this is bbc news. the headlines at 3: boris johnson launches the conservatives' election manifesto in telford, pledging to "get brexit done" and "forge a new britain." we are now, as you know, less than three weeks away from the most critical election of modern memory, when the stakes for this country have seldom been higher, and the choice has never been starker. the manifesto also promises to to train 50,000 new nurses, at a cost of £750 million a year. but gone from the manifesto is any pledge to help middle income earners by raising the higher rate tax

threshold. now is not the time, says borisjohnson. meanwhile the labour party pledges to compensate nearly four million women who lost out when their state pension age rose from 60 to 66. voters in hong kong turn out in record numbers to cast their ballots in district council elections. five teenagers have been arrested after a large brawl at a cinema in birmigham last night which saw a number of police officers injured. good afternoon, welcome to bbc news. boris johnson has unveiled the conservative manifesto with a speech in which he promised to spend more money on public services without raising income taxes. he also pledged repeatedly to get

brexit done, and vowed to keep the united kingdom intact. the headline promise of this manifesto is the conservative pledge not to raise income tax, national insurance contributions or vat. the so—called triple tax lock. they also kept up the pressure on labour over the nhs by promising 50,000 nurses — more than double what labour were proposing. but there was no mention in the manifesto of boris johnson's promise to raise higher rate tax threshold to £80,000. that's the second tax u—turn by mrjohnson after he ditched the promise to cut corporation tax. 0ur assistant political editor, norman smith, was watching that manifesto launch in telford. he is life for us now. thank you, this was a slimmed down, stripped back, take no chance manifesto delivered with a m minute speech. the manifesto just 59 pages, lots of

pictures in it, and you get the sense that team johnson want to take no chances with the selection. there was nothing particularly surprising in this manifesto document, setting out many of the core themes which mr johnson has established during this election. brexit at the forefront, a pledge to get brexit done, a pledge to recruit 20,000 more police officers, more cash for the nhs, more prison places, more help for low income groups with raising the threshold for national insurance contributions. the one moment which struck out was the standout pledge to recruit 50,000 more nurses by the end of the next parliament. what was so end of the next parliament. what was so striking about that was a trumps jeremy corbyn‘s pledge to recruit 20,000 more nurses and mrjohnson also cherry picked a labour policy, bringing back bursary grants for

nurses which would be worth 5000— £8,000 a year. let's listen to the prime minister. it is this one nation tory party that has already embarked on the biggest cash boost for the nhs in a generation and today, in this manifesto, we pledge 50,000 more nurses and their bursaries, and 50 million more gp surgery appointments, and today, we make this guarantee to the british people, that we will tackle crime with 20,000 more police officers and tougher sentencing, and we will sort out our immigration system with a points—based australian style system, that we will invest millions more every week in science, in schools, in apprenticeships, and in infrastructure, and control our debt at the same time. and that we can reach, and we will reach, net zero by 2050 with clean energy solutions. and we can do all these things, we can do all these things, here's

the kicker, we can do all these things without raising our income tax, vat, or national insurance contributions. that is a guarantee. a couple of interesting things in the manifesto, or things that were not there, no long—term policy for social care beyond an aspiration to get cross—party talks going again, and the hope that in the end that might result in some sort of agreement that people should not have to sell their home, but for those who work with the elderly and those who work with the elderly and those charities who are hoping for a clear sense of a policy, a plan, there is not one. also, another tax u—turn from boris johnson. there is not one. also, another tax u—turn from borisjohnson. last week we got the shelving of the pledge to cut corporation tax. today, there was no sign of the promise that was central to mrjohnson's leadership campaign, to help middle earners by

raising the threshold of the higher rate to 80,000 pounds which prompted this question from my colleague, laura kuenssberg, about whether we could really trust boris johnson. you won the leadership of your party by making a big promise on brexit that you then broke, despite saying the buck stopped with you. now you are trying to win the country with a list of promises and significant extra spending. do you accept that beyond this room and your party, it is a big leap of faith for the country to trust you with a majority? we are working very hard to secure a working majority, because... and get a parliament that works for the people of this country, because i think that when, yes, it is true that parliament did vote to stop us from leaving the european union in the way that i wanted on october 31st, that was a decision taken by mr corbyn, jo swinson, the scottish nationalists, they decided to vote against our plan to come out.

we have a great deal to do that now, and you know, i think the biggest issue at this election is really whether people have any confidence in politics any more, and i think the reason that confidence and trust in politics has been so undermined is because for three—and—a—half years they have seen politicians engaged in constant prevarication, procrastination, dither and delay, when the people of this country voted to get brexit done. and we are the only... we are the only party... we are the only party at this election that has a prospectus to do that. we have a deal that, as i say, is ready to go. let's get on and do it. and that, i think, is the way to bring our country together and to enable us all to focus on the priorities we care about, particularly the nhs.

as borisjohnson life the hall a few minutes ago, he waved a copy of the ma nifesto minutes ago, he waved a copy of the manifesto at journalist and minutes ago, he waved a copy of the manifesto atjournalist and said, read it. that will not take too long because it is only 59 pages and has lots of pictures in it. good for us. joining us is the former cabinet minister nicky morgan. it is hard to escape the thought this is a safety first manifesto, no radical policies, it is a cautious, steady as you go document. i would not ee, as you go document. i would not agree, there are two big issues in this campaign, the first that we have been debating for 3.5 years, brexit, and a clear policy from the conservatives about getting brexit done but the prime minister has only beenin done but the prime minister has only been in office forjust over 100 days but there has been a conservative government for longer than that so much of what you read isa than that so much of what you read is a continuation but there is also new pledges, the 50,000 new nurses, for example and talking about investment in science and technology

and research and development, but thinks the prime minister has already said, 20,000 more police officers, more investment in the nhs, soi officers, more investment in the nhs, so i think he is being very honest about saying these are the priorities of the british people, here are more details and more about here are more details and more about her direction of travel. social care, many people will be bitterly disappointed that once again this issue has been pitted off. in truth, it has. it is a complex issue. there are three clear points in the ma nifesto, are three clear points in the manifesto, the first is we have already said we will spend £1 billion every year in the next parliament. we will only solve this issueif parliament. we will only solve this issue if we build a long lasting cross— party issue if we build a long lasting cross—party consensus because reforming social care is a long—term thing but also a very clear pledge which is what comes up on the doorsteps, borisjohnson which is what comes up on the doorsteps, boris johnson singh which is what comes up on the doorsteps, borisjohnson singh no one will have to sell their home to pay for their social care, that is an important pledge to make, but it will need parties working together

to solve this once and for all. is the difficulty not the trust issue? borisjohnson said on the steps of downing street, i am going to sort this. he has set out an aspiration of what he wants to achieve but when he was asked, can you give a cast—iron promise that by the end of this parliament, there will be a clear policy to solve the social ca re clear policy to solve the social care crisis, he was unable to give that. lots of people will think that sounds like never—never land. that. lots of people will think that sounds like never— never landlj think he gave a clear intent —— a clear indication he intended to solve this, as does the health secretary, matt hancock, but the turning to face to spray around unachievable performances —— —— unachievable performances —— —— unachievable —— unachievable policies, like the other parties. we have a clear direction of travel, we will solve this complex issue, we will solve this complex issue, we will work with people in the know to make sure that happens. trust, boris johnson in his leadership campaign, one of his key pledges was the idea

of helping middle income earners by giving them a tax break, by raising the threshold for higher rate earners, not a mention of it? it came up in the questions after the ma nifesto came up in the questions after the manifesto speech and this is the right way to treat people, he was clear to say that every government has to priorities and yes, overall, we are a tax—cutting government, we wa nt we are a tax—cutting government, we want people to keep more of the money they earn but we have to make a choice, and he has made the choice that he wants to help people on lower incomes, important things like changing national insurance contribution so that people do not pay those so early and helping the national living wage, that makes more of a difference to people with the cost of living. we would like to do more on tax—cutting but we will do more on tax—cutting but we will do it in do more on tax—cutting but we will do itina do more on tax—cutting but we will do it in a responsible way and the overall message is we will manage the economy as we have done, responsibly, rather than by spring around unaffordable policies. will you manage it responsibly because we hear you are going to increase the borrowing from 2% to 3% which means

an extra £100 billion of borrowing, 100 billion. how will you meet your pledge to get borrowing lower by the end of the next parliament? earlier this month, sajid javid set out clear rules around managing the economy. we are able to borrow because interest rates are at an historic low and we are borrowing to invest in infrastructure and capital spending, not day—to—day spending of the government but the other rule will be that if the borrowing and interest rates start to go up, a break will be put on that and the reason we are able to borrow at such low interest rates is because we have run the economy responsibly. the prime minister contrasted that with the labour party. they have these unaffordable promises, money being spread around, and people will say, we cannot lend to you at these low interest rates. nicky morgan, thank you. before borisjohnson went into deliver his speech, one of the three spinners came up to me and said, it will not be a game changer

but ina said, it will not be a game changer but in a way, that is ok for t johnson, they do not have to change the game, because broadly they think this election is going to plan. norman, thank you very much. norman smith in telford. more to come. the bbc‘s reality check team are assessing the conservative manifesto pledges. 0ur correspondent has joined me. specifically the issue of hospital car parking charges. it has been a controversial issue over the past couple of years, whether you're somebody who's going to get treatment at a hospital, somebody visiting a relative or someone who works for the nhs, any majority of cases you will be charged. if we look at the average hospital car park and what they charge, you can see, £1110, but in some cases, the highest cost people are being charged is £3 110 p. that is para ? are being charged is £3 110 p. that is para? i think that is per hour, yes. if you look at the staff

and what they are charged, you can see, 15p staff spent per hour on hospital parking on average. if we look at how many hospitals actually charge, it is a very high number, 911% of hospitals. this is based on a previous analysis of nhs data on parking charges. 911% of acute hospitals were charging for parking. that is a pretty high number. in 2015, the government issued guidance seeing that certain groups should not be charged as much for parking at hospitals, and i think what we are seeing today is the conservatives basically pledging that certain groups should not be charged, and those groups, we are told, people with disabilities, frequent patients, patients who are gravely ill, also families of people who have to go to hospital and stay

there for a long period of time, and also, included in the group of people who are not going to be charged, nhs staff who work night shifts at hospitals. in terms of how much this will cost, the department of health and social care say that free parking would cost around £200 million, the conservatives today saying that this plan to enable certain groups of people to have free parking at hospitals, that is going to cost £78 million, and that is new funding and would apply only to england. thank you for crunching those numbers. we'll bring you more analysis of the conservative manifesto in the next hour, looking at the party's plans on education and childcare. well, the conservatives have announced this year's manifesto. this was a key turning point in theresa may's election campaign as she announced her controversial social care plans.

anthony seldon is the author of may at 10, a biography about theresa may's time as prime minister. he's here to discuss whether borisjohnson's has avoided the manifesto trap that his predecessor fell into. thank you for being with us. remind us thank you for being with us. remind us of what went wrong for theresa may? well, she and the people who we re may? well, she and the people who were writing the manifesto imagined it was going to be like the labour party in 19115. they were going to be imagining an entirely new britain on the back of brexit, they were heading, they thought, for a very strong majority, and they wanted to be bold. they didn't want to have accusations later that they were introducing policies that were not in the manifesto, they thought they had a strong enough majority to get

through some difficult thorny issues like social care, and theyjust went for it. the mistake was that she then backed away from it, when the reaction against it came up. yeah and that included things like the bedroom tax and so on. watching what borisjohnson did bedroom tax and so on. watching what boris johnson did today bedroom tax and so on. watching what borisjohnson did today though, it seemed more of a safety first approach, certainly bolt bold is not approach, certainly bolt bold is not a world we would use for that ma nifesto a world we would use for that manifesto launch. yes, it is a totally different scenario, obviously all politicians learn from earlier history. 0ften obviously all politicians learn from earlier history. often they learn the wrong bits of history. this time they have probably learned the right lessons, and disastrously back then, mrs may then said that nothing has changed, so having decided not to keep with her controversial policies she denied there was a challenge and

that destroyed or helped destroy her image as being strong and table. now totally different situation. i mean boris is, he is 3—1 up in a match, coming into the second half, and you don't want to take risk, you want to now put all your effort into defending your position, you don't wa nt to defending your position, you don't want to open up the possibilities of the other side scoring goals, and borisjohnson, your star the other side scoring goals, and boris johnson, your star player, perhaps a bit accident prone, you are wanting to protect him and keep him away from the action where ever you can, so, a modest, careful, ma nifesto, you can, so, a modest, careful, manifesto, taking no risks and trying to preserve the very clear majority the party has at the moment. 0k, very good to have your thoughts, sorry we don't have longer. lots to cram in but our thanks to antony seldon. we will go back to norman smith in telford.

norman. thank you, i am joined back to norman smith in telford. norman. thank you, iam joined by the health secretary matt hancock, the health secretary matt hancock, the stand out announcement from this launch has been the decision to recruit 50,000 more nurses, how and when will you do this? we will do this over the parliament. we have a fully costed plan in here, to recruit 50,000 more nurses, a combination of training and extra university place, also apprenticeships, which nursing apprenticeships, which nursing apprenticeships which allows people to train as they work, and there will be some recruitment from overseas with our new nhs visa and so the aim here, the commitment, is that we will deliver 50,000 more nurses, when i go round hospitals, you know, the number one ask is for belter technology and more nurses and we will deliver both. explain this to me. you are spending 20 billion more in real term, labour are spending 26 billion but they can only recruit 20,000 nurses, you can

recruit 50,000, how can you get more but spend less? we will spend more money. 20 billion in real term, 33.9 billion in cash terms, of extra money on the health service, and that plus a further 750 million that is in the manifesto, that is additional to that will allow us to recruit 50,000 more nurses. and you we re recruit 50,000 more nurses. and you were wrong over nurse bursary, you should never have got rid of them, that was a mistake? one of the things coming in as a relatively new health secretary with a new prime minister is you can review things and work out what is the best way to go forward, and the best way to go forward is to ensure that we have 50,000 more nurse, to get those we need the incentives so we are putting in place that bursary but also you need to spend money to make sure there is enough training places available. if you just have the

bursary, at the moment, the barrier to more nurse training is the number of training placement, we need the placements as well as the bursary. social care is your patch, mine i suspect a lot of the charities involved in dementia and alzheimer's and working with elderly people will be disappointed that there is not a policy proposal, yes there is an aspiration to work with other party, yes, you would like that to ensure people do not have to lose their homes but there is not a worked through policy proposal. why not? well, there are a clear proposals in here. firstly there is the goal of finding a cure eventually for dementia and the doubling of research funding into dementia. that is important. 0n the social care question, specifically, we have a plan, set out in three parts. the first is to put in immediate funding to support the social care system as it is now because it needs extra

support. the second is to build that cross— party support. the second is to build that cross—party consensus, because you know, there have been attempts and reviews and all sorts on this subject, over the past 20 years, really, and you can only solve a big long—term problem with a degree of cross— party long—term problem with a degree of cross—party consensus, and you can only get that, if you go into it, with clear plan but also an open mind and a willingness to genuinely ta ke mind and a willingness to genuinely take part in those discussion, so for instance, we are clear that third part, we are clear that we don't want to see people having to sell their home to pay for their care. now, whati sell their home to pay for their care. now, what i want to do is then sit down with the with other parties bring people together and come forward with a long—term solution, that will last more than one parliament and that really sticks. let me ask you a brief one. we had a report from a lord's committee led

by michael forsyth, a right—wing story who —— tory who suggested to make it like the nhs, free at the point of use, funded by taxpayer, are you open to that idea or do you think that is way too expensive? well, that idea fits with our commitment, that people wouldn't have to sell their home to pay for care, i have talked to michael about it and care, i have talked to michael about itandi care, i have talked to michael about it and i have read the report, but i don't want to say anything more than that because i don't want to, i don't want to put down further red line, other than set out in the document because we are determined should we be returned with a majority, immediately after the election, to get on and get stuck m, election, to get on and get stuck in, and build that consensus for what the solution that the whole country can get behind. you know i think of it like this. i am lucky enough to be health secretary responsible for the nhs, which is britain's most loved institution. big consensus behind it. i would love to see that sort of consensus behind our social care system too.

thank you very much. i think the bus is about to leave, so so must you. there we have it everyone is filing out. the place is emptying after that manifesto launch. still think there be a lot of question marks about the social care policy because we have been round so many times and you feel we are still on the starting line trying to come up with an answer. indeed. norman, thank you very much indeed. jeremy corbyn is in the town of thurrock, in grays today, speaking to supporters there about the difference between the labour and conservative manifestos. this is our manifesto. this is our ma nifesto to this is our manifesto. this is our manifesto to give decency in our society, to give hope to people, to right the wrongs that have happened over ten yea rs right the wrongs that have happened over ten years off of austerity. right now, in telford in the midlands, the area where i grew up,

the conservative party is launching its manifesto. a manifesto paid for by billionaires, written for billionaires and will delivered for billionaires and will delivered for billionaires but the problem is the rest of us will have to pay for it. the shadow chancellor, john mcdonnell, has insisted that labour would be able to find the money for its plan to compensate women who lost out on their state pension, when their retirement age was raised. the change affected nearly four million women. labour says if it wins the election it would pay sums of up to £31,000 to those affected. the overall cost is estimated by the party at £58 billion overfive years. well, meanwhile, the liberal democrat leader, jo swinson, has said there has "been a squeeze" on her party during the campaign but that she is "not conceding yet". speaking on the bbc‘s andrew marr show, swinson also attacked jeremy corbyn's neutral stance on brexit and said the liberal democrats priority was to stop brexit from happening.

well, of course the liberal democrats want to stop brexit and we will be campaigning to stop brexit. ok, if that is the case, jeremy corbyn is offering a referendum, you may not like every aspect of what he is saying, but he is offering a referendum, and borisjohnson very much isn't, doesn't that mean you are inevitably going to have to lean towards the labour party and help them form a government, vote things through for them, rather than the conservatives? well, first of all, as things stand, as things stand, borisjohnson is on course to get a majority, and liberal democrats are the best placed party to stop it. towards the labour party and help them form a government, vote things through for them, rather than the conservatives? well, first of all, as things stand, as things stand, borisjohnson is on course to get a majority, and liberal democrats are the best placed party to stop it. ah, you think that is what is happening at the moment? if you look at the polls right now, that is what they say. now there is, obviously, two and a half weeks to go in this campaign, and i am working very hard to change that situation... you are not conceding yet, but you think that he is going to win? of course i am not conceding yet. liberal democrats are campaigning hard right across the country, and we are making real inroads,

but we need to make sure we win those seats from the conservatives, and we are in a position to do that in a way that labour simply is not. if he doesn't win an overall majority, and he comes to you saying, "listen, jo, i never thought... i don't want to do this, i am doing this through gritted teeth, jo, but to get my deal through, to get my withdrawal agreement through, i am prepared to offer the liberal democrats a referendum on that deal afterwards", what do you say to him? look, i am not putting borisjohnson orjeremy corbyn into number ten, but if there is a law in parliament... the voters might. if there is a law in parliament that i can vote for that makes sure that the brexit deal is put to the public, with the opportunity to remain, i will vote for that. we have always said we will vote for that. ah, 0k. so if borisjohnson tries to do a deal with you, whereby he gets his withdrawal agreement through the house of commons, he delivers his promise to "get brexit done", but in return for that, he gives you a referendum, you say yes? i am not doing a deal, andrew. i am going to vote for the things that i am standing up for, for the things that i believe in, and i believe we should stop brexit, and it may be that a people's vote

is the best way to do that. we have campaigned for that for more than three years and so, as we have said, over the last year, if we can put a specific brexit deal to the british public with the option to remain, liberal democrats will support having a people's vote. we will vote for that legislation. the snp leader, nicola sturgeon, has said she wouldn't accept waiting two to three years for a labour government to grant a scottish independence referendum. speaking on sky news this morning, nicola sturgeon also said that scrapping the uk's nuclear deterrent, trident, would be one of her "red—lines" in the event of her party supporting a labour government. i have a moral objection to weapons of mass destruction, unlikejo swinson i wouldn't be prepared to press a nuclear button that would kill potentially tens of millions of people, but there is also the opportunity of course of trident, the billions, tens of billions of pounds that require to renew tribute, in my vie have better

strength on stronger conventional defence which is more effective to protect our country but also on hospitals and schools and better social security provision and these are the choices we should be thinking very carefully about, and you know, if the snp is in that position of influence, then these are absolutely the policies with will pursue. we'll have the rest of the day's news after half past — now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello. light winds and all that moisture around meant it was a dull and misty day for most of us today, but the signs of change in the south—west. we have an air yes of low pressure again, more weather fronts bringing rain up from the south—west overnight. picking up the breeze a little. maybe breaking holes in the cloud but lifting the mist and fog, it should be mild and frost—free, particularly to the south—west where we have the cloud and rain. that will move northwards and rain. that will move northwards and eastwards, rain for a wheel easing off, not much rain for scotland, most for england and

wales, maybe seeing late sunshine in the far south—west where it is particularly mild. the best of the sunshine probably in the far north of scotland. the next area of low pressure is racing in for tuesday, this has propical air remnant of tropical storm sebastian in the mid—atlantic, tropical storm sebastian in the mid—atla ntic, that will tropical storm sebastian in the mid—atlantic, that will bring heavier rain. rain. it will strengthen the winds in the england channel with the stronger force the south—west of england on hello, this is bbc news with rachel schofield. the headlines: borisjohnson has launched the conservative party's election manifesto, promising to train 50,000 new nurses, at a cost of £750 million a year. he also said the tories can unleash the uk's potential without raising income tax, vat or national insurance.