20/04/2017 BBC News at One

The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn promises to stand up

for ordinary working people, as his election

It was to be a fight between the "establishment

and the people" he said - and said the result is not

But of course they do not want us to win, because when we win,

it is the people not the powerful who win.

Former Ukip MP Douglas Carswell says he won't stand for re-election

We'll bring you all the latest as campaigning gets underway.

Theresa May holds Brexit talks with the European Parliament President -

he says his priority is the status of EU citizens here.

A major breakthrough in the treatment of dementia -

a drug for depression could help protect the brain from degeneration.

Almost ?500,000 is raised for a 17-year-old racing driver,

who's had both legs amputated after a high speed crash.

And how cycling to work can halve your risk of getting

And coming up in the sport on BBC News.

Left out of the Lions squad but still leading his country.

Dylan Hartley will captain the England party for their tour

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One.

The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said he will stand up

for ordinary working people, as he attacked big business

and the elite in his first major speech of the General Election

Casting the June 8th vote as a fight between the "establishment

and the people," Mr Corbyn said a "cosy cartel" ran

a "rigged system," and that wealth should be shared.

Recent opinion polls have put Labour between 15 and 20 points

behind the Conservatives, but Mr Corbyn dismissed

suggestions the election result was a foregone conclusion.

Here's our Political Correspondent Chris Mason.

The next Prime Minister of the UK, Jeremy Corbyn. Do you believe it? Do

they believe it? Does he believe it? Opinion polls suggest it's highly

unlikely Jeremy Corbyn will be heading for Downing Street but Mr

Corbyn is trying to change people's minds. Much of the media and the

establishment are saying this election is a foregone conclusion.

They think there are rules in politics which, if you don't follow

by doffing your cap to the powerful people, accepting that things can't

really change, then you can't win. But of course they don't want us to

win, because when we win, it is the people, not the powerful, who win.

Jeremy Corbyn was full of vim, zip and energy. The Conservatives, he

said, are morally bankrupt, the system is rigged and he would prove

people wrong. Anyone who stands up to create a better, fairer, more

decent society gets vilified. Our party gets vilified. But I'll tell

you, we are bigger, stronger and more determined than we've ever

been. His challenge is convincing enough people outside this room.

There is a very clear choice and it is a clear choice between strong and

stable government with strong leadership under Theresa May and the

Conservatives or a coalition of chaos with Jeremy Corbyn pepped up

by the Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrats. Having voted

itself out of existence, parliament here will soon dissolve and they

will head from this post code to your postcode. If you want to have a

say, you have a month to register to vote. For now at least, deciding who

walks through this door in June is in your hands.

Let's join Norman Smith who is also in Westminster. Jeremy Corbyn's

antiestablishment message. How far will that resonate with people who

are not his natural supporters? I was in the hall and this speech was

rapturously received. It was classic Corbyn, castigating the wealthy, the

media, the establishment, the city. It's the sort of speeches made that

under the demonstrations, processed marchers, rallies throughout his

career but the danger is that it was a comfort zone speech, a feel-good

speech for the true believers. The risk, that Alberti Middle England

they might have more mundane concerns about their mortgages,

their children's schools, they may not be bothered about ripping up the

rules and tearing down the elite. Mr Corbyn's team believe people are

changing, that there is a sense of unhappiness with politics. People

want things done differently and they point to the Brexit boat, they

point to Donald Trump, to the French elections as evidence of this mood,

this desire for change which they believe Jeremy Corbyn can write to

power on and they take the view that there's no point trying to package

Jeremy Corbyn as some sort of conventional sound bite politician.

This was Corbyn uncut, the authentic Jeremy Corbyn and they hope voters

will respond that. What did Mr Corbyn have to say about Brexit? You

have to say, the B word very rarely crosses his lips and it hardly did

so today. The reason for that, frankly, it is Labour is something

of a political Punch bag when it comes to Brexit. Pummelled by

Brexiteers for not believing forcefully enough in Brexit and

punished by remainders for not fighting hard enough against Brexit.

At the same time, today, Theresa May trying to keep the focus on Brexit.

She was meeting the president of the European Parliament, indicating that

the Brexit process is still carrying on throughout this campaign and I

think we could be facing one of the most divisive general elections in

recent history, with Theresa May taking on those she believes are

frustrating the Brexit process and Jeremy Corbyn determined to take on,

as he sees it, the elite, the establishment. Norman, good to talk

to you, as always. Douglas Carswell,

the MP for Clacton who, until recently, was Ukip's only MP,

has said he will not be seeking Mr Carswell, who sits

as an independent, said he would be backing

the Conservative candidate. Andrew Sinclair is BBC East's

political edtior and is in Norwich. Andrew, why isn't Mr Carswell

standing and how has this gone down? No real surprise at today's

announcement. Douglas Carswell regularly making political

headlines. This was the Tory MP who dramatically defected to Ukip and

insisted on fighting a by-election which he went on to win. He has

regularly been in the news, having spats with Ukip's former leader,

Nigel Farage. Last month he said he would sit in Parliament as an

independent because he thought he could's job was done. Today, he has

said he will not contest that election as an independent and has

said he will be supporting the Conservatives. In a statement he

says, I have done everything I can to ensure we get the referendum and

we leave the European Union. It is sometimes said that all political

careers end in failure, it doesn't feel like that to me today. Job

done. I'm delighted. Andrew, thank you.

Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has said Labour

is 'unelectable' under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.

Speaking during First Minister's questions, she said voting SNP

was the only way to protect Scotland from the Conservatives.

Because of the unelectability of Labour, Scotland faces

the prospect of an unfettered, out-of-control Tory government,

and we know the damage that can do to Scotland.

To our budget, to the vulnerable, to pensions, to our economy.

Vote SNP to make sure that Scotland's voice is heard,

and that Scotland has protection against the Tories.

Our Scotland correspondent Lorna Gordon is in Edinburgh.

Lorna, it was a lively session of First Minister 's question. Did you

feel that each party was effectively rehearsing their arguments for the

election campaign ahead? Yes, rehearsing their arguments that we

will hear again and again I think over the next seven weeks. There's a

protest outside Parliament this afternoon over reforms to child tax

credits. That was one of the main issues at the start of First

Minister's Questions to date. They were noisy exchanges over that issue

but what you did really get was a sense of the election issues ahead.

Nicola Sturgeon saying again and again that it was her impression and

opinion that only the SNP can protect Scotland from what she

described as an increasingly hardline conservative government.

The Conservatives are the main opposition here at Holyrood. Their

leader, Ruth Davidson, but her part saying that Nicola Sturgeon's best

intervention in this election has been to put Mr Corbyn in pole

position to become Prime Minister. That of course dipping a nod towards

the comments yesterday from Nicola Sturgeon that she would be prepared

to support an alliance. Nicola Sturgeon's responds today was that

the polls suggest there was no chance of Jeremy Corbyn getting into

number ten. Kezia Dugdale, the Labour leader, said that it within

the SNP's interests for the Conservatives to stay where they

are. Nicola Sturgeon has been due to set out how her proposals, have

plans to hold a second independence referendum over the coming weeks,

that triggered by Brexit, it is not sure how that will continue now a

snap election has been called. You can keep up to date with all of that

on the BBC News page. Theresa May has invited

the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker,

and his chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, to a meeting

in London next week. It follows a meeting earlier

today with the President of the European Parliament,

who made clear his priority was Our Diplomatic Editor James Landale

has been following the visit. James. Rita, Antonio Gianni might

not be a household name in Britain but he matters because his

Parliament matters. In Brussels, it will have a beater, a vote over any

deal between the UK and the EU. After meeting the Prime Minister

this morning, he said something very interesting. Since the Prime

Minister Colby election, most senior European figures have kept their

heads down. The president however said he welcomed the election

because of the stability that he thought it would bring to the Brexit

negotiations. This is what he said to me.

I think for the European Union, it is better to have

stability in the United Kingdom than to have the same interlocutor

For us, it is much better to have these

negotiations with have this with the new government

than a government before an election campaign.

The other point that the European Parliament president made was that

in his eyes, the importance of securing an early deal for European

residents living in the UK as part of a Brexit deal. He said that he

and the Prime Minister agreed that there was a need for this to be done

as soon as possible and he talked of a framework deal in perhaps a matter

of months. I have to say that having spoken to officials in the UK and in

Brussels that would be optimistic because of the sheer scale of

technical problems of reaching a deal on this. Which migrants are we

talking about, what rights are we talking about? Rights to live, to

work, what benefits? The whole issue of migrant -- citizen rights is very

obligated. I think it will be tough to get an early deal on this. James,

many thanks. The American billionaire Bill Gates,

has used a speech in London to warn Theresa May that reducing

the government's commitment The Prime Minister has refused

to say whether she will retain a pledge made by David Cameron

to spend at least 0.7% of national So, what is the money spent

on and how do we compare Chris Morris of

Reality Check reports. Loading up. The UK is one of a

handful of countries that meet the long-standing international target

of spending 0.7% of gross national income on overseas aid. That

translates to more than ?12 billion a year and there are those that

argue that it is too much. 0.7% figure was written into law in 2015.

Theresa May has refused to say whether she intends to keep it.

Prominent campaigners insist that she should. You pick the things that

you are going to spend less money on if you take it away. Less on girls

education, less on tools of contraception that empower women,

less malaria bed nets where we have brought children's deaths from 1

million a year to half a million a year. So how does our aid budget of

no .7% compared to that around the world? Well, Scandinavia is at the

top of the list. Sweden spent 0.37% -- no .97% but other countries are

significantly below us. US spent 0.18% and Roger just 0.08%.

Currently our money is focused where it is really needed, like in the

Horn of Africa, but there is now pressure in Westminster for the

money to be put into a larger budget which would also cover defence,

giving them more flexibility on where the money is spent. There is a

pressure on our spending as part of our diplomatic effort, our soft

power and our diplomatic defence, because if we help poorer countries

to prosper, we can trade with them. There have been campaigns against

wasteful spending abroad at the time of cuts at home. Plans to spend

billions to continue funding this group, known as Ethiopia's Spice

Girls, were abandoned earlier this year. There is also backing for

foreign aid, with campaigners seeing it as a lifeline, in which global

Britain should wish to continue to lead.

Scientists have discovered drugs which may be able to halt

the progress of a wide range of degenerative brain

diseases, including Alzeimer's and Parkinson's.

One of them is already safely given to people with depression.

The research has been described as potentially a major step forward.

Our health correspondent Jane Dreaper reports.

These pills could hold promise for fighting some of the illnesses we

fear the most. Scientists now think this drug and another one could

reduce the brain shrinkage caused by Alzheimer's and other diseases. An

effective treatment would give hope to joy Watson. I was diagnosed

officially at the age of 55. It was actually my birthday. Before then I

was experiencing symptoms of being clumsy and it was all put down to

depression and stress. But it was quite a relief when I got the

diagnosis. I tried to put on a brave face for the other people I have

contact with and my family. It's almost like living a double life to

be honest. One of the drugs is already licensed and used to treat

depression. It will take time and trials in many people, before we

know whether this can definitely also help prevent the damage to the

brain caused by dementia and similar illnesses. But scientists are

excited. We aren't going to cure these disorders but if we stop them

in their tracks, and we change the way they progress, we will radically

change the course and the natural history of diseases like Alzheimer's

disease and other dementias. Because people will still be able to hold

onto a meaningful quality of life and stay out of institutional care.

So far, the research has focused on brain cells in mice, but it is hoped

trials in humans will begin soon, because one of the medicines is

already on prescription. We can move to testing bees in people much

faster than we would for other drug discovery processes. Although this

isn't an overnight process, it maybe a few years rather than decades

before these can be helping people. But some previous drug trials into

these brain or nurses have ended in disappointment. A lot of hope will

be riding on the latest work. Jane Draper, BBC News.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn promises the election will be a fight between

the establishment and the people, and that a Conservative victory is

not a foregone conclusion. Still to come, one of the most high-profile

news presenters in America loses his job after being accused of sexual

harassment. Coming up in sport at half-past,

Andy Murray's struggles on serve continue as he attempts to reach

the quarter finals of his first tournament

since an elbow injury, against Spain's Albert

Ramos-Vinolas. Everyone knows that using two wheels

rather than four is good for you - but now researchers believe cycling

to work could actually halve the risk of developing

heart disease and cancer. Scientists at the University

of Glasgow, who analysed data from more than 250,000 people,

said walking reduced the risk of the same conditions

by a quarter Jon Kay reports. Is this the best way

to live for longer? She cycles five miles to work

in Bristol every morning, How do you feel cycling

to work helps you? It wakes me up in the morning,

gets me geared up for the day, It's a good way to manage

stress and things as well, because when we live in the city,

busy lifestyles, getting on your It gets rid of all that stress

and adrenaline that can build up. Some people say it's very

stressful riding a bike, and that's one of the reasons

they don't do it. I think, if I had to cycle on main

roads for the whole journey, Scientists from the University

of Glasgow looked at the health of a quarter of a million commuters

over five years to examine They found that those

using pedal power had... That's compared with people who are

driving or using public transport. We need to make it easier

for people to cycle, so we need to increase cycle lanes,

we need to have cycle and city hire schemes,

subsidised bike schemes, have people have showers at work,

so they don't feel sweaty There's a whole host of things

just to make it easier If we can do that, we'll get more

people on their bikes, and we'll improve public health,

just like places like Amsterdam Cycling groups say if we follow

the lead of those European cities, we could save money on health care,

because fewer of us would Although, of course,

cycling can also lead to more Researchers say walking to work also

has some benefits, but not as many. They say for commuters like Laura,

cycling is especially good, because it fits

into the daily routine. More than ?400,000 has

been raised to help a 17-year-old racing driver,

who had his lower legs amputated after being involved

in a crash on Sunday. Billy Monger ran into the back

of another car which appeared to have stopped on the track

during the race at Donington Park Our sports correspondent

Joe Wilson reports. 17 years old and life changed

forever. Billy Monger, one of Britain's most talented racing

drivers, was competing at Donington Park when he collided with a

stationary car at 120 miles an hour. Airlifted to hospital at the Queen's

Medical Centre in Nottingham, his lower legs were removed in surgery.

Billy Monger's talent was well known, even when he was at primary

school. At age nine he was featured on blue Peter. How fast where you

going? 55 mph. His racing team is raising money to help fund his

recovery. The total was nearing half a million short time ago, with Lewis

Hamilton and Jenson Button amongst supporters. Billy has been

communicating with his team principal in hospital. He is aware

of what's happened. He's obviously a very positive lad. The first thing

he started to do was to work out how to use a clutch with his hand. Motor

racing without legs is possible. This driver was injured while

serving in Afghanistan and has offered to help Billy Monger. I've

been a young man who lost his legs, obviously in different

circumstances. I just think about Billy, I've been in that position,

you try and be strong in front of everybody. In your head, you'll

still trying to make sense. Formula for is a route to Formula 1. Drivers

were practising today, motor racing may be safer, it doesn't mean it's

risk-free. What happened to Billy Monger is a reminder of what can

happen to anyone. J Wilson, BBC News.

In the last few minutes that total has gone to over half ?1 million.

Debenhams is to review the future of ten of its department stores,

as more people take to the internet for their shopping.

The company's already closing ten of its warehouses and one regional

distribution centre, and says these latest plans

They are closing stores and warehouses but say it's a strategy

for growth. They face the department store 's dilemma. What do you do

when you have all these expensive town centre outlets. They have 165

across the UK and people are shopping more on the internet. And

especially on their smartphones. Their strategy is to concentrate on

the smartphone, that's where sales have been growing. It's bad news for

the stores but around one third of the people who use that come into

the shop to pick up what they've bought. They can also use the app to

offer them experiences in the shop. Beauty treatments, fashion events,

food and drink. They are trying to offer those things people want to

photograph with their smartphones and share on social media. That's

the direction if they are going. They've identified these ten stores

which will start losing money and may have to be closed. A big

Debenhams store probably employs around 1000 people so that is a

major worry for jobs. In the short term more than 200 people who work

in the distribution centre in Northampton and more warehouses

across the country that Debenhams won't be using any more.

The US and South Korea are taking part in a joint military exercise

involving aircraft carriers and fighter jets,

an action which Pyongyang has called "a provocation".

Washington says the 11-day exercises, which take place every

year, were planned months ago, but tensions are currently

especially high on the Korean peninsula.

Steve Evans reports from a US airforce base in South Korea.

80 aircraft fly from this base in South Korea, and bases in Japan.

Practising air-to-air combat, and bombing targets on the ground.

US planes and South Korean planes integrating as one

I don't think it's any different than anywhere else in the world.

The training that we do every day is designed to prepare us for any

kind of threat that we might encounter, and so if the time

were to come, I feel like anyone of us, including myself,

I am excited to get to work with Korean pilots.

This is personally my first time getting to work with pilots

from another country, and so it has been very enlightening

to me to see that they have very similar aircraft,

and yet sometimes very different tactics.

I think it's a fantastic learning experience.

They don't say it's about North Korea, but it's the only

This exercise is called "Max Thunder".

It involves about 80 aircraft, about 1000 American personnel,

There are also bases in Japan involved.

It happens every single year, but this year is different.

The atmosphere is heightened, because President Trump says he's

He'll stop Kim Jong-Un having nuclear weapons,

The Carl Vinson Aircraft Carrier is now heading to Korea.

According to US military, it was set to be ten days ago,

With the current build-up, North Korea said there

Tough words from both sides, but nobody knows

Stephen Evans, BBC News, South Korea.

With three days to go to the first round of France's

presidential election, the main candidates have been

holding some of their last major rallies, and tonight the 11

candidates will be interviewed for 15 minutes each

This is a race that seems to have got closer by the week?

Yes. Most of the recent predictions put the top four candidates just a

few points apart. Those four candidates span a remarkable range

of political views. You've got the far left candidate, the far right

candidate, the liberal new, Emmanuel Macron running his first ever

election campaign. They are all seen as political outsiders and the only

representative from France's traditional parties of government is

the Conservative Francois Fillon. They are divided on any issue you

care to mention. Europe, austerity, immigration. They are fiercely

divided. Tonight they will line up with the rest of the candidates and

be interviewed one by one on national television. They will be

held to account that those policies. Analysts say more than a quarter of

the vote in France is still undecided. Many people are not sure

if they are even going to vote at all. Analysts say France is in

uncharted territory, the result is impossible to call. Thank you.

One of the most high profile figures in American TV news, Bill O'Reilly,

has lost his job after being accused of sexual harassment.

His employer 21st Century Fox, which owns the cable channel

Fox News, has confirmed he won't be returning from a break.

He's claimed the allegations against him are unfounded.

We have a contest on Bill O'Reilly.com,

Except Bill Reilly will not be returning.

He had been their biggest RFID more than two decades. Five women have

come forward with claims of sexual harassment and the relegation these

have been settled out of court for ?10 million.

Earlier this week, a former colleague said he regularly made

passes at her when no one was watching, and described

When major sponsor started to pull their adverts,

And now, the parent company, 21st Century Fox, has confirmed

We are so happy that he is gone and he is no longer going to be able

to spit all of his vile comments and all of the things that

It's disparaging not only to women but also specifically to black women

Last July, the boss of Fox News, Roger Ailes, resigned over

allegations that he had sexually harassed female employees.

Now the acting CEO, Rupert Murdoch, has made an attempt to usher

in a new era at the Channel by issuing an internal memo

also signed by his sons, saying that the staff are committed

to fostering a work environment built on trust and respect.

And this comes at a delicate time come with 21st-century Fox trying

to buy the remaining 61% of sky TV in the UK.

Bill O'Reilly, who found that he lost his job on the same

day he met the Pope, says that tremendously

disheartening to leave Fox due to completely unfounded claims,

but all across America, he is the main talking point

on exactly the kind of show he used to host.

The warmest weather today will be across north-east England and

eastern Scotland. This was a Weather Watcher pictures sent in from

Edinburgh with lovely blue skies. Look at the picture in Birmingham

and blue skies are more difficult to find. It's a grey picture. We could

see a little sunshine but maybe one or two showers. Most of the cloud is

quite thin today. We've got this area of thick cloud from the West

Country up towards the wash reducing a few drizzly showers. Most places

will have a dry afternoon and evening as well. We will see more

cloud across the south-west of England and South Wales, running up

across the Home Counties of East Anglia. Even under the cloud

temperatures are 14-15. Brightening up through the Midlands, best of the

sunshine to the east of the Pennines. Rather cloudy skies but in

north-east England we've already seen temperatures of 18 degrees.

There is a bit of rain in the North of Scotland which will move south

overnight becoming more extensive over Scotland. Maybe more rain

coming into Northern Ireland. Most of England and Wales will be dry. A

lot of cloud around, not quite as cold as it was last night. Lowest

temperatures in the south-west where we will see some mist and fog

patches. Those will clear and it will brighten up slowly across

England and Wales on Friday. More cloud across northern England, it

could be damp over the hills. We'll see this light and patchy rain

sinking southwards across southern Scotland and Northern Ireland. South

of that we've got warmer air. 18 as possible towards the south-east. A

big difference in Scotland, turning colder in the afternoon. The weather

front is in this position on Saturday and it could bring light

rain or drizzle towards the south-east. Ahead of it we've got

that warmer air. Towards the south-west temperatures in the mid

teens. Turning cooler further north and east. A chilly winter the

eastern Scotland and north-east England. High pressure is in charge

through the weekend, keeping it dry for many of us. On Sunday a change

coming in because an area of low pressure is approaching. But will

bring wet and windy weather into Scotland in the north and west.

Further south it'll be drier, brighter and it will be a bit warmer

as well. Hang onto your hats because this is heading our way next week.

All that warm air gets pushed away by northerly wind which will drop

the temperatures and even bring some wintry showers, especially in North.