this is bbc news. i'mjane hill and these are the latest headlines: millions of households in the uk owe energy companies more money than ever before, as bills are set to increase further in october. lam i am absolutely at the end of what i can offer, so i will pay what i can pay but i can't pay anything more than that. there is nothing left to cut back on. than that. there is nothing left to cut back om— than that. there is nothing left to cut back on. this is not something that can wait- _ cut back on. this is not something that can wait. we _ cut back on. this is not something that can wait. we need _ cut back on. this is not something that can wait. we need to - cut back on. this is not something that can wait. we need to get - cut back on. this is not somethingi that can wait. we need to get firm decisions — that can wait. we need to get firm decisions coming from the key parties — all children in london aged between one and nine will be offered a polio booster vaccine after more traces of the virus are found in the capital's waste water. four days of extreme weather is forecast in england and wales. it comes as environmental groups say

some rivers are starting to dry up — seriously impacting wildlife. the bbc uncovers evidence suggesting the nhs is struggling to return cancer care to pre—pandemic levels in england as more than 10,000 people wait more than three months to start treatment. # we're walking in the air.# # we're floating in the moonlit sky.# the author and illustrator raymond briggs, best known for the 1978 classic, the snowman, has died, aged 88.

hello. welcome to bbc news. many families are falling behind on their gas and electricity bills, with the total owed by consumers to energy suppliers tripling since last september. a survey of 2,000 people for uswitch suggests almost a quarter of households owe an average of more than £200 to their provider. it comes as ministers are due to hold talks with the energy companies tomorrow about the impact of sharply rising bills. yesterday experts predicted the average household energy bill would reach £4,200 a year by january. caroline davies reports. even before we turn on the heating in the cold months, fears about energy bills are already building. when it's working you press this button here, and it has three heat settings. some, like hannah, a phd student, are already feeling a sense of rising panic. she bought an electric heated

jacket to try to cut down on her energy bills this winter. i can't think of what else i can do. all of my options are ended. this is a ridiculous situation to find myself in. the amount of money energy companies are allowed to charge the average household, the price cap, has rocketed up. experts now estimate the price cap could exceed £3,500 a year in october, and more than £4,200 byjanuary. the pressure is building on the government to commit to a plan to provide help this autumn and winter. tory leadership candidate rishi sunak said he will provide more money targeted at the most vulnerable people to help with their energy bills, and said the amount would depend on the extent of the energy price rises. there are millions of families for whom it is simply not possible, no matter how hard they work, to come up with that kind of cash and that's why our support should be targeted not on massive tax cuts for very wealthy people but targeted for the people who most need it.

and if we don't do that, not only will millions of people suffer, we will get absolutely hammered when it comes to an election. his rival to be leader, liz truss, is focusing on tax cuts. i believe in people keeping their own money and i believe in a low—tax economy, that is the way that we are going to drive growth. i'm not going to announce the contents of a budget in the future at this stage in august, but i can assure people i will do all i can to make sure that energy is affordable, and that we get through this winter. she's dismissed calls to agree immediate plans, saying now is not the time to pre—empt those decisions, but others say a plan is needed now. this is not something that can wait. we need to get firm decisions coming from the key parties. rishi sunak needs to say more detail of what he will do and liz truss needs to say more on what she will do, and if it is just tax cuts and the green levy, then we are going to leave millions

destitute and in danger this winter. ministers are due to hold talks with the big energy companies tomorrow, to discuss ways to ease the cost of living and the price rises many are dreading. caroline davies, bbc news. let's talk about the impact on businesses, especially small businesses. emily wilkinsonjoins me. she runs a gym in macclesfield with her husband. thank you for your time. a gym needs good aircon, which must cost a fortune at the best of times. if you can bear it, tell us what your energy bills are doing and what your energy bills are doing and what increases you are seeing? we saw an what increases you are seeing? - saw an increase towards the end of september last year so our energy bill went from about £480 a month up to over 1000, bill went from about £1180 a month up to over 1000, and now obviously it is going to go up again this september. so it is a massive increase for us. my september. so it is a massive increase for us. g ,, ~ , increase for us. my goodness. a gym, some pebble — increase for us. my goodness. a gym, some people would _ increase for us. my goodness. a gym, some people would consider - increase for us. my goodness. a gym,

some people would consider that - increase for us. my goodness. a gym, some people would consider that a . some people would consider that a luxury in life. if times are tough i guess it is one of the things people think about cancelling gym memberships if they have one. how is your business faring more generally? we are definitely feeling the impact. it is notjust energy, it is things like the fuel crisis could stopped commuters coming in as much and then with energy going up people are starting to feel the pinch, so we have gym memberships and also things like personal training, and i offer nutrition coaching so there are lots of layers to our business, or relying on people being able to spend, and post—covid people's health wasn't good so lots of people came back to us. but now they are almost having to weigh up the options, do they pay for their energy or do they look after °pti°ns. do they pay for their energy or do they look after their health? ., , . . , ., , health? yeah, difficult decisions all round for _ health? yeah, difficult decisions all round for you _ health? yeah, difficult decisions all round for you and _ health? yeah, difficult decisions all round for you and for- health? yeah, difficult decisions all round for you and for your i all round for you and for your members. crikey, this is a business you run with your husband so this is your whole family livelihood here, isn't it? �* ., ., your whole family livelihood here, isn'tit? ., , , ,, isn't it? bottom line in business terms, isn't it? bottom line in business terms. how— isn't it? bottom line in business terms, how are _ isn't it? bottom line in business terms, how are you _ isn't it? bottom line in business terms, how are you doing - isn't it? bottom line in business terms, how are you doing right| isn't it? bottom line in business-

terms, how are you doing right now? are you constantly running at a deficit? where are you at right now? we are constantly just deficit? where are you at right now? we are constantlyjust keeping an eye on the numbers because obviously we have got to deal with the business and also our household. so it is just a case of keeping an eye all the time on what is coming and going out and how the changes across everything are affecting us. for us as a household obviously there is the energy cap, as a business there is no energy cap so they can just keep on increasing the prices. we are paying 20% vat as a business on our energy, so that is a massive amount of money to go out every month to the government and as our bills go up the government are getting more money from that. so we are just constantly looking at numbers and just crunching those numbers and just crunching those numbers and just crunching those numbers and making sure we can still offer value to our members because we don't want people to leave, we need people to stay, and we want people to stay because we see the benefit to them as they focus on their health. {131 benefit to them as they focus on

their health.— benefit to them as they focus on their health. _, , ,., i. their health. of course. do you feel abandoned — their health. of course. do you feel abandoned in _ their health. of course. do you feel abandoned in any _ their health. of course. do you feel abandoned in any way? _ their health. of course. do you feel abandoned in any way? is - their health. of course. do you feel abandoned in any way? is that - abandoned in any way? is that putting it too strongly? you have reference what individual households are getting what you are trying to run a small business and we are always told small businesses are really important in this country. have you tried to reach out and get some help?— have you tried to reach out and get some hel? , , ., ., some help? yes, i started looking at chanttin some help? yes, i started looking at changing all — some help? yes, i started looking at changing all of _ some help? yes, i started looking at changing all of our _ some help? yes, i started looking at changing all of our lights _ some help? yes, i started looking at changing all of our lights to - some help? yes, i started looking at changing all of our lights to leds - changing all of our lights to leds but the quote for that is £7,000, a lot of money to have up front. i started looking at grant schemes, there are no grand schemes available in our area so i reached out to our local mp, i reached out to the council and i've heard nothing back. it has been three, nearly four months, and i've heard nothing. so there is just nothing available for us and it is just there is just nothing available for us and it isjust an uphill there is just nothing available for us and it is just an uphill struggle because we don't hear anything about the government looking at small businesses and we are in an economic crisis. we need people to spend and we need people to support local. more and more we are actually seeing councils approve things like budget

qyer councils approve things like budget gyms, coffee shops are really being hit because you are getting things like costas and starbucks coming in so anything like that is having a crunch on the smaller local businesses that we did so much to support through lockdown. d0 businesses that we did so much to support through lockdown.- support through lockdown. do you feel let down _ support through lockdown. do you feel let down by _ support through lockdown. do you feel let down by that? _ support through lockdown. do you feel let down by that? yeah, - support through lockdown. do you | feel let down by that? yeah, 10096 let down by _ feel let down by that? yeah, 10096 let down by that. _ feel let down by that? yeah, 10096 let down by that. it _ feel let down by that? yeah, 10096 let down by that. it is _ feel let down by that? yeah, 10096 let down by that. it is a _ feel let down by that? yeah, 10096 let down by that. it is a really - let down by that. it is a really difficult situation, especially because there is so much political unrest, who do we vote for because nobody is talking about us? do unrest, who do we vote for because nobody is talking about us?- nobody is talking about us? do you have conversations _ nobody is talking about us? do you have conversations with _ nobody is talking about us? do you have conversations with your - nobody is talking about us? do you| have conversations with your energy supplier? do you feel there is any point? you can hear in my voice, i feel at a loss for you because you have clearly tried to reach out and talk to people about grants and all that sort of thing. short of passing on these energy prices to your customers, your members, i'm not sure as somebody trying to run a business what your other options are. ~ . ., , , ., are. we were quite closely with our broker, are. we were quite closely with our broker. we — are. we were quite closely with our broker. we are _ are. we were quite closely with our broker, we are in _ are. we were quite closely with our broker, we are in an _ are. we were quite closely with our broker, we are in an old _ are. we were quite closely with our broker, we are in an old mill- are. we were quite closely with our broker, we are in an old mill and i are. we were quite closely with our| broker, we are in an old mill and we haveissues

broker, we are in an old mill and we have issues with a metre that needs upgrading so we are quite stuck with this with the energy supplier. they are behind because of covid, so it's just a case of working with a broker and try and negotiate prices, but regardless of how much money you can take off the bill it is still going to be a massive increase, and when you are coupling that with things like having to pay back the bounce back loans which all small businesses will have taken out to survive covid, that is a monthly cost we didn't expect to have to pay back. and then you've got things like minimum wage going up, so we pay our employees more, and uppishly they need that money but it is more of a hit on us. our cost of cleaning has gone up, import and export has gone up, so it means in orderfor us to maintain the gym, and if we need to maintain the gym, and if we need to fix any equipment, bring in any new equipment, all of that is just an extra expense. so it is piling up, and at the moment it is difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel.— difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel. emily, thank you for talking to _ end of the tunnel. emily, thank you for talking to us _

end of the tunnel. emily, thank you for talking to us at _ end of the tunnel. emily, thank you for talking to us at length _ end of the tunnel. emily, thank you for talking to us at length and - end of the tunnel. emily, thank you for talking to us at length and so i for talking to us at length and so eloquently about that. we wish you all the best. what is your gym called? a, all the best. what is your gym called? �* ~ ,. ., all the best. what is your gym called? �* . ,. ., ,, all the best. what is your gym called? . ,. ., ,, , called? a w muscle and fitness 'ust outside macclesfield. i called? a w muscle and fitness 'ust outside macclesfield. alli called? a w muscle and fitness 'ust outside macclesfield. all the h called? a w muscle and fitnessjust outside macclesfield. all the best, l outside macclesfield. all the best, thank ou. outside macclesfield. all the best, thank you. really _ outside macclesfield. all the best, thank you. really good _ outside macclesfield. all the best, thank you. really good of- outside macclesfield. all the best, thank you. really good of you - outside macclesfield. all the best, thank you. really good of you to i thank you. really good of you to give us your time. thank you, emily wilkinson who runs thatjim just outside macclesfield. let's assess some of that with our political correspondent rajdeep sandhu. when you hear a personal story like that, it brings home what people are facing. people and business owners. yes, it completely brings it home what the struggle is people will be facing and there is the expectation that will only get harder as we head into the winter and we see what the price cap is and those bills do rise as they are expected to. that is why we have the chancellor and business secretary expected to meet the energy companies, the big bosses of the energy companies tomorrow to try

and find solutions, or attempt to find ways in which to ease the burdens on people. given the government has said they will not be making any kind of financial interventions because of the conservative leadership contest going on at the moment, the government has said they will not take big decisions like that. it is unlikely we will have any kind of major shift in policy, it will more probably be to do with what can be donein probably be to do with what can be done in the meantime looking at how the energy industry works, and working with the energy sector to try and these things and look at the cost of people's energy. now of course we have had the chief secretary to the treasury simon clarke today who is a liz truss supporter in this campaign saying government is working up a number of options ready for when the new prime minister comes in to take office to be able to assess what they would like to do with their plans to help people. he said that that was the right thing to do, to wait until the end of the contest, because that means the new prime minister,

whoever that is, whether that is liz truss or rishi sunak, will have all of the information and detail in front of them. we understand the treasury is also considering something like expanding, potentially, the windfall tax. there is already an energy profits levy in place which is about 25% on energy companies' profits made since may, but there is chatter about potentially extending that. that will be something for the new prime minister to assess whether that is something they would want to do. we have heard from liz truss today who isn't very keen on it it at all. given her agenda is all about lowering taxes, she said another tax would not be the way to solve it and she called it gordon brown style economics. she also sidestepped a question about whether she would be offering people direct help, direct support, because she has talked at length about cutting people's taxes, that she sees as the way to help people through this. but there has

been a lot of criticism that that will not help those who do not pay taxes, those people on a low income, pensioners, they wouldn't be enough help for them. she was asked whether she was rolling it out and said she didn't say that but her priority was about lowering people's taxes, so making sure there was more money in people's pockets. the rishi sunak team has said that that policy was as clear as mud and that she needed to clear up exactly what help she would be offering people. but there are of course questions for rishi sunak�*s team and his own policy, he has said he would give direct help to people, and yesterday he kind of indicated it would be in the hundreds of pounds. but he hasn't said who that would be for. initially it seemed like it could potentially be a universal offer, similar to what he's done previously when he was chancellor, last night during the hustings he said it needed to be targeted. so we are getting a bit of information about what the two leadership contenders would like to do but not a lot of

specific detail about how that policy will actually work in practice. policy will actually work in practice-— policy will actually work in ractice. ., ., ., practice. 0k, quite a lot hinging on that meeting _ practice. 0k, quite a lot hinging on that meeting tomorrow, _ practice. 0k, quite a lot hinging on that meeting tomorrow, so - practice. 0k, quite a lot hinging on that meeting tomorrow, so we - practice. 0k, quite a lot hinging on that meeting tomorrow, so we will| that meeting tomorrow, so we will talk again about all of that. rajdeep sandhu following that for us at westminster. another story that has developed in the last couple of hours is the news that all children in london aged between one and nine are to be offered a polio booster vaccine after more traces of the polio virus were found in waste water. there have been no cases found in people yet but health authorities have said they want to act earlier. 0ur health correspondent james gallagherjoined us earlier. no individual person has been found with polio in their body but polio infects our tummies and then it goes out of our body at the other end and ends up in waste water. and what you do is you monitor the waste water, and that's how you can see if polio is in the community anywhere.

now, there has been more than 116 times that it has been found in waste water in london. that's far more than has been found before and is enough to raise concern within organisations like the uk health security agency, that you heard from there. this isn't something that can just be watched and ignored. now is the time to act. so it is being considered by the government's vaccine experts, thejoint committee on vaccination and immunisation. and that's why we have this recommendation to vaccinate nearly 1 million children in london to give them extra booster, whether they are fully vaccinated or they have had none in the past to make sure everyone gets another one. they will be invited over the course of the next month. because ultimately, the polio is a disease, an infection, that can cause paralysis and can cause death. james gallagher, our health correspondent. that takes us to the headlines here this afternoon. households owe energy companies more money than ever before as bills are set to increase even more in october. ministers will hold talks with energy giants to discuss rising prices, profits and measures to ease the cost of living crisis. all children in london aged between one and nine will be offered

a polio booster vaccine after more traces of the virus are found in the capital's waste water. the bbc uncovers evidence suggesting the nhs is struggling to return cancer care to pre—pandemic levels in england as more than 10,000 people wait more than three months to start treatment. at midnight, a four—day extreme heat warning will come into force across parts of england and wales, meaning vulnerable people's health could be impacted and travel could be disrupted. this applies to southern and central england and parts of wales and will last until sunday. 0ur correspondent matt mcgrath has this report. after weeks of warm weather, another unsettling bout of very high temperatures is fast approaching. as the heat starts to rise to unpleasant levels, people are having to queue

to cool off. the next few days will also put extra pressure on already diminished water resources. scientists are warning that river levels in southern england may remain exceptionally low until october. some have already dried up. i never thought i'd see it in my lifetime. when running water stops flowing, it's going to be the end of the world as we know it. everything is going to go stagnant and that's it. you've got to have running water. the uk health security agency says, in the coming days, vulnerable people should stay hydrated, keep cool and take steps to prevent their homes from overheating. making things more uncomfortable will be the lack of respite at night. temperatures in some areas in the south won't drop below 20 celsius. for farmers already suffering from months of dry conditions, the impacts are not confined to the immediate future. they are increasingly worried about the long term. i can't grow my crops for next season at the moment, i can't plant them. there's no moisture in the ground.

we're starting to the effects rolling into next year. last winter we were planting lots of hedges and trees to improve the biodiversity on our farm landscape. much of that has died, we haven't been able to keep them watered. this is going to have real, long—term effects to our farming businesses. these dramatic impacts of hot weather, supercharged by climate change, are not confined to parts of the uk. drought in france is damaging crops, rivers are drying out, wildfires are already taking a heavy toll. the risk of fire in the uk is also growing. emergency services are urging people not to light bonfires or barbecues. with scattered thunderstorms predicted by sunday, there may be some relief. but, as global warming exerts a growing influence in the years ahead, these difficult heatwave conditions will likely become our new normal. matt mcgrath, bbc news. the extreme heat is exacerbating the problems of water shortages across large parts of the country.

in parts of the country. some areas there are already hosepipe in some areas there are already hosepipe bans in place. there have been warnings of drought in some areas. and in one area between buckinghamshire and 0xfordshire households are relying on tankers and bottled water from their supplier, which is thames water. 0ur correspondent is there. you should be able to see behind me two thames water tankers. this tanker arrived just a few minutes ago and it is supplying water to local residents here because they have told me that for the past few days over the weekend they have not had water to be able to have a shower, a bath or to be able to have a drink. they have been using, relying on bottled water. and in the last hour i spoke to a local farmer called peter langford. he said to me that his elderly aunt had come to visit him and she wasn't able to

have a bath as a result of this. he was very frustrated as well that he couldn't give his cattle a drink using taps. he had to use bottled water. and he says that this has all really come at a cost to him, it has impacted him financially. the other residents in the area that i've spoken to, they said, look, actually in the past four years they've had problems with water supply. but of course this year particularly difficult because we have had record temperatures. we know that the met office has introduced an amber warning which means that people with health problems could experience difficulties and there could be travel disruption. this comes as well at a time when parts of the country are experiencing hosepipe bans. that means that in parts of hampshire, the isle of wight you could be fined for ignoring that

ban. later on this week parts of sussex as well and kent will introduce a ban and parts of pembrokeshire and carmarthenshire will do the same. thames water is well said just yesterday that they would be introducing a hosepipe ban as well. thames water provides water to over 15 million people in london and parts of southern england. and so are lots of restrictions in place. but people here say that they want thames water to talk to them more about ways to ensure that the supply of water won't be affected again. supply of water won't be affected aain. ., supply of water won't be affected atain_ ., ., , supply of water won't be affected arain. ., ., supply of water won't be affected aain. ., ., ., ., again. that was the village of north end, again. that was the village of north end. dreadful _ again. that was the village of north end, dreadful water _ again. that was the village of north end, dreadful water shortage - end, dreadfulwatershortage situation there. let's take a few minutes to talk about the impact on agriculture. i'mjoined byjames agriculture. i'm joined by james thompson agriculture. i'mjoined byjames thompson who runs a dairy farm in north shropshire. hello, james, good

afternoon. what impact are you seeing? give us a sense of the size of your farm first of all and what you are seeing. did of your farm first of all and what you are seeing-— you are seeing. did you ask for details on _ you are seeing. did you ask for details on the _ you are seeing. did you ask for details on the farm? _ you are seeing. did you ask for details on the farm? how- you are seeing. did you ask for details on the farm? how big l you are seeing. did you ask for| details on the farm? how big is you are seeing. did you ask for - details on the farm? how big is your farm, and therefore, _ details on the farm? how big is your farm, and therefore, what _ details on the farm? how big is your farm, and therefore, what is - details on the farm? how big is your farm, and therefore, what is the - farm, and therefore, what is the impact of all this dry weather on you? impact of all this dry weather on ou? ., , ' :: . ., , you? the farm is 150 hectares in north shropshire, _ you? the farm is 150 hectares in north shropshire, just _ you? the farm is 150 hectares in north shropshire, just under - you? the farm is 150 hectares in i north shropshire, just under 1500 cows on a grazing system, so we try and utilise as much grass as possible in the cows' diet, do busy with the dry weather grass growth has virtually stopped, despite a bit of rain the other day. we are now looking ominously wondering how we will carry on feeding the cows. the decision that we have to make is whether we have to sell or slaughter cows in order to keep the remaining cows in order to keep the remaining

cows well fed. some difficult decisions ahead.— cows well fed. some difficult decisions ahead. goodness. so if you don't get enough rain it literally - don't get enough rain it literally comes to that, does it? selling the animals, or god forbid, actually having to lose some of them completely and having to slaughter them? , , ., them? yes, it is something we do towards the _ them? yes, it is something we do towards the end _ them? yes, it is something we do towards the end of _ them? yes, it is something we do towards the end of the _ them? yes, it is something we do towards the end of the season - towards the end of the season anyway. the trouble is now we might not have enough feed to see them through until the autumn because what we are doing is we are feeding our winter stocks now. and i think that will be quite common across the industry and people haven't been able to make their second cut silage which is the most important feedstock for the winter, so farmers will find themselves stretched to feed the cows going into the winter. farmers have a choice, which is reduce the amount of milk that they can actually produce from their herd. it is far from

can actually produce from their herd. it is farfrom ideal at can actually produce from their herd. it is far from ideal at the current time with food costs where they are and milk production is lower than it has been in recent years and could exacerbate the food price crisis we are experiencing at the moment. i’m price crisis we are experiencing at the moment-— price crisis we are experiencing at the moment. �* ., , , ., the moment. i'm assuming there are two obvious — the moment. i'm assuming there are two obvious knock-on _ the moment. i'm assuming there are two obvious knock-on is _ the moment. i'm assuming there are two obvious knock-on is if _ the moment. i'm assuming there are two obvious knock-on is if it - two obvious knock—on is if it reaches that point, you as a business have less income and the cost of what you are producing goes up cost of what you are producing goes up to the consumer, so nobody wins here. ., , , ., ,, , here. nobody wins and i think it is exacerbating _ here. nobody wins and i think it is exacerbating an _ here. nobody wins and i think it is exacerbating an already _ here. nobody wins and i think it is exacerbating an already tricky - exacerbating an already tricky situation in the country, and indeed globally. but the drought is really compounding the issue at the moment. we do have silage at the moment and we are feeding silage but without the grass coming forward at this time of year when we would normally be expected to grow plenty of feed for the cows and to be growing a surplus we can conserve for the

winter, we are not in that position at the moment. there will be some difficult decisions. but it can change very quickly and if we have rain next week, and looking at the bbc forecasting looks like there might be some rain, it change quickly. it is not catastrophic yet but i think it's about contingency planning and making sure that we do have a plan if things continue into september. flit have a plan if things continue into september-— have a plan if things continue into september. of course, yes. given what we have _ september. of course, yes. given what we have all— september. of course, yes. given what we have all gone _ september. of course, yes. given what we have all gone through - september. of course, yes. given| what we have all gone through this summer does it make you, as a business, think about other options and things you might be able to do in future years? is there more that you can do in terms of trying to store and conserve water? are there other environmental ways in which you can try and tackle things? i know that is a big ask but does it make you think about how you can manage things in the future? you are 10096 ri ht, manage things in the future? you are 100% right. we _ manage things in the future? you are 100% right. we try — manage things in the future? you are 10096 right, we try and _ manage things in the future? you are 10096 right, we try and conserve - manage things in the future? you are 10096 right, we try and conserve all i 100% right, we try and conserve all the water that is produced from washing the yards down and keeping

the farm clean. all that gets recycled and spread on the land. we recycled and spread on the land. we recycle absolutely everything, nothing is wasted. but it's not as good as a really good downpour. so yes, we are looking at all sorts of measures. and in a good year we will try and build up a feed bank so that when we do have what we call a summer dry period like we are experiencing at the moment, but we do have a forage reserve we can dip into. but if this is a more regular occurrence it is going to be very difficult to build that reserve command as you have heard from arable farmers recently they are really struggling even to plant crops. really struggling even to plant cro s. , really struggling even to plant cm .s_ , g ., , really struggling even to plant cros. , , ., ~ really struggling even to plant crots. , , ., ~' really struggling even to plant cro-s. , , ., ~' crops. yes. james, thank you so much. crops. yes. james, thank you so much- thank— crops. yes. james, thank you so much. thank you _ crops. yes. james, thank you so much. thank you for _ crops. yes. james, thank you so much. thank you for your - crops. yes. james, thank you so much. thank you for your time l crops. yes. james, thank you so i much. thank you for your time this afternoon, and all the best to you and the team there. james thompson who is a dairy farmer in shropshire. if a weatherforecast who is a dairy farmer in shropshire. if a weather forecast is coming up,

as ever, just before 2:30pm. we'll keep you up—to—date with of that. leaked figures seen by the bbc suggest long waits for cancer treatment are growing. the government had promised to get cancer care back on track by next march, but data suggests the nhs in england is struggling to return such care to pre—pandemic levels. nearly 330,000 people are on the national cancer waiting list. these unpublished, leaked figures show thatjust over 10,000 of them have been waiting longer than 104 days — more than three months — to start treatment — this has doubled since lastjune. pre—covid the nhs had a �*zero tolerance' of such delays. 0ur correspondent david grossman has the story. relaxing. relaxing. get a nice walk i in. yeah, it's all flat, isn't it? i caroline boulton is on the right, out walking with her partner, wendy.

caroline has stage four breast cancer. that means the disease has spread to other parts of her body. it's all the more heartbreaking for caroline and her family because, had she received swift treatment, statistics suggest she could have expected a far better outcome. when i first found the lump, it was only a pea size. by the time i got to see the consultant, it was the size of a tangerine. caroline believes that routine screening would have picked up her condition. i had my mammogram booked in for the end of march 2020, and obviously covid lockdown happened and it got cancelled. i then had it rescheduled for november 2020. again, the second lockdown happened, the mammogram got cancelled again. i kept trying to rebook and couldn't even get through the telephone line to even rebook it. she believes the nhs never caught up with her fast—growing cancer.

it's delays, delays, delays. and the thing with cancer, it needs to be immediate. no european country tolerates a two—month delay knowing you have cancer to start treatment. in the states, you'd start suing people if you were made to wait two months routinely. so something's got to change there. this is the worst cancer crisis of my lifetime. and as the figures are going to show, the waits for cancer treatment are the worst they've ever been, and they're getting worse. and there's no real way that we can catch up. but behind those figures, of course, are individual patients and their families, for whom every day of delay is torture. even if, as in caroline's case, the treatment target was hit. you're living with — this cancer is spreading, and you're waiting for results and then you get to a result, and then they're not doing anything more.

you're stuck waiting for another scan and another result, and you're not getting any treatment or help. i shouldn't be, now, stage four with given two years left to live. the actual treatment itself... so what should we do now? the government responded in february, promising a new ten—year cancer plan. we need a new national war on cancer. this is a key weapon in any such war. a state—of—the—art radiotherapy machine. it can target a precise beam of radiation on a tumour as small as half a millimetre across. according to those who run britain's radiotherapy departments, not nearly enough nhs patients have access to treatment from machines like this. we need investment and we need more workforce, and we need to give the workforce the tools they need and get rid of bureaucracy. and this is an absolute crisis.

for patients like caroline, targets mean little now. not finding out she had cancer early enough to make a difference, she says, has robbed her of herfuture. david grossman reporting. and you can find support and information about cancer and about charities that can help you at bbc.co.uk/actionline, or you can call forfree, at any time to hear recorded information on 08000 560190. more than 500,000 learner drivers are waiting to take their driving test, according to new figures from the driver and vehicle standards agency.

it means the average waiting time for a test slot is m weeks, because of the backlog caused by the pandemic. with reports of learners waiting up to six months in some areas. a beluga whale, that swam up the river seine in northern france has died, despite the efforts of a big rescue operation to save the animal. the 800 kilo whale was lifted from the river using a crane and net, and hoisted onto a barge but developed breathing difficulties. sarah campbell reports. stranded 80 miles inland from the english channel, making its way slowly along the seine towards paris, far from the arctic waters which should be home. millions of people in france and around the world watched as the whale became weaker, stopped eating and it became clear that, however risky, a rescue attempt would have to be made. a team of 80, including police and divers, spent six hours painstakingly catching and winching

the 800—kilo whale out of the river. translation: the moment when we got the beluga out of the water _ was stressful and extremely intense. he was surprised and moving about, and we thought he would escape from the net. it was quite astonishing, but he's alive and he's on the barge. the plan had been to transport the whale in a refrigerated lorry to be released back into the open sea off the northern french coast, but it became clear during the journey that the whale was becoming increasingly unwell. this morning, at a press conference, the rescue team revealed it had died. translation: the animal's breathing was insufficient i so the suffering was evident. therefore we decided it was not pertinent to release it, so we proceeded with its euthanasia. for a few days, the whale captured the hearts of many, but sadly could not be saved. sarah campbell, bbc news.

now it's time for a look at the weather. hello. the heatwave is set to continue for the rest of the week and the met office has issued an amber weather warning, the second highest level of alert for extreme heat and that is valid from thursday until sunday for much of england and eastern areas of wales as well. this is the satellite picture and you can see cool and cloudy conditions in the north—west of scotland and elsewhere blue sky and strong sunshine with temperatures peaking at 32 degrees for central and southern england, may be 26 or 27 for eastern scotland and parts of northern ireland as well. overnight, some outbreaks of rain for the western isles, elsewhere, clear skies and generally a warmer feeling night than last night with temperatures in the mid teens in celsius and there could be mist, fog, low cloud moving into eastern

coastal areas and through the thames valley that could linger on in parts of the day tomorrow in patches and tomorrow the heat ramps up, maybe 3435 celsius somewhere in the west midlands. —— 34 or 35. along the weather forecast will be coming up during the top of the hour. now time for the later sport. the acrimony in the golfing world is continuing, after three players from the breakaway liv series lost a court case against the pga tour. they were suing to play in the fedex cup play—offs, which begin this weekend. the bbc�*s golf correspondent iain carter explains. this week is a big week for the pga tour, the start of their play—off series which will culminate with the tour championship at the end of the month. as we know, the rival breakaway liv series has been and

they've played three tournaments so far and there were three players eligible for these play—offs who have subsequently been banned by the pga tour, taylor kuch, hudson swafford and jones, who would have been eligible to start the play—offs in memphis this week if it were not for the fact that they are banned. a restraining order was sought to try and make sure that these players would be eligible to play in the pga tour event. that case was heard in san jose yesterday and the tour event. that case was heard in sanjose yesterday and the judge ruled in favour of the pga tour, saying that the contract that gooch, swofford and jones had signed were effectively lucrative enough to take account of the earnings they would lose by not being able to play in these pga tour play—offs. meanwhile, the world number 2, cameron smith has refused to be drawn on speculation linking him with a move to the liv series. the australian won the first major of his career at the open at st andrews last month. my goal here is to win

the fedexcup play—offs. that is all i'm here for. if there is something i need to say regarding the pga tour or liv golf, it will come from cameron smith, not cameron percy. i am a man of my word. whenever you guys need to know anything, it will be said by me. serena williams could be playing one of the final matches of her career later on wednesday, when she faces olympic champion belinda bencic in canada. it comes after she suggested she'll "evolve away" from tennis after the us open, which begins later this month. american coco gauff is also competing in toronto this week and says she's one of many inspired by williams. i grew up watching her, that is why i play tennis. tennis has predominately been a white sport, that helps a lot because i saw somebody like me dominating the game and it made me believe that i could dominate too. and then my dad i think, her whole story, the williams

sisters story, notjust serena, with mr williams and all that he has done for the both of them inspired my dad to continue to help me even though he had not really much tennis experience but he was like, if mr williams can do it then i can. that is all for now. a new scheme has found the majority of host for ukrainians are doing so and want to continue beyond the initial six month period. you might remember people were paid £350 per month to house people fleeing ukraine after russia invaded. but the host said the rising cost of living had affected their ability to support the people in their homes and about a half said the biggest

challenges were helping their guests get access to benefits or public services. i'm joined now by maria divid, a volunteer with the uk welcomes ukraine project who is also been hosting a woman from kyiv for the last three and a half months. thanks very much for your time. first of all, i know you have had someone who fled the situation in ukraine living with you and i don't need you to give personal details, but for you, as an experience, how is that working out, and was it a big decision for you? tell us a little about your experience. hi. it has worked _ little about your experience. hi. it has worked out _ little about your experience. hi. it has worked out really _ little about your experience. hi. it has worked out really well - little about your experience. hi. it has worked out really well for i little about your experience. h . it has worked out really well for me. the decision was relatively quick and easy for me to make given my background. i am originally from russia myself and very much devastated by the conflict, and i was very keen to do my bit and do

whatever i can to somehow counteract the consequences of what was happening in any way i can, and living in london and having a spare room, i was in a very good place to take part in the scheme and was very keen to do that and applied early on and found someone quite quickly who was willing to live with me under the scheme, and yes, we applied, and that all happened and the lady from kyiv has been living with me from the 30th of april onwards. i kyiv has been living with me from the 30th of april onwards. i mean, that is fantastic, _ the 30th of april onwards. i mean, that is fantastic, that _ the 30th of april onwards. i mean, that is fantastic, that it _ the 30th of april onwards. i mean, that is fantastic, that it has - that is fantastic, that it has worked out well for you and the interesting thing in the survey is that it seems for a lot of people it has worked out. but i'm interested

in how much support you felt there was. for example, idon't in how much support you felt there was. for example, i don't if the person you have been able to help spoke much english before they arrived, how much support was there locally. it is a lot of work out the best of times to navigate the health service and the social system and all of that and it's a lot of work and i'm imagining that she spent a lot of your own time helping in that regard. lot of your own time helping in that reard. . . lot of your own time helping in that reard. ., , ,, .., , regard. that is right, especially in the initial few _ regard. that is right, especially in the initial few weeks _ regard. that is right, especially in the initial few weeks i _ regard. that is right, especially in the initial few weeks i would i regard. that is right, especially in the initial few weeks i would say l the initial few weeks i would say the initial few weeks i would say the initial few weeks i would say the initial two or three weeks i spent quite a bit of my time helping with as you said, things like letters from the nhs working out how social services work on things like that, so my guess does speak some english but her english is not sufficient to be able to navigate

the system and she needed my help. this survey does suggest, even amongst people who hope that their guests will be able to keep living with them, not surprisingly there is a strong sense that the rising cost of living is affecting people as you have extra people living in your home and all we do at the moment is talk about rising gas and electricity bills, and that is an issue for a lot of people, isn't it. what is your feeling about to what extent the scheme can continue the rising cost of living?— rising cost of living? well, i can seak of rising cost of living? well, i can speak of my — rising cost of living? well, i can speak of my personal— rising cost of living? well, i can i speak of my personal circumstances, and i've been quite fortunate so as to not be hugely affected by that, so i guess the main thing that is a sponsor is probably the increase in

bills that is more than covered by the money i am receiving from the government as a sponsor and in terms of all of the other costs, and my guess was buying her own food and we were eating separately and for me personally it was not an issue and i'm happy to continue hosting her longer than six months and that is the plan for now. i can imagine for other households this could be more of an issue. . other households this could be more of an issue-— of an issue. yes, that is very interesting _ of an issue. yes, that is very interesting and _ of an issue. yes, that is very interesting and it's _ of an issue. yes, that is very interesting and it's good i of an issue. yes, that is very| interesting and it's good that of an issue. yes, that is very i interesting and it's good that you think it will carry on longer than six months. thank you so much and we will talk again, but thank you now, maria, a volunteer with the homes for ukraine project. ryan giggs ex—girlfriend has told

a court she became "a slave to his every need and every demand". the former manchester united star is on trial accused of controlling behaviour and assaulting kate greville and her younger sister emma. he denies the charges. our correspondent laura scott has the latest from manchester crown court. this morning the jury heard that kate greville, ryan giggs's ex—girlfriend, had given a witness statement on sunday in which she said she felt like she'd become a slave to the former manchester united star's every need and every demand. under cross—examination she was asked if she meant that in a literal sense, to which she replied, "when ryan said, "do something," i would do it. and there was some resistance sometimes but he made me feel i had to do everything he said, otherwise there were consequences." she agreed that for the majority of their on—off relationship over six years giggs was nice to her. but said there were interjections of abuse and that towards the end he was relentlessly awful. defence barrister chris daw qc said that her portrayal of how the relationship had

started was fiction. ms greville was asked about an alleged incident in dubai in 2017 when she accused giggs of dragging her by her wrist, causing a bruise, and that he'd thrown her out of their hotel room naked with her belongings. mr daw said her account was completely manufactured. he read out a message ms greville had sent giggs, saying the bruise was caused by sex. she said they'd discussed over the phone that is what she would say it was from. giggs denies all the charges against her. millions of households in the uk owe energy companies more money than ever before as bills are set to increase further in october. ministers are due to hold talks with energy giants to discuss rising prices, profits and measures to ease the cost of living crisis.

all children in london aged between 1 and 9 will be offered a polio booster vaccine after more traces of the virus are found in the capital's waste water. four days of extreme weather is forecast in england and wales coming as environmental groups say some rivers are starting to dry up, seriously impacting wildlife. tributes have been paid to the author and illustrator raymond briggs who has died at the age of 88. he's best known for the 1978 classic the snowman, as well as creating much loved books including father christmas, fungus the bogeyman and when the wind blows. our correspondent david silito looks back at his life. it's become part of christmas, magical, heart—warming and at the end of the snowman melts.

i don't think about what children want. you get an idea and you just do it. you don't think, oh, sure enough they won't want this, and you don't think like that at all the audience. you couldn't possibly. you just have this idea in your head that you can do it how you wa nt want it. it was his father christmas that was raymond briggs' breakthrough, but this was no jovial gift—bearer. this father christmas moaned, swore and drankjust a bit too much. what i normally do with most of my things is have something that's fantastical, like father christmas, like fungus, and imagine it to be wholly real and follow it through logically from there. it's a fouljob, out all night on your own, flying about in icy temperatures,

landing on rooftops, going down filthy chimneys. can you imagine climbing down the chimney? not once, but hundreds of times. he's going to be fed up with it. the bogeymen are stirring in their beds... and then fungus — a gloriously disgusting story of a bogeyman having a midlife crisis. nice cold, filthy water! good head of scum on it this morning. raymond briggs studied at the slade school of art. he'd worked in advertising, and hated it. he illustrated children's books, but he didn't like the saccharine stories. he was much happier with cartoons that had a little darkness to them. take when the wind blows — a story of a couple's attempts to follow government advice in a nuclear attack. i never heard such language in all my life. for god's sake, shut up! oh dear, i've left the oven on. get in, get in, get in!

the cake will be burnt! lie down. when he began, his comic art was frowned on by his art teachers. by the end, raymond briggs had done much to change attitudes with those charming drawings and their slightly subversive stories. raymond briggs who has died at the age of 88. we will talk more about the weather situation and the lack of rain with warnings issued because of the extreme heat and dry weather affecting much of the uk. in england i said having problems with wildlife and rivers and chalk rivers which support species such as salmon, kingfishers and otters and some are starting to dry up. what companies say hosepipe bans are being put in place to help protect river habitats.

you can normally swim in this part of the river anton, but now water levels are so low, you can wade across. and you can tell from the cool, clear water, we're in a chalk river — a rare and beautiful place that's home to wildlife such as trout, otters and kingfishers. how precious is this habitat, and how do we better protect this river and the wildlife in it? this habitat is really precious, and that's because it has been filtered through this chalk, and then comes out very cool and clear. we see these beautiful river ecosystems. we've seen some trout today. i've also seen grayling here. there are salmon in some of our chalk streams, as well. this is our barrier reef or our amazon rainforest. the wildlife here is already stressed as a result of the hotter temperatures,

and their habitat is shrinking, as the water levels are getting lower and lower. we don't want them to go any lower than they are now. at this nature reserve in winchester, on the banks of the river itchen, wildlife is already feeling the impact of the dry, hot weather and low river flows. less water means vegetation suffers, and that's a food source for things. the invertebrate communities then suffer, and then everything above that suffers. so your food resources just really are getting lower and lower. the fish, they're affected by the invertebrates and the loss of them, and then you've got things like the otter, which are going to struggle as well if they can't find food, or if they don't have deep water to fish in. the water company southern water, which supplies parts of hampshire, says the hosepipe ban is designed to protect rivers, such as the itchen, where it extracts water. but the rivers trust says we need to think more strategically about how to cope when dry, hot summers become the norm.

we want to see government and the water companies responding in a coordinated way. this hot spell, and this prolonged dry period is a pressure test for us now to get ready for the long haul, because we're going to be seeing many more summers like this in years to come. and with no end to the dry weather in sight, the pressure on britain's chalk rivers is likely to worsen. helen briggs, bbc news, hampshire. that is one of the many impacts that the drier weather is having. it is causing havoc on anyone lucky enough to have a garden. public parks, struggle to keep them alive. joining me now is rob brett, who is a curator at the royal horticultural society

i feel it is a big question ifeel it is a big question because where do you start but there is a hosepipe ban in some parts of the country, so how can people look after their gardens if they have one? in after their gardens if they have one? ., ., , , ., ., one? in all honesty what we need to do is when — one? in all honesty what we need to do is when we _ one? in all honesty what we need to do is when we do _ one? in all honesty what we need to do is when we do get _ one? in all honesty what we need to do is when we do get some - one? in all honesty what we need to do is when we do get some rain i one? in all honesty what we need to do is when we do get some rain is i do is when we do get some rain is trying to capture that rain as much as possible so water buts, perhaps in some sort of bucket or whatever it might be that you can collect water in, because water is obviously one of the key resources that we are seeing at this present time being really problematic. what i would say is the key thing i would say and obviously you cannot use your watering hose or anything along those lines, but whatever water you have got that you cannot utilise, that might be, for example water that might be, for example water that you have used, utilise that,

and going forward i think the key thing is that if you have containers and stuff like that, make sure you have a source underneath so it captures any residual water that is not needed from the pot once you water it. mulching the gardens as much as we possibly can, so it mulches a layer about two or three inches, something along those lines, what that helps with is when we do get the rain, you can keep the moisture that is retained in the ground, and probably the only thing i would say is that with the pots in particular, sometimes there are clever systems that they have a reservoir in the bottom so when it goes through the party goes all the way through to the reservoir and it has a wick and it brings the water back up through capillary action back up through capillary action back into the pot.— back up through capillary action back into the pot. clever. sounds

like anybody _ back into the pot. clever. sounds like anybody with _ back into the pot. clever. sounds like anybody with pots _ back into the pot. clever. sounds like anybody with pots on - back into the pot. clever. sounds. like anybody with pots on balconies they need that.— they need that. yes, that sort of thin. in they need that. yes, that sort of thing. in terms _ they need that. yes, that sort of thing. in terms of _ they need that. yes, that sort of thing. in terms of lawns, - they need that. yes, that sort of thing. in terms of lawns, if- they need that. yes, that sort of thing. in terms of lawns, if you i they need that. yes, that sort of i thing. in terms of lawns, if you are lucky enough _ thing. in terms of lawns, if you are lucky enough to — thing. in terms of lawns, if you are lucky enough to have _ thing. in terms of lawns, if you are lucky enough to have a _ thing. in terms of lawns, if you are lucky enough to have a lawn i thing. in terms of lawns, if you are lucky enough to have a lawn or- thing. in terms of lawns, if you are lucky enough to have a lawn or a i lucky enough to have a lawn or a small patch of grass, at this time of the abbey just small patch of grass, at this time of the abbeyjust got to say goodbye and say it will go brown and there's nothing i can do about it and it's nothing i can do about it and it's not worth the water usage. is that an appropriate attitude? i not worth the water usage. is that an appropriate attitude?— an appropriate attitude? i think it is an appropriate _ an appropriate attitude? i think it is an appropriate attitude - an appropriate attitude? i think it| is an appropriate attitude because we have to be as careful as we can with water. it might seem hypocritical here at the garden where we can keep some of the lawn is watered but that's because i've got this very lucky that we are in the driest region in the country and in the 1990s we built a reservoir capturing water from the run—off and it means we have 10.1 million gallons in water buts meaning i can water certain areas of the garden. but it is capturing the water when you can. it

but it is capturing the water when ou can. , ., , but it is capturing the water when ou can. ,., , ~ but it is capturing the water when oucan. , ,, �*, you can. it sounds like it's time for all of us _ you can. it sounds like it's time for all of us to _ you can. it sounds like it's time for all of us to invest _ you can. it sounds like it's time for all of us to invest in - you can. it sounds like it's time for all of us to invest in a i you can. it sounds like it's time for all of us to invest in a waterj for all of us to invest in a water butt or a bucket or two which seems to be good advice.— to be good advice. there are really ood ti -s to be good advice. there are really good tips if— to be good advice. there are really good tips if you — to be good advice. there are really good tips if you go _ to be good advice. there are really good tips if you go to _ to be good advice. there are really good tips if you go to the - to be good advice. there are really good tips if you go to the science i good tips if you go to the science team where we worked, and basically there is if you go to mainstream rains, there are great tips where you can look at ways going forward. good advice. thank you very much and thank you for now. rob, a curator with the royal horticultural society. so let's take a look at the weather forecast and here society. so let's take a look at the weatherforecast and here is elizabeth rizzini. the heatwave is set to continue as we head through the rest of the week and there is a met office amber when the warning in force, the second highest level of alert for extreme heat which is valid across much of england and eastern wales from

thursday through to the end of the day on sunday. a sustained period of hot and dry weather rather than the record—breaking heat that we saw backin record—breaking heat that we saw back in july, record—breaking heat that we saw back injuly, but temperatures could still get as high as 35 up to 37 celsius in the week, not that hot today but still very warm, 32 degrees west of london, 27 for eastern scotland and northern ireland as well. overnight tonight, a warmer night than we saw last night and some outbreaks of rain for north—west scotland, the western isles in temperatures down to the mid—teens, maybe some low cloud towards eastern coastal areas and down the thames valley which could stick around into tomorrow morning in patches. elsewhere, lots of blue sky and warm sunshine and temperatures set to rise as high as 34 or 35 celsius on thursday. out towards the west midlands, may be central and southern england, and towards the coast we will see a sea breeze setting up so more refreshing here but all of the hot air is coming in on the easterly breeze we will see towards eastern coastal

areas from the near continent and we will see four consecutive days of temperatures over 35 celsius, that will be friday, that will be the first time it has happened since the long hot summer of 1976. temperatures on friday and into saturday could get as high as 36 or 37 celsius and this is most likely somewhere towards the west of london, perhaps across central and southern england and even the west midlands or perhaps the welsh marshes, so 36 or 37 celsius. let's take a look at the outlook for the capital cities over the next few days. you can see the heat lasts into sunday but will turn cloudy from the london temperatures in the south as we had through sunday with lots of uncertainty on exactly what will happen but it will be feeling cooler by the time we get to monday and the system will be moving northwards and it could spark off some heavy, thundery downpours. not reliable rainfall, but at last some wet weather for places that really do need it and the shower is fairly

hit and miss. this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines at 3:00. millions of households in the uk owe energy companies more money than ever before as bills are set to increase further in october. i am absolutely at the end of what i can offer. so i will pay what i can pay but i can't pay anything more than that. there is nothing left to cut back on. this is not something that can wait. we need to get firm decisions coming from the key parties. all children in london aged between one and nine will be offered a polio booster vaccine after more traces of the virus are found in the capital's waste water. four days of extreme weather is forecast in england and wales.

it comes as environmental groups say some rivers are starting to dry up — seriously impacting wildlife. the bbc uncovers evidence suggesting the nhs is struggling to return cancer care to pre—pandemic levels in england, as more than 10,000 people wait more than three months to start treatment. # we're walking in the air # we're walking in the moonlit sky.# # we're floating in the moonlit sky.# the author and illustrator raymond briggs, known for the 1978 classic, the snowman, has died, aged 88.

hello, good afternoon. many families are falling behind on their gas and electricity bills, with the total owed by consumers to energy suppliers tripling since last september. a survey of 2,000 people for uswitch suggests almost a quarter of households owe an average of more than £200 to their provider. it comes as ministers are due to hold talks with the energy companies tomorrow about the impact of sharply rising bills. yesterday experts predicted the average household energy bill would reach £4,200 a year by january. caroline davies reports. even before we turn on the heating in the cold months, fears about energy bills are already building. when it's working you press this button here, and it has three heat settings. some, like hannah, a phd student, are already feeling a sense of rising panic. she bought an electric heated jacket to try to cut down

on her energy bills this winter. ican i can afford to pay £95 a month, i will pay them £95 a month and no more. if that is less than what the fuel costs are, for the first time in my life, other than student loans, i'm going to be going into debt. the amount of money energy companies are allowed to charge the average household, the price cap, has rocketed up. experts now estimate the price cap could exceed £3,500 a year in october, and more than £4,200 byjanuary. the pressure is building on the government to commit to a plan to provide help this autumn and winter. tory leadership candidate rishi sunak said he will provide more money targeted at the most vulnerable people to help with their energy bills, and said the amount would depend on the extent of the energy price rises. there are millions of families for whom it is simply not possible, no matter how hard they work, to come up with that kind of cash and that's why our support should be targeted not on massive tax cuts

for very wealthy people but targeted for the people who most need it. and if we don't do that, not only will millions of people suffer, we will get absolutely hammered when it comes to an election. his rival to be leader, liz truss, is focusing on tax cuts. i believe in people keeping their own money and i believe in a low—tax economy, that is the way that we are going to drive growth. i'm not going to announce the contents of a budget in the future at this stage in august, but i can assure people i will do all i can to make sure that energy is affordable, and that we get through this winter. she's dismissed calls to agree immediate plans, saying now is not the time to pre—empt those decisions, but others say a plan is needed now. this is not something that can wait. we need to get firm decisions coming from the key parties. rishi sunak needs to say more detail of what he will do and liz truss needs to say more on what she will do, and if it is just tax

cuts and the green levy, then we are going to leave millions destitute and in danger this winter. ministers are due to hold talks with the big energy companies tomorrow, to discuss ways to ease the cost of living and the price rises many are dreading. caroline davies, bbc news. emily wilkinson runs a gym with her husband near macclesfield and is worried about the impact of rising energy costs on their business. she's been telling me how difficult things are. irate she's been telling me how difficult thins are. ~ ., . .,, things are. we saw an increase towards the — things are. we saw an increase towards the end _ things are. we saw an increase towards the end of _ things are. we saw an increase towards the end of september| things are. we saw an increase i towards the end of september last year so our energy bill went from about £480 a month up to over 1000, and now obviously it is going to go up and now obviously it is going to go up again this september so it is a massive increase for us. mr; massive increase for us. my goodness- _ massive increase for us. my goodness. and a gym, some people would consider that a luxury, in life if times are tough, i guess it is one of the things people think about cancelling gym memberships, if

they have one. how is your business faring more generally? irate they have one. how is your business faring more generally?— faring more generally? we are definitely feeling _ faring more generally? we are definitely feeling the - faring more generally? we are definitely feeling the impact, i faring more generally? we are i definitely feeling the impact, it's notjust definitely feeling the impact, it's not just energy as definitely feeling the impact, it's notjust energy as well, things like the fuel crisis which has stopped commuters coming in so much, and with energy going up people are starting to feel the pinch. we have gym memberships and also things like personal training, gym memberships and also things like personaltraining, i gym memberships and also things like personal training, i offer nutrition coaching so there are lots of layers to our business, all relying on people being able to spend. and covid people's health wasn't good so lots of people came back to us but now they are almost having to weigh up now they are almost having to weigh up the options, do they pay for their energy or do they look after their energy or do they look after their health?— their health? yeah, difficult decisions — their health? yeah, difficult decisions all _ their health? yeah, difficult decisions all round, - their health? yeah, difficult decisions all round, isn't i their health? yeah, difficult decisions all round, isn't it, | their health? yeah, difficult i decisions all round, isn't it, for you and for your members? this is a business you run with your husband so this is your whole family livelihood here, isn't it? bottom line in business terms, how are you doing right now? are you constantly running at a deficit? where are you at right now? irate running at a deficit? where are you at right now?— at right now? we are constantly kee-tin at right now? we are constantly keeping an _ at right now? we are constantly keeping an eye _ at right now? we are constantly keeping an eye on _

at right now? we are constantly keeping an eye on the - at right now? we are constantly keeping an eye on the numbers| keeping an eye on the numbers because not only have we got to deal with the business, we also have to deal with our household, so it is just a case of keeping an eye all the time on what is coming and going out and how the changes across everything are affecting us, and for us as a house obviously there is the energy gap but as a business there is no energy cap so they can keep increasing the prices. we are paying 20% vat as a business on our energy, so that is a massive amount of money to go out every month which is going to go out every month which is going to the government, and as our bills go to the government, and as our bills 9° up to the government, and as our bills go up the government are getting more money from that, so we are just constantly looking at numbers and crunching those numbers, and making sure we can still offer value to our members because we don't want people to leave, we need people to stay and we want people to stay because we see the benefit to them as they focus on their health. of course. [30 focus on their health. of course. do ou focus on their health. of course. do you feel abandoned in any way? is that putting it too strongly? you have referenced what individual households are getting what you are

trying to run a small business and we are always told small businesses are really important in this country. have you tried to reach out and get some help?— country. have you tried to reach out and get some help? yes, so i started lookin at and get some help? yes, so i started looking at changing _ and get some help? yes, so i started looking at changing all— and get some help? yes, so i started looking at changing all of— and get some help? yes, so i started looking at changing all of our- looking at changing all of our lights to leds but the quote for thatis lights to leds but the quote for that is about £7,000, it's a lot of money to have up front. i started looking at grant schemes, there are no grand schemes available in our area so i reached out to our local mp and to the council and i've heard nothing back. it has been three, nearly four months, and i've heard nothing. there is nothing available for us. and it isjust an upward struggle because we don't hear anything about the government looking at small businesses and we are looking at an economic crisis and we need people to spend and we need people to support local. and more and more we are actually seeing councils approve things like budget qyer councils approve things like budget gyms, the coffee shops are really being hit because you are getting things like costas and starbucks coming in so anything like that is really having an impact on the small

and local businesses that we did so much to support through lockdown. do you feel let down by that? 10096 i much to support through lockdown. do you feel let down by that? 10096 let i you feel let down by that? 10096 let down by that- _ you feel let down by that? 10096 let down by that. it _ you feel let down by that? 10096 let down by that. it is _ you feel let down by that? 10096 let down by that. it is a _ you feel let down by that? 10096 let down by that. it is a really - down by that. it is a really difficult situation, especially because there is so much political unrest. who do we vote for because nobody is talking about us? do unrest. who do we vote for because nobody is talking about us?- nobody is talking about us? do you have conversations _ nobody is talking about us? do you have conversations with _ nobody is talking about us? do you have conversations with your i nobody is talking about us? do you| have conversations with your energy supplier? do you feel there is any point? you can hear in my voice, i feel at a loss for you because you have clearly tried to reach out and talk to people about grants and all that sort of thing. short of passing on these energy prices to your customers, your members, i'm not sure as someone trying to run a business what your other options are. ., ., ~ business what your other options are. ., ., , ., are. no, we work closely with our energy broker- — are. no, we work closely with our energy broker. we _ are. no, we work closely with our energy broker. we are _ are. no, we work closely with our energy broker. we are in - are. no, we work closely with our energy broker. we are in a i are. no, we work closely with our. energy broker. we are in a difficult situation because we are in an old mill and we have issues with an old metre that needs updating so we are stuck with an energy supplier until that happens and they are behind because of covid. it is just a case

of working with the broker to try and negotiate the prices. but regardless of how much money you can take off the bill it is still going to be a massive increase. and then when you are coupling that with things like having to pay back bounce back loans which all small businesses will have taken out to survive covid, so that's a monthly cost we didn't expect to have to pay back. and then you've got things like minimum wage going up, so we pay our employees more, and other sea they need that money but equally thatis sea they need that money but equally that is more of a hit on us. our cost of cleaning has gone up, import and export has gone up, so it means in orderfor us to maintain and export has gone up, so it means in order for us to maintain the gym and if we need to fix any equipment, bring in any new equipment, all of thatis bring in any new equipment, all of that isjust an bring in any new equipment, all of that is just an extra expense, so it is piling up, and at the moment it is piling up, and at the moment it is difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel.— end of the tunnel. emily wilkinson, who runs a — end of the tunnel. emily wilkinson, who runs a gym _ end of the tunnel. emily wilkinson, who runs a gym just _ end of the tunnel. emily wilkinson, who runs a gym just outside - who runs a gym just outside macclesfield talking about the real impact on someone trying to run a small business of all these price

rises. worthjust flagging small business of all these price rises. worth just flagging that at 4:30pm we will be answering your questions about the energy crisis and the expected further rise in bills. that is all coming up at 4:30pm. send your questions, any questions, concerns and observations about all of this you can e—mail. yourquestions@bbc. co. uk. #bbcyourquestions. asi as i say, just after 4:30pm. all children in london aged 1—9 are to be offered a polio booster vaccine after more traces of the poliovirus were found in waste water. there have been no actual cases of polio detected yet, but positive sewage samples have been found in seven boroughs in the capital and health officials want to act early. doctor mary ramsay told us about research that led to this

recommendation. irate research that led to this recommendation. ~ ., , recommendation. we have been sam - [in t recommendation. we have been sampling quite _ recommendation. we have been sampling quite widely _ recommendation. we have been sampling quite widely across i recommendation. we have been i sampling quite widely across london different sewage treatment areas and we have managed to work out where the virus is spreading, which basically has been localised down to a number of boroughs in north and east central london. both the fact we have localised it gives us some reassurance it is not spreading across the whole of london, but also gives us some concern because it's in more than one burrow meaning it is probably not isolated to a small number of individuals or a single family. so we picked this up early, i think that's fairly clear, and most of the viruses we have seen are what we call vaccine like, so they are the same as the vaccine virus, or very similar. but a small number of them are what we call vaccine derived, so those have mutated. so whilst the virus is spreading they have mutated slightly and now have

the potential to cause paralysis and that's obviously what is concerning us. so we want to act early, and therefore we are advising that we should boost the vaccination and catch up vaccinations, so offer every child under ten, 1—9, i should say, an additional dose of polio, it may be additionalfor say, an additional dose of polio, it may be additional for some and may be a catch up for others because coverage isn't as good as we'd like. and that will hopefully boost everyone's immunity, gives extra protection against the risk of any paralysis, which is clearly our main priority, but we also hope it may help to interrupt transmission and also prevent further spread into other parts of london.— also prevent further spread into other parts of london. doctor mary ramsay from _ other parts of london. doctor mary ramsay from the _ other parts of london. doctor mary ramsay from the uk _ other parts of london. doctor mary ramsay from the uk health - other parts of london. doctor mary. ramsay from the uk health security agency. we have also been hearing more about this from a health correspondent james gallagher.

no individual person has been found with polio in their body but polio infects our tummies and then it goes out of our body at the other end and ends up in waste water. and what you do is you monitor the waste water, and that's how you can see if polio is in the community anywhere. now, there has been more than 116 times that it has been found in waste water in london. that's far more than has been found before and is enough to raise concern within organisations like the uk health security agency, that you heard from there. this isn't something that can just be watched and ignored. now is the time to act. so it is being considered by the government's vaccine experts, thejoint committee on vaccination and immunisation. and that's why we have this recommendation to vaccinate nearly 1 million children in london to give them an extra booster, whether they are fully vaccinated or they have had none in the past, to make sure everyone gets another one. they will be invited over the course of the next month. because ultimately, polio is a disease, an infection, that can cause paralysis and can cause death. our health correspondent james gallagher. leaked figures seen by the bbc suggest that long waits for cancer treatment are growing. the government had promised to get cancer care back on track by next march,

but data suggests the nhs in england is struggling to return such care to pre—pandemic levels. nearly 330,000 people are on the national cancer waiting list. these unpublished, leaked figures show thatjust over 10,000 of them have been waiting longer than 104 days — more than three months — to begin treatment — this has doubled since lastjune. pre—covid the nhs had a "zero tolerance" of such delays. our correspondent david grossman has the story relaxing. relaxing. get a nice walk i in. yeah, it's all flat, isn't it? i caroline boulton is on the right, out walking with her partner, wendy. caroline has stage four breast cancer. that means the disease has spread to other parts of her body. it's all the more heartbreaking for caroline and her family because, had she received swift treatment, statistics suggest she could have expected a far better outcome.

when i first found the lump, it was only a pea size. by the time i got to see the consultant, it was the size of a tangerine. caroline believes that routine screening would have picked up her condition. i had my mammogram booked in for the end of march 2020, and obviously covid lockdown happened and it got cancelled. i then had it rescheduled for november 2020. again, the second lockdown happened, the mammogram got cancelled again. i kept trying to rebook and couldn't even get through the telephone line to even rebook it. she believes the nhs never caught up with her fast—growing cancer. it's delays, delays, delays. and the thing with cancer, it needs to be immediate. no european country tolerates a two—month delay knowing you have cancer to start treatment. in the states, you'd start suing people if you were made to wait

two months routinely. so something's got to change there. this is the worst cancer crisis of my lifetime. and as the figures are going to show, the waits for cancer treatment are the worst they've ever been, and they're getting worse. and there's no real way that we can catch up. but behind those figures, of course, are individual patients and their families, for whom every day of delay is torture. even if, as in caroline's case, the treatment target was hit. you're living with — this cancer is spreading, and you're waiting for results and then you get to a result, and then they're not doing anything more. you're stuck waiting for another scan and another result, and you're not getting any treatment or help. i shouldn't be, now, stage four with given two years left to live.

the actual treatment itself... so what should we do now? the government responded in february, promising a new ten—year cancer plan. we need a new national war on cancer. this is a key weapon in any such war. a state—of—the—art radiotherapy machine. it can target a precise beam of radiation on a tumour as small as half a millimetre across. according to those who run britain's radiotherapy departments, not nearly enough nhs patients have access to treatment from machines like this. we need investment and we need more workforce, and we need to give the workforce the tools they need and get rid of bureaucracy. and this is an absolute crisis. for patients like caroline, targets mean little now. not finding out she had cancer early enough to make a difference, she says, has robbed her of herfuture.

david grossman reporting. and you can find support and information about cancer and about charities that can help you at bbc.co.uk/actionline, or you can call forfree, at any time to hear recorded information on 08000 560190. 08000 560190. now we turn to the extreme weather that a lot of us are experiencing. at midnight a four day extreme heat warning will come into force across parts of england and wales, meaning vulnerable people's health could be impacted and travel could be disrupted. it applies to southern and central england and parts of wales and will last until sunday. our correspondent matt mcgrath has this report. mcgrath has this report.

after weeks of warm weather, another unsettling bout of very high temperatures is fast approaching. as the heat starts to rise to unpleasant levels, people are having to queue to cool off. the next few days will also put extra pressure on already diminished water resources. scientists are warning that river levels in southern england may remain exceptionally low until october. some have already dried up. i never thought i'd see it in my lifetime. when running water stops flowing, it's going to be the end of the world as we know it. everything is going to go stagnant and that's it. you've got to have running water. the uk health security agency says, in the coming days, vulnerable people should stay hydrated, keep cool and take steps to prevent their homes from overheating. making things more uncomfortable will be the lack of respite at night. temperatures in some areas in the south won't drop below 20 celsius. for farmers already suffering from months of dry conditions, the impacts are not confined to the immediate future. they are increasingly worried about the long term. i can't grow my crops for next season at the moment,

i can't plant them. there's no moisture in the ground. we're starting to the effects rolling into next year. last winter we were planting lots of hedges and trees to improve the biodiversity on our farm landscape. much of that has died, we haven't been able to keep them watered. this is going to have real, long—term effects to our farming businesses. these dramatic impacts of hot weather, supercharged by climate change, are not confined to parts of the uk. drought in france is damaging crops, rivers are drying out, wildfires are already taking a heavy toll. the risk of fire in the uk is also growing. emergency services are urging people not to light bonfires or barbecues. with scattered thunderstorms predicted by sunday, there may be some relief. but, as global warming exerts a growing influence in the years ahead, these difficult heatwave conditions will likely become our new normal. matt mcgrath, bbc news.

the extreme heat is exacerbating the problems of water shortages across large parts of the country. in some areas, there are already hosepipe bans and warnings of drought. and one village — northend, on the border between buckinghamshire and 0xfordshire — is so short of water that households they are relying on tankers and bottled water from their supplier, thames water. our reporter celestina olulode is there. you should be able to see behind me two thames water tankers. this tanker arrived just a few minutes ago and it is supplying water to local residents here because they have told me that for the past few days over the weekend they have not had water to be able to have a shower, a bath or to be able to have a drink. they have been using, relying on bottled water. and in the last hour i spoke to a local farmer

called peter langford. he said to me that his elderly aunt had come to visit him and she wasn't able to have a bath as a result of this. he was very frustrated as well that he couldn't give his cattle a drink using taps. he had to use bottled water. and he says that this has all really come at a cost to him, it has impacted him financially. the other residents in the area that i've spoken to, they said, look, actually in the past four years they've had problems with water supply. but of course this year particularly difficult because we have had record temperatures. we know that the met office has introduced an amber warning which means that people with health problems could experience difficulties and there could be travel disruption. this comes as well at a time when parts of the country are experiencing hosepipe bans.

that means that in parts of hampshire, the isle of hampshire, in the isle of wight, you could be fined for ignoring that ban. later on this week parts of sussex as well and kent will introduce a ban and parts of pembrokeshire and carmarthenshire will do the same. thames water as well said just yesterday that they would be introducing a hosepipe ban as well. thames water provides water to over 15 million people in london and parts of southern england. so lots of restrictions in place. but people here say that they want thames water to talk to them more about ways to ensure that the supply of water won't be affected again. celesti na celestina olulode in that village where people are getting bottled water and more besides because of

the water shortage. the weather prospects coming up for you. just a reminder, before that, let's talk again about the energy story. we have been reflecting on the figures from the comparison service uswitch suggesting uk households oh £1.3 billion in total to their energy suppliers. the overall debt bill is already three times higher than it was a year ago and experts of course are worried it is going to grow even more over the winter. we have been hearing in the last little while from the chancellor nadhim zahawi. he has been in northern ireland having meetings with businesses, so we have just had a few comments in from him. let's hear some of what nadhim zahawi had to say. it from him. let's hear some of what nadhim zahawi had to say.- from him. let's hear some of what nadhim zahawi had to say. it was a constructive _ nadhim zahawi had to say. it was a constructive meeting, _ nadhim zahawi had to say. it was a constructive meeting, i _ nadhim zahawi had to say. it was a constructive meeting, i had - nadhim zahawi had to say. it was a constructive meeting, i had the i constructive meeting, i had the community minister, the economy minister and the utility regulator and we agree that we would make sure we reconvene on monday. i want to make sure that i keep my promise.

the united kingdom government has promised to deliver this £400 to families in northern ireland as quickly and swiftly as possible, and there was collective agreement that we can do this and we can do it well. my focus is very much on how well. my focus is very much on how we operationalise that and operationalise it very quickly to make sure families in northern ireland get that £400 into their bank accounts. of course we have also delivered 100 million already and we will deliver an additional 100 million in the autumn. and i have to say that my colleagues here collectively are focused to deliver this and i'm confident we will do it. ~ , this and i'm confident we will do it. a , ., , this and i'm confident we will do it. a , this and i'm confident we will do it. as it stands you still can't ive it. as it stands you still can't tive us it. as it stands you still can't give us any _ it. as it stands you still can't give us any indication - it. as it stands you still can't give us any indication or i it. as it stands you still can't give us any indication or a i give us any indication or a guarantee that we will get this money at the same time as people in england, scotland and wales? we will get it, you are going to meet again, but is this close? will be here next week what is happening? i will but is this close? will be here next week what is happening?— week what is happening? i will do eve hinu week what is happening? i will do everything in _ week what is happening? i will do everything in my _ week what is happening? i will do everything in my power, - week what is happening? i will do everything in my power, i- week what is happening? i will do everything in my power, i have i week what is happening? i will do everything in my power, i have a | everything in my power, i have a track record on delivery, i did the

vaccine deployment, i was the vaccine deployment, i was the vaccine deployment, i was the vaccine deployment minister and we worked collectively of course to do that work in northern ireland, in wales, in scotland. i will not rest until this is delivered. the reason that i wanted a meeting next monday is to make sure we make progress urgently because families want watching tonight is that they know that this chancellor and the economy minister and the communities minister are working together with the utility regulator to get a pragmatic solution. because what they care about is the £400 landing on their bank accounts. flan they care about is the £400 landing on their bank accounts. can i they care about is the £400 landing on their bank accounts.— on their bank accounts. can i 'ust checked, previously i on their bank accounts. can i 'ust checked, previously the i on their bank accounts. can i just checked, previously the treasury | checked, previously the treasury said this was complicated because there was no executive at stormont. is the meeting today and what you are now saying an indication that the treasury will work with the utility regulator to lie directly make these payments? is that what is going to happen? and also, that £400, going to happen? and also, that elioo, people will welcome it, but they say this is a drop in the ocean compared to what we need —— utility

regulator directly. we compared to what we need -- utility regulator directly.— regulator directly. we have pledged to deliver this _ regulator directly. we have pledged to deliver this money, _ regulator directly. we have pledged to deliver this money, the - to deliver this money, the chancellor is here looking at how we operationalise it and i want to be swift, as quickly as possible, which is why i think we look at a pragmatic solution. what i agreed today with the utility regulator, with the economy minister and with the community minister is that we go for the pragmatic solution. that's why we are going to meet on monday again to make sure we keep focused and get this done. you are absolutely right to say that we have to do more. we have allocated £37 billion for the united kingdom, for the four nations to be delivered. we are midway through that. my focus is to make sure we continue. we have 100 million for northern ireland already, i've got to deliver the next 100 million for the autumn, and then of course beyond that the first day i walk into the treasury i ask my leadership team to look at what more can we do later in the winter. we know that putin will continue to

play with the gas price because this spike, the reason we are in this difficulty is because we have war on our continent. we must stay resilient. the way we stay resilient is by working together and i think we can do this and do this well. chancellor, people are saying they can't wait until a new prime minister is in place for something else to happen when it comes to getting extra money out to people. what about a windfall tax? you are the chancellor and usually know what is needed but you have candidates like liz truss who you are backing who are ruling out further cash hand—outs and the idea of a windfall tax. a couple of things on that, the 37 billion we are part of the way through. mi; 37 billion we are part of the way throuuh. y , .,, 37 billion we are part of the way throuuh. g , .,, .,, 37 billion we are part of the way throuuh. g , .,, ., through. my focus has to be to get that money — through. my focus has to be to get that money into _ through. my focus has to be to get that money into people's - through. my focus has to be to get that money into people's bank- that money into people's bank accounts to help them now. the additional 100 million in the autumn has to be my priority, the £400 you and ijust discussed and that focus on that has to be my priority. we have the windfall tax in place, that will generate £5 billion. i'm meeting with the companies

tomorrow... hold on a second, 37,000,000,012 months is a big amount of money. the challenge is to get it into people's accounts and that's why i'm here. now, if we need to go further later on, so in january, we have to make sure we have the ideas and the options available, so whoever becomes prime minister on the 5th of september can look at that. but we already have the 37 billion in place. myjob now is to get it into people's bank accounts because that's where it really matters. the accounts because that's where it really mattere— really matters. the chancellor nadhim zahawi _ really matters. the chancellor nadhim zahawi talking - really matters. the chancellor nadhim zahawi talking in - really matters. the chancellor nadhim zahawi talking in the l really matters. the chancellor. nadhim zahawi talking in the last little while on a visit to northern ireland. let's talk briefly to our political correspondent rajdeep sandhu who is following this. there has been criticism from some quarters we haven't heard enough from the prime minister or the chancellor given what people are facing. what will people make of what he's saying about the energy crisis now? lots of criticism that the prime minister and chancellor

were away although they said they were away although they said they were working while they were on their respective holidays. we have now had the _ their respective holidays. we have now had the chancellor— their respective holidays. we have now had the chancellor in - their respective holidays. we have | now had the chancellor in northern ireland saying something that was mostly focused on how they would get the £400 that people should automatically receive if you've got direct debit from october to help with energy bills, how people in northern ireland would get that money because there is not currently a power—sharing agreement which makes things more complicated, so he was in northern ireland to sort that out and seemed pretty confident that they would get there in the end, and of course there will be lots of concerns of people in northern ireland about how to get that support, but he was also asked about further support for when the new prime minister was announced, and that will happen in september and there has been pressure on boris johnson, rishi sunak and liz truss to get together around a table and hash out some sort of support before the end of the contest. that idea seems to have been rejected and is not getting much traction with them.

nadeem zahavi saying that the treasury is currently working on options and ideas to put in place potentially for when a new prime minister is elected and whether that is rishi sunak or liz truss by the conservative membership, that there are those ideas being talked about in the treasury, and one of them we understand is potentially expanding the windfall tax. there is currently an energy profit levy on the energy firms to tax the profits they have made since may and charter that could be expanded although liz truss has completely poured cold water on that idea saying that taxing is not the way to go and she is a big believer in low taxes on things that is the way to make the economy grow and therefore get more money into the government treasury coffers as she put it, and ultimately help people that way but there's been a lot of criticism that she won't see

her plans detailing those on the lowest income or pensioners who might not necessarily benefit from tax cuts. she has not ruled out having any direct support but does not seem keen on it and rishi sunak�*s camp has said that the rishi sunak�*s camp has said that the rishi sunak plans are clear as mud but they have been criticised for not giving detail about how their plans would work and rishi sunak has said he would give direct support to people like he has done before when he was chancellor, and he was chancellor when they announced a £400 support coming into place from october, but it seems to be that it could be potentially universal but last night he said it would be targeted, so lots of detail missing from his plans about who he would be helping and how much they would be getting, and they are waiting until the end of the contest to set out more detail. thank you so much. we are keeping an eye on that story. we will pause now to take a look at the

weather prospects. good afternoon, the heatwave is set to continue for the rest of the week on the met office has issued an amber weather warning, the second highest level of alert for extreme heat valid from thursday until sunday for much of england and eastern areas of wales as well. this is the satellite picture from earlier and you can see cool and cloudy conditions to the north—west of scotland and elsewhere blue sky and strong sunshine with temperatures peaking at 32 celsius in central and southern england and may be 26 or 27 celsius for eastern scotland and parts of northern ireland. overnight tonight outbreaks of rain for the western isles and clear skies and generally a warmer night than we saw last night with temperatures in the mid—teens in celsius and they could be mist, fog, low cloud moving into eastern coastal areas and down through the thames valley that could linger on the part of the day tomorrow in patches. tomorrow the heatjust ramps up, may be 3a or 35 celsius somewhere in the west midlands.

households in the uk owe energy companies more money than ever before — and that's before the extra increases in bills due later this year. all children in london aged between i and 9 will be offered a polio booster vaccine after more traces of the virus are found in the capital's waste water. four days of extreme weather is forecast in england and wales. it comes as environmental groups say some rivers are starting to dry up — seriously impacting wildlife. the bbc uncovers evidence suggesting the nhs is struggling to return cancer care to pre—pandemic levels in england as more than 10,000 people wait more than three months to start treatment. and the author and illustrator raymond briggs, best known for the 1978 classic,

the snowman, has died, aged 88. golf's fedex cup play—offs begin this weekend, under the shadow of another court case. three players from the breakaway liv series were suing to be allowed to compete, but a judge in the usa has sided with the pga tour. our golf correspondent iain carter explains. this week is a big week for the pga tour, the start of their play—off series which will culminate with the tour championship at the end of the month. as we know, the rival breakaway liv series has been and they've played three tournaments so far and there were three players eligible for these play—offs who have subsequently been banned by the pga tour, taylor gooch,

hudson swafford and mattjones, who would have been eligible to start the play—offs in memphis this week if it were not for the fact that they are banned. a restraining order was sought to try and make sure that these players would be eligible to play in the pga tour event. that case was heard in sanjose yesterday and the judge ruled in favour of the pga tour, saying that the contract that gooch, swafford and jones had signed were effectively lucrative enough to take account of the earnings they would lose by not being able to play in these pga tour play—offs. meanwhile, the world number 2, cameron smith has refused to be drawn on speculation linking him with a move to the liv series. the australian won the first major of his career at the open at st andrews last month. my goal here is to win the fedexcup play—offs. that is all i'm here for.

if there is something i need to say regarding the pga tour or liv golf, it will come from cameron smith, not cameron percy. i am a man of my word. whenever you guys need to know anything, it will be said by me. serena williams is set for what could be one of the last matches of her career. the a0 year—old faces olympic champion belinda bencic in canada later on wednesday. it comes after suggesting she'll "evolve away" from tennis, following the us open, which begins later this month. her fellow professionals are preparing for tour life, without the 23—time grand slam champion. well, bianca andreescu provided a first round upset for her home crowd as she beat daria kasatkina, who won in san jose last week. the canadian won this title in 2019 and looked good again, with a straight sets win. she now faces alize cornet of france in round 2. the football world cup in qatar is set to start a day earlier than planned, to allow the host nation to play the first match of the tournament. traditionally the host nation plays

in the tournament opener, but qatar were due to be involved in the third match of the day on monday november 21st. with two other teams in group a, the netherlands and senegal set to kick off proceedings. but fifa is now set to move qatar's game with ecuador to the sunday after both teams agreed the switch. and australia women's cricket captain meg lanning is to take an indefinite breakfrom the game for personal reasons. the 30 year—old says the decision will be effective immediately, meaning she won't be competing as planned for the trent rockets in the hundred. lanning says she's taking time to focus on herself after a "busy couple of years". she helped australia to two women's world cups, four women's world t20 titles and only last weekend captained the team to gold at the commonwealth games. 30 years after one of boxing's defining rivalries — the fued between nigel benn and chris eubank is set to be renewed — via their sons.

conor benn and chris eubankjunior will fight at london's o2 arena. eubank and benn senior fought twice, with eubank winning the first fight in 1990, while the second, three years later, ended in a split decision draw. their sons will meet for the first time on october 8th — with eubankjunior saying it's the biggest fight of his career. parking are few details have come through about the explosions yesterday in ukraine that you might be aware. the ukrainian air force says russian aircraft were destroyed in the explosions at a russian airbase in

crimea and the british government has been talking about all of this as well following some speculation. defence back —— secretary ben wallace says it is unlikely that western supplied weapons were the cause of the explosion and in terms of the airbase in crimea, he said the airbase was absolutely a legitimate target for ukraine because it had been used to conduct russian air on ukraine itself. so ukraine's air force russian air on ukraine itself. so ukraine's airforce a russian air on ukraine itself. so ukraine's air force a nine russian aircraft were destroyed yesterday in crimea. let's talk about people from ukraine who are living in this country. a survey about the government scheme to provide homes for ukrainian refugees has found that the vast majority of hosts are still doing so, and many want to continue beyond the initial six—month period. people were paid £350 a month to house those fleeing the conflict following the russian invasion.

but of those hosts questioned, nearly a third said the rising cost of living had seriously affected their ability to provide support. and about a half said that the biggest challenges were helping their guests get access to benefits or public services. let's discuss the whole scheme and how it has been working with someone who is involved with it, andrew pitts, who is hosting a family from ukraine's capital, kyiv, and is also a trustee of a charity transporting aid to the ukrainian border and helps bring people back here. hello, good afternoon to you. thanks for waiting to talk to us. without giving personal details, first of all, explain the extent to which you have found the scheme doable, manageable. i know you've been able to host a family. how has it worked

and what have been the challenges and what have been the challenges and successes of it in your mind? we have and successes of it in your mind? - have brought back nearly 400 people from ukraine over the last 18 weeks with 100 pets, just add that to it, and we have seen every type of help given from the very good, a story from one of the first trips we did, katarina, who had two little girls, they were in school with their school uniform and getting benefits in six days. i myself, like a lot of people i think in this survey, who have had a family for 12 weeks, they are really struggling to get any benefits whatsoever, so we are continuously supporting them. they have gotjobs, so they are earning some money now themselves, but they didn't get any benefits until they actually managed to getjobs, and getting jobs is pretty tough, having to get all of the special codes they

needed, national insurance numbers and all of that from the government system was pretty tough, so i can see why people in the survey are having a bit of a struggle, but it depends where you live, and it is a bit of a postcode lottery, but one thing is for sure, that the british public have been absolutely amazing and the support we have received as and the support we have received as a charity has been absolutely fantastic as well. it a charity has been absolutely fantastic as well.— fantastic as well. it is really interesting _ fantastic as well. it is really interesting to _ fantastic as well. it is really interesting to hear- fantastic as well. it is really interesting to hear how - fantastic as well. it is really - interesting to hear how variable some of the families experiences have been and that is quite striking and quite something. and when this survey says a lot of people who had taken families in, or an individual wanting to go beyond the six months, but others are having doubts and we talk so much and we are doing it again today combat the rising cost of living, do you see where some of that anxiety and difficulty coming from? ., ~ that anxiety and difficulty coming from? m , that anxiety and difficulty coming from? , ., ., from? taking somebody into your own home who don't _ from? taking somebody into your own home who don't know— from? taking somebody into your own home who don't know and _ from? taking somebody into your own home who don't know and you - from? taking somebody into your own home who don't know and you don't . home who don't know and you don't know really what their personality is like is always going to be

difficult, and i think you then add on top of that precious on your finances that nobody foresaw even 18 weeks ago that we would be where we are now with fuel bills and all of those things, and i think there's a lot of families that have opened their homes who are struggling and you can see why maybe they are having second thoughts. it must be very difficult for them. what having second thoughts. it must be very difficult for them.— very difficult for them. what about the eo - le very difficult for them. what about the people themselves, _ very difficult for them. what about the people themselves, the - very difficult for them. what about i the people themselves, the families themselves. i am interested in what you have heard in terms of some who are really happy and feel settled, but do someone to stay a lot longer? we know about the dreadful state in ukraine still today, and how many of them, on a human level, talk about wanting to go home. it is such a torturous situation. it wanting to go home. it is such a torturous situation.— torturous situation. it really is and it's really _ one thing the ukrainian people themselves, they are absolutely stoic and have been incredible, and i have to say all of us that work within the charity hardly ever hear

people complain. they really don't. they are very happy to be here. they are happy to be safe. i know that the husbands, brothers, sons that they left behind are also very happy for them to be here and to be away from the dreadful stuff that is going on in ukraine, so we really do hear very little complaint, although i've had a lot of tears from my family because they are kind of embarrassed. they don't want me to have to give them money. they want to do it themselves and they want things to work. they are very proud people, so it's very tough on them. it really is very tough on them. gosh, it is so interesting to hear that perspective. i’m gosh, it is so interesting to hear that perspective.— gosh, it is so interesting to hear that perspective. i'm sorry we can't talk for longer _ that perspective. i'm sorry we can't talk for longer because _ that perspective. i'm sorry we can't talk for longer because i _ that perspective. i'm sorry we can't talk for longer because i could - that perspective. i'm sorry we can't talk for longer because i could ask| talk for longer because i could ask you much more but thank you for now and we might speak again. very important- _ and we might speak again. very important. thank— and we might speak again. very important. thank you. - and we might speak again. very important. thank you. andrew. and we might speak again. very - important. thank you. andrew pitts, who has been _ important. thank you. andrew pitts, who has been able _ important. thank you. andrew pitts, who has been able to _ important. thank you. andrew pitts, who has been able to help _ important. thank you. andrew pitts, who has been able to help one - important. thank you. andrew pitts, | who has been able to help one family in his own situation there.

ryan giggs' ex—girlfriend has told a court she became "a slave to his every need and every demand". the former manchester united star is on trial accused of controlling behaviour and assaulting kate greville and her younger sister emma. he denies the charges. our correspondent laura scott has the latest from manchester crown court. this morning the jury heard that kate greville, ryan giggs's ex—girlfriend, had given a witness statement on sunday in which she said she felt like she'd become a slave to the former manchester united star's every need and every demand. under cross—examination she was asked if she meant that in a literal sense, to which she replied, "when ryan said, "do something," i would do it. and there was some resistance sometimes but he made me feel i had to do everything he said, otherwise there were consequences." she agreed that for the majority of their on—off relationship over six years giggs was nice to her. but said there were interjections of abuse and that towards the end he was relentlessly awful.

defence barrister chris daw qc said that her portrayal of how the relationship had started was fiction. ms greville was asked about an alleged incident in dubai in 2017 when she accused giggs of dragging her by her wrist, causing a bruise, and that he'd thrown her out of their hotel room naked with her belongings. mr daw said her account was completely manufactured. he read out a message ms greville had sent giggs, saying the bruise was caused by sex. she said they'd discussed over the phone that is what she would say it was from. giggs denies all the charges against him. a disabled student has succeeded in getting access improved at her university after a two—year campaign. naomi stenning attends kings college london, which is almost 200 years old. the university said the age of the buildings meant making adjustments was "complex".

but it has now invested £450,000 in improvements. naomi has been sharing her story with bbc london's alison earle. barriers, heavy doors and lots and lots of stairs. getting around king's college london for naomi is a work—out. before i've done any classes, it feels like i've run a marathon. there are so many rooms that i just can't even try to access because of steps. she's studying music at the university's campus on the strand, some of which dates back to the 1800s. but not long after starting, her health went downhill and she now relies on a feeding tube and a wheelchair. i have pots, which is postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, and it basically means that if i stand up, all the blood rushes to my feet and then there's not enough going to my brain and soifaint. she spent two years on a mission to make it easier to move around the buildings, even starting a petition. a lot of the time they were saying

it's a listed building, they needed permission for it. and it took me making the petition for that to happen and for higher... like, people higher up the chain to get involved. well, the rules on this go back more than a decade. the equality act 2010 states that buildings need to be accessible to disabled people. and that does mean all buildings, even if they're old or listed. better access is finally on the way at king's, with changes to doors and steps. does it go far enough? there are two stairs that stop me from getting to quite a lot of rooms and we asked for a ramp to be put over them, but they couldn't do it. a spokesperson for king's said... we did require listed building consent. we fully appreciate this can be a frustratingly slow process, which has been exacerbated by supply chain issues and covid. the university takes the individual needs of our disabled students extremely seriously. we are continually developing our

campuses so king's can be as accessible as possible. she's now started a society there for disabled students, and hopes that sharing her experience might help others. alison earle, bbc london. a beluga whale, that swam up the river seine in northern france has died, despite the efforts of a big rescue operation to save the animal. the eight—hundred kilo whale was lifted from the river using a crane and net, and hoisted onto a barge but developed breathing difficulties. sarah campbell reports. stranded 80 miles inland from the english channel, making its way slowly along the seine towards paris, far from the arctic waters which should be home. millions of people in france and around the world watched as the whale became weaker, stopped eating and it became clear that, however risky, a rescue attempt would have to be made.

a team of 80, including police and divers, spent six hours painstakingly catching and winching the 800—kilo whale out of the river. translation: the moment when we got the beluga out of the water _ was stressful and extremely intense. he was surprised and moving about, and we thought he would escape from the net. it was quite astonishing, but he's alive and he's on the barge. the plan had been to transport the whale in a refrigerated lorry to be released back into the open sea off the northern french coast, but it became clear during the journey that the whale was becoming increasingly unwell. this morning, at a press conference, the rescue team revealed it had died. translation: the animal's breathing was insufficient i so the suffering was evident. therefore we decided it was not pertinent to release it, so we proceeded with its euthanasia.

tributes have been paid to the author and illustrator raymond briggs who has died at the age of 88. he's best known for the 1978 classic the snowman, as well as creating much loved books including father christmas, fungus the bogeyman and when the wind blows. our correspondent david silito looks back at his life. it's become part of christmas. the snowman that comes to life. magical, heart—warming, and the end, the snowman melts. # we're walking in the air...# a very, very raymond briggs twist. he was a children's author who wasn't really writing for children. strip cartoon, raymond briggs, children's department. that's been the attitude in england. strip cartoon, children's book. we're growing out of that a bit now, about half a century too late.

you don't think children of ten don't think about that. you don't think about the audience. you couldn't possibly. you just have the idea in your head and you can do it how you want it. it was his father christmas that was raymond briggs' breakthrough but this was no jovial gift—bearer. this father christmas moaned, swore, and drankjust a bit too much. what i normally do in most of my things, is have something that's fantastical, like father christmas, like fungus, and imagine it to be wholly real and follow it through logically from there. it's a fouljob, out all night on your own, flying about in icy temperatures, landing on rooftops, going down filthy chimneys. can you imagine climbing down a chimney not once but hundreds of times? he's going to be fed up with it. the bogeymen are

stirring in their beds. and then fungus, a gloriously disgusting story of a bogeyman having a mid life —— midlife crisis. nice, cold, filthy water. a good head office gone at it this morning. raymond briggs studied at the slade school of art. he worked in advertising and hated it. he illustrated children's books but he didn't like the saccharine stories. he was much happier with cartoons that had a little darkness to them. take when the wind blows. the story of a couple's attempts to follow government advice in a nuclear attack. i have never heard such language in all of my life. for god's sake, shut up! oh, dear. i've left the oven on. get in, get in. the cake will be burned. lie down. when he began his comic art was frowned on by his art teachers. by the end, raymond briggs had done much to change attitudes with those charming drawings and the slightly subversive stories. raymond briggs who has

died at the age of 88. more coming up, but right now we look at the weather prospects with elizabeth. good afternoon. the heatwave is set to continue as we head through the rest of the week and in fact there is a met office and the weather warning in force, the second highest level of alert for extreme heat that is valid across much of england and eastern wales from thursday until the end of the day on sunday. a sustained period of hot and dry weather rather than the record—breaking heat we saw injuly but temperatures could still get as high as 35 up to 37 celsius later in the week, not that hot today but still very warm. 32 degrees west of london and 27 for eastern scotland and for northern ireland as well. overnight tonight, a warmer night than we saw last night and still some outbreaks of rain for

north—west scotland, the western isles and temperatures in the mid teens and maybe some low cloud towards eastern coastal areas and down through the thames valley which could stick around into tomorrow morning in patches. but elsewhere, lots of blue sky and warm sunshine and temperatures set to rise as high as 34 or 35 on thursday out towards the west midlands and central and southern england and towards the coast we will see a sea breeze so more refreshing here but all of the hot air comes more refreshing here but all of the hotair comes in more refreshing here but all of the hot air comes in on the easterly breeze we will see towards eastern coastal areas from the near continent and if we see four consecutive days over 35 celsius, that would be friday, that would be the first time it has happened since the first time it has happened since the long hot summer of 1976. temperatures on friday and again on saturday could get as high as 36 or 37 degrees, and this is most likely somewhere towards the west of london, perhaps across central and southern england and even into the west midlands and perhaps the welsh marshes, so maybe 36 or 37 degrees.

let's look at the outlook for the capital cities in the next few days and you can see the heat last into sunday but you will notice in the london temperatures as we head through sunday, lots of uncertainty on exactly what will happen but it will be feeling cooler by the time we get to monday and the system will be moving north and it could spark off some heavy thundery downpours. not reliable rainfall, but at last some wet weather for places that really do need it with the shower is fairly hit and miss.

this is bbc news. i'm victoria derbyshire and these are the latest headlines: households in the uk owe energy companies more money than ever before — and that's before the extra increases in bills due later this year. i am absolutely at the end of what i can offer. so i will pay what i can pay but i can't pay anything more than that. there is nothing left to cutback on. this is not something that can wait. we need to get firm decisions coming from the key parties. and in half an hour — we'll be answering your questions on the energy price hikes. get in touch by using the hashtag bbcyourquestions — or you can email,

yourquestions@bbc. co. uk. all children in london aged between one and nine will be offered a polio booster vaccine after more traces of the virus are found in the capital's waste water. four days of extreme weather is forecast in england and wales. it comes as environmental groups say some rivers are starting to dry up — seriously impacting wildlife. more trouble for donald trump, the former us president refuses to answer questions under oath from the new york state attorney general who is investigating his family's business practices. # we're walking in the air # we're floating in the moonlit sky.# the author and illustrator raymond briggs, best known for the 1978 classic the snowman has died, aged 88.

hello, good afternoon. many families are falling behind on their gas and electricity bills, with the total owed by consumers to energy suppliers tripling since last september. a survey of 2,000 people for uswitch suggests almost a quarter of households owe an average of more than £200 to their provider. it comes as ministers are due to hold talks with the energy companies tomorrow about the impact of sharply rising bills. yesterday experts predicted the average household energy bill would reach £4,200 a year by january. caroline davies reports. even before we turn on the heating in the cold months, fears about energy bills are already building. when it's working you press this button here, and it has three heat settings. some, like hannah, a phd student, are already feeling a sense of rising panic. she bought an electric heated

jacket to try to cut down on her energy bills this winter. i can afford to pay them £95 a month, i will pay them £95 a month and no more. if that doesn't cover than what the fuel costs are, for the first time in my life, other than student loans, i'm going to be going into debt. the amount of money energy companies are allowed to charge the average household, the price cap, has rocketed up. experts now estimate that the price cap could exceed £3,500 a year in october, and more than £4,200 byjanuary. the pressure is building on the government to commit to a plan to provide help this autumn and winter. tory leadership candidate rishi sunak said he will provide more money targeted at the most vulnerable people to help with their energy bills, and said the amount would depend on the extent of energy price rises. there are millions of families for whom it is simply not possible, no matter how hard they work,

to come up with that kind of cash and that's why our support should be targeted not on massive tax cuts for very wealthy people but targeted for the people who most need it. and if we don't do that, not only will millions of people suffer, we will get absolutely hammered when it comes to an election. his rival to be leader, liz truss, is focusing on tax cuts. i believe in people keeping their own money and i believe in a low—tax economy, that is the way that we are going to drive growth. i'm not going to announce the contents of a budget in the future at this stage in august, but i can assure people i will do all i can to make sure that energy is affordable, and that we get through this winter. she's dismissed calls to agree immediate plans, saying now is not the time to pre—empt those decisions, but others say a plan is needed now. this is not something that can wait. we need to get firm decisions coming from the key parties. rishi sunak needs to say more

detail of what he will do and liz truss needs to say more on what she will do, and if it is just tax cuts and the green levy, then we are going to leave millions destitute and in danger this winter. ministers are due to hold talks with the big energy companies tomorrow, to discuss ways to ease the cost of living and the price rises many are dreading. caroline davies, bbc news. the chancellor and the business secretary will meet with energy bosses tomorrow to discuss spiralling gas and electricity costs, as bills are predicted to hit more than £4,000 this winter. nadhim zahawi has refused to commit to any further help for households struggling to pay their energy bills — but says the government is looking at "ideas and options". you are absolutely right to say

that we have to do more. we have allocated £37 billion for the united kingdom, for the four nations to be delivered. we are midway through that. my focus is to make sure we continue. we have 100 million for northern ireland already, i've got to deliver the next 100 million for the autumn, and then of course beyond that the first day i walk into the treasury i ask my leadership team to look at what more can we do later in the winter. we know that putin will continue to play with the gas price because this spike, the reason we are in this difficulty is because we have war on our continent. we must stay resilient. the way we stay resilient is by working together and i think we can do this and do it well. our political correspondent rajdeep sandhu told us more about the chancellor's comments. most of that was about how they would get the £400 people should automatic receive if you have a direct debit from october to help with energy bills. how people in northern ireland would -et how people in northern ireland would get that— how people in northern ireland would get that money because there isn't currentiy— get that money because there isn't currentiy a — get that money because there isn't currently a power—sharing agreement which _ currently a power—sharing agreement which makes things they're more complicated. so he was in northern ireland _ complicated. so he was in northern ireland to _ complicated. so he was in northern ireland to try and sort that out and he seemed — ireland to try and sort that out and he seemed pretty confident that they would _ he seemed pretty confident that they would get there in the end.

there will be lots of concerns from people _ there will be lots of concerns from people in _ there will be lots of concerns from people in northern ireland about how they will_ people in northern ireland about how they will get that support. he was also asked about further support for when _ also asked about further support for when the _ also asked about further support for when the new prime minister is announced. that will happen in september. there has been pressure on boris _ september. there has been pressure on borisjohnson, rishi sunak and liz truss_ on borisjohnson, rishi sunak and liz truss to — on borisjohnson, rishi sunak and liz truss to all kind of get together around a table and hash out some _ together around a table and hash out some sort_ together around a table and hash out some sort of support before the end of the _ some sort of support before the end of the contest. that idea seems to have _ of the contest. that idea seems to have been— of the contest. that idea seems to have been rejected. it is not really getting _ have been rejected. it is not really getting much traction with them. nadhim — getting much traction with them. nadhim zahawi they are saying the treasury _ nadhim zahawi they are saying the treasury is — nadhim zahawi they are saying the treasury is currently working on options — treasury is currently working on options and ideas to put in place potentially for when a new prime minister— potentially for when a new prime minister is elected, whether that is rishi sunak or liz truss, by the conservative membership. there are those _ conservative membership. there are those ideas — conservative membership. there are those ideas being talked about in the treasury. one of them, we understand, is potentially expanding the windfall tax. there is currently an energy — the windfall tax. there is currently an energy levy, and energy profits a levy on _ an energy levy, and energy profits a levy on the — an energy levy, and energy profits a levy on the energy firms, to tax the profits _ levy on the energy firms, to tax the

profits they — levy on the energy firms, to tax the profits they have made since may. chatter _ profits they have made since may. chatter that that could potentially be expanded, although liz truss today— be expanded, although liz truss today has— be expanded, although liz truss today has sort of completely poured cold water _ today has sort of completely poured cold water on that idea, saying that taxing _ cold water on that idea, saying that taxing is— cold water on that idea, saying that taxing is not the way to go. she is a big _ taxing is not the way to go. she is a big believer in low taxes and thinks — a big believer in low taxes and thinks that's the way to make the economy— thinks that's the way to make the economy grow and therefore get more money— economy grow and therefore get more money into— economy grow and therefore get more money into the government treasury coffers. _ money into the government treasury coffers. and — money into the government treasury coffers, and she put it. and ultimately people that way. but there _ ultimately people that way. but there has been a lot of criticism that her— there has been a lot of criticism that her plans so far have not really — that her plans so far have not really detailed how she would help those _ really detailed how she would help those on _ really detailed how she would help those on the lowest incomes, those like pensioners, who would not necessarily benefit from tax cuts. she has— necessarily benefit from tax cuts. she has not ruled out having any direct— she has not ruled out having any direct support but she also hasn't seemed _ direct support but she also hasn't seemed particularly keen on it. rishi _ seemed particularly keen on it. rishi sunak's camp seem to think her plan is _ rishi sunak's camp seem to think her plan is as— rishi sunak's camp seem to think her plan is as clear as mud, although they have — plan is as clear as mud, although they have also been criticised for not giving — they have also been criticised for not giving more detail about how their— not giving more detail about how their plans would work. rishi sunak has said _ their plans would work. rishi sunak has said he — their plans would work. rishi sunak has said he would give direct support— has said he would give direct support to people like he has done before _ support to people like he has done before when he was chancellor. he was the _ before when he was chancellor. he was the chancellor when they announced the £400 support that is

coming _ announced the £400 support that is coming into place from october. but it seemed _ coming into place from october. but it seemed to be that it could have been _ it seemed to be that it could have been potentially universal but then it seemed last night he said it would — it seemed last night he said it would he _ it seemed last night he said it would be targeted. so again, lots of detail— would be targeted. so again, lots of detail missing from his plans about how he _ detail missing from his plans about how he would be helping on how much they would _ how he would be helping on how much they would be getting. but it seems they would be getting. but it seems they are _ they would be getting. but it seems they are both waiting for the end of they are both waiting for the end of the contest to perhaps set out more detail _ the contest to perhaps set out more detail we _ the contest to perhaps set out more detail. ~ ., ., ., ., ~ ., detail. we are going to talk to dallas lucas — detail. we are going to talk to dallas lucas in _ detail. we are going to talk to dallas lucas in greater - detail. we are going to talk to i dallas lucas in greater manchester. she's been struggling to keep up with bills and is now in over £500 in debt with her energy provider. hello, thank you for talking to us. hi. tell us what you are doing. i’m hi. tell us what you are doing. i'm sittin: on hi. tell us what you are doing. i'm sitting on a — hi. tell us what you are doing. i�*rn sitting on a mattress in my bedroom because i don't have a bed or sofa and i've been living off cereal and water, orforfood in bins. the payments that i've been given to make have taken so long it has been

ridiculous to wait that long for any initial hand—out from the government at all. i've sold all my furniture, i don't have a washer or a cooker any more, just to keep up with the energy bills. i've got rent arrears, it is literally taking from peter to pay to paul constantly, you don't know what to do for the best and there is no help or support out there. the little help they do give is swallowed up by these absolutely humongous energy bills, it is mainly the gas bill, the gas bill is so astronomical, i was paying £30 one month and the month after £150. and while we have had this massive heatwave and my gas hasn't been on and it is one of them things where it is like a monster, it is a poverty pandemic. and i think the government is playing russian roulette with people's lives. they don't live this life, it all looks

good on paperfor their don't live this life, it all looks good on paper for their electorate. but unfortunately we elected them and now it is like they have just abandoned us all. if they do a tax cut that wouldn't even touch anybody as a pensioner or universal credit because obviously we are right at the bottom of the food chain. so we're kind of left in a situation where... i can't even get food that you can buy, the food i get is either given to me from friends who realise i'm starving to death in this flat, or it is given to me by neighbours who come across you and see you are tired and i look different to how i did a few months back. when is it going to end? if it is this bad back. when is it going to end? if it is this had now the energy companies have surprised me out of living in my one—bedroom flat. i have nowhere else to go apart from this apart from a tent. i have literally slipped on a mattress, just

wondering what is coming next. i'm so upset by it and it is soul destroying to hear borisjohnson saying yesterday that he wasn't going to help, it is down to the next person along the line. which is too little too late and it is like he has just abandoned the whole of the country. it's notjust me, it is everybody that is afflicted with this. even my friends in full—time jobs, they are having similar problems to me and they have two partners, both full time, the same problem. their wages are not covering the mortgage because of the energy bill. they have made me bankrupt, literally, the gas bill has absolutely made me bankrupt. living on the £635 a month on universal credit, to say that half of that is rent, then the gas bill want the other half, you know, it is obviously getting me in a lot of rent arrears, council tax arrears. it is a constant vicious circle you are stuck on. and my mental health

has absolutely suffered, the worry, the constant hunger pains, it is like you can't sleep, notjust from worrying, but because you are literally lying here and thinking, i could starve to death in this flat. to go two weeks at a time living on a cereal and water because you can't afford milk or to run the fridge because you're frightened to death of putting on, it really causes anxiety, and i'm sure there are millions of people all up—and—down the country to have anxiety every single time they turn on a cattle. i've been having cold cups of tea, just sticking a tea bag in it, in some water. there is only so much you can economise. this is like world war ii relived, but the circumstances are totally different. there is a war or right, the war is between the government not listening and everybody who is trying to tell them what you're saying does not add

up. you can't live on £635 on universal credit and expect £1500 outgoing, and that's with sat there in the cold with tea lights heating your home and frightened to death of will you manage to walk six miles a day to go to a library there and backjust to do myjob search, just to come back to a bowl of cereal and water. i really do feel betrayed by borisjohnson. to see him smiling and happy and to know there are millions of people that aren't, it is heart wrenching to see that. there is no help, there is no end to this, itjust looks like it is going to be even worse in a few weeks. yes, the bills are going to get higher in october and then again in january, that's what the forecasts say. january, that's what the forecasts sa . ., ,., , say. the government might say in october you _ say. the government might say in october you are _ say. the government might say in october you are going _ say. the government might say in october you are going to - say. the government might say in october you are going to get i say. the government might say in. october you are going to get £1200 to help because you are on benefits and you will be classed as

vulnerable. i know that's probably still not going to touch the sides, is it? but it's something. i still not going to touch the sides, is it? but it's something.- is it? but it's something. i have asked the _ is it? but it's something. i have asked the gas _ is it? but it's something. i have asked the gas company - is it? but it's something. i have asked the gas company to i is it? but it's something. i have asked the gas company to rip . is it? but it's something. i have i asked the gas company to rip the metre out of this flat, and i've obviously complained to off gem as well. they have done absolutely nothing. i've asked them to cut me off so at least i can try and have a chance at paying the debt iol ready on this gas bill. the other energy providers have been supportive, they have given me electric, borrowed electric, you could call it, when i've really been struggling. it's been like one—bedroom after another but there is no end to it. it is one of them things were i'm not the only person suffering. and i want people to know that people should not be poverty shamed into the realisation that if you are poor you shouldn't ask for help, you know, that british stiff upper lip where anybody who is

struggling, don't ask for help. people who are well off, just trying to silence you all the time. they don't want to listen to anybody. they won't be happy until they have this winter where people will literally be freezing to death in their homes. and straight after covid people helped me to be better. and it is true of any pandemic, it is always month of prolonged starvation, in history, months of prolonged starvation from people who are just the ordinary person. and then when you have a pandemic like that they need to be mentally and physically well to be able to continue and survive. they won't survive this winter. it is going to be a massive pandemic of nothing but people just freezing to death, or dying of starvation. and this now has turned into a third world country because, it is really shocking that this is one of the richest countries in the world, and yet we are literally starving in our flat. ., ., ., . ., .,

flat. you have made it clear what ou think flat. you have made it clear what you think about _ flat. you have made it clear what you think about the _ flat. you have made it clear what you think about the current i flat. you have made it clear what| you think about the current prime minister. what would you say to the two people who want to take over from him who, at the moment, are reluctant to spell out clearly what extra help they might give people when they take over on september the 5th? ~ ., ,._ when they take over on september the 5th? ~ ., ., 5th? well, i would say to liz truss, the fact that she's turned _ 5th? well, i would say to liz truss, the fact that she's turned around i the fact that she's turned around and said she's not going to do any hand—outs to anybody, she is using the terminology that is wrong for a start. these are not hand—outs, this is people's survival we are talking about. it won't even touch the sides because people like me don't pay tax, pensioners don't pay tax, people with disabilities, it is not even going to see to that. whereas rishi sunak seems to be a little bit, he's been dealing with these problems for quite a while already, and obviously he realises the urgency of it, something has to be done. that's why they have already

initiated some extra additional help. but that doesn't go far enough. we have waited far too long for that. what i would say to the person that's going to take over this absolute living nightmare, which is the only way i can physically describe this, is i hope that they have got a strong stomach for what is coming next because people will literally just, for what is coming next because people will literallyjust, there will be horror stories of pensioners dying in theirflat, can't will be horror stories of pensioners dying in their flat, can't turn the electric on, it will be months before anybody discovered them. it is like armageddon, but it is such a situation, this is a man—made created event. this isn't something that the innocent poor electorate has created, this is a man—made global event that has caused this, it is notjust our country that is dealing with all these problems. but you know, people in government now are not listening to what needs to be done at home. they are not

focusing on the everyday people like me like the average pensioner, or like the couple with their family to feed. they are not looking at that. what they are looking at is where they are sitting. they don't worry about their energy bills, they don't have to even think about it. whereas for somebody like me, this isn't a choice, i demanded that they take this monster money eating metre out of my flat, and they are still refusing to allow me the option to try and get back on track. this has effectively made me bankrupt in my flat and i'm protecting my tenancy by refusing to pay back gas bill at just paying £5 off a month off it, whatever the total figure is right now, because the thing is if i pay the full amount i just will literally be throwing money down a black hole. and as soon as people realise you have to protect your tenancy first, make sure that you can still live in your flat or house, or wherever you are renting,

or your mortgages, nobody�*s mortgage should be lower than their gas bill and i'm hearing that all the time from my friends. their gas bills are higher than their own mortgage. so everybody has the same problem. dallas, thank you very much. thank ou. dallas, thank you very much. thank you- thank — dallas, thank you very much. thank you- thank you _ dallas, thank you very much. thank you. thank you for _ dallas, thank you very much. thank you. thank you for talking - dallas, thank you very much. thank you. thank you for talking to i dallas, thank you very much. thank you. thank you for talking to us. i you. thank you for talking to us. just after 433 — you. thank you for talking to us. just after 433 and _ you. thank you for talking to us. just after 433 and we _ you. thank you for talking to us. just after 433 and we will - you. thank you for talking to us. just after 433 and we will try i you. thank you for talking to us. j just after 433 and we will try and answer your questions on the energy crisis and expected a rise in bills. the main question i'm seeing on my tiktok is how we are going to pay this and i'm not sure there is an answer to that yet. email yourquestions@bbc.co.uk. more legaljeopardy for the more legal jeopardy for the former president in new york. mr trump had been due to testify in a civil investigation into his business practices. in the past now the former president said he had

declined to answer questions from new york's attorney general. let's talk to our north american correspondent gary o'donoghue. did he say why? correspondent gary o'donoghue. did he sa wh ? , correspondent gary o'donoghue. did he say why?— he say why? yes, he did. in a lenath he say why? yes, he did. in a lengthy statement _ he say why? yes, he did. in a lengthy statement he - he say why? yes, he did. in a lengthy statement he said i he say why? yes, he did. in a lengthy statement he said he | he say why? yes, he did. in a i lengthy statement he said he was taking the fifth amendment, as they call it here, the process under the constitution where you don't have to answer questions and incriminate yourself. he was taking that because all the inquiries and investigations into him were politically motivated witch hunts. he is answering the fact that five or six years ago he stood up at a rally and said anybody who takes the fifth amendment must have something to hide. so you can see there is something of a 180 degrees change of his views on that one. he also attacked the attorney general in new york for her investigation. essentially what she is looking at is whether or not his businesses, whether they are overstated and understated at other times the values of properties in order, in some cases, to get loans, and in other cases to avoid paying

taxes. it is a civil case which means at the end of it if there is a trial, if there is a charge, if there is an indictment you're looking at fines rather than prison. 0k, looking at fines rather than prison. ok, so what happens in the immediate short—term? what is the next thing that could happen? this short-term? what is the next thing that could happen?— that could happen? this particular investigation _ that could happen? this particular investigation looks _ that could happen? this particular investigation looks like _ that could happen? this particular investigation looks like it - that could happen? this particular investigation looks like it is i investigation looks like it is wrapping up so we should hear quite soon whether or not the attorney general is going to bring an indictment against the organisation andindeed indictment against the organisation and indeed against donald trump himself, and possibly against members of his family. that should happen now pretty soon. and then there will be a lengthy process of that going to trial and a jury trial. but don't forget there is a whole bunch of other investigations we are looking at. there is the raid on his house in florida, part of a terminal in korea with a search warrant. there is a criminal inquiry in georgia where, if you remember, he asked the election officials dared to find 11,000 votes, that is

still ongoing, then the wider question ofjanuary the still ongoing, then the wider question of january the 6th and insurrection at the capitol, the attempted insurrection at the capitol, donald trump implicated in that as well. so pretty much any way he turns there as a lawyer and a judge looking. he turns there as a lawyer and a judge looking-— he turns there as a lawyer and a 'udue lookinr. . ~ , . judge looking. thank you very much, ga . the judge looking. thank you very much, gary. the ukrainian _ judge looking. thank you very much, gary. the ukrainian air— judge looking. thank you very much, gary. the ukrainian air force - judge looking. thank you very much, gary. the ukrainian air force says i gary. the ukrainian air force says nine russian aircraft were destroyed in an explosion at an airbase in crimea yesterday. defence secretary ben wallace has told the bbc that the ministry of defence is still investigating the cause of yesterday's explosions but said it is unlikely that western supplied weapons were used. he added that he considered the airbase in crimea to be absolutely a legitimate target, as it has been used to conduct air strikes on the ukrainian mainland. the crimean peninsula was annexed, taken over, by russia in 2014, but it is internationally recognised as ukrainian territory.

at midnight a four day extreme heat warning will come into force across parts of england and wales meaning vulnerable people's health could be impacted and travel could be disrupted. it applies to southern and central england and parts of wales, and will last until sunday. our correspondent matt mcgrath has this report. after weeks of warm weather, another unsettling bout of very high temperatures is fast approaching. as the heat starts to rise to unpleasant levels, people are having to queue to cool off. the next few days will also put extra pressure on already diminished water resources. scientists are warning that river levels in southern england may remain exceptionally low until october. some have already dried up. i never thought i'd see it in my lifetime. when running water stops flowing, it's going to be the end of the world as we know it. everything is going to go stagnant and that's it. you've got to have running water. the uk health security agency says, in the coming days, vulnerable

people should stay hydrated, keep cool and take steps to prevent their homes from overheating. making things more uncomfortable will be the lack of respite at night. temperatures in some areas in the south won't drop below 20 celsius. for farmers already suffering from months of dry conditions, the impacts are not confined to the immediate future. they are increasingly worried about the long term. i can't grow my crops for next season at the moment, i can't plant them. there's no moisture in the ground. we're starting to the effects rolling into next year. last winter we were planting lots of hedges and trees to improve the biodiversity on our farm landscape. much of that has died, we haven't been able to keep them watered. this is going to have real, long—term effects to our farming businesses. these dramatic impacts of hot weather, supercharged by climate change, are not confined to parts of the uk. drought in france is damaging crops, rivers are drying out, wildfires are already taking a heavy toll. the risk of fire in the uk is also growing. emergency services are urging people

not to light bonfires or barbecues. with scattered thunderstorms predicted by sunday, there may be some relief. but, as global warming exerts a growing influence in the years ahead, these difficult heatwave conditions will likely become our new normal. matt mcgrath, bbc news. hundreds of people using sham marriages to stay in the uk have not been prosecuted and they remain in the country. bbc news has obtained figures showing 365 couples have tried to fraudulently exploit a post—brexit scheme giving eu citizens and their spouses the right to remain in the uk. nobody in a sham marriage has been removed in the past two years — and the last prosecution was four years ago. more than 500,000 learner drivers are waiting to take their driving test, according to new figures from the driver and vehicle standards agency. it means the average waiting time for a test slot is 14 weeks,

because of the backlog caused by the pandemic. with reports of learners waiting up to six months in some areas. the interest rate on student loans in england and wales is to be capped at 6.3% from september. right now it's 4.5% — but had been due to rise to 7.3%. ministers say the smaller rise is to "provide support" amid the rising cost of living. the change won't affect graduates' monthly repayments, but will have an impact on the total amount they owe. now it's time for a look at the weather with elizabeth rizzini. hello. thank you, victoria. the heatwave continues for the rest of this week. there is a met office and weather warning in force, the second—highest of alert for extreme heat and valid across most of england, as far north as manchester, sheffield and leeds come into eastern wales as well, from thursday until the end of the day on sunday. so, for today we still have these weather fronts to

the north west of scotland, so it is not hot everywhere but temperatures have peaked at 31 celsius in west sussex. 30 celsius in cardiff too, so not the hot today but still very warm out there, of course, and it will be warmer overnight tonight. temperatures for many will drop back into the mid teens in celsius, still some outbreaks of rain for the western isles, perhaps some low cloud and mist towards eastern coastal areas, cloud and mist towards eastern coastalareas, northern cloud and mist towards eastern coastal areas, northern ireland and the thames valley tomorrow morning as well. this is how we start the day on thursday, thursday is set to be a lot warmer, temperatures readily set to rise from the low to mid 30s particularly for parts of the midlands.

hello. this is bbc news. i'm victoria derbyshire and these are the headlines. households in the uk oh energy companies more money than ever and thatis

companies more money than ever and that is before the extra increases in bills due later this year. all children in london aged between one and nine will be offered a polio booster vaccine after more traces of the vaccine were found in the capital's waste four days of extreme weather are forecast in england and wales and it comes as environmental groups say some rivers are starting to dry up and impacting wildlife. more trouble for donald trump. the former us president refuses to answer questions under oath from the new york state attorney general who is investigating his family's business practices. and the author and illustrator, raymond briggs, best known for the snowman has died aged 88. sport now, and a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre. three players from golf's breakaway liv series have lost their legal case against the pga tour — meaning they're barred from competing at this weekend's lucrative fedex cup play—offs — as is patrick reed.

the 2018 masters champion is teeing off in singapore this week instead. it's one of the few tournaments that players on the liv tour are allowed to enter, as they're not banned from competing on the asian tour. despite the diminishing opportunities to play, reed believes more players willjoin the saudi backed liv series. i've the saudi backed liv series. played now tourname i've played now tournament golf and i can say to the guys who are out there that it doesn't matter what there that it doesn't matter what the dollar amount is, it is at the end of the day, it is more than playing just for yourself, you are part of a team, and at the end of the day you won trophies, and if i can win two trophies in the same week, singapore and see more, it's pretty cool. meanwhile, the world number2, cam smith is refusing to be drawn on speculation linking him with a move to the liv series.

the australian won the first major of his career at the open at st andrews last month. my goal here is to win the fedexcup play—offs. that is all i'm here for. if there is something i need to say regarding the pga tour or liv golf, it will come from cameron smith, not cameron percy. i am a man of my word. whenever you guys need to know anything, it will be said by me. serena williams is set for what could be one of the last matches of her career. the 40—year—old faces olympic champion belinda bencic in canada later on wednesday. it comes after suggesting she'll "evolve away" from tennis, following the us open, which begins later this month. her fellow professionals are preparing for tour life, without the 23—time grand slam champion. i was able to connect with her in some ways as well on and off the court. so hopefully i can and every other woman tennis player can continue on her legacy ofjust inspiring and motivating other women. the british 400m hurdler

lina nielsen says sport has been her saviour, after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. the 26—year—old spoke about her diagnosis last week, after she was unable to compete to her usual standards at last month's world athletics championships — where she noticed her symptoms were relapsing. she finished last in her heat. she was first diagnosed with relapsing remitting ms when she was 17 years old. she also competed at the commonwealth games in birmingham last week. a lot of people think it's really bad and that you will always be debilitated, but actually, i think in a way sport has been my saviour. having movement and things like that, i believe that helps with recovery. i just want to show that you can recover. and i think it shouldn't all be so pessimistic, i think. the football world cup in qatar is set to start a day earlier than planned, to allow the host nation to play

the first match of the tournament. traditionally the hosts plays in the tournament opener, but qatar were due to be involved in the third match of the day on monday november 21st. with two other teams in group a, the netherlands and senegal set to kick off proceedings. but fifa is now set to move qatar's game with ecuador to the sunday after both teams agreed the switch. and australia women's cricket captain meg lanning is to take an indefinite breakfrom the game for personal reasons. the 30 year—old says the decision will be effective immediately, meaning she won't be competing as planned for the trent rockets in the hundred. lanning says she's taking time to focus on herself after a "busy couple of years". she helped australia to two women's world cups, four women's world t20 titles and only last weekend captained the team to gold at the commonwealth games. that's all the sport for now.

welcome to your questions answered. you've been sending in your questions on the energy crisis and the expected rise in bills. hopefully to try and help answer your questions, ian thompson, director of operations for energy support and advice uk, and do tell our audience what your organisation does. we our audience what your organisation does. ~ , ., , . does. we provide free service centred on — does. we provide free service centred on a _ does. we provide free service centred on a facebook - does. we provide free servicej centred on a facebook group, does. we provide free service i centred on a facebook group, come and join us, centred on a facebook group, come andjoin us, is centred on a facebook group, come and join us, is welcome. free service to give as much advice as can in education on energy and how you can reduce your bills and manage your account and get the best possible deal you can.- your account and get the best possible deal you can. when i posted esterda possible deal you can. when i posted yesterday that _ possible deal you can. when i posted yesterday that bills, _ possible deal you can. when i posted yesterday that bills, one _ possible deal you can. when i posted yesterday that bills, one forecast i yesterday that bills, one forecast said they would go up byjanuary

next year to £4266, the main message from hundreds of people was, how are we supposed to pay? and i'm not sure there is an answer to that, is there? , �* ., . ., ., , there? there isn't a clear answer, no. it's there? there isn't a clear answer, no- it's not _ there? there isn't a clear answer, no. it's not simply _ there? there isn't a clear answer, no. it's not simply making - there? there isn't a clear answer, no. it's not simply making a i there? there isn't a clear answer, | no. it's not simply making a couple of changes, it's not simply making a difference to household budgets, it simply a very simple thing for many people, we cannot pay. it is significantly more than many people's weekly or monthly income, so something must be done and now. and that might be the answer to all of these are the questions i'm about to put to you, but let's go through some. maria says, i am a biomedical engineering student at king's couege engineering student at king's college london and going into my final year. with rent prices going up, energy bills going up, what help is being given to students like me who don't have an income, don't receive enough funding from student finance and parents can only help so

much? ~ �* , ., , finance and parents can only help so much? ~ �*, . , ., finance and parents can only help so much? . , ., , much? well, it's a very real problem from all angles _ much? well, it's a very real problem from all angles but _ much? well, it's a very real problem from all angles but certainly - much? well, it's a very real problem from all angles but certainly for i from all angles but certainly for students. they must not be overlooked. there isn't any particular support mechanism in direct year students and it does depend and if their energy bill, particularly the electricity bill is in the name there will be a £400 support payment available from the government from october and that will be applied monthly for the first three months at £67 and for the further £3 —— three months at £66 which will be a credit directly to the electricity bill. is £66 which will be a credit directly to the electricity bill.— to the electricity bill. is that for every household? _ to the electricity bill. is that for every household? it _ to the electricity bill. is that for every household? it is - to the electricity bill. is that for every household? it is billed i to the electricity bill. is that for every household? it is billed asj to the electricity bill. is that for. every household? it is billed as for every household? it is billed as for every household, _ every household? it is billed as for every household, but _ every household? it is billed as for every household, but not - every household? it is billed as for every household, but not quite. i every household, but not quite. unfortunately some go under the radar, people in park homes, for example, students in particular who may be pay energy bills to a

landlord or as part of their rent agreement and they are at the moment is excluded from that.— is excluded from that. there is no encouragement _ is excluded from that. there is no encouragement we _ is excluded from that. there is no encouragement we could - is excluded from that. there is no encouragement we could offer- is excluded from that. there is no i encouragement we could offer maria, is that the bottom line? hat encouragement we could offer maria, is that the bottom line?— is that the bottom line? not really. you can check _ is that the bottom line? not really. you can check the _ is that the bottom line? not really. you can check the government i is that the bottom line? not really. i you can check the government website for the cost of living support payments and there are great details on there and check your eligibility and check the other avenues for eligibility but there is nothing particularly highlighted for students, but for maria's situation, if the energy bill in particular is in your name, then you should be eligible. in your name, then you should be eliaible. , , ., , ., ., ., eligible. this is from graham who sa s i'm eligible. this is from graham who says i'm on _ eligible. this is from graham who says i'm on a _ eligible. this is from graham who says i'm on a state _ eligible. this is from graham who says i'm on a state pension i eligible. this is from graham who says i'm on a state pension and i | says i'm on a state pension and i don't pay national insurance as my income is too low. how will cutting

national insurance help me to be able to pay my energy bills and the increasing cost of living? i won't be able to put any heating on and i've already lived without hot water for the last year to save money and i will have the choice of either heating or eating stop liz truss, who is one of the conservative contenders to lead the party and become the next prime minister, her policy will once again benefit the wealthy and penalised pensioners and the disabled. is there any particular help for pensioners? people in graham's situation and it depends on your specifics and it's not necessarily for everybody, graham may already be eligible for pension credit, and if he is eligible for pension credit, he will be eligible forfurther eligible for pension credit, he will be eligible for further support payments from the government and it will get the £400 highlighted to

maria and he might get the additional payments and there is also the consideration for graham of the winter fuel payments that have been doubled this year, i believe up to £500 for those eligible.— to £500 for those eligible. george asks, wh to £500 for those eligible. george asks. why has _ to £500 for those eligible. george asks, why has there _ to £500 for those eligible. george asks, why has there been - to £500 for those eligible. george asks, why has there been such i to £500 for those eligible. george asks, why has there been such a l asks, why has there been such a price hike?— asks, why has there been such a rice hike? ~ , ., , price hike? well, i suppose that is the million-dollar _ price hike? well, i suppose that is the million-dollar question. i price hike? well, i suppose that is the million-dollar question. one l price hike? well, i suppose that is| the million-dollar question. one of the million—dollar question. one of the million—dollar question. one of the primary reasons is that this is all being driven largely by the wholesale price of gas. this is not a uk problem, this is a global problem and one of the reasons why particularly affects the uk as opposed to how it might affect other european countries is that we rely very heavily on this gas to produce our electricity. around 40% of our electricity annually is produced by

burning this expensive gas. isn’t electricity annually is produced by burning this expensive gas. isn't it artl to burning this expensive gas. isn't it partly to do _ burning this expensive gas. isn't it partly to do with — burning this expensive gas. isn't it partly to do with the _ burning this expensive gas. isn't it partly to do with the way - burning this expensive gas. isn't it partly to do with the way off i burning this expensive gas. isn't it partly to do with the way off gm i burning this expensive gas. isn't it. partly to do with the way off gm has calculated the price cap, and the frequency with how it reviews the price cap because it used to be every six months and now it will be every six months and now it will be every three months which is why we have the predictions for october and then january. have the predictions for october and thenjanuary. could the government change the way that the price cap works to make it cheaper? ofgem could change _ works to make it cheaper? ofgem could change how _ works to make it cheaper? ofgem could change how the _ works to make it cheaper? ofgem could change how the price i works to make it cheaper? ofgem could change how the price cap i works to make it cheaper? ofgem could change how the price cap is| could change how the price cap is calculated and it is in their remit to do that and it could be changed but the price cap is calculated on the previous six months and then it will be the previous wholesale prices as opposed to looking into the future and what they think the prices might be. so changes could be made using that method but it's almost all the eggs in one basket and the wholesale price of gas is

controlled and how the market works in terms of it not necessarily being where the gas comes from, it is the average for want of a better word and better description, the wholesale price of gas and it is the same because it goes into one pot for want of a better explanation. david legge says, why is nobody talking about smart metres, ie just paying for what energy you use. not putting money into the energy company's putting money into the energy compa ny�*s coffers. putting money into the energy company's coffers. isn't that partly why they are making such huge profits? i why they are making such huge rofits? , , , ., ., profits? i will split this into two and it is a _ profits? i will split this into two and it is a great _ profits? i will split this into two and it is a great question i profits? i will split this into two and it is a great question from | and it is a great question from david. smart metresjust and it is a great question from david. smart metres just allow the metering information to be sent to your supplier more efficiently and your supplier more efficiently and you don't need to submit metre readings but he is right that there is an option to say, i don't want to pay by monthly direct debit and it's costing me more than i can afford and it's giving you money but i

haven't used yet and that is perfectly valid. the only thing to consider with that is that when we go to the winter months, monthly bills will get significantly higher and will use around 70% of our energy during the winter months, particularly gas to keep us warm, so thatis particularly gas to keep us warm, so that is something to consider there. it's also important to understand that energy suppliers are different from the energy producers. on the odd occasion they are the same such as shell, they are the same, but the suppliers are the people who buy the energy off and they produce the bills and take it out the ground and processes. it is the producer is making the huge profits. can processes. it is the producer is making the huge profits.- processes. it is the producer is making the huge profits. can i come back to the — making the huge profits. can i come back to the direct _ making the huge profits. can i come back to the direct debit _ making the huge profits. can i come back to the direct debit bit? - making the huge profits. can i come back to the direct debit bit? if i making the huge profits. can i come back to the direct debit bit? if you . back to the direct debit bit? if you had a smart metre and you're not paying by direct debit, you just pay for the exact usage every month?

yes, you could do that and make arrangements with your supplier. always make sure you keep in contact with your supply and keep an open dialogue with your supplier, because there may be other options to pay and you could pay by variable monthly direct debit which means your bill will be calculated on a monthly basis and she would pay for precisely what you use are no more than that. if precisely what you use are no more than that. , ., �* , ., , than that. if you didn't use any heatina than that. if you didn't use any heating in _ than that. if you didn't use any heating in the _ than that. if you didn't use any heating in the winter— than that. if you didn't use any heating in the winter which i than that. if you didn't use any i heating in the winter which some people say they will not be able to do, then you wouldn't be charged anything? hat do, then you wouldn't be charged an hinu ? ., do, then you wouldn't be charged an hina? ., , anything? not quite. most energy bills for the _ anything? not quite. most energy bills for the vast _ anything? not quite. most energy bills for the vast majority - anything? not quite. most energy bills for the vast majority of i bills for the vast majority of suppliers are broken down into the unit cost for energy and there is a standing charge. the standing charge has been subject to a lot of debate because it has risen significantly during the last price cap and the standing charge is about this costly supply infrastructure for getting

the energy and electricity to get it to your property, so even if you don't use anything, though standing charges will apply. the don't use anything, though standing charges will apply-— charges will apply. the energy companies _ charges will apply. the energy companies could _ charges will apply. the energy companies could reduce - charges will apply. the energy companies could reduce the i charges will apply. the energy - companies could reduce the standing charges, could they not, or wipe them out if they wanted to? the? charges, could they not, or wipe them out if they wanted to? they are commercial — them out if they wanted to? they are commercial organisations. _ them out if they wanted to? they are commercial organisations. i'm - them out if they wanted to? they are commercial organisations. i'm not. commercial organisations. i'm not sa inc commercial organisations. i'm not saying they _ commercial organisations. i'm not saying they should _ commercial organisations. i'm not saying they should be _ commercial organisations. i'm not saying they should be charities - commercial organisations. i'm not | saying they should be charities but the point is they are making mega profits, so they could counterbalance that by reducing standing charges, potentially. potentially they could. ofgem set the maximum price cap but that does not mean energy suppliers can charge less but it's important to understand that the suppliers are not necessarily the producers. it is the producers making huge profits and the supply is not necessarily so. absolutely they could make the cuts, but those costs, the tangible costs would have to be sought from somewhere. this costs would have to be sought from somewhere-—

costs would have to be sought from somewhere. , , ., ., somewhere. this is from neil. i have a four-bedroom _ somewhere. this is from neil. i have a four-bedroom house _ somewhere. this is from neil. i have a four-bedroom house with - somewhere. this is from neil. i have a four-bedroom house with a - somewhere. this is from neil. i have a four-bedroom house with a large i a four—bedroom house with a large extension. we cook every day using electric yet my bills are down to under £60 per month for gas and electricity. so even if this doubles, how is this causing people theissues doubles, how is this causing people the issues we keep hearing about? please explain. also, looking at the various rates, while the energy rates have gone up, why has the daily charge also increased so much, far in excess of the energy? {lilia far in excess of the energy? ok, let's break _ far in excess of the energy? ok, let's break that _ far in excess of the energy? if~;, let's break that down far in excess of the energy? oi, let's break that down a little far in excess of the energy? i>i let's break that down a little bit. neil is doing great and i'm glad he's managed to get his bills down to the low figure but the standing charges we were talking about, that accounts for around £22 per month so if we look at neil's current cost of £60 per month, he is doing incredibly well. one of the things he must consider is that even if they double that, coming into winter and into december and january it is

very likely that neil's gas usage will multiply it by a factor of five or ten times the amount he currently uses, so even though we are looking at £60 right now for both gas and electricity, that could easily be £300 during the winter months where he is using all the energy to keep his home warm which is obsolete something we must consider. those standing charges we talked about have risen significantly. why has that happened? well, there are a lot of costs and levies and governmental directives all contained in those standing charges and one of those is, unfortunately the cost of the supplier of last resort system which is the system employed when these suppliers have gone out of business, suppliers have gone out of business, supplier is going out of business and the cost of transferring those customers to a new supplier and to

maintain their credit balances and to take to the news companies. that has been been added to the standing charge. and that has added a significant amount to everyone's standing charges. ._ significant amount to everyone's standing charges. . thank you for doinu standing charges. . thank you for doing your _ standing charges. . thank you for doing your best. _ standing charges. . thank you for doing your best, ian _ standing charges. . thank you for doing your best, ian thompson . standing charges. . thank you for. doing your best, ian thompson and i'm not sure there's a great deal of extra help out there. the government have made an — extra help out there. the government have made an announcement - extra help out there. the government have made an announcement with - extra help out there. the government have made an announcement with a l have made an announcement with a support package in may and there's been a lot of significant changes and we would very much welcome but they are simply not enough at the moment. and the government and they need to make some changes now. but anybody still worried, and they are worried, come and join us and there is great advice in the group and we all help each other and it's very

friendly and everybody is welcome. what is it on facebook? we friendly and everybody is welcome. what is it on facebook?— what is it on facebook? we are enera what is it on facebook? we are energy and _ what is it on facebook? we are energy and support _ what is it on facebook? we are energy and support advice - what is it on facebook? we are energy and support advice uk. | what is it on facebook? we are i energy and support advice uk. we what is it on facebook? we are - energy and support advice uk. we are touching 70,000 members. come and join us and we will do everything we can to help you. join us and we will do everything we can to help yon-— can to help you. thank you for spending _ can to help you. thank you for spending time _ can to help you. thank you for spending time with _ can to help you. thank you for spending time with us - can to help you. thank you for spending time with us this - spending time with us this afternoon. thank you. ian thompson there. all children in london age between 19 to be offered a polio vaccine or boost after more traces of the virus were found in waste water. they have been no actual cases of polio detected yet but positive sewage samples have been found in seven boroughs in the capital and health officials want to act quickly. doctor mary ramsay, director of public health programmes told us about the cases identified which had led to the vaccine recommendation. most of the viruses we have seen

are what we call vaccine like, so they are the same as the vaccine virus, or very similar. but a small number of them are what we call vaccine derived, so those have mutated. so whilst the virus is spreading they have mutated slightly and now have the potential to cause paralysis and that's obviously what is concerning us. so we want to act early, and therefore we are advising that we should boost the vaccination and catch up vaccinations, so offer every child under ten, 1—9, i should say, an additional dose of polio, it may be additional for some and may be a catch up for others because coverage isn't as good as we'd like. and that will hopefully boost everyone's immunity, gives extra protection against the risk of any paralysis, which is clearly our main priority, but we also hope it may help to interrupt transmission and also prevent further spread into other parts of london. our health correspondent james gallagherjoined us earlier. no individual person has been found

with polio in their body but polio infects our tummies and then it goes out of our body at the other end and ends up in waste water. and what you do is you monitor the waste water, and that's how you can see if polio is in the community anywhere. now, there has been more than 116 times that it has been found in waste water in london. that's far more than has been found before and is enough to raise concern within organisations like the uk health security agency, that you heard from there. this isn't something that can just be watched and ignored. now is the time to act. so it is being considered by the government's vaccine experts, thejoint committee on vaccination and immunisation. and that's why we have this recommendation to vaccinate nearly i million children in london to give them an extra booster, whether they are fully vaccinated or they have had none in the past, to make sure everyone gets another one. they will be invited over the course of the next month. because ultimately, polio is a disease, an infection, that can cause paralysis and can cause death.

a beluga whale that swam up the river seine in northern france has died despite efforts to save the animal. the eight—hundred kilo whale was lifted from the river using a crane and net, and hoisted onto a barge but developed breathing difficulties. sarah campbell reports. stranded 80 miles inland from the english channel, making its way slowly along the seine towards paris, far from the arctic waters which should be home. millions of people in france and around the world watched as the whale became weaker, stopped eating and it became clear that, however risky, a rescue attempt would have to be made. a team of 80, including police and divers, spent six hours painstakingly catching and winching the 800—kilo whale out of the river. translation: the moment when we got the beluga out of the water _ was stressful and extremely intense. he was surprised and moving about, and we thought he would escape from the net.

it was quite astonishing, but he's alive and he's on the barge. the plan had been to transport the whale in a refrigerated lorry to be released back into the open sea off the northern french coast, but it became clear during the journey that the whale was becoming increasingly unwell. this morning, at a press conference, the rescue team revealed it had died. translation: the animal's breathing was insufficient i so the suffering was evident. therefore we decided it was not pertinent to release it, so we proceeded with its euthanasia. for a few days, the whale captured the hearts of many, but sadly could not be saved. sarah campbell, bbc news. raymond briggs was best known for the classic of the snowman as well as creating much loved books

including father christmas, fungus the bogeyman and when the wind blows. it's become part of christmas — the story of a snowman who comes to life. magical, heart—warming, and at the end, the snowman melts. # we're walking in the air # a very raymond briggs twist. he was a children's author who was never writing for children. a strip cartoon, raymond briggs, children's department. that's been the attitude in england — a strip cartoon, children's book. but we're growing out of that a bit now. i don't think about what children want. you get an idea and you just do it. you don't think, "oh, children of ten won't want this," or...you don't think like that at all. you don't think about the audience. couldn't possibly. you've just got this idea in your head and you could do it how you want it. it was his father christmas that was raymond briggs' breakthrough, but this was no jovial gift—bearer.

this father christmas moaned, swore and drankjust a bit too much. what i normally do with most of my things is have something that's fantastical, like father christmas, like fungus, and imagine it to be wholly real and follow it through logically from there. it's a fouljob, out all night on your own, flying about in icy temperatures, landing on rooftops, going down filthy chimneys. can you imagine climbing down the chimney? not once, but hundreds of times. he's going to be fed up with it. the bogeymen are stirring in their beds... and then fungus — a gloriously disgusting story of a bogeyman having a midlife crisis. nice cold, filthy water! good head of scum on it this morning. raymond briggs studied at the slade school of art. he'd worked in advertising, and hated it. he illustrated children's books, but he didn't like the saccharine stories.

he was much happier with cartoons that had a little darkness to them. take when the wind blows — a story of a couple's attempts to follow government advice in a nuclear attack. i never heard such language in all my life. for god's sake, shut up! oh dear, i've left the oven on. get in, get in, get in! the cake will be burnt! lie down. when he began, his comic art was frowned on by his art teachers. by the end, raymond briggs had done much to change attitudes with those charming drawings and their slightly subversive stories. raymond briggs, who has died at the age of 88. let's bring you a look at the weather. here is elizabeth. the heatwave is just set to continue as we head through the rest of the week and there is a met office amber weather warning in force from

thursday to sunday, the second highest level of alert for extreme heat and valid for much of england as far north as manchester, sheffield and leeds and covering parts of devon and cornwall, all the way up to eastern wales. we won't see the exceptional record—breaking temperatures we saw see the exceptional record—breaking temperatures we sanuly that it will still be very hot and more of a sustained level of heat with warmer nights between, so we see temperatures today peak at 31 celsius in west sussex, 30 degrees across parts of london and cardiff as well and overnight tonight it's not hot everywhere as we still have weather fronts to the wards the north west of scotland and the western isles will see outbreaks of rain but elsewhere a warmer start to the day on thursday, and in eastern coastal areas may be some low cloud for northern ireland in due tomorrow morning. still some outbreaks of rain for north—west scotland and tomorrow could see cloud lapping on shore to the east coast and most of us blue skies, strong sunshine and temperature speaking low to mid 30s across parts of the midlands, so where is all the hot air coming

from? on an easterly breeze from the near continent, so we will see an onshore breeze to the east coast and may be cloud lapping onshore but other coast will see a sea breeze develop or feel slightly fresher but the highest temperatures with the easterly breeze are likely out towards parts of the west midlands, the welsh marches and central and southern england as well. temperatures could get even higher on saturday, may be 36, possibly 37 celsius. where will we see 37? most likely central and southern eglin and parts of wiltshire, may be hampshire, surrey and sussex. 37 degrees, but always pressure towards the coast. here is the outlook for the coast. here is the outlook for the next few days across the capital cities and taking a look at sunday, more cloud heralding the change into the start of next week with the cloud pushing north and as we go into the start of next week it will start to feel fresher still with temperatures above the average for this time of year and some of us are likely to see a bit of rainfall, so there is the chance we will see some

showers around on monday and tuesday and as with all showers, they will be hit or miss, so there certainly won't be everywhere but some much needed wet weather in the forecast as we head into the start of next week and while temperatures will be on the warm side, it will of course be fresher than it is for the rest of the week.

this is bbc news. the headlines households in the uk owe energy companies more money than ever before — and that's before the extra increases in bills due later this year. iam i am absolutely at the end of what i can offer. i will pay what i can pay but i cannot pay anything else. there is nothing left to cut back on. as prime minister, he would say he would tell people what they needed to hear and stay true to his values. i would rather lose and fight for the things i passionately believed or read from a country and be true to my values than when on a false promise.

all children in london aged between i and 9 will be offered