tom symonds, bbc news, westminster.crats have both promised to invest billions of pounds more in education if they win the election. labour is promising an extra £81; billion by 2022 in england, that's at least four times more than the lib dems. but both say they'd pay for it by significantly raising business taxes. the conservatives say school funding has already reached record levels and accused their rivals of made up promises. our education editor bra nwen jeffreys reports. we're going to take lots of measurements of how long it takes for the sound to get to us. measuring the speed of sound in cambridge. today a lesson in politics as well as science — news travelling of money for education. at a college in leeds it was all about lifelong learning. labour promising to invest in adult training but, most of all, in schools, paid for by a rise in corporation tax. we have a problem in britain, we have not invested enough in manufacturing industry, we have not invested enough in infrastructure, we have not invested enough

tom symonds, bbc news, westminster.ar—old girl who died on a school trip to a theme park in staffordshire say their world has been torn apart. evha jannath from leicester fell from a water ride at drayton manor park. the park will remain closed tomorrow while investigations continue. that's a summary of the news. now on bbc news it's time for newsnight with evan davies. it's not the way they meant to release it, but a draft of the labour manifesto has found its way into the press. 43 pages of it. a radical manifesto — but is it 1983 again? the mirror journalist, jack blanchard, with his own leaked copy, joins us. also tonight: is he trying to run the us like it's a game show? we'll ask if the president is irreversibly undermining and politicising justice and security in the us. and noam chomsky hasn't mellowed much, aged 88. you've called the republican party the most dangerous organisation on earth? in human history. and... that's on viewsnight. hello. probably not the news that labour wanted — but a draft of their man

tom symonds reporting there. of british airways passengers around the world have been stranded or had their flights cancelled after a massive computer failure. all flights from the uk's two biggest airports, heathrow and gatwick, were grounded for the day, one of the busiest of the year for families going away. the airline says it's working to resolve the problem but has yet to confirm when it will be fixed. here's our business correspondent, joe lynam. this is what happens after a catastrophic it failure, thousands of ba passengers starting their long bank holiday weekend. queues of people snaking out of the door at terminal 5 in heathrow. people have been standing in the queues for up to 70, 90, 120 minutes in some cases. the queue stretches from the check—in desks all the way out to the back of the terminal and down in front of the terminal, where all the taxis deliver people. many passengers contacted the bbc with their experiences. we've just literallyjust now been told that nothing's happening, no flights t

and tom symonds is at the greater manchester police headquarters now.ant is tonight's release of this image of the bomber? i think it's pretty significant because it shows what he looked like on that night, possibly the night when he walked out of this city centre apartment to the manchester arena and carried out that bombing. he may have walked down this street wearing those clothes. and police clearly wa nt to those clothes. and police clearly want to know a little bit more about that night and those five days that precreeded it when he lived here and built the bomb. they hope showing the pictures will bring forward information. they said tonight they have a thousand police officers and staff working on this investigation. they've come from all over the country. they're working round the clock, 14—hour shifts. but that is the reality of a terrorism investigation when there is potentially an imminent threat of another terrorist act. tom, thank you very much. the prime minister has announced that the threat level facing the uk is being reduced from crit

from manchester our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports.r area of the city evacuated. this is a terrorism investigation that is not yet over. this time it was moss side. police had been searching here for some time, and this morning roads were closed off again and the bomb—disposal team arrived. they're trying to work out where the bomb was made, where its components stored, and that means there is a constant risk. the investigation is now focusing on who abedi knew, resulting in more arrests. about three o'clock, we heard a blast... a blast this morning as police in cheetham hill blew open this door in yet another raid. local people have helped us established the identities of the 20 and 22—year—old men arrested here last night, and we've already been able to establish a link between one of them and a member of salman abedi's family. that's the pattern of the police investigation — start with the bomber, find out who his friends and acquaintances are, and arrest them. police are increasingly confident. they've got a good understanding of s

tom symonds reporting them.ways has said it aims to run a near normal service on sunday after a massive computer system failure delayed thousands of passengers. ba flights out of london's two main airports, heathrow and gatwick were cancelled on saturday. further disruption is expected, however, as many aircraft and crew are in the wrong locations. here's our business correspondent joe lynam. this is what happens after a catastrophic it failure, thousands of ba passengers starting their long bank holiday weekend. queues of people snaking out of the door at terminal 5 in heathrow. people have been standing in the queues for up to 70, 90, 120 minutes in some cases. the queue stretches from the check—in desks all the way out to the back of the terminal and down in front of the terminal, where all the taxis deliver people. many passengers contacted the bbc with their experiences. we've just literallyjust now been told that nothing's happening, no flights till 6pm. prior to that we hadn't been told very much at all.

tom symonds, bbc news, manchester. also the uk‘s most senior counter terrorism officer. he's been giving this update to reporters at scotland yard. the high pace and rapid progress of the investigation is continuing. there were three more arrests overnight, we now have 11 men in custody. there are now 17 searches either concluded or continuing on various addresses, largely in the north—west. and we get a greater understanding of the preparation of the bomb. there is still much more to do. there will be more arrests and searches but this greater clarity and progress has led jtac, the independent body that assesses threat, to come to the conclusion that the threat is no longer imminent. homes in the moss side area have been evacuated — as police carry out a further raid. let's speak to our correspondent dan johnson. what have you been seeing? what other policing? things have calmed down here a lot and the last couple of hours. there were quite a few streets around this suburb south of manchester city centre that were cor

tom symonds, speaking to us from westminster about the results of the uk local elections.ones in parts of syria has now come into force. the accord on the zones was reached on thursday between russia and iran which both back the syrian government. the main syrian opposition has expressed concern over the deal, saying it lacks proper safeguards and compliance mechanisms. sarah corker reports. syria's six year civil war has left more than 300,000 people dead and wrong in global power is. these safe zones aims to hold the conflict in specific areas between government forces and rebels and allow food and medicine to get in. in moscow russia's defence ministry said the deal would come into the effect in the early hours of saturday. translation: we're in the boundaries of the deescalation zones, the military activities between the government forces and the armed opposition who have alreadyjoined oi’ opposition who have alreadyjoined or will join opposition who have alreadyjoined or willjoin the seas by agreement will be ceased. at covers the use of all types of weapons, includin

tom symonds, bbc news, westminster.'s get some reaction now from our correspondents in london, and in glasgow. our political correspondent matt cole is in our london newsroom. for a variety of reasons pretty much all of the political parties are saying, that has happened, let's move on. indeed, very strange yesterday, you had the conservatives trying to talk down their successes despite winning over 300 seeds and labour tried to talk up their results. all expectation management. the conservatives are not wanting to look too confident, too overexcited about the implications for the local election results for the general election. labour are saying things are not as bad as they looked and they point to the winds in the mayoral elections, trying to brush off the narrow defeat of the conservatives in the west midlands. it is all to play for. we should be careful in saying local elections should not be taken as an indication of the general election. people vote on different things. in local elections the turnout tends to be

tom symonds is in westminster. tom, good to have you on the programme.ut it isa might attract younger voters, but it is a bit ofa might attract younger voters, but it is a bit of a gamble given that younger voters tend to turn up less than others? the lib dems have dispatched with the idea of doing a coalition deal with any other party, which is the thing that got them into power in 2010. they have to find a new place for themselves, this referendum deal where they are simply saying if you don't like the deal that the british government does, you can votes against it and, in effect, i think they hope there will be a big number of leave voters who suddenly decides they are not interested in leaving. i think tim farron also hopes that the youth vote like that idea, lots of young people did not votes in the referendum, they might not like the idea of leaving the eu no, there this benefits and that it might cause. the hope is that that will bring them on side. but when the lib dems weren't government they agreed to increase radically the cost of going to uni

tom symonds has been investigating for us. we have had a tea m investigating for us.m ofjournalists looking at salman abedi's background, both in manchester, london and in libya. in manchester, london and in libya. in manchester, a community worker told us that about five years ago when salman abedi was leaving school and going to college he was running into some bad company, hanging out with manchester gangs. two people separately called up police hotline warning that he was talking about being a suicide bomber, being something that was ok, and saying that he was a supporter of terrorism. the person we have spoken to has not given us any idea of the outcome of that call. it is possible that salman abedi was referred to the prevent strand of the government's work to fight terrorism. greater manchester police have refused to discuss this. having said that, the home secretary said this morning that salman abedi was somebody that was known to the security services, but the question is what did they know about him and what did they do? what she said was that they knew abo

tom symonds, bbc news, westminster.et some reaction now from our correspondents in london and in glasgow. our political correspondent matt cole is in our london newsroom. for a variety of reasons the political parties are saying, let's forget what has happened and let's give up. yes, very much expectation management. the conservatives are saying they do not want to take anything for granted and do not want to get too confident ahead of the general election. labour are saying it is not as bad as it looks. they lost seven councils, but they would point to the fact that places like london have had no elections and they would point to the winds in the mail elections in manchester and liverpool and other places. very much the two big parties are trying to put these votes aside from the local elections and focus on the big day four weeks from now. the liberal democrats have got the wind in their sales. their vote share went up 18% in the local elections according to figures. they say that has doubled their seats. for the ukip

tom symonds, bbc news, westminster. go to glasgow, where we can join our scotland let's go to london and speak to matt cole. a local election in the middle ofa cole. a local election in the middle of a general election. what happens now? well, it is all about expectation management, i think. labour not pleased to have lost 380 seats. the conservatives delighted to have won 560. but the conservatives are trying to play down their supporters‘ expectations, not wanting anybody to get too complacent or too overconfident. labour, as we were hearing from jeremy corbyn, well, he says they face an historic challenge. we must be careful not to read too much into local election results to predict what a general election will mean. people vote on different issues and the turnout is different. but be projected share calculator powerboats will be distributed in the general election, if you use the results that came through yesterday, does suggest that the liberal democrats might do better than hoped. certainly their leader, tim farr

by salman abedi on monday. 11 men over the attack from manchester our home affairs correspondent tom symonds

tom symonds, bbc news, westminster. liberal democrats are promising to increase funding for the nhs and social care by £6 billion a year if they win the election by raising income tax rates by a penny in the pound. the party is describing the pledge as its flagship spending commitment for the campaign. it echoes a promise by the lib dems in the 19905 to put a penny on income tax to fund spending on education. all this morning we'll be talking to the political parties about what they've learned from the local election results. the campaign team of the french presidential frontrunner, emmanuel macron, says they've been the victim of a massive hacking attack after thousands of documents were released online. they say genuine e—mails were mixed up with fake ones ahead of voters going to the polls tomorrow, where mr macron will face his far right opponent, marine le pen. 0ur europe correspondent thomas fessy has been getting a sense of the atmosphere in paris ahead of the vote. it's election season in france and at this sati

the kind of proposals labour will be putting forward. jeremy corbyn. 0ur political correspondent tom symondstminsterfor us. this is really a tale of two parties. the result between the conservatives and labour, it could not be more different. absolutely. they are both telling, as you heard, their own stories about this day that we have had a voting. the conservatives playing down su ccesses . conservatives playing down successes. we had the prime minister say why she needs a big majority by the conservatives want everybody to think this was not a huge, thumping win today because if it is perceived as that, there is the possibility that conservative voters will not turn out and ukip voters, the crucial one for the conservatives, will not switch to the tories. the conservatives slightly playing down what happened in the vote yesterday. as for labour, they are making the best of it, as you so. they are talking about this being an historic challenge for them, to try to turn around their current position in the election race. jeremy corbyn is also talks today about the need to get voters out to v

our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports.en nearly a week, and the pace of this massive counterterrorism operation is not letting up. last night, it was rusholme and gorton, more armed police and controlled explosions. a 19—year—old man was arrested, taking to 13 the total in custody. earlier yesterday, there was anger in the moss side area of south manchester after heavily armed officers blew the door off this house. they arrested three people and then, within hours, released them with no public explanation. police are working their way through friends and acquaintances of salman abedi. but now at least they hope, as the bank holiday draws to a close, to begin scaling back the use of soldiers to guard key locations. using the military to do the job of the police is never comfortable for the government. 5a victims of the bombing are still being treated in hospital. the people of manchester are coming together to remember those who lost their lives. they came to this event in memory of martyn hett, 29, and a lover of social me

tom symonds has more.rly a week and the pace of these massive counter terrorism investigation is not letting up. more armed police and controlled explosions in gore them. a 19—year—old man was arrested. early yesterday anger in the moss side area after heavily armed officers blew the door of this house open. they arrested three people but within hours released them with no public explanation. lee is a working their way through friends and acquaintances of salman abedi. they hope now that the bank holiday draws toa hope now that the bank holiday draws to a close to begin scaling back the use of soldiers to guard key occasions, using the military to do thejob of the occasions, using the military to do the job of the police is occasions, using the military to do thejob of the police is never co mforta ble thejob of the police is never comfortable or the government. 5a bit is of the bombing is still being treated in hospital and the people of manchester are coming together to remember those who lost their live

from manchester, our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds, reports.e manchester bomber, on the night he murdered 22 children, women, and men. a rucksack on his back, he'd flown in from libya five days before. police have released this picture, its background removed because they want information about what he did in that time. day and night they've crisscrossed manchester, raiding buildings, arresting people. this was moss side this morning. the area was cordoned off for a while with a bomb disposal team on stand—by. there is no letting up. there were three more arrests overnight. we now have 11 men in custody. there is now 17 searches either concluded or continuing on various addresses, largely in the north—west of the country. in another raid this morning, armed officers blew open this door in cheetham hill, a suburb in north manchester. about three o'clock, i heard a blast. waking neighbours and making yet more arrests. local people have helped us establish the identities of the 20 and 22—year—old men arrested here last night and we've already been

our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds, reports. i'm on the bus. i'm on the bus. on the bus.vists to the country by battle bus, staying in a string of hotels as they campaign for local candidates. party officials declared the cost of this as national election expenses — not local. and political rivals said the law had been broken. but today, prosecutors decided there was no case to answer. after full and lengthy investigation the legal authorities have confirmed what we believed all along, and what we said all along, which was that the expenses, that local spending was properly reported, was properly declared and that the candidates had done nothing wrong. prosecutors said today that under the relevant law it must be proved that a suspect, that's the local official putting in the declaration, knew the return was inaccurate and acted dishonestly in signing the declaration. but in this case, the local officials said they'd been told what to do by the national party which received a record penalty fine from the electoral commission. gregg kinsell and his partner louise were also

from manchester our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports. the other morning in manchester, another area of the city evacuated. this is a terrorism investigation thatis this is a terrorism investigation that is not yet over. this time it was moss said. alice had been searching here for some time and this morning roads were closed again and bomb disposal team arrived. they are trying to work out where the bomb was made or it components stored and that means there was a co nsta nt stored and that means there was a constant risk. the investigation is focusing on food salman abedi new, with more arrests. a blast this morning as police in cheetham hill blew open this door in yet another raid. local people have helped us establish the identities of the 20 and 22—year—old men arrested here last night. we have established a link between one and are member of salman abedi's family. the police investigation is to start with the bomber, find out who his friends and acquaintances are and arrest them. we have a good understanding of his movements and are

i asked our correspondent in westminster, tom symonds, whether the conservatives would see these resultsn for next month's general election. i'm sure privately they do, because it is perceived electoral wisdom in the uk that parties who are in government don't generally win the elections that come between the general elections. usually the by—elections and the... when mps resign or have to be replaced for some reason, and the local elections, which often come between those general elections. they generally do badly because there is usually something of a protest vote against the government in power. not this time. the conservatives have won seats in very unusual territories for them, and labour has done pretty badly. so i think what the conservatives will be saying in private is different to what they are saying in public. what they are saying in public is we cannot be complacent, we cannot perhaps give the message that we are going to win onjune the message that we are going to win on june the eighth, the message that we are going to win onjune the eighth, it was then our supporters may

tom symonds, bbc news.o it's gone up about £1.18 on average, so it's gone upafair about £1.18 on average, so it's gone up a fair bit. what the supermarkets are doing today and this week is bringing petrol down by 1p per litre and diesel down by 2p per litre. if you think how much is that going to be when i fill up the car? that would save £1.10 filling up with the average tank of diesel. and 55p on petrol. it's the thing most people talk to me when i'm out and about. when i talk to people in different companies about what they really feel, is the cost of fuel. if you use your car all the time you notice a difference if during the week you pay £10 more or less on your fuel. it is something that bothers people. another thing that bothers people is regional differences. whenever i say an average figure i get a million m essa 9 es an average figure i get a million messages from people saying it's expensive here, it is cheaper here. 0bviously these are average figures and there are big differences based on marke

our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports.ve police operation continued at a frantic pace today. 1000 officers and police staff were involved. the arrests continued. a man pulled from his car in the middle of the street in trafford. a raid on a house in the moss side area. heavily armed police arrested three men, at one point bringing in a police dog. roads were closed. the dorr of one of them being blown from the hinges with explosives. the family insisted we had nothing to do with the bombing. in this area in particular, the police operation is causing enormous unrest. we don't want anything like this in our community, it is so ridiculous. iam annoyed. it is not a nice feeling at all. people here worry there will be a backlash. in fact, this operation has touched many communities in the city. the explosions and guns are unnerving but life does go on. 12 remain in custody and more arrests are expected. both the conservatives and labour, have been focusing on national security today in the election campaign. the home secretary

with me is our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds. remind us what this was about.paign and the allegation then was that the conservatives nationally we re that the conservatives nationally were sending battle buses full of activists out to marginal constituencies to help the candidates campaign. and the claim was that wrongly that spending, the cost of that, was being put on a national spending release that has to go to the electoral commission, rather than the local commission. the claim is that was done deliberately. the crown prosecution service said it is an offence to knowingly make a false declaration. but there was no evidence that the suspects in the case, mps, agents, acted dishonestly in making inaccurate returns to the commission. so there can't be any charges that. s. the conservative party are pleased and say they were politically motivated and unfounded complaints. but there is a sting in the tail. 0ne complaints. but there is a sting in the tail. one of the files relating to kent has not been considered yet and there could still be prosecutions there

tom symonds, our home affairs correspondent. from libya to europe, as we reported yesterday. the numbers attempting the crossing are already 50% higher than last year and attitudes to this influx in europe also seem to have been hardening. my colleague, reeta chakrabarti, was with some of the migrants being brought ashore in italy to face an uncertain future. a new day and perhaps a new life. after days on the deck of this rescue ship, it's the first glimpse of europe for people who left the shores of libya unsure they'd survive to see this. trying to cross continents in these dinghies felt like their only hope, said several. like this young nigerian man, who said he'd been working in libya as a welder until his foot was blown off by an explosive. he preferred not to give his name. everybody don't have a choice, nobody have a choice. even me i think this water, i'm going to cross, if i am dead, it's gotten away. he said he couldn't return home because of boko haram. now, first off the ship, he's helped to safety. 0n shore, there

our political correspondent tom symonds reports. five party leaders took part.ain remaining in the eu. and in the absence of theresa may and jeremy corbyn, they turned on the one leader who did not, paul michael. attacking his support for a ha rd michael. attacking his support for a hard brexit and his tough line on immigration. theresa may not have the guts to be here tonight but her spokesman in the form of paul marshall seems to be here tonight. i know immigration is a difficult topic for politicians. people have understandable concerns. when we speak about european migrants, we talk about people who work in the national health service, whose service in our restaurants. people who make a contribution. the ukip leader said brexit would offer britain enormous trade opportunities and controlling immigration would free up pressure on and controlling immigration would free up pressure on resources. and controlling immigration would free up pressure on resources. one of the reasons that wages have stagnated in recent years and had probably stagnated since about 200

a search is also being carried out at a house in moss side, and tom symonds is there. rom here. a man was not far away from here. a man was pulled out of a car bike counterterrorism officers. the more dramatic event was here in moss side. police in large numbers arrived this afternoon at about one o'clock. they blew open a door that you can see just behind o'clock. they blew open a door that you can seejust behind me here, using an explosive. heavily armed officers came and they arrested three men who were at that property. there was a police dog involved at one point. later in the afternoon greater manchester police announced they have been de—arrested. it has caused a great deal of discomfort at this part of south manchester. the people at the house put a sign on the door saying this is what the police have caused, we had nothing to do with what happened in the bombing. they say they are distressed by the amount of attention that moss side is generally getting. it has to be said, we have been all over this city as part of this investigation and what is going on here,

and £250 billion will go on infrastructure spending over the next ten years. 0ur correspondent tom symondsa surprisingly cruel. no one saw it coming, and it was very revealing. it was. they say there is no such as bad publicity. the labour party had a lot of bad publicity today but there is that feeling that this should not have happened. it has put the party on the back foot. everyone can now prepare their rebuttal to the labour party ma nifesto rebuttal to the labour party manifesto when it comes out early next week. it has told us roughly what the party will do and it is a huge change to what we have seen labour governments do in the past. this party, labour, would become, if given power, a party of taxing, of borrowing and of spending. i went through some of the spending commitments in the draft manifesto today, and assuming that is in the real thing, there are dozens of points where the party wants to spend more money. and it is saying this is an offer for spend more money. and it is saying this is an offerfor a spend more money. and it is saying this is an offer for a very different

tom symonds now reports.s been nearly a week and the pace of this massive counterterrorism operation is not letting up. last night, it was rush home and gorton, more armed police and controlled explosions. a 19—year—old man was arrested, taking to 13 the total in custody. earlier yesterday, there was anger in the moss side area of south manchester after heavily armed officers blew the draw this house is open. they arrested three people and then, within hours, released them with no public explanation. police are working their way through friends and acquaintances of salman abedi. but now at least they hope, as the bank holiday draws to a close, to begin scaling back the use of soldiers to guard key locations. using the military to do the job of the police is never comfortable for the police is never comfortable for the government. 5a victims of the bombing are still being treated in hospital. the people of manchester are coming together to remember those who lost their lives. they came to this event in memory

earlier our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds, explained the background to the investigation.way in which the national party sent resources, battle buses full of activists, two constituencies in the 2015th election campaign. the claim was that spending, the cost of the bosses, hotels people were staying m, bosses, hotels people were staying in, was incorrectly put down as national spending when it was local, because it was benefiting various candidates. theoretically it can be an offence under the representation of the people act, but the cps that had to decide whether to rosicky said today it was an offence to knowingly make a false declaration, therefore the police would have to prove there was knowledge a false declaration was being made, they said there was no evidence for that. in all of these cases the 1a cases it has considered today, it's been decided there can be no further criminal action. the party has been fined by the electoral commission for missing and incorrect statements about spending already, a record fine from the electoral commission, £17,000. the timing o

with me is our home affairs correspondent tom symonds. this was a widespread investigation.ng into the way in which the national party sent resources, battle buses of activists, two constituencies in the 2015th election campaign. the claim was that spending, the cost of those buses and hotels, was incorrectly put down as national spending when it was local, because it was benefiting various candidates. theoretically it could be an offence under the representation of the people act. the cps had to decide whether to prosecute, they said it was an offence to knowingly make a false declaration, therefore police would have to prove there was knowledge a false declaration was being made. they said there was no evidence for that. in all these cases, the 1a cases it has considered, it has decided there will be no further criminal action. the party has been fined by the electoral commission for missing and incorrect statements about national spending. the timing of this announcement is right in the middle of the election campaign. this was nothing to do with the election campaign, th

from manchester our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports. time, moss side. they are trying to work out where the bomb was made, where its components stores, and that means there is a co nsta nt stores, and that means there is a constant risk. the investigation is now focusing on who salman abedi new, resulting in more arrests. they passed this morning as police who open their store in yet another raid. local people have helped us establish the identities of the 20 and 22—year—old man arrested last night. we have established a link between one of them and a member of salman abedi's family. that is the pattern of the police investigation, start with the bomber, find out who his friends and acquaintances are, and arrest them. they are increasingly confident. police have a good understanding of salman abedi's network and movements. more certain of the ongoing risk. the independent joint terrorism analysis centre has this morning taken the decision to reduce the threat level from critical to severe. the public should know that severe means an att

our political correspondent tom symonds reports.leaders took part, four support britain remaining in the eu. in theresa may and jeremy corbyn‘s absence, they turned on the one leader who didn't, ukip‘s paul nuttall, attacking his support for a hard brexit and his tough line on immigration. theresa may may not have had the guts to be here tonight, but her spokesperson in the form of paul nuttall certainly appears to be here in her place. i know immigration is a difficult topic for politicians, people have understandable concerns, but when we talk about european migrants, we're talking about people who work in our national health service, we're talking about people who serve us in our restaurants, we're talking about people who make a contribution. the ukip leader said brexit would offer britain enormous trade opportunities, and controlling immigration would free—up pressure on resources. one of the reasons that wages have stagnated in recent years, and have probably stagnated since about 2004, is because of the levels of immigration.

investigation considered evidence from 1a police forces with me is our home affairs correspondent tom symondslice investigation of 1a different forces as far as we're concerned, today. what they we re we're concerned, today. what they were looking at is whether the national conservative party in 2015 had wrongly put on the ledger for local election spending assessments the money it spent sending activists to various constituencies, putting them up overnight, in battle buses, so they could fight for the campaign. the cps had to decide whether there was a criminal prosecution here because it is illegal. the key bit of law says it is an offence to knowingly make a false declaration about election expenses. it hung on this point of whether those involved knew they we re whether those involved knew they were making a false claim. the claims were wrong in many cases. effectively the cps has decided there isn't evidence they did know. we've heard already today the conservatives had advised centrally this was national spending and therefore local officials could justifiably say this was the advice th

our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports. i'm on the bus.e country by battle bus staying in a string of hotels as they campaign for local candidates. party officials declared the cost of this as national election expenses not local. and political rivals said the law had been broken. but today prosecutors decided there was no case to answer. after full and lengthy investigation the legal authorities have confirmed what we believed all along, and what we said all along, which was that the expenses, that local spending was properly reported, was properly declared and that the candidates had done nothing wrong. prosecutors said today that under the relevant law it must be proved that a suspect, that the local official putting in the declaration, knew the return was inaccurate and acted dishonestly in signing the declaration. but in this case the local officials said they'd been told what to do by the national party which received a record penalty fine from the electoral commission. gregg kinsell and his partner louise were also on the bus suppor

tom symonds reports. it's back to polling booths in england, scotland and wales. again. in england, the focus will be on 34 mainly county councils. eight mayoral elections will take place, six for new posts in cambridgeshire and peterborough, greater manchester, liverpool city, tees valley, the west midlands and the west of england. all of scotland's 32 councils and 22 in wales are holding elections. the bbc won't report the general election campaign until polls close at 10. the first results are expected after 2am. british voters will be back in the polling booths, in five weeks' time, to select their mps. this report from tim 0ffutt. there's been a sharp rise in the number of men being treated for eating disorders like for anorexia and bulimia. figures obtained by bbc breakfast through a freedom of information request showed the number of males receiving out—patent treatment in england is rising at double the rate of female patients — although women still account for the majority of people treated. tim muffett reports. food just frightens me now. i go for days without