troubled waters — escalating tension between britain and france over post—brexit fishing rights offjersey. french fishermen in a flotilla of boats protest off the island's coast, some of them letting off flares. two royal navy vessels have been sent to jersey in case there's a french blockade, and now france has also despatched two patrol boats. we have been fishing there for thousands of years maybe, so it's not normal to put us out of this fishing area. we'll have the latest from our correspondents onjersey and in france. also this lunchtime: the bank of england predicts the uk economy will enjoy its strongest growth since world war ii,

as lockdown restrictions are lifted. the world of work post—pandemic — many of the uk's biggest employers tell us there won't be a full—time return to the office. unseasonal weather as people go to the polls in england, scotland and wales — the biggest test of voter opinion since the last general election. and the former royal marine commando who lost both legs in afghanistan in training for a charity swim across plymouth sound. and coming up on the bbc news channel — alun wynjones is named as captain for the british and irish lions tour to south africa, head coach warren gatland made the announcement as part of his 36—man squad. good afternoon and welcome

to the bbc news at one. a fleet of french fishing boats has arrived off the coast ofjersey, as a row over post—brexit fishing rights escalates. onejersey fisherman said it looked like an invasion. two royal navy vessels have been tojersey amid concerns of a possible french blockade, and now france has also despatched two of its patrol vessels. the french claims their rights to fish off the island are being unfairly restricted by a new system of licences, as robert hall reports from st helier. they slipped their moorings long before dawn, any fishing towns and villages of normandy, local fleets put to sea not to fish but to take their arguments to the channel islands neighbours. irate their arguments to the channel islands neighbours.— their arguments to the channel islands neighbours. we are very close, islands neighbours. we are very close. they _ islands neighbours. we are very close, they cannot _ islands neighbours. we are very close, they cannot live - islands neighbours. we are very close, they cannot live without i close, they cannot live without france. the jersey are selling close, they cannot live without france. thejersey are selling 80% of their fish in

france. thejersey are selling 80% of theirfish in france. so what france. thejersey are selling 80% of their fish in france. so what do they want? they want to sell their fish in france but they don't want us to continue to catch fish in their waters? {lift us to continue to catch fish in their waters?— us to continue to catch fish in their waters? off jersey, as the clouds darkened _ their waters? off jersey, as the clouds darkened and _ their waters? off jersey, as the clouds darkened and the - their waters? off jersey, as the clouds darkened and the rain i their waters? offjersey, as the i clouds darkened and the rain came down, the fishermen gathered, shouting greetings to each other and making clear that they felt they had no option but to register the strongest protest atjersey�*s decision to impose licensing conditions within its territorial waters. guillaume, 26, told me he had been fishing forjust three years. the licensing conditions he claimed, were unworkable and could put 80% of small vessels out of business. one mile away, the patrol vessel hms timer, one of two microchips are sense to offer reassurance to jersey, microchips are sense to offer reassurance tojersey, but keeping her distance as the french fleet

moved closer to st helier�*s harbour. a few bouts did effectively block the harbour, as they demanded talks with jersey ministers. the harbour, as they demanded talks withjersey ministers. it’s the harbour, as they demanded talks with jersey ministers.— with jersey ministers. it's really im ortant with jersey ministers. it's really important we — with jersey ministers. it's really important we are _ with jersey ministers. it's really important we are able - with jersey ministers. it's really important we are able to - with jersey ministers. it's really important we are able to work | with jersey ministers. it's really i important we are able to work with those fishermen to provide the necessary evidence so that if required, their licences can be amended. as i have said, it is important we respond to threats but the answer to this solution is to continue to talk and diplomacy. jersey fishermen are divided on the french demands. they have already been prevented from landing their catches in french ports. some believe there are weaknesses in the licensing scheme, but others are calling onjersey licensing scheme, but others are calling on jersey to stand licensing scheme, but others are calling onjersey to stand firm. right across the public ofjersey, certainly— right across the public ofjersey, certainly the fishing fleet and most of the _ certainly the fishing fleet and most of the political community, agree thatjersey needs to of the political community, agree that jersey needs to stand firm, no question about that, we need to manage the resource out there, and

jersey— manage the resource out there, and jersey has _ manage the resource out there, and jersey has done nothing wrong. talks did net jersey has done nothing wrong. talks did get under— jersey has done nothing wrong. talks did get under way _ jersey has done nothing wrong. talks did get under way late _ jersey has done nothing wrong. t:l«;3 did get under way late this morning, and that seemed to satisfy most fishermen, who moved clear to allow a fright vessel to leave harbour. those with experience of past french disputes recognise the tactics used this morning. i disputes recognise the tactics used this morning-— this morning. i think this is absolutely _ this morning. i think this is absolutely typical- this morning. i think this is absolutely typical french . this morning. i think this is l absolutely typical french way this morning. i think this is i absolutely typical french way of making a protest. if they wanted to grab the attention of the french government, they have got the champs—elysees, they want really to grab the attention of the british government, thejersey grab the attention of the british government, the jersey authorities, so they are targeting st helier port. fierce things, big gestures, but in the end it is a cry for attention, and it sounds to me, at the heart of this is a failure of communication.— the heart of this is a failure of communication. . ,., , ., communication. the french bouts are now steaming — communication. the french bouts are now steaming back _ now steaming back to their home ports, content that their show of strength has made a point. but their objections to a jersey and the uk claim is a fair way to protect island fishing grounds are very much alive, and if agreement cannot be

found, they have warned that more protests are very much on the cards. our europe correspondence jean mackenzie our europe correspondencejean mackenzie is at a port in normandy in northern france. you have been talking to some of the french fishermen, why are they so angry? yeah, ben, we were with the fishermen as they left in the middle of the night, and yes, they are angry, but really we got the sense that they are more shocked than anything else. these fishermen rely on being able to fish injersey waters, many have done so for decades. some of the ones we spoke to get more than 50% of their fish from these waters. they see themselves as one fishing community, and i really hadn't been expecting anything to change. yes, since may, they have needed licences to operate in jersey they have needed licences to operate injersey waters, they have needed licences to operate in jersey waters, but the problems injersey waters, but the problems emerge when in jersey waters, but the problems emerge when these licenses came through with a list of restrictions that the fishermen say they had not agreed to. so some of them had been given only permission to usejersey waters for a handful of days a year.

they have told us they are going to stay out of the positives and st helier for as long as it takes for thejersey government to engage with them in a meaningful way, we know them in a meaningful way, we know the french have now sent two patrol ships, although they say it is clear they are not on a military mission, this is a safeguarding mission only. so the french vessels are only there to help fishermen who get into trouble. they are refusing to be drawn on the threat to withdraw electricity to jersey, urging drawn on the threat to withdraw electricity tojersey, urging people to keep their heads straight and focus on the issue at hand here, which is resolving these licences. that is certainly a surprise, i think, on both sides of the channel as to how quickly this issue has escalated. as to how quickly this issue has escalated-— as to how quickly this issue has escalated. ., ~ , ., , . escalated. thank you very much indeed, escalated. thank you very much indeed. jean — escalated. thank you very much indeed, jean mackenzie - escalated. thank you very much i indeed, jean mackenzie reporting. this dispute goes back to the brexit agreement. nick beake is in brussels. talk us through some of the

background to this dispute. well, ben, the european _ background to this dispute. -tt ben, the european commission is adamant that what is happening in jersey is a breach of the brexit trade deal that was agreed on christmas eve and is pointing the finger at the uk, but specifically jersey, and as we were hearing, they think it is unfair that the french crews were not given enough time and notice when they found out their applications to fish injersey waters had been refused. that said, we also heard a spokesperson today from the european commission saying that they are engaging in good faith with the uk and jersey authorities and they want this to be resolved in and they want this to be resolved in a pretty amicable manner. and of course, you know, disputes on the high seas are nothing new. if you look back to the 1950s, the 1960s, the 1970s, the so—called cod wars, some some of those issues eased when the uk became part of the common fisheries policy. in some ways, ben,

we are in uncharted territory, uncharted waters. i think the concern is that in the future, any dispute over something like fish could lead to what is called cross retaliation, so in other words the threat of electricity supply is being reduced, or may be the access to financial markets. there is a concern that there will not be an escalation here, and i think a lot of people don't want to see this. it is pretty clear, talking to officials here in brussels, they want is to be resolved, but exactly how that will be done, ben, it's not exactly clear. how that will be done, ben, it's not exactly clear-— exactly clear. nick beake reporting from brussels. _ the probation officer for the fishmongers' hall attacker, usman khan, has said he had no idea that mi5 had opened an upgraded investigation into the recently released prisoner. ken skelton told the inquest into the two people killed by khan that knowing about the mis investigation would have had a huge impact on the decisions he made. daniel sandford is at the inquest now.

daniel, just tell us more about what this probation officer was saying. well, ben, this is the second day of ken skelton's evidence here at the fishmonger all inquest, and he explained yesterday it was he who ultimately signed off as khan's trip to london which ended up with the deaths of saskia jones and jack merritt, but he said that it had come after lengthy discussions with a panel responsible for public protection. but today he was asked if he had been aware that mi5 had an open priority investigation into usman khan, who had recently been released from prison, and he said he didn't. he was asked, if he had known that, would it have twitched his antennae? he said it certainly would have done, had he been told that mis would have done, had he been told that mi5 had actually increased the priority of usman khan on his

release from prison because of intelligence that he had been radicalising other prisoners and that he might possibly be planning an attack, he said no, and that if he had have known, it would have had a huge impact upon his decision—making. he said that the whole management process would have altered potentially. he was then also asked if he was aware that mi5 had been present at these multi—agency public protection meetings, when the case was being discussed, and he said that he had had no idea that mi5 were even present at those meetings, ben. daniel, thank you very much. daniel sandford. the bank of england has upgraded its forecasts for economic growth this year, amid signs that the economy has picked up speed as lockdown restrictions have gradually been relaxed. if the forecast proves true, it will be the fastest economic growth in more than 70 years. nevertheless, the monetary policy committee is keeping its official interest rate on hold at a record low of 0.1%,

as economists expected. our economics correspondent andy verity reports. thanks, ben. with interest rates on hold, what's changed today is how quickly the bank of england expects the economy to recover. after a calamitous drop in economic activity last year of nearly io%, the forecast before today was that it would roar by 5% this year and 7.25% next year, before dropping back the year after. now the forecast is growth of 7.25% this year, 5.75% next year and 1.25% in 2023. in february, the bank was predicting unemployment would peak at 7.75%, but now they are predicting it will not get above 5.5%. normally that would worry the bank of england about inflation taking off and thinking about raising interest rates. at the start of this chart,

you can see what once used to be normal interest rates — around 5%. they were slashed to help the economy recover from the financial crisis. but before they could get back to normal, we had this even bigger crisis, and the bank's official rate dropped to a new record low — just 0.1%. so if you've been forced into borrowing your way through the pandemic — as many smaller companies and poorer households have — should you be kept awake at night, like rishi sunak is, by the risk of a rise in interest rates? not if you think the city's predictions are right. traders who spend their lives watching these things don't expect rates to rise until september next year, and then byjust 0.15%. so at least for now, don't let it spoil your sleep. andy, thank you very much indeed. millions of people are casting their ballots today in england, scotland and wales in the biggest test of voter opinion since the general election in 2019. in scotland and wales, voters will decide on their national governments, and there's a by—election in hartlepool. votes will also be cast for police and crime commissioners in england and wales,

a number of mayors, and thousands of english council seats. coronavirus precautions are in place and people are being urged to take their own pencils to polling stations. ben wright reports. it felt like spring in brighton as polling stations opened this morning, while winter reappeared near the scottish town of aviemore. across britain, halls, leisure centres, churches, even a car are being used for voters to cast their ballots. about 48 million people of england, wales and scotland are eligible to vote, and polls will stay open until ten o'clock this evening. in scotland, voters are electing the 129 members of the scottish parliament. in wales, all 60 senedd seats are up for election. in england, voters are choosing 4,650 councillors, 13 mayors and 25 members of the london assembly. there are also elections for 39 police and crime commissioners across england and wales, and there is a by—election to pick

the new mp for hartlepool. polling stations have been scrubbed and readied for socially distanced voting. this is a particularly big crop of elections, because last year's contests were postponed due to the pandemic. as well as plastic screens and hand sanitiser is at polling stations, voters are being asked to bring along their own pen or pencil if they can. covid has changed the way they can. covid has changed the way the elections are being run, and they wait for results will take longer than usual too. some contests will declare overnight, including the by—election in hartlepool. the outcome of the welsh parliament elections should be completed by the end of friday. results for the scottish parliament, english councils and london could come on saturday, while declarations for police and crime commissioners may not happen until monday. covid has not affected one recent election day tradition, and expect social media to be full of canine companions as people head to the polls.

ben wright, bbc news, westminster. and we will have full coverage of all those election results, including the hartlepool by—election result, expected early tomorrow morning on bbc news, and in—depth analysis of all the results on a special programme with huw edwards and kirsty wark. that's from nine o'clock tomorrow on the bbc news channel. our top story this lunchtime: troubled waters: escalating tension between britain and france over post—brexit fishing rights off jersey. coming up, a court waives british citizenship application fees for the family of a woman caught up in the windrush scandal. coming up on the bbc news channel, manchester united are in semifinals action against roma for the europa league. it's the first of four matches they're scheduled to play in just eight days. arsenal are at home to villarreal.

last year, more than a third of us worked from home at least some of the time — because the pandemic closed so many workplaces. now, with lockdown easing, many businesses are planning for their employees to return — but will it be the same? 43 out of 50 firms questioned by the bbc — including some of the uk's biggest employers — said they don't plan to bring staff back to the office full—time after the pandemic; instead, there'll be a mix of home and office working. ben thompson has been looking at how the world of work could change. back in the office after ia months at home. i took on my role in march 2020. it was kind of a baptism by pandemic. for monica, who started her newjob just as the crisis began, getting back to the office

is a chance to change how she and her team can work. when you come into the office, there are going to be open spaces, collaboration spaces. before, very much, we came into the office, we sat at our desks. sometimes we had meetings, but often, we were sitting at our desk. now we are reconfiguring to make sure we have spaces that facilitate that collaboration. that's something that we really missed. it means employers have to make some big decisions about how and where their staff will work, making the most of the new flexibility without stifling teamwork and collaboration. we're never going to go back to working the way we used to work. i worry about the long—term impact on the enterprise, on our culture, on collaboration, on how we train and develop people. advertising and creative industries are something you learn from your colleagues, and you can only really do that if you're around them in an office. working from home isn't for everyone, especially those without access to the right technology or reliable internet,

or even a quiet place to work. but does it also depend on where in the country you live? is london, the capital, with its long commutes and high house prices, different to elsewhere, where less time and money is spent on commuting and property is more affordable? here in newcastle, accountancy firm sage is preparing to move into its brand—new office, designed to house 1,800 staff. but it's now keen to adopt a new hybrid way of working — some days at home, some in the office. for workers, it is a welcome change. i've enjoyed being able to spend time with my fiancee and eat lunch with her and spend time with my dog and that kind of thing and not having to commute has been pretty good. but i think there are definitely some drawbacks in that you don't get, or you get less of the squad mentality, you get less of the casual conversation that can lead into more things.

you have to be a lot more structured with how you approach the day. but if many of us stay at home, what about the businesses that rely on commuters? we rely really heavily on the office trade. there are locations that have 5,000 people and only 140 people came to the building. so most people are working from home or maybe just once a week coming. and that makes it really difficult. working from home may be just one of the enduring changes brought about by this pandemic. its true impact is onlyjust being felt. as businesses and their staff adjust to the new normal, our towns and cities could look very different. ben thompson, bbc news. the high court has ruled that relatives of a woman caught up in the windrush scandal can apply for permission to live in britain without paying thousands of pounds in fees. the court decided that charging the family application fees of more than £20,000 would be "colossal interference" in her human rights. our home affairs correspondent

tom symonds has more detail: this is lynda mahabir, who has been able legally to live in the uk since the 1970s, but like so many of the people caught up in the wintry scandal, wasn't able to come here because the home office hadn't properly registered her legal immigration status. she went through the windrush process and was able then to settle in the uk. but she has a family, a husband, winston, and five children who live in trinidad, who clearly, she would have liked to have come over to join her. they need to apply through the immigration process, but that would have cost about £22,000. and in e—mails to the home office, she said that raising that sort of money for herfamily that raising that sort of money for her family would be a daunting task. she said, "we have never been separated from each other before. i

would like for them to come over and join me so that we can continue to make a positive impact on lives that we come into contact with". so she went to court, backed by solicitors, and has won her case at the high court. thejudge decided and has won her case at the high court. the judge decided that forcing herfamily to pay court. the judge decided that forcing her family to pay actually infringed her own human right to a family life, because herfamily family life, because her family couldn't family life, because herfamily couldn't come and join her. it was also discriminatory against her family. so that may mean that that problem of having to pay fees to apply is removed for many people in the same situation. tam apply is removed for many people in the same situation.— the same situation. tom symonds, thank yom — the us secretary of state, anthony blinken, has said a trade agreement between the uk and the united states could "take some time". speaking to the bbc whilst in london for the g7 summit, mr blinken said president biden's team are reviewing every decision made up to now in trade talks between the two countries. here's our dipolmatic correspondent james landale. anthony blinken, america's

new top diplomat, at the g7 meetings in london — re—engaging with the world, reassuring allies. the us and uk, he said, were profoundly in sync — there was no closer relationship. but for all the warm words, he was cautious about a us—uk trade deal. as to a trade agreement, what we're doing now is, our trade negotiatorjust got on the job, so she's taking the time to go back and review everything that was discussed, and that's taking some time. and there was a gentle warning that britain's relations with the eu, disagreements over trade rules in the irish sea, should not threaten peace in northern ireland. we want to make sure that whether it's with the united kingdom and the european union, whether it's anything that we're doing, that we make sure to the best of our ability that the tremendous gains from the good friday agreement are sustained, and that the economic as well as political wellbeing of northern ireland is taken

fully into account. his message was that america was back on the diplomatic stage. the us, he said, wanted a more stable relationship with russia but would respond to aggression. it didn't want to contain china, but could not accept further breaches of international rules. and on iran, he said the us didn't know if the country was serious about returning to the deal that curbed its nuclear programme. there's a greater premium than at any time since i've been involved in these issues on cooperation, on collaboration, on working together. that's a driving part of the president's foreign policy, which is why we've re—engaged immediately with our allies and partners, we've been working to reintegrate those relationships, and, as well, in the multilateral system, the united nations, all these different organisations.

when we're thinking about our foreign policy, first and foremost, we're thinking about our citizens and making sure we're having a direct impact on improving their lives. and that requires collaboration and cooperation. so after four years of donald trump, the us is back — talking to allies, repairing relationships. but as mr blinken made clear, it's still putting america first. james landale, bbc news. alcohol killed more people last year in england and wales than in any of the previous 20 years, according to the office for national statistics. there were more than 7,400 deaths from alcohol misuse last year — that's a rise of nearly 20% from the year before. our health correspondent, katharine da costa joins me. katharine, these figures sound pretty alarming. these are provisional figures from the ons and they show us that the number of people dying from alcohol misuse progressively got worse from march onwards last year as the pandemic hit and we went into the first

lockdown. nearly 2000 people died at the end of the year, between october and december. that was the highest quarter since records began in 2001, and these were deaths that were defined as being directly caused by alcohol misuse. most were caused by chronic long—term conditions like liver disease. the death rate from alcohol abuse has been growing by just over 1% a year since 2001. last year, it went up by 18%. in england, the men living in the most deprived areas were four times more likely to die from alcohol than men living in the wealthiest areas. unlike previous years, the death rate was twice as high for men compared to women. even though there were more people drinking at the start of the first lockdown last spring, this increase in deaths is more likely to be down to those suffering from longer term problems with alcohol than before the pandemic started.

katharine, thank you very much. preparations are well under way for the athletes taking part in this year's tokyo olympics and today the official team gb kit has been unveiled. athletes representing uk will wearing white tops with bold red and blue designs. it's now 77 days until the games begin — without spectators — after having been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. alun wynjones has been named british and irish lions captain for this summer's tour of south africa. the ospreys forward captained wales to the six nations title in march. he'll be in charge of the lions for the tour injuly and august, and becomes only the fourth player ever to take part in four or more lions tours. mark ormrod is a former royal marine commando who lost both legs and an arm in afghanistan. pictures of him went viral when he fell over while training

for a 5 kilometre run for charity. after that, he smashed his fundraising target. well, now mark has set himself another gruelling challenge — swimming across plymouth sound. john maguire has been to see him training. eyes on the prize. the objective of mark ormrod's latest challenge is drake's island, and to swim a thousand metres off the coast of plymouth. his mental strength is his greatest asset, self—evident when he insisted on parading with colleagues from 40 commando, after he'd been blown up in afghanistan less than five months earlier in 2007, leaving him a triple amputee. mark's most recent endeavour was running five kilometres to raise money for reorg. running seems impossible, but swimming requires a whole new level of determination. you swam at the invictus games, so how is your swimming? terrible.

and you know what's frightening is, i remember how tired i was after 50 metres in an olympic sized swimming pool. now, this is a lot farther, with tides and currents, and creepy crawlies underneath, and everything else that comes with sea swimming. so, this is a new world to me. this is his first training swim. by his side is another former royal marine, his trainer, ben wadham. how i'm going to get him through this is, i'm going to rely on mark's absolute mental capacity to dig out on things that most normal human beings couldn't. getting in the sea is hard for someone with all limbs. and it's a daunting challengejust to get into the sea and swim 100 metres out and back. sea swimming is hard enough, but mark has only one arm to drag himself through the oppressively cold water. gyms and pools can't fully prepare you for the sea, with its tides and currents. with mark struggling, and fatigue exacerbated by the cold setting in, the decision's made to return to shore.

the current�*s particularly strong out there, so it was dragging us that way. at that point we were just churning up, because we couldn't get enough power to get him moving through the current. he's obviously physically and mentally robust, but today has proved invaluable, as the team learned about what kit and which techniques would enable mark to complete the one kilometre swim. it's cold. yeah. harder than you thought? oh, yeah. i've not really swum with a current before, and the cold affected my forearm, which meant that my fingers couldn't close properly to swim. so... ah! but a good first day, though. another monster effort. it will be. the end result will be. as a former royal marine, the corps' motto is per mare, per terram. mark has conquered the land. now he's taking on the sea.

john maguire, bbc news, plymouth.