our business editor simonjack reports. green, cheap, home—grown.sh success story, and there are plans for more huge wind farms like this one, but you need to get the electricity from where it's produced out at sea to the homes and businesses where it's used, and that will mean more of these. today's grid upgrade involves 1,000 miles of new onshore power lines — mostly overhead pylons — 4,000 miles of undersea cables at a cost of £58 billion, which means an extra £20 to £30 on annual bills for the next decade. the system planners insist they've kept as many cables out at sea as possible, but new pylons through scotland, west wales, the north west, east anglia and essex are inevitable. we've tried to balance cost, environmental impacts, impacts on communities and the security of the electricity system. and what that's meant is that we've got in the plan four times as much offshore infrastructure, new offshore infrastructure, as onshore. but inevitably that does mean, in balancing those four factors, that there is still going to be some infrastructure

simonjack, bbc news, essex.le and his colleagues for their support, during what he called the "hardest and saddest year", after his wife clare died suddenly. he announced he'll submit his formal resignation to the king this evening. a bear has been terrorising residents in northern slovakia. over the last few days the bear has rampaged through the town liptovsky mikulas, injuring five people including a ten—year—old girl. this evening, local residents have been warned to stay away from a wooded area on the outskirts of the town, as armed hunters move in. the behind—the—scenes story of the bbc interview which caused prince andrew to withdraw from all public duties has been turned into a film. scoop tells the story of emily maitlis' newsnight head—to—head with the duke of york. here's colin paterson. tomorrow night, in an unprecedented interview, we will hear from the duke himself. it's newsnight: the movie, or rather, a netflix dramatisation of how producer sam mcalister, played by billie piper, secured emily mai

simonjack, bbc news.e veteran investor justin urquhart stewart, who now runs the investment platform regionally. hello, always good to see you there. ,., ., hello, always good to see you there. h, ., ., hello, always good to see you there-_ as - hello, always good to see you there._ as the l hello, always good to see you l there._ as the uk there. good morning. as the uk not about there. good morning. as the uk got about this — there. good morning. as the uk got about this the _ there. good morning. as the uk got about this the wrong - there. good morning. as the uk got about this the wrong way, . there. good morning. as the uk got about this the wrong way, i | got about this the wrong way, i sure we probably one of the only water utility companies thatis only water utility companies that is privatised. was that the first mistake? it that is privatised. was that the first mistake? it wasn't so much mistaken _ the first mistake? it wasn't so much mistaken privatisation, | the first mistake? it wasn't so |

end of next year, we were in a situation that we had no equity, then there is the prospect as i think simonjack special administration, but we are a long way from that point at the moment. a test that spots signs of motor neurone disease before symptoms appear has been hailed a "game changer" by scientists developing it. the tool is able to detect damaged cell proteins in brain—tissue samples, taken during a biopsy. researchers say the test could speed up diagnosis, as identifying the condition in its earliest stages could make treatments more effective. doctorjenna gregory is a senior clinical lecturer at the university of aberdeen. we need to get better at being able to treat these diseases, particularly motor neurone disease. it's devastating. it's also a very individual experience. everybody has completely different symptoms. but, despite having those very similarsymptoms, people all have the same underlying disease process — these protein clumps. and so being able to identify these early before substantial symptom burden, before people become disabled means that then we can prolong the tim

simonjack, our business editor.n, promising to restore "hope" in politics. speaking in dudley in the west midlands, he pledged to bring power closer to local people. iain watson has that story. keir starmer wants to change the machinery of government — more power for mayors and for local councils. and in a bid to appeal to voters who chose the conservatives for the first time in 2019, he praised some of borisjohnson�*s ideas to help local communities. but he was less keen on the implementation. people say to me the worst thing you can do in politics is to prey on people's fear. yet, in some ways, preying on their hopes is just as bad. and that's what the tories did with levelling up. so what would he do? you talked about the decimation of public services, you talked about hope, the councils that fear they are going to go bankrupt in the next year will need more than hope, they will need hard cash. can you guarantee that a labour government in its first year will give them more resources than the conservatives are gi

here's our business editor, simonjack. green, cheap, home—grown.ecarbonise uk electricity and make it less reliant on imported fossil fuels. but you need to get the electricity from where it's produced out at sea back onshore to where it's used. the current grid is not ready for that and needs a massive rewiring. here is what is needed over the next decade. according to the people who will manage the uk's power grid. in green, those are the wind farms that will be there in 2035, as you can see, clustered around the east coast of scotland and the east coast of england. in blue, 4000 miles of subsea cables, moving the power around the coast. and then in red, 1000 miles of onshore power lines cutting through scotland, north—west england, wales, east anglia and here in essex. a 100—mile stretch of pylons from norfolk to the outskirts of london will run right through these blackcurrant fields in rural essex. 0pponents say there are better ways and vow to fight the proposals. we have never had options. we have been told pylons, pylons or pylons, down a c

our business editor, simonjack, reports in the village of lambourn in west berkshire, drains have overflowed into the local river — a protected chalk stream. thames water says high rainfall has overwhelmed storm drains. villagers and local charities say it's down to years of underinvestment by the company. we'd like to see water quality being put above profit. we'd like to see people in towns and villages having their sewage treated, and it being returned to the river after being treated, so that we have healthy chalk streams. and we have communities not walking through sewage on their streets. thames is the biggest water company in the uk, serving 16 million customers. but it also has nearly £15 billion in debts. having paid out millions to former shareholders in years gone by, its current owners were due to pump in £500 million by tomorrow — a first instalment — and over £3 billion in extra cash, but that depended on the regulator approving a 40% increase in bills over the next five years. ofwat said no, and the cash was withdrawn. the new boss says that the investment needed makes higher

simonjack is live in holyhead for us. per year if elected, that got watered down to 28 billion ramped up over the course of parliament. that got shelved a few weeks ago and now there's a budget of £8 billion over there's a budget of £8 billion over the next parliament for green initiatives and sir keir starmer has been laying out exactly how he would prioritise that. so much less investment and therefore people are saying that their target for trying to hit, reduce, get carbon out of our power generation by 2030 is unrealistic and arbitrary and today he said he has admitted it would be a challenge. it is a challenge, of course it's a challenge, but i have said an incoming labour government will be mission driven with absolute clarity, this is what we are going to achieve. and that stability and clarity of mission will make a world of difference to private investors and to the companies that we want to partner with. and that private investment will be more important given there is less government money going within. would

our business editor, simonjack, has more.ve british success story, and there are plans for more huge wind farms like this one. but you need to get the electricity from where it's produced out at sea to the homes and businesses where it's used. and that will mean more of these. today's grid upgrade involves a thousand miles of new onshore power lines — mostly overhead pylons — 4,000 miles of undersea cables at a cost of £58 billion — which means an extra £20 to £30 on annual bills for the next decade. the system planners insist they've kept as many cables out at sea as possible, but new pylons through scotland, west wales, the north west, east anglia and essex are inevitable. we've tried to balance cost, environmental impacts, impacts on communities, and the security of the electricity system. what that's meant is that we've got in the plan four times as much offshore infrastructure — new offshore infrastructure — as onshore. but inevitably that does mean, in balancing those four factors, that there is still going to be some i

of next year, we were in a situation that we had no equity, then there is the prospect, as i think simonjacky from that point at the moment. cat hobbs, the founder and director of we own it — a pressure group for public ownership which has campaigned around water companies — spoke to us earlier. this situation is an absolute outrage. let's be clear about what's been happening. since 1989, since water was privatised, thames water has built up this mountain of debt, £18 billion worth of debt, on the backs of customers. so, thames water customers pay 25p in every pound to service that debt. thames water is one of the worst water companies for sewage. it leaks a way around a fifth of our water. and, in the meantime, shareholders have been taking out of the company £7 billion in dividends. and now they are saying, they are turning to ofwat, they are saying, we want to increase customer bills by a0%, we want to allow shareholders to continue taking dividends, and we want to be off the hook for sewage. it's an absolutely unsustainable, absurd situation and it highlights everything that is wrong wit

end of next year, we were in a situation that we had no equity, then there is the prospect as i think simonjack long way from that point at the moment. i'm joined now by cat hobbs, the founder and director of we own it — a pressure group for public ownership which has campaigned around water companies. what you make of the situation? this situation is an — what you make of the situation? ti 3 situation is an outrage. let's what you make of the situation? ti 1 situation is an outrage. let's be clear about what has been happening. since 1989 since water was privatised, thames water has built up privatised, thames water has built up this mountain of debt, £18 billion worth of debt, on the backs of customers. thames water customers pay 25p in every pound to a service that debt. thames water is one of the worst water companies for sewage, it leaks away one fifth of our water, and in the meantime, shareholders have been taking out of the company £7 billion in dividends. and now they are say, they are turning to ofwat and they are we want to increase the bills by a0%, we want to allow shareholders to

end of next year, we were in a situation that we had no equity, then there is the prospect as i think simonjackfrom that point at the moment. cat hobbs, the founder and director of we own it — a pressure group for public ownership which has campaigned around water companies — spoke to us earlier. this situation is an absolute outrage. let's be clear about what has been happening. since 1989, since water was privatised, thames water has built up this mountain of debt, £18 billion worth of debt, on the backs of customers. thames water customers pay 25p in every pound to service that debt. thames water is one of the worst water companies for sewage, it leaks away one fifth of our water, and in the meantime, shareholders have been taking out of the company £7 billion in dividends. and now they are saying, they are turning to ofwat and they are saying we want to increase customers' bills by a0%, we want to allow shareholders to continue taking dividends and we want to be off the hook for sewage. it's an absolutely unsustainable absurd situation and it highlights everything that is wrong with water p

our business editor, simonjack, has more.a massive british success story, and there are plans for more huge wind farms like this one. but you need to get the electricity from where it's produced out at sea to the homes and businesses where it's used. and that will mean more of these. today's grid upgrade involves a thousand miles of new onshore power lines — mostly overhead pylons — 4,000 miles of undersea cables at a cost of £58 billion — which means an extra £20 to £30 on annual bills for the next decade. the system planners insist they've kept as many cables out at sea as possible, but new pylons through scotland, west wales, the north west, east anglia and essex are inevitable. we've tried to balance cost, environmental impacts, impacts on communities, and the security of the electricity system. what that's meant is that we've got in the plan four times as much offshore infrastructure — new offshore infrastructure — as onshore. but inevitably that does mean, in balancing those four factors, that there is still going to be

end of next year, we were in a situation that we had no equity, then there is the prospect as i think simonjackl administration, but we are a long way from that point at the moment. the uk recession in the latter half of 2023 was slightly less severe than first thought, the office for national statistics has revealed. the economy still shrunk for two quarters in a row, the definition of a recession, but the total contraction over that six—month period was 0.4% rather than 0.5% labour have said rishi sunak has broken his promise to grow the economy. this is what the chancellorjeremy hunt had to say a short time ago. to confirm, i think, what we already knew, which is, despite the bank of england predicting the longest recession in 100 years, in fact, gdp grew, albeit marginally, last year. that's obviously very welcome. but one of the ways that we're going to help that growth is by supporting families get back into work with a big childcare offer. and what will be a hammer blow to those families is that just this week labour has said that they may refuse to guarantee that free childcare for ever

our business editor, simonjack, reports in the village of lambourn in west berkshire, drains have overflowedg raw sewage onto the streets and straight into the local river — a protected chalk stream. thames water says high rainfall has overwhelmed storm drains. villagers and local charities say it's down to years of underinvestment by the company. we'd like to see water quality being put above profit. we'd like to see people in towns and villages having their sewage treated, and it being returned to the river after being treated, so that we have healthy chalk streams. and we have communities not walking through sewage on their streets. thames is the biggest water company in the uk, serving 16 million customers. but it also has nearly £15 billion in debts. having paid out millions to former shareholders in years gone by, its current owners were due to pump in £500 million by tomorrow — a first instalment and over £3 billion in extra cash — but that depended on the regulator approving a 40% increase in bills over the next five years. ofwat said no and the cash was withdrawn. the new boss says

with more on this, our business editor simonjack is in the newsroom. why is this happening now? _ why is this happening now? i think it is important to _ why is this happening now? i think it is important to understand - why is this happening now? i think it is important to understand that i it is important to understand that the telegraph and spectator magazines are enormously influential on the right—hand side of british politics, and what happened was a vehicle, setting my present bankroll by the owner manchester city, paid off the previous owner's that's and was about to take control of these titles when the government intervened and said, hang on, we are not sure about this —— 75%. the vehicle said, we are not a foreign power, with our nick vigil investment, a passive investor, no intention of getting involved editorially, we will have a uk holding company, but the regulators are looking at it and they report came in earlier this week, so this move now seems to supersede that and set the benchmark very low. any kind of influence a foreign government, not individuals — lots

simonjack reports.ly, pouring raw sewage onto the streets and straight into the local river — a protected chalk stream. thames water says high rainfall has overwhelmed storm drains. villagers and local charities say it's down to years of underinvestment by the company. we'd like to see water quality being put above profit. we'd like to see people in towns and villages having their sewage treated, and it being returned to the river after being treated, so that we have healthy chalk streams. and we have communities not walking through sewage on their streets. thames is the biggest water company in the uk, serving 16 million customers. but it also has nearly £15 billion in debts. having paid out millions to former shareholders in years gone by, its current owners were due to pump in £500 million by tomorrow — a first instalment and over £3 billion in extra cash — but that depended on the regulator approving a 40% increase in bills over the next five years. 0fwat said no and the cash was withdrawn. the new

of next year we were in a situation where we have no equity, then there is the prospect, as i think simonjack point at the moment. a teaching union in england says its members are reporting that levels of violence and abuse from pupils have risen sharply since the pandemic. nearly one in five teachers who responded to a survey commissioned by the bbc said they had been hit by a student this year. the same number say they have also experienced verbal or online abuse from a parent or guardian since september. here's more from education correspondent elaine dunkley. across the country, clips posted on social media give an insight into the chaos in classrooms. the room got absolutely ransacked. the boards were ripped off the wall, displays were snapped and broken. you're going to get people shouting at you. when it comes to teenagers and what they're saying, quite sexualised. teachers pushed to the brink because of bad behaviour. the behaviour stresses me out. all my fillings fall out because i clench my teeth at night when i'm sleeping. in dewsbury, this is stjohn fisher academy. it's a school w

here's our business editor simonjack. green, cheap, home—grown. massive british success story, and there are plans for more huge wind farms like this one. but you need to get the electricity from where it's produced out at sea to the homes and businesses where it's used and that will mean more of these. today's grid upgrade involves 1,000 miles of new onshore power lines, mostly overhead pylons. 4,000 miles of undersea cables at a cost of £58 billion, which means an extra £20 to £30 on annual bills for the next decade. the system planners insist they've kept as many cables out at sea as possible. but new pylons through scotland, west wales, the north west, east anglia and essex are inevitable. we've tried to balance cost, environmental impacts, impacts on communities and the security of the electricity system. and what that's meant is that we've got in the plan four times as much offshore infrastructure, new offshore infrastructure as onshore. but inevitably that does mean, in balancing those four factors, that there is still going to be some infr

he told simonjack on this morning's today his reaction on hearing of the honour.t a great recognition of everything we've done. you've been one of the prophets of ai. it's now wall to wall news coverage about al, the threats, the opportunities. what do you make of the current debate? what are people missing? well, i think actually the debate's pretty good at the moment. i think people are starting to realise how transformative ai is going to be. we've always known that. i've known that for 20, 30 years since i've been working on this, and i would say maybe in the last two or three years people have started to just get the inkling of how transformative is going to be. incredible positives in things like science and health. massive advances in scientific discoveries. there's the sorts of things that are my passion, but also the attendant risks to with something that transformative. and we have to make sure we use it responsibly. in fact, you signed a statement from the ai summit in the uk last november saying "mitigating the risk of extinction from al should be a gl

he told simonjack on this morning's today his reaction on hearing of the honour.n of everything we've done. you've been one of the prophets of ai. it's now wall to wall news coverage about al, the threats, the opportunities. what do you make of the current debate? what are people missing? well, i think actually the debate's pretty good at the moment. i think people are starting to realise how transformative ai is going to be. we've always known that. i've known that for 20, 30 years since i've been working on this and i would say maybe in the last two or three years people have started to just get the inkling of how transformative is going to be and incredible positives in things like science and health. massive advances in scientific discoveries is the sorts of things that my passion, but also the attendant risks to with something that transformative. and we have to make sure we use it responsibly. in fact, that you signed a statement from the ai summit in the uk last november saying "mitigating the risk of extinction from al should be a global priority alongside

our bubiness editor, simonjack, has more. — 4,000 miles of undersea cables at a cost of £58 billion — which means an extra £20 to £30 on annual bills for the next decade. the system planners insist they've kept as many cables out at sea as possible, but new pylons through scotland, west wales, the north west, east anglia and essex are inevitable. we've tried to balance cost, environmental impacts, impacts on communities, and the security of the electricity system. what that's meant is that we've got in the plan four times as much offshore infrastructure — new offshore infrastructure — as onshore. but inevitably that does mean, in balancing those four factors, that there is still going to be some infrastructure onshore. so that inevitably means more pylons. yes, it does for some communities. no! opponents say they're not anti—wind power, but more of the network should be at sea, and power lines can and should be buried underground. you cannot keep offering each wind a connection one by one onshore farm a connection one by one