the energy regulator ofgem has asked suppliers to pause the forced installation of prepaid metres. it follows revelations that a debt collection company working for british gas broke into the homes of vulnerable people to install the metres. prepayment metres require customers to pay for their energy in advance. it s more expensive than paying by direct debit, but are sometimes the only option for people who have struggled to pay and are in debt to a supplier. ben king has more. an undercover reporter from the times newspaper joined a team of debt collectors, entering the home of a single father with three young children. they count as vulnerable. but, these workers from arvato financial solutions, working for british gas, opened the door and installed a prepayment meter anyway. installing prepayment meters by force is legal, but it s meant to be a last resort, and should not be done to vulnerable households. if people cannot afford to top up the meters, they will be left wit
for motor neurone disease. campaigners say new research funding needs to be handed out quicker. i met imeta i met a family bakery in manchester finding out what the interest rate rise means for businesses and customers. manchester united to decide on the future of their player mason greenwood after charges of attempted rape and coercive behaviours against him are dropped. while some of you will see some light rain or drizzle through the day it will actually be a mild day when the sunshine comes out with a feel of spring in fact. don t get too used to use that, though. i will have the full forecast here on breakfast. it s friday, the 3rd of february. the family of a woman who s gone missing in lancashire has made an emotional plea for people to come forward with information. 45 year old nicola bulley disappeared a week ago, while walking her dog in st michael s on wyre. we can speak now to our reporter, dave guest, while walking her dog in st michael s on wyre. who joins us fr
for a summit on ukraine president zelensky says he believes his country deserves talks on joining the eu this year. deserted railway stations as train drivers in england stage their second walkout this week. australian tennis star nick kyrgios admits assaulting his ex girlfriend but avoids a criminal conviction we ll have the latest from canberra. # falling in our hearts # here again, hawai i # aloha, aloha # and could this song by the former sex pistols by the former sex pistolsrontmanjohn lydon written about his wife s alzheimer s be chosen to represent ireland at the eurovision song contest? it s very hard to be away from her. but i have to do this. i have to bring awareness to this problem. hello, and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world. the us department of defence says it s tracking what s believed to be a chinese surveillance balloon that entered american airspace two days ago. the military considered shooting it down over the state of montan
declaring his involvement in helping britain s former prime minister, borisjohnson, secure a loan. thousands of people in new zealand are left without power as parts of the country endure the start of a severe storm with warnings of more destruction to come. you re watching bbc news. now it s time for political thinking with nick robinson hello and welcome to political thinking. the row about how and why a rapist called adam ended up in a women s prison has shone a spotlight on a debate which in truth, has been raging notjust for months, but for years. at the centre of that debate is the charity and campaigning organisation stonewall. my guest on political thinking this week is the new chair of stonewall. he s iain anderson and he s got a cv that might surprise you. he s a lifelong conservative. he went to school with michael gove in aberdeen and he ended up running a leadership campaign for ken clarke. he s also a westminster insider who s operated behind the scenes at very
advertisers? anyone who do that is obviously pablo escobar level corrupt and should not be trusted. what would that look like? that level of corruption? well, imagine that the trump administration had made it mandatory for american citizens to buy mypillow. that s when fox news s biggest advertisers imagined. the administration declared that if you didn t rush out and buy at least one , mypillow and then at least another booster pillow, you may not be allowed to eat out. you couldn t reenter your own country. you couldn t have a paying job. mypillow, they told you with a straight face, was the very lynchpin of our country s public health system. now, imagine if they told you that that fox, as your news organization endorsed it, amplified the government s message. imagine if fox news attacked anyone who refused to buy mypillow as an ally of russia, as an enemy of science. and then imagine that fox kept up those libelous attacks even as evidence mounted that mypillow ca