witchhunt and there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign, buti between certainly myself and my campaign, but i can only speakfor myself and the russians, zero. a man who tried to hire a hitman — to kill his partner is facing a life sentence — after being found guilty of soliciting murder. and some of the best images ever taken — we look at the famous archive of magnum photos on its 70th anniversary. and coming up in sportsday on bbc news: can life away from the lane begin with a win for tottenham hotspur as they travel to leicester city in the premier league? good evening. theresa may has published the conservative manifesto promising a mainstream government to deliver for mainstream government to deliver for mainstream britain. she said a strong economy and delivering a successful brexit were the main priorities. the manifesto includes reform of social care in england to include the value of property in qualifying for home care. the way the state pension is protected against rising prices would change. there‘d be more funding for schools in england — but free lunches would no longer be available for all pupils. and the conservatives would keep the same controversial target an immigration, aiming fora same controversial target an immigration, aiming for a net figure of less tha n immigration, aiming for a net figure of less than £100,000 bid a year. —— macro 100,000 a year. we‘ll have more detail and reaction — and we start with our political editor laura kuenssberg. 0utside... inside. theresa may says she wants to end political tribes. tell them. getting rid of your nurses. i have been a nurse for 27 years and we are on our knees. the tory manifesto is meant to be a blueprint for what she now calls the mainstream. yet with protesters at the gates, the tories were whisked in behind tight lines to make their case. with brexit the backdrop, theresa may‘s ambitions are plainly far wider than that. i believe that our united kingdom can emerge from this period of national change stronger, fairer and more prosperous than ever before. and i believe we can and must take this opportunity to build a great meritocracy here in britain. let us be in no doubt, it will not be easy. but with discipline and focus, effort and hard work, and above all a unity of purpose, stretching across this precious union of nations, from north to south and east to west, i believe we can and must go forward together. but all that depends on getting the mind—bendingly complicated brexit right. if you were looking for detail on how, it wasn‘t here today. but all of this depends on getting the next five years right. if we fail, the consequences for britain and for the economic security of ordinary working people will be dire. if we succeed, the opportunities ahead of us are great. those are, she says, a long—term solution to caring for the elderly. more or less matching labour‘s promise of cash for the nhs. and new grammar schools. but the same broken target for immigration, few are free hot meals at primary school, and for the tories, who have been in charge already for seven years, pushing back a promise to clear the deficit until 2025. and herfinale, a contentious claim to stand for all. for too many people in britain today, life is simply much harder than many seem to think or realise. they are not ideological, they don‘t buy into grander visions. they are not fooled by politicians who promise the earth and claim no tough choices are required. they make those choices every day in their own lives and understand politicians who aspire to lead must do the same. with the right brexit deal secured, my mainstream government will deliver for mainstream britain. so i offer myself as your prime minister. come with me as i lead britain, strengthen my hand as i fight for britain and stand with me as i deliverfor britain. and with confidence in ourselves and a unity of purpose in our country, let us all go forward together. 0vation inside. but anger outside. tories in a mill in yorkshire. you couldn't make it up. what do you think of the tories coming to yorkshire today. it's a disgrace, laura. they are not welcome. in last six years they are running our industry is down. one of the tories biggest claims is jeremy corbyn wants to take this to the 19705. they want to take a to the 18705. it's ridiculous. you are sitting on the manifesto that more families and tory voters will have to pay more for elderly care. many families will lose hot meals for children at school. you are pushing back balancing the books again. and your immigration proposals might cost billions to the economy. when you put that all together, wouldn‘t some voters be quite entitled to conclude that adds up to quite a bleak picture? not at all. what i'm putting forward is a vision for opportunity and prosperity across the whole of the country for the future. i have been clear that there are hard choices that need to be taken. it's making sure we are honest with the public. it‘s wrapped up as a new kind of sensible conservatism. but is everyone signed up? the entire cabinet has just filed past after the prime minister‘s speech. nobody will talk to us about whether or not this truly is a new kind of conservatism and whether or not they are all happy about what she just headlined. —— outlined. her pitch is safety first. but there are dangers in her plans. as the prime minister left through jeers and protests, her dream of an end to left and right are seen as a long way off. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, halifax. as we‘ve heard — one of the ‘five giant challenges‘ outlined by mrs may was how to deal with an ageing society. she plans to reform the way social care in england is funded — by requiring more people to pay for home care. the value of their properties would be factored into the calculations — and anyone with a property worth more than £100,000 — would be liable. 0ur social affairs correspondent alison holt has been taking a closer look at the conservatives‘ social care plan. they light their own fire. so it‘s called burning daylight. at the heart of the crisis in social care that theresa may says she wants to fix, are real lives. people like andriani and her son alex. she has dementia. what type of flower has thorns? laughter. i don't know. roses. 0h, roses. it‘s a rose bush. this was 2014. andriani had sold her small house in london to pay for residential care, which was costing more than £60,000 a year. she was able to walk, she was able to hold a conversation, she was able to enjoy a walk around the gardens. let‘s go and get a cup of tea. since then she‘s deteriorated quite a lot. we can have a look at the garden. she has now essentially forgotten how to walk and she can‘t really speak very much. and this year, andriani‘s care will cost almost £100,000. remember when we were living in highfield? every morning i‘d make you a cup of tea. remember? andriani does get nhs help now, but the family will still contribute nearly £40,000 a year. under the tory plans, the 64—year—old would benefit from being allowed to keep more of her money, but her son says it does nothing about these huge costs. i‘d like to say that the system is broken at the moment. because if the system was broken, then potentially it could be fixed. but, having seen it from the inside, i don‘t think we have a system at all. if you get one type of disease, you are covered by the nhs. if you get another type of disease, it‘s a social care issue. at the moment, in england, people only get council—funded help with social care if they have assets and savings of less than about £23,000. the conservatives want to increase that threshold to 100,000. but for the first time, people needing home care will, like those in residential care, have the value of their house included in these calculations. so, if you have a home and other assets worth 100,000, you get council help. but say the value is 300,000? then, you‘ll have to spend two thirds of that on care before getting local authority support. you wouldn‘t have to sell up though, as deferred payments mean costs are covered by a person‘s estate once they die. we are saying everyone will have the confidence in knowing they can pass on £100,000 to their children and grandchildren. but there are trade—offs in order to make that commitment and we will be treating people who have care at home in the same way as people who are cared for in care homes. but existing government plans to limit the high cost some people with the greatest needs face, would be scrapped. sir andrew dilnot wrote the report that recommended this cap on costs. he says the new plans don‘t go far enough. the certainty here is that if you have assets in total, including the value of your house, of more than £100,000, then basically you are on your own. you've got to pay for yourself until you get down to that level. so for most people, the prospect is one that if they need social care, they are going to have to pay. i think those purple flowers are the nicest. the care system is different in each uk nation, but all are struggling to find ways to ease these pressures. the test of the conservative proposals will be whether or not they help people plan for the future, whatever it holds. alison holt, bbc news. as we‘ve heard — the conservative manifesto repeats the promise — first made in 2010 — to reduce annual net migration to the tens of thousands. and it proposes new measures — including a £2,000 annual charge on companies — for every skilled worker they employ — from outside the eu. so what does businesses think of that — and some of the other measures in the manifesto? here‘s our business editor simonjack. this is a new look for the conservative party. the old—fashioned tory relationship with business has had a makeover with this manifesto. for companies like this fashion technology firm, there was a new deterrent to hiring workers from outside the eu, a new attempt to bring down immigration. last year, 273,000 more people arrived in the uk than left. of that number, 164,000 were from outside the eu. 56,000 of them were classified as skilled workers. the conservative government would double the cost of employing them from a recently introduced £1000 to £2000 per employee, per year. a third of our employees are non—eu. this is something that is basically sending the wrong signals to the type of talent we want to bring into our organisation and it‘s something that will hit our bottom line. when, at the same time we are facing calls for us to come to other places, places like singapore and hong kong where they will pay us to do that. we want to compete against the best and we need the best in our country. access to the right skills is near the top of many businesses‘ wish list. and in a time of really low unemployment like now, they are in short supply. so sometimes you have to go overseas and businesses are worried that by making that more difficult and more expensive, the burden on business increases and the economy will suffer. but, property developer richard, who campaigned to leave the eu, says this is the kind of nudge a business needs to think uk first. rather than just being able to look for the cheapest way of finding people from around the world, first of all they have got to think, how can we help find young british people and give them the skills so they can help firms? if that‘s still not available, then yes, look overseas but you‘ve got to pay for it. business, big and small could find comfort in a commitment to low corporation tax for example, but some are feeling under attack from all parties. we constantly need to remind our political leaders it is the private sector, it is british business of all shapes and sizes that drive the wealth agenda of this country. we need support and we must not allow them, with enormous respect, to all political parties, to forget that mantra. if the blue team wins, there will be no light touch, price caps, pay contraint, merger controls. business will be facing a tory government that is very much hands on. simon jack, bbc news. at today‘s launch theresa may underlined the need for a stronger economy. 0n taxes — there was a promise not to raise vat — but no pledge on income tax or national insurance. 0n pensions — david cameron‘s promise to protect the state pension — by what‘s called a ‘triple lock‘ — has also been dropped. and another previous conservative pledge — to balance the books — has been modified. 0ur economics editor kamal ahmed looks at the conservative pledges on the economy. the target of balancing the books has been pushed into the future, yet again. the triple tax lock has been abandoned, the promise on how much pensions will rise by, changed. theresa may laid out a new tory prospectus for the country, making it clear that the older approach of david cameron was history. let‘s start with the tories‘ attitude to borrowing, or eliminating the deficit, that‘s balancing the amount the government raises in taxes with what it spends. last autumn, the chancellor said he wanted to achieve this long—held tory goal as early as possible, in the next parliament. many economists meant that to mean by 2022. today, the manifesto changes that target to 2025. theresa may has given herself room to borrow more if the economy needs it. philip hammond is probably no longer trying to balance the books by the year 2022, it‘s been pushed back to 2025. which means they are still trying to reduce government borrowing but it gives them more wiggle room in case the worse happens with the brexit deal and they can spend more money and support the economy. 0n tax there has also been a change. in 2015, david cameron promised no increases in income tax, national insurance or vat, only one of those remains — no increase in vat. the rest have been replaced with a rather vaguer, with a rather vague, firm intention to reduce taxes. many now predict national insurance contributions at least, will rise. the tax lock over this parliament meant the government couldn‘t raise income tax, national insurance or vat, they raise two thirds of all the taxes we bring in, that‘s very constraining for a government. i think it‘s sensible to say that if you need to, you can make some adjustments. and then pensions — in 2015, the conservatives promised a triple lock that pensions would increase by either the rate of inflation, the rate of earnings growth, or 2.5%, which ever was highest. that is now a double lock. inflation or earnings will be used, which could mean lower pensions increases if both fall below 2.5%. the conservative leader, has given herself more wriggle room on the economy, she can borrow more, tax more, and has opened the door to lower increases in pensions. 0ne striking feature of the manifesto, very few costings. mrs may doesn‘t want her hands tied. kamal ahmed, bbc news. so — in her own words — mrs may has set out to be ‘upfront‘ with the voters. the launch took place in halifax — so our deputy political editorjohn pienaar went in search of voters — asking for their views — in a seat narrowly held by labour — at the last election. the tories‘ turn to deal. but what will they make of it? pensions up, though maybe not as much. more would pay for care. and no spreading the cost of care, at home or residential, through social insurance. no—bid. are you sure? i‘m perfectly sure. so is theresa may‘s hand is strong enough with older voters ? with the players at the halifax contract bridge association? it would grieve me if i was in a home and i was paying a fortune, which it is these days, and the person sat next to me wasn‘t paying anything. it would just feel wrong. i think that‘s sad. if you‘ve got the money, if you can afford it, you should pay for your own care? pretty much so, yes, yes. yes, i think you've got a long time to plan this, so yes. so theresa may, is she popular with you? yes. why‘s that? because she reminds me of margaret thatcher. she does? yeah. why? well, she seems to know what she wants to do. but she has a gentle way of doing it. i just think she‘s like myself, really, but more intelligent, you know. party leaders normally take unpopular decisions after they are elected. now theresa may risks upsetting a lot of the older people you can normally count on to vote. she‘s clearly convinced by opinion polls which suggest they‘re most likely to back her. the aces in her election hand. she is bidding to win bigger than any tory leader since margaret thatcher. and that means scooping up a lot of the voters you would normally never expect the tories to tuck away. mrs may‘s sites are one blue—collar britain. how is her aim at halifax snooker club? i actually voted to come out of europe. basically an immigration alone, that was our basically on immigration alone, that was our biggest issue. and most of my friends who are labour all voted the same. it could hurt the economy maybe if you start cutting down numbers of migrants in the wrong way. well there are a lot of unemployed people around without the migrants. if she does lower immigration numbers, i'm very happy. i'm undecided as well this time, yeah. but you voted last time how? i voted labour last time. not everyone‘s happy. ask the mums and grandmas at the toddlers play palace at the toddlers‘ play palace up the road about the plans for tory spending and tory cuts. so no more free lunches fall at infant school, that is the plan. that‘s really disappointing because i‘ve worked in schools for the past 15 years and can honestly say that a guaranteed school meal will fix all children. but there will be more money for spending in other ways at school. they ought to be able to find both. theresa may says there is no such thing as mayism, but there is. it‘s about trying to convince the country that britain after brexit will be fairer than before. it‘s about the state doing more but doing it with no more money. there‘s been no clearer choice of future in decades. maybe as big a choice as weak on any of us, are likely to see again. john pienaar, bbc news, halifax. and you can find out more on the conservative manifesto and other election issues on the bbc website bbc.co.uk/election2017. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg is in halifax tonight. laura can we talk about the ma nifesto laura can we talk about the manifesto in the context of theresa may‘s talk about main stream government? well, saying she wants to bea government? well, saying she wants to be a main stream government for the main stream, it sounds rather a clever if, rather a potentially meaningless slogan, what does she meaningless slogan, what does she mean by it? the first thing to say about theresa may is she does not see herself as a grand philosopher. not because he is without ideas but because she believes that is not the type of politicians she wants to be 01’ type of politicians she wants to be or that it is not what the voters wa nt or that it is not what the voters want either. and it also means she doesn‘t wand want to feel tied to a strand of tory thinking. we have seen that today. she is happy to distance herself from the really untrammelled free are markets of the past. happy to bring back controversial, rather old fashioned—sounding ideas like the grammar schools, and happy to risk pulling back benefits for the older voters but on the other spectrum, happy in not a very tory way to poke government‘s nose into business, evenif government‘s nose into business, even if it means that business is not so sure about her. but more than anything, the idea of a main stream politicians for the main stream tells us that she is determined to try to scoop up votes in every corner of the country, whether this thatis corner of the country, whether this that is taking votes from labour in yorkshire, from the snp in scotland, holding off the lib dem challenge in the south—west, or appealing to ukip voters everywhere, she wants to take on all comers, and she wants to suggest that in 2017, the tories can appeal, well, to just suggest that in 2017, the tories can appeal, well, tojust about everyone. now, of course, that is much easier to say than it is actually to deliver. the reality check of course, as we are still in an era where public spending is very, very tight, cuts will continue, with inflation ticking up and wage growth slow, there are many voters around the country who are feeling the pinch and not necessarily in the mood to give the tories another chance and of course the comply kisses of brexit means whatever else she is promising could be derailed by that becoming difficult and not just be derailed by that becoming difficult and notjust hard to deliver but potentially nasty. so broadly, though, as with any political idea, a main stream leader for the main stream, easier to say than to prove. laura, thank you very much. president trump has declared that he‘s the victim of the ‘greatest political witch—hunt in us history‘. he was responding to the news that a special investigator has been appointed — to look at claims of russian interference in the presidential election — and of links between the trump team — and russian officials. the man who‘ll lead the inquiry is robert mueller a former director of the fbi. 0ur washington correspondent aleem macqbool reports. the president‘s just not happy with the scrutiny he continues to come under over his links with russia. the major development of the last 24 hours is the appointment of robert -- the entire thing has been a witch hunt. but i condition speak for myself and the russians, zero. i think it divides the country. i think it divides the country. i think we have a very divided country because of that and many other things. have you had a recollection if you wondered if something you have done is worthy of criminal investigations or impeachment as some on the left are implying? it is ridiculous. again, we have to get back to work in our country properly, so we can ta ke in our country properly, so we can take care of the problems that we have. we have plenty of problems. we have plenty of problems. the major development of the last 24 hours is the appointment of robert mueller to oversee the russian investigation. he‘s a man renowned for his independence, having been appointed fbi director by george w bush, and being asked to serve on longer than his term by barack 0bama. and his appointment has received support from many on both sides of the aisle. probably the best thing that has happened is that the deputy attorney general did appoint bob mueller, a man of impeccable integrity, to act as special counsel in this issue. and that, i think, is of some comfort to all of us in this country. i believe that the professionals in the justice department need to do theirjobs independently, objectively and thoroughly, and i believe the special counsel, which is robert mueller, helps them do that. some of the critics, while happy with the appointment, complain that robert mueller has not been given enough power. what is he investigating it? three main areas. russian influence in the election, look at hackings. russian collusion with the trump campaign. and obstruction of the russian ininquiry, at whether or not donald trump tried to get the former fbi director to drop key parts of the investigation. after the president fired the last man leading the inquiry, it feels with this appointment that the russia investigation can get back on track but there are many who feel that donald trump, for whatever reason is not behaving like a man who wants that. let‘s have a look at some of the day‘s other stories an 18 year—old woman has been killed and 22 other people injured after a suspected drunk driver mounted the pavement in his car while driving the wrong way through new york‘s times square. the car eventually stopped after hitting a pole and the 26 year—old driver was arrested. police are investigating the deaths of 8 babies at the countess of chester hospital. of chester hospital. they were called in by staff concerned about the high death rate in the year tojune 2016. they are also reviewing the deaths of 7 other babies and a number who became seriously ill during the same period. in america the pentagon has said the us—led coalition is not stepping up involvement in syria‘s civil war after coalition aircraft attacked a convoy of pro—assad government militia. the convoy was thought to be heading for an airbase on the border which the coalition uses to train opposition forces. rolf harris will be released on bail from stafford prison in the morning. the entertainer is still on trial at southwark crown court accused of indecently assaulting three teenagers between 1971 and 1983. he‘s expected to appear in court in person and denies all the charges against him. a former television producer has been convicted of trying to hire three men to kill his partner. the old bailey heard that david harris, who‘s 68 and from amberley in west sussex, had wanted to be rid of hazel allinson so that he could inherit herfortune and then live with his 28 year—old girlfriend. 0ur correspondent duncan kennedy reports. for 30 years david harris and hazel allinson were partners but harris had a secret, ugne cekaviciute, a woman he‘d met in a brothel — but he couldn‘t afford to wine and dine her, so harris tried to trick, not one, not two, but three innocent men into becoming hitmen. his aim was to get rid of hazel and get his hands on their £800,000 house here in west sussex. harris on the left was secretly recorded by one of the so—called hitmen who was alarmed by the plan. i mean whatever happens, the £150 grand is there, that‘s yours. 0bviously whatever happens it will look like an accident or a mugging gone wrong or something. another of the supposed hitmen was duke dean, who met harris in london. dean said he couldn‘t believe what harris wanted and went to the police. did you get the impression he was serious about getting rid of hazel? he was stone serious about that. that‘s what he wanted? that‘s right. harris told police he was researching a hitman novel, like day of the jakal and wanted to meet a real hitman.