:00:00. > :00:07.Tonight at Ten: flashing images.?
:00:08. > :00:08.Donald Trump faces the most serious allegations
:00:09. > :00:16.He's accused of asking former FBI boss James Comey to halt
:00:17. > :00:18.the investigation into links between his former national
:00:19. > :00:24.Donald Trump hasn't yet responded directly to the latest
:00:25. > :00:27.allegations against him, but he remains defiant.
:00:28. > :00:30.No politician in history, and I say this with great surety,
:00:31. > :00:40.has been treated worse, or more unfairly.
:00:41. > :00:42.But tonight as pressure intensifies on the President,
:00:43. > :00:46.he's facing growing criticism from within his own party.
:00:47. > :00:48.I think we've seen this movie before.
:00:49. > :00:50.I think it's reaching the stage where it's
:00:51. > :00:56.After the turbulence of the first few months,
:00:57. > :01:01.we'll be asking how serious a moment this is for the Trump presidency.
:01:02. > :01:05.The Liberal Democrats launch their election manifesto
:01:06. > :01:09.pledging another referendum on any Brexit deal.
:01:10. > :01:11.Meanwhile, new measures to curb immigration are understood
:01:12. > :01:13.to be among the pledges in the Conservatives'
:01:14. > :01:20.A record number of people in work, but there are more warnings
:01:21. > :01:27.And trying to fight digital propaganda -
:01:28. > :01:29.the millions of fake profiles created on social media
:01:30. > :01:34.And coming up in Sportsday later in the hour on BBC News:
:01:35. > :01:35.There's so much at stake in the Championship
:01:36. > :01:37.as Sheffield Wedmnesday and Huddersfield look to reach
:01:38. > :02:04.President Trump is facing what his critics say
:02:05. > :02:08.are the most serious allegations to beset his presidency so far.
:02:09. > :02:12.He has been accused of trying to get the former head of the FBI,
:02:13. > :02:15.James Comey - who he sacked last week - to drop an investigation
:02:16. > :02:17.into links between his former National Security Adviser
:02:18. > :02:22.The claims have prompted a small but growing number
:02:23. > :02:24.of the President's fellow Republicans to call for
:02:25. > :02:26.an independent inquiry into links between the Trump Administration
:02:27. > :02:32.Our North America Editor Jon Sopel reports.
:02:33. > :02:42.Chuck Schumer, And Chuck Schumer, Donald Trump was today on the way to
:02:43. > :02:45.the coastguard Academy as his administration seemed to be listing.
:02:46. > :02:51.Our commander in chief, Donald Trump. This has been the most torrid
:02:52. > :02:56.week of the presidency and though he didn't address each individual set
:02:57. > :03:03.back there was a message. No politician in history, and I say
:03:04. > :03:11.this with great surety, has been treated worse, or more unfairly. You
:03:12. > :03:17.cannot let them get you down. I didn't get elected to serve the
:03:18. > :03:20.Washington media, I got elected to serve the forgotten men and women of
:03:21. > :03:33.our country and that's what I'm doing. He has become more famous
:03:34. > :03:38.than me zmrchlt his. The disclose that James Comey kept notes of his
:03:39. > :03:41.meetings with the president, including over the sacked Michael
:03:42. > :03:57.Flynn is serious. Donald Trump is reported to have said to Comey:
:03:58. > :04:03.Amid allegation that this amounted to obstruction of justice the White
:04:04. > :04:07.House denied any wrong doing, saying the president hadn't told the FBI
:04:08. > :04:13.director to stop his work. It brought this from the democratic
:04:14. > :04:19.leader. The president says what Comey says was wrong. Prove it. It
:04:20. > :04:23.is easy to prove. As long as there are tapes or transcripts of what
:04:24. > :04:31.happened. If the president's right, he will have no problem releasing
:04:32. > :04:35.memos, tapes, transcripts that corroborate his story. Other
:04:36. > :04:44.democrats have started using the I word. I rise today Mr Speaker to
:04:45. > :04:49.call for the impeachment of the president of the United States of
:04:50. > :04:55.America. For obstruction of justice. This is not good for America. Some
:04:56. > :05:00.influential Republicans too are growing restive with comparisons to
:05:01. > :05:04.the days of Nixon. I think we have seen this movie before, I think it's
:05:05. > :05:08.reaching the point where it is of Watergate size and scale and a
:05:09. > :05:15.couple of other scandals that you and I have seen. It has been a bad
:05:16. > :05:20.week, last Tuesday came the firing of James Comey with the White House
:05:21. > :05:28.giving muddled explanations about why and then the president seemed to
:05:29. > :05:36.threaten Comey saying he had better hopes there are no tapes of our
:05:37. > :05:41.conversation. And the president divulged material to the Russian
:05:42. > :05:46.foreign minister. But what about the mood outside Washington? In the home
:05:47. > :05:50.of country and western, in Nashville, the Trump loyalists are
:05:51. > :05:55.not changing tune. They're still singing stand by your man. You can't
:05:56. > :05:59.tell me that all these leaks and comments that come through almost
:06:00. > :06:03.daily are not because people are trying to subvert the president. The
:06:04. > :06:09.things they're saying about him is a lie. All the immediates are
:06:10. > :06:13.democrats and left-wingers, they don't want to see him do well or
:06:14. > :06:18.America do well. They just want to give America away. The president,
:06:19. > :06:22.who returned to the White House tonight will be buoyed by this
:06:23. > :06:25.support but that is kwha gets you elected. Not what keeps you in power
:06:26. > :06:27.and this administration can't afford any more weeks like the one that's
:06:28. > :06:40.just gone. How serious a moment this is for
:06:41. > :06:44.Donald Trump? If you drew up a league table of the allegations that
:06:45. > :06:52.have swirled around Donald Trump and looked at what was the most serious,
:06:53. > :06:56.I think potentially this memo from James Comey is the most serious.
:06:57. > :07:01.Like any good detective he has kept notes of his meetings with Donald
:07:02. > :07:04.Trump and if it was a court of law, that would be entirely admissible as
:07:05. > :07:10.evidence. The notes of an FBI person. So that presents a problem
:07:11. > :07:15.for Donald Trump and some say he will be impeached now. Impeachment
:07:16. > :07:20.is, for a start you have got to have a huge burden of proof. But it has
:07:21. > :07:24.never happened in US history. It not only has to pass the House of
:07:25. > :07:29.Representatives, it becomes a trial in the Senate and you need a two
:07:30. > :07:34.thirds majority for that to happen. That is still unlike and still
:07:35. > :07:41.premature to talk about this, but it has been a torrid week for the White
:07:42. > :07:44.House and you have seen members of staff feeling insecure about their
:07:45. > :07:49.jobs, the president has made mis-steps, you see on Capitol Hill
:07:50. > :07:55.the Republicans feeling uncertain about the future. It has sometimes
:07:56. > :08:02.felt like we are going through a daily soap opera, an improbable plot
:08:03. > :08:16.line, but what we are not yet at is the season end, that still has a
:08:17. > :08:21.long way to go. Thank you. The BBC understands the Conservativing will
:08:22. > :08:25.promise to curb immigration when they publish their manifesto
:08:26. > :08:28.tomorrow. Let's talk to our political editor in Westminster.
:08:29. > :08:33.These are the first details we are getting. Yes the publication of any
:08:34. > :08:36.manifesto is a big deal for a party leader, particularly for Theresa
:08:37. > :08:41.May, because of course this is the first big document to come from the
:08:42. > :08:44.Conservatives since she has been in charge and it is her decision to
:08:45. > :08:48.call the election and her calculation that the ideas that she
:08:49. > :08:54.and her team will put forward will be enough to keep her on in Downing
:08:55. > :09:02.Street and one of those first messages is an uncompromising one on
:09:03. > :09:07.imdprags. Migration. It is her calculation that voters say
:09:08. > :09:12.immigration must come down and she will say immigration is too high and
:09:13. > :09:15.when immigration is too high that has consequences for society. The
:09:16. > :09:20.question is of course then well what is she going to do. Don't forget as
:09:21. > :09:25.Home Secretary in charge for six years, she missed that target of
:09:26. > :09:30.bringing immigration down to under a hundred thousand. Tomorrow she will
:09:31. > :09:34.recommit to that figure and make that promise again that if elected
:09:35. > :09:41.under her leadership immigration will come down to under 100,000. She
:09:42. > :09:44.will also say that student numbers will stay in those immigration
:09:45. > :09:49.figures and there has been pressure on her to change that, arguments
:09:50. > :09:56.that it creates a false picture. But she will also propose extra charges
:09:57. > :09:59.for employers who bring in non-EU workers from around the world, she
:10:00. > :10:03.will double the amounts they're expected to pay if they want to hire
:10:04. > :10:08.them. There is a suggestion that people from around the world other
:10:09. > :10:13.than the EU will have to pay more to use the NHS during the time they're
:10:14. > :10:16.here. There will be plenty more big ideas on social care. But I think
:10:17. > :10:22.broadly this is not going to be a manifesto that is full of hearts and
:10:23. > :10:26.flowers, I think it is going to be a hard-headed document with Theresa
:10:27. > :10:30.May's ambition, her calculation, is that by saying to the country, I
:10:31. > :10:35.know there are problems that you wants me to fix, she will come
:10:36. > :10:40.across as the leader that they believe can sort them. Thank you.
:10:41. > :10:42.The Liberal Democrats have - as expected - pledged to hold
:10:43. > :10:44.a second referendum on the final Brexit deal
:10:45. > :10:48.In their manifesto - which they launched today -
:10:49. > :10:50.the party promised to spend billions more on housing,
:10:51. > :10:56.It would be funded in part by a penny increase on income tax.
:10:57. > :11:00.Other policies include the legalisation of cannabis
:11:01. > :11:03.and a future ban on sales of diesel cars and vans.
:11:04. > :11:14.Here's our political correspondent, Vicki Young.
:11:15. > :11:31.Tim far Ron wants the election to be about Brexit. Someone is going to
:11:32. > :11:34.have the final say. It could be the politicians, or it could be the
:11:35. > :11:44.people. I believe it must be the people. But is his message getting
:11:45. > :11:49.through? I caught up with him as he toured a school. Certainly there are
:11:50. > :11:55.many people lacking hope. They think that the only thing on the table is
:11:56. > :12:00.Theresa May's bleak vision of us leaving the EU with a hard Brexit.
:12:01. > :12:03.There are many people who voted for Remain who accept that result,
:12:04. > :12:07.something you're unwilling to do and they feel you have got to get on
:12:08. > :12:13.with it and many thing traichl is the person to do -- Theresa May is
:12:14. > :12:18.the person to do. Many have given up the fight, what I'm saying is I
:12:19. > :12:24.haven't. If you believe that Britain's future is better alongside
:12:25. > :12:31.our neighbours in Europe, you should not be forced to accept a stitch up.
:12:32. > :12:35.You should have the final say. The manifesto promises ?8 billion of
:12:36. > :12:40.investment in England and an increase in corporation tax and a
:12:41. > :12:44.rise in income tax to fund spending on health and an end to the freeze
:12:45. > :12:49.on working age benefits and to legalise cannabis. There is no
:12:50. > :12:52.mention of abolishing tuition fees in England, a policy they abandoned
:12:53. > :12:57.when they went into coalition with the Conservatives. Do you accept
:12:58. > :13:01.tuition fees were the right thing to do? I voted against the rise. I
:13:02. > :13:06.think it is important that people keep their word. That is why my
:13:07. > :13:11.advice to others is don't make promises you can't keep. Would you
:13:12. > :13:15.reverse it now? We have said we would put money to returning grants
:13:16. > :13:24.to students to make sure it is affordable. In London the Liberal
:13:25. > :13:27.Democrat hope to come back. The area voted against Brexit. So how is the
:13:28. > :13:31.promise of another referendum going down. It is childish to think
:13:32. > :13:37.because you don't like a decision that has been made and voted for
:13:38. > :13:40.that you can go back and reverse it. This is democracy, this is the
:13:41. > :13:45.country we live in and we should stand by that, even though the
:13:46. > :13:51.decision wasn't one that I liked. I don't think the fight should ever
:13:52. > :13:56.stop. It is too important and too many lies and yeah we should carry
:13:57. > :14:03.on fighting until we have no you know fight left in us. I was
:14:04. > :14:06.disappointed about the news of a potential referendum chl I think
:14:07. > :14:11.that ship has sailed and it is about getting the best kind of Brexit. How
:14:12. > :14:18.many seats do you need too gain too keep your job 1234? We need above
:14:19. > :14:22.all else is to offer the British people this one chance, the last
:14:23. > :14:31.chance saloon for Britain, if you believe Britain is open, tolerant
:14:32. > :14:34.and united and reject the extreme version of Brexit and want a better
:14:35. > :14:41.future, the Liberal Democrats are the only party offering you hope.
:14:42. > :14:46.Two years ago the Liberal Democrats narrowly avoided election wipe out.
:14:47. > :14:48.But they hope the vote to leave the EU has thrown them a political
:14:49. > :14:52.lifeline. Well the Lib Dems are hoping
:14:53. > :14:55.to attract young voters - not just with that pledge
:14:56. > :14:57.for another referendum on any Brexit deal, but also
:14:58. > :15:00.with a number of other policies concerning housing
:15:01. > :15:01.and the voting age. Our Home Editor Mark Easton
:15:02. > :15:03.has been to Cambridge, a key target seat for the Lib Dems,
:15:04. > :15:07.to see what young voters We're here to talk to
:15:08. > :15:11.you about the election today. Let us know your
:15:12. > :15:13.thoughts and tweet us. So often ignored by the politicians,
:15:14. > :15:19.it's loud and clear at This could be about anything such
:15:20. > :15:23.as Brexit, student tuition, Call Radio Cambridge broadcasts
:15:24. > :15:35.to thousands of young voters in the Liberal Democrats'
:15:36. > :15:38.number one target seat. I think politicians have to start
:15:39. > :15:41.appealing to young people, because these young people
:15:42. > :15:43.are going to grow old. I think there's many things that
:15:44. > :15:45.need to be changed, such as tuition, health care, NHS - it
:15:46. > :15:49.all needs to be different now and I think that a lot of people need
:15:50. > :15:52.to take the young people's opinions The Liberal Democrat
:15:53. > :15:57.manifesto promises young people cheaper bus fares, higher
:15:58. > :15:59.welfare payments, help with housing Is lowering the voting
:16:00. > :16:06.age the kind of policy that cuts it with these
:16:07. > :16:10.student hairdressers? A lot of people my age
:16:11. > :16:14.don't know enough about it and they kind
:16:15. > :16:16.of they go with that their parents think, so
:16:17. > :16:25.I don't think it's a great idea. Brexit's a big issue for you,
:16:26. > :16:28.isn't it, explain why? Well, I'm a British citizen,
:16:29. > :16:30.but my parents are Portuguese and so are
:16:31. > :16:32.the rest of my family. How do I know that nothing
:16:33. > :16:35.will happen to them and they won't have to be going back
:16:36. > :16:38.to their country and I'm just here? The Liberal Democrats
:16:39. > :16:40.are saying they want a much softer Brexit that's
:16:41. > :16:43.going to retain access to the single Is that appealing
:16:44. > :16:46.for someone like you? I don't know if it's
:16:47. > :16:50.going to be done. Political wisdom decrees that your
:16:51. > :16:52.manifesto should appeal to people So the Liberal Democrats'
:16:53. > :16:58.focus on younger 18 to 24-year-olds
:16:59. > :17:01.are almost half as This college has been encouraging
:17:02. > :17:07.students to register before next Monday's deadline, but cities
:17:08. > :17:09.with large student populations have been reporting a big
:17:10. > :17:13.drop in registrations. And there's a credibility issue
:17:14. > :17:18.for the Liberal Democrats. After promising not to put up
:17:19. > :17:22.university tuition fees in the 2010 election, they voted to do
:17:23. > :17:24.just that in Government. Are the Liberal Democrats
:17:25. > :17:26.damaged goods now? I don't really remember
:17:27. > :17:32.when they put them up, I was probably just
:17:33. > :17:35.finishing secondary school and stuff, so I didn't pay
:17:36. > :17:39.attention to it. For me, knowing what they've
:17:40. > :17:41.done, I wouldn't be I feel like they're stuck
:17:42. > :17:45.in a catch-22, because what they're giving
:17:46. > :17:47.is a mix in the middle. They're not going to completely
:17:48. > :17:49.cut tuition fees, but they're going to offer
:17:50. > :17:52.a maintenance grant, which is great, it is
:17:53. > :17:56.Everybody should be given the chance to go to uni.
:17:57. > :17:58.So these are Liberal Democrat target voters in a Liberal
:17:59. > :18:01.I'm quite excited, but nervous at the same time.
:18:02. > :18:04.For the party, a lot depends on how they respond to to promises
:18:05. > :18:12.There are new warnings that workers are facing a squeeze
:18:13. > :18:16.The latest figures indicate that wages are not keeping pace
:18:17. > :18:19.However, another set of figures show that a record number
:18:20. > :18:31.and good news on jobs - firms hiring plenty
:18:32. > :18:33.of people as economic growth remains positive.
:18:34. > :18:41.We are continually recruiting staff, we have grown
:18:42. > :18:47.really quickly in the last two years from four to 32 people.
:18:48. > :18:49.We've just employed our new park manager and we've
:18:50. > :18:53.also employed in the last couple of months a new ground staff.
:18:54. > :18:55.At this moment on our company website, I think, we have 15
:18:56. > :18:59.The last time we saw unemployment this low was 1975,
:19:00. > :19:04.when the price of a pint of milk was a princely seven pence.
:19:05. > :19:05.It was also an era of high inflation and
:19:06. > :19:18.Today, inflation is creeping back and
:19:19. > :19:22.Let's look at the more recent history of
:19:23. > :19:23.If we go right back to the year 2000,
:19:24. > :19:23.you can see that earnings were consistently above the rate
:19:24. > :19:29.That came to an abrupt halt in 2008 when the financial
:19:30. > :19:32.Wages fell sharply and inflation rose, as things like the
:19:33. > :19:46.That led to this long period of pay squeeze
:19:47. > :19:48.and that didn't come to an end until September 2014.
:19:49. > :19:50.And until today, wages have stayed above the cost of
:19:51. > :19:53.living, but the gap has been closing and today those lines crossed.
:19:54. > :20:05.Individual incomes on average are going down again.
:20:06. > :20:07.Donna Spicer is a teaching assistant from south-east London.
:20:08. > :20:09.She has faced a pay freeze for four years.
:20:10. > :20:15.I have no social life because of no money to
:20:16. > :20:18.and it's a choice of heating and eating.
:20:19. > :20:20.So one winter it was sitting there with blankets, hot
:20:21. > :20:25.Low unemployment used to mean higher wages
:20:26. > :20:29.Higher inflation used to mean workers demanded increased pay
:20:30. > :20:32.rises, but people are still concerned about asking for a pay
:20:33. > :20:37.rise and the public sector pay freeze remains in place.
:20:38. > :20:47.The big question for 2017 is whether wages
:20:48. > :20:49.respond to either of two big pressures -
:20:50. > :20:56.If they don't, we're likely to see the pay squeeze continue for some
:20:57. > :21:02.A way to produce more wealth from the hard hours we work?
:21:03. > :21:04.That relies on productivity going up.
:21:05. > :21:07.Until that problem is solved, the danger of a
:21:08. > :21:12.The number of child migrants and refugees travelling alone
:21:13. > :21:17.around the world has reached record numbers.
:21:18. > :21:19.The United Nations is warning that many of them are at risk
:21:20. > :21:22.of being exploited by smugglers and traffickers.
:21:23. > :21:25.In the past two years alone at least 300,000 unaccompanied children
:21:26. > :21:36.160,000 of them applied for asylum in Europe.
:21:37. > :21:44.Our correspondent, Caroline Hawley, has been to Greece where she has
:21:45. > :21:45.been talking to children who've fled war and poverty.
:21:46. > :21:45.They had to cross through five different countries to get here -
:21:46. > :21:46.three Afghan orphans now being looked after at
:21:47. > :21:52.Hameed is 15, his brother Ali 13 and Mortaza 11.
:21:53. > :21:57.Their parents were killed in a Taliban bomb.
:21:58. > :22:00.The boys arrived here in March after a month-long
:22:01. > :22:06.journey, partly on foot, in the hands of smugglers.
:22:07. > :22:25.Hameed says they now want to join their 18-year-old brother in Sweden.
:22:26. > :22:50.How difficult was the journey, what was the hardest part?
:22:51. > :22:52.With so many migrants now stuck in Greece,
:22:53. > :22:58.there's not space in proper shelters for all the unaccompanied children
:22:59. > :23:02.and there are stories of teenagers being forced to work for no pay
:23:03. > :23:03.or prostituting themselves for pocket money.
:23:04. > :23:06.One in ten of the children who've arrived in Greece travelled alone.
:23:07. > :23:08.These Syrian brothers told me their parents had sent
:23:09. > :23:12.them to Europe to avoid them being conscripted.
:23:13. > :23:22.It's very dangerous to stay in Syria because they're taking a lot
:23:23. > :23:25.of children like us, from the age 16, to the war, to fighting.
:23:26. > :23:27.In the shelter they live in, 21 teenagers are learning
:23:28. > :23:31.The man in charge of the refuge fled Iran as a child himself
:23:32. > :23:38.TRANSLATION: All these kids have psychological difficulties -
:23:39. > :23:40.they have sleep problems, aggressiveness, self-harm,
:23:41. > :23:46.not wanting to eat or be around other people.
:23:47. > :23:53.Some of them will be scarred for life by what they've been through.
:23:54. > :23:56.And the UN says that record numbers of children are now
:23:57. > :23:58.on the move around the world without their parents -
:23:59. > :24:01.driven from their countries by conflict and desperation.
:24:02. > :24:04.Much more must be done, it says, to protect them.
:24:05. > :24:12.A brief look at some of the day's other news stories.
:24:13. > :24:15.A council has been ordered to pay nearly ?200,000 to a former member
:24:16. > :24:19.of staff who was sexually abused by a council official.
:24:20. > :24:21.Richard Rowe, who's waived his right to anonymity, successfully sued
:24:22. > :24:24.Sheffield City Council after being assaulted
:24:25. > :24:31.Dodds, who's 81, was imprisoned in February for a series of assaults.
:24:32. > :24:34.A lawyer for Ian Brady has made clear that the ashes
:24:35. > :24:59.of the Moors Murderer, who died on Monday, will not be
:25:00. > :24:59.scattered on Saddleworth Moor in Greater Manchester,
:25:00. > :25:00.where most of his victims were buried.
:25:01. > :25:00.The assurance came during a Coroner's Court hearing this
:25:01. > :25:01.The Irish Prime Minister, Enda Kenny, has announced
:25:02. > :25:03.he will stand down next month when his party, Fine Gael,
:25:04. > :25:05.He led the country through the economic crisis,
:25:06. > :25:07.but his position was weakened after last year's election
:25:08. > :25:09.which resulted in a minority coalition government.
:25:10. > :25:10.The former American soldier, Chelsea Manning -
:25:11. > :25:11.who was behind one of the biggest intelligence leaks in US history -
:25:12. > :25:12.has been released from military prison.
:25:13. > :25:16.The 29-year-old was expected to remain in jail until 2045,
:25:17. > :25:19.but President Obama commuted her sentence just before he left
:25:20. > :25:21.Our correspondent, Rajini Vaidyanathan,
:25:22. > :25:31.Chelsea Manning, seen here in her final days behind bars.
:25:32. > :25:34.Held in an all-male prison, she won her fight to have surgery
:25:35. > :25:40.As she stepped out to a new life, she shared photos of the everyday
:25:41. > :25:46.In a statement she said she was looking forward to so much.
:25:47. > :25:48.Chelsea Manning left the military prison here at Fort Leavenworth
:25:49. > :25:55.in the early hours of this morning under the cover of darkness.
:25:56. > :26:04.Her supporters say she's a whistle-blower and a hero,
:26:05. > :26:06.but in the past Donald Trump's called her an "ungrateful traitor."
:26:07. > :26:10.And that's a view shared by many people I've spoken to near the base
:26:11. > :26:19.here who believe her actions put many lives at risk.
:26:20. > :26:22.It was while she was living as Bradley Manning that she was
:26:23. > :26:24.convicted of one of the largest leaks of government
:26:25. > :26:28.A low ranking Army private in Iraq, Manning hacked government databases,
:26:29. > :26:29.handing hundreds of thousands of classified documents
:26:30. > :26:33.It included this video of a US Apache helicopter strike
:26:34. > :26:35.in Iraq, which killed civilians and journalists.
:26:36. > :26:36.And diplomatic cables which revealed the private
:26:37. > :26:43.WikiLeaks had very significant impacts.
:26:44. > :26:45.In certain countries, for a variety of reasons,
:26:46. > :26:47.it did not necessarily have the global impact
:26:48. > :26:54.But Chelsea Manning put real American interests
:26:55. > :27:02.Supporters have been campaigning for her release for years.
:27:03. > :27:06.They say she faced discrimination in prison because of her transgender
:27:07. > :27:12.identity, which she revealed shortly after her sentencing.
:27:13. > :27:14.She's learned how to live with her situation, as it was,
:27:15. > :27:22.because she thought you was going to be there for a long time,
:27:23. > :27:25.and now she's ready to get out and, more importantly, she's ready
:27:26. > :27:28.to finally be able to live as the woman that she is.
:27:29. > :27:30.For now, Chelsea Manning will remain a member of the US
:27:31. > :27:37.military, without pay, as she appeals her conviction.
:27:38. > :27:46.Chelsea Manning's release has been met with a mixed reaction. Her
:27:47. > :27:52.friend say she could take on a public role as a campaigner for
:27:53. > :27:55.transgender rights. In the seven years she spent behind bars, society
:27:56. > :27:58.has changed a quite a bit. Transgender are now able to serve
:27:59. > :28:03.openingly in the US military. Thank you.
:28:04. > :28:06.More on the election campaign now and the latest in our series looking
:28:07. > :28:08.at the new shape of politics in the UK.
:28:09. > :28:11.It's now three years since Scotland chose to remain a part
:28:12. > :28:14.Tonight, our special correspondent, Allan Little, reports on how
:28:15. > :28:17.the principle fault line in this election campaign still seems to be
:28:18. > :28:22.There's new energy in the Scottish Conservative Party,
:28:23. > :28:26.for 20 years they'd all but disappeared from the electoral
:28:27. > :28:28.map, now they're ahead of Labour as the second party
:28:29. > :28:34.Strong and stable leadership is not front and centre stage here,
:28:35. > :28:39.it's the Union that dominates their campaign message.
:28:40. > :28:42.People are leaving Labour and coming to us because we are the party
:28:43. > :28:47.of the Union and it's the party you can put your trust in.
:28:48. > :28:50.The second independence referendum was the issue that motivated me
:28:51. > :28:53.to join the Conservative Party and to take an active part in,
:28:54. > :29:03.Yes, as soon as you go door-to-door, start door-knocking,
:29:04. > :29:06.the first thing they want to talk about, it's supposed to be
:29:07. > :29:08.local issues and then it becomes very, very much
:29:09. > :29:12.It is the number one issue in Scotland.
:29:13. > :29:15.Until recently, general elections in Scotland were about the same
:29:16. > :29:17.question as in the rest of the country, namely -
:29:18. > :29:21.And for 50 years, Scotland's answer to that question was Labour.
:29:22. > :29:24.The independence referendum of 2014 realigned Scottish politics.
:29:25. > :29:32.Now the question is not so much - who do you want to govern Britain,
:29:33. > :29:34.but do you want to be in Britain at all?
:29:35. > :29:37.In the 20th Century, Scots were devoted Unionists,
:29:38. > :29:47.bound into the UK by the great shared enterprises of Empire,
:29:48. > :29:49.the Second World War and the post-war welfare state.
:29:50. > :29:51.The nationalised industries - coal, steel, shipbuilding -
:29:52. > :29:53.were bedrocks, not just of Labour loyalty, but of British
:29:54. > :30:00.Miners in Fife were part of the community of shared interest
:30:01. > :30:07.with miners in Yorkshire and South Wales.
:30:08. > :30:09.The deindustrialisation of the 1980s and 90s brought down these powerful
:30:10. > :30:16.For much of the 20th Century, Dundee was a Labour fortress.
:30:17. > :30:18.In 2014, it became yes city, voting for independence
:30:19. > :30:24.by the largest margin in the country.
:30:25. > :30:28.So I've been kind of falling out of love with Labour for a long time.
:30:29. > :30:29.That experience pushed many traditional Labour
:30:30. > :30:37.Jane Phillips was among them, she believes independence is inevitable.
:30:38. > :30:41.The idea is there and it's like trying to unknow something.
:30:42. > :30:43.You can't unknow it, and now that idea is out there,
:30:44. > :30:50.It's like, think of all the other countries in the world who've
:30:51. > :30:52.got their independence, think about the British Empire.
:30:53. > :30:54.Once this notion of independence was out there, it was
:30:55. > :31:07.You can't unknow that idea of taking control of your own future.
:31:08. > :31:08.Does the Conservative revival mean that the
:31:09. > :31:12.In some ways, the Conservative resurgence seems to suggest that
:31:13. > :31:15.actually the constitutional issue matters perhaps more than it
:31:16. > :31:19.ever has because it's the Conservative Party,
:31:20. > :31:22.more than any other party, that are talking about independence
:31:23. > :31:26.and the threat of independence and that helps them,
:31:27. > :31:30.they feel it's helped them to be the party of choice for those
:31:31. > :31:32.who are, first and foremost, in favour of Scotland remaining
:31:33. > :31:39.The Conservatives and the SNP together have changed
:31:40. > :31:47.The fault line is not so much left versus right,
:31:48. > :31:49.independence, for or against, is what divides Scotland now.
:31:50. > :32:07.They are known as 'bots' - fake profiles created on social
:32:08. > :32:08.media posting millions of automated messages.
:32:09. > :32:10.They're increasingly being used to spread propaganda,
:32:11. > :32:12.sometimes by foreign powers and often without us
:32:13. > :32:16.Today, the Information Commissioner said she would launch a formal
:32:17. > :32:22.investigation into the way political campaigns use new digital tools
:32:23. > :32:24.to win votes, as our media editor,
:32:25. > :32:29.This is the moment in crime thriller Homeland when bots or fake
:32:30. > :32:30.personalities online, are put to work.
:32:31. > :32:34.You'll find a new set of talking points in your folders.
:32:35. > :32:38.But the threat that they pose to democracy is fast
:32:39. > :32:46.Researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute witnessed a huge explosion
:32:47. > :32:49.in the use of bots around the US election last year.
:32:50. > :32:56.A bot's basically a bit of software that automates
:32:57. > :32:59.The question is - how can you tell the difference
:33:00. > :33:03.Well, what I'm showing you here is an account on Twitter
:33:04. > :33:06.that says that it was started in July 2015, but it
:33:07. > :33:17.It looks like it's tweeting on a really particular schedule.
:33:18. > :33:19.So it says four hours, four hours, four hours,
:33:20. > :33:22.all of the tweets are coming up within minutes of one another
:33:23. > :33:30.And what those shows us is that - there's a couple of things -
:33:31. > :33:37.one, that it's tweeting much more regularly than a person could.
:33:38. > :33:50.And two, that it's tweeting on a very particular schedule.
:33:51. > :33:52.There are fears bots could be used to influence Britain's
:33:53. > :33:54.Many experts believe Russia has already used bots to target
:33:55. > :33:54.the French and US elections, a claim Russia denies.
:33:55. > :33:54.Leading academics say bots are degrading the truth by spreading
:33:55. > :33:56.There are users who can't distinguish between a message that
:33:57. > :33:58.comes from their friends or their family and a message
:33:59. > :34:02.In a close election, where you need 2% or 3%
:34:03. > :34:05.of the popular vote to make a difference, to push you over
:34:06. > :34:07.the edge, having an automated campaign that can get you those
:34:08. > :34:10.voters who are a little uncertain or don't quite know,
:34:11. > :34:12.getting those small numbers of voters to believe
:34:13. > :34:17.a lie about your opponent is sensible strategy.
:34:18. > :34:21.Bots are a 21st Century form of propaganda.
:34:22. > :34:24.The question is whether the law and public awareness have kept pace
:34:25. > :34:31.And while extremists and foreign powers use bots to influence
:34:32. > :34:35.elections and change our behaviour, it's only now that we're
:34:36. > :34:40.Bots will form part of a formal investigation announced today
:34:41. > :34:43.by the Information Commissioner, she'll report later this year
:34:44. > :34:45.on how personal data is being captured and exploited
:34:46. > :34:51.I think there needs to be public awareness.
:34:52. > :34:53.Somebody needs to pull back the curtain and look
:34:54. > :34:58.behind-the-scenes to see how all of this data may be mashed up,
:34:59. > :35:00.may be linked and may be used to push people
:35:01. > :35:03.There has to be transparency around that.
:35:04. > :35:08.But it's not yet clear how to protect British voters from bots.
:35:09. > :35:20.Without strong defences in place, they could undermine the very idea
:35:21. > :35:22.Here, on BBC One, it's time for the news where you are.