firstly, what you may call the role hull i think the proposal feels half baked. it certainly feels like it is going backwards somewhat. you certainly do not need a company in every single regional area. the last time we saw something like that was when the infrastructure was in the hands of those doing the billing, people advertise it on. that goes back 15—20 years. if you really wa nted back 15—20 years. if you really wanted to do a government—owned supply business, you would only need one and a supply business could simply supplied regional areas in the uk. what is more problematic is that even assuming you set this business up and have the wherewithal to do so, you have the problem of how you get customers away from the existing supply businesses and into this new vehicle. because the key problem in the industry at the moment is it is not as though there are not cheap deals, are. but no—one is switching to them. the blunt truth is that if customers want

better value in their energy bills, they have to do something about it, in your view, and cannot rely on government. absolutely. it is difficult for a government entities to decide, by, we're going to provide better deals, and to exaggerate only provided to? how do they identify the customers and extra ct they identify the customers and extract them from existing suppliers? it is very difficult to be impartial with nationalisation. either you nationalise the whole thing, and there are lots of issues around that, or you cannot do what they are trying to do at a diesel level. we're having some slight difficulties with your connection, but we will persist because they're getting 95% of what you're saying. people can fill in the bit that is missing. just on that idea of policy ideas, presumably with it will have

looked at the option you mentioned for practical reasons. this is a bit ofa for practical reasons. this is a bit of a halfway house. the conservatives have their own halfway house, the cap on price increases. what you make of that? in theory, the cap is a better way forward. although i would far have preferred to see a relative cap. ie, capping the difference between the best deal that as a player can provide and the standard variable tariff that they fall into if they decide to do nothing. the problem was an absolute cap is that it gives the industry very little room to manoeuvre. and it also means that you get a lot of confusion in the market. because if the wholesale markets rise, somehow, that cap is now got to rise. at which point, literally maybe six months or less after you introduce a cap, you are literally going cap in

hand back to the electric, saying, terribly sorry, it that that cap that we said we had was not as absolute as we thought. there are some challenges with what they are doing as well. thank you very much. a case, i guess, of the cap does not quite fit. thank you for being with us quite fit. thank you for being with us tonight. ahead of next month's general election, bbc correspondents are gauging the reaction across the country. this evening, peter whittlesea's been to the tempo dance class in gillingham in kent and asked which policies are in step with voters. one, two, three, four, five and ten. the snap election wrong—footed everyone. a carefully choreographed campaign is now in full swing. it is afamiliar campaign is now in full swing. it is a familiar routine but one voters can a familiar routine but one voters ca n follow. a familiar routine but one voters can follow. are you excited about the election? i don't think excited would be the word. strictly speaking, elections are won bosses

like health, education and the economy. this time round, the real judges, the voters here, have another category in mind. brexit as another category in mind. brexit as a largest two for me, yes. —— is a larger issue. unfortunately, it is a big issue because we very staunchly voted remain. health and education is probably more important to me than brexit in another election. but at the moment, it is taking priority. so it seems like brexit might have stolen the show. but the old favourites never go away.|j think they are doing fantastically, considering how bad it is. i have never had a problem with the nhs around here. i had my baby ten months ago. the doctors surgeries, to be fair, if you want to get an appointment, you have to ring up and

you can be two, three weeks. knowing that the nhs will be the and 5—10 yea rs' that the nhs will be the and 5—10 years' time is now important to us. or else we could become very americanised and it could be a real struggle. this contest is onlyjust started. there are four more weeks for the political parties to persuade voters to take the lead. and we never got to see him dance. that is a shame. a man's been jailed for life today after setting his partner alight in her home in swindon. anthony porter admitted murdering andraya lyons in december. her family's appealed today for anyone in a violent relationship to speak out and seek help. scott ellis's report does contain disturbing details of how andraya died. afun a fun loving and bubbly mother. someone who saw the good in everyone. so say the family of andraya lyons. they express their grief outside court today. we miss her so much and our lives have been

com pletely her so much and our lives have been completely devastated by the acts of one evil, vicious, selfish, manipulative and cowardly individual. her partner, anthony porter, had a problem with drink and drugs and a history of violence towards women, including andraya the court held that on the 9th of december, the two were that the work christmas party of andraya lyons in swindon when porta became aggressive. she left with friends, saying it was over between them. but he got back into her house, drunk and using cocaine. he beat her with and using cocaine. he beat her with an iron, stamped on her, broke her nose before dousing her with white spirit, setting the house alight and leading. postmortem examinations show that andraya was unconscious but still bleeding when the fire started. porter gave himself up to police, saying it was five minutes of madness. but the judge did police, saying it was five minutes of madness. but thejudge did not accept that. he said porter clearly

wa nted accept that. he said porter clearly wanted to kill andraya. she wanted to separate from porter but were still living with him because she did not want to become homeless. and recognise the difficulties in reporting domestic abuse, but people can be reassured that if they come to the boys to speak to us about these issues, we will deal with it sensitively. there are other agencies, such as swindon's women's aid, that will provide support women require. porter will remain under licence for life after release from prison. a pioneering school for young people with disabilities is celebrating its 50th anniversary. the national star college in cheltenham provides individually tailored education and accommodation for students from across the uk — helping them to become as independent as possible. our disability affairs correspondent, nikki fox, went to find out what makes the school so special.

happy birthday, national star! things have changed a lot over the 50 years that national star has been going. archive: the students here come from all over the united kingdom. in 1967, the first ten students arrived. now the college has over 150, all with very different disabilities. patrick studied here in the ‘80s. he left this place with a—levels and went on to get a degree in social science. this is the actual computer that patrick took his exams on. today, he's back with his former teacherjohn, reminiscing about how quickly he picked up the old technology. it took patrick about two minutes! all right, brainbox! i absolutely loved my three years here. my dad often said the star college was the equivalent to an eton for disabled people. i think it is essential to have specialised schools and colleges for students with complex disabilities. hello, how are you?

thanks to these accessible flats, students like bethan can study and live independently away from home. you've got a lot of space here, haven't you? as the college celebrates its big anniversary, it's expanding, although as a charity, uncertainties around funding make every investment a calculated risk. but being bold is what national star is all about. the whole ethos here is to realise the aspirations of disabled people, and today, just for fun, they're doing that — in a hot—air balloon. the tailored support the young people get here allows them the freedom to live and studyjust

like any other student, with one aim — to prepare them in every way possible for life after college. nikki fox, bbc news. the call it the happiest days of your life. looks like a sermon was there. —— it looks like it certainly was. eurovision song contest on saturday. luciejones will be representing the uk in kiev but what are our chances of winning this time round? will the uk leaving the european union influence the voting? our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg has been finding out. love it... or hate it... here's one european institution we're staying in, for now. the eurovision song contest. # the oceans crossed. ..# it's the final this saturday in kiev. luciejones is flying ourflag, but will brexit mean the uk meets its waterloo? let's face it, in recent years, it's been hard enough

for the united kingdom to get points from our european neighbours when we've been on speaking terms with them. but now that we're leaving the european union in an atmosphere of acute disharmony, will that condemn the uk to eternal "nul points" in eurovision? they may be excited about eurovision in kiev, but back home theresa may has warned that brexit could scupper our eurovision party. is the prime minister a eurovision fan? i can't imagine her sat with her flag at home. honestly, whatever happens, happens. brexit is so out of my hands and out of my control. for the eu, brexit strikes a bum note, but the signs are that europe still loves us. we've discovered that even the french love having the uk in eurovision... well, so they can beat us. usually, france is very bad, but england is worse and i am happy. and being happy is what eurovision is all about.

it's not the winning that counts. just as well — the uk hasn't won the contest for 20 years. steve rosenberg, bbc news, kiev. and steve is going to be playing every one of those winners over the yea rs every one of those winners over the years in the history of eurovision at the weekend. let's take a look at the weather prospects now. good evening. it was pretty decent across the northern half of the uk. for most places, sunshine. further south, changes. high—pressure brings in cloud and areas of rain but also brings in the rain from quite a way south. the error is quite warm and humid continental air in england and wales article. the satellite picture shows a lovely day for many but here's the south and that warm breeze. still for the showers to come from the south overnight tonight. the potential for the

come from the south overnight tonight. the potentialfor the odd rumble of thunder for some. tonight. the potentialfor the odd rumble of thunderfor some. rain moves through the south—east into east anglia and the midlands. most of northern england and scotland stays dry. but we will seize all clouds drifting into the eastern side of scotland and north east of england. further south, temperatures around 12, 13 sells us. the cloud delivers more showers. there will be some breaks and brighter weather at times but showers moving from the south. we are largely dry first thing in northern england. cloud in the north—east and brighter in the north west. robben island hazard damp now to start on. the opposite in western scotland with point of sunshine to start. —— northern ireland has a damp start. cool and grey weather in eastern scotland, much brighter and warmer in the west. elsewhere, a mixture of quite a bit of cloud and some sunshine, quite a few showers as well. they can be heavy and thundery and again,

it is quite warm and close across england and we'll is. —— and wales. into the weekend, they will be some sunny spells with showers. i sunday, things will turn a good deal fresher. on saturday, not too many showers for the midlands and south—eastern corner. more likely to see showers in the western side of england and we are in the north—west quadrant. 15—19dc. still warm and parts of england and well. on saturday night, a spell of rain per pretty much all parts of the uk. behind it, fresher air comes in from the atlantic. on sunday, it is still idiot sunny spells and showers. but humidity will be a good deal law. —— it is still a day of sunny spells. this is bbc news.

i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 8... labour's election manifesto has now been formally approved by the party leadership and will be published within days. jeremy corbyn says it contains policies that will be "very popular". an offer that will transform the lives of many people in our society and ensure that we have a government in britain onjune the 8th that will work for the many, not the few. president trump calls sacked fbi directorjames comey a "showboat" and "grandstander" saying he would have dismissed him even if officials had not recommended it. latest figures show waiting times in the nhs in england are the worst for five years. the bank of england has slightly downgraded its forecast for economic growth this year with a warning of a squeeze on consumer spending. and the final of the 62nd eurovision song contest takes place in ukraine this weekend.