well, i think in education, where we've seen a 6.5%| pay award, a properly funded pay. award, certainly our teaching unions will be recommending to their members that they accept the government's proposals. and if that is the case, then i think that we . will see the end of- the strikes in education. good evening. a pay rise for public sector workers in the uk. there's a new offer for over a million teachers, doctors, dentists, prison officers and the armed forces. it came on a day when junior doctors began what their union says is the longest strike in nhs history. we will bring you reaction and analysis from the government and the unions. also tonight: modi in paris. why is the indian prime minister the guest of honour at this

year's annual bastille parade? and we will talk movies, a glut of new releases currently at the cinema, but if the actors join the writers on the hollywood picket line, what will winter look like at the box office? all that to come, but lets start, shall we, on a positive note. the four teaching unions in england have called off their proposed strikes, after the prime minister honoured the recommendations of the pay review bodies. rishi sunak has ruled out any further borrowing to increase the salaries of public sector workers, which means that today's announcement, which goes well beyond the 3.5 percent deemed affordable" by the treasury, will need come from existing budgets. mr sunak said government departments will need to reprioritise" spending to fund the increase — raising fears of cuts across public services. the prime minister said this was a final offer, and there would be no further negotiation. it would not be right to increase taxes on everyone to pay some people

more, particularly when household budgets are so tight. neither would it be right to pay for them by higher borrowing. because higher borrowing simply makes inflation worse. instead, because we only have a fixed pot of money to spend from, that means government departments have had to find savings and efficiencies elsewhere in order to prioritise the paying public sector workers more. so let's take a look at what has been announced today. police officers have been offered 7%. gp is and consultants, 6%, junior doctors, 6%, junior doctors, 7% and the armed forces 5%. teachers have been given 6.5%. mary bousted, the general secretary of the national education union, said she'd be recommending members "bank" this offer. but the chair of the british

medical association profession, phil banfield, who represents junior doctors, says the pay rise will not end the dispute, nor will it retain doctors and stop them going abroad. the government has had knowledge of this award for several weeks, it has refused to negotiate, the only offer it has put on the table was 5%, and so itjust shows that this government is playing games with the help of this nation with the health of this nation what it does announces, it is going to pile the cost of this onto the very workers that are tasked with maintaining the public sector. there is no evidence that public sector pay rises fuel inflation, and this government's narrative is completely disingenuous. joining us now is stuart hoddinott, a senior researcher at institute for government, a non partisan think tank. bank you for being with this. in his

speech today, the premise that only refer to education when he said that these pay awards are properly funded. in other departments, he talks about reprioritising and savings. do you think that some of this money is coming out of front line services.— line services. almost certainly. if there is no _ line services. almost certainly. if there is no money _ line services. almost certainly. if there is no money being - line services. almost certainly. if there is no money being made i there is no money being made available by the government for these pay rises, then yes, the money will come from elsewhere in departmental budgets which will necessitate what the government calls efficiencies, but what we would call from our research, likely, cuts to other parts of public services. 50, that might mean some parts of the services are pared back, it might mean less service provision and otherwise, but, if there is no more funding, that is what it will mean. buy back the recommendations are adding £500 million to the sect and pay bill, and that has to come from somewhere. i suppose the danger is, if you meet the demands of workers, particularly in the nhs, who are close to

burn—out, and you satisfy, quite legitimate demands for a bigger pay rise to meet the cost of living crisis, you are in danger of not hiring new people which is really robbing peter to pay paul, isn't it? if you can't pay staff on the first time, you don't make pay any better. that is exactly what the unions would be arguing. that is also what the government is aware of. when they give their rebate, they consider how it will affect recruitment and retention, departmental budgets, and this year, how it will affect inflation. if you don't provide pay increases that are competitive with the private sector, you are likely to worsen recruitment and retention, you worsen the workforce crisis that we are seeing in a number of public services, not least the nhs, and schools. 50, yes, it is definitely needed to try to improve the situation and improve

retention across public services. can we talk about the budget for responsibility which has talked about government spending, saying, if we continue to supply services as we are doing now, then, we will continue to see national debt rise to 300% of borrowing against gdp. it is currently about 100%. that is what we are facing, albeit over the long—term. but, when you talk to people out there, there doesn't seem be much appetite for a smaller state. if be much appetite for a smaller state. ,., . , ., state. if the government wants to kee- state. if the government wants to keep borrowing — state. if the government wants to keep borrowing down, _ state. if the government wants to keep borrowing down, and - state. if the government wants to keep borrowing down, and also i state. if the government wants to - keep borrowing down, and also wants to keep trying to provide a good level of service, they will likely have to make some tough decisions in the future. there is no real honesty at the minute about the fact that, if there is not some larger funding source for public services, then there will likely need to be some paring back on public services in the future, otherwise, it seems likely that public services and funding public services will not be a sustainable footing as the abi

have indicated in their report today. have indicated in their report toda . ., , have indicated in their report toda . , ., have indicated in their report toda. , ., , today. there has been of positivity from the union _ today. there has been of positivity from the union city, _ today. there has been of positivity from the union city, the _ today. there has been of positivity from the union city, the junior - from the union city, thejunior doctors begin what they say salonga strike in nhs history today, and they say 6% is not even a basis for negotiation. there does not seem to be much compromise there. if they do not come back to the table, how difficult is it going to be for the prime minister to meet one of his pledges to cut hospital waiting lists. i see from the report today that actually, the number of people waiting for routine surgery or care has gone up from 7.2 million to seven point four 7 million in may. that is right, in short, it will be very difficult for the government to meet their target bring down waiting lists if consultants and doctors continue to strike over the coming months. it seems its pay offer will not be enough to end the strike action. it might be, it might be the

bma finding support from the members, but from the noises they are making, and from the combative nature of the dispute up until now, i would be very surprised if the bma call off their strikes. and every time the doctors walk out, there is a large reduction in activity, elective activity across hospitals. that will make it very difficult to start to bring that 7.47 million number back down again before the next election. number back down again before the next election-— next election. cutting waiting lists, next election. cutting waiting lists. one _ next election. cutting waiting lists, one of _ next election. cutting waiting lists, one of the _ next election. cutting waiting lists, one of the five - next election. cutting waiting lists, one of the five pledges| next election. cutting waiting l lists, one of the five pledges of the foreign minister, we will see what happens with that negotiation. for the moment, thank you very much. thank you. new evidence uncovered by the bbc has cast further doubt on the greek coastguard's version of the events surrounding that tragic sinking of a migrant boat in which it's feared 600 people may have died. the trawler carrying migrants from libya to italy sank off the coast of greece on i4june. two survivors have told bbc news the coastguard pressed them to identify nine egyptians on board as the traffickers. a new video of the overcrowded boat at sea also challenges the greek

coastguard's account. for the past month here at bbc verify, we've been trying to find out more about what happened to this boat, what happened to all the people on board. let'sjust go right back to the beginning, because the journey the vessel took was from the northern coast of libya, a place called tobruk. the idea was that people would travel to italy. they didn't want to go to greece. but we know that the journey went very badly wrong. this is in more detail the northern coast of libya. and what survivors have told us is that they actually were put on smaller boats by the coast there and then they went further into international waters before getting on to the bigger fishing boats. this is the journey we think that boat took. you can see it there leaving tobruk and it actually capsized off the greek coast and sunk. this red line here is thejourney of the faithful warrior.

now, remember that name that is a much bigger vessel that was sent to deliver food and water to the migrant boat. there is a new video that we've been looking at and i want to show you it here. this is the migrant boat. and look at the situation. it's dangerously, precariously to one side. this is significant because at the time that this video was taken, the greek coastguard continues to argue that the boat was not in danger and did not need to be rescued. if you just look again at the video, you can see there is a much bigger vessel in the background. and if we look at what we've been working on here, the faithful working on here, the faithful warrior, we looked at this. this is a photo that exists of the boat and just have a look at the windows. you've got a pattern, two big windows, two smaller ones, and then two big windows, one partially obscured there. but if you take that pattern and apply it to our video, you've got the two big windows, two smaller ones and two big ones.

so that enabled us to basically do a visual match. but also we were looking at the tracking data of that vessel and it places it in the sea at that particular time. but it's notjust this evidence we've been looking at. we've been back to greece talking to people as we try and find out what exactly happened. in a park in central athens, we meet two survivors who ask us to hide their identity. they say the greek coastguard caused their boat to sink. they attached a rope from the left. everyone moved to the right side of our boat to balance it. the greek vessel moved off quickly, causing our boat to flip. they kept dragging it for quite a distance. the men alleged that when survivors tried to speak out about what happened, they were quickly silenced. the army men said, you have survived death. stop talking about the incident and don't ask more questions about it. stop talking about this. stop making accusations. you are safe now. that's the most important thing. mind your business.

we returned to the port of kalamata in southern greece, where the coastguard interviewed survivors. but there are now doubts about that process. 0ur bbc investigation last month showed that in the 7 hours before it went down, the boat had hardly been moving at all. and now using court documents, witness statements and the evidence of a new whistle—blower, we can see a pattern of behaviour by the greek coastguard. after this man watched our bbc verify investigation last month, he contacted us. he wanted to explain that he worked as a translator in a previous people smuggling case where he believed an argument was built against two innocent men. with fellow survivors being threatened. they were told if, unless you specify such and such, that these were the individuals who were people smugglers, you'll be

treated unpleasantly. you'll be put in prison and returned to taliban. as for this summer's shipwreck, the greek authorities have charged nine egyptian men with manslaughter and people smuggling. the greek coastguard refused an interview and have not replied to our latest allegations. but this new video and these new claims raise more questions about their actions. despite those allegations, there is no big independent international investigation into what happened, even though the likes of the united nations say it's really important that one takes place. and that's something that survivors have said they're really disappointed about. they don't think that this is getting the attention it deserves. and also, they've criticised the fact there is no big effort to go to the mediterranean and try and find the boat. yes, it sank in one of the deepest parts of the sea. but the survivors we met in athens said it's notjust a ship.

it's the fact that our families, our loved ones are relatives. our loved ones, our relatives. it's their resting place, and they're desperate for their bodies to be recovered from if it is at all possible. i'm joined now by amnesty international uk's refugee and migrant rights director, steve valdez symonds. thank you for being with us. does it tell us more something more worrying about how the greek authorities handle these disasters? an acne that already. irate handle these disasters? an acne that alread . ~ ~ ., handle these disasters? an acne that alread .~ ~' . . ., , already. we knew that already. lastl , already. we knew that already. lastly. the _ already. we knew that already. lastly, the human _ already. we knew that already. lastly, the human rights - lastly, the human rights organisation made a rule on the coastguard for loss of life trying to tow a boat back in 2014 out of its waters. this is something that amnesty international and others for that matter i have grave concerns about the actions of the greek

coastguard over years, indeed, and increasingly so. both in terms of what is done with people on the water and indeed, as you will see from your report, highlighting, scapegoating people from a sponsor that you elsewhere. that scapegoating people from a sponsor that you elsewhere.— that you elsewhere. that is what i don't fully understand _ that you elsewhere. that is what i don't fully understand about - that you elsewhere. that is what i don't fully understand about this. | don't fully understand about this. why are they so keen to pin this on nine egyptians if the survivors are quite clear that they were not responsible?— quite clear that they were not resonsible? �* , ., . responsible? i'm sorry to say that we should all— responsible? i'm sorry to say that we should all recognise _ responsible? i'm sorry to say that we should all recognise it - responsible? i'm sorry to say that we should all recognise it is - responsible? i'm sorry to say that we should all recognise it is not i we should all recognise it is not just the greek authorities engaging in some very hostile attempts at simply preventing people making journeys, however illegal, immoral, or utterly reckless of the attempts at stopping those journeys may be. elsewhere in the mediterranean, the atlantic, indeed, in the channel, these things happen, and time and time again, national authorities,

including in the uk, a tank to single out people to blame them for journeys, pick them so they are the people smugglers, come up and plainly they are not, to try and deflect from the policies that cause loss of life, in unique instances such as this even, the actions of national authorities that cause loss of life. ~ ., , national authorities that cause loss of life. ~ . , ., . of life. what rights do illegal mi . rants of life. what rights do illegal migrants have _ of life. what rights do illegal migrants have on _ of life. what rights do illegal migrants have on the - of life. what rights do illegal- migrants have on the international law in a case like this. they clearly are not from the country are travelling to, is there an international law that gives them rights and an investigation like this? . ., , . . this? there are two things that are of paramount _ this? there are two things that are of paramount importance. - this? there are two things that are of paramount importance. one, i of paramount importance. one, international law is very clear about importance of saving lives and protecting lives at sea. any actions such as this or anything like it is completely prohibited. but the obvious reason that it is so utterly dangerous. but there is a second issue which is a more broad one for

the policies and actions of national authorities right across europe, in fact. people are entitled to seek asylum. and while it may be true that some of the people on this vessel and others may not turn out to have good claims, many of the people certainly do. and they are entitled to cross borders to make those claims. and none of these countries make available alternative journeys for the people to do so. so, i am afraid, journeys for the people to do so. so, lam afraid, european journeys for the people to do so. so, i am afraid, european nations, this country as well, all have to look hard at themselves because, we should remember, some are around 25,000 people now lie dead in the mediterranean over the last less than two decades, and this is only going to get worse unless policy radically changes.— going to get worse unless policy radically changes. thank you very much for your— radically changes. thank you very much for your time. _ radically changes. thank you very much for your time. around - radically changes. thank you very much for your time. around the l radically changes. thank you very - much for your time. around the world and across uk, this is bbc news.

let's take a quick look at some of the other stories making headlines across uk. new figures suggest the uk economy shrank in may, but not by as much as economists predicted. gdp fell by 9.1% compared with the month before, analysts had forecast a bigger drop because of the extra bank holiday in may to mark kicking's coronation. drivers are being urged to brace themselves for higher costs when dropping off friends and family at some of the ukbiggest airports. the rac says charges for short savers have risen by almost one third. operators have defended the hikes, saying the extra revenue is reinvested into the service. the royal veterinary couege service. the royal veterinary college has estimated in 20 when more than 10% of puppies but in the uk but illegally imported. that is more than double the figure from 2019. the rbc also says that animals brought into the uk illegally are also more at risk of having been

exposed to infectious diseases abroad. the charity says puppies brought in from abroad are more likely to be aggressive. you are lively bbc the indian prime minister miranda modi is on a two—day visit to france where he will attend the traditional bastille day parade tomorrow. as president macron's guest of honour. the leaders are set to discuss a new defence deals. the red carpet treatment in paris comes on the back of last month's state dinner in washington, a city mr modi was once banned from. that tells you that, despite their differences over the war in ukraine and the tensions which do remain over india's human rights record, western democracies are still keen on deepening ties with india over their mutual concerns about china.

garima mohan is a senior fellow at the german marshall fund of the united states. i understand that they are going to bite fighters from the french. how important is up for indian events? get a mac is incredibly important for indian events. india is really pushing to diversify away from russia. it pushing to diversify away from russia. ., , pushing to diversify away from russia. . , ., . , russia. it wants to reduce its dependence _ russia. it wants to reduce its dependence on _ russia. it wants to reduce its dependence on russia, - russia. it wants to reduce its dependence on russia, in - russia. it wants to reduce its i dependence on russia, in fact, russia. it wants to reduce its - dependence on russia, in fact, it has been doing that for the last decade. that is why france has been an extremely important part over the last ten years. francis the second second—largest military supply for india after russia. so, this raphael jet deal, as well as three submarines for the indian navy is quite important. we are also anticipating some sort of collaboration between france and india in terms of manufacturing and designing it together. so, france and india working together on those platforms. that is quite important, because india wants to reduce dependence on anyone partner. mr modi has made some pretty bold

claims about india working as a counterweight to china in the indo—pacific. does india have the will and means to deliver on those promises? i will and means to deliver on those romises? ~ ., . ., , promises? i think india certainly has a will to _ promises? i think india certainly has a will to deliver _ promises? i think india certainly has a will to deliver on - promises? i think india certainly has a will to deliver on those - has a will to deliver on those promises, in terms of means, it is working on it. india is working really hard to build the national recorded in spain, france, greece, croati hard turkey. recorded in spain, france, greece, croati hard to irkey. capacities and capabilities, particularly when it comes to the armed forces. ithink particularly when it comes to the armed forces. i think a very pressing concern for india is china and the border. india— china ties have never been in this sort of really bad low condition before. and, therefore, india is trying very hard to seek partnerships elsewhere, because, there is strength in numbers. and, it wants to work in different coalitions, for example, with countries like japan, australia, the united states to build capabilities. filth. australia, the united states to build capabilities.— australia, the united states to build capabilities. oh, but it wants to work with _ build capabilities. oh, but it wants to work with different _ build capabilities. oh, but it wants to work with different coalitions. l to work with different coalitions. here is what le mone wrote. they do

not want to alienate china and have avoided... specifically to beat back western domination. it sat at the heart of it? mr modi doesn't want to get stuck with anyone coalition? i get stuck with anyone coalition? i would absolutely disagree with that statement. india is not... when it comes to china. they are a very clear position when it comes to china. they are not trying to placate it or trying to make nice with china. india is one of the few countries that has very strong policies on china, in fact, new delhi thinks european countries still have not decided which way they want to go. the fact that india works in multilateralforms, i think we have to look at the deliberations of these institutions, where india often takes pro—western positions, let me note that india has the idea of a brick currency, also has issues with the expansion of bricks

proposed by china. it is more nuanced... proposed by china. it is more nuanced- - -— proposed by china. it is more nuanced... ., ., ,, ., nuanced... india has abstain five times from _ nuanced... india has abstain five times from condemning - nuanced... india has abstain five times from condemning the - nuanced... india has abstain five - times from condemning the invasion of ukraine at the un. his host, this week, president macron, has been very critical of countries sitting on the fence. accusing them of complicity in russia's new imperialism. d—link is going to work on prime mr modi while he is set in paris? i on prime mr modi while he is set in pafis? ~ on prime mr modi while he is set in paris? ~ . . on prime mr modi while he is set in paris? ~ ., . ., , on prime mr modi while he is set in paris? ~' ., . ., , ., , paris? i think france, as well as other european _ paris? i think france, as well as other european countries, - paris? i think france, as well as other european countries, has l other european countries, has certainly been bringing up ukraine with new delhi, and this issue will be mentioned again, i think. i do believe that india has been quite openin believe that india has been quite open in discussing its position with european politicians as well as policymakers, so, there is some form of understanding, but there is definitely a push to make sure that it aligns more with the west. i it aligns more with the west. i mean, the indians, in some way, are benefiting from this war. they have increased the imports of cheap russian oil, which of course, i'll price caps on the global sanctions.

on the flip side, the war makes russia dependent on china, perhaps to do the maths advantage of india. it certainly does. the growing russia— china alliance has new delhi very alarmed. in the border stand—off india currently is engaged in with china, and given how much it is dependent for its's security and weapons in russia, even if russia was to play a neutral role and wanted to play spoiler in the conflict, it would tilt the scales in china pass favour. for indian policymakers, this is an absolute long—term concern, which is why we are also seeing india russia ties already. we saw it in the sco summit, we see it in the g20, where india has a residency. india has been calling out russia and china, that he countries it opposing the language on ukraine resolutions. i think india and russia stories are not over, we need to keep watching,

there are certainly tensions in this relationship, and they are only increasing. relationship, and they are only increasing-— increasing. really interesting. thank you _ increasing. really interesting. thank you so _ increasing. really interesting. thank you so much _ increasing. really interesting. thank you so much for- increasing. really interesting. thank you so much for taking | increasing. really interesting. l thank you so much for taking us around all of that. we will of course bring you some pictures of bastille day here tomorrow on the bbc. that is always worth watching. lots of pomp and ceremony. do stay with us, we will go to a short break. on the other side of the break, we will talk about the hollywood strike, actors and writers, all at the barricades. what does that mean for the film and television programmes will watch? hello there, a familiar story today. cool hello there, a familiar story today. cool, some sunshine and showers. over the next few days, it could be turning wet and windy. this area of cloud is a developing area of low pressure. that will bring the wind and the rain up from the southwest.

and ahead of that, whilst the showers that we had today will fade away, we've got a bit of thicker cloud bringing some patchy rain northwards across wales, north west england, northern ireland and southern scotland. and they're probably going to be a lot of cloud around overnight. so a little bit warmer than last night away for northern scotland where we've got single figure temperatures. but let's focus on the southwest. this is where we've probably got the worst of the weather, i think, for friday. as well as the rain, we've got these strong, gusty winds, gusting 50 miles an hour perhaps, and some rough seas. and that rain is going to be with us for much of the day. before it does clear away later, it could turn heavy and thundery. that rain will push further north and eastwards across more of england and wales, up into northern ireland, maybe eventually into the south of scotland. something a bit drier for the north of the country. could be muggy for a while in the southeast, but if anything, those temperatures are likely to be even lower than they were today in the wind and the rain. and it's all due to that area of low pressure deepening as it heads across the uk. it's going to be sitting around into saturday, lots of isobars on the chart, an indication it's going to be unusually windy, really, for this time of the year. and the rain when it comes

could be heavy and thundery. of course, it's going to stay on the cool side as well. focus on the winds, though, for saturday, and the strongest winds will be across england and wales. it's in this area that we're more likely to have some impacts because of the strength of the wind, and the strongest winds could be along some southern coasts and over the hills, but particularly gusty when those showers arrive and it doesn't take long for them to set off. we've got a lot of downpours developing widely across england and wales where it's windy. not quite so windy for scotland and northern ireland, but again, some heavy and thundery rain is possible. all depressing the temperatures, of course. that area of low pressure still with us, then on saturday will continue to just drift northwards, could take the worst of the weather away with it as well. but, if anything, it may be a windier day for scotland to northern ireland, perhaps the north of england, not quite so windy on sunday further south. and there may well be some sunshine around, but still some heavy thundery showers, wetter weather in the north and the top temperatures 20—21 celsius.

hello, i'm christian fraser. you're watching the context on bbc news. southern the context on bbc news. europe swelter through fierce southern europe swelter through a fierce high heat wave with temperatures over 40 celsius recorded in spain, france, greece, croatia and turkey.