two days. so far no news as to whether he will travel north of the irish border. if he does it would be the first ever able visit to northern ireland. time for a look at the weather... get quite cold night and something tells me we are not quite done with winter yet as we had towards easter, it could turn cold again. for the short term we have white fine weather around across most of the uk. the weather systems are out in the atlantic lining up and heading in our direction. and with that comes a bit of mild air but not desperately mild but temperatures still below par for the time of year. but a lot better than third to just a few days ago. so today bright weather across england and wales, some rain around in the north—west. that continues into this evening.

maybe some showers for the eastern counties of england but on the whole a dry evening and look how much milder it is going to be this coming night. five, six, 7 degrees. so tomorrow morning is going to feel a lot different dub in fact when the sunshine is out it will feel very pleasa nt sunshine is out it will feel very pleasant indeed. a fine start to the day but once again all that cloud moving in, this next weatherfront approaching on thursday afternoon. still io approaching on thursday afternoon. still 10 degrees in belfast in spite of that. and easily around 12 degrees across the south where the sun comes out. the big picture, the jet stream is powerful across the atlantic. and what we will see in the next few days is low—pressure riding thejet the next few days is low—pressure riding the jet stream heading the next few days is low—pressure riding thejet stream heading in our direction. most of the brain and

breeze will go across scotland and northern ireland, maybe even some sleet and snow across the hills. but to the south bright weather with just a few showers. and that takes us just a few showers. and that takes us into the weekend, looking a little bit mixed. not guaranteeing dry weather but we do expect a fair bit of bright weather around. it is going to be a bit cooler, just a suggestion of the wind coming from the north—west. just about double figures across southern areas. so to summarise the weekend, not bad at all. mostly bright with just a bit of rain from time to time. a reminder of our main story this lunchtime... more than a million nhs workers in england are offered a pay rise rise of around 6% over the next three years. the agreement nhs trade unions have

recommended today is a something for something deal which brings profound changes in productivity in exchange for significant rises in pay. that's all from the bbc news at one —— so it's goodbye from me — and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. have a good afternoon. mid—afternoon, the latest sports news. scotland made the best possible start this morning in their final qualifier for the cricket world cup against the west indies. they were 240 and one stage. in

reply, scotland have laboured for 93 forfour, losing reply, scotland have laboured for 93 for four, losing calum forfour, losing calum macleod in the last half an hour. there are some way off from the west indies score so some way off from the west indies score so they will need stop the rate to qualify for the first time in their history. england will host the tournament. their immediate focus is the upcoming test series of new zealand, starting tonight. having been beaten 4-0 starting tonight. having been beaten 4—0 in the ashes, they have failed to wind any of ii 4—0 in the ashes, they have failed to wind any of 11 tests away from home. captain joe root to wind any of 11 tests away from home. captainjoe root says it's time for the team to prove themselves in rebel cricket. it's great to be back in the whites, if you like. 0bviously, coming out of australia, it was a tough series for us australia, it was a tough series for us and it is a good opportunity to bounce back now, show that character that i'm always talking about and what i believe is a big strength of hours. and against a good test nation in their own conditions. so the importance of winning away from

home and is paramount in test cricket. it seems to get harder every year so it's a good challenge for us and hopefully we can do something special. england's footballers are preparing for two friendlies they will play before the world cup against russia injune. 0ne world cup against russia injune. one of those in the gareth southgate's squad was playing forward come two years ago but has had his chance to force his way into southgate's thinking, having been picked against the likes of manchester united and chelsea players. if you would have asked me that, say, two or three years ago, asked me if i would ever have been called up, i would have laughed at you. it's a bit more of a shock to me than to most. to be honest, started high this season, made mistakes, but hopefully i have learned from them and in a good position at the moment where looking up position at the moment where looking up at otherthan position at the moment where looking up at other than the qingdao. for me to get this cap is a really exciting period for myself at the moment. the

next match to come is against the netherlands on friday. reading have sacked their manager. after leading them to the championship last season they have slipped down the leagues. the former manchester united defender these of the club now three points above the relegation zone. jockey ruby walsh has been ruled out of the grand national following at nasty fall at berkeley's cheltenham festival. the 38—year—old had only return for breaking his right leg five days earlier when he aggravated the same injury. he says he is now targeting a return at a festival late next month. paralympic champions first matt fitzpatrick and jennifer kehoe say

they are excited about having when middle and are looking forward to many more to come. , middle and are looking forward to many more to come., the successes have left a legacy we have been able to build on, they brought in more funding for us to be able to train harder and the fact that we have enjoyed success along with millie and brett has really compounded that and that as a strong sporting nation in winter disciplines. great to hear from them both today after such a successful games. that is all the sport. don't forget, you can hear the very latest on our website, and i will be back with plenty more for you in the next hour. see you then. let's get more now on one of our main stories. the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov has recommended that london stop getting upset and calm down — in relation to the ongoing investigation into the nerve agent attack in salisbury. the former russian double agent sergei skripal and his daughter yulia remain in a critical condition in hospital following the attack more than two weeks ago.

the government here say the investigation could take several months. here's some of what sergei lavrov had to say in tokyo. translation: first, where are skripal and his daughter? second, why has a scotland yard official said that the investigation will last for months while the british government has already decided a verdict? 0verall, there is no doubt that the british leadership has knowingly chosen to undermine the british russian relationship. if this trend towards anti—russian measures continues, the principle of reciprocity is of course always there. i think it would be beneficial for everyone, foremost for london, if they stopped getting upset there and calmed down. the russian foreign minister there. america is good at collecting

celebrity staffers, donald trump, ronald reagan, iwas celebrity staffers, donald trump, ronald reagan, i was fortunate, and no sex in the city star cynthia nixon is hoping to get in on the act. she is launching a bid for the democrats as near governor. this is how she started her campaign. new york is where i was was raised and where i'm raising my kids. aspiring new york governor cynthia nixon. ina aspiring new york governor cynthia nixon. in a moment, summary of the business news this hour but first the headlines. more than a million nhs workers in england are being offered a pay rise above the 6.5% of the yea rs. the academic at the centre of the i’ow the academic at the centre of the row over the use of personal facebook data says he has been made a scapegoat. and plastic pollution, the amount in

the ocean set to treble in ten years as action is taken, says a major new report. the business news this afternoon. wages grew by 2.6%, excluding bonuses, in the three months to january. the unemployment rate fell as well. that's according to new figures out from the office for national statistics. it means earnings growth is almost meeting inflation which stands at 2.7%. tech stocks continue to fall as investors react to calls for tighter regulation as a us regulator, announces it's looking into facebook‘s handling of personal data. the social media giant's market value has fallen by more than £28 billion in the last two days. shares in twitter are down more than 10%. it follows allegations that private information of 50 million facebook users were misused by a political consultancy firm. up to 90,000 grandparents and family members are missing out on a perk that could increase their state pension.

national insurance credits for those who look after young children can be worth up to £230 a year in retirement. but an insurance firms says 90% of those eligible are failing to make the claim. it's called adult specified childcare credit. hello, welcome to the business news this afternoon. we've just heard in the last few hours that big technology companies face paying higher tax in the european union. the european commission has said that companies with significant online revenues should pay a 3% tax on turnover for various online services. it will impact the likes of facebook and google. their global annual revenues are above £700million. joining me now is chris southworth, secretary general for the international chambers of commerce. thank you forjoining us. first,

your initial thoughts?” thank you forjoining us. first, your initial thoughts? i think the most important thing concerning tax is that the rules that apply are consistent, are transparent across all sectors, not to be taking on specific companies and specific sectors. nobody disputes that there isa sectors. nobody disputes that there is a need to look at how taxes treated within the digital economy but we need to do that with a global approach, notjust but we need to do that with a global approach, not just an but we need to do that with a global approach, notjust an eu approach, whatever the eu is doing needs to be aligned to the 0ecd, which has just launched its report on tax rolls across 100 countries. so the eu needs to online to that. you think that all companies of all sizes should be taxed the same amount? not necessarily but it does need to be fairand necessarily but it does need to be fair and transparent. i don't think this would dispute that. some countries are not happy about this, ireland has warned the proposals may not yield as much tax. do you agree? different countries have different tax rules, that is part of the problem and challenges for

businesses, too many tax associations doing different wings. it is back to consistency, that is a matter in terms of ireland, it is a matter in terms of ireland, it is a matter the eu to discuss how it wa nts to matter the eu to discuss how it wants to treat tax within the eu single market. some countries feel that tax benefits give a concerted and edge. —— competitive edge. do you think you might be unfair to have a blanket ban? taxes key decision maker when it comes to making decisions of companies what worldwide, but yes, it is backed in ireland's is, it is for the eu to decide what with ireland what is right and for the irish government to decide what is right for its own economy. in terms of wider role, you spoke about how he needs to be global implementer, do you think that the eu needs to take into consideration how tax is dealt with say in the us and other countries as well? absolutely, particularly in relation to the digital economy which is absolutely global. it is a classic area policy that needs a global approach, not a national,

regional approach. one of the biggest challenges that companies have right now is that they operate ona have right now is that they operate on a global scale, increasingly in free data movement and movement of operations, services and goods across borders in a digitalformat. the question is how and where should they be taxed and based on what side of rules? it just they be taxed and based on what side of rules? itjust needs to be transparent, fair and consistent for everybody. thank you very much. thank. in other business news, lloyd's of london has reported its first annual loss in six years after "one of the costliest years for natural disasters in the past decade". the insurance market said pre—tax losses reached £2 billion last year — a sharp reversal of the £2.1 billion profit in 2016. as well as hurricanes harvey, irma and maria, lloyd's paid out on claims after wildfires in california, an earthquake in mexico and flooding in bangladesh. carpetright is looking to close stores as part of a turnaround plan. the retailer said it is

considering a company voluntary arrangement, or cva, that would let it shut unprofitable shops and slash rents. it is unclear how many stores could be closed or ifjobs are at risk. and troubled retailer toys r us has announced that it is closing its distribution centre in coventry, which means the loss of 98 jobs. the retailer says that all staff affected have been informed and will be paid up to and including their last day of employment. kingfisher is not doing too well, share price down. kingfisher is not doing too well, share price down. and the pound doing quite well after somebody data from implement figures earlier. that's from me. back to westminster and more

reactions to prime minister's questions where cancel funding to find local government funding and council finance was debated. he would have been surprised that today was focused on local governments? of course, we have local government election just coming into view in may and jeremy corbyn seizing on the goodies in northamptonshire county council, conservative controlled, we re council, conservative controlled, were special measures have been bitten. —— difficulties in the fa ntasy ca n bitten. —— difficulties in the fantasy can to cancel. theresa may cited in london councils were momentum have allegedly hobbled labour lead counsel. there seems to be concern among councils about the prioritisation of tax cuts for the super—rich and big business as something more important than funding for social care, libraries,

repairing potholes, bin collection or street cleaning. the right honourable gentleman talks about bin collection while people living in birmingham undera collection while people living in birmingham under a labour run councils see thousands of tonnes of waste on the streets because the council is failing to collect the bins. we all know he talks about tax, the top 1% of taxpayers are paying the highest burden of tax and they've ever paid under labour. that was the main clash between mr corbyn and mrs may, about which we are not going to talk, let's talk about something else, in particular the pay rise for nhs staff which is perhaps dominating politics today. i'm joined by the dup's sammy wilson, and labour'sstella crecy. this rise in effect means the pay cap is dead and buried? first of

all, the chancellor had indicated that he was going to be flexible anyhow when it came to public sector pgy- anyhow when it came to public sector pay. it was something which, when we entered into the agreement with the government, we said we would have to look at because of the impact it was having on living standards are people in the public sector, recruitment, retention, and i think the government has bowed to the inevitable extra money will be half to be found. he seems to have found the money tree in his office? he may well have found the monetary. some will come from product and improvements in nhs. but i think it is clear that the comment has recognised that there was a need for more money in the nhs and it has already put more money into the nhs but certainly in terms of public sector pay, which was definitely an issue in the 2017 election, it struck me during the election campaign that this really was something that really concern people. so i think that is very good news. it is interesting that in

pmqs, corbyn did not raise the nhs, she went on a local government issued so i think if you're looking for politics on this, i think it is a sensible announcement as well. and of blood and jeremy corbyn's attack, not just of blood and jeremy corbyn's attack, notjust on public sector pay but also on the nhs? remark think you're being a bit disingenuous because we had secured an urgent question after pmqs to discuss it. a question which in facti pmqs to discuss it. a question which in fact i took part in. because we know money is going to come out of nhs in the next couple of years alone going to pfi companies. that matters when it comes to pay, because hospitals like my local hospital, a pfi hospital, was trying to correct its pfi debts by downgrading their stay and is now ending up with a massive agency built on 7% of studying agency staff. and when we questioned jeremy hunt on that agency bill, a phenomenal £3 billion across the whole nhs, as well as what he's got to do about pfi debts committee did not have an answer. we need money to pay our staff, it is long overdue, but we also need to get a better

handle on finances of the nhs. there isa handle on finances of the nhs. there is a danger of having a churlish response to this, some of the those paid staff will get an increase of 2996, paid staff will get an increase of 29%, a new nurse will now be paid nearly £27,000. these are decent increases. we have been campaigning foran end to increases. we have been campaigning for an end to the pay cap and proper pay for our nurses. what i am worried about is that if we don't tackle the problems in the nhs would this budget and its underfunding, what could happen as we would see hospitals still trying to find ways of cutting corners and we have been clear about the ways this might happen. some of the changes in the way nurses are applied in the nhs that might lead to that. all of us to see nurses being paid more but we also want to see they get the money themselves. one of the consequences, surely be that every other public sector workers thinks, this is what the nurses got, we want the same. so the nurses got, we want the same. so the bill for mr hammond has gone to be bigger than £4 billion? think there will be campaigns but if you ta ke there will be campaigns but if you take it sector by sector, i'm sure people will be campaigning for pay

but there are also very well—paid people in those services. we will have to see what happens. but i think the nhs is clearly a major priority. as i said earlier, the whole issue of pub etc pay was a real issue at the election and philip hammond is moving on that. are we seeing a strategic change of direction by the conservatives, if not ending austerity, certainly slamming the bricks on a?|j not ending austerity, certainly slamming the bricks on a? i think we are. austerity was the big issue. i think in the last few weeks, is on the economic figures have shown in terms of reducing the deficit, paying down the debt, it has shown the economy is in good shape, sol think there's an argument not stand austerity per se, not to take your eye off the ball in terms of keeping control of public finances, but certainly i think people want to see a signal as philip hammond said that there is light at the end of the tunnel, even though in his first magpie you said we are still in the tunnel, but people want to feel there is some progress. people have

hypothesised attacks for the nhs, people would be willing to pay it because they would be going towards nhs, do think that is an option's what this has shown is that austerity as expensive or stop if we are spending billions on agency nurses because people are leaving because of the way austerity has hit out because of the way austerity has hit our nhs, that is not a price worth paying. i want to see more money going through special to the nhs and yes i want to see things like paper that it yes i want to see things like paper thatitis yes i want to see things like paper that it is taxes, but when we are losing money because of bad money management, that is something we aged about. you think brexit and its impact on the nhs had an impact on this decision because of the difficulties around staff retention potentially because of eu staff deciding to go back? travel and nothing more than talking about exit, or moaning about brexit, as

remoaner myself. i'm not sure we have seen this issue in my area, eu nationals leaving the nhs, but it is worth reminding people we depend on the future for the nhs as well as people from all of the world, actually, who, stuff our nhs. but it seems more to me like a signal as i said earlier that it is light at the end of the tunnel, that philip hammond has room to manoeuvre. don't forget the fantastic employment figures announced today. print in the liver and a strong economy, which i have to admit has remained pretty strong despite brexit. one thing that they come up in pmqs was a number of mps, tory mps, too, unhappy and nervous about the fishing industry. let me put it to you that there is a real danger that despite all the grand talk of taking back control of our waters,, sierra, we will trade ourfishing back control of our waters,, sierra, we will trade our fishing waters for access to european markets and other areas? that is one of the issues that will have to be addressed. the fishing issue is a transition issue and we will have to see how the brexiteers have reacted the sound

and fury is and followers in the thames bridge environmental issues by throwing fish into the thames. but if this is how you react a 12 month transition period, think you got to realise this is a negotiation that will require compromise. and i have to say one of the side—effects of all this might be that we are out of all this might be that we are out of the eu but still taking their rules because we paid so much with them. these are the consequences of a brexit vote. stella croesyceiliog whatever the doubts about a transition period —— stella creasy, whatever the doubts, you must be glad that there is art transition period at all? i'm seeing in my area, eu nationals deciding to leave, we have had a 93% drop in eu nationals coming to work on our nhs and we have now got 100,000 staff shortage. people's government that cut the bursaries for people to train to be nurseries here in our country. we have chaos and it think

all those worried about and what is being seen today is that we have to get into the reality of what is on offer. that is what people like myself have been very clear about 21 months on, there's not an alternative to the customs union and the single market and the sooner we talked to europe about how we remain above them, the sooner we can be clear with our constituents across the country including those fishermen, who i can absolutely understand frustration, because they we re understand frustration, because they were told one thing and it is clear there are going to get some thing different. what the reality of this is. hike through much indeed. if you're wondering very ska track where sammy wilson has gone, it is just that he has can be bothered hanging around, he's got to take pa rt hanging around, he's got to take part in an important debate about irish rates. —— if you're wondering we re irish rates. —— if you're wondering were sammy wilson has gone. so that is why he is no longer here. thanks very much. hello everyone. the weather is

pretty good today across most of the uk. some sunshine around. not absolutely everywhere. most of us had some hazy skies. and there's also some rain around, not a lot but some rain in parts of scotland, flirting with areas of northern ireland to. these weather systems tracking across the atlantic right now, the normal progression up by the patterns across our purse of the world, will the next few days and we will also see plumes of slightly milderair will also see plumes of slightly milder air arising on will also see plumes of slightly milderairarising on our will also see plumes of slightly milder air arising on our shores. so certainly through wednesday and thursday, you can see greens and yellows will be in place so that means temperatures might feel a lot better than it has done in the last few days. so this is what it looks like the rest of today and into this evening. you can see south—westerly winds behind me pushing in one weather front, that will approach us on thursday. but ahead of it, actually, even despite skies clearing in some areas, it is not

going to be cold. these are the overnight averages five, six, seven. this would have felt balmy if we had that in the daytime when we had that cold snap. this is at night, though. so let's call it a really mild night. tomorrow starts off—line, south—westerly winds picking up, some rain, and this is relatively mild air, soap temperatures in belfast will get up to double figures despite the rain. —— temperatures in belfast. and temperatures in belfast. and temperatures will get up to around 12 or 13 degrees. this is the passion across the atlantic, with xp days, we're seeing a powerfuljet strea m days, we're seeing a powerfuljet stream streaming out of the american continent, racing at across the atlantic, will weather system moving through on friday, quite a bit of rain, maybe some hail, snow, for scotla nd rain, maybe some hail, snow, for scotland still just about cold enough, my guess. to the south of that, fairly strong breeze. 0ne enough, my guess. to the south of that, fairly strong breeze. one or two showers and temperatures around

12 or 13. so that is freddie's of that. let's look at saturday. it is looking fairly bright across most of the uk, sunshine and showers, some of them wintry across the hills there in scotland. temperatures will va ry there in scotland. temperatures will vary from around 7—9 across scotland to around 11 in the south. so that is saturday'sweather forecast and to summarise the weekend as a whole, it looks like it will be a mixture of sunshine and showers. for now, that is the forecast. hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 2pm. a healthy increase — more than a million nhs workers in england are offered a pay rise of around 6% over the next three years. the agreemment which nhs trade unions have recommended to their members today, is a something for something deal which brings in profound changes in productivity in exchange for significant rises in pay. changing his profile —

the academic at the centre of the row over the use of personal facebook data now describes himself as a scapegoat. a russian official says britain may have been behind the poison attack in salisbury — borisjohnson is about to answer mps questions in parliament — we'll bring you that live. also ahead, we have got all the sport, and with that, john.