this is bbc news. i'm carole walker. the headlines at nine: the uk government rejects calls for a scottish independence referendum before brexit — theresa may says "now is not the time". right now we should be working together, not pulling apart. we should be working together to get the right deal for scotland and the uk. as tensions increase between the two leaders, nicola sturgeon says that westminster must respect scotland's democratic mandate. we have a conservative government with one mp in scotland saying that they will stand in the way of the choice of the scottish people. i mean, this is like winding the clock back to the bad old days of méi’géi’ét'thélfhef a record fine for the conservative party for breaking campaign spending rules during the last general election. a powerful us senate committee

dismisses claims president obama ordered surveillance on donald trump. the latest from washington in the next hour. 10 people are injured by flying rock and lava at europe's biggest active volcano. this is the moment a bbc crew and a group of tourists were caught in the blast on mount etna in sicily. welcome to bbc news. outside source is off the air this week due to the clocks going forward in the usa. we'll be bringing you world news the government has rejected a call for a second referendum prime minister theresa may said the government's focus needs to be '

on securing the best brexit deal for the uk — and only after that can the scottish people judge whether they want to be part of it or not. on monday, scotland's first minister called for a referendum in the autumn of 2018 or the spring of the following year. she said the decision was a democratic no to this... hope not fear. no to this... rubbish! no to this... and even no to talks about a referendum — at least not now. we should be working together, not pulling apart. we should be working together, to get that right deal for scotland, that right dealfor the uk. so as i say, that is myjob as prime minister, and so for that reason, i say to the snp, now is not the time.

the prime minister's westminster message deliberately timed to land u; -,. l, just moments after the first where nicola sturgeon‘s audacious vow to hold a second referendum was the main order of the day. we don't want it, we don't need it. why won't she listen? can the first minister tell us this? does she plan to spend the next few years leading a government or a campaign? will scotland be guaranteed to be a full membership, member of the european union, or not? can she guarantee that? if she can't it is bluster just again. the band is well and truly back together, isn't it? tory and labour combining again, to talk this country down. number ten's refusal to discuss another independence referendum for two years could well backfire. but these two tough, normally cautious politicians i think it would be

completely unacceptable and outrageous, and almost anti—democratic for a conservative government with one mp in scotland to seek to block the democratic will of the scottish parliament. that seems to be like going back to the bad old days of margaret thatcher. here is number ten's calculation. of scots voters chose this centre of power the last time out, and private tory focus groups over the last few months suggest their message of not now is a relief to some, who simply don't want to go through the whole thing again. but for others, it will be patronising, arrogant, even. technically it is down to westminster to say yes or no, but telling the scottish government they can't even talk about another only a week ago, expectations were that the they prepare for their spring conference that will start this weekend. but before that stage is set, the drama whose ending will

affect us all is well under way. laura kuenssberg, bbc news. kevin pringle, is a former special advisor to nicola sturgeon, now a columnist for the sunday times scotland. if, as it seems likely, theresa may says no, we will not let you have that referendum when you want it, it is not that much nicola sturgeon can do about it, is their? it was a mistake, i think, do about it, is their? it was a mistake, ithink, by do about it, is their? it was a mistake, i think, by theresa may to do this today and that harkens back to the bad old days of conservative government laying down the law to people in scotland. i think the people in scotland. i think the people will take a judgment on that. there is a number of myths are around as the bait and it has been routinely said a majority of people do not want another referendum and i

accept the evidence is patchy, but was a poll carer yesterday there was a pall over yesterday showing 52% of people believe the uk government should grab the referendum should the scottish parliament wish —— grants the referendum. you into the realms of a political debates, a battle for hearts and minds and i think the conservatives have made a mistake they appealing so hard line. it is they eeeeeling sejeere liee !t ie worst of both worlds, in a the worst of both worlds, in a sense, because they are being hard line on saying no to democratic votes of the scottish parliament to have a referendum and on the other hand they say could not now, which kna ‘gl‘ée.’ 5,9...- »u —-+ —- l—l ,, , ,, it kna 9k; 5,9...- »u —-9 —- l—l ,, , ,, it will ha 95; 5,9...- »u 9—99-99 —- 9—9 99 9 99 it will happen at some implies it will happen at some point. i think the attitude today well, if anything, point. i think the attitude today well, ifanything, boost point. i think the attitude today well, if anything, boost support for independence so it has kicked the issue into the longer grasp but i suspect when we get to the point of the referendum then recreating that impression in scotland the conservative government overrides a

democratic aspirations and votes of the scottish people will itself have the scottish people will itself have the effect of increasing independence support. in a way i did not truly believed independence was inevitable at any point, even in the 2014 inevitable at any point, even in the 20119 referendum, there was or was that about, i have to say, today i think when we get to the referendum it will be a vote for independence and partly because of this attitude which harks back to the bad old days of conservative government is being seen to lay down the law and not respect democratic votes. less battle between - sturgeon less battle between nicola sturgeon and theresa may, the first minister seems quite prepared to ratchet up the further and seems quite prepared to ratchet up the - further and accusing her the tension further and accusing her of going back to the bad old days of margaret thatcher. presumably, she thinks if she continues to play this ca rd thinks if she continues to play this card it will increase her prospects of getting the referendum she wants

she wants? there will be a one day and 9 9 one day and that 9999 9 one day and that is 9 one % and that is the - referendum one day and that is the point, and even implicit in what is being said today is a concession that there will be one but that has been missed communicated in the point of refusing to concede the democratic vote in the scottish parliament. quite a formal matter, the democratic parliament of e é voting by majority to have scotland voting by majority to have a referendum at a given timescale and the uk government basically saying no, we're not prepared to even discuss it. not only doesn't hark back to the bad old days of the conservatives in 1980s and 90s, if anything, it is taking it to another level. we are in that place of battle for hearts and minds but as time ?f’: on , 9 ., battle for hearts and minds but as time %": on the , 9 — , battle for hearts and minds but as time % on the sentiment created time goes on the sentiment created today, that legacy built of a

government having that conservative government having that attitude to democratic votes in attitudetodemocratic votes in will of itself, i think, scotland will of itself, i think, boost the yes vote. will it not ultimately depend on what sort of brings at the alter reza may gets? because if she gets a good dealfor the whole of the uk outside the eu, that will surely make nicola sturgeon's task harder? to deal we would like in scotland would be maintaining membership of the single market. that is clearly not happening for the uk or even offered for scotland. another problem with the announcement today is the point of requiring to know what brexit will look like, that would be satisfied by a referendum within the autumn of 2018, spring 2019 timescale because we know that the bra kes timescale because we know that the brakes negotiations will be completed by october 20 18 —— the

brexit negotiations. we will have the detail by that point and the remaining months between then and the spring of 2019 will be a ratification process. the point of needing to wait until we know what brexit looks like, of the timescale stepped out to have the referendum the scottish parliament set out, that filly lines. what does not lying is what theresa may has said today. —— what does not lying is what reza may has said todag the what reza may has said today. the fa ct we what reza may has said today. the fact we know what brexit will look like in the autumn of 2018 and then when should the referendum take place? there will be a referendum in my view is the events of today make it, i believe, inevitable as anything can be the result of that will be a yes vote for independence. thank you forjoining us. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered

in tomorrow's front pages at10:190 this evening in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are broadcaster lynn faulds wood and martin bentham, home affairs editor at the evening standard. the conservative party has been fined a record £70,00 for breaking spending rules during the 2015 general election, and three by—elections in 20119. the electoral commission said there had been significant failures in the reporting of expenses, and that there was a "realistic prospect" the money had given the party an advantage. 12 police forces have now asked the crown prosecution service to consider criminal charges. the conservative party insists any failures were due to "administrative error". daniel sandford reports. the south thanet constituency in 2015, where the conservatives were battling nigel farage. desperate to stop him winning a seat. they poured big names and resources into it. now they have been given

the biggest everfine, £70,000, for breaking the rules on recording election spending, here, and elsewhere. we have never issued findings to that extent before, and i think they are some of the worst in the fact that they were unable to provide evidence when we needed it and the reports were inaccurate and the spending returns did not contain things they should have done. tré tfie’ié 739955? his official expenses after the campaign showed he was within the local spending limit, but the party's spending in the area is now under question. the conservative party spent thousands of pounds on hotels here in south thanet, £15,000 in a single hotel on the hill here, in ramsgate, and the electoral commission says at least some of that money should have been included in the local candidate's election expenses. one of the local ukip leading lights told me they felt the conservative party had cheated.

just the sheer number of bodies, the sheer number of full—time staff down here, the sheer number of buses that were bringing in volunteers, they were all fed and watered and had money spend on them. the conservative party also had other marginal seats. again, the electoral commission says that some costs should have been put on local candidate's expenses, possibly pushing them over spending limits. so far 12 police forces have sent files to the crown prosecution service. kent police is not one of them. then there was money missed off the tory‘s national expenses all together. more than £3,800 for hotel rooms in margate, over £63,000 of spending on the battle bus tours and almost £105,000 of other spending. we have complied fully with the electoral commission throughout their investigations. they have imposed a fine

on the conservative party and the conservative party will be meeting that fine. we will pay that fine. if there are criminal prosecutions, they could lead to by—elections in constituencies like south thanet. recently labour and the liberal democrats have also been fined for illegal expenses returns. the electoral commission is worried that parties are starting to see the fines as a cost of doing business, rather than a way of keeping british elections fair. daniel sandford, bbc news, ramsgate. president donald trump says he stands by his claim that former president barack obama ordered trump tower to be wiretapped during the 2016 campaign. it comes as a senate committee has said there are "no indications" that trump tower was under surveillance by the us government before or after the election. our reporter says the white house

will not retract the allegation. we have had a white house briefing where the reiterated the comments. however, when it comes to the actual allegation of wiretapping what we're told is it may also mean a broader surveillance. to give you an idea or who is saying what, - the last who is saying what, within the last few hours we have had from the republican house committee, senate committee, they do not believe or have not seen evidence of wiretapping} have not seen evidence of wiretapping. this comes after 24 hours after the house committee said the same thing. it is important to look at who is saying this, these are republicans and democrats together. this is a bipartisan committee who are saying on both houses, both the senate and the house, both are saying they can find and have seen no evidence of

president obama ordered surveillance oi'i president obama ordered surveillance on trump power, - before or on trump power, either before or after the election. donald trump has said in an interview last night to fox news, there will be more evidence coming out within the next two weeks. as we have just heard from his press secretary, he said more evidence will come out and president trump stands by his comments. the headlines on bbc news, the uk government has rejected calls for a scottish independence referendum before brexit after theresa may said g" ' f ' ; em» 9. ...,.,99!, 110w g" ' f ' ; em» 99. .9.9.999!9 now is not g" ' f ' ; em» 9.. ...9.9.9959 now is not the g" ' f ' ; em» 9. ...9.9.9959 now is not the time. the first minister scotland nicola sturgeon said the west minister must respect scotland's a democratic mandate. conservative party has been ‘fié’fli mandate. conservative party has been “fled a conservative party has been fined a record £70,000 for breaking campaign spending rules during the last general election. sport now i must

get a full round—up. let's start with the live football this evening and manchester united are hoping to reach the quarterfinals of the europa league undertaking on rostov at old trafford. it is a goal that so far. the sap —— zlatan ibrahimovic playing in the middle of his domestic suspension. he had to chances to put united ahead. his shot came off the post. then he had the same post. look at this, this is later in the first half. they are into the second half now. still no goals. sunderland's jermaine defoe received an unexpected england has received an unexpected england call—up for games against lithuania. he has been in great form since returning from a spill in toronto at

has scored 14 goals this season so far. with injuries to england's other strikers he is named as one of three strikers. ruby walsh rode in three strikers. ruby walsh rode in three races to date including the feature race. walsh won the hurdle on board the ten to one shot. walsh also one on let's dance later in the afternoon. warrington walls hope the first point of the super league season tonight. they got off to the worst possible start. 6—0 after ten minutes before ben crookes added a second try for the home side to make it10-0. second try for the home side to make it 10-0. the second try for the home side to make it 10—0. the conversion hit the post but both sides scored a penalty. 12-2 is but both sides scored a penalty. 12—2 is the latest score in the 50th

minute. a former british cycle was told the bbc he broke the sport's rules by secretly injecting himself with vitamins when riding for team sky he admitted it to team sky in 2014 but it was covered up. team - say he it was covered up. team sky say he ever admitted self injecting and did not report them because they were concerned about his mental state. it dawned on me whilst i was doing it how extreme it is. going to get it how extreme it is. going to get it all is one thing and then when you gee back - . , it all is one thing and then when you gee back and , 9. it all is one thing and then when you é back and mix- it all is one thing and then when you é back and mix and = it all is one thing and then when you é back and mix and paedophiles you get back and mix and paedophiles and into the you get back and mix and paedophiles and - into the syringe and the efid gettifig ifite tiee e'yrifige efiei the = butterfly ehd gettihg ihte the e'yrihge ehei the = butterfly clip anna turley gets —— mixing it and getting it into the syringes. it is a whole process. then making sure there is no bubbles. if there is a in the syringe it can give you a heart attack and people can die. it is a

very daunting thing to be doing, especially sat in europe room any foreign country at 11 at night. it is very surreal. it is not something you take lightly. it is doing it out of necessity. none of us were co mforta ble, of necessity. none of us were comfortable, let's be honest, what we had a lot of discussion around this and one thing we can say is he violated our rules and we said you knew this, i specifically said no no matter what it is for. needles. no matter what it is for. under the uci he technically had not violated it because he told us clearly at the time he had not injected because he did not know how in'ected because he did not know how! use the needles. this is what he to use the needles. this is what he told us at the time. as i say, you must remember without going into too much detail, i have not got a person ina good much detail, i have not got a person in a good place in front of me, i have someone who is breaking down.

were people wanting to report that within the senior management? we had a lot of discussion, would not —— we did notjust decided we would not say anything, that did not happen. more on that on the 10pm news. still 0-0 at old more on that on the 10pm news. still 0—0 at old trafford. as it stands, manchester united heading into the next round. that is not the sport news for now. toyota is to invest almost a quarter of a billion pounds in its burnaston factory near derby. the japanese carmaker says it wants to improve its long term competitiveness. only last week toyota said it could delay a decision on building its next generation auris car here depending on the outcome of brexit. today the government announced its providing 21 million at the burnaston plant. our industry correspondent john moylan has more. return to index of stories... this was toyota's first plant in europe. it has been making vehicles from here, near derby for almost 25 years.

4 million cars later and the company is investing again, laying the foundations for the future. we are determined to be competitive. that means building cars with quality, high—productivity, low—cost and this investment helps us, hugely, to be competitive for the long term. so, we think this is a huge part of preparing for the long-term future. toyota will invest £240 million to upgrade the burnaston plant. in return, the government is providing £21 million for training and research. it's all good news for the 2,500 workers at this site. the truth is, this plant needed to be upgraded simply to be able to compete with toyota's plants around the world to build new cars. new they currently make the auris 97 99 9 9 this plant is expected in the next year or two. this investment could make all the difference. but as we leave the eu, all uk car manufacturers face the prospect of higher costs, with tariffs on the

components they import and on the cars they export. despite assurances from the government, nissan has warned it'll re—evaluate its uk operations once the final brexit deal is known. today in derbyshire, as the business secretary greg clarke toured the toyota plant, the company warned that tariff—free, barrier—free access to europe would be vital for its success. some go even further if you look back at history, there were turning points. a peak in 1972 and 1999 and then big falls in investment. we don't want brexit to be another one of those turning points, and a hard brexit, where we end up with tariff barriers, i think would threaten the viability of some of the plants in the uk and investment here. and investment has been falling. it was down last year amid the uncertainty around the el; = referendum. so toyota's decision today will be seen as a vote of

john moylan, bbc news, derbyshire. eight people have been injured in a shooting at a school in the southern french town of grasse. the attacker, who was armed with a rifle, handguns and grenades, it is not being treated as a terror attack. a seventeen—year—old student has been arrested. cctv footage has emerged of the final movements of an irish woman who was murdered in the southern indian state of goa. danielle mclaughlin's body was discovered in an open field close to tourist resorts on tuesday. a 24—year—old man has been charged with her murder. the proposed takeover of the broadcaster sky by rupert murdoch's 21st century fox is to be examined by industry regulators to see if it's in the public interest. the culture secretary, karen bradley, told mps that concerns about competition -.—..9 l-a--9—- 49-99 99 there was a narrow escape

for tourists on mount etna in sicily, when it unexpectedly erupted — ten people were injured. a bbc news crew was filming there at the time. molten rock shot two hundred feet into the air and the team was pelted boiling rocks and engulfed in steam. it's the third time in just under three weeks that etna has erupted. the bbc‘s science correspondent, rebecca morelle, was there. i was with a bbc crew filming a lava flow from a recent spate of volcanic activity. but the lava mixed with some snow causing first, a small explosion. then a larger one. they pelted us with rocks and boulders and steam. everyone ran trying to reach the snowmobile. to get to safety.

but some were left with cuts and burns and bruises. have you seen the others? and a guide suffered a dislocated shoulder. experienced in his 30 year career and that we were lucky no one was left with serious injuries. now let's check the weather. early in the week storm still battered the usa eastern canada with heavy snow and strong winds. that has moved away and left some very cold air with ice and frost penetrating far south as north florida. the complete

opposite in the south—west opposite in the desert south—west with record challenging one of the building in hot and sunny conditions in southern california and across towards central southern areas. very dry here. more dry weather to exacerbate the wildfire risk. very cold across the north. some of the warmth in the west have been moving and with more systems are northwards and with more systems are pushing in from the pacific we are likely to see flooding. look at the red across california to the great basin. low to mid 30s celsius likely é— basin. low to mid 30s celsius likely e las vegas and phoenix. basin. low to mid 30s celsius likely § las vegas and phoenix. the - in las vegas and phoenix. the opposite in the north—east through friday with temperatures well below freezing for south—east canada and just above freezing in new york. some more snow and freezing rain sweeping eastwards during friday night into saturday. more snow possible for boston and new york. staying cold even into the start of

next week. across south asia we have seen next week. across south asia we have seen vigorous thunderstorms l the seen vigorous thunderstorms in the south of india and a fuel across sri la nka south of india and a fuel across sri lanka and own the next few days some disturbances across east india and bangladesh, sparking some violent thunderstorms. not unusual for this type of year in this area and some of those thunderstorms could contain tornadoes. some of flooding large ha ilstones tornadoes. some of flooding large hailstones through friday the weekend. summer thundery downpours across the south—east of india to watch sri lanka as well. in the mediterranean it is looking decent, 01’ mediterranean it is looking decent, or winter weather for turkey, temperatures slowly rising in cyprus but for increase in sicily plenty of sunshine and feeling warmer, too. fine conditions across much of central and northern spain, very windy and thundery in spain over the

few days. improvement here for past few days. improvement here for friday. the ca nary past few days. improvement here for friday. the canary islands of highs of 23 celsius. back home, a messy picture on friday. the ruminants of storm stalla rd picture on friday. the ruminants of storm stallard from the us earlier storm stallard from the us earlieo! in the week. mainly rain for scotla nd in the week. mainly rain for scotland and northern ireland. some snow on the higher ground of scotland. you can see the full uk weather forecast right here in half an hour. president trump's second travel ban is blocked by the us courts. the white house say they are not done yet. we will fight this and take our case as far as it needs to go, including all the wayfto the supreme including all the way to the supreme court. an explosion amount and provide a terrifying moment for those caught in it, including a bbc camera crew. and it was road trip

--— live for all to see. we streamed live for all to see. we speak to the west congressman's jumps in the carfor quite an adventure complete with snacks.