this is bbc news. the headlines at 7.00pm: the environment secretary, michael gove, suggests the government could support a lifting of the 1% pay cap for public sector workers. italy calls on other european countries to let in rescue ships — more than 80,000 migrants have arrived there since the start of the year. plans to restrict foreign fishing boats‘ access to british waters as the government prepares to pull out of a key agreement council tenants whose services have been disrupted by the grenfell tower fire have their rent suspended. also in the next hour: stephen hawking slams donald trump on climate change. he warns the president's decision to pulling out of the paris accord could push the earth over the brink, where global warming becomes irreversible. wimbledon fans soak up the sun as they set up camp in the queue for tickets ahead of the first day of play. good evening and

welcome to bbc news. there's growing pressure on the prime minister and the chancellor over public sector pay rises after another cabinet minister raised the prospect of the current 1% being lifted. the environment secretary, michael gove, said the recommendations of public sector pay bodies, which review pay increases, should be respected. one of those bodies has warned that the present cap is putting pressure on the health service. here's our political correspondent iain watson. for every year that there's been a pay freeze or a public sector pay cut, first under a coalition government, then under the conservatives, there's been a demonstration. but since the government

lost its majority, protesters have become more hopeful. ‘not one day more‘ was the slogan this weekend, as they marched through parliament square, and there are signs that some of the government are listening. today, the environment secretary said ministers should accept recommendations on pay from independent review bodies. i think that we should listen to the pay review bodies who govern each individual area of public sector pay. these pay review bodies have been set up in order to ensure we can have authoritative for advice on what's required to make sure the public services on which rewrites are effectively starved and the people within them are effectively supported. around 5 million public sector workers have had effectively a 1% cap on pay rises since 2013. this is set to last until the end of the decade, meaning by was in 2000 sector pay would be no higher in real terms than it was there are eight independent pay review bodies which make. they can call for increases

above 1%, but the government isn't bound by the recommendations. decisions on police pay and teachers pay are expected to be taken later this month. theresa may's cabinet is split over the principle of whether to lift the cap. i haven't temp two place we have

saved 200,000 public sectorjobs. lifting the temp one entirely could cost £6 billion. a former nurse who was by conservative mp says the government could pay a higher price of the keep it in place. government could pay a higher price of the keep it in placeli government could pay a higher price of the keep it in place. i know collea g u es of the keep it in place. i know colleagues who have left nursing or are taking early retirement because it isa are taking early retirement because it is a tough job are taking early retirement because it is a toughjob of are taking early retirement because it is a tough job of long hours and they can get otherjobs with less hours less responsibility for a similar page. we have to look at the pace structure across the public service. labour says it will scrap the cap entirely. we are saying, get rid of the i% the cap entirely. we are saying, get rid of the 1% cap and give people a fair arise. they should have a pay rise in line with earnings. these demonstrators have not changed ending austerity, but they might give a cheer if the pay cap is scrapped. with me now is katy balls, political

correspondent for the spectator. do you think this recommendation will be taken on board by theresa may from michael gove? it is a kates of when not if this pay cap being dropped. it is whether it will be done sector by sector orjust get rid of it completely. will they hold by until the autumn budget or will she have to give in to pressure before? we are seeing a lot of this, a cave in, u—turns, standing down. there is this chipping away at theresa may's authority. how long do you think she will last? there is a general feeling of disarray at the moment. last week everyone was talking about who would be the next leader. theresa may is vulnerable.

if enough mps are annoyed about this and worried in her own party, she doesn't have the numbers. she will be fine for a few months but she will have more and more week as she gives in these things. you say when, not death, it must be great for labour. the optics are really good for labour. the conservatives were never going to keep the pay cap for ever, but it looks as if the reason it has been quick and is because of the pressured labour has been applying. it needs at the very bad when the conservatives voted to get rid of the amendment, they all cheered, and played into labour hand that conservatives don't care about public sector workers. jeremy corbyn was speaking yesterday. there seems to bea was speaking yesterday. there seems to be a mood changed towards austerity, not just from

to be a mood changed towards austerity, notjust from the public, but from politicians. if you get back to david cameron when ed miliband was labour leader, you couldn't get through at pmq is without hearing about the five—year plan ora without hearing about the five—year plan or a need to cut the deficit. the conservatives have stopped using that argument. the death as you mentioned three times in the conservative manifesto. jeremy corbyn has been able to promise of the spending without being reminded about why it might not be a good idea. the conservatives are now second—guessing themselves. idea. the conservatives are now second-guessing themselves. for the tories, breaking down and doing austerity is something of a vote winner, but is it too late for them? the conservatives pride themselves on their economic record. that is what got their majorities in previous elections. it is risky strategy at they look as if they are

letting go of that completely. looking at the sunday papers today, every paper is asking for money from a different part of the government. if they do everything, the whole idea of the magic money tree from labour starts not to work, because it looks as if the conservatives have the magic money tree for things like the dup. more than 80,000 migrants have arrived in italy in the first six months of the year. the united nations high commissioner for refugees has added its voice to those calling for italy to be given more support, as it deals with large numbers of migrants crossing the mediterranean. earlier, our correspondent richard galpin gave us this update. it is a huge challenge and there has been a big spike in the past week. in two days more than 12,000 migrants were picked up. obviously, this is higher than what they had in

the same period last year. the figures have really gone up a lot. the italians are very, very worried. there is a meeting taking place today between interior ministers of italy, france and germany, we think it will start later on this evening, in which this issue will be discussed. italy says it can't cope any more and it has to have much more support from all the other members of the european union. it feels very much isolated. it is not getting the support that it needs because financially and logistically it is very burdensome and they need help. are they looking specifically to mediterranean coastal countries, they're looking across to the whole european union. this meeting will take place today, then another this week in tallinn in estonia when it will be the interior ministers who will try to thrash this out.

italy are saying they cannot cope. there seems to be anecdotal evidence of this. i was talking to an ngo that runs one of the rescue ships, a german organisation called sea watch. they have picked up record numbers. they picked up far too many people for their boat. it was beyond the safety limits of the boat. they needed to disembark those people onto a bigger ship out at sea. they appealed for this. they went to the communication centre in rome, or spoke to them on the radio — can you get a boat to us? they said they would, but nothing came. the allegation is that this is deliberate. the other thing the italians have threatened is that they may close their ports to any ngo ships bringing migrants into italy. pal nesse is from the norwegian refugee council. hejoins me from 0slo. do you think italy would go as far

as closing airports? i hope not. it would be against international maritime law and against italian and seafaring tradition. we should acknowledge the dilemma that italy has been placed in. it has done so much work to step up the search and rescue efforts and has received far too little assistance from other european countries. which countries are we talking about and what more should they be doing? in a way, the mediterranean for all practical purposesis mediterranean for all practical purposes is the borderfor all of europe. this is the border between europe. this is the border between europe and africa that we all share. the countries that should step up are, as was mentioned, germany and france because a lot of the mike —— the migrants are going there. we need to step up support for search

and rescue, in cyber processing and in hosting asylum seekers and migrants, whether they are in need of international protection, whether they could be permitted to stay for other reasons, or if they should be returned to their countries of origin. why aren't these countries stepping up? is it a question of resources ? stepping up? is it a question of resources? know, for italy it is not much for europe. if we want to have legitimacy in dealing with these issues regionally, we also have to ta ke issues regionally, we also have to take our share. i think in the way it is out of sight out of mind for central and northern europe now. we don't see these migrants feared. it has been a difficult and controversial issues so many politicians are looking the other way. they should not because they really do need support. way. they should not because they really do need supportlj way. they should not because they really do need support. i had an italian captain involved in these

rescue mission speaking earlier in the week. he said it was a question of proximity. he said a lot of these boots were picked up near to the african side of the mediterranean and something had to be done there. the dilemma is that things are not working well in libya. he cannot return the boats to libya which is where practically all of them are coming from. libya is a country without a rule of law. many of the migrants have been subject to torture, sexual violence and so on. therefore we have to take them to europe. thank you very much. the government has announced it's withdrawing from a 50 year old convention that allows some other countries to fish close to the uk coastline. it says the move will help britain determine its own fishing policy. but the european commission says the convention no

longer exists in law. here's our business correspondent joe lynam. a fortnight after the formal brexit talks started, there's a new front in the negotiations, and it's fish. the uk is quitting a 53—year—old convention which allowed countries like france and belgium to fish right up to the british coastline. we are giving notice that we intend to quit that. it's a provision in the agreement that enables us to do that with a two year notice period. this is important to give us the legal clarity. we're absolutely clear that when we leave the eu, we leave the common fisheries policy, and we will take control for managing fisheries resources in our own waters. that's right out to 200 nautical miles, or the halfway point, the median line. so what is the london fisheries convention? at the moment, other countries can't dish within six not come out of the british coastline. that is a tiny fraction of the more than 700,000 tonnes a year caught by

british fishermen. almost all of that fish is caught in the 200 nautical miles around the uk coast. but the decision has angered the irish government, which has the only land border with britain. its fisheries minister described the move as unwelcome and unhelpful. scrapping the convention could also be meaningless. the eu commission said today that the london convention had been superseded by you rules covered by the common fisheries policy. but fishermen welcomed the action. what it does is make a strong commitment to achieving sovereignty, to taking sovereignty over our waters which international law states is ours at the moment of brexit. this isjust another statement of intent that that will be what happens. so, some welcome the government taking back control, others may view fisheries asa control, others may view fisheries as a tiny part of britain's economy

to be used as a bargaining chip in the frosty relations between britain and the eu. the headlines on bbc news: ministers says the government is prepared to listen to the advice of independent bodies on public sector pay, suggesting the i% on wages rises could be lifted. germany, france and italy's interior ministers meet for crisis talks as italy warns the influx of migrants into the country is unsustainable. the irish government criticises the uk's decision to withdraw from an agreement allowing foreign countries to fish in its waters as "unwelcome and unhelpful". the government says tenants from grenfell tower who may have been illegally subletting their flats will not be prosecuted, as work continues to identify all those killed in the fire. at least 80 people are thought to have died in the fire at the west london block and it's feared the full death toll won't be known for months.

meanwhile, cladding on 181 blocks in 51 areas has now failed fire safety tests. all those so far examined have failed the checks. kensington and chelsea council is suspending rent for residents of buildings around grenfell tower whose services have been disrupted because of the fire. meanwhile, some campaigners say victims of the disaster could boycott the public inquiry unless its scope is widened. 0ur correspondent simonjones reports. the devastating fire that claimed so many lives has opened up a gulf between residents and the council elected to represent them. is this the first good decision you have made? the leader nicholas paget—brown is on his way out but labour council member beinazir lasharie, who has just returned to her home in the shadow of grenfell tower, says change is needed quickly. now that he has resigned, who is taking responsibility?

who will he palm this off to? yes, he should resign but he needs to take responsibility. people need to be in place to manage what is going on here. as the community mourns the dead, the government says the new leader will be chosen by the council itself. commissioners from outside will not be sent in. it is warning it will intervene if it needs to. the absolute priority remains looking after the victims, their family and friends, making sure they get everything they need and in doing so, when it comes to local council, nothing is off the table. the council insist the disaster was so huge any authority would have struggled to cope. but it says it wants to learn lessons. when that new leader has been elected, we have to revise how we have come across and we have to be more proactive. we have to listen more, we have to show the residents that we really are on their side. it is a tough task.

and a warning from both the government and residents — you must get it right this time. a man has been arrested by police after a 16—year—old girl was killed and six other teenagers injured by a car in croydon in south london early this morning. the man, in his 30s, is being questioned on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. officers are appealing for any witnesses. at least 20 people have been killed and many injured in a suicide bomb attack in the syrian capital of damascas. the attacker struck in tahrir square in the centre of the city. the bomber appears to have been in one of three cars that had been pursued by police. president trump has been accused of inciting violence against the media after he tweeted a spoof video showing him wrestling with a man with a cnn logo

super—imposed on his head. in the short clip, the president is shown pushing the man, and the logo, to the ground and appearing to punch him. it is an altered version of donald trump's appearance at a wwe wrestling event in 2007. mr trump has repeatedly clashed with the cnn news network, which he calls "fake news". that latest controversy comes after president trump defended his use of twitter. "my use of social media is not presidential", he tweeted, it's modern day presidential". earlier in the week, he drew criticism for tweeting crude, personal attacks on two us news presenters." let's speak now to matt mackowiak. he's a republican strategist who has previously worked in president george w bush's administration. he joins us from austin, texas. in michigan, steve gruber,

a conservative talkshow host and supporter of president trump. very good evening to you both, or good afternoon to you in the us. first off, what do you think of this latest social media controversy surrounding mrtrump? latest social media controversy surrounding mr trump? well, i think it needs to be said that president trump has been under attack by the mainstream media india knighted states unlike anything we have seen in the modern era. there has been no honeymoon period. basically journalists in america are bracing to see who can bring a story forward that causes impeachment. it is a competition india knighted states. i understand entirely whether trump white house is deeply frustrated with media coverage. that said, i think there are more effective ways

for them to push back. this particular message appeared on twitter today has got an enormous response. i looked a minute ago and it had 155,000 re—tweets. i think is based like sim going to war with the media. i understand why he is lashing out. i think there are more effective ways to do it and i don't think being controversial on a social media platform like twitter helps him advance his policy agenda and that is what i'm most concerned with. steve, does it bother you that many people don't think he is acting ina many people don't think he is acting in a presidential manner?” many people don't think he is acting in a presidential manner? i think matt said it very well there. being combative with the media has been an effective tool for donald trump. if you continue to win, white changer plays?: add the media is something people in michigan and ohio and

pennsylvania seem to praise. if you look at the media, all the changes and retractions that have happened, they have been firing people. they have just admitted that there weren't17 media agencies that doctor was russian pollution, they say now it was only for. we always knew that the coast guard wasn't involved in checking in with the russians. people who support donald trump don't trust the media at all. they see retractions. they think the washington post is out to get donald trump and when he goes after them in a schoolboy, schoolyard type role, they seem to embrace that. all states carried by donald trump, i don't think he has lost the single supporter as a result of this nontraditional approach to the media. it is very unorthodox added

in school crowd behaviour. it doesn't say much about his voters if it doesn't bother them. he is an international figure it doesn't bother them. he is an internationalfigure head. there it doesn't bother them. he is an international figure head. there you go, insulting the voters. if you voted for donald trump you are a knuckle dragging, you are not too smart. it may win on the east coast and the west coast, but in the real world, insulting the voters is a losing strategy. has donald trump tweeted too much? 0n losing strategy. has donald trump tweeted too much? on occasion. has he gone too far sometimes? yes. insulting his voters as being subhuman or not bright enough, i would suggest bright note that if the election were held today his margin of victory would be larger. do you think that sort of behaviour, very antagonistic, is it correct on

an international stage? social media isa an international stage? social media is a modern—day phenomena. does he get that people outside of america also read those tweets?” get that people outside of america also read those tweets? i think it isa also read those tweets? i think it is a good question. we want citizens around the world to respect the president, but more importantly we wa nt world president, but more importantly we want world leaders to. i think president trump has done a good job building relationships with world leaders. the chinese president has taken leaders. the chinese president has ta ken unprecedented steps leaders. the chinese president has taken unprecedented steps against north korea. they take time to build those relationships. the personal reactions mean a lot more. the way he uses social media has perhaps cause people around the world to not pursue him in the traditional way they would view an american president. i don't think it matters that much. what matters is the result of his policies. he has gotten some small things done so far

but he needs to get the things done. he wants to be in the position next year when the mid—term elections happen that he can go back to his base of voters say i followed through on my promises and your life is better because i am president. stephen hocking has told the bbc that he thinks donald trump withdrawn from the paris climate change agreement could be the end of the planet. 0ur science correspondent reports. when i was diagnosed at 2011 was told it would kill me in two or three years. now, 5a years later, i

am still working and producing scientific papers. today, stephen hocking celebrates his 75th birthday. but it has been a great struggle which i have got through only with a lot of help from a family, colleagues and friends. at an event at cambridge university to pay tribute to his life, he was applauded for his scientific achievements. the legacy will be the scientists that he has inspired. there will be thousands of them and they are still being inspired today. so there will be ten—year—olds today, or eight—year—olds, who are reading about stephen, reading about the work that he did, and may go on to be the next einstein, or... we don't know. in an exclusive interview with bbc news, professor hawking told me that he was worried about the future of our species. what are your views on president trump's decision to withdraw from the paris climate agreement, and what impact do you think that will have

on the future of the planet? we are close to the tipping point where global warming becomes irreversible. trump's action could push the earth over the bridge, to become like venus, with a temperature of 250 degrees and raining sulphuric acid. stephen hawking has three children. his daughter lucy says his life is an inspiration, and notjust to scientists. people who've lived in really extreme circumstances seem to find something very, very inspirational in his example of perseverance and persistence, and his kind of ability to rise above his suffering, and still want to communicate at a higher level. his ideas have transformed our understanding of the cosmos. but what's also being celebrated is his determination and humanity.

i want to update you on how we will start the new week. first thing, it will be mild and central and southern parts. a bit fresher to the north of this weather front. brighter skies in scotland. there is enough on this front for there to be some rain in wales on the south—west of england. we will drag a line of showers down towards the south—east. brighter skies following on behind. a decent day in prospect, truth be known. a high of 2a, feeling very warm in the south—east, in the far north into the teens. 0vernight this area of cloud and rain will come through northern ireland. by tuesday day it will be a bother for the southern half of scotland, northern england and eventually the north of wales. south of that that will be

close. 25 degrees in london, only 1415 in scotland. more details online. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines... theresa may comes under pressure to lift the 1% cap on public sector pay increases. ministers from germany, france and italy are meeting for crisis talks as italy warns the influx of migrants into the country is unsustainable. britain says it will withdraw from an agreement