today at six. calls for more help for households faced with soaring energy bills. a national crisis is how one consumer expert sums up the massive rise — with some owing more money to their energy supplier than ever before. where else am i going to get more money from? and you know, until my financial circumstances change, i have £95 to give to the electricity company, and not anything other. the man who wants to be prime minister — rishi sunak — defends his plan to help consumers by tackling inflation, in an interview with the bbc i would rather lose having fought for the things i passionately believe are right for our country and being true to my values, than win on a false promise.

but his opponent liz truss says the solution lies in lowering taxes which he brought in as chancellor. also on the programme. urgent polio boosters for children under nine in london, after the virus was detected in sewage. a four—day amber extreme heat warning for parts of england and wales is due to come into force at midnight. # we're walking in the air... and the storyteller who enchanted us all, author and illustrator raymond briggs has died at the age of 88. and coming up on the bbc news channel. golf's big battle reaches court again with three liv golfers told by a judge they cannot overturn their ban to compete in the pga tour's lucrative end of tour play—offs.

good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. with fresh warnings about soaring energy bills over the next few months, and with borisjohnson due to step down next month, the chancellor nadhim zahawi has said the treasury is preparing �*options' for the next prime minister. but there are concerns that households could fall further behind in paying for their gas and electricity. at the moment, annual energy bills for an average household are £1,971. but those bills are predicted to soar to around over three and a half thousand pounds in october. and forecasters say they could rise to more than £1i,200injanuary — which for some people amounts to more than half of their yearly state pension. here's our consumer affairs correspondent coletta smith. two of hannah's energy suppliers have collapsed in the last year, so she's finding it really hard to keep op top of what she owes. i haven't got an updated bill

that is helping me plan, but also i'm at that point where, where else am i going to get more money from? and you know, until my financial circumstances change, i have £95 to give to the electricity company, and not anything other. have you thought of stopping your direct debit and paying for your bills when they come in each quarter? i would not be able to deal with the anxiety of waiting for an unknown bill. being able to manage my money monthly gives me a peace of mind, and allows me to survive in the circumstances that i'm in. a survey by uswitch suggests that a quarter of households are in debt to their energy companies, with the amount owed increasing through the summer months when it normally falls. the energy firm utilita says the government must act now to protect the vulnerable.

the government's not doing enough to alleviate the concern of the poor an vulnerable customer. at the moment they seem distracted with the contests that is going on as to who will be the new prime minister, i would have thought it is perfectly possible for the two main contenders, along with the prime minister, to be setting the wheels in motion, to help sort this. martin lewis agrees that the government should have given more and acted faster. this is a national crisis on the scale that we saw in the pandemic, and do not negate the mental health damage that is being done to people in panic across the nation and the political theatre oaf allowing the 26 of august to come, when we get the price cap announcement, with nothing firm in place is incredibly damaging. the government say a new prime minister will bring new plans, but help is already available. whoever becomes prime minister

on 5th 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 is where it really matters. when the price cap rises, millions more households won't be able to pay in october. if you are struggling to afford your energy bills, don'tjust stop paying. although it might be difficult to make that phone call, contact your energy supplier because that gives you extra legal protection. they have to work out a payment plan with you, you may get access to hardship funds and emergency credit if you need it. hannah doesn't think the government help is enough. all that £400 is going to do is make the inevitable debt i end up in, slightly less deep an amount of debt. global pressures and choices by politicians have left individual households carrying the cost and stress of energy rises. coletta smith, bbc news in birmingham.

as we've heard, the treasury is preparing options to help with the cost of living crisis for the next prime minister to consider. in a special interview with the bbc�*s nick robinson, rishi sunak said he felt a moral responsibility to offer people more help even if it hurt his campaign. our political correspondent, jonathan blake, has more. the self—styled underdog in the race to be prime minister under pressure to explain his plans, rishi sunak has promised help for households to pay their bills, and in a bbc interview today, said the government would have no option but to accuse. said the government would have no option but to act. i do feel a moral responsibility, as prime minister, to go further, and get extra help to people over the autumn and the winter, to help them cope with what is going to be a really difficult time. i think that is the right priority. the former chancellor said support already announced would fall around £400 short once prices rise in october, and promised payments for pensioners and the lowest earners, alongside his vat cut on energy bills.

haven't you just tonight, on this programme, even though you are not being specific, made a huge unfunded spending commitment of what, a few billion, over ten billion, what would you say it was? it is much closer to the former than the latter of what you said. a few billion pounds. because that is the scale, if you look at the scale of the problem that we are talking about, and then it depends exactly how we spread that around and provide most help to those who most need it. polls have suggested rishi sunak is lagging behind his opponent, and he accepts his pitch may not make him mr popular. i knew what i was doing when i got into this, and i was going to tell people what i think they needed to hear, not necessarily what they wanted to hear, and as i said, i would rather lose, having fought for the things i passionately believe are right for our country, and being true to my values, than win on a false promise. liz truss says tax cuts not hand outs, as she has put it, are the best way to tackle the rising cost of living. visiting a science park

in cheshire this morning, she was asked if she had ruled out direct financial support. that is not what i said. what i said is my priority is making sure we are not taking money off people, and then giving it back to them later on. i believe in people keeping their own money, and i believe in a low tax economy, that is the way 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 would do all i can to make sure that energy is affordable and that we get through this winter. we won't know which candidate will be walking into number ten for another few weeks. in the meantime, ministers are drawing up options for whoever takes office. the big decisions will be for rishi sunak or liz truss to take. jonathan blake, bbc news. with all the warnings about a rising cost of living crisis, it is worth remembering a few key dates. 0n the 26th of this month,

the regulator 0fgem will announce where it is setting the new energy price cap — which limits what you pay for each unit of gas and electricity that you use. ten days later, on the 5th of september, the new conservative party leader and prime minister will be unveiled. and just three weeks after that the new price cap will be introduced. let's get more now from jonathan blake in westminster. are we any closer to knowing what a government response to this might look like? the government response to this might look like? , . ., , look like? the predictions could scaril be look like? the predictions could scarily be worse _ look like? the predictions could scarily be worse for— look like? the predictions could scarily be worse for millions - look like? the predictions could scarily be worse for millions ofl scarily be worse for millions of households when energy prices rise in october and there are new warnings today about direct debit payments going up before then, for many, and yet the message from westminster seems to be, you will have to wait to find out what help might be available, borisjohnson may still be prime minister, but he has made it clear the big decisions on this will be for his successor and rishi sunak and liz truss neither seem prepared at this point to put forward a detailed plan, both

though have kept up their attacks on each other, liz truss accusing rishi sunak of having socialist policy his campaign accusing hers of another u—turn and plans that are as clear as mud. ministers may be trying to reassure people, saying they are drawing up options for the new prime minister to choose from when they take office, and energy company bosses will meet the chancellor and the business secretary tomorrow, but we don't expect any big breakthrough from that, and while an intervention of some kind further down the line feels all be inevitable, what that will look like is far less certain. is many thanks, jonathan blake re ”ortin. is many thanks, - jonathan blake reporting. and you can see the full interview with rishi sunak in "our next prime minister: the interviews" with nick robinson on bbc one at 7pm. all children in london between the ages of one and nine—years—old will be offered a polio booster vaccine, after the virus was detected in sewage. no actual cases have been reported yet, but traces of polio, which can cause paralysis, have been found more than 100 times in the city's wastewater. our medical editor fergus walsh

is here to tell us more. fergus. polio is a viral disease which can cause paralysis, and there hasn't been a case acquired in the uk for nearly a0 years. but now the virus has been found in sewage in eight london boroughs. these are also areas that have some of the lowest immunisation rates for polio, which may be helping the virus to spread undetected in the community. it's thought to have originated from someone vaccinated overseas with the live oral vaccine, which can grow the virus in the gut and can mutate, and potentially infect others through contaminated water or food. it's important to stress that here in the uk, the polio vaccine is quite different. it's an injection that does not contain live virus and cannot cause the disease. in the next four weeks, around 900,000 children aged one to nine in greater london will be offered

an extra dose of the polio vaccine, even if they are already fully immunised. these are very safe and effective vaccines, and it will boost their immunity, which we are giving as an extra precaution to protect them themselves, but also increasing the immunity will help to reduce spread both to their friends and families and to the wider community. the hope is the booster will help stop the virus spreading. in new york last month, a 20—year—old unvaccinated man, suffered paralysis after getting polio. the strain that infected him is genetically similar to that found in london, so it's important that people of all ages have been immunised, and if not, to come forward. it means the average waiting time for a test slot is 14 weeks because

of the backlog caused by the pandemic, with reports of iiers waiting up to six months in some areas. a quarter of those sponsoring ukrainians as part of the government's homes to ukraine scheme do not want to continue the arrangements beyond the minimum six months according to a survey. 0ur months according to a survey. our home editor is with me. so mark, more than 200,000 people registered interest in hosting ukrainians from when the scheme was launched. how would you assess support for the scheme? 50 would you assess support for the scheme? ., ., , would you assess support for the scheme? ., .,, . ~ would you assess support for the scheme? ., . scheme? so that was back in march, ou ma scheme? so that was back in march, you may remember, _ scheme? so that was back in march, you may remember, and _ scheme? so that was back in march, you may remember, and what - scheme? so that was back in march, you may remember, and what it - scheme? so that was back in march, - you may remember, and what it means, what it meant was those opening up their rooms to ukrainians had to agree to a minimum of six months and that six months for the very earliest will come up in about a month's time. so, they will have the opportunity then, to say i don't want to carry on any more, the survey finds round a quarter as you were saying, 26% are likely to say enough is enough. we don't know how many households have got ukrainians

living with them, but we do now round 77,000 came over here as part of the scheme, so there is a concern that something like what 15 or 20,000 ukrainians could find themselves without accommodation in themselves without accommodation in the next few months and there have been calls for the £350 a month thank you that the government pays sponsors to be increased, because the cost of living crisis is affecting everybody, more than 100 families in the scheme have already become homeless and are recognised as such by local councils so there is a potential looming problem, but i think it is also worth pointing out the survey finds extraordinary generosity and good will from sponsor, hosting, hosts paying for food, childcare, transport, gas and electricity and round a 0.25% terse said they would be prepared to take them for a year or more.— said they would be prepared to take them for a year or more. mark, many thanks. our top story this evening.

there are growing calls to for help with energy bills after analysts predict the average household bill will reach over 4000 pounds a year by january. and a four—day amber extreme heat warning from the met office for parts of england and wales is due to come into force at midnight. coming up in sportsday on the bbc news channel. just a couple of days after one international multi—sport event finished, here comes another, the commonwealth games have made way for the european championships in munich. blackpool is one of the most deprived towns in britain, but over the last few years it has seen a dramatic growth in children's homes. there are 39 children's homes in the town's two parliamentary constituencies and three—quarters of them were registered in the last five years, according to the latest 0fsted data. these newer facilities are often filled by children from outside the local area, some sent from as far away as london.

sanchia berg reports. blackpool�*s been booming in the last two years, thanks to covid staycations, but behind the glitz of the resort, it's a different picture. it's one of the most deprived towns in england, with the highest death rate from drugs and the highest proportion of its own children in care. not the place for more vulnerable children. yet in recent years, the town and surrounding area have seen dozens of new children's homes registered with 0fsted, housing teenagers like jade, from london. i'm thinking, how am i going to see my mum? how am i going to see my sisters, how will i keep in touch with my friends? at this point i don't have a phone, at this point. i think it was all the emotions all together that made me burst out in tears. 16 when she was sent to blackpool, jade learned to stay away from the city centre as much as she could. in the summer time it's nice, it's touristy, but night—time hits,

it's a different land. i don't want to call it chaos, a little bit is a little bit of chaos, but it is not like fun chaos, it's like, be aware. i could walk down the street and tell you three other care homes on that street. they're all over. joe was in a children's home in the heart of blackpool. he was 16 too. that was the worst place they could have possibly put me. there was all sorts of places they could have put me, but there was the worst place. it's full of crack heads and prostitutes and drugs. it's not a safe place. and especially like, i had no—one

around there, i was all alone. i've beenjumped, i've had knives pulled out on me, been chased. all sorts. i've been robbed. i've had everything done to me.

i would urge councils from outside blackpool to think twice over sending their children here to blackpool, merely because that's where the capacity happens to be. if they truly have the interests of those vulnerable young people first and foremost in their mind, find the right location for them that offers that therapeutic model of care that that young person deserves. across england, there are more teenagers in care, and not enough places for them in children's homes. councils often have little choice, and pay very high prices. for now, it is likely that other children will, like jade, be sent into care far from home. sanchia berg, bbc news. the ex—girlfriend of the former footballer ryan giggs has told a court she became "a slave to his every need and every demand". kate greville said the manchester united star made her feel there would be �*consequences'

if she didn't do as he said. ryan giggs denies assaulting and using controlling and coercive behaviour against ms greville, as well as assaulting her sister. 0ur correspondent laura scott was in court. laura. it was on the eve of this trial that kate greville gave the victim statement where she said that she felt like a slave. she was asked if that was in a literal accepts, she said the former manchester united star made her feel that if he didn't do everything he said, there would be consequences. under cross—examination from defence counsel she was asked about her allegation that in dubai in 2017, mr gigs had thrown her out of their hotel room naked with her belong, and caused bruising to her arm by dragging her, mr daw said that was manufactured, reading out a message to the court, where she had said the bruise was caused by sex, she said

that she and mr gigs discussed in a phone call that is what she would say it was from. later, she was asked about issues providing her electronic devices to case, she said one of her phone had fallen in a river, when she was rescuing her dog, and another had been stolen. she admitted deleting some messages from a former pr colleague before disclosing her data to the police, but explained she hadn't wanted them to be associated with the case. mr daw said she deliberately with held information that would have undermined the case against mr giggs. she denied this. now a look at some other stories making the news today. police are appealing for urgent help to find a missing child. george temperley—wells is believed to have travelled from darlington to the antalya area of turkey with his mother brogan temperley they are likely to have spent time

with the four—year—old's father, 41—year—old scott wells, while in turkey. seven men have been charged with 32 counts of rape after a mass assault of eight women who were making a music video at an abandoned mine nearjohannesburg last month. the men were among more than 60 suspects who appeared in court on immigration and firearms charges. a beluga whale that became stuck in the river seine in france has been put down, after a major attempted rescue operation. experts had used a net and a crane to hoist the four—metre long mammal out of the water and into a lorry, but it had to be euthanised after developing breathing difficulties. the uk's largest water company says people will have to use and waste less water to deal with the effects of hotter, drier summers. thames water is due to impose a hosepipe ban on 15 million customers in london and southern england soon. as the heat across the country continues to build — an amber weather alert

comes into force tomorrow lasting until sunday. the continued dry weather is causing real problems for farming and agriculture. our environment editorjustin rowlatt is on a farm near cirencester in gloucestershire. justin... just think what this summer's a second brutal heatwave main support the uk's farmers, most of them are utterly dependent on the weather and i have been trying to find out what affect it is having on them and what impact it could have on food prices. farmers' fields are their bank account. a healthy harvest means a healthy income and money to invest for next year's crop. but look, the fields have been desiccated by months of low rainfall. it is a disaster for many farmers. it can't sustain itself. david is trying to grow turnips to feed his cattle. not looking very happy. very dry. there's just not enough moisture. so most likely this crop will fail

now and we're running out of time to re—drill it. david is already feeding his cattle fodder he set aside for winter. without the turnips and with grain prices at record highs, it will cost him a fortune to feed them through to next year. and don't think his problems won't affect you, because what happens on farms like this helps determine the price we all pay for food. extreme weather almost always means bad harvests. bad harvests, less food, that's right, means higher prices for all of us. and it isn'tjust the uk. crops in much of europe have been affected too, and that is just the start. india, china, brazil and the us have all seen yields hit by unusually hot and dry weather this year. now add in the impact of the russian invasion of ukraine... we're producing less of our key crops. we have less production effective when harvest happens. and this means that supply is limited. and therefore, when people

try to buy this supply, the prices then move upwards and it impacts the consumer, impacts the farmer, impacts a wide range of market players that have to deal with these weather issues. we all know what will break us out of this cycle. i'm just looking for rain. that's all i need, is the temperature to go down and rain and just have some proper, decent rain and then everything will feel so much better and it will start to grow. by next week, we'll lose that intense heat... - but the forecast from the met office is offering no guarantees of that. there's a regime change happening next week. . we expect to see some heavy showers i and thunderstorms potential there. i not everywhere is going to get that rainfall. - a lot of places are going to miss it, but at least there's _ a chance next week. so a chance of rain for some, which means there's only one thing farmers like david can do. they've got to hope for the best. that's all they've got left. you really get a sense of how

vulnerable farmers are when you come to a field like this. look how dry it is and that is another problem. if one spark, all of this would go up if one spark, all of this would go up in flames. earlier this afternoon when we care about happen hour ago there was a fire on the horizon, another one over there, another worry for britain's farmers during this voracious heatwave. studio justin, many thanks. there's more updates, news and analysis on the heatwave, including forecasts specific to your area and tips to stay safe and cool in the warmer weather on bbc news online. head to bbc.co.uk/news or the bbc news app. the author and illustrator raymond briggs — best known for the children's book the snowman — has died. he was 88. as a young man, he worked as a commercial artist, before moving on to illustrating children's books. but he was so appalled

by the standard of the writing in some of the works, that he decided to try it himself. david sillito looks back at his life. 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. i don't think about what children want. you get an idea and you just do it. you don't think, "0h, 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. 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. 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. he'd worked in advertising, and hated it. he illustrated children's books, but he didn't like the saccharine stories. he had his own vision and one friend who worked with him on the emanations saw and much of it was an expression of his own joys and sadnesses. expression of his own 'oys and sadnesses. ., ., , ., ., sadnesses. raymond was someone who felt thin . s, sadnesses. raymond was someone who felt things. really _ sadnesses. raymond was someone who felt things, really deeply. _ sadnesses. raymond was someone who felt things, really deeply. he _ sadnesses. raymond was someone who felt things, really deeply. he is - felt things, really deeply. he is not afraid to study pain and grief and loss. even as felt by a small boy in the snowman.— and loss. even as felt by a small boy in the snowman. good morning, madame. boy in the snowman. good morning, madame- keep _ boy in the snowman. good morning, madame. keep off _ boy in the snowman. good morning, madame. keep off my _ boy in the snowman. good morning, madame. keep off my clean - boy in the snowman. good morning, madame. keep off my clean step, i madame. keep off my clean step, ounu madame. keep off my clean step, young man- _ madame. keep off my clean step, young man- his— madame. keep off my clean step, young man. his childhood, - madame. keep off my clean step, young man. his childhood, his- madame. keep off my clean step, l young man. his childhood, his mum and dad was —

young man. his childhood, his mum and dad was rooted _ young man. his childhood, his mum and dad was rooted in _ young man. his childhood, his mum and dad was rooted in real- young man. his childhood, his mum and dad was rooted in real feelings. | and dad was rooted in realfeelings. 0ver and dad was rooted in realfeelings. over the years he also helped change attitudes to his art firm. but the beauty of his drawings and their slightly subversive stories. raymond briggs, who has died at the age of 88. time for a look at the weather now with matt taylor. change seeing snow scenes and here we are so hot and dry.— change seeing snow scenes and here we are so hot and dry. removed from the moment- — we are so hot and dry. removed from the moment. northern _ we are so hot and dry. removed from the moment. northern ireland - we are so hot and dry. removed from the moment. northern ireland had i we are so hot and dry. removed from the moment. northern ireland had its warmest august day since 2003. elsewhere temperatures soared yet again, another day above 30. through the rest of this week not only does it get carter but we could see a string of days above 35, exceeding what we saw in 1976. the hottest conditions will be covered by the extreme heat warning valid all the way to sunday. all the way down to the south coast up to leeds. there

will be likely some impact and elsewhere it will be hot for many. high pressure dominating but this weather front continues to wriggle across the north—west of scotland, rained today and also the coming days. temperatures holding up tonight. coolest across parts of scotland and northern ireland. the nights have been very cool but they will start to be warmer through the coming nights towards the south. blue skies overhead, sunny conditions, but focus across north of scotland because rain will come and go, a brief respite to the wind for 0rkney and shetland but more will come later. temperatures here around 16—18 but further south is where the temperatures will get up to 27 or 28 across eastern scotland, similar in northern ireland, hotter still so angered and wales. for a bit of respite head to the east coast with the breeze from the sea, more likely mid to high 20s. 35 or 36 possible, the highest chapter is likely in the cotswolds and

southwest middles. higher steppers