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. president trump defends his absolute

rights to share information with russia, after reports he reveal classified intelligence to the foreign minister 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. good afternoon. i'm ben brown live in bradford where the labour leader jeremy corbyn has officially launched the pa rty‘s general election manifesto. he said it was a radical blueprint for britain. some of it was leaked last week but now we have the full thing. 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 lagging 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. it may look like a little red book.

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 paying at 50p in the pound if labour is elected.

big 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 higher 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. we nowjoin norman smith.

a radical manifesto and a huge choice for voters. we've not seen something like this in a generation of labour. talking about expanding benefits such as independent personal payments. dealing with the health service, education, housing and childcare. the significant expansion in the state where key utilities are being brought back into public ownership. renationalising the water industry, royal mail, the great, bringing back services that have been contracted out to the private sector. trying to

push back the private sector in the nhs. changing our business environment. businesses paying more in tax, more in wages, more regulations and requirements that they offer, paternity leave, pa rt—timers, they offer, paternity leave, part—timers, those on contracts the same rights as full—time workers. that marks a significant change, where there has been a broad agreement about the liberal market economy. mr corbyn wants to see more from the state. lots of applause and rapture forjeremy corbyn, but there is already some uncertainy on what he is saying on benefit. he was asked whether he was going to

end a freeze on working age benefits particularly with inflation picking up particularly with inflation picking up and he indicated on the platform, that yes, he would. that was not in the manifesto. a lot of people thought that was strange. there has been a lot of act and fourth, and it 110w been a lot of act and fourth, and it now appears that labour are not fully committed to ending the benefit freeze but they will look at reversing some of the benefits. there's been a degree of confusion around that. thank you, norman. labour say it is fully costed and every promise they make they can afford. the government say, no, it is not costed and it would damage the economy.

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. 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. that is a tax on business profits. 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. 0ne really important thing though.

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 tax burden to the highest level it's been in about 70 years. but 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 actual amount you could get from these policies 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. that will be the source of controversy and political debate, but labour does make

one bold promise. it says it will ensure that the national debt is lower at the end of the new parliament than it is today. thank you, chris. the benefits cap is worse in london. canifinish? the benefits cap is worse in london. can i finish? can i ask... can i finish? we will deal with a housing cost which is a big problem. we are increasing the living wage for those

with in work benefits, that will obviously change and affect them. those on disability benefit that are often going through the indignity of a capability work assessment, that will become a medical assessment and not the bureaucratic, official one. the 2 billion that is set aside is to deal with the worst effects in the way in which the rate of the cap operates so that people don't end up with unreasonable, and their sanctions and frankly, some end up committing suicide as a result. we are in bradford. we were talking about voter engagement. we have our guest who works in an organisation called politics in the pub. tell us how it works. at the end of the 2015

collection, lots of people got together at bradford brewery, those from across all parties. george galloway couldn't make it. but it was later if the environment. most importantly, people were talking about politics, engaging, on a human level, discussing issues they thought were important. it was a bit ofan thought were important. it was a bit of an inspiration for me and my friend john, that there was an appetite to talk about politics in bradford and robert lee beyond. 0utside bradford and robert lee beyond. outside of the social media echo chambers where people are hearing the same things all the times. the same things all the time. the idea is that you get together in different pubs and it doesn't matter what background you come from. wean

courage as much political diversity as possible. pubs are a great place for talking. it's quite formal though, we have a subject, a panel and sometimes where we have a situation with break—out groups. these can be about local, regional 01’ these can be about local, regional or national issues. it depends who we can get. we have laws, mps, councillors and those who are interested in politics because it is a body. the last general election wasn't that long ago. then we had the referendum. there is a lot of talk about election fatigue and voter apathy. you see there's a lot of big easy as? well those who are interested in politics often appear at the pub. and they are engaged. what sort of issues are they interested in? all sorts of national

issues, but key ones like education in bradford, and it's an area that really needs working on. we need investment. there was a northern powerhouse education report. we are looking at ways to transform education in bradford. the other one that comes to mind is devolution. yorkshire and bradford... we want to look after ourselves, do our own thing. we know the important issues and want to tackle them ourselves. this government has talked a lot about the northern powerhouse but hasn't delivered. thank you, dermot. from politics in the pub. i'm not going to the pub unfortunately but i'm surei going to the pub unfortunately but i'm sure i will see you there, simon. your headlines. jeremy corbyn

launches his manifesto to scrap universityjewish launches his manifesto to scrap university jewish fees and renationalise water companies. inflation rises for the first time to its highest level in four years. donald trump says he has an absolute right to share information with russia in order to step up the fight against is and terrorism. with liverpool not in action until sunday, liverpool —— joanna konte cruises into the next round in the open. ah

have more on those stories in around 15 minutes time. see you then. —— i will have will plaid cymru has launched its general election manifesto, promising a "strong voice" for wales during brexit. the party wants the welsh government to have a say on any future uk trade deal — and says it won't rest until "every single penny" of lost eu funding is replaced. sian lloyd has this report. penygraig in the rhondda valley. it's been a labour stronghold at westminster for more than 100 years. plaid cymru's leader, leanne wood, represents it in the welsh assembly and the party has the parliamentary seat within its sights. so, no coincidence that leanne wood chose to launch her party's general election manifesto here. it includes a promise to give wales a strong voice during brexit. the party wants all future trade deals to be signed off

by the national assembly for wales. the party wants all future trade deals to be signed off by the national assembly for wales. there's a lot of talk in the manifesto about defending, about protecting wales, its interests, its communities. protecting wales from brexit. but wales voted to leave the eu. we've accepted that wales voted to leave the eu. we accepted that on the day of the referendum. what we've put forward in our action plan today is for a positive post—brexit plan for wales. there are things that need defending but we also need to develop our economy and develop our country. plaid cymru is seeking to persuade welsh voters that it, rather than labour, can protect wales from what it calls a cruel and reckless tory party. i can see the conservatives winning with a landslide. corbyn isn't the man i thought he was. definitely consider voting plaid cymru. i have been here 18 years. i have seen no change. but, if plaid cymru is to alter the political landscape here, it will need to change the voting habits of generations. leanne wood nowjoins us outside

cardiff bay. when you talk about the threat of a tory landslide, what do you mean? well, the polls indicate that in england that there will be a landslide for the conservatives. the question here in wales is what happens to wales. the scots have a strong voice in the snp to advocate for the scottish national interest. theresa may is the official leader of the england party now, so we need applied plaid cymru to speak for wales. many

people don't want a party that is split and with candidates who are ready to stab their leader in the back. if wales is to be defended and developed after this election, it's down to a strong block of plaid cymru mps to do that. your manifesto seems to be based on fear of a tory landslide. it's based on evidence. if you look at the great repeal bill, clause 11.2 clearly states that there are powers currently held in brussels of a devolved competence regarding agriculture, and other

elements, so the powers could go back to westminster and not come to cardiff. we have put forward the case for a stronger national assembly here, one that is equipped with the powers to do with the challenges we face in wales, not just the economic challenges. we don't have those powers yet and this is the perfect opportunity to put oui’ is the perfect opportunity to put our case forward for a stronger national assembly as well. apart from the meltdown in the labour party, what do you say to those who see your policies are similar to labour? i would dispute that. labour have largely gnawed wales. 0f labour? i would dispute that. labour have largely gnawed wales. of course we have labour here in wales which is different to the welsh labour in westminster which is a different party to the leader of the labour party. this is the problem in wales,

when they vote labour they don't know which party they are voting for. you made gains in the local elections. what would be a good result in the general election? yellow mac and increase in a number of mps we have. we need a strong block our mps to make sure that the defence of the welsh nation, our people and our public services are on the political agenda in the way they are not now. we lost one seat by200 they are not now. we lost one seat by 200 boats. i am very much high paying we will retake that seat. we have a very strong candidate. there are other seats we are looking to do well in. we hope for kevin lee, we hope for caerphilly,gwent.

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. the matter is that 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. andy verity, bbc news. let's go now to stoke where it

theresa may is making a speech at a local factory. it's important theresa may is making a speech at a localfactory. it's important that we ensure that there is a good school place for every child to the youngsters get the best possible start in life. we need to lock in economic growth so we can fund a first class national health service. we need to tackle in relation to people's wages, the cost of living. we need to make sure the government is at the service of ordinary working people. i have set out some policies that follow through on that. we've announced a new generation of social housing with a right to buy for tenants. protection of workers' pensions from irresponsible bosses, action to end the injustice of rip—off energy

bills to stop rising prices. i have announced the biggest enhancement to workers' rights this ever been provided by a conservative government. we will enhance writes ina number of government. we will enhance writes in a number of ways in addition to when we leave the european union. we have decided to put in a right for time off when a parent loses a child, to care for a family member and we will also ensure that the national living wage rises with earnings over the next parliament. we will ensure that our discrimination laws enable us to tackle the problem of discrimination in the workplace for those with intermittent mental health and

physical health problems. we will look to introduce return ship, to help people who taken time off from the workplace. we will look at racial disparity by looking at this. at this, in a work context. it won't just happen it won'tjust happen it it won't just happen it would it won'tjust happen it would take a strong government to do that. we need a strong and stable government with a plan, to take this country forward. i will be out and about in the remaining days before the general election. i will be listening to people and earning every vote i can. if i earn that support, i believe that together, we can build a betterfuture support, i believe that together, we can build a better future for this country.

applause 0ld tapes some questions. when you get re—elected, you have plans for the nhs and the defence budget? we will be publishing our ma nifesto budget? we will be publishing our manifesto later this week, so you will see all the details. what is important, we have been putting extra funding into the nhs, and we announced in the budget a couple of months ago some extra funding for example particularly for accident and emergency to help improve the service in certain hospitals. we wa nt to service in certain hospitals. we want to ensure that being in the nhs isn't an attractive —— is an attractive profession. we want to see more doctors and nurses. we will

set out our proposals for the nhs for the future, but what i want to do is ensure that we have a strong and first—class nhs, and we need to generate the funds from the economy to pay for it, and similarly we want to pay for it, and similarly we want to be sure that we are putting enough money into the defence budget and remain committed to 2% of gdp being spent on defence. but also that in each ear, the defence budget will rise by 0.5% above inflation. why do you think the conservative party are the best party to take us through brexit? there are two things you need if you are looking at brexit. first of all, you do need to be pretty strong in what are going to be tough negotiations with europe. we have seen in recent weeks it is going to be tough, some of the things that have been said about our future, and we are the only party

thatis future, and we are the only party that is really committed to ensuring that is really committed to ensuring that we do this. people voted for brexit, and whatever side of the argument people wore on the time, i think most people nowjust want us to get on with it and do it well. so we have the plan to take us through those negotiations. i have set out what our proposals offer both relationship we want with europe in the future, and i want the best possible relationship of trade so that businesses can thrive, but we wa nt to that businesses can thrive, but we want to do more than brexit, we want to have a plan that takes us beyond, and things like our modern industrial strategy, making sure that prosperity and growth can be spread across the uk. theresa may in stoke—on—trent. eleanor garnier is oui’ stoke—on—trent. eleanor garnier is our correspondent travelling with the prime minister, and we will follow her later on. more news on rail misery. reeva rail north and

merseyrail have announced fresh action on driver only operation. there are announcing a 24—hour stoppage on the 30th of may. that is a reeva rail north, merseyrail and southern rail, all striking. now for the weather. thank you. let's take a look at this satellite sequence, the best of the sunshine in the south—east, then this line of rain, and some sunshine coming out in northern ireland, but a line of showers crossing scotland. 17 degrees in glasgow, but we get to

24, 25 in norwich, so a warm afternoon for some. that line of rain expands and becomes a much wider area of rain affected much more of england and wales, a wet night to come but clearer skies in northern england and ireland. fresher than it was last night, but after a warm humid day it is another warm and humid night. a lot of rain to be had across much of england and wales to tomorrow, further north it sta rts wales to tomorrow, further north it starts off with a good deal of sunshine but we will see a line of showers moving into western scotland. 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's time for the sport.

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. manchester city manager pep guardiola will end the season trophy—less for the first time in his career. and he admits he's been given a "second chance" with city, because a similar scenario at either of his former clubs, barcelona or bayern munich, might have seen him sacked by now. i arrived in barcelona with nothing to defend, and in that club, with six months to the win, you are out, barcelona or bayern munich, there you have to win. they don't give you a second chance. here they give me a second chance, i will try to do it. in my situation and those clubs, i am sacked, the clubs i was at before, i am am sacked, the clubs i was at before, lam not am sacked, the clubs i was at before, i am not here. am sacked, the clubs i was at before, lam not here. but am sacked, the clubs i was at before, i am not here. but here, am sacked, the clubs i was at before, lam not here. but here, a second chance, i will try to do it better. british number one joanna konta

is through to the third round of the italian 0pen, after knocking out yulia putintseva of kazakhstan. the number five seed, konta was rarely challenged, and won the first set with some ease 6—3. if that was straightforward, the second set was all but effortless, as she took that 6—0. next up for her 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's not good for himself. he was such a great champion and he is a very nice, generous guy, that it's hard to 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. 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. 0lly foster is here later with more.

thank you very much. labour have promised to scrap tuition fees, expand free childcare and review sats for primary pupils to "avoid teaching by test". joining me now from our westminster studio is our education correspondent, gillian hargreaves. what else raised eyebrows this morning? i have a long list. labour are planning to launch what they call a national education service. they say it would be a little bit like the national health service and would provide a streamlined education for people from almost as soon as they are born and go into short start centres —— sure start centres and go right up to lifelong learning. first of all they are planning to introduce more free childcare. the last conservative government said that they would expand the amount of free childcare three—year—olds where eligible for, after 30 hours each week, and labour

have said they would extend that to two—year—olds as well. they would also introduce free school meals for all primary school children. at the moment children in england get free primary school meals in reception and yearone, primary school meals in reception and year one, but labour said that would go through primary school. there is also a commitment to keep class sizes in primary school down to 30 pupils certainly up until children reach the age of seven and go into the junior section of primary school, so infant school class sizes would remain at 30 pupils. then when we go into older children, at moment, schools in england are facing some of the worst cuts they have seen for 20 years, something like £3 billion of savings have to be made in england's schools, and labour has said that they would stop those cuts and fund schools at the level they are funded

now. then as you say, that really big—ticket going back on tuition fees. labour has said in its ma nifesto fees. labour has said in its manifesto that university education should be free for all undergraduates in england. that would cost by their calculation is something in the region of £11 billion, but they plan to scrap tuition fees. in all, we have cut the lead at how much this entire package would cost, and it is something in the cost of £25 billion. and detail is always crucial? as i say, we calculate about £25 billion working on labour's own figures. that 11th billion pounds if this cla p that 11th billion pounds if this clap tuition fees seems about right, but when we have started to talk to some of the numbers experts, they say that it may cost something more than £5 billion to introduce free childcare for two—year—olds as well

as three—year—olds, so there is a lwa ys as three—year—olds, so there is always some argy—bargy and discrepancy, so it will take a few days yet further detail to drilled out and proper costings to be taken. gillian, thank you very much. the liberal democrats say offering children the hope of a better future. during a campaign visit to portsmouth, leader tim farron said the lib dems stand clear and alone as being the only party to the promise that young people would get a chance of owning their own home. sima kotecha is in portsmouth following tim farron on the campaign trail. we are in the constituency of portsmouth south, and it used to belong to the liberal democrats have 15 years, but in 2015, the tories won the set. so today the leader of the liberal democrats, tim farron, as you can see just here behind the liberal democrats, tim farron, as you can seejust here behind me, arrived here at around one o'clock this afternoon. he has been speaking to teachers and staff at the mary rose school for children with

special educational needs, and he has been talking about watmore his party ca n has been talking about watmore his party can do to help these children and the staff. he has had a confidential meeting with the headteacher here at this school, and remember the party has said that it will invest £7 billion into schools and colleges if it is elected on the eighth. he has also today been talking about entrepreneurship and how he would help proprietors to start up their own companies by giving them £100 a week to help them with their living costs. but the big question is, are his policies cutting through? we have spoken to some people over the last few days who say it is all very well that he is saying this and that, but his m essa 9 es is saying this and that, but his messages are not making the same impact as the other parties are. tim farron says that there are still a few weeks to go. sima kotecha. the white house finds itself in more controversy today, after a us newspaper reported that president trump disclosed highly

classified information to the russian foreign minister at a meeting last week. the intelligence, about the so—called islamic state group, came from an ally of the us who had not given permission for it to be shared with russia. in the last hour, president trump has defended his actions on twitter, saying he had an "absolute right" to share with russia facts pertaining to terrorism. let's get the latest from washington. jane 0'brien is there for us. intriguingly, in the last few minutes, an announcement that the national security adviser is going to make an on camera press briefing just hours after he denied that the president had done anything. i'm sure he will want to talk about this afternoon's meeting with the president of turkey, mr erdogan, but i'm sure everybody will want to know what the president said to the russian diplomats, including the foreign minister who visited the white house last week. he says that whatever he said, he had a complete right to say it, and to be honest, he does. this is not about

criminality, because by definition, classified information is information that the president wants to protect. if he decides he doesn't wa nt to to protect. if he decides he doesn't want to protect it any more, he can tell who he likes. this is about governance, and the breach of trust not just with the governance, and the breach of trust notjust with the us intelligence agencies, the intelligence community here, but also with the intelligence communities abroad and overseas. these very intricate, sensitive sharing agreements that people quite frankly spend their lives protecting and trying to maintain. for that trust to be breached in this way is a very big deal indeed. what was going on? was hejust boasting about his intelligence capabilities? that is certainly one of the reports that has come out in the last 24 hours. the washington post broke this story, and the suggestion seems to be that this was a matter of negligence rather than intent. but

nevertheless, whatever was said, it was deemed so serious, or serious enough that officials from his own white house team felt it necessary to call the cia and the national security agency to warn them of the potential consequences of what had been said. and although the white house is denying that mr trump released the source of intelligence or discussed any intelligence methods, the concern is that he has had enough that the russians would be able to put two and two together and come to their rome conclusions. you have hr mcmasters and rex tillerson boasted nine the story, —— both denying the story, which now seems to have been confirmed by president trump himself, so this is getting messy? they are denying details but president trump hasn't been accused of. they are denying that he divulged directly the source or methods of intelligence. he says

that he was sharing fact pertaining to security, flight safety, on humanitarian grounds, because he also wants russia to beef up its own battle against islamic state. but you are right, it is a pattern. the white house is one thing one minute and donald trump tweet something that seems to contradict it the next. we're getting quite used to that. aren't we just? thank you very much for now. greater manchester police have said they will never close the moors murders case, after the death of ian brady. he was 79, and had been receiving palliative care at ashworth hospital — a high security psychiatric unit in merseyside. brady and his partner, myra hindley tortured and murdered five children in the 1960s. hindley died in prison in 2002. public outrage at the crimes was compounded by the couple's refusal to co—operate with detectives or relatives. 0ur correspondent danny savage is on saddleworth moor for us now. ian brady takes with him the biggest

secret of all, which is the resting place of keith bennett. yes, there we re place of keith bennett. yes, there were some probably hopes last night that on his deathbed he may have revealed a bit more information about where keith bennett's body lay, or perhaps even some of the papers that he left behind would also reveal some information. his solicitor has told the bbc today that he saw him last night before he died, but he doesn't think there is such information in those documents, so what you have now is the continuing agony of keith bennett's surviving relatives. his mum died a few years ago, and she had always talked publicly about how she wanted to give her son christian burial. he was just 12 years old when he was kidnapped murdered by myra hindley and ian brady, and they dumped his body on the moorland behind me. it isa body on the moorland behind me. it is a vast expanse of featureless pennine moorland which stretches for

miles, and even if there had been an approximate area given of where perhaps keith bennett's body was, it would still be a big job to try to search that area, to try to find any human remains more than half a century on. so what we have here up on the moors between huddersfield and manchester, there is a memorial and manchester, there is a memorial a short distance from me, but it is very simple, just a roadside post with keith bennett's pictures, flowers a nd with keith bennett's pictures, flowers and messages, and people have been coming to leave flowers today, right by the main road here. they are trying to say, we remember keith bennett, but that is as close as we are ever going to get to a lasting memorialfor him up here. his body is never now likely to be found. greater manchester police and keith's brother say they will never give up, and that is an admirable sentiment, but what information now is likely to come forward that will lead them to finding his remains? probably none if any, so it is

something that ian brady knew about. his solicitor says he doesn't believe he really had any more information to give, but others would beg to differ. and so what we have now is this ongoing agony for this family in particular about where the remains of keith r, somewhere out there, probably never to be found again. danny savage on saddleworth moor, 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 in bradford. inflation rises to its highest rate in nearly four years, rises to its highest rate in nearly fouryears, jumping to rises to its highest rate in nearly four years, jumping to 2.7%. donald trump says he has an absolute right to share facts with russia to bolster the fight against the islamic state group. hello. 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 its 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%. flexible working can be an issue if

you want to progress in your career and your company has fixed times you need to be at work. we are going to explore some of those issues now with the founder of a company called timewise. emma, thank you for joining us. you have been focusing on the retail sector. what issues have you found ? on the retail sector. what issues have you found? retailers a great place to work if you want to work part—time or flexibly, place to work if you want to work part—time orflexibly, but place to work if you want to work part—time or flexibly, but we found the problem is that as soon as you look to progress your career and go into management, the roles revert to being full—time, and the issue for people who need to work part—time or flexibly is that it can track you on the lower rungs of the retail sector, and it is a problem for businesses, because they are not able to maximise those people skills and encourage them to progress upwards. lots of people at home will

find themselves in a similar situation, but if they voiced their concerns to a company and the company is rigid, what can they do? we are working with a number of major retailers who are looking at how to redesign roles to be more flexible in management and to be more available to suit people's working patterns. at the moment, people who want to progress and work flexibly need to ask, and companies will consider, but what we really need is a shift to encourage businesses to recognise that if they are more proactive and thinking about howjob are more proactive and thinking about how job design are more proactive and thinking about howjob design can help them to attract, retain and progress the best talent, it will give people far more opportunity. is that wishful thinking? we have brexit looming upon us, companies worried about short—term, and this will cost them or to be more flexible and offer workers that flexibility. not necessarily. the risk is far greater in not acting. brexit as we all know

is going to mean more skill shortages and talent is going to become more of a commodity. so the more forward—thinking companies such as the retailers we are working with are seriously thinking about how they can maximise the skills they have got, grow their own and enable people to stay and progress in companies by being more flexible. we have to leave it there, thank you very much. consumer group which? says there has been a growth in fraud where consumers are conned into transferring money into fraudsters' bank accounts. uk workers are three times more likely to go into work when ill than politically. a survey says 60% of people said they had worked when unwell, only 23% admitting to pulling a sickie. tuc has described

union workers is dedicated, the equivalent of just union workers is dedicated, the equivalent ofjust 4.3 days per worker were lost to sickness last year. and if you are buying a house, this might be useful in information. figures show only the north—eastern scotla nd figures show only the north—eastern scotland saw smaller house price rises than london over the past 12 months, so has prices rose 15% in london in the year to the end of march. —— 1.5%. a quick look at the market before we go: easyj et we easyjet we don't have here, but its shares have been one of the biggest fall is so far, down 5.8% after revealing an interim loss because of the weaker pound. that's it from me, i will be back in an hour with more

business. good news from the roads around birmingham, we're hearing that it 250 kilograms world war ii bomb has been detonated. in the last two days, the expressway has been close to causing nightmares for many drivers. rail services were also cancelled and an evacuation of hundreds of homes and offices had to ta ke hundreds of homes and offices had to take place after the bomb was discovered, but in the last few minutes, smoke has been spotted above it, and that has been confirmed as meaning that it has been activated in a controlled explosion. let's get a weather forecast now with nick miller. it has been the warmest day of the year so far, 23 celsius in gravesend in england, and scotland has also

recorded its warmest day of the year so far. this is the rainy zone going into this evening, and through the night we will continue with outbreaks of rain affecting parts of england and wales. largely dry in scotla nd england and wales. largely dry in scotland and northern ireland. it will be a chilly night under clear skies, but still warm in east anglia and south—east england. tomorrow scotla nd and south—east england. tomorrow scotland and northern ireland, some sunshine, a few showers the north—west scotland but pleasant in the sunshine. westernmost fringes of england and wales may avoid most of the rain, but elsewhere as you can see, quite a bit of rain to come across parts of england and wales, and that will continue to fall into tomorrow evening's rush—hour. that means some spot stay dry, the bulk of the day when their own get the heavy and thundery rain moving in, some areas receiving up to 40 millimetres of rain. thursday is sunshine and showers. you're watching bbc news, i'm ben brown in bradford wherejeremy corbyn has launched his party's election

ma nifesto, he has promised that it will be a radical blueprint for britain. the labour leader promises more free childcare, billions for the nhs and to scrap university tuition fees, funded through tax rises for high earners. we're asking the better off and the big corporations to pay a little bit more. this is a programme of hope. the tory programme by contrast is built on one word, fear.