plus, coming to a car park near you: cheap solar charging for your electric vehicle. but does northern europe have the weather for it? we start with the cost of living here in the uk because, as we were anticipating this time yesterday, the chancellor rishi sunak has announced a financial support package to help people with soaring bills. the 15 billion pound plan will be funded, in part, by what he called a temporary, targeted energy profits levy. in other words, a windfall tax on the energy companies, a policy the opposition labour party have been calling for, but the government has resisted, until now. all households, regardless of income, will receive a grant of £400 towards their energy bills, which won t have to be paid back. on top of that, those on the lowest incomes, around eight million households, will receive a one off payment of £650. and pensioners receiving the winter fuel allowance will also get an extra one off payment of £300. those receiving disability b
is likely in the autumn, says the head of the industry watchdog, after a £700 rise last month. the faces of thousands of members of the uighur community in china, the bbc obtains a huge data leak about their detention and harsh treatment by the authorities. good morning, everyone, and welcome to the brand new elizabeth line service. and it is three years late and four million pounds over budget, but the elizabeth line on london s tube network open to the public today. and coming up on the bbc news channel, it is england s jarrod bowen. he and jamesjustin get their first international call up ahead of next month s nation s league games. good evening. there are more questions for the government tonight over behaviour in downing street during covid lockdowns. for the first time insiders who attended gatherings there have told the bbc that parties were routine, and they would arrive at work to find bins overflowing with empty bottles from the night before. they say staff sat on
minister. he wasn t there saying this shouldn t be happening, he| this shouldn t be happening, he wasn t saying can everyone break up and go home because my cable and socially distance? and everyone put masks on? no, he wasn t telling anybody that. he was grabbing a glass for himself. pressure coming on the uk government from a number of fronts more detail has emerged about the lockdown parties in number 10. there s confirmation energy prices will rise sharply later year as the cost of living crisis deepens. and an inquiry by mps has concluded that that the uk s withdrawal from afghanistan last year was a disaster . we re going to look at all three across this first half an hour. let s begin with the parties because, for the first time, insiders who were at some of the events have talked in detail about what they saw. they ve been talking to the bbc s laura kuennsberg and in this clip a staffer described the culture in noio during at the time. they were every week. the event
the premier league approve a £4 billion takeover of chelsea football club by a consortium led by la dodgers co owner todd boehly. manchester united and england. marcus rashford s debut book wins stock prizes. we ll be talking to the co author at 8:45pm. good evening. welcome to bbc news. there are more questions for the government tonight over behaviour in downing street during covid lockdowns. for the first time, insiders who attended gatherings there have told the bbc that parties were routine and they would arrive at work to find bins overflowing with empty bottles from the night before. they say staff sat on each other s laps at a leaving do in november 2020, where the prime minister has now been pictured, and that security guards were laughed at when they tried to stop one party from taking place. borisjohnson s spokesman says he takes the accusations very seriously . the prime minister remains under pressure over his attendance at the leaving party a year and a half