i think you know, think _ adventurous. absolutely, that is why i think you know, think there - adventurous. absolutely, that is why i think you know, think there has - i think you know, think there has been sort of false dichotomy when the theatre industry, but something think that, but it is the more you can work together, because ultimately, to put on shows, you need money, you need money up front because you need to pay everyone first before you can get the show on and celtics. first before you can get the show on and celtics— and celtics. the only thing i would sa is the and celtics. the only thing i would say is the subsidised _ and celtics. the only thing i would say is the subsidised sector - and celtics. the only thing i would say is the subsidised sector is - say is the subsidised sector is there — say is the subsidised sector is there to — say is the subsidised sector is there to do a certain thing that the commercial sector is not there to do. �* commercial sector is not there to d0-- sunni _ commercial sector is not there to d0-- sunni we _ commercial sector is not there to do.- sunni we have - commercial sector is not there to do.- sunni we have to - commercial sector is not there to i do.- sunni we have to protect do. agree. sunni we have to protect our culture — do. agree. sunni we have to protect our culture hot _ do. agree. sunni we have to protect our culture hot just _ do. agree. sunni we have to protect our culture hotjust buying - do. agree. sunni we have to protect our culture hot just buying let - do. agree. sunni we have to protect our culture hotjust buying let us - our culture hotjust buying let us get in commercial money, we have to make sure we preserve the british culture. we will carry on this conversation, thank you both of you. let us look at some of the front—pages and yes it is budget day tomorrow, hunt defies public services with pre—election budget cut tax says the guardian, telegraph the same. tax cuts spark an election talk. financialtimes, hunt puts the same. tax cuts spark an election talk. financial times, hunt puts £10 billion of tax cuts at the core of the budget as the tories eye tough election. only a different story on the daily mail. five sas soldiers in murder probe. that is all of us from tonight. it isn't only the budget tomorrow, it is the 60th anniversary of tv children's programme vision on it was a visual fast pace treat it ran for 12 years. picking up several awards along the here, are some of the pictures and the molls you sent us. —— models breaking news from around the world 2a hours a day, this is bbc news. the commander says, "i'm opening the border today." "not today," says the protest organiser, reut ben ham. and for a few hours, they halt the aid effort — limited as it is. this is turning into a confrontation now. the border police are threatening to drag the protesters away. they've been telling them they have to move, that they can't stay here. but the protesters are determined, they don't want a single aid truck to get through to gaza. you are a mother with a young baby in your arms. do you feel any concern for the plight of the mothers and children in gaza? because the un is warning they could starve without more aid. translation: they can get all the aid they want. - release the hostages and they will get all the aid, everything, on condition that the hostages will be released. but the ordinary people of gaza aren't in a position to release the hostages, and yet you're blocking the aid that could save their lives? translation: i have real sympathy for the civilians in gaza, _ but the ones who are hurting them is hamas. any truck that goes by will not reach civilians. back in rafah, aid did not reach 12—year—old yazan al—kafarna, who had cerebral palsy and needed good nutrition. here's how he looked before the ravages of war. before his family had only scraps to feed him. his mother says he used to eat and move and laugh and play. yesterday, yazan died from malnutrition. orla guerin, bbc news, at the israeli border. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news here in the uk. unions representing senior doctors in england have given their backing to an improved pay offer. the deal includes an extra £3,000 for those a few years into their consultant careers. the proposals will now be put to union members to see if they're willing to accept. the prisons watchdog has found that a vulnerable girl being held at a young offenders' institution was twice pinned down and forcibly stripped by male guards. the children's commissioner for england, dame rachel de souza, said she was "appalled" by the report on wetherby young offender institution. and how about spending a night in st paul's cathedral in central london? to celebrate world book day, the church has revealed its "hidden library". you're being given the chance to sleep inside the landmark forjust £7 for two people, but it's only open for one night. and that night is the 15th of march. you're live with bbc news. in the uk, the chancellor will unveil his budget on wednesday in what could well be the last one before the general election. it's being reported that the government will cut national insurance by 2p in the pound. it's also expected thatjeremy hunt will tell councils in england to reduce their spending on consultants and diversity schemes. our political editor chris mason explains how high taxes are now, and why. this is the big political and economic context that we must remember when we see what happens tomorrow. so there was the pandemic and then there was the energy shock as a result of the war in ukraine. that means there was these colossal state interventions — think the furlough scheme, for instance — so big, you can see them from space in the generational context of government spending. surprise, surprise — as a result of that, taxes, you can also see them from space as well. they are at a decades—long high, and that is the reality that won't go away whatever is announced tomorrow. how have those tax rises come about? they've come about by freezing the threshold at which we pay particular rates of tax, so people end up paying more tax even though there's never been an announcement saying as much. it's rather stealthy. it's known by economists by this term — "fiscal drag". it sounds a bit like a covers band. doesn't matter what you call it — millions of people can feel it, and that's why, right now, people feel like they're paying a lot of tax, because they are, atjust the point that lots of public services actually feel squeezed. the leader of birmingham city council has apologised to people living in the city after a series of cuts to local services was approved tonight, as well as a 21% rise in council tax over the next two years. birmingham, the largest local authority in europe, has declared itself effectively bankrupt and needs to make £300 million in savings. our political correspondent alex forsyth is there. at this food bank in small heath, they know all about need. run by a local mosque, they're packing food parcels ahead of ramadan. we get approximately 30 to a0 food bank users, families, every week. most of them are referrals from schools and from social workers, and they're having to choose between heating, gas, electricity and food for their families. this is an area with real deprivation. as well as the food bank, the mosque helps with homelessness, domestic violence and runs youth services — things they say will be under more strain as they try to pick up the slack left by birmingham council cuts. it's the youth that we're really concerned about because this is a generational thing. if our youth today aren't getting what they need, what impact is that going to have on them when they go to apply for jobs? we really, really need to have a priority system for these deprived areas of birmingham. in the city centre, there was real anger outside as the council met and agreed extensive cuts across the board, while council tax will go up more than 20% over two years. inside, there was a blame game — fingers pointed at the council over failings with equal pay and a flawed it system and at the government. my task is to address - the problems that are unique to this council, problems - for which i apologise unreservedly. but i do have to ask — - who is going to apologise for the prolonged neglect- at national level that has brought so many councils to the brink? then the vote which approved a budget some here have called "devastating." so far, a handful of other councils have found themselves in the same extreme situation as birmingham, where they are effectively bankrupt. but many more are warning of financial pressures, saying funding isn't keeping up with the cost of services. councils in england were given some extra funding earlier this year. tomorrow, the chancellor's expected to warn them against wasteful spending, though many say money's already stretched thin. in selly oak, jennifer knows too well the consequences when council services are under pressure. she advocates for people with learning disabilities and has a child with special educational needs, an area of particular worry for her. ifeel as though birmingham council haven't properly looked after their money, so it's really, really important that the council really think about how it's going to affect people with disabilities, because i feel as though we're the invisible community, i feel as though we're last to be thought about. the concern's felt acutely here in birmingham, but it's echoed more widely across the board, with tomorrow's budget likely to see stretched councils asked to watch what they spend on rather than given rein to spend more. alex forsyth, bbc news. i'm joined now by steve mccabe. he is a political columnist and associate professor at birmingham city university. steve, what impact will this move have on birmingham council's workers need entire city?— need entire city? good to talk about the workers. — need entire city? good to talk about the workers, that _ need entire city? good to talk about the workers, that there _ need entire city? good to talk about the workers, that there are - need entire city? good to talk about| the workers, that there are rumours, and some improvement in the actual numbers, of 600 staff being last in the redundancy that is going to come, whether it is by compulsory other means. when you lose workers, that means your ability to break the service much diminished. , back to the other question on the effect on local citizens, we hear we'll get fewer in collections, one week to two weeks, which is a problem, and a general sort of production and services at the very time when people need them, in this report, the talk about the huge need that there is in certain communities and deprivation is a big problem. just to rive deprivation is a big problem. just to give some _ deprivation is a big problem. just to give some background, how did it get to this point? is a get to this point? is a long-standing - get to this point? is a long-standing story l get to this point? is a i long-standing story that get to this point? is — long—standing story that goes back to the supreme court, with the so—called equal pay, which was brought under the previous labour government, which their eisai, there's no reason why you cannot have equal pay, and every reason why you should have equal pay for both males and feels, and job evaluation meant, and it is a surface, female workers being paid a lot less, and on the surface that might seem fairly innocuous, but it is led to claims which have totalled up to three quarters of £1 billion, plus there is a £100 billion it system which should have cost £20 million, so all of that put together, birmingham has got a huge debt which is now having to deal with, so because are coming. part of this has been read by the fact that once you declare itself bankrupt, by issuing what is known as a section 114 notice, it cannot go bankrupt, and the consequent of that was the city had to call in commissioners and effectively force the council to take some really tough decisions, but i do stress, this has been a long—standing problem and administrations, whether labour or conservative, but it happens to be labour at the moment, have not grasped the nettle and they avoided until the problem has been much got out of hand. irate until the problem has been much got out of hand-— out of hand. we are 'ust running out of time. just _ out of hand. we are just running out of time. just quickly, _ out of hand. we are just running out of time. just quickly, are there - of time. just quickly, are there other cities in the uk that could be in a similar situation?— in a similar situation? absolutely, eah. in a similar situation? absolutely, yeah- there _ in a similar situation? absolutely, yeah. there is... _ in a similar situation? absolutely, yeah. there is... indeed, - in a similar situation? absolutely, yeah. there is... indeed, i- in a similar situation? absolutely, yeah. there is... indeed, i have i yeah. there is... indeed, i have seen some suggestions there could be over 100 in this situation next year, so course it is going to become a real problem, because local services are being stretched for a number of reasons. fiifi services are being stretched for a number of reasons.— services are being stretched for a number of reasons. 0k, we will learn more from — number of reasons. 0k, we will learn more from the _ number of reasons. 0k, we will learn more from the budget _ number of reasons. 0k, we will learn more from the budget as _ number of reasons. 0k, we will learn more from the budget as well. - number of reasons. 0k, we will learn more from the budget as well. take l more from the budget as well. take you so much, steve mccabe. before we pull the shutters down on this hour, let's bring you these pictures out of wales. just to flag — the woman involved is ok. this is anne hughes — she's a cleaner at the best one convenience store in tonteg, in south—east wales. she was there for opening time when she accidentally got caught on the shutters. her granddaughter uploaded the footage online, and it has gone viral. that is it for this edition of bbc news. bye for now. hello there. we could see more sunshine around for wednesday than what we had on tuesday, particularly across eastern areas. so i think a brighter afternoon to come, but there will be some scattered showers around, especially across england and wales, and winds will generally stay quite light. we'll have high pressure anchored over scandinavia, low pressure out in the atlantic, trying to push this weather front ever closer towards our shores, but it could reach the west country as we move through the latter parts of this morning. elsewhere, we're starting off a lot of cloud across the east of the country. that will tend to melt away, though. it stays cloudy for eastern scotland, north—east england. some sunshine for east anglia and the southeast, a few showers into the afternoon, east wales and the midlands, and temperature wise up to around 10—11 degrees, single digits along the north sea coasts, where we have the cloud and the breeze. now, as we head through wednesday night, it looks like it stays dry for many. the showers fade away. we start to see some cloud rolling into central and eastern areas, so where we have the cloud, more of a breeze, temperatures 2—5. under clearer skies further north and west, there could be a touch of frost. for thursday, then, we have low pressure anchored out towards the west and the south—west, that area of high pressure over scandinavia just edging a bit further westward, so influencing our weather more. could start to see an east, south—easterly wind picking up further, though, so quite a breezy day to come. plenty of sunshine around away from the east coast and there will be some afternoon showers again, particularly england and wales. probably the best of the sunshine, western scotland into northern ireland, western wales — top temperatures again, 11, maybe 12 degrees. into friday, you see more isobars on the charts. it's going to be windier, a strong east, south—easterly wind. that'll take the edge off the temperatures, push in some cloud to northern and eastern areas, particularly the northern half of the country. england and wales could at this stage see quite a bit of sunshine, but there'll always be showers loitering close to the south—west. and a windy day to come for all — gusty winds, particularly windy across the south and the east thanks to that south—easterly wind. so, chillier along eastern coastal areas, up to around 11 or 12 further west. into the weekend, low pressure loiters to the south—west of the country, trying to push its way north with, so it will introduce further showers or even longer spells of rain for southern and western areas. we could start to see a few showers developing further north and east as well. it will remain quite windy, with our wind coming in from the east or the south—east. that's it for me. take care. this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines at the top of the hour as newsday continues, straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. how do we make sense of the world we live in? many of us rely on a diet of news and information. evidence, facts, truths — we think of these as the building blocks of reality. but in a world in which it is increasingly hard to distinguish the real from the fake, sometimes the most telling observations come from the writers of contemporary fiction — like my guest today, novelist and computer games creator naomi alderman. her latest story is an apocalyptic techno thriller. is the apocalypse that she imagines all too possible? naomi alderman, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me. i want to start at the beginning. you were raised in a very traditional, observant orthodoxjewish community in north london where, i think it's fair to say, women and girls were expected, by and large, to stay in the background. now, you today have a very powerful, unique, creative voice.

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