today at one: the snp's treasurer is arrested by police investigating the party's finances. colin beattie is being questioned by police scotland. it comes two weeks after the arrest of the party's former chief executive peter murrell, who's married to nicola sturgeon. we'll have the latest live from glasgow. also this lunchtime: the forced installation of prepayment meters — new rules mean they can't be installed in the home of people over 85, or with certain medical conditions. what we are trying to do with this broad kind of practice is make sure we get the right balance to make sure that all of us have a fair way of paying for our energy but the vulnerable are most protected. a us newspaperjournalist arrested in russia appears in court accused of spying — and loses his appeal

against pre—trial detention. after six months of bird flu restrictions, poultry will shortly be allowed out again — heralding the return of free range eggs. and coming up on bbc news, after protesters disrupted play last night, the world snooker championships resumed today but with heightened security checks at the crucible. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the treasurer of the scottish national party, colin beattie, has been arrested by police investigating the party's funding and finances. it comes two weeks after peter murrell, the snp�*s former chief executive

who's married to nicola sturgeon, was arrested by officers who searched his home in glasgow and the party's headquarters in edinburgh. mr murrell was later released without charge, pending further investigation. our scotland correspondent lorna gordon has the latest. colin beattie has been the snp�*s treasure for almost the entire duration of his party's climb to dominance in scottish politics. its repeated electoral success and during the campaign for scottish independence. the former international banker, who became an msp, steered his party's money for 16 years before being defeated in then internal election in 2020. he then internal election in 2020. he then returned to the position when his successor to the post of treasurer resigned a year later, saying he did not have access to the accounts. earliertoday saying he did not have access to the accounts. earlier today mr beattie was taken into custody. police scotland said the arrest was made in

connection with the ongoing investigation into the funding and finances of the snp. opposition msps are today calling for colin beattie�*s suspension. are today calling for colin beattie's suspension. are today calling for colin beattie's susension. ., , beattie's suspension. there are very serious questions _ beattie's suspension. there are very serious questions to _ beattie's suspension. there are very serious questions to answer - beattie's suspension. there are very serious questions to answer and - beattie's suspension. there are very| serious questions to answer and that is why humza yousaf should suspend colin beattie for the duration of this investigation, and mr beattie should also step aside from the public audit committee, and that is the only way we can make sure that this investigation can be conducted fully transparently.— fully transparently. from 2017 to 2020 the snp — fully transparently. from 2017 to 2020 the snp raised _ fully transparently. from 2017 to 2020 the snp raised nearly - fully transparently. from 2017 to - 2020 the snp raised nearly £670,000 to campaign specifically for independence. at the end of 2019, questions arose when it emerged the party had less than £100,000 in the bank. injune 2021 the former chief executive of the party, peter murrell, loaned the party more than £100,000 of his own money. the following month police scotland opened a formal investigation into the snp�*s finances after receiving complaints about how donations to the party were used. last month mr

merrill resigned from the party after taking responsibility for misleading the public about its plummeting membership figures —— mr murrell. two weeks ago peter murrell was arrested by police, who searched his suburban glasgow home and garden. there was also police activity at the party's headquarters in edinburgh, with officers removing boxes of material as part of their investigation. peter murrell, who is the husband of nicola sturgeon, was later released without charge pending further inquiries. mr yousaf�*s first major statement to parliament since becoming first minister last month comes in the midst of continuing police investigation to his party's funding, and as his party faces a possible by—election in one of its westminster seats. lorna joins us from glasgow now. what's the reaction so far? the scottish what's the reaction so far? tie: scottish conservatives are saying that everyone in the snp has a duty to be as transparent as possible about what they knew and when.

scottish labour cited a's developments are deeply concerning and that for too long a culture of secrecy and cover—up has been at the heart of the snp, and also, alongside the scottish conservatives, are calling for the suspension of colin beattie, while the scottish liberal democrats are saying this complete mess, as they describe it, within the snp has torpedoed on the use of�*s relaunch. and it is true that this is another difficult day for humza yousaf. it's been about the police, not policies. there will be little he can say given there is an ongoing police investigation but there is no doubt that its cast a shadow over what was meant to be a reset for his government.— meant to be a reset for his government. ., ., ., ~ , ., the energy regulator ofgem says firms have agreed to new rules about the forced installation of pre—payment meters. energy companies will no longer be able to fit a meter in the home of anyone aged over 85 in england,

wales and scotland, and the ban also applies to any customer with a terminal illness or a condition that could worsen in a cold home. the rules have been prompted by footage showing british gas breaking into a property to fit a prepayment meter — but charities say this announcement doesn't go far enough. our cost of living correspondent colletta smith has more details. for the last two months, energy suppliers have been banned from forcibly installing one of these. hello, british gas, your gas supplier. we are here with a warrant. it was after an investigation for the times showed this aggressive behaviour by contractors fitting physical meters for british gas. and after we revealed the thousands of households seeing their smart meters flipped into prepayment mode when customers didn't even know it was possible. yeah, theyjust cut me off. yeah, and i didn't know... i didn't know. i actually thought it was a power cut. and i was wondering what was going on.

and they did tell me then that, "you have been changed over to a prepayment meter," and it's like, oh, right, that's it. nothing. but now all energy suppliers in britain have signed up to a new code of practice so they can begin forcibly installing prepayment meters once again. the changes mean customers over 85, people with terminal illnesses and some lung conditions can't be moved on to prepayment meters. but the regulator says there will now be extra checks so other households who may be vulnerable will be protected as well. companies need to make sure that they make at least ten attempts to communicate with that customer to understand their circumstances. secondly, for all customers in this process, there needs to be a site welfare visit, again, so companies can understand the circumstances the customers are in. £30 credit will be added automatically when someone's switched so they don't get cut off in the process. that's reassured some organisations whose campaign for better protection.

these rules are very specific- about the types of checks that need to happen after someone's beenl forced onto a prepayment meter, which means there are multiplej opportunities for an energy firm to identify whether or not it's . safe for that prepayment meter to be in that home. energy companies say if they didn't have a way to install prepayment meters, customers would get deeper into debt, which eventually, everyone would have to pick up the bill for. the code of practice introduces consistency in how suppliers are approaching people. what really matters, i think, is that customers do tell suppliers about what's going on for them. suppliers can only help customers if they know what's going on in their life and what their household circumstances are. the more they know, the more help and support they can offer. today, ofgem is hoping the new rules will help keep suppliers happy and customers safe. but it's still relying on companies to admit when they've made mistakes. colletta smith, bbc news.

mps say the impact of racism may have been underestimated by both the government and the nhs in the different maternal death rates of black, asian and white women. research last year showed a black woman is nearly four times as likely to die as a white woman in pregnancy, childbirth or the period immediately after, and an asian woman is nearly twice as likely. the cross party women and equalities committee says much faster work is needed to address what it calls this appalling disparity. the department of health says it's focused on improving outcomes for all mothers. here's our health correspondent naomi grimley. it was actually one of the hardest experiences i've ever had to go through. experiences i've ever had to go throu~h. ,, , u, ., through. sunder is campaigning for better care for _ through. sunder is campaigning for better care for black _ through. sunder is campaigning for better care for black mothers -- i better care for black mothers —— sandra. she formed her own pressure group after suffering not one but two traumatic births. the excitement she felt in her first pregnancy soon

evaporated in hospital when her doctor was hurt and dismissive. i begged and pleaded for pain relief oran begged and pleaded for pain relief or an epidural and she actually said she's not going to give me any epidural until i stop crying and stay still. she came back after two hours to then give me the epidural and that was horrible, to know i couldn't even show any form of emotion. and when i finally stayed still and, you know, obeyed her rules of not crying and not moving, then she gave me the pain relief. and that was quite dehumanising at the time. in and that was quite dehumanising at the time. . ,., ., ., ._ the time. in a report out today, the women and — the time. in a report out today, the women and equalities _ the time. in a report out today, the women and equalities committeesl the time. in a report out today, the i women and equalities committees has too many black women have experienced treatment that full short of acceptable standards and we are concerned the government and nhs leadership have underestimated the extent to which racism plays a mps advocate better staff training and more personalised care, though they point out ongoing staffing shortages make that harder. in its

response to this report, the department of health pointed out it had set up a specialist task force last year to examine exactly these issues, but it was originally supposed to meet every three months and we have learnt its only meeting today after a gap of nine months. maternal deaths are rare in the uk but the expert who first spotted this problem says action is long overdue stop. 50 this problem says action is long overdue stop.— this problem says action is long overdue stop. so there is no silver bullet but we _ overdue stop. so there is no silver bullet but we know _ overdue stop. so there is no silver bullet but we know this _ overdue stop. so there is no silver bullet but we know this has - overdue stop. so there is no silver bullet but we know this has been i overdue stop. so there is no silver| bullet but we know this has been a problem _ bullet but we know this has been a problem for 20 years so we have to do something. the solutions will be different_ do something. the solutions will be different in— do something. the solutions will be different in different places and for different groups of women. we need _ for different groups of women. we need to— for different groups of women. we need to be — for different groups of women. we need to be implementing actions and we need _ need to be implementing actions and we need to— need to be implementing actions and we need to be evaluating those actions — we need to be evaluating those actions to— we need to be evaluating those actions to find out what works so we can spread _ actions to find out what works so we can spread the best practice models. nhs england acknowledged there is more to be done and said it would review the report. but sandra argues an entire mindset needs to change. making sure that black and brown

mothers have a voice, have a platform and are not silenced. listen, listen to understand, not to just say, ok, i have tick this box. moscow claims that vladimir putin has visited occupied territories in southern and eastern ukraine. footage shown on state tv appears to show the russian leader meeting senior officers in both the luhansk and kherson regions. it's not clear exactly when or where the meetings took place, but it would be the second time in as many months that president putin has visited his troops closer to the fighting. kyiv has accused him of �*revisiting scenes of mass murder�*. from the capital, our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse sent this report. this is moscow's information strategy. its commander—in—chief, vladimir putin, appearing to leave the cover of russia. for ukraine's easter and the handscomb region. to

oversee his invasion first—hand. —— ukraine's eastern luhansk region. and it wasn'tjust ukraine's eastern luhansk region. and it wasn't just there. ukraine's eastern luhansk region. and it wasn'tjust there. a journey to a southern city in the kherson province, now with its own russian sine and spelling. it is important for me to listen to you, to hear your views, for me to listen to you, to hear yourviews, he for me to listen to you, to hear your views, he says, to compare notes. russia's leader then asks for a briefing on the kherson region. we don't know when this was. here, they talk about the upcoming easter, which was two days ago. but the kremlin claims this was yesterday. in these parts, dnipro river separates what russia occupies and what ukraine has liberated. the city of kherson might be back under kyiv�*s control but this is the daily reality. three people have been killed from russian shelling in recent days. translation: horse killed from russian shelling in

recent days. translation: how could this have happened? _ recent days. translation: how could this have happened? it _ recent days. translation: how could this have happened? it was _ recent days. translation: how could this have happened? it was a - this have happened? it was a nightmare, of course. i this have happened? it was a nightmare, of course.- this have happened? it was a nightmare, of course. i was sitting over there — nightmare, of course. i was sitting over there and _ nightmare, of course. i was sitting over there and there _ nightmare, of course. i was sitting over there and there was - nightmare, of course. i was sitting over there and there was a - nightmare, of course. i was sitting over there and there was a strike. | over there and there was a strike. the sound — over there and there was a strike. the sound of a rocket. we all fell on the _ the sound of a rocket. we all fell on the ground. the sound of a rocket. we all fell on the ground-— the sound of a rocket. we all fell on the ground. under the cover of niaht, on the ground. under the cover of night. vladimir— on the ground. under the cover of night, vladimir putin _ on the ground. under the cover of night, vladimir putin also - on the ground. under the cover of night, vladimir putin also visited. night, vladimir putin also visited occupied crimea and the city of mariupol last month. local authorities have described footage like this as fake. however this is part of a continued effort by moscow to legitimise what it's taken and tell ukraine, the west and russia that it's not going anywhere. and i think these images, whilst storing for so many ukrainians, will remain within the confines of the information war within this conflict because in the last weeks and months we've seen russian forces launch several offensives right across the front line, and their gains have been relatively minimal but

incredibly hard fought, this is why moscow has to both appease critics at home as well as increased pressure but on the ukrainian population as well as western allies. in the military sense i think it changes nothing for kyiv, it will be looking to see is the objective with the much anticipated and anticipated counteroffensive. at the sound coming out of the capital is that ukraine just is not ready yet. so there will be a lot of wary glances towards these reports but just today president zelensky, his office released images of him visiting an eastern city right on the front line. there he wished his troops his own happy easter message and thanked them for their continued efforts. i would be very surprised if that was a coincidence. an american journalist who was arrested in russia last month has appeared in court in moscow accused of spying, and lost his appeal against pre—trial detention. evan gershkovich, who works for the wall streetjournal newspaper, denies the charges. the us state department says he's

being wrongfully detained. our russia editor, steve rosenberg, joins us from moscow. what should we make of what went on in court today? ida what should we make of what went on in court today?— in court today? no real surprise, i have to say- _ in court today? no real surprise, i have to say. evan _ in court today? no real surprise, i have to say. evan gershkovich - in court today? no real surprise, i have to say. evan gershkovich did| have to say. evan gershkovich did not look surprised at the outcome, he listened calmly in the moscow city court house behind me as the judge declined his appeal against pre—trial detention. speaking to his lawyers afterwards, they did not seem surprised. this is the first time we have seen mr gershkovich since he was arrested nearly three weeks ago. just before the start of proceedings today, tv cameras were allowed briefly into the courtroom. we got in just for a allowed briefly into the courtroom. we got injust for a minute allowed briefly into the courtroom. we got in just for a minute to see him. he seemed quite calm, he acknowledged familiar faces in the press. he made no comment, though. he was arrested last month, accused of espionage by the russian security

services. he and his newspaper, the wall streetjournal, vehemently denied those charges, and the american government has declared him wrongfully detained. that means that backin wrongfully detained. that means that back in america his case has now been referred to the us special envoy on hostage affairs, who will try to secure his release.- try to secure his release. steve, thank you- _ try to secure his release. steve, thank you. steve _ try to secure his release. steve, thank you. steve rosenberg. . the time is 1:17pm. our top story this lunchtime: the snp's treasurer, colin beattie, is arrested and questioned by police investigating the party's finances. and still to come: why encrypted messaging services like whatsapp are urging the government to make changes to the online safety bill. coming to the online safety bill. up on bbc news, can che salvage coming up on bbc news, can chelsea salvage their season? frank lampard's side take on real madrid in the champions league quarterfinal later, trailing 2—0 from the first leg.

machetes and knives with no practical use which are designed to look menacing would be banned in england and wales, under new government proposals. the plans also include increasing the maximum prison sentence for making or supplying such weapons from six months to two years. labour said the weapons should have been banned years ago. celestina olulode reports. a brazen attack in broad daylight with a so—called zombie knife, a type of blade inspired by horrorfilms. these are some of the weapons that could be banned under new government proposals, something this mother, whose son was stabbed to death, welcomes. hakim was my eldest. he was a beautiful soul sent to this universe. unfortunately, he never get to do all the things he would have done in life. saranba's son and his killer had been attending a course for people with previous weapons—related offences. 18—year—old hakim was stabbed with

a weapon described as a rambo knife. under new proposals, this type of blade would be banned. there were more than 280 murders involving a knife or sharp object between 2021 and 2022. that is the highest annual total since records began over 70 years ago. last year, there were 16,000 knife—related offences. that is 9% higher than the year before and more than 30% up from a decade ago. we would expect to see at least a stabbing a day at king's. now, with machetes and zombie knives, these knives are much bigger, heavier, and they cause a different type of injury. so rather than just the penetrating wound, we are seeing horrendous slash wounds, which, although they might not seem as immediately life—threatening, they can cause significant disfigurement, they can sever tendons. the weight of the blade itself can fracture bones, as well. the proposals would give police

officers stronger powers to seize machetes and zombie knives, and there could be tougher penalties for those that sell them. the consultation has a number of proposals. the first one is around those knives which blatantly shouldn't be in circulation because they are only used to, you know, intimidate and injury. others include increasing the penalty to two years for selling these knives and distributing them to children. it is now an offence to possess certain items, even in private. attempts have been made to tackle the problem before. labour's shadow home secretary, yvette cooper, says machetes and zombie knives should have been banned years ago, whilst the liberal democrats have accused the conservative government of consistently failing to keep communities safe. i will never be the mum that i used to be. i will never be the person that i was once. my life has completely changed.

so many of the things that were fun to me, that i looked forward to doing and have so much pleasure doing it, i cannot because i remember my son is not there. so when you take a knife, you stab somebody, you are notjust stabbing one person, you are destroying lives. celestina olulode, bbc news. there's been a slight rise in uk unemployment. new figures show that in the three months to february the jobless rate was 3.8%, up from 3.7% the previous quarter. pay continues to rise sharply, especially in the private sector, but not fast enough to keep up with price rises. our economics correspondent, andy verity, has more details. all good? business has been challenging, up and down. it has been consistently inconsistent. one day we are super busy, we can't keep up.

the next day we don't have any work on. a year ago, construction companies like this builder of grand design style renovations, based near heathrow airport, were struggling to cope with the surge in demand for new projects as the economy bounced back from the pandemic. there was no lack of work, but profits were squeezed by the rocketing cost of raw materials and the shortage of skilled staff that sent wages soaring. it is difficult to meet demand when there is also less money in the jobs because the cost of labour has risen so much. so we have labourers earning the money which plumbers and carpenters were earning, like, two and a half, three years ago. but everybody wants the job to be cheaper because they have no certainty and the market conditions. so we do not have the money in the job to bring new people on board at the higher wage bracket. it was brexit that first caused the skills shortage that forced labourers' wages up. but now that is gradually settling down. with official interest rates eight times as high as they were for most

of the past 15 years, customers are being put off borrowing more for home improvements. so, in the past, people may take a remortgage, and when they take a remortgage they will take money out of the property and they will do an extension, they will do a basement, they will do a loft. but at the moment, people are looking at the rates and thinking, "lending is going to cost me so much more money, i am going to put the project on hold." with more people now seeking work, unemployment has ticked up from 3.7 to 3.8% of the workforce. vacancies dropped by 10,000 but remain high at 1.1 million. and across the economy, employers are paying more to attract and keep staff, with average earnings up 6.6%. certainly permanentjobs demand has dropped off a little bit over the last six months, but it is still well in advance of where it was pre—pandemic, and temporary labour has been rising month on month. because of the uncertainty that is out there economically, companies want to bring people in but maybe don't want to commit to a permanentjob. broadly, it is still a great time

to be looking for a job. the higher—than—expected pay rises will embolden those on the bank of england's monetary policy committee who want to raise interest rates for the 12th time in a row next month to head off inflation and undermine those who argue that rate rises have already gone too far. andy verity, bbc news. the bosses of encrypted messaging services, including whatsapp, have written a joint letter to the government, asking it to make changes to the online safety bill. they're arguing that the proposed law will allow the indiscriminate surveillance of personal messages. our technology correspondent shiona mccallum joins us from glasgow. what are their concerns? this all focuses around encryption, which is the key principle around private messaging. so if i send you a what's app and you send me one back, it is only me and you that can read those messages. not even the

3pp read those messages. not even the app providers can infiltrate and see our messages. under the bill as it stands, of, can ask the tech companies to root out child abuse and look for illegal content. this is the key bit, they say if they were to do that, then they would start looking at error messages, it would be effectively mass surveillance, that would break encryption and that fundamental principle that their companies are based on. they say, we are not prepared to do that. to make one have told me that they would rather walk away from the uk market —— whatsapp have told me. nancy encryption undermined. it is a stalemate between what the government are asking and what the tech companies are prepared to do. just now, the government are saying they are defending that proposal for they are defending that proposal for the online safety bill. the online safety bill at the moment is going through the lords, it will have more discussion this week. encryption is only a little part of the bill, the bill aims to police the internet at

large, and it will have various points to perhaps take on these amendments. when it comes to encryption, this is really a key point for the government and children's charities, so it will be interesting to see what changes in the weeks ahead.— we'll be able to buy free—range eggs again in the next few days, as bird flu restrictions are lifted across most of the uk. today is the first time in six months that captive birds and poultry can go outside, though experts say the h5n1virus is still circulating, and is an ongoing risk to wild birds. our environment correspondent jonah fisher is on a poultry farm in north norfolk. that is right. i am not farfrom norwich in east anglia, which was the epicentre of last year's bird flu outbreak. the vast majority of the cases took place near here. with just one case meaning the entire

stock of birds on that particular firm having to be destroyed, it had a devastating impact on the poultry industry. so it was a sweet moment this morning when that housing order was lifted across almost all of the uk, meaning that farmed birds could go outside once more. the restrictions eased, the doors of the enclosure opened, and the chickens... well, they were in no rush to embrace their new—found freedom. the ending of a housing order brought into control the spread of bird flu means that in almost all of the uk captive birds can now go outside once more. today is a great day. you know, we have been looking forward to this for a long while. mark supplies all the leading retailers, and last year, as the outbreak spread, hundreds of thousands of his birds had to be killed. we have had a really tough time over the winter. we ended up with nine farms being infected with the virus,

which we sadly had to have culled. and we have got through that, and to be standing here now, seeing the birds coming outside, doing what they want to do, expressing their natural instincts, is a fantastic feeling. the decision to allow them out was taken despite bird flu still being present in the wild birds that have been spreading it from farm to farm. as the weather warms up, the balance is that now is the time, with that reduced level and with consideration of welfare impacts, to let the birds out. but my clear message to everybody is security requirements and precautions whilst birds are out are still required to be in place. it is good news for the birds and good news for those of us who want to buy free range eggs and meat. but there are farmers who say the risk is still too great, that despite the rule change they will be keeping their birds inside.

it is like playing russian roulette. alistair produces and packs eggs, and even though his entire business is based on the hens being happy, he says he is keeping them in as a single infection would be so devastating. i do not think at the moment there is enough evidence to suggest that the wild bird population is free from the disease. so, whilst the birds are housed and they are controlled in an environment which is protected from wild birds, we are taking one risk out of it. the easing of restrictions is unlikely to have an immediate impact on egg shortages, which are linked notjust to bird flu but to farmers leaving the industry. expect free range produce to be back in supermarkets by the end of the week. it is important to stress that wild birds are notjust the carriers of birds are notjust the carriers of bird flu, they are being badly affected. the rspb said the outbreak

last year had had a catastrophic toll on breeding populations in the uk. with migrating seabirds about to return to our shores to nest from overseas, there are fears that the disease could start spreading again and we could see history start to repeat itself.— with just over two weeks to go, hundreds of military personnel were seen parading through the streets of central london last night, in a midnight rehearsal for the king's coronation. in military dress, they travelled in rows on horseback through the quiet streets in preparation for may 6th — when more than 6,000 men and women from the uk's armed forces will be involved. time for a look at the weather. here's chris fawkes. we have got more sunshine for most of us over the next few days, so we have got more of these blue skies to

be enjoyed through the course of the afternoon for most of us. yesterday was the warmest day