our economics correspondent andy verity has more details.here workers used to be told that manufacturing was the past and call centres were the future. not any more. a few miles away, near the town of houghton—le—spring, 2500 call centre workers were among those told by npower today theirjobs were going. disappointment, but it's a shame, there's nothing else we can do. i'll take it one step at a time. i'm still going to do myjob, still going to do the best i can, and take it from there. it's a heavy blow for an area already reeling from bad economic news. the future does look bleak, to be honest. you've got tata, you've got british gas. for 2000 people to lose theirjob, what else is going to replace thatjob? where are they going to go? it's just another nail in the coffin in this area. it's one after another. my fear is what about nissan — that could be next, and if that happened this city would be dead. for people, you know, especially if they've got children and mortgages and things like that, it's absolutely terrible. npower has struggled

our economics correspondent, andy verity has more details.d, where workers used to be told that manufacturing was the past and call centres were the future. not any more. a few miles away, near the town of houghton—le—spring, 2500 call centre workers were among those told by npower today theirjobs were going. disappointment, but it's a shame, there's nothing else we can do. i'll take it one step at a time. i'm still going to do myjob, still going to do the best i can, and take it from there. it's a heavy blow for an area already reeling from bad economic news. the future does look bleak, to be honest. you've got tata, you've got british gas. for 2000 people to lose theirjob, what else is going to replace thatjob? where are they going to go? it's just another nail in the coffin in this area. it's one after another. my fear is what about nissan — that could be next, and if that happened this city would be dead. for people, you know, especially if they've got children and mortgages and things like that, it's absolutely terrible. npower has strug

andy verity, bbc news, houghton—le—spring.k in a busy shopping street in the hague. police cordoned off an area near the town's historic centre. the attacker is believed to be still at large. let's return to our menus this evening, that attack at london bridge in which two people were killed, and the attacker himself was shot dead by police. —— main news this evening. andy moore has been following the story. we are learning your details this evening? yes, we are learning more about a man who was shot dead by the police. we now know that he was a former terrorist prisoner who was out on licence. he has not been identified yet, but we may hear some more details from scotla nd may hear some more details from scotland yard tonight. we know as a former prisoner he was attending an event at fishmongers all, just north of london bridge, where this whole incident started, at 1:58pm. of london bridge, where this whole incident started, at1:58pm. —— fishmongers' hall. it was an event chaired by a group called learning together, criminal

andy verity, bbc news. lets get thoughts from norman smith.not a phrase any party wa nts to not credible, not a phrase any party wants to hear. no because all politicians crave the approval of the ifs because they are regarded as the high priests of public finance and politicians want them to give their manifesto the thumbs up so they can turn around to voters and say, look, our plans are affordable and deliverable. only the ifs seems to have given both the main parties ad— to have given both the main parties a d— for their efforts, notjust on spending but on other policies. on social care for example they say both the main parties are not offering credible proposals to ensure families don't face catastrophic care costs. on benefit changes they are saying boris johnson is not doing anything to reverse existing benefit cuts whereas jeremy corbyn‘s reverse existing benefit cuts whereasjeremy corbyn‘s plans to scrap universal credit risks a decade of more upheaval and turmoil for claimants. on pensioners, they question while both the main parties

andy verity, bbc news, houghton—le—spring.k in a busy shopping street in the hague. police cordoned off an area near the town's historic centre. the attacker is believed to be still at large. the iraqi prime minister, adil abdul—mahdi, has announced he'll resign, a day after security forces killed more than a0 people protesting against his government. demonstrators in the capital, baghdad, celebrated the news. around 400 people have been killed since the protests began almost two months ago. thousands of students across the world walked out of class today, as part of a global climate strike. the protests are taking place ahead of the next un climate conference, beginning in madrid on monday. around 120 demonstrations were staged around the uk, as well as more than 3,000 in 150 countries. our science correspondent victoria gill reports from manchester. we care about our future and we demand that those in power care about it as well! another friday, another climate strike. and as the scale of this movement grows, its message is

andy verity, bbc news.een approved for use on the nhs in england for the first time. the drugs advisory body nice says the medicines will help people with epilepsy and multiple sclerosis. charities have welcomed the decision, but said thousands of other people who could benefit from cannabis—based medicines have been left in limbo. 0ur medical correspondent fergus walsh reports. this treatment comes from cannabis. have your medicine, look? indy rose has severe epilepsy. but her seizures have reduced dramatically since she's been on the drug. her parents are deeply disappointed as her drug will still not be available on the nhs. the epilepsy drug, which has been approved, is called epidyolex. doctors will be able to prescribe it in england, wales and northern ireland for two hard—to—treat forms of epilepsy, dravet and lennox gastaut syndromes. scotland may follow later. it contains cbd or cannabidiol, but no thc, the main psychoactive component of cannabis. it's working well for tj. his seizures are now unde

this report from our economics correspondent andy verity.n who wants to be the next chancellor of the exchequer has already promised a £250 billion in extra spending in the next ten yea rs. extra spending in the next ten years. today, he promised another sizeable sum in half that time. the social transformation fund will begin the urgent task of repairing oui’ begin the urgent task of repairing our socialfabric begin the urgent task of repairing our social fabric that's been torn apart by the tories. £150 billion to replace and upgrade and expand our schools, our hospitals, care homes and, yes, council homes once again. another £150 billion over five years is roughly £30 billion a year. to give you an idea of how much that is, £1 billion would run the nhs over the uk for three days, it is enough for the government to build up enough for the government to build up to 111,000 new social homes or to pay for 22,000 new secondary school teachers but it will mean loosening the governments rules on spending. 0urfiscal rule for the the governments r

andy verity, bbc news, houghton—le—spring. now on bbc news, our world.og areas abandoned children, exposed tragic levels of neglect in mogilino, an institute for disabled children. click the film created an international outcry. as a result, with funding from the eu, the bulgarian government closed many of the country's larger institutes, replacing them with group homes that house up to 14 people. 0ver replacing them with group homes that house up to 14 people. over a quarter of i house up to 14 people. over a quarter ofi billion euros from the eu has been invested in these reforms. a shocking report has just been released by an organisation for disability rights revealing that while the new group homes are smaller and clean, some of the children and young people within them i still suffering shocking levels of neglect. i see the conditions here today. they are exactly what i witnessed in mogilino and to some extent they are worse. i have come back to bulgaria to investigate life inside the new system of small group homes in 2019. but first, i am on my w

andy verity, bbc news.ficial receiver that a chinese manufacturing group has agreed to buy the company for £70 million, securing the future of firm's plants in scunthorpe and teesside. british steel went into liquidation in may and another proposed rescue deal with a turkish firm collapsed last month. they are early at said there would be some cost cutting and concerns as to how that would manifest in terms ofjobs, but there seems in that statement to be a commitment to preserve thousands ofjobs in britain. with an investment of £1.2 billion over the next decade. labour and the conservatives are both making election promises to improve the lives of uk military personnel. the tories say they would change the law to protect veterans from what they call "vexatious" legal action and they're also promising extra childcare for service families. labour says it will give military personnel better wages and improve support for their children. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blake reports. last post plays pausin

mr blutner, hello, i'm andy verity from bbc panorama. will you answer some questions for me? no.e asked you these questions. no. why are you willing to accept large sums of cash, higher than the legal limit come in exchange for gold? mr blutner, you have been convicted, you know it is illegal to accept more than 3000 euros of cash, why have you offered to do it? we have seen evidence. why are you helping criminals to get rich on dirty money? aren't you playing a very dangerous game here? notjust with your own liberty but with other people's? mr blutner was a crucial link for the crime gang. he turned their drug cash into gold, so they could smuggle it out of europe. the more you move across the border, the harder it is for the investigator to really track that back to the original source, and you can move intojurisdictions that will ask very few questions and sell them on. they gang knewjust the place to go to — dubai, the city of gold. it is a magnet for business, money and extravagant wealth, and it has become one of the world sent for money—laundering. millions of dollars of d

andy verity, thank you very much.g day, labour is changing its election strategy in areas which supported brexit in an attempt to widen the party's appeal. members of the shadow cabinet who back an eu withdrawal deal will be given a higher profile, while more activists are going to be sent to leave constituencies. jonathan blake is in southampton. simon, jeremy corbyn when he spoke of this morning about labour's environment plans didn't address specifically any shift in the pa rty‘s specifically any shift in the party's campaign specifically any shift in the pa rty‘s campaign strategy, specifically any shift in the party's campaign strategy, but he did take time after the speech in the question and answer session to set out in some detail labour‘s policy, try to make it as clear as possible, that is, that they would try to negotiate a new deal with the eu within three months and then put it to eu within three months and then put ittoa eu within three months and then put it to a public vote within six months. he was as

andy verity, bbc news.nd all conflicts since then. it is exactly 100 years since the first two—minute silence was held to commemorate the 15 million military personnel and civilians who died in world war one. daniela relph reports. last post plays. the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire, where remembrance happens daily all year round. but today is different. honouring the armistice, those lost and those saved, marked with a service of remembrance, and then silence. 0n the 11th november 1919, the first two—minute silence was observed. 100 years on, wherever you are, it remains a moment to stop, to reflect, and to remember. the first two—minute silence was introduced by king george v. thousands packed onto whitehall after he said the country should stop to honour those who never came home. the silence remains at the centre of remembrance a century later. but in 2019, the royal british legion didn't just ask for a pause and a silence. it said we should all mute our phones, switch off tvs and close ou

andy verity, bbc news. to deal with the continuing fallout from the resignation of its deputy leader, tom watson, there's been a new headache. two former labour mps, john woodcock and ian austin, have come out in support of the conservatives, arguing mr corbyn is unfit to govern. 0ur political correspondent chris mason reports. here he is, ian austin, at the heart of the labour party, working for gordon brown 15 years ago. he's devoted his adult life to the party as a counsellor, an adviser, attending cabinet. but his disagreements withjeremy corbyn are not new. he'd sat as an independent mp since february, but nonetheless, his intervention today is still astonishing. take a look at this. i thinkjeremy corbyn is completely unfit to lead our country, completely unfit to lead the labour party. and after 3a years, since a teenager, i've worked for labour party. in my 30s, i was a government adviser. in my 40s, i was an mp and a minister, but it's come to something when i tell decent labour voters that they sho

our economics correspondent andy verity is with me now. you have been looking at this proposal.ng — one is that you may be in squalid housing, housing that is not up to scratch, and according to government figures, there is one in four operatives where they are not decent. in other words, they can be cold, damp, in disrepair. the other problem is, families, people in their 30s and 40s with kids who are renting, don't have much security. a landlord can say, i want you to pay more rent, bump up the rent, and if you don't like it, you are out. there are no fault evictions at the moment, which both parties are promising to get rid of. the labour proposals to deal with this problem of insecurity and sometimes on affordability, the first one is to have a property mot. so, rather as you put your car in to check it is up to scratch, you would do that with your property if you we re do that with your property if you were a landlord. and if it is not up to scratch, you could have rent clawed back or you could be subject to fines. and the no—fault eviction will go away completely. the thir

andy verity, bbc news, houghton—le—spring.lebrating the prime minister's stating he will resign. the countries leading cleric urged parliament to reconsider its support for the government. the prime minister was left with no choice. this was the city of nasa rear on friday, ordinary people running for their lives. around 400 people have died weeks of protest. on thursday, at least 25 people were killed here when security forces opened fire. the violence and deaths continued on friday. translation: these young men, what do they do? these young men, what do they do? these are our children. i have a son lying in bed, he is injured. why spill the blood of iraqis? enough, you have destroyed the country. with rising political pressure, the prime minister has offered to step down, much to thejoy minister has offered to step down, much to the joy of many iraqis who took to the streets in the celebration. translation: this is the first phase, the resignation of the first phase, the resignation of the government. the second one will be

three months to the end of september, compared with a year before. 0ur economics correspondent andy verity wage, about 25, 26 grand annually, about two or £3 less than in august 2007. -- £508 the two or £3 less than in august 2007. —— £508 the average weekly wage. we have had a long decade of falling living standards and it is only in recent months and years we have started to catch back up, we remain below that peak. if you look at what will drive improvements in wages, productivity, if you can make each worker produce more per hour then that will enable you to afford inflation beating pay rises, u nfortu nately inflation beating pay rises, unfortunately the inflation beating pay rises, u nfortu nately the latest productivity figures are flat. it is good news but there is a question about whether it will be sustainable. interesting figures about the numbers coming from abroad to work? the latest figures on employment by nationality show that the number of eu workers in the uk, according to these estimates, was down by 130,000. 0n the other hand, we have seen a different movement from work

the details now from our economics correspondent andy verity.ve analysis and its objective view is neither major party is being honest. labour pretends huge increases in spending can be financed only by corporations and the rich, and the conservatives continue to pretend taxes will not have to rise to get decent public services. we know the conservatives, over the last two electoral cycles, have ended up spending and borrowing a lot more than they said it would in their manifestos. i think that will happen again because they are suggesting essentially nothing in this way of additional spending this time beyond what is announced. labour has vast spending increases and tax increases which probably can't be delivered within a single parliament. the conservatives have promised no rise in taxes, but with extra spending already pledged, they are likely to break their own rules on keeping borrowing down. and the risk is, if a brexit trade it was not worked by the end of next year, borrowing will jump. we welcome the scrutiny. if anyone has a look, they

this report from our economics correspondent andy verity.who wants to be the next chancellor of the exchequer has already promised £250 billion in extra spending in the next ten yea rs. extra spending in the next ten years. today, he promised another sizeable sum in half that time. social transformation fund will begin the urgent task of repairing oui’ begin the urgent task of repairing our socialfabric which begin the urgent task of repairing our social fabric which has begin the urgent task of repairing our socialfabric which has been torn apart by the tories. hundred and 50 billion to replace and upgrade and expand our schools, our hospitals, care homes and yes, council homes once again. another £150 billion over five years is roughly £30 billion a year. to give you an idea of how much that is, 1 billion will pay to run the nhs over three days. it is enough for a government to build up to 111,000 new social homes or to pay fair 20,000 new secondary school teachers. but it will mean loosening the governance rules on spending. the next gove

by 3.6% in september compared with 3.8% growth in the previous month our economics correspondent andy verityken us back to the peak level from way before the globalfinancial the peak level from way before the global financial crisis when real wages were higher than they are now but unfortunately we haven't quite got up to that level, the increase you mentioned of 3.6%, when you strip out inflation it works out about1.7,1.8%. strip out inflation it works out about 1.7, 1.8%. that's good, better than we've been used to, often in the last decade pay has fallen in real terms so an increase in real terms is better than nothing but on the other hand, it's not quite as good as a lot of people hoped. the expectation was for 3.8%. some sign of wea kness expectation was for 3.8%. some sign of weakness there and you can also look at the causes. employers can pay inflation beating pay rises if each worker is able to produce more for them through advances in technology and training, productivity, unfortunately we have productivity, unfortunately we have productivity today and it shows is com pletely prod