Rates have gone up again, for the 14th time in a row. The Bank Of England has put up its main rate from 5 to 5. 25 . That will mean higher mortgages for some people, but its also good news for savers. The Bank Of England is using Interest Rate rises to fight inflation, which has slowed recently, but which is still nearly 8 . Our economics correspondent andy verity reports the father of two, peter, keeping up the payments for his familys mortgages looking like anything but childs play. They bought their home under the governments help to buy scheme, but since then Interest Rates have risen 1a times. When his fixed rate deal expires early next year, the payments willjump. Somehow we are supposed to spend less and find an extra £750 per month to pay for that. For many families it is a terrifying situation, but if you have a young family like ourselves, who have been swayed into the Housing Market by government who has advertised help to buy as an affordable scheme, right, when things bec
take part in a contest to succeed nicola sturgeon as scottish national party leader. good afternoon. it s a year since russia launched its invasion of ukraine and there are no signs that the conflict is coming to an end. there have been huge casualties on both sides and millions of people have become refugees. the conflict has also affected the global economy, threatening supplies of food and energy. speaking in kyiv earlier, ukraine s president zelensky says his country will do everything it can to achieve victory this year and wouldn t stop until those he called russian murderers had faced punishment. our international editor, jeremy bowen has reported on the conflict from the very beginning, and has been looking back at the last 12 months with some of those who he s spoken to along the way. the russians expected a quick victory, taking back what president putin believes is theirs. a year later the war is not close to over. ukrainians are fighting back in a war nato bel
as veteran broadcaster ken bruce prepares for his last show on radio 2. it s entirely within the bbc s right to ask me to step away a little early and gardening leave is a known concept in broadcasting and in many other areas. good morning. the bbc understands that some energy firms are expecting the government to keep support at, or near, current levels and they are amending their bills with that expectation in mind. the typical energy bill for a household in the uk is set to rise to £3,000 a year from april, but there are calls for the government to keep its current level of support. that support currently means the government is limiting the typical bill to £2,500 a year, plus a £400 winter discount. that support is due to end in april and fuel poverty campaigners say that means the number of households struggling to afford bills could rise from 6.7 million to 8.4 million. a treasury source said it wouldn t comment on speculation, but the chancellorjeremy hunt told the
scottish democracy. the electric car battery maker britishvolt has gone into administration, leaving hundreds of staff redundant. more rail strikes train drivers will walk out on the 1st and 3rd of february, after union bosses rejected a pay offerfrom rail companies. a double decker bus overturns in icy conditions in somerset. 56 people are injured. and after 31 years presenting his weekday mid morning show, broadcaster ken bruce announces he is leaving bbc radio 2. hello, good afternoon. for the first time, the uk government has announced it is blocking a law passed by the scottish parliament. the scotland secretary alisterjack told the commons he was blocking introducing reforms that would have made it easier for people to legally change gender. he said transgender people deserved respect and understanding, but he believed the bill would interfere with uk equalities law. the first minister, nicola sturgeon, says her government will take legal action against the decision,