this is bbc news. the headlines at 4.00: 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. our position on tax hasn't changed. as we have set out in the manifesto. what people will know when they go to vote on thursday, is it is the conservative party, always has been and always will be a low tax party. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn described conservative tax plans as "in chaos" — today he's been campaigning in the east midlands, highlighting his plans for public services, and a fairer society. i think we cannot go on underfunding out i think we cannot go on underfunding our public services, allowing greater inequality to grow in our society and young people not able 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. six people have been reported killed following explosions at a funeral in the afghan capital kabul. also in this hour... "powerful results" for one of the largest clinical trails to treat prostate cancer. and for ovarian cancer patients, as a new drug also shows promising results, shrinking tumours. and later on bbc news — a personal account ofjewish refugee who fled the nazi's in 1939, but was forced to return to europe after being denied entry by us authorities. that's coming up in witness at a50. 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 as 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? i am 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, for 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 questions 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‘s attending a series of events today, he spent much of the morning in lincolnshire and nottinghamshire. the focus of the labour leader's campaign message has today been social care and the nhs. he promised to put more money into social care, scrap the pay cap for nurses, and reinstate the nurse bursary. 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 ‘hash tag dementiatax. don't bet your house on it'. nicola sturgeon is undertaking a

tour of 30 constituencies by helicopter. she took to the skies in the final weekend of election campaigning and is visiting six key constituencies over the course of saturday. the snp won 56 of the 59 seats in scotland in 2015, i record result which polls suggest they will struggle to match this time around. speaking to the bbc, nicola sturgeon said she would be willing to enter into a coalition with the labour party in the event of a hung parliament. i've always said if the arithmetic allowed it i would like the snp to be part of a progressive alternative to the tory government that protected pensions and had policies that lifted people out of poverty. but i think the polls and the rest of the uk still suggest the tories will win this election, but

it is no longer inevitable theresa may increases her majority. she has been exposed to this campaign has been exposed to this campaign has been weak and evasive with no a nswe i’s been weak and evasive with no a nswers to been weak and evasive with no answers to basic questions. so it could come down to the outcome here at scotland. let's not throw the reason may lifeline by boosting her majority. let's put scotland's interests first and get strong mps in the house of commons so we can continue to stand up for scotland and the kind of country we want to be. 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. st 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 last 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. anisa kadri, bbc news. at least six people have been killed in explosions at a funeral in kabul, the afghan capital, where the son of a prominent

politician was being buried. he died yesterday when police clashed with demonstrators protesting about deteriorating security. the country's chief executive, abdullah abdullah, was among the mourners. harun najafizada is in afghan capital. hejoins me now. tell us a little bit more about the latest information we have concerning this explosion, this attack? what it was, appalling to see three suicide bombers made it into the crowd of hundreds of mourners here in karbul and detonated their vests among those in the funeral. we understand from afghan government, 119 people

are injured, taken to hospital, being treated. some of them are very seriously hurt and several others are wounded. among them, there seems to be no high—profile afghan government officials. although they did attend this funeral, including the country's deputy leader and the foreign minister. could you confirm to us how many people died? the officialfigure is to us how many people died? the official figure is that seven people died asa official figure is that seven people died as a result of three consecutive explosions, but the number of casualties who are wounded is very high. 119. just going back to what happened yesterday, the

deteriorating security, this is why the protest was being held, tell us more about security in afghanistan and why people are so upset about it? on wednesday, a massive bomb went off here in kabul, killing over 90 people and injuring 450. as a result of that, people poured onto the street to condemn the government's weakness in protecting the security of afghan civilians. i was there in the crowd when police clashed with protesters, killing at least five of them and injuring at least five of them and injuring at least ten and when they were trying to hold the funeral today, this explosion, these consecutive

explosions killed many more. so the security situation in general is very chaotic. it is a matter of serious concern. there has been a call for unity and calmness. there is an appeal for the unity from the people of afghanistan. thank you very much. we have learned it was three suicide vest bombers that were involved in this attack in kabul, 119 reportedly injured and seven people killed as a result. 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. explosives and detonators discovered in ireland last night have

been linked by police to dissident republican terrorists. the seizure in dublin has been described as highly significant. detectives say they believe the explosives were to be used in attacks in northern ireland. two men are being questioned. 0ur reporter sara garvin is in belfast for us. tell us the latest about this discovery and the arrests? it was just after 6pm last night when armed police stopped a taxi travelling in dublin as part of what is an ongoing investigation into dissident republican terrorist activity. in a taxi police discovered more than five kilograms of plastic explosives, detonators and other military grade items. they have

described this find as highly significant. it is so significant because it indicates that dissident republican groups have found new sources and ways to get their hands on commercial explosives, they had previously removed from old ira weapons dumps. they believe these explosives were destined for northern ireland. as this explosive material was being investigated last night, nearby homes were evacuated for more than three hours into the area was made safe. residents were later allowed to return to their homes. two meant were arrested at the scene and they are still being questioned. how much of a threat are these dissident groups being monitored by police? well, police have been very clear in stating dissident republican terrorist groups still pose a threat to members of the security forces and members of the security forces and members of the public. but they said their numbers are disbursing and they are constantly under

surveillance. last might‘s seizure of such a large amount of explosives was so of such a large amount of explosives was so significant in getting that amount of material off the streets and out of the hands of dissident terrorist groups. thank you very much. 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 fora 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, aimed 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 hormone therapies, for prostate cancer. they say it has increased survival rates by more than a third. earlier i spoke to our health reporterjenny walrond about both these developments, but started by asking her about the potential new treatment for ovarian cancer. it doesn't have a proper name yet because it is such early stages. though it is a remarkable results, it is important to remember how early they are. 0nly it is important to remember how early they are. only 15 women have had this treatment. they have a long way to go. they have got to be assured it is safe and they have to be assured they can replicate those results in a larger trial and will not be available on the nhs any time soon. i understand they are testing

with the safety of the drug and came away with these results. two drugs well—known to the cancer fighting community in the fight against prostrate cancer, tell us more about this? there is a long-running trial being funded by cancer research uk looking into various possible prostrate cancer treatments. researchers have been using this hormone therapy drug. it is normally used on patients who have stopped responding to other treatment. so later on in their treatment. instead, they gave it to people at the start of their treatments, alongside other hormonal therapy drugs. it has had some really positive results. scientists have described it as almost a cure in some patients. afterfour described it as almost a cure in some patients. after four and described it as almost a cure in some patients. afterfour and a half yea rs, some patients. afterfour and a half years, the survival rate for people who were taking it was 37% higher than the control group who weren't.

the scientist behind the research says it is the greatest improve all in survival rates in prostate cancer trials. the time it took for the disease to progress increased by 40 months and it could give people an extra two years and it halved the number of patients that have bone problems but other severe side—effects increase. so one in three patients went up to one in two. so it isn't perfect. what does that mean in terms of the potential prostate therapy, where do we go next? is it all in the hands of nice? things are further rogne band the ovarian treatments because this isa drug the ovarian treatments because this is a drug that is already licensed on the nhs. this managed to change standard care in other areas. so it isa standard care in other areas. so it is a type of chemotherapy which is standard care in prostate cancer as

a result of this trial, so they have managed to influence clinical practice already be hoping it will happen again. they say it isn't easy that the increased costs of offering this drug early on, they say are more than outweighed by the benefits of preventing people'sdisease from progressing and having to treat them more later on. british airways is urged to create an automatic compensation system and have to map of the disruption to passengers. the consumer group which said the airline needs to do more than the legal minimum. hundreds of flights were grounded by last saturday's it problems. the airline said it has no desire to be obstructive and would fully honour its compensation obligations. thousands of people have marched through glasgow in support

of scottish independence.police estimate up to 15,000 people took part. marchers waved banners and heard speeches from pro—independence campaigners. 0rganisers said the event aimed to show theresa may that "scotland has spoken". however, the uk government has said "now is not the time" for another poll. 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 6000 police officers will be deployed in the city. earlier today our sports news correspondent 0lly foster sent us this from outside the stadium. two, three hours to go now? yes, the streets have been packed for hours and hours and they are still getting fuller by the minute because they

are getting off the trains from london. those lucky enough to find a hotel room in cardiff, they have been out on the streets early this morning. there are tented villages, fan parks and tens of thousands more fa ns fan parks and tens of thousands more fans than there are actual tickets. 0nly fans than there are actual tickets. only 18,000 allocation fans than there are actual tickets. 0nly18,000 allocation for both these european super clubs. we have real madrid in the white corner with their galacticos, ronaldo and you hear the chanting for ronaldo ringing through the streets of cardiff. then you have the old lady, juventus. the italian champions, who have been fabulous in the tournament this season. all their italian chanting as well for their superstars. it could be, it should be an absolute classic this evening. why is it described with an appointment with history? real

madrid are always making history. they have won it more times than any other team. they started off by winning it five times in a row. they haven't won back—to—back tournament since those heady days of the 50s, but they are at a 12 title and it will be a back—to—back title for them because they are the reigning champions. they are just about the favourites. juventus have a poor record in europe, but still a fantastic pedigree in european finals barters. they have won it twice and lost six finals. but they have this incredible defensive record. they go on about their bbc, and that is their back line. and they very rarely let in a goal. they have their iconic talismanic goalkeeper gigi buffon, who is 39. i got a question to him at the news

conference, i said, got a question to him at the news conference, isaid, you got a question to him at the news conference, i said, you are getting towards the end of your career, do you feel the pressure of this may be being your last chance? he sort of admitted it would be a fairy tale ending because he has never won the champions league title. but he says he has a moral imperative to approach thisjust he has a moral imperative to approach this just as he has cup finals, world cup finals with italy. but it would be a fantastic story if he won it, a fantastic story if rinaldo wanted. the only slight dampener, all over the city, massive billboards of gareth bale, the welsh hero who has been out real madrid for a few years, 12 champions league titles with them. hasn't started the six weeks. has had an ankle problem and very likely to be on the bench. but he might come off the bench and have an impact. it would be great to see him back at the stadium, where he has done great things with wales in the past. it would be a fantastic

homecoming for him. 0llie foster, thank you very much for that. he is looking very excited. 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 are the polls. throughout this campaign, opinion polls and analysis have been hitting the front pages. but questions have been raised about how reliable the polling numbers are. in the last few days we have had polls saying 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 of course, the conservatives won an outright majority. so what is going on? let's ask a man who really should know. there is a persistent issue 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 this time around. 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.

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. 0ur 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 — they've also helped to protect downstream areas from flooding by slowing heavy rainfall with their dams. they want creatures like this reintroduced nationwide.