so if you voted remain, and labour's m essa 9 es if you voted remain, and labour's messages muddled,te will go to the lib dems. they're probably thinking they don't need to do gales with other parties, because they are a party with a clear message and they might be able to gain back some ground. if you look at some of the seats a loss to the conservatives, they will hope to win those back on the same issue.|j conservatives, they will hope to win those back on the same issue. i know we will top more in the cause of the morning. thanks very much for that. a record number of runners are expected to take part in the london marathon today. this is the scene live at greenwich park in south london where the main race has just got underway. they just got started theyjust got started eight minutes ago. there are the royals. they fired the starting button for the race, because their charity is being supported by this year's campaign. the heads together charity which is to encourage people to take mental health problems were seriously. live now to our correspondent — dan johnson — who is in gre

labour is pleasing neither levers nor remainers. they have to come down on one side or the other. shadow foreign secretary saying to the bbc labour has not decided which side of the fence it is an in terms of brexit. pollsters are watching this group of voters who they are describing as i am normally labour but. unfortunately for labour people in both the leave group and the remain group are not supporting labour. it is not clear to the voters because they say they want to safeguard the good things about the eu like workers' rights which are very important to labour voters, but actually, they will not go against the results of the referendum. i am not massively wiser tonight about which side of the fence they have decided to come down on. it does talk about labour wants to safeguard the rights of eu nationals living in the rights of eu nationals living in the uk. it says that as miranda was saying, they accept the referendum results, but they want to safeguard workers' rights. there is no mention on the front of the paper about immigration. it does still seem a little bit muddled.

philip hammond defended the decision to back the date, and attacked labour, saying the party remainedaker, as you know, the prime minister has called for a general election. she has broken her commitment to not hold an early election, made only weeks ago. she has blamed brexit, blamed our european neighbours, blamed the parties on these benches, but the real truth is that after seven wasted yea rs real truth is that after seven wasted years under the tories, they have failed to close the deficit. they've added £700 billion to the national debt. a is falling behind prices. 4 million children are growing up in poverty. our schools are in crisis. more people than ever on an nhs waiting list. more elderly people not getting the care they need. will the chancellor used this last opportunity before the election to apologise to the british people for the other failure of this government's economic policies, and for the pain he has inflicted on this country? mr speaker, the honourable gentleman has some brass neck to stand there and accuse us of having failed to eliminate the deficit, when hi

elsewhere, however, the labour position remained slightly more nuanced. until2022. —— britain whereby written might not leave the eu until 2022. —— britain might not leave. he did however say that label the first day it came into power would guarantee the rights of eu nationals to remain in the uk —— labour on the first day. if theresa may gets another five years in power, she will take it as a green light to sideline parliament, ignore opposition, and drive through a reckless tory brexit. a rigid brexit. she will isolate us from our nearest partners. and strike trade deals with any country that will talk to us, no matter what the consequences for workers' rights, environmental protections or our place in the world. the only way to stop that and to build a fairer britain is to elect a labour government. there remain uncertainties, questions still out there. what would labour in visit instead of freedom of movement? how would the party insurer retaining the benefits of the single market? what would happen if mps blocked a final exit he'll? it will be those

clearly looked at the majority that she could easily get if the margins between her and the labour party remain0 points ahead in the polls and that is good. this early opportunity for an election the chance to have a stronger majority in westminster so that when she negotiates brexit, as she wants to, withjean—claude negotiates brexit, as she wants to, with jean—claude juncker and donald tusk, she will have a stronger hand. is there a risk for the prime minister that this hand is the liberal democrats their opportunity to say, right, we're going to rerun the brexit debate? i don't think so. most polls say that irrespective of whether people voted remain or not, 110w whether people voted remain or not, now the british public have decided bya margin now the british public have decided by a margin of well over 1 now the british public have decided by a margin of well over1 million to leave the european union, they accept it. tim farron has never accepted that. he did not want one referendum and now all of a sudden he wants a couple. it would actually diminish the strength of the prime minister in

but many of them have labour mps who backed remain.wants to attract some of the four million voters who backed ukip last time. general election campaigns can be unpredictable and just two years after the last one, voters must decide again whether there will be dramatic changes to the electoral map of britain. let's get some more reaction to today's news about an early general election. our europe editor, katya adler, is in paris tonight, but first let's speak to our business editor, simonjack, who's in the city this evening. what is your reading of the way that the markets reacted to the news today? well, this may be a political gamble but the folks who make bets in the offices behind me like theresa may's odds in this one. you saw the pound strengthen, they think the economy is doing well, unemployment rate is low and average earnings are going up a bit more than the cost of living and crucial to understanding the timing of this, thatis to understanding the timing of this, that is not expected to last for long, so get this done before

were now been told labour's policy remains the same and will be no policy change in the manifesto commitmenttment to a second referendum. bcp want to hold the government to account and they want to avoid theresa may leaving without a deal or one which would try to undercut the continent. they will not take that parliamentary opposition back to the country. it would have played into theresa may's hands. theresa may would've been able to portray labour as trying to sabotage that. she was effectively getting on with the job today, buoyed up by him sing to her he welcomed the election because they could have some stability in dealing with the same british ministers throughout the negotiating process. a handful of mps have said the are not going to contest their seats at this election, including today douglas carswell. what has the reaction been to that? that is right. he was the only mp for ukip for a while. recently he became an independent. he is now standing down as mpfor independent. he is now standing down as mp for clacton, saying he will back the conservatives at this election. some peopl

when you look at how votes broke down in the referendum, i think around seven in ten labour voters actually voted remainut for in mr corbyn's speech is brexit — will he actually mention that word? at rallies and interviews he's done so far, he has kind of swerved around mentioning brexit, because he knows the labour, they‘ re mentioning brexit, because he knows the labour, they're like a punch bag when it comes to brexit. for their remain supporters, they take the view that mr corbyn really hasn't done enough to put up a fight against mrs may's version of brexit. and four brexit supporting labour folk, they take the view that mr corbyn seems a bit lukewarm on brexit — so, they're getting it from both sides on brexit. for that reason, they risk losing some of their remain supporters to the liberal democrats and some of their brexit supporters to the conservatives. and one interesting thing which mr corbyn might get arrest on today is the suggestion that maybe labour are going to have to come up with some kind of offer on brexit. they can'tjust stand there taking the blows on brexit come they're going to

so the labour mps are out there fighting i think a local campaign is exactly how they will do it. the ones in the remaining easier than those in the probe brexit seats. but yes, i have to tell you not many labour mps were happy today. one party that wanted this was the liberal democrats. the party going out they're being the pro—labour party as a poster of all the other brexiteers. how much could they capitalise from this? they have nine seats so the only way is up. most people in the party i think would hope to get to 20 or more, the middling range they had in the late 19805 middling range they had in the late 1980s and early 1990s. but some people will be dreaming that if the labourcampaign people will be dreaming that if the labour campaign implodes and jeremy corbyn is exposed as as bad as they hope he is, it is possible that they could do better than that. and in university towns and some inner cities they will be taking seats from the labour party and perhaps some from the tories as well in the south of england. theresa may said she wanted stability, obviously she also wants to increase majority. how

labour mpds. because some of them voted remain and some of them are in brexit constituencies. our, when you look at those three parties first in england, that are going to have the biggest challenge on the doorstep. then of course, you look at the snp? scotland, who are very much the commanding voice in scotla nd much the commanding voice in scotland with 59 seats. they will be campaigning on independence, you would expect. certainly the independence idea will come into the campaign, perhaps the other parties will want to bring that into the debate as well. yes all the different parties voting on different parties voting on different issues. we've got a question from rohit in india, is the fa ct question from rohit in india, is the fact the prime minister is calling this election evidence that she's failed to build a good enough consensus for her programme? no, for me, as you said, two weeks ago, before the recess, she was saying she didn't want an election. then she didn't want an election. then she went walking in the welsh hills and somehow changed her mind. three things wil

neighbour is an attack on the hard brexit of the government and saying labour is determined to protectjobs and working right. but it remainshorn in their side as it will for the conservatives all the way through this election campaign i think. presumably the test will be how much we now see labour united around this message. what is your anticipation on that specifically?” think there will be pressured to to do that, the party has got to look united even if it is not. and so keir starmer will be preparing for what happens after the likely conservative victory. where probably there will be a labour leadership contest. keir starmer is going to be potentially a front runner in that somehow he handles the issue is important not just for the somehow he handles the issue is important notjust for the labour but also for him personally. thank you very much. donors at a conference in geneva have pledged nearly $1.1 billion — that‘s £857 million — to yemen to help relieve what the un is calling the "world‘s largest humanitarian crisis". the united nations had previously asked for more than $2 billion, as aid groups warn the country

labour. remember, most of their mps were on the remain side. their leader, lukewarm about the whole thing.at they have to do at the start of the campaign is try to solve that headache. today they went some way towards doing that. there was a very clear guarantee for eu nationals who've come to live in this country. they we re come to live in this country. they were clearer on freedom of movement. but one of the problems i think they still have is it is a deliberate pa rt still have is it is a deliberate part of their approach to leave some options on the table. that may be sensible. that may well appeal to lots and lots of voters, but by leaving some options on the table, like potentially some form of continued membership of the single market in one form or other, that still leaves them open to accusations from their political rivals that they're somehow kind of fudging the issue, they somehow aren't clear and to boot, that they don't quite agree amongst themselves. so i think they've got some distance down to provide a dividing line between the labour and tea party on their —— tory party

on brexit that is the dominant issue and for labour it is difficult because they have some of the most pro—remainives, and now we're seeing the leavers go from ukip and remain is going to labour and labour is being squeezed remorselessly. we asked you to pick three bullet points from the campaign. george these are yours on the screen. the conservatives attacking jeremy corbyn with how they have done that. tory mp‘s leaving the pro—leave group. pick the first one out, the matter that the conservatives are using to have a gojeremy corbyn, what do you think of the? they put out a 23 second video of past remarksjeremy out a 23 second video of past remarks jeremy corbyn out a 23 second video of past remarksjeremy corbyn had made saying nato should be abolished, i would like to scrap trident so it'd be nice if britain like costa rica didn't have an army and it was a remarkably efficiently delivered video. they quoted him on his own words and even labour supporters will look at that and think that hurts, what is our equivalent on theresa may and we have know from long time that the conservatives have so

yet if you look at their voters still with labour, they are still very strongly pro—remain. rters it has retained whilst putting itself back in touch with these communities, many of which it seems to have become distant from and faces losing a significant number of n—vidia the election. —— on the day of the election. as we've seen, at the start of the first full week of campaigning, the labour leader is positioning his party as the party to stand up for working people. in the next few weeks, each of the other parties will have to carve out their own positions as they appeal for votes. we'll get some idea when their manifestos are published but as our political editor laura kuenssberg reports, electoral strategy is about more than just words on a pamphlet. putting his name to long, deeply—held principles, or signing labour's chances away? sign away the trade union act, all right? jeremy corbyn is not for changing. not on nuclear weapons, despite his party's official support for trident nor staunch backing for trade unions around the country. you are our dna. you are out family

remain. it is interesting. the bulwark of labour in the valleys in the old south wales coalfield. that was a strong the old south wales coalfield. that was a strong area the old south wales coalfield. that was a strong area for leaving the european union before brexit. but regardless of how bad their evening will be at the general election, they are safe in this place is at least because there are such stonking majorities in those parts of wales, they should be fine. it will be in other areas that labour has an extremely small majority. seats like the one on the isle of anglesey where the majority is tiny. will it be plaid cymru or the conservatives who have held the seat before7 conservatives who have held the seat before? they have both felt it before. there are leadership points and this is notjust something that comes out of academic seminars. it talks out ofjust sitting in the pub in various places around wales. people are uncertain about the kind of leadership thatjeremy corbyn can offer. they liked some of his policies but it

remain. it means labour because of how dominant they have been.are out of step with the population in wales may lead people to think, is it the conservatives that they have have the answers here? the agricultural centre —— sector in wales is dependent on eu funds. we have received a lot of structural funding. funds. we have received a lot of structuralfunding. people funds. we have received a lot of structural funding. people are looking for a clear answers. at the moment it certainly seems that people are starting to think it is the conservatives and theresa may that offer these answers. jack, thank you very much indeed. labour said they would prioritise jobs. we have a very different version. a vision about how brexit can work for britain and the eu. and at its heart is a belief that we need to build a close collaborative future relationship with the eu, a changed relationship, but a relationship and a collaborative future relationship. not members, of course, but genuine partners going forward. wherejobs, the economy, and retaining the benefits

since the eu referendum, support for the labour party across britain as a whole has fallen but in part, because some remaincause they like them, like their more robust defence of membership —— the liberal democrats. the continuing division inside of the labour party, and the fact that jeremy corbyn is, frankly, unpopular. this is the continuing fallout from the independence referendum in september 2014, where the snp had more recently how the conservatives north of the border are getting the support of people who used to vote labour and want to stay inside of the uk. north of the border, labour are squeezed by the constitutional question and south, internal divisions, dislike ofjeremy corbyn and some remain voters switching away from labour. these are local elections and you've already given all of the caveats around polling but if the picture that the polls are indicating in terms of swing from labour to the conservatives we re from labour to the conservatives were to be replicated in an election, there was talk of a snap and action which will not happen on the 4th of may. —— snap election. what would it

remainers. that clarification from the labour party on trident dropped at about three minutes to one. they wanted to get this cleared up before it turned into a story with its own momentum, not least before its own momentum, not least before it appeared on the front pages. its own momentum, not least before it appeared on the front pagesm was already picking up speed because this issue is such a difficult one for the labour party. they have been divided on it. the official position has been that it is in favour of renewing trident, butjeremy corbyn, the party leader, has made no secret of the fact that he doesn't particularly wa nt of the fact that he doesn't particularly want trident to be renewed, that he thinks it shouldn't be labour policy. the labour party last year voted on this, labour mps decided that they wanted to push ahead with trident. the fact that jeremy corbyn when asked about it earlier run on the andrew marr show, that he didn't commit to it, he said the manifesto was still in the writing stages, that they haven't got around to that yet, and that he couldn't give con

remain. there will be places like richmond and sussex, where labour voters lent to the lib dems will again.f a soft tory vote, where when the election campaign goes on and receive the relentless nature of it, they may decide they are remain first and tory second. it'll be better than they had, but it's not huge. the impact will be dwarfed by those who switch from labour to the conservatives. in northern ireland, there's the debate over the border with the republic of ireland and the snp are desperately wanting another referendum. will this create extra problems for the british government? this will be the great crack. this will be the time when they say, theresa may, helped by david cameron's appalling judgment on the referendum, cracked apart the united kingdom. i think it will be all over. i think the scots will be gone after the next referendum or the one after that. in northern ireland, it's very frightening about weather we go back to the bad old times. it's been quite cavalier of the entire brexit campaign not to consider the united kingdom. i'm far more optimistic. i don't think we w

be deaf.s could just down in other places, the liberals will be labour in a remain constituencies.nk we are facing enormous issues. a lot of this will please theresa may, a lot of this will please liberals, and maybe it pleases greens. mark: this week, there has been great debate about what a large majority means with regards to brexit. some have suggested it means we are stuck with the hard version. some say maybe with her own mandate, she can compromise more . maybe it is a less hard brexit. i am not going to be soft. less hard. -- a newactually mandate from the country, and -- she 60 a good mandate will be able to put the real hard brexiteers back in the box. i think business -- we are talking business, here. i think business would like that. issue, and that is a lot of sloganeering here -- you hear the liberals go on about, we want a soft brexit. we must stay in the single market, they say. well, the single market -- the word single market, i don't know anybody in britain who would not like to stay in the single market. i do not know any business that would like to stay in the

it's been really interesting, since the vote last year, when plaid cymru and labour campaigned hard for a remainat surprised when wales voted to leave. narrowly, but it was a leave of vote. they tried to interpret that vote. they tried to interpret that vote as wanting a relationship with the eu which is a so—called soft brexit. i think that theresa may's approach is to try and speak past that, and say, well, the labour party in particular is trying to ta ke party in particular is trying to take the welsh voters for granted. it is business as usual and they ignore the way that they voted last year. she is going to speak directly to voters in wales to make that connection between the discontent that must have sparked the brexit vote in wales last year, and how she can give voice to that, in looking beyond the membership of the eu to a different future for the uk. what role, if any, different future for the uk. what role, ifany, did different future for the uk. what role, if any, did the lib dems had to play in the coming weeks? they have got one seat in wales, in carried again, and they will targ

in wales, the labour party and plied camry have both made a big deal about the need to remain in theve spoken about companies moving from wales to other eu countries if we are out of the single market. bridgend ford is not too far away from us here. when you met goldman sachs last may, you made some comments to the workers there that would indicate that you agreed with these comments made by labour and macro to. what has changed your mind? i campaigned for remain and made no bones about that. i spoke about the balance decision but i also said this guy would not come in if we voted this come out of the european union. we need to make sure we make a successor brags about take the opportunities for the future as they come. as a result of brexit. in terms of the single market i have been clear, i laid it out in my speech injanuary, been clear, i laid it out in my speech in january, it been clear, i laid it out in my speech injanuary, it was been clear, i laid it out in my speech in january, it was an been clear, i laid it out in my speech injanuary, it was an hour wait paper, it was in t

brexit of course is a huge issue in this election and labour's new plan will be looked at with interest in scotland, where the majority voted remain labour have been outlining, at least keir starmer has been outlining on their behalf, more details of its brexit policy even though behalf, more details of its brexit policy even thoutheremy corbyn has not chosen to focus on it. we've heard very little from jeremy corbyn but there is an awareness in labour circles that they need to clear the decks and brexit circles to get a hearing on other policies. the tories have already piled into circular star over his speech, saying it is more chaos and incoherence. what do the snp make of it? i'm joined by incoherence. what do the snp make of it? i'mjoined by tommy incoherence. what do the snp make of it? i'm joined by tommy shepherd. what you take from the speech? you have to feel sorry for him in one sense. he's trying to put a united front on a party that is split down the middle on this issue as on so many others. it raises two questions, what is what he didn't say. the snp have fought a hard brexit since last year and part of thatis brexi

amanda solloway is conservative mp for derby north with a majority ofjust a1 over labour at the last election. she voted remain your majority! i have to say when i woke up majority! i have to say when i woke up this morning i was not expecting there to be the announcement. but now that i've heard it am incredibly excited. i think putting my majority aside we have to think of what is right for the country and i think this is a great opportunity for us to take, to go forward. you voted remain in an area that voted by and large to leave. that is going to complicate things is it not and in that regard putting your a1 seat, a1 vote majority to one side will be difficult. i fought and i thought long and hard whether to go for remain leave and in the end i went for remain. 57% of people in derbyshire voted to leave. but actually now that we have voted to leave, i was fully committed to it, i believe it was the right thing to do, incredibly excited. i've been speaking to businesses in derby who are looking at the opportunities this would afford us. and now this will back that up so i am excited about the opportunity i

labour's brexit vision? we have got brexit. i campaign for remain.it vision? we don't want a brexit deal that means a race to the bottom where people's rights at work are dilutive, where approach to international trade and attracting investment is to become a sort of bargain basement economy with low levels of corporation tax. that kind of approach to corporation tax i don't believe is in the interest of public service is. where will theresa may pick up these new seats if she wants to increase the conservatives' working majority? he is right, you should never take any he is right, you should never take a ny vote he is right, you should never take any vote for granted but it is the case that across the country you see many people who voted leave in the referendum, whatever their previous allegiance, who want a strong prime minister, and other people who do not regard themselves as this or that tribally who also want a strong leader and in a general election where leadership will be important theresa may is well—placed to attract support from a range o

a week labour party definitely benefits liberal democrats. the remain support brexit and doing it relu cta ntly. to support brexit and doing it reluctantly. this is good news for liberal democrats, but what is crucial is, can the liberal democrats solidified that support in concentration? we will not see liberal democrat mps winning seats onjune liberal democrat mps winning seats on june the 8th liberal democrat mps winning seats onjune the 8th unless that support is really concentrated in those areas of the country, the south and south—west and some parts of south london, where they would seek to be making gains on the tories. i would imagine we might see a higher boost in liberal democrat vote share and popular support which doesn't necessarily deliver in terms of liberal democrat mps. clear from may said this liberal democrat mps. clearfrom may said this morning and yesterday, she is penning this election on brexit, that all that matters is the negotiations in getting a fair dealfor matters is the negotiations in getting a fair deal for britain. matt

representing labour for office or representing labour for two years for comments he made about adolf hitler and zionism. he served a year of the suspension and remainsur + deputy leader tom watson called the party decision not to expel ken livingstone as incomprehensible and said labour was indulging ken livingstone with an outcome that he said shames us all. i feel ashamed that once again my party has been dragged into a row about anti—semitism and the weekend livingstone has handled this inquiry, he has showed no contrition, not apologised, inquiry, he has showed no contrition, notapologised, he inquiry, he has showed no contrition, not apologised, he seems to be drunk on his infamy, he has caused offence to thejewish community and members of the labour party who have been fighting against racism and it is unacceptable. the shadow brexit secretary insisted ken livingstone should have been expelled. labour has rightly got easier or poland debt, —— a zero tolerance policy. he should have been expelled brother than suspended. the latest development on this, the statement from the labour leaderjeremy corbyn, what did you make of that? a very positive

remain. we have a coalition of chaos. conservatives, labour and ukip.p. all lined up backing the hardest of all wrecks it is, exit from the single market and cutting of ties from our friends and neighbours in europe. even among unusually mild mannered lib dems, there were heckles today over questions about gay rights. like politics in this campaign? maybe not in 2017. it is still a scrabble for all the main parties to get their machines up and running. no one's campaign is running at full pelt. the strategies? those are crystal clear. a 21 year—old man is being questioned by police after a former royal navy officer died tackling burglars outside his home in manchester. mike samwell, who was 35, is thought to have been run over by his own car which was stolen in the early hours of yesterday morning. danny savage is in the manchester suburb of chorlton where it happened. danny.,, more than 36 hours after samwell; received fatal injuries. police say they are seeking a few more suspects in connection with what happened here. it is the circumstances of the e

labour mps? you will see across the country a reality, that dividing line between areas that 40 brexit and remainonservative voting lines. you will see a degree of anarchy since the tories sought ahead of the 1997 election regarding europe. you don't want this to be a pi’oxy europe. you don't want this to be a proxy vote on who is going to be the prime minister. you want to vote for your favoured candidate. if you are labour candidate, you should be saying that we know who is likely going to win the election, so make sure you have a strong member of parliament and there is an effective opposition in parliament. that is effectively the best pitch that candidates for labour can make up and down the country. how many of the labour mps are in the difficult position of having voted differently to their constituents regarding europe? there are a number in that position. on the conservative side, there has been a fantastic degree of discipline in terms of only ken clarke rebelling over the article 50 bill, despite previous positions. labour has a different challenge because it faces the pincer movement

there is of course the prominent laxity, the labour mp, and farren is targeting places with heavily remainthe last referendum injune and says he believes the lib dems can take some of the seats of labour. let's go to our chief political correspondent. what did you make of what he had to say? you can see why the liberal democrats are doing this. they are very much the pro—eu, pro—european party. the problem is the strategy though, there are not that many seats are up against labour or labour mps, who voted to leave. the real heartland is in the south—west of england, an area which voted to leave the eu. that could cause them problems. they are very confident they will do better than last time around. that's not hard. the almost wiped out and went down to eight mps, they have a by—election win in richmond—upon—thames where they campaigned as the pro—eu party, but they say there are very many millions of people out there who, even though they might think we are leaving the eu, the think the uk should be in the single market. he also talked about a credible opposition. the argument, very simil

labour. the yet to form a hard position on it and it is difficult for them because the referendum did split their heartlands down the middle. if you remember the remaining border control, control of our money, control, control of our money, control of laws, these are things, even though she backed remain at the time of the referendum, she was in her cabinet and it was her responsibility she felt, but since then she has had a clear line on brexit means brexit. here is what i will do. of course she is pushing for that campaign message. jeremy corbyn says it is not a foregone conclusion. he can say he has been written off before and come through. he has. all he has a very strong, ha rd core he has. all he has a very strong, hard core support in the labour party who will never vote for anybody else and he has and he has done well with the labour movement, but they are never going to vote for another party. that is the qualifier at would prefer that. the more theresa may can run a campaign which focuses on jeremy theresa may can run a campaign which focuses onjeremy corbyn himself and his personality, his grip of the issues, his perceived competence going fo

remain voters. but as i say the labour party is split on the issue.r whether voter trust in her will be damaged given she said repeatedly there would be no general election before 2020. for all of us westminster watchers, they might question that. and feel a bit annoyed. i think the general public, people think if you're going to call a snap election, you must keep it yourself and the element of surprise is part of the strategic advantage you have a prime minister.” is part of the strategic advantage you have a prime minister. i do not think people will be that upset about her calling an election after saying she would not call one. what i thought was a bit risky, was to tiger winning the election, the tories winning, to the national cause quite as tightly as she did. to me it felt like maybe she was going a bit too far to say basically if you are a patriot you have got to back me. back the tories. if you wa nt back me. back the tories. if you want brexit to go well you have got to back the tories. that method should absolutely be implicit in what the

it does, labour certainly with their plan of tearing up certainly with their plan of tearing up what the tories said. i was a strong remain person, but it is not helpful for the country to be all over the place. but then we come together, after the election. we are... we up putting the wind of negotiation, we are making it a lot smaller —— we are. the people we are negotiating against, or with, what are we telling them? it is so clear that we are all over the place. this is not easy for labour, because in many of their constituencies, people are pro— brexit. we have to safeguard workers rights and... this is more about the negotiations, with the conservatives. it is all or nothing, we are still planning. some of the policies on the table go against the grain of those who voted for rape brexit. absolutely. so, we need to... it was a margin of about 296 in need to... it was a margin of about 2% in favour of wrecks that. —— brexit. people may not have thought through the ramifications. this could be another official referendum? i do not think that, but... when you look at how labour is faring in the polls, itjust confuses pe

secretary, sir keir starmer, said a labour government would immediately guarantee the rights of eu citizens already in the uk. it would retain the option of remaining in the eu customs union subject to some reforms. and eu nationals would still be allowed to move to the uk if they had a guaranteed job offer. it's being presented as a significant clarification of labour's policy, as our deputy political editor john pienaar reports. this is where the election‘s being decided, not in political meetings, but on the streets, in the homes and in the heads of voters. we're choosing a path for britain after brexit, and on this nation—dividing issue, labour's taking a gamble that will win some voters and maybe lose a lot of others. here in barking, in a lot of places where people voted labour and then chose to leave the eu. today labour's out to show it's more pro—europe, more open to compromise than theresa may's tories from the start. eu nationals here would keep their rights, no ifs, no buts. on day one of a labour government, we will immediately guarantee that all eu nationals, currently living in the uk, will see no change in their legal status as a re

united and solid conservative party behind her, a labour party incapable of providing opposition, and with a country, including those who voted remain solidly convinced that we now have to proceed with our departure. pretty solidly convinced that we now more than that, she also has the good will of a variety of international partners outside the european union as well. so of course in these negotiations there will be give and take, but i think it's important not to underestimate the strength of the position the prime minister is in. how prepared are they to negotiate with the other 27? angela merkel has been adamant on separating the process first. first we talk about the divorce, and that is mainly the status of eu citizens in the uk and on the continent, but it is also about the money. somebody in berlin said to me this week, it's a question of trust. the british prime minister will have to give something very substantial in the beginning, and i wonder when you say she is strong domestically, but she will get a lot of grief about that. this did for yourformer boss, david cameron, because he got his renegotiation, and everybody sai

he remains a labour party member, he is banned from holding office or representing the party in any waynyone is upset by what i said then of course i'm sorry but i'm not going to apologise for something i didn't say. i did not say hitler was a zionist. you said he supported zionism in the 1930s, do you apologise for saying that?” zionism in the 1930s, do you apologise for saying that? i got a jewish newspaper here with an article saying what i said was true, if you would like me to read it out i will. you have offended portions of the jewish community, i will. you have offended portions of thejewish community, would you apologise to them ? of thejewish community, would you apologise to them? if i offended theml apologise to them? if i offended them i would but get them to check what i said. there's this cure a situation where he is unrepentant but for the party that just prolongs the agony —— curious situation. but for the party that just prolongs the agony -- curious situation. the reaction last night was pretty strong from some elements in the party. some labour mps said the idea of s

in favor of remaining were turning back all of this, at the moment that is not the case and the labour party is not in a position to put up any kind of opposition. the only person speaking out is -- he doesn't have a power base. and tony blair, who nobody listens to anymore. politicians we have at the moment who are providing opposition. that would have to change. of course, it would change if the economy started going down the tube. and if the negotiations started .o look disastrous then, there would be an opening for another referendum. melinda: certainly, amongst the potential political costs are renewed tensions in northern ireland and between scotland. a majority of scots voted to remain in the european union and they do not like where things are headed. one day beforere the governmenet handed o over his letter startig a process of withdrawal, the scottish parliament voted to give nicola sturgeon the authority to begin negotiations on leaving the u.k. prompting cheers from many. she wants to hold a second referendum on scottish independence. theresa may has tried to convince her n

remain. they're promising a second referendum on the final brexit deal. we have, if you like, a coalition of chaos. conservatives, labourll brexits, exit from the single market, cutting off all our ties with our friends and neighbours in europe. yet even among usually mild mannered lib dems, there were heckles today, as tim farron faced questions about gay rights. it's fair to say that i've answered the question. polite politics in this campaign? maybe not in 2017. it's still a scramble for all the main parties to get their machines up and running. no—one‘s campaign is yet running at full pelt, but the broad thrust of having one to get you on board, their strategies, well, those are crystal clear. laura kuenssberg, bbc news vauxhall. the major ukip donor, aaron banks, says he won't stand as an mp in the general election. he'd previously suggested he would contest the seat of clacton, after the mp, douglas carswell, left ukip to sit as an independent. he said he made the decision not to stand after meeting ukip councillors in the constituency and will now supportjeff bray. a 21 year—old man is being questioned by police,

they‘re both labour seats which have had high numbers of people voting for remain in the european referendum here today to make the point that in this election labour will lose dozens and dozens of seats and he said here that, in his opinion, that the only threat that‘s posed to the tories is a threat posed by the liberal democrats the only route through which theresa may has a single thing to be afraid thatis may has a single thing to be afraid that is by the liberal democrats. she has every reason to be afraid of the liberal democrats because we will stand very clearly on a passionate platform on being in favour, and being a united country where everyone is equal and the ability to make their own choices and decide their ring future, not locked into a hard brexit insular doctorate, as if written by nigel farage. —— their ring future. of course, this seat of manchester gorton was due to be part of a by—election but since the general election was called that has changed. the liberal democrats have come here today and made the point that they are fighting fit and raised half £1 million in the

on the opinion polls, the snp remains the first place party in scotland with the conservatives in second and labour yet to formally respond. she will relish the opportunity, the chance of an early general election in scotland. you mentioned the scottish labour leader, kezia dugdale, he says the party is ready and has been preparing for a general election. she says that labour in scotland. the process of selecting candidates this afternoon. in terms of a countdown, peter murrell, the chief executive of the snp the husband of the first minister nicola sturgeon, has tweeted saying the polls open in 50 days and hours. thank you very much. we're right backin thank you very much. we're right back in it, to make years after the last general election, headed for another one. so what do you think? if you want to get in touch on twitter, @bbcjoannag. anders says, it makes sense to me. the lib dem search is less, and labour are weakened. another viewer says, the conservatives want to rid parliament of opposition. anna says, completely unnecessary, we voted to make years ago and theresa may was part of that. s

remain area. this is a very big brexit area. this is a very big brexit area. stoke—on—trent central. it was area. stoke—on—trent central. it was a labourtall. the dark spot for them was copland. this was the first time a sitting government had won a by—election since 198a, and labour had represented that seat for more than 80 years. a big pro brexit area went to brexit. there are things all the parties will have to bear in mind. they will look at that brexit map for clues. there are other things they will have to think about. voter fatigue. we have had three uk wide elections in three years. there have been elections in scotland, northern ireland and wales, three in northern ireland and wales, three in northern ireland in little over a year. then they will have to think about how they will have to think about how the population splits. there are very differing views among different age groups. young people, you can see in blue, went for a remain. older people in red went for a leave. however these groups of people going to vote in a new general election? we don't know. they may be some clues in that for all the parties. what are people

here in the uk: labour has set out its plans for brexit, saying eu nationals living in britain would be guaranteed the right to stay. the party would also retain the option of remainingcustoms union. now on bbc news, all the latest business news live from singapore. the bank of japan the bank ofjapan meets, as things go from bad to worse for corporate japan. we discussed the problems, and what needs to be done. and the of south korea's election, we hear from whistleblowers in the culture of corruption which roared down the president. it is wednesday. good morning, asia, hello, world. glad you could join us for asia business report. i am you could join us for asia business report. iam rico you could join us for asia business report. i am rico hizon. you could join us for asia business report. iam rico hizon. we you could join us for asia business report. i am rico hizon. we start with japan, and companies there are making headlines for all the wrong reasons. fuji has delayed its most recent earnings report after discovering accounting is regularities, and toshiba is restructuring its business after the colla pse restructuring its business after the collapse of its nuc

grouping is launching its campaign now to give support for the most pro—remain—macro candidate standing, do you accept that might not be a labourrent parties. in that sense what you're saying is that in some constituencies it might be better to park your vote with the liberal democrats than for labour? that is for people to decide, we are not telling people how to vote. if you want to know how i would vote, i would be supporting the labour candidate. the point is not to tell people how to vote, it would be to advise them and help them to make the most effective intervention in constituencies around the country that can make a difference that is what democracy is all about. what is the labour position on brexit now? search me! i think you need to wait for the manifesto. the problem for the labour party in the selection on brexit is very clear and that is that they are not i am afraid differentiating between their position and policy sufficiently from the government or have not done up until now. they needed to do that if they were going to offer the voters a clear choice but i hope that that will come out in the wash and i hope