this is bbc news. the headlines at 3pm: labour and the conservatives return to their core messages on the last day of campaigning before the general election. theresa may is crossing the country, urging people to back her to deliver on brexit. who do you trust to actually have the strong and stable leadership thatis the strong and stable leadership that is going to deliver the best dealfor britain in europe? because brexit matters. brexit is the basis of everything else. jeremy corbyn says the election offers a choice between hope and fear, promising labour will protect public services. five more years of a tory government will lead to longer waiting lists. five more years of a tory government will lead to more and more people not getting the social care they deserve and need seven weeks after the snap general election was called, we'll have all the latest

from the campaign trail as it draws to a close. the other news in the next hour. the london bridge attack, the death toll rises to eight after a body, believed to be missing frenchman xavier thomas is found in the thames. more police raids — a 30 year old man is arrested in east london — amid further questions over how one of the attackers was able to enter the uk. celebrating the life of ronnie corbett — stars of comedy and tv attend a memorial service for the man whose career spanned more than six decades. the creator of charlie and lola, lauren child has been announced as the new children's poet laureate good afternoon and welcome to bbc news.

seven weeks after the snap general election was called, leaders from all parties are on the last push for votes before millions of people go to the polls tomorrow. after the last few days of campaigning were dominated by the issue of national security following the london bridge attack — today party leaders have returned to their core themes of the past few weeks. for the conservatives, theresa may has focused on brexit saying voters must decide who is better placed to deliver the best dealfor britain. labour's jeremy corbyn is concentrating on public services and has told voters that the election is a choice of hope over fear. our political correspondent eleanor garnier reports. from north, south, east to west, they are having breakfast on the go, managing to find a moment for a sit down and a cuppa. this is the last push, the final few miles as they try to win you over and even before most voters were awake, theresa may was out in east london. talking about the conservatives‘ promise to invest billions more

in housing, roads and rail. with security dominating the campaign, late last night, mrs may pledged to toughen the laws, if needed, to tackle terrorism. but today returned again and again to her core message. who do you trust to actually have the strong and stable leadership that is going to deliver the best dealfor britain in europe? because brexit matters. brexit is the basis of everything else. we need to get that brexit deal right. all across the uk... the labour leader started his day in glasgow, pledging higher taxes for the better off and businesses. by by lunch time jeremy corbyn by lunch timejeremy corbyn was drawing the crowds in north wales. tomorrow, the choice. the choice is quite simple — five more years of a

tory government. five more years of austerity, five more years of cuts. or something different. a government thatis or something different. a government that is serious, serious about representing people. he's notaiming representing people. he's not aiming for government, but wa nts he's not aiming for government, but wants the lib dems to be the party of opposition and in the west midlands first thing today urged voters not to give theresa may a blank cheque. to make sure that people have an opportunity to resist the dementia tax. in scotland, the snp are warning a vote for labour would let theresa may into government through the back door. it's time to end the attack on low paid people, the disabled and the vulnerable in our community so we need to end tory austerity and cancel the attacks on the welfare state and begin investing in our public services. after the vote to leave the eu ukip

are fighting to stay relevant and pushing for a hard brexit. are fighting to stay relevant and pushing for a hard brexitli are fighting to stay relevant and pushing for a hard brexit. i mean a brexit where we reduce immigration and we don't pay a divorce bill. don't go and vote for tory and vote for the real deal which is ukip. the green party are saying we have got this wave of ought owemation coming in and how we tackle the job losses. it's only by having a strong team of plaid cymru mps will we make sure that wales' voice is taken seriously and not ignored in the way it has been since the referendum took place la st been since the referendum took place lastjune. been since the referendum took place last june. of course, been since the referendum took place lastjune. of course, it's been since the referendum took place last june. of course, it's power here, the parties are all competing for and they will be using the last few hours of the campaign to try and win over any wavering voters to help return their candidates to the house of commons. now, though, it's over to you, time to make your mind up

and choose who you'd like to see as oui’ and choose who you'd like to see as our next prime minister. a short while agojeremy corbyn was in colwyn bay in north wales. our correspondent dan johnson says it's been another big turnout to see the labour leader. across the country we have seen these huge rallies, jeremy corbyn able to draw thousands of people to him and a familiar pattern where there are more people than the labour party has expectedment some of them are stood at the back because the pa system isn't good enough to projectjeremy corbyn‘s speech to them all. he has got a frantic campaign schedule todayment he started in glasgow this morning and been down to runcorn and now he is off to the english midlands before he heads to london for a rally this evening and returning to the core messages about funding the nhs, aboutfunding the core messages about funding the nhs, about funding education, about giving free tuition fees for stu d e nts giving free tuition fees for students and also issues about

police numbers is one issue he has raised here about he says returning police numbers to the streets that the conservative government has taken away the conservative government has ta ken away and the conservative government has taken away and no one can deny the inspiration that he has put into crowds like this, but the big challenge for him is to project his m essa 9 es challenge for him is to project his messages beyond the people who come to his rallies to convince the wider electorate that he is a credible leader and that his policies are affordable and can be delivered. we can now speak to our political correspondent, who is following the prime minister across the country on the last day of the election campaign. we have got off a plane that the prime minister took from norwich and we are in the east midlands as her whistle—stop tour of england continues. there is a different atmosphere in the tory camp than the labourcamp. atmosphere in the tory camp than the labour camp. there isn't the same carnival of campaigning colour with theresa may. the events tend to be

smallerment they are rallies where a couple of hundred tory activists come and wave their placards. it doesn't have the same atmosphere, but they are happy with where they are. she has been repeating the core m essa 9 es are. she has been repeating the core messages we've heard for weeks and in norwich today she was bringing this back to brexit saying she does have a plan. she claims, unlike her opponents, for delivering brexit. she points to the letter that she wrote, the article 50 letter to the eu setting out that britain wants to leave the single market and forge new deals with other countries beyond the eu. it wants a constructive relationship with europe going into the future and she says time and time again that she is asking voters to trust her to deliver a brexit deal rather than jeremy corbyn. so that's where she is pitching herself on this last day. but i thought too, sometimes she sounds quite blood curdling when she sounds quite blood curdling when she describes the difficulty of brexit to come and how it's going to be hard and you need the best person in charge. today, she was talking

about harnessing the spirit of britain and saying that brexit can be really good for the uk if we have got the courage to grasp it. that's what she is saying to voters. more optimistic colour to the arguments that she was making. we are going to leave it there because we have no choice. that's ben wright on the bus which is picks lated. jeremy vine is in our election studio and he has been considering the scale of the electoral challenge that faces each of the main political parties. let's look at what the parties may be hoping for, and perhaps fearing as well. here is the map as it was painted in in the 2015 election only two years ago. let's look first at the conservative battleground, the seats they are defending, the most marginal, the tightest last time. gower, derby north, croydon central. these are all ones that they will struggle to hang onto if they're on the back foot.

if they lose just this first column here, the conservatives will be plunged into a minority where they can't outnumber all the other mps in the house of commons. but look at it from the other angle. when this election campaign started people were talking about a conservative landslide. well, these are their targets, the ones that they were closest to winning last time. chester, ealing, berwickshire, brentford, halifax, and so on. if they won the whole of this board, that is 32 extra seats. if they took the whole of the next board as well, right down to oldham and luton, that is another 64 seats, you're talking there about a majority in the house of commons of about 130. you would call that a landslide for the conservatives if it happened. now, for labour the story is different. it's about trying to improve on ed miliband's performance, bad performance, two years ago. so here are their targets. these are the ones they came closest to in 2015. gower, derby north, croydon central, vale of clewyd, bury north. these are the ones that labour will aim at first this time. if they win the whole of the board, 32 seats. and they go halfway into the next

board, roughly speaking, they are then the biggest party in the house of commons. take the whole of the next board as well, and they get an overall majority. but that's a lot of seats, just a reminder of how big the task is for labour, they would have to take cleethorpes here, which has a conservative majority of 8,000. so very difficult indeed. as for the liberal democrats, they had a shocking election last time, down to eight mps. and by the way, there they are, that is the list. their first task is to defend their existing mps. after that, it's hard. even if they took the whole of this board, their target seats, they're still not quite where they were after the 2010 election. different story though for the scottish nationalists, the snp, who washed scotland in yellow. look at the map there, look at the seats here. they took 56 out of 59. and there are defending all of these seats, a huge number. this is the most marginal, berwickshire and roxburgh. if on the night they keep that seat and some of the ones in that first column,

then they're doing very well indeed. but they could lose a column or two and still be easily the biggest party. of course there are nationalists in wales as well, there are the greens and ukip and other parties. especially in northern ireland. but if we watch the map on the night and see how the colours shift, we will have a great sense of who is up and who is down. the election has been dominated in recent days by security issues in the aftermath of the terror attacks in london and manchester. today's final day of campaigning has seen party leaders return to their core messages. for the conservatives, brexit and the economy, for labour — the nhs. christian fraser has been looking at each of the main parties manifesto commitments in three key areas — the economy, health and housing. have you made up your mind or do you need a bit of help? well, let's have a fast and furious guide to some of the policies the parties are setting out.

we'll start with the economy. it's always the economy, stupid. maybe not so much this time, though. the conservatives say they'll balance the budget by 2025. they are ruling out any increases to vat but they will stick with current plans to raise personal tax allowances, those they have set out and cuts to corporation tax. labour say they'll inject £250 billion into the economy over the next ten years. there'll be no increase in personal national insurance but there will be a top rate of 50p and higher income taxes for those who earn over £80,000. if there is a hung parliament, the snp will play a bigger role, of course, they would support any plans to balance the uk budget over the next five to seven years. again their pledge is to protect the low—paid but there would be that top rate of 50p. and the liberal democrats, again, pledges to balance the budget. this is really the marquee policy for the liberal democrats. everybody would spend an extra penny in the pound on income tax for a world class nhs service and they would inject an extra £100 billion into infrastructure, house building, broadband, schools, etc.

let's look at a devolved issue, healthcare. we'll start with ukip. they would give the nhs an extra £9 billion every year for the next five to seven years. there would be more training for nurses. this one was there in 2015, cracking down on foreign nationals who are not eligible to use the nhs. labour would commit more than £30 billion in extra funding over the next parliament. this is really a key one, they would guarantee access to nhs treatment within 18 weeks. and the tories say they would increase spending by £8 billion over the course of the next parliament. up to 2022 to 2023. and the liberal democrats, we have seen that one, but this one is maybe important, ensuring mental health care is similar to the standards in physical healthcare. quite a big one that on the doorstep. let's look at housing, another devolved issue. rent controls, a big issue for younger voters. the green party making commitments on that. the conservatives say they would build fixed—term council

house that could be sold after 15 years under the right—to—buy scheme. labour say they will, again, control rent rises and they are promising to build at least 100,000 council houses a year and the liberal democrats, 300,000 new homes every year. can't get through all of them, but please do have a look at the website. all the manifestos are there, from all the parties — bbc.co.uk/news. the bbc have spoken to the aunt of a chef, a 36—year—old chef, sebastien boulanger who has confirmed the death of her nephew. his father, brother and mother have identified

his body. so, that french chef, sebastien boulanger is one of the victims of the london bridge attack. the headlines on bbc news: political leaders make a final bid to win over voters in the last day of campaigning before the general election. labour is focussing on the nhs and schools, and the conservatives on brexit. police searching for the body of a french national missing since the london bridge attack recover a body from the thames. there are more police raids in connection with the investigation into the attack. a 30—year—old man is arrested in east london. in sport, there is a first defeat for the british and irish lions on their tour of new zealand, but head coach warren gatland says there are lots of positives despite the 22—16 loss to the blues in auckland. novak djokovic is out of the french open.

the world number two was beaten in straight sets by the sixth seed, dominic theme. double paralympic sprint champion johnny peacock dominic theme. double paralympic sprint championjohnny peacock has been picked for the para athletics world championships. i will be back with more on those stories after 3.30pm. the death toll in the london bridge attack has risen to eight after a body was found in the thames last night. it's thought to be that of the missing frenchman, xavier thomas. the 45—year—old was on the bridge with his girlfriend on saturday night and hadn't been seen since. it's believed he was knocked into the river after being hit by the van. 29 people are still in hospital after the attack. ten of them remain in a critical condition. sarah campell reports. xavier thomas, missing

since the attack on saturday night. a french citizen, he was a5. he had been walking on london bridge with his girlfriend on a weekend break to the city. she was left seriously injured and it was feared he had been thrown into the thames. yesterday evening the family of xavier thomas was formed a marine police unit looking for him had recovered a body three miles downstream from the bridge. formal identification has not yet taken place. the bbc understands that sara zelenak, a 21—year—old nanny from brisbane in australia is among the dead. her stepfather posted this video of her saying he would miss her funny little laugh. she's one of two australians to have been killed. the other was 28—year—old kirsty boden, a senior staff nurse at guy's hospital. prince harry, who is currently in australia, reflected on the deaths. australians form an important and vibrant part of the fabric of life in london and we are reminded of that in good times and bad. our hearts go out to the victims,

their friends and families. also killed was james mcmullan from hackney, aged 32. his sister described him as an inspiration. chrissy archibald was canadian, it has been reported she died in the arms of her fiance's arms after being hit by van. alexandre pigeard was a french national working as a waiter. his mother, said friends, is devastated. ignacio echeverria, a 39—year—old spanish banker, and sebastian boulanger, a french chef, have both been reported as killed in the spanish and french media. however this has not been officially confirmed and the bbc understands the family of ignacio echeverria have had no confirmation. as well as the dead, 29 people remain in hospital. ten in a critical condition. lives ended or forever changed in an attack which lasted minutes. an update to the news coming to us

in the last few seconds that sebastien boulanger whose photograph you saw towards the end of sarah's report has been confirmed. his aunt confirming the death of her nephew saying his brother and mother has identified his body. 36—year—old sebastien belanger who was a chef here in london. police have carried out more raids this morning. a man in his 30s has been arrested in ilford in east london. it comes as the home office is being put under pressure to explain why one of the attackers, the italian national, yousef zaghba, was allowed into the country despite being placed on an eu—wide extremist watch list by italy. our correspondent wyre davies reports. in the early hours of the morning at this address in the ilford area of east london, police arrested a 31—year—old man

on suspicion of terror offences in connection with saturday's attack. but as known associates and possible accomplices of the three attackers are tracked down, the nagging question — how much was known about khurram butt, and youssef zaghba before they set out to indiscriminately kill? 22—year—old youssef zaghba, an italian—moroccan national, was the last attacker to be identified. in the small italian village of fagnano near bologna, where members of his family still live, his mother valeria collina, whose face we are not showing, spoke of an increasingly angry young man, growing up in idyllic surroundings, but radicalised by things he saw and read on the internet. translation: what we clashed was his radicalisation over the treatment of muslims. i would say to him, you don't have to react that way. if you go on facebook, there are lots of people who condemn these acts of violence, but don't act. unconfirmed reports said that youssef zaghba was flagged,

or authorities were alerted, when he arrived at stansted airport earlier this year. but he was allowed to enter the uk, despite a continental—wide alert from italian police after they had previously stopped him from travelling to syria. and he reportedly told them, he was going to be a terrorist. similar concerns had already been raised about his accomplice, khurram butt. he was known to the police and had featured in a tv documentary about radical islam. one senior former cross—party adviser on security issues told the bbc that lives could have been saved had butt been put under much closer supervision. khurram butt should have been subject to something like a control order. if he had been under a control order, he would not have done what he did and probably the others wouldn't either. control orders where something i supervised as independent reviewer of terrorism legislation between 2005 and 2011. they worked very well.

they saved many lives. investigations continue amid calls for a thorough review of how intelligence is processed and suspects monitored. rachid redouane sarah smith is at new scotland yard. what's the latest update? their most important update is that the death toll has risen to eight. they say today they can't guarantee it will stay at that level, but they are not looking for anyone missing in the same way that they were looking for xavier thomas. his body is thought to have been found in the river a couple of miles down from london bridge. his family said they thought that maybe what had happened to him, but they were hoping for a miracle, had happened to him, but they were hoping fora miracle, but had happened to him, but they were hoping for a miracle, but last night, they were given the news that police, specialist officers from the marine police unit had recovered a body. they say formal identification

has not yet taken place, but they have spoken to the family about what has happened. as far as the rest of the police investigation is concerned, well, overnight, police are carrying out search warrants at an address in ilford. they have arrested a 30—year—old man. he is being questioned and kept at a police station in south london. there are two people now in custody. 12 people, who were arrested at the early pa rt 12 people, who were arrested at the early part of this investigation, have now been released and at least two addresses in east london are being searched. also today, the mayor of london has come out and talked about what he described as a spike in hate crime sped especially islamophobic crime. he said one of the great things about london. we heard there were 20 reports of

islamic phobic hate crime. so he is appealing for london, he says we won't be torn apart by this, we must pull together. sarah smith at new scotla nd pull together. sarah smith at new scotland yard. muslim leaders have pledged to "root out" the "menace" of extremism as they launched an action plan to tackle radicalisation within their communities. around 100 imams gathered near london bridge to condemn the recent terrorist atrocities in both the capital and manchester. they were joined by other faith leaders including those from jewish and christian communities at a makeshift memorial at the bridge. we muslims are grieving like anyone else in britain and it's really important for us to show to the wider public that we are in it together. an attack on london was an attack on all of us. it was an attacked on our shared values and it is only through coming together that we can undermine the evil ideology of isis. and what message do you wa nt to of isis. and what message do you want to send out? i want to send out

a very strong message to wannabe extremists that you're not welcome in life or death in our community. isis represent a distorted version of islam and when you join isis, you are not a martyr, you are simply a criminaland are not a martyr, you are simply a criminal and isis are an affront to humanity and an affront to god. thirteen people have been convicted following an investigation into abuse at two private care homes for adults with learning disabilities in devon. a series of trials at bristol crown court, which can now be reported, have heard that residents at the vielstone and gatooma homes were routinely punished by being held in empty rooms without food, heating or even a toilet. from bristoljon kay reports. it looks idyllic. but what happened in this former care home was described in court as "systematic neglect". adults with learning disabilities routinely imprisoned in an empty room, for the sake of convenience. what i heard, no mother should ever hear. this woman's son was held

in isolation nearly 200 times at vielstone in north devon. put in a so—called "quiet room" without food, heating, or even a toilet. it was not a quiet room. it was far from a quiet room. how would you describe what happened there? barbaric. disgusting. unnecessary. it's shameful. before he was placed at vielstone her son was a resident at the notorious winterbourne view home in bristol, where he was assaulted. his mother says she can't believe he has been let down again. vielstone manager jolyon marshall on the left here, was jailed for 20 months for false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice. his wife and fellow manager rachel marshall was given a suspended prison sentence. mr hewitt, what do you say to the residents of atlas? paul hewitt, who set up atlas project teams, said he wasn't aware of any punishment rooms. no message at all to the residents or their families?

although he was cleared of false imprisonment, he was fined for breaching health and safety laws. thejudge said he had been the company's guiding force and had shown wilful blindness. as well as paul hewitt and the marshalls, ten other members of staff have been convicted in a series of cases. they either pleaded guilty or were found guilty of falsely imprisoning vulnerable residents. 11 others have been cleared. the abuse at vielstone and at a sister home nearby called gatooma, was eventually uncovered by the care quality commission after a call from a whistle—blower. but families want to know why it wasn't spotted, and stopped, sooner. the headlines and sport coming up. it's time for us to dry off after yesterday! the sun is shining and we've reached

20 celsius in london and you can see not much in the way of cloud across the uk, but signs of what's to come u nfortu nately. the uk, but signs of what's to come unfortunately. all change again tomorrow. i hope you have managed to go out and enjoy it and we keep the sunshine for the rest of the day in many places. 12 to 20 celsius the high, but the cloud and the rain will be the story as we go through the night and into tomorrow. the heaviest of the rain is likely to be across south—west england and wales. we could see 50 to 80 millimetres of rain on west facing slopes and some of it turning heavy. it's going to bea of it turning heavy. it's going to be a cloudy start to the day. dry in the far north and just bits and pieces of rain in the south east corner. not amounting to too much. the heaviest of which will tend to sit up across the borders of scotla nd sit up across the borders of scotland and into northern ireland. by scotland and into northern ireland. by friday, it is all change again. drier, brighter with glimpses of sunshine coming through and if we get more sunshine in the south east, we could see highs of 21 or 22 celsius. hello. this is bbc news.

the headlines: political leaders make a final push for votes across the country in the last day of campaigning before the election. theresa may says voters should decide who can be trusted negotiate brexit. jeremy corbyn says it's a choice between "hope or fear". police searching for the body of french national xavier thomas, missing since the london bridge attack, have recovered a body from the thames. the home office faces questions over how one of the london bridge attackers, youssef zaghba, was able to return to the uk, despite being on an international database of suspects. thirteen people are convicted after abuse at two care homes in north devon. residents who had learning disabilities were routinely held in empty rooms without food, heating or even a toilet. in iran, gunmen and suicide bombers have carried out co—ordinated attacks in the capital tehran. at least 12 people are dead including the attackers .

they targeted the parliament and the tomb of the founder of the republic, ayatollah khomenei. let's get some support from the bbc sports centre. the british and irish lions head coach warren gatland says there are plenty of positives, despite a first defeat on their tour of new zealand. the tough schedule has been evident, a narrow win in their first match, followed by a 22—16 loss their second against the auckland blues this morning. there is so much strength in depth in this country. i don't think there is much difference between some of the super rugby sides and the all blacks. these guys have been together seven months. there is a massive amount of depth and strength and not a lot of difference between the teams.

you can't come down here and give more than ten penalties away and expect to win the game. they put the pressure back on to us and it's something we need to work on. it is something we need to work on. it is something we need to work on. it is something we can fix. defending champion novak djokovic is out of the french open after losing to dominic thiem in straight sets in the quarter—finals. the austrian had never beaten djokovic — in fact the last time they played, just three weeks ago, thiem could only win one game. it was decided in the first set. i tried but i lost that crucial rake

at the beginning of the second hand he started serving better. he deserved to win. he was the better player on the court today. and next he'll face the nine—time champion rafael nadal, who went through to the semi—finals when his fellow—spaniard pablo carreno busta was forced to retire through injury in the second set. andy murray plays kei nishikori at about 3 o'clock. it is currently with serve so far. the third seed saved a match point and fought back from a set and 5—1 down to win and reaches second

french open semifinal. the 2014 world cup will plague the second seed from the czech republic next. south africa and pakistan are playing the champions trophy birmingham. pakistan need a win to stay in the cob addition and responded well to defeat in their opening match. they have reduced south africa to 118th six. hashim amla and quinton de kock went lbw before ab de villiers fell first ball. unless the middle and lower order score some runs they are set for a below par total. johnnie peacock is one of 10 gold medal winners from last year's paralympic games included in a 49—strong british team for next month's world para athletics championships in london. peacock‘s most recent win came in manchester two weeks ago, in the 100—metres at the great city games. his performance in rio was one of the iconic moments. among the other champions from 2016 in the team are richard whitehead, hannah cockroft and kadeena cox.

olympic gold medallists jack laugher and chris mears will return to the world stage in budapest next month, at the world diving championships. the pair won the 3—metre springboard title in rio and they've taken three world series medals this year. tom daley, dan goodfellow and grace reid are also included in a team of 12. that is all the sport for now. bbc reporters are covering the election across the country as politicians make a final push for support. we are in bolton west, a key labour target which they hope to gain. and the prime minister was in norfolk earlier today, where the conservatives are hoping to make huge gains. in a moment will talk to andrew sinclair in norwich. first, to nina warhurst in bolton. the prime minister has been to bolton during this campaign twice. she came straight here the very moment the election was announced and she was here within a couple of hours. probably because there are two marginal seats here. bolton west

which the conservatives took from labour to years ago and bolton north east which the conservatives want to ta ke east which the conservatives want to take from labour. if they do take it it will form the part of a much wider story, that of the conservatives taking all of the 1997 games which were made by labour. they have been campaigning in places which would have seem audacious ten yea rs which would have seem audacious ten years ago. as for labour they have had a very interesting campaign. they started off defending seats where they have small margins like chester and fleetwood but they have grown in confidence and jeremy corbyn has grown in popularity in the north—west and we saw that today. he was campaigning in runcorn. that is a conservative minority seat. one which at the beginning of the campaign labour will of written off. the fact their leader is they on the final day is campaigning is significant. there are 17 marginal seats in the

north—west. two years ago the north—west. two years ago the north—west upset the national picture. i would north—west upset the national picture. iwould not like north—west upset the national picture. i would not like to call which way any of them will go on friday morning. that go over to my colleague in norwich. here in east anglia most of this region is heavily conservative. one of the few exceptions is here in norwich south, currently held by the labour party. but one stage this seat was being targeted heavily by the conservatives. it will be interesting tomorrow to see what happens. we'll labour actually be able to increase their majority because of the surge that labour have started to pick up on the doorsteps? the main battle in east anglia has been taking part 20 miles ago in north norfolk. the seat held by the liberal democrats has been heavily targeted by the conservatives. most of the cabinet

has visited there the campaign. mps and activists from all over the country have been helping out and the party is confident they will be able to take that seat tomorrow. the reason being because of back —— brexit. this was a largely leave voting region and brexit has been big issue and the lib dems policy of wanting another referendum on the final brexit deal does not seem to have gone down well. a few hours ago the prime minister was here in norwich to cheer up activists then her message was that brexit has a positive side and that once we leave the eu they will be extra money available for infrastructure and research and development. the conservatives are hoping for great things in the east in tomorrow's election. one of the key battlegrounds is the south west, which the liberal democrats are targeting as they try to make a comeback after losing nearly 50 seats at the last election. now a region represented almost

entirely by conservative mps, it's an area where opposition to the government's school funding policy has been particularly strong. our south west political editor martyn oates has this report. dear mrs may i am nine years old and attending primary school. i am writing about the cats in funding for resignation were heard about recently. mike has written to party leaders expressing his concerns about school funding. class sizes at his school increased in september. the classroom next door is now a store cupboard. the school is unable to afford the teacher who used to work you. when you cut staffing levels, it affects children at every level. children don't get the attention they need to be supported to go on and improve their learning. our most vulnerable children don't

get the support they previously had. devon schools received £290 per pupil per year less than the national average. transport is another area in which the south—west feels like a poor relation. three yea rs feels like a poor relation. three years ago the main railway line to london literally fell into the sea. it has been patched up but the proper repairjob would cost hundreds of millions of pounds. lack of affordable housing is another huge problem. and in the headline issue for the lib dems is as they plot return from the political grave. here in cornwall every seat was held by the liberal democrats just seven years ago. this one in north cornwall is one of the last to be engulfed by the tory tide in 2015. now, the lib dems wanted back. not for the first time they are

trying to fight a very local campaign. i have not had one person mentioned brexit to me. it is more a case of everything else is escalating. back in south devon mike's man says school funding could sway her vote. for me the most important thing i education and health and definitely that will be focusing my mind when i go to vote. lib dem tim farren was the only leader to reply to mike ‘s letter. but mike can't vote. the lib dems will need at least 10,000 more supporters to win this seat back. his career spanned six decades and was best known as one half of the two rallies but this afternoon stars from the world of comedy on television are celebrating the life of ronnie corbett has died last year. michael parkinson and joanna

lu mley year. michael parkinson and joanna lumley are among those who did readings at the memorial service. they have been further tributes by comedians rob brydon and jimmy tarbuck. he was a lovely man. what you saw is what you got. he was not different off—screen. he was warm and generous and a lovely man. westminster abbey isa and a lovely man. westminster abbey is a place of great state occasions and today that occasion was a celebration of laughter. a gathering of friends, colleagues and fans of ronnie corbett. believing, it's wonderful to be with you again. it's a memorial but i hope we have a few laughs to remember ronnie. i met him

60 years ago. there will be a lot of people who will be laughing and crying. my memory isjust laughs. we we re crying. my memory isjust laughs. we were in cabaret together and we were also in the biggest flop that has ever been in the west end. so we've had the best and the worst. he was a great friend of mine. i love them because we looked great together. friends and colleagues from the 60 yea rs of friends and colleagues from the 60 years of showbiz memories and inside a certain easy chair and behind it very specific number of candles. yes, for candles. he might have only been five foot one and but he had a

large comic presence. rob brydon described the smiles that followed as each walks down the street. we ended up doing quite a few shows together. we played golf together and we would talk on the phone. i still have many of his answerphone messages. when i would phone him it was usually and who would and serve. darling, how are you? i will get him for you. wrong, it's rob. darling, how are you? i will get him foryou. wrong, it's rob. rob brydon. and i would hear him coming to the phone chuckling. good heavens, wonderful. and he'd come to the phone and always say is it me? then we would talk and he would

never fail to comment on something he had to see me do and to encourage me. laughs, tears, goodbye from them, and a final goodbye from him. a reminder of the headlines on bbc news. political leaders make a final bid to win over voters in the last day of campaigning before the general election. labour is focusing on the nhs and schools and the conservatives on brexit. police searching for the body of czar the thomas missing since the london bridges that have recovered a body from the river thames. there are more police raids in connection with the investigation into the attack and the 30—year—old man is arrested in east london. house price rises are slowing down. that's according to the uk's biggest

mortgage lender, the halifax. it says prices rose by 3.3% over the year, that's down from a ten percent increase last year. efforts continue to resolve a major diplomatic row between qatar and its gulf neighbours over its alleged funding of terrorism. the country, which imports most of its food and water, is said to be talking to iran and turkey to secure supplies after the united arab emirates and saudi arabia cut trade and diplomatic ties. and european stock markets are in wait and see mode ahead of voting in the uk general election, tomorrow. the pound is near a seven—month high despite conflicting polls on the outcome of the vote. the pound strengthened against the dollar after theresa may called the snap election. the markets are pricing in a win for the conservatives. the american online taxi company, uber, say it's sacked twenty members of staff, after an investigation into alleged sexual harassment and other complaints made by workers. uber has suffered a series of recent scandals, including claims of sexism.

after a former employee and sliding a series of serious allegations about sexual harassment uber set up about sexual harassment uber set up a confidential hotline for employees to raise issues. in the last three months 215 claims were made. the complaints cover things like this, nation, sexual harassment, bullying and physical security. 115 of those claims were followed up leading to 20 dismissals. seven members of staff were given final warnings and others were put into training programmes. there are 57 cases still being looked at. the names of the fired employees have not been made public that the bbc understands at least one senior executive at the firm was dismissed. news of the sackings were delivered to staff in a meeting on tuesday. the chief

executive was not in attendance and has been spending time with his family following the recent death of his mother. a broader reporting to its working culture is expected next week. spanish bank banco popular has been rescued from the brink of collapse by larger rival santander for one euro. but the actual cost will be close to £6bn as it takes on the bank's 3.5bn—euro losses and nearly £31bn of toxic property loans. the bank has struggled after billions in property investments turned sour. australia hasjust recorded its 103rd quarter without a recession — it's the second year in a row that investors are the world's largest advertising firm have objected to the chief executive ‘s pay deal. shares fell 35%. and reports say a chinese firm has

made an offer for the body shop. it's been put up for sale by current owner l'oreal, which is said to be asking for at least £700m. any new owner would have to revive the brand that experts say needs an overhaul following years of dwindling sales. let's look at the markets and tomorrow is being called triple threat thursday. we have the general election, the former fbi director giving testimony to the senate about his dismissal and we've got the european central bank announcing whether or not they're going to move interest rates so the market is in a holding pattern. you can see the ftse which is down. brent crude is interesting. we mentioned the issues in qatarand saudi interesting. we mentioned the issues in qatar and saudi arabia and the uae having cut diplomatic ties, though that those countries are oil—producing nations who in november reached a deal to reduce oil production which boosted the oil

price. now those tensions between cat and saudi arabia have made many fear that that reduction may go back on itself. that has caused the oil price to fall. it is down to $40 a barrel. i will have a full round—up in an hour. the creator of charlie and lola, lauren child, hasjust been named as the new children's laureate. the post was created in 1999 to highlight the contribution of children's literature to cultural life. our entertainment correspondent colin paterson was at hull city hall for this afternoon's announcement. previous children's laureates included quentin blake, julia donaldson and the tenth children's laureate is lauren child. those are big names. that is true, they are. the interesting thing about quentin is he was the first children's laureate and he was made laureate

when i began my career so it is incredible for me to be in this role myself. and you have two years, what do you hope to achieve? i would like to talk a lot about children's creativity and the pressures that are on children to do all kinds of things but there is not quite enough time. staring out the window and observing things and putting ideas together. also the fact that comes from everywhere. they're all kinds of things you look at that actually all make a thought, creation, nadir. i really would like to look at that. how are you going to get children to stay out of windows more? i suppose by encouraging them to observe

things. when you have those quiet moments and maybe we don't spend enough timejust looking and the way to become a writer or an artist ora musician is to have those moments where you just look around you and see these wonderful things. children love instrument things and taking photographs of things you find on the street for hilarious things you see going on, they are all important. but does social media not stop them reading? i don't think it does. i don't think one thing is right and another is wrong. i think everything feeds into creativity and ideas. social media has a great place and a part to play in that. if we could just let go of all the neediness of it. we are always needing to be liked.

it's very different to be a child now than it was 18 years ago. very different and it's one of the pressures because it is taking the playground out of the playground because it's all around you now, that sort of being liked and approved of or disapproved of. it's really hard today to have an idea or a thought in case someone else doesn't like it. that is a lot to achieve in two years. let's have a look at the medal. her name is on the back. if you are reading your child charlie and lola as they go to bed you are reading the word of the children's laureate. it's time for the weather now. what a difference a day makes. this

time yesterday we were talking about heavy rain, thick cloud and showers but today it is a completely different story. we have hardly got much in the way of cloud around away —— at all. the rain clearing away and a beautiful day. more rain coming in this evening. so enjoy the sunshine we've got. we are seeing temperatures of 21 degrees in the london area. but as we go through the night that cloudier and wet weather arrives. the rain likely to be out in the west and that will gradually drifted to a steadily northwards as we go through the day. there will be heavy rain around first thing in the morning. further central and eastern areas will start off cloudy. we're not expecting too much in the way of rain across

eastern england. heavy rain through wales and acted in northern ireland. the far north of scotland will start off on the chilly side but there will be some early morning sunshine and it should stay try for the bulk of the day. the rain not really pushing very far north during the day. we could see a trail of heavy showers developing with rumbles of thunder into northern ireland during the latter stage of the day. a slow improvement further south. staying dry in the south—east. not as nice tomorrow as today. the front will continue to push further north and it will bring heavy rain for the north of scotland but as we move into friday a brief fridge of high pressure builds but not for long and another area of low pressure waiting out in the atlantic. so it's the same out in the atlantic. so it's the sa m e co nveyor out in the atlantic. so it's the same conveyor belt of frontal systems we have seen all week. friday will be dry with scattered showers. highs of 21 degrees. either

start of the weekend a more wet affair. sunday could be brighter and breezy day and. the feel humid. for the weekend, quite an unsettled start. some sunshine but also some rain around as well. if it is settled sunshine you want i can offer it to you but the mediterranean is the place to be this weekend. temperatures into the mid—30s by the time we get into sunday. this is bbc news. the headlines at 4pm: labour and the conservatives return to their core messages on the last day of campaigning before the general election. theresa may is crossing the country, urging people to back her to deliver on brexit. whonchts do you trust to actually have the strong and stable

leadership that is going to deliver the best deal for britain leadership that is going to deliver the best dealfor britain in europe? because brexit matters. brexit is the basis of everything else. jeremy corbyn says the election offers a choice between hope and fear, promising labour will protect public services. five more years of a tory government will lead to longer waiting lists. five more years of a tory government will lead to more and more people not q the} will lead to more and more people not q the social will lead to more and more people not £9“; the social they— . , , and