:00:09. > :00:14.Schools across Brighton and Hove took their battle
:00:15. > :00:16.on budget cuts public today, by unfurling banners claiming
:00:17. > :00:18.they'll have a devastating impact on education in the city.
:00:19. > :00:21.It's the latest in a series of high-profile Sussex campaigns
:00:22. > :00:24.calling for more cash for local schools.
:00:25. > :00:34.# Sending out an SOS, someone has to save our schools #.
:00:35. > :00:38.Is it another sting in the tail for the government
:00:39. > :00:43.We're horrified at the cuts that are going to happen
:00:44. > :00:46.We feel it's going to have a detrimental affect
:00:47. > :00:49.on my children and all the future children and therefore
:00:50. > :00:54.We do coding a lot, so that could lead to like, a coding future.
:00:55. > :00:57.But then if we didn't do that, then one job people wouldn't be
:00:58. > :01:03.I just think some of those things which are outside of the traditional
:01:04. > :01:06.national curriculum, like music, art and sports
:01:07. > :01:09.and computing are really important to the children and those
:01:10. > :01:11.are the first things, because of the natural
:01:12. > :01:15.Brighton parents chose the election run-up to launch
:01:16. > :01:20.This is huge, this is a massive issue for parents.
:01:21. > :01:24.We are not political, whatever party is in power
:01:25. > :01:27.after the general election, they are going to need to put more
:01:28. > :01:33.money into education to reduce these cuts.
:01:34. > :01:37.But funding issues, well they cross the political divide.
:01:38. > :01:40.Here's West Sussex Conservative MPs lobbying their own government.
:01:41. > :01:45.Last year, schools there delivered a petition to Number Ten.
:01:46. > :01:47.This year heads at every East Sussex School wrote to their MPs.
:01:48. > :01:51.And in Kent, well, one school decided to ask
:01:52. > :01:56.We can't make cuts anywhere apart from really staffing at the moment
:01:57. > :02:03.And as soon as we start to do that, we really start to undo
:02:04. > :02:07.the structures of the school, we start to make the school much
:02:08. > :02:09.weaker and obviously we start to make the children's
:02:10. > :02:15.The Department for Education says school funding is at its highest
:02:16. > :02:17.level on record at more than ?40 billion.
:02:18. > :02:20.The stats on the banner are from government data calculated
:02:21. > :02:24.Parents say this is a distress call for whoever gets
:02:25. > :02:33.Pupils are flouting school rules on mobile phones,
:02:34. > :02:36.using them openly in front of teachers and refusing to hand
:02:37. > :02:42.So says the Head of Walderslade Girls' near Chatham,
:02:43. > :02:45.who has written a hard hitting letter to parents about
:02:46. > :02:48.Louise McGowan also says more parents are not supportive,
:02:49. > :02:51.saying some have "actively fought on behalf of children
:02:52. > :02:56.against the school", making the job of staff "extremely difficult".
:02:57. > :03:00.Teachers are not out to get children, they're not their enemies.
:03:01. > :03:05.Sometimes I do feel they are being painted in a very poor light
:03:06. > :03:12.The jury in the trial of a teenager accused of killing his stepfather
:03:13. > :03:15.with a single punch at their home in Dartford, has retired
:03:16. > :03:20.Douglas Herridge is charged with the manslaughter
:03:21. > :03:22.of Colin Payne, a former national squash champion.
:03:23. > :03:26.He was 17 at the time and told the jury he'd been
:03:27. > :03:31.Detectives investigating the murder of a young man who'd been sleeping
:03:32. > :03:33.rough near Maidstone have arrested two teenagers.
:03:34. > :03:37.21-year-old Razvan Sirbu, from Romania, was found dead
:03:38. > :03:44.Two men, aged 18 and 19, both from the Maidstone area,
:03:45. > :03:50.Mr Sirbu's mother says he was "full of mercy and empathy
:03:51. > :03:54.and would always want to help others in need."
:03:55. > :03:57.A job-seeker from Kent says she's angry and upset after a company
:03:58. > :04:00.inviting her for interview inadvertently attached e-mail
:04:01. > :04:03.comments describing her as a "home-educated oddball"
:04:04. > :04:06.who was worth seeing "if only for a laugh".
:04:07. > :04:09.Anna Jacobs, from Horsmonden, has turned down the interview
:04:10. > :04:13.with Tecomak Environmental Services in Tonbridge, describing
:04:14. > :04:17.their approach as "unprofessional, smug and arrogant".
:04:18. > :04:21.She's spoken exclusively to our reporter Jon Hunt.
:04:22. > :04:24.So, this is the e-mail I received from the employer last night.
:04:25. > :04:26.Anna Jacobs from Horsmonden was excited to be invited
:04:27. > :04:28.for a job interview, but she wasn't prepared
:04:29. > :04:31.for the insulting language her prospective employer
:04:32. > :04:37.I scrolled down and this absolutely awful summary was attached.
:04:38. > :04:40.I thought, how dare somebody say that about my CV and myself.
:04:41. > :04:44.You must have been very hurt by that?
:04:45. > :04:48.I was, I was just absolutely furious.
:04:49. > :04:50.Below the formal invite to interview, the e-mail
:04:51. > :05:07.from Tecomak Environmental Services read...
:05:08. > :05:10.I just think, what employer attaches that to an interview invitation?
:05:11. > :05:13.You know, that's basically saying it's going to be
:05:14. > :05:15.a huge waste of time, but let's do it just
:05:16. > :05:18.for a laugh, let's make up the numbers, sort of thing.
:05:19. > :05:22.I believe I've got a lot to offer and if that's
:05:23. > :05:25.all I am to an employer, then please don't invite me
:05:26. > :05:28.to an interview because it's just wasting everyone's time.
:05:29. > :05:30.One employment lawyer thinks Miss Jacobs may have
:05:31. > :05:36.Those who apply for jobs are entitled to be treated with respect
:05:37. > :05:42.On the face of it, this e-mail does not show that anyone has been
:05:43. > :05:49.Has it been investigated yet because I was really quite
:05:50. > :05:56.Anna Jacobs has so far failed to get answers or an apology
:05:57. > :06:00.The Tonbridge-based company simply says it's investigating thoroughly
:06:01. > :06:03.and says the comments have been taken of context.
:06:04. > :06:08.Jon Hunt, in Horsmonden, for BBC South East Today.
:06:09. > :06:12.Ahead of next month's General Election, we're hosting
:06:13. > :06:15.a special Question Time style debate in St Leonards, near Hastings, on
:06:16. > :06:20.If you live or work in the South East, and you'd
:06:21. > :06:23.like to be in the audience, send an e-mail to SE Vote
:06:24. > :06:25.at bbc.co.UK with your name, address and daytime phone number,
:06:26. > :06:32.and you could be part of our election debate.
:06:33. > :06:35.That's it from me, the national weather forecast in a moment
:06:36. > :06:37.but first let's get the picture in the South East
:06:38. > :06:50.One or two scattered showers are lots of sunshine by the afternoon.
:06:51. > :06:53.On Saturday temperatures will be in the top teams and there will be a
:06:54. > :06:56.lot of sunshine around and there will be much-needed rain but mostly
:06:57. > :07:03.that will be Saturday over into Sunday. Towards the hours of
:07:04. > :07:10.tomorrow morning, outbreaks of rain. Overnight temperatures staying in
:07:11. > :07:14.double figures. As you start Saturday, initially cloud but by the
:07:15. > :07:20.afternoon it burns back, lots of sunshine and temperatures in the
:07:21. > :07:24.mid-to top teams, potentially 20 or 21 degrees. South-westerly winds
:07:25. > :07:30.making it cooler along the coast but even there, 14 or 15 degrees is your
:07:31. > :07:38.high. Saturday into Sunday, we see more cloud and eventually breaks
:07:39. > :07:45.A bit of a mixed bag earlier on today, some of us were cloudy with
:07:46. > :07:51.rain. This is the view from one of our weather watchers in Cornwall.
:07:52. > :07:56.But in the Highlands of Scotland, it was completely different, find,
:07:57. > :08:01.sunny and warm. The satellite and radar picture shows the variety of
:08:02. > :08:10.weather we have had. It brightened up into the afternoon, early
:08:11. > :08:12.evening. The north-east of Scotland and England