and if we stick to our plan, we'll be able to make good progress towards that goal in the next parliament. we've already showed that we mean business with cutting national insurance by a third injust six months, delivering a £900 tax cut. and as i said, if we stick with our plan, we'll be able to make good progress towards our long—term goal of ending that unfairness entirely over the next parliament. how will you fund it? i said what people can see from me and i think they trust me on these things, is that i will always do this responsibly. we funded our current tax cuts responsibly. borrowing has not increased. we're still on track to meet our fiscal rules that have our debt falling. we've also made sure that we keep investing in our public services, especially the nhs, which received more funding yesterday, which was welcomed by the nhs ceo. and that's what you get when you stick to a plan. we can invest in the nhs, we can cut people's taxes, and we can continue to have our debt on a falling trajectory that shows that our plan is working. it's the right plan, and if we stick with it, we really can give everyone

the peace of mind that there's a brighter future ahead. and the alternative, the choice at the next election is clear because our plan is starting to deliver the positive change that people want to see. the alternative with labour, who don't have a plan, is all that progress would be eroded and we would just go back to square one. now, michelle donelan, your science secretary falsely accused two academics of supporting hamas. not only is it extremely concerning, but it's also cost the taxpayer £15,000. now, if integrity and professionalism are the qualities you promise to bring back to the government, why is she still in post? and do you think it's fair that taxpayers should pay £15,000 towards these legal fees? 0bviously, you'll understand i've been focused on the budget, but my understanding of this is that michelle had raised some concerns about some articles that had been shared about talking about what happened on october the 7th. i think subsequent to that, those thoughts and everything have been clarified and michelle has withdrawn those concerns

with regard to the settlement it is a longstanding convention, stretching back many years over different governments of all different parties, including labour, that the government will fund those legal disputes when it relates to government ministers doing their work. the leader of the labour party keir starmer had his say onjeremy hunt's budget describing it as humiliating for the government. well, how humiliating was that for the government yesterday? we've argued for years that they should get rid of the non—dom tax status. they've resisted that and now, completely out of ideas, the only decent policy they got is the one that they've lifted from us. and i think if you needed evidence of why we should go straight to a general election, it's that. we need change. obviously, we will keep our commitment to the nhs so important it is. we'll go through all of the numbers and we'll be absolutely clear. nothing in our manifesto will be unfunded and uncosted. that is an iron rule for the labour party.

contrast that with the government where yesterday at the end of the budget the chancellor made a staggering £46 billion unfunded commitment to abolish national insurance. that's bigger than liz truss�*s commitment. so they've learned absolutely nothing. we need change. it's time for change. and you'll announce how you'll cover that different differential in losing non—dom status? well, we will go through in an orderly fashion all of the numbers. we will keep the commitment to the nhs because it's really important we get those waiting lists down. but there will not be a single unfunded commitment in our manifesto. but £46 billion unfunded commitment yesterday from the chancellor at the end of the budget to abolish national insurance. that's staggering. and in the end, the overall story of the budget was, as ever, government give with one hand and take much more with the other. and people have seen

14 years of this. they're not going to be taken in by this con trick. the office for budget responsibility is basically much of its assumptions on population increases. do you support more economic migration as a means for growth? we need a proper plan for growth and that's what the labour party has set out. we've been talking about that plan here on this construction site because it's about supply chains, it's about long—term decision—making. it's about making sure that public sector investment is matched by private sector investment. that will only happen if we have economic stability and we only will have economic stability under a labour government with tight fiscal rules and making sure there are no unfunded commitments. the complete opposite of what we saw yesterday from the government. and on migration, that's the point, would you support the idea of more migration to grow the economy? i think the way to grow the economy is to have a long term plan,

a strategic plan, dealing with planning, dealing with supply chains, making sure that the government can ensure that private investment comes in. i don't think that that should be done in the way the government has done it, which is simply their only plan for growth is migration. and they've got to explain that and be honest to the public about what their plan for growth really is. and it's finally on michelle donelan should she pay her own £15,000 legal bill, the taxpayers picking up that cost, should she resign? i think most people watching this would be aghast. the government is telling them every day that they can't do any more to help them. people are really struggling to pay their bills and the government says we can't afford to help you any more. people know their public services are crumbling. and then you've got a minister who says something she shouldn't have said. then has to pick up a legal action and pay damages and costs. and then says the taxpayer is going to pay for that. totally insulting. we need a change. i'll tell you something else. if we're privileged enough to come into power and have a labour government, we will never allow that

sort of thing to happen. that will be history. sir keir starmer. thank you. the covid inquiry has heard how the first minister of wales, mark drakeford, feared the future of the uk was being threatened by the way boris johnson's government handled the early days of the pandemic. mr drakeford's closest advisor gave evidence to the inquiry earlier. let's speak to our wales correspondent, hywel griffith. what evidence came out this morning? we heard plenty more about the tension that emerged back in 2020 between the welsh government and westminster, and arguably between all four uk governments, not so much going into lockdown, but as they eased restrictions. the first witness to be called this morning was a special adviser to the first minister. she has been in that post for 20 years. a key centralfigure that people would not see on their screens that was always in the room when decisions were made. 0ne screens that was always in the room when decisions were made. one of the areas of questioning was about how those discussions happened and how

they happen to sometimes informally. she was quizzed by the inquiry, something that has a map and hearings before, whatsapp, welsh government has policy against using whatsapp on official phones advocates using it on personal phones to discuss personal government business are particularly to make decisions. that is that she had to concede eventually she may have strayed into when she was asked questions by the chair of the inquiry. was not in a position to, to use my personal phone for welsh government formal decision making, and i do not believe that that was the case. the groups that i've discussed were used for admin purposes and for team morale. so it's a point at which it was my team was no longer in the office and it was something that we did use to keep in contact and to keep the team together. we will return in a moment to move on, if i may.

but isn't using your personal phone for admin purposes using it for welsh government business? yes. you were using it wrongly? yes. she was asked more widely about those tensions. she said the relationship between mark drakeford and borisjohnson did not go well as it went into summer 2020. a meeting between the two men and 2021 made the first minister, she said, deduce that there were tensions that couldn't be resolved, and that there are tensions within the uk government, fishers she said, that were growing, and ultimately that were growing, and ultimately that wouldn't help the future of the united kingdom. there witness been called at this time it comes from

the uk governments, he was welsh secretary during most of the pandemic. it will be interesting to hear what he has to say about this tension between wales and westminster. by the people have said so far that they will ask it was doing there right thing, being cautious, and blaming the uk governments were not happy to support it, particularly financially. he may take a very different viewpoint. we will see what he has to say this afternoon. a former police officer has pleaded guilty to defrauding members of a horse racing betting syndicate. a jury heard how michael stanley, who headed the layezy racing group, operated a "fraudulent ponzi scheme" and misused his clients' money between 2013 and 2019. the 67—year—old, who used to be a sergeant with kent police, was arrested in august 2019 and was later charged with dishonesty offences. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. hello. this afternoon's weather is looking

dry for the bulk of the country. cloud will vary a lot though, from place to place. we have seen some mist and low cloud loiter across parts of the midlands, like here in shropshire. the best of the sunshine generally today is once again across western areas, although there are a few breaks in the cloud across the south, as well. sunny skies then across parts of highland, scotland today. there's a vanishingly small chance of catching a shower today across parts of england, and wales, for the vast majority of the country, just stays dry. keeping a lot of cloud, though, across eastern areas of scotland, eastern areas of england, with still some mist patches loitering throughout the afternoon in to parts of coastal aberdeenshire overnight tonight. that feed of cloud will continue to affect the north sea coast of england and scotland, probably a few clearer spells for a time.

a few patches of rural frost are possible, but otherwise temperatures generally, a degree or so less cold than it was last night on into friday's forecast. low pressure to the southwest, high pressure to the northeast, the pressure gradient, the isobars squeezing together a bit more closely. and so, it's going to be a windier day. it's the isobars and the pressure gradient that make the winds blow in the first place. the strongest winds will be up and to the west of high ground. the uk's only named wind, the helm wind will be blowing across cross fell and into cumbria gusts could reach around a0 or maybe the low 50 miles an hour, up into the west of high ground. so it will be quite a blustery kind of day and that wind will make it feel a little bit cooler. the low pressure to our south still influencing our weather, still bringing the threat of some patches of rain. probably the greatest threat will be across parts of wales, south west england and northern ireland through the course of saturday. northwest scotland favoured for staying dry with some sunshine. eastern scotland will probably have quite frequent showers working into the hills, so it could turn out to be quite a wet day here.

some bright or sunny spells coming through and temperatures for the most part around about average for the time of year — on into sunday's forecast. again, there is the threat of seeing some rain at times, but it won't be raining all day. the rain is likely to be patchy in nature, the best of any sunshine again, probably towards the north west of scotland. that's the forecast for now.

live from london, this is bbc news. red bull suspends the woman who accused the team principal, christian horner, of inappropriate behaviour. crunching the numbers — willjeremy hunt's pre—election budget manage to shift the political dial? we'll have a special report from eastern ukraine, where villagers near the front line are bracing themselves against advances by russian troops. new figures show last month was the warmest february ever recorded. hello and welcome to bbc news now — three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction.

iam i am lewis vaughanjones. we will start with some breaking news in the last hour or so on the red bull formula 1 team, surrounding its boss, christian horner. the person who accused him of inappropriate behaviour has been suspended on full pgy- behaviour has been suspended on full pay. christian horner denies the allegations and was allowed to remain in his role after the allegations were rejected. a spokesperson for red bull racing said they couldn't comment. i spoke to our correspondence, laura scott. bbc news has learned that the complainant who made the allegations against christian horner was suspended from her role at red bull racing earlier today and our understanding was that was linked to the outcome of an investigation carried out by an external barrister brought in by red bull, the parent company, into allegations of inappropriate behaviour she had made against horner, who she was working with at the team. a red bull spokesperson said to us today that the company cannot comment on this

internal matter. last week