:00:23. > :00:27.Good afternoon. Labour has said it would reintroduce the 50p top rate
:00:28. > :00:29.of income tax if it wins the next general election. The Shadow
:00:30. > :00:32.Chancellor, Ed Balls, told an audience in London that the move
:00:33. > :00:41.would ensure those with the broadest shoulders bore a fairer share of the
:00:42. > :00:48.burden. Business groups have criticised the policy. The
:00:49. > :00:57.Conservatives said it was the same old Labour. Are you going to put up
:00:58. > :01:01.taxes? The answer is yes. Ed Balls told an audience of left-wing
:01:02. > :01:07.activists that a Labour government would reintroduce the 50p top rate
:01:08. > :01:10.of income tax. It cannot be right for David Cameron and George Osborne
:01:11. > :01:17.to have chosen to give the richest people in our country is huge tax
:01:18. > :01:24.cut. That is why the next Labour government will reverse the top rate
:01:25. > :01:29.tax cut so we can finish the job of getting the deficit down fairly.
:01:30. > :01:36.Labour introduced the rate for those earning more than ?150,000 in 2010,
:01:37. > :01:41.during their final few months in power. The coalition scrapped it in
:01:42. > :01:48.2012 after research suggested it raised less than predicted. The
:01:49. > :01:54.analysis done by each MRC and supported by the old BR was not just
:01:55. > :02:00.looking at short changes -- HMRC. It was looking at the long-term. The
:02:01. > :02:05.analysis showed that 50p rate would raise little if anything. The Shadow
:02:06. > :02:11.Chancellor's cancer is officials underestimated the number of tax --
:02:12. > :02:14.the amount of tax paid by the rich when it was in place. He pledged
:02:15. > :02:18.that the Labour government would pass a law that would commit it to
:02:19. > :02:22.balancing the books. The only borrowing a load would be for
:02:23. > :02:28.investment in infrastructure. -- allowed. Labour hopes its message
:02:29. > :02:35.will get through to people on incomes of all sizes. What sort of
:02:36. > :02:43.reaction at this got away from party politics? I was in that hall, packed
:02:44. > :02:47.with left-wing activists. They lapped up the 50p rate. The reaction
:02:48. > :02:51.from business is the opposite. We have a few statements in the last 30
:02:52. > :02:56.minutes. The CBI said it will put talented people off coming to the
:02:57. > :03:08.UK. Something even more scathing. They called it knee jerk reaction. I
:03:09. > :03:13.suspect Ed Balls might not mind that, because Labour's whole thing
:03:14. > :03:20.is standing up for ordinary people in the face of the rich. The Syrian
:03:21. > :03:23.government and the opposition have met briefly for the first time in
:03:24. > :03:26.the same room - sitting face-to-face, but not talking
:03:27. > :03:29.directly at the talks in Geneva. The initial meeting lasted about half an
:03:30. > :03:32.hour, with only the UN mediator, Lakhdar Brahimi, speaking. They are
:03:33. > :03:35.due to meet again later today, with the focus expected to be on
:03:36. > :03:47.humanitarian aid and the release of prisoners. Our correspondent is
:03:48. > :03:52.there. Is this reacted as -- regarded as progress? It certainly
:03:53. > :03:57.is progress given for many hours yesterday it seemed as if the whole
:03:58. > :04:00.peace process might collapse. The sticking point was whether the
:04:01. > :04:06.government would accept the declaration last June which set out
:04:07. > :04:10.a plan for the transition of power. It seemed they would not talk about
:04:11. > :04:13.it, then they said they would talk about it in principle, and that was
:04:14. > :04:22.enough to get the opposition into the room. Dictators usually don't
:04:23. > :04:28.like to listen, but today, they had to listen to us and the voice of the
:04:29. > :04:35.Syrian people, who want transition from dictatorship to democracy. The
:04:36. > :04:42.transition process has just started today. They will not start talking
:04:43. > :04:46.about the future of the president straightaway. That is the endgame.
:04:47. > :04:53.This afternoon they will focus on humanitarian issues, getting
:04:54. > :04:58.humanitarian aid into cities where people have been cut off for 18
:04:59. > :05:00.months. We have spoken to rebel groups who said they would accept
:05:01. > :05:04.what is being negotiated on their behalf. That would be concrete
:05:05. > :05:08.progress which would make a real difference to people on the ground.
:05:09. > :05:13.Police have warned that any British nationals travelling to Syria can be
:05:14. > :05:18.expected to be stopped when they return, and could be arrested. Sir
:05:19. > :05:20.Peter Fahy, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, told the
:05:21. > :05:25.BBC there was "huge concern" that Britons returning after fighting in
:05:26. > :05:28.Syria posed a threat to the UK. This month, 16 people have been arrested
:05:29. > :05:31.on suspicion of terror offences after travelling between Syria and
:05:32. > :05:43.the UK. That compares with 24 in the whole of 2013. A murder
:05:44. > :05:49.investigation has been launched by Surrey police following the death of
:05:50. > :05:53.a 17-year-old girl. Officers were called to an address in Oxted after
:05:54. > :05:56.the body of a girl was discovered. A 16-year-old boy has been arrested on
:05:57. > :05:58.suspicion of murder and is in police custody. Anti-government protesters
:05:59. > :06:02.in Ukraine have stormed the Energy Ministry in the capital, Kiev. The
:06:03. > :06:05.demonstrators briefly occupied the first floor of the building, in what
:06:06. > :06:10.officials called an act of terrorism. Protests are continuing
:06:11. > :06:12.in cities across the country. The Interior Minister has accused the
:06:13. > :06:15.demonstrators of hoarding weapons and said efforts to resolve the
:06:16. > :06:24.unrest by peaceful means are "futile".
:06:25. > :06:27.Reports from Paris say the French President Francois Hollande is to
:06:28. > :06:31.announce his separation from partner Valerie Trierweiler later today. The
:06:32. > :06:34.French First Lady is not married to Mr Hollande but assumed the role
:06:35. > :06:37.following his election in 2012. Two weeks ago a magazine claimed that
:06:38. > :06:46.the president has been having an affair with the actress Julie Gayet.
:06:47. > :06:50.Tennis and China's Li Na has won the Australian Open in Melbourne -
:06:51. > :06:53.beating her opponent, Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova, in straight
:06:54. > :06:57.sets. It took a tie-break to decide the first set 7-6, but after that it
:06:58. > :07:06.was one-way traffic, as the fourth seed took the second set 6-0 for her
:07:07. > :07:09.second career Grand Slam title. You can see more on all of today's
:07:10. > :07:12.stories on the BBC News Channel. That's all from me, stay with us on
:07:13. > :07:13.BBC One -