welcome to verified live, three hours of breaking stories, and checking out the truth behind them. here in the uk, speculation is growing about what measures chancellorjeremy hunt will set out in his spring budget tomorrow. the chancellor is responsible for setting out the government's tax and spending plans, and he previously hinted that he will cut taxes, but told the bbc it would be done in a "responsible" way. this is likely to be the last budget before the general election — which must be held by the end of january next year. some details are emerging, for example: it's expected councils in england will be told to reduce their spending on consultant and diversity schemes. the bbc understands the chancellor will extend the freeze to fuel duty again. and the government hasn't denied growing speculation that the chancellor intends to cut the national insurance rate by two pence in the pound.

live to westminster, and our political correspondent damian grammaticas as the budget gets of a closer, what more are you hearing? just as the budget gets of a closer, what more are you hearing?— more are you hearing? just hours awa and more are you hearing? just hours away and lunchtime _ more are you hearing? just hours away and lunchtime tomorrow - more are you hearing? just hours| away and lunchtime tomorrow and more are you hearing? just hours - away and lunchtime tomorrow and they will be on their feet in parliament laying out the budget and it is a pretty important moment an important moment in any normal year in the political financial calendar but this one particularly because it is the last budget before we have to have an election, everyone is passing every word and looking at this and pretty much saying there that the indication is that we know the prime minister and the chancellor have said they want to cut personal taxes and the court taxes and individuals pay and within that, they basically have a choice

of income tax or national insurance. income taxes more broad and raised on any income from your if your average pensioner, if you have property income, national insurance, paid by employees and workers and it seems the government is not denying reports that that is what it will target by reducing that to penn's reduction and that is similar to what was announced back in the autumn which came into effect in january and right in an average worker and £10 billion overall is the cost of the government. the advantage of that is it is likely cheaper one but many conservative mps would rather see income tax because they think people identify with that more and feel that more personally. at the minute, indicate his art could be national insurance. and you may have to take that money

somewhere else back and wear hearing reports that councils in england will be told to cut spending on diversity schemes, do we know about that? , , ., �* �* , that? this is what the bbc is understood _ that? this is what the bbc is understood to _ that? this is what the bbc is understood to be _ that? this is what the bbc is understood to be in - that? this is what the bbc is understood to be in the - that? this is what the bbc is - understood to be in the measures tomorrow and being talked about and by the chancellor before and it is kind of going over the same ground but the focus is telling local councils not want to spend less on these diversity and inclusion schemes and consultants. the problem is that is only a tiny amount of money that they are spending and councils themselves have huge problems of the moment the funding and paying for the services and having it and they have to provide social care for elderly and other areas may seem to raise some money

and looking at things like tax on business class flights that could go up business class flights that could go up and tax breaks and you have a second home and get some income and holiday outlets, that may change as well and she mentioned fuel duty and i'll be at the cost of the government and numbers of ways including a general squeeze on public spending intuitive after the election in the duke de there's that many government departments renders such pressure financially and more squeezes and they're saying it could well be very difficult for those departments to manage. thank you very much- — so, let's take a closer at the crucial spending figures, and the challenge facing the uk chancellor, as he tries to deliver a boost to the uk economy

and millions of families. here's robert cuffe from bbc verify: 0ne one key number measured will set the path for public services over the next few years. the departments budgets will determine how much to your local library and last november, the chancellor says that funding for public services will go faster than that and in real terms by 1% a year for each of the next few years. it did much more details and spending plans after the election but an increase in spending more than 1% of the nhs and defence. and 1% might be divided on that comes from the independent institute for physical studies. in 1% over all might look like this. and nhs funding will need to be more than 2% a year and promises on defence on foreign aid and stair both going up

by this and childcare entitlement will be more and more families and the increase will be way off and spending more on these commitments means there is less to go around for the departments and they reckon that could mean spending cuts to just over 3% in the departments and you don't cut the schools budget. whatever is in charge after two sticks to these plans, there will be cuts somewhere and tax cuts including spending further it will make this picture look a little bit worse. 0verall, lifting spending by 1% me and some departments consider funding fall by more than three. how does that compare to any cuts in the 2010 is? well, the conservative lib dem government of 2010 and coalition plans will cut spending overall by a number of 2% a year in the conservative government plans for

2015 were for smaller cuts and because the settlements were more generous to the nhs and defence, the cuts fell harder on the departments and the value of funding for the services excluding social care or children services and libraries and load maintenance fell by more than a third of 2010 and 2022. if you move forward to 2019, one of thejohnson government funding starts to increase and it will be increasing but only by 1%. after 2025. on the headline numbers alone, we are not looking at a repeat of 2010 at 2015 but experts do warn that having trained for a decade already further cuts will feel pretty sharp. and labour have already signalled some tax changes on private schools that could cover a small part of any gap

and public spending are they different. labour leader has warned people not for the incoming government to quickly turn on the spending caps and difficult choices are ahead. during the budget and after the election. now to the united states where polls have opened for what's known as super tuesday — voters in more than a dozen states are deciding which candidates they want to represent their party in this year's presidential race. will it be a biden v trump contest come november? the republican primary contest will be in all of these 15 states on the map — while the democrats will vote in the same states except alaska. they will hold caucuses, too, in american samoa. we'll also get the results of the democratic contest in iowa, which has been ongoing by post for several weeks. as is expected for a sitting president — joe biden faces little opposition on the democratic side

and is all but guaranteed the party's nomination. while on the republican side, donald trump is inching ever closer to becoming his party's candidate once again — with another predicted win over his only remaining rival, nikki haley. let's speak to our north america correspondent, nomia iqbal. i think it is fair to say that donald trump after the results of come out of this primary has also sealed the deal. but come out of this primary has also sealed the deal.— sealed the deal. but the official announcement _ sealed the deal. but the official announcement isn't _ sealed the deal. but the official announcement isn't until- sealed the deal. but the official announcement isn't until the i sealed the deal. but the official - announcement isn't until the summer the party convention but mr trump has basically had a clean sweep of

the party starting in iowa back in january and the only election he did not win was in washington, dc which haley won and she is the first to win a republican primary, the first female to win. it's very thrilling and exciting and there is a sense of predictability this time around and it is seen as more of a coronation, i think unless the competition. band i think unless the competition. and when will she _ i think unless the competition. and when will she lay her hat down and quit the race? she when will she lay her hat down and quit the race?— quit the race? she will wait until su er quit the race? she will wait until super tuesday — quit the race? she will wait until super tuesday is _ quit the race? she will wait until super tuesday is concluded - quit the race? she will wait until super tuesday is concluded but l quit the race? she will wait until - super tuesday is concluded but we'll have to see if that happens. she's very adamant that she will stay hanging on in this race despite the fact that she has collected huge losses to donald trump and there are still some donors backing her and she is not likely to win any of the

republican primaries super tuesday look, it would be a surprise if she did but she has said that she will keep going but the moment but i think if it does turn out as expected that donald trump will sweep the primaries and will be very difficult to see how she can justify hanging on. difficult to see how she can 'ustify hanging on.— difficult to see how she can 'ustify hanuain on. ., ., , ., hanging on. involving over this main presidential — hanging on. involving over this main presidential candidate _ hanging on. involving over this main presidential candidate is, _ hanging on. involving over this main presidential candidate is, it - hanging on. involving over this main presidential candidate is, it will - presidential candidate is, it will be who will be the running mate which is very likely that vice president, leigh harris will run again for the vice presidents position alongsidejoe biden but who will run alongside donald trump if he secures the nomination? there is lots of peeple _ he secures the nomination? there is lots of people lining _ he secures the nomination? there is lots of people lining up _ he secures the nomination? there is lots of people lining up to _ he secures the nomination? there is lots of people lining up to try - he secures the nomination? there is lots of people lining up to try to - lots of people lining up to try to make their pitch to donald trump. you have the entrepreneur in the south carolina governor tim scott ran against donald trump for the

presidential nomination for the republican party but both men throughout their campaign were very loyal to donald trump and refusing to really criticise in. there are very pro—trump republicans and you have carrie lake and there are some questions about whether nikki haley may be a running mate if she drops out, will she strike a deal with donald trump? she has ruled that out and potential some florida governor ron desantis, he dropped out of the presidential race to the republican party nomination and remember he was seen as the big thing that would challenge donald trump in the big rival to donald trump and there was a lot of bad blood on the campaign trail but ron desantis did back donald trump in the end and he is still very popular with republicans. who knows? he might see potential ron desantis as a name that could run alongside donald trump but will have to see. donald trump is going

to have to enjoy having people speculate about who will be his running mate. bud speculate about who will be his running mate.— speculate about who will be his running mate. speculate about who will be his runnina mate. �* , ., ., ., running mate. and you mentioned a coule of running mate. and you mentioned a couple of hours _ running mate. and you mentioned a couple of hours ago, _ running mate. and you mentioned a couple of hours ago, taylor - running mate. and you mentioned a couple of hours ago, taylor swift i couple of hours ago, taylor swift has made a bit of an intervention in the super tuesday primary and if you go back 30 seconds, tell us what she has been saying. she go back 30 seconds, tell us what she has been saying-— go back 30 seconds, tell us what she has been saying. she has been under instaaram has been saying. she has been under instagram and _ has been saying. she has been under instagram and encouraging _ has been saying. she has been under instagram and encouraging people i has been saying. she has been under instagram and encouraging people to go out and vote and the new stick in tennessee and encouraging people to go out and vote there in other states and she had 282 million followers which is more than donald trump and joe biden put together and taylor swift continues to be a pretty dominating force and he will see voters take the message and go out and vote. see voters take the message and go out and vote-— we'll have coverage

from across the states through today and tomorrow, and if you want to find out more about super tuesday and why it is so important in the race for the white house then head to the bbc news website or app where we have a special guide to the day along with more articles in the run—up to the presidential election. the us secretary of state has called on israel to maximise every possible means of getting aid into gaza. speaking before talks with qatar's prime minister, antony blinken said conditions in the territory were unacceptable and unsustainable. mr blinken has also stressed that there is an opportunity for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. his comments come as leaders of hamas are expected to hold more talks in cairo with mediators — although israel says it will not directly attend until hamas provides a list of hostages it is still holding. hamas — has been running gaza — but is also considered a terrorist organisation by a number of countries including the uk. here's what mr blinken had to say a short while ago. it's also urgent, irrespective of a cease—fire, to dramatically increase

the humanitarian assistance that's getting in to people inside of gaza. the situation for children, for women, for men who are caught in this crossfire hamas is making inside of gaza, it is unacceptable and unsustainable. israel has to maximise every possible means, every possible method of getting assistance to people who need it. meanwhile on the ground in gaza, the war continues. there have been more air strikes in the south of the territory, including here, in the southern city of rafah. the world health organization says some 8,000 patients in gaza, many of them badly injured in israel's bombardment, urgently need to be moved out of the territory. one other line to bring you from the middle east — a un team of experts has concluded there are reasonable grounds to believe sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, took place in at least three locations during the hamas attacks on israel on the seventh of october. they also said there was convincing information that some hostages could still be being subjected to sexual violence in gaza. hamas has rejected the accusations.

around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news here in the uk. unions representing senior doctors in england have given their backing to an improved pay offer. the deal includes an extra 3000 pounds for those a few years into their consultant careers. the proposals will now be put to union members to see if they're willing to accept. consultants have staged four strikes in their pay dispute so far. a toxic environment in swimming clubs in england has enabled abusive training practices and bullying to exist for years — a review has found. it says extreme competitiveness led to an 'ongoing and systemic�* culture of fear at all levels of aquatic sports and was a major threat to its future. the governing body has apologised. new rules are being introduced in northern ireland to restrict the ownership of xl bully dogs. the animals will have to be muzzled and on a lead in public.

new legislation will also require owners to get an exemption certificate for their xl bully. the breeding and selling of the dogs will be banned. you're live with bbc news. later this week, a police inquiry — known as 0peration kenova — will reveal the secret war between the british state and the irish republican army — or ira. over the last seven years it has examined crimes such as murder and torture linked to the agent known as "stakeknife", and the role played by the british security services — including m15. 0peration kenova has now linked the agent to the murder of 17 alleged informers. some of them were also working for british intelligence. for the families of those killed by the ira, its hoped this week 5 report will provide some answers. peter taylor, who has been investigating the troubles for more than a0 years, has more. john dignam was murdered by the ira in 1992 and branded

as a special branch informer. i personally can't see him working for the ruc. i couldn't believe it, knowing john, and living with him. i interviewed claire dignam 30 years ago. he was my husband and he was the father of my children, and i loved him. no matter what people say he did or he didn't do, i loved him. every bone in my body. the ira interrogated dignam and two of his ira comrades, and tape recorded their alleged confessions. i finally managed to get hold of the tapes. the banging of a pan was the sign to start talking, to hide the interrogator�*s voice. metal pan clangs. my name isjohnny dignam from portadown. i'm aged 32. i told the police handlers that i was on a weapons training camp in limerick. dignam admitted being

recruited by special branch. he paid the penalty — a bullet in the back of the head. his body was dumped on a lonely country road. he always went in to kiss the kids goodnight. and he didn't. .. he never has come back to do it. that's hard. in your case, you've suffered for 30... 31 yea rs. and are you still suffering from it? yes, peter, iam. i don't have a photograph of my husband because it's the memory of that... itjust brings up a dark, dark time. ijust conjured up all the emotions, all the emotions that i bury deep down inside. we'll play a few clips from the original film. and, you know, it will obviously be emotional because of what happened tojohnny.

after you've seen the clip, we'll pause and i'lljust ask you your reactions to it. metal pan clangs on recording. 0h, is that the... no, i don't want to hear that. i don't know if i could cope. the sound was too painful. but claire quickly composed herself and came back to carry on and thank me for doing the interview. this is healing — it's healing for me. what are you hoping 0peration kenova will do? give answers to all the families, and myself. no matter what them answers may be, just to give us answers. thank you forjoining us. one of the questions of families and widows like claire want to see this answer? two main questions with which they

would like answers. people like claire and those in positions that lost love ones murdered by the ira during interrogations. they would want to know from their where the loved ones were and the fathers and brothers and sons and informers was of the second question is, if they were indeed going for british intelligence, why were they not rescued? the answer to both questions is really difficult and the answer to the first question is about where they informers, that answer is not possible to give because the rules that govern the running of the informers in the identifications of them are extremely strict and the government, the agencies who run these informants and run handlers would never confirm that a b or c were

working for the british and were informers. they will get no pleasure from getting that answer although they would not be surprised and the second is more difficult to answer and that is why were they not rescued? the number of attempted rescuers relatively two or three rescuers relatively two or three rescue attempts and wanted to them are successful but the reason why it was so difficult to rescue and snatch supposed informers from being interrogated by the ira was is an extremely risky operation and there was no guarantee that it would be successful. the problem was that when informers were recruited by british intelligence agencies, they were invariably told that if you get into difficulties, if you're

compromised orfearing being compromised or fearing being compromised, compromised orfearing being compromised, we will look after you and will rescue you and that was all good and well intended in principle but in practice, is mike jackson, former head of the british army told me, it was extremely difficult. after a seven—year police investigation costs £140 million were there no prosecutions? that is a difficult question _ were there no prosecutions? that is a difficult question to _ were there no prosecutions? that is a difficult question to answer - were there no prosecutions? that is a difficult question to answer but i a difficult question to answer but fairly simple question to answer, you would've thought that after all the mandela spent, £40 million, the number of years spent by up to 50 detectives investigating these questions, you would have thought that there could've been some answers and the prospect of prosecutions, the fact that there are no prosecutions and reflections of the nature of the evidence. john who led the operation for seven years is now the chief constable for

the police service of northern ireland said in the early stages of the inquiry was that he would leave no stone unturned and i think the team did upturn a lot of stones and bones underneath those stones could not be used in the evidence from conversations between the handlers and the agents themselves could not be used in the court of law for two reasons and one of them being secret intelligence by the officials for its act and it was the prosecution service of hearsay evidence which is not admissible in the court of law and i think the answer to why this prosecutions a simple and very complicated. prosecutions a simple and very complicated-— prosecutions a simple and very comlicated. ., ~ ,, , . prosecutions a simple and very

comlicated. ., ~ , . ., complicated. thank you very much for shafinu complicated. thank you very much for sharing your — complicated. thank you very much for sharing your story _ complicated. thank you very much for sharing your story with _ complicated. thank you very much for sharing your story with us. _ complicated. thank you very much for sharing your story with us. breaking l sharing your story with us. breaking news and developments that have come to us, reuters is reporting that hamas is any exchange of prisoners cannot take place except after a cease—fire and president biden says there is no excuses for israel to blockade to gaza. block aid. good evening. it certainly has been a day of mixed fortunes for some. after a frosty start, we had some lovely spells of sunshine. just take a look at this beautiful weather. watch a picture of lancashire just a few hours ago. but there was quite a lot of cloud around for others and the clouds thick enough for some drizzle you can sense. it's quite cold for the dog walk today in swanage and dorset and despite the drizzle you still needed that umbrella because it really does wear you through from time to time, doesn't it? this has been the story earlier on. you can see where the cloud has been sitting across western scotland through east anglia

and down along the south coast. now the weather front that brought the cloud stubbornly sitting along exposed east coast will continue to feed in quite a lot of cloud through the night, but more of a breeze here. and the cloud and the breeze will prevent temperatures from falling too far. but where we have got some clearer skies once again, well, we could see a touch of frost and maybe some patchy fog favoured areas for that likely to be across east wales, the midlands and down towards dorset, a little more cloud towards the south west and here maybe a few scattered showers as we go through the day. but the frost will lift. there'll be some sunshine coming through a better morning for northern ireland. we keep some cloud into eastern scotland and northeast england. the cloud will break up, but we could see a few isolated showers through lincolnshire down into the southeast, temperatures in the sun, 11—12 degrees, where we keep the cloud, only around 7—9 celsius. not much change in the weather pattern as we go through friday. we still got this southeasterly flow continuing to drag in cloud from time to time off the north sea

and a bit more of a strengthening breeze here. so sheltered western areas, seeing the best of the sunshine and potentially the warmth when that sunshine comes through, the cloud may be thick enough at times to produce the odd isolated shower. in terms of the feel of the weather, though, we're still looking at temperatures widely into the double digits. maybe if you keep that cloud lingering across the northeast coast, it'll say at around 8—9 degrees stronger. barry, 35—40 mile gusts of wind on friday before an area of low pressure could bring some showery outbreaks of rain into the southwest for the start of the weekend, so it looks somewhat like this. after a dry spell, we could see some wetter and windy weather into the far southwest.

this is bbc news. the headlines. the family of emma caldwell meets with scotland's first minister, calling for an investigation into the handling of her murder. medical leaders have backed an increase in the number of physician associates working for the health service. we look at what this might mean for patients. a new report warns of "systemic gender inequality" in women's sports and exercise research. and the shirt famously worn by mr darcy in pride and prejudice is up for bidding at a charity auction expected to fetch thousands.

now it's time for the sport. let's get a full round—up from will. thank you very much. the qualifying draw for the women's euro 2025 has taken place with defending champions england facing a tough group. sarina wiegman's side will play france, sweden and the republic of ireland in one of the four top—seeded groups. the sides who finished first and second will qualify for the tournament, along with the hosts switzerland and there'll be play—offs for the third and fourth—placed teams in those top groups. the other home nations will all have to attempt to qualify via the play—offs. scotland are in a group with serbia, slovakia and israel. wales will face croatia, ukraine and kosovo. and northern ireland are drawn with portugal, bosnia and herzegovina and malta. qualifying begins in april. erling haaland insists he's happy at manchester city but says erling haaland insists he's happy at manchester city,

but he says "you never know what the future holds".