this is bbc news — these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. uk households will have hundreds of pounds knocked off energy bills this winter as part of a new package to help people cope with soaring prices. put the smart meter in the living room, which was in a drawer before. about four weeks ago, i was maybe around about the £68 mark for a full tank and i'm now touching maybe 75, 76. the announcement is due to be made later, as the british prime ministerfaces fresh calls to resign, a day after a damning report was released into lockdown parties across whitehall and downing street. as the government says it's time to move on from partygate, how much do you think today's announcement on the cost of living crisis will help?

what would make a difference to you? a vigil for the 19 children and two teachers killed in a school shooting in texas as the debate over gun control in the us re—ignites. victims of sexual offences are being promised less invasion into their private lives under changes to how evidence is gathered in england and wales. this is a real good step in the right direction but the trick will be how it is deployed across all of the police forces and that it is done sensitively, with the agreement of the victim and survivor. and meet the abba—tars — the swedish supergroup prepare to take to the stage for the first time in a0 years — as digital avatars.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. every household in britain will receive hundreds of pounds in additional support from the government to ease the cost of living crisis this winter. this all follows that announcement from the regulator ofgem that the energy price cap is predicted to rise by another £800 in october — to £2,800 a year. that would push more than 10 million households into fuel poverty. so what will the government do to help? in february, the chancellor rishi sunak announced millions of households would receive a £200 discount on their energy bills from october. it was only ever going to be a loan, which people would have to repay over five years from 2023. now it's being reported that the chancellor could double this to £400 and it could become a grant, which wouldn't need to be paid back. a £150 rebate on council tax bills

for most households came in april. there is a suggestion another rebate could be possible. there's also expected to be targeted financial support for the most vulnerable households on a fixed income, including bringing forward an increase in benefits and the state pension to reflect inflation. this £10 billion package of support is expected to be mostly paid for by a one—off windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas firms. so a number of options available to the government. we're expecting to get all the details from the chancellor later this morning. 0ur consumer affairs correspondent colletta smith asked people in warrington for one thing that the government could do to help them. the one thing that would help me most, i think, would be some help with the energy bills. i'm £100 up on last year, a month, so if the government could assist with that, that would be great. the thing that would help me most is if the government made some impact — a freeze or reduction in fuel prices — that would be immense for me.

help with food bills. i come here to get what i need if i've got no money. rising prices are the talk of the town. from food banks... three boys — carter, harrison, harla. ..to workplaces. mark and his wife emma both work full—time, but bills have gone up so much, he's trying to get the whole family on side with saving energy. i've got the smart meter in the living room, which was in a drawer before — sort of the last 12, 18 months. it's actually sort ofjust pride of place now on the fireplace. thermostat�*s on a lot lower to keep... the wife was good at leaving the windows open and the heating on, you know, to dry washing and stuff. so we've stopped doing that now as much. just being a little bit more cautious about what we do. showers instead of baths, because they're a lot cheaper, especially when the boys spend, like, an hour in the bath each, but the hot tap�*s constantly running. it's probably best if we

sit in the boardroom, if that's ok with yourself. jenna travels the length and breadth of the country organising training for hgv drivers — so it's petrol prices that are hitting her budget hardest. the petrol vehicle i drive, probably about four weeks ago, i was maybe round about the £68 mark for a full tank, and now i'm touching maybe 75, 76. and again, because i drive nationally, i can see the price change and increase based on region, based on borough that i drive around. so itjust depends if i can play cat or mouse to get to maybe a supermarket and get a lower fuel cost. at this food bank, bernie has learnt to swallow her pride, and ask for the help she needs. i've got a good neighbour who lives next door to us. he's lent my husband some money to get some electric today. so i was like, "thank god for that!" are you skipping meals? sometimes, yes. yeah. for both of you — for you and your husband? yes — yeah, yeah. you've just kind of said, "we've not got enough."

yeah. how crucial is this food bank to you? if it wasn't here, what would happen? i'd be stealing. i know that sounds wrong. and i'd never steal in my life. i'm a good person. i would never do it. thank you, see you in a bit. while millions of households will be glad of extra help, for those living on the breadline, it can't come soon enough. colletta smith, bbc news, in warrington. let's talk to kia commodore, founder of pennies to pounds, a financial literacy platform to help people manage their money. thank you forjoining us. i want to get your reaction first of all to this announcement that we are expecting within the next couple of hours about more help for people with their fuel bills. to what extent is that going to make a dent in these soaring energy bills that

people are experiencing? i in these soaring energy bills that people are experiencing?- in these soaring energy bills that people are experiencing? i think it will definitely _ people are experiencing? i think it will definitely have _ people are experiencing? i think it will definitely have an _ people are experiencing? i think it will definitely have an impact. - will definitely have an impact. there are people who are really struggling, as we had from that clip, who are really feeling the pinch in pockets, although we have had the move from a lot of people working from home or who have been working, there are still a number of people who have to commute for their jobs and those are the ones who will feel the fuel bills and the fuel cost so this will definitely have a positive impact.— cost so this will definitely have a positive impact. what more do you think from the _ positive impact. what more do you think from the people _ positive impact. what more do you think from the people that - positive impact. what more do you think from the people that you - positive impact. what more do youi think from the people that you talk to, what more could the government do to really make a difference? what are the key things people tell you? the conversations i have been having, especially amongst young people is there is an issue when it comes to housing so people want to get on the property ladder for the first time and they are struggling to raise the money, for example, one person told me they were looking to buy a flat which now, they are asking for £20,000 or £30,000 more on the asking price than two years prior and those who are renting are experiencing rising costs in rent and energy bills, where their wages are stagnant so that is a big issue.

people are being. to put their plans, the life they want to build on hold —— are being forced to put their plans. on hold -- are being forced to put their nam-— on hold -- are being forced to put their plan— on hold -- are being forced to put their plans. yes, we are seeing the repercussions _ their plans. yes, we are seeing the repercussions of _ their plans. yes, we are seeing the repercussions of that, _ their plans. yes, we are seeing the repercussions of that, people - their plans. yes, we are seeing the repercussions of that, people are l repercussions of that, people are looking to increase their salaries but that is not possible because businesses are also feeling the pinch sometimes and it is a cycle. and you might get an increase but as we have heard from many viewers, thatis we have heard from many viewers, that is being eaten up by the rising cost of living and everything going up. what are the key pieces of advice you can give to people in circumstances like this? to help them with their budgets. i circumstances like this? to help them with their budgets.- circumstances like this? to help them with their budgets. i think a bi one is them with their budgets. i think a big one is to _ them with their budgets. i think a big one is to conduct _ them with their budgets. i think a big one is to conduct a _ them with their budgets. i think a big one is to conduct a financial . big one is to conduct a financial audit, so when we have cards, we take them to be audited and you can do the same with finances, it is about laying everything on the table, seeing what you spend on, what is essential, what you could cut back on and what you could eliminate completely, and that way, you can see where you are spending and may be where you can put more money into other key areas that you need. another big one is when it comes to food, think about food waste, we waste a lot of food so

think about, if you are picking up bread and different things and fresh items, are you getting the longer states? can you freeze things? can you bulk cook, freeze milk? these will help things last a lot longer and help your pocket and you are not so stretched. aha, and help your pocket and you are not so stretched-— so stretched. a lot of people are doinu so stretched. a lot of people are doing that _ so stretched. a lot of people are doing that kind _ so stretched. a lot of people are doing that kind of— so stretched. a lot of people are doing that kind of thing - so stretched. a lot of people are doing that kind of thing but - so stretched. a lot of people are doing that kind of thing but you | doing that kind of thing but you know, you hear reports of people going to food banks and saying to the staff at the food banks, don't give me anything i need to cook or use electricity or gas to cook because i can't afford to. so if you have gone through everything and you still have not got enough money to make ends meet, what is your advice? i think it is a really tough one and this is where we need that government intervention and we need the government to step in. during the government to step in. during the pandemic, we saw the universal credit uplift which was really beneficial to a lot of people and it was temporary but hopefully the government can bring in more measures for these people who need that cash injection to be able to help them because it is a shame, we have so many stories of people going without food and that is not the way people should have to live really. are there any good pointers you have

for people to find out about places they can go to access more help or get something forfree, they can go to access more help or get something for free, for example? absolutely, if you are living, you can see what your local council has, whether it is food banks or a lot of borough's now, the council have a lot of help, even a quick google search will show you a lot of free things you can make use of so i definitely would encourage people to have a look and make use of what your borough or your council is offering because a big one isjust asking for help. a lot of people are struggling and it is fine, it is going out and asking for help. do ou going out and asking for help. do you think people have difficulties with doing that? are people too proud, they want to admit they need help, perhaps? —— they don't want to admit. help, perhaps? -- they don't want to admit. ~ , , , admit. absolutely, sometimes the culture and — admit. absolutely, sometimes the culture and society _ admit. absolutely, sometimes the culture and society is _ admit. absolutely, sometimes the culture and society is you - admit. absolutely, sometimes the culture and society is you want - admit. absolutely, sometimes the culture and society is you want to l culture and society is you want to seem like you are doing well but it is like to say, you know what? i am struggling a bit, where can i get help, where can i have that additionalfunding help, where can i have that additional funding to help help, where can i have that additionalfunding to help me out and help me do well? additional funding to help me out and help me do well?— additional funding to help me out and help me do well? great to talk to ou. and help me do well? great to talk to you- thank— and help me do well? great to talk to you. thank you _ and help me do well? great to talk to you. thank you for _ and help me do well? great to talk

to you. thank you forjoining - and help me do well? great to talk to you. thank you forjoining us. i to you. thank you forjoining us. the founder of pennies to pounds, a financial literacy platform. borisjohnson has resisted more calls to resign, after a damning report on government lockdown parties was released. an investigation by the senior civil servant sue gray concluded many of the events across whitehall and downing street "should not have been allowed to happen". in the last few minutes, conservative mpjohn baron is the latest to call for the prime minister's resignation. a little earlier, our chief political correspondent adam fleming told me that it won't be easy for the government to move on from the fallout. there are lots of conversations going on within the conservative party among backbenchers about what to do. there's quite a lot of plotting and disgruntlement and quite a lot of concern about what the saga has done to the reputation of the government and the party. but that has not crystallised into anything that looks like a proper, full—on leadership challenge to borisjohnson so i think his position as prime minister is a bit more secure today than it was yesterday when everyone was waiting for the details of the sue gray report. i think that is because the sue gray

process happened the wrong way round, if you like, in that we got her conclusions about what had gone wrong a few months ago and the prime minister has acted on some of them by moving some staff, changing his operation a bit, making a big apology, and what we got yesterday from sue gray were the details of what had gone on, details that she was asked to withhold while the metropolitan police did their own investigation. those details were quite eye—catching, people partying in the offices in this building until aam, some people being sick, people spilling wine on the furniture, and also the fact that borisjohnson was present at some of those events even though he says he was pretty confident they were work—related. but one of the criticisms he has had is, why did you as the prime minister think it was ok to go into a press office and have a glass of wine and make some remarks at a leaving do, when people could not go and visit their relatives who were dying in hospital at that point? that was a criticism that was put to the prime minister's chief

of staff stephen barclay, who we will hear from, and we will get a response from lisa nandy of labour, the shadow levelling up secretary. the hardest part and the most distressing part of the pandemic was forfamilies, including in my own constituency, that were not able to say goodbye to loved ones, and it is heartbreaking when you hear of those stories, and i think people are devastated by them. i think the working challenges, dealing with the vaccine roll—out, dealing with the pressures, working in tight—knit groups for very long periods of time, people were already in the office and it was in that context that the prime minister was going and seeing teams for often just a few minutes in order to thank people. it was in that context, but clearly there are lessons to be learnt, and the prime minister accepted that. i am quite horrified, actually. i read it yesterday. it makes very uncomfortable reading. |there were celebration parties, j leaving parties, garden parties, staff being told to leave | by the back door so they

were not seen drunk. there were fights. there were people being sick. all of this, a culture _ the prime minister presided over. there is a rot that runs right- through all of this but it is quite i clear from yesterday that the rotl starts at the top and what we have is a prime minister won't take - responsibility and conservative mps who largely, with a few| honourable exceptions, won't do the right thing. lisa nandy, there. i suppose one thing that number 10 will have in their sights right now is perhaps the real test to come, the test of public opinion with the forthcoming by—elections, two of them? yes, they are really interesting test cases because you have got wakefield, a seat that the conservatives won from labour after being held by labour for a very long time. and that typifies the new areas of the electorate that borisjohnson could reach which got him victory in the 2019 general election. can the conservatives

hold onto that? or does partygate and the cost of living crisis and various other things mean that actually, they retreat from those areas? so that is a potential threat for the conservative party there. then you have honiton and tiverton, the mp who stepped down because of watching pornography on his phone in the house of commons chamber, a true blue, staunchly conservative area but that kind of place where the conservatives have been facing a bit of a threat from the liberal democrats over a whole range of issues. there is a very different kind of test there and both of them are going to be faced by borisjohnson at the same time. it is going to be fascinating to see. but as usual there are lots of caveats, by—elections are not general elections. 0ften, by—elections are referendums on government in midterm rather than a general election and just what is going on and what is in the political ether at that point can have a big effect.

but it will be fascinating to see what happens there and lots of borisjohnson's critics will be looking at those results and will use them as ammunition in their campaign to have him replaced. but if we have learned anything from the last year, it is that these tests are being faced by the government all the time, theyjust get over them orjust miss them but it is never quite enough for borisjohnson's critics to actually move decisively against him. adam fleming, there. joining me now is patrick english, associate director of political research at yougov, a global public opinion and data company. it has been doing some research, as you do, into what people think about all of this. what are the key questions you have been asking people? questions you have been asking --eole? , questions you have been asking eo le? , ., �* , . people? yes, that's right. we did snap polling _ people? yes, that's right. we did snap polling yesterday _ people? yes, that's right. we did snap polling yesterday of - people? yes, that's right. we did snap polling yesterday of almost | snap polling yesterday of almost 3000 adults and we asked them whether they think boris johnson should resign over the issue, whether they think he will, and whether they think he will, and whether they think he will, and whether they think he knowingly lied in his accounts about breaking lockdown rules. 0n the first one, we

found 59%, almost six in ten adults, believe borisjohnson should step down as prime minister. however, 83% of them think that he won't do that, so the british public want him to go but don't expect him to go at all. on the third question is welcome as 0n the third question is welcome as to whether he knowingly lied about breaking lockdown rules, we found that 74% of the british public, so pretty much three quarters, think that he did, so they think he is not being honest with them, they want him to go but they don't expect him to do that. . , ., , to do that. that is really interesting _ to do that. that is really interesting and - to do that. that is really interesting and how- to do that. that is really| interesting and how have to do that. that is really - interesting and how have people's views changed since the sue gray report was announced and over that period of months, about six months or so, period of months, about six months orso, how period of months, about six months or so, how have people's views changed with regard to the prime minister or have they? that changed with regard to the prime minister or have they?— minister or have they? that is a very important _ minister or have they? that is a very important point _ minister or have they? that is a very important point because i minister or have they? that is a l very important point because the simple answer is, there hasn't been much change at all since the stories first emerged and we first started to get a picture of the whole partygate scandal. at that point, we saw a big change in the prime minister's personal ratings and the ratings of government and in attitudes as to whether boris

johnson should resign and the conservative party's poll ratings but since then, things have been remarkably stable, every time we return to the public with questions like this, say if there has been an interim report already photo published, we find very similar figures, around 60% saying he should resign, not many people thinking he will and people largely, well, overwhelmingly thinking he is not being honest with them but those figures don't change. we might interpret that as good and bad news for the conservatives and boris johnson but there is not much evidence that this report and the previous stories have been changing many minds. however, the public are quite damning on this, the figures are quite stark and consistent, there is not much sign of any improvement and the revelations just keep the stories in the headlines and keep reminding people, keep on giving them reasons to think that the prime minister should be gone and he is not being honest with them. so and he is not being honest with them. ~ , ,.,,.,_ and he is not being honest with them. ~ , , ., them. so mps will probably note olls like them. so mps will probably note polls like this — them. so mps will probably note polls like this and _ them. so mps will probably note polls like this and then - them. so mps will probably note polls like this and then they - them. so mps will probably note polls like this and then they will| polls like this and then they will look to the polls that are happening in by—elections that are coming up soon to really see at the ballot box

where the public opinion matches what they are telling people like you at you surveys like this when you at you surveys like this when you been telling us about? that is riaht, and you been telling us about? that is right. and of— you been telling us about? that is right, and of course _ you been telling us about? that is right, and of course elections - you been telling us about? that is right, and of course elections and| right, and of course elections and by—elections are good thermometers of issues in those areas and the national picture and how that plays into it at the time. we saw the local election results which were very bad for the conservatives, not necessarily great for labour but certainly bad for the conservatives and i think what the sue gray report and i think what the sue gray report and the local elections and by—election coming up is this is piling on the pressure, questioning the idea that borisjohnson is teflon, that he can get away with anything with the public and if he wins, and he wins elections, well, we are seeing at the moment that is not really the case and these by—elections coming up will be very important markers for how that assessment is going and how boris johnson's future luke's.— johnson's future luke's. thank you for “oininr johnson's future luke's. thank you forjoining us- _ johnson's future luke's. thank you forjoining us- |— johnson's future luke's. thank you forjoining us. i want _ johnson's future luke's. thank you forjoining us. i want to _ johnson's future luke's. thank you forjoining us. i want to take - johnson's future luke's. thank you forjoining us. i want to take a - forjoining us. i want to take a time to read out some of the comments you have sent into me, we asked you earlier, the government is

talking about moving on and it has made the announcement or it is going to make the announcement today about help with the cost of living crisis so what are your thoughts on all of that. david says, "don't be fooled by their deflection and destruction, sounds like they are taking up some labour party suggestions, better late than never, i guess." of course, the labour party has been talking about a wintle tax on energy companies for some time. a couple more —— a windfall tax. a couple more —— a windfall tax. a couple more tweets, from pamela, "the cost of living announcement is yet another attempt by the uk covenant to deflect the anger from the pm over pa rtygate, to deflect the anger from the pm over partygate, they have been asked four weeks to help people and refused, saying they could not afford it. utterly despicable." "cost of living proposals, the government have been strong—armed into this position." pretty much every tweet that i have received has focused on why the government is doing this now, rather than whether they think that the help with the cost of living crisis will make a difference to them. that is very

much the tenor of the tweets that i have been sent. this one is from catherine, "the government has been forced to help out with the cost of living crisis, the timing of the announcement to deflect from partygate, it would help if we felt supported from the start, rather than the mental anguish of having to beg for help four months." i have to say, as i glanced through these, they are really in a similar vein. this one from bobby says, "let's not move on." a few more in that vein as well. not happy to move on yet from the partygate story. thank you very much for sending them in. if you want to let me know whether you think this help with the cost of living will make a big difference to you, perhaps not now but later in the year, get in touch. let me know what you think about partygate and the sue gray report as well. the governor of luhansk province in ukraine has described the situation in the eastern donbas

region as exceptionally bad, with no let—up in russian shelling. russia has intensified its assault in the east as it tries to seize the region. the bbc�*s azadeh moshiri reports. explosion. it's the region now at the heart of president putin's war, the donbas. this is the area he wants to control, and that is why it is under intense bombardment. no one in the world has a clear picture of what is happening there. some villages and towns, they do not exist any more. they were all turned into rubble by russian artillery fire, by russian multiple launch rockets systems. and it is devastating. according to russia, its forces have made progress in its two provinces, luhansk and donetsk, which are claimed by russia backed separatists. russian forces say they have captured three more towns in donetsk.

now it is severodonetsk and lysychans'k which are in their sights, which would give them control of the entire lu ha nsk province. in severodonetsk, the shelling has been relentless, and the fighting has reached its outskirts, meaning russian troops could soon surround their target. the governor of luhansk told the bbc that russian forces are close enough to use mortar rounds as well as artillery and aerial bombing. but he said its 115,000 civilians don't want to leave their homes. despite its progress in donbas, russia has seen some more setbacks, with ukraine and the west insisting they've faced significant troop casualties. translation: almost 30,000 russian soldiers killed, - more than 200 downed aircraft, thousands of lost russian tanks, armoured vehicles and other

equipment, russian missile ammunition is almost completely used up, and they want to cover it up with lies that they are not fighting at full strength? russia has not acknowledged such casualty figures. instead, president putin visited soldiers in a moscow military hospital, calling them heroes, risking their lives for the people of donbas and the sake of russia. but perhaps in reaction, russia's parliament has now lifted the upper age limit for first—time conscripts, a sign russia sees no immediate end to the war. azadeh moshiri, bbc news. our ukraine correspondentjoe inwood describes the military gains that russia is making on the ground. marginal but noteworthy i think is how you would describe it. they are pushing towards the cities of severodonetsk and lysychansk.

the last two big conurbations in the luhansk oblast. what they are trying to do is come in at them from all sides and also cut round the back. they have over the last couple of weeks and certainly the last few days pushed through at a town called popasna and now what they are trying to do is not just encircle these cities but to cut off the supply routes to them as well, create, in the words of one local politician, a mariupol—style siege. now, there is one main road that the still control that connects lysychansk and sievierodonetsk to the rest of ukrainian territory but that road is coming under increasingly heavy fire. there is some extraordinary footage of shells going off one each side taken by an afp photographer. and so the road is still passable but increasingly dangerous to do so. another conservative mp has called for prime minister boris johnson to resign. we heard a few minutes ago from john

barron and now mp david simmons for rice lip, northwood and pinner has called for the prime minister to step down, saying, "i listen to what the prime minister had to say at prime minister's questions, his statement and at the 1922 committee yesterday, following the publication of the sue gray report. having reflected on what he said and the views of the constituents and my conservative association, it is clear that while the government and our policies and enjoy the confidence of the public, the prime minister does not. accordingly, it is time for him to step down so that new leadership can take forward the important work of the government in ensuring that our people and country prosper." that is the statement from conservative mp david simmons, becoming a matter of minutes after john barron also called for the prime minister to resign, saying in his statement that he is afraid the prime minister no longer enjoy to support and he can no longer give him the benefit of the doubt. he

said that the repeated insurances in parliament that there was no rule breaking is simply not credible. two conservative mps then within a matter of minutes calling on the prime minister to resign in the wake of the sue gray report yesterday. we will have more on that for you coming up, of course. concerns raised by the families of two children, months before they were murdered by their parents' partners, were not taken seriously enough by child protection professionals — that's according to a safeguarding review published today. the experts' report found that the cases of 16—month—old star hobson, and six—year—old arthur labinjo—hughes, reflected wider problems with the system in england. our social affairs editor alison holt has more. arthur, are you going to play for england? no?! why not? arthur labinjo—hughes was six when he was murdered by his father's girlfriend after weeks of spiteful, horrific abuse. and star hobson — here in the arms of her mother's partner, who would later kill her — was 16 months old.

today's report says, whilst responsibility for the children's deaths lies solely with their abusers, both children were also failed by child—protection professionals who too often disregarded the concerns of their wider families. star's aunt and step—great—grandfather say when family told social workers and police they were worried — even providing photographs of bruising on star — they didn't talk to them directly, and thought they were being malicious. if social services had done theirjobs in the first place, i think star — well, star, we know star would still have been with us. because they'd have come down to see us, they'd have seen there were a problem with star, and said, "right, yeah, we need to step in here." maybe if they'd have sat down and spoke to us in person, they might have actually thought, "oh, hang on a minute, they're notjust being malicious." because literally theyjust took their word for it that we were being malicious and then they didn't... they didn't bother hearing our side

of what was going on. the report, carried out by a national panel of experts, concluded that, in both arthur and star's cases, family concerns were disregarded, decision—making by social workers and police was weak, information—sharing poor, and that this reflected problems found in many parts of the country. the woman who led the review wants to see new expert teams bringing together social workers, police and others to investigate and oversee cases. i don't think we can ever exaggerate how complicated and how difficult it is to do this work. and we must give every child, every family, but also every practitioner who's working in this area the best possible chance of protecting children well, and keeping them safe. and the report says the failings identified in arthur and star's cases need to lead to fundamental change that means other children are better—protected in the future. the government says it will publish

its plans later this year. alison holt, bbc news. with me now is gerry osovska, chair of the british association of social workers. thank you very much forjoining us to talk about these two appalling cases. something thatjumps out and what is mentioned in the report in both instances, relatives raised concerns but it was found that too often these concerns were disregarded and not properly investigated. why not? clearly, these were people who were close to these were people who were close to the dead children.— the dead children. there is no doubt that arthur and _ the dead children. there is no doubt that arthur and stark _ the dead children. there is no doubt that arthur and stark were - the dead children. there is no doubt that arthur and stark were failed - the dead children. there is no doubt that arthur and stark were failed by | that arthur and stark were failed by the child protection system and that is a tragedy. social workers go out every day to do their best for children to help them have really good lives, and we really feel it when we are not able to do it. it is important to take action on the

learning from this report. what jumps out at me, social workers need enough time with the child and family to get to the bottom of what is going on and they also need to work with other agencies to pull together all the parts of the picture so they can clearly see what is happening for that child and make the best possible decision. in the case of star— the best possible decision. in the case of star hobson, _ the best possible decision. in the case of star hobson, we - the best possible decision. in the case of star hobson, we were - the best possible decision. in the| case of star hobson, we were told the local authority was in turmoil at the time with the high turnover of social workers. to what extent is that typical of the situation of social workers at the moment across england and wales? are you seeing a high turnover of staff? are you able to recruit enough people into the career in the first place? the social work _ career in the first place? the social work is _ career in the first place? the social work is a _ career in the first place? the social work is a very - career in the first place? tue: social work is a very difficult career in the first place? tte: social work is a very difficult job social work is a very difficultjob at the best of times, there is no doubt this is not the best of times, ten years of cuts and the pandemic to containment. that said, the report says the system is not broken

but we need really good practice that does exist across the country being consistent everywhere for every single child. what we are worried about are the high vacancy rates and most importantly, hanging onto experienced social workers. making sure we have enough people with expertise to oversee, new workers as they come through, and to make sure when someone is with a family they have really got the experience, expertise, confidence to work out what is happening and the support of the agencies to help. t5 support of the agencies to help. is best about being more proactive than reactive? the report talks about pulling together an expert team of social workers, pulling together an expert team of socialworkers, police pulling together an expert team of social workers, police officers, experts in education, perhaps, from schools where children are going, they need the input from teachers as well if they are at school age. is it about getting groups of people together like that to be more pre—op —— proactive in pieces? would that

make a difference? {we -- proactive in pieces? would that make a difference?— make a difference? one of the messages _ make a difference? one of the messages from _ make a difference? one of the messages from the _ make a difference? one of the messages from the report - make a difference? one of the j messages from the report that make a difference? one of the i messages from the report that is clear is that overstretched agencies do not make the best decisions. all our agencies are overstretched, social services, police, our agencies are overstretched, socialservices, police, health, education, social visitors. you are right about being proactive, if we had earlier helped the families, we heard earlier this week, getting the help earlier is essential. when it comes to a real complex situation where a family is really struggling and the child is at high risk, having experienced people to come together to look at that is needed. that requires investment, early help and resourcing multi—agency work, that does not come cheaply. and resourcing multi-agency work, that does not come cheaply. would more national _ that does not come cheaply. would more national oversight _ that does not come cheaply. would more national oversight make - that does not come cheaply. would more national oversight make a - more national oversight make a difference? looking at what is being donein difference? looking at what is being done in different parts of the country and perhaps dice emanating

best practice to different areas, this is working really well in one place, why don't you try it here? there is definitely good things we can learn from different areas. we need to pay attention to those areas like bradford for example where there is high deprivation and poverty. that is the other thing, families are struggling with the cost of living crisis, they need universal services and the safety net as well. national oversight could be helpful, we need to digest what it would look like, but i would absolutely advocate for not putting in more layers, lets firstly make sure the people working directly with families, people who are in peoples homes and communities, that those people have the time and support to do their work. do cases like this make _ support to do their work. do cases like this make it _ support to do their work. do cases like this make it difficult _ support to do their work. do cases like this make it difficult to - like this make it difficult to recruit the best people into the profession? t recruit the best people into the profession?— recruit the best people into the rofession? ~ ., ., ~ , profession? i think social workers will really feel _

profession? i think social workers will really feel what _ profession? i think social workers will really feel what has _ profession? i think social workers| will really feel what has happened here. it obviously affects morale because we want to do our best and we see from the report how difficult that can be and what the consequences of decisions can be. that said, people come forward to be social workers, they come forward to working other agencies in the helping professions and that is wonderful. we have to hang on to those people and making sure there is real support when you are facing those complex decisions, may be a situation where a family is not telling the truth, where you are seeing lots of fragmented pieces of help when you are working on a pandemic, you are having to be concerned about your own safety and the safety of your family, going out to people, we need support, oversight and the experienced people to help those social workers and other helping professionals. thank ou ve other helping professionals. thank you very much- — the headlines on bbc news: uk households will have hundreds of pounds knocked off energy bills this winter as part of a new package to help people cope

with soaring prices. the announcement is due to be made later, as the british prime minister faces fresh calls to resign a day after a damning report was released into lockdown parties across whitehall and downing street. a vigil for the 19 children and two teachers killed in a school shooting in texas as the debate over gun control in the us re—ignites. hundreds of people have attended a vigil in uvalde, texas, after 19 children and two teachers were killed in a mass shooting at a primary school. the attack has once again sparked a debate on gun laws in the united states. our us correspondent nomia iqbal reports. they came for the thoughts and prayers. families held each other tightly to try and make sense of the unimaginable. they sang and prayed. the mood was sombre, and their grief palpable. we're just grieving over

this horrific tragedy, so...coming together to show the support for each other, for the families. you know? this couple told us their eight—year—old grandson made it out of the school alive. i went and checked on my grandson. as soon as he saw me, he hugged me. he was so scared. and i cried with him also. so i told him, "it'll be ok. let me check on your... on your classmates and your teacher. i know that everybody's scared, but you all will be fine." this is a community that's dealing with profound grief, and people came here inside the arena in their hundreds. usually rodeo shows happen here, but tonight there was a prayer vigil, and people say this is their way of healing. the murder of 19 children and their two teachers has left this country reeling. xavier lopez was in his fourth year at primary school, as was elle garcia and ameriejo, just ten. theirteacher, eva mireles, died

jumping in front of her students. they had all been barricaded in one classroom. the man who cruelly took their lives was this local teenager, 18—year—old salvador ramos. he sent out messages on social media saying he was going to attack an elementary school. he was killed by police. it's the worst school shooting in a decade. the death of small children has reignited the polarising issue of gun control in america. and whilst politicians unite in grief, they quickly divide on the politics. when in god's name will we do what needs to be done to, if not completely stop, fundamentally change the amount of the carnage that goes on in this country? to state the obvious, like corey and a lot of other people here, i'm sick and tired. i'm just sick and tired... ..of what's going on and continues to go on. at a press conference, texas governor, who is a republican,

has loosened gun laws here. he was ambushed by his democratic opponent who accused him of doing nothing about gun violence. right now, you're doing nothing. no. he needs to get his ass out of here. this isn't the place to talk to me. republicans here say this isn't about guns. they say strict gun control infringes on american people's constitutional right to bear arms. it divides america deeply and, even after a horrific shooting, that divide deepens. i'm not so much into politics, but...i mean, something, something needs to change, you know, whether it's... something needs to change because it's ridiculous. you know, it's very ridiculous that we're putting children's lives in danger. and, you know, it'sjust not right. this is not about politics. you know, we're americans. the second amendment is a part of... it transcends politics. the second amendment is a part of our liberties to even be here in america. this is not about politics. gun control is not about politics.

guns don't kill people. people kill people. president biden says he will visit the city in the coming days. will this be a turning point in america when it comes to tougher gun laws? the grim expectation is either little or nothing will change. nomia iqbal, bbc news, uvalde in texas. edward was in the classroom next door to where the shooter opened fire. he and his mother told cbs reporter lilia luciano about what those moments were like. teacher came to our room and warned us that it was happening, so we just ran to the back of the class and hide. we hid behind desks and chairs. behind desks and chairs? mm—hm. and what happened next? well... we were scared and the teacher started telling us we can pray. she said you can pray?

you were all praying together? mm—hm. and you could hear all of that? you heard gunshots? i heard gunshots. what did that... what did that make you feel? oh, it got me a little scared. the shooter was next door, and whenever i heard - that he was in room number 18, the shooter was 19 — _ my heartjust dropped. iwas... i started panicking, crying. i was thinking that the shooter was shooting everywhere, - that it was going to go through one of the walls and shoot him. - i was so scared. but once i finally got i a text from his teacher that they were on the way to the civic center, - i finally felt at peace, - but i still had to see him. with a community left reeling in the wake of the shooting, let's talk to danya bacchus, cbs news correspondent in uvalde, texas. how is the community coping in the wake of this horrific shooting? you

know, ou wake of this horrific shooting? you know. you hear— wake of this horrific shooting? tm, know, you hear the stories from young eduard who was a survivor, he is able to tell those moments before, it kind of describes some of what the people here are feeling and thatis what the people here are feeling and that is disbelief, anger is now starting to kick in. there's community is still grieving of course here. as you can see behind me, there is a memorial outside of robb elementary school, 21 process representing the 19 children and two teachers who lost their lives here. people are still grappling with what happened. there are stories of heroism and bravery now coming out as we have learned more about the victims. one student is said to have grabbed his cell phone to call 911. one of the teachers was trying to shield the students from those bullets. so right now the community here definitely still grieving, but

we are seeing that they are coming together and really trying to rally around each other and support each other as they try to move forward. it was interesting to hear one woman interviewed say that guns do not kill people, people kill people, but she did not say that people use guns to kill other people and it happens in the united states with a regularity that does not occur anywhere else in the world. what sort of response have you heard in you validate to this ongoing debate on gun reels? t you validate to this ongoing debate on gun reels?— on gun reels? i think it is an onauoin on gun reels? i think it is an ongoing debate. _ on gun reels? i think it is an ongoing debate. we - on gun reels? i think it is an ongoing debate. we have i on gun reels? i think it is an i ongoing debate. we have seen this and heard this debate throughout the years when things like this happen in the united states. there will be sides. people saying we need new gun control measures, make sure there are more restrictions, we need to do everything we can to make sure that this does not happen again. but we

always hear other people saying like we just heard, always hear other people saying like wejust heard, one always hear other people saying like we just heard, one women say that guns do not kill people, people kill people, and then there are lawmakers who say they will not do anything to impose any kind of new gun restrictions or new measures. so i think it is just an ongoing debate. that is what it is. i do not know, speaking to some of the parents who have lost loved ones here, one in particular told us that he is not even hopeful that things will change. we always hear about we have got to change things, things need to happen, but because nothing has happened yet, some people here do not have hope that they will see any change even after something like this happens. thank you very much. one of the first communities to show solidarity was sandy hook in connecticut, where a decade ago 20 children and six adults were killed when a gunman opened fire at a primary school. our correspondentjohn sudworth reports from sandy hook.

the flags at half mast, a gesture of empathy from one town, one of so many scarred by the tragedy of gun violence. but there's despair here, too. almost a decade ago, six—year—old dylan hockley was murdered in his school, along with 25 others. his mum, nicole, set up the sandy hook promise foundation with a little hope of gun control. it focuses on trying to help schools identify potential killers in advance. your thoughts and prayers are meaningless unless there's something substantive behind it that backs it up. and a lot of these politicians, they can do all the thoughts and prayers in the world, but then they don't take any action whatsoever. so their words are meaningless. if you can't act on it, it doesn't matter. the recurrence of school shootings has left no shortage of national despair too. the problem which came to the awful conclusion you faced here is a demon

we have to do more to fight. our nation is shocked and saddened by the news of the shootings at virginia tech today. - since i've been president, this is the fourth time we have come together to comfort a grieving community torn apart by mass shootings. as a nation, we have to ask when in god's name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? but the outrage hasn't affected gun sales. 42% of adult americans own a gun or live with someone who does, and they're buying more. last year, almost 20 million were sold. on average, there are now more than 100 gun deaths a day in america. and although mass shootings account for a tiny fraction of the total, from sandy hook to columbine to virginia tech, they are seared into this country's consciousness. but with each one it is not change that appears increasingly inevitable, but the lack of it.

while president biden was urging more regulation, others were defending lawful gun rights. you see democrats and a lot of folks in the media whose immediate solution is to try to restrict the constitutional rights of law abiding citizens. that doesn't work. it's not effective. it doesn't prevent crime. on the fire station roof, there's a star for each school child or staff member killed here. we can't tolerate this any more, president obama said then. but ten years on, a solution seems as far away as ever. john sudworth, bbc news, sandy hook. dame deborahjames has visited the chelsea flower show to see the rose named after her. the host of the you, me and the big c podcast revealed earlier this month she is receiving end—of—life care, after being diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016. more than £6 million have now been raised for dame deborah's bowelbabe fund.

the mother of two said she hoped one day the rose might feature in her daughter eloise's wedding bouquet. it's been more than a0 years since abba's last tour, but from tomorrow night, fans will be able to watch the band onstage again. the pop legends have created digital versions of themselves — known as abbatars — that will perform alongside live musicians in london. our entertainment correspondent colin paterson has more... music: dancing queen. abba, as you've seen them before — looking like they did in their 1970s heyday. # you are the dancing queen... six years in the making, the abba voyage concert, featuring avatars — or as they've come to be known, abbatars — of the band in a 3,000 capacity purpose—built arena in east london. where's the best place to watch the show in the arena? svana has worked on the project since the start. we want to pull on the emotions, so if you come out of here and feel like you've seen a visual spectacle,

we would have failed, unfortunately. if you come out of here and feel like you've just seen something that is so emotional that you laughed and you cried and you can't wait to go back and everyone around you felt the same, that's what we want. now, the set list is a closely guarded secret, but the big hits — they'll be there. it's the setlist that the band put together as if they were going on tour today. and i can't say any more because there are a lot of fans waiting to come and see the show — they've been waiting for some decades now — and i do not want to spoil it for them. # my, my. # at waterloo napoleon did surrender. _ abba performed the songs in front of 160 cameras for five weeks, so every aspect of their movements could be captured. that is so lifelike. quite amazing. when i went to visit them in stockholm last year, they explained that sacrifices had to be made, so the avatars could look as accurate as possible. you had to shave the beards

for the abbatar show. yeah. just how traumatic was that for you two? oh, no. again, just the decision — if it has to be done, it has to be. to the end i tried! "is there no other way we can do this? "do i really, really have to?" and i hated it. oh, i looked weird. and i... no, i'll never shave it off again — that's for sure. the last abba tour ended injapan in 1980. some of the merchandise on sale this time looks like it predates that. and the abbatars will be accompanied by a live ten—piece backing band. it's just a dream. it's life—changing. just on that personal level of connecting to this unbelievable music and seeing what it does to people. it's a dream. yeah, iagree. i'm like...

i don't know. i neverthought, like, the perfectjob could exist. i still have, like, some tears when i'm playing the show, and, yeah, i don't think i'll stop that for for some time. if the show�*s a hit and there's demand around the world — well, in true scandinavian flatpack style, the whole arena can be collapsed, transported, and rebuilt in a different country, on a different continent. and that's the dream for abba — to tour the globe, bringing joy to thousands while sitting at home in sweden. colin patterson, bbc news, the abba arena. the first case of monkeypox has been confirmed _ the first case of monkeypox has been confirmed in — the first case of monkeypox has been confirmed in northern— the first case of monkeypox has been confirmed in northern ireland, - the first case of monkeypox has been confirmed in northern ireland, the i confirmed in northern ireland, the bbc understands _ confirmed in northern ireland, the bbc understands the _ confirmed in northern ireland, the bbc understands the person - confirmed in northern ireland, the bbc understands the person is - confirmed in northern ireland, the i bbc understands the person is being treated _ bbc understands the person is being treated in_ bbc understands the person is being treated in hospital— bbc understands the person is being treated in hospital but _ bbc understands the person is being treated in hospital but the _ bbc understands the person is being treated in hospital but the risk- bbc understands the person is being treated in hospital but the risk to - treated in hospital but the risk to the public— treated in hospital but the risk to the public remains _ treated in hospital but the risk to the public remains low _ treated in hospital but the risk to the public remains low we - treated in hospital but the risk to the public remains low we are . treated in hospital but the risk to i

the public remains low we are told. we there _ the public remains low we are told. we there has— the public remains low we are told. we there has also _ the public remains low we are told. we there has also been— the public remains low we are told. we there has also been a _ the public remains low we are told. we there has also been a first - the public remains low we are told. we there has also been a first case | we there has also been a first case of monkeypox confirmed in wales, health officials have said they are working with the uk health security agency and are ready to respond to any further cases. i think that brings now, adding the new cases, 79 cases of monkeypox in the uk so far and i think possibly 80 with the case in northern ireland, i ran 79, 80 toting up those latest figures. the queen's diary will be pretty full over the coming days and weeks as she prepares to celebrate her platinum jubilee — but we've found someone who'd be happy to help with royal engagements. three—year—old isla from wigan, has styled herself as the �*mini queen' — and she's already been visiting care homes in character. yunus mulla has been to meet her. meet isla from wigan. in her pink coat and hat, a suitable pearl necklace and matching shoes, a mini queen. the three—year—old is on a tour of care homes. this is a care home

in lytham saint annes. she is such a confident three—year—old but she is a typical three—year—old and does her own thing. when you are three, its great dressing up, isn't it? what does she think about dressing up as the queen? she loves it. when she is walking down that carpet, you know... it is the sass. it is the three—year—old sass. but she loves it. the wave comes out, the straight face. her grandmother who works for a care home group came up with the idea after seeing the toddler in america dressed up as the queen for halloween and thought," why not do the same here?" she has come to the homes from being tiny. she had a break over covid—19, but she is always coming to our care homes because her mum works for us as well. and it hasjust been amazing. she was born to be on stage. unpredictable, are children, but isla is isla and she does| play the part really well. having met her majesty for real at

buckingham palace, i've got to say that today was an equally poignant moment in my career. how does the mini queen compare to the queen? brilliant. engagements include planting a tree as part of the queen's green canopy initiative. isla, how old are you? three. three years old? wow. do you know what you're doing here today? yes. go on, tell me. and with that and unprompted, she has a royal walkabout. she was very sweet and i thought she was very elegant and i thought she was well trained, yes, yes, yes. i thought she was a beautiful little girl. | and she was so full - of her own importance, wasn't she? we are celebrating the jubilee, you know, in our garden,

hopefully, with the bunting out and everything, yes. i guess she will be centre stage then. well, we might have a little queen visit. maybe for five minutes. before then, there really is no getting away from all that attention. before i go, let me bring you that breaking news. another conservative mp has called for prime minister borisjohnson to resign — following sue gray�*s report into partygate — he is david simmonds — in a statement, the mp for ruislip, northwood and pinner — next door to the prime minister's constituency — said: "i listened to what the prime minister had to say at prime minister's questions, his statement and the 1922 committee yesterday following the publication of the sue gray report."having

reflected on what he said, and the views of the constituents and my conservative association, it is clear that while the government and our policies enjoy the confidence of the public, the prime minister does you are watching bbc news. hello. once again, quite a blustery day out there, especially across the north and the west of the country and it is here where we are most likely to see some further outbreaks of rain at times. over the next few days, things will become drier as we head towards the weekend but also become a little bit colder as well. north and east will notice that more especially. this chart shows how the temperatures will range compared to normal. the warmer oranges clear away from the south in the next 2a hours. the blues arrive on the chart. an indication it will be colder than we would normally expect at this stage in may. at the moment, the colder air is mainly towards the north of scotland. an area of low pressure in the north atlantic. high pressure and south—westerly wind means it feels a bit warmer than yesterday across southern areas. the dividing line between the two, cloud and outbreaks of rain and drizzle in northern england, parts of wales, drifting its way into the midlands as we go

through the afternoon. southern areas will stay dry with sunny spells and a high of 21. the further north we go, even though it is a case of sunshine and some blustery showers, it could feel colder, just 10—11 degrees across the highlands and islands later. here, the showers continue into the night. a few showers and spots of drizzle to begin with in southern parts of england and wales but that clears through and under clearing skies, a bit of a fresh night for some of you, in england, wales and parts of south—east scotland especially. into friday we go. we have got high pressure building its way in from the south—west. that is going to make for a drier and brighter day for many southern and western areas. still some showers and a keen breeze blowing across parts of scotland, maybe the far north of england, and the odd isolated shower in northern ireland but not much in the way of cloud, just a bit of fair weather cloud across the midlands, southern england and much of wales and here, the highest of the temperatures on friday, up to 19—21. still feeling rather fresh in the north. that area of high pressure does not really establish itself. it runs off towards iceland

as we head into the weekend and northerly winds develop. you will already start to feel that on saturday in northern and eastern scotland and eastern counties of england, a bit of a keen breeze. sunny start for many, cloud building up, isolated showers but most will be dry. you do need to be sheltered away from that north to north—westerly breeze on saturday. parts of south—west scotland not faring too badly. the same to southern parts of england and wales where we will see some sunny spells again on sunday but a decent chance of some showers. plenty of cloud for many of us on sunday and in that breeze it will feel distinctly chilly across northern and eastern scotland and eastern counties of england. that is how it is looking. see you soon.

this is bbc news. i'm reeta chakrabarti. the headlines at 11. households will have hundreds of pounds knocked off energy bills this winter as part of a new £10 billion package to help people cope with soaring prices. hopefully the government can bring in more measures for the people who need this extra cash injection to help them. we are so many stories about people going without food and thatis about people going without food and that is not the way people should have to live. the announcement is due to be made later — as boris johnson faces fresh calls from mps to resign — a day after a damning report was released into lockdown parties across whitehall and downing street. a vigil for the 19 children and two teachers killed in a school shooting in texas as the debate over gun control in the us re—ignites. a review criticises "weak decision making" in child protection

services in england saying they need to "change fundamentally" after the deaths of star hobson and arthur labinjo—hughes. and... meet the abbatars — the swedish supergroup prepare to take to the stage for the first time in a0 years as digital avatars. every household in britain will receive hundreds of pounds in additional support from the government to ease the cost—of—living crisis this winter. this all follows that announcement from the regulator ofgem that the energy price cap is predicted to rise by another £800 in october to £2,800 a year. that would push more than 10 million

households into fuel poverty. so what will the government do to help? in february, the chancellor rishi sunak announced millions of households would receive a £200 discount on their energy bills from october. it was only ever going to be a loan, which people would have to repay over five years from 2023. now it's being reported that the chancellor could double this to £400 and it could become a grant which wouldn't need to be paid back. a £150 rebate on council tax bills for most households came in april. there is a suggestion another rebate could be possible. there's also expected to be targeted financial support for the most vulnerable households on a fixed income, including bringing forward an increase in benefits and the state pension, to reflect inflation. this £10 billion package of support is expected to be mostly paid for by a one—off windfall tax

on the profits of oil and gas firms. so a number of options available to the government. we're expecting to get all the details from the chancellor later this morning. our consumer affairs correspondent colletta smith asked people in warrington for one thing that the government could do to help them. the one thing that would help me most, i think, would be some help with the energy bills. i'm £100 up on last year, a month, so if the government could assist with that, that would be great. the thing that would help me most is if the government made some impact — a freeze or reduction in fuel prices — that would be immense for me. help with food bills. i come here to get what i need if i've got no money. rising prices are the talk of the town. from food banks... three boys — carter, harrison, harla. ..to workplaces. mark and his wife emma both work full—time, but bills have gone up so much, he's trying to get the whole family on side with saving energy.

i've got the smart meter in the living room, which was in a drawer before — sort of the last 12, 18 months. it's actually sort ofjust pride of place now on the fireplace. thermostat�*s on a lot lower to keep... the wife was good at leaving the windows open and the heating on, you know, to dry washing and stuff. so we've stopped doing that now as much. just being a little bit more cautious about what we do. showers instead of baths, because they're a lot cheaper, especially when the boys spend, like, an hour in the bath each, but the hot tap's constantly running. it's probably best if we sit in the boardroom, if that's ok with yourself. jenna travels the length and breadth of the country organising training for hgv drivers — so it's petrol prices that are hitting her budget hardest. the petrol vehicle i drive, probably about four weeks ago, i was maybe round about the £68 mark for a full tank, and now i'm touching maybe 75, 76. and, again, because i drive nationally, i can see the price change and increase based on region, based on borough that i drive around.

so itjust depends if i can play cat or mouse to get to maybe a supermarket and get a lower fuel cost. at this food bank, bernie has learnt to swallow her pride, and ask for the help she needs. i've got a good neighbour who lives next door to us. he's lent my husband some money to get some electric today. so i was like, "thank god for that!" are you skipping meals? sometimes, yes. yeah. for both of you — for you and your husband? yes — yeah, yeah. you've just kind of said, "we've not got enough." yeah. how crucial is this food bank to you? if it wasn't here, what would happen? i'd be stealing. i know that sounds wrong. and i'd never steal in my life. i'm a good person. i would never do it. thank you, see you in a bit. while millions of households will be glad of extra help, for those living on the breadline, it can't come soon enough. colletta smith, bbc

news, in warrington. joining me now is dr adrian pabst, the deputy director of national institute of economic and social research. good morning to you. so, the chancellor is expected to announce a very sizeable package to help people. what, in your opinion is the best way in which he can do that? so, the help that is crucial now, as people face the soaring bills and struggle to make ends meet is targeted help for the poorest households. those who are facing extreme poverty if they don't get the help right now, not in the winter, not next spring. it has to happen over the summer months, really immediately. that would be about two and a half million people who otherwise would be facing extreme poverty. there is also 11 million households wear disposable income does not cover energy and food bills other bill so it is really the bottom half of the income

distribution that needs help not to be more affluent households who would be saving their money if they got help and that is not going to help the economy and growth either so targeted help for the bottom half of the income distribution, especially the poorest. 50. of the income distribution, especially the poorest. so, that is 13 and a half— especially the poorest. so, that is 13 and a half million _ especially the poorest. so, that is 13 and a half million people - especially the poorest. so, that is 13 and a half million people that l 13 and a half million people that you are saying are in great need of help right now. many of those people are in work? so help right now. many of those people are in work?— are in work? so a very large number, robabl are in work? so a very large number, probably about _ are in work? so a very large number, probably about 11 _ are in work? so a very large number, probably about 11 million _ are in work? so a very large number, probably about 11 million if _ are in work? so a very large number, probably about 11 million if not - probably about 11 million if not more but often that work is precarious. it may be devo hour contracts for people don't know how much they are going to earn every month and also know that wages and benefits have not kept pace with inflation so it is important to be inflation so it is important to be in work. it is important to get people into work when they are not but work in and of itself and wages are not keeping pace with prices is not going to be enough so even people in work are going to need help not only those who are out of work. so help not only those who are out of work. , ., ., ,, help not only those who are out of work. y., ., ,, ., ,., work. so when you talk about tar: eted work. so when you talk about targeted help. _ work. so when you talk about

targeted help, does- work. so when you talk about targeted help, does that - work. so when you talk about. targeted help, does that mean work. so when you talk about - targeted help, does that mean that you are against a universal reduction in bills for everybody and you think that the money should be targeted at those, the very sizeable minority of 13 million? yes. targeted at those, the very sizeable minority of 13 million?— minority of 13 million? yes, we thinkthat _ minority of 13 million? yes, we think that is — minority of 13 million? yes, we think that is preferable - minority of 13 million? yes, we| think that is preferable because minority of 13 million? yes, we i think that is preferable because if we help the most affluent households a lot of that money will get saved, not spent. that will not help growth and we may be sliding into a recession which will leave everyone worse off. but we need is to help the people hit hardest by soaring energy and food bills but also who are going to spend the money that they are going to because that will help growth and investment more than if the money is saved by the wealthiest so much more targeted approach will be both economically more effective but also socially much more equitable. haunt more effective but also socially much more equitable.- more effective but also socially much more equitable. how do do that? the argument — much more equitable. how do do that? the argument in _ much more equitable. how do do that? the argument in government _ much more equitable. how do do that? the argument in government is - much more equitable. how do do that? the argument in government is always| the argument in government is always that targeting help is actually more costly because of the bureaucracy

involved. . , ., ., involved. that is a fair point. means testing _ involved. that is a fair point. means testing is _ involved. that is a fair point. means testing is expensive. | involved. that is a fair point. i means testing is expensive. but there is the universal credit mechanism which this government has brought in. and people are saying this is an important step forward in cutting down administrative costs so why not use universal credit which will go to about 5 million people, and do a 12 month uplift of £25 per week, which would help cover those bills. that is one way to chancellor could provide targeted support without increasing the administrative budget. without increasing the administrative budtet. , , ., administrative budget. they seem to have turned their _ administrative budget. they seem to have turned their faces _ administrative budget. they seem to have turned their faces away - administrative budget. they seem to have turned their faces away from i have turned their faces away from the £20 applet that people have given over covid. you think that should be restored temporarily? in the market should be restored. it should be raised to £25 per week and one could limit it in savour the next 12 months so there is no argument saying that a temporary reinstatement of this will become permanent. the uplift during covid wasn't permanent. the applet now

could bejust wasn't permanent. the applet now could be just a temporary but it would help the poorest immediately and universal credit will get the money into their accounts as of now rather than making a payment injuly when people are struggling at the moment and have been for months. thank you very much. joining us from bristol is our reporter andrew plant. people have been telling you that the squeeze on the cost of living is nothing new. this the squeeze on the cost of living is nothing new— nothing new. this is east street. it is an area i — nothing new. this is east street. it is an area i know— nothing new. this is east street. it is an area i know very _ nothing new. this is east street. it is an area i know very well - nothing new. this is east street. it is an area i know very well and - nothing new. this is east street. it is an area i know very well and it i is an area i know very well and it has been hit fairly hard over the past ten years or so. lots of shops closing down here over the past decade and chatting to people here this morning, it is clear anyone

facing a financial squeeze right now all of their concerns for them to those same three categories. it is the food they are buying a vb, the gas bills that are coming through the door at the cost of living. fuel in the car. people telling us this morning when their shopping at the either going for cheaper alternatives or, in some cases, just eating less food. lots of people at the moment have got their heating turned off, of course, but real what happens when those price increases come again in octoberjust before the next winter kicks enforceable at people worried about how they are going to heat their homes and people say they will not be able to use the heating tool and lots of people saying if they have got to drive somewhere now they really consider whether or not they absolutely have to make thatjourney simply because it has become so expensive to run their cars. chatting to people here this morning, i started by speaking to malcolm. he is on universal credit and i asked him what he is doing to make that fixed income go further. , ,, . , doing to make that fixed income go further. , ,, ., , ., .,

further. dire straits at the moment. as i said, further. dire straits at the moment. as i said. i— further. dire straits at the moment. as i said. i am _ further. dire straits at the moment. as i said, i am on _ further. dire straits at the moment. as i said, i am on universal- further. dire straits at the moment. as i said, i am on universal credit. | as i said, i am on universal credit. i as i said, i am on universal credit. i get _ as i said, i am on universal credit. i get £75_ as i said, i am on universal credit. i get £75 a — as i said, i am on universal credit. i get £75 a week to live on which i .et i get £75 a week to live on which i get monthly, £300. i got pay my gas electric— get monthly, £300. i got pay my gas electric and _ get monthly, £300. i got pay my gas electric and water and with prices going _ electric and water and with prices going up— electric and water and with prices going up i— electric and water and with prices going up i can't afford to pay the gas _ going up i can't afford to pay the gas i_ going up i can't afford to pay the gas iiust — going up i can't afford to pay the gas. ijust can't afford it any more — gas. i 'ust can't afford it any more. , ., ., ., , , more. on the storage heaters it is about £6 a — more. on the storage heaters it is about £6 a night. _ more. on the storage heaters it is about £6 a night. how _ more. on the storage heaters it is about £6 a night. how could - more. on the storage heaters it is i about £6 a night. how could anybody afford _ about £6 a night. how could anybody afford that _ about £6 a night. how could anybody afford that it — about £6 a night. how could anybody afford that. it is _ about £6 a night. how could anybody afford that. it is ridiculous. _ afford that. it is ridiculous. lately— afford that. it is ridiculous. lately the _ afford that. it is ridiculous. lately the prices _ afford that. it is ridiculous. lately the prices have - afford that. it is ridiculous. | lately the prices have gone afford that. it is ridiculous. . lately the prices have gone up afford that. it is ridiculous. - lately the prices have gone up in construction due to demand. lack of trade out there. shortage of trades, a big lack of labour. the construction going up everywhere. so, yeah, the work, to be honest with you, it has been going up. four people on a lower wage, definitely, yeah, it is going to be a lot harder, you know. definitely, big struggle out there at the minute. interesting watchjohnny,

deconstructing worker was saying. he said he is not really feeling the cost of living squeeze. he said there is not enough workers in construction around at the moment so he has a lot of work coming in and the wages in that industry has gone up the wages in that industry has gone up to counteract the rises in prices but he is in the minority. everyone else were speaking to today saying they are having to adapt what they spend and are worried about what is coming down the line. we'll keep talking to people this morning and seeing how they feel about this announcement from the government that there will be helping those energy bills. we will get back you and that you know they think it is enough. borisjohnson is resisting more calls to resign, after a damning report on government lockdown parties was released. an investigation by the senior civil servant, sue gray, concluded many of the events across whitehall and downing street "should not have been allowed to happen". this morning, two more conservative mps have publically called for borisjohnson to step down. john baron and david simmonds both

say it's time for new leadership. i'm joined now by our political correspondent ben wright. the consensus seems to me last night and this morning that borisjohnson is pretty safe despite the damning findings and yet we have two mps today saying that he should step down. put this into some sort of context for us.— context for us. yes, it is interesting. _ context for us. yes, it is interesting. the - context for us. yes, it is interesting. the feeling | context for us. yes, it is - interesting. the feeling was, as context for us. yes, it is _ interesting. the feeling was, as you say, seagrave's report, while it was grisly, difficult reading for everybody, very difficult for boris johnson wasn't a fatal blow and you could tell that when boris johnson was in the house of commons yesterday. a handful of dissenting voices from his own side. some of whom had called for the prime minister to go before. there were not a whole cache of new tory mps ready to stand up and say they felt that having now seen the report that

they waited so long for the significantly changed their own judgment about borisjohnson's significantly changed their own judgment about boris johnson's for transit ability to remain in office and yet, today, as you say, two conservative mps have spoken up and issued a statement saying that they think the prime minister should go. one tory mp said in his statement that hejust doesn't one tory mp said in his statement that he just doesn't accept that the prime minister was unaware of events going on. his repeated assurances in parliament there is no rule breaking simply is not credible. that will be the focus of house of commons investigation and the committee will be looking at that exact question the coming weeks and the tory mp david simmons has also said that he just doesn't think the prime minister now can carry on and he lost the confidence of him even if thatis lost the confidence of him even if that is not widely shared across the tory party backbenchers. there is a sense that this is no in any way. i still think the prime minister is safer now but there are surprises like this that can come out of nowhere and tory mps standing up

this morning and saying, having looked at all the evidence, looked at the report, heard the prime minster�*s own statement, they don't think he can carry on. itrai’htztt minster's own statement, they don't think he can carry on.— think he can carry on. what happens next? there — think he can carry on. what happens next? there are _ think he can carry on. what happens next? there are a _ think he can carry on. what happens next? there are a couple _ think he can carry on. what happens next? there are a couple of - think he can carry on. what happens next? there are a couple of other. next? there are a couple of other tests coming up soon apparent there? element that is right for top two by—elections. labour certainly trying to take the wakefield constituency. the lib dems i think licking their lips and hoping they can make inroads down in the south—west and that will be two big parliamentary tests of how the partygate parliamentary tests of how the pa rtygate cycle parliamentary tests of how the partygate cycle is being absorbed in constituencies right now. i think the feeling is, among a lot of tory mps that while this is damaged boris johnson, they are still two years away from a general election and an awful lot can happen by then so i think that is one reason they are not moving in a critical number now. frankly, i also think there is no

consensus on the tory party in parliament about to an alternative leader might be at this stage. i think they want to get on with trying to tackle what we have been talking about all morning which is the cost of living crisis. we will see, of course, the chancellor's statement at 12:30pm in the commons. for tory mps and everyone, that is the pressing issue and certainly for number ten. they're desperate now to move the conversation on to the question of what to do about rising prices, energy bills in the squeeze on everybody�*s pockets. we will come back to once he has made that statement but for the time being, thank you very much indeed. figures just released show the level of fraud affecting universal credit has hit record levels. more than £5 billion of taxpayers money was lost last year as the fraud rate hit 13% on the benefit. with me now is our social affairs correspondent, michael buchanan. this comes at a time where we are

talking about the terrible squeeze on the cost of living, how public money is going to be targeted at those most in need and then figures like this come out so give us more detail about what has happened? this is an annual detail about what has happened? tt 3 is an annual snapshot across all benefits and across all benefits it is important to note that it is about 3% of money is lost due to fraud but around universal credit there's been an issue with this for a number of years. it was exacerbated by the pandemic. remember, at the start of the pandemic there was an extraordinary number of people who felt that they had to claim universal credit because of the country going into lockdown. the economy in large part shutting down and in order to allow those huge numbers of claims to be processed the department for work and pensions to some decisions to basically ease benefit restrictions so that people could access money more quickly. and for the vast majority that was important and that was right but it also opened the door to people to scam the system,

effectively. some of these people are individuals, organised crime groups and because universal credit is predominantly an online benefit, it meant that people didn't have to actually provide. they didn't have to go intojob actually provide. they didn't have to go into job centres and provide documentation to prove that they were eligible for the benefit. that led to a huge increase in fraud in the first year of the pandemic and the first year of the pandemic and the stats today show that that level of fraud is continuing. and, as you say, over £5 billion. £5.3 billion, the department for work and pensions estimate they have lost due to fraud within the one benefit. itrai’htztt estimate they have lost due to fraud within the one benefit.— within the one benefit. what is the department _ within the one benefit. what is the department saying _ within the one benefit. what is the department saying about - within the one benefit. what is the department saying about touching | within the one benefit. what is the i department saying about touching the system up? thea;r department saying about touching the s stem u? , ., ., department saying about touching the sstemu? , ., ., system up? they have not responded to these figures _ system up? they have not responded to these figures yet. _ system up? they have not responded to these figures yet. if _ system up? they have not responded to these figures yet. if not _ system up? they have not responded to these figures yet. if not given - to these figures yet. if not given anything apple but they previously said is they are determined to get on top of that. they've set themselves a target of reducing fraud by 2 billion over three years across all benefits. they're going

to spend over £500 million on fraud counter fraud to spend over £500 million on fraud counterfraud measures. hiring 2040 investigators. they're going to try to get on top of it but there is undoubtedly an issue for them and officials and politicians within the department for work and pensions are acutely aware this amount of public money then it reduces the opportunity for you to actually invest in a lot of the benefit claimants who could do with this money coming to them on different routes. remember, the chancellor decided not to keep the £20 universal credit top of that was introduced at the height of the pandemic, one of the reasons for not renewing that continuing that was because it was going to cost about £6 billion a year and yet the department are losing about £5 billion in fraud.— billion in fraud. thank you very much. dame deborahjames has visited the chelsea flower show to see the rose named after her. the host of the "you, me and the big c" podcast revealed earlier this month she is receiving end—of—life care — after being diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016. more than six million pounds

have now been raised for dame deborah's bowelbabe fund. the mother—of—two said she hoped one day the rose might feature in her daughter eloise's wedding bouquet. hundreds of people have attended a vigil in uvalde, texas, after 19 children and two teachers were killed in a mass shooting at a primary school. the attack has once again sparked a debate on gun laws in the united states. our us correspondent nomia iqbal reports. they came for the thoughts and prayers. families held each other tightly to try and make sense of the unimaginable. they sang and prayed. the mood was sombre, and their grief palpable. we're just grieving over this horrific tragedy, so...coming together to show the support for each other, for the families. you know? this couple told us their eight—year—old grandson made it out

of the school alive. i went and checked on my grandson. as soon as he saw me, he hugged me. he was so scared. and i cried with him also. so i told him, "it'll be ok. let me check on your... on your classmates and your teacher. i know that everybody's scared, but you all will be fine." this is a community that's dealing with profound grief, and people came here inside the arena in their hundreds. usually rodeo shows happen here, but tonight there was a prayer vigil, and people say this is their way of healing. the murder of 19 children and their two teachers has left this country reeling. xavier lopez was in his fourth year at primary school, as was elle garcia and ameriejo, just ten. theirteacher, eva mireles, died jumping in front of her students. they had all been barricaded in one classroom. the man who cruelly took their lives was this local teenager,

18—year—old salvador ramos. he sent out messages on social media saying he was going to attack an elementary school. he was killed by police. it's the worst school shooting in a decade. the death of small children has reignited the polarising issue of gun control in america. and whilst politicians unite in grief, they quickly divide on the politics. when in god's name will we do what needs to be done to, if not completely stop, fundamentally change the amount of the carnage that goes on in this country? to state the obvious, like corey and a lot of other people here, i'm sick and tired. i'm just sick and tired... ..of what's going on and continues to go on. at a press conference, texas governor, who is a republican, has loosened gun laws here. he was ambushed by his democratic opponent who accused him of doing nothing about gun violence. right now, you're doing nothing. no. he needs to get his ass out of here.

this isn't the place to talk to me. republicans here say this isn't about guns. they say strict gun control infringes on american people's constitutional right to bear arms. it divides america deeply and, even after a horrific shooting, that divide deepens. i'm not so much into politics, but...i mean, something, something needs to change, you know, whether it's... something needs to change because it's ridiculous. you know, it's very ridiculous that we're putting children's lives in danger. and, you know, it'sjust not right. this is not about politics. you know, we're americans. the second amendment is a part of... it transcends politics. the second amendment is a part of our liberties to even be here in america. this is not about politics. gun control is not about politics. guns don't kill people. people kill people. president biden says he will visit the city in the coming days. will this be a turning point in america when it comes to tougher gun laws?

the grim expectation is either little or nothing will change. nomia iqbal, bbc news, uvalde in texas. edward was in the classroom next door to where the shooter opened fire. he and his mother told cbs reporter lilia luciano about about what those moments were like. teacher came to our room and warned us that it was happening, so we just ran to the back of the class and hide. we hid behind desks and chairs. behind desks and chairs? mm—hm. and what happened next? well... we were scared and the teacher started telling us we can pray. she said you can pray? you were all praying together? mm—hm. and you could hear all of that? you heard gunshots? i heard gunshots. what did that... what did that make you feel?

oh, it got me a little scared. the shooter was next door, and whenever i heard - that he was in room number 18, the shooter was 19 — _ my heartjust dropped. iwas... i started panicking, crying. i was thinking that the shooter was shooting everywhere, - that it was going to go through one of the walls and shoot him. - i was so scared. but once i finally got i a text from his teacher that they were on the way to the civic center, - i finally felt at peace, - but i still had to see him. cbs correspondent, danya bacchus, is in uvalde and described how the community is coping in the wake of the shooting. this community is still grieving, of course. as you can see behind me there is a memorial outside of the elementary school. there is a 21 crosses represented the 19 children and two teachers who lost their lives here. people here are still grappling with what happened. of

course, there are stories about heroism and bravery that are now coming out as we learned more about the victims. one student is said to have grabbed a cell phone to try to call 911, we are learning that one of the teachers was trying to shield the students from those bullets. so right now the community here definitely still grieving but what we are seeing is that they are coming together and really trying to rally around each other, support each other as they try to move forward. now it's time for a look at the weather. another day for the gardens out there. a little bit of sunshine and rain for many. not everyone is going to see the rain through today. southern and eastern areas will stay dry. northern england, patchy rain, the early start to the afternoon pushing across wales and into the midlands, the second half of the afternoon. temperatures drop away the further north you go. 21 in

london, 11 in stornoway and a strong breeze across the north means it could feel even colder. that continues. showers across parts of scotland and northern ireland but further south clearer skies take them to friday and temperatures in towns and cities not faring too badly. the a little on the french side. as for friday itself, about nice and trevor england and wales. cloud building up. northern england seenin cloud building up. northern england seen in isolated showers. appease northern ireland and scotland. a few showers of ad, not as many as today and feeling fresh and very pleasant in that sunshine in the south.

this is bbc news. i'm reeta chakrabarti and these are the headlines. households will have hundreds of pounds knocked off energy bills this winter as part of a new £10 billion package to help people cope with soaring prices.

the announcement is due to be made later as boris johnson faces fresh calls from mps to resign a day after a damning report was released into lockdown parties across whitehall and downing street. a vigil for the 19 children and two teachers killed in a school shooting in texas as the debate over gun control in the us re—ignites. a review criticises "weak decision making" in child protection services in england saying they need to "change fundamentally" after the deaths of star hobson and arthur labinjo—hughes. and meet the abbatars — the swedish supergroup prepare to take to the stage for the first time in 40 years as digital avatars. sport and a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre. good morning. jose mourinho was in tears last night, after he became the first manager to win all three major european trophies. his roma side beat feyenoord 1—0 to win the inaugural uefa conference league.

it means mourinho now has a perfect record with five wins from five finals. england's tammy abraham and chris smalling both picked up winners' medals. and this is how some of the roma players celebrated, by gatecrashing mourinho's news conference, spraying him with what looks like water. he didn't seem to mind too much though, joining in with the singing and dancing. former manchester united defender smalling has been praised for his performances this season. he picked up the man of the match award and was was asked afterwards whether he thinks he could force his way back into the england squad ahead of the world cup later this year. i would never close the door on something like that but at the minute i am not in his plans, equally, ifocus on playing my games but i would never close the door on such an opportunity. the final peice of european silverware is up

for grabs on saturday, as liverpool face real madrid in the champions league final. the spanish league champions, have become the comeback kings this season, including that dramatic turnaround against manchester city in the semis. so liverpool have been working on the mental side of the game. jurgen klopp has in the past desribed his players as "mentality monsters" and this is one of the ways they enhance the power of the mind, in training, by monitoring the players brains. this is defender trent alexander arnold, and konstantinos tsimikas using the technology, which they hope, will give them the edge, as for any team talk from the manager, it won't be based on revenge for losing to real in 2018. you don't need any more motivation than the champions league final and thatis than the champions league final and that is where the focus is going. that is all we dreamt of as kids, to play in big games and it doesn't get much better than the champions league final against madrid. we know it will be really tough, they are a

fantastic side, a world—class side, world—class players all over the pitch, so we know we need to be at 100% if we have any chance of winning. manchester united football director john murtough has told fans they will need to be patient with new boss erik ten hag. speaking at a meeting of the club's fans' forum, murtough said ten hag was a "proven winner" who had set out a long—term vision to build a successful, exciting team during discussions about thejob. the former ajax boss was unveiled as ole gunnar solskjaer�*s successor on monday. the mass exodus at manchester city women continues as the club announce that lucy bronze will leave at the end of her contract this summer. bronze rejoined city for a second spell in 2020 after spending three seasons at french club lyon. she was named as fifa best women's player in the same year. she'll feature for the lionesses this summer in the home european championships. northern ireland captain marissa callaghan has sustained a foot injury,

just six weeks before euro 2022. the 36—year—old missed cliftonville's win over glentoran on wednesday, but was present at solitude on crutches. she is set for further scans on her right foot and it is unclear if the injury will impact her chances of leading her country at the euros. northern ireland's first game at their maiden major tournament is against norway in southampton on 7thjuly. dan evans is in action later today at the french open. he is up against mikael ymer as he bids to make it through to the third round at roland garros for the first time. meanwhile defending champion novak djokovic is through. he needed a tie—break to beat slovakia's alex molcan in straight sets. djokovic is searching for his 21st grand slam victory and his third in paris. and on course to meet djokovic in the quarter finals is rafael nadal. the spaniard's quest to reclaim the title continued in style with a straight sets victory over corentin mouet, the 13—time champion breezing past the frenchman without any signs of recent injuries. that was his 300th

grand slam victory. that's all the sport for now. thank you very much, paul. the governor of luhansk province in ukraine has described the situation in the eastern donbas region as exceptionally bad, with no let up in russian shelling. russia has intensified its assault in the east as it tries to seize the region. the bbc�*s azaday moshiri reports. explosion. it's the region now at the heart of president putin's war, the donbas. this is the area he wants to control, and that is why it is under intense bombardment. no one in the world has a clear picture of what is happening there. some villages and towns, they do not exist any more. they were all turned into rubble by russian artillery fire, by russian multiple launch rockets systems. and it is devastating.

according to russia, its forces have made progress in its two provinces, luhansk and donetsk, which are claimed by russia backed separatists. russian forces say they have captured three more towns in donetsk. now it is sievierodonetsk and lysychansk which are in theirsights, which would give them control of the entire luhansk province. in severodonetsk, the shelling has been relentless, and the fighting has reached its outskirts, meaning russian troops could soon surround their target. the governor of luhansk told the bbc that russian forces are close enough to use mortar rounds as well as artillery and aerial bombing. but he said its 45,000 civilians don't want to leave their homes. despite its progress in donbas, russia has seen some more setbacks, with ukraine and the west insisting they've faced significant

troop casualties. translation: almost 30,000 russian soldiers killed, - more than 200 downed aircraft, thousands of lost russian tanks, armoured vehicles and other equipment, russian missile ammunition is almost completely used up, and they want to cover it up with lies that they are not fighting at full strength? russia has not acknowledged such casualty figures. instead, president putin visited soldiers in a moscow military hospital, calling them heroes, risking their lives for the people of donbas and the sake of russia. but perhaps in reaction, russia's parliament has now lifted the upper age limit for first—time conscripts, a sign russia sees no immediate end to the war. azadeh moshiri, bbc news. the police and prosecutors will have

to do more to justify intrusions into the private lives of victims of sexual offences when gathering evidence for trials in england and wales. officers will have to set out why they need information such as phone data, social media chats and medical records. with me now is rebecca hitchen, head of policy and campaigns at end violence against women and girls coalition. hello, thank you for coming in. what do you make of these changes? [30 hello, thank you for coming in. what do you make of these changes? do you welcome them? _ do you make of these changes? do you welcome them? no, _ do you make of these changes? do you welcome them? no, we _ do you make of these changes? do you welcome them? no, we are _ welcome them? no, we are disappointed in the changes that have come today from the crown prosecution service. what they said in one breath is that survivors should be able to access counselling and therapy, but in another breath they have reduced and lowered the threshold on which those counselling notes will be requested and disclosed as part of the justice system process. whereas the test before was if the information was believed to undermine the prosecution or support the defence, then the request for disclosure

would be made. but now they have quite drastically reduce that and said if it is considered relevant to the investigation, so that is incredibly subjective and an incredibly subjective and an incredibly broad brush. what it means in practice is that victims and survivors of rape will be less likely to access life—saving and life changing therapy. t likely to access life-saving and life changing therapy.- likely to access life-saving and life changing therapy. i 'ust wanted to ask, i life changing therapy. i 'ust wanted to ask. i have t life changing therapy. i 'ust wanted to ask, i have got _ life changing therapy. i 'ust wanted to ask, i have got the _ life changing therapy. ijust wanted to ask, i have got the guidelines i to ask, i have got the guidelines here. they are allowed to do so if it is considered a reasonable line of inquiry. the police should speak to the victim before approaching the therapist. they should seek the agreement of the victim. it does sound as if the person or woman at the centre of this is able to say no if they want to. 50. the centre of this is able to say no if they want to.— the centre of this is able to say no if they want to. so, the guidelines to set that — if they want to. so, the guidelines to set that out _ if they want to. so, the guidelines to set that out but _ if they want to. so, the guidelines to set that out but when _ if they want to. so, the guidelines to set that out but when you - if they want to. so, the guidelines to set that out but when you thinkj to set that out but when you think about what the reality of that situation will be, say a survivor has been raped and they report to the police and they decide to access that support by therapy and they go to the therapist and the therapist

says, ok, the information you share with me i might then share with the police and that might then go to the prosecutor and it might end up in the defence team and the defendant himself, the man who committed the rate. then it may be used to discredit you in a court room. so with that knowledge realistically thatis with that knowledge realistically that is an impossible choice for a survivor to have to make, whether to access that support, or to stay with the criminaljustice system which can ask —— last for up to five years in the very small cases that reach trial. this feeds into a criminal justice system which does not work for survivors and routinely discredits them and we know there are a lot of survivors who choose to withdraw and disengage from the system because they are worried about their personal information and their private life being trolled over so that details can be found to discredit them.— over so that details can be found to discredit them. what about the other measures that _ discredit them. what about the other measures that are _ discredit them. what about the other measures that are being _ discredit them. what about the other measures that are being proposed, l measures that are being proposed, with officers having to set up why

they need information, such as phone data, social media chance? do you welcome that? that would also speed things up. as you say, these things can take so many years to come to trial because of having to go through a whole mass of online information will stop the length of time the criminaljustice system takes when it comes to sexual offences is appalling and more needs to be done. fblur offences is appalling and more needs to be done. . . offences is appalling and more needs to be done. , , , to be done. our feeling is this is the very bare — to be done. our feeling is this is the very bare minimum. - to be done. our feeling is this is the very bare minimum. the i to be done. our feeling is this is| the very bare minimum. the fact justifications have to be made for social wreckers, medical records, school records, social services records, it feels like in practice police will be able to justify that, but actually rather than just looking at the victim's credibility, they need to focus on the investigation and the worry is we hear so often this narrative about we need to rebuild confidence that victims have in the system, but what is not happening is they are not improving practice or performance and they are not improving the way in which survivors are being treated by the system.

in which survivors are being treated by the system-— in which survivors are being treated by the system. what would you like to see happen? _ by the system. what would you like to see happen? what _ by the system. what would you like to see happen? what positive - by the system. what would you like j to see happen? what positive steps would you like to see happening? igrate would you like to see happening? - have been calling for a number of years for quite radical change and transformation in the way in which the criminaljustice system response to rape and sexual violence. we have been talking about rape effectively being decriminalised and we can see that in statistics. last year there were 63,000 reports of rape and only around 2000 charges made, so a rate of 1.3%. around 2000 charges made, so a rate of1.3%. in around 2000 charges made, so a rate of 1.3%. in terms of what we want to see and the changes that need to be made, the list is very long, but we need to see investment, leadership and real change on the ground, not just high—level policy changes which are not translating into anything changing in practice.— are not translating into anything changing in practice. thank you very much. changing in practice. thank you very much- rebecca _ changing in practice. thank you very much. rebecca hitchen. _ concerns raised by the families of two children months before they were murdered by their parents' partners were not taken seriously enough by child protection professionals, according to a safeguarding

review published today. the experts' report found that the cases of 16—month—old star hobson and six—year—old arthur llabinjo—hughes, reflected wider problems with the system in england. our social affairs editor, alison holt, has more. arthur, are you going to play for england? no?! why not? arthur labinjo—hughes was six when he was murdered by his father's girlfriend after weeks of spiteful, horrific abuse. and star hobson, here in the arms of her mother's partner, who would later kill her, was 16 months old. today's report says, whilst responsibility for the children's deaths lies solely with their abusers, both children were also failed by child—protection professionals who too often disregarded the concerns of their wider families. star's aunt and step—great—grandfather say, when family told social workers and police they were worried — even providing photographs

of bruising on star — they didn't talk to them directly, and thought they were being malicious. if social services had done theirjobs in the first place, i think star, well, star, we know star would still have been with us. because they'd have come down to see us, they'd have seen there were a problem with star, and said, "right, yeah, we need to step in here." maybe if they'd have sat down and spoke to us in person, they might have actually thought, "oh, hang on a minute, they're notjust being malicious." because literally theyjust took their word for it that we were being malicious and then they didn't... they didn't bother hearing our side of what was going on. the report, carried out by a national panel of experts, concluded that in both arthur and star's cases family concerns were disregarded, decision—making by social workers and police was weak, information—sharing poor, and that this reflected problems found in many parts of the country. the woman who led the review wants to see new expert teams bringing together social workers,

police and others to investigate and oversee cases. i don't think we can ever exaggerate how complicated and how difficult it is to do this work. and we must give every child, every family, but also every practitioner who's working in this area the best possible chance of protecting children well, and keeping them safe. and the report says the failings identified in arthur and star's cases need to lead to fundamental change that means other children are better—protected in the future. the government says it will publish its plans later this year. alison holt, bbc news. yesterday, uvaldejoined the list of mass shootings in america and reignited the debate on gun ownership in the country. 19 children and two teachers were killed in the mass shooting

at a primary school. one of the first communities to show solidarity was sandy hook in connecticut, where a decade ago 20 children and six adults were killed when a gunman opened fire at a primary school. our correspondentjohn sudworth reports from sandy hook. the flags at half mast, a gesture of empathy from one town, one of so many scarred by the tragedy of gun violence. but there's despair here too. almost a decade ago, six—year—old dylan hockley was murdered in his school, along with 25 others. his mum, nicole, set up the sandy hook promise foundation with little hope of gun control. it focuses on trying to help schools identify potential killers in advance. your thoughts and prayers are meaningless unless there's something substantive behind it that backs it up. and a lot of these politicians, they can do all the thoughts and prayers in the world, but then they don't take any action whatsoever. so their words are meaningless. if you can't act on it, it doesn't matter. the recurrence of school shootings

has left no shortage of national despair too. the problem which came to the awful conclusion you faced here is a demon we have to do more to fight. our nation is shocked and saddened. by the news of the shootings at virginia tech today. - since i've been president, this is the fourth time we have come together to comfort a grieving community torn apart by mass shootings. as a nation, we have to ask when in god's name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? but the outrage hasn't affected gun sales. 42% of adult americans own a gun or live with someone who does, and they're buying more. last year, almost 20 million were sold. on average, there are now more than 100 gun deaths a day in america. and although mass shootings account for a tiny fraction of the total, from sandy hook to columbine

to virginia tech, they are seared into this country's consciousness. but with each one it is not change that appears increasingly inevitable, but the lack of it. while president biden was urging more regulation, others were defending lawful gun rights. you see democrats and a lot of folks in the media whose immediate solution is to try to restrict the constitutional rights of law abiding citizens. that doesn't work. it's not effective. it doesn't prevent crime. on the fire station roof, there's a star for each school child or staff member killed here. we can't tolerate this any more, president obama said then. but ten years on, a solution seems as far away as ever. john sudworth, bbc news, sandy hook. the headlines on bbc news... households will have hundreds of pounds knocked off energy bills this winter as part

of a new £10 billion package to help people cope with soaring prices. the announcement is due to be made later as boris johnson faces fresh calls from mps to resign a day after a damning report was released into lockdown parties across whitehall and downing street. a vigil for the 19 children and two teachers killed in a school shooting in texas as the debate over gun control in the us re—ignites. it's been more than 40 years since abba's last tour, but from tomorrow night, fans will be able to watch the band onstage again. the pop legends have created digital versions of themselves known as abbatars that will perform alongside live musicians in london. our entertainment correspondent colin paterson has more. music: dancing queen. abba, as you've seen them before — looking like they did

in their 1970s heyday. # you are the dancing queen... six years in the making, tonight is the premier of the abba voyage concert, featuring avatars — or as they've come to be known, abbatars — of the band in a 3,000 capacity purpose—built arena in east london. where's the best place to watch the show in the arena? svana has worked on the project since the start. we want to pull on the emotions, so if you come out of here and feel like you've seen a visual spectacle, we would have failed, unfortunately. if you come out of here and feel like you've just seen something that is so emotional that you laughed and you cried and you can't wait to go back and everyone around you felt the same, that's what we want. now, the set list is a closely guarded secret, but the big hits — they'll be there. it's the setlist that the band put together as if they were going on tour today. and i can't say any more because there are a lot of fans waiting to come and see the show, they've been waiting for some decades now and i do not want to spoil it for them.

# my, my. # at waterloo napoleon did surrender. _ abba performed the songs in front of 160 cameras for five weeks, so every aspect of their movements could be captured. that is so lifelike. quite amazing. when i went to visit them in stockholm last year, they explained that sacrifices had to be made, so the avatars could look as accurate as possible. you had to shave the beards for the abbatar show. just how traumatic was that for you two? oh, no. again, just the decision — if it has to be done, it has to be. to the end i tried! "is there no other way we can do this? do i really, really have to?" and i hated it. oh, i looked weird. and i... no, i'll never shave it off again — that's for sure. the last abba tour ended injapan in 1980. some of the merchandise on sale this

time looks like it predates that. and the abbatars will be accompanied by a live ten—piece backing band. it's just a dream. it's life—changing. just on that personal level of connecting to this unbelievable music and seeing what it does to people. it's a dream. yeah, iagree. i'm like... i don't know. i neverthought, like, the perfectjob could exist. i still have, like, some tears when i'm playing the show, and, yeah, i don't think i'll stop that for for some time. if the show�*s a hit and there's demand around the world — well, in true scandinavian flatpack style, the whole arena can be collapsed, transported, and rebuilt in a different country, on a different continent. and that's the dream for abba, to tour the globe, bringing joy to thousands while sitting at home in sweden. colin patterson, bbc

news, the abba arena. the abba voyage concerts begin tomorrow night at the abba arena in london. now take a look at this. let's see if we can get a bit closer. what do you think it is? a speck of dust? a bed bug? no — as we get closer and closer, you'll see it's a tiny robot. it's about the size of a flea. it can twist, turn and jump. only half a millimetre in diameter it's a remote controlled robotic crab whic can perform tasks in tiny spaces. crab which can perform tasks in tiny spaces. it's been built using a special heat—sensitive alloy that can take different shapes depending on how a laser beam is fired at it. developers hope that someday miniature machines like this could be used as surgical assistants to clear cancerous tumours and unclog arteries.

germany's sebastian steudtner is a world record holder at last, 18 months after riding a monster wave in portugal. this is a video that he has tweeted himself. this is a video that he has tweeted himself. his 86—foot wave, ridden in 2020, was finally ratified by the world surf league and guinness after delays caused by both covid and systemic issues. the german beat the original record of 80 feet set by brazil's rodrigoo koxa back in 2017 also at nazare on the atlantic coast. terrifying. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. hello. once again, quite a blustery day out there, especially across the north and the west

of the country and it is here where we are most likely to see some further outbreaks of rain at times. over the next few days, things will become drier as we head towards the weekend but also become a little bit colder as well. north and east will notice that more especially. this chart shows how the temperatures will range compared to normal. the warmer oranges clear away from the south in the next 24 hours. the blues arrive on the chart. an indication it will be colder than we would normally expect at this stage in may. at the moment, the colder air is mainly towards the north of scotland. an area of low pressure in the north atlantic. high pressure and south—westerly wind means it feels a bit warmer than yesterday across southern areas. the dividing line between the two, cloud and outbreaks of rain and drizzle in northern england, parts of wales, drifting its way into the midlands as we go through the afternoon. southern areas will stay dry with sunny spells and a high of 21. the further north we go, even though it is a case of sunshine and some blustery showers, it could feel colder, just 10—11 degrees across the highlands and islands later. here, the showers continue into the night. a few showers and spots of drizzle to begin with in southern parts of england and wales but that clears

through and under clearing skies, a bit of a fresh night for some of you, in england, wales and parts of south—east scotland especially. into friday we go. we have got high pressure building its way in from the south—west. that is going to make for a drier and brighter day for many southern and western areas. still some showers and a keen breeze blowing across parts of scotland, maybe the far north of england, and the odd isolated shower in northern ireland but not much in the way of cloud, just a bit of fair weather cloud across the midlands, southern england and much of wales and here, the highest of the temperatures on friday, up to 19—21. still feeling rather fresh in the north. that area of high pressure does not really establish itself. it runs off towards iceland as we head into the weekend and northerly winds develop. you will already start to feel that on saturday in northern and eastern scotland and eastern counties of england, a bit of a keen breeze. sunny start for many, cloud building up, isolated showers but most will be dry. you do need to be sheltered away from that north to north—westerly breeze on saturday. parts of south—west scotland not faring too badly. the same to southern parts of england and wales

where we will see some sunny spells again on sunday but a decent chance of some showers. plenty of cloud for many of us on sunday and in that breeze it will feel distinctly chilly across northern and eastern scotland and eastern counties of england. that is how it is looking. see you soon.

this is bbc news. i'm reeta chakrabarti and these are the latest headlines. households will have hundreds of pounds knocked off energy bills this winter as part of a new 10 billion pound package to help people cope with soaring prices. hopefully the government can bring in more measures for these people who, you know, need that extra cash injection to be able to help them because it is a shame built up you hear so many stories of people going without food, going without meals and that is not how people should live. and that is not how people should live. we'll take you live to the house of commons where the details of this new financial help are about to be set out. boris johnson faces fresh calls from mps to resign — a day after a damning report was released into lockdown parties across whitehall and downing street. a vigil for the 19 children and two teachers killed in a school shooting in texas as the debate over gun control in the us re—ignites.

and meet the abba—tars — the swedish supergroup prepare to take to the stage for the first time in 40 years — as digital avatars. every household in britain will receive hundreds of pounds in additional support from the government to ease the cost of living crisis this winter. this all follows that announcement from the regulator ofgem that the energy price ca is predicted to rise by another £800 in october — to £2,800 a year. that would push more than 10—million households into fuel poverty. so what will the government do to help? in february, the chancellor rishi sunak announced millions of households would receive a £200

discount on their energy bills from october. it was only ever going to be a loan, which people would have to repay over five years from 2023. now it's being reported that the chancellor could double this to £400 and it could become a grant — which wouldn't need to be paid back. a £150 rebate on council tax bills for most households came in april. there is a suggestion another rebate could be possible. there's also expected to be targeted financial support for the most vulnerable households on a fixed income, including bringing forward an increase in benefits and the state pension, to reflect inflation. this £10—billion package of support is expected to be mostly paid for by a one—off windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas firms. so a number of options available to the government — we're expecting to get all the details from the chancellor later this afternoon. our consumer affairs correspondent, colletta smith, asked people

in warrington for one thing that the government could do to help them. the one thing that would help me most, i think, would be some help with the energy bills. i'm £100 up on last year, a month, so if the government could assist with that, that would be great. the thing that would help me most is if the government made some impact — a freeze or reduction in fuel prices — that would be immense for me. help with food bills. i come here to get what i need if i've got no money. rising prices are the talk of the town. from food banks... three boys — carter, harrison, harla. ..to workplaces. mark and his wife emma both work full—time, but bills have gone up so much, he's trying to get the whole family on side with saving energy. i've got the smart meter in the living room, which was in a drawer before — sort of the last 12, 18 months. it's actually sort ofjust pride of place now on the fireplace.

thermostat�*s on a lot lower to keep... the wife was good at leaving the windows open and the heating on, you know, to dry washing and stuff. so we've stopped doing that now as much. just being a little bit more cautious about what we do. showers instead of baths, because they're a lot cheaper, especially when the boys spend, like, an hour in the bath each, but the hot tap's constantly running. it's probably best if we sit in the boardroom, if that's ok with yourself. jenna travels the length and breadth of the country organising the petrol vehicle i drive, probably about four weeks ago, i was maybe round about the £68 mark for a full tank, and now i'm touching maybe 75, 76. and, again, because i drive nationally, i can see the price change and increase based on region, based on borough that i drive around. so itjust depends if i can play cat or mouse to get to maybe a supermarket and get a lower fuel cost. at this food bank, bernie has learnt to swallow her pride,

and ask for the help she needs. i've got a good neighbour who lives next door to us. he's lent my husband some money to get some electric today. so i was like, "thank god for that!" are you skipping meals? sometimes, yes. yeah. for both of you — for you and your husband? yes — yeah, yeah. you've just kind of said, "we've not got enough." yeah. how crucial is this food bank to you? if it wasn't here, what would happen? i'd be stealing. i know that sounds wrong. and i'd never steal in my life. i'm a good person. i would never do it. thank you, see you in a bit. while millions of households will be glad of extra help, for those living on the breadline, it can't come soon enough. colletta smith, bbc news, in warrington. lets now speak to our news reporter andrew plant who is in bristol for us

you've been speaking to people throughout the morning about you've been speaking to people throughout the morning about how you've been speaking to people throughout the morning about how the cost of living squeezes are affecting them, what are they saying to you? affecting them, what are they saying to ou? . . . affecting them, what are they saying to ou? , , ., ., ., affecting them, what are they saying toou? .,., to you? this is an area in bristol i know very — to you? this is an area in bristol i know very well. _ to you? this is an area in bristol i know very well. it _ to you? this is an area in bristol i know very well. it has _ to you? this is an area in bristol i know very well. it has been - to you? this is an area in bristol i know very well. it has been hit i to you? this is an area in bristol i l know very well. it has been hit very hard over the past ten years or so. lots of shops closing here over the past decade and speaking to people here this morning it is difficult to find anybody who is not feeling the squeeze of some kind in the household budget somewhere. broadly speaking, all of their concerns fit into those three main categories. the fish up they are doing every single week, the gas bills that are coming through the door and the prices they are now having to pay at the petrol pump. some people telling us here this morning, for example, that they are looking for cheaper alternatives in the supermarket and one person saying they're just eating fewer meals than they were a few months ago. lots of people have the heating turned off at the moment but they are watching how much hot water they're using so they can have

the boiler on for less time and are looking at next winter when those price rises happen again and october and wondering how they're going to heat their homes. a couple of people saying they're simply not going to be using the heating at all in a matter how cold it gets and other people saying that they're simply considering whether or not they need to make anyjourneys on their car at all. it has become so expensive to run a vehicle. chatting to people here today are started by chatting to a man called malcolm on universal credit and i asked how he is making that fixed income go further. dire straits at the _ that fixed income go further. dire straits at the moment. as i said, i am on _ straits at the moment. as i said, i am on universal credit. i get £75 a week_ am on universal credit. i get £75 a week to _ am on universal credit. i get £75 a week to live — am on universal credit. i get £75 a week to live on which i get monthly which _ week to live on which i get monthly which is _ week to live on which i get monthly which isjust £300. i've got to pay my gas. _ which isjust £300. i've got to pay my gas, electric and water and the prices _ my gas, electric and water and the prices going up, i could afford to pay the — prices going up, i could afford to pay the gas. ijust can't afford it any more — pay the gas. ijust can't afford it any more. on pay the gas. i 'ust can't afford it any more.— pay the gas. i 'ust can't afford it an more. , ., ., ., , any more. on the storage heaters it is about £6 — any more. on the storage heaters it is about £6 a _ any more. on the storage heaters it is about £6 a night. _ any more. on the storage heaters it is about £6 a night. how _ any more. on the storage heaters it is about £6 a night. how can - any more. on the storage heaters it. is about £6 a night. how can anybody afford _ is about £6 a night. how can anybody afford that. _ is about £6 a night. how can anybody afford that. it — is about £6 a night. how can anybody afford that, it is _

is about £6 a night. how can anybody afford that, it is ridiculous. _ is about £6 a night. how can anybody afford that, it is ridiculous. there - afford that, it is ridiculous. there are greatly— afford that, it is ridiculous. there are greatly the _ afford that, it is ridiculous. there are greatly the prices _ afford that, it is ridiculous. there are greatly the prices have - afford that, it is ridiculous. there are greatly the prices have gonel afford that, it is ridiculous. there i are greatly the prices have gone up in construction— are greatly the prices have gone up in construction to _ are greatly the prices have gone up in construction to the _ are greatly the prices have gone up in construction to the demand. - are greatly the prices have gone up| in construction to the demand. lack of trade _ in construction to the demand. lack of trade out — in construction to the demand. lack of trade out there. _ in construction to the demand. lack of trade out there. shortage - in construction to the demand. lack of trade out there. shortage of- of trade out there. shortage of trades. — of trade out there. shortage of trades. big _ of trade out there. shortage of trades, big lack— of trade out there. shortage of trades, big lack of _ of trade out there. shortage of trades, big lack of labour. - trades, big lack of labour. obviously. _ trades, big lack of labour. obviously, the _ trades, big lack of labour. l obviously, the construction trades, big lack of labour. - obviously, the construction sites going _ obviously, the construction sites going up— obviously, the construction sites going up every— obviously, the construction sites going up every where. _ obviously, the construction sites going up every where. the - obviously, the construction sites going up every where. the last. obviously, the construction sites. going up every where. the last two years. _ going up every where. the last two years. it _ going up every where. the last two years. it has— going up every where. the last two years, it has been _ going up every where. the last two years, it has been more _ going up every where. the last two years, it has been more boom - going up every where. the last twoj years, it has been more boom than going up every where. the last two i years, it has been more boom than it ever has— years, it has been more boom than it ever has been — years, it has been more boom than it ever has been. the _ years, it has been more boom than it ever has been. the way— years, it has been more boom than it ever has been. the way the wages i years, it has been more boom than iti ever has been. the way the wages are going _ ever has been. the way the wages are going up. _ ever has been. the way the wages are going up. for— ever has been. the way the wages are going up. for people _ ever has been. the way the wages are going up. for people on _ ever has been. the way the wages are going up, for people on a _ ever has been. the way the wages are going up, for people on a lower- going up, for people on a lower wage. — going up, for people on a lower wage, definitely, _ going up, for people on a lower wage, definitely, ya, _ going up, for people on a lower wage, definitely, ya, it- going up, for people on a lower wage, definitely, ya, it is- going up, for people on a lower wage, definitely, ya, it is going going up, for people on a lower. wage, definitely, ya, it is going to be a lot— wage, definitely, ya, it is going to be a lot harder, _ wage, definitely, ya, it is going to be a lot harder, you _ wage, definitely, ya, it is going to be a lot harder, you know. - be a lot harder, you know. definitely _ be a lot harder, you know. definitely a _ be a lot harder, you know. definitely a big _ be a lot harder, you know. definitely a big struggle i be a lot harder, you know. i definitely a big struggle out be a lot harder, you know. - definitely a big struggle out there at the _ definitely a big struggle out there at the minute _ definitely a big struggle out there at the minute. it— definitely a big struggle out there at the minute. it is— definitely a big struggle out there at the minute.— at the minute. it is interesting what johnny — at the minute. it is interesting what johnny was _ at the minute. it is interesting what johnny was saying - at the minute. it is interesting what johnny was saying there. at the minute. it is interesting i what johnny was saying there. he is whatjohnny was saying there. he is the only person i found this man who said it has not really been a problem. he is noticing the prices of most things going up but at the same time he said there are not enough people working in construction at the moment so he is in demand and his wages have gone up but it is fair to sayjohnny is definitely in the minority here this morning. most people are worried about one aspect of their budget if not more of that here today. we will keep talking people here when we know a bit more about what the

chancellor will say later and we will be asking them whether or not they think what is really enough. thank you. this is the scene live in the house of commons where the chancellor is expected to address mps this hour. let's talk to our bbc economics correspondent andy verity. also i'm joined by our political correspondent ben wright. looking at the whole range of problems the chance there's going to have to address. inflation, higher energy prices, higherfood prices. what you think is going to do and when is he going to introduce changes? when is he going to introduce chances? f when is he going to introduce chances? j ., ., ., changes? they're going to get a sitnificant changes? they're going to get a significant announcement i changes? they're going to get a significant announcement today| significant announcement today because there's been so much pressure on the government. as we have been mentioning in our head

finds the main measurable beat of the hundreds of pounds of the average household bill through the form of a grant rather than a discount that has to be repaid so alone. that will mean a big chunk of money for the treasury to have to come up with. we are told it will be around £10 billion. you could offset some of that money you might raise with the windfall tax you might be able to raise around £7 billion from the oil companies. those huge profits they have been making with the simply because the price of energy has gone up so much because of the war in ukraine and also because of the reopening of the global economy post—pandemic. anyway, the higher bills is a transfer of wealth from households to corporations so by levying that windfall tax for the government would be doing would be simply taking some of that back. tt a taking some of that back. if a windfall tax _ taking some of that back. if a windfall tax pays _ taking some of that back. if a windfall tax pays for the bulk of the chance of the's announcement, that will be seen as a win for the

opposition parties, vented, who have been calling for this?— been calling for this? absolutely. the liberal _ been calling for this? absolutely. the liberal democrats _ been calling for this? absolutely. the liberal democrats with i been calling for this? absolutely. the liberal democrats with the i been calling for this? absolutely. i the liberal democrats with the first to call— the liberal democrats with the first to call for— the liberal democrats with the first to call for a — the liberal democrats with the first to call for a tax closely followed by labour — to call for a tax closely followed by labour who have been pressing this. _ by labour who have been pressing this. their— by labour who have been pressing this, their signature policy now for a number— this, their signature policy now for a number of— this, their signature policy now for a number of months. joining them have _ a number of months. joining them have been— a number of months. joining them have been an increasing number of tory mps _ have been an increasing number of tory mps in — have been an increasing number of tory mps in recent weeks saying the government had to do more urgently to tackle _ government had to do more urgently to tackle the cost of living crisis. and there — to tackle the cost of living crisis. and there has been quite clearly a very public— and there has been quite clearly a very public disagreement within the cabinet _ very public disagreement within the cabinet about the windfall tax question. this goes to the heart of tory ideology on this. and i think it has— tory ideology on this. and i think it has been— tory ideology on this. and i think it has been played out for all to see _ it has been played out for all to see you — it has been played out for all to see. you have the business secretary saying _ see. you have the business secretary saying he _ see. you have the business secretary saying he was opposed to windfall tax because he feels it doesn't encourage investment by these companies. liz truss, jacob rees mogg. _ companies. liz truss, jacob rees mogg, other cabinet ministers have made _ mogg, other cabinet ministers have made clear— mogg, other cabinet ministers have made clear their objections to this idea _ made clear their objections to this idea the — made clear their objections to this idea. the chancellor has recently said that — idea. the chancellor has recently said that he is an dogmatic about it

and it— said that he is an dogmatic about it and it is— said that he is an dogmatic about it and it is something he is prepared to considen — and it is something he is prepared to consider. the time usually interesting. i don't feel it was settled — interesting. i don't feel it was settled as recently as this weekend so it has— settled as recently as this weekend so it has been done and signed off really— so it has been done and signed off really at _ so it has been done and signed off really at the last minute. it comes a day— really at the last minute. it comes a day after— really at the last minute. it comes a day after these two great report and all _ a day after these two great report and all the latest revelations about partygate. i don't think it is accidental that the government is trying _ accidental that the government is trying to— accidental that the government is trying to move the agenda on today and get _ trying to move the agenda on today and get us — trying to move the agenda on today and get us talking about what they're — and get us talking about what they're doing about the cost of living — they're doing about the cost of living but — they're doing about the cost of living but embracing windfall tax is a bi- living but embracing windfall tax is a big deal~ — living but embracing windfall tax is a big deal. mrs thatcher actually introduced to, one on banks and north— introduced to, one on banks and north sea — introduced to, one on banks and north sea oil. gordon brown put a windfall— north sea oil. gordon brown put a windfall tax on utility companies to pay for— windfall tax on utility companies to pay for labour spending for top considering the state of the public finances _ considering the state of the public finances right now, considering other— finances right now, considering other political pressure, the chancellor has been under, it was inevitable — chancellor has been under, it was inevitable for some was the route he would _ inevitable for some was the route he would have _ inevitable for some was the route he would have to go down.— would have to go down. andy, will there be a — would have to go down. andy, will there be a question, _ would have to go down. andy, will there be a question, there - would have to go down. andy, will there be a question, there will. would have to go down. andy, will there be a question, there will be| would have to go down. andy, will| there be a question, there will be a lot of attention on whether the chancellor focuses his helper makes

it more universal. that chancellor focuses his helper makes it more universal.— it more universal. that is right. all the signs — it more universal. that is right. all the signs are _ it more universal. that is right. all the signs are that _ it more universal. that is right. all the signs are that the i it more universal. that is right. | all the signs are that the burden it more universal. that is right. i all the signs are that the burden of these higher energy pills falls disproportionately on poor households who spend more of their disposable income on energy. and therefore, if you do cut duty on fuel which the chancellor did in the spring statement it helps those who drive most which can be higher income households. the poorest often don't have a car at all but they do spend money heating their homes, particularly for pensioners and households where there are a lot of children and mum or dad is looking after the kids at home. these are the families, particularly where they are relying on benefits to top up they are relying on benefits to top up their incomes, but most need help. there is a balance for the treasury designing a policy between simplicity and targeted help which is harder. . ~ simplicity and targeted help which is harder. ., ,, , ., , simplicity and targeted help which is harder. . ~' , ., , . this is the scene live

in the house of commons where the chancellor is expected to address mps this hour. you're watching bbc news. joining me now is hannah essex the co—executive director at the british chamber of commerce. good afternoon to you. what are businesses saying to you as ordinary households face this real squeeze. i assume businesses are feeling it too? , ., , , ., , assume businesses are feeling it too? , , ., , ., too? they absolutely are. they are obviously concerned _ too? they absolutely are. they are obviously concerned for _ too? they absolutely are. they are obviously concerned for their i obviously concerned for their employees and customers and communities and seen the impact that this cost of living crisis is having. is a cost of doing business crisis as well. a crisis for business have been going up and up over the last 12 months or so,

shipping costs, the kosovo materials, fuel, and some of the energy price hikes that businesses have seen have been absolutely extraordinary. there is no price cap for business so we have seen companies go from £140,000 a year to over £700,000 a year, 4 million to 11 million. it is a massive... just for energy? _ 11 million. it is a massive... just for energy? sorry _ 11 million. it is a massive... just for energy? sorry to _ 11 million. it is a massive... just for energy? sorry tojump in, just for energy? sorry tojump in, just for their energy bills? for energy? sorry to jump in, 'ust for their energy bills?- for their energy bills? when they have come _ for their energy bills? when they have come of— for their energy bills? when they have come of their _ for their energy bills? when they have come of their fixed - for their energy bills? when they have come of their fixed contractj have come of their fixed contract their energy bills have gone up by well over 100% in some cases. iartfhat well over 100% in some cases. what ou want well over 100% in some cases. what you want to — well over 100% in some cases. what you want to see _ well over 100% in some cases. what you want to see the _ well over 100% in some cases. what you want to see the government do? just to say that those costs for businesses, that is feeling the cost of living crisis because businesses are saying that is forcing them to put their prices up so it affects everybody. we want to see them reduce vat on energy. at the moment households pay 5% and businesses pay 20% so we want to see that reduced to 5% and we also want the government to take a look at that national insurance increase that came on in april. it was the wrong

time do it for top that could be delayed by 12 months we give businesses a bit of breathing space to try to see through this very difficult time.— to try to see through this very difficult time. there are so many demands on _ difficult time. there are so many demands on the _ difficult time. there are so many demands on the chancellor's i difficult time. there are so manyl demands on the chancellor's time difficult time. there are so many i demands on the chancellor's time and help. which of these would you prioritise? help. which of these would you -rioritise? ~ help. which of these would you prioritise?— prioritise? think the national insurance — prioritise? think the national insurance increase _ prioritise? think the national insurance increase as - prioritise? think the national insurance increase as the i prioritise? think the national| insurance increase as the one prioritise? think the national- insurance increase as the one that puts money back to business and also backin puts money back to business and also back in the pockets of employees because it is money that comes from both. the vat cut would be helpful for that relies on the energy companies passing that on to the business customers which we would hope they will do but the national insurance increase as the one that could give a bit of breathing space but both are unnecessary at the moment. some of them or whether there is. some businesses have got there is. some businesses have got the resilience, the money to get through this but that doesn't mean they probably won't be investing which has a long—term impact on the economy but, for others, after two years of the pandemic, where the reserves are depleted, they had

borrowed the max that they can there is not much room here and some of those businesses, community businesses that are now seeing their running out of, simply because their basic bills have gone up. bud running out of, simply because their basic bills have gone up.— basic bills have gone up. and yet the national _ basic bills have gone up. and yet the national insurance _ basic bills have gone up. and yet the national insurance rise i basic bills have gone up. and yet the national insurance rise is - basic bills have gone up. and yet the national insurance rise is the| the national insurance rise is the money targeted at the nhs and social care which will be used by business owners as well.— care which will be used by business owners as well. that is right. these are difficult — owners as well. that is right. these are difficult decisions _ owners as well. that is right. these are difficult decisions for _ owners as well. that is right. these are difficult decisions for the - are difficult decisions for the chancellor to make and that is obviously a priority needs to be paid for but that is by the code for an emergency budget. so much changed the autumn budget. businesses are having to look at their business budget again and looking at how they can address this and rather than looking at these one—off announcements like we are going to see today, actually looking at everything in the round and seeing where is the money coming from and where is the money coming from and where should it go, would be preferable. where should it go, would be preferable-— where should it go, would be referable. ., ~ , ., , . preferable. thank you very much

indeed. preferable. thank you very much indeed- i'm _ preferable. thank you very much indeed. i'm going _ preferable. thank you very much indeed. i'm going to _ preferable. thank you very much indeed. i'm going to take - preferable. thank you very much indeed. i'm going to take you . indeed. i'm going to take you straight to the commons. here is the chancellor. it is causing acute distress for the people of this country. i know they are worried. i know people are struggling but i want to explain what is happening, why it is happening and what we propose to do about it. i trust the british people and i know they understand no government can solve every problem, particularly the complex and global challenge of inflation. but this government will never stop trying to help people. to

fix problems where we can, to do what is right as we did throughout the pandemic. we need to make sure that, for those whom the struggle is too hard, and for whom the risks are too hard, and for whom the risks are too great, they are supported. this government will not sit idly by whilst there is a risk that some in our country might be set so far back they might never recover. this is simply unacceptable. and we will never allow that to happen. and i want to reassure everybody, we will get through this. we have the tools and the determination we need to combat and reduce inflation, we will make sure the most vulnerable and least well get the support they need at this time of difficulty. and we

will turn this moment of difficulty into a springboard for economic renewal and growth. with morejobs, higher skills, renewal and growth. with morejobs, higherskills, greater renewal and growth. with morejobs, higher skills, greater investment, our plan for a stronger economy. madam deputy speaker, before i turn to the details of the plan, let me put into context for the house the challenge we face. this country is now experiencing the highest rate of inflation we have seen for a0 years. the bank of england expects inflation to average around 9% this year. our exposure to global shocks continues to explain most of the inflation above the 2% target. supply chain disruption is a world reopen from covid combined with russia's invasion of ukraine and potentially exacerbated recent lockdown is in china, all contributing to significant price increases for goods and energy.

however, over the course of the year the situation has evolved and has become more serious. there are areas of particular concern, even excluding energy and food, core inflation has become broader—based and elevated. the goods and services we used to measure inflation record proportion of price increases. also, we are acutely exposed to the european energy price shocks and, like the us, we also have a tight labour market. make no mistake, the lowest unemployment in almost 50 years, just months after averting a jobs crisis during the pandemic, is good news. but combined with the shock to european energy prices, it does contribute to the uk's relatively high rate of inflation.

and, lastly, as the banks have noted, longer—term inflation expectations have risen above the historical averages by more than they are in the us and europe. we cannot and must not allow short—term inflationary pressures to lead people to expect that high inflation will continue over the long term because, madam deputy speaker, we can get inflation under control. it is not some abstract falls outside our grasp. it may take time but we have the tools we need and the result it will take to reduce inflation. madam deputy speaker, we have three specific tools available to convert and reduce inflation and we are using them all. independent monetary policy, fiscal responsibility, and supply—side activism. first, our primary tool is activism. first, our primary tool is a strong independent monetary policy. since control of monetary policy. since control of monetary policy was taken out of the hands of politicians 25 years ago, inflation

has averaged precisely 2%. it is right that the bank of england are independent and i know the governor and his team will take decisive action to get inflation back on target and ensure inflation expectations remain firmly anchored. second, we need responsible fiscal policy. that means providing physical support but not making the situation unnecessarily worse, causing inflation, interest and mortgage rates to go up further than they otherwise would. excessively adding fiscal stimulus into a supply constraint economy, especially one in which households and businesses have built up over £300 billion of excess savings, risks being counter—productive and increasing inflationary pressures. in other words, fiscal support should be timely, temporally, and targeted.

timely because we need to help people when the shock is at its worst. targeted because unconstrained stimulus will make the problem worse. and temporarily because, if we do not meet our fiscal rules and ensure the public finances are resilient in the longer run, we create even greater risks on inflation, interest rates and the rate of economic growth. and that, we are taking an activist approach to supply—side reforms. this will increase our productive capacity, ease inflationary pressures and raise our long—term growth potential. the prime minister's energy security strategy will, over time, reduce bills by increasing energy supply and improving energy efficiency. they work and pensions secretary is moving half—million job—seekers of welfare and into work. and doing more to support older people back into the jobs market. the home secretary is making our visa regime for high skilled migrants one of the most competitive

in the world and, in the autumn, we will bring forward tax cuts and reforms to encourage businesses to invest more, train more and innovate more. the path to higher growth. so, independent monetary policy, fiscal responsibility, supply—side reform, the country should have confidence that using these tools we will combat inflation and reduce it over time. but, of course, we know that households are being hit hard right now. so, today, madam deputy speaker, we will provide significant support for the british people. but, as i have said, a critical part of how we are dealing with inflation is responsible fiscal policy. what this means in practical terms is that, as we support people more, we need to think about the fairest way to find as much of that cost as possible. the oil and gas sector is making extraordinary profits... not as the

result, not as the result of recent changes to risk—taking or innovation or efficiency, but as a result of surging global commodity prices field in part by russia's war. and, for that reason, i am sympathetic to the argument to tax those profits fairly. but, as ever...— fairly. but, as ever... order, order. fairly. but, as ever... order, order- a _ fairly. but, as ever... order, order. a bit _ fairly. but, as ever... order, order. a bit of— fairly. but, as ever... order, order. a bit of gentle - fairly. but, as ever... order, order. a bit of gentle banter| fairly. but, as ever... order, i order. a bit of gentle banter is fine. but when it gets to the stage that nobody can hear what the chancellor is saying, it is counter—productive. now, quieter banter, please. chancellor of the exchequer. banter, please. chancellor of the exchequer-— banter, please. chancellor of the excheuuer. . . , , ., exchequer. that, as ever, there is a sensible middle _ exchequer. that, as ever, there is a sensible middle ground. _ exchequer. that, as ever, there is a sensible middle ground. we - exchequer. that, as ever, there is a sensible middle ground. we should | sensible middle ground. we should not be ideological about this. we

should be pragmatic. it is possible to bed tax extraordinary profits fairly and incentivise investments. and so, like previous governments, including conservative ones, we will introduce a temporary targeted energy profits levy but we have built into the new levy... but, we have built into the new levy... but, we have built into the new levy a new investment allowance... that means companies will have a new and significant incentive to reinvest their profits. the new levy will be charged on profits of oil and gas companies at a rate of 25%. it will be temporary and when oil and gas prices return to historically more normal levels the levy will be phased out with a sunset clause written into the legislation and crucially, and crucially, with our new investment allowance we are

nearly doubling the overall investment belief in oil and gas companies. means, that every pound a company invest, they will get back 90% in tax relief. so the more a company invest, the less tax that they will pay. and we understand, also, certain parts of the electricity generation sector are also making extraordinary profits. the reason for this is the way our market works. the price our electricity generators are paid is lent not to the costs they incur in providing that electricity but rather than the price of natural gas which is extraordinarily high right now. other countries, like france, italy, spain and greece, have already taken measures to correct this. as set out in the energy security strategy we are consulting

with the power generation sector and investors to drive forward energy market reforms and ensure the price paid for electricity is more reflective of the cost of production. those reforms will take time to implement so, in the meantime, we are urgently evaluating the scale of these extraordinary profits and the appropriate steps to take. so, madam deputy speaker, our energy profits levy will encourage investment, not deter it. it raises around £5 billion of revenue over the next year, so that we can help families with the cost of living and it avoids having to increase our debt burden brother because there is nothing noble and burgeoning future generations with ever more debt today because politicians of the day were too weak to make the tough decisions. madam deputy speaker, i know the whole house will agree, we have a responsibility to help those

who, through no fault of their own, are paying the highest price for the inflation we face. to help with the cost of living, we are going to provide significant, targeted support to millions of the most vulnerable people in our society. those on the lowest incomes. pensioners and disabled people. first, people on the lowest incomes. over 8 million households already have income is low enough for the state to be supporting their cost of living to the welfare system. they could be temporarily unemployed and looking for work. unable to work because of long—term sickness or disability, or on low pay and using benefits to top up their wages. right now, they face incredibly difficult choices. so i can announce today we will send directly to around 8 million of the lowest income households, a one off cost of living payment of £650.