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's broader public support for this measure than there used to be, and that 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'll be discussed, it will be debated and finally it will be voted on by msps in the coming months. and if this law is passed, how will it work? well, there are all sorts of safeguards which are being proposed, but fundamentally, what this allows is for somebody with a terminal illness to gain access to medication and the right kind of support from medical staff on the nhs to allow them to take their own life.

that's 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 an advanced terminal illness. they would also have to have the 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 had chosen to take this path and they would ultimately be provided with medication and with help from nhs, nhs staff to make it happen. but that patient themselves would in effect press the button to take their own life and administer that medication. now, liam mcarthur of the liberal democrats who brought this bill forward, is stressing the safeguards. he says that doctors have to be involved to make sure that people who want to make that decision, that they are capable mentally of making that decision. they talk about this 1a day waiting period and of course the patient

themselves has to administer the drug. the other safeguard they highlight is that the patient has to live in scotland for at least 12 months before they can make the decision. so this will not be like a situation that we have in switzerland, where people can fly from the uk to switzerland to a dignitas clinic to claim their own life. they'll have to live here before they can make that decision. that was bbc scotland's political editor david henderson. the uk labour party leader sir keir starmer has launched his party's local election campaign, the elections take place on 2nd may. sir keir said the country wants change and the path to change, he says, starts now. here's some of what he said to local party leaders in dudley. it is great to be here in dudley to launch labour's local election campaign. the path to changing britain, to national renewal starts and begins here. applause.

and you can take it from me we are not playing for a draw, we are looking to win in dudley, looking to win in the west midlands, right across the country from hastings to hartlepool, a changed labour party, on the march, on your side, return to the service of working people. applause. but, look, i do have to be honest. i was hoping we would be launching a different election campaign here today. but the prime minister bottled it. he wants one last drawn out summer tour with his beloved helicopter. so, we need to send him another message — show his party once again

that their time is up. the dithering must stop. britain wants change and it is time for change with labour. that was sir keir starmer speaking. queen camilla has arrived for the traditional royal maundy thursday service. this was the queen a short while ago being greeted outside worcester cathedral. 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. king charles isn't there today 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". ladies and gentlemen, it is for me a great sadness that i cannot be with you all today. the maundy service has a very

special place in my heart. it has its origin in the life of our lord, who knelt before his disciples and, to their great surprise, washed their travel—weary feet. and as we have just heard, in doing so, he deliberately gave to them and to us all an example of how we should serve and care for each other. in this country, we are blessed by all the different services that exist for our welfare. but, over and above these organisations and their selfless staff, we need and benefit greatly from those who extend the hand of friendship to us, especially in a time of need. the 150 men and women who have been chosen today to receive the maundy money from my wife are wonderful examples of such kindness, of going way beyond the call of duty and of giving so much of their lives to the service of others in their communities.

this act of worship here in worcester cathedral reminds me of the pledge i made at the beginning of the coronation service to follow christ's example, not to be served, but to serve. that i have always tried to do and continue to do with my whole heart. it's my special prayer today that our lord's example of serving one another might continue to inspire us and to strengthen all our communities. may god bless you all this easter. 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. the government says it's invested £10 million into behaviour hubs where schools offer mentoring support to those who are struggling. earlier this morning we spoke to zac copley, who is a computer science teacher in leicester. it's it's kind of when you're in it, you don't really notice until you kind of get a chance to look back. but there are more and more staff leaving the educational field for the stress from behavior more than workload nowadays. workload, particularly where i am at the moment, for example, is really good, but the behaviour is what drives people away. and i feel that's the cost of loads of my colleagues who i've worked with and known through my career, that's the same story across the board, unfortunately. we also heard from anne mullholland, who is the headteacher of a primary school in bracknell in lancashire

and is involved in the government—funded behaviour hubs programme. the summer term after we enrolled in the behavior hub, that was our term to really kind of think about what our vision was. we'll survey our parents, survey the staff and the children, just get a really, really clear vision of our safe, calm and consistent school. and then we had a big launch in the september �*22. but everyone was really clear what are our school rules? what where are the boundaries? what are the consequences, the expectations for everybody? and the behavior for everybody in the school, there's nobody the rules don't apply to. making sure all the parents were completely on board with us with that, too. and then that six weeks, they were a tough first six weeks back, but that absolutely paid dividends in terms of the fairness, the consistency and then the calm school that we've got today.

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 — that's around $630,000 million dollars — needed by thames water, which has debts of around £18 billion. the bbc understands the shareholders are insisting that the regulator, 0fwat, agrees to a substantial increase in bills before they make the investment. chris weston, chief executive of thames water has been speaking to the bbc. we are, as i said in conversations with 0fwat regarding our business plan and that is important and 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 determine whether they are going to inject equity into thames. so 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 that we had 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 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. doctorjenna gregory is a senior clinical lecturer at the university of aberdeen. 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. now it's time for a look at the weather with elizabeth ritzzini. hello there, good afternoon. it won't be completely dry this weekend. there's always a chance of some further showers, longer spells of rain, but a lot of dry weather around. today though, blustery showers pushing northwards, longer spells of rain at times, and coastal gales. towards the south coast of england and across the channel islands, there could be some gusts of around 60 to 65 miles an hour. a deep area of low pressure descending, the showers and the rain spiraling around it. we're seeing some particularly heavy downpours of rain across eastern areas of northern ireland.

but here the rain should largely clear as we head through the rest of the afternoon, some showers arriving, perhaps again by the time we get to the end of the day. this rain will be pushing into central, eventually northern areas of scotland. 0therwise, these thundery showers just pushing northward, squally gusts of wind and association with those showers, perhaps some hail at times. temperatures for most in double figures, but cooler across northern ireland and also eastern scotland, with quite a brisk easterly blowing here. now, as we head through this evening and overnight, a lot of showers around. watch out for some icy stretches as the skies clear across northern ireland. and there could be some longer spells of rain perhaps edging into north western scotland as well. some clearer spells too across the midlands, into north wales and perhaps for northern england into tomorrow morning. now, tomorrow, a much simpler day of weather in that most of us will be seeing sunshine and showers. that rain and clear away from north west scotland, the western isles as we head through the afternoon. and temperatures will be just that a little bit higher. just watch out for some thunder, some hail in some of those showers. it's still going to be quite blustery as well, with the brisk

southwesterly wind blowing across england and wales. but the winds will lighten as we head through the easter weekend, as that low pressure pushes a little further westwards. and we will be between low pressure systems. but there could possibly be some rain grazing the south east of england, east anglia, as we head through saturday. certainly a bit more cloud here, but some sunshine elsewhere. the focus for any showers will tend to be in the north and the west. temperatures climbing, so widely in double figures, 12 to 15 celsius. the air will feel milder and the winds will be lighter. and it's the same again really as we head into easter sunday. so we're likely to see some showers perhaps across south west england, up through western wales, northern ireland and maybe into northern england. but many parts of scotland could stay largely dry. dry too, across east anglia and central southern england. bye— bye.

live from london, this is bbc news.

former billionaire crypto boss sam bankman—fried, who was convicted of fraud and money laundering last year, returns to court for sentencing. scotland could become the first uk nation to provide terminally ill people with assistance to end their lives if a bill that has been introduced at holyrood is approved. the thames water crisis deepens as shareholders refuse to inject extra money into the uk's largest water company. and queen camilla departs the royal maundy thursday service — there's a message from the absent king. we need and benefit greatly from those who extend the hand of friendship to us. especially in a time of need. hello, welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction.