‘ the ‘the royal air towards the ideals of the royal air force, and indeed to realise the aspirations. in practicalterms, because it is a celebration, what have you got planned? the big event is clearly going to be here in london on the 10th ofjuly. we will have the service at westminster abbey, a parade down the mall, and a big fly past, as well. that will be a tremendous day. the essence of area 100 is notjust that single event. it is events across the nation. we have a major programme of engaging with young people, from the ages of nine to 15 primarily, and aiming to really inspire them through the launch platform of the raf. how do you propose to engage with young people? raf. how do you propose to engage with young people ?|j raf. how do you propose to engage with young people? i think we start from a real advantage. the royal air forces at the forefront of the air

and space and cyber... said there is great technology there. we also set a great example of challenging young people, and giving them opportunities and allowing them to develop themselves. we want to inspire young people to get out there, inspire up to 2 million young people, the ages of nine to 15 primarily, and use raf 100 as a launch platform to help them develop their opportunities. it is real about making those connections with young people. you mention nine to 15—year—olds, connecticut back to that time, what was inspiring you at that time, what was inspiring you at that stage to think about the royal air force as a possible career? was that they thought in your mind goes my personal journey started that they thought in your mind goes my personaljourney started earlier than that. my father had been in the raf trainee second world war. he bought me a ladybird book which was the airmen and the royal air force. i thought that was fantastic, and

through his example, and through what i saw through the raf‘s history, i developed an interest about the institution. i knew that i wa nt to about the institution. i knew that i want to be a pilot. ijoined the air training corps, got a flying scholarship, and one day i ended up here. it is a remarkable journey, and many people watching would imagine that someone in your position who came through the elite form of education imaginable, but thatis form of education imaginable, but that is not true in your case. you are state educated, income on it. tell us a little bit about that background and what it says about the royal air force that you have been able to make the journey that you may? well, i think it is a really important thing about the royal air force. from our very start, we have been open to all. we have been eight merit—based organisation. we are not interested in people —— where people come from. that is what i felt throughout my

career, it is that merit principle that has been at the forefront. in terms of my background, i would just described my background is typical for a young boy growing up in kilmarnock, and i went to the local school, and i had a good education, there. and that gave me the springboard to then join the royal air force. as well as the air training corps which gave me that love of flying. as those two things together, i guess that is what brought me here, today. how would you cast your performance in terms of achieving targets? very important targets for diversity across the board in the raf? so, we have had oui’ board in the raf? so, we have had our best year in the last year for recruiting in the raf and we have had for the last eight years. that is against the highest targets of the past eight years. our recruiting is successful. we need to make sure that we are representative in a society that we serve, and we have government targets set upon us. but, i want to do so much better than

that. some examples of that would be women in the royal air force. we have got a government target of 15%. at the time, but that target was that, the raf had already surpassed that, the raf had already surpassed that, and last year, 20% of people recruited into the raf were women, and they are from every branch and trade, everything is open to everybody. it is not perfect, and we have got further to go there. clearly in order to be fully representative, but i think it shows that we are doing pretty well. would you go as far to agree with an expert to say that we are in danger of losing our state is as a credible military power, and less spending is increased. do you recognise that? we are very credible and capable. if you look at operations against the ias. on occasions, we have been providing up to 48% capability. at

the same time, we have been defending the skies around the united kingdom, but the support around nato allies, and northern southern flags of nato. we have been engaged across the world. right now, the raf engage in 13 operations in 21 countries around the world. it renders effort. i don't worry about oui’ renders effort. i don't worry about our work and ability right now. but, the world is changing. it is adapting very quickly. people have noticed where we are strong. they have noticed through recent conflict oui’ have noticed through recent conflict our strength in the air, and they are working to deny us that strength in the future. so, in order to continue being a credible air. my need to expand making abilities, i need to expand making abilities, i need to expand making abilities, i need to pick them up and provide more resilience, and i need to stay at that front end of technology. the threat growing. we can see that on a daily basis, clearly both at home and overseas, and i need to make sure that i have the capabilities which gives the government tourist to respond to those increasing

threat. we also need to make sure that we have the funding that allows us that we have the funding that allows us to develop our capabilities further. the threats are increasing and it is a risky and dangerous world out there. a lot of things that we have taken for granted in the air environment, such as our control of the air, we can no longer ta ke control of the air, we can no longer take for granted. so, we need to up oui’ take for granted. so, we need to up our game technologically. i would like to see us properly resourced, the capabilities we need to deal with the threat that we face. amtrak to decode what you're saying now. you are saying worked whilst you not wa nt to you are saying worked whilst you not want to set a figure, the current levels of resource and is not allow you to do all the things that you think are necessary. if we had more resources , think are necessary. if we had more resources, i would be able to better guarantee that the were all out for is was adapted for the threat that we face in the third decade of the 2ist we face in the third decade of the 21st century, and i would be able to ensure that greater resilience the forces that we have to deal with. so, what is the gap? are we way off

that, quite close to it? what is the resource gap that you talking about? in terms of at our current level of aspiration, the link we do need more funding to ensure that we can deliver against that aspiration. but, what i'm saying is that i think our aspiration should be higher than that, because the world demands it. that will therefore require a greater amount of money. but i am a realist. we cannot set an unlimited budget. this needs be a part of the government debate about how best to guarantee our national security. though, as i'm just wearing reasserting arbitrary figures, because that is not the way that i believe we should work it out. you mention rush all the time, you mention rush all the time, you mention it yourself. it varied level of —— you mention russia all the time. you mention it yourself. how would you characterise the threat from russia? i feelthat we would you characterise the threat from russia? i feel that we are under greater pressure. i feel that

russia is aiming to take advantage wherever it can, and to exploit opportunities, and to do so in a way that disregards previous norms of international behaviour. a small example of that would be about a month or so ago. i was up in the north of the shetland islands. we we re north of the shetland islands. we were putting in a defence radar back into the north of the shetland islands. we needed a better awareness of what was happening in the north norwegian sea. if you do is before we went out there, two of the russian aircraft had come down to within 30 miles of the aberdeen. revista, they had come up the english channel. this keith feels differently. this goes them off pressure. “— differently. this goes them off pressure. —— this feels different. this feels like more pressure. then there's the threat of violence, and be situation in. but, that sense of pressure, that sense of advantage

and disregard of normal rules of behaviour is how i am feeling. i then look at what we are doing in operations, in iraq and syria, and i find my aircraft on a virtually daily basis being intercepted by russian aircraft. again, it feels very different from what we have seen very different from what we have seenin very different from what we have seen in the past. 50, sir stephen, at seen in the past. so, sir stephen, at the end of this year, when you're celibate britons are complete, what do you think you will take away? —— when your celebrations are complete, but we take away? and injuring legacy, and a royal air force that will continue to be at the cutting—edge of technology in the future, with people who have always been the lifeblood of the organisation, talented, skilled, willing to challenge themselves, that we still have those people

going forward. and that people look at that as an example and say, yes, that as an organisation which is healthy, confident, and strong. and, i look forward to 2018, and i always think -- 2118, i look forward to 2018, and i always think —— 2118, and i want them to look back in 2018, and say, yes, they don't on the solid foundations as they establish an enduring legacy, which shook the royal air force through its second hundred yea rs of success. force through its second hundred years of success. sir stephen, congratulations on the centenary. and thank you for talking to us. hello, there. and happy easter.

todayis hello, there. and happy easter. today is dry state. the sunshine will fade as this mass of klaasen to roll in from the atlantic. —— mass of cloud starts to roll in from the athletic. we will still have showers in eastern areas in particular. some heavy ones the ligature and east angen heavy ones the ligature and east anger, but there will be bright and sunny spells in between. the winds are lighter than yesterday, and from most of us, it will not feel as chilly as it has done, so far. now, through the evening and overnight, it turned a little bit more disruptive. we have got the heavy rain risk. the localflooding risk, but it turns to snow over the moors and the mountains, and eventually,

it will turn back to rein in these out as we head towards the morning, but several centimetres of snow building up. we will have a cold night in the north. for the early hours of the morning, easter monday morning, it pushes its way into northern england, we can see five to ten centimetres of snow across the pennines, any happier burst. eventually, some snow initially for northern ireland will turn back to rain, we hope but the problem with rain, we hope but the problem with rain here, with the rivers being quite high and more heavy to come. the rain will bring some localised flooding, but he's no, when parts of —— lots of people on the roads could be very destructive indeed. barack warnings, so please do hedge our website to keep updated. these know a big issue as we go into monday and tuesday, eventually becoming confined to the far north of scotland. most places will be into

the milder atlantique air by tuesday. tebbit is across the teams across england —— temperatures in the teams across england and wales. this is bbc news. the headlines: labour must stamp out anti—semitism and rebuild relations with the jewish community, according to its new nec member, the comedian eddie izzard. it comes as labour distances itself from some pro—jeremy corbyn facebook groups featuring anti—semitic and abusive comments. heavyweight boxer anthony joshua beats new zealand'sjoseph parker with a unanimous win to add the wbo title to all his others. if i was retiring on this high, iwould be, like, yes, iam the man, but i have got to defend my throne again in a few months, so i am balanced and we are still hustling. pope francis calls for ‘reconciliation‘ in the middle east, singling out the conflict in yemen

during his easter message to the world. (00v) the royal air force has been marking its centenary with a series