:00:00. > :00:18.Now it's time for World Business Report.
:00:19. > :00:22.As the UK Prime Minister ups the security personnel
:00:23. > :00:28.across the country, we assess the cost of keeping Britain safe.
:00:29. > :00:31.And balancing the books within a decade - that's the promise
:00:32. > :00:34.from the Trump administration as it reveals its spending plans
:00:35. > :00:47.Hello and a very warm welcome to World Business Report. I'm Sally
:00:48. > :00:47.Bundock. Also in the programme the credit
:00:48. > :00:55.rating agency Moody's downgrades China - we'll have the
:00:56. > :00:58.details in a moment. As we've been hearing,
:00:59. > :01:04.Britain is now on a critical terror alert - with the military set
:01:05. > :01:08.to bolster the police amid fears the Manchester bomber,
:01:09. > :01:10.Salman Abedi, did not act alone. Earlier, Prime Minister Theresa May
:01:11. > :01:12.raised the threat level to the highest possible,
:01:13. > :01:15.meaning that another attack So how well funded is Britain's
:01:16. > :01:19.security operation? Well, the UK has seen an increase
:01:20. > :01:21.in anti-terror spending Here's how things looked
:01:22. > :01:28.in the last financial year - the UK's annual terrorism policing
:01:29. > :01:33.budget was ? 594 million, In the past year that's gone up
:01:34. > :01:41.to its current level of ?670 million -
:01:42. > :01:43.roughly $869 million. The main priority for
:01:44. > :01:48.the boosted security budget is to increase the capacity
:01:49. > :01:51.for counter-terrorism investigation, including monitoring online
:01:52. > :01:53.activity, and gathering digital This led to last years
:01:54. > :02:03.announcement of a 15% increase in officers
:02:04. > :02:08.at the UK spy agencies, including, of course, M15, M16,
:02:09. > :02:11.and GCHQ, and the security round the clock to establish
:02:12. > :02:15.whether the Manchester bombing is part of a wider
:02:16. > :02:17.pattern of attacks. Chris Phillips is the former Head
:02:18. > :02:20.of the National Counter Terrorism Security Office explains
:02:21. > :02:26.what the intelligence services This attack was planned.
:02:27. > :02:29.Premeditated. And they're almost certainly will be other people
:02:30. > :02:33.involved in this attack. The most important thing is to catch them, to
:02:34. > :02:36.identify them, and to bring them into custody. And until we have done
:02:37. > :02:41.that, then this attack is not really over. Such planning has gone into
:02:42. > :02:44.this that it would be surprising that there may be other similar
:02:45. > :02:46.devices out there, ready to be used. Police will be working hard to stop
:02:47. > :02:52.that from happening. With me is the defence
:02:53. > :02:59.consultant, Anthony Leather Thank you for being on the
:03:00. > :03:04.programme. Clearly extremely sensitive and difficult times for
:03:05. > :03:12.those affected, those in Manchester, who are having to grapple with this
:03:13. > :03:15.horrible than 24 hours ago. Some are now describing the security
:03:16. > :03:19.operation as unprecedented. I would like to get your view on that, and
:03:20. > :03:23.also talk us through some of the logistics. Yes, well with the recent
:03:24. > :03:28.announcement of the increase in the threat level, that seems to be the
:03:29. > :03:33.next logical step, really. Theresa May has come out and said there is
:03:34. > :03:37.no credible threat that there is an imminent attack, but it releases
:03:38. > :03:41.resources, so we talked about resources that can help police, it
:03:42. > :03:44.can help protect public areas, and allows a bit more public
:03:45. > :03:48.reassurance. If they can't fully rule out how this attack has
:03:49. > :03:54.happened, and who has been behind it, in totality, then it really
:03:55. > :03:59.makes us to raise it. It is worth noting that ten years ago when it
:04:00. > :04:06.was last raised to critical, it was reduced a couple of days later after
:04:07. > :04:10.investigation. The next few days will really matter. We are watching
:04:11. > :04:13.footage of some of the event in Greater Manchester yesterday as the
:04:14. > :04:17.city can't have grappled with what was going on there. I talked about
:04:18. > :04:22.the numbers in terms of how much spending has increased. How
:04:23. > :04:30.effectively it used, the increasing spend? Obviously it is difficult. --
:04:31. > :04:34.increase in. Police and security will always want more. But it is
:04:35. > :04:41.important to remember that so far, this band has been very effective.
:04:42. > :04:47.People have come out in some of -- this spend has been very effective.
:04:48. > :04:52.-- people have come out and said so. We have seen investment in
:04:53. > :04:56.intelligence and response. A response to an attack like this,
:04:57. > :05:01.which leaders often say is not if, but when, and unfortunate that has
:05:02. > :05:06.happened, but obviously, responders have responded well. The money that
:05:07. > :05:16.has gone into that plan has been well spent. With pressure on
:05:17. > :05:19.resources, where is it best spend? Is it about intelligence services
:05:20. > :05:25.and bolstering the likes of MI5 and MI6, do we need more obvious on the
:05:26. > :05:31.beat? That is a difficult question, again, because the threat we face is
:05:32. > :05:36.incredibly compact, from the Lone gunmen and unsophisticated attacks
:05:37. > :05:40.like those with knives, through to ones that are more sophisticated
:05:41. > :05:49.Lake Manchester. There has to be a way Bell way up -- way up of how
:05:50. > :05:54.that money is spent. -- weigh. But more money needs to go to police on
:05:55. > :05:58.the street so that they can respond to events. As we know, there will be
:05:59. > :06:04.a review following this event as to how the resources are spent. With a
:06:05. > :06:07.general election coming up, expect to see a review of the
:06:08. > :06:12.counterterrorism policy in the UK. Thank you for your time this morning
:06:13. > :06:16.Anthony. As you are aware, there is lots of information and a live page
:06:17. > :06:20.updating all the time on what is going on in Manchester today and
:06:21. > :06:22.beyond. Let's look at some other business stories, now.
:06:23. > :06:27.The Trump administration has unveiled its
:06:28. > :06:32.It proposes deep cuts to dozens of programmes providing assistance
:06:33. > :06:34.to the poor such as medical help and disability benefits.
:06:35. > :06:37.The plan would sharply slash food stamps, healthcare for low-income
:06:38. > :06:38.patients, disability benefits and eliminate
:06:39. > :06:43.However, the budget does feature an Ivanka Trump plan
:06:44. > :06:54.From New York, Michelle Fleury has this report.
:06:55. > :07:01.Donald Trump's first budget is an attempt at welfare reform, including
:07:02. > :07:06.big cuts for the poor. Millions of Americans would lose access to
:07:07. > :07:10.Medicaid, the healthcare programme for the impoverished. But the
:07:11. > :07:15.military would get a spending boost, including funds to build a wall
:07:16. > :07:20.along the border with Mexico. The goal, according to Mick Mulvaney,
:07:21. > :07:24.the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, is to cut
:07:25. > :07:27.back on public assistance, and put people back to work. We are no
:07:28. > :07:31.longer going to measure compassion by the number of programmes or the
:07:32. > :07:34.number of people on those programmes, but by the number of
:07:35. > :07:38.people we help get off those programmes. We will not measure
:07:39. > :07:47.compassion by the amount of money we spend or -- but by the number of
:07:48. > :07:51.people yell. That is how you've badgered the budget within ten
:07:52. > :07:55.years. This is the budget book. It may not be worth the paper it is
:07:56. > :07:59.printed on. That is because nobody thinks the President's plan will
:08:00. > :08:03.pass in its current form. It is the job of congress to approve the
:08:04. > :08:07.budget, and while hardline republicans might be happy,
:08:08. > :08:14.moderates and Democrats will be concerned about the social impacts.
:08:15. > :08:20.That is because up to a fit of Americans benefit from Medicaid. --
:08:21. > :08:25.can get republican. Chuck Schumer gave his response. It takes a
:08:26. > :08:31.sledgehammer to the middle-class and working-class Americans. It tax
:08:32. > :08:37.breaks on the Welty, a wealthy, and imagines problems away with fantasy
:08:38. > :08:42.mass. -- brakes on the wealthy, and imagines. Donald Trump plans to
:08:43. > :08:52.balance the books within a decade. This depends on a steady growth of
:08:53. > :08:58.3%. But it has not grown by so much since 2005. -- breaks. Several years
:08:59. > :09:11.before the GST. It has left some wondering if the mathematics is
:09:12. > :09:12.faulty. -- -- before the Global Financial Cricis.
:09:13. > :09:14.The credit ratings agency Moody's has downgraded China's credit score.
:09:15. > :09:18.It warns that levels of debt across the economy are expected
:09:19. > :09:21.to rise as economic growth slows down in the coming years.
:09:22. > :09:25.What are they worried about, Rico Hizon? They are worried about a lot
:09:26. > :09:29.of things, Sally. The Chinese economy is facing some difficult
:09:30. > :09:33.challenges, and this is another wake-up call for Beijing to
:09:34. > :09:39.institute more economic reforms. It is like we are seeing the ratings
:09:40. > :09:43.agency downgrading the local currency by one notch, and also
:09:44. > :09:48.changing its outlook to stable from negative. But this could really make
:09:49. > :09:52.things more expensive for the Chinese economy, because it will
:09:53. > :09:57.mean a rise in the cost of borrowing for the government, and for state
:09:58. > :10:05.owned enterprises. Moody 's said this reflected expectations that
:10:06. > :10:10.outcomes would erode over the next two years, with debt levels rising
:10:11. > :10:16.as growth slows. The trainees economy expanded by 6.7% in 2016,
:10:17. > :10:21.compared to 6.9% of the year before. -- the Chinese. This is because
:10:22. > :10:25.Beijing is trying to rebalance the economy towards the domestic
:10:26. > :10:30.consumption, which has led to challenges for large manufacturing
:10:31. > :10:34.companies. This downgrade comes as Beijing has been making efforts to
:10:35. > :10:38.clean up its lending practices, which have been viewed as a threat
:10:39. > :10:42.to financial stability. We'll have to wait and see if indeed the
:10:43. > :10:50.Chinese government will expedite these changes before they are too
:10:51. > :10:51.late. Sally? Thank you for that, Rico Hizon. That brings World
:10:52. > :11:10.Business Report to the end. Donald Trump is in Italy -
:11:11. > :11:14.where he is due to hold talks