today at 5: the chancellor defends raising national insurance for people who are self—employed. tory backbenchers have criticised the proposal, which breaks a manifesto pledge, but philip hammond says the government is facing new challenges. what i did yesterday was address a basic continuing unfairness in the current system, the benefits available to the self—employed have significantly improved. this is not the time to do it, when consumer spending is just dipping, and the people most affected will be the sole traders, the self—employed. we'll have more from westminster in a moment, and will talk to one conservative backbencher who's voiced concerns about the policy. the other main stories on bbc news at 5. theresa may is in brussels for what's expected to be her final eu summit, before triggering uk's departure from the european union. this memorial commemorates the lives

and service of all who took part in operations in iraq and afghanistan. the queen unveils a memorial in london to service personnel and civilians who served and worked in iraq and afghanistan. the ceremony in victoria embankment gardens was followed a service for 2,500 veterans on horse guards parade. welcome. the chancellor philip hammond has defended his plan to raise national insurance contributions for self—employed people, saying the government faces "new challenges." mr hammond is facing criticism, including from his own backbenches, for apparently going back on a 2015 manifesto pledge not to raise tax or national insurance. the change, due to come in next

year, will mean 1.6 million self—employed people paying, on average, an extra £240 a year. labour has accused the government of breaking its promise. here's our political correspondent eleanor garnier. voiceover: learning to solve technical problems at a college in dudley in the west midlands this morning. and after yesterday's budget the chancellor's the one looking for a nswers after criticism over his plans to hike up national insurance. i think the decision we made is a fair decision, to ask self—employed people to pay just a little more contribution for the services they receive. this is not in any way an attack on business, it's usually supportive of business, i want people to have choices about the way they work, but i want them to make those choices on the basis of what is right, not on the basis of what tax advantages they bring. but this is the row he woke up to, accusations the tories had broken

a manifesto promise made by mr cameron in 2015. if you elect me as your prime minister there will be no increase in vat, no increase in national insurance, no increase in income tax. and there is criticism, too, from some conservative mps. my leaflets i put through people's doors, the people who voted for me said we will not put up vat, income tax, national insurance contributions, it didn't have any brackets or anything, it didn't say that. that was what we put out, that was what people believed in. and i don't think we should break that promise. the government insists the policy will make the system fairer. the new changes plus others already planned means 2.6 million people will gain around £115 per year. but 1.6 million will have to pay more. on average, £2110 a year. labour's hoping tory rebels will help them oppose the plans. i represent a constituency with a large number of self—employed. at the moment they are on the edge, on the edge because of the dip in consumer spending. what's happening in the economy at the moment.

this is not a time to be penalising them, we want a fair system, let's plan the fair system so those self—employed are treated fairly. let's end this mode of self—employment that is exploiting so many people. but others are clear the changes will make things fairer. the world of work is changing. forty five per cent of the increase in in employment in the last few years has been driven by self—employment. he's looking at his tax take and realising the more people are self—employed and the blessed taxi get in because they pay significantly less tax than employees. he is right to try and address that. sources say philip hammond is privately bullish about the changes. they admit privately the initial explanation of the measures may have fallen short.

the government insists its plans are fair, but philip hammond said no chancellor can rule out future tax changes. adding, that's a golden rule. studio: well, the independent economics think tank the institute for fiscal studies has been looking through the chancellor's budget and has been giving its initial analysis of it to our economics correspondent andy verity, who's here. what is the broad assessment? they we re what is the broad assessment? they were struck by something that the 0ffice were struck by something that the office for budget responsibility had said, saying that we have a new normal in the economy, slower growth, growth that is not really produce growth in incomes like it used to. that capacity to increase productivity so we are all producing goods and services which justifies pay going up has been a bit clapped out over the last ten years. they are calling the last ten years since the crash the worst decade for earnings in more than a century, his earnings in more than a century, his earnings simply have not grown, this is how the director of the institute

forfish physical studies put it to me. what really struck me was that we help confirmation that we have entered the worst decade for earnings growth in more than a hundred years and yet the 0bi are still says that the economy is above trend. —— institute for fiscal studies. i think i doing better than they have in the future. —— then they have in the future. —— then they could do in the future. —— 0br. we will not get back that growth that has been lost. warning about learning is, in terms of what is dominating political agenda, what have they said about the increase for tax for self implode people? someone with an income of a0 grand, the implied person would pay 12 grand in tax, the self—employed person, about nine grand, in taxes, and someone who owns their own company pays more like £7,500. what they are saying is that philip hammond's move to raise the rate of

national insurance contributions for the self—employed is not only heard those people at the bottom, so it is progressive, it is not even entirely correct that unfairness, there is still an fairness left after that rate has been raised. self and what people do not get the same benefits as implied people, they get most of the same benefits, much of the same value, the pension, and they are not having to pay as much for it. thank you very much. let's discuss the politics of all of this. there has been a lot of disquiet. 0ur political correspondent alex forsyth is in westminster. 2a hours to discuss this, what is your sense of the disquiet? the government is coming under significant pressure and that was not entirely expected, you would expect labour to oppose budget measures but some of this is coming from conservative backbenchers, who are particularly concerned about changes to national insurance contributions on two main grounds.

there are those who think that this goes against core conservative values of supporting start—ups and entrepreneurial spirit which the conservatives have long stood for. also those that are concerned that this breaches the conservative ma nifesto, this breaches the conservative manifesto, the welsh minister even suggested the government should apologise for it. this afternoon, what we are hearing from number ten, from the official spokespeople, is that the prime minister saw this budget, sign it off and does stand by the chancellor's changes to national insurance contributions at this stage, the message put out, this stage, the message put out, this is about fairness, this is about making sure that people who are employed and self—employed pay the same when it comes to taxes and benefits, that there is more of a—level playing field. there is a recognition that part of the problem came from the way that this was presented and that allowed people to jump presented and that allowed people to jump on the fact that this was a breach in the original manifesto. —— more of a living plate —— more of a

level playing field. they may wrap this up in a book range of measures to address things, as has been referred to by andy, and so what happens from here on in will depend upon the course of action taken by the government, that will dictate the government, that will dictate the level of opposition from conservative mps but there is no doubt that the first and last spring budget did not go down quite as well as he would have been hoping. after 5:30pm, we will be speaking with one young woman who has set up her own business and discussing what the changes mean for her and her company. the prime minister theresa may is in brussels attending what's expected to be herfinal eu summit, before triggering the uk's departure from the european union. at the meeting, in the last hour, donald tusk has been reconfirmed as president of the

european council. the move comes despite concerted attempts by poland to thwart their fellow countryman‘s bid for a second two—and—a—half—year term. 0ur correspondent damian grammaticas is in brussels. talk us through the key agenda and the mood. the first thing that we have had, the key sort of small moment was that reconfirmation re—elections, of donald tusk, for another two and a half year term. slightly bizarre situation, his own country, poland, was against him, and had indicated they did not want him to have another two and a half years. the reason for that, of course, donald tusk, from a different political party, the government in poland is implacably opposed, and they did not wa nt implacably opposed, and they did not want him. the prime minister tried to stop it here today, made her objections known, when the vote was taken, she was the only one objecting, so poland was left isolated, 27 other nations did not object, and that means theresa may

may have been able to sidestep the issue because it was not entirely clear whether she had to vote actively for donald tusk or not indicate whether she was abstaining. 27 supported him, uk sources say that they are happy with the job he has done and they are happy he is back in. then they moved on to discussing the economy, how to stimulate more growth in europe, also dealing with migration and tomorrow, theresa may will leave this evening, tomorrow the 27 other countries will get on to discuss the future of the year, without the uk. the shape of the beyond "brexit" —— the shape of the eu beyond brexit. the queen has unveiled a memorial in london in honour of everyone from the uk who served in iraq and afghanistan, between 1990 and 2015. the monument, on the banks of the thames, is dedicated to civilians, as well as servicemen and women. before the unveiling, a special service took place in horse guards parade.

live to ben brown who's been following events for us all day. this is the memorial, the iraq afghanistan memorial, two stone monoliths, one representing iraq and one representing afghanistan, and between them, a bronze disc, a bronze medallion, and on this side of it, representing troops in afghanistan, the military contribution over the last quarter ofa contribution over the last quarter of a century, iraq and that is, and on the other side of the monument, the civilian contribution, aid workers, those who have worked with the reconstruction of both iraq and thatis the reconstruction of both iraq and that is in. the queen unveiled this memorial earlier on today, after attending a service at horse guards parade. —— with the reconstruction of both iraq and afghanistan. v0|ceover: there have been many accounts of individual sacrifice

during the longest continuous period of combat operations since the second world war, but today's ceremonies had at their heart stories that weren't told, stories of the duty and service shown by thousands, in and out of uniform. mark stonelake and his wife donna had travelled here from cornwall. mark rebuilt his life after losing a leg to a roadside bomb. he was here to remember all of those who serve. it symbolises the hard work that the british forces have done in the gulf region, in iraq and afghanistan. everyone has their own unique take on the war and what happened, but it is nice to share with people that been through similar situations to myself. we meet in the presence of god to commemorate and give thanks for all those civilians and members of the military who have served on operations in the gulf region, iraq and afghanistan. the operations being commemorated today divided public opinion as to their merit. no one ever doubted the dedication of every man and every

woman who travelled to that troubled region. tony 0'donnell lost her husband gary in afghanistan. it is definitely not just about widows. i am happy to be here and i have seen some of the other widows, so there are a few of us here. it is a pity we couldn't all come, but this is about everybody, notjust those who died. this unveiling might not have been possible without the generosity of the public. the queen was the first to inspect a structure which captures the complexity of the events spanning a quarter of a century. the memorial itself is left, and in a way, there is an unfinished side to it,

which is a nod to the fact that we live in an ongoing situation in both of those countries. one day, this sergeant and his wife will pass on their iraq experiences to their son, alfie, not on his best behaviour this morning. now, he and generations to come will have a permanent reminder of a chapter in our history that remains unfinished business. i'm joined by colonel tim collins, who made a famous speech on the eve of battle with your british army troops, going into iraq in 2003, " we go to liberate, not to conquer, we go to liberate, not to conquer, we will not fly our flags in their country, we are entering iraq to free a people. what are your thoughts all of these years later now, on this day that the memorial has been unveiled? very complicated of course, even

has been unveiled? very complicated of course, even as we has been unveiled? very complicated of course, even as we speak my company is working with the iraqi government, iraq is getting better, very different place. i don't believe it went to any plan, there was 110 believe it went to any plan, there was no plan. but there is cause to be optimistic that iraq is getting back to its feet. this memorial remembers those who gave their lives to create that opportunity, not just this war, but the first gulf war, i served in that with the special air service, and again, people from my troop were killed, people from my squadron. 0ne thinks about them as well as afghanistan. huge sacrifice, examined and 82 british servicemen and women who gave their lives, they have been remembered with this memorial, and people will ask, was it worth it? the scale of the sacrifice is one thing but nations quickly forget, where the sacrifice is felt is in the families of those who have lost people and those who have been seriously wounded and carry those wounds with them for life will stop i suppose this

memorial will be important, that there is a touchstone, something to come and see, these sacrifices, these individual sacrifices have not been forgotten. this is a memorial which very deliberately remembers not only the militarily but civilians as well, the aid workers, eve ryo ne civilians as well, the aid workers, everyone working on reconstruction in iraq and at. it sends an important message, deliberately or not, that the british army went to iraq and that is to, both conflicts, the first time, to freak await and give the people opportunity, and is afghanistan and iraq, the aim was and is to give the afghan people and the iraqi people a better life, and a large portion of that was civilian aid, and people bringing medicine and clean water and education, all those good things that we take for granted and enjoy. to those people. thank you forjoining us. later on

we will be speaking with the sculptor who created the memorial, paid for with contributions from the british public, costing £1 million altogether. we will be speaking with paul day about what it symbolises exactly. thank you forjoining us. the chancellor philip hammond has defended his plan to raise national insurance contributions for self—employed people, saying the government faces "new challenges." the prime minister theresa may is in brussels attending what's expected to be herfinal eu summit, before triggering the uk's departure from the european union. as we havejust been hearing, the queen has been unveiling a memorial in london to service personnel and civilians who served and worked in afghanistan. in sport, centuries from joe root and open alex hales on his return from injury have helped england's set west indies a target of 329 for

victory in bridgetown as the visitors aim for a 3—0 series whitewash. rugby union, believing a polar, number eight, will make his first appearance in this year six nations this weekend, on the bench for the against scotland. 0wen farrell now a doubt, limping out of training after apparently colliding with eddie jones's dog. training after apparently colliding with eddiejones's dog. arsenalfans may help decide if arsene wenger stays as the boss, he says that he will take their opinions into account when choosing whether to remain in charge next season but has not yet made up his mind. —— billy vunipola. i will be back with more those stories just after half past. let's get more on growing concern from some conservative backbenchers over plans to raise national insurance contributions for self—employed people, announced in yesterday's budget. well at least

ten conservative mps voiced concerns. let's talk to one of them, the mp for harrow east, bob blackman. good evening. what is your primary anxiety about the proposal? the gimmea primary anxiety about the proposal? the gimme a negation of the proposal has not been perfect by any means. the fact that anyone earning as a self and blood person earning less than £16,300 will actually be better off under these proposals, that has not been put out there in the media. we need to put that in context. i also think we need to avoid penalising people who are entrepreneurs, people that place their employment lives at risk and ta ke their employment lives at risk and take a risk to run their own business, and set up in business, in their own right, to actually run those businesses. it is not right that we should be penalising them with an increase in national insurance. it is right that people that are potentially employed in jobs that should otherwise be implied by a firm, that they would

switch to self—employment, to reduce their rate of national insurance and tax, it is right that we look at that and some detail but it is not right that we punish those that are running small businesses right across the country. 0k, do you also have concerns about the fact that this appears to break a manifesto pledge? yes, i think the fact is, we made a pledge that we would not increase national insurance in ma nifesto, increase national insurance in manifesto, i liken it to a contract, you see the superficial elements of the contract and say, but in the small print, it did not say that this would not apply to the self—employed. .. i think this would not apply to the self—employed... i think we have an issue of trust with people, the fact is, we made a pledge, and i think that we should honour it. what i hope the chancellor will do is listen to what conservative backbenchers are saying, and introduce tapers and appropriate controls in, as we go through the

discussion, because this is not happening in april this year, we have some time to look at this in detail, so we increased the tapers, so that no one who is earning below, for example, the top rate of tax is penalised by these national insurance changes. you are suggesting proposals that could soften the blow but that is not... i'm right, that still does not... i'm right, that still does not get around the fact that one thing was said in a manifesto, and the government has changed its mind on it. what we do have, as we have seen, large numbers of people who are switching from being employed by are switching from being employed by a company to being self—employed, doing the selfsame jobs, and therefore reducing both the national insurance that they pay and the tax they pay as a result. i think that we have got to be careful on this. what we are trying to do is make the system fair for everyone, but i think you are quite right in saying, what we want to avoid doing is

reaching the trust that we have with british people over the commitments we made in terms of national insurance and i don't think that is right that we should be penalising people in this way. if you're unhappy about the manifesto pledge being broken, philip hammond should not have said what he said yesterday at all, a pledge is a pledge. clearly what philip hammond as chancellor has said is that this was clarified after the election, when national insurance bill went through parliament. but i think that is after the event, not before the event, what we have to do, as i have said, is we have two lobby the chancellor on this particular issue, to make sure that any measures that are introduced in this way are measures that prevent tax avoidance, and unreasonable —— are reasonable means of doing this, and right across the country, accountants will be sharpening their pencils, to see

what deductions can be made from the accou nts what deductions can be made from the accounts presented by small businesses across the country, that actually takes people way below these limits in any case, to avoid paying this increased national insurance. we have got to be careful, if we are introducing this measure to make the tax system fairer that it is actually fairer and does not penalised the wealth creators in this country. if you cannot get any of the changes you are suggesting, what would you do, if philip hammond remained resolute, and there were no changes, what would you be prepared to do? the chancellor has emphasised that he is in listening mode, one thing to remember, for the budget was announced, the chancellor listened to the views of conservative backbenchers in particular on the issues of adult social care, business rates, and a whole raft of other measures, which were all announced yesterday in the budget. it shows that the chancellor listens to what we have to say, and when we

have measures and suggestions on how that can be done in a better and fairer way, i think he will listen to what we have to say. if he didn't would you vote against any bill that included this? i won't make pledges at this point, the way we do this, to put our point of view on the record, and we have done, we will negotiate and discuss this privately, lobbying this to the chancellor as always, that is the right way of approaching it. we will seek to get an appropriate adjustment that everyone feels co mforta ble adjustment that everyone feels comfortable with. on cue very much for now. thank you forjoining us. the founder of a charity which supports people who as children were forcibly sent abroad without their parents has been giving evidence at the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse. margaret humphreys said the deportation of thousands of children was the "most catastrophic child abuse legacy within our living memory." here's our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds. v0|ceover: margaret humphreys has

worked most of her life for the british child migrants. her offices are covered with the pictures of those she's helped. today, 30 years after founding the child migrants trust, she finally got to give evidence to a british public inquiry, and she didn't hold back. without doubt this is the most catastrophic child—abuse legacy within our living memory. kidnapping, sexual abuse in the uk before they were sent — before they were sent! between 19a5 and 197a britain accelerated the migration of poor children, in particular to australia. the idea, to reduce the impact on british social services, and bring what was called "good white stock" to the commonwealth. this man in a suit, he came to see me, and he says, "your mother's dead, you know, so how'd you like to go to australia?" the story of margaret humphreys' fight for the migrants was made into a feature film in 2011.

she was particularly horrified about the way it stripped them of their identities, and their families. it is a chilling fact of the scandal that many were told they were orphans when that wasn't true. that was in my view i think the greatest betrayal of all, because it took so much hope from them. the inquiry has heard seven days of evidence, from migrants in their later years, remembering their lives. deprived of good education, love and support. even their shoes were taken away. once in australia i walked with no shoes, and dare i say it, i wonder where, —— once in australia i walked with no shoes, and dare i say it, no underwear, and belive me, you need to do that walk to know how it feels to be nobody. when your feet hurt and they bleed, and nobody, but nobody, to go home to that night.

the british government has apologised for what happened, but this inquiry is looking at the legacy it has left, and former child migrants have told me they want more compensation to ease the impact it is still having so late in their lives. tom symonds, bbc news, at the child—abuse inquiry. studio: tom lees with me now, this particular element of the enquiry is drawing to a close, what happens next? —— tom is with me now. harrowing evidence, so distressing a lot of it we would not even be able to report, that is the end of the period when the victims will talk about what happened to them, later in the year, another set of hearings, in which the enquiry will look at the way the institutions responded to what they knew at the time and what they did to try and stop the sorts of things that was happening. i don't think they did very much, that is the invitation. and that will feed into the enquiry‘s wider work but what some of the migrants want, as you have,

better compensation, better recognition of what happened, and much more widespread system for making sure that people who are sexually abused and how to deal with it in their adult hood are catered for. i think that is the sort of subject that the enquiry will be looking at quite broadly, in this whole five—year process. because i think the one thing that has come out of this is that people who are sexually abused in not tell anybody for a very long time and even when they do tell people, they don't tell very much and it is very hard for them to deal with the impact of that, and time and again we have heard that in the evidence we have heard that in the evidence we have heard this week. thank you very much. health secretaryjeremy hunt has said that it is essential that accident and emergency departments in england hit their targets for waiting times now that extra money has been announced for adult social ca re has been announced for adult social care as has been announced for adult social ca re as announced has been announced for adult social care as announced in yesterday's budget. if we are leaving people to long, if we are not getting the flow

right, it is bad for patient safety and that is why it is absolutely essential that we get back to the 95% target. this one is critical for patient safety, that is why yesterday, you saw the chancellor announced in a £2 billion short—term package for social care. the health secretary little earlier today. much more to come, but now, the weather prospects. spring sunshine around on a glorious day out there, things remain settled as we had through the next few days and into the weekend, quite a good deal of dry weather around. this is the scene this afternoon in oxfordshire, taken by one of the weather watchers, clear skies for most weather watchers, clear skies for m ost pla ces weather watchers, clear skies for most places on into the evening, cloud heading into the south—west of england, they'll file, mist and murk, and across northern ireland, cloud increasing with a few spots of drizzle. further east, clearer skies, quite a chilly nights to come, with perhaps a touch of frost.

towards the east, we keep the sunshine for the longest, towards the west, cloud increasing, few spots of drizzle across northern england, northern scotland and ireland, damage is not quite as they had been today, but we can still see 12 or 13 degrees in sunny breaks. largely dry weather continues into friday evening, heading into the weekend, saturday, probably the better day for most of us, largely dry and some reasonably warm sunshine around. by the time we get to sunday, some rain which will clear away to the east and things will begin to feel a little bit cooler. this is bbc news at 5pm. the headlines: the chancellor defends his decision to increase national insurance contributions for the self—employed. the move's been criticised by some tory backbenchers, but philip hammond says the government is facing new challenges. what i did yesterday was address the basic continuing unfairness

in the current system. the benefits available to the self—employed have significantly improved. this is not the time to do it — when consumer spending is just dipping, and at the front line of the effects of that will be the sole traders and self—employed. theresa may is in brussels for what's expected to be her final eu summit before triggering brexit, as donald tusk is re—elected as president of the european council. a new war memorial is unveiled by the queen by the thames to honour those who have served in iraq and afghanistan. the monument is dedicated to civilians as well as servicemen and women. let's get the sport. hugh woozencroft has the details.

good afternoon. england have set west indies 329 to win the third and final one—day international in barbados. england have already won the series. opener alex hales is back into the team after recovering from injury, and he struck a confident century in partnership withjoe root. root followed up the 90 he scored in the last match with a century of his own, as england built a big score. the west indies took wickets at regular intervals, and bowled england out, but they will need to chase a daunting score if they are to secure their first victory of the series. england fly half owen farrell failed to make it to the end of today's training session ahead of saturday's calcutta cup match against scotland in the six nations. farrell left the field with england's medics looking at his left knee. england trained in the sunshine at pennyhill park. number eight billy vunipola will make his first appearance in the tournament from the bench. head coach eddiejones admits farrell could be a doubt, but made light of today's incident. he's got a bad leg, so he couldn't finish training. how did it happen in training today?

i think he ran into my dog, mate. my dog was running around and he ran into it. he'll be all right. you just said he was a doubt? yet, but i think he'll be all right. is that 0k? there's no risk for us. chairman sir chips keswick has seen fit to comment on the current turmoil at arsenal. he says the board "respect that fans are entitled to their different individual opinions", but it will always run the club with its "best long—term interests at heart". manager arsene wenger, meanwhile, says he will consider those fan opinions when he decides whether to extend his contract, although it's "not the most important factor". a poor run in the premier league and that 10—2 aggregate defeat by bayern munich in the champions league have seen an increase in supporter unrest. i work very hard for 20 years

to make ourfans happy. when you lose a game, i understand they aren't. and i don't want to judge that. i'm not capable to, i live in my daily work with my complete commitment after that. i said many times, you have to accept different opinions. ifa if a 5000 mile round trip to rostov in russia wasn't enough of a headache for manchester united, the state of the pitch has now become a real concern for them. jose mourinho called the uefa tie, bad in every aspect. uefa have admitted that it isn't perfect, but they won't call the match off. mourinho admitted the pitch has caused him a problem with his team selection, telling media it had given him a lot to think about. he has still named a strong side, including many of his main stars. world number one andy murray has been handed a very favourable draw for the indian wells atp masters.

fresh from his victory in dubai last week, the briton has avoided the likes of roger federer, rafa nadal, juan martin del potro, kei nishikori and novak djokovic. his first match will be against either yen—hsun lu or a qualifier. i'm coming in, playing well, ifeel fresh. i took what i had to pay, a decent break after melbourne. and, yeah, hopefully i can play some good stuff, as the players have struggled a bit in the past year, my result has been a bit inconsistent. hopefully i can do it this year. british freestyle snowboarder katie ormerod has posted on social media that she has suffered a broken back while training. ormerod, seen here in a previous training session, became gb‘s first ever big air world cup winner earlier this year, and describes the injury as "nothing too serious" and says she'll be back in six weeks. but she will now miss the world championships in spain. british ski and snowboard have described the problem as a small, stable fracture in one of her vertebrae. that's all sport for now.

you can keep up—to—date with all those stories on the bbc sport website. i'll have more in sportsday at 6:30pm. more now on the fallout from yesterday's budget, and the chancellor philip hammond has been defending his decision to raise the rate of national insurance for people who are self—employed. the rate is due to go up next year by 1% to 10%. the institute for fiscal studies says the policy is valid, and that the current system, which charges thousands of pounds more in tax for employees doing the same job as someone else, needed reform. so the ifs said the system is outdated and did indeed need reform. let's find out what it does mean for small businesses. well, someone who will be directly affected by the changes is rachael corson, the co—founder of afrocenchix — a start—up

business that she created with a university friend. the company grew out of the friends' frustration at trying numerous products which claimed to be good for afro hair, but that didn't actually work. rachael is here with me now. you have already made me feel like a fantastic underachiever, because you started this company with your friend when you were only 19. have the two of you been able to sit down and really crunched the numbers in light of the budget and work out what this is going to mean for you financially? well, we are still looking at the numbers. what we can say is it definitely will have a negative impact on us. my business partner is busy doing the production today. and we will have to sit down and have a serious meeting. it will affect not just us and have a serious meeting. it will affect notjust us but some of the co nsulta nts affect notjust us but some of the consultants and contractors we work with, because they are obviously self—employed. and if their tax bills go up they might decide to stop being self—employed, and seek other work. that is interesting,

it's not just other work. that is interesting, it's notjust the two of you. you have been running your company for seven yea rs, have been running your company for seven years, but almost everyone else that you deal with. you must have somebody to run your website, and the products themselves, do have to source and manufacture those. exactly, is a small business we do everything ourselves but we do work with others. we have partner retailers as well. some of our stock lists will find that their taxes are increasing because of the changes in the budget. that may mean that they are squeezed and they are not able to continue trading as independent retailers and continue supplying small businesses such as as. the chancellor has been robust today, and infact chancellor has been robust today, and in fact the ifs chancellor has been robust today, and infact the ifs in chancellor has been robust today, and in fact the ifs in a practical sense has backed him up saying the two systems are not balanced, somebody who is employed by a company with all the benefits that impales versus somebody who is self—employed, that is outdated and needs reform. what is your response to that? that you are benefiting

unfairly, goes the argument. well, reform is definitely needed. i would say we are not fully benefiting. the reason the economy is improving is small businesses are driving change, actually. there are so many more small businesses now than they used to be. that has led to a massive boost in spending and the economy. what is happening, if you look at the individuals who make up these businesses, people like myself, we don't have access to the same kinds of benefits. as a small business owner, i have recently had a baby. she is eight months old, and i'm already back to work. i had no maternity leave. i mean, there is statutory maternity allowance or whatever the name is for it, and it isa whatever the name is for it, and it is a pittance, it barely covers the cost of the nappies, so you do have to go back to work. it is like that for many of the people we work with. if they are sick, they don't get paid, if they have an injury, they don't get paid. if anything happens, a death in the family, they can't work today and there is no money. to

say that they unfairly benefit isn't true at all. a lot of people like myself have been making ni contributions as they were able to work, and then suddenly told that they cannot access certain things when they need them. even though we pay taxes and we are happy to boost the economy and pay into the system. andy warriner british firm, by which imean andy warriner british firm, by which i mean you try as a matter of policy —— and you are a british firm. you try to employ british people and use british products. my business partner and i are both british born and bred, we try to focus on this market. our industry is worth tens of millions of a year in the uk. in the uk, our biggest competitors are aus the uk, our biggest competitors are a us firm and a firm based in dubai. people aren't really aware of that. we try to work with british scientists and british suppliers, except for our sheer butter, which we import from ghana because it is traded over there, so we have that traded over there, so we have that traded organic shea butterfrom

ghana. everything else is from british comedian kay suppliers because we want to boost the economy and with —— british suppliers. what happens to you and your company from here on in? national insurance is one factor, i am curious what you are thinking and doing in terms of the fact that we are not too far off from triggering article 50. does that impact on you, have you been thinking through that process?m has a huge impact on us, actually. we are complying with all of the eu legislation in terms of product manufacturer, that means we have customers all over europe, we have people in france and germany who will fly over and come to the uk for our events and will order our products. so actually people all over europe are spending money on our products, and that goes back into the british system. once article 50 is triggered and once we leave the eu, if that does happen, that will have a huge impact. we

have already seen the fact that the currency has dropped, so the pound is not as strong as it used to be, and that has hit our profits quite strongly already. it has onlyjust happened. so, if the chancellor were sitting next to you today, what would be your key message as a still young woman running your own business? i would implore the chancellor to actually speak to some of the start—ups, speak to the small businesses that will be the large employers in the future. because it seems as though big businesses have had, you know, lots of focus, attention is being paid to them, probably because they are berlocq being. the small businesses, we don't have time to lobby, we are busy running our businesses —— they are their lobbying. any time we take away from that can hit our profits. we are in an incubator, the ucl enterprise integrator, we are there with some great businesses. if he we re with some great businesses. if he were to come down and speak to us, were to come down and speak to us, we would be happy to speak to him

and explain how these things will impact our business. really good to hear your perspective, thanks so much, rachel carson. and good luck with your business. rachel carson, the co—founder of afrocenchix. let's return to the news that the queen has unveiled a memorial dedicated to people who served in the afghanistan and iraq wars. the sculpture, in victoria embankment gardens in central london, marks the contribution made by civilians as well as service personnel. live to ben brown, who's been following events for us all day. yes, we are here with the designer of this iraq afghanistan memorial, paul day, the sculptor. tell us first of all, what was your concept when you were designing this? immemorial that remembers the contribution of not only the militarily who served and fought in iraq and afghanistan, but also civilians that whether. the concept

was to create these two stone monoliths, one representing iraq and the other afghanistan. in between them is what i consider to be a large metal or medallion to who served. —— large medal. one side represents the military efforts, and on the other side, all of the civilian work from government agencies and ngos as well. let's ta ke agencies and ngos as well. let's take a look at this one is disk in the middle. these are troops in afghanistan, i think, the middle. these are troops in afghanistan, ithink, is the middle. these are troops in afghanistan, i think, is that right? it isa afghanistan, i think, is that right? it is a foot patrol. i was looking foran it is a foot patrol. i was looking for an image that synthesised 25 years of soldiers working and fighting in the field. this is a foot patrol that have come under fire and securing a space to evacuate an injured comrade. i think it reveals the vulnerability of men and women actually in the front line. and it includes obviously the three services. and just a word about the stone here, which is rough

around the edges, what is the concept that? it is not like any other war memorial. well, i wanted something of this memorial to remain incomplete and unresolved, in a way to reflect the nature of the history of the two campaigns. so, the rough stone not only reflects something of that lack of resolution, lack of completeness, but it also, for me, is in some way representative of the hostility of the terrain in afghanistan in particular, the mountainous terrain, which is dry and arid. and so leaving raw stone exposed like that has a double purpose. we are just going to go round the other side and look at the civilian relief here. this is about the work british civilians, whether they be able workers or contractors who helped with the reconstruction. just a lot of images —— aid workers. there are four principal sections. down here i have tried to betray something that represents the

distribution of primary humanitarian aid —— tried to portray. boxes with uk aid written on, which made it quite clear. above that is what is called a meeting of tribesmen with western british obviously personnel, and that is the occasion when people sit down to talk, to try to resolve issues, to try to sort out governance problems within the community. of course, both iraq and afghanistan were politically controversial, divisive, did that make creating a memorial like this difficult, more difficult? yes, in a way, i felt it added responsibility to the job, because way, i felt it added responsibility to thejob, because in way, i felt it added responsibility to the job, because in fact, although there was political division surrounding both conflicts, the nation has been resolutely solid behind and united in supporting what both militarily and civilian people did. and that has become very, very clear i think in the research i've

done, and meeting people today, so much actually of what was done behind—the—scenes has gone unreported and has been incredibly powerful and positive. i hope this side of the memorial reflect something of that. and also, huge responsibility in your shoulders on a sense, because so many people lost their lives in iraq and afghanistan. those people were at the forefront of my mind when i began the initial drawings for this memorial. and i'd met a drawings for this memorial. and i'd meta numberof drawings for this memorial. and i'd met a number of people today who have lost loved ones, particularly children. their response has heartened me to think that we have achieved a dignified memorial that they feel proud of and can return to in the future to remember and reflect upon their lost. paul day, thank you very much indeed for talking us through your mum or you'll hear on the banks of the tens, for future generations to come

and remember the contribution of the military and civilians in iraq and afghanistan —— this memorial on the bank of the thames. this is bbc news at 5pm. the headlines: the chancellor defends his decision to increase national insurance contributions for the self—employed. the move's been criticised by some tory backbenchers, but philip hammond says the government is facing new challenges. theresa may is in brussels for what's expected to be her final eu summit before triggering brexit, as donald tusk is re—elected as president of the european council. a new war memorial is unveiled by the queen by the thames to honour those who have served in iraq and afghanistan. the monument is dedicated to civilians as well as servicemen and women. an update on the market numbers for you. here's how london and frankfurt ended the day. and in the the united states, this is how the dow and the nasdaq are getting on. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, has told the bbc

that the "common sense" time for a second independence referendum would be autumn next year. a vote can only take place with the permission of the westminster government. but her remarks to the bbc‘s political editor laura kuenssberg are the clearest signal yet that the snp is planning to hold another vote before the uk leaves the european union. in westminster, some politicians think you're bluffing about holding a referendum. i'm not, and i never have been. i always think that sometimes kind of says more about them than it does about me, because it suggests that there are politicians in westminster who think brexit and all of this is some kind of game. it's not a game, it's really, really serious, and the implications for the uk are serious, and the indications for scotland are serious. some of your colleagues talk about autumn 2018 as a likely date. within that window, as the outline of a uk deal becomes clear, and the uk exiting the eu, i think would be the common sense time

for scotland to have that choice, if that is the road we choose to go down. just to be clear, you're not ruling out autumn 2018? i'm not ruling out anything, no. and you can see more of that interview in laura kuenssberg's documentary brexit: britain's biggest deal, tonight on bbc2 at 9pm. and it'll be available on the iplayer shortly afterwards. john lewis has cut its staff bonus this year to 6%, the lowest level since the 19505. despite rising profits, the partnership, which also owns waitrose, is warning of an "increasingly uncertain market". the chain announced injanuary that it was to cut nearly a00 jobs. our business correspondent emma simpson reports. three, two, one... these were the good old days — a stonking double—digit reward. john lewis is owned by its staff,

and they cherish their annual bonus. this year, a different story — just 6%, the lowest for 63 years, despite reporting healthy pre—tax profits. the reason we've done that is because it gives us more firepower to accelerate our plans for the future. it basically means we can maintain our investment this year and absorb the cost of change, even if the market gets tougher in the year ahead, and that's very important to the long—term success of the business. a revolution in shopping habits is underway. nearly half of alljohn lewis's sales are now online, but they still have to pay the costs of all the stores. how to make money and give the customers what they want — it's something all retailers are trying to figure out. no matter how good a retailer you are, you are not immune to the challenges that all retailers face now. costs are rising in the supply chain because of the weak pound. you also have higher costs for staff because wages are rising,

and then of course there's business rates on top of that. and then you have to invest heavily in the business to keep yourself competitive. but as the spring season gets underway, what the chairman of this business is worried about is the impact of the falling pound, and how that could affect prices and profits. the main uncertainty in the market this year is what happens with inflation. i said injanuary that it was the dog that hadn't barked. and i think what we can now see is, here, the sort of low rumble of a bit of a growl. and will consumers start to rein back as a result? john lewis is preparing itself for a tough year ahead. emma simpson, bbc news. now, was this the greatest comeback in football history? barcelona produced a stunning victory in the champions league to knock out paris st germain. they secured a 6—1win to overturn a a—0 deficit —

scoring two goals in injury time. olly foster reports. there's nothing extraordinary about barcelona reaching the quarterfinals of the champions league, but last night's celebrations were the biggest giveaway that something extraordinary had happened at the nou camp. when substitute sergio roberto scooped the ball past the paris saint—germain keeper, their sixth on the night, with seconds to spare, there was delirium. gol! a comeback to rival any other in the history of european football. it was a joyous riot on the ramblas. those barcelona fans spoiled by success for so many years never saw this coming. they knew they needed at least four goals last night, one from luis suarez in the first couple of minutes gave them a glimmer of hope. a psg own goal and a debatable lionel messi and of the early in the second half gave them real belief, before this edinson cavani

strike silenced them. from one to level the tie, barca now needed at least three, the odds lengthened. the clock ticking. neymar curled a beauty, but only two minutes left. five minutes of injury time, surely not. neymar was nerveless from the spot. seconds left, the referee was looking at his watch, the rest is history. that's the coach, luis enrique, who had actuallyjoked before the game that they could score six. translation: it was a difficult night to explain with words, i think it was the script of a terror film, not one with suspense, but terror. with a spectacular ending in the camp nou. the unpredictability and ability of sport to amaze has been seen many times. the more improbable it is, the sweeter the victory. that was true of botham's ashes in the early 805.

europe's ryder cup team had the miracle of medinah 5 years ago. liverpool had theirs in istanbul, winning the champions league final from three—down at half—time. barcelona won no trophy last night, just the match and a place in the record books. don't tell them it's not worth shouting about. goooooool! gooooool! olly foster, bbc news. i wonder if that man has his voice back yet like! time for a look at the weather. here's sarah kieth lucas. most of the country had glorious blue skies and sunshine, but not everywhere. quite cloudy in parts of cornwall, certainly in the isles of scilly and the channel islands. but for many of us we had skies like this. this was oxfordshire earlier on in the afternoon. the satellite image shows as nicely, clear skies and almost wall—to—wall sunshine, but cloud has been creeping into was the south—west. here some of the temperatures we have seen today. 17

degrees or in london. quite mild in the mid teens, a very pleasant day. not so warm tomorrow, more in the way of cloud. that is already creeping into the west. low cloud and health for parts of devon, cornwall and wales. later on we will see drizzle in northern ireland, the west of scotland, whereas eastern parts of the country keeping those clearer skies, where we will see the lowest temperatures overnight. tomorrow morning, 8am we will see drizzly outbreaks of rain across the west of scotland. an improvement across the north—east of scotland. grey and cloudy first thing in northern ireland, the north—west of england and wales. eastern england has the sunshine from the word go. aid is and looking morning here. further west across england and wales, quite a lot of low cloud, hill fog to start the day, misty and murky. cloud thinning and breaking for many of us, anywhere north of high ground, northern parts of wales

for instance will keep the clear skies for quite a good part of the day. drizzle in the north—west, but dry for most of us. not quite as warm as today, but 12 or 13 degrees. was the weekend, a slight change. weather fronts moving west to east across the country, introducing slightly cooler air eventually. not a bad looking weekend all in all. saturday, weather front sitting across parts of northern england and wales. cloud breaking up throughout the bait lifting temperatures from 15 to 17 degrees. plenty of sunshine in the north—west, northern ireland and scotland on saturday. sunday, weather fronts working west to east. there will be some spells of rain followed by sunshine and showers. things will be cooler, nine to 13 degrees. to summarise your weekend weather, saturday is largely dry with decent spells of sunshine. by the time we get to sunday, a bit of rain clearing its way eastwards and the dip in the temperatures. more details on the website.

the chancellor is forced on to the defensive about his plans to raise national insurance for the self employed. tory backbenchers call on him to think again and not abandon a manifesto pledge, but mr hammond stands firm. we have to have a tax system that is fair, and it's right that we ask people to contribute appropriately, for the benefits that they're receiving from the state. what we've got to do is make sure it doesn't get through the net; we've got to make sure it gets stopped. the chancellor needs to do a u—turn, he needs to do it quickly. we'll be looking at the proposed changes in more detail, and the scale of the backlash against them. also tonight... the prime minister at what's expected to be her last eu summit before triggering brexit. the queen unveils a memorial to both military and civilians who served in iraq and afghanistan. what happened to the baby chimp rescued by a bbc investigation after being captured by traffickers?