a different way. it's different but it is popular. if you look at the opinion polling on the individual items, the policies of popular. it's a question of leadership so it's interesting to see the response that he is getting. it doesn't gel without overall feeling and that's what makes it so interesting at this time. —— with our overall feeling. back to you in the studio. theresa may has been campaigning in the west midlands. let's cross live to our correspondent eleanor garnier. she is on the prime minister's battle bus. in terms of theresa may

and what she's up to can you bring us and what she's up to can you bring us up to speed? we are in the middle of our lunch. you have interrupted us. of our lunch. you have interrupted us. we are in the west midlands. the prime minister has been at a primary school in birmingham where she was talking to simulate three pupils who are about eight years old. —— talking to some year three pupils. this is one of the first free schools in the country. interestingly, the seat where that primary school is has a huge labour majority, more than 20,000. that says something about the prime minister's ambitions for this general election. we are off for another visit to the west midlands elsewhere. i thought i would let you

know about life on this bus. at the back, you can see the blue screens. surprisingly enough, theresa may is behind those screens. with her chief aides. she has her security and her advisers and then you get towards the front where you get the rest of the front where you get the rest of the media. a lovely spread for lunch. tis, copies. —— tea and coffee. this bus will be following every m ove coffee. this bus will be following every move the prime minister makes. i can't promise to bring you back some lunch, simon, but i will try. attention today is on the labour ma nifesto. attention today is on the labour manifesto. has there been any reaction behind that blue board on that. we have yet to ask theresa may

about her reaction to the labour pa rty‘s manifesto. about her reaction to the labour party's manifesto. we have heard from david gauke, the treasury minister, who says that labour's plans are nonsensical and unachievable, but that has come from david gauke and not the prime minister specifically. of course, we will be putting that to the prime minister, exactly what she makes of that and what jeremy minister, exactly what she makes of that and whatjeremy corbyn has been saying this morning. i expect her to saying this morning. i expect her to say similar things. at the moment, the prime minister is tucked safely away behind those blue screens and so far, the nationaljournalists on this bus had been unable to speak to her so far. make yourself a coffee on that machine, life in the battle bus. simon, come back to me once

i've made it. i can barely stand up. thank you, eleanor. honesty is the best policy! you are watching bbc news. inflation has risen to its highest level for nearly four years. the consumer prices index jumped last month from 2.3% to 2.7% — driven partly by the fall in the value of sterling, as well as a rise in airfares, electricity prices and clothing. 0ur economics correspondent, andrew verity, has been looking at the figures. airfares, clothing and electricity. just a few of the reasons the cost of living is now rising faster than it has in three years. prices in the year to april rose more quickly than most economists thought they would. please don't ask what that has to do with the price of fish, it's up by 8%.

and then there's the price of books, up by 7%. then there's passenger transport by road, up by 10%. of course, other prices are falling, but the average price rise is now 2.7%, and there is no doubt prices are rising faster than wages. a businessman, a young nurse on maternity leave, and a retired miner all have their own ways of adjusting to that. if your memory is long enough, inflation of less than 3% doesn't sound threatening. it might even be welcome. it's in everybody‘s interest to keep inflation to a bare minimum. a small amount of inflation is quite healthy. it creates a competitive world we need to live in. we, as a company employing people, i think in uk manufacturing we have to get smarter at what we do and get more out of what we have got. for those whose costs are growing anyway, the renewed squeeze on living standards is doubly difficult. you have to be able to afford to live. you do 12 and a half hour shifts. you do night shifts and really short staffed it is, and it's knackering.

then you come home and you have to put food on the table. price rises seem to take place every single week. if it's not the rising price of a brand, it's also the fact you get less for your money now. one of the big reasons inflation is on the up is the weaker pound. it takes more pounds to get the dollars, euros, or yen you need to buy imported goods. that's driven up the price of imports. wages are low and slowing, only going up by about 2% per year, yet prices in the shops are rising 2.7% and probably rise by more than 3%. that will reduce the amounts of goods and services consumers can buy and bear down on economic growth. what the bank of england wants to avoid is inflation that catches fire by triggering higher pay rises, paid for by employers, who then charge higher prices, the so—called wage price spiral. but that hasn't happened for many years and there is little sign of it now. the bank is convinced this renewed inflation above the 2% target is temporary.

hello. there is a huge contrast in the weather across the country. it is humid in the south—eastern corner. then we have a line of rain. the hind it it is fresher with a scattering showers. we will see temperatures getting up to 17 or 18 for glasgow and belfast. it is more like the middle 20s for places like norwich. the rain will be putting itself up overnight. it will turn wetter and cross a larger part of england and wales overnight tonight. this guy is a bit clearer for scotla nd this guy is a bit clearer for scotland and northern ireland. a much fresher night than it was last night. still pretty warm and muggy

in the south—eastern corner. tomorrow will be a wet day for much of england and wales. not much rain in the far south—east until later on. it will still be warm here. underneath the rain the temperatures will struggle to the north and west. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: jeremy corbyn has launched labour's manifesto pledging a "radical and responsible" plan that will "put the interests of the many first". addressing an audience in bradford, the labour leader promised more free childcare, the abolition of tuition fees, investment in infrastructure, and the nationalisation of the water industry and railway systems. whatever your age or situation, people are under pressure struggling to make ends meet. 0ur manifesto is for you. in other news inflation has risen to its highest level for nearly four years. the consumer prices index jumped last month from 2.3% to 2.7% — driven partly by the fall

in the value of sterling. us president donald trump has defended what he calls his ‘absolute right‘ to share information with russian officials. he discussed sensitive information on terrorism during a meeting with russia's foreign minister. greater manchester police says the force will never stop searching for the remains of keith bennett — one of the five children killed by the moors murderer, ian brady, who died last night at the age of 79. it is time for the sport. we go to the bbc sports centre. hello, simon. thank you. the battle for a champions league place is likely to go right down to the wire, with three teams chasing the final two spots. with liverpool not in action until sunday, tonight, arsenal and manchester city have the chance to make up ground. arsene wenger‘s side take on sunderland at the emirates, while city host west brom. here's how the top of the premier league table stands. arsenal are three points off fourth, and realistically must win against relegated sunderland this evening and hope that

city drop points. some teams turn up, some teams are on holiday, so it is very difficult to plan. you just want your team to do well and to focus completely until the last. i think to be professional is doing yourjob until the last second of the season. it is vital, just for the fact that you can look in the mirror and say we did it properly. british number one joanna konta is through to the third round of the italian 0pen, after knocking out yulia putintseva of kazakhstan. the numberfive seed, konta, was rarely challenged and won the first set with some ease by six games to three. if that was straightforward, the second set was all but effortless, as she took that 6—0. next up for konta is the winner of the second round match

between venus williams and the ukranian lesia tsurenko. french open bosses have shed further light on their decision not to allow romanian davis cup captain ilie nastase to roland garros this year. during a highly controversial april, the 70 year—old made racist comments about serena williams' pregnancy, allegedly inappropriate advances towards his british counterpart anne keothavong, and he's believed to have verbally abused both the davis cup captain, as well as playerjohanna konta during a match. 0rganisers of the madrid 0pen were criticised for inviting nastase to last saturday's award ceremony. and speaking ahead of the next grand slam in paris, french open tournament director guy forget says the romanian has let himself down. a lot of us are sad about him because i think it is not good publicity for the game. it is not good for himself. he was such a great champion and he is a very nice, generous great champion and he is a very ' ous uy, great champion and he is a very nice, generous guy, so it is hard to see those kind of pictures now. we area see those kind of pictures now. we are a federation, we have a

committee. the itf gave its position and the french federation will follow that position. i doubt that we will see him this year at the french. the ioc has completed its inspection of the paris bid ahead of september's vote to decide whether the french capital or los angeles should host the 2024 summer games. la was inspected last week. the mayor of paris, anne hildago, believes france's new president, emmanuel macron, can help her city win the bid. yesterday i was with the president in my office in the city hall. we had a very, very strong meeting with christian people, with all the peruvian people, and we talked together —— with the parisian people. we talked about our issues for paris and the french and the first topic was the olympic games. and for us, it is a very strong

support and i am happy. fernando alonso said he was satisfied with an "amazing" first day of official practice for the indianapolis 500. the mclaren driver is racing at the event later this month instead of the monaco grand prix. alonso is racing against time to learn a different driving discipline and racing on a 2.5—mile super—speedway track. marco andretti, alonso's team—mate, was fastest at first practice before qualifying this weekend. alonso was 19th. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. now it is over to ben in bradford. thank you. welcome back to bradford where the labour leader jeremy corbyn has officially launched the pa rty‘s general election manifesto, some of the details of which were leaked last week. the manifesto includes a few additions to the leaked draft, including the news that labour would

ta ke including the news that labour would take back into public ownership, the water companies in england which we re water companies in england which were privatised by margaret thatcher. mr corbyn talked about promises which would cost £486 billion, funded in part by tax increases for the higher earners, those earning over £80,000 a year. let's have a listen to what mr corbyn had to say. what we are proposing here is rebalancing our economy, a rebalancing so there is proper levels of investment in infrastructure fairly across the whole of the uk, not totally in the london and south—east, but in every region of the country. i think that is extremely important. and a national investment bank that will ensure that fairness is taken all the way through it. we will also be increasing wages through the living

wage, a living wage at £10 an hour by 2020. that will lead to economic growth and higher spending within the economy. it will also lead to a slight reduction in work benefit because of higher wages, but it will also help to rebalance our society. and from a government that has borrowed more than every labour government in history over the past seven yea rs, we government in history over the past seven years, we really don't need lectures... applause we really don't need lectures from the tories on this. jeremy corbyn there. there has been a little bit of confusion here at the manifesto launch on what mr corbyn said on benefits freeze. he said after the manifesto launch and answering questions, he said, clearly we are not going to freeze benefits, that is very clear. after that he was then asked if that was a

costed promise, that promise of lifting the benefits freeze, and then the labour leader said we have not made a commitment on that. so a little bit of confusion on the benefits freeze here at the labour party manifesto launch. joining me now from our westminster studio is torsten bell, director of the resolution foundation. it isa it is a not—for—profit research and policy organisation. thank you for being with us. this manifesto is a lurch to the left from ed miliband's ma nifesto ? lurch to the left from ed miliband's manifesto? how the manifesto goes down is a decision for the people on the 8th ofjune, not for charities like the resolution foundation. but what this does is set up a discussion about the size of the state. this is a change from

previous manifestos. we have had parties discussing what kind of tax cuts people should be having, what we have seen from this is from labour, the liberal democrats and to a certain degree the conservatives, and honesty about tax rises, but then you have to have a debate about how high those rises should be. you have increase in tax on higher earners, an increase corporation tax and all of this will lead to a high tax take. it will be taking us back to levels not seen since the early 19805. that to levels not seen since the early 1980s. that is the decision the british public will have to take.l decision the british public will have to take and would you say that the choice is perhaps wider or clearer or sharper than it has been for many elections? it is definitely different. we had a conservative party yesterday talking about

extending workers' rights and talking about building rather than selling more council homes, so across the political spectrum with theresa may of the prime minister and with jeremy theresa may of the prime minister and withjeremy corbyn leading the opposition we have changes going on. in some way those responses to wear the british public are. they are suffering from a severe squeeze on wages. this is the week that yes, the parties launched their ma nifestos, the parties launched their manifestos, but official figures will confirm that earnings are falling in britain today and that is only two years since we escaped the wage squeeze during the financial crisis. it is understandable parties wa nt to crisis. it is understandable parties want to respond to that and we have to step back from the day—to—day politics and look at the state of the country and that is a significant is quite an living standards over the next two years, and big cuts on benefits which are affecting the bottom third of the population. those are planned but in place by george osborne and david cameron that theresa may has so far not decided to reverse, and one of the unfortunate things in the labour

ma nifesto the unfortunate things in the labour manifesto today is it does not commit to reversing those changes in full, even though it does set aside £2 billion to making progress on that. those are the issues affecting working people up and down the country and that is what people would like to see changed, if they are busy rising living standards in what are very difficult economic all circumstances. it is clear that some of these issues in the manifesto will be expensive to say the least, for example taking the water companies back into private ownership. thames water should cost —— would cost £10 billion alone some people are saying. there are very good arguments for and arguments against rationalisations. the cost of making the transaction is not the best one. nationalisations which are financial do not add to government borrowing although clearly the government needs to raise funds for the transaction because they gain an asset for the money they spend. the

real question is is our water industry better run under the state or as industry better run under the state orasa industry better run under the state or as a private company? those are the real issues and what determines whether rationalisation is a good dealfor the whether rationalisation is a good deal for the taxpayer. torsten bell, plenty for the voters to think about. torsten bell, former policy chief for ed miliband are now at the resolution foundation. that is it from bradford where labour have launched their manifesto here a week after the draft of the manifesto was leaked. now we have got the real thing. simon, back to you. thank you. donald trump has insisted he has the "absolute right" to share facts with russia, saying he acted to help moscow in its fight against terrorism. it follows a report in the washington post that he allegedly divulged classified information to russia's foreign minister and ambassador to washington during their visit last week to the oval office. with me is our security correspondent frank gardner. the president is not denying it? no,

he did diebold classified information to the russians and he says it is his absolute right to do that. it is in america's interest to do what he did. he has taken to twitter and he is no stranger to it. you can read them, simon. how good is your eyesight? obviously, better than yours! basically he is saying, i have the right to do it but the security agencies are saying, well, what are they saying? some can assume they will not be happy. actually, the agencies have not commented on it yet. his republican critics have and they say this is extremely dangerous. they say what was discussed last week in the oval 0ffice was discussed last week in the oval office in the white house between president trump and the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov and the ambassador was classified intelligence at the very highest

order. there is confidential, secret, top secret and code worded intelligence. this relates to the discovery of a suspected plot by jihadis in syria to use that tops as bonds. president trump said to the russians i get great intelligence briefings every single day, and he then went on to talk a bit about it. his national security adviser general hr mcmaster, who is a serious person, and he has been wheeled out to talk to the press late last night rather than sean spicer, he has denied that any covert intelligence sources work organised. he has not denied that intelligence was passed to the russians and indeed britain passed intelligence to the russians over the metro jet bombing intelligence to the russians over the metrojet bombing in sinai. but the metrojet bombing in sinai. but the question here is whether a third country supplied intelligence was asked for it to mission and it

probably was not. if you are country a and you give country be some secret intelligence which has been got at enormous risk by one of your agents upstream in an organisation, and you pass it to me, you do not pass me to expect it to another country without checking with you first. that appears to be what has happened here. the ban on laptops we know about, it was issued recently, so know about, it was issued recently, so the threat is not secret, if you like, but it is purely how the information was got? it is and it may end up being a us domestic political story rather than one in intelligence terms. if indeed there was an agent, let's say for the sake ofan was an agent, let's say for the sake of an argument a jordanian agent, who supplied his or her government with this intelligence which was then passed to the united states, we have had all the news about the la ptop have had all the news about the laptop ban some time ago so that agent will already have got themselves out of danger or they are already dead. so in a sense, this is

really about whether the president can be trusted to keep intelligence where it should be. you and i both saw the front page of the new york daily news this morning and their headline is lea ker of daily news this morning and their headline is leaker of the free world which underlines your point that this may be a domestic issue. although he has hit back and he has said we have defined the people who have leaked the fact that this has got out so he is kind of missing the point here! frank, thank you. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first, the headlines on bbc news: jeremy corbyn launches labour's ma nifesto jeremy corbyn launches labour's manifesto promising to scrap tuition fees in england, expand childcare and nationalise water companies in england. inflation is at its highest rate, more on that in a moment. donald trump says he has the absolute right to share facts with russia saying he wants moscow to step up the fight against is and

terrorism. hello, in the business news this afternoon... manchester united has reported a loss for the first few months of the year because of high operating costs. it lost £3.8 million between january and march, down from a £13.7 million profit in the same period last year. it points the finger at expensive players and an unfavourable exchange rate. ford is planning to cut around 10% of its global workforce in an attempt to help profits. that's according to media reports which started in the wall streetjournal. ford refused to confirm or deny the story, but said in a statement that it was focused on its plans to "drive profitable growth". easyjet has reported a larger loss for the first half of the financial year, partly due to the impact of the lower pound and the timing of easter. the airline recorded a loss of £212 million in the six months to march. easyjet said its performance had been "resilient" and the losses were in line with market expectations. shares are down 6.5%.

it's being reported that ford is about to cut 10% of its global workforce. the wall streetjournal says the move is because of ford's drive to boost its earnings and stock price. samira hussain is at the new york stock exchange for us. hello, 10% is quite a significant cut, isn't it? 1096 of its entire workforce is significant and the expectation is this cut will happen by october the 1st this year. there area by october the 1st this year. there are a few reasons why we are seeing that ford is doing this. it is under a lot of pressure from its shareholders to boost its stock price. we have seen the share price for ford has fallen 30% since january of this year. there was a shareholder meeting last week and they were getting a lot of push back from shareholders in terms of what they are going to do to lift that

stock price. there are other factors. the fact that we come off of two consecutive years, of absolutely record—breaking sales, and that was really significant. but after a ll and that was really significant. but after all these record—breaking sales in terms of car sales, that will stop at some point. that is what ford is dealing with at the moment, that those sales have started to slip, and that is also impacting earnings. do we know why sales have started to slip? it has not had a great time in the last few months? shares slipping because they have come of two user record—breaking sales. there are only so many years you can have that failed trajectory because people will already have cars and people do not change cars every year or every other year. this was certainly expected industrywide that we would see some sort of slipped and that is what is happening. we will have to

leave it there, thank you. in other business news, consumer group which says banks have made little progress in protecting people from push fraud. that's when victims are conned into transferring money to the accounts of fraudsters, believing they're legitimate firms. the banks' anti—fraud group said that they're addressing the problem. uk workers are three times more likely to go into work when ill than pull a sickie. a survey by aviva uk health claims 60% of people say they'd worked when unwell — only 23% admitting to pulling a sickie. a very honest 23% there. the union, the tuc has described uk workers as "troopers" after the office for national statistics said that sickness absence totalled 137 million working days last year, the equivalent ofjust 11.3 days per worker. he does look as if he is sneezing on me. i do not want to be near that picture!

vodafone have reported a decline in revenues. easyj et revenues. easyjet the biggest fall. not to be sneezed at! thank you, charlotte. it's nicknamed plastic island and you can see why — 38 million items were washed up on these beaches on henderson island. it's an uninhabited remote british territory in the south pacific and has been found to have the highest density of plastic rubbish anywhere in the world. hywel griffith reports. a desert island that's become the final resting place for the world's waste. henderson island is uninhabited. years can pass without any visitors. but its beaches have become strewn with the everyday items people throw away. a research team sifted through the sands to find more than 17 tonnes of plastic had been deposited here. decades of debris carried by the oceans. the top offenders on the beach were, by and large, everyday consumer items that most people don't really hesitate when they use them to think about what it really means and where

they might end up. things like plastic toothbrushes, plastic cigarette lighters, even babies' dummies. the australian research team travelled to the island to spend three months surveying its beaches. henderson is one of the british pitcairn islands that lie more than 3000 miles off the coast of south america. distance doesn't protect it from a global problem. while large waste items make the issue visible, it is feared the impact of small micro plastic particles in our oceans may be even worse. 0n henderson island, the wildlife has had to adapt, making plastic tubs and bottle tops their home. and, with thousands of new items washing up every day, this world heritage site is set to remain the planet's dumping ground. the headlines coming up at three

o'clock. first, let's catch up with the weather. hello. there are huge contrasts with the weather across the united kingdom. in the north—west there is some sunshine but also a scattering of showers. this line of cloud and rain divides the warm and muggy air from the fresher north and west. the rain is not moving too far too quickly. to the south and east it is warm and humid. to the north, there area warm and humid. to the north, there are a few showers. they are clearing away from northern ireland. a good deal of sunshine into the evening. around 1a or 15 in glasgow. should see 17 in northern ireland. quite

grave for some. there is the rain pushing up towards the midlands and lincolnshire. east of that, really quite warm and humid. 25 degrees in norwich. in the evening the line peps up. a wet night to come. clearer skies to come for scotland and northern ireland. here, temperatures will dip into single figures. still warm and humid and cross the south—eastern corner. midweek looks as if it will be wet for large parts of england and wales. the far south—east probably not seeing too much rain until later on. the far north of england also largely dry. a bright start for scotla nd largely dry. a bright start for scotland and northern ireland. there will be a line of showers coming in from the west. notice the extreme south—east as they essentially dry and it will be warm as well in the afternoon. underneath the rain,

temperatures will struggle. through the evening, that rain in the south—east could well turn quite heavy, potentially thundery, as it sta rts heavy, potentially thundery, as it starts to pull away into the north sea. that process continues. you can follow these isobars back towards iceland. that is where our air is coming from on thursday. a decent day for large parts of the uk, particularly the further south and east to go. light winds as well and temperatures should be up to 18 or 19 degrees. 1a or so towards the north—west. we will keep the fresher feel into friday and the weekend. there will be sent showers dotted around but also there should be some spells of sunshine. you're watching bbc news. i'm ben brown in bradford wherejeremy corbyn has launched labour's election manifesto, promising a radical blueprint for britain.

he said labour would expand childcare, scrap university tuition fees in england and boost wages for the low—paid — funded through tax rises for high earners. i let simon mccoy and in the next hour, the cost of living goes up to its highest levels in four years. official figures show inflation at 2.7 per cent, driven by a rise in clothing, energy prices and air fares.