And charities are meeting with ministers to discuss the difficult winter ahead. Energy bills will rise again in october, when the Price Cap increases by 10 . Rachel reeves said she had to take difficult decisions in very challenging circumstances. The conservatives are calling for her to scrap the changes. Our political correspondent Iain Watson reports. Energy prices are increasing and so is the pressure on the government to help those who are struggling to pay their bills. We are bracing ourselves for a really difficult winter. We are already seeing Record Numbers of people coming to us with Energy Debt in the height of summer. That is only going to get worse when the energy Price Cap rises. From october, the Energy Regulator Ofgem is allowing prices to rise by 10 , and that represents bills of more than £1700 a year for a typical household. This morning, the government brought together big Energy Companies, the regulator, and Citizens Advice Bureau to discuss what more could be don
Cultural life, the radio four podcast, she reveals her formative influences and experiences, and how her passion for playing was there from the start. I knew very young there was no question i wanted to play the violin. There was no question that that was what i must do and had to do and wanted to do. Have you played here much, nicky . They chuckle nicola benedetti, welcome to this cultural life. Thank you so much for having me. Its an absolute pleasure. You were born and brought up in north ayrshire. What are your earliest musical memories at home . What memories do you have of music being played at home . The bee gees and abba. Later on, good dose of shania twain. That was all my dads taste. My mum definitely had a kenny g record. Um. She laughs saxophone . Theyll kill me for saying all of this quite like this, but its the truth both of your parents were born in italy, werent they . Yes. Was it an italian household culturally growing up . Its a good question. I would say both parents
Fans are getting ready for the big game in spain too. The womens game there has seen an explosion in popularity, with the number of women players in federated leagues increasing by almost 200 from 2009 to 2022. Heres one of them. Translation the way they are showing us they are breaking down barriers time and time again the collective Bargaining Agreement a few years ago, the professionalisation of womens football, all this, and also the way they represent the values of sport for me and i think for all of us is a complete inspiration. Off the field during this competition, there have been serious conversations taking place about womens sport and its place in the world, including pay equality. The total prize pot for the womens world cup is 110 million thats a 300 increase from the 2019 tournament. But by comparison, its significantly lower than the 1140 million pot for the mens tournament in qatar last year. At the beginning of the competition, analysis by cnn found that female players
But its the truth both of your parents were born in italy, werent they . Yes. Was it an italian household culturally growing up . Its a good question. I would say both parents assimilated very concretely and quite deliberately with scottishness and scottish culture, but they also came over very young. My mum was three years old. An italian speaking three year old with an italian mother and scottish father. Um. Came over to scotland and, er. Was sort of banned from speaking italian quite quickly. It was considered to be detrimental to her education and all sorts of things. We know better now. So my mum lost most of her italian, um. And it was a very scottish upbringing from that moment forward. And my dad, he came over when he was kind of ten or ii. Came over without his parents. Had a rough time, you know, adjusting to such a different culture. It was a good, healthy mix. But as far as mealtimes go and food, we were italian all the way. You mentioned you started playing the violin at t