16/03/2016 Victoria Derbyshire

I'm Victoria Derbyshire, welcome to the programme.

As the man in charge of the UK's finances,

another ?4 billion of cuts in the Budget, our political guru

will guide you through what to expect.

More from Norman later - and some top politicians will tell

I am Ken Clarke, I have done a few Budgets myself. I have enjoyed

Budget Days. What matters is what he does and how it affects the economy,

in terms of jobs, investment and growth. I am Hannah Bardell from the

Scottish National Party. We want to see an end to austerity, and

increasing public spending to protect the most vulnerable in

society, a freeze in fuel duty and much-needed support for the oil and

gas sector. I am Rebecca Long-Bailey from the Labour Party and sadly, I

think that the Budget will be littered with failures, proving that

the Chancellor's long-term plan is not working, and I think is going to

stick on a sticking plaster by attacking the most vulnerable in

society when we need investment. We'll keep you up to date

throughout the programme. Also on the programme,

mass murderer Anders Breivik will give evidence at a court

in Norway today - he's arguing that being kept in isolation in jail

breaches his human rights. He says the state has been trying to

kill him for five years. We'll get reaction from two of those

who survived his attacks. It is reported that two suspects

have been detained following a major anti-terrorism operation that is

continuing in Brussels. It is linked to the Paris attacks last November.

We'll bring you all the latest including a planned press conference

We're on BBC 2 and the BBC News Channel live until 11.

Throughout the morning we'll bring you the latest breaking news

and developing stories and - as always - we want to hear

from you on all the stories we're talking about.

You can get in touch in the usual ways -

If you text, you will be charged at the standard network rate.

And of course you can watch the programme online wherever

you are via the bbc news app or our website bbc.co.uk/victoria.

The Chancellor is expected to set out his plans today for making

?4 billion more cuts by 2020 as he sets out his Budget statement,

or economic plan for the country, in Parliament later

It's the only question that matters on Budget Day morning,

what is really going on in the Chancellor's mind.

Expect him to sketch out plans to spend billions less

Bad news, perhaps, for some Whitehall departments

But he also needs a big new idea, having ditched plans

At the Treasury, they have had to think of a policy that will not

cause a political fight with Tories already split over Europe.

And there could be something else on his mind, with the Tory

leadership election coming, he might just be dreaming

about moving next door, to Number 10.

Which could mean he is off to Parliament with a Budget designed

to impress Conservative members, as well as grow the economy.

So what do we know already about what he's likely to announce?

George Osborne will call for longer school days in England.

All state schools will become academies by 2022.

There's speculation that the personal allowance -

or amount of money British taxpayers can earn before starting to pay tax

The price we pay for petrol and the price of a packet

Households could face an increase in insurance costs with a rise

And disability benefit payments, known as personal independence

payments, will also be reformed - which Labour say will badly affect

Let's talk now to Conservative MP and former Chancellor

of the Exchequer Ken Clarke who thinks Mr Osborne needs to get

on with making those cuts as soon as possible,

Labour MP and Shadow Treasury Minister Rebecca Long-Bailey,

who thinks there should be more spending on public services

to balance any cuts and Hannah Bardell of the SNP

who is the party's Westminster Business spokesperson and who thinks

Welcome, all of you. Ken Clarke, considering the British economy is

slowing down, why is he considering making any cuts at all in this

budget? The global economy is slowing down, so is the British. One

of the reasons that we have not recovered more quickly is the huge

burden of debt we are carrying. We know about it, we have it under

control, but we are not going to go back to normality without tackling

it. Is it going to impact on growth if he makes more cuts, the economy

could slow down further? A failure to keep on target will damage

confidence and cause a certain alarm. But he has failed to meet

most of his self-imposed targets. He's reacted to events, with

hindsight we could have gone a bit quicker. What we have to react to is

reality. My two very good left of centre opponents will say you need

to spend more money. In opposition, you can do that. If you are

Chancellor, some years you have easy decisions, some years difficult. You

have to look at what is happening in the real world. Nobody will remember

in two or three years what is in the budget. What they will look at is

how the British economy is doing compared to the others. That means

he has to get this ?4 billion spending cuts. This is a year when

he should raise taxes and lower spending. Something you could also

announce to show you have not gone completely crazy and the Treasury,

you could cheer people up, I used to cut the standard rate of income tax.

He can't do that. I got it down to 20p. He said he would not affect

income tax, BAT national insurance? He promised to raise personal

allowances, which is a good thing. If you are worried about the

deficit, why he giving tax cuts at all? On balance, he will not. Unless

he has taken too much notice of the short term political froth. He has

to show, unlike the finance ministers in half the Western world,

he still knows what he's doing, he is in control. People that ought to

be worried about their economic not about my job for the next few years,

are my wages going to continue to rise as they have been, are we

getting back to common sense and normality? There will be some tax

cuts and public spending cuts. Any luck, he will raise personal

allowance as well, because it takes low paid people out of tax. Should

there be any more than ?4 billion worth of cuts this time? I've been a

bit hawkish on policy, I would say he should go faster. I think it

would be better for the British economy and we would be better off

in the long term if we could get on with getting back to sanity in the

way that we run public finances. People didn't expect to just have a

populist bugmac years ago. George does not give populist bugmacs. But

he has to give regard to the fact that everything you want to do has a

popular lobby and Labour and the SNP give you a list of things you should

be spending money on. We need to see a return to common sense. We have

not seen any of that in the past years. He said he would reduce the

deficit by 2015, that did not happen. He reduced it from what you

left? It was caused by the global recession. He has reduced it from

what you left? He confirmed he would bring it down by 2015. The British

public believed him. That has not happened. Why should we believe

anything he puts forward today? Unfortunately, I think we will see a

budget littered with failures, where he tries to plug the gaps by hitting

the low paid and vulnerable. We have already outlined the cuts to

disabled people, they will lose up to ?150 per week. It is absolutely

reprehensible. You need to start looking at where you can regenerate

income, and I think it is a farce when we have a Chancellor who says

he is in favour of the people and the British public, that is letting

big business like Google getting away with paying billions of pounds

in taxes. The SNP, what do you say about what is expected today? We

said in our manifesto for the Westminster election 2015, and we

continue to advocate modest increase in public spending, 0.5%, about ?150

billion into the economy. It would pay down the deficit at a longer

period, but it would mean more inclusive growth. That means people

across the social spectrum are getting more money and there are

more opportunities for them. There might be more jobs in the economy in

the UK, but it is the kind of jobs we are creating. What we have shown

in Scotland is that we are doing things differently. We are investing

in education, we still have a free personal care for the elderly. We

have increased investment in terms of higher education and college

places. We have a higher rate of young people, youth employment, one

of the highest rates across the UK. For this budget, for the oil and gas

sector, we want to see more support for them in terms of an investment

allowance and a reduction in the headline rate of tax, because the

industry has suffered significantly. This Government, successive

Westminster governments, have had ?300 billion through the covers. In

its time of need, we need to see some support coming back. Also on

fuel duty, some support coming back. Also on

thing to do is to freeze fuel duty. We have advocated for a fuel duty

escalator to make sure more rural parts, people who rely heavily on

cars... No cuts anywhere? If you increase public spending, you don't

need to cut things like personal independence payments. The

government said it wants to encourage more disabled people into

environment. There was a woman who had been independent since she was

18, relying on her disability car, she would have to move home and give

up her job. That is devastating and reprehensible. When the Chancellor

says the ?4 billion of cuts works out as an additional 50p for every

?100 of public spending... That is not doable? What does that figure

mean? On top of the cuts we have already had, we are basically

balancing the books on the back of the poorest people in society. How

do you respond to that on behalf of the Conservative Party? Public

spending is something that goes up. I buy votes because I tell you I

will spend more money on you. The former personal independence

payments, is it right to balance the books on the back of some of the

most vulnerable people in society? Of course it is not. We have to look

at a huge welfare budget and target sections. But you also have to

work-out what is anomalous, where you are not helping people by making

them too dependent, where people were the better thing to do is to

help people back into work because there are more jobs than we have had

for years and years, better types of jobs. But it is no good saying the

Chancellor failed to get borrowing down to a proper level by 2015, now

spends more money and borrow some more. Of course you have to have

some popular things. A lot of public spending is very worthwhile. You

have to concentrate less. But the Chancellor, between waving his red

box about, in my case, having a of whiskey, underlining at all, we live

in the real world, he still has too much debt and it is slowing us down.

Next generations want us to hand on a well-run economy that is doing

better than half of the other western world economies, not worse.

That means controlling debt, at the same time stimulating the economy.

He has not controlled debt, debt has gone up by something like 500

billion since 2010. Nobody is suggesting we should not pay off the

debt and reduce the deficit. I would not lend you any money! It's pretty

simple, if people have more money in their pockets, they have better

jobs, they have more money to spend in the economy and the economy

grows. It's pretty straightforward economic model. The point is, nobody

is saying that we shouldn't reduce the deficit or the debt. It is about

at what pace you do it at. The problem, with the greatest respect,

is the Conservative Government has done it so quickly and fast that it

has devastated the markets and the poorest people in society, because

they are losing so much money. We literally have people, particularly

in England, where they are not protected the way they are in

Scotland, because we have done things like nobody has had to pay

the bedroom tax, we have made sure that we have stopped the worst of

the Tory cuts. They are so much worse off than they have ever been.

Rebecca Long-Bailey? It's important to set out that the deficit does

need to be reduced, myself and Ken are agreed on that. Labour has

opposed almost every measure George Osborne brought in? It is the way

you do it. You have to separate the deficit reduction from the long-term

plan. It's like putting your rent on your credit card, you should not

have to borrow to bring the deficit down, you do that with the money

coming through the Treasury. On the other hand, you need to invest in

our future, in an industrial strategy to create high-paid jobs.

He says that things like Crossrail our investment? He will make some

announcements about infrastructure, but only 9% of his infrastructure

pipeline has been implement it. Some of the issues leaked yesterday were

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

be a good news story, but it will be spun. The Chancellor said he wanted

?1 trillion of exports. It's going in the wrong direction, from 521

million, down to 513. We are calling for a reduction in duty on whiskey.

It is taxed at 70%, one of the highest in the world. I know that

Ken is a big fan. It sounds good, the export performance does need to

be improved, which means building a real economy sensibly. It would be

lovely if we could boost the performance by cutting the whiskey

tax, but it's about... It is 11%! It is the most cheery suggestion I have

heard, but there is four more involved in running a modern

economy. Ken Clarke says that no one will

remember this budget in three years' time, but disabled people will, that

is from a viewer, she says, I can assure you that they will. The

Chancellor delivering the budget at 12:30pm. We will be live from

Westminster at 11am, with full coverage of all of the developments

and the announcements. And we will have live budget updates, go to the

website. Still to come. We're expecting an

update from the Belgian prosecutor as a major anti-terror operation

continues following yesterday's raid in Brussels.

And food banks are warning that some women are using old socks and

newspapers as sanitary towels as they can't afford to buy them.

The main news so far: George Osborne is preparing to deliver his eighth

budget as Chancellor later, with a promise to put 'the next generation

first'. He is expected to announce further investment in the UK's

infrastructure but will also set out four-billion pounds of extra

spending cuts as he continue to target a budget surplus by 2020.

Extra funding for education is also expected, with a one point

five billion pound package that will force all state schools

Three hundred million pounds will also be committed

to the transport budget in order to kick start a second Crossrail

project in London and a new high speed link

Donald Trump has taken another stride towards securing

the Republican nomination for the US presidential election with victory

which forced Marco Rubio to pull out of the race.

Hillary Clinton marched on in the race for the Democrat

nomination after winning four states,

Our commander-in-chief has to be able to defend our country, not

embarrass it. CHEERING Engage allies, not alienate them,

defeat adverse areas, not embolden them. -- adverse Ariz. Unemployment

has fallen by 28,000, between December and January, official

figures just out show. That is a fall in unemployment of 28,000

between November and January. -- adverse arrears -- adverse areas.

Police in Belgium are continuing to search for suspects who may have

escaped during Tuesday's security operation in Brussels,

which was linked to last year's attacks in Paris.

One man, who was armed with an assault rifle,

was shot dead during the siege at an apartment in a suburb

There are unconfirmed reports that two suspects have been detained.

from the authorities in Belgium shortly, which we will bring to you.

A law banning the use of electronic cigarettes

looks set to be approved by the Welsh Assembly later.

If passed, the Bill would become a UK first and would restrict

the use of the devices in certain public places in Wales,

such as schools and places where food is served.

Sylvia Anderson, the co-creator of Thunderbirds, has died aged 88.

She was also the voice behind Lady Penelope,

the elegant aristocrat who moonlighted as a secret agent.

Sylvia also worked on Joe 90, Captain Scarlet and Stingray.

She died at her home in Bray, Berkshire,

Champions League me huge congratulations to Manchester City,

through to the last eight for the very first time. In their history.

It of a dull game but they did all of the work against

Dynamo Kyiv in the first round. Arsenal have a very different

picture tonight, they are against Barcelona, trailing 2-0, they have a

lot to do, they are off the pace in the Premier League and the FA Cup, a

lot of aches in this basket, we will see how that plays out. Tonight, in

Spain, England cricketers begin their world T20 campaign against

West Indies today in India, and then the news turns a little bit sour, as

far as board is concerned, Lewis Hamilton has escaped punishment from

police in New Zealand after appearing to fill himself on a

motorcycle on the motorway in Auckland, and I would not quite

called it a teaser, but join us at 10am, we will talk about the

footballers who have shamed themselves at the Cheltenham

Festival. Belgian prosecutors are due to hold

a press conference in the next few minutes following reports that two

suspects have been detained as a result of those anti-terrorism

raids. We'll bring you that live - but first our correspondent

Christian Fraser is where the raids have been taking place. We are

outside the house in Forest, where the raid took place, the cordon has

been lifted, but there is plenty of evidence of the intense firefight

there was in this property, the windows of the second and third

floors have been blown out, and all around us, evidence of the friends

of work that went on through the evening, plastic gloves on the

windowsill, if we show you pictures we shot earlier, you will see that

those windows at the back have been blown out as well. These low-slung

roofs give onto the property, it would be easy to get out and onto a

roof and into the gardens and the derelict land. Difficult to search

and contain those that were inside the apartment. We have been hearing

from the Belgian Prime Minister that the police that went in native of,

working with French colleagues, may have been pretty lucky. The shots

seem to have gone through the door as they were going in, one policeman

was hit in the year, another was saved by the weapon he was carrying.

-- ear. The operation went on for three hours, it is possible that the

gunmen they were seeking in the vicinity was shot three hours

afterwards. We can see how close we are to a primary school, that

wrecked building beyond the satellite truck is a primary school,

there would be parents and children milling around here, when the

operation was going on, the frightening for the residents in

these properties. We have been speaking with Lawrence, he was in an

adjacent building. We were allowed to leave our home, at about 6pm, it

started at 3pm. There was a long period, no noises, and then, it

started again. It was here, it was here. Was the man that was skilled

killed outside? I don't know but I saw that the snipers were there, on

the top of my roof. You were inside at the time? With your children? I

am working here only, not living here, but there were five people, we

were scared, we were wondering what to do. Backed away from the windows.

We covered the windows, and as we have a big place into the house,

where you could jump into it, we were a bit scared. It does sound

quite scary. Yes, we were quite scared. Speculation in the Belgian

press and precious little fact, we are waiting for the press

conference, one theory in the newspapers is that the gunmen who

was killed was outside the property, spotted by a helicopter, still

carrying a rifle and gunned down industry. Also unconfirmed reports

that two gunmen inside the house who got out of the kitchen window that

we showed you have now been arrested. There is no police

presence here today, no house-to-house searches, we have not

seen the helicopters, it is low-key at the moment. The real things we

need to know from the prosecutor this morning, who is the dead man?

What is the connection of the three people in the apartment to the Paris

attacks question? people in the apartment to the Paris

attacks What information might they have? What is the threat level? We

are told it is three, one below the highest threat level, do they think

there is a bigger cell in Forest or in Mullen back, and what are they

going to do about it? We will be back with you if there is any

development, and when the press conference happens, we will bring it

to you live, of course, as soon as it begins. -- Molenbeek.

The Chancellor is to promise more money for schools when he delivers

his budget later today- he wants the school day to be longer and also

wants to remove every school in England from local authority

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

his plans. Next this morning, "shocking"

claims that some women are using old socks,

hankies and newspapers as sanitary towels because they can't

afford to buy them. Volunteers from the Darlington

Salvation Army food bank say many women are too embarrassed

to ask for help. They've now begun to hand out free

sanitary products and started a campaign to raise awareness

about how women's health is at risk. Major Colin Bradshaw who runs

the foodbank has started using the hashtag

"begging for a tampon." He wants to get sanitary products

on prescription or a voucher system. He's written to every female MP

alerting them to the problem including the Darlington MP

Jenny Chapman, I know that we spoke with yesterday

about a very different issue, what is your reaction, if this is the

case? It is the case, we have known for some time it is the case, what

is good about what Colin is doing is that he is really giving it some

profile, he has a very good campaign going, and what he is highlighting

is not just the issue around tampons, it is an issue around

female homelessness, which is often hidden, and people do not realise

just how many women and girls are sleeping rough on our streets. I

think it is great what he is doing, and we need to find solutions for

it. Is he saying that it is homeless women who are

using handkerchiefs and newspapers and old socks as tampons? Not only

homeless women but homelessness and these issues go hand in hand, what

we are seeing is that people are very happy to donate things like

beans and pasta, to food banks, we have a collection point for a food

bank in my office in Darlington, we are having to say, please donate

other items. They are essentials, they are not things that any of us

can do without. It is not just about homelessness, that is true, but

homelessness and these issues with Tampax and sanitary ware,

people do not think about them and it affects health and it also

affects dignity, as well. I am pleased about this campaign and I

think that there is many different solutions that have been put

forward, the good thing is that at last we are shining a light on it.

As well as people donating sanitary towels and tampons to food banks,

what can MPs do about it? He has written to every female MP, perhaps

it should be every MP? It is great that it is a man that is

highlighting this as a problem, it seems to be getting the attention of

the media, many women have been trying to do this for quite some

time. What we need, there is a few things we could have, we could have

the distribution, not just through food banks but other places that

people go, and also he is suggesting something about Tampax on

prescription, which may be in some cases a good idea, because some

things that we find is that people who move frequently, often do not

access health services in a way that would be really help if they did and

could prevent problems in the long run. His idea about vouchers is

interesting, although there is obviously problems with

stigmatisation around that. There is a whole host of issues that are

revealed by this one campaign, and that shows what a great campaign it

is. I would encourage people to get on board with the social media and

put pressure on their MPs as well. What we know about homelessness, and

people losing their jobs, and services being

removed by local authorities, because of funding decisions, is

that anybody can find themselves in these kind of desperate situations.

I think that what he's important, in terms of exposing

something that we do not about enough, frankly.

Nigel Webster is a volunteer at a food bank in Nottinghamshire, a

woman said that she had also been using newspaper as a sanitary towel.

We feed maybe 3000 people a year at the food bank. When they come to us,

when they are in desperate straits and absolute poverty, it is not just

food they are short of, but basic products for hygiene, that might

include toilet paper, soap, and a woman came to us really sad and

distressed, and was so pleased when we could give her some sanitary

towels, we had some donated, she burst into tears. One of the things

that stuck with me, it's not always the hunger, she said, it's not

always the cold, it is the basic lack of hygiene and having to do

humiliating things like using torn up newspaper as a sanitary towel.

She said that is what really got her, with the poverty. It's a really

sad situation when people are so desperate that they have to resort

to measures such as that. I understand that you have had

husbands and boyfriends coming in, asking on behalf of their partners?

Yes, that's right. I am a normal bloke, the part of the supermarket

with a sanitary product is what I would avoid, rightly or wrongly.

When men come in on behalf of their partners, sometimes across a crowded

room they will ask us for sanitary towels and I know, as a man, that is

a difficult and humiliating thing to do. The thing about poverty and

hunger is not just the lack of, it is the humiliation people

experience. Thank you very much. Jenny, I was going to read some

comments, Michelle has tweeted that this is a shocking story, women

using old socks as sanitary towels because they can't afford to buy

them. Howard says it is not a shock, the Government thinks they are a

luxury item regarding BAT. Is that relevant? -- regarding VAT. The

tampon tax, is that relevant? It is, because it puts the cost up, but

there is an attitude issue. We need women to say these are not luxury

items, they are essentials. Whoever you are, you should not be paying

extra for something that you need in order to live a normal life with

dignity. Sometimes, we have, historically, been very shy about

these issues. What is good is that programmes like this, campaigns that

Colin is doing, they are saying, let's do away with all of that,

let's be upfront and blunt about it. We need these products. Some people

cannot afford to pay for them, but it doesn't mean that the rest of us

should pay for it. You can use our hashtag or send an e-mail, or you

can message on Facebook. We're waiting for this press conference

from the Belgian prosecutor who is expected to give more details about

the terror raid in Brussels yesterday and the unconfirmed

reports that two suspects have been detained. The press conference, it

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

A social media campaign with the hashtag #unfairandlovely is

challenging the idea that fair skin is most attractive. Women have been

explaining why they come under pressure to lighten their skin.

You can see more of those films on the BBC news site.

In America it looks more certain than ever that the Presidential

battle will be between the billionaire TV star Donald Trump

for the Republicans - and the former First Lady Hilary

Overnight Donald Trump was officially nominated

as Republican candidate in the American states of Florida,

But he lost to rival John Kasich - who calls himself "the grown up"

Here's Donald Trump attacking the press coverage he's received,

in a typically bombastic speech last night.

I have to say, nobody has ever come in history or politics, received the

kind of negative advertising that I have. Racket, racket, racket. Mostly

false. I would not say 100%, but about 90%. Vicious, horrible. They

say it was 18 million the first week, meaning last week, and 25

million, it added up to over $14 million. You explain it to me,

because I can't. My numbers went up, I don't understand it. Nobody

understands it. My numbers went up. Donald Trump's rival for the

nomination, Marco Rubio, actually failed to win in his home state of

Florida and pulled out of the race. This is the right way forward for

our country. After tonight, it is clear while we are on the right

side, this year, we will not be on the winning side. While it is not

God's plan that I be President in 2016, or maybe ever, and while today

my campaign is suspended, the fact I have even come this far is evidence

of how special America truly is. And all the reason more why we should do

all we can to ensure this nation remains a special place. I asked the

American people, do not give the fear.

Hillary Clinton cemented her status as the clear favourite for the

Democratic nomination with a very comfortable victory in Florida,

along with wins in Ohio, Illinois and North Carolina. Celebrating in

Florida, she rounded on the policies of Donald Trump. Our

commander-in-chief has to be able to defend our country, not embarrass

it. Engage our lives, not alienate them. Defeat our enemies, not

embolden them. When we hear a candidate for President talking

about rounding up 12 million immigrants, banning Muslims from

entering the United States, when he embraces torture, that does not make

him strong. It makes him wrong! More on that later. Thank you for

your many messages about a conversation with which we began the

programme, with an SNP representative, Hannah Bardell, with

Rebecca Long-Bailey from the Labour Party, the Shadow Treasury Minister,

and Conservative former Chancellor Ken Clarke. A text says what an

ignorant man Ken Clarke is. We have no more to give when it comes to

cuts. He talks so lightly of cutting quicker and flippantly jokes about

it. We are on our knees. Another text, with a national debt of 1.5

trillion, 23,500 for every person and hundreds of waste, it is about

time George Osborne talk proper action. This twit, generally I like

Ken Clarke, but he doesn't half talk some guff when he is defending his

mates. This one, increasing insurance tax will impact on the

service charge and really affect leasehold flat owners. There are

many more, I will try to read as many as we can between now and the

end of the programme. One thing we do know is going to happen when

George Osborne stands up, his to call for a longer school in England.

Secondary schools will be able to bid for cash for extra activities

after school like sport and art to allow them to remain

Loads of schools already do this of course -

but there will be funding on offer for a quarter of schools.

He's also ending the 100 year old system of Local Education

All schools will have to become academies by 2022.

So, what impact will this have on schools and pupils?

If you're a parent or teacher - do get in touch this morning.

Anne Swift is the Vice President of the National Union of Teachers,

the teaching union that represents 300,000 teachers

Jonathan Molver is a headteacher of King Solomon Academy School.

The extra money for a quarter of schools in England to open longer,

what do you think? It is a drop in the ocean, for a quarter of schools,

as you said, over four years. Schools need money. They need every

penny they can get, to carry out their core purpose of educating

young people. Welcome as it is, it is not offset the other cats that

are being made to funding to schools. -- cuts. If it is being

allocated to a quarter of schools, it means some will miss out, do you

see a widening gap? It could be, there are no details about how it is

going to happen. Schools already offer a lot of after-school

provision for young people. Where this happens, which schools are

entitled to it, we don't know. It could seriously widen the gaps

between schools. Every state school in England being forced to become an

academy by 2022, with an extra ?1.5 billion to help them convert,

although some of the money is for schools to open longer. Let's be

clear what being an academy means, instead of the local education

authority being in control, in control of the money, the

headteacher will be in control, getting the money directly from the

government. There is no board of governors, the school does not have

to follow the national curriculum. What do you think of this idea? It

is a surprise, in the sense that schools are going to be forced to

become academies. That was not in the Government's manifesto. I think

it is a distraction from the other issues. There are not enough

teachers, not another school places. The Government needs to focus on

that. The academy programme, they talk about it being about choice,

head teachers having control budgets. We already have control of

budgets. Headteachers have for quite a long time, since local management

of schools came in some years ago. It cuts out the middleman and the

education authority? The local authority has a lot of functions to

perform. They act as a safety net for schools. There is a lot of

expertise that schools can draw on from the local authority. They can

collaborate together. They get a lot of services from the local

authorities under the academies programme they will have to buy

those from other providers. That means there will be some money to be

made from this programme for companies that want to offer

services to schools. Is that fundamentally a bad thing? I think

it is, yes. I think the NUT would think it is. There is a lot of

undemocratic nature about this as well, parents will no longer have

any voice or choice if the school is going to be turned into an academy.

There is little evidence that it raises standards. The Education

Select Committee, last year, a cross-party group of MPs, found they

could not see any evidence for primaries to become academies.

Michael Wiltshire has said he has serious concerns about some of the

Academy chains running schools. It opens the way for anybody to be

running a school, taking money from central government to provide

education, which I think is a big distraction from underfunding,

shortage of school places and shortage of teachers. Thank you.

Time for the latest weather. This morning we have had a real

variety of weather across the UK. Some have had lovely blue skies. A

bit of cloud across parts of Wales. We have also seen some lovely

weather across the Highlands, again, it has been like this for the last

couple of days. In Lewis, blue skies. But it hasn't been like this

everywhere. There has been some low cloud and fog. This picture was

taken by one of the weather watchers. Another one, showing some

fog. Tricky conditions if you are out and about. This weather front is

moving from the east towards the north, we can all the time of the

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

worth noting that we have the keen easterly breeze taking the edge off

the temperatures. Low cloud, hillfort and sea fog in the North

through the day. The best of the sunshine across parts of the South,

justice and fair weather cloud floating around across the course of

the day. Temperatures and the low cloud are really suppressed. Still

looking at highs of ten or 11. Possibly more than that across the

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

and overnight, we hang onto this keen north-easterly breeze. There

will be quite a bit of cloud around, hillfort once again. Some snow

grains quite possible across the the Pennines. A cold night. Where the

sky is clear, we are looking at a touch of Frost. Tomorrow, we start

on a cloudy note. Like today, we have a keen breeze taking the edge

off the temperatures. Still, across eastern Scotland and North England,

we hang onto this cloud. Through the day it will travel south across

parts of Lincolnshire, possibly down towards the wash area in Norfolk.

Meanwhile, out towards the west, more clout than we have seen across

western Scotland, but moving inland, somewhere like Aviemore could have

highs of 16 and will get ten, 11 or 13 in the south.

The main news this morning: George Osborne is preparing

to deliver his eighth budget as Chancellor later,

with a promise to put the next generation first.

George Osborne is getting ready to deliver his eighth Budget today with

another four billion pounds of cuts expected - our political guru will

set out what's likely to come up. Today's the day when we learn what

is in the Chancellor 's red budget box, will it be boring or bold, is

he hemmed in from doing any thing because of the EU referendum? Also

on the programme - mass murderer Anders Breivik accuses the Norwegian

state of trying to kill him with isolation in prison. As he appears

in court, we'll speak to two people who survived his massacre.

And there's still a lifetime ban on gay men in Northern Ireland donating

blood - today a judge in Belfast will rule whether it's

discriminatory. We'll speak to one man who wants to give blood but

can't. The main news this morning:

George Osborne is preparing to deliver his eighth budget

as Chancellor later, with a promise to put

the next generation first. He is expected to announce further

investment in the UK's infrastructure but will also set out

?4 billion extra spending cuts as he continue to target

a budget surplus by 2020. Former Chancellor, Ken Clarke

says further cuts would It would be nice if we could go a

bit faster, that would be better for the economy, we will all be better

off in the long term if we could get back to sanity in the way that we

run the public finances. Any economic plan he puts forward today,

unfortunately I think we will see another budget littered with

failures, trying to plug the gaps by hitting the low paid and the

vulnerable. Extra funding for education

is expected to be announced, that will force all state schools

to become academies. ?300 million will also be committed

to the transport budget in order to kick start a second Crossrail

project in London and a new high speed link across

the north of England. Figures released this morning show

unemployment falling by 28,000 between November and January to 1.68

million. It means that the number of people in work is at its joint

highest since current records began in 1971. There has also been a rise

in average earnings. Donald Trump has taken another

stride towards securing the Republican nomination for the US

presidential election with victory including

the key state of Florida, which forced Marco Rubio

to pull out of the race. Hillary Clinton marched

on in the race for the Democrat nomination after

winning four states, Our commander-in-chief has to be

able to defend our country, not embarrass it. CHEERING

Engage our allies, not alienate them. Defeat our adversaries, not

embolden them. Police in Belgium are continuing

to search for suspects who may have escaped during Tuesday's security

operation in Brussels, which was linked to last

year's attacks in Paris. One man, who was armed

with an assault rifle, was shot dead during the siege

at an apartment in a suburb There are unconfirmed reports that

two suspects have been detained. We're expecting a press conference

from the authorities in Belgium A law banning the use of electronic

cigarettes in places where children are present looks set to be approved

by the Welsh Assembly later. If passed, the Bill would become

a UK first and would restrict the use of the devices in certain

public places in Wales, such as schools and places

where food is served. Sylvia Anderson, the

co-creator of Thunderbirds, She was also the voice

behind Lady Penelope, the elegant aristocrat

who moonlighted as a secret agent. Sylvia also worked on Joe 90,

Captain Scarlet and Stingray. She died at her home

in Bray, Berkshire, Football first, record-breaking

night for Manchester City in Europe first, but we have got to talk about

the Champions League Mountain Arsenal have to climb if they are to

reach the quarterfinals, small task of overturning a 2-0 deficit against

reigning champions Barcelona at the Nou Camp. Arsene Wenger has come

under fire recently, his team knocked out of the FA Cup, out of

the room you lead race, but Arsene Wenger insist that after 20 years at

the club, the fire is still burning. I'm even more motivated than the

first day that I arrived, I feel the responsibility and the pressure to

keep this club moving forward. When you have been somewhere for a

long-term, all of these questions about the duration, personally, I do

not question my dedication, it is 100%. -- for a long time. I have

more desire now than when I arrived. Manchester City reached the

quarterfinals for the first time beating Dynamo Kyiv, 3-1, last

night's second leg finished goalless, 3-1 on aggregate. Vincent

company hobbled off early on and will be out for a month. -- Vincent

Kompany. Jesus never said the post for Manchester City, Manchester City

advancing to the last eight. -- Jesus Navas. Cheltenham have

cancelled the booking of a group of footballers from championship club

MK Dons of the pictures showed one from the club you're an ageing into

a beer glass at the festival yesterday. This morning's Sun

newspaper showed semi-Carruthers relieving himself on a balcony

outside of a private box on the course, Cheltenham have blocked the

party from attending today, and MK Dons have launched an internal

investigation into the incident. Players from Bristol city and

Northampton town are also believed to be involved. It is day two of the

Festival, day one belonged to Ruby Walsh and Willie Mullins, winning

three of the six races, including the Champion hurdle, which went to

the first mayor to win for 22 years. Annie Power - the first mare to win

for 22 years. Douvan and Vroum Vroum Mag were the other big race winners

for Walsh and Mullins and they have the favourite for today's big race,

the Champion Chase, as well. One sad note from yesterday though was the

news that three horses lost their lives at Cheltenham. The Govaness,

Pont Alexandre and Rezorbi suffered fatal injuries in their races.

England's cricketers make their England's cricketers make their

World T20 bow this afternoon, opening their campaign against the

West Indies in Mumbai. England won the competition back in 2010 and

their camp is confident this time of a better showing than recent ICC

events, having gone out in group stage of the last World T20 and 50

over World Cup. And hot water for Lewis Hamilton - the Formula One

world champion has been investigated by police in New Zealand after

appearing to film himself riding a motorbike. Hamilton was visiting

Auckland ahead of this weekend's first Grand Prix of the season in

Australia, and posted this footage of himself riding on the motorway.

Police, however, say they won't be taking any further action due to

lack of sufficient evidence. We know that he is good at driving,

two wheels or 4-wheel is, that is not good. -- two wheels or 4-wheels.

Thank you for joining us this morning, welcome to the programme

if you've just joined us, we're on BBC 2 and the BBC

throughout the programme we'll bring you the latest breaking news

News from Darlington that says that women cannot afford

to buy sanitary products. How low can this country get, we mean

using newspapers as sanitary products. Part of the problem is

that cemetery towels are priced like luxury items. -- sanitary

towels. People should give them to food banks, it has been said. I

certainly never thought of that. This from Dawn, people in poverty,

2016, somebody needs to explain why they are classed as a luxury item.

This is from Annette who works at a food bank,

we have been doing this off our own back for years, also, washing

powder, nappies, Raul, so on and so forth.

Local communities are brilliant at bringing things in. Last week a

family brought in fresh fruit but get in touch through the normal ways

as well. Wherever you are you can

watch our programme online, via the bbc news app or our website

bbc.co.uk/victoria. The Chancellor is expected to set

out his plans today for making four BILLION pounds more cuts by 2020 as

he sets out his Budget statement in parliament later on this lunchtime..

So who will be the big winners and losers?

We are all set the big day, we are all here, you can see some of the

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

Today is the national housekeeping day, the day when the government

does the equivalent of the annual tax return, working out what cash is

coming in and what is going out and how the books will be balanced, what

kind of deep mess you are in, and also it is a day is steeped in

tradition, the famous red box moment when the Chancellor urges on the

steps of Downing Street, clasping the red box,

surrounded by grim faced treasury ministers, who look like they have

the woes of the world on their faces. That red

box goes all the way back to Gladstone, he was the

first one to get that through what is usually a very long speech. You

may find there is not much in the red box. Is hemmed in big-time by

the fact that he really does not have much money. The economy is

slowing down, there is all sorts of difficulties elsewhere in the world.

Oil prices plummeting. The Chinese economy is going ever more slowly,

and just at the weekend George Osborne on the television has said

there will be more cuts. The world is a more uncertain place than at

any time since the financial crisis. We need to act now so that we do not

pay later. That is why I need to find additional savings, equivalent

to 50p in every hundred pounds spent by the government by the end of the

decade, we must leave within our means, to stay secure. -- live

within our means. What might we get today from the Chancellor?

Imagine the budget is a spaghetti western, it is not very likely but

they are with me, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. I am renaming it, The

Good, The Bad and The Unknown. We may see tax cuts, he may ease the

40p rate, to ease some of the burden. We may also get more cash

from roads and railways, he hinted at this yesterday, when he was

trying to speed up the trans-Pennine rail link he also talked about

boring road tunnel -- boring a road tunnel through the Peak District.

And largely, the rabbit, it has become part of the great tradition

of budgets, although I suppose we ought to say a raccoon, rather than

a rabbit. Let's move on to the bad cowboy, Lee Van Cleef, what can we

expect? Stealth taxes, chancellors always go to that kind of thing,

things you do not notice until you have debates are insuring or stamp

duty and suddenly find that you have been hit in the pocket.

Lastly we have the unknown, the man of mystery, and the real mystery

today, centres around the all duty, what is it going to do about fuel

duty, the government has frozen fuel duty for about four or five years

and there is a lot of pressure on the Chancellor this time to put it

up. A lot of motorists will be very

unhappy with fuel duty increases, so would a lot of Tory backbenchers. So

much for the spaghetti western. . The EU referendum has basically

changed everything at Westminster. It is on a knife edge and the stakes

are colossal for Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne. If they lose, it could be

farewell to both of them and their prospects. The stakes are huge and

Mr Osborne does not want to do anything that might enrage Tory

backbenchers. Cabinet ministers, when they were arriving, they will

have been thinking about the budget, but there will also be thinking

about the EU referendum. That absolutely dominates life here at

Westminster. It might be the anxiety not to anger Cabinet ministers who

want to get out, the Tory MPs who want to get out of the European

Union. Here is the thing, my take on today, I think there will be a lot

of big numbers. There will be a lot of bold promises, a lot of big

bonanza rhetoric. But at the end of the day, when you strip it down and

cut down, I think this might actually be quite a cautious and

careful budget because Mr Osborne wants to be on his best behaviour

and doesn't want to upset his party. The Chancellor George Osborne

will be delivering his budget We'll be live from Westminster at 11

o'clock with full coverage The police complaints watchdog has

launched an investigation into allegations of racial

discrimination and excessive force by British Transport Police

officers during an incident at London's St Pancras

train station. It comes after video footage -

filmed by an onlooker - Mark Ashdown has the story. What are

the accusations against these British Transport Police officers?

It happened last Tuesday, inside the barriers at the top of the escalator

at St Pancras tube station. A man is about to go through the barriers, he

is approached by two British transport officers. An onlooker

filmed what happened next. The footage was uploaded to YouTube.

It has been viewed about 20,000 times. We cannot verify what

happened, who filmed it or what happened leading up to that. Tell us

about the investigation? The IPCC, which investigates anything

controversial to do with any police force, they have said they are

launching an investigation into this. They released a statement

saying they are looking into allegations of racial discrimination

and excessive use of force against a black man during his arrest. The

British Transport Police referred themselves to the IPCC. They have

not commented on the investigation. They have said a man has been

charged, a member of the public, he is 40, from south-east London. He

has been charged with fairer evasion, assaulting a police officer

and resisting a constable. He has been released on bail. The IPCC said

due to the seriousness of the allegation, we have taken the

decision to conduct an independent investigation. It will be looking at

all of the circumstances around the use of force and the arrest of

individual involved. The mass murderer Anders Breivik

is giving evidence at a court in Norway today - he's arguing that

being kept in isolation contravenes the European Convention

on Human Rights which forbids Yesterday he gave a Nazi

salute in court. This morning, he's told the court

he would fight 'to the death' Breivik killed 77 people in 2011

when he bombed central Oslo and then We speak to two survivors of that

attack Anders Breivik carried out in 2011,

Ole Martin Juul Slyngstadli When you saw Anders Breivik give

that Nazi salute, what did you think? I'm not paying any attention

to this. All I want to say about the trial is that I believe in the rule

of law and that is all. What about you, Mani Hussainin? We know that

the survivors are still struggling as a result of the terrible events

at Utoya in 2011. This particular trial can bring back strong

reactions for those that were there. That is why we ask and hope that

everybody can respect that, but as Ole Martin Juul Slyngstadli says, we

are strong supporters of the rule of law and we respect that this trial

was brought to court. The most important thing now is that it does

not become an opportunity for the terrorist to spread his message of

hatred. But the fact that he is able to bring his case, you respect that?

Yes, well, we are very firm and strong supporters of the state of

law. That is something we cherish. That is why we respect the trial.

What we are asking for, that this trial does not become a place that

he can spread his message of hatred. For instance, the Nazi salutes,

spreading the pictures of that, I am not sure if that is news or maybe

something that is used to spread his ideas, because he knows that he is a

mass murderer, children Keller, a terrorist --

killer and a terrorist. Do you think that would influence people, seeing

that image, to support him or what his message of hatred is? Something

I am proud of is that in Norway, just after the terror attacks, it

was a huge community within the Norwegian people and that has grown

stronger since that time. Despite of that, we are seeing an uprising of

right-wing movements, both here in Norway and also in Europe. We know

that people, there are some people that support his ideas, but we know

that when these ideas grow, spread, that they can lead to terrible

terror attacks against innocent people. My organisation, our

country, we have never experienced that. By right-wing movements, do

you mean people that are against foreigners? Well, the uprising we

saw last year is by, in the northern country, we have Soldiers Of Odin,

which is a neo-Nazi movement. They have become stronger in the last

year because of the refugee crisis we have seen. We know that within

those movements you have people who salute the terrorist, Anders

Breivik, and they say that they support his ideas. Not his actions,

but his ideas. For me, if you support his ideas, in a way, also

you support his actions because the action became because of the ideas.

In our opinion, it is very dangerous for our society and also the whole

of Europe. I think you believe that Anders Breivik specifically targeted

certain people in his attack in 2011, rather than shooting

indiscriminately, what was it about the AUF, the Labour youth wing, that

Anders Breivik hated? It was the politics. It was not a random choice

of organisation, he chose it for a reason, that is because of what we

stand for. Would you like to explain to our British audience what it is

your organisation, the Labour youth wing, to stand for? Well, I believe

Mani was a better person to answer that, but it is for a stronger

society. And also the strong support that every person in Norway should

have equal opportunities and we should not discriminate against

people based on the colour of their skin, your background, your gender.

What we work for is a society, inclusive society for everyone. That

is what Anders Breivik and the people who support him, they don't

believe in that notion of how society should be. They believe

society should be divided, that you have countries, communities, where

one type of people are, and they don't agree that all types of people

can live together. I think that is one of the many reasons why he

attacked our organisation. Most importantly, it is the politics. He

attacked our beliefs and he targeted the children, because he knew that

many of those will become leaders, supporting the idea that everybody

should have equal rights. What do you recall about your own experience

on that day? Well, I'm not very comfortable about talking about that

on air, so I'm not going to do that today, I'm afraid. That's OK.

Kobayashi the same question? What is my opinion now? What do you recall

of your experience that day? Well, for many people, the 22nd of July is

still in our memories. For those that were there, I personally was

not at Utoya, but I know that for many of my friends it is something

that brings strong reactions. But his widest trial, this particular

trial -- that is why this trial, this particular trial, brings back

strong reactions for those people. Maybe that is the lasting thing.

Thank you for your time, we appreciated.

Still to come, should e-cigarettes be banned in some public places? It

is likely to happen in Wales, where the government says they risk

normalising smoking to children. There are reports and American has

been jailed in North Korea for stealing propaganda material. We

will speak to an expert on the secretive state.

George Osborne is preparing to deliver his eighth budget

as Chancellor later, with a promise to put

He is expected to announce further investment in the UK's

infrastructure but will also set out four-billion pounds of extra

spending cuts as he continue to target a budget surplus by 2020.

Former Chancellor Ken Clarke says further cuts

It would be nice if he could go a bit faster, I think it would be

better for the British economy, we would all be better off in the

long-term if we could get on with getting back to sanity in a way that

we the public finances. Any economic plan he puts forward today,

unfortunately I think we will see another budget littered with

failures, where he tries to plug the gaps hitting the low and vulnerable.

Within the budget, extra funding for education is expected to be

will force all state schools to become academies.

to the transport budget in order to kick start a second Crossrail

project in London and a new high speed link across the north of

Figures released this morning show unemployment falling by 28,000

between November and January to 1.68 million.

It means that the number of people in work is at its joint highest

There has also been a rise in average earnings.

Donald Trump has taken another stride towards securing

the Republican nomination for the US presidential election with victory

in three primaries - including the key state of Florida,

which forced Marco Rubio to pull out of the race.

Hillary Clinton marched on in the race for the Democrat

nomination after winning four states, and had this to say about Mr

Our commander-in-chief has to be able to defend our country,

CHEERING Engage our allies, not alienate them.

Defeat our adversaries, not embolden them.

Police in Belgium are continuing to search for suspects who may have

escaped during Tuesday's security operation in Brussels,

which was linked to last year's attacks in Paris.

One man, who was armed with an assault rifle,

was shot dead during the siege at an apartment in a suburb

There are unconfirmed reports that two suspects have been detained.

We can go to the press conference right now. Although we do not have a

translation at the moment. A law banning the use of electronic

cigarettes in places where children are present looks set to be approved

by the Welsh Assembly later. If passed, the Bill would become

a UK first and would restrict the use of the devices in certain

public places in Wales, such as schools and places

where food is served. TRANSLATION: It is in the interests

of the ongoing investigation which is still ongoing.

My name is Eric, this is my colleague, we both work for the

prosecutor 's office. TRANSLATION: Following the attacks

in Paris, a search was carried out here, yesterday, at 1450, in capital

of following an analysis by the Federal bureau of Brussels during

the enquiry, and especially by the anti-terrorist group of the DRV. --

DR3. -- in Forest. 58 people have been detained during the operation

of searches, 23 others related to the Paris attack. Ex-policeman, made

up of four Belgian and two French inspectors, this raid was made up of

a Belgian French team. Once the door of the flat had opened, at least two

persons armed with Kalashnikov rifles opened fire immediately on

the policeman. A brief exchange, a tense exchange of fire, followed,

and three of the six policemen were slightly injured, including a French

policewoman. During the exchange of fire, the pistol of the policeman

was hit, the impact of bullets coming from the shooters was found

on the Kevlar vest. Thanks to the professional reaction of the

policeman there are, they have managed to

neutralise the attackers, a number of exchange of fires were hurt. --

heard. One suspect was neutralised, following shots from specialist

units. He was shooting at the police from a window, from the flat where

he was entrenched. INAUDIBLE By his body was found a book about

Salafist and a flag of the Islamic State, also found in the apartment.

-- 's we found a number of ammunitions, no

explosives were found. The person killed was identified during last

night, his name is Muhammad, he was born on the 9th of July, 1980. He

has an Algerian nationality. -- a book about Salafism. His stay

in the country was not known to judicial police, other than he

carried out a robbery in 2014. Two other people at the flat, whose

identity is still unknown to today, have managed to a -- escape, and a

Sergio being carried out to arrest them. During

last night, another search was carried out in another district, we

found two Kalashnikovs, and a black vest, near this building.

The searches have yielded finding another

Kalashnikovs in this flat. We carried out other searches but they

were negative. We search a garage and a warehouse, nearby. This search

yielded nothing and it was negative. At the end of the afternoon or

during last night, 8pm, local time, one injured person was

admitted to hospital. His leg was broken.

We have not identified him. The person who took this person to

hospital following another search, and raid, at a house, at another

location, one person was taken to a police station for interrogation and

questioning. We are still examining the details

of this person, that is why we cannot give you the identity of the

person. We have carried out a raid and a search but nothing can yet be

communicated as a result of this raid. The enquiry, the investigation

and enquiry is ongoing day and night, we cannot give you more

details, so as not to harm the enquiry under way.

STUDIO: We will get a translation in a moment, we will remind you of what

the first federal prosecutor had to say. He told us that since the

November Paris attacks, 100 searches have been carried out, 58 people

detained, in terms of the operation, six police officers involved, during

a firefight, police officer was injured, they found a variety of

issues during -- weapons during searches, including Kalashnikovs,

they found a flag of Islamic State inside an apartment. A suspect was

killed, Rocky Muhammad, aged 35, not known to the police, but he did

carry out a robbery a couple of years ago. -- Raqim Mohammed.

Another suspect is in hospital with a broken leg, news and identified.

Another suspect is being questioned at a police station. More details to

come from the Belgian prosecutors and as soon as they release them, we

will bring them to you live. Coming up: cases of scarlet fever are at

their highest level since the 1960s and parents and anyone else looking

after children need to be vigilant to the early signs, according to

public health officials. Children aged two to eight years-old

are mainly at risk of the distinctive pink-red rash and if

left untreated can in some cases cause serious complications. It is a

seasonal infectious disease, this time of year, numbers rise, caused

by a bacteria called group based at the clock is. It is characterised by

a sore throat, then a rash, a couple of days later. Starts in the body,

may spread to other parts of the body, usually stays off the face but

it can have a flushed appearance, which is what gives scarlet fever

its name. -- group A Streptococcus. This is no different to what we have

seen in previous years. That is likely to be a reflection of

immunity, we develop immunities as we get older. Why the rise? We have

been investigating this, the rise has been ongoing for a couple of

years, we have looked at many things, trying to investigate if

there is a new strain that has come into the population which has caused

the rise. There is not a new strain, they are diverse, they have been

going for quite a long time. The other thing we can roll out is there

has not been a rise in antibiotic resistance, which would have been

one possible reason for the rise. What is the advice from Public

Health England? Be aware that this is the time of year when we see more

cases, we are having around 600 people diagnosed, primarily children

but adults as well, over the next few weeks, those numbers are likely

to rise, parents can be aware of the signs and symptoms of scarlet fever,

get in touch with your GP if you are concerned, the rash should be looked

at to make sure it is scarlet fever and is not something else. If you

are diagnosed and given a course of antibiotics, be sure to complete the

course. Stay away from school and work for the first 24 hours of the

antibiotics. After that you are much less infectious to other people.

Thank you very much. There's still a lifetime ban on gay

men in Northern Ireland donating blood even though in England,

Scotland and Wales men can donate if they haven't had sex

in the previous year. It's been the subject of a legal row

that's lasted nearly 5 years and today a judge at the Court

of Appeal in Belfast will rule if a lifetime ban is discriminatory

but will also settle a row about whether or not the decision

to lift the ban lies with the Northern Ireland Health

Minister or the Secretary of State Our reporter Peter Coulter

is in Belfast and has been A lifetime ban, why? Began in 2011,

when a lifetime ban was lifted in England, Scotland and Wales. It did

not happen in Northern Ireland, because health care is devolved,

each health minister can make their decision. The Minister in Northern

Ireland said he was not convinced by the scientific evidence and he

wanted to see some more to make sure blood would be safe. Five years on,

the issue is still not resolved. Why is Jeremy Hunt involved? If you

think about the blood network, Northern Ireland gets a lot of its

blood from England, Scotland and Wales, and the band is not in place

any more, it is just the 12 month deferral. It seems a bit silly here

if ban applies here and the judge felt that way as well. He said it

wasn't really up to Edwin Poots to make a decision about it, it was up

to the secretary of health. He didn't want to rule on that, so he

appealed. He was criticised by Andy Burnham for doing that. Hopefully,

we will find out who is going to be responsible. How much support is

there in Northern Ireland for the ban? It has changed over the last

couple of years. When the ban was lifted in England and Wales, Edwin

Poots said he had two pieces of evidence to support his claim. A BBC

investigation revealed it was not medical evidence. We also know that

the blood transfusion service have the testing in place to be able to

do adequate checks on the blood. I think people are starting to get a

bit fed up. I think people are hoping that it is going to come to a

conclusion today and people are fed up with how much money has been

spent on it. So, in England, Wales and Scotland, gay men can only give

blood if they have not had sex in 12 months, which many people say is

still effectively a ban. Ben Kelly is a gay man

from Londonderry in Northern Ireland and wants to donate blood there -

he's currently living and working Is its discrimination? If in the UK

a 12 month deferral is good enough, it is good enough for Northern

Ireland. The only reason discrimination might come into it is

that there is a difference in Northern Ireland, it has been upheld

by previous health ministers. Now the new guy, Simon Hamilton, is

willing to change that if the evidence says that blood is safer in

the UK since the decision to scrap the lifetime ban. Some gay men still

think the 12 month limitation is still effectively a ban. What do you

think? Unfortunately, gay men are still disproportionately affected by

HIV, we know that. The 12 month period is cautious, it is sensible.

As far as I'm concerned, it is supported by the Terrence Higgins

trust, and the 12 month window also encompasses people who have had

viruses in that time, people who visited African countries, who had a

tad too. It is not simply against gay men, it is a precaution against

a variety of different people. It is because if there was to be HIV

infection, it would show in that period of time? Before that, I think

it is between six and nine months you would expect to see it showing

up on a test if you have been infected. So it's a cautious period

of time. Thank you very much. Still to come, more on reports that a

court in North Korea has sentenced an American student to 15 years hard

labour. His crime? Stealing a political banner from a hotel.

A vote takes place later to decide if Wales will become the first part

of the UK to ban the use of e-cigarettes in some public places.

The Welsh government says the devices risk making cigarette

If passed, the bill would restrict the use of e-cigarettes in places

such as sports grounds, where food is served

But, could the idea hinder people's attempts to give up smoking?

Let's talk about this with Dr Philip Banfield,

Chair of BMA Wales, and joining me from Edinburgh

is Professor Linda Bauld, who's carrying out work

at Stirling University for Cancer Research UK

into how our behaviour can prevent cancer.

First, what do you think? Well, Cancer Research UK is interested in

the evidence on electronic cigarettes. We are looking carefully

at that. We don't support this legislation because we don't believe

there is adequate evidence that e-cigarette Weber exposes bystanders

to any health harms. We are concerned that by banning them in

most public places in Wales, it sends the message to the public and

smokers in particular that e-cigarettes are just as harmful as

smoking. We know that is not the case. What would you say? There are

three issues. The first is about the safety of e-cigarettes and whether

they are helpful in helping people to cut smoking, and I think the

professor made a valid point. The second and third points are that we

just don't know if e-cigarettes will have a gateway effect, if it will

encourage young people to take up smoking. Thirdly, we don't actually

know whether it is a sensible thing for youngsters to be taking up

e-cigarettes, which are heavily marketed towards them. Our

youngsters taken up? Yes, they are. We had a survey from showing that

one in 2011 and 12-year-olds have tried and e-cigarette. One in 101116

year olds. These figures are from before the time at which the tobacco

industry heavily marketed e-cigarettes with 500 varieties of

flavours, e-cigarettes that talk to each other when you get close to

each other. We would see this kind of marketing is deliberately

targeting behaviour in children. Do you not worry about that? I think we

absolutely agree that children should be protected and that is why

there is age of Sail legislation already coming in in England and

Wales. I disagree with that evidence. I produce a monthly review

for Cancer Research UK, I love that studies all over the world and young

people. Levels of experimentation, on average, 12% of teenagers have

tried and e-cigarette. But that does not translate to regular use. Young

people in the UK, including in Wales, the small numbers that are

already using e-cigarettes are already using tobacco. We couldn't

find any significant numbers of children who never smoked using

e-cigarettes. If it was targeting children, the marketing has failed

so far. The European tobacco products directive is coming in in

May and will ban almost all forms of marketing, including in Wales. We

don't feel the public places ban will help with protecting children.

We are concerned with the 10 million smokers in the UK, that they will

get the idea that these devices are not safe as a smoking cessation aid.

Do you accept it is better to smoke and e-cigarette? It's not about the

people that smoke cigarettes already, it is about how we stop the

11,000 Welsh children taking up smoking in the first place. Do you

accept the point that it is better to smoke and e-cigarette? Yes, I

don't believe that is the argument. But that is what her argument is,

she is worried it will hinder attempts to give up smoking. We know

the half life of nicotine in these products is fairly long. So the

ability to go without while you are having a meal in a public place with

children, that should be fairly substantial. But this is not just

about the physical addiction that goes with nicotine. It is about the

behavioural aspect and trying to quit the habit. These different

devices from tobacco. They mimic the to mouth action, but they are

nowhere near as deadly. There is a lot of concern about nicotine, that

young people should never use it, lot of concern about nicotine, that

and yet we prescribe nicotine replacement therapy to pregnant

women. We have to separate e-cigarette and tobacco, and not

assume because we have these new, what has been called disruptive

products on the market, they are going to create lots of new smokers.

Thank you both very much. North Korea has reportedly sentenced

an American student to 15 years hard labour after he admitted stealing

propaganda material. The student said he'd

removed a political banner from the staff-only area

of a Pyongyang hotel. This is Otto Warmbier last month,

sobbing, as he spoke to journalists at a news conference. It was the

worst decision of my life. But I'm only human.

With me now is Paul French, a North Korea analyst and the author

of the book, North Korea: State of Paranoia.

What do you think of this? He has obviously been advised by his North

Korean appointed lawyer to make a full confession and make it look

political in a way that plays well in North Korea and meet your

objectives. But it was probably just somebody who went to North Korea and

did something where it was not advisable to do that. Will he end up

doing hard labour, and what does that mean in North Korea? A number

of people have been sentenced, mostly for latter-day missionary

type of activity, tried to distribute Bibles. There are some

instances like this of people doing silly things. All of them have

actually been released, usually after a few months. Some agreement

gets reached. But that does not mean conditions are going to be nice for

him. Over those few months, people report not getting much more food

than a few bowls of rice and some soup. Whether he will be part of a

formal North Korean prison gulag system is unlikely, they don't want

anything to happen to him in case they need it to leave. There is no

guarantee you will be traded or released. You said it suited their

political message abroad, what do you mean? North Korea wants to look

strong, it has felt it is being ignored. We saw the nuclear missile

test, nonsense they might have developed a nuclear warhead that

they can put on one of the missiles. They have been very belligerent and

annoyed, partly because the regime is in trouble in terms of food

supplies. This is their bizarre way of trying to communicate with the

rest of the world. How would that get the rest of the world to help

them with food supplies? It becomes another reason for what had been the

six party talks, involving South Korea, Japan, Russia and China, to

get started again, for them to start talking. As a goodwill gesture, the

release of a prisoner is the sort of thing the North does, China or the

United States might send some food aid or medical aid as a goodwill

gesture. Why do you say, briefly and finally, that they are annoyed at

the moment? What the North Korean regime does not like is being

ignored. Food aid from the rest of the world to North Korea is way

down, which means people are quite hungry. The Syrian crisis has really

been absorbing people's attention. China has not been paying very much

attention to them. They have not been very high on the American

political agenda, which they are quite obsessed with at times. Firing

a missile, arresting a person acting rather stupidly in a hotel, it was

always going to get the world's attention for a secretive regime.

In the last five years, homelessness across the UK has soared.

So this is where you sleep every night? Yes. Hm.

As part of BBC1's season of Sport Relief,

our four celebrities continue to experience life on the streets.

And things are about to get even tougher.