BBC Nine'o'clock News, 9 April 1997

Michael Buerk presents the main evening news on Wednesday, 9 April 1997. The election campaign is well underway. Reports: 1) Robin Oakley on the main campaign and disputes about tax changes since the previous election, five years to the day previously. 2) A briefing on what the Institute for Fiscal Studies has found about the past five years and what the party programmes will mean, featuring BBC Economics editor Peter Jay. 3) Nicholas Jones reports on Tatton where Labour has formally decided to withdraw its candidate, in favour of Martin Bell. In the second part: 4) Anne Perkins' campaign desk reports on Mrs Thatcher's electioneering, the sometime dissident Conservative Sir John Gorst, the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, a Labour rally featuring Star Trek's Patrick Stewart, and William Waldegrave's day out at the zoo. 5) Carolyn Quinn on possible constitutional changes, concentrating on the House of Lords. Features three Peers: Baroness Blackstone, Lord Cranborne, and Viscount Thurso. 6) Peter Snow gives an update on the polls. 7) Robin Oakley rounds up the day.