without a final goodbye. good evening. nearly 1.5 million customers have been hit in just two weeks by energy firms collapsing due to rising gas prices. two firms — avro energy and green — ceased trading yesterday, and their combined customers of 830,000 will now be switched to other, potentially more expensive providers. it's not yet clear who their new suppliers will be — that's to be decided by the energy watchdog, 0fgem — but all customers who are affected will still receive energy while an alternative provider is found. here's our consumer affairs correspondent, coletta smith. as the wholesale gas price goes up, suppliers are going under, and customers have been caught in the middle. 1.5 million people are now in the process of being transferred to a new energy company. jamie's supplier went bust at the weekend and he tried to switch himself so he didn't end up paying too much, but it's backfired. i should be able to take advantage of any offer that's out there on the market place at any given moment, and not wait for a supplier to move me to a supplier that 0fgem have put me in contact with. in two weeks' time you will be facing another bill, but you don't know who it's coming from and you don't know how much it will be. we're unsure if we're paying people's energy next month, we're unsure if we're paying british gas because they've sent us an e—mail saying they will collect a direct debit from us. we have set up a new direct debit with sainsbury�*s energy. we're very unsure who's going to be taking the money next month, who we're going to be paying, who our actual supplier is... jamie's frustrated he might end up paying more, even for a few months, but the government says they've only got one goal. protecting customers, especially vulnerable ones, from price spikes, and the solution to this crisis will be found from the industry and the market, as is already happening. government, i repeat, will not be bailing out failed energy companies. labour says the government have taken their eye off the ball. complacent about the crisis in the market, complacent about the impact on families, complacent about the cost of living crisis. the official advice is to wait to be transferred. if your supplier goes bust, the gas and electricity will keep flowing. within two weeks, you'll be transferred to a new supplier. right now, most of those transfers are to british gas. that's the moment when most of us would jump on a price comparison site, but even they are telling customers to sit tight right now. you may be switched to a more expensive tariff but it shouldn't be higher than the price cap, which is around £100 per month for the average household. the power to switch energy supplier is in your hands... | with all the warnings of price rises and the number of companies going bust, it's no surprise people are still trying to switch because it's what we've been told to do for years. millions have already switched... the government are warning that more suppliers will go into administration but smaller companies say their hands are tied. the government are saying we won't move the cap because we're going to protect consumers but that's naive. it's like being king canute on the beach trying to resisting the incoming tide. these are global events and if we don't react, companies go bust. a slice of everyone�*s bill goes into a central pot to fund customer transfers when a company goes bust. but because so many firms have hit the wall, that charge will be going up, so whatever happens to your supplier, we'll all end up paying more to cover the turmoil. colletta smith, bbc news. well, is this energy crisis in the uk likely to continue throughout the winter? will this country have to get used to such events in the short or longer term? and what are the solutions available? thank you forjoining us. your energy company, are you at any risk, a few aren't, why not? m0. energy company, are you at any risk, a few aren't, why not?— a few aren't, why not? no, we are extremely — a few aren't, why not? no, we are extremely well — a few aren't, why not? no, we are extremely well backed _ a few aren't, why not? no, we are extremely well backed and - a few aren't, why not? no, we are i extremely well backed and extremely well run, so our customers don't need to worry. in fact, customers anywhere in the market don't need to worry at all because the industry is well prepared to take over customers of those suppliers who have failed over recent weeks. you of those suppliers who have failed over recent weeks.— of those suppliers who have failed over recent weeks. you say people are obviously _ over recent weeks. you say people are obviously worried _ over recent weeks. you say people are obviously worried about - over recent weeks. you say people are obviously worried about what l over recent weeks. you say people | are obviously worried about what is going to happen and the price rises. is everyone going to have to pay more? if so, do you know by how much? . , ., , ., much? the customers who were with the surnpliers — much? the customers who were with the suopliers who — much? the customers who were with the suppliers who have _ much? the customers who were with the suppliers who have failed - the suppliers who have failed recently i have signed up to deals which will likely not be honoured, as they were deals struck at a time when energy prices were cheaper. however, they will be very well protected by the energy price cap, one of the cheapest tariffs on the market at the moment. if they stay where they are, they will be protected by the energy price cap, as is everybody in the market. it is definitely worth noticing that wholesale gas prices internationally are spiking, and they are likely to remain high for a while. 0ver are spiking, and they are likely to remain high for a while. over the winter we will see higher gas prices coming forward, certainly as long as britain is overreliant on gas, we will be subjected to the kind of volatility of the international commodity. i5 volatility of the international commodity-— volatility of the international commodi ., ., commodity. is it possible to put a number on _ commodity. is it possible to put a number on it _ commodity. is it possible to put a number on it at _ commodity. is it possible to put a number on it at this _ commodity. is it possible to put a number on it at this stage - commodity. is it possible to put a number on it at this stage in - commodity. is it possible to put a l number on it at this stage in terms of what people can expect over the next few weeks and months? the ener: next few weeks and months? the energy price _ next few weeks and months? tue: energy price cut next few weeks and months? tte: energy price cut is next few weeks and months? "tte: energy price cut is rising next few weeks and months? t'te: energy price cut is rising from £1138 per year for energy price cut is rising from £1138 per yearfor an energy price cut is rising from £1138 per year for an average household to £1277 per year for an average household in the coming weeks. that is likely to go up again after the winter. the prices we are seeing now will feature into the next day of the price cap. 0nce seeing now will feature into the next day of the price cap. once that happens it is likely that companies will put their prices up to reflect the wholesale gas prices they are experiencing at the moment. t5 the wholesale gas prices they are experiencing at the moment. is this the market worth _ experiencing at the moment. is this the market worth playing, - experiencing at the moment. is this the market worth playing, there - experiencing at the moment. is this the market worth playing, there for| the market worth playing, there for the market worth playing, there for the government doesn't need to intervene any further? —— market working. is this some companies fallen victim to global events? 0r fallen victim to global events? or was this foreseeable? t fallen victim to global events? or was this foreseeable?— was this foreseeable? i think the narrative that _ was this foreseeable? i think the narrative that these _ was this foreseeable? i think the narrative that these are - was this foreseeable? i think the | narrative that these are largely... less well run, badly hedged, meaning they haven't taking out good enough insurance policy against foreseeable spikes in gas prices. for example, at 0ctopus energy, we run through thousands twice a week to take into account things like events like this. that informs how we buy our energy ahead of time to stop we make sure at all times for all of our customers we know we have bought enough energy in advance so that we can serve them. those companies who have gone bust will not have been doing that, and will not have been doing that, and will not have been doing that, and will not have been doing that adequately. they probably will also not have had investors willing to front and the cash when they ran out. there are plenty of other suppliers in the market who are both hedging responsibly throughout the year, and also have a large balance sheets, are very well that i can front the cash needed to get them through a difficult winter. is there an argument that given the uniqueness of this whole market that there shouldn't be so many companies out there? is there an argument ultimately for a regulated monopoly? there are so many factors coming into play in this crisis. t there are so many factors coming into play in this crisis.— into play in this crisis. i strongly su: est into play in this crisis. i strongly suggest that _ into play in this crisis. i strongly suggest that a _ into play in this crisis. i strongly suggest that a regulated - into play in this crisis. i strongly i suggest that a regulated monopoly into play in this crisis. i strongly - suggest that a regulated monopoly is exactly what we don't want at the moment. customers have been really well served by competition. in fact, before these these new companies came into the market, the competition and markets authority found that there was almost potentially £2 billion a year detriment per year to customers as a result of not enough competition in the market. we absolutely do not want to get back to the bad old days of there being a very small number of there being a very small number of suppliers, who kind of stitch up the market, because that lead to very bad behaviour. certainly there are a lot of supplies in the market at the moment, and that's why we shouldn't be too worried if a few of them go out of business. customers are well protected in that because energy is so important, there are safeguards put in place for customers. unlike, for example, when you see businesses going bust in the high street. the government doesn't step in those scenarios, but they do step in those scenarios, but they do step in those scenarios, but they do step in energyjust to make sure that people's credit balances are protected, the supply is protected, and they don't need to worry. tqm. and they don't need to worry. 0k, thank ou and they don't need to worry. 0k, thank you very — and they don't need to worry. 0k, thank you very much indeed for your time. later this evening we have a special programme, during which we will answer your questions about the energy price crisis. that is coming up from 8:30pm that evening here on bbc news. it's a practice that went on for decades — forcing women to give up their babies for adoption because they were unmarried — and it's now to be the subject of an inquiry by a parliamentary committee. it follows a number of reports here on bbc news earlier this year into how women were denied the right to keep their children by doctors, nurses and social workers. the scottish government is also looking at the issue after the bbc�*s reports. 0ur correspondent, duncan kennedy, has been talking to three members of a separated family about the pain they have suffered. this is the family that was never allowed to be a family. yvonne, the birth mother, andy, the birth father, and liz, their daughter, who was taken from them at birth. yvonne's story began in 1973 when she became pregnant with andy's baby out of wedlock. you're not married, so therefore you're not keeping the baby. which really hurt me. you wanted to have the baby? iwanted... to have my child. but in the �*50s, �*60s and �*70s, thousands of women like yvonne were pressured by social workers, doctors, nurses and churches into giving up their babies for adoption. yvonne says the nurses took her baby at birth. i never even got the chance to hold her, straightaway. i felt cross that i'd just been left like a piece of meat laying on a slab. later, yvonne asked for one final cuddle before her daughter was adopted. but her social worker refused. i felt that my baby had just been snatched away from me without a final goodbye. not knowing if i would ever see that child again... sorry. andy, the birth father, says he was never permitted to see liz, his newborn baby. i'd been told without a doubt that i wasn't going to be allowed into the hospital to see yvonne or the baby. so there was a huge chunk of her life where she didn't... ..have any relationship with her birth parents. and it was difficult, yeah. liz was adopted into a loving family, but says she was always confused by what had happened to her. what did you come to think of your birth mother? did you come to resent what she did? was there any anger? yes, idid. because i had no idea why. why would you give up a baby? i never understood that as a child. i just couldn't understand. since the bbc first broadcast the story of forced adoptions, dozens of other people have come forward to tell their stories. and today it was confirmed parliament's joint committee on human rights is to hold an enquiry. it took yvonne, andy and liz 29 years for them to reunite. and they say it's time now for an official apology. i was literally taken _ from my birth mother's arms. so i think an apology- wouldn't take away the pain, but it would certainly help, yes. my little daughter made a comment to say that... ..they'd been... they'd been denied a relationship. for so much of their lives. i will never, ever have another child. so i lost the only thing in my life that i ever wanted. yvonne laybrum ending that report by duncan kennedy. in the past few minutes, police have confirmed that a 38—year—old mild has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of the primary school teacher sabina nessa. she went missing at the weekend. we will bring you any more details that we are able to. that arrest announced by the police and at the last few minutes. tenants are being evicted because of rent arrears built up over the pandemic — despite the government saying that covid wouldn't leave anyone without a home. one third of eviction hearings monitored in england and wales over the summer stated covid as the reason that rent hadn't been paid. 0ur social affairs correspondent, michael buchanan, has been speaking to those affected. you've got lots of favourites! in liverpool, joanne, marshall and little roman have two weeks to leave their home. oh, thank you. all our incomejust kept going down and down and down, and then we ended up with spiralling debt, to be fair. marshall's newjob as a chef fell through due to the lockdown. he didn't qualify for furlough with his previous employer, and he couldn't find any work for a year. why is it not working? their bills racked up, they owe their landlord £11,000, and have been served with an eviction notice. it's not how it was supposed to be, do you know what i mean? and it makes me feel a bit sick. like, we both grew up coming from, you know, in poverty, so we tried our best to get out of that. you know, we've always been working people. we wanted to change the tide and things like that, and it's not easy to get out of. and then ijust feel like obviously roman hasjust been born into the exact same situation, and it is not nice to feel. it's embarrassing. county courts have been inundated with landlords seeking to remove tenants since the ban on evictions was lifted in the summer. of the 270 possession orders analysed by the bureau of investigativejournalism, a third of them — 88 cases — explicitly cited covid as the reason that rent arrears had arisen. if you owe any more than two months' rent, they can legally apply to kick you out. which is fair enough, i get, in a typical, standard situation, it's fair enough, but it's not been a typical year. the government say it provided unprecedented help to keep people in their homes during the pandemic and there was now time to deliver a fair rental market, but both tenants and landlords feel let down. how much arrears is the tenant in? how much are you owed? at the moment it probably stands at about 35,000. landlord michelle dighton says she is owed a fortune by tenants she cannot get rid of due to the impact of the eviction ban and long court delays. i was still having to pay my mortgages, look after the kids, and it is really frustrating nobody wants to give me an update on when i should get my own property back. joanne and marshall are frantically trying to find another home, but they have no deposit, a poor credit score, and rents are rising. marshall now has a job and is looking for a second one. yeah, he's teething this month. the young couple determined to rebuild the lives they once had. michael buchanan, bbc news. nhs waiting times in a&e departments in wales have been revealed as the worst ever. health is the responsibility of the devolved government, and in wales a fifth of the population is on some kind of health waiting list — again, the highest figure ever. in accident and emergency, in august, nearly 69% of patients waited up to four hours for treatment — the target is 95%. and again in a&e, nearly 8,000 people waited over 12 hours to be seen — the worst on record. the target is zero. and for ambulance call—outs, only 57.6% of the most urgent calls were responded to within eight minutes — the target is 65%. here's our wales correspondent, hywel griffith. it is a symptom of a system in crisis. ambulances queued outside a&e unable to hand over their patients or reach others in need. amy knows what that means. two weeks ago she fell from a horse and ruptured her spleen. unable to move, she waited nine hours for the paramedics to arrive. i got very disoriented because i wasn't allowed to move my legs. my legs were really aching and to not be able to move your legs for nine hours, it's not very nice at all. the ambulance did get called 11 times. and they didn't even send out a first aid person to come and see me. the ambulance service has apologised, but paramedics likejohn warn there is often little they can do if they are held outside a hospital, sometimes for an entire 11—hour shift. i think what we are facing is a lot of frustration, because we are waiting at hospitals and we are hearing the calls on the radio asking for any available crews to respond, and we're just not able to respond, and that is very frustrating. because at the end of the day we are there to provide care and that's what we want to do. waiting times inside a&e are now the worst on record. the four—hour target has never been hit. the pandemic has worsened what was already a decade—long problem. of course i apologise to people within wales who have been waiting for such a long time, but this is an unprecedented time, and of course we do hope that people will bear with us. the pressure is coming from every angle. more elderly patients who have become more frail during lockdown, but also younger people, whose mental health has suffered and find a&e the only place to turn. doctors on the front line here say it feels like winter has already hit, and warn even tougher times are ahead. we could see patients having to wait longer for admission to a bed. and we will see the hospital becoming more crowded as those admissions go up with patients, notjust with covid, but also with flu and other respiratory infections. the ambulance service has now called on the army for help, but few expect an instant cure for the nhs�*s ails. hywel griffith, bbc news. sport — and for a full round up from the bbc sport centre, excitment is buidling in wisconsin, as we're just a couple of hours away from the opening ceremony at whistling straits for the 43rd ryder cup. we'll also find out this evening the captains' picks for friday's opening foursomes and fourballs. rory mclroy could well be paired with ian poulter, such has been their success in the past. rookie viktor hovland has been touted as playing alongside jon rahm. paul casey says that everyone in the team will play their part and the team spirit amongst the europeans is perfect. everybody on that team gets along. i don't feel like we are hiding in about the four ryder cups through the years, i don't think we were hiding in a video in paris either. but you may don't play guys because apparently up to the challenge? everybody in this team is up to the challenge. and the things you don't see. hopefully we can produce the golf and show you what i think and what i believe on the golf course. and in that team room and a locker room, it's unlike anything i have ever experienced. a century from captain heather knight has helped england wrap up their womens one—day series against new zealand. they won by three wickets in the fourth 0di. chasing 2115 for victory at derby, knight made an excellent 101 as england got home in the final over. it's their highest ever successful one day international run chase, and means they take an unassailable 3—1 lead in the series. the former arsenal manager, arsene wenger, has defended his plans to hold a world cup every two years. wenger, who is now fifa's head of global development, drew criticism from many within the game after he first proposed the idea. but in an interview with bbc podcast, the sports desk, he says he is ready "to gamble to make football better." ican i can understand that some. but not one came back and aside they want to continue as it is now, because everybody knows that it is chaos, there is no clarity, no simplicity, no way to organise a season. the risk is to... i'm ready to take that gamble. the many negative responses came out because they had not completely seen the whole concept. i feel this concept, of course every two years a world cup makes only senseif two years a world cup makes only sense if you see the full proposal, and the qualifiers. i would say at the world cup is such a huge event that i don't think it will diminish the prestige. you want to be the best in the world and you want to be the best in the world every year. i don't think to organise a world cup every two years would diminish the prestige. anthonyjoshua says his highly—anticipated heavyweight showdown against 0leksandr usyk will be one of the toughest fights of his career. the two fighters have been facing off against each other this afternoon ahead of their wba, ibf and wbo heavyweight title fight on saturday in london. joshua has been talking about his respect for his opponent and how much he is looking forward to it. the cream always rises to the top. we are here now. good luck to them, they have prepared. i think he was fighting ten years as an amateur, maybe ten or 12 years as an amateur before he went to the olympics and the world's, so he has been fighting for a long time. he is probably happy to be in in this position, comfortable with this position, like myself. i was always comfortable with fighting and i'm really looking forward to doing what i've been doing for a long time on saturday. that's all the sport for now. it has been announced a second arrest has been made in connection with the merger of sabina nessa. they have also released images of someone they want to speak to, a man they want to speak to. they are searching for this man, images are taken from cctv. they show him walking on the evening that sabina was attacked. we have also released images of a silver recall that they believe the man has access to, also captured in the piglet square area. the police have urged anyone who recognises the man or at the car to make contact with them immediately. they have said they had made extensive trials of a cctv work, which remains ongoing to stop they are asking anybody in kidbrooke and in the wider area of lewisham to take a look at the images and to check whether you know who this man is or if you have seen him in recent days. they have been two arrests, but the investigation is very much ongoing and active. this is a live investigation, police are appealing for any information. there is much more on the metropolitan police twitter feed more on the metropolitan police twitterfeed if more on the metropolitan police twitter feed if you want to check that out. the government's latest coronavirus figures for the uk, show there were 36,710 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. that means in the past week, there was an average of 33,034 new cases per day. there were 7,588 people in hospital with covid, according to the latest data. another 182 deaths have been recorded, that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive covid test, taking the average number per day in the last week, to 143. 0n vaccinations, 89.6% people aged 16 or over have had theirfirst jab, while 82.1%, are now double vaccinated. northern ireland's department of health has recommended no change to the nine covid—19 restrictions still legally enforceable there. ministers at stormont are discussing whether to keep in place all of the measures — which include social distancing and mask wearing in some indoor hospitality venues and shops. every vaccine counts, so please encourage everybody to take up the vaccine if you can, it'll make a real difference to the health care workers over the winter months. and we will keep trying to make steady progress, mindful of the implications on the health service all the time. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. good evening. we have had an unusually warm september so far, there is some more warmth in the forecast over the next few days. even where it has been quite chilly today across the northern isles, these outbreaks of rain moving in overnight will introduce some mild and more humid air by early friday morning. that humid air introducing lots of cloud across western scotland, north—west england, northern ireland, the odd spot of rain with that. some clear spells further south, allowing it to get a little chilly, but most of us starting tomorrow morning in double digits. for tomorrow, a westerly wind blowing across the uk, quite a strong wind across the northern half of the country, bringing a lot of cloud and some spots of rain, but for eastern scotland, and certainly for eastern and southern parts england, parts of wales as well, we should see some sunshine, the sunny spots could get to 23 or 2a degrees. looking ahead to the weekend, plenty more dry weather in the forecast, still quite warm, the increasing chance of showers on sunday, but next week looks more unsettled, and it will turn cooler as well. hello this is bbc news. the headlines: nearly1.5 nearly 1.5 million customers have been hit by the latest energy firm collapses because of soaring gas prices. two more firms go bust. brute prices. two more firms go bust. we are ve prices. two more firms go bust. - are very unsure he is going to be taking the money next month, he will be paying, hear our supplier is. it is very mixed messaging. aha, be paying, hear our supplier is. it is very mixed messaging. a shortage of [or is very mixed messaging. a shortage of lorry drivers _ is very mixed messaging. a shortage of lorry drivers has _ is very mixed messaging. a shortage of lorry drivers has forced _ is very mixed messaging. a shortage of lorry drivers has forced bp - is very mixed messaging. a shortage of lorry drivers has forced bp and - of lorry drivers has forced bp and esso to close some of their petrol stations. downing street says people should buy fuel as normal. a38—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of