the government orders a fast—track investigation into the directors of the collapsed construction giant carillion. a growing number of businesses who worked on projects with the firm say they are already having to lay off staff. others fear closure. well, accruing debts of about a million pounds, we're not a business of a size who can trade through that without some form of support from the government. we'll be hearing from some of the business facing an uncertain future. also this lunchtime. a couple are arrested after police discover 13 emaciated brothers and sisters, some chained to beds, in a house in california. the four—time olympic champion simone biles says she she was sexually abused by the former team usa gymnastics doctor. hundreds of fires caused by defective tumble dryers. now mps say whirlpool‘s response to the problems was woeful. the british number onejohanna konta

is through to the second round of the australian open, with a straight sets win over american madison brengle. coming up in the sport on bbc news, roger federer reaches round two in melbourne but isn't expecting another fairy tale year after two grand slams aged 35 in 2017. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. a growing number of businesses are saying they are facing big losses and have already had to lay off staff because of the collapse of carillion. firms working on private sector deals for the construction giant have been told they'll receive only two days of government support.

one industry group estimates that up to 30,000 firms are owed money by carillion. the government has ordered a fast—track investigation into the company's directors. our correspondent simon gompertz reports. this is the sort of work, painting offices in newly built flats that the carillion collapses putting in question. a london decorating company which had 30 people turn up for a job to find suddenly there was nothing to do and £2 million of orders had disappeared. carillion took on the contract then farmed them out to subcontractors. re—employ everyone, carry out the work, by the materials, train the people, all on that level down. the stock market has had its money and the investors have had their money, and i'm sure they've had good times

in the past and we find it unbelievable how business can lose £1.5 billion. that anger amongst many who were depending on carillion, the royal liverpool hospital now expected to be delayed, is beginning to focus on what it was paying its top people. and the fact it changed its policy on bonuses so that it was much harder to claw the money back if the company hit the rocks. there will have to be an investigation. you can't say for certain exacting what happened yet, but certainly, if you were an employee of the company, one of the many small contractors whose future is now very uncertain because of what happened at carillion, you would be very surprised looking at what the company has done with its bonus scheme and ask why has this change happened? the former chief executive richard harrison was paid £1.5 million in 2016 in salary and bonuses and after he left last autumn following a series of warnings that profits were

plummeting, he was still promised his £660,000 a year of regular pay would carry on until october this year. now there is concern the emphasis on quick returns may also have affected the 28,000 staff in the stricken company ‘s pension scheme. the huge hole in the pension fund was slowly being filled by the company but a higher priority was going to bonuses for top executives and dividends for shareholders and i'm not convinced the regulator should have allowed that balance to be as it was. so today the business secretary greg clark has asked the official receiver in charge of carillion to investigate not only the conduct of the directors at the point of its insolvency, but also of any individuals who were previously directors including detriment to any employees who might be owed money and the pension schemes. given the level of salaries and bonuses awarded to senior management at carillion, as well as improving corporate tax evasion, what the

government to ensure better corporate governance? this point about the money for bosses was put to ministers in parliament. this country has amongst the most robust corporate governance in the world and that is something about this government will continue. rail, health, schools, it those essential services where the work is being done by carillion that it will carry on and people will still be paid, but the bulk of the business, services or construction, is in the private sector and their staff will be finding out over the next day or so be finding out over the next day or so whether their jobs be finding out over the next day or so whether theirjobs will continue. here at an office in cambridgeshire, two e m pty here at an office in cambridgeshire, two empty chairs already at a company which offers landscaping, office plants and does snow clearing in the winter. and the money carillion owes could finish the business completely. it's about £1

million of debt, and we are not a business of the size that can trade through that without some form of support from the government. if it's not forthcoming, i think lots of businesses will probably go out of business. unions are calling on the government to coordinate a maximum state and banking help for businesses like this under pressure. and to clarify which jobs they are willing to protect. let's speak to our assistant political editor norman smith. we had a sense that there, norman, an awful lot of questions it seems to be answered 7 an awful lot of questions it seems to be answered? yesterday the overriding emotion was one of shock at the sheer scale of the carillion colla pse at the sheer scale of the carillion collapse and the emotions today are ones of anger and anxiety, anger at the fact that former carillion bosses seem to be walking away with very large salaries and bonuses, in particular former chief executive, who was at the helm when the company

ran into difficulties and then resigned. he still receiving a salary of around £660,000, prompting greg clark the business secretary to say to the insolvency service, take a look at this and see whether there's any of misconduct. the insolvency service this lunchtime say it's too early to say whether or not we could recover any of those payments but anxiety too because we simply do not know who is going to be able to keep theirjobs. the government has said they were protect those in the public sector and the unions will say how do you define who is working in the public sector and who isn't so for example, ifa sector and who isn't so for example, if a cleaner cleaning a government department is going to be safe, that's great news, but why shouldn't a cleaner cleaning a railway carriage be safe? similarly, small businesses are saying smaller companies in the supply chain are now at risk and therefore employees working for them, theirjobs are at risk so there is huge anxiety and

uncertainty, not just about who risk so there is huge anxiety and uncertainty, notjust about who is going to lose theirjobs, but the sheer scale of potentialjob losses we may now be facing. norman, thank you, at westminster. 13 brothers and sisters, aged from two to 29, have been found dirty and malnourished at their home in california. some were chained to their beds. police carried out the rescue after one girl managed to escape 13 brothers and sisters, aged from two to 29, and raise the alarm. their parents have been arrested and charged with torture and child endangerment. james cook reports from california. they look like a big, happy family. the children a little pale, perhaps, but smiling. photographs on facebook show the turpins visiting disneyland, and in las vegas as their apparently proud parents renewed atheir wedding vows. their wedding vows. now, david and louise turpin are under arrest, charged with torture and child endangerment. their children are in hospital. in the time we live in,

it is unfortunate to see this. it is actually heartbreaking for the staff, and it is unbelievable what you see. the horror on muir woods road was uncovered early on sunday morning when a 17—year—old girl escaped with a mobile phone and called the police. at the home, officers found 12 siblings and were shocked to discover that seven were adults, the eldest 29. the captives were dirty and malnourished, say police, shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks in dark the horror on muir woods road was uncovered early on sunday and foul—smelling surroundings. as reporters arrived in the quiet suburb east of los angeles, neighbours said they were stunned. the kids were not sociable at all, they did not want to look at people. they were just doing what they were doing and no contact with society. you would never see anyone visit, you would never see anyone come outside. all you would really see is that they would go out and maybe make a grocery run and that was about it.

i have a daughter. it is very horrifying that it can happen in this community. there is no hint at all here of the grim conditions inside this home. the questions about what happened are mounting. not least, how long were the siblings held captive, and why? james cook, bbc news, perris, california. the uk's inflation rate has fallen for the first time sincejune, mainly because of the impact ofairfares. the inflation rate dipped to 3% in december, down from november's rate of 3.1% — a six—year high. the office for national statistics said that a drop in the price of toys and games also contributed to december‘s fall. our economics correspondent andy verity reports. it's the jump in the cost of raw materials imported from abroad and that's been the biggest factor

driving inflation up. but companies like this online maker of designer furniture want customers looking round the showroom is not to be made uncomfortable. so they have been trying to contain any price rises. 18 months after the brexit vote, the wea ker 18 months after the brexit vote, the weaker pound is still pushing up the cost of imported goods like the furniture in this store. but retailers like this are in a highly competitive business and want to grow their sales so they don't necessarily want to pass on the fall higher cost of what they are buying. it isa higher cost of what they are buying. it is a fact like that, competition which helps curb the rise in the cost of living. we feel customers should not have to take on the additional costs, really important for us, we are about affordable design and that's what we are set up to do eight years ago and today that is still relevant to our business. while furniture prices for example are relatively stable, up 3.6%, some

goods rose much faster like coffee and tea, up11.1%, goods rose much faster like coffee and tea, up 11.1%, oralnwick goods rose much faster like coffee and tea, up 11.1%, or alnwick to 30, 11 inflation peaked? —— electricity. yes, ido 11 inflation peaked? —— electricity. yes, i do think it will get worse. literally, if i buy ahead of broccoli or something, it's gone from i think 2017, it was like 39p and now it's about 60 p. when you get to the checkout, you just think, oh my goodness, that is significantly more and individual items are getting that bit more. the easing of inflation means there's a little less pressure on the bank of england to raise interest rates again, at least for the next few months. even though the economy is relatively weak at the moment, we do have a tight labour market and some evidence of wages beginning to peak and therefore it may be necessary for the bank of england to raise rates a little bit this year, particularly in the second half of this year. while shoppers are being

protected from higher import prices, the average wage studies at keeping up the average wage studies at keeping up with a cost of living. only if inflation slows down much more sharply will that squeeze on living standards loosen its grip. the supermarket chain, iceland, says it will scrap all plastic from its own brand products within five years. the retailer said plastic would be replaced with paper and pulp trays along with paper bags which can all be recycled and are less harmful to the environment. a man has gone on trial at the old bailey accused of planning terrorist attacks on some of the capital's best known landmarks. prosecutors say umar haque, from east london, was inspired by islamic state. he denies the charges. our correspondent dominic casciani is at the old bailey. explain what the court has heard so far, dominic. yes, jane, there's is umar haque, and occasional teacher from east london, he and three of

his friends are accused of effectively working together to further his plans, two allegations of a cts further his plans, two allegations of acts of terrorism which involve 2016 and work to come to fruition during 2017 and in essence, what happened was prosecutors said he was inspired by the islamic state group and told police after his arrest that he was a loyal follower and he wa nted that he was a loyal follower and he wanted to carry out attacks and had a range of targets at his home. let me go through that list, it included the queen ‘s guard, transport, tanks, a shopping centre, parliament, shia muslims, the media, embassies and that is just a view of the alleged targets, but the other pa rt the alleged targets, but the other part of this case against umar haque is that he was involved in the radicalisation of children here in the capital and worked as an occasional teacher at a secondary school but also was accused of grooming children at a mosque in east london. he denies those charges

and this will be and compensated trial. dominic, thank you. the american gymnast simone biles, who won four gold medals at the rio olympics, has said she was sexually abused by the former usa team doctor, larry nassar. he was jailed last month for 60 years for possessing images of child sexual abuse and is awaiting sentencing for assaulting other athletes. our sports correspondent natalie pirks reports. and this is really very special. one clip, two flips. full twisting double back. so easy... she's a four—time olympic champion whose megawatt smile and will to win propelled her to gymnastic greyness. to gymnastic greatness. only one american woman has ever won gold on the vault. but last night the self proclaimed happy, giggly and energetic girl admitted to feeling broken, saying she too had been a victim of one of sport's most predatory abuses. physician larry nassar was part of the us gymnastics programme from the ‘80s to 2015. he is accused of

sexually abusing more than 130 women under the guise of medical treatment and is serving 60 years in jail for possessing images of child sexual abuse. in a lengthy statement last night, biles said it had been impossibly difficult to relive her experience, but says she's not afraid to tell her story any more. i love the sport too much and i have never been a quitter, she said. i won't let one man and the others that enabled him to steal my love and joy. some of her limpid team—mates also say they were abused by larry nasser. she has accused authorities of a cover—up and believes more should have been done to protect the girls in his care. what did usa gymnastics do to manipulate these girls so much that they are so afraid to speak up? usa gymnastics said it was absolutely

heartbroken, sorry and angry that any of their athletes had been harmed by the horrific acts of larry nasser. it said its support for simone biles and others is unwavering. his crimes have parallels to the current climate in british football and in hollywood. similar stories of power and access have played out with horrifying consequences. simone biles used the hash tag me too, also used by thousands on social media to raise awareness of sexual harassment and abuse. used to making the spectacular look effortless, disclosing the special treatment inflicted on her, has been a painful process but through witnessing the coverage of other survivors, simone biles has finally felt able to share her story. the time is 17 minutes past one. our top story this lunchtime... a growing number of businesses

who worked on projects with the firm say they're already laying off staff; others fear closure. and coming up... a transport revolution for the north of england but at least one critic has ridiculed the proposals. coming up in sport, wales take a chance on injured players for the six nations including taulupe faletau and george north in their 39—man squad, despite both struggling with knee problems. the french president, emmanuel macron, is to put pressure on britain to take in more refugees from northern france. he's visiting calais today, with french ministers saying he will also ask the uk to increase funding for security and the development of the port city. at stake is a 2003 agreement between britain and france, which effectively moved the uk border onto french territory. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams is in calais. there were once thousands of

migrants camped out here in calais, now there are as many as 700 at any one time, living rough in utterly miserable conditions, having of course to make it across the channel to england. they are read small part ofa to england. they are read small part of a much bigger immigration problem the french government is grappling with. last year there were more than 100,000 applications for asylum, a new record, and it is clear president macron is about to ask theresa may for more help in dealing with the situation here. they are harder to find but they are still here. under the trees, cold and wet, desperate to move on. from eritrea, ethiopia, afghanistan and iraq. they walk miles every day for food, shelter and opportunities to leave. for security reasons... just james. yes, just james. 0k. james is from cameroon, unwilling to show his face. he's been in calais for six months,

bitter about his treatment. i have my own reasons why i left my country to come to europe. so the way they treat us here is not good. i don't believe there is humanity in france. humanity does not exist in calais. so today we have about 600, 700 refugees who are in calais and who live in absolutely treacherous conditions, you know. every few hours, every few days, everything is taken away and they find themselves with absolutely nothing to survive with. president macron has come to see the situation for himself, stopping first visit migrants in the regional capital. he's about to unveil a new immigration bill, and when it comes to calais his officials say he's going to ask britain to do more to help. the camp they call thejungle was demolished 15 months ago, it was essential to draw the

conclusions before meeting with theresa may. the camp they call thejungle was demolished 15 months ago, its residents sent to reception centres all over the country, but calais is still a magnet. you can burn a camp down but you can't stop people trying to reach britain. the rail and ferry terminals are now heavily fortified. british money paid for a lot of this but lorries and smugglers still offer ways across the channel. calais' migrant problem seems perpetual. governments have tried and failed to fix it. when president macron crosses the channel on thursday, it seems he will be carrying demands. pauladams, bbc news, calais. we have been hearing a bit about that in the course of the president's speech which ended a few minutes ago. he said he would be looking for what he called a

specific response from his british partners on the subject of unaccompanied minors and said he would be talking to theresa may about money. thank you. paul adams in calais. the president of the european council has again insisted that the eu remains open to the idea of brexit being abandoned. donald tusk told meps in strasbourg that it's not too late for britain to change its mind. our europe correspondent adam fleming is at the european parliament in strasbourg. tell us more about what was said, adam. donald tusk is the man that chairs the all—importa nt adam. donald tusk is the man that chairs the all—important summit of eu leaders and has said things like this before. remember last summer when he channelled john lennon to say imagine there was no brexit but he's never said it quite strongly as this. he said the eu's heart was open if uk voters decided to change their mind. then used an old quote from david davis saying the

democracy wasn't a democracy any more if it couldn't change its mind, and that was backed up by jean—claude juncker, who spoke afterwards saying he hoped this message was heard loud and clear in london. i don't know if this is part of some big campaign to get the brexit vote reversed, i think it is more a tactic to make sure all options are still on the table no matter what happens in the next 1a months of the brexit process. there was plenty of other brexit chap today but what mps really want is more detailfrom theresa today but what mps really want is more detail from theresa may about what the uk wants from its future relationship with the eu before talks on that start in march. thank you. there's fewer than a0 miles between manchester and britain's fifth biggest city bradford, but the journey takes almost an hour on even the fastest trains. well this morning, transport for the north published its plan to modernise rail and road links, as our correspondent danny savage reports. the hills of the north. beautiful, but a physical barrier between the conurbations either side of the pennines.

travelling by car can be painful, the few routes over the top are often congested. as for the trains, they are frequent but relatively slow and can be overcrowded. because there's always delays on the train, we want this train service to be quicker than what it usually is. most of the trains between halifax and bradford, and halifax to leeds are like this, like an old bus. draughty, hot, old. improving transport links across the pennines is nothing new. this is the leeds—liverpool canal build more than 200 years ago. but instead of taking a few days by water, the hope is for example getting leeds to manchester by train down to about half an hour. after years of discussion about improving things on the twisty hilltop roads, there is now a plan the northern cities agree on. there used to be a train tunnel between sheffield and manchester. that's long gone, but a new road tunnel like this one in norway is proposed and could halve the current journey

between south yorkshire and greater manchester. and a new trans—pennine line will link leeds and manchester via bradford. i think we all need to make sure that we cover hull, sheffield, newcastle, and manchester of course, so all of our major city regions. this is vitally important for the north. today's launch of the plan was about helping businesses as well as individuals. we want to work more with our near neighbours, that's both sides of the pennines, and further north. at the moment that's a little bit harder than it should be. but remember, this is a 30—year plan and is still only at the ideas stage. former transport secretary john prescott walked out of the launch in hull today, unconvinced. it will have no powers. it can talk to the treasury along with the strategic bodies but it can't make a decision. it doesn't get any money. it's a bloody fraud. the planners will have to pitch their ideas to the treasury

to get the money for these ambitious projects to upgrade the north, which at the moment feels left behind when it comes to transport. danny savage, bbc news, leeds. the white goods manufacturer whirlpool hasn't done enough to deal with defective tumble dryers which have caused hundreds of fires. the commons business committee says the firm's response to the problem, discovered in 2015, has been woeful. our business correspondent, emma simpson, reports. a burnt out wreck. fire engulfed this flat in llanrwst in wales in 2014, claiming the lives of doug mctavish and bernard hender. the coroner said it was most likely caused by a fault in the tumble dryer, owned by whirlpool, and that the company needed to take further action to prevent future deaths. mps are now demanding changes too. well, the evidence was woeful. since 2004, they admit there have

been 740 fires in people's homes caused by these tumble dryers and yet still today, in 2018, there are million of these tumble dryers in people's homes. there are a million of these tumble dryers in people's homes. they need to take much stronger action to get those tumble dryers out of people's homes. her parliamentary committee has been looking into the safety of electrical goods. among its recommendations, it wants... whirlpool to deal with any faulty machines within a fortnight of being contacted by customers. all manufacturers should make risk assessments available as soon as defects are identified. safer materials to replace plastic—backed fridge freezers, which appear to be a significant risk. and it wants the government to actively explore the creation of a single national product safety agency to improve a system which the mps claim is fragmented and under resourced. whirlpool says it's helped the vast majority of customers who've come forward so far, and promises it will now resolve

reported problems within a week. the government says britain's product safety requirements are among the highest in the world and it's already taken steps to improve the current regime. emma simpson, bbc news. britain's johanna konta is through to the second round of the australian open. the british number one made swift work of her match against american madison brengle at melbourne park. our sports correspondentjoe wilson reports. johanna konta — concentration, focus, a force of willpower. well, all of that was there in melbourne. she overwhelmed madison brengle, ranked 90th in the world, konta only lost four games in their first—round match. her australian upbringing has left her with an appreciation for the heat of battle and the heat of the sun. but this is the new playful konta. when she addressed the media, she explained she was suffering from a shopping mishap.

the blueberry blues. i went to the supermarket to buy blueberries. i only bought blueberries, two punnets of blueberries. i left two punnets of blueberries there. it's $5 that i will not get back but it's more the betrayal of my own mind that i felt so upset about. yeah, i was so sad! ah, where's the smile? there, all fun. novak djokovic has more than just $5 on his mind. it has been suggested he's organising a male players‘ battle for more prize money. nothing so shadowy, he insisted, after winning his first—round match. commentator: there it is. umpire: game, set and match, djokovic. sure, there was a routine players‘ meeting but there won't be a tournament boycott, he says. a straight sets win over donald young made his sore elbow seem less significant. djokovicjust one player here looking for a post—surgery surge. roger federer has led the way in proving age and operations are no barrier to success, of course he has.

umpire: game, roger federer. commentator: the champion is on his way. 1 hour 39 minutes to beat aljaz bedene, that is slovenia's aljaz bedene by the way — formerly, briefly, known as britain's aljaz bedene. britain's heather watson had her moments in the first round, that's her winning the point at the net here. commentator: good anticipation on that backhand volley. but watson lost the first set 7—5 and the second on a tie—break, her opponent yulia putintseva celebrating as if she had just found a free box of blueberries. commentator: there it is. that is what it means. joe wilson, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's susan powell.