:00:00. > :00:00.The fiance of a children's author is convicted of murdering her
:00:07. > :00:11.Ian Stewart had met Helen Bailey on a website.
:00:12. > :00:15.He drugged her for weeks before killing her.
:00:16. > :00:18.I'm arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Helen Bailey.
:00:19. > :00:24.The moment Ian Stewart was arrested for murder and his shocked response.
:00:25. > :00:28.He probably planned it all from the day he met her,
:00:29. > :00:32.and in hindsight, I don't think he loved her at all.
:00:33. > :00:37.Now police have launched an investigation into the sudden
:00:38. > :00:40.death of Stewart's wife seven years ago.
:00:41. > :00:45.A political row about the compensation paid to the British
:00:46. > :00:49.so-called IS fighter after he was detained at Guantanamo.
:00:50. > :00:52.For the first time in its history, the Metropolitan police give
:00:53. > :00:58.French politicians take the battle for the coming presidential
:00:59. > :01:05.And newly discovered planets - scientists believe they could
:01:06. > :01:09.have the conditions needed for life.
:01:10. > :01:11.And coming up in Sportsday on BBC News.
:01:12. > :01:15.Testing times for the Champions Leicester, this time in Europe,
:01:16. > :01:18.as they faced the Spanish side Sevilla in the last 16
:01:19. > :01:45.The fiance of the children's author Helen Bailey has been found guilty
:01:46. > :01:48.of murdering her and dumping her body in a cesspit under
:01:49. > :01:56.Ian Stewart, who's 56, drugged Ms Bailey over several weeks
:01:57. > :01:59.before smothering her in April last year, in the hope of claiming
:02:00. > :02:02.The couple had met through an online bereavement group.
:02:03. > :02:04.It's emerged that detectives are now re-examining the sudden death
:02:05. > :02:11.Our home affairs correspondent June Kelly reports.
:02:12. > :02:15.Police recorded Ian Stewart's arrest at his home.
:02:16. > :02:18.I'm arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Helen Bailey.
:02:19. > :02:21.He was stunned he'd finally been caught out.
:02:22. > :02:25.For three months he'd been living with the body of his wealthy partner
:02:26. > :02:30.My name's Helen Bailey and I'd like to introduce
:02:31. > :02:33.you to my new book, which is called When Bad Things Happen
:02:34. > :02:38.Helen Bailey was a successful author.
:02:39. > :02:41.As well as murdering her, Stewart also killed her dachshund,
:02:42. > :02:48.After her husband's death, Helen Bailey began blogging
:02:49. > :02:53.And it was through a Facebook bereavement group that she met
:02:54. > :03:02.But while she was planning their wedding, he was planning her murder.
:03:03. > :03:05.Ian Stewart's sons were in court to see their father convicted
:03:06. > :03:07.of killing the woman who was about to become
:03:08. > :03:17.Last spring, Helen Bailey suddenly vanished from the home she shared
:03:18. > :03:19.with them and their father in Royston in Hertfordshire.
:03:20. > :03:24.It took Ian Stewart five days to report her missing.
:03:25. > :03:26.Hertfordshire Police, how can I help?
:03:27. > :03:29.Hello there, my partner has been missing since Monday and has
:03:30. > :03:35.Three months after Helen Bailey's disappearance, police began
:03:36. > :03:37.searching the garage, which was at a distance
:03:38. > :03:43.This laser imaging illustrates how, underneath the hatched door there,
:03:44. > :03:48.The police started probing, and it was here below a layer
:03:49. > :03:54.They had found Helen Bailey's body and buried
:03:55. > :03:57.with her was her dog, Boris.
:03:58. > :03:59.There was even a possibility, because she had been drugged,
:04:00. > :04:05.that she could have been alive when Stewart put her down here.
:04:06. > :04:08.CCTV shows how within hours, Ian Stewart drove to a rubbish
:04:09. > :04:15.Was that duvet taken to the tip because it had Helen's blood on it?
:04:16. > :04:17.In police interviews, Stewart said nothing.
:04:18. > :04:21.He probably smothered Helen Bailey after drugging her over a long
:04:22. > :04:30.He was set to benefit massively from her ?4 million fortune.
:04:31. > :04:32.If Helen had written a book of this story,
:04:33. > :04:39.He probably planned it all from the day he met her.
:04:40. > :04:42.And in hindsight I don't think he loved her at all,
:04:43. > :04:48.This is Ian Stewart's late wife, Diane.
:04:49. > :04:51.Police are now re-examining her sudden death.
:04:52. > :04:58.She'd suffered from epilepsy and was said to have died from a fit.
:04:59. > :05:01.Diane Stewart died of natural causes in 2010, it would only be right
:05:02. > :05:08.and proper that we re-looked at what the causes might be.
:05:09. > :05:10.But, of course, it would be part of our enquiries,
:05:11. > :05:14.At the family home in Bassingbourn, in Cambridgeshire, Diane Stewart
:05:15. > :05:19.Diane was a very fit and healthy person.
:05:20. > :05:22.The whole of Bassingbourn was in shock, I think.
:05:23. > :05:25.You could not believe it could have happened because there was no
:05:26. > :05:27.sign or prior knowledge that there was anything wrong
:05:28. > :05:32.After his wife died, Ian Stewart was seen with other
:05:33. > :05:36.women before he began his predatory pursuit of Helen Bailey.
:05:37. > :05:41.As a writer, she was used to studying human behaviour,
:05:42. > :05:43.but she never learned the true character of the man
:05:44. > :05:50.who was closest to her and who she thought she knew best.
:05:51. > :05:56.Our homes affairs correspondent, June Kelly, is in Royston.
:05:57. > :06:01.The police are coming in for some criticism for taking three months to
:06:02. > :06:09.find Helen Bailey's body underneath the garage. That's right, it took
:06:10. > :06:13.them three months to carry out a detailed search of the property and
:06:14. > :06:18.locate the cesspit. During those three months, Ian Stewart went on
:06:19. > :06:22.holiday to Spain, came back, and all that time, Helen Bailey's body was
:06:23. > :06:24.buried under the garage. Hertfordshire police have defended
:06:25. > :06:29.the way they conducted the investigation. They say that Ian
:06:30. > :06:32.Stewart at that point was seen as a witness rather than a suspect and
:06:33. > :06:36.this was a missing persons enquiry as far as they were concerned. They
:06:37. > :06:42.said they followed normal procedure and had no plans to refer themselves
:06:43. > :06:47.to the police watchdog. Tonight at the heart of this story are two
:06:48. > :06:51.families and today, Helen Bailey's Brother John said that both had been
:06:52. > :06:55.left devastated by what happened here. Ian Stewart will be sentenced
:06:56. > :06:58.tomorrow. Fiona. June Kelly, thank you.
:06:59. > :07:01.A political row has erupted over the compensation paid to the British
:07:02. > :07:03.fighter with so-called Islamic State.
:07:04. > :07:05.Ronald Fiddler was formerly a detainee at Guantanamo Bay
:07:06. > :07:08.and is reported to have died in a suicide bombing in Iraq.
:07:09. > :07:10.Lord Carlile, who reviewed terror laws for ten years,
:07:11. > :07:13.said Fiddler should never have been paid a penny.
:07:14. > :07:15.Tony Blair has defended himself from attacks
:07:16. > :07:17.that he was responsible, saying the decision
:07:18. > :07:20.to award the compensation was taken by the mainly
:07:21. > :07:24.Our deputy political editor John Pienaar reports.
:07:25. > :07:30.The face of a fanatic, a Briton, about to die an IS suicide bomber,
:07:31. > :07:33.detained then freed and reportedly handed ?1 million compensation
:07:34. > :07:38.Why? That's now a bitter dispute.
:07:39. > :07:42.Jamal Al-Harith, born Ronald Fiddler, was among
:07:43. > :07:46.the suspected terrorist detainees held here at Guantanamo Bay
:07:47. > :07:49.without charge until, following British government
:07:50. > :07:51.pressure, he was freed, to discuss his time behind bars.
:07:52. > :07:55.I was, I was angry, very angry, actually.
:07:56. > :07:58.First, when they told me, I was scared, because I'd been
:07:59. > :08:01.in a cage for so long, I didn't want to leave,
:08:02. > :08:06.Yeah, my first reaction was, "I don't want to go".
:08:07. > :08:10.Tonight, his family insisted he'd been radicalised by what they called
:08:11. > :08:13.the mental cruelty and inhuman treatment, and his compensation
:08:14. > :08:22.He's gone now and I just hope that between him
:08:23. > :08:25.and his maker, he's, you know, done whatever
:08:26. > :08:30.Today, papers and some Tory MPs condemned Labour's
:08:31. > :08:35.Utter hypocrisy, according to Tony Blair.
:08:36. > :08:38.The critics had demanded the detainees' freedom.
:08:39. > :08:46.Are you to blame for this, Mr Blair? But Mr Blair has hit back.
:08:47. > :08:49.He said in a statement, "He was not paid compensation by my government.
:08:50. > :08:51.The compensation was agreed in 2010 by the Conservative government.
:08:52. > :08:55.The fact is, this was always a very difficult situation where any
:08:56. > :08:58.government would have to balance proper concern for civil liberties
:08:59. > :09:01.with desire to protect our security and we were likely to be attacked
:09:02. > :09:09.It is just a matter of fact that compensation was decided
:09:10. > :09:10.by the Conservative government, by Kenneth Clarke,
:09:11. > :09:13.the Justice Secretary, and not by a Labour government.
:09:14. > :09:17.But according to this intelligence assessment, on Wikileaks,
:09:18. > :09:20.Fiddler was a suspected terrorist associated with Al-Qaeda
:09:21. > :09:26.There was intelligence against these people.
:09:27. > :09:30.But the only way that the actions could have been defended
:09:31. > :09:32.is if the intelligence and the sources of intelligence had
:09:33. > :09:38.And that would have been to undermine the whole
:09:39. > :09:41.of the efforts of the intelligence and security agencies.
:09:42. > :09:44.The immediate circumstances that forced the government to give him
:09:45. > :09:46.money no longer exist, because the law of disclosure in
:09:47. > :09:53.But we do need some assurance from the Attorney General that this
:09:54. > :09:57.is the case and that someone like him would not receive a million
:09:58. > :10:01.or however many pounds of public money in the future.
:10:02. > :10:03.Intelligence can now be used in court, without compromising
:10:04. > :10:09.But hundreds of Britons have travelled to Iraq
:10:10. > :10:13.and Syria as jihadists, and one former minister told me
:10:14. > :10:17.they are believed to include some who have been monitored,
:10:18. > :10:19.perhaps even detained and compensated in the past.
:10:20. > :10:24.There may be more like Ronald Fiddler.
:10:25. > :10:27.Security forces can only try to keep up their guard in future.
:10:28. > :10:32.For the first time in its 188-year history,
:10:33. > :10:35.London's Metropolitan Police force will be run by a woman.
:10:36. > :10:38.Cressida Dick said she was "thrilled and humbled" to be taking
:10:39. > :10:42.on the "great responsibility" of the post of Met Commissioner.
:10:43. > :10:44.Ms Dick will succeed Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe next week.
:10:45. > :10:48.But as our home affairs correspondent Tom Symonds reports,
:10:49. > :10:52.her career at the Met has not been without controversy.
:10:53. > :10:56.A new New Scotland Yard, the Metropolitan Police's new
:10:57. > :10:59.headquarters and now it has a new Commissioner, Cressida Dick,
:11:00. > :11:01.flanked by the the Home Secretary and the
:11:02. > :11:08.It's beyond my wildest dreams, an extraordinary privilege.
:11:09. > :11:12.I'm very humbled. I adore London.
:11:13. > :11:17.I think it's the world's greatest global city and I love
:11:18. > :11:24.I know she cares about the priorities that
:11:25. > :11:30.are also my priorities, about the terror threat in London, about
:11:31. > :11:33.vulnerabilities in this city and I'm really looking forward to working
:11:34. > :11:35.closely with her to make it a great success.
:11:36. > :11:40.A lot of people have helped me along the way from the moment I
:11:41. > :11:43.was first a police constable, over 30 years ago at Hendon.
:11:44. > :11:45.Where all those men made up the rank and file,
:11:46. > :11:49.If you think it is the thing for you, then,
:11:50. > :11:56.She ran the Trident team, fighting London's gun violence.
:11:57. > :12:01.In the furious years following the murder
:12:02. > :12:04.of Stephen Lawrence, she helped the Met learn
:12:05. > :12:06.lessons and that led to counter terrorism when in,
:12:07. > :12:15.Cressida Dick was in charge of the plain
:12:16. > :12:17.clothes officers who shot dead, not a terrorist,
:12:18. > :12:22.but Jean Charles de Menezes, an innocent Brazilian electrician.
:12:23. > :12:24.His family and their supporters today said her appointment
:12:25. > :12:31.That post has to have trust and integrity.
:12:32. > :12:33.The person has got to be responsible for the highest
:12:34. > :12:35.standards of professionalism, has got to ensure the police act
:12:36. > :12:38.within the law and here we have somebody who's forever going to be
:12:39. > :12:42.tainted with the death of Jean Charles de Menezes.
:12:43. > :12:49.But this is the log of Cressida Dick's decision
:12:50. > :12:52.that day, her order at 10.04am, "Stop him".
:12:53. > :12:53.She has always insisted not "shoot him".
:12:54. > :12:55.A jury later found she'd done nothing wrong
:12:56. > :13:00.though management of the operation was criticised.
:13:01. > :13:03.Her new in-tray will be full of difficult decisions,
:13:04. > :13:05.many of them focused on two of her biggest challenges -
:13:06. > :13:08.the Met's squeezed finances and the changing nature of crime.
:13:09. > :13:14.This is quite a moment for British policing,
:13:15. > :13:16.as with Cressida Dick's appointment, the three most senior
:13:17. > :13:18.operational police officers in Britain are now women.
:13:19. > :13:22.Tom Symonds, BBC News at New Scotland Yard.
:13:23. > :13:25.A brief look at some of the day's other news stories.
:13:26. > :13:27.The Government has indicated there could be more support
:13:28. > :13:30.announced in next month's Budget for companies in England and Wales
:13:31. > :13:34.that are facing a steep rise in business rates.
:13:35. > :13:39.The Government's come under strong pressure from its own MPs to soften
:13:40. > :13:48.The Supreme Court has upheld a controversial rule that
:13:49. > :13:49.prevents British citizens on below-average incomes
:13:50. > :13:51.from bringing their foreign spouses into the country from outside
:13:52. > :13:55.The judges rejected an appeal by families who argued
:13:56. > :13:57.the threshold of ?18,600 a year breached their human rights.
:13:58. > :14:03.Police in Northern Ireland say an improvised bomb has exploded
:14:04. > :14:05.outside the home of a serving police officer in Londonderry
:14:06. > :14:07.while Army specialists were trying to defuse it.
:14:08. > :14:10.Detectives described the device, discovered under a car,
:14:11. > :14:16.They believe it was planted by "violent dissident Republicans."
:14:17. > :14:21.There are no reports of any injuries.
:14:22. > :14:28.The BBC is to create a television channel for Scotland.
:14:29. > :14:30.It will broadcast from 7pm until midnight
:14:31. > :14:32.and will cost around ?30 million a year.
:14:33. > :14:34.There had been calls for a separate Six O'Clock News
:14:35. > :14:37.for Scotland on BBC One, but this was rejected in favour
:14:38. > :14:39.of a Scottish news hour on this new channel.
:14:40. > :14:41.Our Scotland editor, Sarah Smith, is in Glasgow.
:14:42. > :14:46.What's been the response to this announcement there?
:14:47. > :14:51.The announcement took everybody by surprise here. Since then, it has
:14:52. > :14:55.been broadly welcomed by the SNP and Scottish Government, who had been
:14:56. > :15:00.arguing for a separate Scottish TV Channel 4 years. You mentioned the
:15:01. > :15:04.idea of a separate Scottish six o'clock News and that has become
:15:05. > :15:08.something of a totemic political struggle in Scotland of Yate and
:15:09. > :15:12.people who have been pushing for that say they are disappointed they
:15:13. > :15:16.have not got it. -- in Scotland wait. They wanted an hour-long news
:15:17. > :15:19.programme presented in Scotland with an exhaust Scottish, international
:15:20. > :15:24.and UK news, they are getting at 9pm on the new channel.
:15:25. > :15:27.There's soon to be a lot more BBC in Scotland.
:15:28. > :15:29.Responding to demands for more spending and more dedicated news,
:15:30. > :15:32.Tony Hall came to Glasgow to announce a whole new channel.
:15:33. > :15:35.Does this mean you feel what BBC Scotland's been offering so far
:15:36. > :15:43.hasn't been giving audience what is they want?
:15:44. > :15:46.No, I want to give audiences in Scotland more choice and I really
:15:47. > :15:49.believe the excitement of saying - we have a new channel for Scotland,
:15:50. > :15:55.How are we going to shake sure that we get dramas and comedies,
:15:56. > :15:57.programmes of journalism, talk shows and, at the heart of it,
:15:58. > :16:00.this one-hour news from Scotland, that's a really exciting proposition
:16:01. > :16:03.The new channel will run programmes like The Adventure Show,
:16:04. > :16:05.along with drama, comedy, factual and entertainment
:16:06. > :16:10.programmes made in Scotland, for a Scottish audience.
:16:11. > :16:12.On air from 7.00pm to midnight every day, but why does Scotland
:16:13. > :16:17.At the most basic level, Scotland is it a nation, it's not a region,
:16:18. > :16:25.It's important also that you understand that Scotland has
:16:26. > :16:29.already separate areas of its civic and public state, its education
:16:30. > :16:32.system, its legal system, its artistic communities
:16:33. > :16:35.and whatever, all of which are befitting of a small,
:16:36. > :16:37.modern nation and they're not being well reflected just
:16:38. > :16:46.The new channel will have a budget of ?30 million a year.
:16:47. > :16:48.There will be an hour-long news programme, at 9.00pm every night,
:16:49. > :16:51.and it's due to launch in the summer of 2018.
:16:52. > :16:55.The long-running debate about whether Scotland
:16:56. > :16:56.needs its own separate news programme at 6.00pm
:16:57. > :17:01.Viewers in Scotland will get a Scottish Nine on the new channel
:17:02. > :17:04.instead of a Scottish Six, which doesn't satisfy everyone.
:17:05. > :17:07.Obviously, I welcome new jobs and new investment in BBC Scotland.
:17:08. > :17:12.I am, however, disappointed that the BBC has decided not to go
:17:13. > :17:16.ahead with the separate Scottish Six on BBC One because I think that this
:17:17. > :17:18.is exactly the time for the launch of that new programme
:17:19. > :17:23.with all the political developments we know.
:17:24. > :17:26.Two-and-a-half minutes until we're on hour.
:17:27. > :17:28.Nothing the BBC does will ever please everyone
:17:29. > :17:33.and as the Corporation has to make cuts elsewhere, viewers in other
:17:34. > :17:35.parts of the country might wonder why Scotland
:17:36. > :17:38.Already, politicians in Wales are complaining that they're
:17:39. > :17:40.being shortchanged compared to the deal Scotland's been given.
:17:41. > :17:51.A Serious Case Review into the murder of an 18-month-old
:17:52. > :17:58.girl has concluded that she became "almost invisible to professionals"
:17:59. > :18:02.after she was taken into the care of the woman who later killed her.
:18:03. > :18:04.Keegan Downer was murdered by 34-year-old Kandyce Downer,
:18:05. > :18:06.in Birmingham, less than a year after being appointed
:18:07. > :18:11.The report said if there had been greater supervision,
:18:12. > :18:22.Keegan Downer died in September 2015, she had suffered a catalogue
:18:23. > :18:28.of injuries and had 153 scars and bruises.
:18:29. > :18:32.Kandyce Downer, a distant relative, was given custody
:18:33. > :18:40.Last May, she was convicted of the toddler's murder.
:18:41. > :18:44.Today, a Serious Case Review concluded that Keegan's death
:18:45. > :18:54.could not have been predicted, but it said she had been
:18:55. > :18:56."invisible to professionals" after being placed in Downer's care,
:18:57. > :18:58.that insufficient discussion had taken place between involved
:18:59. > :19:01.agencies and that there was too much focus on Kandyce Downer's wants
:19:02. > :19:05.An Ofsted report released last year, said Children's Services
:19:06. > :19:11.in Birmingham were still failing to protect vulnerable children.
:19:12. > :19:14.They have been rated inadequate since 2008 and have had 28
:19:15. > :19:19.Serious Case Reviews over the last decade.
:19:20. > :19:23.Can you, genuinely, put your hand on your heart and say that children
:19:24. > :19:27.So we have still got an inadequate rating for safeguarding,
:19:28. > :19:31.They're getting safer, we're making the system stronger,
:19:32. > :19:38.Last year, the BBC highlighted concerns around some special
:19:39. > :19:43.Today's report said Kandyce Downer's assessment had been
:19:44. > :19:52.We need to be absolutely certain that the person who's applying to be
:19:53. > :19:55.a special guardian is suitable, that they're going to make
:19:56. > :19:57.an appropriate guardian for that child and of course,
:19:58. > :20:01.crucially, a safe guardian for that child as well.
:20:02. > :20:04.The council says, as a result of cases like this one,
:20:05. > :20:06.it has made the vetting process more robust, but Downer's assessment
:20:07. > :20:09.has been label today as "superficial" and has cost
:20:10. > :20:26.It's a question frequently asked and now scientists,
:20:27. > :20:29.writing in the journal Nature, say they may be a step
:20:30. > :20:35.Astronomers think that seven planets in a newly discovered solar
:20:36. > :20:38.system may have the right conditions for life.
:20:39. > :20:42.The new worlds - 40 light years from earth -
:20:43. > :20:44.lie in the so called 'Goldilocks' zone where temperatures
:20:45. > :20:46.are sufficiently temperate to allow water to form.
:20:47. > :20:52.Here's our science editor, David Shukman.
:20:53. > :20:55.An artist's impression of a startling discovery deep
:20:56. > :20:59.in space, around a faint and distant star, much weaker than our sun,
:21:00. > :21:08.is a collection of planets that are surprisingly similar to earth.
:21:09. > :21:11.In all, seven of these worlds have been spotted and astronomers think
:21:12. > :21:13.it may change the way we look at the night sky.
:21:14. > :21:16.The discovery gives us a hint that finding a second earth
:21:17. > :21:20.is not just a matter of if, but when.
:21:21. > :21:24.An array of telescopes kept watch on one point in space
:21:25. > :21:28.and what the scientists were looking for were tiny clues about the light
:21:29. > :21:30.of a particular star becoming dimmer, on a regular basis,
:21:31. > :21:36.They can't see these new worlds, but they know they're there.
:21:37. > :21:42.This is the biggest amount of planets that we've found in one
:21:43. > :21:45.go and that look like the earth in composition, size and mass.
:21:46. > :21:48.All seven are close enough to the star and far enough
:21:49. > :21:50.to the star that they could host liquid water, and that's
:21:51. > :21:54.This is the latest revelation in a wave of discoveries over
:21:55. > :21:57.the past 25 years of new worlds that exist in solar systems
:21:58. > :22:05.The total of these distant planets now stands at well over 3,000.
:22:06. > :22:09.What makes this discovery so unusual is the sheer number
:22:10. > :22:13.of new worlds spotted in one go, seven in all.
:22:14. > :22:15.Crucially, they're just the right temperature for liquid water
:22:16. > :22:27.Three of them are in what's called the 'habitable zone' which raises
:22:28. > :22:29.the tantalising possibility that they could
:22:30. > :22:32.But we won't be getting there in a hurry, they're
:22:33. > :22:36.To reach them, using the rockets we have now, would take
:22:37. > :22:39.There's so much to find out about these worlds,
:22:40. > :22:42.whether the artist's impressions are right, whether it's possible
:22:43. > :22:45.that the conditions for life do exist and astronomers say they'll be
:22:46. > :22:50.The more we look, the more planets we find and the more
:22:51. > :22:52.earth-like planets we find, but this is especially exciting
:22:53. > :22:54.because this, sort of, ultra cool star that we've
:22:55. > :22:57.discovered, they're quite populous throughout our galaxy and it's
:22:58. > :23:02.the first time we've had planets going around a star like this
:23:03. > :23:07.The best hope lies with huge new telescopes that'll
:23:08. > :23:10.come into service soon, improving the chances of getting
:23:11. > :23:13.a really close look at these alien worlds to see,
:23:14. > :23:15.for example, if they do have oceans and maybe, just maybe,
:23:16. > :23:17.discover if there are some hints about life.
:23:18. > :23:31.As France heads towards its most unpredictable election in decades,
:23:32. > :23:33.politicians are preparing to visit the annual Agricultural Show
:23:34. > :23:38.It's a key event in the election calendar, with the French
:23:39. > :23:46.countryside still an influential part of the national identity.
:23:47. > :23:49.As the more mainstream candidates fight not only against each other,
:23:50. > :23:51.but also against the rise of the far-right Front National,
:23:52. > :23:53.it's an important election battleground as our Paris
:23:54. > :23:55.correspondent, Lucy Williamson, has been finding out.
:23:56. > :23:58.The rural idyll is France's national brand.
:23:59. > :24:02.Governments might change, but the countryside,
:24:03. > :24:10.so the story goes, does not, and, at election time,
:24:11. > :24:12.every politician wants to be the farmers' friend.
:24:13. > :24:15.The small town of Chatillon sits in a corner of Burgundy,
:24:16. > :24:18.with its grand heritage of food and wine.
:24:19. > :24:22.Chatillon has had a centre-right Mayor for 22 years now but,
:24:23. > :24:24.since 2010, the far-right Front National has doubled
:24:25. > :24:32.The Mayor puts that down to a lack of support
:24:33. > :24:36.for the rural economy which, he says, is creating a two-tier
:24:37. > :24:41.France with jobs and people moving to the cities.
:24:42. > :24:44.TRANSLATION: There's a big feeling of disappointment,
:24:45. > :24:50.We've seen one government after another and none of them have
:24:51. > :24:53.People don't believe they have a future in
:24:54. > :24:56.the countryside and this has an impact on their vote
:24:57. > :24:58.because they say they're fed-up and they don't believe
:24:59. > :25:02.Philippe has been a dairy farmer here for 25 years
:25:03. > :25:08.and his parents before him, but with growing competition over
:25:09. > :25:11.milk prices, he's been running at a loss for years and he says some
:25:12. > :25:15.here are quietly turning to the FN for answers.
:25:16. > :25:20.TRANSLATION: If there's one idea that sparks interest,
:25:21. > :25:24.it's the idea of turning inwards, the nationalist spirit -
:25:25. > :25:27.closing of borders, protectionism, limiting the movement of people.
:25:28. > :25:32.You don't see many FN voters, it's a vote that appears
:25:33. > :25:35.in the ballot boxes, but it isn't openingly expressed.
:25:36. > :25:39.Rural votes are a key battleground in this election,
:25:40. > :25:45.especially in right-wing areas like this.
:25:46. > :25:46.A crisis in French farming, dwindling public services
:25:47. > :25:52.and now a financial scandal in the centre-right
:25:53. > :25:55.Republicans Party is pushing some voters to the Front National.
:25:56. > :25:58.That's true even if you travel west from Burgundy to some
:25:59. > :26:08.The town of Tulle, where President Hollande was once Mayor,
:26:09. > :26:17.it's so attached to the socialist leader they wanted him to run again.
:26:18. > :26:20.Even so, the FN got 20% of the votes in the last regional election
:26:21. > :26:23.and it's not hard to find people who understand why.
:26:24. > :26:25.TRANSLATION: It would be a good thing to regulate
:26:26. > :26:29.We take care of immigrants who are just arrived here better
:26:30. > :26:30.than our own homeless people in France.
:26:31. > :26:35.TRANSLATION: There's good and bad things with Marine Le Pen,
:26:36. > :26:37.with her rediscover a France worthy of its name.
:26:38. > :26:46.But Marine Le Pen scares people, a little, so let's see.
:26:47. > :26:50.These days old French traditions don't stay in the villages,
:26:51. > :26:58.accordions made here find their way to China.
:26:59. > :27:00.Globalisation is now the great dividing line in French politics,
:27:01. > :27:05.seen as stealing or delivering France's future.
:27:06. > :27:07.TRANSLATION: We sell to China even though our accordions are taxed
:27:08. > :27:09.at 35% because they want to protect their market.
:27:10. > :27:15.I say yes to globalisation because we have to compensate
:27:16. > :27:24.Farmers here say that politicians like their countryside traditional,
:27:25. > :27:25.but want the benefits of globalisation, too.
:27:26. > :27:28.Marine Le Pen's chance of victory is still slim,
:27:29. > :27:31.but to some her message is alluring - that Europe is the problem
:27:32. > :27:32.and France's model doesn't need to change.
:27:33. > :27:46.She was renowned for her style and elegance and now some
:27:47. > :27:49.of Princess Diana's dresses are to go on display at her former
:27:50. > :27:53.The exhibition coincides with the 20th anniversary of her death.
:27:54. > :27:58.The collection will feature 25 of her best known gowns.
:27:59. > :28:01.It will also feature an ink blue evening gown she wore
:28:02. > :28:03.when she danced with the actor John Travolta at the
:28:04. > :28:10.David Bowie has been named best British Male Solo Artist
:28:11. > :28:16.at tonight's Brit Awards, just over a year since his death.
:28:17. > :28:20.The singer, who died of cancer last January, at the age of 69,
:28:21. > :28:24.also won British Album of the Year for Blackstar.
:28:25. > :28:26.This time last year, Leicester were on their way
:28:27. > :28:29.to becoming the unlikeliest champions of the Premier League.
:28:30. > :28:31.But today, they sit just one point above the relegation zone,
:28:32. > :28:36.So tonight's Champion's League tie against Sevilla had been
:28:37. > :28:42.billed as a chance to turn around their season.
:28:43. > :28:47.Everything is drawn back down to earth, Isaac Newton knew that
:28:48. > :28:49.in the 17th Century, but Leicester's rapid
:28:50. > :28:53.They were in Sevilla as Champions of England, remember.
:28:54. > :28:56.Yes, but in Sevilla, having just lost at Millwall.
:28:57. > :28:59.This season there's been so much of this.
:29:00. > :29:04.But did the young man taking it, Correa, look confident?
:29:05. > :29:07.COMMENTATOR: Correa, Schmeichel saves!
:29:08. > :29:11.The only thing better than this cross was the header.
:29:12. > :29:18.The Spanish side are European experts, not a place for Leicester's
:29:19. > :29:26.Correa scored, his confidence restored.
:29:27. > :29:28.Leicester searching for their lost fearlessness.
:29:29. > :29:33.Well, Drinkwater gets the ball, looks up and finds, him.
:29:34. > :29:38.Just the time for Jamie Vardy to rediscover the goal because it's
:29:39. > :29:41.2-1 and a home leg to come, gravity can wait for a while.
:29:42. > :29:55.Tonight, we're coming from Stoke-on-Trent,
:29:56. > :29:57.a city that has been in the spotlight thanks
:29:58. > :30:05.We're with a local audience and a panel of politicians
:30:06. > :30:09.and commentators and we'll ask whether cities like this
:30:10. > :30:11.have been let down by Governments in London.