tonight at ten... households across the uk will benefit from a support package worth £15 billion, as the cost of living crisis intensifies. to help with rising energy bills and rocketing inflation, households will receive varying levels of support to cushion the blow. the chancellor knew that everyone was waiting to see if he'd announce a windfall tax on energy firms. well, he did, but he didn't call it that. and so, like previous governments, including conservative ones, we will introduce a temporary targeted energy profits levy. we pushed for a windfall tax, they adopted it. this government is out of ideas, out of touch, and out of time. we'll be looking at the package of measures and trying to assess their potential impact on household finances. also tonight...

following the mass shooting at a school in texas, local police are now being blamed for a slow response. we meet the mother of two boys, both of whom were apparently forced to serve in the russian army, despite president putin's assurances. and from the palace archives — the rare images of the queen's life being shared with the public for the first time. and coming up on the bbc news channel, we have the latest from the french open, with another win for world number one iga swiatek, but britain's number two, dan evans, is out. good evening. faced with clear evidence of a worsening cost of living crisis for millions of households, the chancellor, rishi sunak, has unveiled a new support package worth £15 billion. it will be funded in part by what he called a "temporary,

targeted energy profits levy" — in other words, a windfall tax on the energy companies, a policy the government has resisted until now. these are the main elements of the package. all households — regardless of income — will receive a grant of £400 towards their energy bills. plans for loans have been binned. on top of that, those on the lowest incomes — around 8 million households — will receive a one—off payment of £650. and pensioner households receiving the winter fuel allowance will also receive an extra one—off payment of £300. people receiving disability benefits which are not means tested will also receive an extra payment of £150. as i said, part of the cost will come from a temporary windfall tax of 25% on the profits of energy companies, expected to raise £5 billion a year and which could last until 2025.

labour said the chancellor had finally been forced to adopt its policy of a windfall tax — an idea that's also been backed by other opposition parties. 0ur political editor chris mason reports on the day's events. it's the one thing that everybody�*s talking about. leila tells me the customers at her coffee and vinyl shop in watford talk of little else but spiralling prices. are you going to cope as a business? the magic question. i mean, everan optimist, i'm going to say, yes, absolutely, we will still be here. we faced brexit, a global pandemic and now this unimaginable inflation. it's asking us to just re—evaluate our business, almost constantly at the moment. are the tories taxing business? for weeks and weeks, plenty have demanded the government do more. enter today, the chancellor. no government can solve every

problem, particularly the complex and global challenge of inflation. but this government will never stop trying to help people. 0pposition parties had already demanded oil and gas companies faced a new tax. we pushed for a windfall tax, they adopted it. this government is out of ideas, out of touch, and out of time. when it comes to the big issues facing this country, the position is now clear. we lead, they follow. it's not enough, - madam deputy speaker. what he has announcedi fails to uprate benefits, i it fails to account for the factl that the energy price cap that's coming in in october- will still be in place next year. later, i sat down with the chancellor, who was on a visit to a diy shop. we've announced £15 billion of new support to help with the cost of living,

with a third of all households, the most vulnerable, receiving around £1,200 of help. there's also support for everyone. let's talk about the windfall tax. the prime minister has said, i don't like them, the business secretary has said he's never been a supporter. i put it to you that you were ideologically opposed to this idea. i've always been pragmatic about it and that's what i've said. i think it's entirely fair that we look at the extraordinary profits these companies are making at the moment and when prices return to historically more normal levels, the energy profits levy will be removed. i notice you don't want to call it a windfall tax. it's a very specific levy that we've designed, which contains in it a very generous investment incentive. come on, chancellor, it's a windfall tax, isn't it? people can call it what they want. what i want people to get across is... but you won't call it a windfall tax? these are windfall profits, or they are extraordinary profits, and they will be taxed. millions of families are deeply worried about the economy.

how worried are you? i am concerned about the inflationary pressures that we're facing, because i know they're having an enormous impact on families up and down the country. could we face recession? i'm more confident about the future of our economy. back in the lp cafe, leila welcomes help, but knows that things will still be tough. if i break my leg, thank you for my crutch but we need the surgery. we need to get that bone fixed and that's an announcement i'd like to hear. that is the soundtrack of this colossal problem. even a big government intervention can't turn off the crackle of prices spinning upwards. chris mason, bbc news, in watford. the scale of the challenge facing households was highlighted this week when the head of 0fgem, the energy regulator, predicted that 12 million homes —

that's nearly half of all uk households — could be in fuel poverty by the autumn. that's when over 10% of household income has to be spent on fuel bills. our business editor simonjack looks at the latest data. mimi, can we do some maths please? single mum zoe from the wirral is one of the 8 million people on low incomes who will qualify as a benefit recipient for two lump sum payments totalling £650 this year. that's in addition to the £400 everyone will see knocked off their bills. a boost to her of over £1000. i think it's a fantastic step forward. my worry is that obviously if we're going to get it in three separate payments, that when we come towards the winter, it's kind of going to be a doorstop for now but i am over the moon that the government is finally making us feel like we're being listened to and actually feel like we're being taken care of for a change. global price pressures have

made it hard to balance the books here at home. as wholesale energy prices have surged so has the price at which companies are allowed to sell it. the price cap was introduced in early 2019 and was pretty stable until it shot up to nearly £2000 this april and it's forecast to hit £2800 this october. there are already 6 million households spending more than 10% of their disposable income on energy, one definition of fuel poverty. that was forecast to hit 12 million later this year and it's notjust energy that is crushing household incomes. general inflation is already at 9%, a a0 year high, and its expected to hit 10% later this year. leading economists say many will now be spared fuel poverty but some nagging questions remain. this is a big package. the chancellor is doing a lot for those on the lowest incomes, who he has effectively ignored up till now. he might have some worries though. first, can this really be

a one—off given what might be coming down the road? second, is this enough actually to impact inflation itself? and then third, what about those families who are just above the means tested benefit level? they might be quite peeved that people looking very much like them are getting a lot of money and they're not. the oil and gas industry got hit with a £5 billion bill as the chancellor completed his u—turn on the windfall tax but he promised the more they invested in the future, the less extra tax they would pay. these profits come on the back of significant losses over the past couple of years. this is a long—term investment industry that has to be really thoughtful about the investment decisions it makes and these kind of interventions by government that are a surprise to the sector do undermine those investment decisions at. millions of people got some relief today but such is the scale of the tightening squeeze, millions still face a tough time when the days start shortening. simon jack, bbc news.

live to westminster, our political editor chris mason. let's talk about the scale of this passage. there was a very telling pause when you asked the chancellor if he was worried about the future of the economy. there really was and it's a telling pause because it's a telling problem, the prospect of the economy heading towards the doldrums and trying to wrestle with this conundrum about spiralling prices. what we got today was a mini budget in all but name. budgets are about taxes and there was a big new tax, budgets are about spending, there was a bit bigger amount of spending. budgets are often about borrowing, there were some of that too. if you felt there was a bit of cheap politicking going on today, with an announcement to try and clear those headlines about wines, fines, partisan pizza, there was some news management going on, but the government knew it had to do something on the scale of the intervention is something that leaves some conservatism comfortable. they feel it is an conservative that we have a big

spending high taxing chancellor who is now doing both of those things. one other thing he told me today, which is quite striking, is he acknowledges there could be an effect on prices, on inflation, of the very measures he has introduced. he thinks that will be minimal, it's a reminder this can be an expensive intervention, also a difficult one to get right. it's easy to do something that can make the problem worse. 0ne something that can make the problem worse. one final something that can make the problem worse. 0ne finalthought, something that can make the problem worse. one final thought, a brutal truth. this isn't about making us feel better off, it's about ensuring we feel a little less worse off. chris mason, many thanks, with the latest analysis at westminster. police in texas are being criticised for the way they responded to the mass shooting at a school in uvalde on tuesday. some parents say officers were too slow to confront the gunman, after he barricaded himself inside a classroom. salvador ramos killed 19 children and two teachers before he was shot dead by police. 0ur north america editor sarah smith reports from the scene.

all of the 19 children and two teachers killed were in the same school class. ameriejo garza had just been given a phone for her tenth birthday. she used it to try and call the police. jackie had just celebrated herfirst communion. she died alongside her cousin annabel guadalupe rodriguez. irma garcia was one of the teachers killed. today, her husband, joe, died from a heart attack after visiting her memorial. they had four children. what were you thinking as you were there waiting in the classroom? am i going to die? you were worried he might come in and start shooting in your classroom? mm—hm. all i know is that he hurt my teacher and my friends. ten—year—old jayden was in a nearby classroom where they could hear the gunshots which killed several of his friends. ever since, my stomach has been hurting. like, its been hurting. to know that all these, all these kids that died did

not deserve any of this because we did nothing wrong. these pictures show the scene outside the school on tuesday. one man yells, "they're shooting!" distraught parents pleading with police officers, being told to stay back. holding on to each other. desperate to know what is happening inside. we are now learning more details about what was happening inside the school. the two teachers who were killed as they threw themselves in front of their students to try to save them from the gunman. and what the terrified children saw as he burst into their classroom. questions are now being raised about how long it took for the police to go into the school and tackled the gunman. he was inside for 5h minutes before the police went in. officers were there, the initial officers received gunfire. they don't make entry initially

because the gunfire is receding. but we have officers calling for additional resources. we need specialty equipment. we need body armour. we need precision riflemen. the duchess of sussex made an unexpected appearance in uvalde laying a bunch of white roses in the town square. right across america, students walked out of their schools in protest, demanding action to keep schools safe. in uvalde, a small, grief stricken town, 21 bereaved families are now starting to plan 21 funerals. there is now an official investigation into the police response here, looking at whether officers acted quickly enough once the gunman was inside the school. he does seem to have come prepared for a prolonged shoot—out. he had with him a huge amount of ammunition,

twice as much as your average american soldier were taken to basic combat. sarah, many thanks. 0ur editorthere in uvalde in texas. new figures show that the amount of fraud and error in the benefits system cost taxpayers more than £8.5 billion last year. the level of fraud across all welfare payments remained stable at 3%, but increased to a record high on the main working age benefit, universal credit. concerns raised by family members of two children, who were later murdered by their parents' partners, weren't taken seriously enough by child protection professionals. that's the conclusion of a report into the cases of 16—month—old star hobson and six—year—old arthur labinjo—hughes. a child safeguarding review also says the two cases reflect wider problems with the child protection system in england. the government says it will publish plans for change soon,

as our social affairs editor alison holt reports. smiling and happy. this is how star hobson's wider family remember her. but today's report says they were kept at arm's length by her abusers, and disregarded by child protection professionals. the 16—month—old was killed by her mother's partner, the woman holding her here. in herfinal week she had become a shadow of herself. you're a spoilt pretty girl. star's family says when they told social workers and police of their increasing concerns, even providing photos of bruising on star, they didn't investigate properly and thought relatives 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. 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."

arthur, are you going to play for england? i and the report found the failings in arthur labinjo—hughes' case were strikingly similar. the six—year—old was murdered by his father's girlfriend after weeks of abuse. again, wider family wasn't listened to by professionals, and the report says decision—making and information sharing were poor. arthur was a gorgeous child. he could have gone on to have such a wonderfulfuture. he would have been encouraged to achieve all his goals. and i just think to say that a mistake is the reason we don't have him is not enough. many of the problems found in these tragic cases reflect pressures across the child protection system, including high caseloads and the high turnover of social workers. the woman who led the review says there needs to be fundamental change. she wants 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. part of the tragedy in star and arthur's cases is that the failings identified in this report are failings which have been found in past terrible child deaths. the question now is whether the changes recommended can make a real difference. # happy birthday to you...# it would have been star's third birthday this month. her family marked it together. they say they will keep pushing to ensure other children are better protected. alison holt, bbc news. the government of ukraine says fighting in the eastern donbas region has reached a new intensity,

with the russians attacking more than a0 towns and storming ukrainian positions in several areas. among the russian forces in the region are two brothers, whose mother has spoken to the bbc, claiming they were conscripts, despite president putin's assurance that only professional soldiers have been deployed. she spoke to our russia editor, steve rosenberg. this is how moscow portrays its soldiers in ukraine — as professionals. but away from the official images, some here tell a different story. marina — not her real name — has agreed to tell me her story. two of her sons are conscripts. the kremlin promised that conscripts wouldn't be sent to ukraine, but her sons were deployed close to the border. when russia invaded, she lost contact with them.

translation: for me, time stopped. i couldn't eat, i couldn't drink. i messaged mothers of other conscripts from the same unit. many of them had lost contact with their children too. i got into the car and started searching for my sons. on the phone, one of their commanders insisted they were on military exercises in the fields. i said, i've driven round all the fields where there are exercises, they are not there. please don't lie to me. he hung up. fearing her sons were dead or injured, marina went to a military hospital. no sign. translation: there wasn't enough medicine or bandages. _ local residents supplied everything. the soldiers, they were cold and hungry. eventually, an admission from the military. her sons had gone into ukraine. translation: i was told the terrifying news, - your children have signed contracts to be professional soldiers, they are taking part

in a special military operation. they will return as heroes. i said, what on earth are you talking about? they had no plans to sign a contract. they've been in the army for three months. they've only held a gun once. vladimir putin had said there wasn't a single russian conscript in ukraine. the authorities later backtracked. marina filed a complaint. it was upheld. her sons hadn't signed any military contract. they were brought back to russia. translation: when my youngest son came out i called him and said, son, . i'm coming to get you. is there anything you need? he said, mum, i don't need anything, just you. when i saw him he looked like a total mess. the lads that came back from there were so thin, dirty and exhausted. their clothes were all torn. my son said, it's better that you don't know what happened there, but all that mattered to me was that he had come back alive.

human rights groups say there are still russian conscripts in ukraine. the kremlin says it ordered an investigation into officials who allowed them to be sent there. translation: they lied to my face. officers lied, sergeants lied, but i'd like to believe that our president, the commander—in—chief, just isn't aware of the mess and chaos in the army. i want to tell him that not everything here is like they say it is on television. marina says her sons came back different people. they've stopped believing in a bright future. steve rosenberg, bbc news, russia. the oscar—winning american actor kevin spacey is facing five charges of sexual offences against three men in the uk. our special correspondent lucy manning joins me now.

prosecutors announced this afternoon that they would charge the actor, i can break their charges down for you. he is facing gym counts of sexual assault from one man who is now in his 40s, the allegations are that assault happened in london in 2005, when that man was in his 20s. he is also facing two further charges from another man, another alleged victim, one of those is sexual assault in 2008, the other allegation is that he caused a person to engage in a penetrative sexual activity without consent. that is in the same year as well, and then the final charge is again of sexual assault against another man who is now in his 30s. that was in 2013 in gloucestershire, so the allegations have been made. he was, kevin spacey, during that period of eight years the artistic director at

the old vic theatre in london. he has previously denied any allegations of sexual assault. what is not clear is when or whether he will come to court in the uk. he is out of the country at the moment, he either has to come back here to face those charges or perhaps even face extradition. ~ . , those charges or perhaps even face extradition-— those charges or perhaps even face extradition. many thanks. bbc four and (bbc extradition. many thanks. bbc four and cbbc will _ extradition. many thanks. bbc four and cbbc will end _ extradition. many thanks. bbc four and cbbc will end as _ and cbbc will end as traditional television channels and they will be moving online as part of the latest round of cost—cutting measures at the corporation. 1000 jobs will be lost and the bbc news channel will merge with the international network bbc world news today and there will also be cuts to local radio stations and regional news services as part of the bbc�*s strategy. it says the focus is more on digital output. the head of p&o ferries has told the bbc it was a "difficult decision" to sack hundreds of staff

earlier this year. peter hebblethwaite said that the dismissal of 800 workers and replacing them with foreign agency workers paid less than the minimum wage was intended to secure the future of the business. our transport correspondent katy austin reports. ten weeks on, most of p&o's ferries are running again, but questions remain, including about the way the company suddenly dismissed its staff. how would you feel if somebody did that to you? well... er... it's not, it is not pleasant, being made redundant and we have tri... it was more than being made redundant, wasn't it? it was being told on the day, this is your last day at work. no warning. yeah, as i've said, i recognise that we had to make a very difficult decision. we have issued the largest redundancy package in maritime history. the company's boss has already admitted choosing not to consult unions in advance — a legal requirement. do you regret doing that? i'm incredibly sorry on the... the decision we took had a material impact on a number of ex employees

and i do regret that. some crew are now paid at a rate below the uk minimum wage. do you feel you have taken part in a race to the bottom on pay here? you were paying more, you're now paying less. that sets a precedent. so, we've implemented a crewing model that is consistent with 80% of shipping around the world. it makes us competitive. it took the company weeks to resume sailing on the busy dover—calais route. some ferries failed safety inspections — in one case, three times before being cleared to sail. lack of ferry capacity contributed to long lorry cues to dover before easter. do you think you badly misjudged that? well, first of all, i want to say sorry to our customers about the delay in us getting back to service. but i think it is absolutely right and appropriate that we hold safety as our number one priority in the business, that we don't rush through that and we work with the regulator. we are holding ourselves and we are being rightly held to a very high standard.

p&o's reputation has suffered, but peter hebblethwaite insisted customers were coming back and that the changes being made would give the company a bright future. civil and criminal investigations by the insolvency service into the circumstances around the redundancies continue. katy austin, bbc news, in calais. the hollywood actor ray liotta has died at the age of 67. liotta is perhaps best known for his role as henry hill in martin scorsese's 1990 mafia movie goodfellas. as far back as i can remember, i always wanted to be a gangster. what always wanted to be a gangster. what do ou do? always wanted to be a gangster. what do you do? what? _ always wanted to be a gangster. what do you do? what? i— always wanted to be a gangster. what do you do? what? i am in _ do you do? what? i am in construction. _ ray liotta was working on a film in the dominican republic when he died. he'll also be remembered for field of dreams and copland.

ray liotta, who's died at the age of 67. buckingham palace has released rare images from home movies and items from the queen's private family albums, to be shown in a bbc programme ahead of her platinum jubilee next week. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell has been studying the images. balmoral is a place one looks forward to very much. she has been filmed throughout her life but for the queen, these images have a special place. they are from her private collection of home movies. the queen herself explains why they are so special. cameras have always been a part of our lives. i think there's a difference to watching a home movie when you know who it is on the other side of the lens holding the camera. it adds to the sense of intimacy. some of these sequences were shot as the then princess elizabeth and her sister,

margaret, travelled with their father, king george vi, and their mother to south africa in the early months of 19117. elizabeth was by then secretly engaged to prince philip. this is a previously unseen photograph of her with her engagement ring. the voyage to south africa aboard a royal navy battleship was elizabeth's firstjourney outside the united kingdom. it gave the family moments to themselves and opportunities to relax. five years after these home movies were taken, the course of elizabeth's life changed with the unexpected death of her beloved father. the young woman who is so carefree in these images was queen. the long reign of queen elizabeth ii had begun. nicholas witchell, bbc news. you can see elizabeth, the unseen queen on bbc one and on bbc iplayer

this sunday. that's it. now on bbc one it's time tojoin our new that's it. now on bbc one it's time to join our new steam that's it. now on bbc one it's time tojoin our new steam is hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are miatta fahnbulleh, who's the chief executive from the new economics foundation, and the political reporter for the times, geri scott. tomorrow's front pages, starting with the chancellor's plan to ease the cost of living dominates the front pages. the metro describes it as �*rishi to the rescue', with the chancellor giving every household at least four hundred pounds to help with bills. the guardian says the plan will be

funded by a windfall tax