this is bbc news. i'm julian worricker. the headlines at 8.00: theresa may has launched the conservative election manifesto, saying politicians need to be "upfront" about the issues britain faces. mrs may told her audience in halifax that a strong economy, and delivering brexit, are the biggest priorities, if she's re—elected. come with me as i lead britain. strengthen my hand as i fight for britain, and stand with me as i deliverfor britain. at least one pedestrian has been killed and more than a dozen others injured in new york, after being struck by a car in times square. donald trump says he's being subjected to the "greatest witch—hunt against a politician in american history" after a special investigator was appointed to examine claims of collusion with russia. police launch an investigation into an unusually high rate of infant deaths at a hospital in chester. rolf harris will be out of prison on bail tomorrow and will attend his latest trial, on charges of indecent assault. and in meet the author...

lucy hughes—hallett talks about her latest novel. good evening and welcome to bbc news. theresa may has launched the conservative party's election manifesto, with a claim that the party represents what she called "mainstream britain", and a warning that if the next government failed to negotiate a good deal on brexit, the consequences for the country would be "dire". among the headline policies is a sweeping change to the way social care will be funded in england. for the first time, if you are receiving means—tested care in your own home, the value of your house will be counted when calculating your contribution. the so called triple lock on state pensions, which guaranteed a minimum 2.5% rise each year will go, replaced

by a double lock linked to the rise in average earnings and inflation. and there's a commitment to bring net immigration down to below 100,000 a year. 0ur political editor, laura kuennsberg reports from halifax, a marginal labour seat where the tory manifesto was unveiled. 0utside... inside. theresa may says she wants to end political tribes. tell them. getting rid of your nurses. i have been a nurse for 27 years and we are on our knees. the tory manifesto is meant to be a blueprint for what she now calls the mainstream. yet with protesters at the gates, the tories were whisked in behind tight

lines to make their case. with brexit the backdrop, theresa may's ambitions are plainly far wider than that. i believe that our united kingdom can emerge from this period of national change stronger, fairer and more prosperous than ever before. and i believe we can and must take this opportunity to build a great meritocracy here in britain. let us be in no doubt, it will not be easy. but with discipline and focus, effort and hard work, and above all a unity of purpose, stretching across this precious union of nations, from north to south and east to west, i believe we can and must go forward together. but all that depends on getting the mind—bendingly complicated brexit right. if you were looking for detail on how, it wasn't here today. but all of this depends on getting

the next five years right. if we fail, the consequences for britain and for the economic security of ordinary working people will be dire. if we succeed, the opportunities ahead of us are great. those are, she says, a long—term solution to caring for the elderly. more or less matching labour's promise of cash for the nhs. and new grammar schools. but the same broken target for immigration, few are free hot meals at primary school, and for the tories, who have been in charge already for seven years, pushing back a promise to clear the deficit until 2025. and herfinale, a contentious claim to stand for all. for too many people in britain today, life is simply much harder than many seem to think or realise. they are not ideological, they don't buy into grander visions.

they are not fooled by politicians who promise the earth and claim no tough choices are required. they make those choices every day in their own lives and understand politicians who aspire to lead must do the same. with the right brexit steel secured, my mainstream government will deliver for mainstream britain. so i offer myself as your prime minister. come with me as i lead britain, strengthen my hand as i fight for britain and stand with me as i deliverfor britain. and with confidence in ourselves and a unity of purpose in our country, let us all go forward together. 0vation inside. but anger outside. tories in a mill in yorkshire. you couldn't make it up.

austerity is seven years old. what do you think of the tories coming to yorkshire today. it's a disgrace, laura. they are not welcome. in last six years they are running our industry is down. one of the tories biggest claims is the labour and jeremy corbyn want to take this to the 1970s. they want to take a to the 1980s. it's ridiculous. you are sitting on the manifesto that more families and tory voters will have to pay more for elderly care. many families will lose hot meals for children at school. you are pushing back balancing the books again. and your immigration proposals might cost billions to the economy. when you put that altogether, wouldn't some voters be quite entitled to conclude that adds up to quite a bleak picture? not at all. what i'm putting forward is a vision for opportunity and prosperity

across the whole of the country for the future. i have been clear that there are hard choices that need to be taken. it's making sure we are honest with the public. it's wrapped up as a new kind of sensible conservatism. but if everyone signed up? the entire cabinet has just filed past after the prime minister's speech. nobody will talk to us about whether or not this truly is a new kind of conservatism and whether or not they are all happy about what she just headlined. her pitch is safety first. but there are dangers in her plans. as the prime minister left through jeers and protests, her dream of an end to left and right are seen as a long way off. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, halifax. one of the main aims of the conservative manifesto is to try to tackle the rising cost of social care in england. it says anyone with assets worth more than £100,000, including the family home, should pay for their own social care, whether it be residential or at home. that payment would be deferred and then taken from the estate after they die.

0ur social affairs correspondent alison holt takes a look at the plans for social care. they are on fire, it's called burning daylight. at the heart of the crisis in social care that theresa may says she wants to fix, our real lives. people like this woman and her son alex. she has dementia. what type of flower has thorns? laughter i don't know! roses. it's a rose bush. this was 2014. she had sold her small house in london to pay for residential care that was costing more than £60,000 per year. she was able to walk, hold a conversation, she was able to enjoy a walk around the gardens. right, let's go get a cup of tea. since then she has deteriorated quite a lot.

we can have a look at the garden. she has now essentially forgotten how to walk and she can't really speak very much. now her care costs nearly £100,000 a year. remember when we were living at highfield. every morning i would make you a cup of tea. most is paid by the nhs but the family still has to find nearly £40,000 a year. under the tory plans, she would benefit from being allowed to keep more of her money but would get no help with the huge costs she faces before that. i would like to say that the system is broken at the moment, because if the system was broken then potentially it can be fixed. but having seen it from the inside, i don't think we have a system at all. at the moment in england, people only get council funded help with social care if they have assets and savings of less than £23,250.

the conservatives' planned to raise that threshold so people have 100,000 protected. but for the first time people who need home care, more like those in residential care, have the value of their home included in the calculations. so if you have a house worth £100,000 and no other assets, you would get help with care. but if your assets, including your home, with 300,000, then you would have to spend £200,000 on care before getting council support. it wouldn't mean moving out of your home because deferred payments would mean a cost could be paid from a person's estate after they die. we are saying everyone will have the confidence in knowing they can pass on £100,000 to their children and grandchildren, but there are trade—offs in order to make that commitment. we will be treating people who have care at home in the same way as people who are cared for in care homes. but existing government plans

to limit the high costs some people with the greatest needs face would be scrapped. sir andrew deal not wrote the report that recommended daycare cap. sir andrew dilnot wrote the report that recommended daycare cap. he says the new plans don't go far enough. the certainty here is that if you have assets in total including the value of your house more than £100,000, then you are basically on your own. pay for yourself and to until you get to that level. for most people, the prospect is that if they need social care they will have to pay. for many, the tests of the proposals for social care will be if they help people plan for the future whatever it holds. alison holt, bbc news. the conservatives set out a number of key economic pledges today on pensions, tax and the deficit. 0ur economics editor, kamal ahmed has been taking a closer look at the possible costs of implementing the conservative manifesto. the target of balancing the books and eliminating the deficit has been

pushed into the future. the triple tax lock has been abandoned. the promise on how much pensions will rise by, changed. theresa may laid out a new tory prospectus for the country, making it clear that the old approach of david cameron is history. let's start with the tory‘s attitude to borrowing, or "eliminating the deficit" — that's balancing the amount the government raises in taxes with what it spends. last autumn, the chancellor said he wanted to achieve this long—held tory goal "as early as possible in the next parliament". many economists took that to mean by 2022. today, the manifesto changes that target to 2025. theresa may has given herself room to borrow more if the economy needs it. 0n tax, there has also been a change. in 2015, david cameron promised no increases in income tax, national insurance or vat.

only one of those remains — no increase in vat. the rest have been replaced with a rather vaguer "firm intention to reduce taxes" — many now predict national insurance contributions, at least, will rise. and then, pensions. in 2015, the conservatives promised a "triple lock" — that pensions would increase by either the rate of inflation, the rate of earnings growth or 2.5% — whichever was highest. that is now a "double lock" — inflation or earnings will be used, which could mean lower pension increases if both fall below 2.5%. the conservative leader has given herself more wriggle room on the economy. she can borrow more, tax more and has opened the door to lower increases in pensions. 0ne striking feature of the manifesto, very few costings. mrs may does not want her hands tied. kamal ahmed, bbc news. and we'll find out how this story

and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining are pippa crerar, political correspondent at the london evening standard and michael booker, deputy editor of the daily express. a car has been driven at high speed along a pavement in times square, in new york, killing an 18 —year—old woman. 22 people were injured. the driver, an armed forces veteran with previous convictions for drink—driving, was arrested. it is not thought to bea to be a terrorism related incident. 0ur correspondentjoined us from the scene. from their best knowledge, they don't believe it is terror related but a car ploughing into pedestrians

in times square, it made people fear the worst in terms of it being an attack, and tactic isis has used over the atlantic several times. in new york in september, we had incidents were a few pressure cooker bombs went off in lower manhattan and they seemed to be terror related. while the nypd believes it is isolated, they have reinforced other key spots in new york city. they say out of an abundance of caution, but also to reassure new yorkers. the headlines on bbc news: theresa may has launched the conservative manifesto saying politicians need to be upfront and straight about the challenges ahead. a woman has died and 22 of the people were injured after a motorist drove into pedestrians in the centre of new york. donald trump says he is being subjected to the greatest witchhunts against a politician in american history after special investigator

was appointed to examine claims of collisions with russia. now, let's get a full round up from the bbc sports centre. totte n ha m tottenham hotspur at the king power stadium to face leicester city, although there is nothing to play for. harry kane still has the chance to become the premier league's top scorer. he has opened the scoring the night comedy is just one goal behind romelu lukaku. 30 minutes gone and spurs still leading. celtic are in action in the scottish premiership, four points from their final two games will see them past their record points tally of 103. leigh griffiths' penalty was their 100th in the league this time. they lead a partick thistle 2—0. this second was added. it is the second

leg of the league 2 play—off finals this evening. exeter are leading carlisle 4—3 on aggregate after their draw carlisle 4—3 on aggregate after theirdraw in carlisle 4—3 on aggregate after their draw in the first meeting. blackpool have extended their lead, they 4—2 up at luton after their victory at home at bloomfield last weekend. the football association has agreed to implement a range of reforms at a meeting of its stakeholders at wembley. the changes now mean the governing body will meet the new code introduced by sports minister tracey crouch, enabling it to continue to receive public money. our sports correspondent katie gornall has more. they will streamline the board and introduced term limits for fa council membership. the idea is to make it more diverse and more reflective of the people who played the sport. greg clark, the chairman, who threatened to resign if these reforms will pass, called it a good start, but he wanted to go further. you have to remember the pressure the fa was under to reform. there

was a threat of public money being withdrawn if they didn't. although people feel these reforms don't go far enough, given the glazier pace of change we have seen at the fa previously, it is a significant step forward. one of the other measures approved by the fa at their agm is a move from next season to introduce retrospective bans for players who dive orfeign injury. speaking before the move was rubber stamped, the crystal palace manager sam alla rdyce gave this, strong reaction. well, it is utter rubbish because what about the lad that gets booked but didn't dive, what will they do about that? go on? what are they going to do with it? they will say, it is unlucky. the next time we will try and get that right. so the lab at dives gets punished, but the lad gets punished when he didn't dive, they will have two reverse but somehow. bring technology in and we can look at it on the day. bring a

sin bin in, so we can put him in the sin bin in, so we can put him in the sin bin in, so we can put him in the sin binfor sin bin in, so we can put him in the sin bin for ten minutes and then put him back on and stop paying these people money to do rubbish situations in the game. that is utter rubbish. nicky hayden is in a critical condition in an italian hospital after being hit by a car while out cycling. the 35—year—old american who races superbikes was put into a medically induced coma after being struck while riding on the rimini coastline yesterday. he suffered brain and leg injuries. british number one johanna konta is out of the italian 0pen, she lost to venus williams in rome. konta recovered from a set down against the american, but eventually lost 6—1, 3—6, 6—1. konta had won three matches in a row against williams — before today. that's all the sport now. we will be back with more in the next hour. thank you very much

indeed. donald trump says he's being subjected to the "greatest witch—hunt against a politician in american history" after a special investigator was appointed to examine russia's alleged interference in last year's election and allegations of collusion between members of the trump team and russian officials. the former head of the fbi robert mueller has been appointed to look into all the allegations, as our correspondent richard galpin explains. 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 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 we're talking 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. a former television producer has been found guilty of trying to hire three hit men to kill his wealthy partner. the old bailey heard david harris,

who's 68 and from west sussex, wanted hazel allinson dead in order to inherit her fortune. here's duncan kennedy. for nearly 30 years, david harris and hazel allinson shared a life together, but harris had a secret and a problem. the secret was ugne cekaviciute, a woman he met in a brothel. the problem was he was broke and couldn't indulge her. so harris decided to try to hire not one, not two, but three hitmen to kill his partner, hazel, and set up life with ugne. hire three separate hitmen to kill your partner, it all sounds ludicrous, but that's exactly what david harris did. his aim was to get rid of hazel, and get his hands on the £800,000 house here in west sussex. all the hitmen, including number two, duke dean, were innocent. did you get the impression he was serious about getting rid of hazel? he was quite serious about that. that's what he wanted? that's what he wanted.

harris told police he was researching a hitman novel like day of the jackal, and wanted to meet a real hitman. the police say the book didn't exist. this was a man 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. detectives say at the heart of this incredible story was a man driven by greed, lust and fantasy, who thankfully failed three times to carry out his ruthless plan. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in west sussex. tributes have been paid to rhodri morgan, who has died at the age of 77. he led the welsh government for almost a decade until his retirement

in 2009. labour colleagues have described him as a unique intellect just underfatherfigure described him as a unique intellect just under father figure for wales. the party suspended election campaigning in wales today as a mark of respect. back to the election campaign now and the party leaders' tv debate is under way this evening on itv. but neither theresa may and jeremy corbyn are there instead, viewers are hearing from liberal democrats' tim farron, snp leader nicola sturgeon, paul nuttall of ukip, leanne wood from plaid cymru and the greens' caroline lucas. our news correspondent, sima kotecha joins us live from the event in salford. iam in i am in the spin room and on the big screen behind me, the debate is going on. it has only been going on for about 20 minutes and i am joined from jonathan tong, professor of politics from the university of liverpool. what are you making of

this so far. we have had some feisty interactions? we have had some very fiery exchanges, everybody ganging up fiery exchanges, everybody ganging up on paul nuttall and accusing him of being theresa may in default by being the pro—brexit person here. every other party leader has attacked that stands and accused paul not all being reckless in his support for aha brexit. those who thought it would be dull, by the absence of the two party leaders from the main parties, are wrong. the leaders are 90% of mps are not here tonight. i think it is their loss. the public would have benefited from having them here. i can understand why theresa may would stand away, but it is difficult to explain whyjeremy corbyn wouldn't be here because it would give him a chance to articulate his manifesto, which seems to have been well received in some quarters. not surprised brexit is front and centre. the first question was brexit, and the second and i think

they are still talking about it at they are still talking about it at the moment. we will probably lose count the number of times tim farron offers his pledge as leader of the liberal democrats for a second referendum before the deep part of the european union. that is his big pitch. he is appealing to the 16.5 million people who voted remain. it isa million people who voted remain. it is a lot for the liberal democrats to go out. the poll suggests they have not got the message across but this gives him a two—hour platform to indicate by the liberal democrats are different. in terms of nicola sturgeon from the snp, she is strongly opposed to aha brexit and has made her case. that is why there has made her case. that is why there has been so much ganging up on paul nuttall. do you think it could work the other way? could there be more sympathy to ukip if this carries on throughout the night? the fact you have 17.5 million people who voted for brexit and bait are underrepresented on the stage. there is an imbalance in this debate. but

the broadcasters say they want the leaders to take part. theresa may are steadfast from the start, she simply would not take part. she has not deviated at all. it is a shame because these debates do get high viewing figures and contribute to democracy but it is the leaders' prerogative. unless the party leaders are compelled to take part, we'll have problem. you have paul nuttall out there who doesn't represent a single member of parliament, in fact. jonathan tong from the university of liverpool, we'll have a lot more analysis as the night goes on. thank you very much indeed. let's get the weather. things have been turning unsubtle.

it was humid yesterday and we have had some showery rain for the past few days. rain pouring into the south east and the east coast, but much of the country looks like this. this is north wales, plenty of sunshine a bit of cloud around. a few showers lingering across wales, northern ireland, parts of scotland but most easing away and becoming dry in the north and west. eastern pa rt dry in the north and west. eastern part of england will continue to see cloud and of rain. reasonably mild under the cloud, but a fresh start on friday morning where you have those clear skies. tomorrow, we will see patchy rain around eastern parts of england, up to the south—east of scotland. elsewhere across the country, a return to sunshine and scattered showers. similar to today and innocent shank, temperatures in the mid teens. the weekend is a mixture of sunshine and scattered showers and it will feel chilly at times 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. mrs may told an audience in halifax that a strong economy and delivering brexit are the biggest priorities if she's re—elected. come with me as i lead britain, strengthen my hand as i fight for britain and stand with me as i deliverfor britain. one woman has died and 22 other people were injured after a motorist drove into pedestrians in the centre of new york. the driver, an armed forces veteran with previous convictions for drink driving, was arrested. it's not thought to be a terrorism—related incident. donald trump says he's being subjected to the greatest witch hunt against a politician in american history after a special investigator was appointed to examine claims of collusion with russia. police have launched an investigation into an unusually high rate of infant deaths at a hospital in chester. let's get more now on the conservative pa rty‘s manifesto.

one of the key pledges is big changes to how to fund health and social care. under a conservative government, a person's home beyond the first £100,000 would be used to pay for care costs in england. we will see that those elderly people who have been worried about how they pay for care in their home won't have to worry about that in future. they won't have to pay while they are still alive, nothing will be paid. they won't have to sell their home while they are living in it. what we also see is that those people who are worried that their savings, they have done the right thing and so saved through their life and worried their savings will dwindle to virtually nothing, we are quadrupling the threshold at which assets will be protected to that £100,000. but what i expect to see from this? i expect to see an improvement

in the quality of social care that is available to people, i expect people to be able to stay in their own homes longer, and that will mean less pressure on the nhs. but what's the reaction been from the general public about these proposed big changes in social care funding? we dropped into a day centre in suffolk, which is a popular meeting place for the over—60s, to see what they think of the conservatives' plans. people who have worked all of their lives are struggling. they are struggling more than ever. a lot of people have had to dig into their savings in order to survive and pay the bills. i cannot understand why all of these financial boffins at the top cannot get it right! why are we paying a fortune abroad? why don't we support the nhs and those in dire straits here who fought for the country? i've worked hard and i want to leave something for my grandchildren and my children. i have four children and i would love to do something for them.

listening to that is jan shortt, general secretary of the national pensioners' convention, which has 1.5 million members. she joins us from newcastle. what do you make of what the conservatives are saying about social care today? i think it is disgraceful. 0ne social care today? i think it is disgraceful. one person i have heard saying people work with their lives, save hard, buy a home, they think it will be a home for life, something they can pass on, and here we are, zist they can pass on, and here we are, 21st century, and nothing has been delivered to them at all. pensioners have paid into a system that was guaranteed to look after them for all of the life, now it has been taken away from them. you heard the prime minister talking about the quality of social care join that clip. heraim is quality of social care join that clip. her aim is to improve the quality of social care because of

the greater levels of finance that will now go into the system. the levels of finance are coming from people, not the government. and people, not the government. and people are already paying. who should be paying into the system? everyone, because everybody may need it at some point in their life. you have to spread the risk. people need help and care at different times of the life, and if you rely on someone having savings or a house that could be taken away from them when they pass away, that is not a good model for increasing the quality of social care. do you not do take any comfort from the point being made by the prime minister about this £100,000 threshold and the moment you go near that or below it, you will stop paying? the cap that was done away

with byjeremy hunt in april was £72,000, so we could say she has increased the cap to 100, not protecting anybody‘s assets. increased the cap to 100, not protecting anybody's assets. but there will be that £100,000 figure below which people will get free care. that will be the very smallest and the worst of pensioners. in most cases in most regions, the average cost and price of a house is £233,000 threshold that was already there. the £100,000 actually does not mean anything. people will pay extra and get nothing back. just to clarify what you allude to, decisions are taken by local authorities more than central government, and there are criteria within the system about the level of ca re within the system about the level of care that people require, said this

isa care that people require, said this is a very complicated picture. care that people require, said this is a very complicated picturem is, because with year—on—year cuts on local councils, the struggle to find a way of keeping that social ca re find a way of keeping that social care on the go. they have two really upped the ante on the criteria and most local councils now will only pay for the most critical, substantial care, which is life limiting conditions. as a final point, you are critical of what the conservatives said today. most other political parties put their ma nifestos political parties put their manifestos out there for people to diejust. you manifestos out there for people to die just. you hearing manifestos out there for people to diejust. you hearing any politicians from any parties who have got the right approach to this. we are nonparty political and we cannot promote one party over another. i can say is that a

conservative policy is the least liked policy. with me is thejournalist anne mcelvoy, senior editor at the economist. what they missed you pick out from the conservative manifesto? as you have reflected so far, a lot of it is overshadowed by the arguments about social care and social care cost. there is a sweet spot where, if you did not own your property but had a lot of assets, he would be doing well. it shows the problems you have when you try to do a form that relies on going into the right bands and getting the right tax bands and getting the right tax bands and getting the right tax bands and numbers on it. what we are missing is a reform tradition but that's not theresa may. she did not promise a big reform vision. and what we have got is a lot of areas

where she decanting money, resources , where she decanting money, resources, from one area to another. she is trying to do it cleverly so it ends up coming out as a net positive for the conservatives. i am not sure that i do agree with that last point because the few people who will vote in their old age on social care will be very chatty to jeremy corbyn. most elderly people may groan about it and, in some cases, fairly, but they are more likely to put the eggs in the theresa may basket. so the social ca re measures may theresa may basket. so the social care measures may be a risk but will not make a book difference to the outcome? i am not saying there are not any, but it is not a big pool for her to go fishing. the broader point is that she has done a dull ma nifesto,

point is that she has done a dull manifesto, none of us are running around westminster saying, oh, manifesto, none of us are running around westminstersaying, oh, my goodness, have you seen this? but i think she has tried to balance our interest. what she wants is the mandate to deal with brexit and discipline problems in her own party. everything else is secondary to that. during that launch, she was asked whether she was a red tory and asked whether she was a red tory and a thatcherite, which is an interesting combination of questions, given that they are different things. what do you see her as? what she is selling is whatever you want, dub, as long as you can call it conservative. when people say, she does not believe in anything, she has cut herself off from thatcherism, she is not of the left or a husky hugging tory, she is moderately socially liberal but not

so moderately socially liberal but not so much as to frighten the horses. if you go out and ask a lot of conservatives, they feel conservatives, they feel conservative but are not prone to talking about it much. they might even, if they have got friends around them with different views, shut up about their views, but that isa shut up about their views, but that is a very strong strand. it goes back to the foundations of the conservative party as something that can change and adapt. it is hard to pin down and i think theresa may belongs in that tradition. what she clearly isn't is david cameron mark 2.i clearly isn't is david cameron mark 2. i wonder how she felt when she was sitting in his cabinet on the monthly basis? grinding her teeth regularly when things would pretend that she did not like. there is much so. that she did not like. there is much so. she did have a home office and is still that kind of person who has come out of that part of government, having to deal with problems day by

day, quite tough, a bit narrow, but she did grind her teeth and played a very long game and came through at the end? it was not david cameron the end? it was not david cameron the borisjohnson, the end? it was not david cameron the boris johnson, all of the end? it was not david cameron the borisjohnson, all of those excitable pieces written about them, it is the theresa may 1990s intake and she beat them to it and she wa nts to and she beat them to it and she wants to stay there, hence the ma nifesto. police in cheshire have launched an investigation following a number of deaths of babies at the main 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. 0ur correspondent, judith 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. 0ver that year, between

the middle ofjune and the middle of 2016. in particular police say they will look at 15 deaths. they will focus on eight, they'll 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 there have already been a number of independent reviews into the neonatal unit here. in fact, one of those reviews published earlier this year recommended 24 improvements. it talked about inadequate staffing levels. it also said it couldn't find anything to link these individual deaths. so the hospital felt there were still questions to be answered and, in particular, the hospital says they wanted to rule out any unnatural causes. that is why cheshire police have been brought in.

the investigation has been launched. but the hospital say they didn't take the decision to call the police in lightly. they know it will cause extra distress to families and the parents of these babies are being supported. we've heard indirectly from one of those families through their solicitors, but we can't name them, we don't know the name, but we're 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 the news there is going to be a police investigation and they hope it will come in time, provide the answers they want to. judith moritz there in chester. the former entertainer rolf harris will be released on bail from stafford prison tomorrow. he's still on trial at southwark crown court, accused of indecently assaulting three teenagers between 1971 and 1983. he denies all the charges against him. 0ur correspondent, helena lee, was in court and sent this update.

judge deborah taylor has told the jury at southwark crown court, that rolf harris is going to be released from stafford prison on bail tomorrow. the jury already have been told that rolf harris was convicted and sentenced in 2014. she told the jury this morning, the fact i have given him bail does not have any bearing on the decision you will make in due course. she also told the jury that rolf harris has of course been appearing during this trial through video link. he will now appear in person for the remainder of his trial from monday. rolf harris is facing four counts of indecent assault charges, historical allegations, between 1971 and 1983, all relating to three victims, three alleged victims between the ages of 13 and 16.