gdp per capita is much lower than in competitor nations. and that is still fundamentally what we call a structural problem. we don't seem to be closer to fixing it. we have to start thinking about long—term plans. you mentioned what has generally been a dirty word within the uk, for 40—50 years, industrial policy and investment. where do we want to invest within the country? where do we want to encourage investment both by government but also by business? how will they train people for what is going forward? these are the kinds of things we need to think about in a joined up kind of way, rather than flashy policy announcements that can hopefully give a kind of sugar rush to the economy, we want sustained long—term growth rather thanjust a big jump. inflation does seem to be sticking around longer than most people projected. there is a concern now about the level of food prices, whether that is going to become

a bit more persistent. so, in general the market's expecting maybe one or two more interest rate rises, up to about 5%. the fact we are not in recession probably doesn't change that thinking. the man in charge of the uk's economy has welcomed the rise. here's chancellor of the exchequer, jeremy hunt. these are much better figures than anyone would possibly have predicted even three months ago. that is partly because what the governor of the bank of england said yesterday. measures in the budget that are helping to help companies to recruit and tackle some of the underlying problems in the economy. but there is still much work to do. we still have inflation that is much too high, that is causing a lot of pressure forfamilies up and down the country. that is why we have to stick to our plan to get inflation down, to get growth up, and to get the economy motoring in the way that we all want. the uk remains the only g7 country in which the quarterly measure

of gdp has not recovered to its pre—covid our level. to its pre—covid level. in march, the economy went backwards. when will we get back to where we were, three years ago? if you look at the most up—to—date monthly figures, we are now above pandemic levels, across the whole economy. but only marginally. and you want to see much faster growth. that is why we need to stick to our plan, above all, to bring inflation down, because that is a drag on growth. but also, part of that plan is to relieve pressure on families as we go through this difficult period. that's why we have increased, this month, the national living wage to its highest ever level. we are doing big payments to help people with their electricity bills. but the long—term solution is not subsidy. it is actually getting inflation down and growth up. the metropolitan police says it will now not investigate an allegation of sexual assault —— reported to be against a labourfrontbench mp ——

�*at the victim's request�*. it's reported a female labour mp claimed she was sexually assaulted by a male shadow minister. the bbc was told she informed the met police and the labour whips about the incident. labour says the whips urged her to make a formal complaint to the party. labour's leader sir keir starmer was speaking to the media earlier and spoke about how his party deals with these types of claims. a spokesman for you, said on wednesday that the labour party takes a zero tolerance approach to sexual harassment and yet the party's investigation into one allegation took three years and another complainant said they had so little confidence in the internal disciplinary system that they didn't even bother to use it. doesn't this embarrass you? well, look, i think all of these allegations have to be taken extremely seriously. and they are taken seriously by me and by the party. i do understand from my experience as chief prosecutor how difficult it is for people to come forward. that's among the reasons that we made our process completely

independent. so it's not a political process any more. but what i would say is that i encourage anybody to come forward and to feel that they're supported through that independent process. mike lynch, the billionaire tech entrepreneur once called the uk's answer to bill gates, has been extradited to the united states. lynch faces criminal fraud charges, with allegations that he duped hewlett—packard into overpaying when it struck an $11 billion deal — that's £8.2 billion — for his software firm autonomy back in 2011. here's our global business correspondent theo leggett with all the details. autonomy were set up back in 1996, co—founded by mike lynch, and 15 years later, it had grown into a darling of the uk tech sector and was snapped up by hewlett—packard in 2011 for about $11 billion. ts the time, everybody was very happy about it,

but within a year, all the recriminations had started, and hp came out with an announcement where it said that the value of autonomy was much less than it had thought. it had to write about eight million dollars worth of its investment, and it had been misled about the state of autonomy�*s finances. so there has been wrangling is going on for years about this. we had a case last year when mike lynch was one of the defendants and he lost a case basically for a civil claim related to all of this. his former chief technical officer was jailed in the united states back in 2019. mike lynch has been consistently arguing he has done nothing wrong. he says that hp basically messed up its own finances, was a poorly performing company, and was using autonomy as a scapegoat. but he now has to go and face some 17 charges in the us,

including conspiracy to commit fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud. and we will have to see where all of this goes. edinburgh university is underfire for its response to a marking boycott, which students say could waste months of work. the boycott is the latest phase of industrial action by the members of the university and college union at 145 institutions across the uk. it began on april 20th. but students in scotland are voicing fears it will lead to their work not being read. the university dismissed the claim and says it has robust measures in place. 0llie lewis is a final year politics student at the university of edinburgh. take a listen. i wasn't aware when i was writing it that it wouldn't potentially be marked. we were under the impression all along, of course, that it would be marked. in fact, that is what we were told by professor harmon himself and other senior university leaders. we have always been working on the basis that this dispute would be resolved, but now we've learnt that maybe it won't be. is it fair to say that you are more than a little irritated by this? yes. ithink...

i've been speaking to students in recent days, nick, and we are absolutely furious, to be honest. and i think we're notjust furious about what's happening, but the way in which it's happening. we haven't been told this. the university has not informed us of this. we found out because i took it upon myself to try and find out what was going on. and then i took that to the press office and they said, actually, yes, you're right, this is our plan. and so i think itjust shows a real betrayal of the basic level of trust between students and universities, which is the kind of basic assumption that if you complete a piece of work which spends... which takes months to do and costs ten thousands of words and many hours, you expect it to be marked. professor colm harmon is the vice principal of students at edinburgh university. he was asked if the work would go unread. no. whatever happens, we intend to see that every item of assessment is graded. and more than anyone. we understand the efforts made by our students in all of their work they've prepared. they should focus

on doing their best. and we'll make sure that what we do will be reflected in a degree reward, even if we face some delays in completing that for some students. let's be clear what graded means, professor. do you mean anybody will read all these dissertation, which is what he wants? that's what will have to happen at some point. 0li's dissertation has been submitted. at some point, the boycott on grading will end. and when that happens, we will be able to fully account for all these dissertations and all other pieces of assessment that are caught up in this dispute for those students who are caught up in this. let's give him a chance to react to that. does that reassure you at all? not. not quite. nick, i'm quite astonished to hear professor harmon speak as if everything is sort of all fine, as if this is some kind of lucky dip. it's all fine because. no, of course not. but you've said that it's. some students will have their dissertations completely marked. others won't. so what is this? is this some kind of lucky dip?

is that what higher education in this country has come to? and i think we need to establish a timeline here, because i'm really keen to learn when yourself and others at the university started working on these contingency plans, because we students, all students received an email from yourself and other senior leaders on the 18th of april saying, and i'm quoting here, "it is critical that you work on the basis that any requirements for your course and programme will continue to apply as normal. you must continue to submit assessment, etc., etc.." now, if that email was sent with the knowledge that some students work might not be marked, i think that is outrageous. professor harmon? well, the advice given on the 18th of april was actually right. i mean, it's really critical that as students, you complete everything that... to the best of your ability, as you always will. well — the countdown to eurovision�*s final is now underway. thousands of fans have descended on liverpool to witness the extravaganza —— but how well do they actually know the songs? 0ur digital video journalist jimmy tam challenged a few to finish the lyrics. think you know your eurovision songs?

i'm in liverpool to put fans to the test. # we're going u—u—u—u—u—u—up # euphoria # forever till the end of time # from now on, only you and i # we're going u—u—u—u—u—u—up # viva la diva # viva victoria # afrodita # cleopatra # whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, waterloo # couldn't escape if i wanted to # whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, waterloo # but soon you will find # that there comes a time # for making your mind up # from the fading light i fly # rise like a phoenix # 0oh—ah, just a little bit more # you know what i'm looking for it's certainly not me, is it? # snappin�* one, two # where are you? # you're still in my heart harmonising

hello. how are you? # loving you is a # losing game. # hold me now. # don't cry. # don't say a word. # just hold me now. # and i will know though we're apart # instead i wrote a song # �*bout how you did me wrong # i could have cried at home # and spent the night alone # instead i wrote a song da da da da da da da. thank you. that's all right. you get an instant 12 points if you are joining — you get an instant 12 points if you arejoining in at you get an instant 12 points if you are joining in at home there. a0 years after the first episode of blackadder —— the bbc comedy series is to be celebrated with a set of stamps, royal mail has announced. the stamps capture some of the most iconic moments from the sitcom, and feature some of its

best—loved characters, played by rowan atkinson, tony robinson, stephen fry and miranda richardson. now it's time for a look at the weather with simon king. hello, yesterday it was all about the heavy— hello, yesterday it was all about the heavy showers and thunderstorms. a bit quieter— the heavy showers and thunderstorms. a bit quieter today. we have a ridge of high _ a bit quieter today. we have a ridge of high pressure coming from the south—west. we of high pressure coming from the south-west— south-west. we still have this movinu south-west. we still have this moving across _ south-west. we still have this moving across eastern - south-west. we still have this moving across eastern and - south-west. we still have this - moving across eastern and southern areas of england, which will bring some heavy rain. done in the south—east of england as well. it'll stay quite cloudy around these eastern areas, but further west, plenty of dry sunny weather. that is where we will see the highest temperatures today. 18 to 20, perhaps 21 degrees in northern ireland. meanwhile, on the east coast of uk, 13 or 1a celsius. through this night, we have that north—easterly winds bring in the cloud across most of england. so, as

we start off on saturday morning, a dull start to the day, but temperatures holding up at about seven or eight celsius. throughout saturday, that cloud will retreat back to the coast. is my take a while before it clears away through the midlands and eastern areas of england, and the north sea coast might stay a bit murky into the afternoon. elsewhere, lots of clear skies and sunshine. 0ne afternoon. elsewhere, lots of clear skies and sunshine. one or two showers in wales and south—west england. temperatures by many as 17 to 20 celsius. always a bit chilly along that eastern coast. also worth bearing in mind that for tomorrow, uv levels will be high across many parts of the uk, so if you're out and about enjoying that sunshine, bear that in and about enjoying that sunshine, bearthat in mind. and about enjoying that sunshine, bear that in mind. for the second half of the weekend, it turns a bit more unsettled. we have this where the french bringing some rain, pushing into northern ireland and scotland as the day goes on. —— we have this weather french bringing some rain. it will largely be fine and dry per central and eastern

areas. one of the highest temperatures on sunday, potentially up temperatures on sunday, potentially up to 20 celsius. but a bit cooler for the north—west, temperatures of 12 to 15 degrees. that cooler weather will extend even further south—east, but as we go into the new working week, we can see the blues returning to the charts, as we go through next week. temperatures will drop down by a few degrees, so it will feel chillier, and could be some showers around, and settled. some showers around, temperatures about 15 to 18 celsius. that is all for me. goodbye.

live from london, this is bbc news. the former pakistani prime minister imran khan has been granted bail at the high court. he has decided to stay inside until a written court order is provided. this is the scene outside the court where crowds are waiting for him to leave. he is expected to address his supporters after days of violent protests across the country. the turkish president faces his biggest challenge yet as turkey gears up to hold elections on sunday. andrew crane say —— and ukraine say they have advanced two kilometres in a

week.