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 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 have launched an investigation into an unusually high rate of baby deaths and collapses at the main hospital hospital of cheshire. 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. 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 but 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 or 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 the primary years. 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 uncontrolled 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 decisions 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 red 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 all about her — this manifesto, a very 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. but one former government adviser says many people would have no protection from care costs. sarah campbell reports. the population is ageing. how to pay for the increasing numbers of people who 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 think that is fair enough, honestly. 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 clothe 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 conservative plans, everybody will get to keep £100,000 of assets, an increase from just 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 and 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 pool that risk to insure with others. 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. our political correspondent, leila nathoo, is in bolton for us where the prime minister has been campaigning this afternoon. she launched the manifesto in halifax earlier. this was the first stop for the conservative blue

battle bus after halifax and the ma nifesto battle bus after halifax and the manifesto launch. she came to this car park behind me and went into this rather bland looking building, which is a missile factory. they assemble brimstone missile is here. she was given a tour of the floor and met many workers who put together those intricate parts of missiles. this is a labour heartland but theresa may is here to show her support for the defence industry. she was asked about her commitment to defence spending when she met a group of graduates and apprentices who have started at this company. they asked what her plans were for the defence industry and she said the defence industry and she said the manifesto commitment was to spend 2% of gdp on defence and the defence budget would go up slightly in real terms each year. the apprentices also asked about apprenticeships and whether she saw them as a good thing. she said yes

and she realised university is only for some while going straight into paid work from school was the right path for others. i think it was a pleasa nt path for others. i think it was a pleasant surprise for a lot of these workers to have a vip in town. she had come straight from halifax so i don't think there was much chance for many people i spoke to to get to grips with the detail of the ma nifesto, grips with the detail of the manifesto, but it seemed like they appreciated the support she showed by coming here. some of the young people and apprentices and graduates i spoke to said it made her feel human and more genuine. theresa may trying to get around the country to meet as many people and voters as she can. clocking up the miles as she can. clocking up the miles as she tours around the country. indeed. this was straight off the back of the manifesto launch. she went straight from halifax and within an hour or went straight from halifax and within an hourorso, went straight from halifax and within an hour or so, i don't think there was any rest after she had taken questions from journalists after the manifesto launch. she was straight here and then back on the

campaign trail. aiming to cover as much ground as she can in the coming weeks now the manifesto is out there. more now on the election campaign. chris morris and the bbc‘s reality check team have been taking a look at some of the all—important numbers behind some of the key conservative manifesto pledges. 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 years. lets look at some specific policies. 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 want 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. if 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 years was the triple lock

on pensions under which this date on pensions under which the state pension rises by the rate of inflation, average earnings, or 2.5%, whichever is highest. theresa 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 save. moving to education, conservatives want to boost school funding by £4 billion over the next parliament. one of the ways they plan to raise the money is to scrap 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. immigration 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 a 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 185,000 by 2021. that's because of things like a lower tax take and higher 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 we are about to begin with the european union, they won't be easy. they'll be challenging. at times they will be tough. in theresa may, britain has a prime minister

with the strength to lead britain through these negotiations and make a success of the future. but the outcome of those negotiations over the next two years is deeply uncertain at the moment. the manifesto reasserts 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. and today at 5:30pm on bbc news we will be putting your questions about the conservative manifesto to iain duncan smith — the former cabinet minister and of course former 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.

whatever you want to ask about all the different pledges and promises in the tory party manifesto unveiled today. the latest headlines on bbc news, theresa may has launched the conservative party manifesto with a promise to tackle what she called big challenges facing britain including a shake—up of social care. david harris, a former producer of tv police drama the bill has been found guilty at the old bailey of trying to hire a hit man to kill his wealthy partner. president trump says he's being subjected to the biggest witchhunt against a politician in american history after a special prosecutor was appointed to investigate russia's alleged meddling in last year's election. in sport, the football association has approved new reforms today, including to punish players who have beenjudged to have including to punish players who have

been judged to have dived including to punish players who have beenjudged to have dived orfeigned injury. any player unanimously found guilty will be given a suspension. johanna konta has been beaten in the last 16 of the italian open, losing in three sets to ninth seed serena williams in rome. the former motogp world champion nicky hayden has been placed into an induced coma. he was hit by a car while cycling in italy yesterday and remains in intensive care. i will be back with more though stories at az30pm. 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. david harris had told the jury he was researching a novel he intended to write. earlier our correspondent duncan kennedy joined me from amberley in west sussex to explain more. this really is an extraordinary story. you have the case of david

harris and his partner hazel allington living together in this village over my shoulder for nearly 30 years. but david harris had a secret, a secret girlfriend he couldn't afford to keep up with. what he did was come cocked a plan to hirea what he did was come cocked a plan to hire a hit man to kill his partner hazel, get his hands on the house they shared in this village, sell 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 to kill hazel allinson. the problem for david harris was that the third hit man was in fact an undercover police officer. david harris's plot came unstuck. for nearly 30 years, david harris and hazel allinson shed a life together. but harris had a secret and a problem. the secret was a woman he'd met in a brothel. the problem was, he was broke and

couldn't indulge her. harris decided to hire not one, not two, but three hit men to kill his partner hazel and set up a life with the other woman. hire three separate hit men to kill your partner? it all sounds ludicrous. that's exactly what's 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 christopher may refused. so harris found what he thought was hit man number two. duke dean. like may, he 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? it was quite obvious that was 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 also asked him to kill hazel. this is a man who basically presented himself asa man who basically presented himself as a retired middle—class pensioner who in fact was a very manipulative, conniving and ruthless individual who approached 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? he did. david harris suggested ways the three hit men could kill hazel, including pushing her off cliffs in sussex,

attacking her in this health club car park, and even poisoning her on a trip to this chichester hospital. harris had spent his life in television, making series like the bill, which hazel also worked on. his story to the police was that he wa nted his story to the police was that he wanted to be a thriller writer like frederick forsyth, who created a hit man in this film will stop harris said he wanted to meet hit men as pa rt said he wanted to meet hit men as part as research for his own novel. but the book never existed. he just wa nted but the book never existed. he just wanted hazel dead. his greed and lust the driving forces behind his triple attempt to have her killed. the book was a complete fiction, there never was any research to try to find a real hit man, so to carry out right in that novel, it was all made up. he did want to kill hazel allinson and went to those extraordinary lengths to find three

people to try to do it. in the end he failed and this afternoon he was convicted of three counts of trying to solicit a murder and will be sentenced at a later date. duncan kennedy reporting from west sussex. president donald trump has said he is facing the biggest "witch hunt against a politician in american history" over his sacking of the fbi chiefjames comey. 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 as special prosecutor

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 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, that they can go off on their own. having said that, i've got a lot of confidence in bob mueller. 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'd lied about his contacts 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 all allegations. he now faces a long wait before the

investigation reaches any conclusions. in the meantime global financial markets have been falling in response to the crisis is putting yet more pressure on the president. richard galpin, bbc news. our washington correspondent, jane o'brien, says the difficulty for president trump is that robert mueller‘s investigation could go in several different directions. robert mueller does have sweeping powers not to just investigate the questions surrounding the tramp campaigns involvement with russia, but also any matters arising from that investigation. so this could conceivably include the issue over whether or not mr trump try to interfere in the ongoing investigation into his national security adviser michael flynn. this was yesterday's story, if you

remember that far back, when it was alleged he asked james comey, the then fbi director, to step back from then fbi director, to step back from the case. it could go in all sorts of directions. i think it's also important to bear in mind that robert mueller is still answerable to the administration in that he has to the administration in that he has to tell the justice to the administration in that he has to tell thejustice department if they ask what he's doing. the justice department can stop this enquiry at any time. they could also potentially block charges, although if they did that, given robert mueller‘s stature and the fact this is being touted as an independent oversight, it would look very bad indeed. and donald trump is calling it the single greatest witchhunt of a politician in american history. i wonder what the voters of making of it all, particularly those who voted for him. i think people who have made up their minds about donald trump will not be swayed one way or the other. i think his core

supporters will see this as yet another example of the establishment trying to get their man. they will see this as a media fury, a frenzy, and see it as lawmakers, particularly democrats, doing what democrats do. i don't think it will sway them one way or the other. i think more importantly again, it brings more credibility to the process of this investigation. there's no question the fbi investigation itself has been compromised, but the lens through which it is being seen, with the firing of the director last week, and the allegations that perhaps donald trump tried to sway the investigation, it brings all these disparate strands and distils them into one single investigation and gives the enquiry credibility. jane o'brien reporting from washington. police in cheshire have launched

an investigation following a number of deaths of babies at the hospital in the county. they say it follows a "greater number of baby deaths and collapses" at the countess of chester hospital between june 2015 and june last year. our correspondentjudith moritz reports from chester. cheshire police told us this morning they were launching this investigation, particularly looking at the deaths of babies who were here in the neonatal unit, the unit looking after very premature babies. over the year period between the middle ofjune 2015 and the middle of 2016. in particular the police say they will at 15 deaths, focusing on eight. they will review another seven. they are also going to look at six babies who came very close to death. all of them having been here at the countess of chester hospital. the hospital have told us that there have already been a number of

independent reviews into the neonatal unit here. one of those reviews that was published earlier this year recommended 2a improvements. it talked about inadequate staffing levels. it also said that it couldn't find anything to link these individual deaths so the hospital felt that there were still questions to be answered. in particular the hospital says that they wanted to rule out any unnatural causes. that's why cheshire police have been brought in. the investigation has been launched. but the hospital say they didn't take the decision to call in the police lightly. they know it will cause extra distress to the families of these babies and they are being supported. we have heard indirectly from one of those families, through their solicitor, we cannot name them and we don't know the name of them, but we are told this particular family feels the death of any child is a tragedy, but their tragedy has been exacerbated by the fact there are

questions still left to answer, so they welcome, they say, the news that there will now be a police investigation, and they hope that will in time provide the answers they want. we will look at the weather now. we have had a chain in whether type over the past few days. it was warm and humid yesterday. we have had thunderstorms. today a mix of sunshine and showers for host. many northern and western parts seeing showers. towards the south—east, more persistent rain creeping in will stop this is how things are looking in conway. —— conwy. northern ireland, the odd heavy burst of rain. towards the south—east and east anglia, rain

becoming more persistent overnight, creeping northwards. uncertainty of the western extent of that rain but many parts of the west seeing clear skies on friday morning. a fresh start. maybe some grass frost. showers building up on friday afternoon in northern and western areas and further east, cloudy with areas and further east, cloudy with a few outbreaks of rain. things feeling colder overnight. 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. a former producer of tv police drama the bill, david harris, has been found guilty at the old bailey of trying hit men to kill 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 begin an investigation into an unusually high rate of baby deaths at the countess of chester hospital. medics at the hospital expressed concern about the deaths of eight infa nts. 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. now we will look at sport.

good afternoon, in the last 15 minutes it's been confirmed that championship side nottingham forest has been sold to greek shipping magnate evangelos marinakis. his takeover has been confirmed by the english football league after he passed their owners' and directors' test. let's speak now to sports correspondent richard conway. a period of turmoil in recent years for forest, will this be a welcome move for fans? the old owner was somewhat not appreciated by nottingham forest fans, who wanted him outand nottingham forest fans, who wanted him out and there have been protests about his leadership. mr evangelos marinakis has ta ken about his leadership. mr evangelos marinakis has taken over 100% of the shares at nottingham forest and come in with a manifesto, i sat down and spoke to him at length about his

plans, and he wants to bring stability, he says, to the club, and he has a long—term plan that he says will hopefully take nottingham forest back to the premier league. he said they belong amongst the premier league elite. he is planning representation for fans on the board and wants a fans' voice from an advisory council and a youth council. and price reductions for long—suffering forest fans. he said they have had to put up with a lot in recent years. he is a controversial character and has faced accusations of match fixing and criminal wrongdoing in greece and criminal wrongdoing in greece and cleared of a lot of the accusations but one matter remains that he said he's not worried about it. this is what he had to say. we have already been cleared by the football league, by the authorities. they asked us questions. at the end of the day, all of this has taken

place in the last two months. we are all clear, we have passed all the tests not only from the local authorities in the uk, but from other organisations, so we have nothing to be concerned. so far as the person who has gone from nottingham forest and has you heard from evangelos marinakis, full clea ra nce from evangelos marinakis, full clearance in the directors' test. they consulted uefa. he is the owner of the br costs, a successful greek team. they have had successful runs in the champions league. you can hear the full interview on the bbc sport website. he talks about backing the forest manager mark warburton and about those plans for the future. that is all the sport. i will be back 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, and there are new plans saying 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 £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. technology and buildings the nhs has ever seen. record and fair funding for schools, real technical education for young people and the first proper plan to pay for and provide social care. because strong public services do notjust provide

security and enhance opportunity, they are vital local and national institutions that bring us all together. theresa may in halifax. labour leaderjeremy corbyn gave his reaction to the conservative policy on social care. she is attacking all the older people in society and damaging social care in our society. this is a manifesto which will make the situation across britain worse on top of what the coalition and conservative government have done. 6 million people earning less than the living wage. sir andrew dilnot led a major review into social care several years ago and 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. what i like because it is something we ourselves recommended in our commission and which the government in the last parliament legislated for and was

in the last parliament legislated forand was in in the last parliament legislated for and was in the manifesto last time around was an increase in the amount of assets you can hold and still get support from the means tested system. we suggested increasing it to £123,000 and the conservative manifesto suggests £100,000. that is a good thing. there are a couple of ways the government suggests it would raise money, one is to means test the winter fuel allowance and take it away from better off pensioners, which is relatively sensible. as pa rt which is relatively sensible. as part of a package that does something good for pensioners on social care, which i think this package falls down on. there is a second way of raising money, that whereas at the moment the value of the house is ignored when thinking about whether they should pay, in future the value of the house will be included which means hundreds of thousands of people will pay more, which would be reasonable if there we re which would be reasonable if there were a bold suggestion on what we could do for social care. all the

government is doing is suggesting people will be able to keep the last £100,000 of their assets, until they get to that level they are on their own, so people will still have no way of managing this massive risk and getting certainty about their future, which means if you are unlucky to have a chronic condition which absorbs a lot of care and body, you will pay for it yourself until you are down to your last £100,000. what is your alternative? if you were prime minister, how would you do it more fairly?” if you were prime minister, how would you do it more fairly? i would do it in the way the last government legislated for and which was in the conservative party manifesto last election, to produce a form of social insurance, to recognise it is a risk the private sector will not be sure and if we want to insure it,

it has to be the whole that. what we recommended and was legislated for was social insurance with a large excess, so individuals would be responsible for the first slice of their costs but if they were unlucky to have dementia, chronic arthritis, some of the need, the costs would be born. there was a cap at £72,000, so once you had accumulated £72,000 of social care need, beyond that you knew the state would pay and by doing that you removed the fear that dogs this area. social care, care for older people leaves people terrified and somewhat paralysed by having an insurance scheme in place we ta ke having an insurance scheme in place we take that fear away and it would be better for the we take that fear away and it would be betterfor the individuals and for providers, because they would be able to innovate and deal with customers who were not as terrified as customers are now. 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 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. sending your questions on any of the various promises and pledges in that ma nifesto various promises and pledges in that manifesto launched by theresa today in halifax. the former tv presenter rolf harris will be released on bail from stafford prison tomorrow. he is on trial at southwark crown court, accused of indecently assaulting three teenagers between 1971 and 1983. he denies all the charges against him. helena lee was in court and sent us this update. the judge has told the jury here at southwark crown court that rolf harris is going to be released from stafford prison on bail tomorrow.

the jury have already been told that he was convicted and sentenced in 2014. she told the jury, "the fact i have given him bail does not have any bearing on the decision you make." she also told the jury that rolf harris has been of course appeared during this trial via video link and 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 1983 all relating to three victims, alleged victims between the ages of 13 and 16. the court is hearing evidence today from the second of those alleged victims and she claims he assaulted her at a sports event in cambridge when she was 16 years old. the trial here continuing

but to recap that news, rolf harris is going to be released from stafford prison tomorrow on bail and is due to appear at his own trial here from monday. the court here will not be sitting tomorrow and rolf harris denies all the charges against him. a group representing dozens of recycling organisations has named and shamed the six products in your shopping trolley that are hardest to recycle. pringles and lucozade topped the list, while black plastic meat trays were also highlighted as a problem by the recycling association. our environment analyst roger harrabin reports. we're running short of holes in the ground to swallow our rubbish. yet landfill sites are peppered with products that are supposed to be recyclable. why is that? the trouble is that so many products nowadays have several different types of materials

in their packaging. that can make them almost impossible to recycle. take this. pringles. recycler‘s enemy number one. you have the plastic lid. the foil top. the foil interior, the cardboard sleeve, the metal bottom. it's a nightmare. and take these bottles. there are different plastics in the base of the bottle and the top. or this meat. black plastic is virtually useless for recycling. so what's going to stop us dumping complex packages straight into the bin? well, prince charles is launching a $2 million prize to stimulate new, more environmentally friendly designs in packaging. there are already some good examples. the milk bottle, an industry collaboration so that the packaging is all made from one type of material — very recyclable.

a can of coke. billions of these ring—pulls used to separate from the packaging and go into the environment. now it's designed so the ring—pull is integral within the packaging and doesn't come off. and then this example we found injapan, it's the kind of idea we want to get from our design competition. the straw can be rehoused back into the body of the packaging, so it stops them leaking out into the environment. as we all carry on shopping, the manufacturers of the hard to recycle goods say they do want to help the environment. they say they're interested in new ideas for packaging. roger harrabin, bbc news. in a moment, a look at how the financial markets in europe closed the day, but first, the headlines but first, the headlines on bbc news. theresa may has launched the conservative manifesto with a promise to tackle the "big challenges" facing britain, including a shake—up of social care.

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. president trump says he's being subjected to the biggest witch hunt against a politician in american history, after a special prosecutor was appointed to investigate russia's alleged meddling in last year's election. hello. i'm ben bland. a look at how the markets in europe have ended the trading session. the ftse 100 is lower — in common with all the main european markets today because of the political turmoil in washington dc. we're seeing a stronger pound too. it tends to weigh on the ftse100 because a lot of multinational companies listed earn revenue abroad and so they get fewer pounds when they convert those earnings into sterling. 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. our insatiable appetite for online shopping led to a 9% rise in parcel deliveries. but the number of letters posted fell by 6%. the value of the pound has jumped — it's having a very strong day. sterling is up, hitting $1.30, its highest level since the end of september. partly because the dollar has been hit by the political turmoil in washington. but also because of some encouraging data here in the uk. figures out show it's a case of 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. a late easter and warmer weather apparently helped retailers enjoy a busy month. let's get detailed analysis. james hughes, chief market analyst,

at gkfx a trading brokerage. we can start with the retail sales figures and particularly interesting given that this week we had figures showing wages on average are not keeping up with price increases yet we are still out spending. what is going on? that is one of the big issues when you have the economy, if wages are not going up but inflation is going up, that causes an issue and usually it sees a slowdown in retail prices. the chances are with retail prices. the chances are with retail sales going forward, because these numbers are telling us what has already happened, we could see the number drop, but the numbers we have seen today have been incredible. very positive readings. the 4%jump on incredible. very positive readings. the 4% jump on the monthly basis is massive for retail sales and quite a good barometer those numbers of the

overall strength of the economy because it shows what people do when they put their hand in their pocket and gives an idea of confidence, what they spend money on. it is seasonal. we have the easter holiday, which boosts retail sales, but also good weather, and that helps to boost numbers. overall a positive number and it has helped the pound today and push sterling up. good numbers for the uk. the pound today and push sterling up. good numbers forthe uki wa nted up. good numbers forthe uki wanted to come onto the rise in sterling. one of its strongest days for more than six months. is it down to the strong retail figures, or are we seeing, obviously because the dollar has fallen because of what is going on in washington?” dollar has fallen because of what is going on in washington? i think it is more to do with what is going on in washington rather than retail sales numbers. the issue is the market, an old cliche, they hate uncertainty. donald trump at the moment is causing massive

uncertainty. there are so many u nwa nted uncertainty. there are so many unwanted headlines coming out of the white house, this causes and causes people to go to the risk off strategy, which means they do not invest in things like the us dollar, equity markets, which is why there was a sell—off on the dowjones. what we see is people putting money in other areas and it is dragging on the us dollar. we had retail sales numbers as well, so almost a perfect storm for sterling against the dollar because one side is pushing things up and the other pushing things up and the other pushing things down. i'm not sure you can remember when you last sent a letter but you can remember when you received something in a parcel. the trend is parcel delivery is giving a boost to royal mail and that was reflected in the share price. these days, in the uk we do so much online

shopping those parcel delivery companies, not just royal mail, shopping those parcel delivery companies, notjust royal mail, the companies, notjust royal mail, the companies are doing well. there has been a positive reading and the numbers for royal mail look good. there was a warning in the numbers and they talked about brexit and fears around brexit and that is what they put down to fewer letters being sold is fewer companies, all those not sending as many letters, cutting costs in small areas. the fact they blame brexit is maybe an easy way out, because everybody else blames brexit for everything, to be honest, but the numbers are still good and we do very much by a lot online so parcels always being sent out. thank you. a re—capital markets. sentiment

cautious among traders —— a recap of the markets. in the run—up to the election we're hearing from groups of people specially identified by the polling organisation ipsos mori. last week, we spoke to a group of voters who had all backed brexit. in the second of his election takeaway series, today presenter and former bbc political editor nick robinson, today presenter and former bbc political editor nick robinson, has been to bedford, to meet some people who wanted to remain in the eu. for this week's election takeaway we're having thai in bedford and we're talking about what might make people here vote. look at that. are you all voting remainers — have you changed your views since then? i feel to some extent

rather sad about it, but actually it is the next generation who are deeply, absolutely devastated. i was scared that if we voted out, it gives a platform, because of the way the campaigning was going on at that time. it was going to give a platform for people to incite hatred and xenophobia. i voted remain but you have to make the best of a situation. for me at least it is done and brexit is happening. what bemuses me is the attitude, well, we have to do —— get on with it now. 66.8 million people in this country and 17 million of them want to leave. 17 was more than 16 who voted to remain. the liberal democrats have said the main thing they are standing on is the second referendum to give you a chance to have a say. what do you think of the leader of the lib dems? since the last election i think they dropped off

the side of the world. what happens if he came in the room and said, i am tim farron, leader of the lib dems, and the main thing i am going to give you is another say — what would you say? no, thanks. i don't want a second referendum. i think it isjust a waste of time and money. energy. james? i would agree it is a waste of time. we should just get on with it, as i said. so, you have to think, is brexit the way you decide how to vote in the election? in other words, do you pick a party or a leader or a set of policies which are to do with brexit? for me it is a leader. yeah. definitely the leader. give me some qualities that you think. shout out words. theresa may. what words would you associate? tough. strong. xenophobic.

you feel that strongly? it is what it comes over as. i think she is a businesswoman. she is here to make the best of a bad situation. jen? donald trump's a businessman. just like a second margaret thatcher. now, you don't mean that in a good way, do you? i mean a very strong person. in a good way or a bad way? in a good way. we have words to describe theresa may. what about jeremy corbyn? poor. ijust don't trust him. i do too. i think he is fatally idealistic. lacks charisma. you might still vote labour? possibly. thank you very much indeed. shall we get on with the takeaway? yes. you can watch a longer version at

2:30pm on saturday afternoon and on sunday morning, as well. now the weather. a fresher day—to—day then —— that over the past few days. sunshine and showers across many parts. no pressure creeping in, bringing already cloud and outbreaks of rain in southern and south—east england. elsewhere across the country, sunny spells, cloud bringing some showers. this is how things look in the south of the moment. further north west across the country, a different scene in cumbria with plenty of sunshine and a little cloud.

northern ireland, showers therefore instance. then tending to fade away but east across the country, rain making its way north across east anglia and towards lincolnshire and towards the heaviest rain probably out at sea. by first thing tomorrow largely dry start in much of scotla nd largely dry start in much of scotland and northern ireland. rain coming into the western isles. a fresh morning. maybe a touch of grass frost in prone spots. cloudy in the north—east of england with patchy rain and then into drier and brighter skies in western england and wales. cloudy towards the south—east and east anglia without bricks of rain through friday morning and it pushes northwards of the east coast, pushing into south—east scotland in the afternoon. elsewhere across the country, another day of sunshine and showers. fairly similarto

country, another day of sunshine and showers. fairly similar to today and temperatures between 15 and 16 degrees but cooler around the east coast. saturday, rain pushing north. becoming persistent in the northern isles of scotland. another day of sunny spells and scattered showers interrupting the sunshine and temperatures up to 18. high pressure building to the second half of the weekend. that will kill off showers and in many places sunday will be drier than saturday. there is a chance of the odd shower. temperatures up to 20 degrees. the weekend will bring a mixture of sunshine, scattered showers and overnight feeling quite cold. more details on the weather on the website. today at 5, it's manifesto day for the conservatives,

as theresa may promises to be "upfront and straight" about the challenges ahead. the prime minister travelled to halifax in west yorkshire to unveil her programme. she says the next five years will be challenging for britain. mrs may tells her audience that a strong economy and delivering brexit are the biggest priorities if she's re—elected. come with me as i leave britain, strengthen my hand as i fight for britain and stand with me as i deliver for britain. i'm sophie long live in halifax where the prime minister also unveiled major changes to social care in england. studio: yes, we'll have more from halifax, and we'll be putting your questions to the former conservative leader iain duncan smith. the other main stories on bbc news at 5: