this is bbc news. the headlines at three. jeremy corbyn stumbles over the cost of labour's free childcare plans in an interview with the bbc‘s woman's hour. so, how much will it cost but only i will give you the figure in a moment. you don't know by darwin you are logging into your ipad woman you have announced a major policy and you don't know how much it will cost? can i give you the exact figure ina cost? can i give you the exact figure in a moment? theresa may says that with brexit negotiations due to start days after the election, only she is prepared to lead the uk out of the eu. i'm ready to go. jeremy corbyn is not. nicola sturgeon launches the snp manifesto, calling for a second scottish independence referendum "at the end of the brexit process". contact scotland must have a choice about our future, a contact scotland must have a choice about ourfuture, a choice contact scotland must have a choice

about our future, a choice about following the uk down the brexit path or becoming an independent country. prosecutors abandon an indecent assault case against rolf harris, after a jury fails to reach a verdict. also in the next hour — killed doing the job she always wanted. the mother of zookeeper rosa king, who was killed by a tiger, says she loved her work, and wouldn't have done anything else. and back in the top flight after 45 years — huddersfield town will celebrate promotion to the premier league with an open—top bus parade later today. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. with just over a week to go to the general election, campaigning has resumed in earnest,

after a pause because of the manchester attack. labour leaderjeremy corbyn, focusing today on the issue of childcare, found himself in a bbc interview unable to provide the cost of a key pledge — extending free childcare to all two—year—olds. meanwhile, theresa may, campaigning in the west midlands on brexit, attacked mr corbyn on nuclear weapons, the police, and dealing with terror — and said only she was ready and prepared for brexit negotiations. our political correspondent eleanor garnier reports. it's the home stretch, the last nine days, the final push, so the parties are back to their game plans, their core messages. and forjeremy corbyn, that means public services and pointing out how

labour would aim to help families who are in work but are struggling. ours is a universal provision so that every child gets a place, 30 hours a week, from 2—4. more than a million children will benefit from this. and later on radio 4's woman's hourjeremy corbyn was asked for a bit of detail on this key policy. so, how much will it cost? i will give you a figure in the moment. you don't know it? erm... you are logging into your ipad, you have announced a major policy and don't know how much it will cost? can i give you the exact figure in a moment? it was the night after they have been put through their paces. he was challenged on foreign policy and faced accusations of supporting ira sympathisers. theresa may was taken to task over cuts to policing, nhs funding and claims of a u—turn over a cap on costs for social care. but today, she was back to her now familiar message. strong and stable

leadership is about having a plan to ta ke leadership is about having a plan to take into those brexit negotiations, and to take britain beyond those brexit negotiations, and build that stronger, fairer country for all. the lib dem leader has admitted he is not aiming for a government but is instead focused on holding others to account. theresa may called this election taking people for granted and assuming she would win. the liberal democrats are determined to challenge that, because britain needs a strong opposition and it also needs a national health service which is properly funded, education that is protected and a future with europe where the british people have the final say. it is you the voters who will end up with the final say on who ends up here after 8th june. and in the last effort to win you over in these final few days, the parties will stick to their core messages, to their core messages, their safe zones, in the hope that you will hand

them the keys to no 10. our chief political correspondent, vicki young, is in wolverhampton with the prime minister. are they seizing onjeremy corbyn‘s stumble? yes, but i think there is a wider point, that she is trying to ta ke wider point, that she is trying to take this campaign back to where it was before they had to do that swift u—turn on social care policy, which conservative candidate said that had been a bit of a disaster on the doorstep. so, we are hearing very much the messages we heard nine or ten days ago from theresa may public it's all about leadership wittier strong personal attack onjeremy corbyn, talking very much about his qualities, or his failings as they would see it, of leadership. she says he's simply not fit to govern oi’ says he's simply not fit to govern or lead. she pointed to his will at once to use nuclear or lead. she pointed to his will at once to use nuclear weapons, or lead. she pointed to his will at once to use nuclear weapons, saying that he supported people who wanted to attack our country in the past. very much going forjeremy corbyn

the man, and really trying to make people think about the choice which faces him in nine days' time, trying to say to people, you have to choose your next prime minister. she's linking that to brexit and to those negotiations which will start very shortly. no coincidence that she is backin shortly. no coincidence that she is back in the west midlands, an area where there are lots of marginal seats. crucially, a a lot of constituencies which voted to leave the eu. shimmy hoping to persuade former ukip and former labour voters, to say, your views have been ignored for many years, and saying that she is the only leader who is prepared to deliver the will of the people and take britain out of the eu. one more thing to mention — in half an hour's time here on bbc news, we will be putting your questions about education in this election to our correspondent. if you have a question on tuition fees, classroom sizes or grammar schools, you can get in touch via twitter using the #bbcaskthis, or text your questions to 61124 —

and you can email us as well. jeremy corbyn was unable to put a cost on labour's plan for free childcare for 1.3 million youngsters during an interview with bbc radio 4's woman's hour. here he is being interviewed by presenter emma barnett. you don't know how much it is going to cost, you are hoarding your ma nifesto ? to cost, you are hoarding your manifesto? can i come back to that? a short time ago, the labour leader was speaking in watford and addressed that interview. was speaking in watford and addressed that interviewlj

was speaking in watford and addressed that interview. i don't apologise for what in the manifesto, andi apologise for what in the manifesto, and i will explain exactly what the cost is. it is £4.8 billion, it will cost, by the end of the parliament, and in means thati million children will get free childcare, 30 hours per week, between the ages of two and four. this will mean that all of oui’ and four. this will mean that all of our children will get the chance to go to nursery, to go to preschool and to develop socially with each other. present system of free school allocation is unsatisfactory and often very unfair. sometimes, if you're very poor, you can get a free place. if you have a fair amount of money, can buy a place. the conservatives tried to increase the amount of childcare available for three— to four—year—olds, and found they could not meet their target because they did not put enough money into the system and to many

sure start centres have now been closed and the capacity simply is not there. our determination is to invest insufficient nursery capacity throughout the whole country, supporting and hopefully reopening some of those sure start centres that have been closed down by this government. i have to say, sure start was one of the greatest achievements of the last labour government. it gave opportunities for all of our children. we can go to our correspondent, who is with the journey colbon campaign in watford. so, he's trying to address what was a difficult moment, and the kind of pitfall every politician tries to avoid during an election campaign? that's right. labour very keen now to turn away from that interview. jeremy corbyn today was here to launch labour's race and faith manifesto, talking about being the party of equality. he did tackle

that interview performance head on, saying, iam that interview performance head on, saying, i am sorry i did not have the figures to hand, and then going straight back to the detail of the policy. the key thing here is that journey colbon is now promoting his policy today, it is what labour wa nts to policy today, it is what labour wants to talk about this morning. and the conservatives as we have heard are making it very personal aboutjeremy heard are making it very personal about jeremy corbyn's heard are making it very personal aboutjeremy corbyn's leadership, teeth. remember diane abbott, just a few weeks ago, funding over the numbers regarding the police. the conservatives arquin, a up the attack on labour over costings, never mind the fact the conservative ma nifesto never mind the fact the conservative manifesto is thin on costing itself. but it does give the conservatives ammunition to say, during corbyn doesn't have command of key basic figures. again, ithink doesn't have command of key basic figures. again, i think it opens up that line of attack. and labour will hope this is a blip. after the

television debates, for want of a better word, last night, they were fairly buoyed up because both leaders were perceived to have done quite well? absolutely. i think certainly the sphere inside this event here at watford was very supportive, there was a rapturous applause forjeremy corbyn as he spoke to the crowd. i think so—so opinion is, this is a trivial matter, why is there such a focus on this stumble? it is not likejeremy corbyn does not have a grasp on policy, it is not like the policy was not costed in a manifesto. so, the crowd very keen to get back onto the crowd very keen to get back onto the policy detail. and jeremy corbyn saying, there is something happening out there, he's confident labour's message is getting through. the labour team were confident about his performance last night. but i think it might seem trivial, just stumble,

as his colleagues have been saying this morning, but there are just nine days to go, and something like this does give the conservative party plenty of ammunition to go on the attack, with their keyline, which is butjeremy corbyn is not up to thejob. which is butjeremy corbyn is not up to the job. thank you very much. the scottish national party has launched its manifesto for the general election, promising to reverse cuts in welfare and to boost public sector pay. speaking in perth, the party leader, nicola sturgeon, said scotland should have a say in its own future — and called for a second independence referendum "at the end of the brexit process". and nicola sturgeon has been speaking to our scotland editor, sarah smith. she asked nicola sturgeon whether she was worried that talk of another referendum was a vote loser?e she was worried that talk of another referendum was a vote loser? s i am not. i have made my position on this clear. at the end of the brexit

process , clear. at the end of the brexit process, i think scotland should have a choice over our own future. the alternative to that is brexit no matter how damaging. this is about talking about how damaging brexit would be to our economy and our big services if it goes wrong. i don't think scotland should have to accept that regardless. i think we should have a choice at the end of the election. i have also said that there is a more immediate opportunity, and that is to strengthen scotland's's hand in the brexit negotiations, so that we can have scotland's voice being heard and try to avoid an extreme brexit, going out of the common market, as well as eu. that is the immediate opportunity here, as is the ability, with a strong group of snp mps, to fight against further austerity. today, we have put forward an alternative to continued tory has to ready, it includes investment in public services, and which would allow us to call a halt to this 0c

security —— to the social security cuts. you have changed your language about independence, you have talked about independence, you have talked about scotland having a choice, we almost never hear you actually say a second referendum on independence. is it that you are embarrassed about it? i have campaigned for scottish independence all my political life, i don't think anybody is under any illusion about my position on that. i have got people saying i am talking about nothing else, when, as you have just said, talking about nothing else, when, as you havejust said, that talking about nothing else, when, as you have just said, that is talking about nothing else, when, as you havejust said, that is not true. but they want to talk about nothing else, because the tories in particular are embarrassed about their record. what i'm saying is, i wa nt their record. what i'm saying is, i want us to have a choice at the end of this process, not now, to avoid having to accept brexit no matter how damaging it is. that would have huge indications for our economy and public services for many decades to come. but this is a general election, and in this election i also want to make sure that there

are strong snp voices standing up for scotland. standing up against tory austerity cuts, standing up for investment in public services and the economy, and standing up for a stronger voice for scotland in the brexit talks. we have seen over the past few months, the scottish government trying to make compromises on brexit, the prime minister pushing it aside. this gives the scottish people the chance to give real democratic legitimacy to give real democratic legitimacy to the voice of scotland in these talks, and therefore to try to avoid that extreme brexit which would be so that extreme brexit which would be so damaging to our economy. just a couple of months ago, you were saying there should be a second referendum on scottish independence, before the uk has left eu. now, you talk about the end of the process of — has your timetable slipped?|j — has your timetable slipped?” timetable has not changed, i always said at the end of the process. that is for a very obvious reason. any choice has to be an informed choice. when i set out the timescale

previously, that was based, as it is now, on what the prime minister herself was saying would be the end of the brexit process. if that changes, and i have no control over the timing of that, then i have also said, hertiming has the timing of that, then i have also said, her timing has to change. the key point of principle is not a date in the calendar. it is that at the end of the process, when the options are end of the process, when the options a re clear end of the process, when the options are clear for people, any choice must be an informed one. again, i come back to this election, and there is an opportunity in this election not just there is an opportunity in this election notjust to underline the right of the scottish people to have that choice, but also to strengthen oui’ that choice, but also to strengthen our hand in the brexit talks so that we can avoid that extreme brexit. i was horrified yesterday to hear the prime minister talking about the prospects, which would be devastating to the economy, going out with no deal, which would possibly threaten hundreds of thousands of jobs possibly threaten hundreds of thousands ofjobs across the uk. it

would mean tariffs and difficulties with trading with our biggest market. it is really important that scotland's voice is heard in this, whichever way people voted in the referendum on the eu. 0ur assistant political editor, norman smith, is in perth. sarah smith quizzing nicola sturgeon about a second independence referendum, and yet it is striking that that does not take centre stage in their manifesto? well, it is striking. it is the first snp ma nifesto striking. it is the first snp manifesto i have read, where independence is not running right through it. it is tucked away almost in the margins, on page ten, page ten out of ten pledges. i think there are a number of things going on. one is a desire not to frighten away those voters who are supporters of the union but mike be tempted to vote snp but are reluctant to do so,

fearing they're going to be catapulted into another independence referendum. secondly, they have been beaten about the head in recent months for focusing remorselessly on independence, and critics are saying, hang on, standards in schools are slipping, hospitals are under pressure, why don't you get on with the dayjob? and that has also knocked them back a bit. and it was striking, although nicola sturgeon sought to push back when sarah mentioned that she seemed to have opened up the possibility that the timetable for any second independence referendum could actually go back further still beyond her previous deadline of spring 2019, now, we are in quite the country, she's now saying that the country, she's now saying that the time is right when the brexit process is completed. that seems to me to be handing the initiative to theresa may, because she has said,

we cannot think about and independence referendum until the brexit process has worked through. so, if you are a committed nationalist keen to see a second independence referendum, it seems to me you're going to be a little bit disappointed perhaps about the prospect that this seems to be disappearing further away and away. so, ithink disappearing further away and away. so, i think there will be some in her party who are just a little bit uneasy about the way independence seems to have been pushed back down the list of priorities. the headlines on bbc news... jeremy corbyn stumbles over the cost of labour's election promise of free childcare for all two— to four—year—olds. theresa may focuses on brexit, saying thatjeremy corbyn is "not prepared" to provide strong leadership during negotiations with the eu. and the snp launch their manifesto, calling for higher public spending across the uk and an end to social security cuts. in sport arsene wenger agrees a new

two—year contract with arsenal, which is expected to be rubber—stamped by the board later today and announced officially tomorrow. gareth southgate reveals he did not speak to form a captain wayne rooney about leaving him out of the squad for the game against scotla nd of the squad for the game against scotland and france. and there is a shop exit for british number one johanna konta, who crashed out of the french open in the third round for the third year in a row. and andy murray is on court, where has just taken the first set. we'll have the latest from roland garros, and the latest from roland garros, and the other stories, at half past three. a jury in the trial of the veteran entertainer rolf harris has been discharged, after it failed to reach verdicts on four indecent assault charges. the crown prosecution service say they will not seek a retrial. his solicitor read out this

statement a few minutes ago on behalf of his clients. whilst i am pleased that this is finally over, i feel no sense of victory, just relief. i am 87 years old, my wife is in ill health and we simply want to spend our remaining time together in peace. i would like to thank my legal team for their extraordinary work and dedication and my barrister, my solicitor and my investigation team at merrick international. i want to thank my wonderfulfriends and international. i want to thank my wonderful friends and family who have supported us over this difficult period. thank you 0ur correspondent simonjones is outside southwark crown court. southwark crown court. rolf harris himself left a short time ago amid some chaotic scenes? yes, he was surrounded by camera crews from right around the world, and photographers, a sign of how

much interest there still is in the tranent attain a. was of course a regular fixture on tranent attain a. was of course a regularfixture on our tv tranent attain a. was of course a regular fixture on our tv screens for a huge period of time. he has had a career spanning some 50 years in television, music and art. as he left court, he made no comment at all running the various questions which were shouted at him. we heard from his solicitor talking about the sense of relief, because he was facing some very serious charges, namely that back in the 1970s and 19805, namely that back in the 1970s and 1980s, he groped three teenage girls. 0ne 1980s, he groped three teenage girls. one of them had claimed it had happened at a music festival in london. a second woman said she had been groped by rolf harris during the filming of an itv celebrities show. another woman said she had been groped by rolf harris after an edition of saturday superstore on bbc one, where rolf harris had she said, asked her if she liked being molested on a saturday morning? this

was a big trial of those allegations but after more than four hours of deliberation by the jury, but after more than four hours of deliberation by thejury, they concluded they could not reach a verdict and there was no prospect of them realistically coming to any conclusion. so, thatjury was discharged. and then this afternoon, the prosecution said, having considered the case, they did not think it was in the public interest to push for a further retrial. rolf harris has left court but he does not have his name cleared. he has served a jail sentence. he was jailed in 2014 for five years and nine months for indecently assaulting four girls. he was released from prison actually during this trial. for the first week of the trial he had to follow the evidence via video link. then he was released around a week ago so he was able to attend the trial. now, the charges he was facing at this retrial have been dropped, and he has indicated that he is now planning to appeal against his original conviction. the white house

communications director has resigned just three months after being appointed by president donald trump. mike dubke reportedly told police his decision to quit was a personal one. we can go to our correspondent laura bicker, in washington. what more can you tell us about why he has gone? well, mike dubke was an experienced republican strategist. he has told the us media he's leaving for personal reasons. he said it was an honour to serve president trump. he had been brought in to revamp the communications strategy. and as we have seen over the last few months, this is an increasingly embattled white house. what we are hearing is that they made his departure, there are rumours that there is going to be a bit of a shake—up amongst the communications team. it is room ——

rumoured that the trump administration is considering the creation of a war room. one reason for this is the allegation that russia colluded with the trump team during the election. that is the scandal which refuses to go away. some within the white house feel it is not being dealt with effectively enough, so they want to create some kind of war room to deal with those questions and combat those questions. other considerations that we are hearing from us media reports are that the press secretary, sean spicer, may give fewer briefings on camera. there might be more trips in the us for president trump, where he will take questions and answers. in other words, he's going to do more of the talking himself. it all seems to contribute to a sense of, i suppose, chaos might be putting it unkindly, but you know what i mean? i think when it comes to the last

few months within the white house, we seem few months within the white house, we seem to be constantly on the defensive. it is headline after headline. just two weeks ago, there was a night, there was not a night where the white house was not dealing with another crisis. so, you're right it seems to be an administration, in its infancy, dealing with one crisis after another. perhaps a feel that it's time to deal with it more combative league. when you see some of the names which are perhaps under consideration to replace mike dubke, one of them is claire lewandowski, who has a more combative approach. it will be interesting to see who replaces mike dubke, because that will give us an indication as to how this white house is going to acts going forward. tributes have been paid to a zoo keeper who was attacked and killed by a tiger. rosa king, who was 33, has been described as the "shining light" of hamerton zoo park in cambridgeshire. she died yesterday after a tiger entered the enclosure she was in. ben ando gave us the latest.

we do a lot of work for conservation... rosa king had always loved animals. they're being poached in the wild... and according to those who knew her was passionate about their welfare and protection. but yesterday, while she was doing the job she loved at hamerton zoo park, one of the tigers in her care attacked and killed her. today, friends and family paid tribute to the 33—year—old keeper who had an affinity for cheetahs, but loved all the big cats. in a statement her mother andrea said... now, an investigation is underway. the police have said there are no suspicious circumstances, but zoo managers will want to know how a tiger got into the enclosure where she was working and in just a few seconds, turned a fun bank holiday into tragedy. experts warn that whether in captivity or not, tigers are wild and potentially dangerous animals.

under normal circumstances, there should be no reason for a keeper and a predator such as a tiger to be in the same enclosure at the same time. the only exception to that would be if the animal has been sedated so that it can undergo a veterinary procedure or similar. but there should be no reason for a conscious animal, conscious predator, to be in the same space as a keeper. but some animal welfare campaigners say keeping wild animals in captivity is just wrong. taking a child to a zoo for the first time, of course there will be the wow factor, why wouldn't there be when they see a tiger for the first time, an elephant for the first time? but after that, you have to ask yourself, what is the educational benefit of seeing that same animal in that same space doing the same thing day in and day out? four years ago, another keeper, sarah clay, was killed

by a sumatran tiger at this zoo in cumbria. the park was later fined £250,000 for health and safety breaches. hamerton zoo managers have described the death of rosa king as a freak accident, but alongside the shock and grief, there is a need to find out what went wrong and why. let's have a look at the weather. it is not going to be too bad at all in many areas for the second half of the afternoon. the skies will start clearing, particularly across northern parts of the uk, over the next few hours. so, this is the weather front which brought the two parts of scotland and northern ireland. you can see the back edge of it, and clearer skies will be filtering in. these are the

temperatures around six being. tonight, there we go, the clearer skies in the north. essentially speaking, it is quiet out there this evening, mild in the south, 14 degrees, signalfigures evening, mild in the south, 14 degrees, signal figures there evening, mild in the south, 14 degrees, signalfigures there in evening, mild in the south, 14 degrees, signal figures there in the north. tomorrow, a nice day on the way, certainly much better than today, more sunshine, particularly across northern areas. a lovely day on the way for most of us tomorrow. hello. this is bbc news. with me rebecca james, and simon mccoy. the headlines at 3:30pm: labour is campaigning on its proposal to roll out free childcare to all two—year—olds , but in a bbc interview, jeremy corbyn struggled to remember how much the policy would cost. but he says that he is proud of the

policy. theresa may says with brexit negotiations due to start days after the election, only she is prepared to lead the uk out of the eu. the snp launch their manifesto — calling for higher public spending across the uk and an end to social security cuts. prosecutors won't seek another re—trial of rolf harris on indecent assault charges, after a jury was unable to reach a verdict today. the white house communications director, michael dubke, has resigned, just three months after being appointed by president donald trump. the mother of zookeeper rosa king — killed by a tiger at a zoo in cambridgeshire yesterday — says she loved herjob and wouldn't have done anything else. time for a look at the day's sport now with holly hamilton. good afternoon. the bbc has learned that arsene wenger will be staying at arsenal — after agreeing a new two year contract. it follows a meeting with majority owner stan kroenke yesterday — where his future was to be dicussed. it's understood the 67—year—old will

remain manager until at least 2019 — extending his tenure into a 23rd year. the bbc‘s sports editor dan roanjoined me earlier. i think it will divide opinion among arsenal's many supporters. let's not forget it wasn't long ago that arsenal were being dropped 10—2 on aggregate by bayern munich in the champions league and they finished fifth in the premier league, meaning they miss out on champions league football which is crucial to any big clu b football which is crucial to any big club for the first time in two decades. the pressure on arsene wenger in the last couple of months has reached unprecedented levels. there have been protests by fans and planes flown over demanding that he goes after these years in charge. but despite that towards the end of the season, they enjoyed something ofa the season, they enjoyed something of a resurgence and they won the fa cup against all odds. many thought they would be beaten soundly by chelsea but they prevailed on

saturday winning 2—1. maybe the final reckoning edging things in favour of him. but he always retained the support of the man in charge, american billionaire stan kroenke who effectively owns arsenal. yesterday they met and we understand it was at that point things were finally done. i think the board were told in effect that would be the final decision. they did not have much so. it is the way arsenal is run. effectively a dictatorship, kroenke is in control. arsene wenger has been there so long now it is difficult to imagine a life without him and once it was decided he wanted to stay despite the opposition that has hurt him in recent months, the decision was made. gareth southgate says he didn't speak to captain wayne rooney before leaving him out of the squad to face scotland and france next month. england's all—time leading goal—scorer rooney only started 15 league games for manchester united this past season. the 31—year—old was left out of the previous squad in march due to injury. a back injury will keep liverpool defender nathaniel clyne out of action.

in the end, there's only so many times that you can speak about the situation. we have been very clear. i'm very conscious that again, is the first question that you ask me. iam the first question that you ask me. i am conscious from his point of view that it is big story when you do not select him. i want to do that in the right way, equally. when we have had previous conversations there is no point revisiting those at this stage. paul lambert has lost his job as wolves manager. lambertjoined the club seven months ago leading them to a 15th place finish in the championship. former porto boss nuno espirito santo is expected to take over. british number onejohanna konta has suffered a shock defeat by taiwan's sue—way—shay in the first round of the french open. she was beaten in three sets by the world number 109. jim lumsden watched the action.

johanna konta's remarkable improvement over the last couple of yea rs improvement over the last couple of years does not yet extend to clay. the world number eight was looking to get past the first round for the first time. in her way, to get past the first round for the first time. in herway, her opponent. the second set was the opposite. the chinese player but a bit greater resistance —— chinese taipei player. she put up a great resistance. this was unexpected. johanna konta was hitting her shots straight at her opponent and was soon straight at her opponent and was soon broken in the decider. her opponent continued to chip away at the player. but survived another game. but the revival was short lived. hsieh won the third set. bitter disappointment forjohanna konta, still to win in the main draw at roland—garros. andy murray has begun his french open campaign with a first round match against andre kuznetzov.

the world number one reached the final last year but is on a run of poorform. he has won the first set against the unseeded russian 6—4. andy murray took the lead in the second and the score is currently 2—1. that's all sport for now. hugh has more in the next hour. studio: ollie, thank you. throughout the general election campaign we're going to be taking an in—depth look at some of the topics most important to you , and hearing from our specialist editors. today, we're focusing on education. our education editor branwen jeffreys has been assessing what the big issues in schools are. many things make a difference to your child's education but it is what happens in the classroom that matters the most. is the teacher and expert in their subject? are they really good at passing their knowledge on? england has a teacher

shortage, and secondary schools are feeling that impact. for several yea rs, feeling that impact. for several years, not enough people have been starting teacher training, and a growing number of young teachers are leaving after just if growing number of young teachers are leaving afterjust if you years. among business likely to leave our maths and science teachers. —— just a few years. that's despite the fact you get £30,000 cash if you start training asa you get £30,000 cash if you start training as a teacher in those subjects. meaning more lessons being taught by people who have not studied those subjects to the highest of themselves. so what is behind england's teacher shortage? teacher's salaries have fallen behind other graduate pay. because of the 1% cap on public sector pay rises. economists say it needs to be looked at again. no sign of that in conservative plans, the labour and the lib dems have said that they would allow greater salary increases to recruit teachers. and, teachers

say that they need more time outside of the classroom. compared to the most successful education systems in the world, england's teachers get less time to prepare their lessons, and studied themselves, on how to a really good teacher. —— and study themselves. welcome to bbc ask this — today looking at education in this election, and the various promises made by the political parties about primary, secondary and higher education... here with us to answer your questions, is our education correspondent gillian hargreaves... welcome. let's begin with a tweet from rosemary, she says "why are so many teachers leaving teaching?" . brad wing touched on that? rosemary has touched on something here. they

are not talking about it, politicians, but go into any secondary school and you say, how difficult is it to recruit a maths teacher and the headteacher would tell you how difficult it is to recruit. they recruit from abroad and they only stay for a brief period of time because the pay is not the parable to working in a bank orfor a hedge not the parable to working in a bank or for a hedge fund not the parable to working in a bank orfor a hedge fund company. they have difficulties in some subjects. maths, physics and german are worth their weight in gold. people do leave their professions over time. according to the dfe the attrition rate is relatively stable but there are chronic shortages in some subjects. rosemary wanted to know if teach first numbers are down? this scheme fast tracked them as teachers? it is a charity that recruits students who did well at university, fast tracking them into

school and soon may hold more senior positions. latest ucas figures, how people enter university in the uk, they also show a dip in teacher recruitment this year. across—the—board, teaching recruitment this year. across—the—boa rd, teaching has become less attractive than other jobs. we had an anonymous text. if labour when, will they put a stop to new grammar schools? sorry, that is not anonymous, it is from james! you pitch! they —— you bet! they set up a flagship policy that was controversial at the time, in areas that had grammar schools, there are a lot of labour mps who would be furious if, come the 9th ofjune, we have conservative element and a new wave of grammar schools are introduced. interesting to see how it will play out. there are some conservative mps

who are against grammar schools and will be uneasy about voting legislation through parliament. it is interesting to see what will happen with that. i suspect there won't be a swathe of grammar schools across england but we may see a new kind of selective school where attainment levels have been low. areas that are not doing well academically, blackpool, isle of wight, midlands, north and smaller towns, we may see more of that if conservatives win power. david texted us, with several questions about labour's plans to abolish tuition fees. he wants to know if an extra 30,000 people were attracted to go to university if it is free, has that been funded? and in addition to the 9.4 billion that the labour party has said it will cost, you would like to know when you

abolish tuition fees, would it mean that university is free for overseas students? that's a lot for you to remember, sorry! this is a big lightship labour policy, that they will scratch wishing these —— flagships. currently universities are charging £9,250 per year if you go this autumn, it is a big cost. labour has said that university education would be free. what they have not talked about is how much it would cost the treasury if more people go to university. only last year, the government got rid of the cap on student numbers so universities can recruit as many students as they like but if thousands more decided they wanted university educations... they may, if it is free? i have seen figures as high as 60,000. the cost of the treasury will be far greater than the £10 billion that labour has

talked about and they have not talked about and they have not talked about and they have not talked about reintroducing a cap. an interesting point and we don't know what labour may do. and overseas students, would it be free for overseas students, or what they have to pay? if you are from a non-eu country, you pay higher than £9,000 per year. for international students it is proved for universities to be a lucrative cash cow, for want of a better phrase. i don't know what would happen to eu students in that situation, whether labour would underwrite their costs. if you are currently at university, labour so you would not have to pay fees for the rest of your course but it you only went university five years ago and are paying off a big debt at the moment, labour cannot underwrite that. you will still pay your debt. for eu students that will be negotiated as part of the brexit deal anyway? what is the

conservative stance on tuition fees? the conservative stance is that they remain as is. last year legislation was changed so that they go up with the cost of inflation, so we have seen a the cost of inflation, so we have seen a rise from £9,000 per year to £9,250 with the expectation it could go £9,250 with the expectation it could 9° up £9,250 with the expectation it could go up year—on—year if inflation rises. jill specifically wants to know how much jeremy rises. jill specifically wants to know how muchjeremy corbyn's policy to scrap jewish know how muchjeremy corbyn's policy to scrapjewish and fees will cost? —— to scrap tuition fees will cost? if many more people go to university, that issue that we talked about, that bill could get higher and higher. that links to david's question. and tying in with labour's proposals for tuition fees, what about those graduates who already have student loa ns ? if you went to university two years ago, five years ago, ten years ago,

and have debts, they cannot be underwritten by labour, we are in austerity and they have not promised anything to that generation of graduates but for those that university now, they will not pay jewish and fees if they get after —— they will not pay tuition fees and the rest of your education will be free. justin wants to know if theresa may can confirm that free breakfasts for primary school children also includes the cost of childcare in looking after those children? it's interesting, the conservative party would scrap free school meals for reception and early years students, children can currently have a school mealforfree and children can currently have a school meal for free and the tories said that they would scrap it if they got into power but have also said they would offer every child a free

brea kfast. would offer every child a free breakfast. many parents would see it as an opportunity for free childcare in the morning. if they take them in for half past seven in the morning they can go to work. you would not have to pay extra, it would be in the package. interesting to see the package if the conservatives went back power. if you have teachers overseeing breakfasts,, back power. if you have teachers overseeing breakfasts, , someone back power. if you have teachers overseeing breakfasts,, someone will have to pay? yes, there is a custom location for this, by scrapping meals for all infant pupils, the conservatives say that they have costed this free breakfast announcement they would be able to afford it. how much is a breakfast? per pupil, what do they expect that to cost? i don't know the answer i am afraid, i will have to find out! ask again! the free school meals policy cost somewhere in the region

of £650 million but per breakfast, i don't know! bring in an ipad next time, and you may know! you can check! thank you to everyone who has beenin check! thank you to everyone who has been in contact. and today at 5.30 on bbc news we will be putting your questions about the snp's manifesto to their economic spokesperson stewart hosie. 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. in a moment — a summary of the business news this hour but first, the headlines on bbc news: jeremy corbyn apologises. bling over the cost of labour's election promise of free childcare for two to four year roads, saying he is proud of the policy. theresa may focuses on brexit, saying thatjeremy corbyn

is not prepared to provide shown leadership during negotiations with the eu. and the snp launch their ma nifesto the eu. and the snp launch their manifesto calling for higher public spending across the uk and an end to social security cuts. iam ben i am ben bland, iam ben bland, i i am ben bland, i cannot only the price of a breakfast either but i can tell you the business news... british airways says its now operating a full schedule after an it failure meant it had to cancel thousands of flights over the bank holiday weekend. it comes as ba counts the cost of the disruption — with some estimates suggesting compensation and lost business could cost the airline £150 million. and it may only be a temporary blip but this is what shares are doing this morning — their first chance to react here in the uk. ba's owner — international airlines group — saw its shares fall sharply in madrid yesterday, and they‘ re down here in london today. down 1.7%, just a bit more, here in london. and staying with airlines, ryanair says prices will fall

another 5% this year as it battles tough competition and a weak pound. it comes as the firm reported record profits of over 1.3bn euros. budget airline ryanair has reported its latest set of results. it's europe's biggest airline if you count passenger numbers — and says profits are up 6% for the full year to 1.3bn euros. the irish airline said fares would fall by between 5% and 7% this year, due to the weakness of the pound. it's also been cutting costs. but — as critics of ba's troubles have pointed out — cut costs in the wrong area and it could be costly. neil sorahan is ryanair‘s chief financial officer and told us ryanair isn't vulnerable to the same problems as british airways when it comes to it systems. i think it is very unlikely that we would get involved in such a kind of scenario. we have core data in a

number of centres so if one goes down we can effectively an edge from other data centres that we have. disaster recovery is something we spend a lot of time practising and we are comfortable with the systems that we have. having spent a huge amount of time and effort in investing in rya nair amount of time and effort in investing in ryanair laps, we have a robust website and back—end systems. we are confident we would not have those kinds of issues, we invested a lot of time and effort in that but in worst—case scenarios, if things we re in worst—case scenarios, if things were to fall over, our systems are less co m plex were to fall over, our systems are less complex than the likes of ba, delta and south—west to have had issues in the past and we are confident we can manage it ourselves easily within the business. that was neil soharan, rya nair‘s chief financial officer. earlier we spoke to aviation analyst john strickland ofjls consulting. the market for the last year for ryanairand the market for the last year for ryanair and other airlines have been incredibly difficult. we've seen

challenges of numerous security threats since we had the brexit vote, currency changes are taking place and there is massive volatility between the pound and the euro. there have been strikes, allsorts of things. if ryanair has filled its planes and still made bigger profits, that is no mean achievement. the market is challenging, there is a lot of consumer uncertainty, not least in the uk where the cost of travelling abroad has gone up. travelling around europe, that affects ryanair as they need to offer price competitive tickets to get people on board but they earn less when they have converted it into euros, their home currency. but they are a company that talks about being revenue active. they talk about being load factor active and revenue passive. they want to fill their planes at any price, and will make more revenue by selling other items on board the plane or elsewhere. asjune the 8th edges closer, it's notjust the political parties and activists who are gearing up for the general election.

the uk betting industry is expecting the election to generate millions of pounds in bets as the nation's growing fascination with punting on politics continues. joining me now to discuss this further is katie baylis, from the internet betting exchange betfair. good to see you. how much and how quickly are you seeing the odds change in relation to specific events change in relation to specific eve nts o n change in relation to specific events on the campaign, like debates, blunders and the like? initially, we had static odds and eve ryo ne initially, we had static odds and everyone was expecting those odds to stay happily in the favour of the tories. in the last week and a half orso, tories. in the last week and a half or so, following the manifesto released from the tories, we saw quite a lot of movement on our two main markets which are the overall majority. after that manifesto release, the tories were at one to 33 for the most seats market.

following the release, it went to one to 25. today, they are at one to 14. we saw odds change at the back of last week's tv interviews and interaction. labour were at 28—1, before the tory manifesto released and we saw them at 22—1. clearly the tories are still massive odds on favourites in those markets. but we are seeing a shift towards labour and the odds, as we —— as we see in the polls as well. and the amount that people are betting, the total volume of bets, how does this election compare with the interest that you have seen in previous elections and votes? looking at the last election, across from the start of the finish, we saw £28 million bet. as of this afternoon, across all markets in this general

election, it's about £22 million. not bad going considering this election was only called four weeks ago. we have seen a lot of money. we would probably expect, it is an estimate, somewhere in the region of £50 million bet on this election at the time we see a final result. katie baylis, thank you. trying to quickly show you the markets... the ftse 100 is lower — in common with the leading paris and frankfurt markets. a lot of downward pull on the ftse 100 coming from iag, owners of british airways, as investors mull over that it failure and what compensation could be paid as a result... or oil is down a bit. as a nalysts result... or oil is down a bit. as analysts wonder whether the cuts to output agreed last week agreed by

other countries could agree the price and bring it back out. just bringing you some news coming in from reuters news agency, reporting police are saying they are searching a property in wigan, near manchester, in connection with that attack in manchester on the 22nd of may. reuters is saying that a police called in is in place for a search of this property in wigan. —— police cordon. police are asking the public to avoid the area. asimilar to avoid the area. a similar incident five days ago in wigan where arrests were made reuters are continuing that investigation —— reuters say that police are continuing that investigation. now let's catch up with all of the weather, and join thomas on the other side of the newsroom for an award—winning forecast? i was going to keep that quiet! thank you.! just

a little polls... the weather is looking pretty good for most of us today. the skies are still gloomy in one or two areas, but they are also clearing in other places. today, we have had a bit of rain, a bit of sunshine and some cloud. this evening it looks like across the north of the uk, skies will be clearing. it is behind this weather front that you see here, this is where clear skies pushed through across the second half of the day in northern ireland and western scotland where we had rain earlier. clear skies faltering in and to the south, it may stay cloudy overnight. temperatures not dipping away. 13 or 14 degrees, across northern areas we have clear skies and temperatures down to around 9 degrees. during the rush hour tomorrow morning, we have a pretty cloudy start across cornwall and devon, much of the west country, southern

wales, the south coast and into london. it won't be terribly stubborn but will break up in the morning. northwards, you have a glorious start to the day here. lovely weather! sunshine across northern england, northern ireland and throughout scotland. even our friends in the far north and northern isles enjoying a beautiful start of the day. a fine start across the country tomorrow. a couple of light showers breaking out in some places but these temperatures are nothing to be sniffed at. 21 in northern england. 19 for glasgow. former traditionally in the south—east and not much change on the way in the afternoon or evening as well. a change on the way as far as thursday is concerned. outbreaks of rain heading into north—western parts of the uk. a big area of low pressure with winds blowing around like a washing machine. scooping up the warmth left across france and shunting it in our direction. former air comes

across france and shunting it in our direction. formerair comes in across france and shunting it in our direction. former air comes in from the south, 25 in london and 20 in newcastle. 21, even. rain pushes into the north—west. these weather fronts are slow—moving. that air comes in from the south, a risk of thunderstorms towards the end of the week and across south—eastern areas. warming up temporarily across the south or the south—east especially. always pressure in the north—west. there will be some rain on and off across more north—western parts of the uk especially. e—commerce this is bbc news. the headlines at four. jeremy corbyn apologises after he struggled to explain the cost of a key election pledge in an interview with the bbc‘s woman's hour. so, how much will it cost? i will give you the figure in a moment.

you don't know by darwin you are logging into your ipad — you have announced a major policy and you don't know how much it will cost? can i give you the exact figure in a moment? theresa may says that with brexit negotiations due to start days after the election, only she is prepared to lead the uk out of the eu. i'm ready to go. jeremy corbyn is not. nicola sturgeon launches the snp manifesto, calling for a second scottish independence referendum "at the end of the brexit process". scotland must have a choice about our future, a choice about