Hannah miller, has the story. In homes across the country and Public Services on the ground, it can seem like everyone is crying out for cash. We have got roads full of potholes. Are you confident that the chancellor will be persuaded to give you more money to spend on housing in the budget in a few weeks time . Well, im doing everything that i can. I mean, short of laying siege to his own home. Well, i want us to be, you know, l Cutting Taxes in a responsible way. Under pressure from backbenchers and with less money to play with than hed hoped for the chancellors scrabbling around for ways to pay for a tax cut on a scale that voters will notice. Today, mr speaker, im going to cut the main 12 rate of Employee National insurance. Last year, he chose to cut National Insurance contributions and its thought he may do that again. A tax cut for workers that brings no benefit to pensioners. The Number Crunching going on inside number 11 is not just about the state of the nations finances its
yeah, it was like a dream come true. we ll be examining the government decision, and reporting from egypt on the plight of families separated by the violence. also tonight. the bbc chairman richard sharp resigns, after a report finds he was not open about his dealings with borisjohnson when he interviewed for the chairman s job. it is right to prioritise the interest of the bbc. i feel that this matter may well be a distraction from the corporation s good work, were i to remain in post until the end of my term. can you help, can anybody help? if teachers in england vote to strike, their unions say they will co ordinate industrial action. in ukraine, at least 25 people have died after a wave of russian air strikes across the country. and with the king s coronation just over a week away, we look at attitudes to the monarchy in scotland. on bbc london. these four gay men were murdered and in the sport on bbc news. mancheser united have stretched their lead in the women s super l
how is the strike affecting you? are you working from home? did you have a trickyjourney to work? do you support the strikes? we d like to hear your thoughts. get in touch with me on twitter @annitabbc and use the hashtag #bbcyourquestions. in other news, a senior ukrainian official says russian forces have almost captured the strategic city of severodonetsk, with ukrainian forces holding on to just one factory. a russian nobel peace laureate auctions his medal for £81; million to raise funds for children displaced by the war in ukraine. and to mark his 40th birthday, new photos are released of prince william selling the big issue we look back at his four decades in the spotlight. good morning. the biggest rail strike in 30 years is under way, with an almost total shutdown of the network in england, scotland and wales. members of the rail, maritime and transport workers union are staging the first of this week s three 24 hour walk outs due to an ongoing dispute over pay, p
be and you can reject the pointless populist gestures, the low road cynicism that the tories believe is all you deserve. applause live now to our political correspondent iain watson in westminster. what is the calculation here? why is he seizing on the issue of apathy? is seizing on it because he has a big lead in current opinion polls, there is a lot of scrutiny about what he might be offering as a potential prime minister but his worry is that although people are suggesting that they are disillusioned with the current government, they haven t yet come over to labour solidly to his party, he hasn t yet possibly sealed the deal so he needs to encourage people to get out and vote and vote for change. part of his way of doing this is aligning himself with those
beoen. . ., be open. many thanks, iain watson in westminster. be open. many thanks, iain watson in westminster, there. the position of the bbc s chairman has been in question for several months. today, richard sharp resigned over not disclosing his involvement in the facilitation of a loan guarantee for the former prime minister, boris johnson. mr sharp is to stand down injune from the role, which is meant to defend the bbc s standards and values. he said it would be a distraction for him to remain in thejob. in a moment, we ll look in detail at what happened, but first our culture and media editor katie razzall has been following today s events. the bbc is a big part of cultural life, constantly scrutinised and held to account by the public who pay for it. at the top of the organisation is the board, responsible for upholding bbc independence. but when gary lineker was taken off air for criticising government policy, some accused the bbc of hypocrisy because here was a bbc chairma