tonight at ten: higher energy bills for millions of households throughout britain could now be landing sooner than expected. it's now been confirmed that suppliers might put up direct debits in advance of the new price regime which takes effect in october. the former chancellor rishi sunak said the next prime minister would have a moral responsibility to support poorer households. i have a moral responsibility to support poorer households. i would rather lose. — support poorer households. i would rather lose, having _ support poorer households. i would rather lose, having fought - support poorer households. i would rather lose, having fought for - support poorer households. i would rather lose, having fought for the i rather lose, having fought for the things— rather lose, having fought for the things that i believe are right for our country, and being true to my values, _ our country, and being true to my values, than _ our country, and being true to my values, than win on a false promise. but current— values, than win on a false promise. but current ministers are insisting

that a support package is being developed. also on the programme: all children in london between one and nine will be offered a polio booster vaccine, after the virus was detected in wastewater. as the heatwave continues, we report on the extreme problems faced by farmers and the agriculture industry. and the storyteller who enchanted millions — the author and illustrator raymond briggs has died. and coming up on the bbc news channel: a night to rememberfor will smeed, scoring the hundreds first ever century to inspire birmingham phoenix to victory over southern brave. welcome to bbc news at ten.

higher energy bills for millions of households could be on the way sooner than expected, according to the energy regulator ofgem and the industry body energy uk. earlier this evening, they confirmed that it was possible for suppliers to put up direct debits in advance of the new price regime in october. ministers, who've been widely accused of doing too little to help households, are now insisting that a support package is being developed. they'll be meeting energy company bosses tomorrow. the former chancellor and conservative leadership contender rishi sunak says the new prime minister will have a �*moral responsibility�* to support poorer households and pensioners with targeted payments. our political correspondent jonathan blake has the latest. 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 act. i do feel a moral responsibility as prime minister to go further and get extra help to people over the autumn and winter to help them cope with what is going to be a really difficult time. i think that's 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 earnest, alongside his vat cut on energy bills. haven't you just tonight on this programme, even though you're not being specific, made a huge unfunded spending commitment of what, a few billion pounds? over £10 billion? what would you say it was? well it's much closer to the former than the latter of what you have said. because that's the scale, if you look at the scale of the problem that we're 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 think going to tell people what i think they needed to hear and not necessarily what they wanted to hear. as i said, i would rather lose, having fought for the things that 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's 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's not what i said. what i said is my priority is making sure we are not taking money off l 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's the way we're _ going to drive growth. but i'm not going to announce the content of a budget - in the future at this stage in august. i but can i assure people i will do all can i to - make sure that energy is affordable and we get through this winter. -

with a new warning that costs for energy customers could go up sooner than expected, ministers are drawing up options for whichever candidate wins the contest. the big decisions though will be for rishi sunak or liz truss to take. jonathan blake, bbc news. concern is growing that countless households will fall further behind in paying for their gas and electricity supplies. at the moment, annual energy bills for an average household arejust over £1900. but those bills are predicted to rise sharply to around £3,500 a year in october. and forecasters say that could rise to more than £4,200 injanuary, which for some pensioners amounts to more than half of their annual state pension. our consumer affairs correspondent coletta smith has more details. two of hannah's energy suppliers have collapsed in the last year,

so she's finding it really hard to keep on top of what she owes. i haven't got an updated bill that's 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 just 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 and vulnerable customer. at the moment, they seem distracted with the contest that's going on as to who will be the new prime minister. i would have thought it's perfectly possible for the two main contenders, along with the prime minister, to be setting the wheels in motion to help sort this. consumer expert 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 now across the nation, and the political theatre of allowing the 26th of august to come, when we get the price cap announcement, with nothing firm in place is incredibly damaging. under pressure to act now, the chancellor is meeting energy bosses tomorrow, amid whispers of

another windfall tax. 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. - when the price cap rises, millions more households won't be able to pay in october. if you're 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. with all the warnings about a deepening cost of living crisis, there are some key dates to bear in mind. on the 26th of this month, the regulator ofgem will announce the new higher energy price cap. that's the maximum that can be paid for each unit of gas and electricity. ten days later, on the 5th of september, the new conservative party leader and prime minister will be announced. and just three weeks after that, the new higher price cap will come into force, leading to much higher bills. live to westminster and our political correspondent jonathan blake. when we look at the kind of pressure that ministers are under to come up with something concrete and

practical, where are we in that process now?— practical, where are we in that rocess now? ~ ., ., ., process now? well, tomorrow the business secretary _ process now? well, tomorrow the business secretary and _ process now? well, tomorrow the business secretary and the - business secretary and the chancellor will meet representatives from firms who produce electricity in the uk, but both departments are playing down the significance of that, as any kind of break through. i'm told the chancellor wants to call on those companies to say what they can do to lower the cost to consumers in the coming months. officials accept there is a limit to what firms can do with wholesale prices so high. all options are said to be on the table, including that idea of a new wind fall tax on electricity producer. the chancellor i'm told can see the argument for it. but the business secretary's made it clear he doesn't want to go down that road and if the decision is left to the new prime minister as we expect, if that is liz truss, she is dead against it too. there have been calls for her to collaborate with her rival rishi sunak, the two coming up with a plan on this

together, but looking amount their attacks on one other there seems to be zero chance of that. she is accusing him of having socialist policies, rishi sunak�*s campaign accusing liz truss of a u turn. it seems some kind of intervention will be inevitable, but what that will look like seems farless clear. thank ou. look like seems farless clear. thank yom earlier— look like seems farless clear. thank yom earlier we _ look like seems farless clear. thank you. earlier we saw _ look like seems farless clear. thank you. earlier we saw rishi _ look like seems farless clear. thank you. earlier we saw rishi sunak- you. earlier we saw rishi sunak talking to nick robinson. and you can see the full interview with rishi sunak in our next prime minister: the interviews with nick robinson on the bbc iplayer now. all children in london, between the ages of one and nine will be offered a polio booster vaccine, after the virus was detected in samples of 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. polio is a viral disease which can cause paralysis. there hasn't been a case acquired in the uk for nearly a0 years. but now the virus has been found in sewage in these eight london boroughs. they also have some of the lowest immunisation rates which may be helping the virus to spread in the community. it's thought virus was brought to england by someone vaccinated overseas with the live oral vaccine which can in rare cases mutate in the gut and 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. health officials say as a matter of �*urgency�*, in the next four weeks around

900,000 children aged one to nine in greater london will be offered an extra dose of polio vaccine, even if they are already fully immunised. these are very safe and effective vaccines and it will boost their immunity which we're giving us 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 adults as well as children have been immunised.

now a look at some other stories making the news today. a 47—year—old man has died and three other people have been injured, during a series of incidents in skye and dornie, on the west highland mainland. a 39—year—old man has been arrested, and police scotland have said there's no wider threat to the public. the former girlfriend of 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 charges of controlling behaviour and assaulting both ms greville and her sister. a quarter of those british households sponsoring ukrainians as part of the government's homes for ukraine scheme do not want to continue the arrangement beyond the minimum six months, according to a government survey. more than 200,000 people registered interest in hosting ukrainians when the scheme was launched. our home editor mark easton is here with me now.

you is here with me now. may remember that the sche launched you may remember that the scheme was launched in march. it didn't start off so brilliantly, but when people were told they could open their spare rooms, take ukrainians and, refugees from the war, of course, they said it would be a minimum of six months. so injust over a month, the first of those sponsors will be able to say, thank you very much, i am going to opt out of that arrangement. the survey shows a quarter of the house, 26% are likely to say enough is enough. we don't know exactly how many households have got ukrainian staying with them, but 77,000 people have arrived as part of homes for ukraine. there is a concern we could be looking at 15, perhaps 20,000 ukrainians without a home in the next few months. there have been calls to try and encourage people that the £350 a month the government pays sponsors,

that should be increased and more than 100,000 families on the scheme have become homeless and are recognised as such by local councils. it is a potentially looming problem. but the survey also finds enormous generosity and goodwill from those who have taken in ukrainians, paying for their food, childcare, transport, energy and around a quarter saying they would continue to provide a home, notjust for six months but a year and beyond that. people have opened, notjust and beyond that. people have opened, not just their and beyond that. people have opened, notjust their doors, but and beyond that. people have opened, not just their doors, but their hearts. a ~ not just their doors, but their hearts. ~ ., ., ,, not just their doors, but their hearts. ~' ., ., ~' , hearts. mark easton, thank you very much. blackpool, one of britain's most popular seaside destinations, is also one of the most deprived towns in britain and in recent years it's seen rapid growth in the number of children's homes. there are now 39 children's homes in the blackpool area and three—quarters of them were registered in the past five years, according to the latest ofsted figures.

these newer facilities are often filled by children from outside the local area, some from as far away as london. our correspondent sanchia berg has been investigating. 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 ofsted, 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. there are several reasons why

blackpool has become something of a centre for children's homes. one is the price of property here. the other, the rapid expansion of certain independent local providers. the biggest provider is sandcastle care, which grew from three homes to 53 in just five years. most of its homes are rated good. joe and jade weren't in sandcastle homes. its owner, local entrepreneur turned racehorse owner, darren yates, sold to company to private equity, and resigned from the board last year. its value has been estimated at £20 million. darren yates didn't respond to our request for an interview. a spokesperson for sandcastle care said... "we're committed to serving the best interests of the young people entrusted into our care." they said 70% of their current placements were from the north—west of england. blackpool council is trying to restore the town's fortunes, and to use the planning system to stop new children's homes.

over the last few months, they told us it seems to have worked. there have been no new applications for children houses in the town centre. 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.

daniel sandford has been monitoring all these developments, but do we know? he all these developments, but do we know? . , all these developments, but do we know? ., , , know? he has always denied being the fourth member— know? he has always denied being the fourth member of _ know? he has always denied being the fourth member of the _ know? he has always denied being the fourth member of the group _ know? he has always denied being the fourth member of the group that - fourth member of the group that became known as the beatles, the english—speaking men responsible for beheading hostages, british and american hostages in the so—called islamic state during its time in charge in parts of syria. before the leader of the group was killed by a drone strike and before the two men were brought to justice drone strike and before the two men were brought tojustice in were brought to justice in america, aine davis was arrested in turkey and put on trial in turkey and has been imprisoned in turkey since 2015. the prison sentence has come to an end. he has been deported from turkey, he still has his british citizenship. on arrival at the uk at

luton airport this evening, he was arrested by the counterterrorism command. he has not been held on suspicion of murder or hostagetaking, he has been held on suspicion of terrorist offences to do with fundraising and possession of articles for terrorist offences. he is still in custody in a police station in south london. but it is a very notorious case and one which will attract lots of attention. daniel sandford, our home affairs correspondent, thank you. seven men have been charged with multiple counts of rape against a group of women who were filming a music video in south africa. so far at least 130 men have been arrested, of which 61 appeared in court on wednesday. protesters from civil society groups and political parties have gathered outside the court and are demanding that the suspects be denied bail.

the average waiting time for a test is 1a weeks because of the backlog caused by the pandemic with reports of learners waiting up to six months in some areas. the uk's largest water company will have to say people will use less water and cut down on the wasteful use of water to cope with hotter, drier summers. thames water is due to impose a hosepipe ban on 50 million customers in london and southern england very soon as the heat across most of the uk continues to intensify. a number weather alert comes into force tomorrow lasting until sunday. and the continued dry weather is causing significant problems for farmers and others in the agriculture industry. justin rowlatt reports from cirencester in gloucestershire. 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'll 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 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 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. justin rowlatt, bbc news, gloucestershire. the author and illustrator, raymond briggs, best known for the immensely popular children's book the snowman, has died at the age of 88. as a young man he worked as a commercial artist, before moving on to illustrating children's books. but he was so unhappy with the standard of writing in some of the works, that he decided to try his hand at being an author. our arts correspondent david silito 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, i get an idea and you just do it. 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. 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 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. raymond was someone who 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. good morning, madame. keep off my clean step, young man. his childhood, his mum 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, affecting us here in the uk but elsewhere as well. we have seen the impact the drought is having. this was in france, a wild fire believed to be under control fled back up to life on tuesday. 50,000 hectares burned in less than 2a hours, 6000 houses had to be evacuated as well. scary scenes here and that phi was visible from space this afternoon. you can see the smoke plume coming from it, drifting westwards but also visible, look how brown the ground is across much of france, southern and eastern uk and the drought is taking its toll. in the uk be so another day in

which temperatures got to or exceeded 30 degrees. the day this week, butjust watch what happens, it will intensify the heat wave even further and into the weekend. it is areas covered by the met office amber warning for extreme heat where the highest impact will be to health and transport but it will be hot across most parts of the country. high pressure is firmly in charge. the biggest exception to this story remains the north of scotland. weather fronts continue to wriggle round and heavy rain to come through the night. temperatures not dropping away too much, 13 or 1a degrees. but we have something more comfortable, single figure temperatures across scotland, northern ireland and northern england and rural parts, starting to get warmer into the south. sunny start in sunny day for many. it exception is northern scotland. the case of rain coming and going through the western isles in the western isles and orkney and shetland. heavy bursts and temperatures 15 to 18 degrees. under

the sunny weather, temperatures will