16/03/2016

:00:08. > :00:17.I'm Victoria Derbyshire, welcome to the programme.

:00:18. > :00:19.As the man in charge of the UK's finances,

:00:20. > :00:24.another ?4 billion of cuts in the Budget, our political guru

:00:25. > :00:26.will guide you through what to expect.

:00:27. > :00:29.More from Norman later - and some top politicians will tell

:00:30. > :00:44.I am Ken Clarke, I have done a few Budgets myself. I have enjoyed

:00:45. > :00:50.Budget Days. What matters is what he does and how it affects the economy,

:00:51. > :00:55.in terms of jobs, investment and growth. I am Hannah Bardell from the

:00:56. > :00:57.Scottish National Party. We want to see an end to austerity, and

:00:58. > :01:01.increasing public spending to protect the most vulnerable in

:01:02. > :01:06.society, a freeze in fuel duty and much-needed support for the oil and

:01:07. > :01:10.gas sector. I am Rebecca Long-Bailey from the Labour Party and sadly, I

:01:11. > :01:15.think that the Budget will be littered with failures, proving that

:01:16. > :01:20.the Chancellor's long-term plan is not working, and I think is going to

:01:21. > :01:21.stick on a sticking plaster by attacking the most vulnerable in

:01:22. > :01:23.society when we need investment. We'll keep you up to date

:01:24. > :01:26.throughout the programme. Also on the programme,

:01:27. > :01:27.mass murderer Anders Breivik will give evidence at a court

:01:28. > :01:31.in Norway today - he's arguing that being kept in isolation in jail

:01:32. > :01:34.breaches his human rights. He says the state has been trying to

:01:35. > :01:37.kill him for five years. We'll get reaction from two of those

:01:38. > :01:47.who survived his attacks. It is reported that two suspects

:01:48. > :01:50.have been detained following a major anti-terrorism operation that is

:01:51. > :01:58.continuing in Brussels. It is linked to the Paris attacks last November.

:01:59. > :02:01.We'll bring you all the latest including a planned press conference

:02:02. > :02:09.We're on BBC 2 and the BBC News Channel live until 11.

:02:10. > :02:12.Throughout the morning we'll bring you the latest breaking news

:02:13. > :02:15.and developing stories and - as always - we want to hear

:02:16. > :02:17.from you on all the stories we're talking about.

:02:18. > :02:19.You can get in touch in the usual ways -

:02:20. > :02:23.If you text, you will be charged at the standard network rate.

:02:24. > :02:25.And of course you can watch the programme online wherever

:02:26. > :02:28.you are via the bbc news app or our website bbc.co.uk/victoria.

:02:29. > :02:31.The Chancellor is expected to set out his plans today for making

:02:32. > :02:36.?4 billion more cuts by 2020 as he sets out his Budget statement,

:02:37. > :02:38.or economic plan for the country, in Parliament later

:02:39. > :02:45.It's the only question that matters on Budget Day morning,

:02:46. > :02:50.what is really going on in the Chancellor's mind.

:02:51. > :02:57.Expect him to sketch out plans to spend billions less

:02:58. > :03:00.Bad news, perhaps, for some Whitehall departments

:03:01. > :03:05.But he also needs a big new idea, having ditched plans

:03:06. > :03:13.At the Treasury, they have had to think of a policy that will not

:03:14. > :03:16.cause a political fight with Tories already split over Europe.

:03:17. > :03:18.And there could be something else on his mind, with the Tory

:03:19. > :03:21.leadership election coming, he might just be dreaming

:03:22. > :03:24.about moving next door, to Number 10.

:03:25. > :03:27.Which could mean he is off to Parliament with a Budget designed

:03:28. > :03:34.to impress Conservative members, as well as grow the economy.

:03:35. > :03:39.So what do we know already about what he's likely to announce?

:03:40. > :03:41.George Osborne will call for longer school days in England.

:03:42. > :03:45.All state schools will become academies by 2022.

:03:46. > :03:47.There's speculation that the personal allowance -

:03:48. > :03:50.or amount of money British taxpayers can earn before starting to pay tax

:03:51. > :03:55.The price we pay for petrol and the price of a packet

:03:56. > :03:59.Households could face an increase in insurance costs with a rise

:04:00. > :04:05.And disability benefit payments, known as personal independence

:04:06. > :04:07.payments, will also be reformed - which Labour say will badly affect

:04:08. > :04:16.Let's talk now to Conservative MP and former Chancellor

:04:17. > :04:19.of the Exchequer Ken Clarke who thinks Mr Osborne needs to get

:04:20. > :04:26.on with making those cuts as soon as possible,

:04:27. > :04:28.Labour MP and Shadow Treasury Minister Rebecca Long-Bailey,

:04:29. > :04:31.who thinks there should be more spending on public services

:04:32. > :04:33.to balance any cuts and Hannah Bardell of the SNP

:04:34. > :04:36.who is the party's Westminster Business spokesperson and who thinks

:04:37. > :04:45.Welcome, all of you. Ken Clarke, considering the British economy is

:04:46. > :04:50.slowing down, why is he considering making any cuts at all in this

:04:51. > :04:54.budget? The global economy is slowing down, so is the British. One

:04:55. > :04:58.of the reasons that we have not recovered more quickly is the huge

:04:59. > :05:02.burden of debt we are carrying. We know about it, we have it under

:05:03. > :05:07.control, but we are not going to go back to normality without tackling

:05:08. > :05:11.it. Is it going to impact on growth if he makes more cuts, the economy

:05:12. > :05:16.could slow down further? A failure to keep on target will damage

:05:17. > :05:20.confidence and cause a certain alarm. But he has failed to meet

:05:21. > :05:26.most of his self-imposed targets. He's reacted to events, with

:05:27. > :05:36.hindsight we could have gone a bit quicker. What we have to react to is

:05:37. > :05:40.reality. My two very good left of centre opponents will say you need

:05:41. > :05:44.to spend more money. In opposition, you can do that. If you are

:05:45. > :05:47.Chancellor, some years you have easy decisions, some years difficult. You

:05:48. > :05:51.have to look at what is happening in the real world. Nobody will remember

:05:52. > :05:55.in two or three years what is in the budget. What they will look at is

:05:56. > :05:59.how the British economy is doing compared to the others. That means

:06:00. > :06:02.he has to get this ?4 billion spending cuts. This is a year when

:06:03. > :06:11.he should raise taxes and lower spending. Something you could also

:06:12. > :06:15.announce to show you have not gone completely crazy and the Treasury,

:06:16. > :06:20.you could cheer people up, I used to cut the standard rate of income tax.

:06:21. > :06:26.He can't do that. I got it down to 20p. He said he would not affect

:06:27. > :06:30.income tax, BAT national insurance? He promised to raise personal

:06:31. > :06:37.allowances, which is a good thing. If you are worried about the

:06:38. > :06:42.deficit, why he giving tax cuts at all? On balance, he will not. Unless

:06:43. > :06:46.he has taken too much notice of the short term political froth. He has

:06:47. > :06:50.to show, unlike the finance ministers in half the Western world,

:06:51. > :06:55.he still knows what he's doing, he is in control. People that ought to

:06:56. > :06:59.be worried about their economic not about my job for the next few years,

:07:00. > :07:02.are my wages going to continue to rise as they have been, are we

:07:03. > :07:10.getting back to common sense and normality? There will be some tax

:07:11. > :07:15.cuts and public spending cuts. Any luck, he will raise personal

:07:16. > :07:19.allowance as well, because it takes low paid people out of tax. Should

:07:20. > :07:24.there be any more than ?4 billion worth of cuts this time? I've been a

:07:25. > :07:27.bit hawkish on policy, I would say he should go faster. I think it

:07:28. > :07:31.would be better for the British economy and we would be better off

:07:32. > :07:39.in the long term if we could get on with getting back to sanity in the

:07:40. > :07:44.way that we run public finances. People didn't expect to just have a

:07:45. > :07:48.populist bugmac years ago. George does not give populist bugmacs. But

:07:49. > :07:55.he has to give regard to the fact that everything you want to do has a

:07:56. > :07:59.popular lobby and Labour and the SNP give you a list of things you should

:08:00. > :08:07.be spending money on. We need to see a return to common sense. We have

:08:08. > :08:13.not seen any of that in the past years. He said he would reduce the

:08:14. > :08:21.deficit by 2015, that did not happen. He reduced it from what you

:08:22. > :08:26.left? It was caused by the global recession. He has reduced it from

:08:27. > :08:31.what you left? He confirmed he would bring it down by 2015. The British

:08:32. > :08:36.public believed him. That has not happened. Why should we believe

:08:37. > :08:39.anything he puts forward today? Unfortunately, I think we will see a

:08:40. > :08:45.budget littered with failures, where he tries to plug the gaps by hitting

:08:46. > :08:48.the low paid and vulnerable. We have already outlined the cuts to

:08:49. > :08:52.disabled people, they will lose up to ?150 per week. It is absolutely

:08:53. > :08:58.reprehensible. You need to start looking at where you can regenerate

:08:59. > :09:01.income, and I think it is a farce when we have a Chancellor who says

:09:02. > :09:04.he is in favour of the people and the British public, that is letting

:09:05. > :09:09.big business like Google getting away with paying billions of pounds

:09:10. > :09:15.in taxes. The SNP, what do you say about what is expected today? We

:09:16. > :09:19.said in our manifesto for the Westminster election 2015, and we

:09:20. > :09:24.continue to advocate modest increase in public spending, 0.5%, about ?150

:09:25. > :09:29.billion into the economy. It would pay down the deficit at a longer

:09:30. > :09:33.period, but it would mean more inclusive growth. That means people

:09:34. > :09:37.across the social spectrum are getting more money and there are

:09:38. > :09:41.more opportunities for them. There might be more jobs in the economy in

:09:42. > :09:45.the UK, but it is the kind of jobs we are creating. What we have shown

:09:46. > :09:49.in Scotland is that we are doing things differently. We are investing

:09:50. > :09:54.in education, we still have a free personal care for the elderly. We

:09:55. > :09:58.have increased investment in terms of higher education and college

:09:59. > :10:05.places. We have a higher rate of young people, youth employment, one

:10:06. > :10:09.of the highest rates across the UK. For this budget, for the oil and gas

:10:10. > :10:13.sector, we want to see more support for them in terms of an investment

:10:14. > :10:19.allowance and a reduction in the headline rate of tax, because the

:10:20. > :10:23.industry has suffered significantly. This Government, successive

:10:24. > :10:28.Westminster governments, have had ?300 billion through the covers. In

:10:29. > :10:31.its time of need, we need to see some support coming back. Also on

:10:32. > :10:37.fuel duty, some support coming back. Also on

:10:38. > :10:43.thing to do is to freeze fuel duty. We have advocated for a fuel duty

:10:44. > :10:49.escalator to make sure more rural parts, people who rely heavily on

:10:50. > :10:54.cars... No cuts anywhere? If you increase public spending, you don't

:10:55. > :10:57.need to cut things like personal independence payments. The

:10:58. > :11:03.government said it wants to encourage more disabled people into

:11:04. > :11:07.environment. There was a woman who had been independent since she was

:11:08. > :11:12.18, relying on her disability car, she would have to move home and give

:11:13. > :11:17.up her job. That is devastating and reprehensible. When the Chancellor

:11:18. > :11:24.says the ?4 billion of cuts works out as an additional 50p for every

:11:25. > :11:28.?100 of public spending... That is not doable? What does that figure

:11:29. > :11:31.mean? On top of the cuts we have already had, we are basically

:11:32. > :11:36.balancing the books on the back of the poorest people in society. How

:11:37. > :11:40.do you respond to that on behalf of the Conservative Party? Public

:11:41. > :11:45.spending is something that goes up. I buy votes because I tell you I

:11:46. > :11:48.will spend more money on you. The former personal independence

:11:49. > :11:51.payments, is it right to balance the books on the back of some of the

:11:52. > :11:57.most vulnerable people in society? Of course it is not. We have to look

:11:58. > :12:03.at a huge welfare budget and target sections. But you also have to

:12:04. > :12:07.work-out what is anomalous, where you are not helping people by making

:12:08. > :12:10.them too dependent, where people were the better thing to do is to

:12:11. > :12:13.help people back into work because there are more jobs than we have had

:12:14. > :12:20.for years and years, better types of jobs. But it is no good saying the

:12:21. > :12:26.Chancellor failed to get borrowing down to a proper level by 2015, now

:12:27. > :12:34.spends more money and borrow some more. Of course you have to have

:12:35. > :12:38.some popular things. A lot of public spending is very worthwhile. You

:12:39. > :12:41.have to concentrate less. But the Chancellor, between waving his red

:12:42. > :12:49.box about, in my case, having a of whiskey, underlining at all, we live

:12:50. > :12:54.in the real world, he still has too much debt and it is slowing us down.

:12:55. > :12:58.Next generations want us to hand on a well-run economy that is doing

:12:59. > :13:02.better than half of the other western world economies, not worse.

:13:03. > :13:08.That means controlling debt, at the same time stimulating the economy.

:13:09. > :13:14.He has not controlled debt, debt has gone up by something like 500

:13:15. > :13:18.billion since 2010. Nobody is suggesting we should not pay off the

:13:19. > :13:26.debt and reduce the deficit. I would not lend you any money! It's pretty

:13:27. > :13:29.simple, if people have more money in their pockets, they have better

:13:30. > :13:33.jobs, they have more money to spend in the economy and the economy

:13:34. > :13:37.grows. It's pretty straightforward economic model. The point is, nobody

:13:38. > :13:41.is saying that we shouldn't reduce the deficit or the debt. It is about

:13:42. > :13:49.at what pace you do it at. The problem, with the greatest respect,

:13:50. > :13:53.is the Conservative Government has done it so quickly and fast that it

:13:54. > :13:57.has devastated the markets and the poorest people in society, because

:13:58. > :14:02.they are losing so much money. We literally have people, particularly

:14:03. > :14:04.in England, where they are not protected the way they are in

:14:05. > :14:09.Scotland, because we have done things like nobody has had to pay

:14:10. > :14:12.the bedroom tax, we have made sure that we have stopped the worst of

:14:13. > :14:20.the Tory cuts. They are so much worse off than they have ever been.

:14:21. > :14:24.Rebecca Long-Bailey? It's important to set out that the deficit does

:14:25. > :14:31.need to be reduced, myself and Ken are agreed on that. Labour has

:14:32. > :14:37.opposed almost every measure George Osborne brought in? It is the way

:14:38. > :14:40.you do it. You have to separate the deficit reduction from the long-term

:14:41. > :14:44.plan. It's like putting your rent on your credit card, you should not

:14:45. > :14:46.have to borrow to bring the deficit down, you do that with the money

:14:47. > :14:51.coming through the Treasury. On the other hand, you need to invest in

:14:52. > :14:57.our future, in an industrial strategy to create high-paid jobs.

:14:58. > :15:02.He says that things like Crossrail our investment? He will make some

:15:03. > :15:06.announcements about infrastructure, but only 9% of his infrastructure

:15:07. > :15:09.pipeline has been implement it. Some of the issues leaked yesterday were

:15:10. > :15:15.repeats of what he was going to invest in a few months ago. It will

:15:16. > :15:20.be a good news story, but it will be spun. The Chancellor said he wanted

:15:21. > :15:25.?1 trillion of exports. It's going in the wrong direction, from 521

:15:26. > :15:34.million, down to 513. We are calling for a reduction in duty on whiskey.

:15:35. > :15:41.It is taxed at 70%, one of the highest in the world. I know that

:15:42. > :15:45.Ken is a big fan. It sounds good, the export performance does need to

:15:46. > :15:48.be improved, which means building a real economy sensibly. It would be

:15:49. > :15:55.lovely if we could boost the performance by cutting the whiskey

:15:56. > :15:59.tax, but it's about... It is 11%! It is the most cheery suggestion I have

:16:00. > :16:00.heard, but there is four more involved in running a modern

:16:01. > :16:10.economy. Ken Clarke says that no one will

:16:11. > :16:14.remember this budget in three years' time, but disabled people will, that

:16:15. > :16:17.is from a viewer, she says, I can assure you that they will. The

:16:18. > :16:23.Chancellor delivering the budget at 12:30pm. We will be live from

:16:24. > :16:28.Westminster at 11am, with full coverage of all of the developments

:16:29. > :16:29.and the announcements. And we will have live budget updates, go to the

:16:30. > :16:39.website. Still to come. We're expecting an

:16:40. > :16:40.update from the Belgian prosecutor as a major anti-terror operation

:16:41. > :16:52.continues following yesterday's raid in Brussels.

:16:53. > :16:55.And food banks are warning that some women are using old socks and

:16:56. > :17:04.newspapers as sanitary towels as they can't afford to buy them.

:17:05. > :17:11.The main news so far: George Osborne is preparing to deliver his eighth

:17:12. > :17:14.budget as Chancellor later, with a promise to put 'the next generation

:17:15. > :17:16.first'. He is expected to announce further investment in the UK's

:17:17. > :17:18.infrastructure but will also set out four-billion pounds of extra

:17:19. > :17:33.spending cuts as he continue to target a budget surplus by 2020.

:17:34. > :17:36.Extra funding for education is also expected, with a one point

:17:37. > :17:38.five billion pound package that will force all state schools

:17:39. > :17:47.Three hundred million pounds will also be committed

:17:48. > :17:50.to the transport budget in order to kick start a second Crossrail

:17:51. > :17:52.project in London and a new high speed link

:17:53. > :18:00.Donald Trump has taken another stride towards securing

:18:01. > :18:02.the Republican nomination for the US presidential election with victory

:18:03. > :18:07.which forced Marco Rubio to pull out of the race.

:18:08. > :18:09.Hillary Clinton marched on in the race for the Democrat

:18:10. > :18:11.nomination after winning four states,

:18:12. > :18:24.Our commander-in-chief has to be able to defend our country, not

:18:25. > :18:30.embarrass it. CHEERING Engage allies, not alienate them,

:18:31. > :18:36.defeat adverse areas, not embolden them. -- adverse Ariz. Unemployment

:18:37. > :18:43.has fallen by 28,000, between December and January, official

:18:44. > :18:48.figures just out show. That is a fall in unemployment of 28,000

:18:49. > :19:00.between November and January. -- adverse arrears -- adverse areas.

:19:01. > :19:09.Police in Belgium are continuing to search for suspects who may have

:19:10. > :19:10.escaped during Tuesday's security operation in Brussels,

:19:11. > :19:13.which was linked to last year's attacks in Paris.

:19:14. > :19:15.One man, who was armed with an assault rifle,

:19:16. > :19:18.was shot dead during the siege at an apartment in a suburb

:19:19. > :19:21.There are unconfirmed reports that two suspects have been detained.

:19:22. > :19:25.from the authorities in Belgium shortly, which we will bring to you.

:19:26. > :19:28.A law banning the use of electronic cigarettes

:19:29. > :19:31.looks set to be approved by the Welsh Assembly later.

:19:32. > :19:34.If passed, the Bill would become a UK first and would restrict

:19:35. > :19:37.the use of the devices in certain public places in Wales,

:19:38. > :19:44.such as schools and places where food is served.

:19:45. > :19:46.Sylvia Anderson, the co-creator of Thunderbirds, has died aged 88.

:19:47. > :19:48.She was also the voice behind Lady Penelope,

:19:49. > :19:50.the elegant aristocrat who moonlighted as a secret agent.

:19:51. > :19:53.Sylvia also worked on Joe 90, Captain Scarlet and Stingray.

:19:54. > :19:55.She died at her home in Bray, Berkshire,

:19:56. > :20:23.Champions League me huge congratulations to Manchester City,

:20:24. > :20:28.through to the last eight for the very first time. In their history.

:20:29. > :20:33.It of a dull game but they did all of the work against

:20:34. > :20:38.Dynamo Kyiv in the first round. Arsenal have a very different

:20:39. > :20:44.picture tonight, they are against Barcelona, trailing 2-0, they have a

:20:45. > :20:48.lot to do, they are off the pace in the Premier League and the FA Cup, a

:20:49. > :20:53.lot of aches in this basket, we will see how that plays out. Tonight, in

:20:54. > :20:57.Spain, England cricketers begin their world T20 campaign against

:20:58. > :21:02.West Indies today in India, and then the news turns a little bit sour, as

:21:03. > :21:04.far as board is concerned, Lewis Hamilton has escaped punishment from

:21:05. > :21:08.police in New Zealand after appearing to fill himself on a

:21:09. > :21:13.motorcycle on the motorway in Auckland, and I would not quite

:21:14. > :21:15.called it a teaser, but join us at 10am, we will talk about the

:21:16. > :21:16.footballers who have shamed themselves at the Cheltenham

:21:17. > :21:44.Festival. Belgian prosecutors are due to hold

:21:45. > :21:46.a press conference in the next few minutes following reports that two

:21:47. > :21:48.suspects have been detained as a result of those anti-terrorism

:21:49. > :21:50.raids. We'll bring you that live - but first our correspondent

:21:51. > :21:53.Christian Fraser is where the raids have been taking place. We are

:21:54. > :21:55.outside the house in Forest, where the raid took place, the cordon has

:21:56. > :21:58.been lifted, but there is plenty of evidence of the intense firefight

:21:59. > :22:00.there was in this property, the windows of the second and third

:22:01. > :22:03.floors have been blown out, and all around us, evidence of the friends

:22:04. > :22:07.of work that went on through the evening, plastic gloves on the

:22:08. > :22:11.windowsill, if we show you pictures we shot earlier, you will see that

:22:12. > :22:19.those windows at the back have been blown out as well. These low-slung

:22:20. > :22:22.roofs give onto the property, it would be easy to get out and onto a

:22:23. > :22:27.roof and into the gardens and the derelict land. Difficult to search

:22:28. > :22:35.and contain those that were inside the apartment. We have been hearing

:22:36. > :22:38.from the Belgian Prime Minister that the police that went in native of,

:22:39. > :22:42.working with French colleagues, may have been pretty lucky. The shots

:22:43. > :22:47.seem to have gone through the door as they were going in, one policeman

:22:48. > :22:55.was hit in the year, another was saved by the weapon he was carrying.

:22:56. > :22:58.-- ear. The operation went on for three hours, it is possible that the

:22:59. > :23:06.gunmen they were seeking in the vicinity was shot three hours

:23:07. > :23:09.afterwards. We can see how close we are to a primary school, that

:23:10. > :23:13.wrecked building beyond the satellite truck is a primary school,

:23:14. > :23:16.there would be parents and children milling around here, when the

:23:17. > :23:20.operation was going on, the frightening for the residents in

:23:21. > :23:24.these properties. We have been speaking with Lawrence, he was in an

:23:25. > :23:32.adjacent building. We were allowed to leave our home, at about 6pm, it

:23:33. > :23:40.started at 3pm. There was a long period, no noises, and then, it

:23:41. > :23:48.started again. It was here, it was here. Was the man that was skilled

:23:49. > :23:54.killed outside? I don't know but I saw that the snipers were there, on

:23:55. > :23:59.the top of my roof. You were inside at the time? With your children? I

:24:00. > :24:04.am working here only, not living here, but there were five people, we

:24:05. > :24:12.were scared, we were wondering what to do. Backed away from the windows.

:24:13. > :24:19.We covered the windows, and as we have a big place into the house,

:24:20. > :24:23.where you could jump into it, we were a bit scared. It does sound

:24:24. > :24:28.quite scary. Yes, we were quite scared. Speculation in the Belgian

:24:29. > :24:31.press and precious little fact, we are waiting for the press

:24:32. > :24:34.conference, one theory in the newspapers is that the gunmen who

:24:35. > :24:38.was killed was outside the property, spotted by a helicopter, still

:24:39. > :24:44.carrying a rifle and gunned down industry. Also unconfirmed reports

:24:45. > :24:49.that two gunmen inside the house who got out of the kitchen window that

:24:50. > :24:52.we showed you have now been arrested. There is no police

:24:53. > :24:55.presence here today, no house-to-house searches, we have not

:24:56. > :24:59.seen the helicopters, it is low-key at the moment. The real things we

:25:00. > :25:03.need to know from the prosecutor this morning, who is the dead man?

:25:04. > :25:05.What is the connection of the three people in the apartment to the Paris

:25:06. > :25:10.attacks question? people in the apartment to the Paris

:25:11. > :25:16.attacks What information might they have? What is the threat level? We

:25:17. > :25:22.are told it is three, one below the highest threat level, do they think

:25:23. > :25:26.there is a bigger cell in Forest or in Mullen back, and what are they

:25:27. > :25:30.going to do about it? We will be back with you if there is any

:25:31. > :25:35.development, and when the press conference happens, we will bring it

:25:36. > :25:47.to you live, of course, as soon as it begins. -- Molenbeek.

:25:48. > :25:51.The Chancellor is to promise more money for schools when he delivers

:25:52. > :25:54.his budget later today- he wants the school day to be longer and also

:25:55. > :25:56.wants to remove every school in England from local authority

:25:57. > :25:57.control. We'll be asking a union rep and a head teacher what they make of

:25:58. > :26:05.his plans. Next this morning, "shocking"

:26:06. > :26:07.claims that some women are using old socks,

:26:08. > :26:09.hankies and newspapers as sanitary towels because they can't

:26:10. > :26:11.afford to buy them. Volunteers from the Darlington

:26:12. > :26:14.Salvation Army food bank say many women are too embarrassed

:26:15. > :26:16.to ask for help. They've now begun to hand out free

:26:17. > :26:18.sanitary products and started a campaign to raise awareness

:26:19. > :26:22.about how women's health is at risk. Major Colin Bradshaw who runs

:26:23. > :26:26.the foodbank has started using the hashtag

:26:27. > :26:34."begging for a tampon." He wants to get sanitary products

:26:35. > :26:36.on prescription or a voucher system. He's written to every female MP

:26:37. > :26:42.alerting them to the problem including the Darlington MP

:26:43. > :26:54.Jenny Chapman, I know that we spoke with yesterday

:26:55. > :26:58.about a very different issue, what is your reaction, if this is the

:26:59. > :27:03.case? It is the case, we have known for some time it is the case, what

:27:04. > :27:08.is good about what Colin is doing is that he is really giving it some

:27:09. > :27:13.profile, he has a very good campaign going, and what he is highlighting

:27:14. > :27:18.is not just the issue around tampons, it is an issue around

:27:19. > :27:22.female homelessness, which is often hidden, and people do not realise

:27:23. > :27:28.just how many women and girls are sleeping rough on our streets. I

:27:29. > :27:32.think it is great what he is doing, and we need to find solutions for

:27:33. > :27:34.it. Is he saying that it is homeless women who are

:27:35. > :27:41.using handkerchiefs and newspapers and old socks as tampons? Not only

:27:42. > :27:45.homeless women but homelessness and these issues go hand in hand, what

:27:46. > :27:50.we are seeing is that people are very happy to donate things like

:27:51. > :27:55.beans and pasta, to food banks, we have a collection point for a food

:27:56. > :28:01.bank in my office in Darlington, we are having to say, please donate

:28:02. > :28:06.other items. They are essentials, they are not things that any of us

:28:07. > :28:07.can do without. It is not just about homelessness, that is true, but

:28:08. > :28:15.homelessness and these issues with Tampax and sanitary ware,

:28:16. > :28:21.people do not think about them and it affects health and it also

:28:22. > :28:24.affects dignity, as well. I am pleased about this campaign and I

:28:25. > :28:28.think that there is many different solutions that have been put

:28:29. > :28:32.forward, the good thing is that at last we are shining a light on it.

:28:33. > :28:41.As well as people donating sanitary towels and tampons to food banks,

:28:42. > :28:47.what can MPs do about it? He has written to every female MP, perhaps

:28:48. > :28:50.it should be every MP? It is great that it is a man that is

:28:51. > :28:54.highlighting this as a problem, it seems to be getting the attention of

:28:55. > :28:59.the media, many women have been trying to do this for quite some

:29:00. > :29:02.time. What we need, there is a few things we could have, we could have

:29:03. > :29:07.the distribution, not just through food banks but other places that

:29:08. > :29:13.people go, and also he is suggesting something about Tampax on

:29:14. > :29:17.prescription, which may be in some cases a good idea, because some

:29:18. > :29:22.things that we find is that people who move frequently, often do not

:29:23. > :29:26.access health services in a way that would be really help if they did and

:29:27. > :29:31.could prevent problems in the long run. His idea about vouchers is

:29:32. > :29:36.interesting, although there is obviously problems with

:29:37. > :29:41.stigmatisation around that. There is a whole host of issues that are

:29:42. > :29:45.revealed by this one campaign, and that shows what a great campaign it

:29:46. > :29:52.is. I would encourage people to get on board with the social media and

:29:53. > :29:56.put pressure on their MPs as well. What we know about homelessness, and

:29:57. > :29:58.people losing their jobs, and services being

:29:59. > :30:04.removed by local authorities, because of funding decisions, is

:30:05. > :30:08.that anybody can find themselves in these kind of desperate situations.

:30:09. > :30:15.I think that what he's important, in terms of exposing

:30:16. > :30:18.something that we do not about enough, frankly.

:30:19. > :30:23.Nigel Webster is a volunteer at a food bank in Nottinghamshire, a

:30:24. > :30:34.woman said that she had also been using newspaper as a sanitary towel.

:30:35. > :30:41.We feed maybe 3000 people a year at the food bank. When they come to us,

:30:42. > :30:45.when they are in desperate straits and absolute poverty, it is not just

:30:46. > :30:51.food they are short of, but basic products for hygiene, that might

:30:52. > :30:56.include toilet paper, soap, and a woman came to us really sad and

:30:57. > :31:02.distressed, and was so pleased when we could give her some sanitary

:31:03. > :31:07.towels, we had some donated, she burst into tears. One of the things

:31:08. > :31:11.that stuck with me, it's not always the hunger, she said, it's not

:31:12. > :31:15.always the cold, it is the basic lack of hygiene and having to do

:31:16. > :31:19.humiliating things like using torn up newspaper as a sanitary towel.

:31:20. > :31:24.She said that is what really got her, with the poverty. It's a really

:31:25. > :31:30.sad situation when people are so desperate that they have to resort

:31:31. > :31:33.to measures such as that. I understand that you have had

:31:34. > :31:40.husbands and boyfriends coming in, asking on behalf of their partners?

:31:41. > :31:49.Yes, that's right. I am a normal bloke, the part of the supermarket

:31:50. > :31:54.with a sanitary product is what I would avoid, rightly or wrongly.

:31:55. > :31:57.When men come in on behalf of their partners, sometimes across a crowded

:31:58. > :32:02.room they will ask us for sanitary towels and I know, as a man, that is

:32:03. > :32:06.a difficult and humiliating thing to do. The thing about poverty and

:32:07. > :32:13.hunger is not just the lack of, it is the humiliation people

:32:14. > :32:17.experience. Thank you very much. Jenny, I was going to read some

:32:18. > :32:24.comments, Michelle has tweeted that this is a shocking story, women

:32:25. > :32:28.using old socks as sanitary towels because they can't afford to buy

:32:29. > :32:35.them. Howard says it is not a shock, the Government thinks they are a

:32:36. > :32:44.luxury item regarding BAT. Is that relevant? -- regarding VAT. The

:32:45. > :32:48.tampon tax, is that relevant? It is, because it puts the cost up, but

:32:49. > :32:54.there is an attitude issue. We need women to say these are not luxury

:32:55. > :33:00.items, they are essentials. Whoever you are, you should not be paying

:33:01. > :33:08.extra for something that you need in order to live a normal life with

:33:09. > :33:12.dignity. Sometimes, we have, historically, been very shy about

:33:13. > :33:16.these issues. What is good is that programmes like this, campaigns that

:33:17. > :33:21.Colin is doing, they are saying, let's do away with all of that,

:33:22. > :33:24.let's be upfront and blunt about it. We need these products. Some people

:33:25. > :33:41.cannot afford to pay for them, but it doesn't mean that the rest of us

:33:42. > :33:45.should pay for it. You can use our hashtag or send an e-mail, or you

:33:46. > :33:50.can message on Facebook. We're waiting for this press conference

:33:51. > :33:55.from the Belgian prosecutor who is expected to give more details about

:33:56. > :33:57.the terror raid in Brussels yesterday and the unconfirmed

:33:58. > :34:05.reports that two suspects have been detained. The press conference, it

:34:06. > :34:10.was due about 9:30am our time. Clearly it is a little delayed.

:34:11. > :34:19.A social media campaign with the hashtag #unfairandlovely is

:34:20. > :34:23.challenging the idea that fair skin is most attractive. Women have been

:34:24. > :35:55.explaining why they come under pressure to lighten their skin.

:35:56. > :35:59.You can see more of those films on the BBC news site.

:36:00. > :36:02.In America it looks more certain than ever that the Presidential

:36:03. > :36:07.battle will be between the billionaire TV star Donald Trump

:36:08. > :36:09.for the Republicans - and the former First Lady Hilary

:36:10. > :36:14.Overnight Donald Trump was officially nominated

:36:15. > :36:17.as Republican candidate in the American states of Florida,

:36:18. > :36:24.But he lost to rival John Kasich - who calls himself "the grown up"

:36:25. > :36:28.Here's Donald Trump attacking the press coverage he's received,

:36:29. > :36:33.in a typically bombastic speech last night.

:36:34. > :36:40.I have to say, nobody has ever come in history or politics, received the

:36:41. > :36:48.kind of negative advertising that I have. Racket, racket, racket. Mostly

:36:49. > :36:57.false. I would not say 100%, but about 90%. Vicious, horrible. They

:36:58. > :37:02.say it was 18 million the first week, meaning last week, and 25

:37:03. > :37:08.million, it added up to over $14 million. You explain it to me,

:37:09. > :37:15.because I can't. My numbers went up, I don't understand it. Nobody

:37:16. > :37:21.understands it. My numbers went up. Donald Trump's rival for the

:37:22. > :37:31.nomination, Marco Rubio, actually failed to win in his home state of

:37:32. > :37:35.Florida and pulled out of the race. This is the right way forward for

:37:36. > :37:38.our country. After tonight, it is clear while we are on the right

:37:39. > :37:45.side, this year, we will not be on the winning side. While it is not

:37:46. > :37:53.God's plan that I be President in 2016, or maybe ever, and while today

:37:54. > :37:59.my campaign is suspended, the fact I have even come this far is evidence

:38:00. > :38:04.of how special America truly is. And all the reason more why we should do

:38:05. > :38:08.all we can to ensure this nation remains a special place. I asked the

:38:09. > :38:13.American people, do not give the fear.

:38:14. > :38:20.Hillary Clinton cemented her status as the clear favourite for the

:38:21. > :38:23.Democratic nomination with a very comfortable victory in Florida,

:38:24. > :38:27.along with wins in Ohio, Illinois and North Carolina. Celebrating in

:38:28. > :38:31.Florida, she rounded on the policies of Donald Trump. Our

:38:32. > :38:45.commander-in-chief has to be able to defend our country, not embarrass

:38:46. > :38:56.it. Engage our lives, not alienate them. Defeat our enemies, not

:38:57. > :39:01.embolden them. When we hear a candidate for President talking

:39:02. > :39:05.about rounding up 12 million immigrants, banning Muslims from

:39:06. > :39:07.entering the United States, when he embraces torture, that does not make

:39:08. > :39:19.him strong. It makes him wrong! More on that later. Thank you for

:39:20. > :39:24.your many messages about a conversation with which we began the

:39:25. > :39:29.programme, with an SNP representative, Hannah Bardell, with

:39:30. > :39:33.Rebecca Long-Bailey from the Labour Party, the Shadow Treasury Minister,

:39:34. > :39:37.and Conservative former Chancellor Ken Clarke. A text says what an

:39:38. > :39:43.ignorant man Ken Clarke is. We have no more to give when it comes to

:39:44. > :39:49.cuts. He talks so lightly of cutting quicker and flippantly jokes about

:39:50. > :39:56.it. We are on our knees. Another text, with a national debt of 1.5

:39:57. > :40:01.trillion, 23,500 for every person and hundreds of waste, it is about

:40:02. > :40:07.time George Osborne talk proper action. This twit, generally I like

:40:08. > :40:13.Ken Clarke, but he doesn't half talk some guff when he is defending his

:40:14. > :40:17.mates. This one, increasing insurance tax will impact on the

:40:18. > :40:21.service charge and really affect leasehold flat owners. There are

:40:22. > :40:27.many more, I will try to read as many as we can between now and the

:40:28. > :40:30.end of the programme. One thing we do know is going to happen when

:40:31. > :40:34.George Osborne stands up, his to call for a longer school in England.

:40:35. > :40:37.Secondary schools will be able to bid for cash for extra activities

:40:38. > :40:40.after school like sport and art to allow them to remain

:40:41. > :40:45.Loads of schools already do this of course -

:40:46. > :40:48.but there will be funding on offer for a quarter of schools.

:40:49. > :40:51.He's also ending the 100 year old system of Local Education

:40:52. > :40:58.All schools will have to become academies by 2022.

:40:59. > :41:02.So, what impact will this have on schools and pupils?

:41:03. > :41:05.If you're a parent or teacher - do get in touch this morning.

:41:06. > :41:08.Anne Swift is the Vice President of the National Union of Teachers,

:41:09. > :41:10.the teaching union that represents 300,000 teachers

:41:11. > :41:22.Jonathan Molver is a headteacher of King Solomon Academy School.

:41:23. > :41:29.The extra money for a quarter of schools in England to open longer,

:41:30. > :41:33.what do you think? It is a drop in the ocean, for a quarter of schools,

:41:34. > :41:37.as you said, over four years. Schools need money. They need every

:41:38. > :41:41.penny they can get, to carry out their core purpose of educating

:41:42. > :41:44.young people. Welcome as it is, it is not offset the other cats that

:41:45. > :41:55.are being made to funding to schools. -- cuts. If it is being

:41:56. > :42:02.allocated to a quarter of schools, it means some will miss out, do you

:42:03. > :42:06.see a widening gap? It could be, there are no details about how it is

:42:07. > :42:11.going to happen. Schools already offer a lot of after-school

:42:12. > :42:16.provision for young people. Where this happens, which schools are

:42:17. > :42:21.entitled to it, we don't know. It could seriously widen the gaps

:42:22. > :42:26.between schools. Every state school in England being forced to become an

:42:27. > :42:31.academy by 2022, with an extra ?1.5 billion to help them convert,

:42:32. > :42:36.although some of the money is for schools to open longer. Let's be

:42:37. > :42:40.clear what being an academy means, instead of the local education

:42:41. > :42:43.authority being in control, in control of the money, the

:42:44. > :42:47.headteacher will be in control, getting the money directly from the

:42:48. > :42:49.government. There is no board of governors, the school does not have

:42:50. > :42:55.to follow the national curriculum. What do you think of this idea? It

:42:56. > :42:59.is a surprise, in the sense that schools are going to be forced to

:43:00. > :43:03.become academies. That was not in the Government's manifesto. I think

:43:04. > :43:08.it is a distraction from the other issues. There are not enough

:43:09. > :43:12.teachers, not another school places. The Government needs to focus on

:43:13. > :43:16.that. The academy programme, they talk about it being about choice,

:43:17. > :43:20.head teachers having control budgets. We already have control of

:43:21. > :43:25.budgets. Headteachers have for quite a long time, since local management

:43:26. > :43:30.of schools came in some years ago. It cuts out the middleman and the

:43:31. > :43:33.education authority? The local authority has a lot of functions to

:43:34. > :43:37.perform. They act as a safety net for schools. There is a lot of

:43:38. > :43:41.expertise that schools can draw on from the local authority. They can

:43:42. > :43:44.collaborate together. They get a lot of services from the local

:43:45. > :43:48.authorities under the academies programme they will have to buy

:43:49. > :43:51.those from other providers. That means there will be some money to be

:43:52. > :43:56.made from this programme for companies that want to offer

:43:57. > :44:00.services to schools. Is that fundamentally a bad thing? I think

:44:01. > :44:07.it is, yes. I think the NUT would think it is. There is a lot of

:44:08. > :44:15.undemocratic nature about this as well, parents will no longer have

:44:16. > :44:21.any voice or choice if the school is going to be turned into an academy.

:44:22. > :44:26.There is little evidence that it raises standards. The Education

:44:27. > :44:31.Select Committee, last year, a cross-party group of MPs, found they

:44:32. > :44:35.could not see any evidence for primaries to become academies.

:44:36. > :44:39.Michael Wiltshire has said he has serious concerns about some of the

:44:40. > :44:43.Academy chains running schools. It opens the way for anybody to be

:44:44. > :44:46.running a school, taking money from central government to provide

:44:47. > :44:50.education, which I think is a big distraction from underfunding,

:44:51. > :44:56.shortage of school places and shortage of teachers. Thank you.

:44:57. > :45:04.Time for the latest weather. This morning we have had a real

:45:05. > :45:08.variety of weather across the UK. Some have had lovely blue skies. A

:45:09. > :45:13.bit of cloud across parts of Wales. We have also seen some lovely

:45:14. > :45:17.weather across the Highlands, again, it has been like this for the last

:45:18. > :45:20.couple of days. In Lewis, blue skies. But it hasn't been like this

:45:21. > :45:24.everywhere. There has been some low cloud and fog. This picture was

:45:25. > :45:31.taken by one of the weather watchers. Another one, showing some

:45:32. > :45:36.fog. Tricky conditions if you are out and about. This weather front is

:45:37. > :45:40.moving from the east towards the north, we can all the time of the

:45:41. > :45:45.does so. As it moves towards the west, the sun come out. It's also

:45:46. > :45:52.worth noting that we have the keen easterly breeze taking the edge off

:45:53. > :45:57.the temperatures. Low cloud, hillfort and sea fog in the North

:45:58. > :46:00.through the day. The best of the sunshine across parts of the South,

:46:01. > :46:04.justice and fair weather cloud floating around across the course of

:46:05. > :46:07.the day. Temperatures and the low cloud are really suppressed. Still

:46:08. > :46:11.looking at highs of ten or 11. Possibly more than that across the

:46:12. > :46:16.Highlands. We could see her eyes up to 16. As we had through the evening

:46:17. > :46:20.and overnight, we hang onto this keen north-easterly breeze. There

:46:21. > :46:30.will be quite a bit of cloud around, hillfort once again. Some snow

:46:31. > :46:33.grains quite possible across the the Pennines. A cold night. Where the

:46:34. > :46:36.sky is clear, we are looking at a touch of Frost. Tomorrow, we start

:46:37. > :46:40.on a cloudy note. Like today, we have a keen breeze taking the edge

:46:41. > :46:45.off the temperatures. Still, across eastern Scotland and North England,

:46:46. > :46:48.we hang onto this cloud. Through the day it will travel south across

:46:49. > :46:52.parts of Lincolnshire, possibly down towards the wash area in Norfolk.

:46:53. > :46:57.Meanwhile, out towards the west, more clout than we have seen across

:46:58. > :47:01.western Scotland, but moving inland, somewhere like Aviemore could have

:47:02. > :47:11.highs of 16 and will get ten, 11 or 13 in the south.

:47:12. > :47:13.The main news this morning: George Osborne is preparing

:47:14. > :47:15.to deliver his eighth budget as Chancellor later,

:47:16. > :47:25.with a promise to put the next generation first.

:47:26. > :47:29.George Osborne is getting ready to deliver his eighth Budget today with

:47:30. > :47:30.another four billion pounds of cuts expected - our political guru will

:47:31. > :47:34.set out what's likely to come up. Today's the day when we learn what

:47:35. > :47:37.is in the Chancellor 's red budget box, will it be boring or bold, is

:47:38. > :47:43.he hemmed in from doing any thing because of the EU referendum? Also

:47:44. > :47:45.on the programme - mass murderer Anders Breivik accuses the Norwegian

:47:46. > :47:48.state of trying to kill him with isolation in prison. As he appears

:47:49. > :48:09.in court, we'll speak to two people who survived his massacre.

:48:10. > :48:13.And there's still a lifetime ban on gay men in Northern Ireland donating

:48:14. > :48:15.blood - today a judge in Belfast will rule whether it's

:48:16. > :48:17.discriminatory. We'll speak to one man who wants to give blood but

:48:18. > :48:17.can't. The main news this morning:

:48:18. > :48:19.George Osborne is preparing to deliver his eighth budget

:48:20. > :48:21.as Chancellor later, with a promise to put

:48:22. > :48:23.the next generation first. He is expected to announce further

:48:24. > :48:26.investment in the UK's infrastructure but will also set out

:48:27. > :48:28.?4 billion extra spending cuts as he continue to target

:48:29. > :48:30.a budget surplus by 2020. Former Chancellor, Ken Clarke

:48:31. > :48:42.says further cuts would It would be nice if we could go a

:48:43. > :48:47.bit faster, that would be better for the economy, we will all be better

:48:48. > :48:51.off in the long term if we could get back to sanity in the way that we

:48:52. > :48:56.run the public finances. Any economic plan he puts forward today,

:48:57. > :48:59.unfortunately I think we will see another budget littered with

:49:00. > :49:00.failures, trying to plug the gaps by hitting the low paid and the

:49:01. > :49:02.vulnerable. Extra funding for education

:49:03. > :49:06.is expected to be announced, that will force all state schools

:49:07. > :49:10.to become academies. ?300 million will also be committed

:49:11. > :49:13.to the transport budget in order to kick start a second Crossrail

:49:14. > :49:16.project in London and a new high speed link across

:49:17. > :49:29.the north of England. Figures released this morning show

:49:30. > :49:32.unemployment falling by 28,000 between November and January to 1.68

:49:33. > :49:34.million. It means that the number of people in work is at its joint

:49:35. > :49:36.highest since current records began in 1971. There has also been a rise

:49:37. > :49:37.in average earnings. Donald Trump has taken another

:49:38. > :49:39.stride towards securing the Republican nomination for the US

:49:40. > :49:42.presidential election with victory including

:49:43. > :49:44.the key state of Florida, which forced Marco Rubio

:49:45. > :49:47.to pull out of the race. Hillary Clinton marched

:49:48. > :49:49.on in the race for the Democrat nomination after

:49:50. > :50:08.winning four states, Our commander-in-chief has to be

:50:09. > :50:18.able to defend our country, not embarrass it. CHEERING

:50:19. > :50:21.Engage our allies, not alienate them. Defeat our adversaries, not

:50:22. > :50:25.embolden them. Police in Belgium are continuing

:50:26. > :50:28.to search for suspects who may have escaped during Tuesday's security

:50:29. > :50:29.operation in Brussels, which was linked to last

:50:30. > :50:32.year's attacks in Paris. One man, who was armed

:50:33. > :50:34.with an assault rifle, was shot dead during the siege

:50:35. > :50:37.at an apartment in a suburb There are unconfirmed reports that

:50:38. > :50:42.two suspects have been detained. We're expecting a press conference

:50:43. > :50:45.from the authorities in Belgium A law banning the use of electronic

:50:46. > :50:53.cigarettes in places where children are present looks set to be approved

:50:54. > :50:56.by the Welsh Assembly later. If passed, the Bill would become

:50:57. > :50:59.a UK first and would restrict the use of the devices in certain

:51:00. > :51:02.public places in Wales, such as schools and places

:51:03. > :51:06.where food is served. Sylvia Anderson, the

:51:07. > :51:08.co-creator of Thunderbirds, She was also the voice

:51:09. > :51:12.behind Lady Penelope, the elegant aristocrat

:51:13. > :51:14.who moonlighted as a secret agent. Sylvia also worked on Joe 90,

:51:15. > :51:21.Captain Scarlet and Stingray. She died at her home

:51:22. > :51:42.in Bray, Berkshire, Football first, record-breaking

:51:43. > :51:45.night for Manchester City in Europe first, but we have got to talk about

:51:46. > :51:49.the Champions League Mountain Arsenal have to climb if they are to

:51:50. > :51:54.reach the quarterfinals, small task of overturning a 2-0 deficit against

:51:55. > :51:57.reigning champions Barcelona at the Nou Camp. Arsene Wenger has come

:51:58. > :52:06.under fire recently, his team knocked out of the FA Cup, out of

:52:07. > :52:10.the room you lead race, but Arsene Wenger insist that after 20 years at

:52:11. > :52:15.the club, the fire is still burning. I'm even more motivated than the

:52:16. > :52:18.first day that I arrived, I feel the responsibility and the pressure to

:52:19. > :52:22.keep this club moving forward. When you have been somewhere for a

:52:23. > :52:28.long-term, all of these questions about the duration, personally, I do

:52:29. > :52:37.not question my dedication, it is 100%. -- for a long time. I have

:52:38. > :52:39.more desire now than when I arrived. Manchester City reached the

:52:40. > :52:48.quarterfinals for the first time beating Dynamo Kyiv, 3-1, last

:52:49. > :52:52.night's second leg finished goalless, 3-1 on aggregate. Vincent

:52:53. > :52:58.company hobbled off early on and will be out for a month. -- Vincent

:52:59. > :53:02.Kompany. Jesus never said the post for Manchester City, Manchester City

:53:03. > :53:08.advancing to the last eight. -- Jesus Navas. Cheltenham have

:53:09. > :53:12.cancelled the booking of a group of footballers from championship club

:53:13. > :53:16.MK Dons of the pictures showed one from the club you're an ageing into

:53:17. > :53:21.a beer glass at the festival yesterday. This morning's Sun

:53:22. > :53:26.newspaper showed semi-Carruthers relieving himself on a balcony

:53:27. > :53:31.outside of a private box on the course, Cheltenham have blocked the

:53:32. > :53:35.party from attending today, and MK Dons have launched an internal

:53:36. > :53:39.investigation into the incident. Players from Bristol city and

:53:40. > :53:46.Northampton town are also believed to be involved. It is day two of the

:53:47. > :53:49.Festival, day one belonged to Ruby Walsh and Willie Mullins, winning

:53:50. > :53:52.three of the six races, including the Champion hurdle, which went to

:53:53. > :54:09.the first mayor to win for 22 years. Annie Power - the first mare to win

:54:10. > :54:12.for 22 years. Douvan and Vroum Vroum Mag were the other big race winners

:54:13. > :54:14.for Walsh and Mullins and they have the favourite for today's big race,

:54:15. > :54:17.the Champion Chase, as well. One sad note from yesterday though was the

:54:18. > :54:19.news that three horses lost their lives at Cheltenham. The Govaness,

:54:20. > :54:20.Pont Alexandre and Rezorbi suffered fatal injuries in their races.

:54:21. > :54:30.England's cricketers make their England's cricketers make their

:54:31. > :54:34.World T20 bow this afternoon, opening their campaign against the

:54:35. > :54:37.West Indies in Mumbai. England won the competition back in 2010 and

:54:38. > :54:40.their camp is confident this time of a better showing than recent ICC

:54:41. > :54:43.events, having gone out in group stage of the last World T20 and 50

:54:44. > :54:45.over World Cup. And hot water for Lewis Hamilton - the Formula One

:54:46. > :54:47.world champion has been investigated by police in New Zealand after

:54:48. > :54:49.appearing to film himself riding a motorbike. Hamilton was visiting

:54:50. > :54:51.Auckland ahead of this weekend's first Grand Prix of the season in

:54:52. > :54:54.Australia, and posted this footage of himself riding on the motorway.

:54:55. > :54:55.Police, however, say they won't be taking any further action due to

:54:56. > :55:12.lack of sufficient evidence. We know that he is good at driving,

:55:13. > :55:23.two wheels or 4-wheel is, that is not good. -- two wheels or 4-wheels.

:55:24. > :55:27.Thank you for joining us this morning, welcome to the programme

:55:28. > :55:30.if you've just joined us, we're on BBC 2 and the BBC

:55:31. > :55:47.throughout the programme we'll bring you the latest breaking news

:55:48. > :55:49.News from Darlington that says that women cannot afford

:55:50. > :55:57.to buy sanitary products. How low can this country get, we mean

:55:58. > :56:00.using newspapers as sanitary products. Part of the problem is

:56:01. > :56:10.that cemetery towels are priced like luxury items. -- sanitary

:56:11. > :56:15.towels. People should give them to food banks, it has been said. I

:56:16. > :56:20.certainly never thought of that. This from Dawn, people in poverty,

:56:21. > :56:26.2016, somebody needs to explain why they are classed as a luxury item.

:56:27. > :56:26.This is from Annette who works at a food bank,

:56:27. > :56:34.we have been doing this off our own back for years, also, washing

:56:35. > :56:36.powder, nappies, Raul, so on and so forth.

:56:37. > :56:45.Local communities are brilliant at bringing things in. Last week a

:56:46. > :56:47.family brought in fresh fruit but get in touch through the normal ways

:56:48. > :56:47.as well. Wherever you are you can

:56:48. > :57:03.watch our programme online, via the bbc news app or our website

:57:04. > :57:27.bbc.co.uk/victoria. The Chancellor is expected to set

:57:28. > :57:30.out his plans today for making four BILLION pounds more cuts by 2020 as

:57:31. > :57:32.he sets out his Budget statement in parliament later on this lunchtime..

:57:33. > :57:33.So who will be the big winners and losers?

:57:34. > :57:37.We are all set the big day, we are all here, you can see some of the

:57:38. > :57:40.dog was lined up for when George Osborne emerges, around 11:15am.

:57:41. > :57:45.Today is the national housekeeping day, the day when the government

:57:46. > :57:49.does the equivalent of the annual tax return, working out what cash is

:57:50. > :57:54.coming in and what is going out and how the books will be balanced, what

:57:55. > :57:59.kind of deep mess you are in, and also it is a day is steeped in

:58:00. > :58:04.tradition, the famous red box moment when the Chancellor urges on the

:58:05. > :58:07.steps of Downing Street, clasping the red box,

:58:08. > :58:09.surrounded by grim faced treasury ministers, who look like they have

:58:10. > :58:15.the woes of the world on their faces. That red

:58:16. > :58:39.box goes all the way back to Gladstone, he was the

:58:40. > :58:46.first one to get that through what is usually a very long speech. You

:58:47. > :58:52.may find there is not much in the red box. Is hemmed in big-time by

:58:53. > :58:57.the fact that he really does not have much money. The economy is

:58:58. > :59:05.slowing down, there is all sorts of difficulties elsewhere in the world.

:59:06. > :59:09.Oil prices plummeting. The Chinese economy is going ever more slowly,

:59:10. > :59:13.and just at the weekend George Osborne on the television has said

:59:14. > :59:17.there will be more cuts. The world is a more uncertain place than at

:59:18. > :59:22.any time since the financial crisis. We need to act now so that we do not

:59:23. > :59:26.pay later. That is why I need to find additional savings, equivalent

:59:27. > :59:29.to 50p in every hundred pounds spent by the government by the end of the

:59:30. > :59:37.decade, we must leave within our means, to stay secure. -- live

:59:38. > :59:41.within our means. What might we get today from the Chancellor?

:59:42. > :59:52.Imagine the budget is a spaghetti western, it is not very likely but

:59:53. > :00:01.they are with me, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. I am renaming it, The

:00:02. > :00:09.Good, The Bad and The Unknown. We may see tax cuts, he may ease the

:00:10. > :00:15.40p rate, to ease some of the burden. We may also get more cash

:00:16. > :00:18.from roads and railways, he hinted at this yesterday, when he was

:00:19. > :00:23.trying to speed up the trans-Pennine rail link he also talked about

:00:24. > :00:29.boring road tunnel -- boring a road tunnel through the Peak District.

:00:30. > :00:33.And largely, the rabbit, it has become part of the great tradition

:00:34. > :00:39.of budgets, although I suppose we ought to say a raccoon, rather than

:00:40. > :00:46.a rabbit. Let's move on to the bad cowboy, Lee Van Cleef, what can we

:00:47. > :00:50.expect? Stealth taxes, chancellors always go to that kind of thing,

:00:51. > :00:54.things you do not notice until you have debates are insuring or stamp

:00:55. > :01:32.duty and suddenly find that you have been hit in the pocket.

:01:33. > :01:38.Lastly we have the unknown, the man of mystery, and the real mystery

:01:39. > :01:43.today, centres around the all duty, what is it going to do about fuel

:01:44. > :01:46.duty, the government has frozen fuel duty for about four or five years

:01:47. > :01:47.and there is a lot of pressure on the Chancellor this time to put it

:01:48. > :02:00.up. A lot of motorists will be very

:02:01. > :02:21.unhappy with fuel duty increases, so would a lot of Tory backbenchers. So

:02:22. > :02:23.much for the spaghetti western. . The EU referendum has basically

:02:24. > :02:28.changed everything at Westminster. It is on a knife edge and the stakes

:02:29. > :02:33.are colossal for Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne. If they lose, it could be

:02:34. > :02:36.farewell to both of them and their prospects. The stakes are huge and

:02:37. > :02:40.Mr Osborne does not want to do anything that might enrage Tory

:02:41. > :02:50.backbenchers. Cabinet ministers, when they were arriving, they will

:02:51. > :02:53.have been thinking about the budget, but there will also be thinking

:02:54. > :03:05.about the EU referendum. That absolutely dominates life here at

:03:06. > :03:09.Westminster. It might be the anxiety not to anger Cabinet ministers who

:03:10. > :03:14.want to get out, the Tory MPs who want to get out of the European

:03:15. > :03:19.Union. Here is the thing, my take on today, I think there will be a lot

:03:20. > :03:23.of big numbers. There will be a lot of bold promises, a lot of big

:03:24. > :03:28.bonanza rhetoric. But at the end of the day, when you strip it down and

:03:29. > :03:32.cut down, I think this might actually be quite a cautious and

:03:33. > :03:34.careful budget because Mr Osborne wants to be on his best behaviour

:03:35. > :03:42.and doesn't want to upset his party. The Chancellor George Osborne

:03:43. > :03:44.will be delivering his budget We'll be live from Westminster at 11

:03:45. > :03:48.o'clock with full coverage The police complaints watchdog has

:03:49. > :03:55.launched an investigation into allegations of racial

:03:56. > :03:57.discrimination and excessive force by British Transport Police

:03:58. > :03:59.officers during an incident at London's St Pancras

:04:00. > :04:02.train station. It comes after video footage -

:04:03. > :04:15.filmed by an onlooker - Mark Ashdown has the story. What are

:04:16. > :04:18.the accusations against these British Transport Police officers?

:04:19. > :04:23.It happened last Tuesday, inside the barriers at the top of the escalator

:04:24. > :04:27.at St Pancras tube station. A man is about to go through the barriers, he

:04:28. > :04:28.is approached by two British transport officers. An onlooker

:04:29. > :05:10.filmed what happened next. The footage was uploaded to YouTube.

:05:11. > :05:14.It has been viewed about 20,000 times. We cannot verify what

:05:15. > :05:21.happened, who filmed it or what happened leading up to that. Tell us

:05:22. > :05:24.about the investigation? The IPCC, which investigates anything

:05:25. > :05:27.controversial to do with any police force, they have said they are

:05:28. > :05:31.launching an investigation into this. They released a statement

:05:32. > :05:34.saying they are looking into allegations of racial discrimination

:05:35. > :05:38.and excessive use of force against a black man during his arrest. The

:05:39. > :05:41.British Transport Police referred themselves to the IPCC. They have

:05:42. > :05:46.not commented on the investigation. They have said a man has been

:05:47. > :05:50.charged, a member of the public, he is 40, from south-east London. He

:05:51. > :05:56.has been charged with fairer evasion, assaulting a police officer

:05:57. > :06:00.and resisting a constable. He has been released on bail. The IPCC said

:06:01. > :06:04.due to the seriousness of the allegation, we have taken the

:06:05. > :06:07.decision to conduct an independent investigation. It will be looking at

:06:08. > :06:09.all of the circumstances around the use of force and the arrest of

:06:10. > :06:16.individual involved. The mass murderer Anders Breivik

:06:17. > :06:19.is giving evidence at a court in Norway today - he's arguing that

:06:20. > :06:22.being kept in isolation contravenes the European Convention

:06:23. > :06:24.on Human Rights which forbids Yesterday he gave a Nazi

:06:25. > :06:30.salute in court. This morning, he's told the court

:06:31. > :06:33.he would fight 'to the death' Breivik killed 77 people in 2011

:06:34. > :06:41.when he bombed central Oslo and then We speak to two survivors of that

:06:42. > :06:54.attack Anders Breivik carried out in 2011,

:06:55. > :07:11.Ole Martin Juul Slyngstadli When you saw Anders Breivik give

:07:12. > :07:17.that Nazi salute, what did you think? I'm not paying any attention

:07:18. > :07:22.to this. All I want to say about the trial is that I believe in the rule

:07:23. > :07:29.of law and that is all. What about you, Mani Hussainin? We know that

:07:30. > :07:35.the survivors are still struggling as a result of the terrible events

:07:36. > :07:38.at Utoya in 2011. This particular trial can bring back strong

:07:39. > :07:46.reactions for those that were there. That is why we ask and hope that

:07:47. > :07:52.everybody can respect that, but as Ole Martin Juul Slyngstadli says, we

:07:53. > :07:56.are strong supporters of the rule of law and we respect that this trial

:07:57. > :08:01.was brought to court. The most important thing now is that it does

:08:02. > :08:06.not become an opportunity for the terrorist to spread his message of

:08:07. > :08:14.hatred. But the fact that he is able to bring his case, you respect that?

:08:15. > :08:20.Yes, well, we are very firm and strong supporters of the state of

:08:21. > :08:29.law. That is something we cherish. That is why we respect the trial.

:08:30. > :08:39.What we are asking for, that this trial does not become a place that

:08:40. > :08:44.he can spread his message of hatred. For instance, the Nazi salutes,

:08:45. > :08:53.spreading the pictures of that, I am not sure if that is news or maybe

:08:54. > :09:02.something that is used to spread his ideas, because he knows that he is a

:09:03. > :09:14.mass murderer, children Keller, a terrorist --

:09:15. > :09:28.killer and a terrorist. Do you think that would influence people, seeing

:09:29. > :09:37.that image, to support him or what his message of hatred is? Something

:09:38. > :09:44.I am proud of is that in Norway, just after the terror attacks, it

:09:45. > :09:49.was a huge community within the Norwegian people and that has grown

:09:50. > :09:54.stronger since that time. Despite of that, we are seeing an uprising of

:09:55. > :10:01.right-wing movements, both here in Norway and also in Europe. We know

:10:02. > :10:10.that people, there are some people that support his ideas, but we know

:10:11. > :10:16.that when these ideas grow, spread, that they can lead to terrible

:10:17. > :10:21.terror attacks against innocent people. My organisation, our

:10:22. > :10:25.country, we have never experienced that. By right-wing movements, do

:10:26. > :10:38.you mean people that are against foreigners? Well, the uprising we

:10:39. > :10:49.saw last year is by, in the northern country, we have Soldiers Of Odin,

:10:50. > :10:52.which is a neo-Nazi movement. They have become stronger in the last

:10:53. > :11:03.year because of the refugee crisis we have seen. We know that within

:11:04. > :11:09.those movements you have people who salute the terrorist, Anders

:11:10. > :11:18.Breivik, and they say that they support his ideas. Not his actions,

:11:19. > :11:27.but his ideas. For me, if you support his ideas, in a way, also

:11:28. > :11:36.you support his actions because the action became because of the ideas.

:11:37. > :11:44.In our opinion, it is very dangerous for our society and also the whole

:11:45. > :11:49.of Europe. I think you believe that Anders Breivik specifically targeted

:11:50. > :11:57.certain people in his attack in 2011, rather than shooting

:11:58. > :12:01.indiscriminately, what was it about the AUF, the Labour youth wing, that

:12:02. > :12:08.Anders Breivik hated? It was the politics. It was not a random choice

:12:09. > :12:13.of organisation, he chose it for a reason, that is because of what we

:12:14. > :12:17.stand for. Would you like to explain to our British audience what it is

:12:18. > :12:25.your organisation, the Labour youth wing, to stand for? Well, I believe

:12:26. > :12:30.Mani was a better person to answer that, but it is for a stronger

:12:31. > :12:33.society. And also the strong support that every person in Norway should

:12:34. > :12:37.have equal opportunities and we should not discriminate against

:12:38. > :12:44.people based on the colour of their skin, your background, your gender.

:12:45. > :12:53.What we work for is a society, inclusive society for everyone. That

:12:54. > :12:57.is what Anders Breivik and the people who support him, they don't

:12:58. > :13:00.believe in that notion of how society should be. They believe

:13:01. > :13:06.society should be divided, that you have countries, communities, where

:13:07. > :13:17.one type of people are, and they don't agree that all types of people

:13:18. > :13:23.can live together. I think that is one of the many reasons why he

:13:24. > :13:28.attacked our organisation. Most importantly, it is the politics. He

:13:29. > :13:34.attacked our beliefs and he targeted the children, because he knew that

:13:35. > :13:43.many of those will become leaders, supporting the idea that everybody

:13:44. > :13:49.should have equal rights. What do you recall about your own experience

:13:50. > :13:52.on that day? Well, I'm not very comfortable about talking about that

:13:53. > :14:00.on air, so I'm not going to do that today, I'm afraid. That's OK.

:14:01. > :14:10.Kobayashi the same question? What is my opinion now? What do you recall

:14:11. > :14:20.of your experience that day? Well, for many people, the 22nd of July is

:14:21. > :14:26.still in our memories. For those that were there, I personally was

:14:27. > :14:35.not at Utoya, but I know that for many of my friends it is something

:14:36. > :14:42.that brings strong reactions. But his widest trial, this particular

:14:43. > :14:46.trial -- that is why this trial, this particular trial, brings back

:14:47. > :14:54.strong reactions for those people. Maybe that is the lasting thing.

:14:55. > :15:02.Thank you for your time, we appreciated.

:15:03. > :15:07.Still to come, should e-cigarettes be banned in some public places? It

:15:08. > :15:20.is likely to happen in Wales, where the government says they risk

:15:21. > :15:24.normalising smoking to children. There are reports and American has

:15:25. > :15:27.been jailed in North Korea for stealing propaganda material. We

:15:28. > :15:33.will speak to an expert on the secretive state.

:15:34. > :15:35.George Osborne is preparing to deliver his eighth budget

:15:36. > :15:37.as Chancellor later, with a promise to put

:15:38. > :15:41.He is expected to announce further investment in the UK's

:15:42. > :15:43.infrastructure but will also set out four-billion pounds of extra

:15:44. > :15:50.spending cuts as he continue to target a budget surplus by 2020.

:15:51. > :15:53.Former Chancellor Ken Clarke says further cuts

:15:54. > :16:02.It would be nice if he could go a bit faster, I think it would be

:16:03. > :16:05.better for the British economy, we would all be better off in the

:16:06. > :16:12.long-term if we could get on with getting back to sanity in a way that

:16:13. > :16:16.we the public finances. Any economic plan he puts forward today,

:16:17. > :16:19.unfortunately I think we will see another budget littered with

:16:20. > :16:22.failures, where he tries to plug the gaps hitting the low and vulnerable.

:16:23. > :16:26.Within the budget, extra funding for education is expected to be

:16:27. > :16:34.will force all state schools to become academies.

:16:35. > :16:38.to the transport budget in order to kick start a second Crossrail

:16:39. > :16:41.project in London and a new high speed link across the north of

:16:42. > :16:45.Figures released this morning show unemployment falling by 28,000

:16:46. > :16:47.between November and January to 1.68 million.

:16:48. > :16:50.It means that the number of people in work is at its joint highest

:16:51. > :16:57.There has also been a rise in average earnings.

:16:58. > :17:00.Donald Trump has taken another stride towards securing

:17:01. > :17:03.the Republican nomination for the US presidential election with victory

:17:04. > :17:05.in three primaries - including the key state of Florida,

:17:06. > :17:10.which forced Marco Rubio to pull out of the race.

:17:11. > :17:12.Hillary Clinton marched on in the race for the Democrat

:17:13. > :17:15.nomination after winning four states, and had this to say about Mr

:17:16. > :17:27.Our commander-in-chief has to be able to defend our country,

:17:28. > :17:35.CHEERING Engage our allies, not alienate them.

:17:36. > :17:43.Defeat our adversaries, not embolden them.

:17:44. > :17:46.Police in Belgium are continuing to search for suspects who may have

:17:47. > :17:47.escaped during Tuesday's security operation in Brussels,

:17:48. > :17:49.which was linked to last year's attacks in Paris.

:17:50. > :17:52.One man, who was armed with an assault rifle,

:17:53. > :17:55.was shot dead during the siege at an apartment in a suburb

:17:56. > :18:19.There are unconfirmed reports that two suspects have been detained.

:18:20. > :18:23.We can go to the press conference right now. Although we do not have a

:18:24. > :18:41.translation at the moment. A law banning the use of electronic

:18:42. > :18:44.cigarettes in places where children are present looks set to be approved

:18:45. > :18:47.by the Welsh Assembly later. If passed, the Bill would become

:18:48. > :18:50.a UK first and would restrict the use of the devices in certain

:18:51. > :18:52.public places in Wales, such as schools and places

:18:53. > :19:08.where food is served. TRANSLATION: It is in the interests

:19:09. > :19:26.of the ongoing investigation which is still ongoing.

:19:27. > :19:32.My name is Eric, this is my colleague, we both work for the

:19:33. > :19:57.prosecutor 's office. TRANSLATION: Following the attacks

:19:58. > :20:09.in Paris, a search was carried out here, yesterday, at 1450, in capital

:20:10. > :20:16.of following an analysis by the Federal bureau of Brussels during

:20:17. > :20:33.the enquiry, and especially by the anti-terrorist group of the DRV. --

:20:34. > :20:40.DR3. -- in Forest. 58 people have been detained during the operation

:20:41. > :20:57.of searches, 23 others related to the Paris attack. Ex-policeman, made

:20:58. > :21:05.up of four Belgian and two French inspectors, this raid was made up of

:21:06. > :21:16.a Belgian French team. Once the door of the flat had opened, at least two

:21:17. > :21:20.persons armed with Kalashnikov rifles opened fire immediately on

:21:21. > :21:25.the policeman. A brief exchange, a tense exchange of fire, followed,

:21:26. > :21:34.and three of the six policemen were slightly injured, including a French

:21:35. > :21:49.policewoman. During the exchange of fire, the pistol of the policeman

:21:50. > :22:00.was hit, the impact of bullets coming from the shooters was found

:22:01. > :22:04.on the Kevlar vest. Thanks to the professional reaction of the

:22:05. > :22:09.policeman there are, they have managed to

:22:10. > :22:25.neutralise the attackers, a number of exchange of fires were hurt. --

:22:26. > :22:32.heard. One suspect was neutralised, following shots from specialist

:22:33. > :22:34.units. He was shooting at the police from a window, from the flat where

:22:35. > :22:51.he was entrenched. INAUDIBLE By his body was found a book about

:22:52. > :22:54.Salafist and a flag of the Islamic State, also found in the apartment.

:22:55. > :23:07.-- 's we found a number of ammunitions, no

:23:08. > :23:16.explosives were found. The person killed was identified during last

:23:17. > :23:21.night, his name is Muhammad, he was born on the 9th of July, 1980. He

:23:22. > :23:36.has an Algerian nationality. -- a book about Salafism. His stay

:23:37. > :23:43.in the country was not known to judicial police, other than he

:23:44. > :23:47.carried out a robbery in 2014. Two other people at the flat, whose

:23:48. > :23:53.identity is still unknown to today, have managed to a -- escape, and a

:23:54. > :24:01.Sergio being carried out to arrest them. During

:24:02. > :24:07.last night, another search was carried out in another district, we

:24:08. > :24:09.found two Kalashnikovs, and a black vest, near this building.

:24:10. > :24:22.The searches have yielded finding another

:24:23. > :24:28.Kalashnikovs in this flat. We carried out other searches but they

:24:29. > :24:38.were negative. We search a garage and a warehouse, nearby. This search

:24:39. > :24:45.yielded nothing and it was negative. At the end of the afternoon or

:24:46. > :24:51.during last night, 8pm, local time, one injured person was

:24:52. > :24:55.admitted to hospital. His leg was broken.

:24:56. > :25:06.We have not identified him. The person who took this person to

:25:07. > :25:18.hospital following another search, and raid, at a house, at another

:25:19. > :25:19.location, one person was taken to a police station for interrogation and

:25:20. > :25:32.questioning. We are still examining the details

:25:33. > :25:46.of this person, that is why we cannot give you the identity of the

:25:47. > :25:49.person. We have carried out a raid and a search but nothing can yet be

:25:50. > :25:59.communicated as a result of this raid. The enquiry, the investigation

:26:00. > :26:02.and enquiry is ongoing day and night, we cannot give you more

:26:03. > :26:44.details, so as not to harm the enquiry under way.

:26:45. > :26:49.STUDIO: We will get a translation in a moment, we will remind you of what

:26:50. > :26:58.the first federal prosecutor had to say. He told us that since the

:26:59. > :27:03.November Paris attacks, 100 searches have been carried out, 58 people

:27:04. > :27:08.detained, in terms of the operation, six police officers involved, during

:27:09. > :27:14.a firefight, police officer was injured, they found a variety of

:27:15. > :27:17.issues during -- weapons during searches, including Kalashnikovs,

:27:18. > :27:23.they found a flag of Islamic State inside an apartment. A suspect was

:27:24. > :27:28.killed, Rocky Muhammad, aged 35, not known to the police, but he did

:27:29. > :27:32.carry out a robbery a couple of years ago. -- Raqim Mohammed.

:27:33. > :27:35.Another suspect is in hospital with a broken leg, news and identified.

:27:36. > :27:40.Another suspect is being questioned at a police station. More details to

:27:41. > :27:46.come from the Belgian prosecutors and as soon as they release them, we

:27:47. > :27:51.will bring them to you live. Coming up: cases of scarlet fever are at

:27:52. > :27:55.their highest level since the 1960s and parents and anyone else looking

:27:56. > :27:56.after children need to be vigilant to the early signs, according to

:27:57. > :28:18.public health officials. Children aged two to eight years-old

:28:19. > :28:20.are mainly at risk of the distinctive pink-red rash and if

:28:21. > :28:22.left untreated can in some cases cause serious complications. It is a

:28:23. > :28:25.seasonal infectious disease, this time of year, numbers rise, caused

:28:26. > :28:31.by a bacteria called group based at the clock is. It is characterised by

:28:32. > :28:38.a sore throat, then a rash, a couple of days later. Starts in the body,

:28:39. > :28:43.may spread to other parts of the body, usually stays off the face but

:28:44. > :28:54.it can have a flushed appearance, which is what gives scarlet fever

:28:55. > :28:57.its name. -- group A Streptococcus. This is no different to what we have

:28:58. > :29:02.seen in previous years. That is likely to be a reflection of

:29:03. > :29:08.immunity, we develop immunities as we get older. Why the rise? We have

:29:09. > :29:12.been investigating this, the rise has been ongoing for a couple of

:29:13. > :29:15.years, we have looked at many things, trying to investigate if

:29:16. > :29:25.there is a new strain that has come into the population which has caused

:29:26. > :29:30.the rise. There is not a new strain, they are diverse, they have been

:29:31. > :29:35.going for quite a long time. The other thing we can roll out is there

:29:36. > :29:39.has not been a rise in antibiotic resistance, which would have been

:29:40. > :29:42.one possible reason for the rise. What is the advice from Public

:29:43. > :29:46.Health England? Be aware that this is the time of year when we see more

:29:47. > :29:51.cases, we are having around 600 people diagnosed, primarily children

:29:52. > :29:55.but adults as well, over the next few weeks, those numbers are likely

:29:56. > :30:01.to rise, parents can be aware of the signs and symptoms of scarlet fever,

:30:02. > :30:04.get in touch with your GP if you are concerned, the rash should be looked

:30:05. > :30:09.at to make sure it is scarlet fever and is not something else. If you

:30:10. > :30:14.are diagnosed and given a course of antibiotics, be sure to complete the

:30:15. > :30:18.course. Stay away from school and work for the first 24 hours of the

:30:19. > :30:20.antibiotics. After that you are much less infectious to other people.

:30:21. > :30:37.Thank you very much. There's still a lifetime ban on gay

:30:38. > :30:40.men in Northern Ireland donating blood even though in England,

:30:41. > :30:43.Scotland and Wales men can donate if they haven't had sex

:30:44. > :30:45.in the previous year. It's been the subject of a legal row

:30:46. > :30:48.that's lasted nearly 5 years and today a judge at the Court

:30:49. > :30:51.of Appeal in Belfast will rule if a lifetime ban is discriminatory

:30:52. > :30:54.but will also settle a row about whether or not the decision

:30:55. > :30:57.to lift the ban lies with the Northern Ireland Health

:30:58. > :30:59.Minister or the Secretary of State Our reporter Peter Coulter

:31:00. > :31:18.is in Belfast and has been A lifetime ban, why? Began in 2011,

:31:19. > :31:22.when a lifetime ban was lifted in England, Scotland and Wales. It did

:31:23. > :31:25.not happen in Northern Ireland, because health care is devolved,

:31:26. > :31:31.each health minister can make their decision. The Minister in Northern

:31:32. > :31:33.Ireland said he was not convinced by the scientific evidence and he

:31:34. > :31:40.wanted to see some more to make sure blood would be safe. Five years on,

:31:41. > :31:43.the issue is still not resolved. Why is Jeremy Hunt involved? If you

:31:44. > :31:47.think about the blood network, Northern Ireland gets a lot of its

:31:48. > :31:53.blood from England, Scotland and Wales, and the band is not in place

:31:54. > :31:57.any more, it is just the 12 month deferral. It seems a bit silly here

:31:58. > :32:02.if ban applies here and the judge felt that way as well. He said it

:32:03. > :32:11.wasn't really up to Edwin Poots to make a decision about it, it was up

:32:12. > :32:15.to the secretary of health. He didn't want to rule on that, so he

:32:16. > :32:20.appealed. He was criticised by Andy Burnham for doing that. Hopefully,

:32:21. > :32:27.we will find out who is going to be responsible. How much support is

:32:28. > :32:31.there in Northern Ireland for the ban? It has changed over the last

:32:32. > :32:35.couple of years. When the ban was lifted in England and Wales, Edwin

:32:36. > :32:40.Poots said he had two pieces of evidence to support his claim. A BBC

:32:41. > :32:43.investigation revealed it was not medical evidence. We also know that

:32:44. > :32:47.the blood transfusion service have the testing in place to be able to

:32:48. > :32:54.do adequate checks on the blood. I think people are starting to get a

:32:55. > :33:00.bit fed up. I think people are hoping that it is going to come to a

:33:01. > :33:07.conclusion today and people are fed up with how much money has been

:33:08. > :33:13.spent on it. So, in England, Wales and Scotland, gay men can only give

:33:14. > :33:15.blood if they have not had sex in 12 months, which many people say is

:33:16. > :33:17.still effectively a ban. Ben Kelly is a gay man

:33:18. > :33:19.from Londonderry in Northern Ireland and wants to donate blood there -

:33:20. > :33:30.he's currently living and working Is its discrimination? If in the UK

:33:31. > :33:33.a 12 month deferral is good enough, it is good enough for Northern

:33:34. > :33:36.Ireland. The only reason discrimination might come into it is

:33:37. > :33:41.that there is a difference in Northern Ireland, it has been upheld

:33:42. > :33:48.by previous health ministers. Now the new guy, Simon Hamilton, is

:33:49. > :33:52.willing to change that if the evidence says that blood is safer in

:33:53. > :34:00.the UK since the decision to scrap the lifetime ban. Some gay men still

:34:01. > :34:06.think the 12 month limitation is still effectively a ban. What do you

:34:07. > :34:11.think? Unfortunately, gay men are still disproportionately affected by

:34:12. > :34:17.HIV, we know that. The 12 month period is cautious, it is sensible.

:34:18. > :34:23.As far as I'm concerned, it is supported by the Terrence Higgins

:34:24. > :34:27.trust, and the 12 month window also encompasses people who have had

:34:28. > :34:31.viruses in that time, people who visited African countries, who had a

:34:32. > :34:35.tad too. It is not simply against gay men, it is a precaution against

:34:36. > :34:41.a variety of different people. It is because if there was to be HIV

:34:42. > :34:45.infection, it would show in that period of time? Before that, I think

:34:46. > :34:48.it is between six and nine months you would expect to see it showing

:34:49. > :34:57.up on a test if you have been infected. So it's a cautious period

:34:58. > :35:01.of time. Thank you very much. Still to come, more on reports that a

:35:02. > :35:05.court in North Korea has sentenced an American student to 15 years hard

:35:06. > :35:11.labour. His crime? Stealing a political banner from a hotel.

:35:12. > :35:14.A vote takes place later to decide if Wales will become the first part

:35:15. > :35:19.of the UK to ban the use of e-cigarettes in some public places.

:35:20. > :35:21.The Welsh government says the devices risk making cigarette

:35:22. > :35:27.If passed, the bill would restrict the use of e-cigarettes in places

:35:28. > :35:29.such as sports grounds, where food is served

:35:30. > :35:35.But, could the idea hinder people's attempts to give up smoking?

:35:36. > :35:37.Let's talk about this with Dr Philip Banfield,

:35:38. > :35:40.Chair of BMA Wales, and joining me from Edinburgh

:35:41. > :35:42.is Professor Linda Bauld, who's carrying out work

:35:43. > :35:43.at Stirling University for Cancer Research UK

:35:44. > :35:53.into how our behaviour can prevent cancer.

:35:54. > :36:00.First, what do you think? Well, Cancer Research UK is interested in

:36:01. > :36:04.the evidence on electronic cigarettes. We are looking carefully

:36:05. > :36:08.at that. We don't support this legislation because we don't believe

:36:09. > :36:14.there is adequate evidence that e-cigarette Weber exposes bystanders

:36:15. > :36:19.to any health harms. We are concerned that by banning them in

:36:20. > :36:22.most public places in Wales, it sends the message to the public and

:36:23. > :36:25.smokers in particular that e-cigarettes are just as harmful as

:36:26. > :36:32.smoking. We know that is not the case. What would you say? There are

:36:33. > :36:35.three issues. The first is about the safety of e-cigarettes and whether

:36:36. > :36:42.they are helpful in helping people to cut smoking, and I think the

:36:43. > :36:50.professor made a valid point. The second and third points are that we

:36:51. > :36:54.just don't know if e-cigarettes will have a gateway effect, if it will

:36:55. > :36:58.encourage young people to take up smoking. Thirdly, we don't actually

:36:59. > :37:03.know whether it is a sensible thing for youngsters to be taking up

:37:04. > :37:10.e-cigarettes, which are heavily marketed towards them. Our

:37:11. > :37:16.youngsters taken up? Yes, they are. We had a survey from showing that

:37:17. > :37:21.one in 2011 and 12-year-olds have tried and e-cigarette. One in 101116

:37:22. > :37:29.year olds. These figures are from before the time at which the tobacco

:37:30. > :37:33.industry heavily marketed e-cigarettes with 500 varieties of

:37:34. > :37:37.flavours, e-cigarettes that talk to each other when you get close to

:37:38. > :37:40.each other. We would see this kind of marketing is deliberately

:37:41. > :37:46.targeting behaviour in children. Do you not worry about that? I think we

:37:47. > :37:50.absolutely agree that children should be protected and that is why

:37:51. > :37:53.there is age of Sail legislation already coming in in England and

:37:54. > :37:57.Wales. I disagree with that evidence. I produce a monthly review

:37:58. > :38:03.for Cancer Research UK, I love that studies all over the world and young

:38:04. > :38:09.people. Levels of experimentation, on average, 12% of teenagers have

:38:10. > :38:15.tried and e-cigarette. But that does not translate to regular use. Young

:38:16. > :38:18.people in the UK, including in Wales, the small numbers that are

:38:19. > :38:22.already using e-cigarettes are already using tobacco. We couldn't

:38:23. > :38:27.find any significant numbers of children who never smoked using

:38:28. > :38:30.e-cigarettes. If it was targeting children, the marketing has failed

:38:31. > :38:35.so far. The European tobacco products directive is coming in in

:38:36. > :38:44.May and will ban almost all forms of marketing, including in Wales. We

:38:45. > :38:46.don't feel the public places ban will help with protecting children.

:38:47. > :38:53.We are concerned with the 10 million smokers in the UK, that they will

:38:54. > :39:01.get the idea that these devices are not safe as a smoking cessation aid.

:39:02. > :39:04.Do you accept it is better to smoke and e-cigarette? It's not about the

:39:05. > :39:08.people that smoke cigarettes already, it is about how we stop the

:39:09. > :39:13.11,000 Welsh children taking up smoking in the first place. Do you

:39:14. > :39:17.accept the point that it is better to smoke and e-cigarette? Yes, I

:39:18. > :39:21.don't believe that is the argument. But that is what her argument is,

:39:22. > :39:27.she is worried it will hinder attempts to give up smoking. We know

:39:28. > :39:30.the half life of nicotine in these products is fairly long. So the

:39:31. > :39:35.ability to go without while you are having a meal in a public place with

:39:36. > :39:39.children, that should be fairly substantial. But this is not just

:39:40. > :39:44.about the physical addiction that goes with nicotine. It is about the

:39:45. > :39:51.behavioural aspect and trying to quit the habit. These different

:39:52. > :39:55.devices from tobacco. They mimic the to mouth action, but they are

:39:56. > :39:57.nowhere near as deadly. There is a lot of concern about nicotine, that

:39:58. > :40:01.young people should never use it, lot of concern about nicotine, that

:40:02. > :40:04.and yet we prescribe nicotine replacement therapy to pregnant

:40:05. > :40:07.women. We have to separate e-cigarette and tobacco, and not

:40:08. > :40:10.assume because we have these new, what has been called disruptive

:40:11. > :40:13.products on the market, they are going to create lots of new smokers.

:40:14. > :40:18.Thank you both very much. North Korea has reportedly sentenced

:40:19. > :40:21.an American student to 15 years hard labour after he admitted stealing

:40:22. > :40:31.propaganda material. The student said he'd

:40:32. > :40:33.removed a political banner from the staff-only area

:40:34. > :40:44.of a Pyongyang hotel. This is Otto Warmbier last month,

:40:45. > :40:51.sobbing, as he spoke to journalists at a news conference. It was the

:40:52. > :40:55.worst decision of my life. But I'm only human.

:40:56. > :40:58.With me now is Paul French, a North Korea analyst and the author

:40:59. > :41:01.of the book, North Korea: State of Paranoia.

:41:02. > :41:10.What do you think of this? He has obviously been advised by his North

:41:11. > :41:14.Korean appointed lawyer to make a full confession and make it look

:41:15. > :41:25.political in a way that plays well in North Korea and meet your

:41:26. > :41:28.objectives. But it was probably just somebody who went to North Korea and

:41:29. > :41:33.did something where it was not advisable to do that. Will he end up

:41:34. > :41:37.doing hard labour, and what does that mean in North Korea? A number

:41:38. > :41:42.of people have been sentenced, mostly for latter-day missionary

:41:43. > :41:46.type of activity, tried to distribute Bibles. There are some

:41:47. > :41:51.instances like this of people doing silly things. All of them have

:41:52. > :41:55.actually been released, usually after a few months. Some agreement

:41:56. > :41:59.gets reached. But that does not mean conditions are going to be nice for

:42:00. > :42:06.him. Over those few months, people report not getting much more food

:42:07. > :42:14.than a few bowls of rice and some soup. Whether he will be part of a

:42:15. > :42:17.formal North Korean prison gulag system is unlikely, they don't want

:42:18. > :42:20.anything to happen to him in case they need it to leave. There is no

:42:21. > :42:26.guarantee you will be traded or released. You said it suited their

:42:27. > :42:31.political message abroad, what do you mean? North Korea wants to look

:42:32. > :42:37.strong, it has felt it is being ignored. We saw the nuclear missile

:42:38. > :42:39.test, nonsense they might have developed a nuclear warhead that

:42:40. > :42:43.they can put on one of the missiles. They have been very belligerent and

:42:44. > :42:49.annoyed, partly because the regime is in trouble in terms of food

:42:50. > :42:55.supplies. This is their bizarre way of trying to communicate with the

:42:56. > :42:59.rest of the world. How would that get the rest of the world to help

:43:00. > :43:05.them with food supplies? It becomes another reason for what had been the

:43:06. > :43:08.six party talks, involving South Korea, Japan, Russia and China, to

:43:09. > :43:13.get started again, for them to start talking. As a goodwill gesture, the

:43:14. > :43:18.release of a prisoner is the sort of thing the North does, China or the

:43:19. > :43:25.United States might send some food aid or medical aid as a goodwill

:43:26. > :43:30.gesture. Why do you say, briefly and finally, that they are annoyed at

:43:31. > :43:34.the moment? What the North Korean regime does not like is being

:43:35. > :43:38.ignored. Food aid from the rest of the world to North Korea is way

:43:39. > :43:43.down, which means people are quite hungry. The Syrian crisis has really

:43:44. > :43:46.been absorbing people's attention. China has not been paying very much

:43:47. > :43:49.attention to them. They have not been very high on the American

:43:50. > :43:54.political agenda, which they are quite obsessed with at times. Firing

:43:55. > :43:59.a missile, arresting a person acting rather stupidly in a hotel, it was

:44:00. > :44:01.always going to get the world's attention for a secretive regime.

:44:02. > :44:04.In the last five years, homelessness across the UK has soared.

:44:05. > :44:07.So this is where you sleep every night? Yes. Hm.

:44:08. > :44:09.As part of BBC1's season of Sport Relief,

:44:10. > :44:13.our four celebrities continue to experience life on the streets.

:44:14. > :44:16.And things are about to get even tougher.