05/04/2014 BBC Weekend News

Good afternoon. Millions of voters have been

queueing at polling stations in Afghanistan as they choose a

successor to Hamid Karzai. Voting has been extended due to the high

turn out. Security has been tight, with roadblocks saling off much of

the capital, Kabul. From there our correspondent David Loyn reports.

Dsealing. Election officials show that the ballot box is empty before

closing it for the day. There is pride here, in the process. Watched

over by the observers for the candidates and independent bodies.

I tried out measures to pent people from voting twice, this man said.

Ink on a finger and a mark dedeckeded by ultra violent light.

We have seen a lot of problems in Afghanistan. A long time the war has

been going. We need this good relationship.

Polls was brisk, that ballot papers ran out halfway through the day in

some places. They had to find fresh supplies.

It is very important for all of Afghanistan. I want a new President

for Afghanistan. Women voted separately, encouraged

by measures, including female searchers at all centres. Security

was very tight with hundreds of thousands of troops and the police

involved. A bigger threat than violence to the election may be

fraud. There are reports that the police in Kandahar in the south are

stopping voters and election observers from going to the polling

centres. There is no doubting that enthusiasm of Afghans for the

election. There are high hopes and expectations put on the shoulders of

the man that succeeds Hamid Karzai. Hamid Karzai is barred by the

institution from standing in a third election. But it could be some weeks

before we know who will succeed him. Our correspondent is in the northern

town of Mazar-e-Shar. She witnessed first-hand the determination of many

women to cast their votes. If there was ever a doubt about the

hunger for a democracy here in Afghanistan, you just have to look

around you. This is the queue where the women are preparing to vote.

Many of them are wearing burqas but this is still a deeply conservative

society. Many have been locked out as there is a log jam inside. So

many have turned up to vote. This is really a sign of the times and how

much has changed in the past ten years.

At one point in their eagerness to vote, the women surged forward,

accidentally smashing the glass door, as a lone policeman tried to

keep control. But there is a real sense of resilience. Despite the

threat of attacks, despite the significant levels of intimidation,

people had turned out to vote here in huge numbers.

Well, Karen Allen in northern Afghanistan there.

Now, David Cameron has hinted at more tax cuts if the Conservatives

win next year's general election. The Prime Minister told Conservative

Spring Forum and National Convention that wherever they can cut people's

taxes that they will do. But he has been facing questions about the

controversy around the expenses claims of the Culture Secretary,

Maria Miller. REPORTER: Should Maria Miller lose

her job? He had come to rally the troops, Tory volunteers from all

over the country. But the issue of expenses will not go away. This

speech was the culmination of a four-day tour. Tax changes were the

focus, and the promise of tax cuts to come was the main theme. The

stakes in the general elengths are stratospheric.

There in the feeling, after a long cold winter, Britain is coming back.

But be in no doubt, all of this, every single piece of this, is in

the balance on the 7th of May, 2015. Those jobs that have been created

here, they can go overseas. The tax cuts, they can be reversed. The

deficit, it can rise up again. Well this lot are gearing up for the

elections, as is he next month and the big one in May. They are looking

forward but the problem is that an issue of the past has reared

irrelevants head. The toxic issue of expenses.

-- has reared its head. Now let's cross live to Robin. On

Maria Miller, how much is that row and the way it is moving forward,

overshadowing David Cameron's message? Well, at this meeting in

Central London it is supposed to be about the elections next month, the

European elections and the locals and the big one next year, of

course, the Tories want to win the elections. The Prime Minister wanted

to have the focus on the tax cuts. That they will come if they can

afford them. But the problem is that the expenses is a cloud hanging over

the politicians. This time the Conservatives. A tape emerging with

a conversation with Maria Miller from 2012, where she complains to a

reporter from the Telegraph. The Telegraph saying that they think

they were intimidated. Threatening language, and now there has been

evidence emerging in which she appears to be Stonewalling. She has

not done anything criminal, she shahs given money back but there are

questions about how she conducted herself when the investigation was

looking into what she had done. Thank you very much.

Now to outside of the forum after David Cameron's speech there.

The comedy writer, Bob Larbey, who helped to create classic sitcoms

such as The Good Life and Ever Decreasing Circles has died as the

age of 79. He and his friend ban writing for BBC Radio shows and went

on to write some of the most popular television comedies over four

decades. There is more of all of today's stories on the BBC News

Channel. The next news now on BBC One is at of. 40pm but for now,

goodbye. -- 6. 40pm. But for now, goodbye.

For some of you this is already the reality of your weekend's weather.

For others, well, you have this to come. Many of us will see wet

weather on Sunday. There are parts of