this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at six: a shortage of special needs funding means growing numbers of children are being left without suitable school places, according to leading teachers union. —— according to the country's largest union for teachers. can you imagine the torment that a parent goes through, a parent of a child with special needs, where we aren't educating them at all? the newest member of the labour party's governing committee, the comedian eddie izzard, says labour must stamp out anti—semitism and rebuild relations with thejewish community. it comes as labour distances itself from some pro—jeremy corbyn facebook groups featuring anti—semitic and abusive comments. police on the spanish island of tenerife say they've arrested two people in connection with the death of a nine—year—old boy from northern ireland. four weeks after the nerve agent attack on salisbury, its bishop says the city was violated and is only just recovering. and in the next hour... happy centenary, raf! ceremonies have been taking place around the country, as the queen pays tribute to the skill and sacrifice of the men and women

of the royal air force, who she said had gallantly defended freedom. and spurs win at stamford bridge. that, and the rest of the day ‘s sports news, coming up in sportsday at half past six. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. britain's largest teaching union is warning that a growing number of children with special needs are being left without suitable school places. last year, more than 4,000 children with the most severe needs were not offered places. the union has accused the government of "starving" local councils of funding. but the department of education insists that local authorities now have more money for every pupil, in every school. 0ur education editor bra nwen jeffreys reports. therefore some people...

every child deserves an education, but specials needs help comes from the school budget first, then they fight for extra council funding, from budgets already overstretched, making it hard for schools that want to be inclusive. it would be really sad for me if i ever got to the point where i said we don't want to take children with additional needs for financial reasons. i suspect there are schools and trusts who are looking really closely at the level of needs that a child comes in with and the amount of funding that will be attached to that and making very difficult decisions. in south gloucestershire cash is being taken from every school. they're £7 million short for high needs children, and without support they end up outside the system. can you imagine the torment that a parent goes through, a parent of a child with special needs, where we aren't educating them at all?

special—needs children are more likely to be left without an education. in 20161,700 were left without a school place. by 2017, it reached more than 4,000. an extra £262 million is being put in by the government, but the shortfall just last year was estimated at £400 million across england. how are you doing, darling? finding it very hard at the moment? natasha has needed her mum's support. her son has adhd. last year he was permanently excluded. the school had a zero tolerance behaviour policy. he'd get upset at being constantly pulled up. after the case went to a tribunal, the school apologised. they're looked at as a grade rather than a person,

because there is such a high—pressure on students to get high grades, and our one box fits all, high grades, and it's one box fits all, and my son doesn't fit into that box. her son has been found an alternative place, but natasha told me his confidence has been destroyed. i don't recognise my son now. he looks like a skeleton, he's withdrawn. everybody says that they think he looks depressed, he looks sullen. his eyes are sunk into the back of his head, with dark circles round his eyes. the government says support for special—needs is improving but many worry funding pressures put that at risk, making schools less likely to welcome children who need extra help. branwen jeffreys, bbc news. the comedian eddie izzard who has just been appointed to labour's governing national executive committee, says the party must stamp out anti—semitism and rebuild relations with thejewish community.

it follows the resignation of his predecessor christine shawcroft, after complaints she'd offered support to a council candidate accused of being a holocaust denier. 0ur political correspondent chris mason has been explaining to me why it may take labour some time to rebuild bridges with the jewish community. it's well over a week now since this row first made the news, with the backlash that there was to that pretty historic remark that jeremy corbyn had made about that mural and the potential for a mural to be whitewashed, the mural that was largely seen to be anti—semitic, and luciana berger, the labour mp who wasjewish, saying mr corbyn was distancing himself from his own remarks six years earlier. —— saying mr corbyn must distance himself from his own remarks six years earlier.

and it's simply not shifted since, despitejeremy corbyn coming out repeatedly, and very clearly saying that he wouldn't defend in any instance, any instance of anti—semitism, and there are those within the party who wonder how they do shift the dial on this. interestingly, jeremy corbyn, in the last week, hasn't actually come out and publicly done a round of interviews, for instance. which i guess would give him a chance to be — what did tony blair used to call it? the masochism strategy, being duffed up in a political interview to prove that you know that, you know, people are hurting about our political issue and you are willing to grasp it. i wonder if he might do that after the easter recess. the latest incarnation on the story, as you say, eddie izzard, becoming a member of the executive committee, the governing body of the labour party, replacing christine shawcroft after her resignation last night. he is trying, eddie izzard, in his statement, to try to bind the party back together, to keep its eye on the horizon. when he was defeated in the nec elections earlier in the year he said the party must have much more focus on taking on who they see as their political opponents in the conservatives, rather than fighting amongst themselves. i think what is striking in the last week, it feels like we're

to where we were before the general election, where labour was squabbling very publicly with itself. a lid had been put on that since the election and it seems very much back out in the open. i mean, that, isuppose, the criticism that was made. 0wenjones was on this programme a couple of hours ago saying more or less the same, that this in a sense is being used as a stick to beatjeremy corbyn with by those who basically don't like him as leader and didn't want him in the first place. that may be one element of it, but is it a sufficient expiration for this? i think it's part of the explanation, and certainly when you speak to those who are loyal tojeremy corbyn they do observe that the most prominent and vociferous critics of them on this particular issue over the last week were also pretty prominent and vociferous about him being useless before the general election. butjust because there is that correlation, so will argue people from the other side of the argument, doesn't mean that they're wrong on this issue of anti—semitism. what's quite interesting, shaun, with this, when you speak

to labour party members and mps around this issue of anti—semitism, plenty will say that this has been a problem that has been brewing for a while, and it was going to take a moment where it would become headline news. there's been concern amongst jeremy corbyn‘s critics, that he's never treated anti—semitism as seriously as they think he should. that's something denied by mr corbyn, who says he absolutely recognises it is vile. and what's happened in the last week, with one thing after another, from the mural to those protests that took place outside parliament last monday, to the whole row around christine shawcroft and the council candidate, is this thing has been brought to a head. but we come back to that central point and central question you ask me a few minutes ago. how on earth does the party move on from this, with local elections and a good number of english cities coming up, and this dominating the headlines? i was going to raise the question of local elections, because we are pretty close to them, and what presumably labour wanted to be doing right now, taking the offensive to the government and to the conservatives, so i mean, they've had a few potential open goals, like the problems in northamptonshire,

where they could attack conservative councils there, and say, "they can't run councils. they say we can't, but they can't." and they have what almost looks like an open goal in london in terms of these elections. most conservatives privately saying, look, you know, we know this is going to be a very difficult set of elections. presumably labour must be worried now might blunt their offensive? yes, it is impossible to tell what if any impact it will have, but clearly if you were in labour hq and writing the script for the local election campaign, you wouldn't have added this if you'd had complete control over what was going to happen. just before this row emerged, labour were very much on the offensive. they launched their local election campaign in trafford in greater manchester, which has been a conservative council for i think 13 years, and could very easily fall the way of labour, and the conservatives have been very proud of running trafford, so it gives some sense of how optimistic labour were, despite the fact that the last time these council seats were fought in 2014, ed miliband, the event labour leader, did pretty well. it was quite a good period

for labour in local government, yet they still feel, or they did, that they can advance from that. so, yes, you do wonder the extent to which this could have an impact. the elections are about five weeks away now, at the beginning of what is now next month, the first week of may. so you could only imagine mr corbyn and his team will be desperately try and be seen to be taking this on, facing it down and getting it out of the news. but you do wonder how exactly they're going to do that. that was chris mason, our political correspondent, speaking to me a little earlier. pope francis has used his easter message to call for dialogue on the korean peninsula, and peace in syria. thousands of people gathered in st peter's square in rome in bright sunshine to hear him speak from the balcony of the adjacent basilica. he said the power of the christian message gave hope to the deprived, including migrants and refugees who were so often rejected by what he called today's culture of waste. translation: today we implore fruits

of peace upon the entire world. beginning with the beloved and long—suffering land of syria, whose people are worn down by an apparently endless war. this easter, may the light of the risen christ illuminate the consciences of all political and military leaders so that a swift end may be brought to the carnage in course, that humanitarian law may be respected, and that provisions be made to facilitate access to the aid so urgently needed by our brothers and sisters, while also ensuring fitting conditions for the return of the displaced. the pope there.

the archbishop of canterbury, justin welby, has conducted his easter service at canterbury cathedral. his message stressed the importance of hope. it must be — we must be — a holy church made up of holy people, rejecting the seeking of power, transparent about our failings, humble when we sin. the message we have been given by god to give to the world is this. no one need die, no one need hate, all may have hope and calling, because jesus christ, god's chosen one and anointed one, is risen from the dead. the queen has attended an easter service at windsor castle, along with other members of the royal family. prince philip was absent from the service at st george's chapel — as were prince harry and meghan markle, who will marry there in may. the duke and duchess of cambridge arrived several minutes after the scheduled start time. the duchess, who is expecting her

third child this month, entered wearing a dark coat and matching hat. members of the public waited outside the 14th—century chapel as the royals arrived. two people have been arrested in tenerife after a nine—year—old boy from northern ireland died in hospitalfollowing a hit and run on the island on thursday. the boy was leaving a shopping centre with his family when the collision happened. richard morgan reports. nine—year—old carter carson was on a family holiday in tenerife. he was leaving this supermarket in adeje when he was hit by a car. he died in hospital the next day. the car was found abandoned a few miles from the scene. the police say two people have been arrested. flowers left close to where the crash happened. the foreign office said it is providing consular assistance to the family following the tragic death. the nine—year—old played football for 18th newtownabbey youth, had been a member since he was five and

the club said it was heartbroken. carter was a primary five pupil at abbots cross primary school in newtownabbey. a post on the school's website said the whole school community was deeply saddened by the sudden loss of carter carson. it said the thoughts and prayers of the school with his family at this tragic time. the school said it is ensuring appropriate support is put in place for its pupils to help deal with carter's death. the school will open later this week to allow pupils and parents to spend time together, and parents to spend time together, and to sign what has been called a book of memories. it is understood arrangements are being made to return his body to northern ireland in the coming days. richard morgan, bbc newsline. four weeks after the nerve agent attack on sergei and julia skripal, the bishop of salisbury has spoken of the sense of violation felt in the city. in his easter sermon, the right reverend nicholas holtam said people there had suffered anger and anxiety, and things were only

now returning to normal. from salisbury, simonjones reports. picturesque from the outside, four weeks on this city remains u nsettled. weeks on this city remains unsettled. still coming to terms with a shocking and unexplained attack. for header and amazement had seized them... at the traditional easter service at the cathedral the events of the past month or at most in people's fozz. i think what happened is more than an attack on two individuals. it's sort of violated the city and a small section of the city has been cordoned off mac but that has had a big impact on salisbury, so what we need to do now is find a way of getting back together again, regrouping. the number of visitors to the cathedral has dropped by 40% since the poisoning. most of the city centre is open for business but the police nicholas —— police cordons remain, and ever present reminder of what happened. near the

park where sergei skripal and his daughter were found slumped on a park bench, people spoke... visiting, but not as frequently as they normally would. people tell me they normally would. people tell me they still struggle to comprehend america agent attack happened here. this city is not the same any more. iam this city is not the same any more. i am walking around the city and i am thinking, is there anyone following the? i think people are scared, because it will not be the la st scared, because it will not be the last one, i don't think it will be the last one. i think it will happen again. others insist good is emerging from the bad events. we wa nt emerging from the bad events. we want the world to see this city is so want the world to see this city is so beautiful, everyone is so nice and friendly here. it has united the city. we are fighting to have our beautiful salisbury back. the bishop of salisbury spoke of the city's resilience. that will be tested further in the coming months. simon

jones, bbc news, salisbury. just coming up to 17 minutes past six. the headlines on bbc news: a shortage of special needs funding means growing numbers of children are being left without suitable school places, according to the country's largest union for teachers. the newest member of the labour party's governing committee, the comedian eddie izzard, says labour must stamp out anti—semitism and rebuild relations with thejewish community. police on the spanish island of tenerife say they've arrested two people in connection with the death of a nine—year—old boy from northern ireland. now, in syria a deal has been reached to evacuate critically injured people from douma, in the eastern ghouta region. rebel fighters have stayed in the town, although there are reports in syrian state media, that they too have agreed to leave douma. several hundred civilians, mostly women and children, are among the latest evacuees. in all, over 150,000 civilians have now been evacuated from eastern ghouta. the region was a major opposition bastion — but most of it has been recaptured by the government in recent weeks. lebo diseko reports.

this is what is left in much of eastern ghouta, the last few civilians on these streets along with government troops. the suburbs outside damascus a shadow of their former selves. 0n the horizon, douma, the last rebel enclave standing in eastern ghouta. if the government takes it, this whole area will be back in president assad's control. for weeks, there have been evacuations across the area with thousands of civilians and rebel fighters being allowed to leave. now russia says a deal has been made to get people safely out of douma. but forced displacement is what the rebels have called it. they accuse president assad of trying to change the demographics in this area in his favour. for the families ripped apart by the fighting in the area, the hope is that at least they can be reunited.

translation: my hope is that my sons, who are in ghouta, get out, and to bring my children together, so we all live together. for those who don't leave, syria's army has threatened a full—scale military offensive. and as the war here goes into its eighth year, it is difficult to know how much more people can take. lebo diseko, bbc news. workers receiving the national living wage will get a pay rise today as it goes up to £7.83 an hour. but the living wage foundation claims it's still not enough to help low—paid workers make ends meet — especially for those living in london. our business correspondent joe lynam reports. the good news is that earnings are set to rise for two million people on low wages from today.

the bad news, according to one charity, is that it still isn't enough to cover the real cost of living. the national living wage rises from £7.50 per hour for the over—25s to £7.83 from today. but the living wage foundation charity says the figure should be £8.75 outside london. inside london it believes the real living wage should be £10.20, to cover basics such as rent and transport. we welcome any step to close the gap between the government minimum and the real living wage, which is calculated based on what people need to live. but 5.5 million people in the uk are still earning less than the wage that they need to live on. so for a full—time worker, on the minimum wage,

they are earning £1,800 a year less than someone on the real living wage. that is the equivalent of six months or a year's worth of gas and electricity bills, or three months' rent. and the gap is biggest for people in london. the government said the increased national living wage would be worth £600 per year to those on lower pay. it also said that millions could also benefit from a higher personal allowance of £11,850, which also comes into force today. joe lynam, bbc news. the british boxer anthony joshua has won his heavyweight title unification fight in cardiff against new zealand'sjoseph parker. the judges unanimously declared him the winner on points after 12 rounds. 0ur sports correspondent david 0rnstein reports. # 0h, anthonyjoshua. .. he's one of the biggest stars of british sport. but for that star to continue rising, anthonyjoshua must keep winning. and with each opponent comes danger. go, new zealand, go, joseph parker! never before had reigning heavyweight champions met on these shores, but with two unbeaten records on the line, this turned into a cagey contest. thouthoshua was the aggressor, joseph parker stood firm and the briton would go the distance for the first time in his career. the referee was criticised for how often he stepped in, yet the judges unanimously ruled in joshua's favour. he now has three of the four

recognised world championship belts. nobody has held all of them at once. that is the aim. i think, like, 2018 was always a time to capture all the belts. we are one away now, and i think the sky's the limit for what we're trying to achieve. so a night that didn't quite deliver the drama so many wanted to see was no less significant for anthonyjoshua on his rise towards sporting greatness. a journey that shows no sign of slowing down. joshua's breakthrough came at the london 2012 olympics. he turned professional a year later and collected his first major title with victory over charles martin. beating wladimir klitschko at wembley added a second crown in spectacular style. and now only deontay wilder can prevent joshua from becoming undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. you see the good, the bad, the ugly. and long may it continue, i think.

i'm not done. i think i have a lot of years left in me. if i can keep on controlling fighters like that, without taking too much punishment, i should be around for a long time. 0minous for his rivals, tantalising for his fans. joshua's star burning brighter than ever. david 0rnstein, bbc news. tougher penalties for littering come into force in england today. 0n—the—spot fines will increase from £80 to up to £150. authorities can also use the penalties to target vehicles owners if it is possible to prove rubbish has been thrown from their car. jessica parker reports. hitting litter louts where it hurts — their pockets. 0n—the—spot fines are nearly doubling, with the maximum penalty now set at £150. littering is, of course, bad for the environment. it's not good for the taxpayer either. the government says keeping the country's streets clean cost local councils nearly £700 million last year. that is money which could be much

better spent on other services. we want to encourage people to litter less, but also to recycle more and make sure that they work with their communities so that councils can invest their council tax in services that truly matter. it is also going to be easier to tackle littering from vehicles. previously officers had to identify exactly who threw litter from a car. now councils across england will only need to prove that rubbish has been dropped from a vehicle in order to fine the owner, even if it was discarded by somebody else. cracking down on culprits is, it seems, a popular idea. well, there's too much litter around. it's a mess. i think it's dangerous, throwing it out of a car anyway, because of the cars behind you. and just in general, walking around, it's awful sometimes. fines and punishments drive behaviour, so yeah, ultimately i think it is a good thing if we want cleaner streets. upping fines is one thing, but what about enforcement? the average council only issues ten on—the—spot fines for littering per week.

now, if we are going to take advantage of the new legislation, the extra potential revenues generated, this figure really needs to increase. however, ministers are warning authorities not to abuse the new powers, saying they should be used in a proportionate way. jessica parker, bbc news. ceremonies have been held today to mark 100 years since the raf became the world's first independent air force. it was formed by the merger of the army's royal flying corps and the royal naval air service. a number of events are being held across the country, including a fly past at biggin hill in kent where three world war ii aircrafts took to the skies watched by veterans. 0ur correspondent robert hall has spent the day at stow maries in essex.

in the celebrations. —— stow maries isa in the celebrations. —— stow maries is a particularly poignant place. small wonder the raf will never forget april the 1st 1918. on the ru nway forget april the 1st 1918. on the runway at europe's last intact aerodrome, echoes from the day that raf became a reality. this tiny biplane would have been familiar to the men who pioneered military aviation. they flew like goldfish in a bowl, in all directions, around guy... you we re in all directions, around guy... you were alone, you fought alone and died alone. today stow maries's airfield is turn back the clock, remembering the airships, and those

are argued airpower could expand and survive. we are very proud to see the operational aerodrome is active on the day of promotion, we are the only one left, the only one you can still from. the only one way you can see these aircraft are doing what they did then. in london serving personnel and veterans gathered for a service to mark the start of the centenary commemorations. raf family, looking back to events which provide inspiration to the future. it was a wonderful service, a service and a commemoration but also i think service and a commemoration but also ithinka service and a commemoration but also i think a celebration of the work oui’ i think a celebration of the work ourairforce i think a celebration of the work our airforce has done i think a celebration of the work our air force has done throughout its history and what it is today, what we achieve and who we are as an organisation. in 1918 the airmen of stow maries watch the raf standard hoisted for the first time. a moment we to hundreds of local air cadets, drawn into distant events. the raf

is still evolving, but without the courage of those young men long ago its history might have been very different. the raf might have been born but it didn't have an easy time. the army and navy were not convinced, didn't like losing their pilots and planes to this new service, so that raf had to show considerable determination, perhaps summed up in its own motto, through adversity to the stars. that was our correspondent robert coles that was our correspondent robert hall. coles time for the weather now with philip avery. thanks forjoining me. i will bring you up to date with how the weather will affect britain in the next couple of days. they should be a dramatic change in the weathertight. a lot of rain around of late, our pictures capturing that. this great deal of cloud then seeps in from the south—western quarter, and in the midst of all of that there is rain

andindeed midst of all of that there is rain and indeed there is some snow to come as well. because we are pushing the smallest drop the south—west into a relatively cold atmosphere, thatis into a relatively cold atmosphere, that is why for a time across southern parts as we get into the wee small hours of easter monday there is going to be a transition of rain in the snow and not perhaps just on the higher ground. however it will be transitory here. you can see what i mean about the mild air in the south. calder further north. let me move you on the middle of the day on easter monday. because it will be on the cold side in this great swathes, this is where particularly, but not exclusively, on the higher ground we are going to see snow lion. at the highest levels it is 5-15 see snow lion. at the highest levels it is 5—15 centimetres, so the trans—pennine it is 5—15 centimetres, so the tra ns—pennine routes will it is 5—15 centimetres, so the trans—pennine routes will be really badly affected by this this is where we are going to see the snow lying. pushing into the middle part of the afternoon. in the south it really

won't be an issue because of those temperatures. it will be an issue because of those temperatures from southern scotland into the north of england. so for easter monday some of you, some of you, are going to see a significant possibility of disruption due to snow, particularly if going over those higher—level routes across the pennines, southern uplands of scotland. tuesday, that belt of whether a way to watch the northern part of scotland, leaving the rest of the country in something a good deal quieter and milder, and with a bit of sunshine poking through, as you will see in a moment, there will be a real contrast in the feel of the day, but againi contrast in the feel of the day, but again i have to point out the fact that some of the higher—level routes across the northern half of scotland will be badly affected by snow again. once we get to the central belt, northern ireland and all points south, it