long—term legacy for hull and the surrounding area. today, including money to promote the city's maritime heritage. you only have to look at what the city of culture has brought to hull, the pride in the city. the fa ct to hull, the pride in the city. the fact the council have said they are absolutely committed to keeping a commitment to culture is a fantastic thing andi commitment to culture is a fantastic thing and i am really looking forward to this in the north. but there are some who believe part of there are some who believe part of the world isn't getting its fair share of arts funding. according to research, the arts council would have to invest almost £700 million over the next five years in the north of england in order to bridge the north— south divide with london. traditionally arts in the north are considerably underfunded compared to the rest of the country so we would like to see further commitments by this or any other government going forward to arts in the north.

there's lots of underfunding in the north of england. and we getting a raw deal? absolutely not. let's be clear, london is an incredible centre and we should be very proud but we have to make sure we have the vibrancy and exciting cultural opportunities across the whole country. there is a track record of the government putting its money where its mouth is and making sure cultures across the whole country and everyone gets to enjoy it. that will be the challenge, to make sure the nation's cultural centre of gravity doesn't automatically migrate to the south. time for the latest headlines. the bank of england raises interest rates to 0.5% for the first time in a decade. the new defence secretary is former conservative chief whip gavin williamson some within the party are not happy with his appointment. the brother of manchester arena bomber salman abedi will not be returned to the uk to face questioning by police say the militia holding him in libya.

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. now it's time for meet the author. william boyd isn't much at home with the short story is the novel. events and collisions of events that take you straight to the heart of things. isa you straight to the heart of things. is a collection with a novella surrounded by eight short stories. they have a loosely interlocking theme and the characters and all the weight of their past as they try to find the confidence to look ahead. disordered lives, meat and drink to

a writer like william boyd. you've published collections of short stories before and it strikes me that maybe you find writing a short story when you're in the middle of a whacking great novel, some kind of relief, a change of pace? it is true because i think different mental gears are engaged when you write a short story as opposed to a novel and sometimes you get an idea which can't function as a novel and you think it'd make a perfect short story and the other thing is you can experiment with the short story anyway you want with the novel, because of it all goes terribly wrong you haven't a year! like admitting that starts to unravel. to participate from time to

time as of great interest. he talked about what makes a great short story, what does make one? about what makes a great short story, what does make one7m about what makes a great short story, what does make one? it is very ha rd story, what does make one? it is very hard to define. i think there are seven types. i constructed this taxonomy but the key one is the anton chekhov model, at the end of the 19th century developing this slice of life, without the beginning, middle and end, presenting an episode of the character and often very open—ended andl character and often very open—ended and i think that now is the dominant kind of short story. eight piece of a life presented. and you like that for them. you are often concerned with random things, chance happenings and random recollections, one life that is seen backwards or

two lives in one story, that make up a life. so fragments come together. it is obviously an idea that you enjoy? yes, and in a short story you can fragment narrative and present a series of shorts and the reader makes the plot. there is something about the form's generosity in which you can take a series of random incidents and because it is short and very discreet it does the work itself. it brings it all together in the way that a lyric pawn might. let's talk about the central story and it is about a 24—year—old girl in contemporary london whose life is if not a mess, but a life that is not really going anywhere. she is sort of floating and doesn't know where the tide will take her. probably another reason for writing

short stories as you can do the key and know very well. i wandered around london looking and i see young people and in a way construct short stories for them and i am aware of people drifting a lot nowadays, trying out differentjobs and locations and moving, different ambitions, so i tried to distil this contemporary phenomenon of drifting through life. there are some interlocking ideas and the character who pops in another story but they are not who pops in another story but they a re not really who pops in another story but they are not really bolted together in any serious way. but this theme of fragments or to floating around them and some magnetic way coming together is something that pops up a lot, and the chance happening, the last story, a man whose name is mistaken for somebody else and he ends up in a kind of romp across the highlands. it is an adventure story about because of a mistake. you

could say that good luck and bad luck is a theme that runs through all the stories and probably through all the stories and probably through all my novels as well, something that obsesses me, the way life can turn so quickly and personal happiness can be fragmented so suddenly. i always feel inclined to point that out to people who don't ta ke point that out to people who don't take anything for granted because it can all go horribly wrong, and the short story allows you to take these little moments and seaweed in narrative can turn are life can turn like that. it is almost like a collection of lyric poetry, a collection of lyric poetry, a collection of lyric poetry, a collection of individual pawns.|j ta ke collection of individual pawns.|j take great care in the order they are set out in the book, just as a port doesn'tjust throw are set out in the book, just as a port doesn't just throw the work down. what thinking goes into that? some of it is pragmatic because you don't want three first person singular stories together, and

another one as you want to set a tone of voice at the beginning of a collection, to say here is howl tone of voice at the beginning of a collection, to say here is how i see the world and fewer more examples, so the world and fewer more examples, so it depends on the stories you have to hand. one of the great things about short story collections is you get this cataract of characters, somebody new coming along every 20 minutes whereas the novel you have to deal with a gap you create and then follow them through. here you can pick someone up through. here you can pick someone up and follow them for a bit and put them down, a man whose life is defined by the things he has stolen, largely from friends. many of them rather than but all none the less a cts rather than but all none the less acts of theft. it is an example of things you can do in a short story, can you define a life by the things a person has stolen. i wouldn't attempt a novel like that, and different sets of mental gears are engaged. it is a different type of

writing in a way. and two people on here look at their lives in reverse, which again is something you can pull off ina which again is something you can pull off in a 30 page story. exactly, and it doesn't become tedious, and the conception is quite intriguing because they view backwards is always clear and distinct whereas ahead is a shimmering void of potential. and it is fairto shimmering void of potential. and it is fair to say that in this volume what you're suggesting is dispute about the world, but quite a bit of wi’y about the world, but quite a bit of wry amusement? i thinki am essentially a serious comic writer. i see the world as a kind of absurd comedy and inevitably as a writer constructing stories are telling stories about characters, that point of view filters down and i always quote nabokov, who said that a good laugh is the best pesticide. you

have scottish background and the scottish with a rich edition is still love people with a much darker conception about what the world does to people and the vengeance wreaks on individual psychologies. to people and the vengeance wreaks on individual psychologiesm to people and the vengeance wreaks on individual psychologies. it does andl on individual psychologies. it does and i assume, i was born in africa, my parents are scots, and my formation is entirely scottish. there is a strong ironic absurdist view of the world which is also very scottish and very russian interestingly. nothing makes much sense you might as get on with things. and after a long career as a writer with continues with your writing as furiously as ever. that hasn't cooled at all for you. absolutely. sometimes i can't believe my good luck, to be still writing, still having my books

published. my first novel was published. my first novel was published 35 years ago. i never take it for granted and again to quote anton chekhov, to be a free artist is possibly the best thing you can possibly be on this small planet. william boyd, author of the dreams of bethany mellmoth, thank you. good evening. long nights, clear skies, hardly any breeze and fork. that is what we usually think about at this time of the year but is never that straightforward with the areas of cloud floating about and we have that at the moment but we are seeing some fog developing and turning dense in places already. the main areas across southern england and right now the west country seeing the worst of it. here we have some breaks in the cloud, i remain cloudy zone is that bit further

north spilling into northern england and ireland and pushing further into scotla nd and ireland and pushing further into scotland but maybe a touch of frost for a while. chilly outside of the fog as well. maybe a little sunshine outside of the fog as we have seen today. you may be lucky and may stay bright all day but there will be these areas fork, dense in places, affecting southern england. further north, too much cloud to worry so much about the fog. eat lots of dry weather around until you get to the north of scotland where we have weak weather front not making much inroads but the breeze is brisker. elsewhere later when is not helping to stir things up but also lying on the power of the sun to pick up the fog. tending to lift into low cloud but while we may see some sunshine here and there is probably rather half—hearted. the temperature getting into double figures like today. things change, tomorrow evening and tomorrow night, because pressure falls across england and

wales and we see rain developing spilling across the near continent, so spilling across the near continent, so getting warmer, not as for gay and we start to season showers and the north—west. slightly colder air as well. turning colder rspb kemp goes on. we also blowing a few showers. the cold air coming in on a north—westerly wind, this is where it is early on saturday. it will push down on saturday. a wet start across england and wales on saturday, some heavy rain pushing into use in england where the rain ta kes a into use in england where the rain takes a while to clear away in the afternoon, the cloud even longer, otherwise further north and west some sunshine and showers. the air is getting colder weather north—westerly wind. may even be a bit of snow across the scottish mountains. north—westerly winds blowing across the country on sunday, much brighter across eastern england. not doing much for the temperature at all with the high

around 8—10. into next week, some rain bands approaching, wind is picking up across england and wales and again we would need to worry too much. this is bbc news. the headlines at 9pm: the labour mp kelvin hopkins has been suspended from the party while allegations made against him are investigated. meanwhile gavin williamson is replacing the defence secretary, sir michael fallon, who resigned because of sexual misconduct. the bank of england raises interest rates for the first time in a decade. the rise, to 0.5%, is part of the bank's fight against inflation, and there could be more to come. consistent with our mandate and consistent with supporting the economy, that requires two more interest rate increases over the next three years. the brother of manchester arena bomber salman abedi will not be returned to the uk to face questioning by police, say the militia holding him in libya.

an arrest warrant is issued for ousted catalan leader carles puigdemont, as eight former colleagues are remanded in custody