:00:19. > :00:24.Good afternoon. Millions of voters have been
:00:25. > :00:29.queueing at polling stations in Afghanistan as they choose a
:00:30. > :00:33.successor to Hamid Karzai. Voting has been extended due to the high
:00:34. > :00:39.turn out. Security has been tight, with roadblocks saling off much of
:00:40. > :00:48.the capital, Kabul. From there our correspondent David Loyn reports.
:00:49. > :00:52.Dsealing. Election officials show that the ballot box is empty before
:00:53. > :00:58.closing it for the day. There is pride here, in the process. Watched
:00:59. > :01:03.over by the observers for the candidates and independent bodies.
:01:04. > :01:12.I tried out measures to pent people from voting twice, this man said.
:01:13. > :01:16.Ink on a finger and a mark dedeckeded by ultra violent light.
:01:17. > :01:21.We have seen a lot of problems in Afghanistan. A long time the war has
:01:22. > :01:24.been going. We need this good relationship.
:01:25. > :01:29.Polls was brisk, that ballot papers ran out halfway through the day in
:01:30. > :01:31.some places. They had to find fresh supplies.
:01:32. > :01:36.It is very important for all of Afghanistan. I want a new President
:01:37. > :01:41.for Afghanistan. Women voted separately, encouraged
:01:42. > :01:45.by measures, including female searchers at all centres. Security
:01:46. > :01:48.was very tight with hundreds of thousands of troops and the police
:01:49. > :01:52.involved. A bigger threat than violence to the election may be
:01:53. > :01:56.fraud. There are reports that the police in Kandahar in the south are
:01:57. > :02:02.stopping voters and election observers from going to the polling
:02:03. > :02:06.centres. There is no doubting that enthusiasm of Afghans for the
:02:07. > :02:10.election. There are high hopes and expectations put on the shoulders of
:02:11. > :02:14.the man that succeeds Hamid Karzai. Hamid Karzai is barred by the
:02:15. > :02:21.institution from standing in a third election. But it could be some weeks
:02:22. > :02:28.before we know who will succeed him. Our correspondent is in the northern
:02:29. > :02:30.town of Mazar-e-Shar. She witnessed first-hand the determination of many
:02:31. > :02:35.women to cast their votes. If there was ever a doubt about the
:02:36. > :02:38.hunger for a democracy here in Afghanistan, you just have to look
:02:39. > :02:43.around you. This is the queue where the women are preparing to vote.
:02:44. > :02:48.Many of them are wearing burqas but this is still a deeply conservative
:02:49. > :02:52.society. Many have been locked out as there is a log jam inside. So
:02:53. > :02:55.many have turned up to vote. This is really a sign of the times and how
:02:56. > :03:01.much has changed in the past ten years.
:03:02. > :03:06.At one point in their eagerness to vote, the women surged forward,
:03:07. > :03:11.accidentally smashing the glass door, as a lone policeman tried to
:03:12. > :03:16.keep control. But there is a real sense of resilience. Despite the
:03:17. > :03:20.threat of attacks, despite the significant levels of intimidation,
:03:21. > :03:24.people had turned out to vote here in huge numbers.
:03:25. > :03:29.Well, Karen Allen in northern Afghanistan there.
:03:30. > :03:37.Now, David Cameron has hinted at more tax cuts if the Conservatives
:03:38. > :03:39.win next year's general election. The Prime Minister told Conservative
:03:40. > :03:43.Spring Forum and National Convention that wherever they can cut people's
:03:44. > :03:46.taxes that they will do. But he has been facing questions about the
:03:47. > :03:52.controversy around the expenses claims of the Culture Secretary,
:03:53. > :03:57.Maria Miller. REPORTER: Should Maria Miller lose
:03:58. > :04:01.her job? He had come to rally the troops, Tory volunteers from all
:04:02. > :04:06.over the country. But the issue of expenses will not go away. This
:04:07. > :04:11.speech was the culmination of a four-day tour. Tax changes were the
:04:12. > :04:16.focus, and the promise of tax cuts to come was the main theme. The
:04:17. > :04:20.stakes in the general elengths are stratospheric.
:04:21. > :04:26.There in the feeling, after a long cold winter, Britain is coming back.
:04:27. > :04:33.But be in no doubt, all of this, every single piece of this, is in
:04:34. > :04:38.the balance on the 7th of May, 2015. Those jobs that have been created
:04:39. > :04:43.here, they can go overseas. The tax cuts, they can be reversed. The
:04:44. > :04:49.deficit, it can rise up again. Well this lot are gearing up for the
:04:50. > :04:53.elections, as is he next month and the big one in May. They are looking
:04:54. > :04:58.forward but the problem is that an issue of the past has reared
:04:59. > :05:08.irrelevants head. The toxic issue of expenses.
:05:09. > :05:16.-- has reared its head. Now let's cross live to Robin. On
:05:17. > :05:20.Maria Miller, how much is that row and the way it is moving forward,
:05:21. > :05:25.overshadowing David Cameron's message? Well, at this meeting in
:05:26. > :05:29.Central London it is supposed to be about the elections next month, the
:05:30. > :05:34.European elections and the locals and the big one next year, of
:05:35. > :05:38.course, the Tories want to win the elections. The Prime Minister wanted
:05:39. > :05:43.to have the focus on the tax cuts. That they will come if they can
:05:44. > :05:47.afford them. But the problem is that the expenses is a cloud hanging over
:05:48. > :05:51.the politicians. This time the Conservatives. A tape emerging with
:05:52. > :05:55.a conversation with Maria Miller from 2012, where she complains to a
:05:56. > :06:01.reporter from the Telegraph. The Telegraph saying that they think
:06:02. > :06:07.they were intimidated. Threatening language, and now there has been
:06:08. > :06:11.evidence emerging in which she appears to be Stonewalling. She has
:06:12. > :06:15.not done anything criminal, she shahs given money back but there are
:06:16. > :06:18.questions about how she conducted herself when the investigation was
:06:19. > :06:21.looking into what she had done. Thank you very much.
:06:22. > :06:26.Now to outside of the forum after David Cameron's speech there.
:06:27. > :06:32.The comedy writer, Bob Larbey, who helped to create classic sitcoms
:06:33. > :06:39.such as The Good Life and Ever Decreasing Circles has died as the
:06:40. > :06:45.age of 79. He and his friend ban writing for BBC Radio shows and went
:06:46. > :06:48.on to write some of the most popular television comedies over four
:06:49. > :06:53.decades. There is more of all of today's stories on the BBC News
:06:54. > :07:00.Channel. The next news now on BBC One is at of. 40pm but for now,
:07:01. > :07:09.goodbye. -- 6. 40pm. But for now, goodbye.
:07:10. > :07:13.For some of you this is already the reality of your weekend's weather.
:07:14. > :07:19.For others, well, you have this to come. Many of us will see wet
:07:20. > :07:20.weather on Sunday. There are parts of