plans for more cuts get the cold shoulderfrom head teachers. they say a funding crisis is forcing them to increase class sizes and cut courses. we will be live at the head teachers‘ conference in birmingham. also... eu leaders meet in brussels — without theresa may — in what‘s billed as the last european summit before brexit talks are triggered. bt bows to demands to run a legally separate broadband operation, to cheers from its competitors. british cycling admits not giving enough care to staff and athletes after ongoing claims of sexism and bullying. and how do you like your live music? a new study aims to tell us about our musical tastes and coming up in the sport on bbc news, owen farrell remains a doubt for england‘s six nations match

against scotland tomorrow, good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. schools in england are being forced to cut gcse and a—level courses in an effort to balance the books, according to a head teachers‘ union. the association of scool and college leaders has warned that budget pressures a re leaders has warned that budget pressures are causing them to cancel things like school trips. they have said budget constraints are driving up said budget constraints are driving up class sizes. let‘s go to our education correspondent gillian hargreaves, who‘s at the conference in birmingham. between now and easter there will be a number of teaching union conferences, this morning, head teachers in birmingham. justine greening could have been left in no doubt about how strong their grievances are. peter woodman at the wheeled school

might bea peter woodman at the wheeled school might be a head teacher, but he still likes to work at the chalk face, partly because he enjoys it am partly because it saves money. the only reason we can‘t survive as we are carrying forward money from last year, if the government stick to their pledges at the cash flow and budget, we will be making two cuts to around £70,000 every year, year on year. peter is one of dozens in heads in southern england who wrote to pa rents, southern england who wrote to parents, informing them of the impact. ina impact. in a poll, almost three quarters of members of this union said they had had to cut gcse or vocational courses in the last 12 months. the most common web design and technology, performing arts, music and german and many teachers reported bigger class sizes to save money. head teachers gathered in birmingham this morning for the first of a series of teachers‘ conferences, the

conversation dominated by cuts. it is the first time education secretaryjustine greening is the first time education secretary justine greening has is the first time education secretaryjustine greening has laid out the government‘s case in how schools should operate in these straitened times. education secretaryjustine straitened times. education secretary justine greening has halted —— told head teachers that well there is no one money she will do her utmost to help them ease their way through the worst financial pressures in schools for 20 years. it is really annoying to find government constantly saying funding has never been higher, yes, because we have more students and because of inflation. we have an 8% cuts and are expected to continue delivering quality. how difficult is it? like many schools across the country, we are all struggling to make ends meet. it is absolutely dire, we are having to make cuts to the curriculum and it is untenable. the government points out that class sizes are at the lowest level for a decade and £40 billion is being

spent on schools in england this year, the highest cash figure ever. now, this afternoon the new chief inspector of schools for england, amanda spielman, will get up and make a speech to head teachers in which she says some schools are quite deliberately narrowing the range of subjects they are teaching and moving difficult pupils out of their schools to help them write up school league tables. again, i suspect that will not go down well at all with some head teachers. thank you, gillian hargreaves. downing street says it is confident it will meet its own deadline of the end of march for triggering the start of britain‘s departure from the european union. it comes as eu leaders met in brussels to shore up unity between the other 26 nations. well, european leaders are just leaving the summit now, having spent the morning talking about the eu‘s

priorities, mapping out its future, a feature that will not include britain. while the formal divorce brexit talks have not started yet, there is a feeling that the separation has already begun. this is not quite as usual this morning as 27 eu heads of government gathered without britain daesh business not quite as usual. within weeks, the uk will start to unpick a decades long relationship with the eu and try to build a new one. everyone expects the divorce to be difficulty. a crucial player on the eu side will be donald tusk, re—elected yesterday as president of the european council, which represents eu leaders. ina represents eu leaders. in a fortnight, eu leaders will meet in italy to celebrate 60 years since the signing of the treaty of rome, a foundation stone of the european unit. at brexit will no doubt overshadow the party. theresa may, who left the

summit last night, insists she will trigger the starter brexit by the end of the month and foreign secretary boris johnson end of the month and foreign secretary borisjohnson has been clear about the future cost of access to eu markets. it is not reasonable, i don‘t think, for the it is not reasonable, i don‘t think, forthe uk, it is not reasonable, i don‘t think, for the uk, having left the eu, to continue to make vast budget payments. i think everybody understands that and that is the reality. from the other side of the negotiation, an idea from the senior mep who was not a negotiator but will represent the european parliament during brexit. he says there could be some way for uk citizens who wanted to retain their eu identity. many uk citizens say i want to continue to have my european citizenship, i think we need to examine what type of special arrangement we can make for these individual citizens who want to continue to have a relationship with the european union. but how that might work in practice is anyone‘s guess. we are on the

brink of negotiations that have never been attempted before. the risks for both sides are high. now, eu leaders desperately did not wa nt now, eu leaders desperately did not want brexit to happen, but now it is going to they are keen to get on with it and there is a real sense of the phoney war phase of this coming to an end. theresa may has said for a long time she intends to get the best dealfor britain, a long time she intends to get the best deal for britain, eu a long time she intends to get the best dealfor britain, eu leaders and people within the institutions have insisted they will get a really good dealfor the eu, crucially one serving as a warning to eu countries who might think about leaving in the future. but the next time theresa may is here, the rhetoric around brexit will have been replaced by the reality of tough negotiations. thank you, ben wright. the row continues over the government‘s plans to increase national insurance contributions for some self—employed people. labour has accused the government of a partial u—turn after the prime minister said mps won‘t vote on the plan until the autumn.

let‘s speak to our political correspondent, iain watson. he is at westminster for us. has the prime minister blinked here? yes, she has. she is not closing her rise to the concerns of her own conservative mps, but it is not clear how far she will change your view. —— she is not closing her eyes. because this boat will now be in the autumn, to bring in these measures, it will be after a review into working practices have been published —— because this bowled. it is likely to recommend more rights for the self—employed, such as rights to maternity and paternity leave, so the government can argue from the autumn that the self—employed are getting more value for money from the national insurance rise. what they might do, i have spoken to potential conservative rebels and they say the government to be more radical, to draw a clear distinction between the genuinely self—employed and those who worked just one company, such as a career company. they say that latter category should be hit with higher national insurance but in

return for full climate rights and perhaps the chance that they could find a little bit of time and space to ease the pain on the genuinely help —— self—employed such as hairdressers and plumbers. at every conservative mp i have spoken to has said, of the record at least, that the government should be more upfront about the fact that it had broken a manifesto pledge to some workers and explains why. they say they are not sure that a relatively small financial gain, ultimately, is worth all of this extended political pain. thank you. bt has agreed to set up a new company to run the uk‘s national broadband network after being criticised for its own operation. bt 0penreach has been accused of looking after its own customers at the expensive of rivals like sky, talktalk and vodafone. those companies welcomed the news, saying everyone‘s customers would benefit from the change. here‘s our technology correspondent rory cellan—jones. it's it‘s got a massive and vital task rolling out fast broadband across

the uk. its critics say bt‘s 0penreach has not been up to the job, delivering poor service are not investing enough. after a long battle, office—macro has said that 0penreach should be separated from bt. this is what customers have demanded. they have been concerned that open reach is not performed well enough, broadband has not been good enough and they see the greater independence as a greater means for 0penreach to operate with the telecoms industry at heart, notjust bt. this deal is meant to make 0penreach much more independent. it will have 32,000 employees working directly for it, there will be an independent board in charge of what goes on and it will have its own brand, the bt logo will disappear. bt had been accused of taking profits from 0penreach and spending them on sports rights, a charger denies. the firm could have been

ordered to sell the division com pletely ordered to sell the division completely and seems content with today‘s deal. we have listened to the criticisms from the general public, service providers, politicians and the media and looked to address them. that is what we are doing with the fundamental reforms today. around 90% of uk homes have access to fast broadband but the hope is that the roll—out will accelerate and service will improve. we hope these reforms will really lead to a big change by 0penreach and make them much more focused on delivering for their customers, but also transformed this market so that we see more competition and customers having much more choice about who they get their broadband and phone services from. even rivals like talktalk who had once called for bt to be split up of welcome this more limited move, but they are calling for 0fcom to make sure that open reach —— 0penreach delivers on its promises. in south korea, two people have died in clashes

between police and demonstrators who were protesting at the removal from office of the president by the country‘s highest court. park geun—hye was found guilty of corruption and stripped of all her powers. but she‘s refusing to leave the presidential palace, as our correspondent in seoul, stephen evans, now reports. the moment a president was ousted. the head of south korea‘s highest court says president park committed a grave breach of the law. it was against the constitution and the trust of the people. outside the court, pro—park protesters clashed with police. two died, one apparently by falling from the top of the bus he had climbed onto. the central allegation is that the country‘s biggest companies paid money to the president‘s best friend in return for favours. so top business leaders now face awkward questions which may yet put them behind bars. the police have been out in force

because feelings run so high. families are split on the issue. there will be a general election in 60 days. one of the consequences of that may be a move to the left. if the government here moved to the left, there would be a different attitude towards north korea, probably more cooperative. every saturday night for three months now, there have been huge demonstrations against president park. but what pushed her from office was a constitutional court finding her guilty of crime in a country which has only been a democracy for 30 years. stephen evans, bbc news, south korea. a short time ago, steve went out into the streets of seoul to gauge the atmosphere, and sent this update. the centre of seoul tonight feels like a victory rally

for the protesters who pushed the president from power. but it‘s only half the story. there are also pro—park people who are nursing their wounds, and those wounds won‘t heal easily. president park, ex—president park, rather, is in the presidential palace just beyond this rally. she can hear all of this. she emerges tomorrow as an ordinary citizen and she may well face criminal charges and end up behind bars. this is not the end of the process. steve evans in seoul. british cycling has admitted not paying enough care and attention to the welfare of staff and athletes. it was responding to the leak of the

d raft it was responding to the leak of the draft report into its handling of allegations of discrimination againstjess varnish by steve sutton. david 0rnstein is that the national cycling centre, tell us about what is in the document? for almost one year this has been hanging over british cycling, britain‘s most successful and well funded 0lympic britain‘s most successful and well funded olympic sport, like a dark cloud. it started when sprint cyclist jess cloud. it started when sprint cyclistjess varnish made allegations of sexism and discrimination against the former performance director shane sutton. that is before other riders and stav supported her, talking about a culture of fear and bullying. —— other riders and staff. a report into the culture of british cycling was commissioned, a leaked draft published in the daily mail backed up published in the daily mail backed up many of the complaints, perhaps most damningly describing certain‘s predecessor, sir dave brailsford, as

being untouchable. it said many elite riders experienced trauma while with british cycling and confirmed that culture of fear. today british cycling issued a statement disagreeing with the factual accuracy of some of the points made in the report, but admitting to specific shortcomings and afailure admitting to specific shortcomings and a failure to address early warning signs of problems. it said a 39 point action plan for reform announced here last week was already under way, while many of the key staff have since departed and been replaced. for the first time no british cycling and, perhaps, british cycling and, perhaps, british sport as a whole, have to address that difficult balance between them no compromise approach that has brought so much success and also a duty of care to athletes and stav. thank you. the time is 13:16. our top story this lunchtime: classes in england are going up, say

headteachers. and coming up in the sport at half—past: ireland must win in wales tonight in the six nations to realistically keep their title hopes alive. anything less and they could open the door for england to wrap it up later in the weekend. it may be more than 60 years since the great smog of london, but air pollution in the capital is again a huge issue. it damages people‘s health and contributes towards thousands of premature deaths every year. all this week, the bbc has been highlighting the growing problem of air pollution. as part of our ‘so i can breathe‘ series, our correspondent graham satchell has been looking at the changing conditions in britain‘s cities, and how to achieve cleaner air. 'london has been brought to a halt by dense smog, 'which has descended overnight'.

the great smog of 1952, dramatised in the netflix series the crown. 'be careful out there, it's a real pea—souper.‘ it was a difficult time. it was scary, it was unpleasant. anne goldsmith was eight in 1952 and remembers it well. we could hardly see in front of us really, and when i got to school, the handkerchief would be absolutely black. 'special filtering masks are the latest weapons...‘ it‘s now thought 12,000 people died in the great smog. the enemy then — coal, used in factories and people‘s homes. what followed the smog was the clean air act of 1956. it introduced smoke—control areas, where only smokeless fuels could be burned. fast—forward 60 years and the enemy now is nitrogen dioxide, from diesel engines. so what‘s being done today? these are the engines that have been removed out of taxis in birmingham...

the local authority here in birmingham has got funding to replace the diesel engines in 65 taxis. we removed 99% of the nox that the taxi was producing. it's a massive reduction. but it‘s a small pilot project. there are hundreds of taxis in birmingham. the government‘s overall plan is to introduce so—called ‘clean air zones‘ in five cities by 2020. i will look at the evidence, and when the evidence comes through as to where the key areas of pollution are, we will take the action that is needed to address the need for clean air in the city. well, i'm afraid the government's been hopeless. critics like client earth say what we need today is a new clean air act, and a scrappage scheme for diesel cars. you have to phase diesel vehicles off our roads. but it would cost a fortune, wouldn‘t it? well, yeah, it's going to take time to do it, but we've got to protect people's health.

that's the main thing. hello, girls! back in lewisham, in london, anne is meeting nine—year—old eloise, and amy, who‘s six. we called it ‘smog‘, and you couldn‘t see, only this far in front of your eyes. on days when pollution is bad, amy and eloise are kept indoors at playtime, just as anne was in 1952. sometimes, we have to stay inside because the air is bad. 0h, because the air is bad now? more than 60 years on, air pollution is still damaging children‘s health, shortening people‘s lives. graham satchell, bbc news. a tennis coach is on trial, accused of causing child cruelty as he coached his daughters to become tennis stars. in one incident, john de‘viana from essex, is said to have kicked and punched one of his daughters after a tennis match. he denies the charges. 0ur correspondent, helena lee, is at snaresbrook crown court. tell us more about what was said in

court. this is the second day that the defendantjohn court. this is the second day that the defendant john de‘viana court. this is the second day that the defendantjohn de‘viana is giving evidence in his own trial. he is accused of subjecting his two daughters, now 21 and 90, two years of physical and mental abuse, in his desire to get them to become tennis champions. the girls went on to become a successfuljunior tennis player, but in court today, john de‘viana told the jury that it was the decision of the girls to play tennis, that he had neverforced them. he was asked by his defence team, did you force monaei, his eldest daughter, to play? he said, no, that would be counter—productive. he said, you cannot just force a child counter—productive. he said, you cannotjust force a child to play a particular sport, especially when that child is progressing at a rapid rate. the court also heard earlier how mr de‘viana had written an abusive notes on the back of match reports after the girls had played

tennis when it did not reach the standard that he wanted them to and he was asked in the last moments in court why he used such language. he replied, it was the only way i could vent my frustration as a coach. he denies two charges of child cruelty in the case here at snaresbrook crown court, which continues. thank you. rugby‘s six nations returns this weekend, with england playing scotland in the calcutta cup at twickenham. scotland are after their first triple crown since 1990, while england are aiming to equal new zealand‘s record of 18 straight test wins. we‘ll have more on that in a moment but, first, to cardiff, where wales take on ireland in a match the visitors have to win, if they‘re to have any chance of securing their third title in four years. katherine downes is at the millennium stadium. —— the principality stadium. no pressure on ireland! yes, as you say, the six nations returns after a couple of weeks away and this will

be the most pivotal weekend of the tournament so far because while the championship cannot be won this weekend, it can certainly be lost. with still over six hours until kick—off at the principality stadium, the city centre in cardiff is buzzing with pre—match excitement. perhaps even pre—match nerves, particularly if you are an irish fan, ireland come here knowing they must beat wales tonight to keep alive their chances of winning this year‘s six nations title. welsh hopes already disappointed after those back—to—back losses to both england and scotland. if ireland win here tonight, they set up a final weekend showdown against england and that could well end up being the championship decider in a week‘s time. so let‘s look ahead to the night, and both sides name an unchanged starting line—up. not surprisingly ireland given the way they have played over the last couple of weeks, but wales have had

strong criticism for making that decision and some say it shows too much of a conservative approach under their interim coach, rob howley. attitude aside, besides equally matched in terms of experience. ireland have 715 international caps in their side, wales just one fewer, 714. ireland playing the way they have, wales playing the way they have, wales playing here at home in front of those passionate home fans, it is set to be a fiery encounter when the lights go down here at the principality stadium and this place comes alive. you can watch the pre—match build—up from 7:30pm on the match kicks off at 8:05pm also on bbc one. thanks very much. more now on england‘s match against a resurgent scotland team which hasjust reached its highest ever world rankings. so it‘s a team which believes it can do what no scottish side has done for over 30 years — beat england at twickenham. here‘s our sports correspondent, joe wilson. south again to twickenham, where scotland do win,

ask an older relative. greig laidlaw‘s uncle was there. 1983 was when it last happened. rugby union was strictly an amateur sport. that really was one of the great calcutta cup tries! scotland winger roger baird worked in the grain industry then, as he does now, and the spirit of ‘83 lingers. i still see, you know, a lot of the guys that i played with. so i think, yeah, you know, with a smaller nation, you always feel up against it a wee bit, you know. so you maybe get a bit closer. in adversity, you know, that maketh the man. so, yeah, i think the spirit will be there in aplenty. these days, england‘s rugby resources are unmatched, boasting some 340,000 registered players. in scotland, that figure‘s around 49,000. the smallest of the six nations. size isn‘t everything. this season, scotland have already beaten ireland and wales. if you can‘t go through your opponents, you can dodge round them.

use all 15 players. two chances, two scores, two tries for scotland! vern, knowing your players as you do now, what is the key asset which will enable you to win tonight? oh, it‘s team. functioning as a team. working hard as a team. and making sure that, um, we back each other up and we keep our heads up the paddock and see what‘s coming. # now i‘m only falling apart... well, back in ‘83, power ballads were the rage. bonnie tyler number one in march. # a total eclipse of the heart... it was only whispered here as the team left, but if scotland beat england here, they could win the six nations. a sporting eclipse? totally. joe wilson, bbc news, edinburgh. more music now. whether it‘s pub music, summer festivals, or street buskers, the uk is alive with the sound of live music. but what does it tell us about our musical likes and dislikes? today, the uk is carrying out its first live music

census to find out. 0ur scotland correspondent, lorna gordon, has been taking a look — and a listen — to the music scene in glasgow. buskers on the streets of glasgow, passionate about their music, drawing interest from passers—by. i love it and i do it every day, and it‘s a way i can play with my friends and enjoy life with other people and share with other people. from classical to contemporary, from concert halls to gigs in pubs, music is part of our culture. in our cars, at home, on our phones, we listen to plenty of music. but how does the live scene compare? volunteers in six cities across the country are attempting to find out. we‘re asking them how many events they go to, why they maybe go to an event, what‘s the main reasons behind going to an event.

there are plenty of free performances to go to but, even so, british consumers spend more on concert tickets than on physical records, digital downloads and streaming combined. and the organisers of this census say that even those who think that silence is golden should care about the state of the nation‘s live music. music is a huge driver economically within the creative industries which are, of course, a big export for the uk, where it punches above its weight. there‘s a lot of research to suggest that music is also important for our health and well—being but, for me, music is really important because it‘s part of what makes us human, it‘s a fundamental part of being part of the human species. glasgow has a really active music scene. there are 70 live music events in the 24—hour period this census is taking place, but here and across the uk, the live music scene is facing challenges. some iconic locations where famous

groups honed their acts have closed down, some never to reopen. some smaller, more intimate, venues are onlyjust breaking even. surviving as a small venue is difficult at the moment because property prices are increasing, because of the tight regulations around licensing. this attempt to measure the economic and cultural benefits of live music is, census organisers believe, a world first. whatever they find out, that live music in all its glorious forms bringsjoy to many is already beyond doubt. lorna gordon, bbc news, glasgow. now, you know that saying about how showbiz and children don‘t mix? here‘s possibly why. 0ur colleagues on bbc world news

were interviewing a contributor live from his his home, via the internet, when one of his children decided to make a guest appearance. not to be upstaged, along came child number two. followed very, very, quickly by a harassed mum! the interview, of course, faultlessly continued! and i am sure nobody noticed. well, not many millions of people, anyway! that she had a lot of people this morning. time for a look at the weather. it cheered us up in the weather centre. yesterday, we were talking