hello and good afternoon. theresa may has insisted that conservative party policy on income tax has not changed. one of her senior cabinet colleagues had suggested that the tax would not go up even for higher earners. the tory manifesto does not include a promise on income tax, but in a newspaper interview, the defence secretary, sir michael fallon, said the only way people could be sure of not paying more tax was to vote conservative. our political correspondent leila nathoo reports. the last push to win over undecided voters and shore up support among the tory base. theresa may was forced to clarify the conservatives‘ tax policies morning after senior cabinet members suggested income tax rises would be off the table. opposition on tax has not changed. we set it out in the manifesto. —— oui’ we set it out in the manifesto. —— our position. what people will know when they go to vote on thursday is that it when they go to vote on thursday is thatitis when they go to vote on thursday is that it is the conservative party it a lwa ys that it is the conservative party it always has been, and always will be always has been, and always will be a low tax party. it‘s our intention

to further reduce taxes for ordinary working families. her manifesto only ruled out increasing vat claiming the conservatives ‘s intention was to reduce taxes for working families. but with no firm promise on income tax, the defence secretary used an interview in a newspaper to certify high earners wouldn‘t pay more. and his cabinet colleague gave a similar reassurance last night. you can confirm what michael fallon told the telegraph, there will be no increase in income tax under this conservative parliament if you win, is that correct? we are a party that has already taken 4 million of the lowest paid out of tax... has already taken 4 million of the lowest paid out of tax. .. no increase in income tax, will you pledge that with one week to go? we will bear down on taxation. we have absolutely no plans to raise income tax. are you doing all right? i am now i have met you. jeremy corbyn says only those at the top will pay more tax under labour back, but low and middle—income earners will be protected. we are saying 9596 of

people will pay no more tax under any of our plans. 5% will pay more and big companies will pay more. after the conservative wobble in the polls, calming nerves about tax rises is a reliable way to rally core supporters. theresa may and her supporters and opponents havejust five days left to make sure their message gets through. our political correspondent tom bateman has been travelling with the pime minister. we know the chancellor is looking for extra money after the changes he had to make to his budget. are we any had to make to his budget. are we a ny clear had to make to his budget. are we any clear on what will happen to income tax if theresa may is re—elected? income tax if theresa may is re-elected? michael fallon certainly appeared to go further than we have heard before, saying higher earners could be confident they could vote conservative without increases in income tax. when i as the prime minister about this, could she categorically guarantee there would be no increases, she was a little less emphatic, as you heard, talking about firm intentions rather than

any real clear and explicit promises. there may appear to be on the surface some inconsistency in the surface some inconsistency in the position, but the truth is more complex than that. with five days to go in campaigning, there is a tension between the party‘s desire to leave in the minds of voters the idea that they are the party of low taxation and this plays into that. however, theresa may will be aware of the embarrassing u—turn they made national insurance and be keen to box herself into firmly on the issue of taxation. tom bateman in penistone, thank you very much. police investigating the manchester suicide bombing have made a 17th arrest. a 24—year—old man was detained in the rusholme area of the city. eleven men remain in custody. ariana grande, the singer whose concert was targeted by the bomber, has visited some of her injured fans. anisa kadri reports ariana grande turned upjust ariana grande turned up just as these fans, injured in last month‘s

bomb attack, were getting ready for bed. the star‘s surprise visit to the royal manchester children‘s hospital left eight—year—old lily harris and feeling like a rock star, according to her dad. our room the ward corridor, and she was working her way up. we were the last to be seen. i think i was as nervous as lily. her hands were shaking. she said she might need to go to the toilet, she didn‘t know what to do and she was really nervous. and then she came skipping onto our ward. she was brilliant. preparations are underway for tomorrow‘s concert for those who died at ariana grande‘s gig- those who died at ariana grande‘s gig. she will perform at the old trafford cricket ground alongside other big names including take that, katy perry and justin bieber. and those at her gig were offered free tickets. lilly expressed a wish to go. we didn‘t force it. we said if you want to go, we will make sure you want to go, we will make sure you get tickets. but if we get to the venue or we

you get tickets. but if we get to the venue oi’ we are on you get tickets. but if we get to the venue or we are on the way there and you don‘t want to go, we are more than happy to bring you home. it's more than happy to bring you home. it‘s what she wants. more than happy to bring you home. it's what she wants. last night, and emotional robbie williams dedicated his classic song angels to the victims. saint and‘s square has become the focal point of tributes in the city. manchester city council said this could be the last weekend the flowers remain here. it says it will consider setting up a permanent memorial. police investigation continues as they try to trace the bomber salman abedi‘s movements. they have arrested another man on suspicion of violating anti—terror laws. the victims were offered this moment of comfort by superstar ariana grande. it has been shared by more than 100 million of her followers on instagram. twelve people have been reported killed following explosions at a funeral in the

afghan capital kabul. it follows a huge bomb on wednesday, in which 90 people were killed, and violent clashes yesterday. secunder kermani is in kabul for us now. secunder, what more can you tell us? the blast took place at a cemetery where a young man who was killed in clashes with the police was being buried. he was the son of a prominent local politician who had been taking part in a protest against the deteriorating security situation in afghanistan following the large suicide attack in kabul earlier this week in which 90 people we re earlier this week in which 90 people were killed. the taliban have denied responsibility for both that attack and today‘s violence. pictures on social media today, though, show a number of dead bodies at the scene. we have spoken to health officials who say they have received four bodies at hospitals already, and six

injured people, but they expect the number to rise. the numbers of people killed in terrorist incidents in afghanistan is increasing. last year saw the highest ever recorded number of civilian casualties. it's it‘s derby day and the champions league final is taking place in cardiff. with all the sport, here‘s mike bushell at the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. a busy data, and a busy day already. the british and irish lions have started their tour of new zealand with a victory, but it wasn‘t convincing against the provisional babarians, made up of part—time players. they will need to improve, with the first test three weeks away. nick parrott reports. the fireworks were limited to the pre—match build—up. taking on a barbarians side featuring builders and painters should have been easy for the vastly experienced british and irish lions. things got off to a

stuttering start with johnny sexton missing a penalty before landing the first points of the tour. blunt in attack, they were brittle at the back as the barbarians looked the more likely to roar. they fell short at their first attempt, but gambled into the lead bank ‘s two maintenance engineer sam anderson—heather. to rub salt into head coach warren gatland‘s wounds, his son bryn gatland added to the host ‘s total. greig laidlaw took over kicking duties from johnny sexton, but the lions couldn‘t silence the lambs. their resistance was stubborn until owen farrell entered the fray. replacing johnny sexton he seized his chance to reclaim the fly—half position, setting up anthony watson for the try he converted. farrell might have turned the game, but he couldn‘t add any polish to an poor performance. nick parrott, bbc news. it‘s the investec derby at epsom this afternoon, and horse racing‘s premier flat race features two of the unbeaten frankel‘s children — cracksman and eminent. however, despite his formidable lineage, no—one wanted eminent at first.

our reporter tim hague has been to newmarket to find out more. meet eminent, the horse no one wanted. while other frankel offspring sold for millions, this one, known as frank, didn‘t sell at all, eventually being bought in a private deal for just all, eventually being bought in a private deal forjust over £150,000. the feeling must have been he would ta ke the feeling must have been he would take an awful long time to come to himself. we really were taking a chance. i love his presence. i could show you what that haven‘t turned out that well, so you need one eventually. their faith has been rewarded with victory in eminent‘s first two races, including a record winning time in february. the frankel cult is running towards the line. eminent strides away to win the craven. while there was no victory in the 2000 guineas, his pedigree is obvious. frankel could be hot, but he seems to have a good temperament on him. does he remind

you of frankel? he has huge drive, he covers the ground. he‘s a big horse, frankel was because as well. he‘s very athletic as well. horse, frankel was because as well. he's very athletic as well. you just have to look at him racing to see his stride and that's something to marvel at. in itself that's no good if he'sa marvel at. in itself that's no good if he's a nutcase but he's a horse or conducts himself well. he learns and wants to please you. ironic that and wants to please you. ironic that a view yard yard from twoball‘s sta ble a view yard yard from twoball‘s stable is the area where his father frankel used to train. while a fantastic frankel won all 1a of his races, he never went back the derby. however his son is aiming to do it. he can do the distance quite well and hopefully he can do it. he's bred in the right way to be a derby winner. he looks the part and i see no earthly reason why he doesn't have a really good chance on saturday. and if he wins at epsom, the horse no one wanted would become the horse no one wanted would become the horse no one wanted would become the horse everyone wants.

andy murray is on court battling againstjuan martin del porto in the third round of the french open. the world war i survived two set points in the first set, it is now a tie—break for the first set and its 5-4 to tie—break for the first set and its 5—4 to andy murray. that‘s all the sport for now. you can see more on all of today‘s stories on the bbc news channel. the next news on bbc one is at 5:30pm — bye for now. hello. you‘re watching the bbc news channel. let‘s get more now on our top story now — and it‘s a huge day of campaigning for all the parties, particularly theresa may and jeremy corbyn, who are seeking

to bolster their positions after last night‘s question time. it‘s the last saturday before voters go to the polls, and the labour leader has been in lincolnshire while the prime minister is up in yorkshire. she‘s been reaffirming the conservatives‘ income tax policy, in the face of labour claims that low earners have had "no guarantee from theresa may" over tax. the prime minister was at an event in dewsbury, making her case for a conservative government: it's it‘s about backing business to create more jobs and it‘s about backing business to create morejobs and rights it‘s about backing business to create more jobs and rights for workers. it is about affordable homes. helping people with the cost of living including capping those rip—off energy tariffs. it is about helping every youngster have a good school place with more school funding making sure they get a proper start in life but also a

proper start in life but also a proper technical education. it is about the strong economy, enabling us about the strong economy, enabling us to fund the nhs so that people have the confidence of knowing that it is there for them and that we can ca re it is there for them and that we can care for our elderly. and it is about protecting our national security and defence and that is about defeating terrorism but also about defeating terrorism but also about dealing with the extremists who seek to divide us. by coming together, by having competence as a country and confidence in these things. but of course we need to have the right government in order to do it and you will be out there over the next five years... five years? five days! out there trying to campaign to make sure that we have the government that will get the best for britain. it isa that will get the best for britain. it is a simple message to people that if they don‘t thinkjeremy corbyn should be prime minister,

that he cannot do the negotiations or is right for our national security, there is no safe way to vote labour. the only safe vote to make sure you get a strong and sta ble make sure you get a strong and stable government is to vote conservative. and so i am offering myself as prime minister and by party in government with that clear vision for the future, a plan for the brexit negotiations, resolute determination to get this right to make a success of brexit and confidence this country that we can ta ke confidence this country that we can take britain forward. of course it is only the people that can give me and the party the mandate and so my message is simple, give me your backing to lead britain, give me the authority to speak for britain,

strengthen my hand while i am fighting for britain. if you give me much work back your backing, i will deliver for much work back your backing, i will deliverfor britain. theresa may speaking to activists in yorkshire. she said if i lose six seats, my government loses its majority. she is going to take a couple of questions from party members. we know you have said you have no plans to raise income tax, are you saying categorically you will not raise income tax? our position hasn‘t changed from that we set —— our position hasn‘t changed from that set out the manifesto. 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

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 12,500 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 manifesto that we know means higher taxes for all and ordinary working people paying the price. elsewhere the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, says his party would scrap the pay cap for nurses, and reinstate the nurse bursary. he‘s been visiting an age uk centre in lincolnshire. mr corby told his audience about a recent meeting he had been to with some trainee nurses who are receiving bursaries which have now been scrapped by the government. what would you do if you weren‘t doing this? she said, i‘d go back to working in tesco‘s. well, fine, working in tesco‘s, good, it‘s a job, good, well done.

but she wanted to be a nurse and because of the nurse bursary, she can be a nurse. and we‘re all going to benefit from that. take the nurse bursary away and where are the nurses of tomorrow? there‘s going to be a most massive crisis in nursing in ten or 15 years‘ time. we will bring back the nurse bursary straightaway, so we can recruit people into nursing who have a life experience and i think would be very good nurses as a result of it. police investigating the manchester suicide bombing have made a seventeenth arrest. the 24—year—old man was detained in the rusholme area of the city. the arrest came as pictures emerged of the pop star ariana grande meeting children injured by the bombing. ariana has returned to manchester for a benefit concert, organised after the attack at her gig less than two weeks ago that killed 22 people. ahead of the benefit, she‘s spent time meeting her young fans at royal manchester children‘s hospital. 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 onx—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 company says it has already taken steps to process claims as speedily as possible. meanwhile, british airways cabin crew have voted for four more days of strike action starting onjune 16th. back to the election now — and in northern ireland next week‘s vote will make the fourth time voters have gone to the polls in 13 months. butjust how much does identity shape the vote? people‘s backgrounds have a major

impact on the politics and that is true everywhere but perhaps more true everywhere but perhaps more true here than anywhere else. true everywhere but perhaps more true here than anywhere elsem true everywhere but perhaps more true here than anywhere else. it is seen as a battle between nationalists and unionists and a ca nticle nationalists and unionists and a canticle down nationalists and unionists and a ca nticle down into nationalists and unionists and a canticle down into culture. —— can trickle down. to understand politics and how people vote in northern ireland, you have to understand just how important identity is. that is expressed in a whole range of ways like music, dancing, all kinds of culture. most people here regard themselves are coming from one of two traditions. they see themselves as either british or irish. those roots run very deep. the reality is that traditions like this they are important both politically and personally. it does indeed. being part of a band allows me to stand up for what i believe in and make sure our heritage and tradition never goes away. and heritage and tradition are important for all communities. most protestants vote for unionist

candidates and catholics for irish nationalists. but that is not always the case. that does give you the idea that there are two separate communities and that is expressed in different ways. there are different sports played by different communities and there is also a lot shared across what some people see as a divide. definitely. i believe in the north of ireland that both cultures should be respected equally. no—one is greater than the other. i do believe that the nhs and education, especially the recent cuts should be looked at in more detail. that is a political theme in common with the two. beyond that, looking at culture,

you can see all things in common. between ulster scots and irish dancers, flute bands and irish traditional musicians. society has a lot that it shares. sometimes it can be difficult for politicians to see across what is seen as a traditional divide. how far howfarcan how far can the issue of brexit effect voting patterns? brexit is very important here and thatis brexit is very important here and that is partly because of the land border with the republic of ireland. a huge amount of trade crosses the border every week. on top of that you have the social reality. a lot of people travel across the border for things like work and health —— and health care and to see friends. this question about what a hard order could be is very important here and it is pushing a lot of

other buttons as well. that is helping to make the selection even more divisive than usual. unionists say you need support to strengthen the uk because they are watching what is happening in scotland with the push for an independence referendum. but irish republicans are watching that closely as well and are saying they want a referendum on a united ireland in five years. part of that is because of what has happened in scotland. they say that the push for the second referendum is that —— is based on the fact scotland voted to stay inside the eu. northern ireland also voted to stay in and they see of the argument exists in scotland thenit of the argument exists in scotland then it shoots exist here. that is increasing divisions which were already prominent to start with. the american surfing high anyjack

o‘neill has died. he is credited with inventing the wet suit. his company is now one of the biggest surfwear brands. he went on to introduce over 100,000 schoolchildren to marine conservation. building flood defences can be a complex and expensive task, but scientists say they have found an army of expert engineers from the continent willing to do it forfree — european beavers. they are controversial with farmers who say they damage fields, but as our environment analyst roger harrabin reports, their re—introduction could help clean up polluted water. in an ordinary devon field, signs of the extraordinary. this site is a scientific experiment reintroducing beavers. they fell the willow

trees to lie horizontally because they like to chew the bark off the vertical sprouts. their stick dams have recreated the sort of landscape that existed before beavers were hunted to extinction. this is another of the ponds created by beavers. this demonstrates how much they can re—engineer the landscape. here, it looks like there is grass growing out of the ground. wrong. this is a beaver stick dam, right underneath me. the place has been shaped by the teeth of rodents. the way they have changed this site is dramatic. it has been incredible. the nfu fear the consequences of reintroducing beavers. they have helped to prevent downstrea m they have helped to prevent

downstream flooding by building dams. they want to reintroduce this nationwide. not all are convinced but the beavers are making their own watery case. i wonder if we are going to see enough water falling from the sky is for the need for more damning. i see what you did there. showers running to wales and west in england and heavier in northern ireland and scotland. elsewhere, it feels pleasant in the sunshine. cooler and fresher across parts of north—east england. into this evening, still the odd shower around. and largely clear skies, it

will be quite chilly away from the towns and city centres and sunspots in the highlands and grampians it will get closer to freezing. the showers get going once again in the morning, heavier in scotland and northern ireland. some for wales and some drifting east. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines. the prime minister has insisted that the conservative position on tax hasn‘t changed, after a senior cabinet minister appeared to go further than commitments outlined in the conservative manifesto. our position on tax hasn't changed. we've set it out in the manifesto. people will know when they go to vote on thursday is that it is the conservative party that always has been and is and always will be a tax and always will be a low—tax party. that follows theresa may and jeremy corbyn‘s grilling on a special edition of question time. the prime minister was questioned on nhs funding. about using nuclear weapons.

ahead of her benefit concert tomorrow evening — ariana grande makes a surprise visit to the manchester royal children‘s hospital, visiting fans injured in the terror attack. now on bbc news... the asian network‘s big election debate. welcome to the asian network‘s big election debate. we are on the asian network, and the bbc news channel. i‘m nomia iqbal, here in the splendid elgar concert hall at the university of birmingham, and on stage here in the concert hall. with me is our audience, people from all different backgrounds, different political allegiances, and with just one week to go before the big vote, they have a lot of questions about a wide range of issues. they will be putting those questions

to our panel of guests