he was speaking ahead of the spring budget that takes place later this week. pakistan had a re—elected shehbaz sharif as its new panellist after uncertainty over last month's election which was marred by vote rigging accusations. his opposite opponent was backed by the jailed imran khan. and it was a record—breaking night at the brit awards as singer—songwriter raye picked up six prizes, including best artist and best album let's get more on the study ijust mentioned. a seven—year—old has drowned after a small boat carrying 16 migrants heading to the uk capsized, according to the authorities in northern france. the girl's parents and three siblings were taken to hospital in dunkirk. live to our reporter nickjohnson in the newsroom. what more can you tell us?

we know this happened well within french waters. we know it actually happened on a canal some 30 kilometres or so from the coastline itself. we have seen footage of the canal in question, the water level is very high. it is a wide waterway, flanked on one side by forests and on the other by some homes. we have also seen footage of emergency services appearing to be by the bow of a small white boat which is jutting up from the water line and alongside that belongings strewn all over the towpath. the authorities in france say the boat was just too small for the number of people, 16, they say, who were trying to board it. then it capsized as people were getting on board. they say that a seven—year—old died at the scene. they also say a person walking by raise the alarm and there were other children on the boat as well. 0ther

children on the boat as well. other siblings of the girl as well as other adults and other children and they are all being cared for any hospital in dunkirk. we have also heard from the french prosecutor for the region has said several people are now in custody in relation to this incident and they are looking at possible charges of manslaughter and people smuggling. we have also heard from the mayor of the town that canal dissects and he said he has seem a lot more incidents of these small boats trying to set off a further inland, and he says that is because he thinks they are trying to avoid the surveillance you would get at the larger port towns, dunkirk and calais, and that these people are trying to move so they avoid that sort of surveillance, but he does say as well the boats they're using are clearly not suitable for that watery journey, let alone on journey out into the channel. —— that waterwayjourney.

this is another fatality we have had of people trying to cross the channel this year, and last year nearly 30,000 people reached britain on that channel crossing. hick. on that channel crossing. nick, thank you _ on that channel crossing. nick, thank you for— on that channel crossing. nick, thank you for the _ on that channel crossing. nick, thank you for the details - on that channel crossing. nick, thank you for the details on - on that channel crossing. nick, i thank you for the details on that. nickjohnson with the latest. railfares in england and wales have risen by nearly 5% this morning, despite train cancellations being close to their highest levels in a decade. the department for transport says the increase is significantly lower than the rate of inflation and will support the financial stability of the railways. our business correspondent marc ashdown has more. watford to london is a popular commuting route, but regular passengers will have to stump up around £200 extra for an annual ticket because of today's fare rises. so is it worth it? there's always cancellations here, so i don't see where that extra money's going, what it's being used for. if i could see that, maybe i wouldn't mind as much, but i can't. you're saving money in the long run,

instead of paying for insurance and car and things like that, and it's easier to commute on the train, so i do feel, you know, it is worth the money, at the end of the day. today's fare rises cover about half the tickets available to buy, including most travel cards and season tickets, so a yearly pass from brighton to london will rise from £5,600 to £5,900. a yearly ticket from huddersfield to manchester will go up by £150 to £3,227. and the most expensive route is southampton to london, which is set to rise by £331; a year to £7,150. the rises are usually pegged to lastjuly�*s rpi figure, so the government said a 4.9% rise is just half of what it could have been and will help to keep investing in the railways. some passenger groups have welcomed fare rises which are less than they could have been. but passengers on at least ten routes across england will now be paying at least £6,000 a year for their season tickets. and there's concern that putting prices up could deter some people from using a greener mode of travel.

so, the government has choices to make. it's decided, in fact, to freeze fuel duty for the past 13 years while raising rail fares every year. that doesn't have to be the case at all. in scotland, fares will rise by 8.7% from april. northern ireland is yet to announce any rises this year. all this comes after a tumultuous 18 months, with repeated rail strikes. the government insists it's doing all it can to keep a lid on prices, but the tuc said rail fares are among the highest anywhere in europe. marc ashdown, bbc news. let's say with money matters and get a bit more with that interview with the chancellor of the exchequer, jeremy hunt. he says he wants to find a way to bring down the tax burden — but he's told the bbc he'll do it in a responsible way. mr hunt will set out the government's tax and spending plans on wednesday, with growing calls within the conservative party to cut taxes. he's been speaking to laura kuennsberg. we've always said, and we've

been very consistent, that we would only cut taxes in a way that was responsible and prudent. and if i may say, i think the most conservative thing i could do ——un—conservative thing i could do would be to cut taxes by increasing borrowing, because that's just cutting taxes and saying that future generations have to pick up the tax bill. i won't do that. but i do want where it's possible to do so responsibly to move towards a lower tax economy, and i hope to show a path in that direction. but this will be a prudent and responsible budget for long—term growth, tackling inflation, more investment, morejobs, and that path to lower taxation as and when we can afford it. but you've said also that the forecast from the 0br, which is the economic watchdog that marks your homework, you've said that "the numbers have gone against us," so the picture is bleaker than it was at the beginning of the year. why then are you looking

to cut tax now at all? well, you know, these forecasts change the whole time. what happened in the autumn was that the forecast went in our favour unexpectedly quite close to the end, and so i was able to introduce the biggest business tax cut that people like the cbi said was a game—changer that would fire up the british economy... but i'm asking you about now. i mean, there are some people who look at the state of the economy and think, actually, now is not the time. the imf has said that the cbi, the business group has said actually now isn't the time for short term tax cuts. some of your colleagues think also you shouldn't be doing it. you should instead be spending any spare cash on something hugely important like defence, for example. is it not right to be looking to spend money in other places rather than scraping around for what might be quite small tax cuts? well, if we're going to spend more money on defence, as i believe we will need to do in the future, what we need to have is a healthily growing economy. every decision that i take will be a prudent and responsible

long—term decision. jeremy hunt also defended the government's childcare policies. he says plans to provide 15 hours a week of free childcare to some working parents from april remain on track. but labour's bridget phillipson told the bbc the plans are a failure. a year ago, i was pushing jeremy hunt really hard on childcare. he rushed out this commitment that was a pledge with no plan to make it happen. and now it's working parents who in the weeks and months ahead, when they go and try and access those places that have been promised, will discover that theyjust can't be delivered in the way that he set out. and what was also rather peculiar, i thought, about what he then went on to say, he seemed to almost not like his own policy and regarded it as some kind of extension of the welfare state. i believe that childcare and early years education has to be a central part of how we support parents, but also importantly how we deliver life chances for children, and that's missing from and ——the bit that's missing from what the government has been talking about alongside places is how we get

really high quality provision alongside that. but your plans, though, on child care are currently still a bit of a mystery. so if you win the election, will you promise parents the same amount of child care that the government has? well, i don't want to see parents losing out, but lots of parents are not going to get what has been promised to them. but that's not my question. my question is, what would what would you do? my question is, what would you do? so, yes, the government seems to be struggling to actually fulfil the promise that they made, but it is a big change and they are, asjeremy hunt was saying, they are doing their best. so how much provision will labour guarantee for parents watching this morning? so what i've set out is how i want to deliver a reform childcare system from the end of parental leave to the end of primary school. the first step along that will be universal free breakfast clubs in every primary school, because i think all parents with children at school know that your childcare issues don't end when children arrive at school. that would make a major difference. that would be a real transformation. the labour spokesperson, bridget philipsen on plans for childcare

there. doctors have held a huge demonstration in south korea. they're protesting against the government's plan to increase medical school admissions by about 65% percent from 2025 to try to combat a shortage of doctors in a country with a rapidly ageing population. for more on this, we spoke to bbc korean�*s yuna ku, who is in seoul. doctors are staging a rally against the government national assembly in seoul today. according to the doctors�* association, they reported around 20,000 doctors will participate in opposition to government plans to increase the number of doctors. it's been two weeks since thousands ofjunior doctors walked out of hospital ever since the government announced a package of policy changes aimed at improving essential medical care in the country. the most controversial measure is increasing the number of medical school quota to about 5000 per year for five years from the current 3000.

the doctors are insisting it will degrade the quality of medical service due to an increased number of incompetent doctors. the government has repeatedly warned that doctors who leave hospitals will face legal responsibility for their actions, including suspension of medical licenses, unless they return to work until the end of february. now, we don't know exactly how many doctors returned and who didn't following a long weekend, but for now it seems like most doctors chose not to return, so we'll have to see how things unfold next week. a month ago, sinn fein�*s michelle 0'neill gfx became the first nationalist to be appointed first minister of northern ireland. that has prompted increased debate about the prospect of a united ireland. census data suggests there are now more people from a catholic background than protestant, but polls suggest most voters are against constitutional change. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page reports.

northern ireland has changed — statistically, politically, and physically. lurgan is one of the towns which has grown amidst evolving population trends. the first irish nationalist to be mayor of the area in 1999 has seen a major difference. one of the big changes for me were there were absolutely no—go areas in terms of canvassing. there were areas where you just would have been frightened, quite frankly, to go into. that's no longer the case. 25 years ago, did a united ireland feel achievable at all, then? many people wouldn't have thought of it ever being within reach within their lifetime, and i think now it is in our lifetime. the good friday peace agreement, which largely ended the conflict here in 1998, sets out a legal pathway to a referendum on irish unity. it says the british government shall call a referendum if at any time it appears likely that a majority in northern ireland would vote to leave the uk and join a united ireland.

in the strongly unionist mourne view estate, people think the idea of breaking up the uk is far—fetched. there's no talk of that whatsoever here. what are people talking about? people are talking about affording the rates, affording their...shopping every week. some people look at the likes of census figures, election results, and will say there is a move towards a referendum on northern ireland's status in the uk. what do you think about that? i don't think i'll see it in my lifetime. i'm near positive i'll not see it. a relatively new dynamic is that almost one in five voters now support parties which are neither unionist or nationalist. polling also suggests a rise in people identifying as something between only british or irish. ok, so, we're going to take it from, "come out, come out, i "wherever you are," so can everybody this side go that way _ and everybody this side go this way? at this cross—community theatre group, actors think the future

of northern ireland won't be decided just by issues of national identity. it is not a matter of, "oh, i grew up this way, so therefore i have to go that way." or, "i know this person, so i have to go that way." i think it is much more, "i am interested in securing a future for myself and my family and my friends." we need to stop thinking about the divide itself and thinking more about what we can do in the area that we're in and how we can improve that. it's being able to identify we are i different in lots of different ways. it doesn't just come down - to whether you're irish or british. there's lots of things to mix up - and we need to appreciate everybody, for all of our differences and celebrate that. - no—one can be sure what scenes will play out in the coming years. the uk government says it sees no realistic prospect of a referendum, but others believe they can sense a shifting big picture. chris page, bbc news, lurgan. to the united states — donald trump has told supporters that he is "on a rocket

to the republican nomination" for this year's election. it's after he overwhelmingly won primaries in three more states, edging closer to becoming the party's official candidate in this year's election. the former us president convincingly beat his only rival, nikki haley, in what are known as caucuses in michigan, missouri, and idaho. mr trump addressed a rally of supporters in virginia after the wins, with the contests taking place just days before what's known as super tuesday, when 15 states and one territory will vote. with your help, we will win big on super tuesday, and this november virginia is going to tell crooked joe biden, "you're fired!" "you're fired, get out of here!" get out of here, get out of the white house. our us digital campaign reporter bernd debusmann was outside that rally and sent us this update. donald trump has spoken in two states today, north carolina

and here in richmond, virginia. and in his campaign speeches in both those states, he's focused heavily on the border, his perception that the border is out of control and his message thatjoe biden is mishandling rising migrant numbers at the border. now, this is a message that clearly resonates well with republican voters, as polls have shown. and i've been speaking to voters here in line for the last few hours, and it's something that's come up over and over and over again, a perception thatjoe biden isn't handling the border properly and that its leading to rising crime in us cities. now, the trump campaign hopes that enthusiasm for this message and the other campaign promises he's been making will result in a really, really strong showing on super tuesday, when virginia and 15 other states vote, and he won't be able to quite clinch the republican nomination on super tuesday, but a strong showing would put him within striking distance. his campaign has been telling reporters that by march 12th, for example, they hope to wrap this up at the end of the month by the latest. so mr trump will be hoping that this enthusiasm for his message,

which is shown by the fact that people have been waiting here for hours and hours just for a glimpse of the man, will result in a very strong performance to kind of solidify his grip on the republican nomination and make it official. i reported outside donald trump my�*s rally. let's return to the brit awards. the after show parties went well into the early hours. and someone who was certainly celebrating is singer songwriter, raye. she swept the board at the event making history winning six — breaking the record for the most awards in a year. she was also the first women to win songwriter of the year. we will hearfrom raye in a moment, first if you missed the ceremony here are the best bits in 60 seconds. she is real. she is raw. she is raye. # a little context if you care to listen. the winner... raye. # tell me that it's over. what the hell is happening? i'm an artist with an album of the year!

# deeper than i've ever known # whose love feels like a rodeo # knowsjust how to take control #we # we disconnect # _ # we disconnect # we _ # we disconnect # we can - # we disconnectl # we can redirect # _ #. #l #i #. - # ijust #. — # ijust can't get out #. # i 'ust can't -et out of my head, # ijust can't get out of my head, your loving as i think about. # they don't compare, no, they don't to you, do you! such good tunes, and they? well, after the show finished our music correspondent mark savage caught up with history making, six time brit award winner, raye. you're going to need two tesco bags! i know, i'm going to need two tesco bags! notjust raye any more — six—times brit award winner raye. don't do that yet.

i'm not ready for that yet. do you know who got six in their entire career? who? michaeljackson. you know who else got six in their entire career? who? david bowie. you're equal to them now in terms of brit awards. what even...? nah. yeah. wow. so it's a big night. and, you know, after having years of your dreams being frustrated, tonight they've come true, right? yeah, tonight — this has been the night of my life. this has been the best night of my... the best night of my life, hands down. without a shadow of a doubt, the best night of my life. will it ever get better than this again? mate! yeah. but luckily they got it all on camera, so i'll be able to relive it! that's true. will you watch it back? do you think you'll... oh, yeah, 100%! what?! i didn't plan anything i was going to say, i just went up there. i was so shocked. it also feels so weird. like, in that moment, it's so like, kind of like floating and you'rejust like, whoa, what is happening? you know? it's quite an out—of—body vibe.

and in that room, all of those stars, like, you could see how much they were admiring you and feeling happy for you. really? yeah, the reaction shots in the crowd. shut up! i think everybody knows what you've been through. a lot of them have been through it themselves. and it'sjust great. it's a happy ending, right? it really is. tonight, me and my nan... just... i don't i don't really know. what? like, i don't know. i don't know how this happened, but i'm just so grateful. 0h! exactly. tell me about your grandma, agatha, who went up on stage with you. isn't she beautiful? she's amazing. listen, that woman raised me. my parents worked full time, so she took me to and from school, she lived with us. she moved from ghana to come and raise us. i owe her everything.

0ur reporter mark savage speaking to an emotional reign there. to discuss all the events of the night, i'm joined by a musicjournalist... alastair shuttleworth. what an achievement for raye. the fact that david bowie got a six in his entire career and she got six in one night. it his entire career and she got six in one niuht. , , one night. it is absolutely incredible _ one night. it is absolutely incredible and _ one night. it is absolutely incredible and the - one night. it is absolutely incredible and the story i one night. it is absolutely - incredible and the story behind it as well people aren't familiar is pretty amazing. three years ago, raye was signed to a major label polydor, and from the outside everything seemed to be going very well, but behind the scenes, she was struggling desperately to convince them to let her make a debut album. eventually, their feedback was that she just wasn't ready yet. eventually, she went public with that frustration, leading the label to sort of part ways with her. and she went out alone as an independent artist. since then, she has had a massive uk number one hit with escapism. she reached number two

with the debut album and has already won an ivor novello award, she has been nominated for a mercury, so it is a real david and goliath story. —— david and she was quite emotional sounding there. ~ ., ~' she was quite emotional sounding there. ., ~' , she was quite emotional sounding there. ., ~ , ., there. what you think is next to her? what _ there. what you think is next to her? what you _ there. what you think is next to her? what you think _ there. what you think is next to her? what you think the - there. what you think is next to her? what you think the future | her? what you think the future holds? this month, any couple of weeks, she will be playing the 02 weeks, she will be playing the o2 arena, and when she announced that show, she said, oh, we have only right at the end ofjanuary, only one month to sell 18,000 tickets. regardless of how it does, get up, put on the pressure we can. sold it out in 2a hours, i believe, so from here, the sky is the limit really. so she could really build on that. it is quite surprising that she is the first woman to win songwriter of the first woman to win songwriter of the year. how has it taken this long? the year. how has it taken this lona ? ~ , ,., , the year. how has it taken this lona ? ~ , , �* the year. how has it taken this

long? absolutely. and a beautiful seech, i long? absolutely. and a beautiful speech. i must— long? absolutely. and a beautiful speech, i must say. _ long? absolutely. and a beautiful speech, i must say. and - long? absolutely. and a beautiful speech, i must say. and a - long? absolutely. and a beautiful i speech, i must say. and a exchange with colour and folk, who played her back when she was 15, just starting out in the industry, she played her radio 1. thus there is no such thing as an overnight story, she won best new artist by the parametersjudged by the brits, but so many of the emerging talents are represented in the ceremony have really been working a lot longer at this than we might perhaps give them credit for. ., ., ., , , credit for. someone who has been workin: a credit for. someone who has been working a very _ credit for. someone who has been working a very long _ credit for. someone who has been working a very long time - credit for. someone who has been working a very long time in - credit for. someone who has been working a very long time in the . working a very long time in the industry as kylie. what a perfect celebration of her career. absolutely. she won at the global icon award, obviously following a massive resurgence in her career following her hit single. it was her first uk top ten hit in 12 years and

secured her herfirst first uk top ten hit in 12 years and secured her her first grammy award in 20. it feels like a lot of awards tonight a bit more important perhaps than the artist to record itself in that highly really back to trends last year as a middle—aged female p0p last year as a middle—aged female pop star appearing on loads of youth directed commercial radio stations. to my understanding, from what people behind the scenes, part of kylie's team had said, that was not initially easy, but it was so loved that song, so immediately popular and successful with young audiences that she has once again been honoured by a ceremony, a platform that really caters to what young people love and are being inspired by. people love and are being inspired b . ., , , people love and are being inspired by. finally, 'ust briefly, what was another by. finally, just briefly, what was another standout _ by. finally, just briefly, what was another standout night _ by. finally, just briefly, what was another standout night for - by. finally, just briefly, what was another standout night for you? i another standout night for you ? another standout another standout night for you? another standout thing for me definitely was the success of indie

band the last dinner party winning the title rising star award. this caps an insane rising success story, a five piece group who are baroque theatrical pop, somewhere between kate bush and sparks, who secured them a deal with island records. and last month they released their debut album which had the biggest opening weekend for the band in nine years since years and years, and it was the fastest selling vinyl debut of the fastest selling vinyl debut of the 21st century so far, so again something really exciting. great to talk to you. _ something really exciting. great to talk to you, alistair. _ something really exciting. great to talk to you, alistair. thank - something really exciting. great to talk to you, alistair. thank you - something really exciting. great to talk to you, alistair. thank you for| talk to you, alistair. thank you for your time. talk to you, alistair. thank you for your time-— alistair shuttleworth. and every time for a look at the weather forecast with thomas scheffer and acker. hello, thanks forjoining me. let's see what the weather is up to for the rest of today and, indeed, the next few days.

here's the summary for this evening. for most of us, dry and chilly, and with clearer skies this evening and overnight, another frost on the way. now, in the next few days, it's actually going to turn a little less chilly. we'll see these milder southwesterlies developing. that's from around about mid—week onwards. ok, the forecast, then — starting with the satellite picture, and you can see how big the gaps in the clouds have been, all of that bright, if not sunny weather today. the evening temperatures will already be pretty low. in fact, by the time we get to about 6pm, only four degrees for birmingham, five degrees for glasgow. generally dry, just a few showers scattered here and there. so the forecast, then, for tonight — a lot of clear, dry weather, just a few showers again in the western isles, maybe one or two out towards the west. there is a weather front approaching. that does spell rain for tomorrow, but ahead of it, before it arrives, it's a frosty morning and, in fact, temperatures around freezing, whether you're in aberdeen or on the south coast of england.

plymouth there at around three celsius above freezing. the weather map for monday shows that weather front approaching south—western parts of the uk. so that introduces thicker cloud and outbreaks of rain i think later on in the morning. so ahead of it, a lot of bright if not sunny weather, and then that weather front sweeps into the south—west, into wales, eventually through ireland, into northern ireland. but notice many eastern and northern areas, especially here in scotland, should have a sunny day, and the temperatures about the same — eight in aberdeen, ten in hull, 12 in london, and with that strengthening wind there, about nine degrees with that rain in cornwall and devon. tuesday, that weather front eventually moves across the uk. it's going to fizzle out and i think there will be some light rain around in the morning in scotland, some of these eastern counties closer to the north sea coast. but out towards the west, it's generally dry and bright on tuesday. and again, not a huge amount of change in the temperature — between around nine and 12 degrees celsius. but we'll start to see that slightly less cold air sweeping in so i think

across the bulk of the uk, temperatures should be just around double figures, but it's not going to be a huge change. and the weather i think a little drier as we go through the course of the week.

live from london. this is bbc news. a hold—up in the gaza peace talks, israel is reported not to be sending a delegation to cairo. uk chancellorjeremy hunt has said he wants to find a way to bring down the tax burden, ahead of the spring budget this week. a seven—year—old girl has drowned after a small boat, carrying migrants heading to the uk, capsized in northern france. parliament in pakistan has elected shehbaz sharif as prime minister for a second term.

and a massive blizzard has been sweeping across parts of california and nevada in the western united states. our main story this hour, there are reports of a hold—up in negotiations for a temporary ceasefire in gaza. israel is reported not to be sending a delegation to the talks taking place in cairo. that's despite us officials saying a ceasefire deal was already "on the table" and israel had approved it. the sticking point appears to be hamas not supplying a list of the hostages who would be released. washington had been hoping for a deal by monday, taking effect before ramadan in a week's time. i asked our correspondent wyre davies, injerusalem, about the doubts regarding whether the israeli delegation will participate in the cairo talks.

those earlier rumours from washington had sent pulses