also tonight — the teenager accused of murdering three children in southport is charged with a terrorism offence. with a week to go before the us election, i'm in arizona, one of the crucial swing states, that could decide the presidency. and i'm in washington where we will soon know who has the keys to the white house — donald trump or kamala harris. arizona republicans voted democrat in 2020, dismissing donald trump as too extreme. which way will they go this time? republicans, like myself, felt comfortable supporting joe biden. we don't feel the same way about kamala harris. and we'll be reporting from georgia which was at the heart of false claims of election

fraud after the last presidential election. on newsnight at 10.30pm tonight — we'll bring you fresh insight on the stories of the day, with big interviews and our regular panel of newsnighters — and of course, look at what the papers are saying about tomorrow's news. good evening. on the eve of a budget which could define the priorities of the labour government, it's revealed it will raise the national living wage from april — meaning that 3 million low paid workers will get a pay rise of more than 6%. the government says the increase will be worth £1,400 a year to a full time worker. the measure will form part of a raft of announcements by rachel reeves in her first budget as chancellor and labour's first budget for m years. in a moment our economics editor

faisal islam will be taking us through what to expect. but first, here's our business editor, simonjack. a pay rise for millions is on the way, and it went down well in cardiff today. it makes finding a job that can pay the bills a lot easier, because many people my age have been struggling for years with this minimum wage. especially what it is at the moment, it's not enough. i don't feel like... yeah, i think it should be raised, for sure. there's young adults out - there who are starting to build up for their own future, _ to go move into their own houses and have a life by themselves, so raising it up would make iti easier for everyone. the government announced today the minimum wage for workers 21 years old and over will rise from £11.44 an hour to £12.21, a 6.7% rise, while workers aged 18—20 will see minimum pay rise from £8.60 to £10 an hour, a rise of over 16%. but for employers in sectors like hospitality, which employ a lot

of young workers, it's another item on the rising expenses bill. it will cost me between £3,000 to £3,500 a week, so crudely, 150 to 180 grand a year. i think it will result in more closures, and i believe it will result in fewer openings, and that is going to be bad for the economy, bad for the treasury and i would argue bad for society. businesses of all kind warmed to the messages coming from the government about being pro—business, pro—growth, but since then, that feeling has slightly cooled with a big increase in wage costs, a massive increase in national insurance contributions and a plethora of new employment rights. some businesses are feeling that they've been handed a very big bill to achieve the government's objectives. but the government insists that a happier, higher paid more secure workforce is good for business and the economy. pro—worker, pro—business approach to the economy is the right approach, and investing in your workforce is a great way to improve

your productivity, not least because you will have more people across the country with more money in their pocket being able to spend it in the economy. as the chancellor tries to get the sums to add up in her first budget tomorrow, businesses are preparing to adjust their budgets. simon jack, bbc news. so tomorrow's the big day — faisal will be watching proceedings closely and is here for us now. so what else can we expect to see in the budget? this is going to be a budget of big change. one for the history books. so where will it sit in the past half century of chancellors and their tax raising budgets? here is all of them — red for labour, blue for conservative with tax rising budgets above the line and a smaller number of tax cutting ones below. now have a look at this — where each general election falls, and there's a pattern of big tax rising budgets in the first year or two after an election.

getting the bad news out of the way early on. now, let's take the biggest of those historic tax rising budgets — that's as a proportion of the whole economy. you'll see norman lamont in there. denis healey a couple of times and rishi sunak�*s mid—pandemic tax rise. but where will rachel reeves�* budget sit among all her male predecessors? if the briefings are correct, this is where we think her budget will stand. not far off the biggest tax—riser in recent memory. expected to be about £40bn per year. lets dig down on that. about half of that will be in the form of a rise to employer national insurance. not say labour part of their manifesto promise. the rest could come from capital gains, inheritance tax, maybe fuel duty. it all seems like a huge amount — why so? well, because the government argues the previous one simply did not leave enough cash in the kitty for the day to day running of public services, they say there is a £22 billion "black hole including £9 billion

for public sector pay. there were £5 billion in manifesto promises. and to "end austerity" — to protect all departments budgets from inflation — that's at least £16 billion a year. and this does not include one off costs of many billions for compensation for the infected blood and post office horizon scandals. this is the scale of the change. the important thing is whatever they spend down here will have to be matched by tax rises here — not borrowing — the chancellor's strict new "stability rule . there will be many details to look out for. we've heard about the national living wage, up 6.7%. will rachel reeves find £6 billion to avoid a rise in fuel duty? as well as the winter fuel allowance there will be further cuts to welfare — just how much? and perhaps a carrot for small businesses hit by rising worker costs in business rates.

all in all a big change in direction: public services getting an emergency injection, funded by equally big tax rises aimed at business. and some extra borrowing to increase long term investment too. all this change while aiming to keep financial markets calm and interest rates low. as ever the devil will be in the detail, which we will get tomorrow, in one of the biggest budgets of our time. and sophie raworth will be here this time tomorrow for budget day. as the chancellor reveals the contents of her red box, i'll be here in suffolk, finding out what impact her budget will have on you. whether you're in a town, a city or here in the countryside, we'll bring you all the key facts and information and we'll get reaction from our editors. sojoin me here at 6pm and 10pm. now, with exactly a week to go until the us presidential election, let's join clive myrie who's in the swing state of arizona for us now. hi, reeta. hello, everyone.

we're in the second largest city of tucson in the grand canyon state. downtown isjust behind me, and remember, arizona is one of the seven key battleground areas, that will decide who becomes the 47th president of the united states. it's a race that's shaping up to be the closest it's a race that's shaping in modern american history, with the latest poll, showing kamala harris and donald trump, neck and neck. the vice president's lead over the former president is nowjust1%, well within the margin of error. earlier today, speaking from his residence in florida donald trump said he was fighting to "save america." he's holding a rally in the swing state of pennsylvania later. let's go live to my colleague, sumi somaskanda, in washington. hi, sumi. thanks, clive. i'm in dc where we will soon know

who has the keys to the white house, donald trump or kamala harris. who has the keys to the white house, in about an hour, kamala harris will deliver what's being billed as a "closing statement" where she is set to remind voters why they should vote for her. i'll also be speaking with our north america editor sarah smith, but first it's back to clive. well, the race is on a knife edge, and success here in arizona could help offer up the keys to the white house. this was once a dyed in the wool red, republican state in presidential races, largely to due to the influence of the late longtime senator, john mccain. at the last election, the democrats won by a narrow margin of less than 10,500 votes. this time it's also likely to be a close run thing. but now a special message from senatorjohn mccain and governor sarah palin. .. he was the granddaddy of arizona

politics for three decades. good evening, my fellow americans. i'mjohn mccain. and, you know, i'm just sarah palin. live from new york, it's saturday night. a favourite of late night comedy shows. he was also a republican titan, helping presidential nominees on the right win his home state. he died in 2018. and as the sun rises over arizona, mccain's legacy here is a pragmatic conservatism, a willingness to work across the aisle, but also to strike out on your own when needed. woohoo! let's go, baby, let's go! these fans are heading to a big local basketball game, a sport mccain loved. we're at the home of the phoenix suns and in this conservative state, mccain's brand of politics found

a natural audience. most people in this arena will be mccain republicans or conservative—leaning independents. now, yes, joe biden did win arizona in 2020, but he was a good friend ofjohn mccain's, and his margin of victory was barely more than 10,000 votes. so it wouldn't take much for donald trump to retake arizona. but there's a catch. the donald's out of rhythm with many mccain conservatives. well, thank you very much. and a very special hello to arizona. thank you very much. they say he doesn't properly champion their values. he's too much of a conspiracy theorist. they believe there's no—one at the wheel driving sensible republican policies. there it is. yep. he's coming in. yep. there is no—one driving the car! the phoenix area just happens to have one of the highest concentrations of driverless cars... how do we get in? ..anywhere in the world. unlock.

there we go. all right. barrett marson is a republican consultant, mccain conservative, and no fan of donald trump. mccain republicans are conservative, but they're just not bat bleep crazy. john mccain was a principled conservative for decades. he never lost an election here in arizona. he was a popular conservative republican. and now we are in a driverless car. but sometimes it feels worse, it feels like there is a driver in the car and he's taking us off the cliff. how you doing? doing good. how much are your shoes? at the latest donald trump rally in arizona, it's all about getting a good souvenir. so how much are the trainers? those are 200. 200? yes, sir. wow. and these are genuine trump gold trainers? they are. they're official trump shoes. does he wear them? i'm s o rry? does he wear them? i think he did wear them.

and that's what made him popular. yeah. all right. 0k. maybe he plays golf in them! hello, how are you? where the former president goes, kirsten and geno go. their customers, loyal supporters of the ex—commander in chief. just like them. go trump! this despite the view of some mccain republicans that they might be a little bit crazy. if you only read half the story, of course you are going to say that. but his own former chief of staff, john kelly, reckoned that he admired hitler. yeah, i think that was a bit taken out of context. i think it was more meant, the way i understood it was more how organised they were that they were able to kill... to kill six million people. i know. but that's a weird thing to aspire to, right? well, no. and i agree. no matter the rhetoric, for his supporters, donald trump can do no wrong.

but if mccain republicans are turned off... oh, it's good to be back in arizona. good evening, everyone. ..could kamala harris get their vote, asjoe biden did in 2020? thank you all so very much. joe biden gave a eulogy forjohn mccain. they were friends. so republicans like myself felt comfortable supporting joe biden because we knew, all right, he's a democrat, but he's fine. he'll be fine. he'll be a centrist. he'll be moderate. that's fine. we don't feel the same way about kamala harris. yep, you guessed it. some believe she turns too far to the left. kamala was the first to help pay for a prisoner's sex change. - the power that i had, i used it in a way that was about pushing for the movement, frankly, and the agenda. she's also running on a record in government of high inflation, soaring interest rates and mortgage costs. for decades, arizona was its own little world of mccain conservatism. now so much has changed. almost there. don't forget your

phone, keys or bag. this is one of the half dozen or so swing states that will decide this presidential election. so whomever wins here will probably be driving to the white house. you're here, please make sure it's clear before exiting. where will those crucial 11 electoral college votes here in arizona go? the polls show donald trump has just nudged ahead kamala harris here, with seven days to go. let's rejoin sumi, in washington. thanks, clive. georgia was at the heart of false claims of election fraud following the last presidential election, and the state is in the spotlight again, with barely anything separating kamala harris and donald trump in the polls. in 2020, president biden won the state, after a recount, byjust shy of 12,000 votes.

many worry if the results are tight again, that conspiracy theories and allegations of voter fraud could resurface. 0ur north america editor sarah smith reports. there is a lawyerfor almost everything in america. they will take just about any complaint to court — possibly including disputing the result of the presidential election. most donald trump supporters, queuing up for one of his rallies in the georgia sunshine, really believe the last election was stolen and fear it might happen again. particularly in states like georgia, where the result is likely to be very close this year. in an election which has been characterised by extreme levels of misinformation and downright lies, it seems likely a lot of people simply will not believe the result — especially if they don't get the outcome they want. we don't have to cheat like they do. but we need to put it in their face. you're cheating, we caught you and here you go. are you worried that there might be some cheating in this election? i'm always worried that there's going to be cheating in this election.

we pretty much know there's going to be cheating. - but i'm hoping it'll be such i a minimalamount that, uh... ..that it won't matter. it's memories of 2020 that have put republicans on edge and ready to challenge any possibly problematic results. i mean, i went to bed on election night thinking donald trump had won georgia, right? and then two days later, after this steady drip — oh, no, nowjoe biden�*s the winner. so you think about how any rational person is going to react to that sequence of events, and they think something is up. they think something's not right about that. multiple investigations and legal challenges after the 2020 election found no evidence of sustained voter fraud in georgia or in any other state. when i spoke to him a few months ago, steve bannon, an architect of donald trump's 2016 win, told me he had a maga army ready to deploy if they think something's not right this time. right now, we've trained up an army of poll workers,

poll watchers, election officials. we have been training up for years. lawyers are going to be ready, and this time, they're going to have their filings ready to go and they'll be outside the courthouse. so our people are going to be on the trigger, metaphorically, to fight this from day one. fighting back — democracy watchdogs worried about undermining trust in the process. we're concerned that people will not accept the elected leader of the united states presidency as they didn't in 2020. and we know right now that less than a quarter of republicans believe that the vote counting for 2024 will be legitimate. we're concerned that we're going to have the exact same thing happen, play out again, because of individuals who are determined to make sure that people don't trust our elections. donald trump is already claiming there will be electoral fraud. he's getting ready to call foul if he loses. we're leading in the polls, but we have to do it too big to rig because they are good at one thing. you know what that one thing is? crowd: cheating! che—...

he goes "cheating". that's — they're professional thieves. the closer the result, the more likely it is that there will have to be recounts or even legal battles. states like georgia might have to wait for a court verdict before they can declare a winner. so it could be days, maybe even weeks before we know who's the next president of the united states. sarah smithjoins me now. from the other side of the white house where kamala harris will be holding a rally shortly. with both candidates giving their closing arguments if you will, what should we be looking out for in the next week? tonight, you are going to see what looks _ next week? tonight, you are going to see what looks like _ next week? tonight, you are going to see what looks like it might _ next week? tonight, you are going to see what looks like it might be - see what looks like it might be kamala harris�*s biggest campaign event of this entire season. 40,000 people, may more, expected here and she needs theirs to inject some excitement and enthusiasm back into her campaign. she has lost momentum in the last few weeks and if she is going to motivate people to come out

and vote for her, not necessarily people still to choose between trump and harris, but between klimala —— kamala harris and the couch, this is her chance. donald trump will be campaigning hard as well. at the moment, he is trying to repair the damage from a vulgar racist comedian made at his event, particularly against a large voting bloc of puerto rican is. they are not often difficult to motivate to get to the polls but he is trying to reach the young men who wouldn't be voting normally, can he inspire them to vote out? and one can be sure in an election of this type, both candidates will be fighting as hard as they can over every single last voter. . ~ as they can over every single last voter. ., ~ , ., ., voter. 0k, thank you, sarah. certainly _ voter. 0k, thank you, sarah. certainly everything - voter. 0k, thank you, sarah. certainly everything still - voter. 0k, thank you, sarah. certainly everything still to i voter. 0k, thank you, sarah. i certainly everything still to play ball with the polls tied in the battleground states. back to clive

now in tucson. yes, sumi, many people will be wondering what the impact of social media could be on the presidential race. 0n x, formerly known as twitter, some profiles, made by people who say they are not connected to either campaign, pump out misleading information, unfounded conspiracy theories and ai—generated images, are racking up millions of views and making thousands of dollars for the people posting them. marianna spring has tracked some of them down. the social media site x is a hub for conversation about the us election, but some of the posts are fake and misleading. i've been investigating networks of accounts on x. some of the stuff they share is true, some of it isn't. some of it is al generated, some of it's just political posts. and i've tracked down one person who's a part of one of these networks and who has

agreed to meet with me.

misleading and false claims on x from other users have included this doctored image of kamala harris working at mcdonald's, and false or unsubstantiated claims about election fraud. democrat "brown—eyed susan" has shared unfounded conspiracy theories that the july assassination attempt on donald trump was staged, and ai—generated images of him, too. she posted these along with her political views because she wants kamala harris to win the election. the only reason i make anything right now is because musk assigned me that blue check. i didn't ask for it. i can't hide it and i can't return it. so i clicked on "monetise." i asked x about whether its site is incentivising users to post like this. it didn't respond to me or request to interview its owner, elon musk.

this matters because misleading posts from x seem to be spilling out onto other social media sites with more users, and could affect voters. marianna spring, bbc news, florida. and next week, i'll be in washington with sumi, and catrina perry, for our election night special, on bbc one and the iplayer. 0nline, the bbc news live page will have all the results as they happen. and across the bbc�*s radio networks, ros atkins and nuala mcgovern, will be at the helm. and don't forget for in depth analysis, just go to bbc sounds any time for the americast podcast. and victoria will have more on the us election over on newsnight on bbc two shortly. hello, victoria. yes, we have the

build-u hello, victoria. yes, we have the build-up to _ hello, victoria. yes, we have the build-up to the _ hello, victoria. yes, we have the build-up to the key _ hello, victoria. yes, we have the build-up to the key kamala - hello, victoria. yes, we have the| build-up to the key kamala harris build—up to the key kamala harris speech and robertjenrick co ntroversially speech and robertjenrick controversially asked the prime minister to explain what he knew about the southport attacks. it comes after merseyside police announced the 18—year—old is also facing a charge under the terrorism act. insights on that on newsnight on bbc two and iplayer in about four minutes. see you then. hat on bbc two and iplayer in about four minutes. see you then.— minutes. see you then. not long to no now, minutes. see you then. not long to go now. victoria. — minutes. see you then. not long to go now, victoria, thank— minutes. see you then. not long to go now, victoria, thank you. - that's it for now from me and our teams across the us, now back to you, reeta, in the studio. thanks, clive. thank you, sumi. here, the teenager who's accused of murdering three young girls at a taylor swift—themed dance class in southport injuly has been charged with two further offences — one of which is a terrorism charge. axel rudakubana, who's 18, is accused of producing the poison ricin along with possessing information about an al qaeda training manual. he's already been charged

with murder, attempted murder and possession of a knife. our special correspondent, judith moritz, has more. bebe king, elsie dot stancombe stankom and alice aguiar were just dancing, having fun in the school holidays, when they were stabbed. news of their deaths reverberated from southport to the rest of the uk and beyond. a teenager, axel rudakubana, is accused of their murders and the attempted murders of ten others. he now faces two more charges of producing ricin and possessing a study of the al-qaeda training manual — which is an offence under the terrorism act. but the southport attack has not been declared a terrorist incident. i recognise that these new charges may lead to speculation. the matter for which axel rudakubana has been charged under the terrorism act does not require motive to be established.

for a matter to be declared as a terrorist incident, motivation would need to be established. i would strongly advise anyone against speculating as to the motivation in this case. the 18—year—old's home in lancashire was searched in the days after the attack. the police found an unknown suspicious substance there. experts from the ministry of defence were called in. this included scientific advisers, myself included, it also included unrestricted access to our analysis laboratories at porton down, where a team of scientists undertook detailed examination of the items from this incident to identify the presence of the toxin ricin. when the poison was discovered, extensive work was carried out to check the risk level. no ricin was found to be present at the dance school in southport, where the stabbings happened. this information confirmed

that there was no evidence that any victims, responders or members of the public were exposed to ricin — either as part of the incident or afterwards. 0ur detailed initial risk assessment judged that the risk to the community and to the wider public was low. axel rudakubana will appear at westminster magistrates court tomorrow morning and his trial is expected to start injanuary. the police have urged restraint, pleading with people not to speculate or share rumour, to enable a fair trial and not lose sight of those who are still grieving and affected by what happened in southport. judith moritz, bbc news. the uk and the us are among many western countries to condemn last night's vote in the israeli parliament to ban a un relief agency from operating in its territory. unwra provides humanitarian aid to gaza, but israel has accused it of employing supporters of hamas who took part in the

october 7th attacks. it comes as local health officials reported more than 90 people killed in an israeli airstrike earlier today on a residential building in the town of beit lahia in northern gaza. israel doesn't allow internationaljounalists — including the bbc — into gaza. our special correspondent, fergal keane, sent this report from jerusalem — and i should warn you it contains distressing images of the aftermath of the strike. bearing the dead in beit lahia. at any time, expelling the main aid agency for palestinians would have been controversial. but in the middle of this, it's provoked widespread international criticism. dozens killed in an israeli airstrike, many of them children according to health officials. in gaza city, where many from beit lahia have fled,

another strike. the dead laying among market stalls. these boys wondering how to help. there are nearly two million displaced in gaza — facing famine, the un says, and depending on unwra for the basics of survival. within three months, the agency is to be shut down. i mean, it's absolutely outrageous. we said that the prospect of this vote was outrageous. the fact that the vote has happened is equally outrageous. it creates an incredibly dangerous precedent — notjust for this region, but potentially with international implications in other places. israel has accused unwra staff of being involved in the october 7th attacks. allegations were made against 19 staff out of 13,000. nine were subsequently fired.