available as ever on the bbc website. this is bbc news, i'm sophie long live in halifax. the headlines at 3pm: the headlines at theresa may has launched the conservative party's manifesto, saying politicians need to be "upfront" about the big challenges facing britain — and proposing a shake—up of social care in england. on brexit — the prime minister promises a fair deal — but predicts the next 5 years will be "among the most challenging in our lifetime". come with me as i lead britain; strengthen my hand as i fight for britain. and stand with me as i deliverfor britain. and we'll get reaction to the proposals in the conservative manifesto in the next hour. i'm ben brown, the other main story this hour: i'm ben brown, the other main story this hour: a former fbi boss is brought in to investigate russia's role in the us election — and its ties with donald trump as the president says he's

being subjected to the biggest witch hunt against a politician in american history. rolf harris will be released from prison on bail tomorrow — and will attend court in person for the rest of a trial where he's accused of indecent assault. police launch an investigation into an unusually high rate of baby deaths and collapses at the chester's main hospital. and it's all in the packaging — the everyday items that recyclers say are impossible to deal with. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the prime minister theresa may has launched the conservative party manifesto this lunchtime with a raft of policy pledges claiming to "get to grips with the great challenges of our time". it includes major changes to social care in england. for the first time,

the value of someone's property would be included in the means test for care at home. mrs may pledged changes to our state pensions — she said there'll be a new ‘double lock‘ system when the current triple lock expires in 2020. there's also a promise for an increase in nhs funding for england, by a minimum of £8 billion in real terms over the next five years. on brexit mrs may warned that if a government failed in the negotiations, the consequences would be "dire". there were also new measures to curb immigration. my colleague sophie long was at the launch in halifax. good afternoon. this former mill in halifax in the north—west of england was where the prime minster chose to unveil the conservative party ma nifesto. in it she restated the conservative

party pledge to reduce net immigration to what she called sustainable levels in the tens of thousands. there was also a big shake—up of the way social care would be paid for in england. there was also a watering down of the government guarantee on pensions, an end to the universal winter fuel payment, it would be means tested, as would free school meals for infa nts. as would free school meals for infants. eleanor garnier has more details. it is the general election she decided to call. please welcome the prime minister, theresa may. this is her pitch to persuade you that she is the person to sort out the country's problems. because it is the responsibility of leadership to be upfront and straight with people about the challenges ahead. about the difficult decisions and trade—offs that need to be made, and the hard work required to overcome the obstacles in our way — and that is what this manifesto does. theresa may claimed that the conservatives had always

been the centre ground, but was this an attempt to redefine what it means to be conservative? with the right brexit deal secured, my mainstream government will deliver for mainstream britain. all those who work hard and make this country what it is. people who have a job do not always have job security. people who own their home but worry about paying the mortgage. people who can just about manage but worry about the cost of living and getting their children into a good school. mrs may said she would look to balance the budget by the middle of the next decade, pledging billions more for the nhs, she promised to protect the country's public services. the government i lead will build a britain in which the economy is strong to support world—class public services, with the most ambitious programme of investment in technology and building the nhs has ever seen. record and fair funding for schools.

real technical education for young people. and the first—ever proper plan to pay for and provide social care. theresa may has also promised if the conservatives are elected, the winter fuel allowance worth up to £300 would be means tested, and the pensions triple lock would be reduced to a double lock, with a state pension rising in line with earnings and prices, the minimum 2.5% increase would no longer be guaranteed. schools in england would be protected from any losses from a new funding formula, but free school meals for all infants would be scrapped for all but the poorest, replaced with free breakfasts across primary. and theresa may says she will recommit to curb net migration to the tens of thousands. it is right that we want to bring net migration to sustainable levels, we say those are in the tens of thousands, because of the impact controlled migration has on people,

especially at the lower end of the income scale, because it can hold down people's wages. it can mean a displacement ofjobs and it puts pressure on public services. theresa may hopes this manifesto shows she is able to take what she calls big and difficult decision and perhaps it shows an indication she thinks this is her chance for maximum power, and a chance to take over swathes of the country, including parts of labour's heartlands, to turn them a new tory blue. it was theresa may's decision to call this general election, and she has made the conservative campaign about her — this manifesto a personal test for the prime minister. one of the main targets in the conservative manifesto — to tackle the rising cost of social care in england. it promises that no—one will have to sell their property

in their lifetime to fund residential or home care — instead, the cost of care will be taken from their estate when they die — as long as that's worth at least £100,000. one former government adviser has all the policy disappointing. some ca re all the policy disappointing. some care workers all the policy disappointing. some ca re workers say all the policy disappointing. some care workers say it's a missed opportunity. sarah campbell has this report. the population is ageing. how to pay for the increasing numbers of people will need often expensive care in their final years as a problem successive governments have failed to adequately tackle. today, the conservatives said social care will require taking difficult decisions. this morning, on the norfolk coast, reaction to their plans was mixed. i don't think you can expect the government to keep on paying. i think you have to pay. my father is in care

and the amount of money it costs us to clote him on top of what we have to pay out and what he has to pay out is disgusting. i think it is wrong. you have worked all your life. and suddenly those who saved, they've not wasted their money, they are expected to use it for social care. under the plans, everybody will get to keep £100,000 of assets, an increase ofjust over £23,000. but for the first time, the value of a person's home is taken into account to pay for their care. that only happens now if it involves residential care. and a person's property will not have to be sold until after they have died. we say that everyone will have the confidence of knowing that they can pass on £100,000 to their children and grandchildren but there are trade—offs in order to make that commitment. and we will be treating people who have care at home in the same way as people cared for in care homes. there will be no cap on the amount of money people

will be expected to pay for their care. so some will have bills potentially running into hundreds of thousands. the certainty is that if you have assets in total including the value of your house of more than £100,000, you are on your own you have to pay for yourself until you get to that level. for most people, the prospect is that if they need social care, they will have to pay and the government is not providing a scheme to allow them to pull that risk to ensure that. what is certain is that with more people living longer, social care and who pays for it is an issue likely to affect most of those deciding how to vote next month. theresa may launched the conservative party manifesto here in halifax, then boarded the battle bus as the campaign continues. she's now arrived in bolton where she is meeting factory workers and talking

to them about their concerns. i'm joined by norman smith, deputy political editor. assistant political editor. assistant political editor. assistant political editor. in halifax. it's a mouthful, wouldn't worry about it. how radical do you think this was?” was surprised at the amount of hugely ambitious ideas theresa may has put in his manifesto because you might imagine she would take the view, i've got to deal with brexit, thatis view, i've got to deal with brexit, that is massive, the biggest thing to hit this country in 100 years. i need to devote all my time and concentration to that. far from it, mrs may has now tagged alongside that a whole load of sweeping reforms, many of which will prove very difficult and very controversial. not least of which, she is proposing to renegotiate gp contracts. that state of means a big battle with doctors. no questions about it. they will fight it tooth and nail. at the time we know that

nurses are balloting on industrial action in the wake of the junior doctors strike. from where i'm sitting she seems to be heading straight into a great big tussle with large sections of the nhs workforce. also proposing to pile the energy market and tell privately run companies, this is what prices are going to be, i'll tell you what the cap is going to be. it's going to be hugely contentious and many in the tory party will say it doesn't look much like free—market politics. never mind the opposition of the energy companies who will think my daughter own business, private companies decide what we're going to pgy- companies decide what we're going to pay. then we get social care thrown up, down it different configurations what anyone was thinking. andrew wilmot‘s plans have been torn up and chopped in the bin. instead theresa may has come up with a totally different idea. now it was certainly help low income families, not sure it'll make much difference at all to

most middle—class families, most people who own a home, they'll still face very significant care costs. it'll be hugely controversial. she's got these massive battles, tussles, fights all over the place. at the same time, having to carry through what is an historic generational change. which is massive. she has a huge amount on her agenda which tells us one thing: she does not wa nt to tells us one thing: she does not want to be just the brexit prime minister, she wants to have a broader legacy than that. let's look at some of those other policies outside brexit and social care. joining me now form cambridge is hannah maundrell, editor in chief of money.co.uk talk us through some of what you see as the main personalfinance policy announcements. the big announcement about pensions, the triple lock will be scrapped and replaced with a double lock where pensions will be

linked instead to increases in average earnings or inflation. it is average earnings or inflation. it is a significant measure, especially when coupled with an end to winter fuel payments for everybody, everybody in retirement you could receive between 100 and £300. instead they will be means tested, only restricted to those classified as in fuel poverty. it'll be a significant announcement. four people on the other end of the spectrum looking to buy or move home, there will be increased protection for renters. tenants and landlords should be encouraged to ta ke landlords should be encouraged to take longer leases, to give people greater security. it should be easier and cheaper to buy a home after these reforms are met. new—builds will after these reforms are met. new— builds will have to after these reforms are met. new—builds will have to adhere to greater standards of building quality. the increase in the personal tax allowance to 12,500, how much difference will that make to people? it should make quite a

significant difference. the higher allowa nce significant difference. the higher allowance will be increased to £50,000. these are claims we've already known about, they have been alleged again today. we've heard conservatives are going to increase the national minimum living wage with 60% of median earnings. some say it's not nearly enough for people to live on, others will be worried that pledge will put pressure on businesses already concerned about wages increasing through the brexit process. in terms of personal finances, how much change with people experience if theresa may is elected on the 8th of june? theresa may is elected on the 8th of june? we've heard lots about a cap on energy bills. which is expected to help save some people some money. the concern is other people already switching will lose out and see their tariffs go up instead. swings and roundabouts. a number of other

reviews and crackdowns have been announced about letting agent fees, subscriptions reviewed, where they automatically result in you paying more. there will be an investigation into telecoms. you will be told about cheaper tariffs you can switch to. these small measures will add up to. these small measures will add up to significant savings for south willett households. we don't know the finer details and how they would be implemented. it's very hard to say. thank you very much indeed for being with us. theresa may stood here this morning and said she'd provide strong leadership and she'd be able to make difficult decisions, because when you look at these policies, while there would be winners, there would be losers, too. more reaction to the conservative party manifesto through the afternoon. sophie long in halifax. we're going

to go through some of the numbers and figures in that manifesto launch. chris morris and the bbc reality check team have been taking a look through the manifesto. after weeks of hearing about strong and stable leadership we finally got some details to look at but unlike labour and the liberal democrats, conservatives haven't so far released their overall costings in a single table, so we're still working on those. there are some headline numbers though, the tories say they plan to balance the budget later, by 2025. they say they plan to increase nhs spending by minimum of 8 billion in real terms over the next five yea rs. in real terms over the next five years. the social care changes we've already heard about will mean tens of thousands more families have to pay for social care provided at home, but everyone will retain at

least £100,000 of savings and assets including value in the family home. a policy designed to take account of the fact we are living longer. the conservatives also wants to raise money by means testing the winter fuel allowance, ensuring payments only go to the least wealthy pensioners. the scheme costs about £3 billion a year at the moment. means testing it could save about half of that. one revenue raising measure labour and the lib dems have promised, of course, is an increase in income tax. not the tories.“ you look at this manifesto, while there isn't an absolute promise not to increase income tax and national insurance and so on, what you've got here is a pretty modest set of proposals which probably aren't going to require terribly much into the way of tax increases. one big conservative promise in the cameron promise was the triple lock on pensions under which this date pensions under which this date pension rises by the rate of

inflation, average earnings, or 2.596, inflation, average earnings, or 2.5%, whichever is highest. theresa may wants to scrap that, losing the 2.596 may wants to scrap that, losing the 2.5% guarantee. it would give the government more flexibility but it's impossible to say how much money it might say. moving to education conservatives want to boost school funding by £4 billion over the next parliament. one of the way they plan to raise the money is to scrap universal free school lunches for infa nts, universal free school lunches for infants, replacing them with much cheaper free school breakfasts in primary schools. the manifesto contains no precise costing for this. innovation policy also looms large in conservative plans. they plan to double from 1000 to £2000 the amount companies have to pay to import highly skilled workers from outside the eu. we don't really know how much that might raise. the conservatives have also reaffirmed their target of cutting overall net migration to less than 100,000 per

year. there will be cost involved. the independent office for budget responsibility has estimated it could cost £5.9 billion to cut annual net migration from 273,000 now to 185000 by 20 21. that's because things like a lower tax take and high proportion of nonworking people in overall population. that's still a long way short of the 100,000 target. it's something that will have to be taken into account in the debate to come and the emphasis on immigration is a reminder this is an election taking place in the shadow of the looming brexit negotiations. the negotiations are about to begin with the european union, they won't be easy. they'll be challenging. at times they will be tough. theresa may, britain has a prime minister with the strength to lead britain through these negotiations and make

a su ccess through these negotiations and make a success of the future. but the outcome of those negotiations over the next two years is deeply uncertain the moment. the manifesto says no deal is better than a bad deal. the eu negotiations will probably do more than anything else in the next parliament to determine the health of the economy. and the chance for any political party to put their promises into practice. we'll put your questions about the conservative manifested iain duncan smith at 5:30pm today. you can get in touch with your questions on twitter, using the hashtag bbc ask this. send us your questions on any of

those promises in the new conservative manifesto launch today by theresa may in halifax. news coming into us. this is news from the old bailey that a former producer of the television police drama the bill has been found guilty at the old bailey of trying to hire at the old bailey of trying to hire a hit man to kill his wealthy partner. this is david harris, who told the jury he was actually researching a novel he intended to write, but he's been found guilty. 68—year—old david harris, of allegedly offering around £200,000 to get rid of hazel allinson in a fa ke to get rid of hazel allinson in a fake mugging or carjacking, before his arrest in november last year. he told the jury she was his soul mate, that he would never want any harm to come with her. thejury that he would never want any harm to come with her. the jury was sent out to begin deliberating yesterday, on thursday morning, in fact, and has

returned a verdict of guilty. duncan kennedy, our reporter, will bring us the latest from amberley in west sussex, where david harris is from. president donald trump has said he is facing the biggest "witch hunt against a politician in american history". mr trump's angry tweet follows news of the appointment of former fbi chief, robert mueller, to lead an independent inquiry into alleged russian interference in last year's election. politicians on both sides of congress welcomed the decision — which took the white house by surprise. richard galpin reports. these are the darkest days so far for donald trump, whose brief, chaotic tenure at the white house is steadily being engulfed by allegations of inappropriate links with russia. director, if you would rise. so much so a former fbi director, robert mueller, has been called in to lead the growing

investigation into the allegations. he's seen as an independent outsider and has been welcomed by democrat and republican politicians. it isa it is a very positive development. it is evidence the administration is taking it seriously, good news. i don't believe it was necessary, i don't believe in special counsels, they can go off on their own. having said that, i've got a lot of confidence in bob. if there has to be a special counsel, they made an excellent choice. at the root of this, the alleged collusion between trump's campaign team and russian officials during and after last year's us election. in february trump's national security adviser michael flynn had to resign because he lied about his contact with russia. the next day, it has now emerged, the president allegedly asked the fbi directorjames comey to drop the investigation into mr flynn. allegedly saying, i hope you can see your way to letting this go. but in march mr comey went public for the first time about the broader

fbi investigation and on may 9th he was sacked with mr trump saying it was his decision and that this "russia thing with trump" was a factor. for legal experts the investigation of this sequence of events and more is almost unprecedented in its importance. it's hard to think of a more consequential investigation when we're about the presidency and we're talking about potential foreign influence into our elections. we're talking about whether or not president trump has committed an obstruction of justice. mr trump denies allegations, and issued a statement overnight ferry and if the investigation will confirm what we already know— there was no collusion

between my campaign and any foreign entity. it will be many months before mr trump knows his fate, but already global financial markets have been falling in response to the crisis, putting yet more pressure on the president. richard galpin, bbc news. back to the launch of the conservative manifesto, and one of the policy is central to that ma nifesto, the policy is central to that manifesto, immigration. let's talk you through some of those plans. the conservatives planning to double from 1000 to £2000 the amount companies have to pay to import highly skilled workers from outside the eu. and also a promise to reduce annual net migration to the tens of thousands. but no target date given for that. we're joined by thousands. but no target date given for that. we'rejoined by a member of the think tank calling for reduced migration levels. what do you make of that promise? we've

heard it in the past, it promised to reduce net migration to tens of thousands. is it something you would welcome? i do welcome it. ithink what they've proposed is a good sound basis for bringing net migration down. and in fact that's what people want. i suspect over the coming weeks the one question most candidates will be asked when they knock on doors is, what is your party going to do about immigration? ido party going to do about immigration? i do welcome it, i think it's perfectly sensible to continue to bear down on immigration, and get it down to sensible levels. bear down on immigration. at the same time we hear cries from various companies, businesses, the national health service, that they need immigrant labour. yesterday we saw the latest employment figures, the year to march this year there were 150,000

more from the eu workers coming here and there were a year ago. then there were 388,000 all told. this hasn't dried up. people who have come here to work, particularly from eastern europe, has continued to come and haven't gone home. i think it's absolutely essential that we do get numbers down. then we've got this promise on doubling the levy, that companies have to pay if employing migrant workers, from 1000 to 2000. what do you make of that? againi to 2000. what do you make of that? again i think that's quite sensible, one thing we need to do is encourage employees to train locally. they've stopped doing that. to work towards local labour. attacked them with perhaps a bit more money, perhaps with better training and skills. —— attract them with more money. i

welcome the fact employees are encouraged to do that. thank you very much for your time. let's ta ke let's take you back to the news we we re let's take you back to the news we were breaking in the last couple of minutes, former producer of the police drama series the bill has been found guilty of trying to hire a hit man to kill his wealthy partner. david harris told the jury he was researching a novel he was intending to write. our correspondent duncan kennedy is at the village of amberley west sussex where david harris left. bring us the latest. this really is an extraordinary story. you heard the case of david harris and his partner hazel allinson, living together for nearly 30 years. david harris had a secret, as he could girlfriend, that he couldn't afford to keep up with.

what he did was conquer a plan to hirea what he did was conquer a plan to hire a hit man to kill hazel, his partner, get his hands on the house they shared in this village, said it, and have the money to pay for the girlfriend. what he did was try to hire not one, not two, but three hit men to try and kill hazel allinson. the problem for david harris was that the third hit man was, in fact, an undercover police officer. and david harris‘s plot came unstuck. for nearly 30 years david harris and hazel allinson shared a life together. but harris had a secret and the problem. the secret was this woman. a woman he met ina secret was this woman. a woman he met in a brothel. the problem was, he was broke and couldn't indulge her. so harris decided to try and hire not one, not two, but three hit men to kill his partner hazel and set up life with ugne. i have three

separate hit man to kill your partner, it sounds ludicrous. that's exactly what david harris did. his aim was to get rid of hazel and get his hands on their £800,000 house here in west sussex. the house was in her name. hit man number one was supposedly christopher may, a trainee private detective. harris said he needed him to collect a debt. but then revealed he wanted hazel killed. offering £250,000, which he refused. so harris found what he thought was hit man number two. duke dean. dean innocently thought thejob two. duke dean. dean innocently thought the job was about collecting a debt. instead, harris offered him £175,000 to kill hazel. did you get the impression he was serious about getting rid of hazel?”

the impression he was serious about getting rid of hazel? i was quite staunchly was about that. that's what he wanted ? staunchly was about that. that's what he wanted? that's what he wanted. but dean tipped off the police, leading them to create hit man number three in the form of an undercover officer posing as an assassin. harris asked him, too, to kill hazel. this is a man who basically presented himself as a retired middle—class pensioner who, in fact, was a very manipulative, conniving, ruthless individual who approach not one but three individual men and offered them money to have his partner killed. he wa nted money to have his partner killed. he wanted her dead. heeded. david harris suggested ways that the three hit men could kill hazel, pushing her off the cliff, attacking her in the hotel, and even poisoning

her in the hotel, and even poisoning her on a trip to hospital. harris had spent his life on television, making series like the big, which hazel worked on. his story to the police was he wanted to bea story to the police was he wanted to be a thriller writer. harris said he wa nted be a thriller writer. harris said he wanted to meet hit menace part of research for his movel. but the book never existed, he just wanted research for his movel. but the book never existed, hejust wanted hazel dead. the greed and lust, the driving forces behind his triple attempt, to have her killed. done ken di, bbc news in sussex. as you heard, there was never research, he made it all up. he really did want to kill hazel and went to extraordinary lengths, to

find not one but three people to try to do it. in the end he did it and will be a in court today for that crime. now to the weatherroom with ben rich. today has been a brighter prospect with spells of sunshine. showers around. this picture sum it is up nicely. in st ives in cornwall. notice down to the south—east, there is something changing, more in the way of cloud. more outbreaks of rain in the northern and south—eastern areas of england, into east anglia and tonight. the heaviest burst to be to the east of london. some rain getting up to parts of lincolnshire and yorkshire. in the west, the day

time showers fade, tonight a few patches of fog and frost for some. friday, in south—east scotland a little bit of patchy rain continuing to flirt with the coastal areas. temperatures about 11 to 15 celsius. the weekend, a mixture of sunshine and showers. for more details, join sarah keith—lucas right here in half an hour. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: theresa may has launched the conservative election manifesto — saying politicians need to be "upfront" about the issues britain faces. we need to ensure we are addressing the great challenges in our society — that's what this manifesto is about. the manifesto says people will pay more towards the cost of their care, but that money will be taken from people's estates after they die. david harris has been found guilty

at the old bailey. he tried to hire at the old bailey. he tried to hire a hit man to will his wealthy partner. the us government has appointed former fbi chief robert mueller to be special counsel to investigate alleged russian interference in last year's presidential election. police launch an investigation into an unusually high rate of baby deaths and collapses at the countess of chester hospital. rolf harris will be released from prison on bail tomorrow — and will attend court in person for the rest of a trial where he's accused of indecent assault. the latest sports news for you now with will perry. the latest sports news for you now with will perry. the football association has voted in favour of introducing retrospective bans for players who dive orfeign injury from next season. the move was approved at the fa's agm at wembley today, along with other reforms.

our sports correspondent katie gornalljoins me, katie what more can you tell us? this has been something on the fa's mind for some time. diving simulation is a talking point on a weekly basis in the game. there have been a number of high—profile cases, involving dele alli and marcus rashford. now they are adamant that those guilty will receive a punishment. there will be a panel to review the cases of sill layings, so winning a penalty or getting a player sent off, and any player unanimously found guilty will be given a suspension. this happens in scotland. but not everyone in england is broadly supportive of this measure. we can hearfrom sam alla rdyce this measure. we can hearfrom sam allardyce now. well, it is utter rubbish... because, what about the lad that gets booked that didn't dive. what

are they going to do with that? go on, what are they going to do with it? they will say that is unlucky, the next time we will get that right. so the lad that dive #d is punished but the lad that didn't dive, they will have to reverse it. bring in technology and look at it on the day. bring a sin bin in, and put him in the sin bin for ten minutes then bring him back on. stop paying for people to do such rubbish situations in the game it is utter rubbish. situations in the game it is utter rubbish. the fa also announced its passed reforms it proposed in march, tell us more about that. the fa, there are paths of reform that have been of people that tried and failed. the key points of reform is to restructure the fa. there will be three places on the fa's board

forfemale members be three places on the fa's board for female members by be three places on the fa's board forfemale members by 2018. they are to strea m forfemale members by 2018. they are to stream line the board and introduce term limitses for the council membership. greg clarke, the chairman who threatened to resign if the reforms didn't pass called it a good start. the pressure that the fa are under, a threat of millions of pounds of public money to be withdrawn if they did not meet the new criteria. so although some people feel that the reforms don't go far enough, given the pace of changes we have seen recently, it has been a busy day for the fa. british number one johanna konta is out of the italian open after losing in three sets to venue williams. konta, who's beaten williams in their last three encounters, struggled to make an impact in the first set, losing it 6—1.

she recovered to take the second to level the match but williams broke twice in the third to book her place in the quarterfinals. that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. the conservative party has launched its general election manifesto. addressing a crowd in halifax in west yorkshire, the prime minister, theresa may, said her party's aim is to build a ‘stronger, fairer and more prosperous‘ britain and create ‘a great meritocracy‘ her commitments include a strong economy with a pledge to balance the budget by the middle of the next decade. she talked about brexit saying there would be ‘no half in, half out of europe' the manifesto also stipulates that a second scottish referendum cannot take place until after the brexit process is complete. and there's a fresh commitment to bring down net migration, she said leaving the eu would allow more control. she talks of the rising cost of social care in england due to an ageing society, new plans say no—one will have to sell their property in their lifetime to fund residential or home care, but there will be a new floor of £100,000. and she said nhs spending would increase by a minimum of £8bn in real terms over the next five years. of £8 billion in real terms over the next five years. the manifesto commits

more money to schools — partly paid for by ending free lunches for infants. theresa may outlined her policies on social care and public services earlier. the government i lead will build a britain in which the economy is strong to support world—class public services, with the most ambitious programme of investment, in technology and buildings the nhs has ever seen. record and fair funding for schools. real technical education for young people. and the first ever proper plan to pay for and provide social care. because strong public services don't just provide security and enhance opportunity, they are vital local and national institutions, that bring us all together. labour leaderjeremy corbyn also gave his reaction to the conservative policy on social care. she's attacking all of the older

people in our society. she's damaging social care in our society. this is a manifesto which will make the situation across britain worse on top of what this coalition and conservative government have done, leaving 6 million people earning less than the minimum wage. sir andrew dilnot who led a major review into social care several years has criticisised the proposals in the tory party manifesto; he says they would leave people "completely on their own" to deal with the future costs of their care. so, what i like, because it is something we ourselves recommended in our commission, something we ourselves recommended in ourcommission, and something we ourselves recommended in our commission, and which the government in the last parliament legislated for, therefore was in the ma nifesto legislated for, therefore was in the manifesto the last time around was the increase in the amount of assets you could hold and still get support from the means tested system. we suggested increasing it to £123,000 the conservative manifesto increased it to £100,000. that was a good thing, something to welcome. there

area thing, something to welcome. there are a couple of ways that the government's suggesting to raise money, one is to means test the winter fuel allowance, to take money, one is to means test the winterfuel allowance, to take it from better off pensioners, that is relatively sensible. as part of a package that does something good for pensioners on social care where the package falls down. the second ray of raising money is for the people in care in their homes whereas the value of the house is ignored, in future the value of the house is to be included. so hundreds of thousands of people will be paying more. that will be a reasonable thing to do if there were a bolder suggestion on social care. all that the government is doing is suggesting that people will be able to keep the last £100,000 of all of their assets until they get to that level they are on their own. people will have no way of managing the massive risk, no way of getting certainty about their future. if you

are unlucky to have a chronic illness, and need care for a long time that absorbs a large amount of money, you will be on your own and paying for it yourself until you are down to your last £100,000. that is not a sensily way of running the system. what is your alternative in a nutshell? outline how you would do it forfairly? nutshell? outline how you would do it for fairly? i would do it in the way that the last government legislated for, to produce a form of social insurance. so recognise this isa social insurance. so recognise this is a risk that the private sector cannot and won't insurance, so if we are to insurance it, which is what we like to do with risks, then it must be the whole community that does it. with social insurance with a large excess, so that the individuals are responsible for the first slice of the costs but if they

did have dementia or chronic arthritis, that the costs are borne. a cap of £72,000. once you accumulate that £72,000 of social ca re accumulate that £72,000 of social care need, beyond that, the state will pay. social care is something that leaves people terrified and paralysed. by having a cap in place we take the fear away which is betterfor the individuals and for the providers as they are able to innovate and to be dealing with customers who are not so terrified as customers are now. let'sjoin our let's join our correspondent in bolton. theresa may has been visiting a factory after launching the catastrophe controversy party ma nifesto. the catastrophe controversy party manifesto. so back on the

conservative party manifesto trail. indeed. this is a factory that assembles missiles. so theresa may was given a tour of the floor. meeting the workers, putting together the brimstone of guided missiles and given a flavour of what they do day—to—day. she met a group of apprentices and graduates who started training and jobs at this factory. they were asking her, there was no formal q and a. but she was asked about her commitment to apprenticeships and she recognised that university was the right route for some, whilst going into trained and paid was right for others. she was asked about the commitment to defensive spending. she repeated the ma nifesto defensive spending. she repeated the manifesto commitment to spend 2% of gdp on defence and that it would go

up gdp on defence and that it would go up slightly in real terms each year. chatting to the young apprentices and graduates was interesting, they we re and graduates was interesting, they were pleased she had come. they say it makes the politicians seem more human, genuine, rather than it makes the politicians seem more human, genuine, ratherthan seeing some politicians on tv. so i think that the visit went down well here. and theresa may will have used this asa and theresa may will have used this as a stop, the first stop to sell the manifesto. laila, thank you very much. and today at 5.30 on bbc news we will be putting your questions about the conservative manifesto to iain duncan smith — the former cabinet minister and of course tory party leader. you can get in touch via twitter using the hashtag bbc ask this — or text your questions to 61124 — and you can email us as well at askthis@bbc.co.uk. the police in hershire have launched

an investigation into a number of hospitals where the numbers of babies dying have risen. we have this report. the police said that they were launching the investigation, especially looking at the deaths of babies who were here in the neonatal units, so the units looking after premature babies and over that year from the middle ofjune 2015 and june 2016. the police are looking at 15 deaths. focussing on eight. they will review another seven and they are also going to look at six babies who came very close to death. all being here at the count count yes, sirof being here at the count count yes, sir of chester hospital. the hospital have said there have been a number of independent reviews into

the neonatal unit. one review published earlier in the year, recommended 24 improvements. it spoke about inadequate staffing levels but also said it could not find anything to link these individual deaths. so the hospital felt that there were questions to be answered. also, hospital says that they wanted to rule out any unnatural causes, which is why the police have been brought in. the investigation launched. but the hospital say that they did not take the decision to call in the police lightly. they know it will cause distress to the families and the pa rents of distress to the families and the parents of the babies are being supported. we have heard indirectly from one of the families through their solicitors, we cannot name them but we are told that this particularfamily them but we are told that this particular family feels that the death of any child is a tragedy but that their tragedy has been exacerbated by the fact that there

are questions still left to answer, so they welcome, they say, the news that there will be now a police investigation. they hope that will intime provide the answers that they want. judith mortgages reporting from cheshire. rolf harris is on trial at court accused of indecently assaulting three teenagers. he denies the charges against him. thejudge, deborah charges against him. the judge, deborah taylor, charges against him. thejudge, deborah taylor, sold the jury thejudge, deborah taylor, sold the jury here at southwark crown court told the jury that rolf harris will be released tomorrow. he was convicted and sentenced in 2014. she told the jury, the fact that she has given him bail does not have bearing on the decision to be made in due course. she told the jury that rolf harris has been appearing during the

trial via a videolink, that he will now appear in person for the remainder of his trial from monday. rolf harris is facing four counts of indecent assault charges. these are historical allegations between 1971 and 198 p, all relating to three victims, three alleged victims between the ages of 13 and 16. now the court is hearing evidence today from the second of those alleged victims. she claims he assaulted her ata victims. she claims he assaulted her at a sports event in cambridge when she was 16 years old. so the trial here continuing. but to recap the news that rolf harris is to be released from stafford prison tomorrow on bail and he is due to appear at his own trial here from monday. the court here will not be sitting tomorrow. rolf harris denies all of the charges against him. ina all of the charges against him. in a moment we will have the

business news for you. before that, the bbc news headlines. theresa may has launched the conservative election manifesto — saying politicians need to be "upfront" about the issues britain faces. the manifesto says people will pay more towards the cost of their care, but that money will be taken from people's estates after they die. the us government has appointed former fbi chief robert mueller to be special counsel to investigate alleged russian interference in last year's presidential election. rolf harris will be released from prison on bail tomorrow — and will attend court in person for the rest of a trial where he's accused of indecent assault. in the business news. spend, spend, spend — that seems to be what we're doing. retail salesjumped 2.3% in april from the previous month and by 4% compared with april last year. the office for national statistics said sales rose thanks to a late easter. the year—on—yearjump was far higher than expected

and was helped by warmer weather, according to retailers. more on this shortly. the value of the pound has jumped on news of the april rebound in retail sales — particularly as it paints a much rosier picture in contrast with the fall in sales in march. sterling is up, hitting $1.30, its highest level since the end of september. royal mail has posted a healthy package of figures showing annual profitsjumped by a quarter. that's thanks to better—than—expected growth in its parcel delivery business. it's thought our insatiable appetite for online shopping led to a 9% rise in parcel deliveries. but the number of letters posted fell by 6%. warmer weather meant that retail sales rose by 2.3% compared with the month before. that has helped the

pound to rise before $1.30, the surge in retailfigures came as a price to analysts, beating expectations after the 1.4% fall in the first quarter of the year. it is not just down to the first quarter of the year. it is notjust down to warmer weather, as our retail analyst told me earlier. it is really early to look at this month to say it is a boom, boom, boom. it is not. some of the factors at play are part of consumers trying to outrun inflation. so buying goods now as they know inflation is to increase later. certainly, what we are seeing at springboard is that the figures are replicating foot fall, so the volume of activity in the stores. so people are visiting the stores. so people are visiting the stores. so people are visiting the stores and the late easter and the stores and the late easter and the weakness of pound meant there we re the weakness of pound meant there were more overseas tourists and people stayed at home so. rather than going abroad, there were more

staycations. we saw that in the impact in the volumes of activity in our coastal towns and historic towns. now let's move to brazil, where a massive political controversy is having a big impact on the stock market. president michel temer has been forced to deny newspaper reports that he authorised bribes to silence a possible witness in a huge corruption scandal. o globo says its information comes from a tape of a conversation between the president and joesley batista who is the chairman of the world's biggest meat processing companyjbs. south america business correspondent daniel gallas explained more from sao paulo. what we know so far is what came out from globo, the newspaper that published the story last night it says that there is a tape that was recorded by the director of that company, thej bs meat company. he

met with the president in march. it isa met with the president in march. it is a meeting that the president confirmed happened in the presidential palace. that ceo informed the president he had been paying bribes to keep a certain ally silent, an ally of president temer in jail. silent, an ally of president temer injail. and what silent, an ally of president temer in jail. and what the newspaper says, yes, well, if you are paying him keep it that way that is quite explosive for a president to say. does the tape exist? has this happened? we have not had confirmation from the authorities. but there is a political and an economic earthquake happening surrounding these things. the president is due to speak later today. here's a look at some other stories we're following today. staying with retail — like—for—like sales at supermarket giant asda were down in the first three months of this year. they are slightly better than the decline in the final three months of last year and considerably better than the 5.8% slide in the three months before that. a growing appetite for greggs £2

breakfast deal and its salads and wraps has helped the bakery chain serve up a good start to the year. total sales rose in the first 19 weeks of 2017, with like—for—like sales up 3.6%. however, the company said the prospects for sales "remains uncertain in the context of slowing growth in disposable incomes". and facebook is being fined 100m euros by the european commission for giving misleading information over its purchase of whatsapp in 2014. calling it a "proportionate and deterrent fine", the european commission said facebook claimed it could not automatically match user accounts with those on whatsapp — but two years later launched a service that did just that. the ftse100 is down — in common with all the main european markets today reflecting losses on the us markets like the dow and asian markets overnight, because of the political turmoil in washington dc. we're seeing a stronger pound too — partly because the dollar has weakened — but also because of those strong uk retail sales figures. that's all the business news. now a look at the weather with sarah

keith—lucas. for many there has been sunshine. scattering of showers on the cards. more rain that is rolling in from the south. that is down to this area of low pressure, producing heavy showers in parts of france. it is pushing northwards to the east and the south—east parts of the country. here is the combined satellite and radar. showing the cloud and the rain in the south and the east. a good deal of sunshine and showers. contrasting views from the weather watchers. this is whitering, and here in cumbria, a bit of cloud. coming from the cloud, there is rain, that is heavier at times for northern ireland. the showers easing overnight. in the south—east and the east of england, outbreaks of rain affecting the likes of hull, norwich too. and careerer skies in the west,

a misty patch in the morning. perhaps a touch of ground frost. for scotla nd perhaps a touch of ground frost. for scotland a decent start to the day. temperatures getting up to double figures. sunshine for northern ireland. then the cloud and the rain in the north—east of england. brighter skies in the west of england and wales. a largely dry start to friday morning. showers through the day. cloudier skies in the south—east and east anglia, where there will be outbreaks of rain. some uncertainty about the positioning of the rain. the heaviest likely to stay in the north sea but there will be rain in the north—east of england and south—east of scotla nd north—east of england and south—east of scotland too. elsewhere across the country, similar to today, sunny spells and scattered showers. the odd rumble of thunder. temperatures in the mid—teens. saturday, another day of scattered sunshine and showers. heavier in the

northern isles. elsewhere a good deal of dry weather between the showers and temperatures in the mid—teens. high pressure from the south through the course of sunday. sunday for many of us looking like the better day of the weekend. dry weather on the cards. the breeze picking up later on in the west. the cloud increased here. temperatures up cloud increased here. temperatures up to 20 celsius, one or two showers into sunday. summarising, a story of sunshine and scattered showers by the day. with fairly chilly nights through the weekend. this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. the headlines at 4:00pm. theresa may has launched

the conservative party's manifesto, saying politicians need to be "up front" about the big challenges facing britain, and proposing a shake—up of social care in england. on brexit, the prime minister promises a fair deal, but predicts the next five years will be "among the most challenging in our lifetime". come with me as i lead britain. strengthen my hand as i fight for britain. and stand with me as i deliverfor britain. david harris, a former producer of tv police drama the bill, has been found guilty at the old bailey of trying to hire a hitman to kill his wealthy partner. also this hour, more pressure on president trump. a former fbi boss is brought in to investigate russia's role in the us election, and its ties with the president as he says he's being subjected to the biggest witch hunt