tonight at six: the cost of living goes up as inflation jumps to its highest for nearly six years. with christmas round the corner — and food prices rising — there'll be a squeeze on household budgets. people are finding it very difficult to make ends meet. i think they should bring the prices down for food, but they're not. every time you go, it's going up and up and up all the time. we'll be asking what this means for interest rates. also tonight: the suspected arson attack in manchester that left three children dead — their mother and another child are fighting for their lives in hospital. warnings of icy conditions after the coldest night of the winter — hundreds of schools are still shut. the gift of an organ that could save a life — now the government wants to persuade more people to become donors. it's a0 years since star wars first hit the screens — we're on the red carpet for the latest sequel. and coming up in sportsday on bbc news, former heavyweight boxing

world champion tyson fury is free to resume his career after accepting a doping violation. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. rising food costs, bigger electricity bills and higher air fares have all helped push inflation to its highest level for almost six years. the consumer prices index — the measure the government uses — hit 3.1% last month. with the latest data showing that wages are growing at a slower pace, it means a squeeze on household budgets, just when those christmas shopping bills are coming in. here's our economics correspondent, andy verity. at this baker on the outskirts of

barnsley, it's not just at this baker on the outskirts of barnsley, it's notjust the bread rolls on the rise. ingredients like butter and flour have shot up in the last year and a half so it's hard to do everything it can to make sure its costs are covered. one of the things we have done with our suppliers, we have decided to take a radical approach which is pay all of oui’ radical approach which is pay all of our suppliers early and demand better terms from them because we are paying them early and that's helped mitigate some of the costs. if you are looking to warm yourself up if you are looking to warm yourself up in the cold weather, it's not getting any cheaper. the price of food was up 4.4% in the year to november. hot drinks up 5.6% and electricity costs 11.4% more than it did last year. on high streets like

this one in glasgow, your wages won't buy as much as they did last year. that renewed squeeze on living standards is starting to pinch. very difficult to make ends meet, especially coming up to christmas. everything is going up. money, electricity, gas, everything is going up so we need someone to do something about it. if you are getting a few things, by the time you get to the cash desk you say how did it come to that, you know. the pressure on prices comes partly from the weakness of the pound since the brexit vote which means it takes more pounds to buy the same imported goods, and partly from a recent surge in the price of oil. the interest rate setters at the bank of england know it is above target but that doesn't mean there will be an interest rate rise any time soon. the confident prediction is that inflation will come down next year and in the city they are betting the next interest rate rise won't come until the summer of next year. the bank of england is navigating a

pretty tricky course as it's trying to work out how the economy will fa re to work out how the economy will fare through the brexit process so it's being ultra—cautious and for that reason it is unlikely they will make another rate move so soon after the november on so nothing until further into 2018 and probably one rate rise in 2018, and one in 2019. the hope is down the line the inflationary effect of higher oil prices will fade. inflation is now hitting its peak. if your wages by less tha n hitting its peak. if your wages by less than they did last christmas, thatis less than they did last christmas, that is no more than a crumb of comfort. with me now is our economics editor, kamal ahmed. we heard the shopper saying prices keep going up, have we reached a peak? the bank of england certainly believes next year the rate of growth in prices will start to come down. why do they say that? the currency effect, the falling value

of the pound since the referendum pushes through the economy quite quickly so by next year the effects of that on prices will start dissipating. also as andy spoke about, there are some upward pressures on inflation — the oil price, there's a lot of cold weather around at the moment so demand is going up, and also global growth. we are in an era now in europe, asia and america when growth is pretty quick and that means demand goes up and that can push up inflation. but the bank of england certainly believes as the currency effect comes out of the economy, that means the growth rate of inflation will come down and actually it does suggest interest rate rises are still a long way off. thank you. police say a mother and her three—year—old girl are fighting for their lives in hospital following a suspected arson attack on a home in worsley, manchester, in which three children died. three people remain in custody, held on suspicion of murder. danny savage is outside swinton police station. danny.

in the last hour police have given an update on this ongoing murder investigation. they say some of those arrested over the last 2a hours have been released but others remain in custody. i think the saddest fact of the day if you like is the mother of the three children who died, herself seriously ill in hospital, still has no idea her son and two daughters are dead. a home police believe was deliberately set alight early yesterday morning. we have collected cctv from the area and now believe this to be a targeted attack on this house. we have a full team of detectives and specially trained

officers working on this case. the victims were 14—year—old demi pearson who died at the scene, her eight—year—old brother brandon and seven—year—old sister lacie died later in hospital. the head of their school says it was a senseless loss of precious life. their 35—year—old mother michelle pearson still doesn't know her children are dead. a fourth sibling, three—year—old lia, is still critical. back at the scene a family friend told me how difficult it is for people living here. what were they like? nice, they were all good people. i think it's a shock, it will affect the community for a long time. i've cried loads of times when i think about it or drive past in the car. last night a man and woman were filmed being arrested, three people remain in custody on suspicion of

murder. police officers are at work at other addresses as well as at the house where the pearson is lived. it's emerged extra security had been fitted to the family home including a special letterbox guard after previous incidents, so painstaking work is under way to try to establish how the fire was started. details on trouble here before yesterday are sketchy though, police won't comment on previous contact with the family because those events will be looked at by the independent police complaints commission. danny savage, bbc news, walkden in manchester. last night was the coldest this winter and if you live in shropshire you'll have known all about it — it was down to minus 13 celsius in one place. the freeze has led to fresh disruption for travellers and hundreds of schools are closed for a second day running. from shawbury in shropshire, sima kotecha sent this report. a bed of snow with freezing

conditions. across parts of midlands it's not been easy — icy roads, school closures, but for the children another day off school. we have been sledging, building a snowmans. in shropshire more than 200 schools were closed and in gloucestershire and herefordshire almost 100 remain closed. it is difficult trying to find things for them to do and keep them occupied. when you have childcare issues and you are working full—time, obviously it would be disruptive to you because the schools are closing on a day—to—day basis and you're not knowing until the last minute. day—to—day basis and you're not knowing until the last minutem day—to—day basis and you're not knowing untilthe last minute. it is bitterly cold here, the temperature is around minus four celsius and there's no sign of this snow melting any time soon. as night falls, the temperatures are expected to plunge even further. in the west midlands

it was a similar story, more schools closed and open. some councils have been criticised for advising them not to reopen even though many roads have been cleared. the initial advice last friday was for all schools to close, we have changed that advice to save the decision should be made locally depending on whether you can get school transport to the school and whether it is safe to the school and whether it is safe to do so in consideration of the roads and other conditions. yes or no answer, do you think it's a necessity to close all schools? it's not a necessity to close all schools, some will need to close. more than 200 homes in the region we re more than 200 homes in the region were without power this morning. tomorrow will present its own challenges. with rain coming in from the west, some of the snow will turn to ice making pathways even more slippery.

the met office has issued a yellow warning for ice from today until 11 o'clock tomorrow morning with the worst affected areas expected to be in scotland and the north of england. in shropshire the conditions seem to be improving, more roads have cleared today, the grifters have been out and more schools are scheduled to reopen tomorrow. —— the gritters. we know organ transplants can save lives and we know that there aren't enough organ donors out there. the government wants to change that by re—writing the rules so that we'll all be considered as potential donors unless we opt out — it's called ‘presumed consent‘. the number of donors is rising but not fast enough to meet the need. ten years ago there were just under 800 donors. this year that figure has risen to over 1,400. but there are still 6,500 people currently waiting for a transplant in the uk. our health correspondent dominic hughes has met one patient who knows just how vital an increase in donors is. just hanging the tubes up here. keeping going, but going nowhere.

very honestly, i don't have a life, that is what i do at the moment, 24—hours a day. this is how odette stays alive while she waits for a pancreas and kidney transplant. every night, hooked up to a dialysis machine. nearly two litres of fluid repeatedly pumped in and out of her body. there's days that it actually feels as if i've swallowed a demon and obviously, on those days, ijust can't sleep, i double over sometimes in pain. good boy. odette is marking time. on four occasions she's been called to hospital for a transplant, each time the organ wasn't suitable. the emptiness is just very, very, very, very big. it's just like...

there's nothing that anybody can do about it, i understand that. and there is nobody to blame, basically. so it'sjust like — what do you do? she's one of 6,500 people waiting for a transplant of one kind of another, around a50 of them die each year. transplant teams know they need more organs, so the government in england wants to assume we are all willing to donate. an approach already adopted in wales two years ago, with scotland also planning to follow suit. but already the way teams identify donors and how they approach grieving families has been transformed, that's seen the number of operations increase by more than 50%. the story of transplants in the uk over the past decade has been one of success — more people are having operations and more people are willing to donate their organs. but there are those who worry that if we move to a system of presumed consent,

well, that could actually do more harm than good. it's a quick—fix for politicians. you pass a law, automatically everyone is presumed to be a donor and you've got more organs, but in real—life it doesn't happen that way. a lot of people who would potentially become organ donors object to it so strongly that theyjoin the opt—out register. so far in wales more than 200,000 people, 6% of the population, have chosen to opt out of organ donation. but after their own death, a donor offers a stranger a new life. and just over a fortnight ago, in manchester, that stranger was odette. after being so sick for such a long time and to wake up and you're 0k and that's all gone, it's just like magically disappeared. i can see it in you, from the last time we spoke, you seem very different in yourself? i feel different, i feel totally different. extremely grateful.

actually feeling as if you're alive. it's just overwhelming. odette de sa ending that report by dominic hughes. time is quarter past six. our top story this evening: rising food prices and higher air fares help push inflation up to its highest level for six years. and coming up: the new star wars film, the lastjedi — we're at the star—studded premier tonight in london. coming up in sportsday on bbc news: who's responsible for ‘milkgate'? the managers of manchester united and manchester city have their says on the melee after last sunday's premier league derby match. yesterday, we brought you some shocking stories about the kind

of behaviour young women and some men have to put up with at work. it came from a survey commissioned by the bbc, one of the largest ever conducted on sexual harassment. today we're looking at the experiences of older women, those over 55. it turns out they're half as likely to report inappropriate behaviour as younger women. in her second report, lucy manning has been to whitley bay, in northumbria, where she's been hearing from an older generation. # waking into the light #. into the light — the groping, the harassment and the assaults faced by women at work. # waking into the light #. in whitley bay they sing, but the mostly retired choir members are also starting to talk — some for the first time. he started to put his hand on my knee and then it went further and further up. every time i went into work, when he was there,

i was terrified to go in. did i misunderstand? but i knew he'd touched my bottom and then he'd stroke the side of my breast. he thought he had nothing better to do than to slap me hard on the bottom, and it stung. my husband doesn't even know. mine didn't, no. no. the bbc‘s poll on sexual harassment reveals the older generation are only half as likely to have reported harassment as younger people. just 16% of those now aged 55 or over have reported an incident, compared to 30% of those aged 18—34. can you put your hands up if you didn't report to your boss or to someone senior the sexual harassment or the sexual assault that happened to you? my boss was actually in the room. can ijust say, it was my boss. so why didn't you report it? because i thought i might lose my job. i loved myjob.

yeah, same with me. i could have lost myjob. this was the man i worked for, i had to stay on the right side of him. but nobody would have believed me either. there was no idea about reporting it and there was no idea about taking it into a formal complaints procedure. older people are now more likely to reconsider behaviour they witnessed in their careers. more than 40% of over 55s would now describe incidents they saw as sexual harassment. we didn't have the vocabulary. i would now be saying — hang on a minute, i think that's some kind of assault. but i would never have said it 20 years ago, never, because i didn't think it was. no. i thought it was just the way you were if you were a woman. we're of a generation where women were onlyjust beginning to be encouraged to speak out. overall, the poll found most people were optimistic recent events will lead to change. nearly 70% think the revelations will cause sustained improvements in behaviour.

what do you think about all these stories about sexual harassment, sexual assault in the workplace that have come out now? there are some brave women who have started the ball rolling. it will always continue. men will always feel that they're superior to women. and you don't think that the massive publicity that we've had recently will in anyway change that? i don't think so. oh, i think it will. i think it's hopeful. it's been changing for a while now. it will never stop. they can't put the lid back on the box now. i'm sure it's educating men. i wasjust going to say that, annie, absolutely. do you think it's something that all women of your generation had to put up with, when you speak to friends and relatives? oh, yeah. when you talk to just about everybody. there were lots of people in the choir who didn't want to come into a public forum who've said things to me — oh, that happened to me, but i don't want to discuss it with anyone. this is the generation who had to put up with harassment at work, who can't believe it's still happening today. lucy manning, bbc news, whitley bay.

a woman's been jailed for four years after her dangerous dog attacked 12 children in a playground. claire neal's staffordshire bull terrier escaped from her home before it carried out the attack in blyth, northumberland. peter harris is outside newcastle crown court. sounds awful, peter, give us the details? well, the judge described it as details? well, the judge described itasa details? well, the judge described it as a "truly terrible situation" as the dog chased those children through the playground. some of them went up on to the climbing frames to try and escape. others were dragged along the floor and bitten before the dog could be brought under control. the injuries were nasty skin graphs and stitches for some, bearing in mind one of the victims was only six years old. it turned out in court claire neal should never have had the dog in the first place. just a month before a court had made an order that she should hand the dog over to be destroyed because of previous attacks. she

failed to comply with that order, leading to these attacks just a few weeks later. thejudge injailing her told her "it's not the dog's fault, it's yourfault." her told her "it's not the dog's fault, it's your fault." peter, thank you very much. a woman has died following a massive gas explosion that destroyed her house in leicestershire. it happened in birstall, near leicester. the home of janet jasper, who was understood to be in her late 70s, was reduced to rubble by the blast and other houses nearby were badly damaged. an investigation is under way to find out what happened. police are appealing for witnesses and any dash—cam footage as they investigate the death of a woman who was struck in a suspected multiple hit and run in south london. the 29—year—old victim was struck by a lorry on a pedestrian crossing before she is thought to have been struck by another lorry and two cars. none of the drivers stopped after the incident in tulse hill yesterday. in a couple of days' time, it will be six months since the horror

of the grenfell tower fire. this week we're hearing from some of those affected by the disaster — whether they're survivors or one of the many people who are helping the community on its long and challenging process of recovery. tonight, it's the turn of david bailey, who manages child and adolescent mental health services in the area. people in the early days were presenting with very disturbed sleep. that they had images and thoughts in their head that they didn't want and people were feeling quite numb and just quite overwhelmed by the whole scale of what they'd seen. we're dealing all the time with children who have experienced bereavements, who have experienced escaping from the building on that night. people are trying i think to get on with their lives, but are constantly reminded of what happened on that, and that

i think is really difficult. it's not just that you see the tower, it's that you actually feel something when you're close to the tower. it's hideous to look at because of what it reminds you of. so it's hard for people who, you know, haven't been in the area to know what it feels like to walk down the road and to look up and to see the tower, or to be in a playground and to look up and to see the tower. it's hard for people... i understand that it's hard for people who aren't in this area to understand the impact it has on a daily basis to the residents. this is there all the time and we're constantly looking at it and we're constantly dealing with the impact of it. we are going to be actively going out, knocking on doors, going into schools. we want people to know that whenever they need that help and support, they can get access to it. whenever they need us, we'll be there is the message that we want them to very clearly hear.

that was david bailey, who manages the local child and adolescent mental health services in the area. hard to believe, but it was a0 years ago that the first star wars film hit the cinemas, spawning one of the most successful film franchises in history. the latest instalment — the eighth film — is called the lastjedi and it has its european premiere in london tonight. lizo mzimba's on the red carpet for us. lizo. yes, i'm here on the red carpet joined by lizo. yes, i'm here on the red carpetjoined by a familiar face to star wars fans, one of the stars, perhaps the star of the star wars saga. mark hamill who plays luke skywalker. what is it like for you emotionally returning to the franchise that did so much for you? well, it was surreal. we had no idea. we had a beginning, middle and end. i thought if they are going to do

further star wars films they wouldn't need us, they had new characters. i can assure you my part in the lastjedi is twice as big as it was inth force awakens. star wars is an important movie to fans. how important is the way it has expanded its recipation of all kinds to the cinema audience? well, the films we re cinema audience? well, the films were originally made for children. we never expected it to be embraced by the adult world. i guess we hit that sweet spot it's for children of all ages, but it's basically escapism. people need that when reality is too harsh. whether they go to hogworts middle earth or the land of oz it's comforting to go to a galaxy far away, i guess. i thought it more of a fairytale than science fiction. we had a princess, farm boy and a wizard.

it's a continuation of all of that. thank you for your time from the premier of star warser, here at the royal albert hall, back to you. thank you very much. time for a look at the weather. here's darren bett. not as cold tonight as it was last night by any means. there has been a little bit of a thaw for some areas. still very tricky conditions out and about on the roads and there is still the chance of some icy stretches too with the greatest risk of disruption coming across scotland and northern england. there has been ice around the glasgow area because coming into the cold air we have seen all this cloud spilling its way eastwards. it is bringing with it wet weather, too. there is a good chance that wet weather will fall on frozen surfaces bringing the risk of ice for the next few hours. everything is moving eastwards. wet weather will gather in the west. in between the cloud will break up and those temperatures could be low enough to bring the risk of icy patches later in the night as well.

tomorrow, we will find the thickening cloud, strengthening winds and outbreaks of rain pushing eastwards a cross winds and outbreaks of rain pushing eastwards across all areas. the rain could be heavy at times. it cheers up could be heavy at times. it cheers up more in the afternoon. more sunshine following on and some showers. those showers turning increasingly wintry in scotland and northern ireland. temperatures five degrees at best. further south you could get nine or ten for a while in southern england and south wales. keep an eye on this snow. snotjust across scotland and northern ireland, we may get snow at lower levels briefly tomorrow evening in wales, midland and northern england, to top things up and keep that ice risk going. as we head into thursday, we are left with sunshine and showers. the showers will be wintry, snow more likely over the hills and particularly in scotland where the winds are lighter. we will have stronger, blustery winds and temperatures beginning to fall away. three in the central belt, seven in southern england and south wales. more wintry showers around coastal areas as we head into friday. the wind direction changing. more colder

airon the wind direction changing. more colder air on the way. not as cold as it has been recently. darren, thank you very much. before we go, just time to tell you about a special report coming up at10.00pm. fergal keane will have a special report on a new humanitarian crisis unfolding in the democratic republic of congo in central africa. we lost our children, they were killed. such suffering isn't the natural condition of these people, it's man—made. that's coming up at 10.00pm. but for now it's goodbye from me and on bbc one we join the bbc‘s news teams where you are. hello. this is bbc news with vicki young. the headlines. inflation jumps to 3.1%, its highest level for nearly six years. wages aren't keeping pace with the higher cost of living, which is bad news for the high street and the economy.

very difficult to make ends meet these days, especially coming up towards christmas. everything's going up. money, rent, electricity, gas. hundreds of schools remain closed for a second day, following the coldest night of the year so far. forecasters warn of more icy conditions to come. three people are being questioned by police, over the suspected murder of three children, in a house fire in the worsley area of salford. the children's mother and their three—year—old sister are fighting for their lives in hospital. the government considers plans to introduce ‘presumed consent,‘ for organ donations in england. the proposed scheme involved people opting out of being a donor — rather than opting in.