helen catt, bbc news. joining me now is our political correspondent, helen catt.w about this investigation?— investigation? the gambling commission _ investigation? the gambling commission has _ investigation? the gambling commission has not - investigation? the gambling commission has not named | investigation? the gambling - commission has not named anybody it is investigating and has not said how many people it is investigating but we understand that it is more than the four who have been identified and what we understand to have happened is that the gambling commission asked for the details of any bets placed over £20 on thejuly election. £20 may not sound like a massive stake but depending on the odds that could lead to winnings going into the hundreds of pounds. while we don't know the details of this precise investigation, part of the inquiry is the betting industry conducts in instances like this is trying to establish not only if people who may have had access to privileged information have placed bets but also those with connections to them too, so it ma

our political correspondent, helen catt, joins us now. prime minister during the campaign, isn't it? it is, and another damaging story that raises questions and potential problems both on a practical level, we are two weeks from polling day and to have lost a key figure like your director of campaigning at this stage, that raises some practical questions for the conservative campaign. but more than that it allows the opposition to raise questions about rishi sunak�*s leadership. and you saw keir starmer and ed davey doing that they are. and about integrity within the conservative party, which of course rishi sunak promised on the steps of downing street when he took office. this comes ahead of that question time programme later where rishi sunak will be directly facing voters in a live studio audience. and in a campaign where we haven't really seen him or sir keir starmer do that very often, engaging with voters in that way, that's already a risky scenario and one that rishi sunak is going into against the backdrop of yet another negative

helen catt, bbc news.ebate, and penny mordaunt�*s comments, from our political correspondent, jess parker. it was blunt from penny mordaunt, saying that what had happened was completely wrong, and topped off what was a bad couple of days for rishi sunak. he had gone to those d—day events. he talked about how he had been to the british events the left before the international events in northern france and then, fairly quickly on friday morning, said that he got that wrong and he apologised. it brings a risk of demoralising conservative campaign, that was already, as far as polls suggest, struggling quite badly. and i think the penny mordaunt to say that that is pretty striking and unusual. what the conservative party and rishi sunak�*s campaign will be hoping, and he is on the campaign trail today, is that they can move on. but i think there is certainly a sense among conservative activists that there is a bit of a hangover over what is, in the end, a political own goal. it was an hour and a half long. seve

here's helen catt. that is fantastic. what's been some of your highlights?tweaked its sales pitch at this election from being all about another term of conservative government to more warnings about labour winning big. but the focus is now being repeatedly pulled away from that message by fresh details about bets allegedly placed by tories on the election date. the home secretary this morning was the latest ministry to face questions about it. to your knowledge, home secretary, did any ministers put a bet on the time of the election? not my knowledge at all. i've been absolutely clear that from what i've read, i am notl in any way going - to defend the actions of these individuals. but i'm also conscious thatl i don't have the full details, the only organisation that does is the gambling commission i and it is right that they take action, that would have - the appropriate action, - and they have been clear that we should not discuss this. the conservative party's chief data officer nick mason was earlier identified as the fourth conservative being investigat

here's helen catt. that is fantastic. what's been some of your highlights? this election from being all about another term of conservative government to more warnings about labour winning big. but the focus is now being repeatedly pulled away from that message by fresh details about bets allegedly placed by tories on the election date. the home secretary this morning was the latest minister to face questions about it. to your knowledge, home secretary, did any ministers put a bet on the timing of the election? not to my knowledge at all. i have been absolutely clear that from what i have read, i am not in any way going to defend the actions of these individuals but i'm also conscious that i don't have the full details — the only organisation that does is the gambling commission — and it is right that they take action, whatever the appropriate action, and they have been clear that we should not discuss this. the conservative party's chief data officer nick mason was earlier identified as the fourth conservative being investigated. he has denied wrongdoing and

helen catt, bbc news.ights have resumed after a power cut caused major disruption. there have been huge queues to get in, and some passengers on arriving planes were held on runways for several hours. some flights have been diverted. it's bad news for one of britain's major aiport ahead of the summer season. simon browning reports. alarm blares it started in the dark. a power cut taking manchester airport into shutdown. you had to trample over people to get out out of the lift. to get out of the lift. there were just hordes of people just not moving anywhere. there was no tannoy announcement, there was no communication, there was no staff to even see nearby anywhere. a big power spike in the airport electrical systems led to huge failure affecting security, baggage and check—in. restoring power was complex. queues quickly built up inside and outside the airport. queues that should be on the runway tarmac, now in the car park outside. it's disgusting. been cancelled. everything is cancelled. we had the pack

helen catt, bbc news.illiam ruto has said he will engage with young protestors opposed to the government's plan to hike taxes. the demonstrations, largely led by young people, caught the government off guard. two people died and dozens were injured during thursday's protests in nairobi and several other cities across the country. the government plans to raise $2.6 billion to finance its budget and reduce its debt. more than 100 million americans remain under heat advisory alerts, as temperatures remain stubbornly high across much of the country. this is a heat map from the us national weather service — you can see areas with high temperatures coloured in orange and red spread from coast to coast. a recent analysis of us government data by the associate press showed that 2300 people who died in the us last summer had excessive heat listed on their death certificate — the highest number ever recorded. the advice from authorities is to seek shelter, ideally with air conditioning. but for the hundreds of thous

helen catt, bbc news, hove.e bbc news website and 3pp, live on the bbc news website and app, there will be updates from the sky news event and also the latest fact checking from bbc verify. let's look at the united states now. the republicans and democrats are hosting rival fundraisers republicans and democrats are hosting rivalfundraisers here in london this evening with celebrity hosts looking to reel in thousands of dollars in election donations. an actress says a pro donald trump eventin actress says a pro donald trump event in north london with ticket prices starting atjust under £8,000. donald trump prices starting atjust under £8,000. donald trumer, the former president's son, is among the guests. let's speak to nickjohnson who is in west london. it's a major operation, isn't it, and quite a heavy ticket price there.- operation, isn't it, and quite a heavy ticket price there. yes, you could say that. _ heavy ticket price there. yes, you could say that. this _ heavy ticket price there. yes, you could say t

our political correspondent helen catt has this report.epresentatives of the seven biggest parties in great britain. missing from the stage were the two men who were vying to be the next prime minister, but they weren't missing from the debate itself. within minutes nigel farage had raised rishi sunak�*s absence from part of thursday's d—day celebrations. respect our veterans, including those with an average age of 100, who were deserted by the prime minister in normandy yesterday, which i think was a complete and utter disgrace and shows us we actually have a very unpatriotic prime minister. it was dreadful. it was cabinet minister and naval reservist penny mordaunt who had to answer for her leader. what happened was completely wrong and the prime minister has rightly apologised for that, apologised to veterans — but also to all of us because he was representing all of us. penny mordaunt was keen to take the fight to labour's angela rayner on tax. they are going to put up your taxes by £2000... that's a lie! by £2000 per working household

helen catt, bbc news, hove.ours after she was born, that's according to prosecutors at her retrial. the nurse is accused of attempting to kill the girl, known as baby k, by removing her breathing tube in february 2016 at the countess of chester hospital. it's a charge the jury at the nurse's original trial was unable to decide on. she denies the charge. how long do you think you could do without your smartphone, a day, a few hours or maybe just a few minutes? well, here's what happened when we put a group of teenagers to the test and prised their smartphones from them for five whole days as part of a bbc radio 5 live and bbc bitesize project. our reporter kristianjohnson followed the ups and the downs. ok guys, point of no return. this group of students are doing the unthinkable — locking their smartphones away. you said your goodbye? no tiktok, no snapchat, no whatsapp. so, guys, these are your new... oh my god! they're so huge! instead, they will be using these. the only way of communicating — text and calls.

our political correspondent helen catt has the latest.ll have a general election on the 4th ofjuly. july elections are a rarity. now, the gambling commission is looking into some of the bets that were placed on one being called. the use of confidential information in orderto gain an unfair advantage when betting may be a criminal offense. we now know that among those being looked into are tony lee, who's the conservative party's director of campaigning, and his wife, laura saunders, who's a candidate. mr lee took a leave of absence from his job yesterday. both mrs saunders and mr lee have been approached for comment, but haven't replied. this will be a two—bedroom apartment? correct, yes. on a visit earlier, the housing secretary, michael gove, admitted it didn't look good. it's quite properly being investigated now. how does it look? well, as i say, you and others looking at this will, i'm sure, be doing much more thanjust raising an eyebrow. but it's important for me and for all the candidates out there that while we acknowledge that th

helen catt, bbc news.isruptions for tens of thousands of passengers. people waited in long lines and some planes were held on runways for several hours. some flights were diverted to other airports. it comes at the start of the busy summer holiday season. the managing director of the uk's third busiest airport has apologised to passengers. we will have a lot more on that in business today in 15 minutes. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. at least 1,301 pilgrims died during this year's hajj pilgrimage to mecca, which took place during an extreme heatwave — that's the first official figure we have received from the government in saudi arabia. more than 80% of those who died were unregistered, meaning they did not have official permits to be there and some of those were elderly or seriously ill. nearly 500,000 pilgrims were treated by medical teams in soaring temperatures of more than 50 degrees. the saudi authorities have been criticised for not putting enough precautions in place to make

helen catt reports.., ~ ., pictures. i am angela rayner, labour's deputy _ pictures. i am angela rayner, labour's deputy leader, - pictures. i am angela rayner, labour's deputy leader, and l pictures. i am angela rayner, l labour's deputy leader, and we have the real chance to turn the page and have change in britain. good evening. ein penny mordaunt. and i'm| britain. good evening. ein - penny mordaunt. and i'm going to he _ penny mordaunt. and i'm going to be talking to you about which _ to be talking to you about which of _ to be talking to you about which of the taxes conservatives well cut, labour will he — conservatives well cut, labour will be trying to talk about the ones they are going to put up. the ones they are going to put u -. �* ., ., , ., up. but reform has meant nigel farare up. but reform has meant nigel farage had _ up. but reform has meant nigel farage had a _ up. but reform has meant nigel farage had a new— up. but reform has meant nigel farage had a new claim. - up. but reform has m

helen catt, bbc news, hove. and wales, if they're elected. on an outdoor visit to an adventure centre in warwickshire, party leader sir ed davey said the clean water authority would be given new powers to reform the industry. scotland's first minister and snp leaderjohn swinney has defended the scottish government's record on increasing taxes on higher earners. speaking to nick robinson for the bbc�*s panorama interviews, he said the policy helped fund public services and brought wider benefits. for people who are teachers or police officers, the difference in tax is very limited. but of course there are other benefits, like the fact that people in scotland don't pay for university tuition, or that they don't pay for prescriptions, or that they have, generally, a council tax payment that is about £500, £600 lower than if they were living in england. nick robinson also interviewed plaid cymru's rhun ap iorwerth about how his party would handle the economy. plaid's leader said he wanted to have an honest debate ab

helen catt with the prime _ for that to be poked.en catt with the prime minister on the i with the prime minister on the campaign trail. luckily we have kemi badenoch, the equalities minister here. the plan to amend the equalities act to specify sex, which is a protected characteristic and means biological sex. are you changing the law or are you clarifying what already exists? it is a change that will result in a clarification. the word biological is not there. this isjust making it clearer that the original intention of the act was that sex should be a protected characteristic that is biological, that is why there are exemptions even within the act on single sex spaces. you exemptions even within the act on single sex spaces.— single sex spaces. you will reopen the equalities _ single sex spaces. you will reopen the equalities act _ single sex spaces. you will reopen the equalities act of— single sex spaces. you will reopen the equalities act of 2010. - single sex spaces. you will reopen the equalities act of 2010. so i the equalit

here's our political correspondent helen catt. election official also be looked at. previously a spokesperson for the party has told the bbc it had been contacted by the gambling commission about a small number of individuals and as the gambling commission is an independent body, it wouldn't be proper for the conservative party to comment further until any process is concluded. domestic violence experts say a us supreme court ruling preventing abuse suspects from owning guns will save thousands of lives. this week the court upheld a law that stops people with domestic violence restraining orders from owning a firearm. the case was brought by a texas man who argued that the confiscation of his guns after a restraining order was imposed on him violated his second amendment right to bear arms. for more on this, i spoke to crystaljustice, the chief external affairs officer at the national domestic violence hotline. crystal, thank you for being with us on bbc news. of course, as you know, yesterday, the supreme court ruled to uphold a

here's our political correspondent, helen catt. party candidates and an election official also being looked at. previously a spokesperson for the party has told the bbc it had been contacted by the gambling commission about a small number of individuals and as the gambling commission is an independent body, it wouldn't be proper for the conservative party to comment further until any process is concluded. the us supreme court upheld a law that prevents people with domestic violence restraining orders from owning a gun. the case was brought by a texas drug dealer who threatened to shoot his girlfriend if she reported he assaulted her. after she received a restraining order against the man, his guns were taken away and he argued that it was a violation of his second amendment right to bear arms. the supreme court ruled against this in an eight to one vote and said the constitution does permit laws that prevent people who are deemed dangerous to own guns from owning guns. for more on this i spoke to crystaljustice, the chief external

helen catt, bbc news.in the bracknell constituency is on screen now, and available on the bbc news website. the mother of a teenager from lancashire who is missing on the spanish island of tenerife has appealed for him to come home. debbie duncan said she has not slept since her nineteen year old son jay slater went missing nearly a week ago. our correspondent, fiona trott, reports from tenerife. a teenager's dream, constant sunshine and a beach full of bars. it was jay's first holiday abroad without parents and this is something every parent fears. now, even teenagers are wary.— even teenagers are wary. literally head on the _ even teenagers are wary. literally head on the news _ even teenagers are wary. literally head on the news the _ even teenagers are wary. literally head on the news the day - even teenagers are wary. literally head on the news the day before l even teenagers are wary. literally l head on the news the day before we came here, and obviously it was a bit shocked and all families are a b

here's our political correspondent helen catt.be looked at. previously a spokesperson for the party has told the bbc it had been contacted by the gambling commission about a small number of individuals and as the gambling commission is an independent body, it wouldn't be properfor the independent body, it wouldn't be proper for the conservative party to comment further until any process is concluded. you are watching bbc news. stay with us, if you can. goodbye for now. hello. the next few days look set to bring the warmest weather of the summer so far. 2a degrees was our top temperature on saturday, but over the next few days, as this warm and rather humid air surges northwards, we can expect higher temperatures than that, perhaps into the high 20s celsius. some good spells of sunshine, but not necessarily clear blue skies all the time. there will be some areas of cloud. indeed, on sunday mornings, some areas of cloud, mist and murk for parts of western england and wales, particularly over some of the hills and around some of the

helen catt, bbc news, westminster.r political reporter, david cornock. david, what more reaction have we had to the story? figs david, what more reaction have we had to the story?— had to the story? as you can imagine. _ had to the story? as you can imagine. it's _ had to the story? as you can imagine, it's something - had to the story? as you can imagine, it's something of. had to the story? as you can imagine, it's something of a| had to the story? as you can - imagine, it's something of a gift to the conservatives, their opponents, the conservatives, their opponents, the liberal democrats and labour and we hear keir starmer say he would have suspended a labour candidate in this position and the liberal democrats want an inquiry by the cabinet office. the conservatives themselves not saying much today other than it has been contacted, the party has been contacted by the gambling commission which regulates gambling and the conservatives say it would be inappropriate to say anything more until the inquiry is concluded.

helen catt, bbc news. be various themes. let's get more on this from our political correspondent jessica parker. good morning to you, jessica. good morning to you, jessica. good morninu. good morning to you, jessica. good morning. interesting _ good morning to you, jessica. good morning. interesting news- good morning to you, jessica. (13mg. morning. interesting news overnight after we had that debate, which you just had a run down there. some news on what we might see in the conservative party's manifesto, conservative pa rty�*s manifesto, which conservative party's manifesto, which we expect to be published in the coming days. of course, those manifestos are those pen to paper set of pledges that people can pour over from the political parties. in this place we understand will be on stamp duty. this is the fact that you stamp duty. this is the fact that w“ pay stamp duty. this is the fact that you pay if you buy a property in england and northern ireland was not what the conservatives are expected to do

to unpick this more is our political correspondent helen catt. let's start with that debate. as you said, it covered a range of topics from health to the economy, immigration, it winning quite a bit of depth, this debate. what was to watch the changing dynamics when there was a similar debate last week on the bbc what we saw were labour and the conservatives really having their own mini debate on one side, along the other parties attacking reform last week. but this week what was really notable was while there were attacks on the conservatives on issues like immigration, the economy and the cost—of—living labour came under a lot more fire. labours angela raynerfrom other parties like the greens, light plaid cymru, like the greens, light plaid cymru, like the greens, light plaid cymru, like the snp on topics like their plans for health care and on their decision not to lift the cap on child benefit the rule is currently that you can have a child benefit paid on more than two children. there is been pressure on labour in the past to say they would change that in their manifesto

here's our political correspondent, helen catt.y that's been rumbling on for most of this week has now come to a sort of conclusion after sir keir starmer said that diane abbott, a very long—serving labour mp, she was the first black woman elected to parliament, is free to stand as a labour mp at this election. she had claimed she was being blocked by the party. so what we're waiting to hear from in the next few days is to hear from diane abbott herself. she hasn't commented publicly since sir keir starmer said this yesterday, so we're waiting to hear from her to confirm if she will indeed do so. the crucial thing, though, is that it is now very clearly her choice, not that of the party. now, labour will be hoping, i think, that that story, that row, has concluded enough that it stops being a distraction from the campaign messages that it's trying to put out. and today we are going to hear from keir starmer on the topic of benefits and employment support. he is going to say that under labour those who can work will work. now those

here's our political correspondent, helen catt. official has denied any wrongdoing. the bbc previously reported. two party candidates and an election official also being looked at. previously a spokesperson for the party has told the bbc it had been contacted by the gambling commission about a small number of individuals and as the gambling commission is an independent body, it wouldn't be proper for the conservative party to comment further until any process is concluded. egypt has stripped 16 travel agencies of their licences for organising illegal hajj pilgrimages. nearly 2 million muslims undertake the journey to mecca annually, but this year, more than 1,000 people have so far reportedly died — many because of searing temperatures of over 50 degrees. it's feared the death toll could be much higher. unregistered pilgrims do not have access to proper facilities such as air conditioned tents and official transport, as caroline hawley reports. a teenager's dream. constant sunshine and a beach in full of bars. it was jay's first ho

helen catt, bbc news.orrespondents on the campaign trail with different political parties. let's start with our political correspondent tom symonds who is on the campaign bus for the conservative�*s. their manifesto is expected to include a pledge on stamp duty. tom, what do you know? what is their assessment of how the campaign last night went for them? i think the issue about d—day is still very much in the forefront of the storytelling of the conservative campaign in the last 2a hours was a really bad day for rishi sunak. there will be views at the top and the bottom of the party about what has happened and the damage that has done to the campaign. we heard from penny mordaunt there about what happened was completely wrong, she said. we went to a rally last night that rishi sunak did at a football club in which year —— in wiltshire. they had to be said that the atmosphere was a little flat. they wanted to show support from local activists and conservative supporters and i don't think he will have lost m

we can cross live to westminster to speak to our political correspondent helen catt. e listening to that interview as we were. did we learn anything new?— interview as we were. did we learn an hinu new? �* ~ ., anything new? don't think we learned an hinu anything new? don't think we learned anything completely _ anything new? don't think we learned anything completely new, _ anything new? don't think we learned anything completely new, no, - anything new? don't think we learned anything completely new, no, and - anything new? don't think we learned anything completely new, no, and i l anything completely new, no, and i think in many ways that was probably sir keir starmer�*s name, because this has been quite a disciplined campaign that we have seen from labour, which, in which they have repeated the same consistent messages. we saw that manifesto earlier this week, that actually there were not any surprises in there, no rabbit out of the hat, as there, no rabbit out of the hat, as the terminology goes, that it was about repeating those consistent pledges, those consis

helen catt, bbc news. we are joined by political correspondent hannah miller.three weeks about tax cuts they plan. the poll that helen mentioned suggesting reform are a percentage point ahead of the conservatives will cause some concern for a number of their candidates. it is one poll and these things are not an exact science and yougov suggest it might be more appropriate to talk about reform and the conservatives as neck and neck. even that is significant, particularly at this point in a campaign. the conservatives did not want reform uk to be playing such a big part throughout this campaign as it appears they are now doing. thank ou. we'll be speaking to the leader of reform uk nigel farage at 7.30 and to rhun ap iorwerth, the leader of plaid cymru at 08.30. both will be on the sofa with us. and nick robinson continues his series of interviews with the party leaders. he'll be joined tonight by labour leader sir keir starmer on panorama at 7.30 on bbc one and iplayer. sub—postmasters in scotland who were wrongly convicted, who were wrongly convicted as part o

government would mean fewer nursery places, and bigger class sizes in many schools. 0ur correspondent helen catthi sunak will be stressing some of the conservatives' education plans, so the policies that we know they've outlined in their manifesto include banning mobile phones during the school day, rolling out 30 hours of free childcare a week to everyone with children over nine—months—old, and other things like working with schools and local authorities to improve school attendance. so they will be pushing those policies. they are also, at the same time, continuing on that tax theme that you heard from susan there, which is one of the messages that they are very keen to keep on pushing home right up until polling day, will be focusing on attacking labour's plans to put vat on independent school fees. again, suggesting that that is going to increase class sizes. labour says it will not. bridget phillipson, the shadow education secretary, has called that desperate nonsense. but both parties are pointing to analysis that was done by the institute for fiscal studies about how many children might l

helen catt with the conservatives, - day. helen catt with the conservatives, thanks i day.aid he joined this group, he had been investigating this sort of area for around three years and he said that gavin plumb's comments on there really did alert him. they said they were not typical of the kind of comments you found on abduct lovers and he felt there was an imminent threat to holly willoughby at that time. he was cross—examined by gavin plumb's barrister and she asked him about one particular area. he said to gavin plumb on some instant messaging, on the app, sorry, dumb question, didn't know if you are looking for help or what. so she suggested that in fact the undercover officer was a first person to suggest that gavin plumb should have the officer help him in his plan. the officer replied, "it was an open—ended question. it was at this point i was trying to understand what his motives were." he was shown a picture of gavin plumb from a video he had sent him on the app and said if he looked significantly overweight. the undercover officer agreed that he did to look over

here's our political correspondent helen catt. familiar faces with familiar pitches. have a real chance to turn the page and have change in britain. good evening, i'm penny mordaunt. i'm going to be talking to you about which of your taxes the conservatives will cut. labour will be trying not to talk about the ones they're going to put up. but reform's nigel farage had a new claim. just before we came on air, we overtook the conservatives in the national opinion polls. we are now the opposition to labour. his claim was based on a poll for yougov, which put them one percentage point ahead of the tories for the first time. psychologically, that is significant, but it is within the margin of error and more polls would be needed to suggest a definite trend. what is clear, though, is that labour is still polling far ahead of both. and in this debate, it was noticeable that angela rayner faced more attacks than previously. angela, which of your party's i u—turns are you most proud of — the ditching of the 28 billion- climate investment plan, keeping the cruel two—child bene

helen catt, lovely to talk to you.ardens in the constituency of rochester and strood. and further north, our political reporter claire hamilton is in the constituency of liverpool riverside this morning. thank you both of you forjoining us. starting with charlotte, what are the key issues for rochester this time? , are the key issues for rochester this time?— this time? rochester is a really interesting _ this time? rochester is a really interesting constituency, - this time? rochester is a really - interesting constituency, rochester and strood is one of three constituencies in medway, an area that the political parties are targeting. i have been out and about speaking to people across medway in the last few days to find out the big issues that matter to them. the one that comes up time and time again, and we have heard it across the country, it is the cost of living. parts of medway have really deprived wards. when you speak to people they say it is a real challenge, the cost of food shopping has gone up and people i

let's speak to our political correspondent helen catt, who's travelling with the labour campaign.are. this is economy week for labour and today the focus - not? they are. this is economy week for labour and today the focus is - for labour and today the focus is very much on small business and the plan for the high streets and the thing is you heard in that report that they really want to highlight is their policy on banking hubs. these are what are setup in some towns when they lose their last bank, this pub is set up where the banks all come together and each go in for one day week and it means they are still accessing basic banking in towns. this does exist already, not a new thing labour has come up with, there are about 50 of them around the country as it stands but what labour are saying is they want to see a lot more of them, they want to see a lot more of them, they want to see 350 of these and they would change the rules and qualifying criteria for them in the hopes that would speed that up. they are pitching that and i say it would be a real boost to the high street. camp

let's speak to our political correspondent helen catt, who's travelling with labour.ts put in. labour are saying they would be £3 of private investment and they say it would create 650,000 jobs. they are calling them a newjobs although it's not clear whether those would be additional as in there would not be additional as in there would not be created in any other way or whether some of them might come from replacementjobs, because labour replacement jobs, because labour have replacementjobs, because labour have also talked about transitioning away from oil and gas over time. has there been any reaction from the labour camp following reform uk's manifesto launch and wanted to make this election about migration and immigration?— this election about migration and immigration? well, yes, of course reform uk — immigration? well, yes, of course reform uk chose _ immigration? well, yes, of course reform uk chose to _ immigration? well, yes, of course reform uk chose to launch - immigration? well, yes, of course reform uk chose to launch their. reform uk chose to launch thei

we can cross now to our political correspondent who is on the conservative campaign bus, helen catt, good to be honest with you. always good to see that on tv. this policy has been announced. kemi badenoch has been announced. kemi badenoch has been doing the rounds this morning. tell us more about what the tories are putting forward. this tell us more about what the tories are putting forward.— are putting forward. as you mentioned, _ are putting forward. as you mentioned, what _ are putting forward. as you mentioned, what they - are putting forward. as you mentioned, what they are i are putting forward. as you - mentioned, what they are proposing is that if they are re—elected, they will amend the equality act to make it clear that the protections that are afforded to people on the basis of sex only apply to biological sex. the equality act legally protect people from discover nation on a number of grounds such as age or race and sex —— from discrimination. they say the definition of sex has evolved. the law hasn't kept up with it, they say, so they want to change it, they say, so t

helen catt is with them.t hasn't had many bright spots for the conservatives but this morning they are feeling pretty buoyant. they think rishi sunak performed well last night. they think he got across some of the key attack lines they want to use on labour, but across some of the key point on things like tax, small boats and immigration. those messages that they really want to keep hammering home between now and polling day, and they think he did a good job of that last night, and i think the expectation is that, when we see rishi sunak later, the expectation is he is still going to be fairly buoyed up by that and they are going to try and repeat those lines to get their message across from now until next thursday. hello, thank you. in the debate, the leaders challenged each other over a number of issues and whether they are telling the truth. a lot of heated exchanges, but let's start with this one. , , ., ., one. the numbers had come down com ared one. the numbers had come down compared with _ one. the num

let's speak to helen catt, who is travelling with the conservative party. day, focusing on attacking labour's plans to put vat on independent school fees, again suggesting that will increase class sizes. labour says it will not, the shadow education secretary bridget phillipson has called but nonsense but the institute for fiscal studies did a study on how many children might leave the private sector as a result i move on to state sector, that figure was priced at between 17000 and a0,000 which the conservatives argue would push up class sizes in the state sector. labour point to the same analysis and say the iff do not think that will be the case because the number of children on school rolls is falling over time. the other thing the conservatives are keen to pick up the conservatives are keen to pick up on today is an interview with bridget phillipson with the sunmy never mind the ballots programme when she was pushed on whether the vat would be put on nursery themes where private schools run nurseries, she said that was not labour's plan but she did not

let's speak to helen catt who is travelling with the conservative party.hated having to do it, said he chose his words deliberately, hated having to repeat them, but it is important to call it out for what it is and be clear what it is. it was clear when he was picky how personally he feels about this. i picky how personally he feels about this. , , ,.,, ., ., �* picky how personally he feels about this. , , ., ., �* ~ ., this. i suppose what we don't know as we are talking _ this. i suppose what we don't know as we are talking now _ this. i suppose what we don't know as we are talking now the - this. i suppose what we don't know as we are talking now the impact . this. i suppose what we don't know| as we are talking now the impact of all of this on voters. what we do know of course over the last few weeks, the tory party has been losing votes to reform, haven't they? losing votes to reform, haven't the ? , , ., ., losing votes to reform, haven't the ? , , . ., losing votes to reform, haven't the? , ,~ ., , they? yes, they have, that has very much been — t

again this i all parties are out again this weekend vying for support. 0ur political correspondent helen cattto expect this weekend. today we are going to hear from keir starmer on the topic of benefits and employment support. he is going to say that, under labour, those who can work will work. now those sound like strong words, but labour is not going to set out the sort of crackdown that we've heard of from the conservatives in recent months — the idea of bringing in more sanctions on people who refuse to look for work. what keir starmer is going to outline instead is a reform to the system. he's going to talk about the creation of a combined national jobs and careers service, and what labour's calling a youth guarantee to get 18—to—21—year—olds into training and employment. they say that by getting more people into work, that'll bring the benefits bill down. the conservatives will be announcing 30 towns that they would extend an existing government fund to if they win the election — a government scheme. these towns would get £20 million each for long—term projects to improve things like hi

let's speak to our correspondent helen catt who's on the conservative campaign bus.ters can see their record over the past 14 years? immigration is a political problem for the conservatives, regardless of what you think of the pros or cons of immigration is an issue, the conservatives have promised that successive elections they will get the numbers down and we have seen a large rise, the highest ever level, a couple of years ago in 2022. that had started to fall in the last year but after promising to bring it down over successive elections there is quite clearly a political issue which has been brought into sharp focus by nigel farage who will become the leader of reform, they will be pushing very hard on this issue with immigration in particular. what the conservatives have announced as they would introduce an annual cap set by parliament, voted on by mps, and they would give the responsibility for deciding the number for worker and family visas, people coming here to work or to be with their spouse, fiance, child or parents, a cap would be placed on that, the num

let's speak to our political correspondent, helen catt. let's ta ke let's take a look at the debateseam have been fact checking. there was a lot in there tonight. i like to keep the fact checkers busy. we have been going through statistics and figures to figure out what is right and what does not. let's start with this. the big claim that has dominated the week. let's just start with that one. you mentioned this big row reigniting over whether labor would put up tax by £2,000. it's a row that's dominated the week several times. penny mordaunt said it again, but we've looked at this a lot in great detail. the figure that penny martin's using is misleading. it's not clear it's over four years and the figures behind it are dubious. like the conservatives, labour's promise not to increase income tax, national insurance or vat during the next parliament. so although the conservatives are keen to keep it going, that row, it thatis keen to keep it going, that row, it that is worth bearing in mind. let's look next at the row over cuts. you heard stephen flynn from the snp say several times t

let's speak to our political correspondent helen catt who's travelling with the labour campaign todaymitted to rebuilding our nhs _ government committed to rebuilding our nhs and making it fit both of heriar~ _ our nhs and making it fit both of herjar. imagine labour government her jar. imagine labour government committing herjar. imagine labour government committing to public services and making _ committing to public services and making sure they're delivering. imagine — making sure they're delivering. imagine a — making sure they're delivering. imagine a labour government prepared to set— imagine a labour government prepared to set a _ imagine a labour government prepared to set a great british energy, a publicly— to set a great british energy, a publicly owned energy company generating renewals to keep energy bill downs for good, creating the 'obs bill downs for good, creating the jobs of— bill downs for good, creating the jobs of the future. a magical labour government committed to the infrastructure bill that we need. the roads. _ infrastructure bill that we need. the roads, the