this is bbc news. i'm clive myrie. the headlines at 8pm... the liberal democrats have put a second eu referendum at the heart of their general election manifesto, saying it would give the final say to the british people. nobody knows what brexit will look like. the choices theresa may will make will affect your life and our country for decades. i'm ben brown reporting live from bethnal green in east london, where tim farron has just launched the liberal democrat party manifesto for the general election. in other news... donald trump is facing increasing pressure over allegations he may have tried to shut down an fbi investigation into links between advisers and russia. chelsea manning, the former us soldier who passed hundreds of thousands confidential diplomatic documents to wikileaks, has been released from a military prison in kansas. unemployment has fallen to its lowest level in 42 years, but wages aren't keeping

up with inflation. and items by worn by one of television's best loved characters, coronation street's busybody hilda ogden, have sold for more than £4000 at auction. good evening and welcome to bbc news. we are reporting live tonight from bethnal green in east london, where the liberal democrats and their leader, tim farron, havejust launched their pa rty‘s leader, tim farron, havejust launched their party's general election manifesto. in a speech on the stage at the podium just behind mea the stage at the podium just behind me a few minutes ago, tim farron said that a hard brexit would be a time bomb underneath our economy

that could wreck the national health service and schools for decades to come. he also said there should be a second referendum on brexit for the people, not the politicians, to decide. he said that nigel farage ‘s policies and those of ukip had been taken over policies and those of ukip had been ta ken over by policies and those of ukip had been taken over by theresa may. let's listen to what the liberal democrat leader said in bethnal green. nobody knows what brexit will look like, the choices theresa may will make will affect your life and our country for decades. your weekly shop, yourjob, your environment, your safety, where you can travel to and where you can live. and already she is making choices that will affect those things including the most profound choice she could make, taking the uk out of the single market. that decision alone is a time bomb under our economy and when it blows up it will take down our nhs and schools with it. it will wreck our children's future for decades to come and it is a choice, her choice,

plain and simple. it was not inevitable, there was nothing on the ballot paper lastjune that said we were choosing to pull out of the single market. other countries are outside the eu and inside the single market. just look at norway, switzerland. there was nothing on the ballot paper that said people and families from europe who have made this country their home will be left in limbo not knowing if they can stay in the country they have raised their kids in. and definitely nothing on the ballot paper that said we would turn our friends and neighbours, our allies, into enemies. and yet here we are with our government making accusations of our neighbours and even threatening war with spain. the choices theresa may makes and the compromises she negotiates with the bureaucrats in brussels will affect our children's future for decades to come. my children, your children. malcolm ‘s and children. ——

grandchildren. in june last year we voted for a departure but we did not vote for a destination. so i want you to have your choice over your future. applause. tends bar —— tim farron was speaking in this nightclub in bethnal green. many of the supporters have gone, a fume orare many of the supporters have gone, a fume or are here, as you can see. after the speech in which he passionately attacked the idea of leaving the single market and a hard brexit, i asked one of the party's stall warts, sir vince cable, for his reaction to that speech and also whether he thinks the liberal democrats need to do more to do better in the opinion polls. at the moment the opinion polls show that the lib dems have something like 9% oi’ the lib dems have something like 9% or 10% support. this is what sir

vince cable said. it is also what we are beginning to see, they have been in power the two yea rs, see, they have been in power the two years, in many parts of the country we are only beginning to see school budgets, hospitals, social care really severely cut. that is something that if they get a very big majority and continuing government, that will be expected over a long period, it could get very nasty. how do you explain to people who voted in the referendum that there should be a second referendum? people have had their say on europe? they had their say on leaving, they don't know the destination. it could turn out well, it could turn out very badly. we could get no agreement at all. when we get to that point, people had to have an opportunity to say whether they are accept or not. some people will say you want a second referendum because you want a second referendum because you don't think the british people gave the correct answer the first time around? we don't disrespect the

majority, the small majority. we accept that is the way they voted. the process has started, but we don't know where we are going. when people decide to move house, that is fine, but they don't know where they are going to live and it might be that the house they are being directed to is full of dry rot and rising damp and we decide ultimately we would be better staying where we are. do you think you have a problem with your leader? you are not cutting through 9% in the opinion polls. i think it is a bit higher than that. this is the manifesto launch tonight, there is tremendous enthusiasm. he already has the party to the largest membership we have ever had in history and we will go forward from here. that was sir vince cable talking to me just after tim farron finished his speech with his reaction. let's talk to our correspondents sima kotecha, who is following the liberal democrat

election campaign. was that a typical tim farron speech? typical, perhaps not. there was a lot more passion but the message is the same, the anti—brexit rhetoric we have heard on a daily basis, he made it abundantly clear that the party thinks that if people and future generations would be worse asked if they are outside of the eu. is that message said over and over again, and there was a lot of passion, the one interesting thing was that he brought two people together several times, nigel farage and theresa may. he kind of said they were the same. ina he kind of said they were the same. in a quote i have he said farage's vision of britain has become theresa may's vision of britain. someone has to standard to them. he is trying to say to his fans or those he is trying to woo that these two, who

argue beyond different sides of the spectrum, are saying the same thing by saying that we want to leave the eu, we think britain will be better off after hard brexit. it is interesting that the liberal democrats not pretending they will form a government or democrats not pretending they will form a government oi’ even democrats not pretending they will form a government or even part of the government, they are saying the conservatives will win but they want to bea conservatives will win but they want to be a strong opposition? that is really interesting. some people are frustrated by this and saying how is this party credible when they themselves say we will not be in government, we will not even be in culmination with anybody. we are fighting this election to help the government to account, to be as strong opposition. some people are a bit doubtful and saying why should we vote for a party that does not wa nt to we vote for a party that does not want to be in downing street? thank you very much, sima kotecha. she is covering the lib dem campaign, following tim farron around the country. one of the liberal democrat

in the manifesto is towards young people, a whole raft of policies aimed at young people, as housing, lowering the voting age to 16. our home affairs editor mark easton went to cambridge to talk to young people about how they see this 2017 election. we are here to talk to you about the election today. let us know your thoughts and tweet us. the voice of the young. so often ignored by the politicians, it is loud and clear at cambridge regional college. it could be about anything, brexit, student tuition. it broadcasts to thousands of potential young voters in the number one target seat for the liberal democrats. so what is on their mind? politicians have to start appealing to young people, because these young people will grow old. the liberal democrat manifesto promises young people cheaper bus fares, higher welfare payments, help with housing and votes for i6—year—olds. is lowering the voting age the kind of policy that cuts it with these student hairdressers?

a lot of people my age don't know enough about it and they kind of, like, they go with what their parents think, so i don't think it's a great idea to be honest. brexit is a big issue for you, explain why? i am a british citizen, but my parents are portuguese. so are the rest of the family. the liberal democrats are saying they want a softer brexit that will retain access to the single market, is that appealing for someone like you? well, i guess it is all talk. i don't know if it is going to be done. political wisdom decrees your manifesto should appeal to people who will actually vote, so when liberal democrat focus on younger people is it a risk. 18—24 are half as likely to vote as pensioners. this college has been encouraging students to register before next monday's deadline, but cities with large student populations have been reporting a big drop in registration. and there is a credibility issue for the liberal democrats.

after promising not to put up university tuition fees in the 2010 election they voted to do just that, in government. are the liberal democrats damaged goods now? i don't really remember when they put them up, but i was probably finishing secondary school, but for me, knowing what they have done i wouldn't be able to trust them. i feel like they are stuck in catch—22. what they are giving is a mix of the middle. they are going to offer a maintenance grant, which is great. but they will not completely cut tuition fees. everybody should be given the chance to go to uni. so these are liberal democrat target voters in a liberal democrat target seat. i am quite excited. nervous at the same time. for the party a lot depends on how they respond to the promises of politicians. mark easton reporting on the views

of young people in cambridge. that is just about it from bethnal green, where the lib dems have launched their party manifesto for the general election. tim farron, the leader, on the stage, very much emphasise that hard brexit, he said, would be a time bomb underneath the economy and he said the opponents of a hard brexit and of leaving the single market, like the liberal democrats, should not roll over. that was his message. plenty more coverage of today's election campaign in the campaign wrap at 8:30pm. but, for me, back to the studio. campaign wrap coming up in about 16 minutes. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:a0pm in the papers. we will be having all the analysis. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are the political commentatorjane merrick, and ben riley—smith, assistant political editor at the daily telegraph.

stay with us for all that. in america, president trump has been accused of trying to shut down an fbi investigation into the links between his former national security adviser and russia. the white house denies the allegation, but there are calls for all records of a meeting between the president and the former fbi directorjames comey, who was sacked by mr trump, to be released to congress. 0ur north america correspondent aleem maqbool reports. it seems his presidency has lurched from one controversy to the next. with this scandal, donald trump may be the shakiest ground yet. in his first appearance since the story broke he has been as defiant as ever. no politician in history, and i say this with great assurety, has been treated worse, or more unfairly. you can't let them get you down. you can't let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams.

adversity makes you stronger. don't give in, don't back down, and never stop doing what you know is right. he has become more famous than me. it centres on relations between these two men. james comey was fired as fbi director by donald trump last week. the allegation is the president had tried to get him to drop a key investigation. mr comey was looking into links between michael flynn and russia. but it's reported the fbi director kept details of his meetings with mr trump and allegedly wrote this in a crucial memo. it says the president told him "i hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting flynn go. he is a good guy, i hope you can let this go." to which comey replied: this is not good for america.

with what looks to america like the president tried to impede an investigation, it has had some comparing to it the beginning of the end to nixon. i think we have seen it before, i think it is reaching the point where it is of watergate size and scale and a couple of other scandals that you and i have seen. we can't deal with speculation and innuendo, and there is clearly a lot of politics being played. 0urjob is to get the facts and to be sober about doing that. it is a far off prospect, but the word impeachment is being bandied about. he has managed it so far, but with more details likely to emerge of apparent attempts to influence an investigation, donald trump may find it harder to side step scandal. aleem maqbool reporting. the

headlines at 8:15pm... the liberal democrats have formally launch their general election manifesto tonight with the promise of a second referendum on whether to leave the european union at the end of the brexit talks. donald trump faces increasing pressure over allegations he might have tried to shut down an fbi investigation into possible links between advisers and russia. chelsea manning, the former us soldier who passed hundreds of thousands of confidential diplomatic documents to wikileaks, has been released from a military prison in kansas. 0ne match in the premier league this evening, manchester united face southampton at st mary ‘s. romero has saved a southampton penalty. half an hour gone, it is goalless. the race to get into the premier league sees yorkshire rivals sheffield wednesday facing huddersfield at hillsborough for a place in the play—off against

reding. no goals yet this evening. britain's kyle edmund is out of the rome masters, losing to one martin del potro in the second—round in straight sets. we will be back with more sports a little on bbc news. the ashes of ian brady will not be scattered on saddleworth moor, according to his solicitor. brady tortured and killed five children with his lover myra hindley and buried four of his victims on the moor. the assurance came during a coroner's court hearing today. sheffield city council has been ordered to pay nearly £200,000 in compensation to a former employee who was sexually abused by a council official. richard rowe, who's has waived his right to anonymity, successfully sued the council after being assaulted by roger dodds in the early 1980s. dodds was sentenced to 16 years in prison in february for a series of assaults on colleagues and students. four men have been arrested in east london over an alleged terror plot. they're being held on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism.

several addresses in east london are being searched. there's a warning about a squeeze in living standards. it follows official figures showing the inflation outstripping wages for the first time in three years. meanwhile a record number of people have jobs, with unemployment falling to its lowest level since 1975. here's our economics editor kamal ahmed. a business fair in leeds and good news onjobs. firms hiring plenty of people as economic growth remains positive. we are continually recruiting staff, we have grown quickly over the last to two years from four to 32 people. we have employed our new manager, and we have also employed in the last couple of months a new ground staff. at this moment in time on our company website, i think we have 15 vacancies posted. the last time we saw unemployment this low was 1975, when the price of a pint of milk was seven pence. it was an era of high inflation and rapidly increasing incomes.

today inflation is creeping back and incomes growth is falling. let us look at the more recent history of pay and rising prices in britain. if we go back to the year 2000, you can see that earnings were consistently above the rate of inflation, on average people were better off. that came to an abrupt halt in 2008, when the financial crisis hit. wages fell sharply and inflation rose, as things like the cost of petrol went up. that led to this long period of pay squeeze, that didn't come to an end until september 2014. and until today, wages have stayed above the cost of living, but the gap has been closing, and today, those lines crossed. individual incomes on average are going down again. donna is a teaching assistant from south—east london. she has faced a pay

freeze for four years. i struggle to eat sometimes. we don't — i have no social life. because of no money to go out. and it is a choice of heating and eating. so one winter it was sitting there with blankets, hot water bottles, jackets, jumpers. and for other hard—pressed consumers it doesn't look like the problem is going away any time soon. the big question for 2017 is whether wages respond to either of two big pressures. those are fast rising inflation and low unemployment. if they don't, we are likely to see the pay freeze continue for some time and that is concerning. is there a spark for the uk economy? a way to produce more wealth from the hard hours we work? that relies on productivity going up, but the figures are down again. until that problem is solved, the danger of a continued income squeeze remains. lloyds bank, which was bailed out

by the taxpayer at the height of the financial crisis, has returned to full private ownership. the government has sold its last remaining shares in the company, and the bank says taxpayers made a profit. here's simon gompertz. the end of an era for british banking. some of the biggest names go cap in hand to the government... lloyds. a spectacular casualty of the financial crisis in 2008. we must in an uncertain and unstable world be the rock of stability... it had its own bad loans, then it took over halifax bank of scotland or hbos, which was much worse affected. banks were bailed out by the taxpayer. now lloyds is back in the black and out on its own. the government sold the last shares in lloyds banking group and it is a moment of huge pride for all the colleagues at lloyds bank, for customers. we gave taxpayers money back. the government pumped in more than £20 billion, taking a 43% stake.

the proceeds of selling lloyds shares, plus other pay—outs, have raised more than that, leaving a return of nearly 900 million. it has been a difficult recovery. complaints stacking up about ppi mis—selling resulted in billions in compensation having to be paid. and the original shareholders in lloyds suffered a significant loss. from a share price of over £3, to around 70p today, that is a big hit to valuation. and probably looking at a pretty permanent loss of capital. lloyds has been pared down, losing hundreds of branches rebranded as the new tsb. and thousands ofjobs have been cut. today has turned into something of a lloyds celebration. but that ignores what has been a long drawn—out disaster. that a bank that should have been part of the solution to the financial crisis turned into part of the problem, for nine years.

# we've come a long, long way together... lloyds' message is that it's reliable again. but it will be forever marked by its fall, and the difficult ride to rehabilitation. simon gompertz, bbc news. she was one of television's best loved characters, hilda 0gden of coronation street, famous for her sharp tongue and her unique style. now some of the items that gave her such a distinctive look, have been sold at auction, including her iconic headscarf, curlers and pinny. the price, more than 4000 pounds. they were auctioned by the family ofjean alexander, the actress who played hilda for more than two decades. colin paterson reports from jean's hometown of southport. oh, look, i don't care if it only cost 2p! it's one of the most famous outfits in tv history. the curlers, the hairnet, and the pinny of hilda 0gden. it's better than nowt, it'll do. and today, it went under the hammer.

you can get rid of it, and yourself and all! jean alexander played coronation street's much loved gossip for more than 20 years. she died last october at the age of 90. her nieces were auctioning off her belongings. the star attraction is the pinny. of course. did you know she always had that? i didn't, really. when we came to tidy up her things, sadly, after she died, i came across a parcel in a wardrobe with her handwriting on a little label. and when we looked into it further, it turned out that this was the first pinny and headscarf and curlers she'd used in the show. she'd taken them with her when she started in coronation street. and they belonged to my grandmother, jean's mother. there was online interest from italy and the us, but many had turned up to bid in person. everybody had an auntie or a nan or somebody like that. and shejust reminded you of a typical northern lady. well, i always put my own curlers in myself, so that to me just would be brilliant to get that. 40 in the corner, 45. this piece of hilda history

was the final lot of the day, and went for by far the biggest amount. £4200. bought by trevor beattie, a former advertising executive and now film producer who worked on the likes of lock, stock and two smoking barrels and moon. it is like charlie chaplin's moustache or muhammad ali's boxing gloves. we may be making hilda 0gden — the movie, so we'll see. what makes her worthy of being turned into a movie? the character. if we had half of her character, we'd be better people. and jean alexander's nieces were delighted. she would have been amazed, she would have. amazing. wejust said, more money than probably her mum ever saw in her life. 30 years after hilda 0gden left coronation street, and her actual curlers could be headed for the big screen. colin paterson, bbc news, southport. the election wrap is coming up, but

first the weather with nick miller. if you wanted rain for the gardens it came, and then some! this is how it came, and then some! this is how it looked on the radar, heavy rain for some, rain all day long it looked on the radar, heavy rain forsome, rain all day long in it looked on the radar, heavy rain for some, rain all day long in two parts of wales, but westernmost areas of england and a large area of wales avoided most of the rain and stay dry. this is york when the rain set in, even heavier in dorset. looking at some of the rainfall totals, they are notching up. they will go upa totals, they are notching up. they will go up a bit further when it is raining, sunspots getting up to half month's worth of rain. heavy showers in northern ireland and north—west scotland, they will gradually fade to the evening but one or two will continue overnight. heavy rain across eastern parts of england, turning damp and drizzly behind that

is the bulka pushes away into the north sea. a cooler night to come, sunspots ending up in low single figures as we start tomorrow. some cloud first thing for east anglia and south—east england, but the sun will appear. sunshine from the word 90, will appear. sunshine from the word go, showers get going quite quickly in northern ireland, some of them will be heavy and sunny. into the afternoon of the northern england, wales and sun into south—west england as well. much of east anglia, the midlands and south east england staying try. less humid in kent compared to yesterday, where the temperature reached 25. a few showers for wales and northern england, particularly for northern ireland and sun into northern scotland. sullo —— slow—moving, heavy and sunny downpours feeling quite pleasant, when you get sunshine, feeling cool when the showers move through. another spell of rain three eastern parts of the uk as we go on through

friday, it pulls northwards. elsewhere, sunshine and showers, some of them heavy. temperatures are pleasa nt some of them heavy. temperatures are pleasant in the sunshine but sinking quickly when the showers move through. we are expecting further, u nsettled through. we are expecting further, unsettled further, not a wash—out but there will be sunshine. feeling mice in the sun but always the chance of catching a shower which could be heavy and sunny and the knights will be quite chilly. —— and the nights will be quite chilly. hello and welcome to the election wrap, your essential guide to the day's campaigning across the uk. roll—up, roll—up for a brexit referendum sequel. an upbeat vibe as the liberal democrats launch their manifesto in the last hour, saying it's logical to have a second vote on any final brexit deal. but critics say hang

on, that's a do over. what a difference a day makes for labour. yesterday len mccluskey of unite said labour were dead ducks in the coming election. but today he says no, labour will be soaring eagles onjune 8th. confused? we will clear everything up, fear not. afterjune we will clear everything up, fear not. after june if we will clear everything up, fear not. afterjune if you