this is bbc news, the headlines at eight o'clock. the chancellor of the exchequer rejects calls for huge spending sprees in his first budget this coming wednesday. as we embark on the journey we will be taking over the next couple of years, we are confident that we have got enough gas in the tank to see us through that journey. the white house asks congress to investigate allegations that barack obama ordered wiretaps on president trump during the election. the director of national intelligence from the time denies the claims. there was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president elect at the time, as a candidate or against his campaign. the french centre—right presidential candidate, francois fillon, says he will not withdraw from the race but says he has misjudged corruption allegations. also this hour, the smart meters that turned out to be anything but. come downstairs this morning to look at the smart meter

and it is reading at £7,000. i have only put on the dishwasher and washing machine this morning. we visit hull, the city of culture for 2017. that will be in half an hour. good evening, and welcome to bbc news. the chancellor, phillip hammond, has said the government will not spend heavily in his budget on wednesday, because it needs "reserves in the tank" as it prepares to leave the eu. mr hammond said hisjob was to ensure the economy was resilient. he's also warned the eu that britain will not slink off like a "wounded animal" if it does not secure the brexit deal it wants. 0ur political correspondent, eleanor garnier reports. these days, a long shadow casts itself over westminster and whitehall.

brexit is dominating politics and as the chancellor makes his spending plans, it dominates his calculations as well. i regard myjob as chancellor as making sure that our economy is resilient, that we have got reserves in the tank, so as we embark on the journey that we will be taking over the next couple of years we are confident that we have got enough gas in the tank to see us through that journey. no ifs, no buts! no nhs cuts! but domestic pressures are building up as well. there are repeated calls for more money for the nhs, plus claims social care is in crisis and desperately needs extra funding. the chancellor says this is no time for a spending spree, but labour is warning more needs to be done. what we are saying is we will have a fair taxation system and we will tackle tax evasion and avoidance, we will make sure there are no longer giveaways to corporations and the rich. we will invest in our economy and grow the economy and on that basis we will be able to afford

the public services that we need and we will also be able to have fair wages. the chancellor might have abandoned the target and timetable of his predecessor george osborne, but he has not abandoned the commitment to dealing with the deficit. economic forecasts might be looking up but do not expect any fireworks in this wednesday's budget. and the government will not want any surprises when eu leaders formally start brexit negotiations later this month. the chancellor expects to get a trade agreement, but has a warning. anybody in the european union who thinks that if we do not do a deal with the european union, if we do not continue to work closely together, britain will simply slink off as a wounded animal, that is not going to happen. we will have a great fighting spirit and we will fight back. the chancellor has called those who want higher borrowing confused and reckless. he is sticking to his cautious approach until the view of life outside the eu becomes clearer.

eleanor garnier, bbc news, westminster. there was some new spending announced today. up to £500 million a year to improve skills and technical training in england. it'll be used to support changes in technical education for 16—19 year—olds, with courses linked to qualifications in specific industries. 0ur education correspondent, branwenjeffreys, is here. the government says this is the most ambitious reform since a—levels were introduced. is that a claim people will recognise? it is a very big set of changes in england for any 16—year—old who will be wanting to embark ona 16—year—old who will be wanting to embark on a vocational, rather than academic route. instead of around 13,000 different vocational qualifications which can be very

confusing and some employers say that all of them are worth it, they are planning to have 15 routes toward work for those 16—year—olds. all will include english, maths and digital skills and something that is designed to focus on the skills for a particular industry or sector. that could be anything from finance and accounting to engineering, manufacturing, catering. all of the major industries. the money announced today is extra money going into that process. it will come on strea m into that process. it will come on stream gradually from 2019 when the first of these routes become available, reaching 500 million by 20 22. in the grand scheme of public money, not a huge amount, but very welcomed today by the further education colleges who, for many yea rs, have felt education colleges who, for many years, have felt neglected and have suffered financially in the last five years. this is part of a feeling that we have a lot of young people who want to be directed toward specific things rather than

this grand spread of education often get at higher levels? also the hope that if they have a clearer sense of direction from 16, good maths and english skills, we might get more young people going on to mid—grade 01’ young people going on to mid—grade or degree equivalent technical qualifications. some think that countries like germany and the netherlands have been much better at for many decades was that skills shortage has been around for a long time for businesses it has taken on an urgency 110w. time for businesses it has taken on an urgency now. they are worried that some of the skills gaps they have been able to plug in the eu might be harder when we leave. this isa might be harder when we leave. this is a political nod to the chancellor to their concerns. and we'll find out how the pre—budget news, and many other stories, are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30pm this evening in the papers. my guests tonight are the mirror columnist susie boniface, and the telegraph columnist tim sta nley. the white house has asked the us congress to investigate allegations that the obama administration tapped donald trump's telephones in the run up to last year's election.

the claims, made by president trump in a series of tweets yesterday morning, have been dismissed as false by a spokesman for barack obama. 0ur north america correspondent, nick bryant, reports. 0n the sunday talk shows this morning one main topic of discussion. trump claiming the trump campaign was wiretapped by president obama. in his extraordinary twitter tirade donald trump accused his predecessor, barack obama, of being a sick and bad guy who ordered wiretaps at trump tower in a watergate style conspiracy. this morning, the white house issued a statement asking that as part of their investigation into russian activity, the congressional intelligence committee exercise their oversight authority to determine whether executive branch investigative powers were abused in 2016. but the white house has produced no evidence to back up the president's

claims of criminality and seems to be hoping these congressional committees will come up with some. let's get the truth here, let's find out. i think the bigger story is not who reported it, but is it true? i think the american people have a right to know if this happened because if it did, again this is the largest abuse of power that i think we have ever seen. senior democrats have labelled donald trump the "deflector in chief", trying to distract attention from the trump team's interactions with the russians. to understand this, this is the deflector in chief, nojobs, no infrastructure built, no nothing. but america's former director of national intelligence claims there had been no wiretaps. at this point you cannot confirm or deny whether that happened ? i can deny it. there was no such wiretap activity

mounted against the president elect at the time as a candidate or against his campaign. this weekend has seen pro—trump rallies around the country, celebrating his successful speech to congress, but the week that began with the presidential reset has ended once again with russia. nick bryant, bbc news, new york. 0ur washington correspondent, laura bicker, has been getting the latest reaction from capitol hill to trump's allegations. many of his critics and some democrats are saying this is exactly what donald trump was looking for when he started his tweed storm yesterday morning. they say this is a deflection tactic, but donald trump is trying to deflect attention away from the constant controversy over his campaign links to russian intelligence agents. when it comes to jeff

intelligence agents. when it comes tojeff sessions, his attorney general, he had to step aside from being in charge of any investigation into the current campaign this week because he failed to disclose a meeting with the russian ambassador to the us under both to the senate. president trump was said to be furious thatjeff sessions had to step aside and then, 2k hours later, we have this storm. democrats believe this is a deflection tactic. 0thers believe this is a deflection tactic. others are wondering is this something we need to take sirius late, because he has made a very serious allegation towards president 0bama. it is something many are wondering did he get from a white house briefing, did he get it from breitbart news, which published similar allegations this week? people are asking where this came from and where is the evidence question mark if it comes to an investigation, congress will want to know. you mentioned breitbart, the

right—wing trump supporting news organisation, did they have anything to back up the allegations? 0r organisation, did they have anything to back up the allegations? or did they merely reported as a rumour? they had some media reports, cited many media reports, they cited unproven claims, but certainly no one has been able to any of those claims so far. if it comes to that article, perhaps president trump knows more, considering he does have access to white house briefings. one wonders again about the president's habit of reading. it tends to happen in the early hours of the morning. i don't know if he cant sleep and the sense of these tweets. you have to wonder whether other people in his administration were aware of what was about to do. it is always a joy asa was about to do. it is always a joy as a reporter when the notification noise comes up and easy it is donald trump early in the morning. when it

comes to his tweeting, supporters love it. i spoke to many of them yesterday, they think he speaks their language. they feel this is a man in the white house that they can understand and who speaks his mind. they feel they have elected him to doajob, they feel they have elected him to do a job, they feel they have got their country back and they want him to get on with doing it. when i asked about russian controversy, about his tweeting with regards president obama, they shrug their shoulders. they don't care. they wa nt shoulders. they don't care. they want certain things within the country sorted, jobs, immigration. they want, when it comes to dealing with islamic state, they want these things dealt with. the problem for news organisations is that when the president speaks, the world has to listen. when it comes to this serious allegation, this is something that is obviously attracting a lot of attention. therefore, when it comes to evidence for his tweets, congress and others

will be wondering where it is and exactly what it is. at a rally in paris, the centre right presidential candidate, francois fillon, has admitted to his supporters that he should not have asked his wife to work for him. mr fillon has repeatedly denied paying taxpayers' money to family members for little or no work. senior politicians in his party are due to discuss his continued candidacy tomorrow. the former premised he has been touted as an alternative said he will be giving a news conference tomorrow morning. we can speak to anne elisabeth moutet, french journalist and columnist at the sunday telegraph. good evening. what did you make of what mr fillon said today? what he said was as important as the number of people he was saying it in front

of. he called this rally and it was organised in two and a half days and, ina organised in two and a half days and, in a sense, if he hadn't managed to fill the square than his candidacy would have been dead. they said they had 200,000 people, i don't think it is possible to fit that many people in the square, but they had close to 70 or 80,000 people which is a great deal in paris. he had people who said the election has been taken from us and he was playing to that. he said i apologise for things i ought to have done otherwise, but by and large he is pushing the idea that because he has a clear mandate from his core voters who voted for him in the right—wing primary last december, he has legitimacy according to party rules and election rules. how has he dealt with these allegations about the way he employed his family? what

he says is he has employed his wife, he says is he has employed his wife, he has employed his friday, this is legal. he realises it is no longer a cce pta ble legal. he realises it is no longer acceptable today and he says it was convenient but he should not have done it. he says that his wife supported him in his career and he also said that questions could be asked. he was fascinated by how fast the winds of french justice ground. thejudges had already the winds of french justice ground. the judges had already prepared a summons for him to answer questions the very day. the question being askedis the very day. the question being asked is why such speed? it is unprecedented in french justice. what does this tell us about the state of french politics as an election looms and the right—wing candidate is there? it is an interesting time to put it mildly. there is a quite that all happy

families are alike and all unhappy families are alike and all unhappy families are alike and all unhappy families are unhappy in a different way. it is the same thing for elections. he had the american election, the brexit from and not have the french election and we have a uniquely french way of tearing ourselves apart. all of it is due to the feeling of resistance from the established parties to let something you happen and the various ways to try to go around that and all of us have the feeling in france that what matters at the end of the day is can he ever faces marine le pen matters at the end of the day is can he everfaces marine le pen in the run—off for the selection, it is in two rounds, can she win? alain juppe tomorrow, what will he say? considering the success of the fillon rally, i would be extremely surprised if he suddenly decided to say i don't care if mr fillon is withdrawn, i am standing. it is not

like him and he has said several times he will not stand on us francois fillon resigns. thank you so francois fillon resigns. thank you so much. police are investigating after a woman was abducted and raped by two men in front of a child. the woman was with a toddler when she and the child were forced into the back of a car by the men. she was taken for miles to where she was raped and dumped six hours later in another area. the police are investigating whether the attackers knew the victim. a british man has been killed at a ranch in northern kenya. the man has been named locally as tristan voorspuy. the man was a father of two and a british cavalry veteran who ran a safari company. the attack is one of a number of violent attacks in the area in recent weeks between local residents and armed cattle herders searching for grazing. a man and have been airlifted to

from the brecon beacons. the pair who are believed to be in their 20s we re who are believed to be in their 20s were washed over the top of the waterfall went on trails. they were amongst a party of four. the rescue operation took four hours. the energy company sse has apologised after some customers were quoted tens of thousands of pounds for a day's gas and electricity. the error was caused by malfunctioning smart meters overestimating energy usage. our business correspondent joe lynam reports. what is my time? just under three hours. 0rjust over. smart meters are meant to calculate our accurate bills — so imagine the surprise of some sse customers whose smart meters said they ran up thousands of pounds in one day. came down this morning and the smart meter said it is £7,000 on it. i have only put on the dishwasher and washing machine.

i contacted sse from twitter and also e—mailed them through my account and i don't have any response. my faith in smart meters is dwindling by the second. sse said a small number of customers were seeing inaccurate information due to an issue with software. customers should rest assured their bill is completely unaffected. andre has one of the 5 million smart meters that have already been installed in british homes. by the end of the decade, every household should have one at a total cost of £11 billion. apart from giving you the exact bills, smart meters are designed to encourage the internet of things. when they work, they are supposed to enable quicker switching between suppliers. the smart meter roll—out has been beset with delays, but this weekend's wildly inaccurate readings will probably push the embarrassment gauge well into the red.

joe lynam, bbc news. time to lift at the headlines. the chancellor of the exchequer, philip hammond, has said the tone for the budget by dismissing calls to increase government borrowing. president trump is as the us congress to investigate allegations that the obama administration tapped as telephones before the presidential election. the former director of national intelligence has denied the claims. the french centre—right presidential candidate, francois fillon, said he will not withdraw from the race when admitted to misjudgements in dealing with corruption allegations. now, let's go to the bbc sports centre and get the latest from well.

great britain 17 medals at the european indoor athletics championships, taking tally to ten as they finished second overall behind polling. boroughmuir became the second briton to win to individual events at the indoors event after adding 3000 metres gold to the title she won yesterday. she stormed to victory in belgrade in a championship record and ahead of the turkish competitor. her achievements match those of colinjackson said in paris 23 years ago before she was even born. i didn't know what i could do and i hung in there and i am feeling tired but i am glad i did that today. what was the plan at the outset? it went well. i tagged along and used my speed at the end and crossed the line first. there was

also a goalfor asha phillips. she broke the british record on her way to winning the 60 metres. it is her first individual medal at a major senior championships.” first individual medal at a major senior championships. i am so happy. i was not doubting myself. i knew it was in me and the confidence took me through the race but every time i got on the sideline for is that happened and i didn't have time for this. i picked up a niggle but it was in my head. i thought i would go out there and do my best. i am so happy. manchester city have moved back up to third in the premier league and within eight points at chelsea after a 2—0 win at sunderland. jermain defoe hit the post before sergio aguero scored his 23rd goal of the season to put city ahead. david silva than saddam leroy sane eight. sunderland stay rooted to the bottom of the table. the first minute was tough because the

first minute was tough because the first minute was tough because the first minute for sunderland we knew we expected them to be aggressive, but after we controlled the game we we re but after we controlled the game we were lucky. we made a good first goal, but we got to have time with 1-0. it is goal, but we got to have time with 1—0. it is different to drawing or losing and in the second half we played really well. in the early kick—off, harry kane scored twice for tottenham in their 3—2 win over everton. that closes the gap on chelsea to seven points. they played west ham tomorrow night. it will be an old firm derby in the semifinal of the scottish cup after celtic thrashed saint mirren 4—1 today. aberdeen have been drawn away at hibs after their 1—0 victory over partick thistle. shinnie with the goal putting them into the semifinals. the west indies have said the english cricket is a target of 220 62 when the one—day

international in antigua. they went with seeing three match series. tips for tourist in antigua is, stay in the shade, dress appropriately, take early wickets. england got a couple. the ball was swaying. but it was a challenge. 0nly jason mohammad managed it with any conviction. he made 50, but his team—mates found in and england had a plan for everything. this catch, a two—man job. anotherjob and it would have been six. defending only 225 runs, the west indies pulled off their own relay catch, two balls into the english innings, not as deliberate but enough to remove sam billings. england studied and appeared to be cruising to the total. certainly one jason roy was at the crease. his dismissal started to crumble. the middle order disintegrated and for england the symbol was becoming difficult. this is the latest.

england 193—6 in reply after 41 overs. england need 226 for victory. the assault this for free now. we will have more in the next hour. iraqi troops are said to be closing in on government buildings in the city of mosul, after intense clashes with so—called islamic state. amid the fighting, aid agencies say 200,000 people have left the city, with many now housed in a temporary shelter at hammam al aleel, 20 miles away. 0ur correspondent, rami ruhayem, reports from there. the people of mosul endure yet another round of fighting between iraqi government forces and so—called islamic state. many remain trapped within the city. 0thers decided to flee. they arrive in droves, in just over two hours we saw more than five buses arriving here. many children here are too young to

understand. translation: isis were firing at us. most of the women died. we were alljust running and running, the mortars raining on our heads, till we got to the army. some were gratefulfor the army's help, but these men said their homes were hit by army shelling. almost everyone had to walk through the battlefield before reaching safety and getting on one of these buses. after a long and dangerous journey on foot and underfire from all sides, the refugees from western mosul arrive here at this camp in hamam al—alil. they have escaped with their lives but their misery is not yet over. in a temporary camp, more people are seeking refuge. rami ruhayem, bbc news, hamam al—alil, south of mosul.

a memorial is to be built in northern france to honour british soldiers and sailors who died during the d—day landings in 1944. the government is to contribute 21 million pounds to the monument, which will be built near the beaches of the normandy landings. robert hall reports. injune19li4, an estimated 21,000 members of the british armed forces and merchant navy, lost their lives as they fought alongside their allies to gain a foothold in occupied europe. among them was george batts, an 18—year—old royal engineer. there was roughly 1200 on each beach killed. plus god knows how many wounded and seriously. you can imagine the sights that it was on those beaches. in the 70 years since the landings, george and his fellow veterans have returned to the normandy beaches to remember the fallen, but there is no single memorial to the friends they lost.

injune 2014, with just 500 members left, the normandy veterans association was disbanded but george batts campaigned for a memorial and now the government have backed that call. it is early days, but one possible designer is liam 0'connor, the man behind this moving tribute to the cruiser bomber command. it will be in one of the french seaside towns that saw heavy fighting and george is delighted. it means everything. we have come back and lived our lives, but our friends and colleagues who were left behind, have had nothing. the hope is the memorial can be completed in time for the 75th anniversary of the landings in june 2019. now, let's get the latest on the

weather prospects. good evening. we saw a mixed bag of weather across the uk through the day. the best sunny spells were in scotland and northern ireland but in england and wales persistent rain, lots of showers are further south. it is drifting further east overnight. it will still be dull and damp in eastern counties by the end of the night. the next weather system creeps into the south—west. scattered showers continue in the north and west. chilly in scotland, but it will be about three to 5 degrees are typically. they would start in the south—west. the rain fragments and the sun will come out. after that it would be an afternoon of sunny spells. good sunshine and to the west do some work weather into northern ireland. things do quieten down through the evening as high pressure builds in temporarily. the next level is lurking. a chilly start on tuesday, three to 5

degrees. a bright start goes downhill quickly from the west turning wet and windy. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: the chancellor phillip hammond has dismissed as "reckless" calls