but also aiming to inspire young people. so we have a major programme of engagement with young people, from the ages of nine to 15 primarily, and aiming to really inspire them through the launch platform of the raf. you mention engaging young people, which can be a challenge at times, so how do you propose do that? i think we start from a real position of advantage. the royal air force is at the front of air, space and cyber, so there's great technology there. we also, i think, set a great example of challenging young people and giving them opportunities and allowing them to develop themselves. so we are aiming to combine those all together and get out there, inspire up to two million young people, aged nine to 15 primarily, but beyond that as well, and use raf 100 as a sort of launch platform to help them develop opportunities and realise their aspirations. so it is really about making those connections with young people, where ever we can, across the country. you mention 9—15. can i take you back to the time when you were between nine and 15. what was inspiring you at that stage, to think about

the royal air fforce as a possible career? was that thought in your mind then? i have to say my personaljourney started earlier than that. i think probably when i was about four—years—old, when my father, who had been in the royal air force during the second world war, bought me a ladybird book which was the airman in the royal air force. i thought that was fantastic, and through his example, and through what i saw about the raf‘s history, then i started to develop my interest in aviation. i knew if i wanted to join the raf i wanted to be a pilot. ijoined the air training corps, i got a flying scholarship and one day i ended up here. it's a remarkable journey, and lots of people watching would imagine that someone in your position had come through, you know, the most elite form of education imaginable, but that's not true in your case, in the sense you're state educated, in kilmarnock. 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 you've made.

i think it is a really important thing about the royal air force. from the very start we have been open to all, we have been a merit based organisation, really not interested in where people come from, we are just interested in what they can do and what their potential is. that is what i felt throughout my royal air force career, is that it's just that merit principle that has been at the forefront. in terms of my background, then i would describe my background as 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. those two things together, i guess that is what brought me here today. how would you class your performance in terms of achieving targets, very important targets for diversity across the board in the raf?

so we have had our best year in the last year for recruiting in the raf that we've had for the last eight years, and that is against the highest target for the last eight years, so our recruiting is successful. we need to make sure that we are representative of the society that we serve. we have government targets which were set on upon us, but i want to do so much better than that. so an example of that would be women in the royal air force. the government target of 15%, at the time that target was set, the raf had already surpassed that, and in the last year 20% of the people we have recruited into the royal air force are women, and they are from, you know, every branch and trade. everything is open to everybody. now it's not perfect. we have further to go there, clearly, so make sure we're fully representative, but i think it shows we are doing pretty well. would you go so far as to agree with rear admiral alex burton who said "we are in danger

of losing our status as a credible military power, unless spending is increased", is that something you recognise? we are an immensely credible and capable air force. so if we look at operations against daesh, we would be number two in the coalition, alongside the united states, but number two in the coalition has meant that on occasions we have been providing up to 40% of the capability. at the same time we have been not only defending the skies around the united kingdom, but in support of of our nato allies, in the northern and southern flanks of nato, and we have engaged across the world. right now, the raf is engaged in 13 operations in 21 countries around the world, a tremendous effort. so i don't worry about our credibility right now. but the world is changing. it is adapting very quickly, people have noticed where we are strong, they've noticeded in recent conflict our strength in the air, and they're working to deny us that strength in the future. so in order to continue being a credible air force, i need to expand my capabilities, i need to thicken them up and provide more resilience and stay at the front end of technology. the threats are 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 choice to respond to those increasing threats. we also need to make sure we have the funding to allow us to develop our capabilities further, say the threats are increasing, it is a riskier more dangerous world out there. a lot of the things we have taken for granted in the environment like our control of the air, we can no longer take for granted. so we need to up our game technologically. i would like to see us properly resourced for the capabilities we need to deal with, the threats we face. i am trying to decode what you're saying now. you're saying basically that, well, you don't want to set a figure, the current level of resourcing in your view does not clearly allow

you to do all the things you think are necessary. if we had more resources, i would be able better to guarantee that the royal air force was adapted for the threats that we face, in the third decade of the 21st century, and i would be able to ensure that we had greater resilience in the force to deal with that. so what's the gap then? that is what viewers will begin to understand, are we way off that, or are we quite close to that, what is the kind resource gap you're talking about? in terms of our current level of aspiration, then, yes, i think we do need more funding to ensure we can deliver against that operation. but what i'm saying is, 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'm also a realist. we can't set an unlimited budget. this needs to be part of the whole government debate about how best to guarantee our national security, so i am wary of setting arbitrary figures, because that's not the way i believe we should work it out. we mention russia all the time,

you have mentioned it yourself and the kind of varied level of threat that russia is seen to pose in various areas, how would you characterise the threat right now from russia? so, i feel that we are under greater pressure, that russia is aiming to take advantage where ever it can, and exploit opportunities, and to do so in a way which disregards previous norms of international behaviour. a small example of that would be about a month or so ago, i was in the north of the shetland islands, and we were putting an air defence radar back into the north of the shetland islands, because we needed a better awareness of what was happening in the north, north sea, norwegian sea. a few days before i went up there, two russian aircraft had come down in the north sea to within 30 miles of aberdeen. previously they have come up the english channel to within 12 miles of our coastline. this feels different. this feels like we are under more pressure. then there is the cyber threat,

and clearly, well, we need to see how the events in salisbury play out, and as the home secretary said, we need to complete the investigation, but that sense of pressure, that sense of advantage and sense of disregard of normal rules of behaviour, is how i feel it. i then look at what we're doing on operations in iraq and syria, and i find aircraft there on a virtually daily basis flying over syria, being intercepted by russian aircraft. again, it feels very different from what we have seen in the past. sir stephen, at the end of this year, when your celebrations are complete, what do you hope they will take away from this year of centenary celebrations? most of all i hope they take away an enduring legacy, and that is recognition that the royal air force, an organisation at the cutting—edge

of technology throughout its history, that it will continue to be at the cutting—edge of technology into the future, with people who have always been the life blood of the organisation, you know, talented, skilled, challenged, willing to challenge themselves, that we still have those people going forward, and that people will look at that as an example, and say, "yes, that is an organisation which is healthy, confident, strong." and i look forward to 2118, and i often think in 2118 i want them to look back to 2018, just as we are looking back to 1918 at the moment. i want them to look back to 2018 and say "yes, they built on the solid foundations, and they established an enduring legacy which took the royal air force through its second hundred yea rs successfully. " sir stephen, congratulations on the centenary, and thank you for talking to us.

thank you very much indeed. i think most of us will agree the weather has not been great if the last few days, and right now, it is still snowing across the north of the uk. certainly the southern up land of scotland, the lowlands, the highlands, further snow to come here tonight. a bit rain as well. you can see the further south you go, into northern england, through the lake district, that is mostly rainfall, some rain in northern ireland too. and further south still, this is where we have the mild air, so no snow for you here today and certainly no snow on way. these are the troublesome areas if you are

still travelling round 10.00, the easter break, glasgow, edinburgh, snow there, most of the snow will be settling in the southern uplands and further north in the highlands as well but it is mostly slushy stuff. it has been so far, that is isn't going to change. to the south of this area of snow, the winds are coming in out of the south and south—west, so this is mild air, so tonight there is going to be a huge temperature contrast between the south of the country, and the north of the country, obviously where it is snowing that is where the cold air is so here temperatures will be round, just above freeze organise so, hence the snow will be wet and slushitor, the south, look at that, 5pm tuesday, ten degrees expected in london, so a mild start to the day in the south. this low pressure, this messy weather, a large area of low pressure is with us on tuesday, you can see breaks in the weather there, so it is not going to be all bad. 0n there, so it is not going to be all bad. on tuesday there will be sunshine round in places as well. the best of the weather i suspect will be across parts of wales, england but even here showers are

expected during the day. look how it brightened up: different for northern ireland, and certainly for scotland, still cold here. temperatures of five in aberdeen, four or five temperatures of five in aberdeen, four orfive in glasgow temperatures of five in aberdeen, four or five in glasgow and edinburgh, but 15 across the south of the country in those sunny spells. remember there will be showers round as well. the story for the rest of the week is for things to turn a bit more settled, there will be showers around on wednesday, thatis will be showers around on wednesday, that is probably the really u nsettled that is probably the really unsettled day in terms of the weather chopping and changing from sunshine to rain to back the sunshine to rain to back the sunshine again, the overall trend over the next few days will be for milderairto over the next few days will be for milder air to sweep in from the south and the south—east could become really mild. that is the latest. wife of nelson mandela — has died at the age of 81. a controversialfigure — she was implicated in kidnapping, murder and fraud but made several successful political comebacks. we'll be accessing her legacy and impact on south africa.

also on the programme: donald trump's trade war with china heats up as beijing slaps tariffs onto american pork, wine and hundreds of other products. a warning from doctors that the nhs winter crisis in england will become all year round — unless there's urgent extra funding. and amid preparations for the commonwealth games, syringes are discovered in the athletes‘ village.