it's rare for britain's intelligence community to make a public statement about anything. so the fact that gchq felt it had to rebut allegations that it spied on donald trump shows how seriously they took the comments made by the white house press secretary, sean spicer. gchq said the claims were "nonsense, utterly ridiculous, and should be ignored". £225 i292; £553,516? £52531— ”777", ——— downing street says it's been promised by the white house that the allegations won't be repeated. it is an extraordinary claim, that donald trump was bugged by gchq on the orders of barack obama, a claim that has led to strenuous denials from london. it was first tweeted by president trump who said his phone had been tapped before his inauguration. he said president obama was a bad or sick guy. the intelligence committee said there was no evidence. the evidence remains the same, we do not have any evidence that took place. we have cleared that up, we have seen no evidence of that. where is the president getting the information about being bugged by gchq? a p pa re ntly about being bugged by gchq? apparently from fox knows. sources aggg rent; from, fox. knows. sourcesi told agog rent; from, fox. knows. sourcesi told fox news that agog gengg. from, fox. knows. sourcesi told fox news that president have told fox news that president obama could have done probably dead used any foreign intelligence service to get this information. —— probably did. these are merely pointing out that i think there is widespread reporting that throughout the election there was surveillance than ona the election there was surveillance than on a variety of people. the election there was surveillance than on a variety of peoplem the election there was surveillance than on a variety of people. if the white house reporters were sceptical gchq was even less impressed. the agency rarely comment on anything but today said... do you believe the gchq spokesman or the president trump spokesman? which the president trumo snokesman? which. you choose to believe bullet —— one you choose to believe bullet —— depends on your political views on what is going on in the united states. downing street said it had told the americans that the gchq claim was ridiculous and said the white house had given assurances the would not be repeated. iii-fr éiiéfr'tg 2’2‘5 .77.... .. is this damaging? yes. number 10 and the white house will be making effo rts the white house will be making efforts to put a gloss over it and draw a line of it and see it is finished but it is a pretty poor state of affairs when britain has to publicly contradict and strongly contradict its closest ally to say that there is no credence in the senior white house spokesman statement. that is not a good state of affairs at all. this comes on the back of a very frosty relationship kgézégzs». i back of a very frosty relationship 522? ' trump's between president trump's administration and his intelligence community. britain is part of the intelligence sharing community of britain, the us, canada and new zealand. they are not allowed to spy on each other. us intelligence bugged angela merkel‘s phone and almost out the other leaders as well be considered to be friendly. i can understand how these conspiracy theories arise but in this case there was no evidence and it is very rare for dch it and see something like this publicly. a meeting was held in downing street earlier this neifi'in'fiownmgétreei eb. [. e. e . s about fieifi'ifl'fidwfiiflg'b’tteei eb. [. e. e . s about how to respond and when week about how to respond and when sean spicer continued to repeat his allegations on thursday there very strongly worded statement came out last night. the deputy leader of the scottish national party has insisted there will be a second referendum on scottish independence. opening the party's spring conference in aberdeen, angus robertson said the prime minister was "panicking" when she tried to draw a line under the snp's proposed timetable for another referendum. theresa may has been speaking in the last hour at the conservative spring conference in cardiff and reiterated that independence would be "bad for scotland, bad for the uk and bad for us all". our political correspondent iain watson has the latest. at the g conference it is hardly surprising the focus is on a second referendum on scottish independence. - it is westminster that take legally it is westminster that take the decision. here it feels like the the decision. here it feels likethe is already under way. campaign is already under way. members are delighted at the call for another vote within two years but pro—union campaigners do not wa nt but pro—union campaigners do not want it to happen at all. the snp deputy leader had a message for them deputy lea der hads:message:foftheml and the deputy lea der hada:message:fofthem! and the prime - people of and the prime minister. people of this country will have their choice. they will not bedenied their say. they will not be denied their say. they will not be denied their say. the stirrings of a standing ovation spurred him on. no uk prime minister should dare to stand in the way of scotland's democracy. the snp spring conference in aberdeen was supposed to be discussing a range of issues. to be discussinga range of issues-’ service, education, skills health service, education, skills and training, these will still be debated but there is only one item on this agenda and that of the arguments in favour of a second independence referendum. scottish independence referendum. next week nicola sturgeon will get the backing of the scottish parliament for a referendum and she will invite rodders abroad by she is standing up notjust arguing she is standing up notjust for scotland but would conceive. the prime minister has not put herself in opposition to me or independence, she is within to argue she is within her rights to argue against independence, she is putting herself in opposition to the democratic will of the scottish parliament. that is not a sustainable position. judy and card of the prime minister made the case for the uk remaining united, enon too subtle reference to the campaign when it comes. referendum campaign when it comes. it is clear that using brexit as the pretext to engineer a second independence referendum has been the snp's sole objective is. since last snp's sole objective ever since last junes snp's sole objective ever since last june. it would be bad for scotland, bad for the united kingdom and bad for us all. the coming negotiations with the eu will be vital for eve ryo ne with the eu will be vital for everyone in the united kingdom. so far the arguments have not been so much about independence, more about much about indeoendence. more about timing ofan much about indeoendence. more about timing of an independence the timing of an independence referendum but it is not a trivial dispute. in politics as in comedy timing can often be crucial to success. in a moment, we'll be speaking to our correspondent in westminster, but first let's speak to iain who's in aberdeen. very strong figs}; from very strong lee; from angus robertson. this is the snp not wanting to back down. no. very uncompromising language from the snp's deputy leader. next week the scottish parliament will vote back in favour of scottish parliament will vote back infavourofan scottish parliament will vote back in favour of an independence referendum. labour, the lib dems at the conservatives will oppose it but with the help of the scotthh . .. . .. . . the conservatives will oppose it but with the help of the m greens _ with the help of the scottish greens nicola sturgeon will win that fog. the snp is thinking if the timing is before brexit then the government at before breaitthenthegovernment at ‘will before breaittherfthegovernment at ‘will be before breaittherfthegovernment at ‘ will be too before breaittherfthegovernment at ‘will be too tied up in westminster will be too tied up in negotiations . run what they see negotiations to run what they see other projects they are campaign. secondly they think of it happens before brexit then around 200,000 eu nationals who live in scotland are more likely to back independence than last time in 2014. for those reasons and others to reason me is determined not to back down so although the snp sounded although the—snprsmartded... .-.- -.- .--- uncompromising although the——snp7sm.,-rtded.7. .7.-... -.- .--- uncompromising she although the——snp—sm.1rtded.7..7..-...-.-.--- uncompromising she made it clear that a referendum before brexit would be bad for britain. some questions over whether she would allow it to happen before the next general election in 2020. the snp failed by keeping the focus on the independence referendum at the conference they cannot really lose because they can see westminster has beenin because they can see westminster has been in transit and if they refuse oui’ been in transit and if they refuse our and the whole —— the our timescale and the whole —— the will be heard as if the back independence this time. important local elections happening in scotland. a message on a second independence referendum fires up the activists. 0pening independence referendum fires up the activists. opening of the do well in those elections that will put further pressure onto these are me —— teddies are me. further pressure onto these are me -- teddies are me. the prime minister not going to back down. the key question for the prime minister is if she is not keen to old it now then when? nicola sturgeon tried to put the ball back in her court asking her to set the times but the prime minister did l"! shine any new prime minister did not shine any new light on it and added to the battle lines the prime minister attacking the snp for using brexit as a pretext to get a second referendum in scotland - the snp saying they in scotland and the snp saying they are not having any compromises forthcoming from the government. may will decide if and when theresa may will decide if and when i referendum is held. the question will be whether scottish voters are deciding on what any brexit deal is at the time or whether they will be influenced i how the process as to influenced by how the process as to whether to give them this referendum has been handled. the former chancellor george osborne has been appointed editor of the london evening standard newspaper. he's due to edit the paper four days a week from may and says he intends to continue as the mp for tatton in cheshire. the newspaper's owner said george osborne had been chosen because his "socially liberal and economically pragmatic" views match those of the paper's readers. here's our political correspondent, ben wright. he is used to being featured on the front pages, no george osborne will decide what is on one, becoming r‘ecir‘e earl-..e‘.’ if. m“. nee len—"- editor of r‘ecir‘e earl-..e‘.’ if. .a.-'. are; len—"- editor of a major newspaper less a year after being sacked from than a year after being sacked from the cabinet following the eu referendum. i will speak for london and londoners through this paper as its editor and we willjudge whatever the government does, whatever the government does, whatever the government does, whatever the mayor does, i guess ‘itis ‘ it is good for london or not whether it is good for london or not and if it is not then we will seize all and we will not be afraid to do that. if it is good for london we will back it. he has spent his entire life in politics, six years running tho treasury after building running the treasury after building his career within the tory party as an mp and adviser to previous leaders but before politics he wa nted leaders but before politics he wanted to be journalist. leaders but before politics he wanted to bejournalist. he leaders but before politics he wanted to be journalist. he did leaders but before politics he wanted to bejournalist. he did not get a break or a job and willjump straight into the editor's hair of the evening standard. straight into the editor's hair of the evening standard? deeper‘s the evening standard. the deeper‘s owner said he was pleased with the appointment. we hope the fact we have a trade deficit under very important financial centre will count in our favour. the government has chosen not to make the economy the priority in this negotiation. his newjob will give him a platform trumpet london's interests and to trumpet london's interests and the city as the government begins brexit. i was shocked. the city as the government begins brexit. iwas shocked. ithought it was fake news. why is he doing it? not for the money. i can only conclude he wants to build the evening standard into an alternative power base to theresa may and in the event of brexit going pear shaped he will use this power base to launch the attack. the mayor of london treated his congratulations. two powerful voices shaping the powefifut voices shaping—the future. george osborne has capital's future. george osborne has been busy in rising —— advising a major investment firm. a juggling been busy in rising —— advising a major investment firm. ajuggling of jobs perhaps without precedent in parliament. he may have left parliament but this appointment puts him back on the front line of politics. 0ur media editor, amol rajan, is outside the standards offices in west london. it is hard to overstate what a surprise this was. yes. one of the most shocking appointmeats‘ surprise this was. yes. one of the most shocking appointmeats ofi surprise this was. yes. one of the most shocking appointmeats of an most shocking appointments of an editor in fleet street's living memory. the question is what george 0sborne is in it for. he is someone of limited journalistic experience although he has immense political ambition and it will be interesting to see what his relationship with the tory government is like. last year he was unceremoniously — by theresa may. i think he dismissed by theresa may. i think he wa nts to dismissed by theresa may. i think he wants to be grenade back at the government and make sure he is still a political force in government and make sure he is still a politicalforce in the government and make sure he is still a political force in the land. government and make sure he is still a politicalforce in the land. the question is how he reconciles this with hisjob as question is how he reconciles this with his job as an mp. question is how he reconciles this with hisjob as an mp. i was an editor in that building for three yea rs editor in that building for three years and it is a full—time job. i years and it is a full—timejob. i- . 100 hours a week working very spent 100 hours a week working very hard. it is managing a team, commercial obligations as well. how to reconcile that with his work for the world's against asset manager, four days a month, and hisjob as an mp, remains to be seen. if i worked mp, remains to be seen—.ff f—workedr bit, i would think he would be a bit, i would think he would be editor of the evening standard long after he is mp for tatton. some schools in england may be receiving more government money, but research out today suggests it will be all but cancelled out by increases in the cost of pay, pensions and national insurance contributions. the government says funding for all schools is at a record £40 billion. but according to the education policy institute, budget pressures will hit every school and particularly those in deprived areas. here'g g t education cortggggggogt this primary school in southwark in south london has been well funded compared to other schools, something the government is determined to change to make the system fairer. it faces a shortfall of 14% in its budget between now and 2020.m faces a shortfall of 14% in its budget between now and 2020. it is the additional stuff we have in school, the additional apogee and at ease for children, sports coaches, the services we bring in to support learning such as speech therapists, art therapists, sports coaches, we would have to look at cutting those things in the first instance. ultimately we are looking atjob cuts, however. the government says it is spending £40 billion on schools in england this year, according to the education policy institute, even with a fairer funding formula all schools will buy better have less money. the real terms loss will be on average £74,000, rising to £291,000 for secondary schools, equating to two secondary schoolsegoatingtotwo for every primary school teachers for every primary school and six for secondary schools. it isa and six for secondary schools. it is a very tricky time for the government because they are introducing this long—awaited reform, yet it comes against a backdrop of much wider funding pressures for schools. a very simplistic but perhaps not realistic solution would be to put more money in the pot. the government says it recognises the pressure schools face and will help them make savings that should not impact on the quality of teaching. gillian hargreaves, bbc news. our top story this lunchtime... claims that british intelligence spied on donald trump are described as nonsense. the white house says it won't repeat the allegation. coming up, i am at cheltenham where it is one of the highlights of the racing calendar, the gold cup. coming up in the sport later in the hour on bbc news, the last british side in the champions league, leicester city, has been drawn to face atletico madrid in the quarterfinals. human rights groups have described two refugee camps being built in hungary as a flagrant violation of international law. the camps are made out of converted shipping containers, and anyone entering hungary will be kept there — without a time limit, and with severe restrictions on their movement. hungary's prime ministeosay= the country is under siege. hundreds of thousands of refugees have entered in the last two years, but only a few hundred have been giving permission to stay. when hungary says it is taking tough action to stop migration, this is what it means. it is holding these migrants at a detention centre in the south of the country. we are allowed to speak to them from the street. we are not terrorists, we are not criminals. we are refugees. there are no human rights here. this is not a camp, it is a prison. they are treating us like animals. but hungary sees no reason to back down. far from it. this month, the prime minister, viktor 0rban, took charge of a new group of so—called border hunters. a new law now gives the government even more power to round up migrants. hungary plans to hold them all in these containers it is setting up next to the border with serbia. "these are civilised places to live in," the contractor says. "european workers certainly find them acceptable. " hungary says that the migrants to be held in these containers would be free to leave at any time, so long as they head in just they will be free to walk just a few metres down here and they would cross back into serbia, away from the eu, these young migrants are stuck on the serbian side. the rest of the european union may publicly criticise the actions of hungary but, quietly, europe may put up with anything that keeps migrants back. james reynolds, bbc news, on the hungary/serbia border. a court in nottingham has been told that a breast surgeon allegedly carried out unnecessary surgery on nine women and a man. ian paterson is charged with 20 counts of wounding with intent. this morning the jury heard from a woman who said she'd been told she was at high risk of cancer, when actually she was at no more risk than anyone else. aim—h esta £wr5553=533551 t what was the court told today? this morning the court heard from france's perks, who was - to france's perks, who was referred to breast cancer surgeon ian paterson in the 1990s, she had a history of breast cancer in her family, in the 1990s, she had a history of breast cancer in herfamily, her mother and sister both died from the disease. 0ver mother and sister both died from the disease. over a decade she underwent a number of procedures under the ca re of a number of procedures under the care of ian paterson, but after a lump was found in her breast between 2007--- lump was found in her breast between 2&in! lump was found in her breast between 2& in 2008 lump was found in her breast between 2@ in 2008 she underwent two 2007 in 2008 she underwent two further procedures and a mastectomy. she told the court it was not something she wanted, she was very scared and frightened but the way it was discussed, she said, she did not wa nt to was discussed, she said, she did not want to end up with full—blown breast cancer. under she told the court crossfexamination she toldthecoo—rt i had considered a double she had considered a double mastectomy but changed her mind, but it turns out she was only at moderate risk of breast cancer despite herfamily moderate risk of breast cancer despite her family history. moderate risk of breast cancer despite herfamily history. i was conned that i was high risk by mr paterson and my family was conned, she told the court. another patient, john ingram, underwent a double mistake to after being told he was on the road to cancer by ian paterson. it left him with intense pain that he likened to having a cigarette placed over his - it cigarette placed over his skin. it is the prosecution case that ian paterson misrepresented pathology lab reports to his patients and exaggerated the risk of cancer to his patients, carrying out operations that were simply not ian paterson denies 20 necessary. ian paterson denies 20 courts of wood touch 20 counts of wounding with intent and the case continues. thank you. now, i wonder whether you've been able to lip read what i've been saying in this bulletin? mouths. who are hard of hearing that can lip—read more accurately than any human. and they've developed the technology by watching news cellan—jones explains. so, are you going on holiday soon? at the action for hearing loss charity, edward is trying to have a conversation with a colleague. with lots of noise coming into the office from the street, his lip—reading skills come in useful. but he admits this is difficult. it can be very hard as well because sometimes some words can sound the same or could be lip—read the same, and so it's all about getting into context and seeing what people actually talk to you about. but in oxford, research is under way to teach computers the difficult art of lip—reading. it's involved training an artificial intelligence system using thousands of hours of bbc news programmes. so the box around the lips is the region that the ai system is seeing. joon son chung, whose project this is, shares edward's view of the challenges of lip—reading. so lip—reading is a very difficult problem because there are visual ambiguities in mouth shapes. for example pat, bat and mat are visually identical. by endlessly watching clips of breakfast, newsnight and other bbc news programmes, the computer teaches itself to lip—read. what the system does is learn things that occur together. so in this case they're the mouth shapes and the characters, and what the likely upcoming characters are given the previous characters. let's try it with some words it already understands. the prime minister is at a european union summit. now, the system has heard those words in that context before so copes pretty well. but to get better, it will have to chew through a lot more data. is optimistic about this technology. this would help people with when they're watching subtitles on television, this will help people when they're out and about in very noisy environments and it's by no means technology that will replace a professional lip—reader. it's something that would very much support professional lip—readers to improve the accuracy of the work that they do. right now the technology only works on full sentences in recorded clips. the next stage is to make it work live. but first the computer is going to be watching a lot more television. rory cellan—jones, bbc news, 0xford. so, leicester will take on the might of atletico madrid in the quarter finals of the champions league. let's speak to our sports correspondent, joe wilson. is this who they would want to face? a stuff fa ns is this who they would want to face? a stuff fans would is this who they would want to face? a - stuff fans would have to have barcelona and real loved to have barcelona and real madrid for the glamour, but atletico are at the recent runners up twice in the champions league so they are glamorous —— a few leicester pretty glamorous —— a few leicester fa ns pretty glamorous —— a few leicester fans would have loved to have. all you wanted to talk - with you wanted to talk about with leicester, the uefa official, your beautiful story. remember last year the way that ‘ shook up beautiful story. remember last year the way that - shook up the the way that leicester shook up the orthodoxy l the premier league, i orthodoxy in the premier league, i think they have done a similar thing with european football and uefa realise it is important, it is a lwa ys realise it is important, it is always the same teams in the latter stages but gets boring as the sceptical —— as a spec —— as a spectacle. can they win? even if they lose the first leg they can get it back at home. leicester do not play like we are madrid or barcelona, they had to bring energy and intensity that teams like atletico will not experiences. crucially in the last few weeks, the crucially in the last few weeksihe players have remained, is what they need to do with that is what they need to do with they will win. thank you, joel wilson. afternoon for its crucial match against ireland. even though england has already won the six nations, a win against ireland would mean historic back—to—back grand slams, and 19 consecutive ';a;.7,7 eo'mévy'je—s—zl—ssi a world record. it's gold cup day at cheltenham. about 60,000 people are expected to be there to watch jump racing's showpiece event — 14 horses racing three and a quarter miles, jumping 22 fences. and as befits st patrick's day, the irish will be strong contenders. 0ur sports correspondent, andy swiss, is at cheltenham racecourse. it isa it is a chilli day in cheltenham. the atmosphere is warming up nicely. just a couple of hours to go until the§ race. . just a couple of hours to go until the§ race. last just a couple of hours to go until the; race. last it just a couple of hours to go until the§ race. last- it was won the big race. last week it was won by don cossack, who has since retired. 0ne by don cossack, who has since retired. one thing is certain, we will have a new name on the gold cup. history is carved into cheltenham. for the fans, this is the day when riders and horses can become legends. who will be next to join the golden greats? among the early arrivals today, the sentimental favourite, cue card, at the grand old age of 11, trying to become the old est old age of 11, trying to become the oldest winner since 1969. trained in dorset by former dairy farmer colin tizzard, the horse fell last year but has picked itself the band is ready for redemption. he's a happy horse, he is not ready for anything else yet, here's a racehorse and he ':es it, i else yet, here's a racehorse and he ':e: it, i really believe he else yet, here's a racehorse and he ':ez it, i really believe he has as loves it, i really believe he has as good a chance as he will ever have. this is a race full of possibilities. lizzie kelly becomes the first woman to ride in the world cup for 33 years, she rides on outsider tea for two. in a still male dominated profession she knows the significance. i think more than any other girl reference i have really... i really get this one. writing in the gold cup is massive because it is such an elite race. it is reserved for the best horses, best trainers and best jockeys. on saint patrick's day, there could be another excuse for irish celebrations. many will be cheering on ruby walsh, yesterday the jockey won four races with trainer willie mullins. once again, walsh and molins! walsh writes djakadam, twice runner—up, it might be third time lucky. djakadam currently marginal favourite with the bookies, followed by cue card in a festival dominated by cue card in a festival dominated by irish horses. could we have another irish winner? we will find out at 3:30pm. thank you, andy smith at cheltenham. dramatic pictures have emerged of the moment a woman managed to escape a mudslide in peru. you canjust see her — covered in mud, in the middle of the picture — dragging herself to safety. heavy rains triggered the slides, which have killed at least a dozen people. let's cut —— let's catch up with the weather prospects here. torrential rain over there, darren? it only happens once every ten or 15 yea rs. we have it only happens once every ten or 15 years. we have nothing like as bad as that but it is certainly changing. earlier in the week we had much