Transcripts For BBCNEWS Victoria Derbyshire 20170517

Representation in parliament are all on the list. We will speak to them injusta on the list. We will speak to them injust a moment. The former american soldier, Chelsea Manning, who passed thousands of confidential documents to wikileaks, will be released from a Military Prison today. Well speak to someone who campaigned for her release. Hello and welcome to the programme. Were live until 11am. Are you fat and fit . The bad news is there may be no such thing. Some doctors now reckon its impossible to be overweight without increasing your risk of future health problems. Do get in touch on all the stories were talking about this morning. Use the Hashtag Victoria Live and if you text, you will be charged at the Standard Network rate. In a moment well get the latest on Election Campaign here. First, though to the us, where the white house is denying reports that donald trump asked former fbi Directorjames Comey to stop an investigation into alleged links between an advisor and russia. Mr comey, who was sacked last week, is said to have made the claims in notes taken after a meeting with the president in february. David willis reports. Following a meeting of his Security Advisers back in february, President Trump waited for other officials to leave the room before taking then fbi director james comey to one side. The previous day, his National Security advisor, Michael Flynn, had been forced to resign amid allegations that he misled the Vice President about conversations with the russian ambassador. According to the New York Times, the president then asked mr comey to shut down an fbi investigation into general flynn. But the fbi investigation into Michael Flynn is still under way, along with one into possible collusion between the Trump Campaign and the Russian Government to influence the outcome of the us president ial election. Last week, james comey was removed from his post by President Trump. The white house has denied the New York Times allegations, saying the president never asked for an end to any investigation, but the suggestion that james comey kept detailed notes of his conversations with President Trump has left some in congress anxious to see them. Last week, President Trump suggested he might have tapes of his conversations with james comey. If they exist, those, too, could be called for, in order to establish whose account of the discussions is correct. Some democrats are already saying this could amount to Obstruction Ofjustice on the part of the president , an unproven allegation, certainly, but the most serious yet to confront Donald Trumps beleaguered administration. The Liberal Democrats will focus on Younger Voters when they launch their General Election manifesto later. A promise to hold a second Eu Referendum will be at the heart of the document but it will also include pledges to restore Housing Benefit for younger people and to make it easier to get on the housing ladder. Our political guru norman smith is across everything in westminsterfor us. Its a big day for the lib dems . Yesterday, we had the Labour Ma Nifesto yesterday, we had the labour manifesto and today we get the Liberal Democrats manifesto. Maybe it isa Liberal Democrats manifesto. Maybe it is a side bar because the Lib Dems Have made pretty clear theyre one, big message for this election is vote lib dem and we will have a referendum on the deal that mrs may negotiates. In other words, referendum on the deal that mrs may negotiates. In otherwords, brexit is their big pitch and theyre appealing to those people who voted remain. The manifesto becomes not so important, although, it will contain measures for more money for schools, hospitals, social care, reversing some benefits, they will be looking to see where that cash is going to come from. Theyll also be a pitch for Younger Voters, so theyre suggesting there ought to be a rent to own scheme to try and help first time buyers, theyre going to bring back student grants, but brexit remains their big theme as vicki young now reports. The Liberal Democrats see this General Election as a chance to Change Britains future and their message is clearly aimed at those who voted remain in last years referendum. They want voters to have another say on brexit once any deal with the European Union has been finalised and if people dont like it, they should be able to reject it and keep the uk in the eu. The Lib Dems Hope their pro eu argument will encourage remain voters to swing behind them, especially in seats they used a hold in london. But in some of the other former heartlands in the south west of england, brexit is much more popular, so the party is trying to broaden the appeal with new policy ideas. The Lib Dems Have already called for extra health and education spending, paid for by higher income and corporation tax. On housing, they want to introduce a rent to own scheme for tenants and theyve pledged to legalise and regulate cannabis. The lib dem leader, tim farren, has admitted his party isnt going to win the election and says his aim is to replace labour and be an effective opposition to the conservatives. Norman a development in the Labour Campaign . Yes, strange words from Len Mccluskey, the leader of the unite union and Jeremy Corbyns key right hand man, a strong man in the labour party. Suggesting that labour seem to be on course to lose the election, but also saying that if Jeremy Corbyn wins just 200 seats, that would be a success. Now, 200 seats would be labours worst result since the Second World War. Worse even than michael foot and yet Len Mccluskey is saying all Things Considered that would be ok. What is going on here . Well, i think the truth is, mr mccluskey, like many of mr corbyns key allies, isjust trying to protect him if in the aftermath of an election defeat there is a move to oust mr corbyn. So he can turn around and say, well, look it has been a very difficult election. The media were against me. The Parliamentary Party we re against me. The Parliamentary Party were always attacking me. Ive had to deal with two leadership elections. At least i won 200 seats. And thereby, ensure that mr corbyn carries on as leader even if labour go down to a pretty dismal defeat. Thank you very much, norman. Annita mcveigh is in the bbc newsroom with a summary of the rest of the days news. The idea that people can be fat but medically fit is a myth, according to a study of the medical records of more than three Million People. Researchers say being obese increases the risk of suffering Heart Disease, stroke and Heart Failure. Our Health Correspondent Dominic Hughes reports. So just keep your hands on your hips. The idea that you can be obese, but still healthy has been debated for years. Previous studies have suggested that around a third of very overweight people are healthy. They have normal Blood Pressure and cholesterol levels despite being classed as obese according to their Body Mass Index which is a measure of height versus weight. But a new analysis of the medical records of 3. 5 million uk residents suggests the idea of healthy obesity is a myth. Compared to those of a normal weight, it suggests even outwardly, healthy obese people have a 49 greater risk of developing coronary Heart Disease, the risk of Heart Failure is increased by 96 and stroke by 7 . What was new for me from this study was that it showed that people who are overweight or obese are at an increased risk of Heart Disease even though they may be healthy in every other respect. Previously i rather thought that obesity increased Blood Pressure and your cholesterol and it was those factors which increased your risk of Cardiovascular Disease. Just being overweight or obese puts you at increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Rugby players are often used as examples of people who might be classed as obese, but are healthy. Their Body Mass Index would mean they are technically overweight, but for the vast majority, this Research Suggests being obese will eventually catch up with you. Lloyds bank says the taxpayer has made a profit of nearly £900 million after the government sold the last of its shares in the banking group. It is almost nine years since the bank was bailed out at the height of the financial crisis. In a statement, lloyds confirmed the group has been fully returned to private ownership. The former us soldier, Chelsea Manning, who Passed Hundreds Of Thousands of confidential diplomatic documents to the website wikileaks, will be released later today from a Military Prison in kansas. Born bradley manning, she announced she would be living as a woman, shortly after her trial in 2013. She was expected to remain in jail until 2045, but barack 0bama commuted her sentence before he left the white house injanuary. A police drone has captured the moment a controlled detonation was carried out on a Second World War bomb discovered at a Building Site in birmingham. Around 180 people had to be evacuated from their homes near aston following its discovery yesterday morning. The british army said it was one of the biggest unexploded devices everfound on uk soil. A pair of Diamond Earrings have been sold at auction in geneva for a record breaking price of more than £41; million. The pear shaped jewels, nicknamed apollo and artemis, are almost 16 carats each. The flawless stones mined in south africa are perfectly matched except for their colour artemis is pink and apollo is blue. Thats a summary of the latest bbc news. More at 9. 30am. Thank you very much indeed. Let us know this morning what you think about whether it is possible to be fat and fit because experts are saying it is not. Get in touch with us. All the usual ways, Hashtag Victoria Live and remember texts will be charged at the Standard Network rate. We will bejoined network rate. We will be joined by our audience shortly to talk more about the election and about what matters to them. Lets get some sport now with jess. Groundbreaking news in horseracing with a first ever report into gender. Yes, good morning, joanna well, with many sportswomen are under represented and it is the same in british horse racing. Almost 400 people were interviewed for this report, from all levels, and the bbc had exclusive access to it. What did we find . A growing number of women entering horse racing from clebleg courses and thats outnumbering men by nearly 70 30, but the problem is that women are facing Career Stagnation as the report puts it, once they try to progress. It also found that because of how male dominated some areas of the sport are, women are being denied certain opportunities and several of the participants in the study have to deal with inappropriate behaviour and banter culture. Now the report was commissioned by women in racing which seeks to develop the profile of women in the sport. Here is their Committee Member suzanna gill. Young women are coming into the sport, but then what were seeing and certainly what came out in the report is that those women are not necessarily making it through to the middle and top ranks. So, taking it through the career, if you look at who is on the senior boards of organisations in race, the average is 16 and we have several boards in the sport that dont have any women a the top level at all. So were seeing a stagnation of Career Progression and thats something that certainly has been recognised in other industries as well and i think we probably moan about it in racing, but it is the first time we have seen it and talked about and hopefully can now act upon it. I know youll have more on this later in the programme with our sports correspondent, joe wilson. Yes, we will be talking about that later. If people watching at home have got any thoughts on it, get in touch and let us know your thoughts. Maria sharapova is back in the headlines after her doping ban, shes not having a smooth ride since making her return. No, she continues to be a divisive figure. Different tournament organisers have shown different attitudes. She was given wildcards to events in stuttgart, madrid and rome, but for the next tournament, which is the french open, she will not be given the same privilege. She isa not be given the same privilege. She is a two time champion there, but the organisers said their responsibility to protect the high standards of the games played without any doubt on the results, on the other hand, this morning, the Chief Executive of the womens Tennis Federation has said that the french open had No Grounds To Penalise Maria Sharapova by denying her a wildcard. Steve simon said she already served her sanction. The next tournament is wimbledon. Sharapova will need to go through qualifying because of her low ranking. Alternatively she could receive a wildcard, but pat cash hopes the organisers will send out a strong message. I would hope that they would stand strong and said no, youve got to go through play and qualify. Look, maria at qualifying, shell breeze through it on the grass. She is very experienced and she will probably need some extra matches and she might welcome those matches. Clearly, shes not physically ready 100 for hard tennis. She hurt herself this week. I think it will be in the long run, it might not be a bad thing for her, but i thinkle scat autopsy england need to stand up and make a stand about this and say were not rewarding drug cheats. Well, it will be interesting to see which way the All England Club go. It is a contentious issue with the fans and broadcasters wanting the most high profile names play k, but will the All England Club want to stand up the All England Club want to stand up and be counted in the decision against doping. An interesting decision to be made. Detail ahead of General Election, we want to hear what issues matter most to you. Over the course of the campaign, were talking to voters from All Over The Uk and hearing what different groups care about most. Today, a group of black and asian voters are here to tell us what issues are most important to them. Only about 6 of the politicians in westminster, in the House Of Commons and the House Of Lords are from a minority ethnic background. That compares to 13 of the general population. We have an audience of seven voters from different ethnic minority backgrounds to talk about the issues that are important to them at this election. William, i know you feel quite wrongly about representation, we start with you and tell us what your thoughts are. Yeah, of course. I think representation is really, really important, especially because issues pertaining to a certain demographic are never going to be highlighted or pushed forward if people from that demographic are not represented within politics at large. I also feel like it highlights a wider issue around elitism, the fact that people from certain demographics arent presented as well so i think it is very important. I am the chairman of the asian business council. I am here to talk about representation to the Uk Parliament of the baa me Community First i have looked at other parliaments, representative of the bame. The us or australian parliaments is about two to 3 , whereas at the uk at 6 , we are still better off. At least we have those 41 mp5 from ethnic minority backgrounds who are representing us, who are voices in parliament. More of the mp5 from our backgrounds would be much better. I would say we have people who are standing up and down the country from the Bame Community and we should go out and vote for them and make sure we see them in parliament in the coming few days all week or two. Do any of you feel there should be a mechanism by which the number of mps from ethnic minority backgrounds is forcibly increased . I dont think there needs to bea increased . I dont think there needs to be a mechanism or a methodical, mechanical method, but certainly there is an emerging trend, that simply planting an ethnic minority face as a candidate is inadequate. That person needs to be competent, needs to have credibility, needs to have a track record. We have got up and down the country certain constituencies where you have an ethnic minority face. Three elections, still there now, ethnic minority face. Three elections, stillthere now, safe seats, the local population gets fed up seats, the local population gets fed up with them. They dont reflect the real life, the young life of the community that they tried to or seek to represent. Therefore, this sort of somewhat oversimplistic connection that from the seek community, if you put forward a steak from the sikh constituency. I am from coventry. I am an active campaigner in the sikh community. There are no sikh mps at the moment in the Uk Parliament. That is a big topic in the sikh community. We need topic in the sikh community. We need to have not just topic in the sikh community. We need to have notjust ethnic minority representation, which is fundamentally important, but we need to have the right people, the right quality of person, representing us. The rest of you, do you feel like youre mps are currently representing the issues that matter to you . Personally, ifeel my representing the issues that matter to you . Personally, i feel my mp does represent me, however speaking on the matter of having ethnic minorities in parliament and politics, i come from the Point Of View of educating people from the ethnic minority backgrounds about ways to get involved in politics, because in my opinion this is the most tolerant country in the world. And i think people just need to know what to do, where to go, in order to access those places. So you say it doesnt matter if the mp is from an ethnic minority, as long as they are tuned with what is going on . Well, i think it would be a good thing to have the good representation, so 6 where there is 13 of the population is not that good. It should be organic, but in doing that lets provide information from members of that community to enable them to have access. I am a Leadership Development coach. It really does come from education, i think it is a Wider Community in society. If all young people were getting the right education, good teaching, good schools, good opportunities, naturally those doors would open and you would find a lot more black and asian politicians in place, and that is where the issue is. If you wait until after you have graduated, its too late. You need to go back when you are in the school years, three or four years old, and giving them the support they need. There has beenl the support they need. There has been i have found over previous decades a cultural and political tokenism, in terms of black faces for that constituency, sikh faces for that constituency, sikh faces for that constituency, muslim faces her that constituency. That has been purely superficial exercises. The migrant communities in this country iiow migrant communities in this country now include fourth and fifth generation. They have gone through that first oversimplistic, ineffective process. We are demanding more now. We are demanding quality, we are demanding authentic representation. We want people from amongst us to be coming forward to parliament. So lets broaden it out, the key issues you are thinking, the forefront of your mind to miss election, what is of particular concern to you . There are quite a few, to be honest. We couldnt go overall the things, but for me, being a regular black woman, british woman, who is a professional, as much as i know a little bit about politics, i dont really believe that all the information i need to make really good informed choices are readily available. And i dont think that is helpful for us to make the best decision. Whos fault do you think that is . The medias, the governments, i dont know. I am a regular woman, the person that gets up regular woman, the person that gets up in the morning and goes to work, has a family, has to do everyday things, i represent the everyday British Black woman, and i am fairly intelligent, as i said, i am a professional, and i enjoy information and i try to get as much information and i try to get as much information as i can, but the man next door isnt necessarily the same as me. He isnt able to make certain choices because the information you need to make from great choice is just isnt there. The manifestos are coming out this week, would you take a good look at those . Absolutely, but i am making a concerted effort to do that. Does the regular Man On The Street do that, i dont think so. The street do that, i dont think so. Lets look at brexit, people say that word and they dont know what the actual term means. I think it means britains exit, but does it . I do know, nobody has told me. I am somebody that works all over europe, and sometimes internationally, not just throughout europe, i actually dont know if brexit is going to affect my work. I have been working in europe to 20 years, and i have been able to move freely and work in whichever countries have needed to without any concerns. I actually dont know if, when brexit becomes our reality, if that will affect that. It has been a recurring theme, a lwa ys that. It has been a recurring theme, always a recurring theme, voters saying they dont feel they are necessarily hearing a clear, factually based picture, whether it is because of the Media Coverage or coming from the politicians. How do the rest of you feel . Brexit is quite plainly and simply a very grey area, there is no exact action plan. Iamjust area, there is no exact action plan. I am just thinking more generally, we have the nhs, education, every single issue we are facing, are you clear on which party is representing . We need to look at who owns the media. That may be a wider issue. A lot of the media is owned by the elite, by people that want to perpetuate a certain argument. And i feel they are given the liberty to push forward certain parties and represent them a bit unfairly. And a lot of people in general, as she was saying, actually dont read into policies and they themselves do the research so they just eat policies and they themselves do the research so theyjust eat up whatever the media give them that is a major issue. So lets focus on the specific issues at the forefront of your minds. What is your key, going into the selection . As you can see, iama into the selection . As you can see, i am a young person, unemployed at the moment but i have a Youth Platform in croydon that encourages Immunity Engagement and empowers the voices of young people. For me, the key thing is what is being done for young people, what is being done to make them feel they can go out there until they are valued but what in terms of things specifically . Things like education, dropping statistics, and tuition fees, but what about things like psa chi education, things like psa chi education, things that will take them into life skills Going Forward in life. Talking about mental health. Talking about knife crime. Building a respect for each other and that communication. The key thing about knife crime is people dont always respect each other or respect their lives, are able to communicate healthily, and just to find a way to get to the root issues of that. There was a lot of talk about stop and search, but what about getting to the root of it, working with people on the ground, the community of organisations, helping them to help those young people. Interesting you have gone into that, rather than the Bigger Picture of the nhs, does that chime with the rest of you . M isa that chime with the rest of you . M is a really big thing. In 2008 i was pa rt of is a really big thing. In 2008 i was part of a Programme Set Up by the labour government, what they found was labour government, what they found was that young black men, young black boys, were overrepresented in the prison system, they werent doing well in school, so they thought of what we could do to help them. They found 20 different young black people in different issues you we re black people in different issues you were doing well and i was one of those 20. We got to speak to students in schools, prisons, Young Offenders institutions, to help raise their aspirations. When the conservative government came into power, that was scrapped, along with other Community Events and things. Those are the type of things we need, we need to connect more, build relationships, communities. It is all very well and good, because obviously i dont want to pay lots of taxes, i want to do well and have houses and all that stuff but if your basic community is struggling, if people are not connected and dont see opportunities, it doesnt matter if the 5 are doing well if the rest of the country are struggling. So it is really important we start to look at really need help, really need support. That should really be a focus. You are only as good as your lowest common to nominate. If the people at the bottom are struggling as a country, you are not a successful country, and we need to look as a whole where do you want to go to. Do you feel the politicians are talking about the issues that matter to you . Yes, personally, they are to me. Education is a big one for me. I have two children. My daughter is 15 and my son is nine. It is important to me that i know that they have access to a first class education, without necessarily having to be rich to provide that for them. But, beyond that, it is also how my children, as black children, are treated in school. My daughter is in an excellent school, so there are no problems there and i appreciate that, but sometimes i kind of worry about how they place black children, especially black boys, in a box. When you save a commune in the schools. The Education System, and the schools. They are not allowed to flourish. That is a concern for me. Why do you think that is the case . Four example with behavioural issues, a lot of times, they may not understand the cultural behaviour of young black people. There are quite a few studies on that. That is that everyone to see. And then they labelled them immediately from a young age without helping to develop them in theirown young age without helping to develop them in their own truth, if you like. And it may be because there is not a huge representation of ethnic minority educators who understand why the children behave the way they do. But it is important to me that a child is not held back simply because they are poor or they are black, or their parents are not necessarily into their education. I think the Education System should cater for all. I am a conservative voter. Listening to what mrs may is saying, i believe in her britain, thatis saying, i believe in her britain, that is a britain that works everyone , that is a britain that works everyone, regardless of where you have come from. I dont think any of you have said the economy yet. Who do you trust on that . What i wanted to say, our local mosque, it has a Volunteer Group where we have teachers who come in to teach children who cannot afford to go to maybe private schools or do not get the right education. So they are making the housewives busy. That is a local initiative. So are the politicians doing what you would wa nt politicians doing what you would want on this . The politicians should encourage this to be rolled out in other religious places. It could be in the temples. Coming back to the economy, we need a very strong person to negotiate for brexit. We need mrs may, a person like mrs may, who will not crumble under the pressure of 27 leaders of the european macro nations to get us that good deal with the single market. We need those Free Trade Agreements with the world. The commonwelfies able to us. I voted remain. That bus has departed, we the thing about how we will progress our economy now. I dont believe that this woman has any interest in securing the lives, the economical lives, the Financial Lives of anybody else in this country apart from those like her that come from her world, from her financial background, from her societal background. She does not have the interests of the regular people like myself and my next door neighbours at heart. Absolutely not. It shocks me that, i understand that everybody has different thoughts and everybody has different thoughts and everybody has different thoughts and everybody has a right to think what they want and choose who they want who best represents them. But i simply cannot fathom how anybody could think that theresa may has the best interests at heart of everybody. The issue will be deciding your vote when gu into the ballot box. So lets just in a word, please, well start with you . Nhs and economy. Education, those are the key things for me. Economy and education. Education and investing in the Younger Generation. Economy and enterprise and education. For me, uk foreign policy, specifically in regards to punjab and kashmir. Equality and access for all. Young people and hopefully something about knife crime and mental health. Thank you very much. Let us know your thoughts as well. Watching at home. Were going to be in dunstable in bedfordshire on monday, 29th may. If youve made up your mind who youre going to vote for or Still Deciding or dont think youll bother and would like the chance to share your views and grill senior politicians, get in touch to apply for a place at there are more details on our facebook and twitter pages. Still to come well speak to someone who campaigned for the release of Chelsea Manning, the former american soldier who passed thousands of confidential documents to wikileaks. She will be released from a Military Prison today. And why fat might not mean fit. Researchers have cast doubt on the theory that some people can be healthy, despite being overweight. Well be talking to the scientist behind the research. Heres annita in the bbc newsroom with a summary of todays news. The white house is denying reports that donald trump asked former fbi Directorjames Comey to stop an investigation into alleged links between an adviser and russia. Mr comey, who was sacked last week, is said to have made the claims in notes taken after a meeting with the president in february. The white house say the notes are untrue. The Liberal Democrats are putting a second Eu Referendum at the heart of their General Election manifesto, which is formally launched later. The party says it would let the people decide whether brexit happens once negotiations have finished. It is also offering pledges to young people, promising to restore Housing Benefit for 18 to 21 year olds and help people get on the housing ladder. The head of one of labours Biggest Union backers has said the party is on course to lose the General Election. Len mccluskey of unite claimed it would be a Successful Campaign if labour lost about 30 seats. A spokesman for leaderJeremy Corbyn said he was determined to lead the party to victory. Lloyds bank says the taxpayer has made a profit of nearly £900 million after the government sold the last of its shares in the banking group. Its almost nine years since the bank was bailed out at the height of the financial crisis. In a statement, lloyds confirmed the group has been fully returned to private ownership. Thats a summary of the latest bbc news. More at 10am. You thank you very much. The unEmployment Figures. Unemployment fell by 53,000 to 1. 54 million in the three months to march. Latest official figures just out. Heres some sport now withjessica. With manchester, liverpool and arsenal all battling for the final two Champions League spots, the gunners have kept their hopes alive. They beat sunderland 2 0 to keep themselves in the battle for a top four Premier League Finish and qualification for the Champions League which would be the 21st season in a row. City need just a point from their final match to secure third place to guarantee their spot after beating west brom 3 1 last night. City are now unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League home games. Andy murrays difficult Clay Court Season takes another turn for the worse beaten in his first match at the italian 0pen by italys fabio fognini. Its likely to be the world number ones last match before the french open, which starts at the end of the month. And Geraint Thomas showed few ill effects from sundays crash by finishing second in the stage 10 time trial at the giro ditalia. Hes now up to 11th overall. Hollands tom dumoulin now leads the race by over two minutes. Thats all the sport for now. I will have a full update for you at about 10am. Thank you very much, jess. See you later. Some time after dawn today at a barracks in kansas the Security Gates will open and Chelsea Manning will be released. First, a reminder of her story. Earlier this week, her lawyer Nancy Hollander told our reporter catrin nye what it means to her. Shes obviously excited. Erm, shes nervous. Getting out of prison after a long incarceration is not as easy as people think it is. Its a transition, theres a period of adjustment. And it takes some time. And it will take her some time to adjust. But shell be fine, and shes got a lot of resilience and a lot that she wants to do, im sure. And she will start doing it, as soon as she has a little bit of time to acclimate herself. It was straight after she was sentenced, she announced that she was a woman, and then. Then she started the transition process. And she sued the army. Ultimately, she was given the transition hormones, but they continued to fight about her hair length, which is a huge issue for her she was not allowed to grow her hair. So, were very relieved that shes going to be out of the prison and can finish her transition without the anxiety of constantly fighting, fighting for what shes entitled to. What stage is that transition at now . She has received hormones, i dont know when they started, but she has been receiving hormones. And i dont know exactly what happens next, but that will be up to her and her doctors. Lets speak now to naomi colvin who helped campaign for chelseas release. You have been campaigning for her release. So how are you feeling today knowing that she is actually coming out . It is a really momentous day. Im thrilled for chelsea and thrilled for my friends and collea g u es thrilled for my friends and colleagues over the world who campaigned so relentlessly over the past seven years. It is almost unbelievable. Do you think seven yea rs unbelievable. Do you think seven years is a fair sentence for what she did . No. Its incredibly unfair,. Serving almost seven years chelsea will have served longer in prison than any Whistle Blower in us historiment for part of the time she was treated incredibly poorly. The un reported torture, it reported her treatment amounted to cruel and unusual treatment and as nancy pointed out, she has not been able to live her life in the way she should and identify in the way, you know, that she is entitled to. It has been incredibly difficult for her and has been incredibly difficult for herandi has been incredibly difficult for her and i think that, you know, im thrilled that she is being released. It was the right thing for president 0bama to do commute her sentence, but she suffered so much and it is unjust. White house said that what she did was harmful to National Security. She put out classified diplomatic information and military records, 750,000 military records which, you know, some say did put lives at risk . There is always a question of balance here and i think when you say, put lives at risk. It is worth remembering at chelseas trial nobody produced any evidence that was the case and they spent concerted time looking for it. That was the case and they spent concerted time looking for Itm Military Records are put out there, it is identifying people in a public environment who perhaps should not be identified in that way . There is a lwa ys be identified in that way . There is always a balance and i think with some of those military records some we re some of those military records some were kept back and there were redactions made, but if you look at the balance between Public Benefit and potential harm and chelseas release, the balance is very far in the direction of Public Benefit in my opinion. So what would you say has been the Public Benefit . When chelsea, the words we have from chelsea, the words we have from chelsea before she was arrested from chat logs talk about wanting to generate worldwide debates and reforms and if you look at the impact what she released i think it goes beyond what she could have imagined there. The release of the state Department Cables informed the revolution in tunisia which went on to spark off the arab spring and the spate of democratic grass roots movements which shook the world in 2010, 2011. It is hard to imagine impact ona 2010, 2011. It is hard to imagine impact on a greater scale i think. 0ne senator, military veteran, has said, she is a traitor and treated like a martyr . This, you always see this with Whistle Blowers because the same thing came up with snowdon as well, hero or traitor. I think actually outside of the United States very few people think that chelsea is a traitor really. Within the United States, there are some seniorfigures within the United States, there are some senior figures within the Republican Party who do see it very differently. John mccain says it devalu es differently. John mccain says it devalues the courage of real Whistle Blowers who use proper channels to hold government accountable and he also says that the actions endangered the lives of us troops, diplomats and intelligence sources. But. So, obviously people can disagree. As i say at chelseas trial nobody managed to produce any evidence that lives had been put at risk by chelseas disclosures and i think that history willjudge her very kindly. Whatever individuals think, she had a tough time going through what she has been going through with Gender Dysphoria and being incarcerated . She is incredibly brave and when you think about it, she went through this incredible battle to maintain her intellectual integrity against odds. She joined the military believing it was the patriotic thing to do and believing what she was told about fighting terrorism and fighting for democracy in the middle east. And sort of when she realised that wasnt quite what was going on, had the convictions to get the message out the thats one enormous battle and thereafter, she fought this very battle for transgender rights and for her Gender Identity to be respected and you know thats another enormous battle. Her bravery, i think, you know thats another enormous battle. Her bravery, ithink, is astonishing and i think these a very modern kind of hero really. Thank you very much. Its one of the most serious allegations faced so far by President Trump. Did he ask fbi Chiefjames Comey to drop an inquiry into links between his ex National Security adviser and russia . The white house says no. The us media says yes. In a moment well be talking more about the latest twist in the Trump Comey Tale But First A Reminder of why these two are at loggerheads. This was all bad judgment. Probably illegal well have to find out what the fbi says about it but certainly it was bad judgment. Ijust read the report. Its devastating, the report. Although we did not find clear evidence that secretary clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information. Based on what was being said, she was guilty. She was guilty. And it turned out that. Were not going to press charges. Its really amazing. Today is the best evidence ever that weve seen that our system is absolutely, totally rigged. It sure looks real careless to me. The question of whether that amounts to gross negligence, frankly, theres no way anyway the Department Ofjustice is bringing a Case Againstjohn Doe or hillary clinton. The fbi is reopening their investigation. Cheering. I have to give the fbi credit. That was so bad, what happened originally, and it took guts for director comey to make the move that he made in light of the kind of opposition he had. What he did, he brought back his reputation. Hes become more famous than me. Applause. The fbi, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian Governments efforts to interfere with the 2016 president ial election, and that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump Campaign and the Russian Government. With respect to the president s tweets about alleged wiretapping directed at him by the prior administration, i have no information that supports those tweets. Scott lucas is a professor of American Politics at the University Of Birmingham. We can talk to him now. How serious is this . Very serious. Even given the day to day controversies of the trump administration, we have now crossed the line, that is because of obstruction of justice, the line, that is because of Obstruction Ofjustice, claimed in the fbi directors memo, is both a legal defence, it could lead to criminal charges, and it is a political offence that could lead to impeachment. So republicans now income west i think who have at least stayed back from pushing against trump so far will probably be reconsidering their positions. Against trump so far will probably be reconsidering their positionsm they dont, is there anyway that this could sort of the fatal for donald trump . What we are going to see, whether or not the republicans shift immediately, is a steady diet of damaging memos, damaging documents, both in the context, the specific context of trump, the investigation into trumps associatess alleged links with russia, and now the specific issue of whether trump is trying to block that investigation. That will continue from the fbi, it will continue from the fbi, it will continue from the cia, the National Security agency because trump is alienating those agencies. Now at some point, it is like you pull a brick, each brick from under the white house, at some point the white house collapses. Will it mean an impeachment immediately, no, but it means the white house is paralysed. It will not be able to pursue its domestic projects, such as repealing 0bamacare. President trump is tied down like a lover but unlike calibre i dont think he will be able to escape. You say that you are sure certain things emerge, but unless they do from the fbi investigation thatis they do from the fbi investigation that is continuing, we dont actually know, do we . We have a body of circumstantial evidence, and lets review, we know that Trump Associates met with russian officials in 2016. The exact Content Officials in 2016. The exact content of those and destinations is what the fbi is investigating. We know the fbi is investigating. We know the times of those meetings that russia was interfering at the time of the election through hacking and interference. We know that Michael Flynn the Security Adviser was dismissed because of his conversations with the russian ambassador, and we now know that President Trump tried to block the investigation of flint by appealing to director Comey Tojust Investigation Of Flint by appealing to director comey to just stop. You add all of that together and it at least makes a case that this is serious, if indeed as you know it is not yet proven. And adding into this as well is the conversation that donald trump had at the white house with russian representatives, where classified intelligence, it seems, was shared. He says he did share stuff, in the national interest, for the right reasons. What do you make of that row . To have one controversy is unfortunate, to have multiple is very careless, and when trump gave that information to the russians, heerenveenjude a sensitive relationship between the us and the middle eastern country, probably israel, which may damage their intelligence sharing. He damaged us alliances with other countries, such as european countries, who are wondering whether they can trust the president , and he reinforced the perception that he is far closer to russia than he is the sum of americas allies. Thank you very much. A new study appears to suggest the idea that you can be both fat and medically fit is a myth. Researchers from the University Of Birmingham say obese people who had no initial signs of Heart Disease, diabetes or high cholesterol were not protected from ill health later in life. We can talk to the man behind the study. And joining me from portugal is the man behind the study, dr rishi caleyachetty. Hejoins us from he joins us from the European Congress on obesity. That is where the study is being unveiled. And professor tom sanders from kings couege professor tom sanders from Kings College london, who is more sceptical of the study. We are joined in the studio by gpl e cannon, who can offer us some insight into we arejoined in the studio by joining me in the studio is dr ellie cannon, a gp. First you, rishi. This was a study that looked at people who were obese, with no Metabolic Abnormalities, so without aid history of diabetes or high fat in their blood. We looked at whether they developed Cardiovascular Disease, specifically coronary Heart Disease, specifically coronary Heart Disease, stroke, Heart Failure, and something called Peripheral Vascular Disease first up we found that over an average follow up of 50 years, that people who were obese and did not have any Metabolic Abnormalities were at increased risk of crony Heart Disease, Heart Failure and stroke. That is compared to normal weight individuals with no Metabolic Abnormalities. So in a nutshell you do not think it is possible to be fat and fit . I dont use the term fit. In terms of Cardiovascular Health, the study does suggest that it is not, according to the findings, there is a significant proportion of people, which are termed metabolically healthy obese that do go on to actually develop some form of Cardiovascular Disease. Professor tom sanders, what do you think of this . I think the bottom line is to maintain a healthy weight, what you are in early adult life, throughout life. I think people tend to put on weight through life. So if you measure them a long time ago and then look at follow up, you are not taking into account people who are fat when they are young will be even fatter when they are older. We know that fatness itself is associated with raised Blood Pressure, raised blood fat, and diabetes. But the diabetes normally doesnt manifest itself until people are in their 505. So measuring at out5et doe5nt until people are in their 505. So measuring at out5et doesnt really tell you that. So the key thing i think is to keep your weight down and dont think there is a magic cut off point from when you can identify someone is having diabetes or hypertension. We talk about people having pre hypertension, prediabete5, they are on that road to getting those disorders. They all increase the risk. It is important not to be complacent about your weight, get your weight down, even if you just lose a little bit of weight, that helps, and take regular exercise. Ellie, you are a gp, is it possible to think people to be overweight and ridden absolutely. These are very Old Fashioned measurements, looking at bmi, as opposed to waste consultant waist circumference, which is much more important long term health. Circumference, which is much more important longterm health. We need look at holistically peoples health, you talk a lot about Peoples Mental Health and people being fit is not ju5t governed by Cardiovascular Health and whether you get diabetes, whether you coronary artery disease. I dont want my overweight patient5 to be put off trying to exercise, trying to be healthy, which they really could be, even with a higher bmi. It i5 really could be, even with a higher bmi. It is also really important to point out that this study has not actually been published. It has not been published in a Peer Reviewed journal, so it means that it isnt the quality of evidence that we have in terms of other scientific 5tudie5. So, in terms of other scientific studies. So, yes, we know that being fat is a risk factor, in terms of disease, along with smoking and other things. But it might actually still be fine for people to be slightly overweight, as long as they are exercising and that bp is normal. So, rishi, how would you put it, in terms of clear guidance and advice to people, how overweight would you say somebody could be before Health Starts to become an issue, as a result specifically of the weight . I agree with some of the comments made by dr cannon. Bmi is a risk of developing Cardiovascular Disease, depending on your weight, is along a continuum, that i agree with. However, in clinical practice, we do tend to use cut offs, and the cut offs we use from the who. And so i would be referring to the who cut offs, if i was practising in a hospital, in a gp practice in order to give advice. Tell us what they are. The clear advice. For example, the cut off for obesity, the bmi that being obese is 30 kilograms per metre squared, and that is according to the who. That is used across the world, it is used in clinical practice as well as in research studies, as well. So after that point you are ok, your weight isnt going to impact on your health . Not necessarily. But these are the cut offs defined by the who. So there is a risk of developing for example Cardiovascular Disease at lower bmis. That would make all of our Rugby Players classified as obese, so the entire rugby teams in this country would be obese and unhealthy, yet they are quite obviously very fit from a cardiovascular Point Of View. That is why doctors dont use bmi any more, it is an Old Fashioned way of measuring. Thank you all very much. Let us know your thoughts at home on that as well. Just a reminder, we will be in dunstable in beds on monday 29th made the big election audience debate. If you have made up your mind already you will vote for, Still Deciding ordered think you will bother, and want the chance to share your views, get in touch to apply for a place. There are more details on our facebook and twitter pages. Yesterday was a warm day. We saw the uk top temperature of 26 degrees in gravesend in the south east. Scotla nd gravesend in the south east. Scotland also saw a womans day of the year, 22 in the moray firth. Things a little bit cooler today. Still plenty of sunshine in the north. I will show you this picture from our weather watchers. A fresher feel the things, even A Touch Of Frost across the north east of Scotla Nd Frost across the north east of scotland but compare that to the south east, a very wet night. A lot of rain falling, even reports of some localised flooding, minor flooding across west london. You can see why, the bright colours indicating that heavy rain, which swept up from the south west and more waiting in the wings, which will be driving its way northwards through the course of this afternoon. We could see some brightness developing through the south east. Then temperatures will really shoot up because it is warm here. Across scotland and northern ireland, a lovely day into the afternoon. The few heavy showers getting in may be heavy with some hailand getting in may be heavy with some hail and thunder. Eastern scotland tending to stay dry, feeling fresher but lovely in the sunshine. Maybe a bit of brightness getting in towards the north and west of wales, some dry weather into the far south west but the bulk of Eastern Wales and for much of the midlands, heavy bursts of rain, feeling quite cool too. Heat and humidity in the south east means we could see some heavy, thundery downpours across the south east, the london area, in the east anglia as we head into this evening. Tom prydie hazardous driving conditions, lots of standing water around for stock that continues to push off into the north sea. It leaves a legacy of cloud and murkiness through the night. But the south east where you have clear skies further north and west. The thursday, once you lose the cloud from the south east, a fresher feel across the board. But at least brea kfast a re across the board. But at least breakfast are plenty of sunshine around. A scattering of showers developing and some could be quite heavy with hail and thunder, potentially northern ireland, eastern scotland, wales. Temperatures were they should be, mid to upper teens. This is the pressure chart friday, this area will be a player as we head into the weekend. This Weather Front in the south east could graze east anglia and the south east, towards kent, some patchy rain at times. Elsewhere, there will be a mixture of sunshine and showers, temperatures again in the mid teen sells you. In the saturday, a day of sunshine and showers, an area of low pressure firmly in control. Some showers fairly blustery and the north west, but Feeling Pleasant in the sunshine. For the weekend it feels like it will be a mixture of sunny spells and showers, some of which will be heavy with hail and thunder. With light winds and clear skies at night we can expect to return to some chilly nights. Hello. Its wednesday. Its10am. And im joanna gosling. Our top story today the Liberal Democrats will launch their manifesto today, promising a new referendum on brexit. Theres also more money for housing and education and a promise to lower the voting age to 16. Today were offering huge opportunities for young people where they can get on the Renting Ladder for the first time because were going to give them help with their deposits or they can rent to own with a radical new scheme. Well get reaction from liberal democrat voters and Baroness Kramer from the lib dems will be here too to answer yours and their questions. Americas former fbi chief claims he was urged to drop his inquiry into links between the Trump Campaign and russia by the president. Donald trump denies the claims. We will have the details. The first survey into gender in horse racing shows that women are under represented in the most prominent areas of the sport. Heres annita in the bbc newsroom with a summary of todays news. Good morning. The Liberal Democrats are putting a second Eu Referendum at the heart of their General Election manifesto, which is formally launched later. The party says it would let the people decide whether brexit happens once negotiations have finished. Its also offering pledges to young people, promising to restore Housing Benefit for 18 to 21 year olds and help people get on the housing ladder. The head of one of labours Biggest Union backers has said the party is on course to lose the General Election. Len mccluskey of unite claimed it would be a Successful Campaign if labour lost about thirty seats. A spokesman for leaderJeremy Corbyn said he was determined to lead the head of one of labours Biggest Union backers has said the party is on course to lose the General Election. The party to victory. The white house has denied reports that donald trump asked former fbi Directorjames Comey to stop an investigation into alleged links between an adviser and russia. Mr comey, who was sacked last week, is said to have made the claims in notes taken after a meeting with the president in february. The white house says the notes are untrue. The uks Unemployment Rate has fallen to a 32 year low, as a Record Number of people are in work, figures show. The jobless total fell by 53,000 to 1. 54 million in the three months to march, a rate of 4. 6 , the lowest since summer 1975. Average Weekly Earnings ex excluding, bonuses increased by 2. 196. Lloyds bank says the taxpayer has made a profit of nearly £900 million after the government sold the last of its shares in the banking group. Its almost nine years since the bank was bailed out at the height of the financial crisis. In a statement, lloyds confirmed the group has been fully returned to private ownership. The former us soldier, Chelsea Manning, who Passed Hundreds Of Thousands of confidential diplomatic documents to the website wikileaks, will be released later today from a Military Prison in kansas. Born bradley manning, she announced she would be living as a woman, shortly after her trial in 2013. She was expected to remain in jail until 2045, but barack 0bama commuted her sentence before leaving the white house injanuary. Thats a summary of the latest bbc news. More at 10. 30am. Heres some sport now withjess. Maria conditions to divide opinion. The Chief Executive of the Womens Tennis Association says that french open organisers had No Grounds To Penalise Maria Sharapova by denying her a Wildcard Entry to the tournament, wta chief steve simon says that sharapova has complied with the sanction. Shortly after learning of her Roland Garros snub, sharapova withdrew injured from her second round italian 0pen match against Mirjana Lucic baroni. Sharapova could still be given a wild card to appear in the main draw at wimbledon next month, but former champion pat cash thinks that would be wrong. I would hope that they would stand strong and say no, youve got to go through play and qualify. Look, maria at qualifying, shell breeze through it on the grass. Shes very experienced and she will probably need some extra matches and she might welcome those matches. Clearly, shes not physically ready 100 for hard tennis. She hurt herself this week. I think it will be in the long run, it might not be a bad thing for her, but i think the All England Club need to stand up and make a stance about this and say were not rewarding drug cheats. Andy murray continues to have a tough time on his return from injury. Hes now lost his italian 0pen title after being beaten in the second round. It was a straight sets defeat to italys fabio fognini, made all the more worrying because the next major, the french open, is just next week. And that is likely to be murrays next competitive match. His coach Ivan Lendlflies to europe this weekend to join murrays team. Clearly he still has a lot of work to do. The three way battle for the top four in the Premier League will go down to the final day of the season after arsenal and Manchester City both won last night. Arsenal have qualified for the Champions League for the last 20 seasons and beat sunderland 2 0 to keep alive their hopes. Alexi sanchez scored both goals in the second half to leave Arsene Wengers side with an outside chance of overtaking liverpool or city. And talking of city, they look the most likely to secure the third Champions League spot. They had an straight forward 3 1win Over West Brom last night. Yaya toure scored the pick of the goals. A point in their final match at watford will guarantee third place in the Premier League. Geraint thomas has moved up to eleventh in the giro ditalia after an impressive second place in yesterdays time trial. His chances of winning the race were ruined by a crash on sunday, but he pulled some time back on his rivals yesterday. Hollands tom dumoulin now leads the race by over two minutes. Thats all the sport for now, joanna. See you at 10. 30am. The lib dems will launch their manifesto later. Its their plan for the country which has a series of pledges designed to attract young voters and people who wanted to stay in the eu. They say if they win the election theyll restore Housing Benefit to young people, lower the voting age to 16, and hold a referendum on the final brexit deal. The party is hoping these plans will help reverse the huge losses at the last election when they went from having 57 mps to just eight. Some voters felt let down by the time they spent in coalition with the conservatives. Heres a reminder of what went wrong. And just a warning, there is some Flash Photography in this report. Until pretty recently, the Liberal Democrats were the strong third force in british politics. In 2007, nick clegg, a young mp who used to work in the eu, took over a party with 62 mps. His personal popularity soared ahead of the General Election in 2010 with the arrival of clegg mania. Remember this. So, dont let them tell you that the only choice is between two old parties whove been playing pass the parcel with your government for 65 years now, making the same promises, breaking the same promises. Making the same old mistakes over and over again. Despite losing a few seats, the lib dems held the Balance Of Power after the election and went intojoint government alongside the conservatives. It all kicked off with a love in out in the back garden at Downing Street. 0n the steps of Downing Street yesterday evening, i said that nick and i wanted to put aside Party Differences and Work Together in the national interest. But it didnt stay that rosy. Coalition government was not kind to nick clegg and his party. The ayes to the right, 323. Forcing them to go back on some key policies like cutting tuition fees. And forcing this out of the party leader. We made a pledge. We didnt stick to it. For that, im sorry. Come Election Night in 2015, things were looking pretty bad. And so it turned out with the party dropping from 57 mps to just eight. Key figures like former leader Charles Kennedy and business secretary vince cable were booted out overnight, while clegg held onto his seat. He had little choice but to resign as leader. Clearly, the results have been immeasurably more crushing and unkind than i could ever have feared. For that, of course, i must take responsibility. Therefore, i announce i will be resigning as leader of the Liberal Democrats. He eventually handed over to this man, tim farron, whosejob it now is to give his party the parliamentary boost it so desperately needs. That was at rattle through the lib dems fortunes. Lets talk to baroness susan kramer, a liberal democrat peer in the House Of Lords. Were joined by two voters who say they felt let down by the lib dems the last time they were in government. Jess bowyer voted for the lib dems in 2010 after their promise to abolish University Tuition fees. Now, she says theres no point in the lib dems having good policies as she cant trust the party. Kate pearson voted for the lib dems in 2010. She says she was seduced by nick cleggs charm, but was horrified after the Coalition Government. Kate, you were seduced, but then horrified, what happened . Kate, you were seduced, but then horrified, what happened . |j kate, you were seduced, but then horrified, what happened . I dont knowment like millions of voters across the country i watched nick clegg in the debates. He seemed to be the kind of person that i could trust. What were you basing that on . I live in leafy kent. A vote for labour seemed like a wasted vote and ididnt labour seemed like a wasted vote and i didnt have a huge amount for gordon brown as the leader at that point. I had always been voting for the labour party until that point and nick clegg seemed to be saying nothing but things that i agreed. There was the hashtag trending, i agree with nick. So i gave him my vote and frankly, was sat in a mask of horror two days later when he stood in the rose garden next to David Cameron and they acted like best of friends. I spent five years feeling nauseous that my vote in some way had given value i hadation to the austerity cuts, and the Work Capability assessments and the tuition fees and all the other ghastly things, rising foodbanks and everything and i just ghastly things, rising foodbanks and everything and ijust felt ghastly things, rising foodbanks and everything and i just felt as ghastly things, rising foodbanks and everything and ijust felt as if my vote had given legitimacy to that. I also felt that the conservative side of the coalition were doing it because they believed it was right andi because they believed it was right and i might dishave disagreed, but they were doing it because they thought it was right and the Liberal Democrats knew that what they were doing was wrong and they were doing it anyway because they wanted to stay in power. Well, lets bring in jess. You felt let down as well. Tell us why . I voted lib dem because i grew tell us why . I voted lib dem because igrew up tell us why . I voted lib dem because i grew up in a tory lib dem marginal in devon and it was very clear you voted lib dem to stop the tories. I was attracted to the lib dems because you know i was 18. It was my first election. They billed themselves as the party of young voters, with pledges on tuition fees and that was really attractive to me. So, it was, it was a huge shock to find, you know, two days later them going into power with the conservatives in capitulating on everything that they claimed to have stood for. The tuition fees for you, was what, that was the final straw, was what, that was the final straw, was it . It was one of the Big Things Andl was it . It was one of the big things and i think tuition fees has become kind of emblematic with regards to perceived lib dem failures, but for me it is more about the austerity programme. We have had rises in child poverty, in homelessness and desmation of the Welfare State and the nhs, all of which have been facilitate bid the Coalition Government and probably wouldnt have happened without the lib dems. So, susan, how do you feel when you hear the lib dem voters talking like that . I suspect i will never win backjess or kate and im sad about that. They are representative of a lot of people. Im sad about that. If we go back and look at the coalition, we need to look forward, but i wouldnt change going into coalition. I think people have forgotten the fragility of the economy and the crisis that we faced at that point in time and if we hadnt had a government that had a majority to deliver in parliament, we would, i mean, the damage that would have happened to people with their job would have happened to people with theirjob losses, the collapse in communities, we have seen that in the past and to have decided, its good for our party to stay out, but ill let this happen to people, i couldnt have done that. So, i understand the anger. I would ask them not to forget the good things we did in government, much of which have been claimed by the conservatives, but there are 23 Million People who used to pay income tax and dont. Pupil premium made a fantastic difference in schools, the Der Ter Ration in the nhs, you can see comes after the coalition. We managed to hold the Frontline Services to a very significant degree during that period. We stemmed the tories from savage cuts in welfare which you saw coming as soon as we were no longer there. There were a lot of things we did. Equal marriage. There were all kinds of things that were important in that period that im proud of, but not everything, we were the Smaller Party in a coalition and the reality, you do a programme for when youre in government, but that means youre in government, but that means you think youre going to be the government. We were part of a coalition. Lets see what jess and kate think. The bits that susan is proud of. Does that mitigate the bits that you dont like . You mentioned the nhs. What about the massive top down reorganisation of the nhs that was unmentioned in anybodys manifesto and was opposed by every medical professional body in the country . That was on your watch. I have a very dear friend who was a sister in a e and she would argue with you that cuts to National Health service were going on long before. Things like waiting lists. The crunch seems to have come over the last couple of years. I think that is because the Cutting Process has continued. So lets look forward. We have the lib dem manifested today. Mental health finally on the agenda, finally finally, where it has never been before. Yes, it has come through. The Manifesto Launch today, trying to appeal to Younger Voters, exactly voters like these two. But you said right at the beginning you have no hope of Winning People like back. What other policies that might . I talk to people on the doorstep. There are some that will a lwa ys doorstep. There are some that will always be disillusioned with us but i have found there are many that actually are very excited. Satele than the policies. What has been fascinating is our party membership, half of which under 35 and it is younger people who have come and said as we look at lib dem principles, we bond tojoin the party and shape the party, which i find absolutely fascinating and crucially important. For many of the young people i talk to, brexit really is serious. They feel european, their identity is being taken from them, they planned to do internships in different places, engineering in germany, fashion in france, they thought they were free to work abroad. So lib dems is giving a promise of a second referendum. Yes, that second referendum. Yes, that second referendum will be their chance to see what is the actual deal theresa may has managed to negotiate and will you live with this or not. I hope young people will see that as a really important opportunity to talk about their feelings. Is that appealing . I would rather set myself on fire than live through another Eu Referendum. I dont think results would be any different. Dont give up, dont give up, we have to go to the barricades and keep fighting this. I do have brexit and i think it can be avoided but i dont want another referendum. For me, fundamentally, the problem as it is fine to have all these great policies but why should voters trust you . I policies but why should voters trust you . I voted policies but why should voters trust you . Ivoted lib policies but why should voters trust you . I voted lib dem policies but why should voters trust you . Ivoted lib dem in policies but why should voters trust you . I voted lib dem in 2010 on the basis of your policies, which never came into action, and you reversed a lot of things. We delivered a lot of that policy based. The obvious one being taking 23 Million People at the lower end of income out of tax. Instead of looking back it would be good on what is coming on the ma nifesto. Good on what is coming on the manifesto. A pledge to allow people to vote from the age of 16. That is something we really feel is so important because 16 year olds should have a voice. My daughter just turned 16, i would love it if she had a voice, particularly with the european referendum last year. I think it was absolutely appalling that so many of the Younger Generation who would be the most affected by it, particularly people who might want to study and a couple of years, were not allowed a vote. Would it make you vote lib dem . Personally, i never ever thought i would vote lib dem again. 2015, i swore i would never vote lib dem again and two years later they have my vote. Delighted. They are the only people representing my views on brexit. Unfortunately if theresa may wants to say this is a brexit election and this is her mandate to go in and deliver a hard, conservative style brexit, stripping away Employee Rights and equal protection under the law, if she wants it to be a mandate for her ha rd wants it to be a mandate for her hard brexit, the only party certainly South Of The Border whereby i can express my strong opinion that that is not my mandate is by going to the Liberal Democrats. What will success look like the lib dems in this election, because you are down to eight mps . Never i spend my time looking at numbers. What i want us to do is to be that kind of voice that kate talked about. Because i think theresa may, i will be honest, theresa may, i will be honest, theresa may, i will be honest, theresa may will get a substantial majority. She will see that as a mandate to do whatever she chooses, and not just mandate to do whatever she chooses, and notjust on the brexit issue. We have seen a lot of hard right policies being proposed. She is being careful to shore herself up by bringing in the ukip vote. You are not going to give us a figure on what success would be for the lib dems . We are the voice of the election, we will keep that voice loud and clear, whatever our numbers. But the more people we have, the more we can push for the second referendum. We are going to listen to theresa may right now, i will interrupt you because she is on the Campaign Trailand will interrupt you because she is on the Campaign Trail and speaking. The uk economy has grown at one of the fastest rates in the developed world. Employment has increased by. 9 million since labour were in power, and we should never forget what those numbers mean for the merhi working families. They mean a Better Future and more security. They mean a better standard of living for people and more tax revenue to spend on vital public services, like our nhs, schools and defence. And just today, we have seen that the work of fixing labours economic mess continues. The government has sold its remaining shares in Lloyds Banking group, as we continue to repair the damage to our banking sector, and todays Employment Figures show that our credible policies are delivering greater security for families across the country. But none of this happened by accident. 0ur economic progress has been dearly won, and could easily be lost if the wrong policies were pursued in the years ahead. It is frankly all at risk. Any party which asks the British Party to entrust to them the responsibilities of forming the next government through the crucial years of our brexit negotiations and beyond must demonstrate that it has the credible economic plan and the capable team to safeguard our Economic Security. Now one could look at what Jeremy Corbyn and his labour party offered yesterday and concludes that it passed the test. The risk which a Jeremy Corbyn based government would pose to our economy has been laid bare, that manifestos are also a test of something else. They are a test of leadership. Later this week, something else. They are a test of leadership. Laterthis week, i something else. They are a test of leadership. Later this week, i will publish my pa rtys leadership. Later this week, i will publish my partys manifesto for the next five years. Unlike Jeremy Corbyns Fantasy Wish List of easy promises, paid for with imaginary money, i will set out in detail the five great challenges our country faces over the next five years. And lay out how we will tackle them. While Jeremy Corbyn and Labour Retreat into an ideological comfort certain, ducking the difficult challenges which lie ahead, i will be straight with people. I wont shy away from facing the challenges of ourtime. Away from facing the challenges of our time. Rather, i away from facing the challenges of ourtime. Rather, iwill set away from facing the challenges of our time. Rather, i will set out how we will tackle them head on. Because thatis we will tackle them head on. Because that is what leadership is about. And on this key test, Jeremy Corbyn has failed once again. If he cant show real leadership of his party now, how could he lead our country through brexit . How could he sit down with the Prime Minister 5, president and chancellors of europe and geta president and chancellors of europe and get a good deal for britain . At this election, only the strong and sta ble this election, only the strong and stable leadership of me and my team can deliver the successful brexit our country needs, face up to the challenges which lie ahead, and improve the lives of everyone in our country. It will be strong leadership and credible policies for a Better Future. That starts with getting the right brexit deal for britain, which locks in Economic Security for our country, the weakness of Jeremy Corbyn security for our country, the weakness ofJeremy Corbyn and the chaos of the coalition which would put him into Downing Street would put him into Downing Street would put that at risk, and with it the future prosperity of families across our country, and the chancellor will now say more about that. Thank you, Prime Minister. Yesterday, the labour manifesto confirmed what we already suspected, that they do not have a credible plan for our countrys future, and they cannot be trusted with our countrys finances. What we saw yesterday is only the latest in a catalogue of chaos from labour. Throughout this campaign, labour. Throughout this campaign, labour have shown time and time again that they lack the basic competence and credibility the government this country. We have seenjeremy government this country. We have seen Jeremy Corbyn and his closest lieutenancy exposed as being simply not up to the job. The shadow chancellor, the self confessed marxistjohn mcdonnell, doesnt know how big the deficit is. The shadow secretary di Shadow Home Secretary at one stage was suggesting you could employ a Police Officer to £30 a year. The shadow education secretary Angela Rayner couldnt tell us how many children their Class Size Policy would affect, and yesterday, the shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry was unable to explain labours policy on benefits. Labour have simply become a shambles, and as yesterdays manifesto showed, their numbers simply do not add up. Now that Jeremy Corbyn has published his manifesto in full, we have been able to update the analysis, which david davis and i published previously. We can now set out the full damage his nonsensical plans would do to the nations finances by 2021 22. The new dossier of analysis we have published today shows that there is a £58 billion black hole inJeremy Corbyns plans in just a £58 billion black hole inJeremy Corbyns plans injust one year alone. Proposal after proposal in labours manifesto mean more borrowing and more debt, two unexplained threats to seize control of private Companies Stop these plans, many of them extremely questionable in themselves, simply do not add up. Any shred of economic credibility, which labour had left, has now been buried byJeremy Corbyn and his acolytes. And this matters to families across the united kingdom. The economic chaos, which would hit our country if labour were ina would hit our country if labour were in a position to implement the shambolic package of policies they unveiled yesterday, would leave every household in britain counting the cost. The price of labours chaos would be felt in higher taxes and steeper Mortgage Bills for working families. This economic chaos would mean higher unemployment, robbing families of the Peace Of Mind and security, which comes with a job. It would mean more borrowing, throwing away all the hard earned progress of the La St All The Hard Earned Progress of the last seven years, and take us right back to square one with a growing deficit, growing debt, and increasing financial uncertainty for the next generation. Labours manifesto is a plan for an ideological fuel, which would mean economic chaos for the many. Only theresa may and her conservative team have a plan to lock in Economic Security and built a Better Future for our country. Dee stakes at this election could not be higher. A vote for any other party is simply too big a risk to take. Thank you. Thank you, very much, philip, we will now take some questions. Laura . Thank you very much Prime Minister and chancellor. You have attacked the labour plans, not surprisingly, but if increasing tax and increasing spending overall is such a bad idea, why has it continued to happen under a government that you have both been pa rt a government that you have both been part of for seven years . You have repeatedly missed your Deficit Target the new even still have a Black Colin Newell most recent budget, chancellor. The chancellor this morning rather candidly admitted swearing occasionally in rows with number ten. If afterjune you are re elected, will you still be next neighbours . First of all, i will ask the chancellor to respond as well, but first of all lets be clear about what we are saying about the labour party manifesto. It simply doesnt add up. What we see todayis simply doesnt add up. What we see today is this £58 billion black hole that we have identified in their figures. These are large numbers, but what matters is the impact it has on ordinarily working families, and it means that people will be paying the price of labour. They will pay the price in higher taxes, lower wages, higher prices, will pay the price in higher taxes, lowerwages, higher prices, and will pay the price in higher taxes, lower wages, higher prices, and an economy which will be in chaos. The key thing is that over the last seven years we have shown we have that credible economic plan and we have that credible economic plan for the future to take us forward, to ensure that we get the right deal from brexit but also locked our Economic Security. And i think it is true to say that the chancellor and land true to say that the chancellor and i and every true to say that the chancellor and land every other member of our team are focused on the 8th ofjune. Our focus is on winning this General Election because it matters for the future of our country. What i candidly admitted this morning, and my family will confirm this, is that ldo my family will confirm this, is that i do occasionally swear. I my family will confirm this, is that i do occasionally swear. Lwasnt referring to any particular, session but i do occasionally swear. The difference between us and labour is that labour doesnt believe in balancing the budget. The Prime Minister has said many times that as a country we have to get back to living within our means, we have to do that in a sensible way, we have to do that in a measured way that balances the needs of Deficit Reduction with the needs for investment in our economy, and the needs of our public services, but we do have to do it. Labour doesnt believe in reducing taxes. Labour believes in increasing taxes. We are a low tax party by instinct. Conservatives will always cost you less in tax. Well, lets leave theresa may and philip hammond. Norman smith is in westminster. Today, they are focussing on bashing labours offering yesterday. Yes, this was just an attack Press Conference to gut and fillet labours manifesto yesterday. Theresa may, philip hammond, focussing on the issue of credibility, saying that mr corbyns plans simply did not add up. It was described as a catalogue of chaos. A fa ntasy described as a catalogue of chaos. A Fantasy Wish List and at the heart of their argument is there is they say £58 billion of unfunded commitments made by mr corbyn yesterday. Now, those mostly are the big nationalisations, he talked about, team corbyn are saying we didnt include that because its Capital Spending so we can borrow. Mrs may, also again focus on the credibility ofJeremy Corbyns leadership. She wants to make it a tussle about the strong and stable leadership of theresa may as she seesit leadership of theresa may as she sees it versus Jeremy Corbyn leadership of theresa may as she sees it versusJeremy Corbyn and she accused him of retreating into an edelogical comfort zone. So this was basically an attack Press Conference by the tories to try and take apart labours big Manifesto Launch yesterday. And separately, norman, today, one of labour big backers is expressing his doubts about labours prospects at the election. Tell us more . Extraordinary really in a way because come election time normally all the big political beasts come out and say how wonderful their side is doing and its all going very well. No so Len Mccluskey who is Jeremy Corbyns main man in the Union Movement and he is political muscle within the labour party. Len mccluskey said, it doesnt look like were going to winment in fact, well be doing well to win just 200 seats. That would be the worst result labour have ever had since the Second World War. Worse than mike al foot and Len Mccluskey seems to be saying that would not be a bad result. This morning, a different tune from mr mccluskey listen. Well, first of all the interview i did was a conversational piece and it was against the backdrop of if the opinion polls are to be believed that i made those comments. Of course, since then labour have launched their manifesto. Its a fantastic manifesto. A manifesto for workers, for ordinary working people. A manifesto that will Change Britain for the good. And the response that weve had from unite members has been incredible. Thats why i was checking our polls that we do constant polls and the response has been like something weve never seen before. So im full of optimism ifi seen before. So im full of optimism if i was having that interview today, i if i was having that interview today, lwouldnt be making those comments. I think also the Labour Campaign has been brilliant. It has outshown the tories. Jeremy corbyn has come across as a real man of the people and a real leader. Im now full of optimism as to what will happen in the next two to three weeks. I believe that the opinion polls will start to move, if our members in unite are anything to go by, once people start looking at the policies that labour have, in their manifesto, then anything is possible and we believe now that everything to fight for over the next three weeks and thats what we will be doing. So you have not had a change of tune . Yes, in many respects i have. Against the backdrop of the opinion polls, that was the conversational interview i was having, but labours manifesto has been received certainlily unite members, very, very enthusiastically andl members, very, very enthusiastically and i think positively and l members, very, very enthusiastically and i think positively and i think if that spreads throughout the rest of the nation then we could see something really dramatic happening in the next two to three weeks and thats what we will be fighting for. Every single vote, unite, will be there, in every constituency fighting for labour to win this election. You did say in the interview that 200 seats would be a Successful Campaign, but thats almost 30 fewer. Yes, against a backdrop of the current opinion polls and thats why its always difficult in a long ranging interview to pick out specific comments because its always against the backdrop of what you were always against the backdrop of what you were talking about and of course, i was talking about the opinion polls and how massive a task lies ahead for labour. Now, what im saying now is, very evidencely, this manifesto saying now is, very evidencely, this manifesto efficiently, saying now is, very evidencely, this manifesto efficiently, this manifesto efficiently, this manifesto thats come out, the americans sometimes refer to it as a christmas tree, there is a present for everybody hanging from it and thats true. John mcdonnell has been brilliant in explaining where the cash will come from. And i think now that that should start to alter things fairly dramatically both in the polls and labours prospects so thats what im looking forward. But if the polls dont change and youre still. Well, lets just wait to see because im now convinced that the polls will change. Im now convinced that labour are in with a real chance and thats what we are hoping for the thats what the british people need if they could only examine those particular policies that labour have put forward then i think things will begin to change and thats, im ready for the fight. Im up for the fight. So, there we are. Len mccluskey had a conversion overnight. A shining light convinced him thatJeremy Corbyn is now in fa ct him thatJeremy Corbyn is now in fact on course for victory. 0k, norman. Hold the thoughts. You may well know that every day until 8th june we are highlighting the best gaffe or amaoudsing moment from the election cal pawn with norman. We need a General Election and we need one now. To every city, every village, every town. We state a clear intention. About the future of this country. The big question here is simply this. At what point. Are voters. Getting tired of politicians. Let me finish if you dont mind. What have you got today, norman . I bring you beards what do we think of beards . Well, vote, are not terribly fond of politicians who have beards of the there is a survey out today saying two thirds of voters dont like their leaders to have beards. They view them as unkept and looks as if you kind of let yourself go, which is not good news for westminsters famous beard which belongs to mrj corbyn. He won the beard of the year seven years on the beard of the year seven years on the trot. This was him being asked a couple of years ago, how long he had been growing a beard for . Well, the leader of the Beard Liberation Front quoted me as saying i wear my beard as my opposition to new labour, but that doesnt really work when john himself wears a beard look, there are contradictions in the movement. Now, history is not necessarily on mr corbyns side, the last Prime Minister to have a beard was the marcus of salisbury in 1900s, 1902, Something Like that. He had a bushy, full beard, a bit like that character in fools and horses. He has an uncle albert beard karl marx, yes he had another very full beard other figures we can think of, well, of course, there was the us president , abraham lincoln. Very successful leader, of course, he had more of a goatee, i guess wed call it now. Elsewhere on the range, gengis khan. Beards have a chequered relationship. However, on matters here, one liberal democrat is so enthused by his party, he has got the words, lib dem cut into his hair have a look this is what he has done on each side. Thats how committed he is to the cause maybe i could get the words, bbc cut into the sides of my hairment i dont think ive got enough hair. Scrap that idea. Forget it. |j dont think ive got enough hair. Scrap that idea. Forget it. Ithink you should do it, norman. Laughter so there is an election going on. We are calling it whats the chatter . Today we are talking about echo chambers. What are they . Well, have a look at this. Lets talk now tojosh smith. Hes the stats guy at the think tank, demos. And his colleaguejamie bartlett is here to tell us what the data means. Welcome. I know that you enjoyed normans chat on beards a moment ago lets talk more about the echo chamber because we heard the principle, josh and i know you wa nted principle, josh and i know you wanted to know if that principle is going on with the 200,000 supporters you followed. You generated a chart and explain what were looking at here . What youre looking, were interested in not only people were saying and who they were talking to and what the conversations were and each of the dots on this graph is a user on twitter. And each line represents a conversation. So if i tweet to you, you will get a notification that ive, im talking to you, but you will be connected by a line on this graph. Now, the only thing that determines where the users are on this graph is who theyre talking to and how much. Weve coloured them by party, but thats what is determining their position. The really interesting thing that we have seen coming out here and this is 1. 5 million tweets over the election period is that people are generally grouping by their parties. This affects kind of various, depending on the parties, labour and conservatives are grouped together, but theyre more spread out than the three other parties that we have been looking at. So thats specifically then where youre identifying the echo chamber going on, the lib dems, the snp and ukip . Thats where we have seen this effect strongest. So you can see and if we remove labour and conservative from the graph, you can see that while there are conversations going on between these clusters, theyre much, much denser within themselves. So most of the chatter within each of the parties are to the party faithful, are to people who kind of share the same views. Jamie, tell me what youve identified about people in the three parties and what they are sharing . Well, so taking our sort of little clusters and taking our samples of 200 from each of the parties, we were looking at the tweets that were the most shared within them. So, i think the first one comes from the snp here. So this was the most shared within the snp group. And as you can see this is fairly inward looking. Essentially it is Nicola Sturgeon saying that alex salmond was right by saying that the labour manifesto is essentially a rip off of some snp policies. Very popular amongst snp supporters. So that was reverberating around about that, but what about the Liberal Democrats . sort of similar one. A self congratulatetry tweet from the Liberal Democrats. This was the most shared within that cluster and its essentially again tim farrons vision to Change Britain and apparently the voters were loving it. All or now message. What about ukip . This was interesting because the ukip one was not directly about the ukip one was not directly about the election. That was if you like a bit more on the core territory of ukip, it was about a terrorism case in court. Idont know what ukip, it was about a terrorism case in court. I dont know what you draw from that, may be that the focus is not solely on the election the ukip, this was a bit of an outlier if you like, it was about a broader issue than this election. Won interesting. If we look of the tweets they are sending, the outlook is a bit different. They are engaging in debate with each other a bit more. And the shape here is interesting, these clusters are much closer together, much more connecting these two parties than we saw the other three parties earlier. They were focusing mainly on the same issues, in this last week, both parties talking about eurovision. The labour manifesto is a big topic of discussion. There are still groupings but there is more talk between them. So jamie. Eurovision isa between them. So jamie. Eurovision is a cross party issue expat between them. So jamie. Eurovision is a crossparty issue expat what else . The big story last week politically was ransomware, which as we saw was this piece of malware that was infecting computers and causing trouble particularly for the nhs because it was locking files that had to be decrypted. Ransomware was being talked about by all of the parties. One of the most popular tweets of all was this one from paul mason, about should we be upgrading trident fumic uneven seemed to fix an exploit of windows xp. That was the problem which resulted in some of the ransomware. And this was especially popular with snp voters, probably because of the trident aspect. With the Cyber Attacks seen aspect. With the Cyber Attacks seen asjeremy aspect. With the Cyber Attacks seen as Jeremy Corbyn aspect. With the Cyber Attacks seen asJeremy Corbyn things. Aspect. With the Cyber Attacks seen as Jeremy Corbyn things. Among labour supporters it was this one that was most shared. This is the interesting thing. The received wisdom in electoral politics as if we are talking about the nhs, labour is winning. That is what strategists have always thought. Labour supporters on twitter were more likely to be talking about this ra nsomwa re than those likely to be talking about this ransomware than those from the conservative party. They especially focused on the fact thatJeremy Corbyn had been speaking about a tax that very morning on the nhs from things like speaking about attacks. The tories did not engage in any way the same volume. The labour party wants to get the conversation onto the nhs of this was the way to do it. Where they did talk about this and i think it reflects the strengths of the Different Party as they perceive it themselves, conservative supporters on twitter were just sharing information about it being an International Cyber attack. It wasnt only the uk targeted. That kind of puts the conversation onto National Security, where the conservatives feel more confident. It isa conservatives feel more confident. It is a good place for the conservatives to take these issues of the day and spend them in a way that they think it works for them. What is the biggest tweet of the week . This was picked up by every party except the conservative party, everyone else loved it. Someone has noticed that the bus to theresa may is currently touring the country in is currently touring the country in is exactly the same bus, if you look at the license plate, that was flagging up the boat remain Campaign Just a few months ago. This is potentially a side of the campaign theresa may would like to be forgotten, obviously she was on the remain side back then. It is like a perfect tweet, it is funny and clever and simple. You cant get away with anything on twitter. One mistake and it will get picked up and shared widely. Thank you both. We will keep updating with them throughout the campaign. Horseracing is a sport worth over £3 billion to the british economy, watched live by six Million People a year in britain. But if women choose it as career, are they being held back . The first ever survey into gender in horse racing suggests that they are. Despite more women than ever before entering the sport, the Research Finds they are underrepresented in the most prominent areas of the sport. It highlights examples of entrenched prejudice and discrimination. Our sports correspondent, joe wilson, has seen the report. Joe, what did people say . Most other sports have done their gender survey and come up with a gender survey and come up with a gender survey. Researchers from Oxford Brookes, they were survey more, ask questions, interviewed. We should say this is all anonymous. It has enabled a lot of people in the industry and in the sport to speak more candidly than they have before. There was a range of views, some people would see racing as a meritocracy, whereby you get what you put in, hard work is rewarded, but a lot of people disagree. Most people responded, they were female, but not all. We have seen comments like i was told specifically not to ask for promotion, that there was talk of a bullying culture within yards. And the key bit of it is that women from across the industry reported being patronised, not taken seriously or being denied opportunities because of their gender. Those other key aspects of it. Why has it taken so long for horse racing to be looked at . That isa horse racing to be looked at . That is a good question. A lot of sports that get funding from the lottery, they have to have this sort of study. Something i hear is that this is enabling people to say haps what they bottled up for a long time. If you look at horse racing as a sport, what is interesting is that the number of people going into it through colleges, trying to get their first job through colleges, trying to get theirfirstjob on it, are women. It is Something Like a 70 30 split. The interesting thing is how quickly do they face a ceiling, find a barrier to aggression within the sport . Tell us about the indications. Jockeys is one of a high profile thing. Across the board, one of a high profile thing. Across the boa rd, about 6 , one of a high profile thing. Across the board, about 6 , just 6 of horses that are ridden and races that are ridden by women. If you look at trainers who have that responsible at e of looking after horses, turning them into, we went to newmarket where there are over 70 trainers in that town alone. You will find about of them are women. We spoke to amy murphy, the youngest trainer in the town. When i asked her specifically whether she felt it was more difficult for a woman to make progress than a man, she came up make progress than a man, she came up with an interesting answer which hopefully we can hear from now. You have to get the support i have to get the support and sometimes i think, l have to support get the support and sometimes i think, probably, as a woman, youre having to prove yourself before people want to support you, whereas if you were a man they might probably, as a woman, youre having to prove yourself before people want to support you, whereas if you were a man they might support you from day one. But, you know, weve had great support and great loyalty from some big owners. Whether i would have had that from day one had i not had the results weve had already, im not sure, but im grateful to have it. So,joe, so, joe, how have the sport s governing body respond to this . They say they welcome the report. They have given me a response. As you will see, he says it is a stark reminder that while they had been making progress, there is a lot to do over all areas of diversity. We are restating our commitment to improve diversity in our sport, they say. One other element which i think is interesting is if you look at the boards, the directors, there is a lot of them looking after various areas. The bh a restructured recently to bring more women in at director level. But that issue of the people in boardrooms rather than people in stables, and whether they are women rather than men, is another key issue. Thank you very much. Susanna gill, what is your reaction to this . Good morning, great to be in the show. We are here to launch this research and it is a great step forward for the sport. The first time this piece of work has been done. As the first time this piece of work has been done. A5joe said, people have been really honest in their feedback and it has led to a really great report from the team at Oxford Brookes who have looked at many other sectors before looking at horse racing. L other sectors before looking at horse racing. I hope todays report isjust the start horse racing. I hope todays report is just the start of what we want to do, that we now have a commitment from the bha and others in the sport to look at diversity and women in racing can support that. Hopefully, year on year, we will see progress made. As joe was saying, it is one thing the bha doing a positive thing in terms of getting more women on the board but when it comes down to the board but when it comes down to the individual stables and what is going on at grassroots, how difficult is it to connect the two . That is right, the bha has to set an example from the top. But what we needis example from the top. But what we need is to have monitoring and to know what is going which happened until this report. The bha are committed to doing that and setting an example from the top and it has to bea no an example from the top and it has to be a no tolerance approach to any inappropriate behaviour in the sport, especially yards, because thatis sport, especially yards, because that is where seven people are coming into the sport and experiencing it for the first time ina experiencing it for the first time in a working environment. Can you give us some anecdotes of the worst things you have heard . Some of the things you have heard . Some of the things you have heard . Some of the things you hear is that mens tend to sometimes dominated, some of the language used, and we have seen it in other sports, where women have the sort of go along with it rather than stand up and say actually i am not happy with that. L have done that in my own environment. In the Oxford Brookes team that looked at this, you find that type of behaviour in any sector and it is well reported these days. It is about women having the confidence to say actually i am not comfortable with that, it is not appropriate and it went help us get on in our career. Everyone in positions of influence need to set an example. Why has it gone on so long in horse racing . Is it so bad in comparison to other sports . It hasnt been discussed in horse racing before because this research has not been done. There hasnt been anyone to make it happen. Untilwomen done. There hasnt been anyone to make it happen. Until women in racing worked with the Oxford Brookes research team. I dont think racing is worse than other sports but this has cast a light on it and allowed us to address the key issues that the report raises. Thank you very much. Just a reminder, were going to be in dunstable in bedfordshire on monday, 29th may for a big election audience debate. If youve made up your mind already who youre going to vote for, Still Deciding or dont think youll bother and would like the chance to share your views and grill senior politicians on their policies get in touch to apply for a place. Victoria bbc. Co. Uk. More details on our facebook and twitter pages. Thank you for your company, bbc newsroom live is coming up next. Hello, it was a thoroughly wet night across the east anglia, the south east, reports of minor flooding. More rain pushing up from the south, quite a wet day in store for much of england. That rain adding up to be heavier through the afternoon. Brightness will boost temperatures. Scotland and northern ireland, a bright debut, the rain could be very heavy and thundery. It should clear away, leave a bit of cloud to hang back but a fresher feel for things including the south east, but it means for thursday zebrette with some sunshine, noticeably cooler and pressure jan oblak. Some showers could be heavy with some hail and thunder but in between with the sunshine and light winds, it should feel very pleasant. This is bbc news, and these are the top stories developing at 11. President trump faces accusations of asking fbi Chiefjames Comey to drop an inquiry into links between his former National Security adviser and russia. Unemployment falls to its lowest level in 42 years, but average but average earnings have now fallen behind inflation. Unite union leader Len Mccluskey says hes confident the opinion polls will change in labours favour, after earlier suggesting the party wouldnt win. It was against the backdrop of if the opinion polls are to be believed that i made those comments. Since then, labour have launched their ma nifesto, then, labour have launched their manifesto, a fantastic manifesto. Former us soldier Chelsea Manning will be released from prison later over her involvement with wikileaks