good morning, welcome to breakfast with sally nugent and jon kay. our headlines. donald trump's team accuse the labour party of interfering in the us presidential election — sir keir starmer plays down the claims. a new move to shake up the water industry in the face of rising bills and crumbling infrastructure — an independent comission will explore new ways of working. calls for an overhaul of compensation payments for people harmed by immunisations as a group of people affected by the astrazeneca vaccine take legal action. more and more are finding it difficult to keep up with buy now, pay later debts, with fears people are relying on the schemes to fund essential daily purchases. i'll have all the details.

it's been more than a0 years since aston villa have played alongside europe's elite. they're making it look like they've never been away as they cap their remarkable return to the champions league with another win. there with another win. is some dense fog particularly there is some dense fog particularly in england and wales. some will be slow to clear but when it does there will be sunshine but still showers in the north and west. it's wednesday the 23rd october, our main story. donald trump's presidential campaign has filed a legal complaint against the labour party in the uk, accusing it of �*blatantly interfering' in the american election. in a six—page letter, the former president's team cite a now—deleted social media post in which labour members were encouraged to travel to the us to campaign for the democratic candidate, kamala harris. the prime minister sir keir starmer says labour activists were volunteering in their own time. our north america correspondent

peter bowes reports. donaldj donald j trump! us donald] trump! us election interference from the labour party, the claim made by donald trump �*s campaign that britain's ruling party and kamala harris�* campaign have broken the norm. in a letter to the election watchdog, a lawyerfor the trump campaign cites media reports about contact between labour and the harris campaign and requests an immediate investigation into blatant foreign interference with apparent illegalforeign national contributions made by the labour party. the row revolves around efforts by labour to send volunteers to the states to help kamala harris. the letter cites this now deleted post on the networking site linkedin apparently from a senior labour official saying ten spots were available to travel to the us and

the party would sort housing for volunteers. the trump campaign says it suggests labour is financially supporting volunteers. it is not illegal for supporting volunteers. it is not illegalforforeign nationals supporting volunteers. it is not illegal for foreign nationals to campaign in us elections but they cannot be paid. in a statement the trump campaign said kamala harris and her running mate are seeking foreign influence to boost what it called their radical message. the harris campaign acceptance and use of illegalforeign harris campaign acceptance and use of illegal foreign assistant is another feeble attempt in a long line of anti—american election interference. donald trump �*s former ambassador to germany, who is tipped to be part of the former president's new administration if he wins the election told newsnight it was a slippery slope for labour. it is election told newsnight it was a slippery slope for labour.- slippery slope for labour. it is a dangerous _ slippery slope for labour. it is a dangerous precedent _ slippery slope for labour. it is a dangerous precedent to - slippery slope for labour. it is a dangerous precedent to have i slippery slope for labour. it is a l dangerous precedent to have the ruling party of an ally somehow playing politics, getting involved in the actual campaigning with such a short notice. it is the last month

of our campaign. keir a short notice. it is the last month of our campaign-— of our campaign. keir starmer has -la ed of our campaign. keir starmer has played down _ of our campaign. keir starmer has played down the _ of our campaign. keir starmer has played down the significance - of our campaign. keir starmer has played down the significance of. of our campaign. keir starmer has| played down the significance of the trump campaign allegations pointing out labour had volunteers who had gone to america pretty much every election, doing it in their spare time and staying with other volunteers. the prime minister said he and donald trump had established a good relationship when they met in new york last month. political editor chris mason is travelling to somoa with the prime minister, and sent us this update. hello from winnipeg in the canadian province of manitoba. we are on our way to the south pacific for a gathering of commonwealth heads of government. we still have a long way to go. quite the row bubbling while we have been on the first leg of this flight between donald trump and the uk labour party. it is only a couple of weeks ago keir starmer had

dinner with donald trump in new york, meeting him the first time. now this row centres on a post on linkedin, thejobs now this row centres on a post on linkedin, the jobs website, now this row centres on a post on linkedin, thejobs website, for labour party staff, suggesting people might want to go out to campaign for kamala harris, the rival of donald trump. kamala harris the democrat and current vice president. suggesting housing would be sorted. that has caused anger from the trump campaign because they reckon it amounts to illegal electoral interference, particularly the idea that money might have changed hands. labour say that is not the case and these are volunteers, and it happens every election and it has been blown out of proportion. quite the thing when we arejust a of proportion. quite the thing when we are just a couple of weeks away from the us presidential election. that is chris mason on his way to the conference in the pacific with

keir starmer. we can find out how the labour party have reacted. chief political correspondent henry zeffman what are labour saying? no formal response but what you are hearing privately is what chris said, they are adamant those dozens of labour officials, past and present, who are planning to campaign for kamala harris have done so in a personal capacity and yes labour party networks have organically perhaps been used to organise who might go out and when and where. this has not been a labour party drive to campaign for the democrats although of course the labour party and democrats are sister parties, both centre—left parties. this is seriously awkward for the labour party and government, but the question is whether it is merely

awkward or whether it will threaten the potential relationship between keir starmer and donald trump if donald trump wins the election. that is the question in westminster today. is the question in westminster toda . ~ , is the question in westminster toda. , ,, is the question in westminster toda . ~ , ,, ., today. we will be speaking to cabinet minister _ today. we will be speaking to cabinet minister steve - today. we will be speaking to cabinet minister steve reed l today. we will be speaking to - cabinet minister steve reed later and will ask him about that. it is a busy day here, including his brief which is the environment and big announcements on water. an independent commission set up by the uk and welsh governments is to examine how to improve the water industry, amid crumbling infrastructure, pollution and rising bills. it's been described as the largest review of the sector since the 1980s. our business editor simonjack reports. water bills are going to rise a lot if we are going to fix a crumbling water infrastructure that has seen sewage spills, leaks and outages soar. it's provoked public fury at the company's that many — like becky mulvey from ilkley —have seen as prioritising profit over people. i'm not prepared to pay more

in my bills until i am ensured that we are going to get our rivers, lakes and seas cleaned up. i am not paying more for debt and for dividends and for people to line their pockets. absolutely not. the government agrees the industry and regulation isn't working, which is why it's launching the biggest review of the industry in the 35 years since privatisation, which could see the reform or abolition of current regulators. the water industry itself welcomed the move. i don't think anyone can look at the current system and think that it's working well. we have not had enough investment in the past and our system is creaking under the weight of climate change and population growth. and, ultimately, i think all of us bear some responsibility for that, including the regulator, which has consistently denied sufficient investment to be put into the system. but this new commission will not report back until next spring. the negotiation about how much bills will rise in england and wales over the next five years is happening now. ofwat initially agreed to average price rises of £19

a year, or a total of 21% above inflation, by 2030. but the numbers vary a lot depending on company and their spending needs. ofwat agreed to a rise of 44%, or £37 a year, for southern water customers, but only 11% — or £9 a year — for customers of northumbrian. water companies have invested nearly £200 million since privatisation in facilities like this new storm drain to cope with higher rainfall. but they've also paid out $50 billion in dividends, millions in pay and saddled some companies with unsustainable debt. the government say nationalisation would cost taxpayers billions and take years in which the problems would only get worse. so whatever this new commission concludes, it seems inevitable that the failures of the past will mean higher bills in the future. simon jack, bbc news. the lebanese authorities have reported a new wave of israeli air strikes on southern beirutjust hours after israel's army ordered civilians to evacuate the area. our correspondent jonathan head is in beirut. jonathan, what's the latest?

good morning. a third night where we have had repeated air strikes in the capital. we cannot count, keep count of the ones in the rest of the country, most in south lebanon where hezbollah is strong. six warnings given and six powerful explosions before midnight. we have yet to see the damage in those areas but it follows a day in which people in this city were able to see the effects of these incredible israeli bombs for themselves. dramatic video when we saw the bombs coming down. striking close to what were multistorey residential buildings and seeing the building is literally pancake down into rubble. that is what israel is doing wherever it believes there is hezbollah infrastructure in the basement. often there are warnings and people can get out, often they are not

enough. 18 people died in a strike close to the main hospital on tuesday night, monday night rather, so this isjust tuesday night, monday night rather, so this is just a repeated tuesday night, monday night rather, so this isjust a repeated pattern the city is living with. we have news that the presumed successor to the hezbollah leader hassan nasrallah is now confirmed to have died. we no longer have any known public hezbollah leader is operating in lebanon and no one is sure who is taking over and how the organisation is being run after the damage done by this campaign of israeli air strikes. the former boss of the fashion brand abercrombie & fitch has been released on bail after being charged with sex trafficking. 80—year—old mikejeffries and his partner matthew smith, who's 61, allegedly influenced men to engage in sexual acts, by promising modelling opportunities. they've denied any wrongdoing. and you can listen to the full

investigation world of secrets: the abercrombie guys, over on bbc sounds now. a man has been charged with murder after the death of a 57—year—old woman in suffolk. anita rose was found with serious head injuries on a street in the village of brantham injuly and died in hospital four days later. 55—year—old roy barclay will appear at ipswich magistrates' court today. a world—first vaccine for the winter vomiting bug norovirus is to be trialled by thousands of uk adults. around four million people across the uk are infected with the illness each year, resulting in around 80 deaths. king charles and queen camilla will arrive in the island nation of samoa this morning for a summit of the 56—nation commonwealth. the couple have just completed a six—day tour of australia — the first time they have visited the country since the king became its head of state. britain and germany will sign a new landmark defence agreement later, aimed at boosting security and cooperation between europe's

two largest economies. the plans, which will also see a new factory opened in the uk, have been described as historic. defence correspondent jonathan beale reports. germany and the uk already train and work together as nato allies. but the government says this new defence pact will take the relationship to another level, with more cooperation between their militaries and defence industries — all part of the government's push to reset relations with key european allies post—brexit. this is an historic agreement. it brings our uk and german militaries closer together, our industries closer together, both to strengthen our security and europe's security, but also to boost our industries. german and uk defence firms are alreadyjointly making new armoured vehicles for the british army at this factory in telford. under the new agreement,

germany would open a new factory in britain to produce the barrels for artillery guns. the government says it will sustain 400 jobs. they'll also jointly develop a new long—range missile. and german maritime surveillance aircraft will also periodically fly from raf lossiemouth in scotland to join patrols of the north atlantic, tracking russian submarines. the overall goal is to boost nato's defences. jonathan beale, bbc news. you might have an old gardening tools gathering dust in the back of the shed. but it's a safe bet they won't be as old as the one that's turned up in dorset. a wooden spade — it is particularly old. it looks like mine. dating back more than three thousand

years to the bronze age — has been unearthed by archaeologists near poole harbour. it's only the second wooden tool from that period to have ever been found. they normally rot away but this one was found in a peat bog, which preserved it. it has washed up beautifully. yours does not look like that now? i am going to take the oxygen out of my shed and it will preserve my tools forever. you never use them. it is in better nick than mine. how often do you dig your garden? i know the answer. here's carol. how are you? i know the answer as well. good morning. this morning there is dense fog. if you have not ventured out, particularly in england and wales. you will notice visibility is poor. it will be slow

to lift. slowest probably from lincolnshire and east anglia and could last perhaps to the afternoon. when it lifts, we will see sunshine and many will see sunshine anyway. we have the fog. some showers across the north and west. breezy conditions. a lot of dry weather. a fair bit of sunshine for many. temperatures ranging from 13 in the north, 16-17 temperatures ranging from 13 in the north, 16—17 in the south. through the evening and overnight, less likely to see fog tonight. we have stronger winds especially in the west. here ahead of a weather front, we will import more cloud. some dank conditions in the west. some clearer skies in the east. not cold, 10—12 will be the overnight low. that is how we start tomorrow. a lot of dry

weather. western coasts tending to have more cloud. some drizzle from the cloud. ahead of this weather front which will bring heavy rain later. temperatures tomorrow, we are looking at 13 in the north, 16 in the south. eventually, the rain moves across the country. but the weather is quieter. you moves across the country. but the weather is quieter.— weather is quieter. you say it so nicel . weather is quieter. you say it so nicely. quieter. _ an important health story. the oxford astrazeneca vaccine was seen as one of the great successes of the pandemic, credited with saving over six million lives in its first year. but in rare cases, it was also responsible for serious side—effects like blood clots in the brain, which, in some cases, were fatal. now the financial scheme set up to support people injured by vaccines has been criticised as being arbitrary,

with the payouts too low. our medical editor fergus walsh has been to meet some of those affected. jane wrigley used to be a runner, now she can barely walk. do you want to hold my hand? yes, please. 0k. before i had the vaccine, i was a very independent, active woman doing half—marathons. and now i have no independence. i can't even shower myself, can i? no. jane suffered a blood clot in her brain two weeks after her first dose of the astrazeneca vaccine in march 2021, and required emergency surgery. as other cases emerged throughout europe, doctors gave the vaccine induced clots a new medical term — vitt. lisa shaw, a presenter at bbc radio newcastle, was a4 when she died — three weeks after her first astrazeneca cov