has found exactly the same. son has found exactly the same. thank you very much for that. there are concerns that the early release of so many prisoners will have a knock on affect on the probation service, which is already struggling with its workload. a little earlier i put that question to ian lawrence, general secretary of the national association of probation officers. it's a huge challenge for probation staff. they're already massively overworked and understaffed and underpaid. and dealing with what we would call normal probation supervision work. this early release scheme, which replaces the previous one and ought to allow more time for the processing of releases, is a bit of an improvement. but there's still huge pressure on our members to exercise the, the, the scheme in the way that is wanted by government. so, yeah, it's a challenge and we have negotiated an overtime package for our members to try and break the logjam. but that presupposes people have the energy and the capacity to to do that overtime.

it's not a proper solution. it's a short—term palliative. just take us through the process, because obviously a lot of people will be concerned about offenders being released early as to whether they they actually should be released early. and it's largely up to the sort of probation service to, to monitor them, to check on them. so just take us through when these prisoners are released, how much contact will they have with your officers, with your members, and what's your role in trying to ensure that the public are kept safe? well, as much contact as we can muster. and of course, that involves prison staff as well as probation and the checks and balances, safeguarding requirements that need to be gone through as part of that process. where is the individual going to live? is it a safe place? if there were previous issues around sex offending way back, for example, are there safeguarding issues there? what is their mental health capacity? because this is a huge problem in that there

are too many people in our prison system already who are suffering from mental health issues and are in need of support drug, alcohol, substance abuse, etc. so we need to be sure that wherever that prisoner goes, they stand, you know, as little chance as possible of re—offending. there are questions to the house ofjustice at the moment and the issue of early prison release in england and wales. you can keep a cross that live on the bbc parliament channel. the public inquiry of the crimes of lucy b is under way. it will check how she was able

to carry the crimes in 2015 and 2016. it will also examine how hospital managers responded to doctors who raised concerns. ladyjustice thirlwall, who is chairing the inquiry, delivered some short opening remarks before handing over to counsel to the inquiry rachel langdale kc, who will spend today and tomorrow delivering an opening statement. at the heart of this inquiry are the babies who died, who were injured and their parents. i do not presume to describe the feelings and emotions that those parents have already experienced, nor those that lie ahead. but i will remind you of what has happened since the birth of their children. first, each parent celebrated the birth of each child. then, when things seemed to be going well for these tiny babies, each one of them collapsed suddenly and unexpectedly.

some of the babies recovered. some survived, but with lifelong consequences. some died. deaths and injuries occurred in 2015 and in 2016. the parents were told that natural causes were the reason for the death or lifelong difficulties, and so each parent grieved the loss of a new life and all that it promised, and lived with that profound sorrow. you can, using the qr code, keep across this inquiry as it happens on the bbc live page. in the next few hours, parliament will vote on whether to end winter fuel payments for all but the poorest pensioners. the chancellor has urged fellow labour mps to back the plan, which would see the winter allowance of up to £300 become means tested,

meaning millions of people would no longer be eligible. the treasury says this will save around £1.11 billion. 0ur political correspondent hannah miller has this report. those not in receipt of pension credits will no longer receive the winter fuel payment from this year on words. it is the winter fuel payment from this year on words.— this year on words. it is the most controversial - this year on words. it is the most controversial move i this year on words. it is the | most controversial move the labour government made so far, a cut for pensioners that has fuelled discontent among mps. these are the necessary and urgent decisions that i must make. dozens of labour mps are known to be unhappy about the decision to limit the winter fuel payments to only the poorest pensioners, and 17 are calling for it to be postponed. one of them is diane abbott. i certainly won't support it. we are all discussing whether to vote against or abstain. but you can't possibly support it. it wasn't in the manifesto.

we have all had hundreds of letters about it and even if you claim the pension credit which actually that is unlikely to happen before the winter, there will still be 3 million pensionersjust above the threshold to pension credit who are going to be old and cold this winter because of losing their winter tax arrangement. ministers say they have no plans to offer any further support, arguing that the state pension has gone up by £900 compared to a year ago and will go up again in the spring. supporters insist that savings have to be found somewhere. nobody in the labour party would like to see the sort i of problems that will be caused for elderly people _ who are just above that threshold of £12,460. | when you inherit a {21.9

billion black hole, - not in the future, - but in the current year, you have to take tough choices. the government will win today's vote, such is the size of its majority, but ministers have still been trying to convince wavering mps to vote with them in order to show a united front. they say this isn't the only tough choice they will be making in the coming months, making today a test of party discipline. the prime minister is going to brighton this morning to give a speech to unions despite some leaders calling for him to change course. labour mps fear they are about to face a significant wave of criticism. they hope it's one they can withstand. hannah miller, bbc news. the government has come under a lot of pressure from many of its own mps over their winter fuel payment policy. 0ur chief political correspondent, henry zeffman says the government are not showing any signs of a u—turn.

i think the government are adamant that this is absolutely the right thing to have done, both fiscally, where it will save, they reckon, about £1.5 billion just this year, but also politically as a demonstration that they are willing to make tough decisions, indeed, that they have to make tough decisions because of what they say is the worst economic inheritance of any government pretty much ever. it's much more backbench labourmps, labourmps with no particular status in the government, many of them new to politics, just this year. they're the ones who are really anxious about the political capital that may have been expended here, notjust by the government, but also for those labour mps, many of whom have very marginal seats. now, the next general election isn't until four or five years away, but older people tend to vote in greater numbers than younger people. and a lot of labour mps are conscious that they are not a demographic group that any

government necessarily can afford to upset. so those are some of the political calculations here. but i should stress, it feels from talking to people in government this morning that things are moving in their direction. there was never any danger they would lose this vote because they've got such a vast majority. but in terms of the size of the rebellion, people in government are increasingly optimistic that the number of labour mps who defy them is falling pretty much by the hour. russian officials say, ukraine struck moscow and western russia in one of its biggest ever drone attacks, killing at least one woman, wrecking dozens of homes and forcing the closure of major airports in the capital. flightradar tracker showed an almost empty moscow sky early today. as a result of the attack, four airports servicing moscow, including major hubs, had cancelled or delayed flights, according

to state media. this is a moment when one of the drone hits a residential building in the town of ramenskoe , which is in moscow region. local officials said that the air defence units destroyed at least seven ukrainian drones targeting russia's capinal. ukraine and russia regularly launch night—time drone raids on each other�*s territory. spacex has launched four private astronauts into space onboard a falcon 9 rocket. the polaris dawn mission aims to use new spacesuits, designed by spacex, to attempt the first commercial spacewalk. a mission. the mission is being bankrolled by billionaire jared isaacman, who is mission commander. he is joined by scott poteet, a retired us air force pilot, and spacex employees

sarah gillis and anna menon. 0ur science correspondent was watching and has more on why this lunch is significant for space missions. 50 this lunch is significant for space missions.— this lunch is significant for space missions. so far, the rivate space missions. so far, the private sector _ space missions. so far, the private sector has - space missions. so far, the private sector has been - space missions. so far, the l private sector has been doing all sorts of things in space, but for the first time they will overtake the public sector. they will show that the training wheels are off in a sense, that they can do whatever nasa has done in the past, but cheaper and more innovatively and it's all part of the private sector getting ready to make space an everyday thing, to go back and forth from the moon, to send people back and forth from the moon and maybe even go on to mars. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello, there. a story of sunshine and showers

over the next few days but the main talking point will be it's just going to feel a bit colder. not by day but also by night with night frost later in the week and it will be cold enough with a bit of snow on the scottish mountains but it will be short lived with milder air back by the weekend. that colder air is the north of this waterfront that's been tracking southwards and will continue to do so for the rest of the day clearing the south coast as we head into the first part of the night into the autumn chill. as we start the afternoon it's across parts of wales, the midlands, it will reach southernmost counties by the end of the afternoon and some sunny spells here but more sunshine to the north of the rain band but frequent showers, heavy hail, thunder and gusty winds at a0 or even 60 mph in auckland, shetland. and i will add to the wind—chill. temperatures at the 17—19 c. that weather front pushes through the evening rush hour so it could be a wet one him but before that clears and then showers tonight between the north and west and clear skies

elsewhere. thankfully the breeze. temperatures dropping to much but it will be a chilly night and the commute tomorrow will see temperatures in mid—single figures for the vast majority but a lovely sunny start to the south and east of the country first thing, showers in the north and west developing more widely and i think the best will be some of you, we will see this afternoon with heavy or health under this afternoon and winter in the scottish mountains but take a look at these temperatures for tomorrow afternoon. 11—15 with a wind—chill list for— seven celsius but lower than we would expect. another call now to take us into thursday. the isobars are opening out, not quite as windy but still a bit of a breeze. showers are in coastal areas and it will develop more widely inland for the afternoon but perhaps fewer showers through wednesday but an equally cold day at 10—15 c. what will follow will be the

coldest night of the week. thursday into friday will see frost on the grass and even in the air across eastern scotland and northern anger but there will be milder air making a return this weekend but would it we will see breezy conditions again and a return of rain in the north and west. live from london, this is bbc news. kamala harris and donald trump prepare for the first presidential debate in philadelphia later on tuesday. israel says airstrikes on a designated humanitarian

this government will not risk its mandate for economic stability under any circumstances. ~ ., . stability under any circumstances. ., ' :::: circumstances. more than 1700 -risoners circumstances. more than 1700 prisoners are — circumstances. more than 1700 prisoners are being _ circumstances. more than 1700 prisoners are being released i prisoners are being released early across england and wales in an effort to ease overcrowding injails. overcrowding in jails. the overcrowding injails. the inquiry into how lucy letby was able to carry out the murder of seven babies while working as a nurse gets under way in liverpool. i am your father. and tributes to the american actorjames earljones, the voice of darth vader, who has died aged 93. sir keir starmer has warned workers that decisions on pay will be shaped by the tough decisions needed to protect the economy. in a speech to the tuc annual congress in brighton,

the labour leader said