Kamal ahmed reports. It can all seem a little distant the treasury, the Government Department that publishes the budget, but what this grand office of state says matters for all of us and today it became clear why. The budgets major growth downgrade revealed the amount we earn has not increased for a decade, however hard we work and however far we travel, and those stagnant wages could be with this well into the next decade. Out shopping in basildon, essex, adele and her daughter emily. It is a struggle making ends meet. I have been working years and i have not had a pay rise and i now have a child. Everything else is gone up, rent had gone up, food has gone up. All the other prices gas and electric. We are constantly getting told this is going up, this is going up, but nothing else is going up with it. I asked the head of the institute for fiscal studies why the growth downgrade mattered so much. Economic forecasts may not sound important, but when they mean your earnings and Living Standards will be much lower than expected, it is time to listen. Earnings in the early 2020s will still be below where they were in 2008, making this easily the worst decade for Living Standards, notjust in living memory, but a long time before that. The Prime Minister visiting a college for trainee builders in leeds. She knows she has to convince people like adele she is on her side. The chancellor and i agree that the budget was about jobs for people up and down the country, about ensuring people are in work with that income for their family and it is about building the homes they need and it is about ensuring we seize opportunities for the future. The effort to seize the opportunities of the future has to overcome a major hurdle the Living Standards squeeze. At the time of the financial crisis, average earnings were £24,500 and they fell sharply as the financial crisis bit. Look how slow the recovery has been. Even by 2022, people will still earn less on average than they were ten years ago. That is the key question, why arent real incomes rising . There are a number of answers to that. First the governments over many decades, of whichever party, have failed to invest in the things that really matter, like other skills. The financial crisis that sucked so much money out of the financial system. And the businesses themselves, some of which seem to prefer to rely on cheap labour, rather than investing in the machinery that would make them more efficient and their employees wealthier. For the governments opponents, there are those deep seated economic problems. And it is those delivering our key services the nurses, midwives, firefighters, teachers, who are worse off than they were a decade ago. There is nothing here that can be considered remotely strong. People have been helped, the tories say, with record employment levels, a higher living wage. Tonight the government was putting the finishing touches to the next effort at boosting the economy the industrial strategy. Stand by for that next week. Kamal ahmed, bbc news. Joining us from westminster is our Political Correspondent lela what will be chancellor be pinning his hopes on . I think Philip Hammonds approaches, look, these are only forecasts. Its up to the government to try and prove them wrong. Forecasts are revised, really revised, various different estimates. I think his strategy is to say, look, lets see how things pan out. Theresa may and Philip Hammond said today they were confident the measures outlined in the budget would go some way to increasing productivity, increasing growth. And Philip Hammonds words were, lets prove these forecasts wrong. I think the main political hurdle, which is getting through the budget, getting through that day, no major hiccups, no major policies that went down badly on the tory backbenches, that all seems to be under control. As far as the government is concerned. Theresa may herself said she had confidence in Philip Hammond, said hed done an excellent job. That was Philip Hammond, said hed done an excellentjob. That was one of the main priorities for him, do have a sense he was saving his own job, that he had the support of his party. He seems to have done just enoughin party. He seems to have done just enough in terms of the measures outlined. Policies, loosen the Purse Strings just enough to be seen to give out some money to certain quarters, though obviously the detail of those policies is still being debated. The short term immediate priority was to get through the budget with no major hiccups and it seems to have happened. This longer term picture, the Bigger Picture of the economy, yes, that still stays. The outlook is bleak as weve been hearing. But i think the government is prepared to weather that longer term storm. In return for having got through the immediate political priority. Philip hammond really needed this budget to be well received, didnt he come after the last outing when it very quickly he had to change his mind on the so called dementia tax. Labour have been quick to criticise this budget, too. Yeah, for labour this goes nowhere near far enough, budget, too. Yeah, for labour this goes nowhere nearfar enough, what labour are offering is a completely different programme of public spending. They would argue Philip Hammond, what he offered, was just a drop in the ocean in terms of investing in public services. SuddenlyJeremy Corbyns argument is it shows the economy is on its knees. He argues only labour can put in the money required to give police a properfunding in the money required to give police a proper funding of funding for social care, the nhs and so on. This is still different visions for the economy. From labour and the tories. But i think, you know, it hasnt unravelled the budget, as you say, the kind of u turn Philip Hammond had to do on National Insurance contributions after his last budget, that was because it has gone down very badly on the tory backbenches. That is always the problem now because the government majority is so fragile that any opposition from just a few, a handful of conservative backbenchers, can really throw a policy of course. That hasnt happened, there is some debate about the big headline grabber policy of the stamp duty being abolished for first time buyers. For properties up to 300,000. But we havent seen the same sort of reaction to a major policy this budget, as we did last time over the National Insurance contribution. Yes, Philip Hammonds job seems to be safe for now. But his. He has been held up as a bit ofa his. He has been held up as a bit of a bogeyman, both on the economy, being too cautious, he seems to have spent enough money to keep his party onside. But the government priority is clearly still brexit. The budget hurdle has been got over. Now attention turns again back to brexit. Theresa may off to a european summit tomorrow where she is expected to have a talk with the president of the european council, donald tusk, to discuss brexit. Again, all ahead of another eu summit in december, where the uks hoping that the eu will agree to moving talks on to trade. I think there is a sigh of relief across westminster, crossed the conservative party, that the budget was not another crisis. Another one the government has been facing. And that actually attention can return now to getting those talks on to trade, the brexit talks on to the next phase before the end of the year. Thank you very much. Well, some of the leaders of the labour party rin some of the leaders of the labour party ri n west some of the leaders of the labour party rin West Bromwich tonight. Were going to hear from Jeremy Corbyn shortly but at the moment at the podium, john mcdonnell, shadow chancellor, listen in. Inspired by young women like that, absolutely. Applause some of you may have seen the budget debate yesterday. 0r some of you may have seen the budget debate yesterday. Or maybe seen clips from that debate on twitter or on facebook. What the tories did to impede the debate was that they organise themselves in parliament in the way ive never seen before. It was leaked in the telegraph a few weeks ago. They put together what they call a killer team of young tory mps and some older ones as well, sitting in the steps of the gangway, standing up by the bar of the house, so that when jeremy spoke they shouted, they screamed, and they shouted, they screamed, and they abused. Now i, Jeremy Corbyn andl they abused. Now i, Jeremy Corbyn and i have been friends for nearly 40 years. Hes one of the mildest i know. One of the most gentle and kindest people i know. Im so glad yesterday he expressed anger at their behaviour. Cheering applause because they tried to shout him down at that part of the speech when he exposed in this budget that there was no money for social care put aside and that what that meant is more older people trapped in that hospital bed because there was no juan mata look after them if came home, and the suffering and anguish that would cause older people and their families. And all he got in return from tory mps was derision and abuse. They showed their real face yesterday. Applause and you know, they showed it in the budget overall. They showed their completely out of touch, out of touch with the real world of the economy and out of touch with the real world or the rest of us live in. 0ut real world or the rest of us live in. Out of touch from the economy. This morning, when Philip Hammond was interviewed, he told us that the uk economy is fundamentally strong. Two hours later he must have ignored his own office for budget responsibilities advice. Two hours later the institute for fiscal studies presented their report. And confirmed what the obs had said. Wages stagnant. For at least a decade. More likely two decades. As tom said, the longest recession in wages since the napoleonic wars. And the prospect exactly as we said in the prospect exactly as we said in the obs and the debate, and the iss. First of all that Economic Growth down and little prospect of it lifting. Productivity in a crisis. Asa lifting. Productivity in a crisis. As a result of that no wonder wages are down, because productivity means you can earn the wages we need. In france and germany, they produce in four days what we produce in five. Not because british workers are any less hard working, quite the reverse, british workers are working longer hours. They havent been given the tools, the equipment and the investments to enable them to develop the economy. You know, we warned them that we warned them, weve warned them time and time again, after the crash itself they had a choice, didnt they . They had a choice in which they could actually ensure they invest in the economy and invest in the infrastructure, they invested in skills. Groovy economy. That way, yes, you grow your way out of deficit. You grow your way out of recession. But they took the neoliberal view. So they introduced austerity and the reason they did that, because the last people they wanted to pay for the crisis that was caused were the very people who caused it, the bankers and the rich. They wanted ordinary working people to pay for this crisis. We told them consistently that austerity was not an economic necessity, it was a political choice. And they made that choice. Well, its all come home to roost now. Because the lack of that investment means productivity is in crisis. It means we are being outcompeted by our economic competitors across the world now. If you look at whats happening in europe at the moment, growth returning on a scale. You look at whats happening in japan returning on a scale. You look at whats happening injapan where they have been ten years investing in new technology and robotics, miles ahead of us. Its even the same in the us, even in the us the state gets involved in investing in infrastructure. And the development of new products and manufacturer. This neoliberal ideology they have adopted, all they were interested in is investment, not in productive investment, in manufacturing, but in property speculation. And now we have the opportunity in london of more billionaires than weve ever had, and more people sleeping. John mcdonnell speaking live in West Bromwich talking about the state of the uk economy. Why productivity is low, why wages are down, and the need for investment in the economy. To enable growth. Of course criticising the conservative party for their commitment to austerity. Downing street says the government disagrees with the European Commissions decision not to allow british cities to compete to be the European Capital of culture in 2023. Dundee, nottingham, leeds, milton keynes, belfast and londonderry had all submitted bids. But the European Commission said the decision was one of the many concrete consequences of brexit. When we were European Capital of culture in 2008 savannah in norway but the other non eu capital of culture. Its not about being part of the eu, the reason why you are European Capital of culture is to be pa rt European Capital of culture is to be part of europe and showcase what you have as a city. It was a huge game for liverpool, for anybody who knows the city the last ten years have been completely transformational and capital of culture was just the start. We hat £800 million of economic development. It accelerated the whole regeneration said the city is completely transformed. It carried on that growth after capital of culture. Its notjust about a year where you get the chance to tell your story on a world stage. Its about what happens after that as well. Claire mccolgan, director of culture for the city, said she was surprised by the decision to disallow the uk. Join us in the joining me in the studio is rosie millard, who is the deputy chief executive of the Creative Industries federation. She is also a member of the judging panel that was meant to assess the bids for the 2023 european city of culture. Claire mccolgan was surprised, what was your reaction . I was disappointed. I wasnt actually surprised. I think each of the five bidding cities who i feel very, very sorry for, must have had it on their risk register, the fact this might happen. I think that they must have suspected it or possibly planned for it. Because, you know, when we left brexit, when the referendum came out, it was one of the things people said. How can we be, how can we host the European Capital of culture if were not in the eu . However, there have been places who have done just that, bergen in norway, stavanger in norway. And in prague they have the capital of culture before the Czech Republic evenjoined capital of culture before the Czech Republic even joined the eu so there is precedent. You have to be in europe, you dont need to be in the eu. But it is the commission that decides on the laws of these things. Howfair is decides on the laws of these things. How fair is it for people to start criticising the commission for saying we dont know what the relationship for britain is going to be with the eu by 2023. Itjust seems like the eu throwing its toys out of a rather large european shaped pram, frankly. And saying, well, if you dont want to be part of us you cant have one of our lovely playthings. Which is the capital of culture. Claire is quite right, these things are absolute Game Changers for a city. They com pletely Game Changers for a city. They completely change the outcome is for People Living in the cities and the cities themselves. When glasgow was capital of culture it completely change the whole way the city looked, it was represented, it brought in millions of pounds of tourists and investment to the city, same with liverpool, it was just remarkable. Cities want this prize. How can we really say in this country we want to be part of that but not part of the European Union . Isnt it cherry picking the fun bits . Dagg the fact is the European Capital of culture sets out, its an enormousjuggernaut capital of culture sets out, its an enormous juggernaut that goes around europe every year, its lands upon one or two cities. Sometimes many. I mean in the millennium year, 2000, there were about eight capitals of culture. The host cities, host countries, are chosen years and yea rs before. We countries, are chosen years and years before. We always knew we were going to have 1990, 2008 and 2023, it comes every 15 years. They decided in 2014 we could be part of it. Exactly. Its one of the many things, as we near the time to exit, this is one of the many things which is suddenly going to, you know, fall apart in our hands as we are looking at them. A lot of work will have gone into putting these bits together, how much money spent . Millions. I was lucky enough to be chosen to be on the panel because im chairof chosen to be on the panel because im chair of hull city of culture, a smaller uk thing. For more modest sized cities. Ive seen the documents, the books, the videos. 0ne documents, the books, the videos. One thing that can be rescued from it is the actual putting together of it, the beard, is an intensely communal activity. The whole city coming together. Very often you see when cities fail in their bids for capital of culture or city of culture, the actual body that brought the bid together stays in place. Something rather good comes out of it. For example newcastle, which bid for 2008 capital of culture, which went to liverpool, didnt win obviously, but now newcastle is hosting the great exhibition of the north with some constituent parts of that bid. Im sure something can be rescued out of the rubble of this cultural disaster. Would it have made sense for those who are bidding to have said immediately after brexit, hold on, does this not change things . No, because of the examples ive given already. 0f capitals, of cities, which were capitals of culture, from host nations that werent in the eu. They didnt mention this to the eu commission. They were reassured it was all going to be fine. They did mention this. The Commission Says only countries that could host it were candidates that were going tojoin the eu, members of the eu and countries in the ee eight who contribute in the programme. I suppose in future if we are part of any of those things well be able to ta ke any of those things well be able to take part again. Who knows, who knows. Its a very, very sad end to this important initiative. The Creative Industries are an Enormous Economic powerhouse for the uk. This initiative is something which can focus Creative Industries and culture in the city outside london. And is deliberately given to a city that needs it, that needs revamping and revitalisation. Its an artificial thing but actually it generates real money, generates jobs, it generates hopes and futures for millions of people. Rosie, thank you. Satellite images of the earth at night have revealed that artificial light is getting brighter and brighter every year. Light pollution is expanding across the planet by more than 2 per cent a year thanks to more and more lights going on in south america, africa and asia. Scientists say the increase in Light Pollution will have negative consequences for human health and the environment as our science reporter victoria gill explains. As the sun goes down on towns and cities, the lights go on. And those lights are getting brighter all the time. These images, gathered by a sensor on a nasa satellite, show that more and more of our planet is now artificially lit. I can remember back to the time when i was a grad student and first saw the pictures of earth at night. I was really astounded by how beautiful they were. But, of course, you have to think that this is a very dramatic physical change to the biosphere and it actually costs a massive amount of money, so its really kind of a problem. In developing nations, including india, the increase was dramatic, from this in 2012. To this in 2016. The researchers expected that most developed nations would actually darken as they changed the type of Street Lighting they used, from older orange glaring lamps to more efficient led bulbs. But that hasnt happened. Urban bright spots in the uk and other nations in europe continue to glow even more intensely intensely, as towns and cities increased their outdoor lighting. That orangey glow in the sky above the city, its all too familiar to so many of us. It stops most of us from seeing a natural night sky but it also has an impact on our health. Night time lighting, especially the blue light from leds, can reset our internal body clocks, depriving us of valuable sleep. And in the environment, it can disrupt cues that Nocturnal Animals like bats rely on. It has even been found to shift some fundamental seasonal clockwork, influencing the timing of plant flowering and bird migration. Scientists say that images like these are evidence that were losing our natural night time. Victoria gill, bbc news. Its one of the Fastest Growing trends in the Music Industry today. Beatboxing is the art of making sounds with the mouth, lips, tongue, and voice. Hundreds of fans are expected to attend the uk beatbox championships in london this weekend. Earlier, rupert 0ldridge and jack hobbs from the beatbox collective joined simon mccoy in the studio and gave us a taste of their beatboxing skills as a play out to afternoon live. Genius lets hear from jack and rupert giving us a beatbox out. Beatboxing. The beatbox collective and simon mccoy getting his groove on. Lets look at the weather forecast. I think it with darren but it could be tomasz it is darren. Spaces are dry, winds and temperatures dropping. In the south west we have the cloud increasing. Outbreaks of rain developing. Its probably going to slide east across southern parts of england perhaps clipping south wales for a while. Itll keep the template is falling too low. North, clear skies, showers in the north west. Likely to be wintry. Were looking ata likely to be wintry. Were looking at a touch of frost rural areas. There may well be icy patches. If you coming into northern ireland. Sleet and snow in those, especially over the hills. Showers for england and wales but on the whole a dry day with some sunshine developing fairly widely and not as windy yesterday but still cold. Four in glasgow, nine celsius in london. Getting colder over the weekend, itll feel colder over the weekend, itll feel colder as well because the winds will be strengthening. Mel b sunshine around. A few wintry showers, most on saturday. And most in the west. This is bbc news. Im martine croxall. The headlines at 8pm. Feeling the pinch but the Prime Minister says the budget puts britain on the right path despite an economic warning from a leading think tank. The chancellor did a very good job yesterday. What the chancellor was doing was setting out how we can ensure we can have an economy fit for the future. The institute of fiscal studies warns that the uk is facing an unprecedented squeeze on Living Standards. It looks like weve got at least another five years to go before we get anywhere near to having earnings back where they were in 2008. That is wholly unprecedented, certainly the worst since the mid 19th century. More than 70 people have been rescued after heavy rain caused flooding in parts of Northern England and wales. An underwater explosion is detected near the area where an argentine submarine disappeared in the south atlantic with 44 crew on board