hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 2: charges guilty to the sexual abuse charges that he currently faces in chicago. a father has been found guilty time for a look at the weather... of taking part in an acid attack on his own three—year—old son. five men are also convicted of involvement in the plot. at this time of the year the weather clashes in the commons over police resources, can throw pretty much anything and as the prime minister announces a knife crime summit. everything our way and that is the does the prime minister now regret case through the day to day. it is the cuts in police numbers largely down to the jet stream, that and will she undertake that in this fast flowing air high above our review they will be restored heads. that is sitting to the south to the level they were formally at? of the uk and allowing low—pressure it is a fact that more money systems to form. we have one weather is being put into the police this year, that more money is being put systems to form. we have one weather into the police next year. system just draped around that producing that overnight rain and a health emergency... show this morning. but it has become the most critically—injured patients in rural areas at risk, more confined to scotland as we go because ambulances are failing to reach them within through the day. we have showers the required response time. following on from the west through wales, south—west england and a gradually moving east through the afternoon. some bright intervals in between but you will know about it if you run into some of these

showers as they pack quite a punch. especially blustery around any of those showers and quite a contrast in temperatures. across scotland and northern ireland into the mid—single figures at best. further south some spots could see up to 15 celsius. heading into this evening the low— pressure heading into this evening the low—pressure brings the rain back into parts of northern ireland and gradually england as the night progresses. some showers down to the south—west, some clear skies but remaining windy and temperatures not falling close to freezing. not an especially cold start to thursday but the area of low pressure just drifting further east. that will open the door to much colder north—westerly wind heading through thursday and we will all notice those temperatures coming down for the apps are the main clearing east through the day and some showers feeding in on that brisk north—westerly wind which could have

some hill snow across parts of scotla nd some hill snow across parts of scotland and even north east england. some brightness down towards the south west wales and southern england but particularly windy here and noticeably cooler. not only by day but also by night. a widespread frost expected weather temperatures close to if not below freezing. some mist and fog perhaps to start the day on friday but a brief respite thanks to a ridge of high pressure before the next weather system then starts to show its hand through south—west england and west wales bringing more rain. and it remains cool, the cool thing continuing through the weekend. at times some rain and gales and hills no. a reminder of our main story this lunchtime the prime minister announces a summit to tackle rising knife crime on britain's streets.

that's all from the bbc news at one — good afternoon. i'm holly hamilton with your latest sports news. what a night in the champions league — the kings of europe, real madrid, are out. they've absolutely dominated this competition in recent years, winning the last three in a row, but they were taken apart by ajax who scored some cracking goals at the bernabeu. they won 5—3 on aggregate, 4—1 on the night — that's real‘s biggest home defeat in a european knockout game. we have to stay together with the fa ns we have to stay together with the fans in good and in bad times. we celebrated a lot over the past years and that was amazing for the fans. now it is the opposite. now we go through bad times. i think the real real madrid fans will go with us.

no such problems though for spurs — they're the first english side through to the quarter finals. keeper hugo loris was in inspired form as they completed a dominant two—leg win over borussia dortmund, harry kane with the only goal of the night as they won i—o,1i—0 on aggregate. this morning the spurs boss mauricio pochettino has been fined £10,000 and given a two match touchline ban, after accepting an improper conduct charge following tottenham's loss to burnley in the premier league last month. it's manchester united's turn in the champions league tonight, and 0le gunnar solskjaer says his side haven't given up hope of beating paris saint germain. united trail the french champions by two goals going into tonight's second leg, but the norwegian says they still believe that they can cause an upset and qualify for the quarter—finals. we will never approach any game as a

lost cause. we put the pressure on ourselves that we can do this. the outside pressure is off. everyone expects us to go out and go out easily. but that doesn't happen with man united and man united players. the proposed merger between welsh rugby union clubs scarlets and 0spreys is now "off the table". the pair were meeting yesterday about the plans. but in a statement, scarlets they say that 0spreys have changed their minds. the plans had been criticised, with players from both teams fearing for their futures. ireland have named their training squad for sunday's six nations clash with france, and there is no place for sean cronin or robbie henshaw. cronin‘s paid the price for ireland's line—out troubles following their unimpressive win over italy — he'll be replaced by ulster‘s rob herring. henshaw, who's missed their last two games with a dead leg, has still not recovered. one other line of rugby for you, and the new zealand captain kieran read will retire from international rugby after this year's world cup injapan.

he's got 118 caps, and won the world cup with the all blacks twice. he's going to continue his club career in japan. jonny bairstow was the star as england won the first t20 international against the west indies. tom curran got four wickets as the west indies set england 161 to win in st lucia. then bairstow took over with the bat, his 68 was his best in a t20 international as england won by four wickets. a major boycott is set to affect today's race meeting at lingfield. only 15 runners remain for the six scheduled races with trainers and owners calling for a boycott due to an ongoing row over prize money. three of the races will have just two runners. before we leave you, we've seen some pretty impressive footwork here. but rarely have we seen it done with a pancake. former england and chelsea captain

john terry posted this on instagram last night. it seems to have caused a bit of a pancake challenge online. including one from harry maguire as well. i struggle just to flip the thing without having to do it on my foot. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. that is all from me. more in the next hour. more now on that meeting between the home secretary and police chiefs that took place this morning. sajid javid met with representatives of seven forces to discuss the rise in violent crime and, specifically, knife crime. after that meeting mr javid said government "has to listen to police when they talk about resources". police resources are important to deal with this. we have do everything we can to work with the police to do this. we have to listen to them when they talk about

resources . at the meeting we had today with police chiefs representing the seven largest forces with the biggest increases in serious violence, they said also resources are important. they welcome the £1 billion increase, the almost1 billion this year. i am listening to them and what more we can do. do yu think there is a link between that falling number? i have said for a long time we need to listen to the police. as well as early intervention, about having other government departments and public bodies played their part, it is important to make sure police always have the reources they need. that was part of the financial settlement for this year, to make sure they can hire more officers. they have already announced more than 3000 new officers being hired across forces in england and wales this year. that is hugely welcome. i want to do everything i can to make sure police have the resources they need. one of those meeting the home secretary was chair of the national police chiefs' council, sara thornton.

she says they specifically discussed needing immediate investment to tackle the rise in violent crime. the meeting with the home secretary was really constructive and i think he was listening to the police chiefs. we talked about the need for more investment in policing now. we know what tactics were. we know what we can do to surge operational capacity to deal with these crimes. we haven't always got the capacity, we haven't always got the officers. we have agreed by the end of the week we will set out the scale of the investment required. we also talked about the fact this is an issue not just for policing but some on the other departments, for education, health, from local authorities. we all agree the serious violence strategy is good but it needs concerted action across government. do the police need more powers, stop and search powers? do they need to be changed? one of the things we did discuss with the home secretary is the use of section 60,

which is when a senior officer can say in a certain area because there has been so much violence, people can be searched without reasonable grounds. we have some restrictions on the use of that power for several years. we discussed the benefit of removing those. most of the police were in favour of removing those restrictions so officers are confident of using their powers, so they know they have the support of the home secretary and the government to help reduce crime. do you think there is a link between rising knife crime and the falling numbers of police officers? what i have said is that there are fewer officers, therefore there is less policing going on and there is more crime. there is some sort of link. it is not the only thing that explains what is going on but it is part of the equation. the issue of violent knife crime has dominated prime minister's questions. 0ur chief political correspondent, vicki young, is in the central lobby at the houses of parliament. that is right. after that meeting

there between police constables and sajid javid, that big discussion about whether cuts in funding to the police have had an impact on all of this. the prime minister saying that she is going to meet the families of victims of knife crime as well as trying to get together a whole team of people, not just trying to get together a whole team of people, notjust police officers, but looking across the whole of the public sector, to try and tackle this problem. let's discuss that and other things brought up at pmq macro. djourou, can i start with you. there has been talk about what happened in glasgow and the impact made on knife crime. what was the approach that changed things? we took a whole systems approach and treated knife crime and violence reduction as a public health issue, a social problem. it wasn'tjust a matter of stigmatising young people

or criminalising them. but looking at the issues around that. the result of taking that radical approach have meant that scotland has a 64% reduction in crimes involving knives. it has been a dramatic issue. it has been very important that we have been supporting police officers and the police service to be able to go out and do theirjob. in scotland since 2007, there is 5% more police officers on the street compared to england and wales, where we have seen a drop of more than 16%. that has been critical as well in tackling this issue. it is about treating it as a public health issue and getting an holistic approach. catherine, do you think this is just about funding? many people will say it is not just about funding? many people will say it is notjust about money but other things. i think what drew was saying they're about the approach in scotland, we have seen the opposite happening in our local communities over the last ten years as resources have been taken over at across the

board. we have seen a reduction in police officers. i have seen a thousand go in my local police force. but more than that we have seen funding go from local authorities who now cannot fund youth services, schools being squeezed in terms of their funding, changes within the education system, more children being excluded from school. and then presumably, we don't know what the outcomes for those children are going to be and whether that is part of the problem. 0na whether that is part of the problem. on a health front, a public health front, on every level we have seen squeezed public services. and then we wonder why we have this crisis. ultimately i feel very strongly that what the government is now saying is just a little bit too late, particularly for the young people that we have seen die through knife crime just this year. but also those young people whose lives have been impacted, who are both the victims and the perpetrators. just this week i attended a national apprenticeship event. young people with all that

promising future ahead of them, and that has been taken away from young people across the board. it is a systemic problem as a result of ten years of underfunding and our inability to work better across the board because of that chronic underfunding problem. craig, what you say to that? there are many in the police force, who say of course it makes a difference, it's obvious how many police you have on the streets patrolling neighbourhoods, plus the other cuts to youth services, that has to be partly responsible, doesn't it? pmqs today was an opportunity to reflect on those young lives lost this weekend. yousef makki and jodie chesney. it is difficult to say what is the solution? people say more police is the solution. i don't think we ever had a time when we had police on every street corner. i'm not sure that is the entire solution. we seem to have structural problems in society and a lot of thatis problems in society and a lot of that is drugs driven. i have had serious concerns about, are we

taking our foot off the gas on the drugs war? we have had county lines come into play, which feeds into mental health issues. what could have gone through that youngster's head when he was stabbing that young girl in the back? what are we creating in this society? we have endemic problems that are driven by, are they social media, drugs issues, gang issues? this neat and approach across many areas. |s gang issues? this neat and approach across many areas. is the prime minister showing enough leadership? she was home secretary for many yea rs. as she was home secretary for many years. as she responded in the correct way? the whole issue of stop and searches coming in to the fore. the home secretary agrees we should be going back to stop and search for it is appropriate. —— where it is appropriate. i think there would be appropriate. i think there would be a very clear answer that yes, stop and search should be increased. it has to be done and done quickly. do you agree with that? it has been controversial in the past. we need to look at a range of measures

across the board. the police need to be given the powers and the resources to do the job they need to do and it needs to be done in a way that builds social cohesion, that doesn't alienate immunities. what the police tell me locally, we don't have a huge amount of this particular knife crime issue in my local area, but what we do have is a huge amount of anti—social behaviour. we have seen that increasing year in, year out since i was elected in 2010. it is a growing problem and some people feel that it's a low—level issue. but actually, it's a massive blight on people's lights and their ability to enjoy their day—to—day lives and their homes. what those young people will then move on to do, that is the big issue. is stop and search an issue? is that something that has happened in scotland ?|j issue? is that something that has happened in scotland? i have welcomed the working violence reduction unit in terms of taking a different approach to policing. there are many lessons to learn about how to treat people who are otherwise stigmatised or

criminalised and brought into more ofa criminalised and brought into more of a holistic approach. we are absolutely right to focus on the effect on human lives. people are damaged by this process. we can't get away from the fact that we have been living through a period of unprecedented austerity because of tory policies. that is at the core of the kind of problems we are having in the social sphere just now. that is what is actually causing a lot of the problems. now. that is what is actually causing a lot of the problemslj now. that is what is actually causing a lot of the problems. i do not agree with that. i think that if people had a lower amount of money for whatever reason, i don't believe that, we have the lowest unemployment, to think that some how people having a tough time economically have suddenly become murderers... that is not the suggestion. you said yourself this isa suggestion. you said yourself this is a societal issue. fundamentally if you're going to address that you have to start at the beginning and investing young people, investing children, invest in children getting

the best start in life. you have shout—out sure start services, local authority services... impacting on communities. we have to leave it there. this is an issue which is dominating here at westminster. thank you for right —— to my guests. in a moment we'll have all the business news, but first the headlines on bbc news. a father has been found guilty of organising an acid attack on his three—year—old son. the prime minister announces a summit to tackle rising knife crime on britain's streets, as one of the country's most senior officers warns it should be treated as a national emergency. the european commission says the latest brexit talks with britain have been difficult and failed to yield any breathrough. i'm jamie robertson in the business news. former nissan boss carlos ghosn has left prison injapan on bail, more than three months

after being arrested on charges of financial misconduct. a tokyo court made the surprise decision to allow his release on tuesday, setting bail atjust under £7 million. there are reports that the uk government could cut trade tariffs on up to 90% of goods in the event of a no—deal brexit. some tariffs would be scrapped completely, including those on car parts, and some agricultural produce. the government hasn't confirmed the plans, but says it will make an announcement once a decision had been finalised. the system allowing people to use cash in the uk is at risk of "falling apart". a review suggests that rural shops should offer cash—back and essential services, such as utility and council bills, should still allow customers to pay in cash. it comes amid soaring use of card payments and contactless services like smartphone payments the number of people starting a training programme has fallen substantially under the government's new apprenticeship scheme, according to the national

audit office. the public spending watchdog said the government was "very unlikely" to hit a 2020 target of 3 million new starts. the government doesn't agree. it says the apprenticeship numbers are now rising year on year. however, the bald facts are that just before the government scheme was revamped in 2017 there were half a million appreticeships starts a year. there are now 375,000. but what's the point of an apprenticeship? are they really a good way to start out on a career? let's talk to sofia thomas, who is now an independent tax expert, but nine years ago she started out as an apprentice at consultancy firm pwc in 2011. sofia, why did you do this? what was your reason for starting out rather than going down the university route? after i had left than going down the university route? afterl had left school than going down the university route? after i had left school i was deciding what the best options work for me. i was looking around at what

options i could take. i had a little boy after leaving school. university was not appealing to me. i looked to see what apprenticeships i could do that would be for attacks or accounting and finance. that is when i found the tax apprenticeship at pwc. was it fun? was at comparable toa pwc. was it fun? was at comparable to a university life, which most people regard as really relaxed? was it hard work? probably not as fun as probably your first year at university, would imagine. it is ha rd university, would imagine. it is hard work. it is very supportive. you got lots of role models, people to look—up to. it is exciting in other ways. it is exciting to see how your career can develop, who can learn from, what you can take working experience. wanted you to go in the end? i qualified as an association with tax technicians and association with tax technicians and a chartered tax advisor. you stayed at pwc? eleanor price they there for at pwc? eleanor price they there for

a while and moved on to work for a bang. then i set up my own firm so i work for myself. do you look back and think, it would've been more fun be at university? do you regret that? definitely not for me. from the experiences i got, the training, the experiences i got, the training, the personal development, you make friends and it is a lot of fun to be around people, it is a great atmosphere. i don't regret not going to university. one of the things you got was financial security. at pwc will get paid reasonably well. what kind of advice addicott now that you are an independent tax adviser? are there ways in which apprenticeships, if they are working in humble jobs, can they get any financial advice? yes, absolutely. they can claim deductions per any of the expenses theyincur deductions per any of the expenses they incur as a result of their work. hairdressers, for example, can claim deductions for scissors,

uniforms. mechanics can claim deductions for spammers. look on the hmrc website. you can definitely claim the tax back. sofia thomas, thank you. in other news, french supercar maker bugatti has unveiled the world's most expensive new car, sold to an unnamed buyer for at leats £9.5 million before tax. it is thought to have taken the previous new car record — about £8—9 million for a rolls—royce sweptail. with engine power about 20 times a ford fiesta, the car was built to celebrate bugatti's 110th birthday. morgan has also celebrated its 110th birthday by selling itself to a group of italian investors for an undisclosed sum. the announcement came yesterday as the company unveiled its latest model. and japan's iconic cartoon cat hello kitty is to appear in her first hollywood film, 45 years after her creation. sanrio, the firm behind the mouthless cat, is to make

the movie after five years of talks about rights for the big screen. we have been looking at the markets for awhile. hardly any introduction. the ftse is up, looking fairly slow. legal and general down 4%. the pound against the euro, 1.16. that is all we have got time for. just one other note, we have just heard figures on the us deficit. the figures show the highest us deficit, trade deficit, ina highest us deficit, trade deficit, in a decade. more in half an hour. —— an hour. thank you. coming up, simon mccoy. before that, the weather. good afternoon. it is that time of the year when we can expect everything and anything from our weather. that is certainly the case through this

afternoon. illustrated quite nicely by one of our weather watchers. yes, plenty of dry intervals. some pretty threatening skies. it is unsettled because low pressure is in charge at the moment. draped around that we have got a weather front introducing that rain. it tracks north through this morning. it is now in parts of scotland. hill snow in places. a rash of showers feeding into wales and south—west england. gradually they worked their way eastwards through the afternoon. dry and brighter intervals in between. you will certainly know about it if you run into one of these showers. the risk of hail and thunder. a breezy day. particularly around these showers it would be quite blustery. as we head into this evening, the low pressure system drags the rain back into parts of northern ireland and scotland. quite a cool night. temperatures will drop away. because we have got that breeze, they will not pharoah —— for way too far. when

pushing into northern ireland and north—west england overnight. 0ne pushing into northern ireland and north—west england overnight. one or two showers towards the far south and west. some clear skies but because of that wing of those temperatures will not far away —— fall away. the low pressure system sta rts fall away. the low pressure system starts to drift the little bit further eastwards on thursday. that opens the door too much colder air, feeding in on a north—westerly wind. a caller direction. we will notice the difference as we head into thursday. the wind working east through the day. following behind, showers on the north—westerly wind. hill snow for parts of scotland and even to higher levels in north—east england. it would be particularly breezy don't towards the south. the best of the sunshine here. notice the difference in the temperatures. just about scraping double figures. cold by day and also by night. a widespread frost expected. the winds will drop out. mist and fog around

first got the first thing on friday morning. friday, a brief interlude. a ridge of high pressure. it is brief because the next weather system starts to bring more rain into south—west england and wales as we head through friday afternoon. it will feel cooler for all of us. that trend continues into the weekend. rainey plans, gales, hillsnow, it will feel cold but there will be some sunshine.