0:00:22 > 0:00:26Good evening.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30A local council has taken the highly unusual step of imposing
0:00:30 > 0:00:31emergency spending controls, after saying it's facing severe
0:00:31 > 0:00:35financial challenges.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38The move by Northamptonshire County Council means a ban
0:00:38 > 0:00:40on all new spending - apart from what's used
0:00:40 > 0:00:41to protect vulnerable people.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45The council's Conservative leader, Heather Smith, says the move
0:00:45 > 0:00:47is a result of rising demand for services, and cuts
0:00:47 > 0:00:48in government funding.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51It follows warnings that other authorities are also
0:00:51 > 0:00:54struggling to remain solvent.
0:00:54 > 0:01:00Our political correspondent Matt Cole reports.
0:01:00 > 0:01:05Like so many others across Britain, people in Northamptonshire have
0:01:05 > 0:01:08watched their council manage multi-million pound budget cuts
0:01:08 > 0:01:13since 2010, and now they've run out of cash, meaning a host of services
0:01:13 > 0:01:17from subsidised buses to libraries are threatened.I'll be absolutely
0:01:17 > 0:01:22devastated if it closes. We've been here for just over a year and I was
0:01:22 > 0:01:25delighted that this is kind of ten minutes down the road from us.We
0:01:25 > 0:01:30just feel, I suppose, let down, and why wasn't anything in place to
0:01:30 > 0:01:36prevent this situation happening? There will now be no new spending
0:01:36 > 0:01:39save on services to safeguard the vulnerable until the next financial
0:01:39 > 0:01:44year.We've been in what you might call a perfect storm of huge
0:01:44 > 0:01:47increases in demand for our services, at the same time,
0:01:47 > 0:01:51significant reductions in funding coming from central government.But
0:01:51 > 0:01:56is this a one-off? English councils say by the end of the decade they
0:01:56 > 0:02:00will have seen £16 billion cut from their core central government
0:02:00 > 0:02:06funding. They say by 2020 there will be a £5.8 billion annual shortfall.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10What's more, they say they need an additional £1.3 billion now for
0:02:10 > 0:02:17social care. Ministers will point to much-needed efficiency savings made
0:02:17 > 0:02:23in the same period, but Labour says it's time for change.After nearly
0:02:23 > 0:02:25eight years of Conservative government, councils have lost 50%
0:02:25 > 0:02:32of their funding from central government.In Northamptonshire,
0:02:32 > 0:02:36government inspectors are now investigating the council's
0:02:36 > 0:02:38financial management, but the Conservatives have responded to
0:02:38 > 0:02:42Jeremy Corbyn's proposals, saying they would deliver less money to
0:02:42 > 0:02:47people's pockets and hit communities with higher council tax and worse
0:02:47 > 0:02:50public services. The government has plans for a new funding system for
0:02:50 > 0:02:54local authorities to come in at the start of the next decade. Alongside
0:02:54 > 0:02:58that, proposals for councils to be allowed to keep more of the business
0:02:58 > 0:03:01rate raised locally. But with this year's finance settlement for
0:03:01 > 0:03:05authority is due to be announced in the coming week, the local
0:03:05 > 0:03:10government Association is calling on the ministry here to provide new
0:03:10 > 0:03:17funding for all councils now. Matt Cole, BBC News, Westminster.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21Six people have been shot in Italy in a drive-by attack that police say
0:03:21 > 0:03:22was racially motivated.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24It happened in the central Italian city of Macerata.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26All of the victims were African migrants -
0:03:26 > 0:03:27one is in a critical condition.
0:03:27 > 0:03:35From Rome, James Reynolds reports.
0:03:35 > 0:03:42One man, a 28-year-old Italian armed with a pistol, turned the Italian
0:03:42 > 0:03:46city of Macerata into a terrifying place. Reports say the gunmen fired
0:03:46 > 0:03:52from his car at anyone who appeared to be a migrant from Africa. There
0:03:52 > 0:03:57was no time for his targets to hide. I was passing by this morning to go
0:03:57 > 0:04:06and buy cigarettes. When they shot me on my leg this morning, you know.
0:04:06 > 0:04:13So the person inside the car was shooting, you know.During the
0:04:13 > 0:04:16attack the authorities posted warnings instructing the city's
0:04:16 > 0:04:20residents to stay inside. The gunman was arrested when he got out of his
0:04:20 > 0:04:27car. He is identified as
0:04:27 > 0:04:32car. He is identified as 28-year-old Luca GRaini. He had been a candidate
0:04:32 > 0:04:35for the anti-immigrant Northern league party in local elections held
0:04:35 > 0:04:41in 2017. This attack comes at a time of high anxiety in the city of
0:04:41 > 0:04:48Macerata. Earlier in the week it is mended body of a young Italian woman
0:04:48 > 0:04:52was found, a Nigerian migrant arrested in connection with her
0:04:52 > 0:04:57death. Now migrants have been injured in this drive-by shooting.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01The country now heads into next month's general election with all
0:05:01 > 0:05:08this on its mind. James Reynolds, BBC News, Rome.
0:05:11 > 0:05:12 Scotland Yard have confirmed that
0:05:12 > 0:05:13two further women have made
0:05:13 > 0:05:15allegations of sexual assault against the Hollywood
0:05:15 > 0:05:16producer Harvey Weinstein.
0:05:16 > 0:05:21There are now nine women who've made allegations in the UK.
0:05:21 > 0:05:22The actress Uma Thurman has accused
0:05:22 > 0:05:24Mr Weinstein of assaulting her in the early 1990s.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27The star - in an interview with the New York Times -
0:05:27 > 0:05:30described several incidents in which she claims the film
0:05:30 > 0:05:32producer forced himself on her.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35In a statement, a spokesperson for Mr Weinstein said
0:05:35 > 0:05:38he acknowledged that he'd made a pass at her - and that he
0:05:38 > 0:05:40immediately apologised.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42The government has announced a package of financial support
0:05:42 > 0:05:45for small companies affected by the collapse of the construction
0:05:45 > 0:05:47company, Carillion.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51The state-backed British Business Bank will allocate
0:05:51 > 0:05:53£100 million in loans.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56Customers worried about repaying mortgages will also be offered help.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59Thousands of suppliers were left unpaid, after the firm went
0:05:59 > 0:06:05into liquidation last month.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08A prominent Conservative MP has stepped up his criticism of civil
0:06:08 > 0:06:10servants at the treasury - accusing them of 'fiddling
0:06:10 > 0:06:13the figures' in Brexit forecasts, in order to make the case for the UK
0:06:13 > 0:06:17remaining in the EU's customs union.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21Jacob Rees Mogg, who was caught in a scuffle last night
0:06:21 > 0:06:23when protesters disrupted a meeting he was attending at the University
0:06:23 > 0:06:27of the West of England - told the Today programme on Radio 4
0:06:27 > 0:06:29that Treasury forecasts about the impact of Brexit were 'clearly
0:06:29 > 0:06:37politically influenced'.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41With the referendum, and with EU, the Treasury has
0:06:41 > 0:06:42gone back to making forecasts.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44It was politically advantageous for them in the past,
0:06:44 > 0:06:45it's the same now.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49So yes, I do think they are fiddling the figures.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52Our political correspondent Eleanor Garnier is with me.
0:06:52 > 0:06:58'Fiddling the figures' -he's saying it's deliberate isn't he?
0:06:58 > 0:07:04And for the second time this week he has questioned the impartiality of
0:07:04 > 0:07:07civil servants. Now the FDA union which represents senior officials in
0:07:07 > 0:07:12Whitehall has hit back saying Mr Rees Mogg is peddling
0:07:12 > 0:07:19unsubstantiated conspiracy theories and called on to come out and make
0:07:19 > 0:07:22an unequivocal statement in support of the civil service. This is about
0:07:22 > 0:07:25much more than an MP complaining about Treasury figures he doesn't
0:07:25 > 0:07:29like. Mr Rees Mogg is an ardent Leave campaign of he leads a group
0:07:29 > 0:07:37of Tory Brexit is -- Brexiteers in the Commons. That group is worried
0:07:37 > 0:07:41the Prime Minister is shying away from completely disentangling the UK
0:07:41 > 0:07:47from the EU when really. All this comes ahead of an extremely big week
0:07:47 > 0:07:51for Theresa May on Brexit. The chief negotiator Michel Barnier will be in
0:07:51 > 0:07:54Downing Street on Monday for talks, then there are a key ministerial
0:07:54 > 0:07:58meetings later in the week on the UK's future relationship with the
0:07:58 > 0:08:02EU. I think this is about Mr Rees Mogg putting pressure on Theresa
0:08:02 > 0:08:08May, ratcheting up the pressure just as she goes into the next round of
0:08:08 > 0:08:13extremely difficult negotiations. Thank you, Eleanor Garnier.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16Now to the rugby - and Wales have thrashed Scotland
0:08:16 > 0:08:18in the opening match of this year's Six Nations championship.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21They ran in 4 tries at the Principality stadium in Cardiff,
0:08:21 > 0:08:23to start their campaign with a 34-7 win.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26Ireland scored with the lack kick of the game to beat France by two
0:08:26 > 0:08:27points in the day's second match.
0:08:27 > 0:08:35Joe Wilson has been watching the action.
0:08:37 > 0:08:42The six Nations is designed to stir you, but does it inspire or
0:08:42 > 0:08:49overwhelmed? Josh Adams making his debut for Wales here. Steady now. If
0:08:49 > 0:08:54you get a chance, snatch it. Interception, opportunity for Wales.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58Scotland could see their pre-match optimism disappearing after just six
0:08:58 > 0:09:05minutes as Gareth Davies, legs and lungs, reached the line. Wales led
0:09:05 > 0:09:0914-0 at half-time. Scotland tried the fancy stuff and failed. Wales
0:09:09 > 0:09:13did basics brilliantly. Leigh Halfpenny scored two tries. Who saw
0:09:13 > 0:09:18this coming? Not the Scotland coach. Now the Welsh flourish to finish.
0:09:18 > 0:09:24Four tries in a match means a tournament bonus point. At its best
0:09:24 > 0:09:28rugby is pace, power and agility. In other words, Steff Evans. 34-7 final
0:09:28 > 0:09:34score. So many injured players were missing from this Welsh team, then
0:09:34 > 0:09:39they produced a performance like that. Wales really made everything
0:09:39 > 0:09:44about home advantage count. In Paris not not happened to 71 minutes, then
0:09:44 > 0:09:50everything did. Teddy Bridgewater to win the game for France, it seemed.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54Time was up, Ireland had one chance to win, one kick. Johnny Sexton drop
0:09:54 > 0:10:02goal... What a moment. What a day. Joe Wilson, BBC News. That is it for
0:10:02 > 0:10:03now.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06I'll be back with the latest on BBC One earlier than usual, at 9.10.
0:10:06 > 0:10:19Now on BBC One, it's time for the news where you are.