22/04/2017 BBC Weekend News

The first weekend of campaigning in the general election,

The first weekend of campaigning in the general election

sees Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn clash on taxation.

Both leaders promise if they win on June 8th,

which always has been, is and will continue to be a party

that believes in lower taxes, in keeping taxes than

that believes in lower taxes, in keeping taxes down

Our tax burdens will not fall on those on low incomes.

Our tax burdens will not fall there, they will fall on those

with the broadest shoulders who can bear the greatest burden.

More than 140 soldiers are dead in Afghanistan,

after a Taliban attack on a military base.

Why was Britain's number one tennis player, Johana Konta,

reduced to tears during a match in Romania?

And Chelsea reach the final of the FA Cup, after a thrilling win

On the first weekend of campaigning for the general election,

both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn have been canvassing support,

The Prime Minister, in the West Midlands today,

refused to be drawn on whether she would raise income

tax, VAT or National Insurance, while the Labour leader

in Manchester promised the tax burden will fall on those

with the broadest shoulders if he wins on June 8th.

Here's our political correspondent Ben Wright.

Get ready for the knock at your door.

Today, the Prime Minister took her campaign message to Dudley

and one voter may have spoken for many.

I couldn't understand why you called another

election with three years to go, you know?

I want a stronger negotiating hand, the strongest possible

But this general election is not just about Brexit

and all the parties are rapidly writing manifestos full

The issue of tax will of course be prominent

and Theresa May was asked whether she would be keeping

the Tories' 2015 manifesto pledge not to raise any

At this election, people are going to have a very clear choice.

They will have a choice between a Conservative Party,

which always has been, is and will continue to be a party

that believes in lower taxes, in keeping taxes than for ordinary

that believes in lower taxes, in keeping taxes down for ordinary

working people, or the choice is a Labour Party whose natural

Two years ago, David Cameron said there would be no VAT,

National Insurance or income tax rises.

Theresa May's comments today suggest that guarantee might not be

in the new manifesto and it follows the Chancellor, Philip Hammond,

yesterday saying he wanted more flexibility in managing the economy.

Today is Flying Start Saturday in our general election campaign.

Already on his eighth campaign visit of the election,

Wooing voters, insisting the election was not a foregone

conclusion and sketching out Labour's own approach to taxes.

We will produce our manifesto very soon and you will see

all the details in that, but I will tell you this,

our tax burdens will not fall on those on low incomes.

Our tax burdens will not fall there, they will fall on those

with the broadest shoulders who can bear the greatest burden.

The Liberal Democrats haven't set out their tax plans either but warn

One thing is absolutely clear, that whoever is in government

is going to have to increase taxation because the effect

of Brexit almost certainly to slow down the economy,

to reduce government revenue, so more tax is going to have to be

raised and the Tories are going to have to raise taxes,

Where I would start is not with those taxes

At the last election, more than 50 SNP MPs were swept

into Westminster and, today, the party announced that

all but two of them, who now sit as independents,

have been reselected as candidates this time round in an election that

will soon have competing policies to flesh out the slogans.

You heard Theresa May they're telling one voter that the reason

she called the election was to strengthen her hand in negotiating

Brexit. Tonight, there has been a response from Brussels. Yes, there

has, an MEP Guy Verhofstadt has given his reaction to it. He has a

role in Brexit, not as an EU negotiator but he represents the EU

Parliament in the process and the parliament will have a vote at the

end of it all and he says that the idea that a new Conservative

Government with a bigger majority, if there is one, will make a

difference to Theresa May's negotiating hand is in his words

nonsensical. He says it is an irrelevance to the talks to come and

even if there is a bigger Tory majority, it will make no difference

to the end deal between Britain and the EU. Number Ten will shrug this

off and not get into a tip for tag struggle with him. There are lots of

reasons Theresa May win this election. If she wins, to get her

own mandate and free herself from the 2015 manifesto, to get various

parts of Brexit through Parliament more easily and of course, she

wouldn't have called it unless she thought she was going to win and win

well. There are polls in the paper tomorrow, opinion polls, that

suggest the Tories have a thumping lead at the moment over Labour at

this stage in the campaign. All the normal caveats, they'll just polls

and as Theresa May said today, they were wrong about the 2015 election,

they were wrong about the referendum last year, but we are going to hear

a lot from the Tories about how they will argue this is not in the bag

for them despite what the polls are saying. Many thanks.

The Afghan government has declared tomorrow a day of national mourning,

after the deaths of more than 140 soldiers, killed

It happened at a military base in the north of the country,

with the militants apparently disguised as soldiers.

Our South Asia Correspondent Justin Rowlatt reports.

It was during afternoon prayers that two suicide bombers blasted open the

entrance to this army base in the north of Afghanistan. At least eight

other fighters dressed in Afghan army uniforms used heavy machine

guns to attack the dining area of the base and the mosque.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility and issued this

picture of the men it claims are behind it.

One was captured, the rest are now dead. Afghan troops have been

pouring in to secure the area today. The Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani,

visited dozens of injured The attack took the troops by

surprise and the battle that followed lasted for five hours.

TRANSLATION: When I came out of the mosque after prayers,

three people with army uniforms and an army vehicle

Islamic tradition requires that burials take place as soon

as possible and the bodies of many of the victims have already

The assault on the army base is a shocking reminder of just

how tough the ongoing battle in Afghanistan is.

Last month, an Afghan army helicopter landed special forces

troops on the roof of the military hospital in Kabul after it

was stormed by gunmen disguised as doctors.

Around 50 people died in that attack.

Two and a half years after the international combat

mission in Afghanistan ended and the Taliban now controls more

And with casualties amongst the Afghan forces running

at almost 7,000 a year, there are questions about how long

the Afghan army can continue to defend the ground it still holds.

Tens of thousands of people have taken part in marches

in cities around the world in support of science.

The rallies began in Australia and New Zealand, eventually reaching

and there have been big demonstrations in America.

Protestors say they're angry at what they believe are mounting

political attacks against scientific thought and factual arguments.

There have been clashes in the German city of Cologne,

as thousands of demonstrators marched on the venue

where the anti-immigration Alternative for Deutschland party,

Huge numbers of police were sent in, and two officers were injured.

The people of France go to the polls tomorrow

in the first round of one of the most important

and unpredictable Presidential elections of recent times.

Combating terrorism is a key issue, after the killing of a police

officer in the capital on Thursday and additional security forces

will back up 50,000 police officers nationwide,

Lucy Williamson is in Paris for us tonight.

From the first flickers of this campaign, from the party primaries

to the nominations on all the scandals and debate, almost nothing

has turned out as it was originally predicted. Today, for a single day,

there was a ban on all political campaigning. A moment for reflection

before the polls open tomorrow morning and the French election

begins. In the lull before France's

presidential vote, those out campaigning today

weren't supporting politicians. Black balloons for those killed

in the line of duty, pink Their message - the police

need protecting too. I am the wife of a policeman

and I am very, very angry because I love him and I don't want

someone coming here One of the balloons

was for Xavier Jugele, Attacked Champs Elysees on Thursday

night by a lone gunman

with an automatic weapon Xavier was on duty in the Bataclan

during the 2015 Paris attacks and went back for a concert

when the hall reopened one year on, That is why we are in here,

with my friend, to celebrate life The police union say

their members need protecting The state of emergency

following a string of attacks Boosting police numbers

has been an issue for But this election has gone

beyond questions of security, It opened up a debate

about the meaning of French values This campaign has offered voters

vastly different visions for their future and the race

between candidates has been tight, so why are so many people

expected to abstain? When you ask them why

they refuse to vote, they always will tell

you the same thing. "They are all the same,

they lie to us, "we have tried

everything, nothing changes." It's not because they don't care,

it's because they care a lot. Across the country, buildings

are being reborn as polling stations What happens here could shape

the political future of Europe. After all the rhetoric

and all the surprises, With all the sport now, here's Olly

Foster at the BBC Sport Centre. Chelsea have reached

the FA Cup final. The Premier League leaders

beat their title rivals, Tottenham, They'll face Arsenal

or Manchester City, Chelsea v Tottenham,

a rivalry that can split families. They've grown close of late,

not in affection, but in tussling for both league and cup

and, amid it all, a reminder that Four minutes in, up stepped Willian

who jilted Spurs for Chelsea, As they have in the league,

Tottenham came back at Chelsea, Christian Eriksen the maker,

Harry Kane the taker, Heung-Min Son started

what he couldn't stop. Cue the reappearing ghost

of Willian, haunting Spurs again. In the frenzied fog,

some can see things others can't. They carried the threat

but Chelsea had the Hazard. Off the bench, into the net

from Eden, the Belgian Blue. Tottenham's collective endeavour

was eclipsed by Chelsea's Nemanja Matic hadn't

scored this season. This was the semifinal that

really had it all but, as so often this season,

Chelsea found a way. When they return here

in about a month's time, they could well be going

for the double. Patrick Gearey, BBC

News, at Wembley. Aberdeen are through to their first

Scottish Cup final in 17 years after beating the holders

Hibernian 3-2. Their first goal was scored after

just 13 seconds at Hampden Park. The match was heading

for extra time at 2-2, but a deflected effort

inside the last five minutes , that went down as an own goal,

saw the Dons through to the final. There was a dramatic opening

to Great Britain's Fed Cup tie. The Romania Captain, Ilie Nastase,

was ejected from the venue after swearing at the British team

members, leaving one of them, Nastase has been suspended

for the rest of the tie we are used to outpourings of a

motion on a tennis court, just not like this. Chohan Konta was on top

against sister, but she wasn't her only challenge. Both Konta and her

captain felt the home crowd had overstepped the mark. Romanian

captain Ilie Nastase then got involved. Already facing an

investigation for comments he made about Serena Williams yesterday,

Nastase swore at the British pair and the officials before being

escorted away. Play resumed but only briefly, with Konta, the world

number seven, visibly distressed. She left the court soon after as

another Romanian player, Simona Halep, pleaded with the crowd. After

nearly half an hour, Konta returned and wasted no time in finishing the

match. She will return tomorrow, unlike Nastase, taken from the

complex, his accreditation removed and banned from the rest of the

time. Great Britain's gymnasts

are also in Romania, Ellie Downey has added a silver

and bronze to her gold yesterday and Courtney Tulloch made history

on the rings. His silver is the first major

international medal for a British He finished second to

current Olympic champion. Saracens are through to

rugby union's European They are the defending champions

and the only British team left They beat beat Munster 26-10

in Dublin and will face Clermont Auvergne or Leinster

in next month's final in Edinburgh. And that's all your sport this

evening. Many thanks.

You can see more on all of today's stories on the BBC News Channel.

But from me and the rest of the team, have a very good night.

Good evening. The weather gradually brightened up through the day