:00:00. > :00:00.This programme contains scenes of Repetitive Flashing Image.
:00:00. > :00:10.MP's vote for the snap general election to take place on June 8th.
:00:11. > :00:25.The vote is passed overwhelmingly, though some MPs and the SNP abstain.
:00:26. > :00:27.The party leaders waste no time in getting
:00:28. > :00:33.It's a choice between strong and stable leadership
:00:34. > :00:36.under the Conservatives, or weak and unstable coalition
:00:37. > :00:44.Are we going to be a country that works only to make
:00:45. > :00:54.This election is going to be fought on the streets of this country.
:00:55. > :00:57.The Prime Minister says she won't take part in any TV
:00:58. > :01:00.debates and the former Chancellor George Osborne takes
:01:01. > :01:06.Also tonight. The mystery of the missing warships.
:01:07. > :01:08.President Trump said he'd sent an armada
:01:09. > :01:16.Prince Harry says he's amazed at the response to his comments
:01:17. > :01:18.about his difficulty in coping with his mother's death.
:01:19. > :01:20.And the volcanic eruptions that can be predicted
:01:21. > :01:26.And coming up in Sportsday on BBC News.
:01:27. > :01:29.Sam Warburton is picked to lead his pack of Lions again.
:01:30. > :01:32.He'll captain the squad on their tour of New Zealand
:01:33. > :01:53.and their Tests against the mighty All Blacks.
:01:54. > :01:59.So it's official, the country will go to the polls in seven weeks'
:02:00. > :02:01.time after MPs voted overwhelmingly to approve it this afternoon.
:02:02. > :02:08.A handful of others and all the SNP MPs abstained.
:02:09. > :02:13.The Prime Minister says victory in a vote on June 8th
:02:14. > :02:15.would give her a stronger hand in her Brexit negotiations with EU
:02:16. > :02:17.leaders and stability after Britain leaves.
:02:18. > :02:20.The Labour leader has described the coming election as a chance
:02:21. > :02:22.for the British people to change direction.
:02:23. > :02:29.Here's our political editor Laura Kuenssberg.
:02:30. > :02:37.Day one of the national argument that we'll decide who is in charge.
:02:38. > :02:41.APPLAUSE Event one for Theresa May. She went
:02:42. > :02:45.straight on the road. It's great to be here in Bolton, fresh from the
:02:46. > :02:49.House of Commons and winning a vote in the House of Commons which has
:02:50. > :02:55.approved my decision to hold a general election on the 8th of June.
:02:56. > :03:02.The placards are ready. The cameras are poised. Those cheers already
:03:03. > :03:12.ringing out. Not technically underway but this campaign is coming
:03:13. > :03:16.soon to a place near you. But while the Prime Minister had the power of
:03:17. > :03:19.surprise, questions about her motivation chase her through the
:03:20. > :03:25.day. Having gone back on her promise not to call a vote, can she be
:03:26. > :03:28.trusted? I trust that the British public, I'm asking them to put their
:03:29. > :03:32.trust in me and if they do that, if they give me a mandate for these
:03:33. > :03:35.negotiations, for the plan for Brexit that the government has come
:03:36. > :03:41.in a plan for a stronger Britain beyond Brexit that we have, then I
:03:42. > :03:46.think that will strengthen our hand. Order, questions to the Prime
:03:47. > :03:50.Minister. Labour says she simply can't be believed. On both sides,
:03:51. > :03:57.Prime Minister's Questions was a glimpse of the weeks to come. Over
:03:58. > :04:00.the last seven years, the Tories have broken every promise on living
:04:01. > :04:04.standards, the deficit, debt, the NHS and school funding. Why should
:04:05. > :04:11.anyone believe a word they say over the next seven weeks? We will be out
:04:12. > :04:15.there fighting for every vote whereas the right honourable
:04:16. > :04:24.gentleman opposite would bankrupt our economy, we can our defences and
:04:25. > :04:29.is simply not fit to lead. None of the leaders have time to waste, with
:04:30. > :04:32.Brexit the backdrop for this election, the Lib Dems see their
:04:33. > :04:38.resistance to the Prime Minister's plans of their selling point. Ran to
:04:39. > :04:43.the other side, great stuff, hello. In leafy parts, they hope that sells
:04:44. > :04:46.like here in Richmond outside London. There's an opportunity for
:04:47. > :04:50.the British people to choose and change the direction of our country,
:04:51. > :04:54.to reject Brexit voters day in the single market and however you voted
:04:55. > :05:01.last June, devote to have a beaded, strong opposition in this country
:05:02. > :05:04.that we desperately need for the good of democracy. Only just over a
:05:05. > :05:07.dozen MPs tried to stop it happening. The opposition could have
:05:08. > :05:16.blocked Theresa May's desire to hold the election three years early. The
:05:17. > :05:21.ayes to the right, 522. But not a chance. The noes to the left, 13.
:05:22. > :05:27.Summit is now officially on. The realities of Brexit tipped the
:05:28. > :05:31.timing of this election but Theresa May was also tempted by the draw of
:05:32. > :05:35.the polls and her desire to get things done at home. The challenge
:05:36. > :05:43.now for the opposition parties is to make the arguments on their terms.
:05:44. > :05:47.He is no stranger to this. Jeremy Corbyn had two successful rounds of
:05:48. > :05:51.campaigning to win his party's leadership. But he is already on the
:05:52. > :05:55.road in marginal Croydon, facing a much bigger task this time around.
:05:56. > :06:00.Are we going to be a country that works only to make the richest even
:06:01. > :06:04.richer? I know which side I'm on. You know which side you're on. This
:06:05. > :06:09.election is going to be fought on the street of this country, up and
:06:10. > :06:15.down, in town halls, in streets, on beaches, an seafront. And look who
:06:16. > :06:20.dropped into Westminster! Is it realistic for the SNP to defy
:06:21. > :06:25.gravity and keep their record-breaking number of MPs? The
:06:26. > :06:30.Tories already claim with echoes of 2015, they would be included with
:06:31. > :06:35.Labour. The SNP in this election will, as we always do, stand up for
:06:36. > :06:40.Scotland. A vote for the SNP is a vote to protect Scotland's
:06:41. > :06:45.interests. If the Parliamentary arithmetic lent itself to the SNP
:06:46. > :06:48.being part of a Progressive alliance that would keep the Tories out of
:06:49. > :06:54.government, then the SNP would seek to be part of that, as we said in
:06:55. > :06:58.2015. You have just opened the door to a coalition. Do you believe,
:06:59. > :07:02.you've suggested he might work with the other parties? I don't think
:07:03. > :07:06.that if the territory we will be in in this election and I don't think
:07:07. > :07:11.you will find anyone in any part of UK who thinks it is. I was simply
:07:12. > :07:16.stating a fact as I did in 2015 that I don't want to see a Tory
:07:17. > :07:20.government. Feeling confident, Prime Minister? Can you unite the country?
:07:21. > :07:25.She may be feeling the first but achieving the second will be hard to
:07:26. > :07:30.do. Much stands in Theresa May's way of driving back in, still Prime
:07:31. > :07:32.Minister, in 50 days. Laura Kuenssberg, BBC News, Westminster.
:07:33. > :07:34.So with the official starting gun fired for the election,
:07:35. > :07:36.attention turns to the battleground seats with slim majorities,
:07:37. > :07:40.where the parties will be out and about over the next 50 days
:07:41. > :07:43.One of those key constituencies is Bolton North East,
:07:44. > :07:45.currently held by Labour with a majority of just
:07:46. > :07:49.The Prime Minister wasted no time in going there tonight.
:07:50. > :07:53.Our political correspondent Vicki Young was with her.
:07:54. > :07:55.The Conservatives are heading into Labour territory, with ambitious
:07:56. > :07:58.plans to grab seats like Bolton North East that have
:07:59. > :08:02.been beyond their reach for 20 years.
:08:03. > :08:03.Labour areas which voted for Brexit could
:08:04. > :08:11.And Theresa May thinks she can win them over.
:08:12. > :08:13.It's a choice between strong and stable leadership
:08:14. > :08:18.under the Conservatives, or weak and unstable
:08:19. > :08:22.coalition of chaos led by Jeremy Corbyn.
:08:23. > :08:25.And as the voters of Bolton digest news of the snap
:08:26. > :08:28.election, some have already made up their minds.
:08:29. > :08:32.But now, Theresa May has got my vote.
:08:33. > :08:40.Not just because she's a woman but she is strong and I think
:08:41. > :08:44.She's not messing around with all this
:08:45. > :08:49.bickering in Parliament and, you know, she's trying to do a good
:08:50. > :08:51.job of a bad situation that she's been left in.
:08:52. > :08:54.I voted Conservatives last year, last time.
:08:55. > :08:57.I won't be voting at all this year because I've no
:08:58. > :09:02.Labour hope to succeed by attacking the
:09:03. > :09:05.government's record on the NHS and school funding, things they hope
:09:06. > :09:16.You know, the lower, well, under the middle-class.
:09:17. > :09:20.Labour, but then obviously, it depends on issues on health care and
:09:21. > :09:26.Those are my main two priority things.
:09:27. > :09:29.Bolton is just the kind of place where the Tories think
:09:30. > :09:31.they can make real progress in this election.
:09:32. > :09:37.Theresa May will be appealing to Ukip and Labour voters
:09:38. > :09:40.who backed Brexit in the referendum, telling them that she is now
:09:41. > :09:43.the person to deliver on that promise to leave the European Union.
:09:44. > :09:46.And as voters focus on choosing their next
:09:47. > :09:49.Prime Minister, some questioned the Labour leader's credibility.
:09:50. > :09:53.I usually vote Ukip but I will vote Conservative.
:09:54. > :10:03.that idiot, Jeremy Corbyn, I will go for Theresa May because like she
:10:04. > :10:06.says, he can only lead a political demonstration but he can't lead his
:10:07. > :10:13.I've always been Labour and stuff like that but I can't, I just can't.
:10:14. > :10:19.It just seems that he doesn't know what he's doing.
:10:20. > :10:21.This battle has just begun, but today, Theresa May signalled she
:10:22. > :10:24.is ready to challenge the Labour Party on their own turf.
:10:25. > :10:30.The Prime Minister says she won't take part in any
:10:31. > :10:34.Theresa May insists campaigning should be about getting "out
:10:35. > :10:40.Labour has accused her of running scared, and ITV has
:10:41. > :10:43.announced it intends to host a leaders' debate nonetheless.
:10:44. > :10:47.Our home editor Mark Easton has more.
:10:48. > :10:57.Election debate. Since the first UK TV debates in 2010, they've proved a
:10:58. > :11:00.popular addition to election campaigns, particularly with young
:11:01. > :11:04.voters. I agree with Nick and I think he agrees with me about the
:11:05. > :11:08.new House of Commons. A boyish Nick Clegg stole the show in the
:11:09. > :11:12.first-ever, a reminder that under the TV lights, poll ratings and
:11:13. > :11:16.political experience can melt away. The Prime Minister revealed her
:11:17. > :11:21.views about TV debates on BBC radio this morning. We won't be doing the
:11:22. > :11:25.television debates... So you won't faze Jeremy Corbyn on any stage at
:11:26. > :11:30.any time? I will face him later in the House of Commons. And when she
:11:31. > :11:33.did come his attack was swift and predictable. She says it is about
:11:34. > :11:42.leadership. Yet is refusing to defend her record in television
:11:43. > :11:47.debates. Why will she not debate those issues publicly now? What she
:11:48. > :11:50.scared of? Can the Prime Minister to other people why she's running
:11:51. > :11:55.scared of a televised with Nicola Sturgeon? If you are a Prime
:11:56. > :12:00.Minister and head in the polls, then a TV debate probably looks like all
:12:01. > :12:05.risk and no gain. But there is a risk in staying know for Theresa
:12:06. > :12:09.May. -- in saying no. The danger this becomes a running story in the
:12:10. > :12:11.election campaign. And that wrist just got greater with ITV announcing
:12:12. > :12:16.they will hold a debate whether to May takes part or not and the BBC
:12:17. > :12:22.saying no party leader should stop a programme that is in the public
:12:23. > :12:26.interest. The candidates need no introduction. Televised debates have
:12:27. > :12:30.become part of America's electoral process. The first-ever in 1960s or
:12:31. > :12:33.the favourite, Richard Nixon, looking shifty and sweaty compared
:12:34. > :12:39.to the cool John Kennedy. Some say it cost him the election. During
:12:40. > :12:44.last year's campaign, many thought Hillary Clinton beats Donald Trump
:12:45. > :12:50.in the debates. Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country.
:12:51. > :12:54.Because you'd be in jail. But then maybe the TV studio is now being
:12:55. > :13:00.usurped by the power of social media. A Tory chicken stalked Tony
:13:01. > :13:06.Blair in 1997 when he was accused of ducking Tadic -- TV debate. Labour
:13:07. > :13:11.supporting took busy David Cameron as he tried to negotiate terms for
:13:12. > :13:15.the debate in 2010. Today, the Daily Mail reported that in has come out
:13:16. > :13:16.of retirement. Mark Easton, BBC News.
:13:17. > :13:18.The former Chancellor, George Osborne, has announced he's
:13:19. > :13:20.standing down as an MP to concentrate on his
:13:21. > :13:22.new job as editor of the London Evening Standard.
:13:23. > :13:25.He'd faced intense criticism after taking on the newspaper job
:13:26. > :13:27.alongside several other jobs plus his role in Parliament,
:13:28. > :13:30.as our deputy political editor John Pienaar reports.
:13:31. > :13:33.From political big beast to big City editor, and the greenest
:13:34. > :13:39.The new boss in Fleet Street chooses to see his future as moving
:13:40. > :13:44.George Osborne told me today he will use his new role to fight
:13:45. > :13:46.for his liberal conservative views against any harsher
:13:47. > :13:52.My job as editor of the Evening Standard is to speak for London,
:13:53. > :13:54.speak for my readers, speak for this country
:13:55. > :13:59.Our country's got some big decisions to make now about the kind
:14:00. > :14:04.And those values of openness, tolerance, diversity and enterprise,
:14:05. > :14:06.they are the values that I hold dear.
:14:07. > :14:09.They are the ones I fought for in government as Chancellor,
:14:10. > :14:12.fought for in Parliament as the MP for Tatton and now I'm
:14:13. > :14:15.going to fight for them in that editor's chair at the Evening
:14:16. > :14:20.Strategist in a hard hat, visionary in hi-vis,
:14:21. > :14:26.out to build Tory support in areas off-limits since Margaret Thatcher.
:14:27. > :14:30.Close to David Cameron, they rose and fell together over Brexit.
:14:31. > :14:34.Theresa May, not he, moved from the wings to centre stage.
:14:35. > :14:38.Can being an editor ever compensate for never being Prime Minister?
:14:39. > :14:41.The exciting thing is not how you engage in the public debate
:14:42. > :14:45.but whether you engage in the public debate.
:14:46. > :14:49.No, come on, let's be realistic, you wished to be Prime Minister
:14:50. > :14:53.Do you know, I count myself as nothing other
:14:54. > :14:55.than incredibly fortunate, first of all, to be an MP,
:14:56. > :14:58.represent the great Cheshire seat I did and also to be Chancellor
:14:59. > :15:02.of the Exchequer for six years, and I'm very proud to have been part
:15:03. > :15:05.of the team that turned around the fortunes, first of all of my
:15:06. > :15:08.Perspective or a brave front on a broken dream?
:15:09. > :15:12.The Coalition government hung together as George Osborne planned,
:15:13. > :15:15.and in the end, just as he planned, the Lib Dems were hung
:15:16. > :15:20.I don't think he himself would ever claim that he had great sort
:15:21. > :15:22.of popular public appeal in the country at large,
:15:23. > :15:24.but he loved the kind of game of politics
:15:25. > :15:31.Now looking back, he insists he is proud.
:15:32. > :15:35.Bad days, his so-called omnishambles Budget,
:15:36. > :15:36.with its tax on hot food, glossed over.
:15:37. > :15:45.Would it be losing Brexit or taxing pasties?
:15:46. > :15:50.You know, when you do Budgets, and I did eight Budgets, you know,
:15:51. > :15:57.In the end, you have to, I think, be judged on whether you are true
:15:58. > :16:00.How do you want history to remember you, George Osborne?
:16:01. > :16:03.Someone who left Britain in a better shape than I found it.
:16:04. > :16:12.Let's get more on our main story then with our political
:16:13. > :16:17.The party leaders wasting no time in getting their message across
:16:18. > :16:27.It certainly is. It already feels like it's fully up and running,
:16:28. > :16:32.doesn't it? You know, today and yesterday Theresa May had the power
:16:33. > :16:36.of surprise on her side. She had first mover advantage. Of course,
:16:37. > :16:39.it's quite easy to look like you're somehow ahead of the game if you're
:16:40. > :16:42.the one who has set the rules. I think we've seen from her a couple
:16:43. > :16:49.of things that are very clear. She is going to go very clearly after
:16:50. > :16:53.Jeremy Corbyn's leadership. He is aside to her comparatively untested.
:16:54. > :16:56.Right now, very much the underdog. It's also clear, from the
:16:57. > :17:01.Conservatives, that they are going to try to accuse Labour and the SNP
:17:02. > :17:05.of somehow looking at some kind of dodgy collaboration, some kind of
:17:06. > :17:09.dodgy coalition even though it has explicitly already been ruled out by
:17:10. > :17:13.both of those parties. Tomorrow, it's very much over to Jeremy
:17:14. > :17:17.Corbyn. He is going to make his first big speech of this election
:17:18. > :17:23.campaign. It's his first big chance to try to say that he's going to set
:17:24. > :17:28.his own rules in this campaign. I understand that instead of saying
:17:29. > :17:32.he's going to somehow be criticised and allow people to push him around.
:17:33. > :17:36.He will say in fact that he will loudly and proudly set his own
:17:37. > :17:39.rules. He's quite happy to break the rules that are set by the
:17:40. > :17:43.establishment and he will accuse the powerful of taking the result of
:17:44. > :17:47.this election for granted. Taking it as a foregone conclusion that Labour
:17:48. > :17:51.will be way behind. Now, of course, let's be clear, there are very few
:17:52. > :17:56.people in Jeremy Corbyn's own party, here in Westminster, who think that
:17:57. > :18:01.is in anyway how he will capture the keys to the castle. Jeremy Corbyn
:18:02. > :18:05.won the Labour leadership in the first place by defying convention
:18:06. > :18:10.and what is a very different race, it appears that is the strategy he
:18:11. > :18:15.will take on again. Jeremy Corbyn will be Jeremy Corbyn. He will be
:18:16. > :18:18.prowledly defying convention because he believes that's his best chance.
:18:19. > :18:23.Sglit Laura Kuenssberg, at Westminster, thank you.
:18:24. > :18:25.There's plenty more about the general election on our website,
:18:26. > :18:27.including an 'all you need to know' guide.
:18:28. > :18:35.President Trump's announcement, two weeks ago, that he had
:18:36. > :18:42.despatched an "armada" towards the Korean Peninsula
:18:43. > :18:44.was a show of force amid rising tensions
:18:45. > :18:51.So why are the warships far away off the coast of Australia, taking part
:18:52. > :18:56.The sight of a US Vice-President on board a nuclear powered aircraft
:18:57. > :18:58.carrier is a very rare event, even more so when it's
:18:59. > :19:03.Was this an elaborate piece of theatre or a sign America
:19:04. > :19:12.is really preparing for action against North Korea?
:19:13. > :19:16.We will defeat any attack and meet any use of conventional or nuclear
:19:17. > :19:18.weapons with an overwhelming and effective American response.
:19:19. > :19:28.The United States of America will always seek peace,
:19:29. > :19:30.but under President Trump the shield stands guard and the
:19:31. > :19:38.If President Trump is planning some sort of military action
:19:39. > :19:43.against North Korea, there is no sign of it here.
:19:44. > :19:45.This is the USS Ronald Reagan, the flagship of the 7th Fleet,
:19:46. > :19:48.but it won't be ready to leave this port in Japan for at
:19:49. > :19:54.Meantime, the other carrier battlegroup President Trump said
:19:55. > :19:56.he's sending to the Korean peninsula has been seen sailing
:19:57. > :20:01.The Carl Vinson saga began on the 8th April when the US
:20:02. > :20:04.Pacific Fleet Commander ordered the aircraft carrier to leave
:20:05. > :20:08.Singapore and sail north to waters near Korea.
:20:09. > :20:13.Three days later, President Trump confirmed
:20:14. > :20:16.he was sending an a armada, "very powerful", he said.
:20:17. > :20:19.But instead for a whole week, the Carl Vinson and its escorts
:20:20. > :20:23.sailed in the opposite direction, into the Indian Ocean.
:20:24. > :20:25.The US Navy now says the carrier battlegroup
:20:26. > :20:34.Back on board the Ronald Reagan, Vice-President Pence
:20:35. > :20:37.hinted its departure may also now be accelerated.
:20:38. > :20:40.God speed on the USS Reagan's imminent deployment.
:20:41. > :20:42.Figuring out what the Trump administration is planning
:20:43. > :20:44.for North Korea isn't easy, perhaps deliberately so.
:20:45. > :20:46.Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, BBC News, at the Yokosuka
:20:47. > :20:57.Thousands of commuters to and from London have been facing
:20:58. > :20:59.major disruption this evening after a fire forced
:21:00. > :21:04.Network Rail said it damaged signalling equipment and temporarily
:21:05. > :21:08.Engineers have warned that full timetables are unlikely to resume
:21:09. > :21:16.Police have named a man they're searching for in connection
:21:17. > :21:18.with an acid attack at an East London nightclub
:21:19. > :21:21.on Monday, in which 20 people were injured.
:21:22. > :21:28.Arthur Collins, who's 25 and from Hertfordshire,
:21:29. > :21:31.is the boyfriend of a reality TV star, Ferne McCann.
:21:32. > :21:33.Officers found firearms and cannabis plants when they searched
:21:34. > :21:37.Prince Harry says he's been amazed by the response to his comments
:21:38. > :21:40.about his difficulty in dealing with his mother's death.
:21:41. > :21:43.His brother, Prince William, has also opened up about coping
:21:44. > :21:50.with Diana's death, saying the shock of losing her is still
:21:51. > :21:53.Our Royal correspondent Peter Hunt's report contains flash
:21:54. > :21:57.Harry and his little helper, Melissa, getting the London Marathon
:21:58. > :22:08.It's a race which this year has a special focus
:22:09. > :22:10.on a princely passion - mental health.
:22:11. > :22:12.Prince Harry has attracted widespread praise this week
:22:13. > :22:15.for his honesty when he spoke of the anguish and the anxiety
:22:16. > :22:17.he suffered for years after his mother's death.
:22:18. > :22:28.It was only right to share my experiences and to help,
:22:29. > :22:29.and really, sort of, reduce
:22:30. > :22:37.To make it easier for them to talk about their own experiences.
:22:38. > :22:47.Look, I mean, I think when you've heard so many stories,
:22:48. > :22:47.from so many other people, and if you can relate to that,
:22:48. > :22:47.then it's only right that you talk about your own experiences.
:22:48. > :22:48.But all the experts you've met will have told you that one
:22:49. > :22:51.of the key issues is funding and that there isn't enough
:22:52. > :22:56.That's not for - as you probably know -
:22:57. > :23:01.Our mission is to remove the stigma of mental health so that we can
:23:02. > :23:03.provide a platform for people to be able to discuss it.
:23:04. > :23:06.But the risk is you could be encouraging people to seek
:23:07. > :23:09.No, and that's something that we've been completely aware
:23:10. > :23:12.of over the last year, but the fact and the reality
:23:13. > :23:14.is that, as I said, the appetite is there.
:23:15. > :23:16.Once the appetite is there, things will change.
:23:17. > :23:21.It's not my position and it's not our position
:23:22. > :23:30.So we'll do everything that we can to encourage the conversation,
:23:31. > :23:35.remove the stigma, so that everything else then can take place.
:23:36. > :23:38.Opening up about the past is a brotherly trait.
:23:39. > :23:42.In a BBC documentary, Prince William has provided
:23:43. > :23:46.an insight into the trauma of his bereavement.
:23:47. > :23:48.The shock is the biggest thing and I still feel,
:23:49. > :23:50.you know, 20 years later, about my mother, I still
:23:51. > :23:56.People go - shock, that can't last that long, but it does.
:23:57. > :24:00.You never get over it, it's such an unbelievably big moment
:24:01. > :24:03.in your life that it never leaves you, you just learn to deal with it.
:24:04. > :24:06.An upbeat Harry believes their campaign is at a tipping point.
:24:07. > :24:09.The UK, he hopes, will lead the way and the world by removing the taboo
:24:10. > :24:27.Three of the front-runners in France's presidential election
:24:28. > :24:29.are speaking at their final campaign rallies tonight with
:24:30. > :24:31.the centre-left candidate, Emmanuel Macron, just ahead
:24:32. > :24:34.His main rivals include Francois Fillon - the right-wing
:24:35. > :24:36.former Prime Minister - as well as the far-left candidate,
:24:37. > :24:38.Jean-Luc Melenchon, who's enjoying a late surge in support.
:24:39. > :24:42.But with the first round of voting this Sunday, all three
:24:43. > :24:44.face their sternest challenge from far-right National Front
:24:45. > :24:53.Her pledge is to hold an EU referendum and
:24:54. > :24:56.slash immigration have attracted widespread support.
:24:57. > :24:59.It's a eurosceptic theme that appeals to a large
:25:00. > :25:01.swathe of the electorate who see their chance to change
:25:02. > :25:03.Our special correspondent Allan Little's report
:25:04. > :25:08.France has two faces - the proud, independent nation,
:25:09. > :25:13.its imperial past still visible, and the France that has
:25:14. > :25:16.led the drive to ever closer European unity.
:25:17. > :25:20.Two rival ideas of what France should be.
:25:21. > :25:24.France would love to see a French Europe.
:25:25. > :25:29.You know, that was the plan, in a way, in the 50s and the 60s.
:25:30. > :25:35.It's a kind of Bonapartist vision for Europe.
:25:36. > :25:40.There's an ambiguity, contradiction in French politics
:25:41. > :25:41.and in French minds about one's love for one's country and
:25:42. > :25:53.You know, it's a contradiction, but it's what makes us.
:25:54. > :25:54.That contradiction has never been sharper.
:25:55. > :25:54.Marine Le Pen has brought French nationalism in from the cold.
:25:55. > :25:57.She is slowly shedding her party's association with the shaming memory
:25:58. > :26:00.of France's wartime collaboration with Nazi Germany, she has allied it
:26:01. > :26:06.Unlike in Britain, that euroscepticism
:26:07. > :26:14.This group hold different political views - some left, some right -
:26:15. > :26:17.but they all reject what they see as a rigid, pro-European orthodoxy.
:26:18. > :26:19.France has a long history which has always fought out
:26:20. > :26:24.for its independence and its ability to rule itself by its own
:26:25. > :26:33.I cannot understand obstinate will that some people,
:26:34. > :26:38.especially in the older generations now, they seem to have to surrender
:26:39. > :26:41.this independence and this sovereignty to unelected bodies.
:26:42. > :26:44.Our generation didn't know the war, so we are not as afraid as they were
:26:45. > :26:52.The framework for politics, the framework for democracy,
:26:53. > :27:03.We're in a Europe right now where there is rising insecurity.
:27:04. > :27:08.There is no growth, there is high unemployment.
:27:09. > :27:15.We have to get rid of that EU which is doing harm to the people.
:27:16. > :27:20.This revolt has been brewing for years.
:27:21. > :27:23.A generation ago, the French nearly derailed the European train.
:27:24. > :27:25.In a referendum then, they voted to accept
:27:26. > :27:35.A tiny majority for so profound a change.
:27:36. > :27:38.Post-war Europe's founding statesman was a Frenchman.
:27:39. > :27:42.Robert Schuman's vision has guided French thinking for 70 years,
:27:43. > :27:45.but that other France, the France that wants
:27:46. > :27:46.a return to national sovereignty and clear borders,
:27:47. > :27:53.is getting stronger in its challenge to his legacy.
:27:54. > :27:56.In the end, every generation has to hand its dreams and hopes down
:27:57. > :27:59.to the care of posterity and it's up to those who come afterwards
:28:00. > :28:01.to decide whether to nurture or amend or discard
:28:02. > :28:08.But France has always been, even in their day, in two minds
:28:09. > :28:11.about how far it wants to be absorbed into a broader European
:28:12. > :28:14.identity and that's at the heart of this election campaign.
:28:15. > :28:23.Allan Little, BBC News, in eastern France.
:28:24. > :28:25.Rugby, and Sam Warburton, of Wales, has been chosen to captain
:28:26. > :28:29.the British and Irish Lions for this summer's tour of New Zealand.
:28:30. > :28:31.He's become only the second player to captain the side
:28:32. > :28:36.Head coach, Warren Gatland, said there'd been some
:28:37. > :28:38."pretty lively debates" over his 41-man squad.
:28:39. > :28:44.The England skipper, Dylan Hartley, was among those who missed out.
:28:45. > :28:47.You might remember a few weeks ago we brought you the story of the BBC
:28:48. > :28:50.camera crew caught up in an explosion on Mount Etna.
:28:51. > :28:53.Well, now we can bring you the story that they were there to film.
:28:54. > :28:55.While such explosions are difficult to predict,
:28:56. > :28:59.researchers have devised a new method of detecting
:29:00. > :29:01.when volcanoes will erupt using satellite technology.
:29:02. > :29:06.Our science correspondent, Rebecca Morelle, reports.
:29:07. > :29:09.It's one of the most active volcanoes in the world and last
:29:10. > :29:13.month we experienced Mount Etna's devastating power first-hand.
:29:14. > :29:26.We'd gone to see a lava flow, but the boiling hot rocks mixed
:29:27. > :29:33.with icy melt water underneath, the pressure built up, causing this.
:29:34. > :29:47.This sort of explosion is rare and hard to predict.
:29:48. > :29:49.By contrast, though, the eruption from the crater that
:29:50. > :29:56.That's because Etna's monitored 24/7 by scientists
:29:57. > :30:05.Mount Etna is one of the most thoroughly monitored
:30:06. > :30:08.volcanoes on earth but, obviously, there are many
:30:09. > :30:10.other volcanoes and many dangerous volcanoes,
:30:11. > :30:12.especially in poorer countries where monitoring is much
:30:13. > :30:16.more rudimentary or, in many places, completely absent.
:30:17. > :30:26.But now a groundbreaking project will change that.
:30:27. > :30:27.Using our satellites, with radars on board,
:30:28. > :30:30.we can actually see magma moving beneath the earth's surface.
:30:31. > :30:32.At Leeds University, scientists are about to start
:30:33. > :30:34.using satellites to monitor every volcano on earth to provide
:30:35. > :30:40.So for people that are living on volcanoes that really aren't
:30:41. > :30:42.monitored this could have a huge impact, of course.
:30:43. > :30:45.If a volcano becomes restless and through this mechanism
:30:46. > :30:47.we are able to provide warning to these people, this
:30:48. > :30:55.This will be a worldwide volcano watch, and this is how it works.
:30:56. > :30:57.Before a volcano erupts, magma begins to rise
:30:58. > :31:00.from deep beneath the earth, causing the ground to swell.
:31:01. > :31:05.It's only auto tiny movement, hardly noticeable, but it can be
:31:06. > :31:10.Satellites can measure these changes, down to even a few
:31:11. > :31:14.millimetres, and if anything's detected, it's a sign
:31:15. > :31:20.that the volcano might be about to explode.
:31:21. > :31:25.Our experience on Etna showed the danger that volcanoes can pose.
:31:26. > :31:28.Forecasting major eruptions there and elsewhere
:31:29. > :31:32.By the end of this year, scientists should have all 1,500
:31:33. > :31:33.of the world's volcanoes under their watch.
:31:34. > :31:43.Newsnight is coming up on BBC Two, here's Emily Maitlis.
:31:44. > :31:46.Tonight we talk to Ruth Davidson and Nick Clegg, here in the studio,
:31:47. > :31:54.and we ask whether party loyalty or Brexit will dictate how
:31:55. > :31:59.Here, on BBC One, it's time for the news where you are.