this is bbc news. the headlines at 3pm: the prime minister has insisted that the conservative position on tax hasn't changed. that's after a senior cabinet minister appeared to go further than commitments outlined in the conservative manifesto. well, our position on tax hasn't changed. we've set that out in the manifesto. what people will know when they go to vote on thursday is that it is the conservative party that always has been, is and always will be, a low tax party. meanwhile, the labour leader jeremy corbyn has been campaigning in lincoln, highlighting his plans for public services and a fairer society. he described conservative tax plans as "in chaos" today. we cannot go on underfunding public services and allowing inequality to grow with young people unable to achieve the best they can. ariana grande makes a surprise visit to fans injured in the terror attack at her gig last week ahead of her benefit concert tomorrow evening. at least ten people have been

reported killed following explosions at a funeral in the afghan capital kabul. —— at least six —— six people have been reported killed. hope for ovarian cancer patients as a new drug shows promising results, shrinking tumours. and at 3:30pm, a look at how social media can impact the general election. that's click, coming up in half an hour. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. 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. meanwhile, the labour leader jeremy corbyn has accused the conservatives of being in chaos over their tax plans. our political correspondent leila nathoo reports. the last push to win over undecided voters and shore up support among the tory base. theresa may forced to clarify the conservatives tax policy this morning after senior cabinet members suggested income tax rises would be off the table. our position on tax hasn't changed. we've set it out in the manifesto. what people will know when they go to vote on thursday is that it's the conservative party that always has been and is and always will be a low tax party,

and it's ourfirm intention to reduce taxes for ordinary working families. her manifesto only ruled out increasing vat, claiming the conservatives‘ intention was to keep taxes low as possible. but with no firm promise on income tax, the defence secretary used a newspaper interview to signal high earners wouldn't pay more. and his cabinet colleague gave a similar reassurance last night. you can confirm, then, what michael fallon told the telegraph, that 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... no increase in income tax, is that what you're going to pledge now? with one week to go? we will bear down on taxation, and we have absolutely no plans to raise income tax. how you doing, you all right? fine now i've met you! jeremy corbyn says only those at the top will pay more tax under labour, and low and middle—income

earners will be protected. he accused the tories of being in chaos. one minister says they are going to give no more tax rises, indeed possibly tax reductions, to the very wealthiest, then they can't answer the question about tax rises for the rest of the population, then they can't answer the question about funding social care. let's be clear, what labour are offering is no tax rises or national insurance rises or vat rises for 95% of the population, and increasing corporation tax, and some other tax increases at the top end to pay for social care, improving our nhs and properly funding our education system in our schools. after the conservatives' wobble in the polls, calming nerves about tax rises is a reliable way to rally core supporters. theresa may and her opponents have just five days left to make sure their messages get through. leila nathoo, bbc news. jeremy corbyn has been attending a

series of events today and spent most of the day in lincolnshire and nottinghamshire, where he is now. the focus of the labour leader's campaign message today has been social care and the nhs. he also promised to put more money into social care, scrap the pay cap for nurses and reinstate the nurse bursary. let's talk to our correspondent, dan johnson, bursary. let's talk to our correspondent, danjohnson, who is with jeremy corbyn correspondent, danjohnson, who is withjeremy corbyn in nottinghamshire. dan, jeremy corbyn has been speaking. what has he been saying? he hasjust given a big rally here in hucknall in north nottinghamshire. a familiar message, really, talking about the fairness he thinks this country deserves and the way he thinks that greater fairness for all should be spread throughout this country. he didn't tell this crowd his views on the conservative tax plans, that story that has been in the news this

morning about whether the conservatives will guarantee no rise in income tax. that suggestion came this morning from one conservative cabinet minister and the prime minister refused to confirm it. labour have seized on that. before he arrived herejeremy corbyn said that shows the conservatives were in chaos. perhaps that is indication of confusion as we saw over the perceived u—turn on social care, but perhaps it is a tactical deployment ofa perhaps it is a tactical deployment of a hardening of policy as we get into the last weekend of campaigning. jeremy corbyn touring the midlands today talking mostly to supporters, i would guess, the midlands today talking mostly to supporters, iwould guess, here the midlands today talking mostly to supporters, i would guess, here in this former mining constituency, a place that was a labour heartland if we go back to the 90s and 80s but more recently there has been a conservative mp for this seat, so this is the sort of constituency jeremy corbyn wants to target and win back and needs to be seen to be winning to have a realistic chance of getting into government. they seem to have momentum and a positive

spirit about the labour campaign as they go through this last weekend but certainly stilljeremy corbyn trying to get his message across about what he would do with tax and spending. he has not shied away from saying he would increase taxes for the highest 5% of earners. saying he would increase taxes for the highest 596 of earners. thank you very much. the liberal democrat candidate simon hughes has unveiled a poster attacking the conservatives' social care plans. simon hughes unveiled the image in westminster. the poster features a picture of theresa may with the caption "#dementiatax. don't bet your house on it." the former ukip leader nigel farage has been on the campaign trail in essex ahead of a visit to thanet, where he lost two years ago. mr farage spent the morning touring the thurrock constituency with ukip candidate tim aker. his trip comes a day after it emerged the conservative candidate for south thanet, craig mackinlay, has been charged with allegedly overspending in the 2015 general election campaign. mr mackinlay denies any wrongdoing.

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. 11 men are currently in custody. ariana grande, the singer whose concert was targeted by the bomb, has visited some of her injured fans. anisa kadri reports. 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 harrison feeling like a rock star, according to her dad. our room is at the end of 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 under way for tomorrow's concert for 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. lily expressed a wish to go. we didn't force it. we said if you want to go, we will make sure you get tickets. but if we get to the venue or we are on the way there and you say you don't want to go, we are more than happy to bring you home. it's whatever she wants. last night, an emotional robbie williams dedicated his classic song angels to the victims. saint ann's square has become the focal point of tributes in the city. manchester city council said this may be the last weekend

the flowers remain here. it says it will now consider setting up a permanent memorial. the police investigation continues as they try to trace the bomber salman abedi's movements. they have arrested another man, who is being held on suspicion of violating anti—terror laws. the victims were offered this moment of comfort by superstar ariana grande. it has been shared with more than 100 million of her followers on instagram. an 18—year—old man has died after being shot in liverpool. merseyside police said armed officers and the ambulance service were called after the injured teenager was found on near lodge lane in the toxteth area last night. he was later pronounced dead in hospital. the incident follows two gun attacks in merseyside earlier this week. 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, she jumped 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 susceptibility to infections as seen with other chemotherapeutic agents. 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. researchers have also been testing a

new combination of hormonal therapies for prostate cancer. they say it has increased survival rates by more than a third. cancer research uk, who run the trial, believes it could transform the treatment of the disease. with me to discuss both these developments in cancer research is our health reporterjenny walrond. this is pretty exciting. let's start off with the ovarian developments. it isa off with the ovarian developments. it is a drug called oh nx —— 0801, very specific because it targets cancer cells. tell us more about it. it reduces the typical side—effects you get with chemotherapy which don't necessarily target those cells as well, but as you said, it has a strange name, it doesn't have a proper name yet because it is such early stages. although it is remarkable result, it is important to rememberjust remarkable result, it is important to remember just how remarkable result, it is important to rememberjust how early they are. only 15 women have had this treatment so they have a long way to 90, treatment so they have a long way to go, they need to be assured it is

safe, they have got to be assured they can replicate those results in a larger trial, so it is not something that will be available on the nhs any time soon.|j something that will be available on the nhs any time soon. i understand they are testing the safety of the drug and came away with these fantastic results. two drugs that are well—known to cancer fighting community in the fight against prostate cancer. tell us more about this. there is a long-running trial funded by cancer research uk, looking into various different possible prostate cancer treatments. researchers have been using this hormone therapy drug. it is normally used on patients who have stopped responding to other treatments, so quite late on in their treatment. instead, they've gave it to people at the start of their treatment alongside other hormonal therapy drugs, and it has had really positive results. scientists behind it described it as almost a queue or

in some patients. afterfour and a half years the survival rate for the people taking it was 37% higher than the control group who were not. the scientists behind the research say thatis scientists behind the research say that is the greatest improvement in survival rates they have seen in prostate cancer trials. the time it took for the disease to progress increased by about 1k months. they say it could give people an extra two years, and it also half the number of patients with severe bone complications, which can be a major problem in prostate cancer. but other severe side effects increased, so other severe side effects increased, so from one in three patients experiencing them, that went up to one in two, so it is not perfect. what does that then mean, now, in terms of this new potential prostate therapy? where do we go next? is it all in the hands of nice? things are further on internet —— then in terms of ovarian treatments because these

are already licensed on the nhs, and this trial has changed standard care in other areas, so there is a tide of chemotherapy which is now standard care in prostate cancer as a result of this trial so they have influence clinical practice already, and they hope that will happen again. they say it is not easy, but the increased costs of offering this drug early on, they say, are more than outweighed by the benefits of preventing people's disease progressing and having to treat the more later on. thank you very much, very exciting news. at least six people have been reported killed following explosions at a funeral in the afghan capital kabul. the son of a prominent politician was being buried there. the country's chief executive was among the mourners. harun najafizada is in the afghan capital. just let us know, please, what are

the latest developments in this? hundreds of mourners gathered at this funeral here in kabul attended by some very senior government officials, including abdullah abdullah, the chief executive of the country. three bombs went off and they were all suicide bombers waiting among the hundreds of mourners to explode their materials. we understand from the afghan health ministry that at least seven people are killed, and 119 others are seriously wounded. they were all taken to local hospitals in the afg ha n taken to local hospitals in the afghan capital, and citizens of the country have appealed for calm and

unity amongst serious divisions and problems in the country. we will leave it there for now, thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news: the prime minister has insisted the conservative position on tax has not changed, after a senior cabinet minister appeared to go further than commitments outlined in the conservative manifesto. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn has been campaigning in lincolnshire, highlighting his plans for public services and a fairer society. ariana grande has made a surprise visit to her fans that were injured in the terror attack at her manchester gig last week ahead of their benefit concert taking place tomorrow evening. in sport, andy murray is on to the last 16 of the french open after victory over one martine del potro. he came through in straight sets, the first taken in the gruelling tie—break before winning the decider 6—0. kyle edmund

came close to joining winning the decider 6—0. kyle edmund came close tojoining him but lost to kevin anderson. he twice had to come back from a set down before taking it over five sets. the british and irish lions medal winning start to their touring new zealand with win a victory over the provincial barbarians, the first of a ten match series which culminates in three tests against the world champions. more on all those stories in the next hour. let's get more on the general election. with less than a week to go until the country heads to the ballot box, 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 are the polls. throughout this campaign, opinion polls and analysis have been hitting the front pages. questions have been raised about how reliable the polling numbers are. in the last few days we have had polls. the conservative lead over labour has been anywhere between 3% and 14%

in recent days so have polls lost their mojo? there have been problems in the past, most notably in the general election in 2015 when all the polls said there would be a hung parliament but the conservatives won an outright majority. 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 re—emerged starkly 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. in particular, they overestimated the number of young people that would vote. pollsters have now changed their methods, including weighting results by educational background, interest in politics, and crucially,

the likelihood of people voting. different polling bodies have different methods, which makes the numbers are really hard to interpret, even for the experts. people who are likely to vote in the election or interested are more likely to participate in polls. the problem is that 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 campaign, all the polls pointed towards an overwhelming conservative victory, consistently 20 points ahead of labour. but during the course of the campaign, the gap has narrowed. this is the bbc‘s ppoll tracker. look at the line which shows how

they 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 prediction of all, a hung parliament. but that is out of kilter with pretty much every other forecast. which will be the most accurate? someone is likely to look smart, others will end up with egg on their faces once we know the result onjune 9th. the american surfing pioneerjack o'neill has died at the age of 94. he is credited with developing the neoprene wet suit and his company became one of the biggest surf wear brand. his son took over in 1995 and jack founded the sea odyssey programme which introduced young people to marine conservation.

the american surfing legend jack o'neill has died at the age of 94. o'neill opened his first surf shop in san francisco in 1952 and the company grew to become a leading global surfware brand. jack was credited with developing the neoprene wet suit which gave surfers the freedom to hit the waves at any time. he was a giant of the surf industry, he was a pioneer of the surf industry. he wasjust a great mind, a great man and he had a great spirit. without jack and what he brought to the world of surfing, we would all be like in sweaters right now. i am just a new surfer but, you know, i plan to enjoy his innovation for years. in his later years he set up the sea odyssey programme which introduced nearly 100,000 schoolchildren to marine conservation. a huge police and security operation is being deployed across cardiff, as the city prepares for the champions league final.more than 170,000 football fans are due to visit the welsh capital this weekend for the match

between real madrid and juventus. south wales police say 6,000 police officers will be deployed in the city. our correspondent olly foster sent us this from outside the stadium. you mentioned 170,000 fans. this is why there is such a big police operation as well as those terrible events in manchester almost a fortnight ago. all those fans, but capacity this evening will only be 66000 and each of the two teens, juventus, the italian champions and real madrid, the spanish champions, their official allocation is only 18,000 each, but it isjust about being in cardiff. you mentioned history, real madrid are kings of this european competition. they have

already won at 11 times and are the reigning champions. they haven't won back—to—back champions league title since they went on an amazing run at the beginning of the condition back in the 50s, but they have the likes of ronaldo, benzema upfront, would love to say they have the likes of gareth bale from the start, a homecoming for the welsh hero of course, but he has been out of the tea m course, but he has been out of the team for the last six weeks so it is very likely he will be starting on the bench for real madrid. they are the bench for real madrid. they are the favourites here this evening. the bench for real madrid. they are the favourites here this eveninglj was reading somewhere, i think it was reading somewhere, i think it was the juventus fan, saying was reading somewhere, i think it was thejuventus fan, saying real, he described them as being formidable opponents but certainly not unbeatable. who are the favourites, how are the two teams looking? you would edge with real madrid because of all their attacking threats, because of their pedigree in this competition. but juventus have been absolutely fantastic this season, and their success has been based on their

defence. we have been very popular with juventus fans because juventus have their very own bbc, that is barzagli, bellucci have their very own bbc, that is ba rzagli, bellucci and have their very own bbc, that is barzagli, bellucci and chiellini, the three central defenders who have just shut out all comers this season. at home and away and against barcelona in the quarterfinals they didn't let in one goal, letting one in the semifinals against monaco, so ifjuventus are to get through to become champions this evening, they will have to have those three in whatever defensive line up working at their very best. for sentiment‘s say, really, they have a 39—year—old goalkeeper in gianluigi buffon, who has won everything in the game except this trophy. he is hugely popular in the game. i spoke to him last night at the pre—match news conference and said, being polite here, you are getting towards that end of your career, aren't you, and despite you winning everything and being in majorfinals, does that put a little bit of extra emphasis on you winning this one, your last

chance, and he says he has a moral imperative not to think like that and will approach this match as he does with everyone. he says he still feels like a young boy. so many subplots, it would be a brilliant story, who wins this evening here in cardiff. fantastic of the city —— for the city of course, and remember, it could go to penalties. a scientist has called for european beavers to be re—introduced across the uk to help prevent floods and tackle soil loss. tests by professor richard brazier from exeter university show beavers have had a beneficial impact on wildlife and water quality. our environment analyst, roger harrabin, has more details. this site is a scientific experiment on reintroducing beavers. in six years, a pair of sharp—toothed beavers has re—engineered this woodland into a wetland. they have felled 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 that has been created by beavers, and right here demonstrates just how much they can re—engineer the landscape. so where i am, it looks like there is just grass growing out of the ground — wrong. this is a beaver stick dam, right underneath me. the place has been shaped by rodents‘ teeth. the way that they have manipulated this site has just been dramatic. we have had a range of different species coming in, particularly bats, amphibians, lots of wetland plants, it has just been incredible. in scotland, where beavers have been brought back, some landowners have angrily complained that they have damaged farmland, trees and watercourses. the nfu fear unintended consequences of beaver reintroduction. the scientists working here say that the beavers have notjust improved water quality but also helped to protect downstream areas from flooding by slowing heavy rainfall with their dams. they want creatures like this

reintroduced nationwide. not all are convinced. but the beavers here are making their own watery case. roger harrabin, bbc news, devon. let's find out how the weather is looking with nick miller. hello. sunshine and showers going into this evening but if you are going out you might have an umbrella with you coming home later this evening. it looks mainly dry. showers overnight in the northern isles but elsewhere they fade would largely clear skies, quite chilly away from the larger town and city centres. these are the urban temperatures overnight, but single figures for some in the countryside, a few sheltered glens in the grampians, with fog patches tomorrow morning, but most patches tomorrow with a blue sky start to the day.

shower clouds building again, scattered heavy showers for scotland, northern ireland and northern england, a batch for wales and south—west england drifting east although the easter bingo and will stay dry late on. some places will miss showers altogether. 21 celsius in the warm spots, most of us falling short of that and again on monday a different picture, rain pushing east across the uk and wind strengthening in the south later.