katherine, i'm rishi. ..as rishi sunak prepares to set out his party's plans for another five years in government. on the eve of his manifesto launch last night, the prime minister hinted at tax cuts to come. we will have a manifesto that builds on all the things that you've just gone through that we've already announced in this campaign — that, yes, does continue to cut people's taxes, because i believe in a country where people's hard work is rewarded. after cutting national insurance last autumn — and in the spring — the manifesto will promise to cut it by a further two pence for employees. it will also pledge that the state pension will not be taxed, and make permanent an existing cut to stamp duty for first—time buyers, as well as promising that parents will only have to start paying back child benefit when their household income reaches £120,000. the manifesto will also contain pledges to raise defence spending, reform the welfare system, and double down on plans to send asylum—seekers to rwanda. labour say it all amounts to a desperate wish list from what they call a desperate prime minister. after 14 years of the tories, the money is not there. so no matter what promise rishi sunak makes in his manifesto in the coming days, he's not able to deliver on any of them because he cannot explain where the money is coming from. the prime minister will be hoping today is a day to win notjust attention — but votes, as well — as he tries to turn his party's fortunes around after a rocky few days. hannah miller, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent terry farley is on the road with the tory campaign. where will you be ending up campaign. where will you be ending up today and where are the tories hoping to end up after they launched their manifesto campaign? we hoping to end up after they launched their manifesto campaign?— hoping to end up after they launched their manifesto campaign? we are on our wa to their manifesto campaign? we are on our way to silverstone _ their manifesto campaign? we are on our way to silverstone race _ their manifesto campaign? we are on our way to silverstone race circuit, i our way to silverstone race circuit, the home of the british grand prix, where the conservatives will launch their manifesto later, so cue all kinds of puns about pile—ups at turn one or dramatic overtakes, dispensing on your perspective. the 2p qatar national insurance is perhaps the headline figure at the moment from what we expect from the conservatives' manifesto. —— the 2p cut. labourwill conservatives' manifesto. —— the 2p cut. labour will not pledge to match that because they say the money is not bad. more broadly labour described the conservatives' manifesto as the longest panicked... (inaudible) . we will be getting costings when we get them and so we can explain how the conservatives think they can beat those pledges. as well as the 2p cut to national insurance we expect measures on housing, cuts to caps for when landlords sell their properties to tenants and a new version of the help to buy scheme, part of the conservatives' of the parts to younger voters hoping to get on the housing ladder, but one of the key questions is how these measures add up. we have heard a whole range of policies from the conservatives over the last few weeks, national insurance for young people, the triple lock plus to make sure pensioners do not pay tax. (inaudible) , new apprenticeships. the conservatives launching new policies and measures in a bid to try to grab attention but today it's one of their last set piece opportunities, i suppose, to grab the attention and persuade voters that they have the best plan over the future of the country. best plan over the future of the count . . , ., ~ ,, , best plan over the future of the count . . , ., , . country. harry, thank you very much. lookin: country. harry, thank you very much. looking forward _ country. harry, thank you very much. looking forward to _ country. harry, thank you very much. looking forward to cian _ country. harry, thank you very much. looking forward to cian harries - looking forward to cian harries zooming around the race at silverstone very shortly. let's talk to you about what labour has said, unsurprisingly labour has been critical of the conservative plan. the party will unveil its manifesto later in the week. let's speak live to our political correspondent ione wells on the labour bus, talk as to what labour had said about the conservative plans? == what labour had said about the conservative plans?— conservative plans? -- talk us through- _ conservative plans? -- talk us through- the _ conservative plans? -- talk us through. the main _ conservative plans? -- talk us through. the main response . conservative plans? -- talk us i through. the main response from labour in response to the conservative plans is in the words of labour shadow ministers, they feel it is another liz truss plan of promises, they argue some of the tories' plans are underfunded and this is a wish list that will not be achievable in practice. they particularly criticised plans to cut taxes like national insurance further and while labour has said they will not be looking to raise personal taxes like income tax, national insurance or vat, they have also said they will not be able to catch them and that would not be affordable at this time, so that is the response to some of the trails we have seen of the conservative manifesto but as we discussed, the labour manifesto will be revealed later this week. in the meantime their focus is on children's health in particular and children's dentistry with an announcement that they would have 100,000 new dental appointments for children, supervised tooth—brushing in schools and a ban on high caffeinated energy drinks. those are the main policies that labour are talking about today. ione wells on the labour bus, thank you. it is a big day for manifestos, a big week for manifestos. we know a little bit about what could be included in the tory manifesto. nick eardley has a round—up of proposals and how they might be paid for. good morning. yes, the manifestos are a big deal. they become the policy bible for whoever is in government. today we get the conservative offering, and we already know a few of the policies that they are pledging. tax cuts, we'll get the details later. introducing a form of national service. tax breaks for first time home—buyers, raising the tax—free pension allowance and allowing higher earners to keep more child benefit payments. there will be more, i'm sure, in the document today. but all of this costs money. so where is it coming from and do the plans add up? well, we already know some of the areas where the conservatives think they can find more cash to fund their policies. firstly, this — collecting more of the tax people already owe. the idea is simple. that you fund the tax office better and it's able to crack down on tax avoidance. the conservatives think this can raise about £6 billion a year. labour actually have a similar policy. they think it will raise about £5 billion extra. but will it work? well, some of the experts we asked said the figures were uncertain. and as you can see here, another group, the tax policy associates, say it is credible but with a big caveat, and that's that the policy would need to be targeted. so not easy to get to that six billion figure, but not impossible. the bigger pledge the conservatives have is this — reducing welfare spending by £12 billion a year. we asked the conservatives for the numbers and they were adamant that this is possible. but we also spoke to experts who aren't so sure. this is what the institute for fiscal studies said. "it looks difficult in the extreme." another group of experts, the resolution foundation, said it looks extremely challenging to deliver. so there is already some scepticism about the figures. and by the way, if any of this rings bells, if it sounds familiar, have a look at this. "we found annual savings of 12 billion from welfare, five billion from tackling tax evasion." that's not from today. that's from this man, george osborne, in 2015. and a good chunk of that 12 billion pledge, about a third of the welfare goal, was never collected, according to the government's spending watchdog. so that's worth bearing in mind today. the conservatives have also set themselves some rules which will make it harder to raise money. they are saying no to all of this — raises in income tax, vat, national insurance. add in some of the other rules that they've put in place and that leaves some economists warning we may see a spending squeeze, whether it's labour or the conservatives who are in power after the general election. we'll get the full conservative manifesto later this morning. we'll be flicking through it all, looking at the policies, looking at the numbers, and there'll be a lot more across the bbc throughout the day. there will indeed. everyone knows how important a good manifestos, especially candidates who need to be across then to pass on the message. let's speak to a political strategist and former conservative special adviser in the welsh office during david cameron's coalition administration. what makes a good manifesto? ., ., ., ., , manifesto? preparation, and that is one of the things _ manifesto? preparation, and that is one of the things that _ manifesto? preparation, and that is one of the things that worries - manifesto? preparation, and that is one of the things that worries me i one of the things that worries me most about this election and it is a similar concern we had as a result of the 2017 election, because they would snap elections not a lot of work had gone in over the course of many months to try to put together policies that were completely bullet—proof and to bring everybody with you. we have already had some policies announced over the last couple of weeks where we have had very serious doubts raised by the very serious doubts raised by the very people who are meant to go and champion these policies on behalf of the senior team of the conservative party. i worry we will have a similar problem when the document is launched today. what similar problem when the document is launched today-— launched today. what is your biggest wor ? the launched today. what is your biggest worry? the biggest _ launched today. what is your biggest worry? the biggest worry _ launched today. what is your biggest worry? the biggest worry is - launched today. what is your biggest worry? the biggest worry is that, - worry? the biggest worry is that, that we will _ worry? the biggest worry is that, that we will have _ worry? the biggest worry is that, that we will have a _ worry? the biggest worry is that, that we will have a huge - worry? the biggest worry is that, that we will have a huge team . worry? the biggest worry is that, that we will have a huge team of| that we will have a huge team of people, all of whom come on television or go to their local hustings or papers and say, well, i don't feel quite comfortable about what we said in that chapter and i am not sure about what that little bit means. the more people you have given that the more stories you have saying the prime minister has not got a team with him, this is a document written in isolation, a conservative party whip and heal about splits, every one of those creates a problem so disunity resulting from a document not wholly accepted or championed by every person who needs to do it becomes a very difficult communications problem in the short term. that very difficult communications problem in the short term. at the moment there _ problem in the short term. at the moment there must _ problem in the short term. at the moment there must be _ problem in the short term. at the moment there must be pressure l problem in the short term. at the l moment there must be pressure on rishi sunakfrom different moment there must be pressure on rishi sunak from different elements, how popular do you think his team is among tory candidates and tory teams up among tory candidates and tory teams up and down the country given the news over the last week?- up and down the country given the news over the last week? there are lots of people _ news over the last week? there are lots of people who _ news over the last week? there are lots of people who work _ news over the last week? there are lots of people who work for - news over the last week? there are lots of people who work for rishi i lots of people who work for rishi sunak who i like very much and lots of whom who i do not particularly right. i think i am average for many people who work day today in politics and know the people involved. that is usually the case within the conservative party, whoever the leader has working for them will have people like to buy one team, disliked by another and a whole group that go into the other category. but i think we have a problem where having rushed into this decision without bringing his cabinet with him and remembering he went to the king before he went to his cabinet, it means the team immediately around him who made that decision come in for criticism in a way they ought invariably would not because they are viewed as part of the unit which basically pulled the team into a decision they probably did not —— in way be ordinarily would not be. we have a problem with the legitimacy of the people he has around him and lots of the policies that have come out such as national service is one that landed very badly with huge chunks of people on the one hand because it was believed it was not really deliverable that it was not really deliverable that it would have the impact wanted, and on the other hand in many respects if you're going to do national service, it does not go far enough to have a huge chunk of the population only doing 25 days of volunteering a year. they pleased nobody with what they put out and if it is the same group of people putting out this manifesto, and i will reiterate, a full manifesto without a great deal of time to put it together in front of the 2015 campaign, we had about 18 to 2a months of policy commissions within the senior leadership, the wales 0ffice the senior leadership, the wales office was obviously sitting on the home affairs commission, and the reason we did that was to try to dilate ourselves away from a coalition government where we had to dilate our own policies to work with the lib dems, which had a huge running over about 18 or 2a months. they have not had a chance to do this before this election and the results will be able struggle to get everybody on board very quickly with a document that has had little bits and pieces leaked from its perch could have some surprises that may not work well with lots of the parliamentary party. you not work well with lots of the parliamentary party.- parliamentary party. you are informally — parliamentary party. you are informally -- _ parliamentary party. you are informally -- former - parliamentary party. you are informally -- former tory i parliamentary party. you are - informally -- former tory special informally —— former tory special adviser in the cameron government, if you were advising mr sunak now, would you advise him to do some of the things he has done in the last week or so, like leaving the d—day commemorations early? ida. week or so, like leaving the d-day commemorations early?— week or so, like leaving the d-day commemorations early? no, ithink that was a really _ commemorations early? no, ithink that was a really silly _ commemorations early? no, ithink that was a really silly decision. - commemorations early? no, ithink that was a really silly decision. i - that was a really silly decision. i have been trying... this is what all former advisers do when they leave, they do post match analysis in their own heads even when nobody is listening. what could have gone into that decision? it seems so boneheaded. i have a former colleague who now works in paris and i sent them a message saying you know someone in the french foreign ministry, can you ask how much was rishi sunak actually invited to? was he getting the full bite in treatment or was he offered one thing only and he decided because the uk was not being treated equally to the us it was not worth engaging with the french programme? —— what he getting the full biden treatment? that might have given credibility to the decision, that the french were having a one corner, one corner, one photograph and it was not worth hanging around, but everything indicates this was just a really boneheaded decision. 0ther decisions had been made in this campaign that probably would not have worked particularly well, particularly if you had people from the default departments sitting in the room. i do not think anybody from the northern ireland office thinks that your major campaign announcement as the conservative and unionist party is to have national service in a document, that is very complicated to try to get over the line in northern ireland. there is a lot that you as a former adviser probably would not have done but thatis probably would not have done but that is the case for absolutely every announcement all the time, you never break the habit of being an armchair general and at some point you have to try to trust the people in the room. the problem my party has at the moment is that i have been several mistakes, several failures ofjudgment and lots of people are struggling to trust the people are struggling to trust the people in the room at the moment. lauren, it has been really fascinating to talk to you, thank you for taking the time to speak to us. ., �* . ., | you for taking the time to speak to us-_ i would - you for taking the time to speak to us._ i would like l you for taking the time to speak to | us._ i would like to us. you're welcome. i would like to show ou us. you're welcome. i would like to show you a — us. you're welcome. i would like to show you a bbc— us. you're welcome. i would like to show you a bbc poll— us. you're welcome. i would like to show you a bbc poll tracker, - us. you're welcome. i would like to show you a bbc poll tracker, these | show you a bbc poll tracker, these lines represent the trends of how people say they intend to vote. the main difference since the start of the election campaign is a change for reform uk, they are averaging just over 13%. if you think about that, that upward move has come at the expense of the conservatives who are at their lowest level on the poll tracker since october 2022. if you look closely overall, labour have cut their commanding position, their lead over the conservatives has increased ever so slightly. the lib dems, greens, snp and plaid cymru are maintaining a steady level of support. you can get a closer look about poll tracker on our website. —— at that poll tracker. let's speak to our chief political correspondent henry zeffman. he is at silverstone race track, i had so many puns in my head but i do not want to be sad and spilled them all out, so i will leave the punch again. interesting reading, the tories hope that today will bring them closer to pole position? bier? them closer to pole position? very nood, them closer to pole position? very good. hoping _ them closer to pole position? - good, hoping perhaps it will rev up their campaign or they can turn a corner quickly. i have been thinking of these four hours! it is always a big moment when a political party launches a manifesto during a general election campaign because it is a moment to stop and say here is what they stand for, here is what they are offering the country if they are offering the country if they win another term in office, but clearly this is a particularly big moment for rishi sunak, you do not need me to tell you he has not had a very good