this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. the headlines at 9am. an extra 3000 midwives are to be trained in england to ease staff shortages and improve care. borisjohnson describes claims that vote leave broke electoral spending rules during the eu referendum as utterly ludicrous. a church service will be held in southern france in memory of the four people killed in friday's attacks by an islamist gunman. also in the next hour: is this australian cricket's darkest hour? after the ball—tampering controversy there are calls for australian captain steve smith to be sacked. and our sunday morning edition of the papers is at 9.35. this morning's reviewers are katy balls, political correspondent at the spectator, and prashant rao, deputy europe business editor of the new york times. an extra 3000 midwives

are to be trained in england over the next four years. the move will see 650 midwives start training next year. it is one of a number of proposals to be formally announced by the health secretary, jeremy hunt, on tuesday. the royal college of midwives has welcomed the news but says the plans need investment and time to work. lebo diseko reports. like other parts of the nhs, maternity units have been under pressure. the birth rate has been rising, and some hospitals have been unable to accept any more expectant mothers. nursing unions have also blamed what they call chronic shortages. the government has insisted more midwives are being trained all the time. now, though, plans for 3000 extra recruits and support staff in england are due to be announced. the move is notjust about boosting numbers. currently, depending on the trust,

women can see several midwives over the course of their pregnancy. jeremy hunt is expected to pledge that by 2021, most women will have a named midwife. he says figures show dedicated staff reduces stillbirths, miscarriages, and neo—natal deaths. this announcement comes after the lifting of restraints on pay rises in the health service, which means a newly qualified midwife will begin on a salary about 12% higher by 2020. but it is not yet clear where the funding for extra staff will come from. and while welcoming the move, given the time it takes to train, the royal college of midwives says it doesn't help mothers now. lebo diseko, bbc news. let's speak to alison edwards, a senior midwifery lecturer at the university of birmingham. thank you for being with us. do you

welcome this news from the government? of course we were always welcome more staff. of course. government? of course we were always welcome more staff. of course. but are you surprised? it is something the unions have been campaigning for for a long time, haven't they? to be honest, year on year we produce hundreds of new midwives and the problem is we don't keep them in the profession. and how can they be kept? pay is going up. will that be an extra incentive for people to stay in midwifery? i think the issue is bigger than pay. if we look at the pay offer, it is over three yea rs the pay offer, it is over three years and they haven't had a pay rise for many years. not only that, they are going to lose some annual leave, potentially, is not the best package but better than nothing. how difficult is it and how long does it ta ke to difficult is it and how long does it take to train a midwife? it depends. if they are already a nurse, they can train within a two year period but now the funding has been withdrawn for that. otherwise it can

ta ke withdrawn for that. otherwise it can take three or four years depending on the route the individual takes. so it is a time—consuming process. if the midwife trains and leaves a few years later, it is obviously very bad news for the health service. in deed and some don't even choose to take up midwifery which is a travesty when they have trained so hard. what about jeremy hunt's idea that a single midwife works with other? would you welcome that as well rather than having a mother having a whole series of midwives working with her? in an ideal world thatis working with her? in an ideal world that is fantastic. the continuity and trust level is great. however midwives cannot be on—call 2a hours a day seven days a week for nine months. there are pockets of midwives who take on that role in independent midwifery and a one—to—one scheme but it is not possible for every midwife to do that. to sum up, you welcome what

the government is doing but you want them to go further? what the unions are saying, great. if there is investment and resources and people to train and assess the students, then great. more midwives, great. alison edwards, thank you for being with us, senior lecturer at the university of birmingham in midwifery. the foreign secretary, boris johnson, has dismissed allegations of cheating by the leave campaign during the eu referendum as utterly ludicrous. in interviews with channel 4 news and the observer, a volunteer for vote leave has accused the official brexit campaign of breaching electoral spending limits. vote leave has denied this. 0ur political correspondent susana mendonca is here. quite a complicated story butjust ta ke quite a complicated story butjust take us through it and explain what is going on. as the official leave campaign group, vote leave could spend up to £7 million. if you were one of the smaller campaigning groups, you could spend up to £700,000. that is the spending

limit. what this volunteer has said is that vote leave gave £625,000 to a separate group. we understand they did give this money to a separate group, called beleave, a youth group run bya group, called beleave, a youth group run by a student called darren grimes. that is not against the rules in itself because it is legitimate for a campaign group to give money to another, so long as that campaign group is working separately. there's macro make the point that they spoke to the electoral commission to check this was ok before they did it. —— vote leave make the point. however the campaign is saying that this money was then used within the campaign for digital advertising that was used by vote leave. if that is the case, that would be against the rules but vote leave are saying that is not what they did. it is quite a congregated and convoluted story but if that can be proven, it would show that they went over the £7 million limit. what other political ramifications of this? what it does,

if it ends up being proven to be the case, it is something that does not look good for the vote leave campaign but in terms of the eu referendum it would not make any difference. the electoral commission does not have the power to rerun the referendum but it does have the power to look into and investigate various breaches of spending rules. it is doing that at the moment. in 2017 it looked into the campaign's affairs and on both cases, there was nothing untoward, and now we see they are looking at the leave campaign once again. if it turns out that vote leave would doing what they shouldn't have been doing, it isa they shouldn't have been doing, it is a negative but they say they have done nothing wrong. borisjohnson became the figurehead of vote leave and he says it is ludicrous and the campaign was won fair and square. if it turns out that was not the case,

people could see it as an indication that perhaps the leave campaign did things they should not have been doing to swing the vote and that is not the image they would want portrait. thank you. a reminder this coming thursday marks one year to go before the uk leaves the eu. and throughout the week we will be putting your questions to a range of experts. you can tweet us your questions using the hashtag bbc ask this or texting us on 611211. a report by the scottish government says farmers in scotland are struggling to recruit enough seasonal migrant workers to meet demand, in part due to a lack of confidence over brexit. the study suggests recruitment agencies last year experienced a 20% increase in demand for workers such as fruit and vegetable pickers despite extra efforts to source staff from bulgaria and romania. the australian sports commission has called

for the country's cricket captain, steve smith, and anyone else involved in ball tampering to be stood down immediately. smith and the australian batsman cameron bancroft have admitted trying to change the condition of the ball during the test match with south africa in cape town. 0ur correspondent phil mercer sent this report from sydney. the reputation of australian cricket is in tatters. a nation that prides itself on aggressive yet fair play 110w itself on aggressive yet fair play now stands accused of cheating. batsman cameron bancroft was caught red—handed tampering with the ball during the third test against south africa in cape town. sat alongside his skipper, steve smith, he later admitted his guilt. we had a discussion during the break. myself, i saw discussion during the break. myself, isaw an discussion during the break. myself, i saw an opportunity to potentially

use some take, get some granules from the rough patches on the wicket, and try to, i guess, change the ball condition. there was contrition to from the captain who says he will not step down. i'm not proud of what has happened. it is not within the spirit of the game. my not within the spirit of the game. my integrity, the team's integrity, the leadership group's integrity has come into question, and rightfully so. come into question, and rightfully so. there has been a furious reaction to the scandal in australia and beyond. 0n social media, there was disbelief and anger. the former australian skipper michael clarke hoped it was alljust australian skipper michael clarke hoped it was all just a australian skipper michael clarke hoped it was alljust a bad dream, while other retired players said the game had taken a devastating blow. but despite the evidence and admissions of guilt, cricket australia, the governing body, says it will investigate the ball tampering affair before making any decisions. i feel like australian

cricket fans feel right now. myjob right now is to understand the facts and then to make decisions accordingly. there is an element of process. i know people want to know more and they want to know what decisions are being made, but there is an element of response ability to understand the fact that it is not as simple as just jumping understand the fact that it is not as simple as justjumping to conclusions was white tampering with the ball using so—called foreign objects is strictly prohibited in cricket. there are legal ways to alter the condition of one side of the ball to help it swing or move unpredictably through the air. in this case, australia has crossed the line. cricket is australia's national sport and many fans could well be asking themselves one simple yet searching question. what were they thinking? phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. that is the question. what were they

thinking? not much is the answer. the australian team has been challenged by its own media not so much over a number of years and this was an inevitable confidence of this will to win, which trumps all other considerations. the way steve smith, the captain, spoke in the press conference suggested he did not quite grasp the gravity of the situation. australia's prime minister is calling for his resignation and it doesn't get more serious than that. they were remarkably honest in that press conference. they were not trying to cover up conference. they were not trying to cover up what they had done. no. you might take your hat off and say they would being honest. —— they were being honest. 0n the other hand it was disarming to listen to cameron ba ncroft was disarming to listen to cameron bancroft and was disarming to listen to cameron ba ncroft a nd steve was disarming to listen to cameron bancroft and steve smith holding up their hands, saying this is what we

try to do and it was preplanned. we do wonder if they're contrition has something to do with the fact they got caught. would they have said sorry if they had not been spotted by television cameras? it is a big mess and it is hard to think that steve smith will keep his job. he is a brilliant cricketer and he has been spoken of as a modern—day bradman but is it inevitable that he will have to go? i think so. they play their sport hard but despite the nonsense that has been going on in this series, the fans do want them to play fair cricket. they will see this as bringing shame and embarrassment upon the nation. australians have tried to occupy the moral high ground in this series with south africa over various unsavoury incidents that have taken place and this has cost them entirely. with the prime minister calling for smith to go it is hard to see how he can stay. just explain to see how he can stay. just explain to anyone who is not a cricket fan why ball tampering is such a serious

crime. and what are they trying to achieve through ball tampering? they are essentially trying to rough up one side of the ball so that it has different properties from the smoother side, which affects the way the ball swings through the air essentially. it is an attempt by unfair means to gain an advantage over the batsman. the skill of cricket is mostly batting and bowling. you're not supposed to bring outside agencies into it. most agencies will tell you ball tampering has been going on since timea tampering has been going on since time a memorial and the worst crime is getting caught. this has gone further because australian team has upset many over many years with their sledging and attempts to claim their sledging and attempts to claim the moral high ground. many people will say this is the true face of australian cricket. in modern test cricket there are so many cameras everywhere it is pretty foolish to try anything like that because you will get spotted sooner or later.

that is right. it is a ham—fisted attempt to tamper with the ball and cameron bancroft himself that he thought it would be risky with the cameras around. you thought it would be risky with the cameras around. you don't say! you have some sympathy for him because he is 25, the youngest guy in the team, and he is the one taking the rap for this. on the other hand, what was he thinking? you must have known he would get caught. from the beginning of the story to whatever the end is, the whole thing beggars belief. 0k, very good to talk to you. thank you for your time. editor of wisden cricketers almanac. his thoughts on that extraordinary ball tampering story. the headlines: an extra 3000 midwives are to be trained in england to ease staff shortages and improve care. borisjohnson has described claims that vote leave broke electoral spending rules during the eu referendum as utterly ludicrous. a church service will be held

in the southern french town of trebes this morning, to remember the four people killed in a series of attacks by an islamist gunman. let's bring you more on that story from france. that church service is under way in the southern french town of trebes this morning. we can see mourners entering that church for the service in memory of the four people killed in a series of attacks by that islamist gunman. a national memorial service will be arranged in paris in the coming days to honour the police officer who died after trading places with a female hostage. he has been hailed a hero. that service is just getting he has been hailed a hero. that service isjust getting under way now in trebes. lucy williamson reports from ca rcassonne. this attack has become,

not the story of a gunman, but the story of a hero. arnaud beltrame, the man who made astonishing bravery seem natural, almost routine. flags were lowered to half—mast at his former base and at units across the country, paying homage to their colleague and friend. he was remembered here too by those who never knew him. another tribute every few minutes. he's a hero for me because he has given his life for a lot of people. he knew it was dangerous, what he did, but he did it. the gendarmerie said beltrame's death was a reminder of their daily commitment to protect the people. for the people themselves, his actions are a defiant response to the country's would—be attackers, a reminder of the best of france. by the morning after the attack, the supermarket, the site of so much

drama, was a chilled and empty crime scene, the car park still littered with the debris of a terrified and desperate flight. inside this building on friday, arnaud beltrame offered up his life in place of others, his mobile phone, secretly connected to colleagues outside, giving the operation a vital edge. his mother said she was not surprised at what her son had done. "that's the way he lived and the way he worked," she said. "he used to tell me he was just doing hisjob, nothing more." lucy williamson, bbc news, carcassonne. figures on childcare funding are misleading and out of date according to members of the treasury select committee looking at the government's flagship policy to provide 30 hours a week of free childcare for three and four—year—olds in england. mps called for more money to be paid to childcare providers because a shortfall in funding is affecting the quality

of the service available. caroline davies reports. childcare can be expensive. last year, the government promised some working parents in england more of it for free, but according to mps on the treasury committee, childcare providers are not being paid enough and that's costing parents money. if you're an eligible working parent in england, you can get 30 hours of free childcare a week for your three or four—year—old. the government pays childcare providers 34p per child per hour less than it costs on average to look after them. this means they have to find the money elsewhere, sometimes charging parents for activities, food, or charging more for children aged under three. the mps behind the report say changes need to happen if the policy is to be a success. this is what it costs and if the national government is interested and keen to make this policy work, they should make sure that the cost

is borne by national government. the treasury says it is already spending more than ever before on childcare but it will consider the recommendations. caroline davies, bbc news. washington saw the biggest anti—gun rally for a generation as people came together in cities across america to demand tougher gun laws. the demonstrations were led by survivors of the mass shooting at a school in florida last month. washington saw the biggest anti—gun rally for a generation. here's our correspondent, chris buckler. in america's capital, this rally was presented as a rising, an attempt by students to take on this nation's powerful gun lobby, and to deliver a warning to politicians that change to gun laws must come. to the leaders, sceptics, and cynics who told us to sit down and stay silent, wait your turn. welcome to the revolution.

# i gotta keep tryin'... on stage, there were performances by many celebrities, but the speeches were left to students, many of them from the marjory stoneman douglas high school where 17 pupils and teachers were shot dead just a month ago. and the huge crowd also heard from the nine—year—old granddaughter of martin luther king jr, a girl with her own vision. my grandfather had a dream that his four little children would not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character. i have a dream that enough is enough! if this was a new generation speaking, president trump wasn't here in washington to hear it. he had left the white house to go to his golf resort in florida, the state the students had come from and where their friends were killed.

six minutes and 20 seconds with an ar15 and my friend carmen would never complain to me about piano practice. on stage, one of the parkland survivors, who has become a spokesperson for this movement, read out the names of those who died, and then she simply stood in silence for minute after minute. since the time that i came out here, it has been six minutes and 20 seconds. the shooter has ceased shooting and will soon abandon his rifle. sister rallies were held from los angeles to new york, but there have been campaigns after shootings before, and the students know they need to continue to put pressure on the politicians, including their president. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. the first scheduled non—stop flight between australia and europe has landed in london.

the boeing dreamliner took just over 17 hours to complete its 111,500 kilometrejourney from perth. the head of qantas described the service as a game—changing route. passengers on the flight from perth were in the air forjust over 17 hours. 0ur correspondent simon clemison has been at heathrow to meet them. a big day at london heathrow and in perth because it may seem small but on those departure boards, it will say perth, and in perth, it's been saying london. if you've been on this route, you will know normally you have to set off for singapore or dubai or somewhere and stop over. a far cry from what it was in 19117 when this kangaroo route involved seven hops. you would have to come through cairo, calcutta, singapore, lots of places on the route, but overnight they did it in one leap. the kangaroo route made it here in one go after 17 hours. it set off about 6:50 local time in perth, made it here just before

dawn this morning. we caught up with some of the passengers as they came through the gate. it was the best flight we've ever had from australia. absolutely the best. we feel fresh as daisies. yeah. to be fair, the whole thing just flew by. fell asleep over the cocos islands and woke up over dubai and then you are almost home, then. really good, yeah. it's made a big difference going all the way through non—stop. a new design has made all this possible, not least because of the efficiency of the aircraft so that it can make it here with the fuel that it is carrying. it is not the first time it has ever been done. in fact, decades ago, there was a flight which took off from london and went to sydney direct but it did not carry very many people at all, it was not a commercial flight. this is the first direct commercial flight, the first regular service between london and perth. we have been hearing from journalists from perth saying to me today, actually, this is big for them as well because it means they will be on the map. they will be the first part

of the country people will fly into as they go into australia, so a big day here. what is interesting now in the next few hours is the plane that has come in is being turned around. they will be getting back on it and they will be taking that 17—hour journey right back to perth. speaking of australia, we have more news now on that extraordinary ball tampering row. there were calls for steve smith to step down and he has. steve smith to step down and he has. steve smith to step down and he has. steve smith and david warner, the vice captain, have stood down. that is because of the ball tampering scandal in which cameron bancroft, their team—mate, was caught rubbing a piece of tape coated with dust from the pitch onto the ball while fielding during the third test with south africa. it has caused absolute consternation in the whole cricketing world. and a lot of

anguish among australian cricket fans. the australian prime minister amongst many calling ford steve smith to go, as captain of australia. there he is at that conference where he and bancroft admitted there was ball tampering. they had been caught on camera during the game blatantly ball tampering. smith and the vice captain david warner are now stepping down as captain and vice captain of australia. more on that as it comes in us. a symbol of the industrial revolution, it forged the way for engineering, construction and architecture as well as being the forerunner to the mega bridges and skyscrapers we see today. now the world's first iron bridge, built almost 240 years ago in shropshire, is undergoing a multi—million—pound conservation project. john maguire went along to take a look. what we are seeing here is really a symbol of how the industrial revolution helped to create

the modern world. it shows innovation, it shows engineering technology, and it shows something which has really stood the test of time. but at the moment, the iron bridge thatjoins two river banks to create the town that took its name, is not on show itself. at the grand old age of 239 it is undergoing a major £3.6 million conservation project. iron is famously strong but can crack if bent or twisted, and as the ground has moved, the bridge has been forced upwards by as much as four inches in places. now we are on top of the bridge. this gives you a good idea of what has happened here. they dug down through the road surface to expose these iron plates. each one would weigh several tonnes. just look here. there is a huge crack in there. this piece could fall off at any time, so that is the type of problem that needs to be fixed. despite the current major works, it remains open to pedestrians. english heritage will soon open these walkways to allow visitors

to see close—up what's going on below the deck. from repairing broken components, stripping things down, painting, everything that happens to the bridge as far as possible, we will make sure it is accessible to the public. we have been given special access inside. picking your way through the bones of what feels like the bridge's rib cage, you get a real sense of the task at hand. old paint and rust is being blasted off in conditions that bring to mind the black air that would have filled the gorge at the height of the industrial revolution. no modern protective clothing for them. this isn't restoration, it's conservation. we don't want to find ourselves thinking we have done a greatjob and then in 30 years time we make a huge problem for the people who come after us, who then spend their time trying to undo what we did. so we make sure that all our

interventions are reversible. the bridge's builder, abraham derby iii, was a visionary, a revolutionary. nobody had used this wondrous material, iron, in this way before. two and a half centuries later, these wedges are being recreated in one of the country's few remaining iron foundries. we are absolutely in awe of the fact that they had none of the facilities we have now. they were pioneers of their day, having to create their whole infrastructure to support the melting of metal in a way that was totally, totally on the edge. how on earth did they manage it? standing here watching these masters at work using techniques similar to their forebears, the centuries fall away. when the iron bridge is unveiled once again in the autumn, it will have a new paint job and a renewed understanding of how it was built. its place in history is irrefutable, and this major project will ensure its place in the future. john maguire, bbc news, shropshire. it is 9:30am exactly. let's take a

look at the weather prospects from simon king. the clocks andi and i can give you a springlike start to the weather. look at this in aberdeenshire at the sun starts to rise and for many northern areas, we have had blue skies and sunshine. further south, a bit cloudy this morning and the cloud hanging on a bit across the far south—east of england into the afternoon but elsewhere, good sunny spells with the risk of one or two showers into scotla nd the risk of one or two showers into scotland and northern ireland, the far north of england but with light wind and sunshine, temperatures getting up into double figures. through this