08/03/2017 BBC News at One

He says he is preparing Britain for a brighter future.

Phillip Hammond said in the wake of the Brexit vote,

the British economy continued to confound the commentators

He told MPs that the forecast for growth for the UK economy this

Too many families are still feeling the squeeze,

Most pubs would be given a ?1000 discount a year as part of a help

package. We'll bring you the latest

on the Budget as we get it. Could our televisions

be spying on us? Claims that intelligence agencies

have developed new technology They are tapping into cars, they are

tapping into the home TVs, tapping into every device that you would

carry that has a battery in it, basically.

Two people are dead and one is left critically injured

after a multiple stabbing at a block of flats in Wolverhampton.

And women in sport - more and more are taking part,

so why is the number of sporting bosses on the decline?

Arsene Wenger remains defiant, after his side were knocked out

of the Champions League 10-2 on aggregate against Bayern Munich.

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One.

The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, is delivering his first Budget

He said he was "building the foundations of a stronger,

fairer, more global Britain", as the UK prepares to leave the EU.

He told MPs that the UK economy had continued to confound

the commentators since Brexit, with predictions of growth this year

Inflation is predicted to rise to 2.4%, but then fall over

And 400 35mm and is to help you to help you deal with stop

But the Chancellor also underlined that there was no

room for complacency, saying the Government must focus

relentlessly on keeping Britain at the cutting edge

We'll be getting all the latest on the Chancellor's speech,

and full analysis from our political and economic correspondents.

First, this report from our political correspondent,

a hint of a smile. Any spare money, Chancellor? But

really, there is not that much to cheer about, our cautious Chancellor

has already warned there is no money for a spending spree.

After an early-morning cabinets, he was off to the Commons, this is

first and last spring Budget. From now on, they will become an

automotive air. The Right Honourable Philip Hammond.

We were promised an upbeat speech and that is how the Chancellor

started. I report today on an economy that

has continued to confound the commentators, with robust growth. A

labour market to delivering record employment and a deficit down by

over two thirds. We start our negotiations to exit the European

Union, this Budget takes forward our plan to prepare Britain for a

brighter future. His mission to steer the economy

through Brexit, with a Budget that balances the books.

It extends opportunity to all our young people. It delivers further

investment in our public services and it continues the challenge of

getting Britain back to living within its means. Despite positive

economic forecasts, he told MPs the UK's debt and borrowing was still

far too high. So the only responsible course of action, Mr

Deputy Speaker, is to continue with our plan. Undeterred by any

short-term fluctuations. And undistracted. Undistracted.

Undistracted by the reckless policies advanced by the opposition.

Because, Mr Deputy Speaker, we on this side will not saddle our

children with ever increasing debt! The Chancellor has already announced

there will be money for new free schools, including grammar schools,

with an extra ?500 million to shake up vocational and technical training

for 16-19 -year-olds in England. The science Budget is expected to get a

boost, funding for Robotics, electric cars and Artificial

Intelligence. The Labour Party is demanding the Government does more

to deal with the rising cost of living. I think this government

lives in a different world from the rest of us. People suffered at the

moment, stagnating wages, prices increasing because of inflation.

Insecure work, cuts in public services. He has got to address

those issues, if they can just move them out of the parallel universe

they seem to be living again at the moment. Economic forecasts might be

looking up a bit, but austerity has not gone away. The Budget is still

tight, so what the Chancellor gives away, he needs to balance with tax

rises and spending cuts as well. When all the Budget detail has been

unpacked and final assessments have been made, the question for the

Chancellor will be, has he done enough to deal with the political

difficulties, without spending too much money, as Brexit beckons? Mr

Hammond might have chucked out his predecessor's timetable for dealing

with the deficit, but both he and the Prime Minister still believe

balancing the books is the only way to ensure a stable economy that is

growing. Well, let's speak to our economics

correspondent, Andy Verity, who's been listening

to the Chancellor. He is still on his feet. He has

taught about growth, positive forecasts, resilience, talk us

through the numbers. Big surprise, a very much trailed surprise, was what

the Office for Budget Responsibility about economic growth. This year is

going to be 2% rather than the gloomy forecast in the November

Autumn Statement of 1.4%. That does the Chancellor a big favour, the

higher growth is projected to be, the more he can expect to receive in

tax receipts because we pay more VAT and the Chancellor is receiving more

income tax. On inflation, it was a relatively benign picture. 2.4% was

the number predicted for this financial year. That is a bit

controversial because the pound is weaker so we pay more for imports

that is expected to push up inflation, but the Office for Budget

Responsibility says it will tail off four years from now. And the barren

picture has been a concern for the Government for seven years, the

deficit is predicted to be 52 billion, much better than the gloomy

forecast in the Autumn Statement 68 billion, reflecting a far more

robust growth than anybody expected after the referendum. Talk to us

about National Insurance. This is the announcement he has just made

that higher paid, self-employed workers will pay more. Yes, a

startling announcement, although it has been trailed. This is a

Conservative Chancellor, traditionally a supporter of the

self-employed, saying we think you are paying fairly little tax

compared people in employment, and he wants to redress that balance by

raising taxes for the self-employed. This is a substantial rise in taxes

for the self-employed. National Insurance contributions for the

self-employed above a certain minimum threshold currently 9%, now

rising to 10% next year, and again to 11% a year after. Employees pay

12%, so the Chancellor says that is only fair now, thank you.

Let's speak to our assistant political editor, Norman Smith.

The rising National Insurance will be controversial? That? Hugely

controversial. Philip Hammond has said this will be a page Budget and

the pit. As the economy is doing better and that is down, growth is

up, weight is increasing, but I am not spending that money because I am

worried about the deficit and extra spending has to come from savings or

tax rises. And that the controversial bit, the tax rises.

For the first time in many years, a Conservative government is putting

up direct personal taxation on the self-employed. The self-employed,

the sort of people that successive Conservative chancellors have tried

to encourage. What adds to the controversy is that would appear a

clear breach of the Conservative manifesto, when they said they would

not put up personal taxation and they would not put up National

Insurance contributions. Mr Hammond has dressed it up as suggesting he

is just equalising the National Insurance contributions paid by

those self-employed and employees. It is an issue of fairness.

Nevertheless, the tax rise shatters the idea that this somehow a rather

bland and uncontroversial Budget. From Westminster, thank you.

More money to try to ease the social care crisis in England

Cuts in local authority funding and rising costs have contributed

to what councils say is a shortfall over more than ?2.5 billion.

And the crisis in social funding has added to pressures on the NHS -

as our health correspondent, Dominic Hughes, now tells us.

Support for the growing number of frail, elderly people

like Maureen Edwards, who we filmed last month

as she was recovering from several falls.

But this is a system that experts have warned is struggling to cope.

In England, it's paid for by local councils,

who have seen their budgets slashed following the financial

Since 2010, there have been about ?5.5 billion real-terms

If you accept then that there are growing numbers of people

needing care and support, it's perhaps inevitable that we find

social care in the crisis funding it's in today.

A recent survey of councils in England shows nearly all of them

are struggling with the costs of social care.

There are 151 local authorities in England, 147 of them plan

to raise council tax specifically to pay for social care.

But councils warn that won't plug a funding gap estimated to be

That could mean cuts to other council services.

And a crisis in social care has had a dramatic impact

Elderly hospital patients face long delays before being discharged,

if there are problems in setting up care in their own homes.

That's led to cancelled operations and long waits in Accident

This is very important care for individuals.

It helps them with their activities of daily life.

These are people that have often got a lot of needs and just

If they don't get that help, they either have to pay for it

themselves if they can - which, it's very expensive,

most of them can't - and very often, it has a knock-on

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland operate slightly different systems,

But in the face of financial pressures across the UK,

services are being restricted to those most in need.

And given the growing number of older people,

whatever help the Chancellor offers today is likely to have

The Chancellor has announced money to help small businesses deal with

their recent business rates. The charges on some commercial

properties are going off and other bones will see their payments fall.

Our business correspondent, Emma Simpson, is in Whitstable.

Is this extra money enough to reassure small businesses? There has

been a real outcry over business rates, which new changes are content

to next month, and the pressure really has been building on Philip

Hammond is to help the hardest hit. As you say, more will benefit than

lose out, but for the losers, some of them will be facing some very big

rises indeed just because of what has happened to property values. In

Whitstable, it is full of quirky, independent shops, and some like

that children's shot behind me, face and watering rises, and that is the

sort of business Philip Hammond wanted to help today. He has

announced three big changes, for small businesses facing a cliff edge

coming out of small business rate relief, he is saying that no one

will face an increase of more than ?50 a month. So that should help a

business like that one. And the pub sector, a sector hard hit, nine out

of ten in England will get ?1000 in discount on their bills. And a ?300

million discretionary fund for local authorities in England to help the

hardest hit. So overall, this package was much bigger than

expected and he has also said, we will take a closer look at this

system of taxation to make sure it is bit for the digital age,

including more frequent re-evaluations.

From Whitstable, thank you. The Chancellor is still on his feet in

the Commons. And we'll have the very

latest on the Budget And there's much more

news, live updates, Lord Heseltine says he's not

surprised that he's been sacked as a government adviser

after rebelling over Brexit Last night, he backed an amendment

calling for a parliamentary vote on a final Brexit deal to be

made into law. But he said he didn't

regret what he'd done. In the end, Europe is

the transcending issue of our time and you have always to decide

in public life - if you have a vote in Parliament -

where that national interest lies. And, to me, it lies in

the sovereignty of Parliament, and I therefore must vote in order

to preserve the sovereignty The Chancellor has

delivered his first Budget, with predictions of higher growth,

and lower inflation. But he said there was no

room for complacency. Too many families are still

feeling the squeeze almost In sport - the fixtures for this

summer's Women's cricket World Cup were released this morning -

England will begin their home tournament in Derby -

facing India on June the 24th. Is the CIA hacking into

people's computers, phones, The Wikileaks website has published

what it says are leaked files which show the American security

agency has been listening into people's conversations

through their household internet devices, using software developed

with the help of MI6. Our correspondent

Jonny Dymond reports. Who is listening

when we're watching? If the leaks are genuine,

then the CIA can use some television voice command technology

to send our conversations The convenience technology

we surround ourselves with can They are tapping into cars,

they're tapping into home TVs, they're tapping into every device

that you carry that has Because of that, it is so prevalent,

there are just so many holes. If you are really sincere

about your security and value it, you're going to have to use

a to protect it. The leaks are double whammy

for America's Central They let its enemies and critics

know what the agency can spy on, and they details with millions of

lines of computer code how to do it. It is a treasure trove for hackers

and a betrayal of America's The damage is being compared

to the leaks by Edward Snowden which revealed the hoovering up

of data by the US This is the CIA's Edward

Snowden, this is huge. In terms of what it will tell

the adversaries, then we will have to essentially start over

in building tools to get information These leaks, if real,

are a stunning blow to the CIA and an embarrassment

to their British counterparts. The spies are where

they don't want to be. Let's speak to our correspondent

in Washington, Gary O'Donoghue. What has been the reaction there?

They getting I think sick of this on this side of the Atlantic. They have

had a series of other leaks, Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden, then the

arrest of another man facing charges for a huge quantity of classified

material that he was holding in his house in Maryland. That came last

autumn. I think the reaction especially from government is trying

to play it down in some sense because they do not want to deliver

a victory to the people releasing this material. At the same time

there is a lot of concern about the tools they're using being

effectively blunted by being made so public. The technology are also

questioning as to whether or not enough is being done to preserve

their users' privacy and legislators on Capitol Hill, saying they may

have to look into the business of leaking. And of course the FBI will

take an interest in this as well because they can't afford to have

people sort of spreading around this kind of material because really it

would undermine national security and the ability of those services

started to do their job. Gunmen, dressed as doctors have

stormed the largest military hospital in the Afghan capital,

Kabul. The so-called Islamic State group

says it carried out the attack. Our correspondent

Richard Lister reports. Smoke billows from Afghanistan's

largest military hospital. Inside, a small group armed

with guns and grenades This helicopter is carrying

a team of elite forces to repel the assault,

amid reports that the attackers have fought their way to the upper floors

of the hospital and are making The battle continues and some

trapped in the hospital take cover on window ledges high

above the ground. A hospital worker sends a message

on social media, "pray for us". TRANSLATION: I was in the operating

theatre when a suicide bomber wearing a white doctor's uniform

came in and opened fire on me. When he fired on me I fell

down on the ground. Somehow I escaped

using the back exit. This assault is the latest

in a series in the Afghan Medical facilities have been

targeted by all sides in the past, but President Ashraf Ghani said this

attack trampled human values. TRANSLATION: A hospital

is a protected place under any law, An attack on a hospital is an attack

on all Afghan people. The dead and injured

were still being retrieved as news came through that the battle

was over, the gunmen dead. But with insecurity growing

and peace efforts failing, Afghanistan is braced

for a grim year ahead. Two people have died

in a stabbing in Wolverhampton. Police were called, and had

to break into the apartment One of the women, and

the attacker, were killed. Let's speak to our

correspondent, at the scene. This happened at a quarter to ten

this morning at this block of flats in Penn in Wolverhampton. A woman in

her 50s suffered stab wounds and at one stage we had three air

ambulances and three land ambulances. When I arrived there

were still plenty of paramedics but as you can see police officers in

forensic suits as well as ordinary police officers are also here and a

great deal of activity. What the police have said is this was a

domestic stabbing incident and they had to use stun grenades to storm

the flat where the knifeman was apparently attacking two women this

morning. What police also said, they describe that particular man as a

suspect and of course they called it a domestic stabbing incident. We

expect more from West Midlands Police very shortly. And we will

bring that news to you later in the day.

The mother of the missing RAF airman, Corrie Mckeague,

has said she is praying his body is found quickly -

as police continue their search of a landfill site outside

A rubbish lorry was spotted close to where Mr Mckeague

vanished on a night out in Suffolk in September.

His mobile phone was tracked following the course of a bin lorry

making its rounds soon afterwards. It's international women's day today

and one focus has been More and more women are competing

and getting involved - yet the number of women in top jobs

at the organisations that run UK A survey found that just under half

of Britain's 68 sporting bodies don't meet guidelines on the number

of women on governing boards. The group that carried

out the survey, Women in Sport, said they found

that "extremely concerning". Here's our sports

correspondent, Katie Gornall. The profile of women playing sport

has never been higher. But step off the pitch

and into the boardroom, Today, the charity Women in Sport

released an audit of 68 national governing bodies

receiving public money. They found that nearly half didn't

meet the new target of 30% gender diversity on their boards including

those in football, cricket, Nine had no women at all

in senior leadership roles, while one organisation,

the British Tae Kwon Do Council, has For many it is more than numbers. It

is about finding the right people, you need women in those roles and it

gives others role models to aspire to. And women being decision-makers.

But I think diversity is what will make real changes in the boardroom

and help sport in general. Earlier this week the Football Association

put forward new plans to appoint more women to its board by 2018.

Those reforms still need to be approved by the FA Council. But the

group is notoriously resistant to change was up that adversity target

for the FA and other sporting organisations is included in a new

code of governance coming into effect in April. Each sport will be

given their own deadlines to comply with the criteria and those who fail

face losing millions of pounds of public money. England hockey also

needs to diversify although there is CEO told me they would have no

problem meeting new government targets. We will over time as board

members leave, look at recruiting people that still meet the skills

sets but enable us to meet the recommendations within the

guidelines. Many sports have reaped the benefits of public investment

and now they're being told to better reflect the people who fund them.

Now imagine turning on your tap and seeing this.

Residents in a town in Canada were stunned to see the colour

of their water when they turned the taps on Monday.

Despite the vivid colour - they've been reassured that there's

Apparently it is a side affect of a common water

The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, has delivered his first budget.

He is predicting growth to rise from 1.4%, up until 2% this year.

Inflation is expected to rise to 2.4% but self-employed workers are

to pay an extra 60p a week in national insurance contributions.

Our Assistant Political Editor Norman Smith is in Westminster.

The headline since we have been on air? In the past few minutes Philip

Hammond is to provide a whopping ?2 billion more for social care over

the next three years. That is a significant increase in money. It

comes on top of the additional 900 million that the government made

available by allowing local councils to bring forward some of their

spending and so in total you're getting to around ?3 billion of

extra cash to ease some of the pressure on social care. That is a

big move by the Chancellor. What we do not know is where the money has

come from because Philip Hammond has been clear that he will not make any

unfunded spending commitments. So that extra 2 billion has got to come

from somewhere and there will be many people looking to see who is

having to pick up the tab and I expect local councils in particular

will be looking to make sure they're not having to make some sort of

savings to provide that extra money for social care. But it is a big

move to ease the damaging headlines, the mounting pressure, the growing

concern about what is happening in the social care sector. That will be

one big headline and also these tax rises for higher paid self employed

people, and national insurance rise. This is significant, it seems to be

a clear breach of the Conservative election manifesto pledge, not to

put up national insurance contributions. What Philip Hammond

has announced is that some self-employed will face a 2% rise in

national insurance contributions over the next two years, Philip

Hammond says to legalise the amount they pay. So those who are

self-employed and those who are employees both pay the same. It may

not be a huge amount of money but it is hugely politically significant.

As I say it is an apparent breach of the election manifesto, it is a tax

rise and more than that it would be a hit on the self-employed,

precisely the group of people successive Conservative chancellors

have sought to help and reward. And let's speak to our health editor

Hugh Pym about this extra ?2 billion to be spent on social care in

England over the next three years. A huge amount of money. On the face of

it, yes, ?2 billion in three years is a lot of money. But it is over

three years, what local authorities in England had warned was that next

year, the financial year beginning in April, just a short time away,

there is a real squeeze and they need money. So for that year is ?1

billion and then another billion pounds over the next couple of

years. It is a significant increase on what local authorities expected

before now but they will say it does not go far enough and actually the

gap between expected demand for social care in England and what was

available was more like ?2 billion. So yes, quite a significant

investment but some will say it does not go far enough. Of course the

social care issue affects the NHS because of difficulties in

discharging patients back into the community.

Three very different days of weather out there. In the South it has been

pretty gloomy. But further north in Belfast, a beautiful scene, blue

skies and sunshine. Then further north again into the Scottish

Highlands, some sunshine but also some pretty heavy showers. This

beautiful girl of Cloud is low pressure. Some pretty strong and

blustery wind. Further south there is quite a lot of cloud and some

patchy rain. These three areas of weather do not really shift this

afternoon. Other areas keeping that cloud with outbreaks of patchy rain.

Northern England, Northern Ireland, some sunshine, blustery in the North

of Scotland and feeling cool but towards the south-east in spite of

that cloud, it will be mild with temperatures around 14 degrees. The

cloud and rain in the South comes courtesy of this weather front which

becomes a bit of a pest over the next couple of days. It hangs

around, and continues to show some cloud and outbreaks of rain tonight.

Some further showers moving across Scotland, elsewhere a fair amount of

dry weather and although we could get some frost across North eastern

parts of Scotland, for most it is holding up. The weather front still

hanging around tomorrow towards the. Generally a fair amount of cloud in

the south. Showers across Scotland become confined to just some areas.

Some very mild air making it is felt by Thursday. We could get up to 16

degrees. The weather front still with us for the end of the week and

into Friday but running into the area of high pressure and that is

going to squeeze the life out of it. So some cloud and patchy rain

running in from the West during Friday, used in areas actually

getting away with a largely dry day. On the cool side towards the North

East, but still mild in Cardiff thanks to these southerly winds.

Into the weekend things change a little, some rain and dry weather

and sunshine in between but we lose the southerly wind and pick up more

of a westerly wind which brings in some slightly cooler air in our

direction. If you are planning for the weekend it looks like this, some

spells of sunshine and also some rain at times. But you notice things

turning a little bit cooler especially as we get into Sunday.

That is all the news from me. Good afternoon.

A reminder of our main story this lunchtime.

The Chancellor has delivered his first budget, he has announced a tax

rise, higher national insurance payments for the better off

self-employed. Employed and self-employed alike, use public

services in the same way. But they're not paying for them in the

same way. And in the last few minutes the Chancellor announced a

?2 billion of extra funding for social care in England over the next

three years. The Chancellor has just sat down, you could follow the

analysis from Westminster on BBC Two on to the BBC News Channel right out

and plenty more on the