tonight at six, the grenfell tower inquiry opens — it's three months to the day since the fire. at least 80 people were killed — will their friends and family get the justice they are looking for? it can and will provide answers to the pressing questions as to how a disaster of this kind could occur in 21st century london. there are calls for a bigger role for those who lived through the disaster. we want to be part of the inquiry. we want people who know, people in social housing who are aware, people in the community. we'll be asking if residents are expecting too much of this inquiry. also tonight, the bank of england puts interests rates on hold for now — there's a hint they could be going up. the pound hit a one—year high on the news. james ward was sentenced to ten months injail, but has spent 11 years inside. should the gambling industry be more

strictly regulated? we hearfrom one family about the tragedy of addiction. he hid it from everybody, and he must have been going through absolute torture. and that's the thing that hurts the most. remembering the life and work of sir terry pratchett — a new exhibition that takes a tour of his fantasy discworld. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news, essex have been waiting 25 years for a county championship title, but a win over warwickshire means they may not be waiting very much longer. good evening and welcome to the bbc‘s news at six. a minute's silence has marked the official opening of the public inquiry into the grenfell tower fire, which killed at least 80 people in june.

the head of the investigation, retired judge sir martin moore—bick, described the blaze as a tragedy "unprecedented in modern times". today he laid out exactly what the inquiry will aim to do. as well as examining the cause and spread of the fire,, the inquiry will look at whether the design, construction and refurbishment of the building complied with building regulations. it will also examine the response of the emergency services and the local authority. relatives of victims and residents of the block listened to the opening statement. our special correspondent, lucy manning, was with one of them. ahmed chellat is on a journey to the opening of the grenfell inquiry today, but he hopes eventually to justice. i would like him to find out the cause of the fire. he lost his brother—in—law, sister—in—law, two nephews and a niece in the fire. eight—year—old mehdi, just identified yesterday,

they are still waiting to find the remains of 15—year—old nur huda. what do you want the inquiry in the end to be able to do for your family? well, we're not going to have them back, that's for sure, but prevent it from happening again. prevent it from happening again. i mean, it will be the hope of the family and everybody. justice for grenfell will take some considerable time and inside the ornate room, a few miles from the fire, the chairman, sir martin moore—bick, opened the inquiry with silence for the victims. thank you very much. but it certainly isn't silence those who escaped from this tower want, but questions asked and answers given after so many died and so many lost everything. the inquiry cannot undo any of that, but it can and will provide answers to the pressing questions of how

a disaster of this kind could occur in 21st century london and thereby, i hope, provide a small measure of solace. i'm well aware that the past few months have turned the world of those who live in north kensington upside down and that former residents of the tower and other local people feel a great sense of anger and betrayal. that is entirely natural and understandable, but if the inquiry is to get to the truth of what happened, it must seek out all the relevant evidence and examine it calmly and rationally. as he finished, a barrister advising some of the survivors stood and tried to ask a question, thejudge didn't stop, the inquiry‘s broadcast from inside did. "hello" and "rubbish" some shouted.

well, some of the survivors inside are very disappointed with what they heard and particularly with what they didn't hear. some of the survivors saying that they're not sure they can work with the inquiry. six members of nabil choucair‘s family died in the fire. he just walked out. it was very disgusting and disappointing. very disrespectful. you would have liked him to have listened to the victim's questions? of course, he owes it to us. adel chaoui lost four relatives in the fire. we'd also like to reiterate concerns about the absence of a panel, which is the most important issue for bereaved families and residents alike. finally, the conduct of the chair at the end of the meeting, not addressing our concerns, was deeply distressing and disappointing. karim mussilhy‘s uncle died at grenfell. no naturally, myself and members of the community, survivors, are not confident in the inquiry, but we're being optimistic and we're trying to keep an open mind,

but we're here to make sure that the right questions are being asked. for ahmed, his optimism from this morning has gone. i am disappointed because we went to the inquiry hoping that it's going to ease us a bit, but in fact itjust makes us angry. but you're not going to withdraw your support for the inquiry? no, no, no. we're not. we're not going to withdraw it, we're going to carry on. three months on and still so much to do. only 60 victims identified out of the 80 believed to have died. 0n housing, 196 households need new homes, only three families have moved into permanent accommodation. 0n the police investigation, there have been no arrests so far and 165 other social housing blocks have been found to have unsafe cladding. the inquiry promises answers, but there's so much those who lost relatives and homes at grenfell still want and need to know. lucy is in north

kensington for us now i get the impression people want a nswe i’s i get the impression people want a nswers to i get the impression people want answers to big questions about social inequality, for example. will they get that? no, not on social inequality, not on the wider issues of social housing, and that has upset many residents. the government believes that is for ministers. that is not enough for some people. it will look quite deeply at a number of issues. the inquiry today released pages of more than 120 questions that they think the inquiry should look at, that will have questions asked of ministers, the council, of those who built and renovated the building, of the fire service renovated the building, of the fire service response renovated the building, of the fire service response on the night. that will give some comfort to people. there is still this issue that locals feel it would be good to have

a local representative advising sir martin. that will not happen. some people would like a panel to help sirmartin, so he people would like a panel to help sir martin, so he is not making all the decisions himself. it looks unlikely that will happen either. he says he will deliver an interim report at easter. but that is looking quite ambitious. the public hearing is not due to start until the end of this year. for the people who lived in the tower who felt for so long they weren't listened to, now they feel this inquiry is their opportunity to be listened to, and thatis opportunity to be listened to, and that is why they want to get it right. lucy, thank you. the bank of england has decided to keep interest rates on hold, but warned that a rate rise might be necessary "in the coming months" to curb inflation. a decision would depend on the state of the economy, but the governor of the bank, mark carney, said the possibility of a first rate rise since the financial crisis had definitely increased. the pound has strengthened on the news, hitting a one year high against the dollar and the euro. andy verity reports. the bank of england brings out a new banknote

with a famous writer on it. the hands of time are frozen as big ben gets a wash — not this month, butjuly 2007, the last time interest rates rose a prime minister had just left office and no—one had heard of the credit crunch. more than a decade later, we're hearing hints rates may at last rise this year. in order to keep inflation, or return inflation to that 2% target, in a sustainabable manner there may need to be some adjustment of interest rates in the coming months. now, we'll take that decision based on the data but, yes, that possibility has definitely increased. after the banking crisis struck the bank of england slashed the official interest rate to 0.5%, the lowest it had got in 300 years, an emergency measure. since then, interest rate setters have met 97 times each time the question — when will rates rise? but each time they've done nothing, until last august, when they decided, in the wake of the brexit vote, to cut interest rates to a 0.25%. now the city thinks they'll go back

up to 0.50% by december. a rise in the interest rate would help us greatly, thank you very much, because we don't have mortgages. if you've got savings, you want to seem maximise out and give you a good return but for years obviously that's not happened. well, in some cases you want it to go up, because of your savings, but then in other cases you don't because we've still got a mortgage. so we don't want it to go up for that. after the bank of england's warnings the pound jumped to more than $1.34, the highest it's been for a year. if the bank of england is signalling it could be raising interest rates in the autumn of this year, thatjust makes the pound a more attractive currency for investors to invest in. it raises its value relevant to other currencies. the higher pound won't help exporters because foreign customers may have to pay more for their goods, but it should also mean imports are a little cheaper, slowing down price rises in the shop. andy verity, bbc news. a senior executive at the security

firm gas has told mps he is ashamed by revelations of abuse at an immigration detention centre run by his company. managers have been giving evidence, following undercover filming by bbc‘s panorama at the brook house immigration removal centre near gatwick airport. gas refused to reveal the level of profit the firm makes from running the centre. alison holt has the story. it took an undercover panorama investigation to expose the realities of life at brook house immigration removal centre near gatwick airport. run by gas, it is plagued by drugs and self—harm. with some officers reacting to detainees with bullying, abuse, even violence. failing switched today jerry petherick, who runs the detention services, and gas uk boss peter neden, had to account for two mps.

i was ashamed at what i saw and i'm very sorry for what saw. i can assure you that if we were in any way aware of any of that behaviour, we would have taken action. but former gas senior manager nathan ward, now a priest, told the committee how he raised issues about bullying before leaving. he also described the intimidation he had faced since speaking out. i've had my car tyre slashed four times, i've had four anonymous letters in the last week, and in the last week received 12 anonymous phone calls. it's the home office that pays for services at brook house and next door tinsley house immigration removal centre. nathan ward told mps that financial and other information supplied to government officials about the places was not always complete. i'm also aware of inaccurate staffing, reported to the home office, and that is part of the concern that i raised tojerry petherick on my resignation, and other financial matters like that. do you think it is plausible that gas has been, or people working at

gas, have deliberately been giving false information to the home office? categorically, yes. following documents shown by bbc news last night which suggest significant profits of 20% or more on the two immigration centres in 2013, mp5 on the two immigration centres in 2013, mps pressed gas bosses on the money they were making. we don't make profit of more than 25%. that was overstated. do you make profits of between ten and 20%? i'm afraid i'm just not at liberty to disclose the profits that we make. there has never been very serious evidence around abuse and mismanagement taking place. it means that i think it is not acceptable for you to simply provide no information about the profitability on these contracts. well, we do provide that information, we provided to the home office, who is our client. gas says 11 staff and former staff have been suspended after the panorama.

it also insists the information it provides the home office with, is accurate. but inevitably this session will raise questions for the government about the monitoring of information detention services. alison holt, bbc news. the number of people detained in england, scotland and wales on suspicion of terror—related offences, has reached a record level. figures for the year tojune show there were 379 arrests, with rises across all ethnic groups. a man who was given a ten month sentence for arson, but has spent more than 11 years in prison, is to be released. james ward was jailed under what's called imprisonment for public protection, which meant a parole board had to be sure he wasn't a danger to the public before being released. zoe conway has been following the case, and has this report. for 11 years, james ward has never known when he will get out of prison. until now.

in just a few weeks' time, he'll be released to a hostel. i can't believe it. i'll believe it when he walks through the door. he'll get the biggest hug he can have. whenjames was 19, he was imprisoned for a yearfor assault. near the end of his sentence he set fire to the mattress in his cell. for that, a judge gave him an ipp, imprisonment for public protection, and said he should serve ten months. james' behaviour was destructive. he barricaded himself into his cell and self harmed. the parole board said he continued to be a risk. james has been writing to us from prison. this letter was written last month, when he had lost hope of ever being released. "i've spoken to my sister recently, and she was in tears because of my self—harming. i owe my life to her, even if not to myself. i try so hard to stay as strong as possible, but i couldn't promise that

i wouldn't do something stupid." on a visit to see last month, his family were shocked by how ill he looked. because he's on constant watch because of the self—harm, he's literally sat behind a cage like an animal. people walk past and point and laugh at him. how is that humane? why is that... how is that human rights? the ipp sentence was abolished five years ago by the then conservative justice secretary, ken clarke. he called them a stain on the criminaljustice system. but there remain 3300 ipp prisoners in england and wales. 85% of them have served more than their minimum term. 278 ipp prisoners were given a sentence of two years or less. yet they have served eight years more than that. what needs to happen is the government needs to work closely with the parole board in order to make sure these cases

are processed as quickly as they can be, and that when it is safe to release people, they are released. james has told his family he can't believe he will finally be free. his sister knows exactly how she will be greeting him. i'll hug him so tight. just... i think there'll be a lot of crying. bill and christine ward will have to wait a few more weeks to see james, the son who hasn't been home for 11 years. zoe conway, bbc news. the time is 6:17pm. our top story this evening: the public inquiry has opened into the grenfell tower fire which killed at least 80 people in june. and still to come: remember this? ten years since the run on northern rock bank that came to symbolise the financial crisis. coming up in sportsday on bbc news: fans from cologne descend on central london with 20,000 expected at the emirates for their europa

league match against arsenal. they're escorted by police amid reports of bottles being thrown. a long—awaited review of betting rules is due next month, focusing on the gambling industry's advertising and the use of fixed—odds machines. a recent report by the industry regulator estimated that more than one million people in england, scotland and wales have a gambling problem. chris buckler has been speaking to one couple whose son took his own life as a result of his addiction. people are constantly being encouraged to try their luck in the bookmakers and online. but gambling comes with real risks. lewis keogh ran up debts totalling well over £50,000 and four years ago he killed himself because of that addiction. he left a note. itjust said — addiction is cruel.

and that just. .. he hid it from everybody and he must have been absolutely going through torture and that's the thing that hurts the most. a long—delayed government review into how betting companies advertise is due to be published next month. it will also look at what are known as fixed—odds betting terminals. they are similar to fruit machines and allow people to gamble up to £100 at a time in games like roulette. they need to have a major reduction on the maximum bet. it should be instead of £100, it should be maybe £2, £5. the one that gets me most, being a sports watching sky television, there are at least ten major betting companies who are there at every break. betting companies say they are a major employer in a business that is already highly regulated,

and they insist that they work hard to try to ensure that people gamble responsibly. we want a sustainable business and that means people viewing it as a leisure pursuit and spending the amount of money they can afford to lose in a betting shop. the betting industry also points out that it supports sport, which was one of lewis's passions. his ashes are scattered at hillsborough stadium, the home of his favourite football team. so he's there all the time. still supporting sheffield wednesday. that was his last wish. his dad used to say, well, you'd better tell somebody else because i'll be gone before you. but it wasn't the case. sadly. the parents of lewis keogh speaking to our correspondent, chris buckler.

donald trump has arrived in florida to assess the damage caused by hurricane irma. ten million people in the states of florida, georgia and north and south carolina are still without power, and thousands more have lost their homes. more than 20 people were killed in the us — and nearly a0 more who lost their lives in the caribbean. it's ten years since the collapse of northern rock. as word spread that the bank was in trouble queues sna ked round branches up—and—down the country. it was the first run on a british bank in more than a century. our business editor simon jack looks back at the collapse, which became a symbol of the financial crisis in the uk. it was the moment a financial crisis born miles away in america arrived at the door of northern rock. ten years ago this week we saw the first run on a high street bank in over 1a0 years. this is where i started.

romilly turton had just retired. he had his life savings in the bank and was in one of those queues. i was desperately worried that i was going to lose, effectively, my life savings and i felt hours rather than days were the issue. every single person in that queue was as seriously worried as i was. northern rock had lent out more money than its savers had put in, raising the difference from international markets. when they dried up it needed help and once people knew that they wanted out, which made the problems worse. days later the government stepped in. should it be necessary we and the bank of england would put in place arrangements that would guarantee all the existing deposits in the northern rock bank. it was necessary and five months later newcastle's biggest business was nationalised. the bank's legacy is hard to miss. the sage gateshead venue is just one of the local projects on which it spent 5% of its profits.

northern rock was a huge institution here, especially with the foundation. the northern rock foundation did a lot for this area. it was what represented newcastle. i think it wasjust a bank you can trust really to begin with and i think that's why a lot of people were shocked when it started to collapse and that's why it was such a panic here. it was definitely like the family bank. but the bank that dominated this area didn't turn out so bad. savers got their money back, the government will make billions on the bit it kept, but shareholders like dennis grainger got nothing when the government took over. 150,000 small shareholders had everything taken off them and i think that is totally unfair. i think it's an abuse of the government's powers to leave people like that and just rubbished. this was the first moment that savers and borrowers felt the impact of the financial crisis. ten years on its effects are still with us. simonjack, bbc news, newcastle. two years after the death of sir terry pratchett,

some of the author's personal possessions are going on display at his local museum in salisbury. sir terry — who created the discworld series of fantasy novels — sold more than 80 million books around the world. now his fans will get a unqiue insight into his life — and his struggle with alzheimer's. jon kay has had an exclusive preview of the exhibition before it opens this weekend. it feels like he could walk back in at any moment. sir terry pratchett‘s office recreated just the way he left it. i have over the past 25 years hallucinated gently for a living. this is where the magic happened. the fantasy author called it his chapel in the wiltshire countryside, a work space every bit as eccentric as you'd expect. we were at salisbury museum as his most personal possessions arrived, loaned by his family.

there we go, terry's 0lympia typewriter. every item put in place by sir terry's assistant and close friend rob wilkins. terry's golden death ring that he would never be without. he had a few black hats but this one he was particularly fond of. he had a cat flap cut into the back of his desk. it really is like walking into the office where he wrote the books. probably the most important thing in the pratchett collection. the sword the writer made for himself when he was knighted. he actually put a piece of meteorite iron into the sword so he felt it was magical and i can't deny that it is. it's magical to me. from his first piece of teenage science—fiction to the illustrations he painted for his very first novel, the exhibition gives an insight as to how

the discworld series evolved right through to his last work. there were ten unfinished novels on this hard drive. but it was crushed by a steam roller just as sir terry wanted. there will be fans out there who just say, "for goodness' sake, mend it, fix it, i want to read it." i know, i know, but he didn't want that. he was very, very specific about his wishes about having the unfinished work destroyed. it makes you want to scream. sir terry was always open about his struggle with alzheimer's. the most poignant display includes these sketches, which reveal how the disease ravaged his brain. that's terry's attempt at a clock face. but in terms of his ideas and in terms of the words, he was still writing every single day. this is his world, bizarre, brilliant and has never seen before. as never seen before. john kay, bbc news, salisbury museum. time for a look at the weather — here's lucy martin.

thank you, george, hello and good evening, a fairly cool field to things today, this afternoon saw a mixture of sunny spells and showers, some fairly heavy, they are dying off inland. as we go through this evening and overnight we will continue to see the shower is confined to the coast, this feature brings showers south through scotla nd brings showers south through scotland into northern england and wales. a few showers for northern ireland and south—west of england. further south and east staying largely dry but it will be cold with temperatures in towns and cities 10 celsius, touch cooler in rural areas. a bright start to the date and cold and a few showers around but some good spells of sunshine as well. here we are at 9am, some good spells of sunshine across the south—east, temperatures just in double figures. as we move further west into the south—west of england and wales, a scattering of showers and wales, a scattering of showers and a few showers in the midlands as

well. quite a brisk north—westerly breeze from the word go on western coasts. further north in northern england and southern scotland more in the way of dry weather. plenty of brightness and a scattering of showers in northern ireland and the north and east of scotland first thing tomorrow. a brisk wind in the far north of scotland. as we move through the day the showers will get gelling. there will be lots of dry weather around but through the afternoon when the showers get going it could be quite heavy and the odd rumble of thunder not out of the question for england and wales. temperatures, fairly cool, struggling into the mid—teens, fairly brisk north—westerly breeze, taking us into the weekend that will stay cool, touch of grass frost overnight into sunday, the winds will ease as high pressure pushes m, will ease as high pressure pushes in, and a mixture of sunny spells and showers but the showers will tend to ease into sunday with a bit more in the way of dry weather. thank you, lucy. that's all from the bbc news at six, so it's goodbye from me — and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. this is bbc news. the headlines:

the inquiry into the grenfell tower fire has opened in london. its head, sir martin moore—bick, says his investigation will answer ‘pressing questions‘ about the disaster. a man who's spent 11 years in prison, despite only being sentenced to ten months, is set to be released. james ward had been told he wouldn't be released until a parole board decided he wasn't a danger to the public. the bank of england has said that higher inflation and a pick up in growth could lead to a rise in interest rates in ‘the coming months'. the bank's voted to keep rates on hold at a quarter of one per cent for now. borisjohnson has met the us secretary of state in london for discussions about libya, iran and north korea. rex tillerson also promised american help for the uk after brexit. president trump has landed in florida to see the damage caused by hurricane irma.