19/04/2017 BBC News at One

The Prime Minister says if the Conservatives win on June

8th, she'll build a stronger Britain.

Labour challenge her over her refusal to take part in TV debates.

People will have a real choice at this election between a Conservative

Government that has shown we can build a stronger economy and a

Labour Party whose economic policy would bankrupt this country. Mr

Speaker, if she is so proud of our record, why won't she debate it?

Also on the programme this lunchtime:

The former Chancellor George Osborne announces

he's quitting as an MP - for now - to concentrate on his

Prince William speaks out about his mother's death,

saying the shock of losing her is still with him 20 years later.

Such an unbelievably big moment in your

Police name the man they want to question about an acid attack

at a London nightclub as Arthur Collins, the boyfriend

Pride of the Lions, Warren Gatland names the squad to tour New Zealand.

And in sport: Andy Murray's playing his first competitive

match after recovering from an elbow injury.

He's taking on Gilles Muller in the second round of

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News. Parliament has been asked

to approve the Prime Minister's call for a snap general election in seven

weeks. MPs will vote this afternoon on approving the early election.

Theresa May claims victory on the 8th of June would strengthen her

hand with EU leaders as she begins Brexit negotiations, and she

promises to deliver a stronger Britain, but Jeremy Corbyn

questioned why voters should believe her after her U-turn on holding a

snap election. Our political correspondent Ian Watson reports.

The Westminster bubble is fit to burst. National and international

broadcasters have pitched up outside parliament even before the election

has been formally agreed by MPs. The Prime Minister already has her key

messages in place. She wants to fight on leadership and Brexit. I

will be campaigning and taking to voters... Taking to voters the

message of the record of this Conservative Government. But

crucially, of our plans to make Brexit a success and to build a

stronger Britain for the future. And every vote for the Conservatives

will make it harder for those who want to stop me from getting the job

done. Every vote for the Conservatives will make me stronger

when I negotiate for Britain with the EU. Theresa May needs two thirds

of MPs to agree to an election on the 8th of June. It is certain she

will get that backing this afternoon. The Lib Dems are also

keen to fight the election on Brexit, both from a different

perspective. This morning, the Lib Dem leader visited the scene of his

party's by-election victory in Richmond, south-west London, last

year. It is an opportunity for the British people to choose to change

the direction of our country, to reject a hard Brexit and stay in the

single market. However you voted last June, it is a chance to vote

for strong opposition. Theresa May may want this to be a Brexit

election, but prime ministers can't always set the terms of the debate

and campaigns can have a life thereon. Labour wants to pull the

focus back towards public services and the economy. At PMQs, the Labour

leader criticised Theresa May's decision not to take part in

televised debates. Over the last seven years, the Tories have broken

every promise on living standards, the deficit, debt, the NHS and

school funding. Why should anyone believe a word they say over the

next seven weeks? The SNP expect Labour to lose ground in England, so

when their leader came to Westminster today, she made a clear

picture of the anti-Conservative vote in Scotland. Only the SNP

stands between Scotland and an increasingly hardline Tory

Government. It is a vote to end posterity and for investment in our

public services. The watchword in politics recently has been expect

the unexpected. In 50 days, we will know of Theresa May has strengthened

her hand or shot herself in the foot. Ian Watson, BBC News,

Westminster. Norman Smith is in central lobby for

us now. How much have we learned about the election to come from the

clash at lunchtime at Prime Minister's Questions? We learned, as

you would expect, that this will be a heated, charged, emotive election,

not least because of the Brexit element in this contest, and there

were a passionate exchanges at PMQs. We also learned that Mrs May wants

to make this election not just about Brexit but also about her

leadership. In her very first answer, she accused Jeremy Corbyn of

not being fit to lead the country, and she contrasted that with a

Conservative victory, which she said would bring a strong economy,

defence and strong, stable leadership. She wants to play the

leadership card. She said a Jeremy Corbyn victory would mean him being

propped up on the SNP and the Lib Dems. I think we will hear that

leadership theme again and again during the campaign. As for Jeremy

Corbyn, it seems to me he wants to play the trust card, saying Mrs May

had broken promises on not having a snap election, on the deficit, on

debt, on the NHS, on school funding, so what is emerging is a very

traditional sort of election campaign, with two very traditional

themes - leadership and trust. And they only have seven weeks until

this election takes place. Labour's John McDonnell has given us a

glimpse of what might be in their manifesto on tax. He has. He

suggested that the rich should expect to pay more in tax. When he

was challenged about who the rich are, he said those earning 70,000 -

80,000. He did not make a specific tax proposal but he has opened up a

flank which the Conservatives may seek to seize on to say that better

off people could potentially pay more under Labour, but it is clear

that Labour want to move this election on to policy issues, away

from Brexit, where they have a difficult and anguished stance, onto

social care, the NHS and anti-austerity, where they believe

they have a popular message. Norman, thank you. The Prime Minister claims

that winning the election would strengthen her hand in negotiation

with EU leaders over Brexit. Chris Morris looks at

what the election will mean for Brexit.

The rest of the EU is still deciding on its negotiation guidelines and

there will be a summit on the 29th of April to finalise those. Then

there will need to be several weeks to turn those guidelines into a

formal negotiating director, serve it has always been a plan that talks

would start roughly at the beginning of June, so a general election on

the 8th of June doesn't make that much difference. Now, if the opinion

polls are correct, does a bigger majority for Theresa May strengthen

her negotiating hand? Well, at home, on the domestic front, the answer is

probably yes. Less chance of a rebellion, either among remain

supporters or among those who advocate a more hardline Brexit. If

the opinion polls are wrong and more ardent remain supporters enter

Parliament, things could be different. What about Theresa May's

prospect of negotiating with the rest of the EU? Adelie strengthened

if she has a bigger majority? Don't forget this man - Alexis Tsipras,

the radical left-wing leader of Greece, who came to office promising

an end to austerity and a wholesale re-negotiating -- renegotiation with

the EU, but he couldn't deliver. A different circumstance, but winning

an election doesn't necessarily improve things. We are on course to

leave the EU at the end of March 2019, and the effect of an early

election could be biggest in the period immediately after that. If

you look at the timetable, had the election been in 2020, who would

have been coming up to the most crucial part of the negotiations at

the end of the negotiations in what would be starting to be the run-up

to a general election. In other words, an election in 2020 would

take place when we are, in effect, half in and half out of the EU.

Delaying the election would leave all that -- relieve all that

pressure. During that transition period, there will have to be

compromises on issues such as free movement of people, European budgets

and the role of the European Court of Justice. To sum up, an election

now and then another election in five years, that should allow a

Prime Minister, in theory, to have two years of Article 50

negotiations, and then a three-year transition before they need to go

back to the country to ask us, the voters, whether we think they've

done a good job. The European Commission in Brussels

has today confirmed that Brexit negotiations won't begin

until after the British elections EU Officials have spent the past 24

hours looking at how the UK elections will affect

the timetable for negotiations. We can talk to our Europe

Correspondent, Gavin Lee. How much of an impact is it likely

to have? They have had one day to work out how things change.

Yesterday, interestingly, the Vice Chancellor in Germany said this

could change the pattern. It could be problematic in terms of how long

they have to negotiate Brexit. Things have been adjusted slightly.

We heard from Chris saying it would take the other 207A few weeks to

work out their negotiating position, which takes us to the end of May. We

can't do anything until after June the 8th, when the real political

talks will start, but between now and then, there will be civil

servants going back and forth to work out a timetable. We think at

the moment, it will be two weeks on, one week. When they come to a point

where they are to say, we are ready to start, they will start

negotiating from the 9th of June. Just two years after

the last general election - how are voters viewing the prospect

of another one in just seven weeks? Our correspondent,

Sima Kotecha, has been talking She has asked for Jeremy Corbyn

needs to do to win. Can you do those glasses for me in a minute, please?

I will just crack on with my... Karen and Steve run this community

centre in the Birmingham constituency of Hodge Hill, and they

are not excited by the twists and turns in politics. I wouldn't be

hugely into politics, but I do support the Labour Party, in

fairness. This constituency has always voted for Labour. They could

have a better leader Rob the Labour Party, but I think he will be better

than Theresa May. Just because I think Labour are more for the

working-class people. Others here I even more critical of the leader.

From what I have seen of him, I think he is probably good for the

man in the street. However, if we were, bearing in mind the issues

with North Korea and the United States, if North Korea were to act

upon what they are suggesting and Britain were to go to war, I think

Jeremy Corbyn is probably one of the worst people we could have at the

helm. Hodge Hill's population is racially diverse, and people live in

deprived neighbourhoods. Constituencies like this one

probably don't worry Jeremy Corbyn because his party has always won

year by a large majority. The key is to win the marginal seats, a crucial

battle ground that could win or lose him the election. The man in charge

of Labour as many fans here. Some describe him as charming and

likeable, but election exhaustion is palpable and is likely to be a

factor in how many turn out to vote on the 8th of June.

The former Chancellor, George Osborne, is to stand down

from Westminster politics - "for now" - at the election,

He is shortly due to take up editorship of the newspaper.

LE price is in Westminster. How much of a surprise is this, and what do

we think he means when he says for now? This is not one of this week's

big surprises. Much has been made of George Osborne's work outside of

Westminster, not least his decision to become the editor of the London

Evening Standard, so it is apt that he made the decision to stand --

that he announced his decision to stand down in today's paper. He said

he would continue to fight for the Britain he loves from the editor's

chair. He said, I don't want to spend the rest of my life being an

ex-chancellor, I want new challenges. We have been hearing in

recent months about how much he has earned from making speeches. He is a

consultant to an asset management company, still has shares in the

family wallpaper business, and he has been dabbling in academia. He is

45 years old, but he said it was too early to start writing his memoirs.

He hinted towards a political comeback, saying he would leave

Westminster for now. This is an arch strategist who had his eyes on the

leadership. He knows the golden rule of politics: Never say never. Thank

you. The Duke of Cambridge has revealed

that the shock of his mother's death is still with him 20 years

after she was killed in a car crash. Prince William was speaking

in a BBC One documentary, Mind Over Marathon -

which follows a group of runners who have mental health problems

and are training for this Earlier this week, Prince Harry

revealed he'd sought counselling to come to terms

with Princess Diana's death. Our Royal Correspondent,

Peter Hunt reports. Exercise can help with

mental health issues. Ten runners pursuing a shared goal,

a marathon for their minds as much All of them have suffered

and continue to suffer from turmoil And you're convinced

it can help mental health? Most definitely,

from personal experience. Rhian is one of

the marathon novices. Her one-year-old son, George,

died five years ago. Five days later, her husband Paul,

who blamed himself, PTSD has been a huge thing

that I've had to carry. The runners are being

supported by William, Their Heads Together campaign aims

to encourage people to talk When your mum passed away,

you were older than my children, but I am worried about

them growing up. With a mum like you,

they will be fine. You try and understand

your emotions more than someone who hasn't had any

issues in their lives. because it is explaining to them

what those emotions mean If you are angry or down or upset,

you can kind of relativise it I still feel 20 years later,

about my mother, that I still have You think, no, it

can't last that long. It is an unbelievably big

moment in your life. He just said straight up

they will be all right if they are brought up

in a loving and caring First Prince Harry,

and now Prince William - two royal brothers who provided

an insight into the detrimental Diana's death is one of the reasons

William is passionate From my personal point of view,

it's the emotional side. I hate seeing people

in emotional or mental torment. You can really see it

sometimes and it's really sad, because it takes you down

a very, very different path in life. The point of the campaign,

with the marathon, is we want We want people to talk

about mental health The runners will face physical

and mental challenges when they compete on Sunday

in the London Marathon. And this morning Prince Harry

officially opened the London Marathon and said it was only right

to share his experiences and hope it will help reduce the stigma of

mental health problems. I've shared just as much

as everybody else has during this campaign, and after however many

years of listening to stories from veterans and their families, and

then specifically in this campaign, William, Catherine and I hearing

some of the most heart wrenching have experienced, and then

the mental anguish that has happened from then, it was only right

to share my experiences to hope to encourage others to come

forward and sort of ridges -- reduce or smash that stigma,

to make it easier for them to talk And Mind over Marathon is on BBC One

tomorrow night at 9pm. The snap general election -

MPs are asked to approve the vote Sam Warburton of Wales will captain

the British and Irish Lions The snap general election -

MPs are asked to approve the vote Sam Warburton of Wales will captain

the British and Irish Lions for their tour of New

Zealand this summer. Having resumed 5-4 down

to qualifier Rory McLeod at the World Snooker

Championship in Sheffield, the World number two Judd Trump has

work to do to reach the second In France voters are preparing

to go to the polls this weekend in the first

round of the Presidential elections Our correspondent Thomas Fessy has

been testing the political temperature in Amiens -

once a left wing stronghold - now a city which has seen confidence

in established politics ebb away. Here in Amiens, yet another factory

about to close down. These workers feel that

globalisation has passed them by. And they blame the

political establishment. TRANSLATION: Parties

of the right and left play Laws are being passed,

but not implemented. None of the candidates talk

about relocations, he says. Except for perhaps Marine Le Pen

and Jean-Luc Melenchon, Like Anthony and Christine,

many here look to the extremes. Four days to go before the vote

and only two thirds of French voters Last minute deciders may prove

the current polls wrong and traditional parties worry

they may suffer from a potentially Evelyn has always voted

for the Republicans, but this time around she tells me,

trust is broken. TRANSLATION: I am not going to vote

for people who have been Whether it is one side or the other,

they always promised a lot Distrust of the political elite,

job losses and calls for change, the stories from Amiens

resonate across France. And will determine the direction

the country decides to take. And we will have coverage of the

first round results of the French election results this Sunday at

6:30pm on the BBC News Channel. Almost two weeks ago President Trump

announced he was sending an armada towards the Korean peninsula

amid rising tensions with Pyongyang. But it's emerged that the American

aircraft carrier - and its accompanying warships -

were actually heading in the opposite direction -

to Australia - to complete Rupert Wingfield Hayes

has more details. The sight of the US vice president

on board a nuclear powered aircraft Even more so when it's

sitting in Japan. Was this an elaborate

piece of theatre? Or a sign America is really

preparing for action against North We will defeat any attack and meet

any use of conventional or nuclear weapons with an overwhelming

and effective American response. The United States of America

will always seek peace, but under President Trump,

the shield stands guard If President Trump is planning

some sort of military action against North Korea,

there is no sign of it here. This is the USS Ronald Reagan,

the flagship of the But it won't be ready to leave this

port in Japan for at Meantime, the other

Carrier Battle Group President Trump said he sent into

the Korean peninsula has been seen sailing

in The Carl Vinson saga began

on April the 8th when the US Pacific Fleet Commander ordered

the aircraft carrier to leave Singapore and sail north

to waters near Korea. Three days later, President

Trump confirmed he was But instead, for a whole week

Carl Vinson and its escorts sailed in the opposite direction,

into the Indian Ocean. The US Navy now says

the Carrier Battle Group is finally Back on board the Ronald Reagan,

Vice President Mike Pence hinted its departure may

also now be accelerated. Godspeed on the USS Reagan's

eminent deployment. Figuring out what the Trump

administration is planning for Rupert Wingfield Hayes, BBC News,

at the Yokosuka naval Police have named a man they're

searching for in connection with an acid attack

at an East London nightclub on Monday in which twenty

people were injured. Arthur Collins, who's 25

and from Hertfordshire, is the boyfriend of the reality TV

star, Ferne McCann. The Metropolitan police have

released two pictures This image was taken of him

at the Mangle E8 club in Dalston in East London where an acidic

substance was sprayed Two men aged 24 and 29 have been

transferred to a specialist burns hospital in Essex where they remain

in a serious but stable condition. Mr Collins can be seen here

with reality TV star Ferne McCann, who was not with him at the time

of the incident. A spokeswoman for the star,

who is best known for her appearances on The only Way is Essex

and I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out "Ferne wants to know the truth

and urges Arthur to co-operate fully with the police and attend

a police station immediately." Isabella Fraser, whose

injuries can be seen here, was in the club with her sister Prue

at the time. They are from Australia

and spoke to a channel there. Someone just ran into me and had

acid on their face. I felt my back, it felt as if someone had scratched

me. It was stinging and I realised my shirt was stuck to my skin. I

could not feel Isabella anywhere and I could feel my arm burning.

Police say they have also visited an address in Hertfordshire

where they arrested a 54-year-old man and 52-year-old

woman on suspicion of cultivating cannabis.

Victims who were enjoying a bank holiday night out say they have been

left shaken by the nightclub incident and deeply shocked that

It's going to be one of the sporting highlights of the summer,

and this lunchtime coach Warren Gatland finally announced

the squad for the British and Irish Lions rugby tour

As expected former Wales captain Sam Warburton will lead the team

Our correspondent Katie Gornall has the details.

Warren Gatland said he only finalised the squad with this team

last night and there was some lively debate over the selection. Today he

announced the 41 players who will be taking on tour to New Zealand. As

predicted the majority were English, 16 players. Not perhaps some of the

names you might have expected. There's no room for England captain

Dylan Hartley despite the fact that he has led England to their second

successive Six Nations title. But prop Kyle Sinckler and Santa Ben

Te'o are included despite the fact they only started one test for

England between them. There are 12 Welsh players in there as well, even

though they had something of an underwhelming Six Nations. Just two

Scottish players even though Scotland came joint second in the

Six Nations. So should be some debate around the composition of

this British and Irish Lions squad. Of course there will be led by Sam

Warburton, only the second man to lead successive Lions tours. Today

he said he had every confidence in his team-mates. If someone had to

ask me to put the squad in, the quality of players to pick from is

incredible. So an immensely strong squad. Everyone a top-class player.

So it gives myself as captain a massive amount of confidence going

to New Zealand with that squad. Sam Warburton is currently out

injured at the moment and is expected to be fit in time for the

tour. You will need to be at his best because the challenge doesn't

come much greater than playing New Zealand at the world number one side

on their home turf. Parliament is being asked to approve

the Prime Minister's call for a snap MPs will vote this afternoon

on approving the early poll. Our assistant political

editor, Norman Smith, Theresa May says it is in the

national interest to strengthen our hand ahead of these crucial Brexit

negotiations and she said there is now a window of opportunity before

negotiations get underway in the autumn. She also suggested there was

no general election now the danger would be that Brexit would be

completed just as we got to the 2020 election which could significantly

increase the leverage of EU negotiators. This is what she said.

I have set out the divisions that have been becoming clear on this

issue. They can and will be used against us. We're giving our hand in

the negotiations to come and we must not let that happen. I believe at

this moment of enormous national significance there should be unity

here in Westminster and not division. That is why it is the

right and responsible thing for all of us here today to vote for a

general election. To make our respective cases to the country and

then to respect the result and the mandate it provides to give the UK

the strongest possible hand in the negotiations to come. In the last

few minutes Jeremy Corbyn said that the Labour Party welcomed the

election as it provides an opportunity to get rid of the

Conservative government. Labour and the Liberal Democrats will vote for

the election but you suspect it way -- it may well be through gritted

teeth because Labour MPs will have looked the daunting opinion polls

giving Theresa May a commanding lead, but they fear they cannot

stand out against a general election or risk a charge that they are

defying voters are saying. And they're simply too frightened to

face the electorate. A small town in Canada,

has become a sudden tourist spot thanks to a new visitor - one

of the first icebergs of the season. It's nearly 50 meters tall and has

become stranded in shallow water just off the Newfoundland coast,

in an area known as iceberg alley. There was some frost this morning

across the South East but since then it has turned into a lovely spring

day. Another dry day in the south-east of England where it has

been drying out for a good few months. But this is the rainfall for

April so far compared to the average amounts. Significantly drier than

normal. The only place that has seen more rainfall is part of the

Highlands in Scotland where we had a lot of rain in just one day. This is

Highland Scotland earlier on today, it should brighten up with some

sunshine. But high pressure has been dominating the weather and is still

around today keeping it tried just about everywhere. A lot of sunshine

across the south of England and through the Midlands, a little hazy

here at times. Temperatures responding to that sunshine at

around 15 degrees. North Wales, the North of England cooler and

cloudier. A little drizzle coming into Northern Ireland. The rest of

Scotland brightening up and warming up so possibly into the mid-teens.

Some late sunshine in some spots but slowly the cloud moves south

overnight. Thick enough to give some drizzle here and there. Arriving in

the south-east of England last of all and that could be some frost

here overnight especially in the countryside. But typically

temperatures are good few degrees higher under the cloud. Heading into

tomorrow quite a cloudy day, perhaps a little drizzle but no great

amounts of rainfall. The cloud should then in some places and we

could see some sunshine. There will be a lot of cloud tomorrow but it is

slightly warmer air so temperatures around 13, 14 degrees. We have

brighter skies and generally dry weather across England and Wales

again heading into Friday. It could be warmer with some sunshine, 18 or

so degrees in the south-east. But some rain moving across Scotland

towards Northern Ireland. But once again the weather front is very

weak. It draws down for the first half of the weekend some colder air

for Northern and eastern parts of the UK but that gets cut off by an

area of low pressure for Sunday that will approach Scotland bringing some

wet and windy weather later on, otherwise high pressure is in charge

once again. So for most places the weekend will be dry, a little

sunshine and temperatures around average for the time