this is bbc news. the headlines: theresa may refuses to endorse statements from senior cabinet ministers who went beyond the manifesto, saying that a future tory government would not raise income tax tax for high earners. our position on tax has not changed from that set it in the manifesto. the conservative party has and a lwa ys the conservative party has and always will be a low tax party. theresa may and jeremy corbyn are both challenged on a special edition of question time. the prime minister was questioned on nhs funding with the labour leader heckled when he avoided questions about using nuclear weapons. ariana grande makes a surprise visit to fans injured in the terror attack at her gig last week, that's ahead of her benefit concert tomorrow evening. hope for ovarian cancer patients as a new drug shows promising results. and coming up, a panel of foreign journalists join jane hill to discuss the general election

and president's trump's decision to pull out of the paris climate agreement. that's dateline at 11:30am. good morning and welcome to bbc news. theresa may has insisted the party's position on income tax has not changed, despite the defence secretary claiming that the conservative party would not raise income taxes even for high earners. the prime minister is speaking at an eventin the prime minister is speaking at an event in dewsbury and west yorkshire, when the bbc asked her for clarification. our position hasn't changed from

that set out the manifesto. what people will know when they go to vote on thursday is that it is the conservative party that has and a lwa ys conservative party that has and always will be a low tax party and it is our intention to reduce taxes for ordinary working families. we will raise the personal allowance to 12500 and raise the 40% threshold up to 50,000. the choice is simple for people on thursday. a conservative party that has always believed in lower taxes or a labour party with a ma nifesto lower taxes or a labour party with a manifesto that we no means higher taxes for all and ordinary working people paying the price. we will be talking to tom bateman later in the hour. theresa may and jeremy corbyn have faced tough questions from a tv audience, just days before the general election. they were challenged separately in a special edition of question time in york. mrs may faced uncomfortable questions about nhs funding. while mr corbyn faced a robust exchange over whether he would use the uk's nuclear deterrent.

they came here hoping to persuade people that they have what it takes to lead the country. no—one expected an easy ride but from the start it was clear that this would be a testing evening. theresa may was accused of being untrustworthy, of changing her mind on calling an election and on policies like social care. others were angry about funding for schools and hospitals. my wage slips from 2009 reflect exactly what i am earning today so how can that be fair? we have had to take some hard choices across the public sector in relation to public sector pay restraint. we did that because of the decisions we had to take to bring public spending under control because it wasn't under control under the last labour government. brexit is why theresa may says she called this election. she said she was determined to deliver. we take this opportunity of brexit, new trade deals around the rest of the world,

actually seeing how we can build a more prosperous, stronger and fairer britain. i think we can do that and i think we can do that because i believe in britain and i believe in the british people. forjeremy corbyn, this was a chance to prove he's ready to take the topjob in politics. he was unapologetic about plans to raise taxes for companies and higher earners. where are the skilled workers going to come from tomorrow? where are going to be the consumers of tomorrow? i think it's time that we looked at inequality in our society and used public investment in order to improve services and give real chances to everybody. poverty is a waste. but mr corbyn had his most difficult moment when he was pressed to say whether he'd ever use nuclear weapons to defend britain? would you allow north korea or some idiot in iran to bomb us and then say, oh, we better start talking? you would be too late? you would have to do it first. no, of course not.

the general election is less than a week away and this was a great opportunity for voters to see both the people who want to be prime minister. yes, setting out their vision, but also coming under real pressure over policies and both hope that this will be the moment when the public swings behind them. the singer ariana grande has visited fans in hospital who were injured in the terror attack at her manchester concert. the star spent time with youngsters at the royal manchester children's hospital in a surprise appearance ahead of a benefit concert in the city tomorrow. meanwhile, police investigating the bombing have made another arrest. simonjones reports. the smiles say it all. fans like this eight—year—old lily harrison who was still recovering from her injuries in hospital, meeting the singer who means so much to them. the children had been getting ready for bed when the star arrived unexpectedly, bringing gifts and signing autographs. we were the last room on the ward she came to visit so the excitement

there were thanks as well for the nurses. and tomorrow she will perform at a concert to raise funds for the victims and their families. the 22 lives lost have been remembered at saint ann's square which has become the focal point for those wish to pay tribute, to contemplate and to grieve. manchester city council says that this may be the last weekend the flowers remain in place as it needs to look at relocating them respectfully. it will now consider setting up a permanent memorial in the city. it is a must. the 22 who died... ...just have to have something that is a testament to what happened. i think people will want to come forever, just to pay their respects, really because, as i say, it should not have happened and they were babies, weren't they? and should have been the night of their life and it wasn't. it is sad. a big heart with all of the names on the date of birth of all of them would be a good idea.

alongside the remembrance, the police operation goes on. last night a car was taken away which they say could be significant to their investigation. police will be out again in force for tomorrow's concert. an early and small scale trial of a new drug to combat ovarian cancer has shown promising results, according to researchers. the drug shrank tumours in almost half of the 15 women in the advanced stages of the disease who took part. here's our health correspondent, sophie hutchinson. marianne heath has advanced ovarian cancer. there are very few drugs to treat this type of cancer and the ones that exist can no longer help her. so she says when she was asked to take part in a trial for a new drug shejumped at the chance. well, i decided to go on the trial because there were no other way out for me, there were no options presented so it was the trial orjust radiotherapy so i decided to do

the trial first. the trial, run by the institute of cancer research and the royal marsden, aims to test the safety of the new drug known as 0nx—0801. it involved just 15 women all with advanced ovarian cancer. the result, tumours shrank significantly in almost half of the women over the course of five weeks. one of the fantastic things about this new drug that's being developed here is that it has so few side—effects, compared to traditional chemotherapy. and that's because it specifically targets cancer cells, leaving healthy cells unharmed. this drug attacks the tumour and you see very encouraging tumour responses but you don't see the common side—effects like hair loss or sore mouth or diarrhoea or susceptible to infections as seen with other chemotherapy. but the scientists are urging caution. they say it was a very small study

and it's too early to know whether the success could be replicated in a larger group of patients. they now want to plan the next phase of the trial. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. statins — which are usually prescribed to lower cholesterol — could help reduce the risk of dying from breast cancer by 27%, according to a new study. scientists in china who analysed research involving 200,000 women, found patients who took the drug were less likely to see their cancer return. charities have welcomed the news but say more clinical trials are needed. the consumer group which is calling on british airways to create an automatic compensation system for passengers affected by serious flight delays and cancellations. it comes a week after a major it failure caused hundreds of the airline's flights to be grounded. the images of the week from ba.

passengers waiting for flights, some of which ended up being cancelled. the compensation bill could exceed £100 million for the airline. ba says it will treat customers fairly and refund legitimate expenses but consumer advocates say that is not enough. in a letter to the chief executive it says compensation should be automatic for passengers out of pocket. they should not have to apply directly to airlines for a refund. an automated system would save time and money for ba as well as prevent companies from making profit from misery of others. people are entitled to money but they are not given it automatically. passengers are often not realising what they are entitled to. the airlines can pay compensation because they know what flight you were on and what you are entitled to and we think that should be the rules. there are other sectors in energy and water where you are automatically paid compensation if you do not receive the sevice. in response, ba said it had put additional resources into its call centres to process claims

quickly as possible. one group that is not out of pocket are investors in ba's parent company. its shares were up this week despite the whirlwind endured by customers. —— the woe let's get more now on the general election and with less than a week until the country heads to the ballot box reality check‘s chris morris has been taking a look at how reliable the polls are. questions have been raised about how reliable the polling numbers are. the conservative lead over labour has been anywhere between 3% and 14% in recent days so have polls lost their more joe? there in recent days so have polls lost their morejoe? there have been problems in the past, most notably in the general election 2015 when all the polls said there would be a hung parliament but the

conservatives won an outright majority. so what is going on? let's ask a majority. so what is going on? let's aska man majority. so what is going on? let's ask a man who really should know. there is a persistent issue that the polling industry has been constantly trying to deal with which is how do we avoid overestimating labour and underestimating the conservatives. that is a problem that errors in 2015 and that the industry has been further trying to avoid. after 2015, the british polling council held an inquiry which determined that polling failed because the sample were not truly representative of the british population. they overestimated the number of young people that would vote. pollsters have now changed their message, including waiting results by educational background, interest in politics and, crucially, the likelihood of people voting. the

numbers are really hard to interpret, even for the expats. people who are likely to vote in the election or interested are more likely to participate in polls. the problem that you you failed to identify adequately who isn't going to make it to the polls. if you get that wrong and you overestimate the level of turnout amongst the group in our society that is particularly likely to vote for one party rather than another, then your poll can be wrong. at the beginning of the election all the polls pointed towards an overwhelming conservative victory, consistently 20 point ahead of labour. but during the course of the campaign, the gap has narrowed. look at the lane on our polling tracker. it shows how things have been moving. in the last few weeks, labour have risen dramatically but are still below the tories. yougov have used all their data to forecast what will happen in each seat, which

has led to the most eye opening reduction of all, a hung parliament. that is out of step with other forecasts. which will be the most accurate? someone is likely to look smart, others will end up with egg on theirfaces. the prime minister has said that the pa rty‘s the prime minister has said that the party's policy on tax has not changed despite comments by the defence secretary. the labour and conservative leaders faced an audience of voters last night. ariana grande a makes a surprise visit to manchester children's hospital to visit fans who were injured in the terror attack. to understand politics in northern

ireland, you have to understand how it is expressed, identity, including all forms of culture. traditions like this are very important but politically impersonal. yes, being part of a band allows me to stand up for what i believe in, to stand up for what i believe in, to make sure our heritage and tradition never goes away. heritage and tradition is important

for all communities. protestants tend to vote for unionist parties and catholics for republican parties but that is not always the case. there are two communities. that is expressed in a lot of ways. for example, sports and different sports paid by protestants and catholics. but at the same time there is a lot shared across what some people see asa shared across what some people see as a divide. yes, i believe both cultures should be respected equally. not one is greater than the other. the nhs and education, especially the recent cuts, should be looked at in more detail. that is a political thing in common with the two. but when you look at culture, you can see all things in

common including dancers and various musicians. society has a lot that it shares but sometimes it can be difficult for politicians to see across a traditional divide. you must have really had to rehearse for that one, chris. yes, you can tell from that though that politics in northern ireland is very different. cultural identity goes right to the core. that's because many people see themselves as british or irish or even northern irish. all those different cultures have to play. that idea of politics

being different and culture identity playing a part plays into votes and some people sit her intellect and into a sectarian thing. it does. but in the last few years we have been able to move away from the tribal sectarian politics. people want to see representatives that are focused on delivering for them on education, health, defence, them on education, health, defence, the budget. even more so now that we don't have a devolved assembly up and running. people want to see 18 representatives with a strong united voice for them. the assembly currently not sitting which means there is no government in northern ireland and partly that is because of that divide between unionist and nationalist, unionist and republicans. it's a real problem, isn't it? yes, it is something we hear on the

doorstep, that people need that representation. people need their public services back, any ministers who are accountable in northern ireland. alliance is the first openly cross community party in northern ireland and want to play a pa rt northern ireland and want to play a part in that. we want to hold those people to account to make sure we have a strong devolved government that works for all. one of the biggest issues in this election, and they do call it a brexit election, is the whole issue of brexit. it really matters because of brexit. it really matters because of that land border with the republic of ireland. lots of people calling for special circumstances. do you think that is reasonable? they can call for that but i think we need a holistic approach. we need to have that executive and have a strong voice about the difficulties northern ireland will face. as a party, we are opposed to a hard order because it will have a

detrimental impact socially and economically. when you talk to people, they feel it is different in this part of the uk to other parts. is northern ireland really good to have a voice in those negotiations over brexit? it makes is difficult to have a voice at the table when we don't have a functioning executive. alliance have always been pro—european and pro—progressive and we wa nt pro—european and pro—progressive and we want to make sure that northern ireland's special status is recognised. but what does that practically mean? we wa nt but what does that practically mean? we wantan but what does that practically mean? we want an agreement that looks in northern ireland as a special case and looks at something along the lines of the liechtenstein or norway model where we are still in the

european economic area. don't rule out the chances of another election here in just don't rule out the chances of another election here injust a matter of months‘ time because we already had an assembly election a few months ago and no government was formed. taiwan has did you think there is a chance of another election, yes or no? they want to get another election up and running we will see what comes over the horizon. i think over the horizon. ithinka over the horizon. i think a deal can be done and if not it is up to a coalition of the willing to take government. nobody wants another election, no matter what side they are on. sport now and, for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here‘s mike bushall. good morning. the british and irish lions were

pretty unconvincing in their opening match. not a resounding victory. even though they had landed just a few days before the match, they will be disappointed with this against those part—timers. cardiff is hosting european club football‘s biggest night of the season — the champions league final. a lot of speculation on whether welsh star gareth bale will get to play for real madrid againstjuventus. olly foster looks ahead. real madrid and juventus fans have travelled here in their tens of thousands. cardiff has welcomed two giants of european football for what could be a classic. it will be great. if we win it is going to be the best experience in my life. we have a balanced team, we are confident we can win. for us to defeatjuventus...

real madrid always win the finals. at 39, buffon knows it may be his last chance. in a season when british teams again fell short in europe, at least one british player has reached the final. a homecoming for gareth bale. the trouble is he is unlikely to start for real madrid. he‘s at the heart of the marketing, he is plastered all over town. but he has not actually been in the madrid team for about six weeks because of injury. it is disappointing, especially in his hometown but i think he would probably get his head around it. if he doesn‘t start, he will come on and make an impact on what he does and that 20 minutes or half an hour, maybe even longer in extra time. he is a special player who can score all types of goals. giggs won the champions league

in 2008 and the fa cup here in 200a. a teenage scoring star then, he has developed into an icon of the game. a brand that is still a serial winner. a man for the grand occasion. that is what tonight promises to be. the president, of the football‘s european governing body, has told the bbc that britain deserves to host a world cup in the nearfuture. aleksander seferin says he hopes the tournament will be held in europe in 2030. they are absolutely capable of organising it from an organisational point of view, from an infrastructure point of view but it is a decision not only from the fa but the government. but you know everything about british football. so they deserve to have a world cup in the near future. andy murray takes onjuan martin del

potro today in the third round of the french open — they are second on court a little later. but british number two kyle edmund has started his third round match already. he‘s taking on the south african kevin anderson on court 2. kyle edmund won the first set on a tie—break. the brit just kyle edmund won the first set on a tie—break. the britjust edged it. that‘s all sport for now. now the weather. we‘ve swept away a lot of the warmth and humidity of the last few days. a slightly cooler and fresher feel to the weekend but that doesn‘t mean there isn‘t any sunshine. in fact, quite a lot of blue skies and sunshine around. do not be fooled however because that could be some

hefty showers around today and tomorrow. the heaviest in saturday afternoon will be in northern ireland and particularly scotland, with could be the odd rumble of thunder. a few showers in wales and the southwest. it should be dry elsewhere. heavy thundery downpours across scotland with showers in between. the showers should ease in northern ireland but i cannot promise you a completely dry afternoon. a few showers drifting into northern england but not sunshine. the best temperatures in the south—east. a few showers trundling across wales and the south west. quite hit and miss and tending to clear east by this evening. for the big match in cardiff, it should be dry with sunny spells at the start of the game. it will probably feel cool because it is too get

cooler tonight. he can take a few degrees off if you are out in the countryside. more of the same tomorrow. sunny spells but also showers, probably more so than today. lots of heavy downpours in northern ireland and scotland and clouding over in the south west and wales with showery rain. sunny spells elsewhere. a change into the start of new week because areas of low pressure will be swarming out west, starting to move on. monday will bring a band of heavy rain and strong winds in places. showery rain. deeper into the week, it remains unsettled spells of rain and some sunny remains unsettled spells of rain and some sunny spells and temperatures area

some sunny spells and temperatures are a little lower than they have been over the last few days. hello and welcome to dateline, i‘m jane hill. this week, we discuss the closing stages of the general election here in the uk, and america‘s withdrawal from the paris climate accord. my guests this week are steve richards, the british political commentator, john fisher burns of the new york times, marc roche of le point, and maria margaronis of the nation. a warm welcome to all of you. let‘s start with the fact that in just a few days from now voters in britain go to the polls in an election called unexpectedly by theresa may after she had been on a walking holiday with her husband over the

easter break. in the first couple of weeks of campaigning, the word "landslide" was heard repeatedly in relation to her conservative party — less so now. let‘s assess the state of the parties and consider the difficult task ahead, because whoever ends up in 10 downing street has to navigate britain‘s departure from the eu. steve, a few weeks ago on this programme, we were calling this election boring — not now. it has been the most interesting election in recent decades, i think, because it has been so unpredictable in so many ways, and i think there is something shakespearean in politics, which is that when a prime minister calls an early