determined that it again and i'm determined that it wilt _ again and i'm determined that it wilt the — again and i'm determined that it will. the phrase that you used, managed — will. the phrase that you used, managed decline is something that should _ managed decline is something that should eat away at all of us because that is_ should eat away at all of us because that is the _ should eat away at all of us because that is the feeling in too many places— that is the feeling in too many places across the country. for that to happen — places across the country. for that to happen we need a viable plan and we need _ to happen we need a viable plan and we need to— to happen we need a viable plan and we need to do the hard yards, as angela _ we need to do the hard yards, as angela said levelling up is not a slogan, — angela said levelling up is not a slogan, it— angela said levelling up is not a slogan, it has to be a viable plan and the — slogan, it has to be a viable plan and the hard yards of a plan that will likely— and the hard yards of a plan that will likely work across the country. the number— will likely work across the country. the number one mission of an incoming _ the number one mission of an incoming labour government will be to grow— incoming labour government will be to grow the — incoming labour government will be to grow the economy. but notjust grow— to grow the economy. but notjust grow the _ to grow the economy. but notjust grow the economy which is vital but .row grow the economy which is vital but grow it _ grow the economy which is vital but grow it in _ grow the economy which is vital but grow it in every place across the country. — grow it in every place across the country, not to have it grown in some _ country, not to have it grown in some parts— country, not to have it grown in some parts of the country and redistribution will be the one—word answer— redistribution will be the one—word answer it— redistribution will be the one—word answer it in— redistribution will be the one—word answer it in other places. we will work— answer it in other places. we will work to— answer it in other places. we will work to build dudley and other cities — work to build dudley and other cities across the country with the hard _ cities across the country with the hard yards— cities across the country with the hard yards and a viable plan that we propose _ hard yards and a viable plan that we propose this morning. thank you mark very much _ propose this morning. thank you mark very much i_ propose this morning. thank you mark very much. i have lewis from itv news _

that was labour leader sir keir starmer launching his party's local election campaign. he said he was wishing he was launching a different kind of campaign today, accusing the prime minister of bottling calling for a general election. let's speak to our political correspondent peter saull who's in westminster. what did you make of sir keir starmer�*s speech today? very confident sounding labour leader, he said his party was on the march, as you said. it would have rather, he said, been launching a general election campaign. we will have to wait a bit longerfor election campaign. we will have to wait a bit longer for that. election campaign. we will have to wait a bit longerfor that. but really the focus of the kinds of voters he was speaking to today, representative of the place he is in, dudley the kind of post—industrial town that voted overwhelmingly for the conservatives and the general election in 2019, formerly traditional labour heartland type of a place. he was saying that his party is now back representing those kinds of areas. he talks a lot about hope, harnessing potential and those types

of communities. also interesting to note the relationship between angela rayner, the party's deputy leader, and keir starmer. angela rayner introducing sir keir starmer. if you think back to the last time a lot of these seats were contested, these council seats in 2021, labour performed quite poorly. in the aftermath of that, keir starmer sacked angela rayner as chair of the labour party foster p later then gave her thejob labour party foster p later then gave her the job of shadow levelling up gave her the job of shadow levelling up secretary. lots of talk at the time that they weren't getting on all that way, all smiles, lots of unity today. he was miller referring to her as ange. he said how her favourite cocktail was venom, this is a drink which comprises of vodka, whiskey, blue wkd and orange juice. probably not for the faint—hearted. and it is her birthday as well today. a sign of the happy place at the labour party is in right now as they look at the opinion polls, quite a long way ahead of the conservatives and quite hopeful that they will have a lot of success when

it comes to make the second local elections. council elections in the black country, sandwell, wolverhampton, dudley and walsall, the west midlands mayoral election as well, which i think will be totemic as far as we look at what it tells us about the national picture. the problem labour have got in that part of the work if you have an incumbent in andy street, a conservative, who is well known, quite well liked, it has done his utmost to distance himself from the tory party nationally. they might have their work cut out in winning that mayoral contest.— that mayoral contest. definitely. the focus is _ that mayoral contest. definitely. the focus is still _ that mayoral contest. definitely. the focus is still on _ that mayoral contest. definitely. the focus is still on national - the focus is still on national politics, but in terms of these local elections on the 2nd of may, how would you say labour's message differs or is it similar to that of the tories and lib dems, who have already launched their election campaigns?— already launched their election camaians? , ., . . campaigns? there is not all that much between _ campaigns? there is not all that much between them _ campaigns? there is not all that much between them in - campaigns? there is not all that much between them in many . campaigns? there is not all that - much between them in many respects, that i think is an interesting thing to note as we head towards the general election too. both angela

rayner and keir starmer pointing out that the few years back, boris johnson the former prime minister stood in that exact same spot and talked about his levelling up a pledge. they said effectively that pledge. they said effectively that pledge is in tatters, it was all about addressing the fundamental problem that we have in terms of regional inequality in the uk, and places like turkey don't really feel like they have benefited much from levelling up —— places like dudley. they say they will devolve powers to local communities, but where is the cash to actually back that up? the first thing they want to stress as they will be trusted custodians of they will be trusted custodians of the nation's finances. it may well be that there is not that much money to carry on the levelling up ambition, but it speaks to the confidence of keir starmer that he feels able to adopt that slogan of levelling up for his own, and he also used the phrase incidentally "mac take control back", which that was used in 2016, and then his message to these kinds of forgotten communities which all of the parties are now trying to win over as we go

towards a general election.- towards a general election. peter, thank ou towards a general election. peter, thank you very _ towards a general election. peter, thank you very much. _ towards a general election. peter, thank you very much. peter- towards a general election. peter, thank you very much. peter with l towards a general election. peter, i thank you very much. peter with that analysis of sir keir starmer�*s speech, launching his party's local election campaign. one of the biggest water companies in the uk, thames water, has announced that its investors will not give the struggling utility giant extra cash unless customer bills rise. shareholders were due to inject half a billion pounds of funding, needed by thames water, which has debts of around £18 billion. the bbc understands that the shareholders are insisting that the regulator, 0fwat, agrees to a substantial increase in bills before they make the investment. have a listen to what the chief executive of thames water chris weston told the bbc. irate executive of thames water chris weston told the bbc.— executive of thames water chris weston told the bbc. we are as i said in conversations _ weston told the bbc. we are as i said in conversations with - weston told the bbc. we are as i said in conversations with 0fwat| said in conversations with 0fwat regarding our business plan, and thatis regarding our business plan, and that is important. that is a process that is important. that is a process that will go on until the end of this year, and that creates a business plan that shareholders and anyone who might provide equity can

look at and then determine whether they are going to inject equity into thames. i think it is premature to go there at the moment. if at the end of the day probably well into the end of next year we were in a situation where we have no equity, then there is the prospect, as i think simonjack was saying, of special administration. but we are a long way from that point at the moment. a teaching union in england says its members are reporting that levels of violence and abuse from pupils have risen sharply since the pandemic. nearly one in five teachers who responded to a survey commissioned by the bbc said they had been hit by a student this year. the same number say they have also experienced verbal or online abuse from a parent or guardian since september. here's more from education correspondent elaine dunkley. across the country, clips posted on social media give an insight into the chaos in classrooms. the room got absolutely ransacked.

the boards were ripped off the wall, displays were snapped and broken. you're going to get people shouting at you. when it comes to teenagers and what they're saying, quite sexualised. teachers pushed to the brink because of bad behaviour. the behaviour stresses me out. all my fillings fall out because i clench my teeth at night when i'm sleeping. in dewsbury, this is stjohn fisher academy. it's a school with a bad reputation. rated inadequate and described by 0fsted as unsafe for teachers and pupils. children were being suspended as early as 9:15 in the morning. there was a culture of bullying. there was frequent fighting, like, multiple fights on a daily basis. head teacher mr mackeyjoined the school a year ago. and, with the support of staff, small changes have made a significant difference to behaviour. this year, you'll see them in lessons every single day.

it's hanging out. oh, sorry. it's ok. how are you doing? are you having a nice day? yeah. good. sorry, sir. that's quite all right. corridors are locked down in lesson time to stop students wandering off. mobile phones are banned, and the toilets can only be used at certain times. we had a lot of internal truancy. children were going into cubicles. i'm pretty sure they were vaping in there. we were spending, at times, thousands of pounds per week on damage. you'd be scared to walk into, like, certain corners or places in the back of a classroom or places in the playground. there's loads of staff in the playground now, making sure everyone's 0k. teaching unions say disruption and disobedience has got worse since the pandemic, and it's causing many teachers to leave the profession. teachers here tell me an increasing number of children struggling to get support for special educational needs, difficult home lives and a lack of services for mental health are all part of the problem. i think it's really important

that we identify what their needs are and look at how we can adapt what we do as a school to meet those needs to ultimately make them as successful as they possibly can be. attendance and behaviour are two of the biggest challenges for schools. in response, the government says it's invested £10 million into behaviour hubs, where schools offer mentoring support to those which are struggling. your shirt's hanging out. elaine dunkley, bbc news. we can speak to elaine now who is in manchester for us. we can speak to elaine now who is in manchesterfor us. that we can speak to elaine now who is in manchester for us. that was a powerful report. schools are communities where parents, students and teachers all have to work together. what kind of an impact is this violence having on schools? it this violence having on schools? it is having a huge impact. i have spent weeks speaking with teachers about behaviour, and it comes up time and time again. in that report, we saw a secondary school, but i have seen set head teachers in primary schools where they are telling me four and five—year—olds

are swearing, using violent behaviour, they blow the whistle and primary school pupils are refusing to come in and do things. it is a major issue notjust in secondary schools but in primary schools as well. a phrase that i learned in the last few weeks is about students who are preventing insider school, they are preventing insider school, they are turning up, going into school but wandering around corridors is not engaging in lessons. so it is having a huge impact on the mental health of teachers, also a huge impact on those children in the class that want to learn. i spoke to one head teacher and he said it is like one against 30, and while some lessons are very good, it only takes one pupil to disrupt an entire lesson. �* . lesson. and tell me about the behaviour _ lesson. and tell me about the behaviour of _ lesson. and tell me about the behaviour of parents - lesson. and tell me about the behaviour of parents and - lesson. and tell me about the behaviour of parents and why | lesson. and tell me about the - behaviour of parents and why this is such a concern.— such a concern. when we did the survey using _ such a concern. when we did the survey using the _ such a concern. when we did the survey using the tool _ such a concern. when we did the survey using the tool teacher- such a concern. when we did thel survey using the tool teacher tap, we found that one in five of teachers said that they had experienced online abuse from a tick parent or guardian since september, and a similar number said they had experienced verbal abuse. for a lot of parents it is very difficult, if

you have a child with special educational needs who is not getting the support they need, that is really problematic for the child and challenging, it is also very difficult for parents. there are also lots of young people who don't have access to mental health services, such as c ams, to teacher say these frustrations boil in the classroom, so parents go into school, they go into the reception areas and they are using teachers to vent that frustration, even though teachers are doing more than ever for parents. another issue that came up for parents. another issue that came up in terms of some of the issues around parents is about the cost of living, lots of parents are struggling, struggling to put food on the table, even working parents are struggling. so while schools are doing more to fill those gaps, they are also feeling more of those frustrations.— frustrations. elaine, a lot of these issues are — frustrations. elaine, a lot of these issues are said _ frustrations. elaine, a lot of these issues are said to _ frustrations. elaine, a lot of these issues are said to have _ frustrations. elaine, a lot of these issues are said to have emerged l issues are said to have emerged after the pandemic. why is that and what are some of the solution is being put forward? i what are some of the solution is being put forward?— being put forward? i think it is really difficult _ being put forward? i think it is really difficult because - being put forward? i think it is really difficult because the - really difficult because the pandemic caused a huge disruption to learning, so the systems that were in place, and that social contract

about going into school and routines, was broken during the pandemic. so a lot of teachers say to me now that things that they were able to use as a way of disciplining before now simply don't work any more. for example, detention, quite often teachers say that when a child is in detention, parents arejust saying, "they are not going into detention. look at when teachers go to —— when few fuels go when it is not having the same impact. government is saying it is investing £10 million in two behaviour hubs, a programme which aims to support 700 schools over three years, that is where schools work together in terms of offering support to each other. many schools in england are calm, orderly, rated as good and outstanding. but teaching unions are really concerned about the pressure this behaviour is putting on schools, particularly in terms of schools, particularly in terms of school funding, where schools are having to create more services and adapt for those children who are

really struggling in mainstream settings. a teaching union is warning that it controlled is not brought back, many more teachers will leave the profession.— will leave the profession. elaine, thank ou will leave the profession. elaine, thank you very — will leave the profession. elaine, thank you very much _ will leave the profession. elaine, thank you very much for - will leave the profession. elaine, i thank you very much for reporting. viewers can go to the bbc website where they can read more on this story. the bill is likely to be debated this autumn and potentially voted on next year. let's speak to bbc scotland's political editor david henderson. thank you forjoining us in the programme, just give us a bit of background to this legislation, how has it come about? it of background to this legislation, how has it come about? it has come about because _ how has it come about? it has come about because right _ how has it come about? it has come about because right now, _ how has it come about? it has come about because right now, helping i about because right now, helping someone to take their own life is a

crime, and it is punishable by up to 1a years in prison. and campaigners say that is profoundly unjust, because it means that people suffer in the final phase of their life, they are unable to choose the way they are unable to choose the way they die when they die, where they die. so that is why today is liam mcarthur liberal democrat msp has brought legislation to the scottish parliament to try to change the law. it would allow assisted dying on the nhs in certain limited circumstances. opponents of course warn that there are major problems with it, all sorts of concerns about what this means for people with disabilities and mental health. but supporters here say that the mood has changed, that there is a broader public support for this measure than there used to be and there is a majority support across scotland for

a change in the law along these lines. so this bill has been brought to the scottish parliament, it will be discussed, it will be debated and finally it will be voted on by msps in the coming months. find finally it will be voted on by msps in the coming months.— in the coming months. and if this law is passed. — in the coming months. and if this law is passed, how— in the coming months. and if this law is passed, how will— in the coming months. and if this law is passed, how will it work? i law is passed, how will it work? well, there are all sorts of safeguards which are being introduced, but which are being proposed, fundamentally, what this allows is for somebody with a terminal illness to gain access to medication and the right kind of support from the medical staff on the nhs to allow them to take their own life. that is what the bill allows. it allows assisted dying within the nhs, not in a private clinic, but in a clinical setting within the nhs. it would be allowed for people with advanced terminal illnesses, they would also have to have a mental capacity to make their own decision. there would be a cooling off period, a reflection period of about a couple of weeks in

the event that somebody have chosen to take this path, and they would ultimately be provided with medication and with help from nhs staff to make it happen. but that patients themselves would in effect press the button to take their own life and administer medication. liam mcarthur of the liberal democrats who brought this bill forward is stressing the safeguards and said that doctors have to be involved to make sure that people want to make that decision, that they are capable mentally of making that decision. they talk about this 14—day waiting period, and of course the patient themselves has to administer the drug. the other self guard —— safeguard a highlight is that the patient has to live in scotland for at least 12 months before making the decision, so that is not in switzerland where people can fly from the uk to switzerland to a dignitas clinic to claim their own life. they will have to live here before they can make that decision.

david, thank you. bbc scotland's political editor. maundy thursday is a major fixture on the royal calendar, normally the monarch, who is the head of the church of england, presents special coins to people recognised for their community service. this time, king charles won't be there because of his cancer treatment. but he's recorded a message praising those who "extend the hand of friendship, especially in a time of need". graham satchell reports. a new picture of king charles, taken at buckingham palace by a royal photographer, as he records an audio message for today's royal maundy service at worcester cathedral. in it, king charles stresses the importance of acts of kindness. he will say we need and benefit greatly from those who extend the hand of friendship, especially in a time of need. the king has only been seen a handful of times since his diagnosis of cancer injanuary, but he's said to have been reduced to tears by the messages of support he's received from well—wishers. i wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you personally

for all the wonderful messages of support and for your understanding whilst i have been recovering from surgery. catherine, princess of wales, making her announcement last week that she too has been diagnosed with cancer. the king doesn't directly refer to catherine in today's message, but his words will be interpreted as reflecting the nation's response to both his and kate's challenges as they undergo treatment. king charles's place at today's service will be taken by queen camilla, seen here at a farmers market in shrewsbury. members of the crowd showing their support for the princess of wales. the royal family are going through a torrid time, but the king's message is an acknowledgement of the public�*s acts of kindness in a time of adversity. graham satchell, bbc news. these are live

pictures from worcester this morning, where her majesty the queen will be attending the maundy service there, as we mentioned, she is due to attend on behalf of the king charles, who is now undergoing treatment for cancer. soon we have some pictures and we have her in attendance, we will bring you that here on bbc news. the uk recession in the latter half of 2023 was slightly less severe than first thought, the office for national statistics has revealed. the economy still shrunk for two quarters in a row, the definition of a recession, but the total contraction over that six—month period was 0.4% rather than 0.5%. labour have said rishi sunak has broken his promise to grow the economy. this is what the chancellorjeremy hunt had to say a short time ago. these numbers confirm, i think,

what we already knew, which is, despite the bank of england predicting the longest recession in 100 years, in fact, gdp grew, albeit marginally, last year. that's obviously very welcome. but one of the ways that we're going to help that growth is by supporting families get back into work with a big childcare offer. and what will be a hammer blow to those families is that just this week labour has said that they may refuse to guarantee that free childcare for every child over nine months. that will be a huge disappointment to many families. it's worth saying one of your targets this year, or your pledges, was to try to grow the economy over the last year. yes, there was a little bit of growth over the year. but the final two quarters, the economy contracted. so, haven't you, by most measures, failed in that pledge? well, the prime minister's pledge last year was to halve inflation, and he delivered on that. in fact, inflation has fallen from over 11% to 3.4%. having done that, he then said we would grow the economy. i don't think any of us

were expecting the economy to actually grow last year. the bank of england wasn't. the office for budget responsibility wasn't. in fact, it did, albeit at a very slow rate. and that is a testament to the resilience of the economy, but also the fact that the government took some very difficult decisions early on to make sure we got the economy back on track. that was the chance jeremy that was the chancejeremy hunt. and you can go to the bbc news website where you can find what a recession it means for you and how the uk is faring compared to other countries. plus there is a cost of living information and tips, that is on the bbc website. a test that spots signs of motor neurone disease before symptoms appear has been hailed a "game—changer" by scientists developing it. the tool is able to detect damaged cell

proteins in brain—tissue samples, taken during a biopsy. researchers say the test could speed up diagnosis, as identifying the condition in its earliest stages could make treatments more effective. we need to get better at being able to treat these diseases, particularly motor neurone disease. it's devastating. it's also a very individual experience. everybody has completely different symptoms. but, despite having those very similarsymptoms, people all have the same underlying disease process — these protein clumps. and so being able to identify these early before substantial symptom burden, before people become disabled, means that then we can prolong the time spent in normal functional state. rivalry between football clubs on the pitch is to be expected, but now liverpool and manchester united have come together to put an end to so—called tragedy chanting between fans in the stands. supporters from both clubs have been

arrested and convicted in the past, for singing offensive songs about disasters like hillsborough and munich. now former players have visited a school in merseyside to talk about the impact it can have. our reporter andy gill was there. at a school in huyton, former liverpool and manchester united players spoke about their experience of tragedy chanting. this a rapid response by the two clubs' foundations to some of the alleged abuse experienced at this month's fa cup match between the two teams. it's not right that families, who are still surviving from munich, from hillsborough, should have to listen to all this stuff. it doesn't do anybody any favours. and we'd like to think it stops very quickly. i don't think it will, but we are trying to help that and trying to eradicate it in whatever way we can. and this is the kind of abuse they're trying to tackle.

manchester united fans singing "the sun was right" — a reference to false newspaper allegations about liverpool fans' behaviour at hillsborough in 1989. man united fans have been subject to abuse about the munich disaster. when a disaster is involved, it shows very lack of respect. these are live pictures you are seeing from worcester, where the queen has arrived for the royal maundy service. as we have mentioned, she is there representing the king, who is undergoing cancer treatment. this is the annual royal maundy service, these are live pictures that we are receiving from worcester, where the queen is attending the service there, representing the king, who is not able to attend because he is undergoing cancer treatment. this is a tradition for the royal family, undergoing cancer treatment. this is a tradition for the royalfamily, as part of the service ceremonial cones will be present to 75 men and 75

women from around the country, including 39 people from the dioceses of worcester and dudley. these are live pictures here that you are seeing from worcester, where her majesty the queen is attending the royal maundy service, where she is representing the king. of course, king is undergoing cancer treatment at the moment and is not able to attend. but he has recorded a special video message that will be shared with people attending that service. now it is time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again. parts of south—west england and wales saw some snow first thing this morning. but for most of us today, we're looking at a mixture of sunny

spells and also some heavy, blustery showers. some of those will have thunder and lightning, some of them some hail. and it's going to be windy, especially england and wales and especially through the english channel. now, low pressure is firmly in charge of our weather and will be as we go through the next couple of days. and we're looking at gales, even severe gales developing through the english channel, 50 mile an hour gusts of wind across southern counties, but generally windy across england and wales, today. you certainly will notice it. this is the weather front that produced the rain and the snow in the early part of today moving into scotland. behind it, some sunshine, but you'll see showers develop across northern ireland, wales and england and some of those will be heavy and thundery with some hail. temperatures eight in the north to about 12 as we push down towards the south. now, through this evening and overnight, this rain continues across scotland, still heavy. heavy showers across northern ireland and northern england. they could be thundery. further showers coming

in across wales, southern england and the southeast, and it's going to be a chilly night. so, we start tomorrow once again with the rain across the far north—west of scotland, pulling away during the course of good friday. and then we see a mixture of sunshine and showers. the showers becoming a bit more widespread through the course of the day. but they are showers, not all of us will catch one, and it will feel a little bit milder because the winds not going to be as strong as today. so, as we head on through the easter weekend, the isobars open out, it's not going to be as windy. low pressure is still driving the weather, this weather front quite close to us in the southeast. and it looks like easter monday will be drier in the north and wetter in the south. but for saturday, first of all, we've got this cloud to break up in the southeast, and then it's a mixture of sunshine and showers. again, some of those could be heavy. lighter winds and highs up to 1a or 15. it will feel quite pleasant in the sunshine. as we head into easter sunday, most of the showers are going to be in the west. there might be some mist and fog

first thing in the morning to lift, and then a lot of dry weather around as well with some sunshine, and these are the temperatures. so we're looking at 11 in stornoway and aberdeen to highs of 1a, possibly 15 somewhere in the southeast.

live from london, this is bbc news.

medics warn the heathcare system is close collapse in gaza as air strikes and fighting intensify between israel and hamas. this comes as the un investigates what it says is a plausible case of israel using starvation as a weapon of war against the population in the strip. two bodies inside a submerged pick—up truck have been recovered from beneath the collapsed bridge in baltimore. and former billionaire crypto boss sam bankman—fried — who was convicted of fraud and money laundering last year — returns to court for sentencing. queen camilla arrives for the annual maundy service — with a message from the absent king. we start in the middle east, where israeli airstrikes and fierce fighting between israel and hamas have continued around at least three hospitals in the gaza strip. the israeli military

says it is taking steps