02/07/2017 BBC Weekend News

The Environment Secretary, Michael Gove,

has suggested the government could support a lifting of the

1% pay cap for public sector workers as calls grow for ministers

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr show the government should "respect

the integrity" of the independent bodies that review pay

for groups including nurses, teachers and the police.

Our political correspondent Emma Vardy reports.

Complaining about seven years of austerity, not one day more was the

slogan for protesters yesterday. The plan to drive down the deficit has

meant year after year of pay freezes and caps for public sector workers.

But could be about to change. The Environment Secretary Michael Gove

has said if independent pay review bodies recommend arise, the

government should accept it. We should listen to the pay review body

to govern each individual area of public sector pay. Public sector

workers have had a 1% cap on pay rises since 2013. And freeze since

before that. There are eight pay review bodies which make

recommendations to the government about the pay of public sector

workers including teachers, police and public sector work stuff. But

the government isn't bound by these recommendations. It is up to the

Prime Minister secretaries of state. There has been scepticism over

whether the pay review bodies are independent. They worked underneath

the overall strategy set by the government? They take account of

that but they take account of other questions as well, including the

number of people entering the profession. Whether we need an

increase to make sure we get the best people in the profession. These

pay review bodies have been set up to ensure we have authoritative

advice on what is required in order to ensure the public services on

which rely, are effectively stuffed on the people within them are

effectively supported. In March, the NHS pay review body worn the cap was

putting stress on the health service. And next month we learn

about the pay review about police and teachers. We say, get rid of the

1% cap and give a pay rise. They should consider giving people a pay

rise in line with earnings. It is not just opposition parties who want

an end to the long-running freeze on public sector pay. No Conservative

backbenchers are lobbying for a change.

The government has announced it's withdrawing from an arrangement that

allows other countries to fish in UK waters.

Currently the convention allows Irish, Dutch, French,

German and Belgian vessels to fish within six and 12 nautical

The government says ending the agreement would help the fishing

industry with access to its fishing rights.

Residents living close to Grenfell Tower, who've been

without hot water since the fire, won't have to pay rent

Kensington and Chelsea Council says its suspending rents

The west London council has been severely criticised

Our correspondent Richard Galpin is here.

What are the council saying on this. It will affect residents in the

three blocks next to the Grenfell five. Those who are badly affected,

who had to evacuate their homes. But some are starting to go back. They

are finding there is no hot water. It was a centralised hot water

system for the neighbourhood and the boiler was destroyed in the fire and

it hasn't been replaced. That is why the Council are saying, they will

not take any payments for rent until at least January 20 18. Not least of

course because a lot of people are in temporary accommodation. As we

heard, one woman found rent had been deducted from her bank account.

Richard, thank you very much indeed. Reports suggest at least 19 people

have been killed and many injured in a suicide bomb attack

in the Syrian capital of Damascas. The attacker struck in Tahrir Square

in the centre of the city. The bomber appears to have been

in one of three cars that had Blown out vehicles in the centre of

the Syrian capital. The suicide bomber detonated their device just

before 8am this morning. The streets near the rear square in Damascus had

been busy as people return for the first full day of work after

celebrating the end of the holy month of Ramadan. The car had been

surrounded by the Syrian authorities when it exploded, killing at least

19 people, injuring several others. The blast shattered windows and

damaged buildings in the area, which has now been cordoned off. Syrian

authorities say they blew up two other would-be bombers before they

entered the city. These state television television pictures

showed the damage caused on the main road into the city centre. Residents

are clearing up the debris from this, the bloodiest attack in the

Syrian capital for months. It is another day when people here can do

little but try to carry on as they try to come to terms with further

loss of life. Syria is still in the throes of a devastating civil war

which has lasted more than six years, killed hundreds of thousands

and forced more than a million people from their homes. Sophie

Long, BBC News, Beirut. At least 28 people have been injured

following a shooting at a nightclub Police say two people

are in a critical condition after the incident took place around

2.30 in the morning local time. With electric cars making their way

onto our roads, could electric They're less noisy and polluting

and some manufacturers are looking Our transport correspondent

Richard Westcott has It's a plane that will

revolutionise flight. Until you see it being

refuelled, that is. No tanker trucks and kerosene,

you just change the batteries. Runway 1-0, take off

at your discretion. It's an experimental aircraft

and the BBC has been I mean, the really obvious thing

is how lovely and quiet it is. It's so comfortable and smooth

and everything reacts so nicely. Is electric the way it's going,

are we going to have electric planes We are going to have hybrid electric

planes of all different sizes, The eFusion can fly for about 30

minutes on one charge, It will top 140mph, and has

a range of around 60 miles. I'am going to take

my headphones off. Normally you do that in an aircraft,

and it's so noisy, you can't Let's see what it's like when I talk

into the microphone. It's actually like being

in a car on a motorway. But this isn't just about how we're

going to be going on holiday, it's about how we're going to pop

to the shops. Electric engines are cleaner

and quieter, making them Dubai is testing an electric air

cab later this year. And the giant taxi ride firm Uber

says it wants customers flying It's been seven decade since the jet

engine changed the world. Electric engines could

have a similar impact on air future. Richard Wescott, BBC News,

in an electric plane. You can see more on all of today's

stories on the BBC News Channel. The next news on BBC One

is at 6.35pm, bye for now. For those of you who live in eastern

Scotland, I am sure you are glad to see the back of June. It was a very

wet month. We had 181 millimetres falling in Edinburgh making it the

wettest. What about the week ahead? We can look forward to sunny spells,

but there is an area of rain moving in midweek and it turns hot and

humid with the risk of thunderstorms later on in the week. Quite a