tonight at ten — more questions for borisjohnson as ministers consider the latest revelations about gatherings in lockdown. has about --atherins in lockdown. the prime minister l about has the prime minister been honest about having — has the prime minister been honest about having parties _ has the prime minister been honest about having parties in _ has the prime minister been honest about having parties in downing - about having parties in downing street? — those attending cabinet this morning were aware that for the first time insiders have told the bbc what happened at the gatherings. borisjohnson is said to take the revelations very seriously amid insider talk of crowded parties and a prime minister ignoring the rules. he was not there saying this should not be happening. he was not saying, "can everyone break up and go home, can everyone socially distance, can everyone put masks on?" no, he wasn't telling anybody that. he was grabbing a glass for himself. we'll have more on the latest accounts as the official report

on the lockdown gatherings could appear tomorrow. also tonight... another £800 rise in annual energy bills is likely — that's the warning from the industry regulator. there has been a shooting at an elementary school in texas. we report from ukraine on the comprehensive medical efforts being made as the conflict shows no sign of abating. you get the feeling that they've settled in for a long hard attritional struggle. and railway workers in the rmt union have voted in favour of strike action across england, scotland and wales involving 13 train companies. and coming up in the sport on the bbc news channel... au revoirjo wilfried tsonga. the french fan favourite bids farewell in his final match at roland garros, as he retires from the sport.

good evening. the prime minister is under renewed pressure tonight over gatherings during lockdown following the latest revelations by people who worked in downing street at the time. they describe a culture in which parties were routine despite strict laws forbidding indoor and outdoor mixing. the gatherings were often crowded and security guards were laughed at when they tried to stop one party from taking place. the testimony obtained by bbc panorama comes as borisjohnson braces himself for the publication of an official report into what happened which is now expected to be handed into downing steet tomorrow. our deputy political editor vicki young has the latest. unemployment is now down to its lowest level since 197a. boris johnson trying to focus on the positive as he opened this week's cabinet meeting. they have all been defending

his behaviour during lockdown at a time when rule breaking was rife inside number ten. there were bottles, empties, rubbish in the bin, but overflowing. or indeed sometimes left on the table. panorama has spoken to three insiders who attended gatherings in downing street. police have issued more than 120 fines to those who partied here. this event took place in november 2020. at least one person was fined, but mrjohnson wasn't. a staff member there described the do. their words are spoken by actors. there were about 30 people, if not more, in a room. everyone was stood shoulder to shoulder with some people on each other�*s laps. the prime minister will be disappointed. as you know, he has apologised for what happened. i think he has popped down there to raise a glass and say thank you to a long—term member of staff who was leaving and my view is that

none of this should have happened. insiders say there were weekly invites to "wine time friday" in the press office at 4pm and several leaving parties. 0ne went on so late some people stayed the night. since december, mrjohnson has been forced to answer questions about what went on. i have been repeatedly assured since these allegations emerged that there was no party and that no covid rules were broken. you and your colleagues felt that you had essentially permission from borisjohnson to have these events? that is what you are saying? yes. because? he was there. he may have just been popping through on the way to his flat because that is what would happen. he wasn't there saying this shouldn't be happening, he wasn't saying, can everyone

break up and go home? can everyone socially distance? can everyone put masks on? no, he wasn't telling anybody that, he was grabbing a glass for himself. a lot of these young members of staff from across _ downing street who have been fined i feel they went to these events and i they did not think they were l breaking the rules at the time because the prime . minister was at them. some of the most senior civil- servants in the country were at them and were indeed - organising some of them. and mrjohnson�*s response to the allegations caused disbelief according to one staffer. why is he denying this? when we have been with him this entire time — we knew that the rules had been broken, we knew these parties happened. the police may have finished their investigation into partying here in downing street but that is not the end of the matter. a senior civil servant is about to give a much fuller picture of what went on. this is about the behaviour of the prime minister and the country's top officials. it is about leadership and integrity in public life.

mrjohnson says he takes the allegations very seriously. so far he has been helped by cabinet ministers staying loyal, even though he has been fined. has the prime minister been honest about partying here in downing street? butu many conservative mps are waiting until they see sue gray's report before passing judgment. studio: and you can watch the programme, partygate inside the storm, on bbc online. there's also more online at bbc.co.uk/news. last week the metropolitan police concluded its own investigation into rule breaking during lockdown after issuing 126 fines including one for the prime minister for attending a birthday party injune 2020. as we said the police are now facing demands to explain why he wasn't fined for other events.

the mayor of london, labour's sadiq khan, has written to the acting commissioner of the metropolitan police asking for a "detailed explanation" of the decisions made. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford explains. the prime minister, glass in hand, making a speech at the leaving party for his director of communications, lee cain. at least one person there has been fined, but the prime minister has not. the london mayor has written to the metropolitan police demanding an explanation. i think it's important when it comes to trust and confidence, when it comes to policing by consent, when it comes to questions being asked about the integrity of an investigation, that the police explain why they've reached the conclusions they have. but the met are wary of giving any further explanation. they think the more detail they give, the more it risks identifying people who've been issued with fines and that goes against the national guidelines for fixed penalty notices. against the national guidelines last week, they said they'd looked

at the circumstances behind each event, such as how many people were present, the actions of the individual, what reasonable excuse might they have for being there, and the legislation at that time. critically, they said that for each fixed penalty notice they took great care to be sure that they had the necessary evidence to prosecute the fpn at trial were it not paid, so that was always at the back of their minds. so, while most people were on lockdown, how was the prime minister not fined for attending a leaving party? it looks as if detectives who might have had to prove their case in court decided that a short leaving drink and speech for people who were at work anyway was just about within the rules. but anyone who stayed on for a lengthy drinking session after the prime minister left risked getting fined. daniel sandford, bbc news. live to westminster and our political editor chris mason. when we look at the latest

revelations which we heard in the report on the panorama programme, what does that mean in terms of the stakes in this report we are expecting? stakes in this report we are “petting?— stakes in this report we are expecting? stakes in this report we are exectinu ? ., , stakes in this report we are exectina? ., , , expecting? the government is braced for a difficult — expecting? the government is braced for a difficult day _ expecting? the government is braced for a difficult day tomorrow, - expecting? the government is braced for a difficult day tomorrow, the - for a difficult day tomorrow, the real expectation that this has been a clock counting down to tomorrow. this is the likely timeframe, i expect tomorrow morning that the cabinet office, sue gray will send her final completed report to downing street, and then the timing is in their hands with the expectation they will spend a couple of hours looking at it and it would then be published in the prime minister will address the house of commons, may be after prime minister's questions at 1230 tomorrow afternoon. let's put tomorrow afternoon. let's put tomorrow into contacts, ever since the week before christmas, sue gray has been looking into this investigation and ever since then conservative mps have lent upon her name, invoking her name as an excuse to avoid passing definitivejudgment

on the prime minister's behaviour, his conduct and that of the government he leads. those excuses run out when the report is published tomorrow. it is worth emphasising that the volcanic anger we saw from tory mps a couple of months ago has cooled down but where might it be when they have had a chance to look at her conclusions? the government will hope to move on very quickly and talking about the cost of living and talking about the cost of living and their plan to address it, as soon as thursday.— and their plan to address it, as soon as thursday. chris mason, our olitical soon as thursday. chris mason, our political editor _ soon as thursday. chris mason, our political editor at _ soon as thursday. chris mason, our political editor at westminster, - political editor at westminster, many thanks. the annual energy bill for a typical household in england, wales and scotland is likely to rise by £800 in october according to the energy watchdog 0fgem. 0fgem expects the energy price cap to increase to around £2,800 in october — that corresponds to the maximum unit price of energy in a household

using an average amount of energy. the cap currently stands atjust under £2,000. again, that's tied to the unit price so a household using a higher number of units than the average will see a higher annual energy bill than the cap. the bosses of 0fgem told mps today that around 12 million households were facing fuel poverty, spending more than 10% of disposable income on energy. our business editor simonjack reports. beth from bristol and herfamily are like millions of others, seeing their bills spinning out of control and she is clear about the biggest problem of them all. energy has just skyrocketed, it's a big difference with that. over the summer we will be ok because we have just switched the energy totally off, the heating. it is this winter that will be the problem when the cap rises again and that's when we will struggle.

and although expected, it was still shocking to hearjust how much worse things will get this winter. we are expecting a price cap in october in the region of £2,800. and how many households are already spending more than 10% of their income on energy? we have around 6.5 million customers roughly in fuel poverty as a result of what has happened in april. and come 0ctober... if you accept all the caveats that i will not run through, it is around 12 million households. the government has already knocked £350 of most bills this year, but mps wanted to know what more they would do. both the prime minister and chancellor have said there is more to do and we have to just wait and see what is forthcoming. do you think bill payers are happy with that answer? just wait and see? no, it's a difficult time and we all know people are under huge stress.

we also know the cost of living is a very real issue and nobody is suggesting that the government can pay the entirety of the energy bill. what we are committed to is giving support. the treasury has said it stands ready to do more to help struggling households, but it wanted to see the size of the problem before it decided on the size of the solution. now we know, and there is renewed pressure on the government to deliver more support. industry officials told the bbc they are expecting something as soon as this week. the question remains, will the solution include a windfall tax on the profits of the companies that have profited as household incomes have seen their biggest cost of living squeeze since the 1950s? oil and gas companies that have reported record profits are the obvious targets, but the government is also considering taxing other electricity generators that do not use fossil fuel to produce energy, that have also gained from higher prices. the threat of a raid on older and renewable projects drew warnings it could shake investor

confidence in new green technology. the government does not like the idea of a windfall tax but the reality of the situation may yet force a u—turn. simon jack, bbc news. within the past hour or so the governor of the american state texas greg abbott says a gunman has shot dead 1a people and a teacher at a primary school in the city of vivaldi. barbara, what is the latest you have on this dreadful, dreadful attack? fix. you have on this dreadful, dreadful attack? �* , ., you have on this dreadful, dreadful attack? �* , . ., ., . ~ ., attack? a very dreadful attack and it took place _ attack? a very dreadful attack and it took place in — attack? a very dreadful attack and it took place in a _ attack? a very dreadful attack and it took place in a small _ attack? a very dreadful attack and it took place in a small town - attack? a very dreadful attack and | it took place in a small town about 80 miles west of the city of san antonio. around noon, the school district wrote on twitter there was an active shooter in the elementary school and warned people to stay away. after that, didn't release very much information while the authorities focused on contacting the parents. but now the governor

greg abbott has spoken and confirmed that 14 greg abbott has spoken and confirmed that 1a children were killed, as well as a teacher. he has also said that the shooter was an 18—year—old male. he has named him as salvador ramos. it's believed he walked into the school armed with a rifle and handgun. he himself has been killed. he was killed by responding officers. it is not at all clear what his motive was but the focus right now is to reunite the parents with their children. the school has set up that centre about 1.5 miles from the school. and mass shootings are not uncommon in the united states, including at schools. students in fact are taught how to respond to such a situation but the number of dead in this case and the age of the children, at elementary school, makes this one of the worst shootings in recent memory. barbara,

thank ou shootings in recent memory. barbara, thank you for— shootings in recent memory. barbara, thank you for the _ shootings in recent memory. barbara, thank you for the latest. _ shootings in recent memory. barbara, thank you for the latest. barbara - thank you for the latest. barbara plett usher and that shooting in texas. russia says it is ready for a prolonged conflict in ukraine as its troops continue to make slow progress in the donbas region in the east of the country. the ukrainian defence ministry said the offensive was in its most active phase while moscow said it would continue until all its objectives had been met. the city of severodonetsk is almost encircled by russian forces and neighbouring towns and villages are being heavily shelled asjeremy bowen and camera journalist fred scott report. the ukrainian army could be fighting a losing battle in luhansk. they're committing reserves to the front line. russian firepower is destroying towns and killing ukrainian soldiers. one unit went into the line with 240 men and came out with 100 of them killed,

wounded and captured. bakhmut is a town getting slowly eaten by the war. this week, it's around three miles from the russians — well within range. next week, it might be much closer. civilians with somewhere to go have left. in the ruins in donbas, the victory in kyiv in march, the euphoria, glory and sacrifice feel distant. "where's the cease fire?", says this man. "even if it costs land." translation: what could it change for me? - the main thing is to stay alive. this isjust the beginning. everything still to come. if we survive, we'll see how it goes. at a safe distance from the front line, civilians were brought to a railway platform for evacuation. most were too weak and too old to leave before the war swallowed them,

and now they're wounded. leda was rescued from ruined severodonetsk, almost surrounded by the russians. thousands of ukrainian civilians are still there. the train�*s been transformed into an ambulance and intensive care unit by msf — doctors without borders. the intensity of the fighting means the train is running at close to full capacity. the medics work continuous back—to—back trips. relative safety in lviv is 20 hours down the track. it's an escape capsule from a war that's so hard to predict that the medical teams only know who's coming in the last hours before they leave. sometimes they're wounded the same morning. this man from bakhmut was on the train six hours after he was hurt in an air strike.

translation: i saw our soldiers standing nearby j and crawled towards them. then i realised my strength was leaving me and i wouldn't be able to crawl. i got up and started screaming. even when families survived with them, the lives they led are smashed. translation: my husband and i have lived together for 51 years _ in peace and harmony, and now it ends so badly. i guess we're running out of time. yasser kamaledin organises the train, evacuating the wounded is vital for the ukrainians, as the war in the east intensifies. the hospitals closer to the front line are overwhelmed, are receiving continuously big numbers of patients beyond their capacity to cope. so it's very important for us and for the ministry of health here in ukraine to make sure

that these hospitals are always ready to receive more patients, especially the war—wounded. this war is much more organised now than it was back in february when it started. notjust medical evacuation, though what they're doing on this train is really remarkable, but also where the decisions are made — the generals, the presidents. you get the feeling that they've settled in for a long, hard attritional struggle. the ukrainians don't talk much about their own casualties, but the graveyards in the east are filling up and their president says up to 100 soldiers a day could be dying in donbas. he says only diplomacy can end the war. his allies, led by the us and uk, want to weaken putin's russia permanently. their critics say they'll fight to the last ukrainian. the currency of war is blood.

new graves are ready. as they're filled, more ukrainians will question the blood price they're paying and ask how much a cease fire will cost. jeremy bowen, bbc news, in eastern ukraine. back home... railway workers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action across network rail involving 13 train operators. the rmt union, which organised the ballot, called it the biggest endorsement for industrial action by railway workers since the privatisation process of the 1990s. our transport correspondent katy austin is here now. i suppose everyone wants to know when can they expect some sort of strike action to take place and how extensive will it be? we strike action to take place and how extensive will it be?— strike action to take place and how extensive will it be? we don't know when a strike _ extensive will it be? we don't know when a strike would _ extensive will it be? we don't know when a strike would take _ extensive will it be? we don't know when a strike would take place - extensive will it be? we don't know when a strike would take place or. when a strike would take place or how long it would last. it is possible it could be mid june but that still to be decided. staff at

13 railway companies have voted in favour of strike action as have those at network rail, whose staff include signallers. if a strike goes ahead on the scale it would be very disruptive passengers and two freight, although we know contingency plans are being worked on behind the scenes to try mitigate the impact, key people and goods flowing around the country. the rmt said tonight it would seek urgent talks to try negotiate a settlement to the dispute which it says is over pay and jobs primarily. the rail industry is under pressure at the moment to save money following the huge financial impact the pandemic has had and the group representing train company said the group representing train company said tonight, reform is necessary and industrial action could put the industry's recovery at risk. network rail said the rmt union had jumped the gun and it said it has been working on a pay increase that taxpayers can afford.- working on a pay increase that taxpayers can afford. many thanks for the latest. _ taxpayers can afford. many thanks for the latest. katie _ taxpayers can afford. many thanks for the latest. katie austin, - taxpayers can afford. many thanks for the latest. katie austin, our i for the latest. katie austin, our transport correspondent.

the us state department has said it's a mistake for the united nations human rights chief to visit china amid concerns that the chinese will not allow proper scrutiny of the state of human rights in the country. the visit is to include the western region of xinjiang, where ethnic uyghurs — most of them muslims — have been unlawfully detained and mistreated. a huge collection of data, including images linked to china's mistreatment of uyghurs and other minorities, has been handed to the bbc. the information was hacked from police computers and it includes evidence of a shoot to kill policy for anyone trying to escape. our correspondentjohn sudworth has the story. these are the faces china never intended us to see, from inside its system of mass incarceration in xinjiang. the government has long denied it's running detention camps for uyghurs, insisting instead they are vocational schools... ..for willing students.

the photos, almost 3,000 of them, show the reality of how whole swathes of uyghur society have been swept up person by person. the oldest was 73 at the time of her detention. the youngest just 15. the uyghurs, with their turkic language, islamic traditions and roots in a region with a history of separatism and violence have long faced cycles of tightening government control. and with mounting criticism over the camps, the authorities have taken journalists on tours — showing them uyghurs celebrating their culture and, they say, being guided away from extremism. but it's a narrative undermined by the tens of thousands of files passed to the bbc. one set of documents describe the guarding of this camp, just outside the city of kashgar, with armed police stationed at all the main buildings

and with each watchtower guarded by two officers, equipped with sniper rifles and machine guns. inside, lessons are watched over by police, carrying shields, batons and handcuffs. and the documents describe the response to students who attempt to escape. if warning shots are ignored, the order�*s clear — shoot them dead. yes, this is classified internal government information. the files, said to have been hacked from police computer servers in xinjiang by a source whose identity remains unknown, were first passed to dr adrian zenz — a xinjiang scholar who in turn shared them with the bbc. you have police officers in heavy riot gear standing next to some of the men. some of the men have their arms in a funny position as if they were handcuffed. so this is really very powerful about the image material. i was looking through these images on my laptop in a living room and i had get up and go somewhere else and take a break. i was overwhelmed.

the hacked files also contain hundreds of spreadsheets, row upon row of draconian jail sentences, often targeting expressions of islamic faith as a parallel method, alongside the camps, for detaining uyghurs en masse. just for growing a beard, tursun kadir was sentenced to 16 years injail. his chosen expression of uyghur identity forcibly removed. many others have been jailed for listening to illegal religious lectures, including tursun memetimin and ashigul turghun. the documents don't say whether their daughters have been sent, like so many others, to the state—run boarding schools built alongside the camps. the data can be verified — shown to contain real people. this man has not seen his wife and children since he left xinjiang in 2017. yet a search of the hacked files found this. we can see the date?

a photo of his wife. sentenced, the documents say, to six years in prison for a vague offence that appears time and again, "gathering a crowd to disturb the social order". "you can see how her spirit is broken", he tells me. mahmud tohti knew his eldest son had beenjailed, but the database tells him for how long. 15 years... ..for terrorism offences, although as evidence, only his son's devout islamic faith is listed. the chinese foreign ministry spokesman, wang wenbin, responded to our reporting. describing it as simply the latest anti—china falsehood and an attempt to "smear china" with rumours and lies. "xinjiang is stable, prosperous and the people have happy lives", he said. but there's been no attempt

to address the evidence itself, which includes these images from deep within the system — further evidence of the harsh detention and indoctrination of a people — not for what they've done, but for who they are. john sudworth, bbc news. a11i—year—old boy who fatally stabbed a schoolgirl in a row over social media has been found guilty of murder. ava white, who was 12, was killed in liverpool city centre last year. the boy who can't be named for legal reasons will be sentenced at a later date. its creators call it "the most spectacular railway in the world". others say it's the "most technologically advanced rail service" in existence. they're talking about the elizabeth line — the impressive addition to london's public transport network which cuts the journey time from paddington in the west to canary wharf in the east

tojust 16 minutes — that's roughly twice as fast as the average tube journey. eventually, the service is set to run from reading in the west to the essex in the east. here's our reporter danjohnson. there are delayed trains. then there's crossrail. three and a half years behind schedule. £4 billion over budget. but finally, today, passengers got their ticket to ride london's elizabeth line. i've turned up really early. i've been waiting nearly ten years for this thing to open. there are shiny new platforms and the latest smoothest trains, bringing commuters into central london from east and west. the transport line in a city like london opening — it probably won't happen again in my lifetime. the journey time between canary - wharf and whitechapel blew my mind. one station isn't finished and trains won't run end—to—end for another year. still, it's seen as a major engineering achievement — at least for the south east. crossrail, the elizabeth line,

is a really important thing for us to be very proud of. but don't believe that it's gone down beautifully well in leeds and liverpool and manchester, where they want to share the investment cake. public transport use is still down after the pandemic. passenger forecasts have been reduced for the line's first few years, but we're told it's designed to add capacity for the future. this railway isn't built for today or tomorrow. it's built the next 100, 250 years. and we're very confident that this is a catalyst now for the post—pandemic recovery. there were celebrations in london this morning, with claims this line will add millions to the country's economy. but passengers on other routes are asking when they'll see the same sort of improved service. don johnson, bbc news. that's it. now on bbc one, time for the news where you are. have a very good night.

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