the prime minister and the chancellor resist calls by the opposition to quit — after both were fined for breaking lockdown rules. conservative mps are staying largely loyal. in ukraine, fighting continues as 120,000 residents remain trapped in the port city of mariupol. and thunderbirds are go... the theme tune to the classic children's show — as well as others from the fifties and sixties — will be performed by a live orchestra for the first time. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the soaring cost of fuel and food has pushed inflation to a 30 year high — it stood at 7 percent in the year to march, up from 6.2% the month before. prices are going up faster than wages, and there's pressure on the government to do more to help people who are struggling. and the cost of living is expected to rise even further — because these figures don't include the recent increases in gas and electricity bills for millions of people. here's our economics correspondent, andy verity. in this restaurant kitchen in eccles in greater manchester, global prices are feeding through to your pizza. two of the world's biggest producers of vegetable oil are russia and ukraine, and the price of it has doubled. the price of tomatoes from spain has more than doubled, partly due to brexit. and that is before you even talk about the cost of the energy needed to cook the pizza and keep customers warm, up, due to the war and the surge in demand for fuel as the global economy recovers from the pandemic. i've never known nothing like this, whether it's the prices of food coming into the country come fuel prices, everything is sort of against you at the minute. vat going back to 20%. it is stacking up. i think a lot of people will struggle. businesses like this one are already facing inflation at its highest for 30 years, and this month they have got a quadruple whammy, higher interest rates, higher wages, higher national insurance and soaring energy bills. with that kind of cost pressure, they have got no choice but to pass it their customers. this restaurant is likely to be forced to add to somewhere between 50p in the pound to the pizza price to avoid making losses, but that is nothing compared to other costs. increased petrol is something we've noticed. yes, petrol, itake these everywhere, and my petrol cost has gone up drastically. something we didn't used . to worry about or even think about but going around making sure l lights are turned off when you're i not in the room. some locals have launched a charity to help distribute food to locals who can't afford to eat out or even to shop for food. historically we have found that people didn't want to come to the charity, because of the stigma attached. now, we are finding that forget the stigma, they need the help. having to swallow pride and accept the help that is on offer. when you break the rising costs of living down, the prices of services rose by 4%, not half as fast as the price of goods, up 9.4%. that underlines a key point. the upward pressure on prices is global. in europe this month they are expecting inflation of 7.5%. in the us, inflation has reached a ao—year high of 8.5%. and the official russian inflation figure is 12.5%, though the us reckons it's far worse than they are owning up to. the april inflation number is likely to be even higher, it could well be around 9% when we get the april inflation report next month. so, that points to a further squeeze on standards and it is not going away anytime soon. 0n the old—fashioned measure of the cost of living, the retail prices index, it is already at 9%, its highest level since 1991. 0pposition parties are now saying the government must do more than it has two help millions cope with the tightest squeeze on living standards in more than a0 years. andy verity, bbc news. 0ur correspondent andy verity is here. the implications of this, notjust for individuals, but for business are quite serious. we for individuals, but for business are quite serious.— for individuals, but for business are quite serious. we 'ust heard the 're are quite serious. we 'ust heard they-re from h are quite serious. we 'ust heard they-re from a h are quite serious. we just heard they're from a business - are quite serious. we just heard they're from a business about . are quite serious. we just heard i they're from a business about the pressure on course for them which come from global sources. it is partly the war in ukraine, russia exports a lot of fuel and ukraine is a big food exporter and that is why the price of oil is going up. it is also the global reopening of the economy after the pandemic which is causing a mismatch between supply and demand. so demand, now people are going out, that has shot up and supply has not yet risen to meet it and when there is that imbalance, it affects prices. it can work itself out. is affects prices. it can work itself out. , ., _, . affects prices. it can work itself out. , ., . ., out. is that the confidence that economies _ out. is that the confidence that economies have, _ out. is that the confidence that economies have, that - out. is that the confidence that economies have, that it - out. is that the confidence that economies have, that it will. out. is that the confidence that l economies have, that it will work itself out or are they worried that there are structural factors harder to shift? ~ .,, there are structural factors harder toshift? ., ,, . to shift? most forecasters predict it will eak to shift? most forecasters predict it will peak this _ to shift? most forecasters predict it will peak this year _ to shift? most forecasters predict it will peak this year is summer . it will peak this year is summer close to 9%. that is still the tighter squeeze in decades given that benefits are only going up by 3.1% and pensions going up by 3.1% and the average wage only going up 4% and the tighter squeeze since the 19705 4% and the tighter squeeze since the 1970s but we have got quite used to that over the last 15 years. we do not need a crisis to cause it, we have had the worst decade previously in 200 years and we have an issue with something we used to take for granted, when we were growing up in the 1960s to the 1980s that everyone will get a little bit better off compared to inflation this year. it is not necessarily the rise in interest rates that will help, it will be when the supply, particularly of fuel rises to meet demand and there is encouragement from history. the globalfinancial crisis, we were talking about the same thing in 2011, fuel prices going above £1 per litre and now it is £1 60 p. in going above £1 per litre and now it is £160 p. in 2016, fuel prices plummeted because all the supply of oil came on stream in the usa and there was a massive supply and we nearly had deflation. 0ver there was a massive supply and we nearly had deflation. over time these things work out but the question for the government is whether it needs to do more to help people get through the right now. thank you. we will be talking more about this later in the programme and your questions cut will be answered by experts. students and graduates in england face a 'rollercoaster�* of interest rates on their student loans over the next couple of years. according to the institute for fiscal studies the interest will rise to 12% this september. the rate will dip in march 2023, when a cap on the interest will kick in. for students starting degree courses from next year, the rate will be fixed at a lower level. a judge at the old bailey has sentenced ali harbi ali to a whole—life prison term for murdering the consevative mp sir david amess. describing it as 'a murder that struck at the heart of democracy�* judge nigel sweeney said the 26 year old islamic state group sympathiser had shown no remorse. outside the court, a police officer read a statement on behalf of lady amess and sir david's family. with me now is andrew plant, who's been at the sentencing. andrew, what more did thejudge have to say? andrew, what more did the 'udge have to sa ? , . , , ., to say? this happened at the old baile 'ust to say? this happened at the old bailey just after _ to say? this happened at the old baileyjust after midday, - to say? this happened at the old baileyjust after midday, ali - to say? this happened at the old| baileyjust after midday, ali harbi ali given a whole life sentence and that means exactly how it sounds, he will never be eligible for parole and he will spend the rest of his life in prison. during sentencing, thejudge commended the life in prison. during sentencing, the judge commended the family of sir david amess and said that ali had shown a cowardly refusal to face up had shown a cowardly refusal to face up to his guilt and showed absolutely no remorse for his actions whatsoever. during his trial, we learned a lot more details about what happened on that day, 0ctober about what happened on that day, october 15 last year. he essentially tricked his way into that meeting with sir david in his constituency, he was holding meetings in a church in leigh on sea and ali said he was an nhs worker and he pretended that he was interested in moving to the area and he wanted to discuss local issues, but he had been planning the crime and he took a knife with him to the meeting and stabbed sir david more than 20 times. we know that part of the plan was to die himself, he wanted to be shot by armed police, but the two police officers first on the scene were armed with batons and in an capacitance spray and they overpowered him and arrested him. we heard from police during the trial that he was self radicalised in 2014. he was a student at university studying a medical degree but he dropped out in 2014 and started looking at a lot of islamic statement here and began to plan a trip to syria but he decided that was too difficult and he decided to help muslims in this country. after this, the police made a statement outside. it is clear that the man who begins a life sentence today is a cold, calculated and dangerous individual. his attack was stopped by to essex police constables who apprehended this dangerous man, whilst he was still armed with a knife he had used to kill sir david. their actions were nothing short of heroic and they undoubtedly prevented others from being harmed. their bravery and the bravery of the members of the public who witnessed the incident, called 999 and provided invaluable information to the police, was remarkable. sir david was not his only target, he had researched politicians online including michael gove answer keir starmer and made reconnaissance trips and even visited the houses of parliament but decided not to launch an attack there, because he said it was too well guarded. the judge added that sir david had dedicated his life to public service and his loss was of national significance and this was a murder, he said, that struck at the heart of our democracy. sir david's family said it breaks their hard to know that our husband and father would have greeted his murderer with a smile of friendship. greeted his murderer with a smile of friendshi -. �* ., ., friendship. andrew plant at the old baile . friendship. andrew plant at the old bailey- thank— friendship. andrew plant at the old bailey. thank you _ friendship. andrew plant at the old bailey. thank you very _ friendship. andrew plant at the old bailey. thank you very much. - a tory mp who's previously called for borisjohnson to resign as prime minister has said it's "just impossible" for him to survive after he was given a fixed penalty notice for attending a party at downing street during lockdown. nigel mills says he's submitting a letter of no confidence in the prime minister who has resisted calls to resign. both the prime minister and chancellor have rejected calls from opposition parties to leave downing street. helen catt reports from westminster. the prime minister and the chancellor have apologised after the police found that they broke the law. they have accepted fines for being at an event to mark mr johnson�*s birthday held in the cabinet room injune 2020. mr johnson said he was only there for nine minutes but that people have the right to expect better. rishi sunak said he deeply regretted the anger and frustration caused. neither the chancellor nor the prime minister think it is something they need to resign over. he minister think it is something they need to resign over.— minister think it is something they need to resign over. he has paid the fine, it is need to resign over. he has paid the fine. it is an — need to resign over. he has paid the fine, it is an event _ need to resign over. he has paid the fine, it is an event of _ need to resign over. he has paid the fine, it is an event of two _ need to resign over. he has paid the fine, it is an event of two years - fine, it is an event of two years ago and ifeel the fine, it is an event of two years ago and i feel the same anger as everyone else that these events could take place, not least because i could not see my own dad and i did not know whether i would see him again ever. i completely get it, i also know that it was not done out of malice or with intent, it was a mistake, a error and of malice or with intent, it was a mistake, a errorand i of malice or with intent, it was a mistake, a error and ijudge someone overall for the way that they perform. overall for the way that they erform. ~ ., , overall for the way that they erform. m, ., overall for the way that they erform. ~.,, ., ., , ., perform. most of the cabinet have now said they _ perform. most of the cabinet have now said they support _ perform. most of the cabinet have now said they support mr- perform. most of the cabinet have now said they support mrjohnson| perform. most of the cabinet have - now said they support mrjohnson and rishi sunak stain on theirjobs, so any real immediate risk to the prime minister would come from conservative mps choosing to call a vote of no confidence. several dozen have come out to back mrjohnson but just one has publicly said he should go. in just one has publicly said he should io, ., just one has publicly said he should go. in all conscience, i don't think the prime — go. in all conscience, i don't think the prime minister _ go. in all conscience, i don't think the prime minister can _ go. in all conscience, i don't think the prime minister can survive - go. in all conscience, i don't think the prime minister can survive or| the prime minister can survive or should _ the prime minister can survive or should survive breaking the rules he put in _ should survive breaking the rules he put in place — should survive breaking the rules he put in place and he was on the television _ put in place and he was on the television every few nights reminding us all that we should observe — reminding us all that we should observe them. we have to have higher standards_ observe them. we have to have higher standards than that from people at the top _ standards than that from people at the top. he has been fined, his position— the top. he has been fined, his position is— the top. he has been fined, his position is untenable in my view. the liherai— position is untenable in my view. the liberal democrats and the snp say mrjohnson should resign out of decency and honour. labour says it is not possible for him and mr sunak tojust get on is not possible for him and mr sunak to just get on with the job. the?t to just get on with the 'ob. they are to just get on with the 'ob. they spending * to just get on with the 'ob. they are spending more _ to just get on with the job. they are spending more time - to just get on with the job. they are spending more time justifying themselves— are spending more time justifying themselves on— are spending more time justifying themselves on the _ are spending more time justifying themselves on the parties - are spending more time justifying themselves on the parties they i are spending more time justifying . themselves on the parties they have been going — themselves on the parties they have been going to, — themselves on the parties they have been going to, rather— themselves on the parties they have been going to, rather than - themselves on the parties they have been going to, rather than focusingl been going to, rather than focusing on the _ been going to, rather than focusing on the issues — been going to, rather than focusing on the issues that _ been going to, rather than focusing on the issues that we _ been going to, rather than focusing on the issues that we need - been going to, rather than focusing on the issues that we need them i been going to, rather than focusingi on the issues that we need them to address— on the issues that we need them to address as — on the issues that we need them to address as a — on the issues that we need them to address as a country. _ on the issues that we need them to address as a country. the _ on the issues that we need them to address as a country. the idea - on the issues that we need them to address as a country. the idea that| address as a country. the idea that we cannot— address as a country. the idea that we cannot change _ address as a country. the idea that we cannot change leadership - address as a country. the idea that we cannot change leadership now. we cannot change leadership now because — we cannot change leadership now because of— we cannot change leadership now because of the _ we cannot change leadership now because of the war _ we cannot change leadership now because of the war in _ we cannot change leadership now because of the war in ukraine - we cannot change leadership now because of the war in ukraine ori because of the war in ukraine or because — because of the war in ukraine or because of— because of the war in ukraine or because of the _ because of the war in ukraine or because of the economic - because of the war in ukraine or because of the economic crisis, i because of the war in ukraine or| because of the economic crisis, i think— because of the economic crisis, i think it _ because of the economic crisis, i think it is — because of the economic crisis, i think it is the _ because of the economic crisis, i think it is the other— because of the economic crisis, i think it is the other way- because of the economic crisis, i think it is the other way around. | because of the economic crisis, i. think it is the other way around. we need _ think it is the other way around. we need fresh — think it is the other way around. we need fresh leadership _ think it is the other way around. we need fresh leadership and _ think it is the other way around. we need fresh leadership and we - think it is the other way around. we need fresh leadership and we needl need fresh leadership and we need leaders _ need fresh leadership and we need leaders who— need fresh leadership and we need leaders who can _ need fresh leadership and we need leaders who can concentrate - need fresh leadership and we need leaders who can concentrate on - need fresh leadership and we need| leaders who can concentrate on the 'ob leaders who can concentrate on the job in— leaders who can concentrate on the job in hand — leaders who can concentrate on the job in hand 1he— leaders who can concentrate on the job in hand-— leaders who can concentrate on the 'ob in hand. ~ ,., . ., ., job in hand. the met police have not finished their _ job in hand. the met police have not finished their investigation _ job in hand. the met police have not finished their investigation into - finished their investigation into parties in downing street, so it is possible there will be more fines. the full detailed report by the civil servant sue gray is still also to be published. for now many tory mps are publicly backing the idea that the war in ukraine means it is not the time to change later. the question is if that continues to hold? helen catt, bbc news, westminster. meanwhile a row has broken out after the conservative mp michael fabricant told me yestersday that teachers and nhs staff were having drinks with colleagues in staffrooms during lockdown, as he defended the prime minister over partygate. let's listen to what he told me: i think now the prime minister has got to think hard, he should certainly go and make a statement to the house of commons on tuesday and i think he has got to apologise. having said that, i don't think that at any time he thought that he was breaking the law. i think that at the time he thought, just like many teachers and nurses, who, after a very, very long shift, would tend to go back to the staff room and a quiet drink, which is more or less what he has done, i don't know much about the birthday party to which you talked about, i wasn't invited, but i don't think he thought he was breaking the law, but of course that doesn't make any sort of excuse. you said all those teachers and nurses who were going back to the staff room and having a drink, you know more than i do, because i haven't heard about this. oh, well i do know of some who did and, you know, it is quite natural, i am not saying that they were having a party, i am not saying that borisjohnson was having a party... you see the difficulty is... i know nurses... and i don't think they were doing anything wrong! i mean, they had worked really hard on a long shift... isn't the distinction... and will go back to the staff room and have a drink! as also clarified those remarks that they have become controversial on a twitter feed and he says... we spoke to a nurse last night who was pretty dismissive of this saying it was impossible for people to socialise and their staff because they had to keep distances and they could not do quite basic things like even have a lift together into work because of the risk of infection. that was not happening in her view at least. michael fabricant is at least. michael fabrica nt is saying at least. michael fabricant is saying it has been happening and we will hear from saying it has been happening and we will hearfrom a saying it has been happening and we will hear from a teachers organisation shortly,. we can get more now from our political correspondent, nick eardley. these remarks have generated interest and a lot of anger. he was drawing a seeking support for the prime ministers difficult position and it is the point that people have made in defence before that people were working under a lot of pressure. is that a general mood at westminster? i pressure. is that a general mood at westminster?— pressure. is that a general mood at westminster? i am not so sure it is. i think westminster? i am not so sure it is. i think michael— westminster? i am not so sure it is. i think michael fabricant _ westminster? i am not so sure it is. i think michael fabricant was - westminster? i am not so sure it is. | i think michael fabricant was making an argument that you have heard from some other people about people being in offices, may be having a drink or something like that, i suppose the difference that opposition parties would point to is that those people, were not drawing up the lockdown rule that they were telling everyone to follow and the contrast between say those posters that said, if you break the rules, you could risk lives in what was going on in downing street is quite stark. i think that the big question being asked around here today is whether more tory mps will come forward, perhaps over the next few days and within the next few weeks and say that they think boris johnson needs to go. at the moment, that is not really happening and you heard nigel mills in the report they are saying that he is going to put in a letter of confidence and if you get to 54 letters, you have a vote to see whether boris johnson letters, you have a vote to see whether borisjohnson continues. very few other tory mps have said anything particularly critical of the prime minister. there have been many in government who have come out to say we totally back boris johnson, but speaking privately to tory mps, i think there is a sense that some think that the public have moved on from this and the pressure of december and january has maybe dissipated a bit and you regularly hear the argument that because of the war in ukraine and the cost of living crisis, tory mps do not particularly want to drag themselves through three months of a leadership contest. there is also the fact that some of those who thought that boris johnson going might not be a bad thing, hoped that rishi sunak would take over. that is looking increasingly unlikely given that he was fined and the turbulent few weeks he has had. it is worth bearing in mind, these are the people to watch over the next few weeks, there are some tory mps who think a fundamental trust has been broken between borisjohnson and the electorate and there are too many people they have heard from who think this is hypocrisy in the heart of government and they do not think that those people will ever forgive the conservative party while boris johnson is prime minister. the big question is do they do anything about it? . ~ question is do they do anything about it? w ., , question is do they do anything about it? . , ., about it? nick eardley at westminster. _ about it? nick eardley at westminster. a - about it? nick eardley at westminster. a sense i about it? nick eardley at westminster. a sense of about it? nick eardley at - westminster. a sense of the mood amongst the parliamentary conservative party. well mr fabricant has tweeted today that "whistleblowers are contacting me" with evidence of teachers having drinks in the staffroom during lockdown. in a tweet mr fabricant said "there is indeed evidence of this happening in a minority of cases, but i am not condemning anyone." >joining me now is paul whiteman who is the general secretary of the national association of head teachers (0s) you have seen the remarks and michael fabricant has said that whistle—blowers have contacted him and said in a small number of cases people were relaxing after stressful daysin people were relaxing after stressful days in the staff room. what is your response to that? would it be so terrible if they did? i response to that? would it be so terrible if they did?— terrible if they did? i think first of all the first _ terrible if they did? i think first of all the first thing _ terrible if they did? i think first of all the first thing to - terrible if they did? i think first of all the first thing to say - terrible if they did? i think first of all the first thing to say is i of all the first thing to say is that these are hard—working, committed front line public servants who during the period of the pandemic kept communities running. they reinvented education almost overnight, they were central to their communities, giving advice wider than education, fed the most vulnerable children and kept children of key workers in school so that key workers could go to school as well. they were under incredible pressure, but they took the role seriously. they made sure that they were followed to the letter. i think what michael fabricant does is misunderstand the schools completely. the concept of having alcohol within a school where you might simply retire to the staff room and have a cheeky drink at the end of a difficult dayjust is not one that represents reality. the ability to do itjust was not one that represents reality. the ability to do it just was not there in any event and doubling down today and restating these baseless and foundational as claims it does not help. we also need to remember is this insult of the profession, this happened to defend a political situation and once again trying to deflect or draw comparisons with the profession that has no place in this at all, they are just trying to get on with theirjob. in doing so, the insult has gone deep and school leaders and their teams right now, it covid—19 is not over in schools, they are working hard, we are hearing of infection after reinfection and it is a difficult job right now to keep schools running and then politicians insult them in that way whilst they are doing a difficult task for their own defence. the comments were crass and unacceptable and should be withdrawn.— unacceptable and should be withdrawn. ., ., ~' unacceptable and should be withdrawn. ., ., ~ ., withdrawn. you would like him to withdrawn. you would like him to withdraw the _ withdrawn. you would like him to withdraw the remarks _ withdrawn. you would like him to withdraw the remarks and - withdrawn. you would like him to withdraw the remarks and say - withdrawn. you would like him to l withdraw the remarks and say that withdrawn. you would like him to - withdraw the remarks and say that he misspoke, because at the moment he seems to be saying sorry, he has whistle—blowers coming to him and saying a small number of cases and also saying, to pick up your point, it is not a criticism of people who may have done this, he is saying it was sympathy, because nobody could be under any illusion, i hope, was sympathy, because nobody could be underany illusion, i hope, how difficult a time this was for people in your profession and indeed the same for the nurses, the difficulty in nursing is because they were in a medical situation, they were formally, practically lines drawn down parts of rooms and everyone, it is fair to say, other places would not have been like that, including staff rooms?— not have been like that, including staff rooms? ,, , . staff rooms? staff rooms were closed for most of the _ staff rooms? staff rooms were closed for most of the pandemic, _ staff rooms? staff rooms were closed for most of the pandemic, so - staff rooms? staff rooms were closed for most of the pandemic, so they - for most of the pandemic, so they could not retire to the staff room in any event and school leaders and teachers were in very tight bubbles around schools to prevent infection and cross infection. this supposedly event or events, we just can't... i do not think he is suggesting, i am not here to defend him, he can speak for himself, but i do not think he was suggesting there was parties going on, i think you are saying, people might have kind of sat down to have a drink together at the end of a stressful day and you're same i could not have happened. could it have happened even in bubbles? two staff members, would it not be possible for them to sit down and have a drink together? i am not even sure that would have broken the rules if it was two people. but i think it still — rules if it was two people. but i think it still misunderstands - rules if it was two people. emit i think it still misunderstands the culture in schools. there is a no alcohol culture in schools, it is anathema for schools to have an alcohol culture, it is different to westminster where a lot of socialising happens around alcohol, schools are places for children and therefore the idea that staff coalesce around a bottle of wine at the end of the day in the pandemic or even without the pandemic is a difficult one for us to really understand where that comes from and i did say the interview yesterday and it shocked me at the time in my reflection was, to be fair to michael fabricant, it was a very long interview, and he seemed to make these comparisons towards the end and it was almost as if they were occurring to him at that point and that was quite shocking, i think. doubling down today is not helpful. we have appealed to the secretary of state for education to set the record straight. so secretary of state for education to set the record straight.— secretary of state for education to set the record straight. so you have written... set the record straight. so you have written- -- i'm _ set the record straight. so you have written... i'm looking _ set the record straight. so you have written... i'm looking at _ set the record straight. so you have written... i'm looking at the - set the record straight. so you have written... i'm looking at the u - set the record straight. so you have written... i'm looking at the u have| written... i'm looking at the u have sent to nadhim zahawi that the has issued. you want something from him, presumably, in support of teachers? the secretary of state for education should be our champion around the cabinet table and therefore we believe that it falls to him to speak the truth about what has been going on in schools during a period. to be fair to the secretary of state, he said previously, with a degree of admiration, about how schools have performed and how teachers have performed under extreme pressure and he can say that again, that would be nothing unusual, but he needs to correct the record and we need to understand as a profession that the government really doesn't value what people have been doing and the profession cannot be used as a convenient scapegoat or diversionary tactic when politics becomes tough. that has happened in the past, it happened in the pandemic when the then secretary of state gavin williamson invited parents to complain to schools about home education, something that schools invented overnight and had no history of delivering before. even then, parents wrote to 0fsted in their thousands to complement schools and what they had done rather than complain and that was wrong as well. there is a history of politicians using education as a scapegoat when political matters become difficult, that is intolerable and cannot carry on and i see no prospect of michael fabricant withdrawing his remarks, as we have asked him to do and therefore it falls to the secretary of state to correct the matter and give the profession the confidence in aides and government to carry on doing a wonderfuljob it is doing right now. doing a wonderful 'ob it is doing riaht now. ., ~ i. , doing a wonderful 'ob it is doing riaht now. ., ~' ,, , . doing a wonderful 'ob it is doing riaht now. ., ~ , . ., right now. thank you very much for bein: with right now. thank you very much for being with us _ right now. thank you very much for being with us this _ right now. thank you very much for being with us this afternoon. - right now. thank you very much for being with us this afternoon. let i right now. thank you very much forl being with us this afternoon. let me bring you some good news, it is covid—19 related. the information commissioner's office says it is found insufficient evidence to prosecute two people suspected of unlawfully obtaining and disclosing those cctv images you may remember from last year that led to the resignation of the health secretary matt hancock that showed him in a clench with his former aide. that subsequently led to matt hancock eventually resigning as an mp and leaving his wife. there were suggestions that the footage had ended up being published in a newspaper in breach of the law, really, and certainly the legislation on the protection of digital images. the information commissioner says there is not enough evidence to prosecute two people who were suspected of unlawfully disclosing the footage to the newspaper which subsequently published in. you may remember that it was actually that image that was perhaps the first concrete suggestion that people who perhaps were supposed to enforce the rules did not always observe them and it damage the government a lot and there was a lot of anger that the information was released and a lot of anger from colleagues about the way mr hancock had behaved. interesting, in the light of what we are talking about this week about fines for breaking covid rules. the information commissioner said there is not enough evidence to prosecute. president biden says the evidence appears to suggest, that russia is committing genocide in ukraine. he warns it's becoming "clearer and clearer," that vladimir putin wants to "wipe out the idea of even being ukrainian." his comments come as there are growing signs russia could be on the brink of fully capturing, the southern port city of mariupol, which has suffered a devastating, six—week assault. the defence ministry in moscow, says more than a thousand ukrainian marines have surrendered in the area, although a top ukrainian official says some have joined another battalion. as our correspondent, dan johnson, reports from the western city of lviv, ukrainian troops in mariupol have said in recent days, that they're running out of ammunition. the ruins of mariupol are bobic of russia's devastating bombardment. and now the city's last defences may finally be about to crumble. russian tv says these are ukrainian marines surrendering. the pictures are not verified, and the ukrainians denied claims that 1000 soldiers had given themselves up. russian soldiers are gaining more ground. these pictures were filmed with their troops at the theatre where so many lives were lost. the mayor says it isn't even safe to count the bodies anymore. 21,000 residents have died he estimates. translation: from the 9th of march, russian military planes were _ targeting our city, and since then, they have been doing this, you can see that... kharkiv has also been under bombardment, and it has been stated that it is not safe to get residents out today. i called it genocide because it has become clearer and clearer that putin isjust trying to wipe out the idea of even being able to be a ukrainian. and the evidence is mounting, it is different than last week, more evidence is coming out of literally the horrible things that the russians have done in ukraine. and we can only learn more and more about the devastation. there is more heavy russian military equipment coming over the border into eastern ukraine, along with extra troops. pressure attacks are expected. and these british volunteers have driven from the uk over the borderfrom poland to deliver aid and help the resistance. simon has been in touch with a friend in kharkiv. i said, what is going on? and she goes, you. don't want to know. she said it is awful, - we've been bombed all night. she sent me some videos. i said, i will quit myjob, i want to do something i to help you and your friends - and your family can help ukraine. these cars have been donated to ukrainian charities, but also military units. the last trip out here, the vehicle i drove out, the next morning, that vehicle we had a photograph of it on the front line being used literally within 12 hours of our arrival, for what they wanted it for. the ukrainians are certainly thankful. we are waiting for you here, please, come here to live. we will food you, come here, please. thank you. but before any victory parties, it looks like there will be more fighting. now it's time for a look at the weather with tomasz schafernaker. today we have got a lot of cloud around and certainly the possibility of catching a brief heavy shower, maybe even a crack of thunder. the overall message over the next few days is that it is going to be warming up. yes, plenty of cloud around but temperatures will shoot up particularly across southern and central areas. this is what we have got into the afternoon, high teens in the south, mid teens in the lowlands, still a possibility of showers particularly across england, more southern parts, through this evening. tonight it is mild with clear spells, around 8—9 in the south of the country and i think in the highlands we might just touch a frost. tomorrow starts off really cloudy and murky in some areas, perhaps some rain reaching north—western parts of the uk but i think generally it is a bright day with temperatures just about nudging up to 20 degrees in the south, mid—teens again in the lowlands. goodbye. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: prices rise at their fastest rate for 30 years — driven by a sharp increase in petrol and diesel costs. food prices are also up; the hospitality sector is hit hard: a whole life sentence is handed down to the islamic state group sympathiser who murdered the mp sir david amess. friends have welcomed the sentence. it breaks our heart to know that our husband and father would have greeted the murderer with a smile of friendship and would have been anxious to help. how sickening to think what happened next. it is beyond evil. it is beyond evil. the prime minister and the chancellor resist calls by the opposition to quit — after both were fined for breaking lockdown rules. so far, only one conservative mp has publicly called for them to go. in ukraine, fighting continues as 120—thousand residents remain trapped in the port city of mariupol. sport now...and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's ben. the northern ireland women's manager has apologised for remarks he made following his side's 5—0 defeat to england. they said they don't take well to conceding a goal because women are more emotional than men. it prompted criticism from the likes of the former england goalkeeper who called the comments desire with ian wright, the former arsenal and england striker saying he was talking foolishness. welcome in a statement issued today, he said: well, after chelsea were knocked out of the champions league in madrid last night manchester city are there and aiming to go one better to reach the semifinals, they take a 1—0 advantage into the second leg later. it has been a busy fortnight. with two games against liverpool, either side of tonight's crucial game. you know, this — side of tonight's crucial game. you know, this game _ side of tonight's crucial game. wi. know, this game and the next one in the next one, but it has because we have done so far really well and in that moment you're not tired. when you are so close to reaching the semi final champions league or, you next saturday, to reach the cup, we are not tired. next saturday, to reach the cup, we are not tired-— are not tired. they will play in front of a _ are not tired. they will play in front of a capacity _ are not tired. they will play in front of a capacity crowd - are not tired. they will play in front of a capacity crowd after| are not tired. they will play in l front of a capacity crowd after a partial stadium closure was suspended. the spanish champions had been ordered to close 5000 seats as punishment for discriminatory behaviour by atletico fans in manchester last week. it should be packed at anfield later where liverpool take a 3—1 lead. a busy schedule, too, for this man. you're the man the only game i am concerned about is tomorrow night. the play saturday because of the success we have had so far we play saturday, city. normally it would be aston villa. then we play united, we play everton. then, if we get through tomorrow night to the semifinal, they give as newcastle at 12:30pm. it is just not ok. the tottenham boss has tested positive for covid—19. the club have said they to be on the touchline for the premier league. the british number one lost to the former finalist 6—4, 6—2. he has never beaten the spaniard in four meetings on the clay. it was a double whammy for the brits, too, as dan evans is also out. 7—6, 6—2, continuing a poor run of form for the british number two has lost the first matches on tour. andrew mcdonald has been appointed as the australian men's head coach. he was assistant to the previous coach and then took charge of the team for the recent tour. he will replace mcdonald as the head coach in the domestic hundred competition. that is all the sport for now and we will have more a little later on. when the government opened up the process forfamilies in the uk to host ukrainians fleeing the fighting in ukraine, thousands applied. despite criticisms that the process was too slow, some families are now beginning to arrive. let's talk tojoanne marshall — who lives near cheltenham. her host application has finally been approved and her family has arrived from ukraine. we spoke to her a few weeks ago when she was trying to get them to the uk shejoins me now with the family, eugene, anastatasiia and their son davyd. welcome to the uk. i hope you are settling in well. how has it been moving into somebody�*s house? it is moving into somebody's house? it is areat. our moving into somebody's house? it 3 great. our sponsors, we have the best sponsors. they give us house, a car, but all the food, or that we needed, even they give us a gym so we bring the sport equipment, treadmill, it was. his friend, he helped us to do this. and we do a lot of her one week that we are here, so we do a banking account. refill applications to doctor. i do my cv then we translated it and now searching for a job so we are very gratefulfor searching for a job so we are very grateful for our sponsors. we are grateful for our sponsors. we are grateful to the uk government for this such a big opportunity for us to start our life from the beginning and to do that we can to do this. joanne, after all the frustrations it been quite a moment when you were able to welcome them. it it been quite a moment when you were able to welcome them.— able to welcome them. it was amazing because it took — able to welcome them. it was amazing because it took such _ able to welcome them. it was amazing because it took such a _ able to welcome them. it was amazing because it took such a long _ able to welcome them. it was amazing because it took such a long be - able to welcome them. it was amazing because it took such a long be put - because it took such a long be put to the _ because it took such a long be put to the applications in on the first day and — to the applications in on the first day and i— to the applications in on the first day and i was trying to keep spirits up day and i was trying to keep spirits up by— day and i was trying to keep spirits up by saying, honestly, it will happen, — up by saying, honestly, it will happen. it _ up by saying, honestly, it will happen, it will happen. so when the visas _ happen, it will happen. so when the visas came — happen, it will happen. so when the visas came through on saturday morning — visas came through on saturday morning i— visas came through on saturday morning i was crying. we were crvino — morning i was crying. we were crvino he _ morning i was crying. we were crying. he was dancing. there was lots of _ crying. he was dancing. there was lots of happiness that we were going to see _ lots of happiness that we were going to see each other. and when we met them _ to see each other. and when we met them at _ to see each other. and when we met them at the — to see each other. and when we met them at the airport it was like we had known — them at the airport it was like we had known them forever. so it was great _ had known them forever. so it was great so _ had known them forever. so it was great so we — had known them forever. so it was great. so we just got them all settled — great. so we just got them all settled in and it has notjust be me _ settled in and it has notjust be me the — settled in and it has notjust be me. the whole community has helped and, me. the whole community has helped and. you _ me. the whole community has helped and, you know, donated money and sent things — and, you know, donated money and sent things for the guys so it has been _ sent things for the guys so it has been a _ sent things for the guys so it has been a real— sent things for the guys so it has been a real effort by the whole community. been a real effort by the whole community-— been a real effort by the whole community. been a real effort by the whole communi . . ., i. ., , community. can i ask you, what is the best thing _ community. can i ask you, what is the best thing about _ community. can i ask you, what is the best thing about being - community. can i ask you, what is the best thing about being in - the best thing about being in england right now? because ukraine are still your home. you must have family and friends you worry about. you must find it difficult to constantly think about what is happening at home. so you are trying to make a new life are now here but you can't ever forget what is happening back at home? yes, always watchin: happening back at home? yes, always watching news- _ happening back at home? yes, always watching news. she _ happening back at home? yes, always watching news. she always _ happening back at home? yes, always watching news. she always reads - happening back at home? yes, always| watching news. she always reads news on the internet so it is very difficult and hard for her to understand this and it is very difficult for her.— understand this and it is very difficult for her. �* ., , ., ~ difficult for her. and it does make ou sad? difficult for her. and it does make you sad? she _ difficult for her. and it does make you sad? she is _ difficult for her. and it does make you sad? she is very _ difficult for her. and it does make you sad? she is very sad. - difficult for her. and it does make you sad? she is very sad. she - difficult for her. and it does make you sad? she is very sad. she is l you sad? she is very sad. she is c in: , you sad? she is very sad. she is crying. she _ you sad? she is very sad. she is crying. she is— you sad? she is very sad. she is crying, she is trying _ you sad? she is very sad. she is crying, she is trying to - you sad? she is very sad. she is crying, she is trying to do - you sad? she is very sad. she is crying, she is trying to do posts| you sad? she is very sad. she is i crying, she is trying to do posts on facebook, on her instagram pages. i never thought that it would become that the _ never thought that it would become that the country— never thought that it would become that the country that _ never thought that it would become that the country that we _ never thought that it would become that the country that we are - that the country that we are friendly— that the country that we are friendly can _ that the country that we are friendly can start _ that the country that we are friendly can start this - that the country that we are friendly can start this war. i that the country that we are i friendly can start this war. and that the country that we are - friendly can start this war. and i can believe _ friendly can start this war. and i can believe how— friendly can start this war. and i can believe how it _ friendly can start this war. and i can believe how it can _ friendly can start this war. and i can believe how it can be. - friendly can start this war. and i can believe how it can be. and i| friendly can start this war. and i - can believe how it can be. and i was in shock— can believe how it can be. and i was in shock and — can believe how it can be. and i was in shockand i— can believe how it can be. and i was in shock and i am _ can believe how it can be. and i was in shock and i am very— can believe how it can be. and i was in shock and i am very happy- can believe how it can be. and i was in shock and i am very happy that. in shock and i am very happy that now we _ in shock and i am very happy that now we are — in shock and i am very happy that now we are safe _ in shock and i am very happy that now we are safe and _ in shock and i am very happy that now we are safe and our- in shock and i am very happy that now we are safe and our son - in shock and i am very happy that now we are safe and our son is i in shock and i am very happy that. now we are safe and our son is safe and we _ now we are safe and our son is safe and we are — now we are safe and our son is safe and we are very— now we are safe and our son is safe and we are very grateful _ now we are safe and our son is safe and we are very grateful for - and we are very grateful for offensive _ and we are very grateful for offensive help _ and we are very grateful for offensive help our - and we are very grateful for offensive help our family. and we are very grateful for offensive help our family toi and we are very grateful for - offensive help our family to start a new life _ offensive help our family to start a new life. . p, r' offensive help our family to start a new life. . . n' ,, offensive help our family to start a new life. . ., i. i. , new life. can i ask you, you must feel quite — new life. can i ask you, you must feel quite a. _ new life. can i ask you, you must feel quite a, you _ new life. can i ask you, you must feel quite a, you must _ new life. can i ask you, you must feel quite a, you must feel- new life. can i ask you, you must feel quite a, you must feel quite| new life. can i ask you, you must| feel quite a, you must feel quite a sense of responsibility taking in these young people, giving them the support, trying to support them through a very difficult and frightening time when you can't really kind of magic any solutions for them. ., , ., , ., ., for them. no. it is really hard and they have — for them. no. it is really hard and they have said _ for them. no. it is really hard and they have said we _ for them. no. it is really hard and they have said we are _ for them. no. it is really hard and they have said we are like - for them. no. it is really hard and they have said we are like the - for them. no. it is really hard and | they have said we are like the new mum _ they have said we are like the new mum and — they have said we are like the new mum and dad so we know the responsibility and i think that is a key thing — responsibility and i think that is a key thing that people do understand there is— key thing that people do understand there is more to taking people then. you have _ there is more to taking people then. you have to — there is more to taking people then. you have to look after them. they need _ you have to look after them. they need help — you have to look after them. they need help. they need support. it is notjust— need help. they need support. it is notjust a _ need help. they need support. it is notjust a case of providing a room. you have _ notjust a case of providing a room. you have got— notjust a case of providing a room. you have got to be there to help them _ you have got to be there to help them and — you have got to be there to help them and make sure they feel safe and that— them and make sure they feel safe and that they can do everything that they need _ and that they can do everything that they need to end the country so it is a massive — they need to end the country so it is a massive responsibility but we 'ust is a massive responsibility but we just keep — is a massive responsibility but we just keep thinking, if it was ours, somebody— just keep thinking, if it was ours, somebody would help us. so, you know, _ somebody would help us. so, you know. we — somebody would help us. so, you know, we feel a great responsibility that we _ know, we feel a great responsibility that we want to do this and as i keep— that we want to do this and as i keep saying, if they pay it forward in the _ keep saying, if they pay it forward in the future to somebody else who needs— in the future to somebody else who needs help that is all we ask. that is a lovely thought. _ needs help that is all we ask. trust is a lovely thought. does this kind of give you a bit of hope that this has happened, that in a sense, ukraine is not standing alone and this is a demonstration of that. it may not be necessarily the kind of help that ukrainians which really messed like that it is something that shows that people are genuine when they say we care about what is happening. it is notjust be carried about it and then we forget about it when we think about the next thing in our lives. some people, like joanne, are showing they really do care. , , ., , , joanne, are showing they really do care. , , . , , ., joanne, are showing they really do care. , , ., , , ., ., care. yes, they really help a lot and rive care. yes, they really help a lot and give us _ care. yes, they really help a lot and give us great _ care. yes, they really help a lot and give us great support - care. yes, they really help a lot and give us great support like i and give us great support like family and help with all the things that we needed. give advice, so doing a lot for hours. a lot of time spent to do our lives better. we can't believe that such thing after war can happen with us. and that we will get such conditions, such help forfamily, forjoanne and will get such conditions, such help for family, forjoanne and andy. will get such conditions, such help forfamily, forjoanne and andy. so very gratefulfor the forfamily, forjoanne and andy. so very grateful for the support and one more i wanted to say that i am a lawyer and if somebody needs a lawyer. lawyer and if somebody needs a la er. , ., ., lawyer and if somebody needs a lawyer-- we _ lawyer and if somebody needs a lawyer.- we normally - lawyer and if somebody needs a lawyer. goad! we normally don't lawyer. good! we normally don't allow advertising _ lawyer. good! we normally don't allow advertising on _ lawyer. good! we normally don't allow advertising on the - lawyer. good! we normally don't allow advertising on the bbc - lawyer. good! we normally don't allow advertising on the bbc but this might be one of those exceptions that prove their will, as they say. it is lovely to see you both. i am glad you are here and safe in this country and being so well looked after by andy and joanne. thank you for talking to us, again. good luck, good fortune and we hope you get home sooner rather than later but that, in the meantime, you feel safe and supported him in england. thank you very much for your time. students and graduates in england face, what's been described as, a 'rollercoaster�* of interest rates on their student loans over the next couple of years. they will pay up to 12 percent interest on their loans this autumn they will pay up to 12 percent interest on their loans this autumn, up from the current 4 and a half percent. that's because it's calculated using the retail price index measure of inflation — plus 3%. let's get more nowjoining me is larissa kennedy, who is the president of the uk national union of students. thank you very much for talking to us and hanging around. sorry we have kept you waiting for a little bit but we had quite a few other things we needed to get to and had made commitments to. let me ask you, first of all, this is an unhappy combination of circumstances that this amount of money is being asked for. the government's defence has a ways been, student loans, since the system when you are earning enough to pay. this is a time and that really does need to be the case. but it is true, isn't it?— it is true, isn't it? what is abundantly _ it is true, isn't it? what is abundantly clear - it is true, isn't it? what is abundantly clear and - it is true, isn't it? what is - abundantly clear and incredibly true is that this change, this astronomical rise in interest rates which is going up to 12%, is going to hit the lowest earning graduates the hardest. if we look at the calculations from the times we students on the lowest earnings could be paying up to £54,000 more on their education so we're talking about a situation where just to access education which, of course, is a human right, we are asking for students to be shackled into and graduates who have already graduated from 2012 onwards, to be shackled into interest rates that are far higher than any average mortgage. far higher than the government's loan interest rates on their borrowing. fire higher than people could have even accessed if they went to a private lender so this is absolutely ridiculous and it poses a really stark question about what the future of education in this country and england is going to look like. particularly because this is going to hit marginalised communities even harder. you know, we have spoken in the past how many decades about access to education. what does this mean for that? how do we navigate this and recognise that this would be really, really bad for access to education. it be really, really bad for access to education-— education. it would be unfair to su: est education. it would be unfair to suggest this — education. it would be unfair to suggest this is _ education. it would be unfair to suggest this is a _ education. it would be unfair to suggest this is a permanent - suggest this is a permanent situation that will affect those who might be considering going into education in the future, this is going to be a temporary period, isn't it? when we are seeing extremely high rates? that will eventually drop back down and once that does drop back down that will eventually affect the rates charged under schemes like this one. students have faced broken promise after a broken promise and all the while it has become more and more difficult to afford being a student and afford access to education so forgive us if we are not, you know, holding our breath for something to get better. honestly, it has become so difficult to be a student from the amounts that we are paying in fees to the interest rates and of course the knock—on impact. i fees to the interest rates and of course the knock-on impact. i take the noint course the knock-on impact. i take the point you're — course the knock-on impact. i take the point you're making _ course the knock-on impact. i take the point you're making about - course the knock—on impact. i take the point you're making about fees because that is hitting students right now and their families and the others who help them. but in terms of the loans, this is money that is paid back. years after people have graduated, only provided they get to a certain level in their earnings. but if i may, when that is against a context where the cost of living is growing exponentially this will have very negative impact on graduates that have already graduated but on those yet to graduate. we cannot forget that we are still emerging from a pandemic. the work landscape is incredibly difficult. people are trying to get their foot to the door and trying to get a on the ladder and trying to get a on the ladder and ifeel like the and trying to get a on the ladder and i feel like the odds are always stacked against us particularly younger students, younger graduates who have inherited this broken education system, this broken financial model with the goal posts continue to move. even after you've entered into a contract saying, yes, i want to access education. why is it that this is one of the only case is when sign up to certain interest rates, certain terms at the beginning and you could have graduated in 2012, 2013, 2014 and now you're being told the goalposts are moving again. haste now you're being told the goalposts are moving again.— are moving again. have you had a res-onse are moving again. have you had a response from — are moving again. have you had a response from the _ are moving again. have you had a response from the government i are moving again. have you had ai response from the government to are moving again. have you had a - response from the government to that point? because that is a very interesting point, as you say, that you sign up on one level and then apparently arbitrary although the government will say it is not arbitrary, it is done for certain reasons but apparently arbitrarily you can be told, sorry, we are changing the rates. it is almost like you sign up, you think you have got a fixed time and then you discover it is a variable. the government _ discover it is a variable. the government continue - discover it is a variable. iie: government continue to shy away from being accountable to students. they have continually ghosted tried to evade accountability for students and i think that is because they know they have failed students and they know this will hit students incredibly hard and graduates are going to suffer that with the constant rise in living and student finance going up this is going to hit is incredibly hard and i think they are very scared of the idea of actually being accountable for those decisions and they know that this iteration of students had been failed and there is very little willingness to engage in a response to some of the challenge has been put to government at the moment and it is notjust students that are graduates who are seeing the impact of this. and even prior to that seen how unfair it is that the people who benefited from, you know, free education system, fully funded education system, fully funded education system, fully funded education system are now turning around and telling students today that they deserve to suffer the kind of higher costs, the high interest rates where people are going to be looking at money, more money coming out of their account every month at the cannot afford. abed, people are struggling to make ends meet and so, you know, it is hard right out to be a student and people are really struggling to make ends meet as a student. it is hard to be a graduate and it does not feel that is changing anytime soon. thank you very much- — changing anytime soon. thank you very much. before _ changing anytime soon. thank you very much. before we _ changing anytime soon. thank you very much. before we go - changing anytime soon. thank you very much. before we go to - changing anytime soon. thank you very much. before we go to new. changing anytime soon. thank you - very much. before we go to new york, let's engage in a bit of nostalgia. if you grew up in the 60s, you'll probably recognise this. three, two, one... it's of course the opening credits to thunderbirds. this weekend, music from thunderbirds and other classic tv shows created by gerry anderson — including stingray and captain scarlet — will be performed by a live orchestra in birmingham. phil mackie has more. stand by for action! remember this? we are about to launch stingray. if you do, i bet you're about to start singing along. # stingray, stingray! #. the classic shows were scored by barry gray and created by gerry anderson, seen here with two of his most famous characters. parker's been having a little bit drink recently, so he's... gerry's son is jamie anderson, and he's brought some of his late father's models to symphony hall ahead of the concert. just the thought that in a few days' time, this place is going to be filled with over a thousand fans of anderson productions, and they're just going to relive, you know, six decades of anderson themes all in one night, i mean, i'm equally nervous and excited, i think — the orchestra won't be able to rehearse together until saturday, so they're learning their parts alone. richard harvey composed this theme to the '80s show terror hawks. and in his studio in south london, is preparing for the concert, which he'll conduct. i think the music was absolutely pivotal. i mean, he was basically giving the world a puppet show. but barry gray's music turned it into a big screen thing. if it had been puppet show scale music, the whole thing would have failed. the music was such an integral part of it. he's not wrong. the classic themes composed by barry gray in the '60s are unforgettable. i think it's going to be a very special thing. personally and rather selfishly. to hear all that stuff. because obviously i'm a very proud son, you know, knowing all that stuff was achieved by one man and that one man was my dad. to have it all performed on one night and all these people coming to enjoy it, will make it very special indeed. what are you particularly looking forward to and what's it been like coming back to it? oh, just looking through the scores, hearing it all again, prepping for the show, it's just brought it all back. it's just been fantastic. and when the baton comes down on the thunderbirds march, you know, every little hair on the back of my neck will be standing up. itjust carries the best memories for me. so fab, spectrum is green, and stand by for action. phil mackie, bbc news, birmingham. let's not forget the contribution of sylvie anderson to their successful series. i want to bring you further unhappy breaking news that we have a three—year—old girl and a five—year—old boy had a house fire in preston in lancashire on friday. if you were in the area you will have seen the reporting of that. they have both died. now it's time for a look at the weather with tomasz schafernaker. for most of us, it is not too bad today. quite a lot of cloud around, though, and the possibility of catching a shower, notjust today but over the next couple of days. but i think the main message is that it is going to be quite warm for the time of year. in fact, by good friday, temperatures could get up to 22 celsius, just about, in the south—east of the country. for most of us, it will be around the high teens. a lot of cloud, particularly across northern and north—eastern parts of the british isles. you can see weather systems lining up in the atlantic which will be brushing us in the coming days but generally speaking, i think it is sunny spells for us today and occasional showers developing almost anywhere in england and wales this afternoon and into this evening. they will eventually clear away and then we are left with clear spells overnight, at least the first part of the night and then towards the end of the night, through the morning, it will turn very cloudy around these western and southern coasts, quite murky and drizzly in places. mild, 7—8 degrees. perhaps a touch of frost in the highlands. 0nto the forecast for thursday. high pressure dominating the weather in the south of the country, the north—west of the uk will be brushed by this weather system here. there is likely to thick cloud across northern ireland and western parts of scotland, rain at times here but nothing too persistent. the rest of the uk, a relatively bright day with temperatures just shy of 20 degrees, i think, in the south—east, and mid to high teens typically elsewhere. here is a look at good friday now. again, lots of cloud. we are being constantly brushed by these weather systems towards the west again. not a completely dry day, certainly the chance of at least a little bit of rain. 20 again in london. mid, maybe high teens across some northern parts of the uk. not a bad day overall. saturday, again, a mixture of cloud and sunny spells and showers, but i think as we head into monday, into easter monday, low pressure is expected to park itself across the uk and it could be quite a changeable, unsettled day. but here is the summary. 0verall warm, mainly dry with a few showers and overnight mist and fog. this is bbc news. the headlines. inflation hits seven per cent — as prices rise at their fastest rate for 30 years. it's driven by a sharp increase in fuel costs. food prices are also up — leading some people to turn to charity. there are just so many people that you just would not believe that are in dire straits and have had to come to them for help and everything, all walks of life, it isn'tjust, you know, the people that you would expect, really. graduates in england will pay up to 12 per cent interest on their loans this autumn — nearly triple the current rate. an islamic state group sympathiser who murdered the mp sir david amess is told he'll spend the rest of his life in jail. the mp's friends and family have welcomed the sentence. he is never going to be able to enjoy walking free, doing the things we take for granted. that is what happens. he didn't get his martyrdom. he has got, instead probably more than half a century of incarceration. the prime minister and the chancellor resist calls by the opposition to quit — after both were fined for breaking lockdown rules. only one tory mp has publicly called for them to go. in ukraine, fighting continues as 120—thousand residents remain trapped in the port city of mariupol the entire chinese city of shanghai — home to 25 million people — has entered a strict covid lockdown. 13—thousand new cases have been identified. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the soaring cost of fuel and food has pushed inflation to a 30 year high — it stood at 7 percent in the year to march, up from 6.2% the month before. prices are going up faster than wages, and there's pressure on the government to do more to help people who are struggling. and the cost of living is expected to rise even further — because these figures don't include the recent increases in gas and electricity bills for millions of people. here's our economics correspondent, andy verity. in this restaurant kitchen in eccles in greater manchester, global prices are feeding through to your pizza. two of the world's biggest producers of vegetable oil are russia and ukraine, and the price of it has doubled. the price of tomatoes from spain has more than doubled, partly due to brexit. and that is before you even talk about the cost of the energy needed to cook the pizza and keep customers warm, up, due to the war and the surge in demand for fuel as the global economy recovers from the pandemic. i've never known nothing like this, whether it's the prices of food coming into the country come fuel prices, everything is sort of against you at the minute. vat going back to 20%. it is stacking up. i think a lot of people will struggle. businesses like this one are already facing inflation at its highest for 30 years, and this month they have got a quadruple whammy, higher interest rates, higher wages, higher national insurance and soaring energy bills. with that kind of cost pressure, they have got no choice but to pass it their customers. this restaurant is likely to be forced to add to somewhere between 50p in the pound to the pizza price to avoid making losses, but that is nothing compared to other costs. increased petrol is something we've noticed. yes, petrol, itake these everywhere, and my petrol cost has gone up drastically. something we didn't used i to worry about or even think about but going around making sure i lights are turned off when you're i not in the room. some locals have launched a charity to help distribute food to locals who can't afford to eat out or even to shop for food. historically we have found that people didn't want to come to the charity, because of the stigma attached. now, we are finding that forget the stigma, they need the help. having to swallow pride and accept the help that is on offer. when you break the rising costs of living down, the prices of services rose by 4%, not half as fast as the price of goods, up 9.4%. that underlines a key point. the upward pressure on prices is global. in europe this month they are expecting inflation of 7.5%. in the us, inflation has reached a 40—year high of 8.5%. and the official russian inflation figure is 12.5%, though the us reckons it's far worse than they are owning up to. the april inflation number is likely to be even higher, it could well be around 9% when we get the april inflation report next month. so, that points to a further squeeze on standards and it is not going away anytime soon. 0n the old—fashioned measure of the cost of living, the retail prices index, it is already at 9%, its highest level since 1991. 0pposition parties are now saying the government must do more than it has to help millions cope with the tightest squeeze on living standards in more than 40 years. andy verity, bbc news. i'm joined now by pauljohnson, director at the institute for fiscal studies. good to speak to you again. let me ask you first of all, what leavers does the government have that it can use to try and influence this or is it effectively in a position where it effectively in a position where it can only passively take receive what is happening and tried to make whatever minor adjustments that can make? whatever minor ad'ustments that can make? , ., ., whatever minor ad'ustments that can make? , ., . ., ., , make? there is not an enormous amount that _ make? there is not an enormous amount that government - make? there is not an enormous amount that government can - make? there is not an enormous amount that government can do | make? there is not an enormous i amount that government can do to impact inflation directly. a large part of that, of course, was taken over by the bank of england who set interest rates and we can expect, i think, interest rates to go up further, although they will have an effect only over some considerable period of time. in the short run, can the government impact on the prices we are paying for most of the things going up in price and this is notjust fuel and energy, this is everything from driving your car to second hand cars to restaurant and hotel bills to cost of food. the government has very little, really quite little you can do specifically about the prices there but what it can do, of course, is put more money in our pockets which it has already to some extent through what the chancellor did back in february and it can obviously change things and the tax and benefits system can change and put money in our pockets but in terms of seeing prices rise, it is really something of a spectator rather than a direct participant. for spectator rather than a direct participant-— spectator rather than a direct n-articiant. ., ., , ., , ., participant. for many of us, who were living _ participant. for many of us, who were living with _ participant. for many of us, who were living with this _ participant. for many of us, who were living with this experience | participant. for many of us, who i were living with this experience and people watching you this afternoon will be saying, i don't understand why it is suddenly so hard, all of a sudden. there is a sense that it has almost been, in a matter of months, their financial situation has changed for the worst. can you give us a sense of why that is and perhaps hold out a bit of hope for them? it perhaps hold out a bit of hope for them? , ., ., ., , ., , them? it is extraordinary how this has come op _ them? it is extraordinary how this has come up on — them? it is extraordinary how this has come up on us _ them? it is extraordinary how this has come up on us very _ them? it is extraordinary how this has come up on us very suddenly, them? it is extraordinary how this i has come up on us very suddenly, if you looked at forecast for inflation from one year ago there was nothing there and the office for budget responsibility and bank of england for not forecasting a spike in inflation at all and then gradually over time the expectations have gone up over time the expectations have gone up and up and up and up and that is related to the post covid supply chain, shortages of gas and oil on world markets and all sorts of other things coming together alongside of what is the wall of money that this government and indeed governments around the world through at things through the period of covid. all of that together and then of course the war in ukraine has all put pressure “p war in ukraine has all put pressure up on prices and i am afraid the expectation now is that inflation is not going to pick possibly until the end of this year and we are going to have probably a year at least of really high rates of inflation. the hope at least will be that in one year's time, one energy prices at the very least stabilise and hopefully start to go down and some of those post covid pressures start to ease, then we might hopefully get quite a sharp reduction in inflation. the worry on the other side is that this bout of inflation results in other prices going up because energy prices go up and the price of delivering other things goes up and their prices go up later in the year, and of course if wages go in the year, and of course if wages 9° up in the year, and of course if wages go up and firms have to charge more in responses to that, that is when inflation will become embedded in the economy and that is the problem that we had right back in the 1970s, something that the government and the bank of england want to avoid at pretty much all costs. as i said, not a huge amount is always that they can do directly to influence some of those choices that are made by businesses. some of those choices that are made by businesses-— by businesses. pauljohnson, thank ou for by businesses. pauljohnson, thank you for sharing _ by businesses. pauljohnson, thank you for sharing that _ by businesses. pauljohnson, thank you for sharing that with _ by businesses. pauljohnson, thank you for sharing that with us. - a judge at the old bailey has sentenced ali harbi ali to a whole—life prison term for murdering the consevative mp sir david amess. describing it as 'a murder that struck at the heart of democracy�* judge nigel sweeney said the 26 year old islamic state group sympathiser had shown no remorse. outside the court, a police officer read a statement on behalf of lady amess and sir david's family. 0ur reporter andrew plant is outside the old bailey. this happened here at the old bailey just after midday today. ali harbi ali given that whole life sentence and that means exactly as it sounds, of course, he will never be eligible for parole and he will spend the rest of his life in prison. during sentencing, thejudge commended the family of david amis for their bravery throughout this process and he said that ali had shown a cowardly refusal to face up to his guilt and shown absolutely no remorse for his actions whatsoever. now, during his trial here at the old bailey we learnt quite a lot more details about what happened that day, october the 15th last year. we now know that he essentially tricked his way into that meeting with sir david in his constituency. he was holding constituency meetings in a church in leigh on sea and ali said that he was an nhs worker, he pretended that he was interested in moving to the area and that he wanted to discuss local issues, but in fact he had been planning his crime for a long time. he took a knife with him to that meeting and stabbed sir david more than 20 times. we also know that part of that plan was to die himself that day. he wanted to be shot by armed police but, in fact, the two police officers are first on the scene were armed only with were armed only with batons and an incapacitant spray. they managed to overpower him and arrest him. now, we have heard from police during this trial that he was, as they described it, self—radicalised back in 2014. he had been a student at university studying a medical degree, but he dropped out in 2014 and started looking at a lot of islamic state material online and began to plan a trip to syria, but he decided that was the difficult and he was going, instead, he said, in his own words, to help muslims in this country. well, after the sentencing here today at the old bailey, the police made a statementjust outside. it is clear that the man who begins a life sentence today is a cold, calculated and dangerous individual. his attack was stopped by two essex police constables who apprehended this dangerous man whilst he was still armed with a knife he had used to kill sir david. their actions were nothing short of heroic and they undoubtedly prevented others from being harmed. their bravery and the bravery of the members of the public who witnessed the incident called 999 and provided invaluable information to the police was remarkable. and sir david was not his only target, in fact he had researched more than a dozen politicians online, including sir keir starmer and michael gove. he had made reconnaissance trips to people's houses and he had even been down to the houses of parliament on several occasions but decided not to launch an attack there because, he said, it was too well guarded. the judge added today that sir david had dedicated his life to public service and his loss, he said, was of national significance and this was a murder, he said, that struck at the heart of our democracy. sir david's family, in a statement that was read out on their behalf, said it breaks our heart to know that our husband and father would have greeted his murderer with a smile of friendship. inflation has hit seven per cent — as prices rise at their fastest rate for 30 years. it's driven by a sharp increase in fuel costs. food prices are also up. with me now is sara gerritsma is a paramedic student from leicestershire. hello. thank you for talking to us. i say you are a paramedic student but right now you're having a lot of difficulty doing your studies, can you explain? difficulty doing your studies, can you “plain?— difficulty doing your studies, can you explain? difficulty doing your studies, can ou ex-lain? , , ., you explain? yes. back last year, i decided to — you explain? yes. back last year, i decided to have _ you explain? yes. back last year, i decided to have a _ you explain? yes. back last year, i decided to have a career _ you explain? yes. back last year, i decided to have a career change, i decided to have a career change, give up my income and become a student to achieve my goal of becoming a paramedic. with that obviously, going from two incomes to one, there are a lot of considerations that needed to be reviewed and scrutinised, shall we say. everything was fine at the beginning. i commute from ashby in leicester to northampton and that usually takes about an hour and 50 minutes to get there on a good day and the same back. every budget was taken into consideration, from fuel costs to living because, gas, electricity, food shopping... so we understood what our outgoings were to what we needed to bring in. slowly but surely, each month those outgoings have increased. i am obviously in a lucky position were my partner earns a full—time income and i get student maintenance, but thatis and i get student maintenance, but that is just and i get student maintenance, but that isjust enough and i get student maintenance, but that is just enough to cover our outgoings. this now means that when i look at, on a monthly basis, having to review my outgoings, which puts me into a panic constantly, i constantly have to ask the question about remaining a full—time student instead of bringing in an income. that is a tough question, having already made a life—changing decision on what you hoped would be an irreversible one. it is also quite frustrating, because you know better than i know that there is a crisis of staffing in parts of the nhs and paramedics are one of those parts. they are crying out for you, once you are qualified, i am sure they would be crying out for you anyway, but once you are qualified, and yet you could be in a position where you abandon your dream and they lose someone who would have been an asset and help them with that shortage. it been an asset and help them with that shortage-— that shortage. it seems bonkers! absolutely- _ that shortage. it seems bonkers! absolutely. for— that shortage. it seems bonkers! absolutely. for the _ that shortage. it seems bonkers! absolutely. for the first - that shortage. it seems bonkers! absolutely. for the first six - absolutely. for the first six months, i was managing to do full—time at uni and keeping a casualjob as well as mum duties and managing the kind of keep that going, so i could bring in that little bit of extra income and we had the back—up,... 0ur boiler needed servicing and you think of the 60 quid you need just for that. i got to a point where i could not keep up with all of that. i have got exams coming in may, which are stressful as it is. we then had to sit down and review our budgets again and work out where we could cut back, can we cut back here... so i could get away with not having to work to relieve that little bit of a pressure. so i can try and focus on uni, but how long we could do that for, depends on how much costs will keep rising. it is for, depends on how much costs will keep rising-— keep rising. it is taking the fun out of it a _ keep rising. it is taking the fun out of it a bit, _ keep rising. it is taking the fun out of it a bit, i _ keep rising. it is taking the fun out of it a bit, i would - keep rising. it is taking the fun| out of it a bit, i would imagine, when you are constantly worrying about this. , , , when you are constantly worrying about this-— about this. yes. it is every time when i about this. yes. it is every time when i think— about this. yes. it is every time when i think about _ about this. yes. it is every time when i think about uni, - about this. yes. it is every time when i think about uni, i - about this. yes. it is every time when i think about uni, i need i about this. yes. it is every time | when i think about uni, i need to think about getting petrol or diesel, that is a task in itself and then having to work out how much can i afford this way, can i afford to fill up or do ijust need to put in enough to get me there and back today? do i need to stay in northampton so i can save a bit of fuel? yeah. it adds another level of stress to studying to become a paramedic. brute stress to studying to become a paramedic-— stress to studying to become a naramedic. ~ . ., ., , ., paramedic. we are grateful to you for talkinu paramedic. we are grateful to you for talking to _ paramedic. we are grateful to you for talking to us _ paramedic. we are grateful to you for talking to us and _ paramedic. we are grateful to you for talking to us and we _ paramedic. we are grateful to you for talking to us and we hope - paramedic. we are grateful to you | for talking to us and we hope that, for talking to us and we hope that, for your sake and the sake of the nhs, that this can get resolved and i had a guest earlier, saying it could be a difficult year, but it is going to get better. that is a kind of promise for tomorrow, but i hope he is right. of promise for tomorrow, but i hope he is riuht. , of promise for tomorrow, but i hope he is riuht. a of promise for tomorrow, but i hope he is right-— a tory mp who's previously called for borisjohnson to resign as prime minister has said it's "just impossible" for him to survive after he was given a fixed penalty notice for attending a party at downing street during lockdown. nigel mills says he's submitting a letter of no confidence in the prime minister who has resisted calls to resign. both the prime minister and chancellor have rejected calls from opposition parties to leave downing street. helen catt reports from westminster. the prime minister and the chancellor have apologised after the police found that they broke the law. they have accepted fines for being at an event to mark mrjohnson's birthday held in the cabinet room injune 2020. mrjohnson said he was only there for nine minutes but that people have the right to expect better. rishi sunak said he deeply regretted the anger and frustration caused. neither the chancellor nor the prime minister think it is something they need to resign over. he has paid the fine, it is an event of two years ago and i feel the same anger as everyone else that these events could take place, not least because i could not see my own dad and i did not know whether i would see him again ever. i completely get it, i also know that it was not done out of malice or with intent, it was a mistake, a error and ijudge someone overall for the way that they perform. most of the cabinet have now said they support mrjohnson and rishi sunak staying on theirjobs, so any real immediate risk to the prime minister would come from conservative mps choosing to call a vote of no confidence. several dozen have come out to back mrjohnson butjust one has publicly said he should go. in all conscience, i don't think the prime minister can survive or should survive breaking the rules he put in place and he was on the television every few nights reminding us all that we should observe them. we have to have higher standards than that from people at the top. he has been fined, his position is untenable in my view. the liberal democrats and the snp say mrjohnson should resign out of decency and honour. labour says it is not possible for him and mr sunak tojust get on with the job. they are spending more time - justifying themselves on the parties they have been going to, rather than focusing - on the issues that we need them to address as a country. - the idea that we cannot change leadership nowl because of the war in ukraine - or because of the economic crisis, i think it is the other way around. we need fresh leadership - and we need leaders who can concentrate on the job in hand. the met police have not finished their investigation into parties in downing street, so it is possible there will be more fines. the full detailed report by the civil servant sue gray is still also to be published. for now many tory mps are publicly backing the idea that the war in ukraine means it is not the time to change later. the question is if that continues to hold? helen catt, bbc news, westminster. what is the mode of the parliamentary conservative party at the moment? whatever is being said publicly or what they are thinking privately? let's speak to our political correspondent nick eardley. the honest answer at the moment is there is not a great deal of appetite in the conservative party to bring the prime minister down. if you cast your mind back to december and january when a lot of these parties were emerging in the media, there was fury among tory mps and many said that if the prime minister was found to have broken the law is that he put into place, it would be very difficult for him to stay in office. many now though are saying that they think the context has changed a bit and that the war in ukraine and the cost of living crisis mean that they do not really want to go through a three—month leadership contest to choose a new conservative leader and a prime minister. so, isuppose conservative leader and a prime minister. so, i suppose the question is whether many will feel the heat from their constituents to say something about this, perhaps to change things and call for a confidence vote. you heard nigel mills they're saying that he thinks the prime minister does need to go, whether there will be others who join him, and there are a few things that could still happen that could be really important to the story. it is not done yet. firstly, the prime minister will be in parliament next week and i suspect the tone he takes will be really important to some mps. he will be accused by the opposition of misleading parliament and i think some conservatives will want to see some contrition from the prime minister. there is a possibility of more fines and we know that the met police are still investigating a number of events, some of which the prime minister is said to have attended and if he gets another fine, said to have attended and if he gets anotherfine, thatjust said to have attended and if he gets another fine, thatjust adds another fine, that just adds pressure another fine, thatjust adds pressure and it undermines some of the arguments we have heard that he was only at this birthday bash for a few minutes. there is also what happens with conservative mps and their constituents, do they start to get pressure from the public to do more? there is the may local elections and if conservative mps are finding in their local area that their vote is collapsing and they are seen pressure over this issue, some may feel the need to speak out and that is exactly what happened in january. 0ne and that is exactly what happened in january. one final one for your diary, sue gray, remember her, the civil servant looking into this, she has another report she is planning to publish after the police have finished their investigation and i am told that second report is detailed and it could be highly damaging for some in government and some in the civil service. this story still has a bit to play. i know you will be watching the balance for us. thank you. joining me now is chris curtis, head of political polling at 0pinium. is itfair is it fair to say that there has been a lot of kind of head scratching on what effect this story, this running story would have on the government and the conservative party and on the prime minister in particular? actually, the evidence is kind of quite mixed, is that fair to say, about how far people see this as a fundamental question about making their political choices? i question about making their political choices?— question about making their political choices? i think mixed is fair and i think— political choices? i think mixed is fair and i think a _ political choices? i think mixed is fair and i think a lot _ political choices? i think mixed is fair and i think a lot of _ political choices? i think mixed is fair and i think a lot of the - political choices? i think mixed is. fair and i think a lot of the damage that could — fair and i think a lot of the damage that could be done by partygate has probably— that could be done by partygate has probably already happened. the police _ probably already happened. the police have already come out and said that — police have already come out and said that the prime minister broke the rules, — said that the prime minister broke the rules, but while they were pulling — the rules, but while they were pulling the public, they made up their— pulling the public, they made up their mind are convinced that the prime _ their mind are convinced that the prime minister had broken the rules and was _ prime minister had broken the rules and was not — prime minister had broken the rules and was not telling the truth about what happened. that is not to say it is not _ what happened. that is not to say it is not damaging, when we look at attitudes— is not damaging, when we look at attitudes towards the prime minister and attitudes towards the conservative party, they are a lot more _ conservative party, they are a lot more negative than they were a few months _ more negative than they were a few months ago, they are now regularly lagging _ months ago, they are now regularly lagging behind the labour party in the polls— lagging behind the labour party in the polls despite achieving that landslide victoryjust over two landslide victory just over two years — landslide victoryjust over two years ago. it has now damage the party— years ago. it has now damage the party and — years ago. it has now damage the party and had an impact on them and ithink— party and had an impact on them and i think in_ party and had an impact on them and i think in the — party and had an impact on them and i think in the long run, actually how— i think in the long run, actually how the — i think in the long run, actually how the conservatives respond to the cost of _ how the conservatives respond to the cost of living crisis which is obviously _ cost of living crisis which is obviously affecting the day—to—day lives of _ obviously affecting the day—to—day lives of everyone is probably going to be _ lives of everyone is probably going to be more — lives of everyone is probably going to be more impactful than the response _ to be more impactful than the response to partygate but that is not to _ response to partygate but that is not to say— response to partygate but that is not to say that partygate has not an impact _ not to say that partygate has not an impact a _ not to say that partygate has not an im act. �* , , ,., impact. a very interesting point, what ou impact. a very interesting point, what you were — impact. a very interesting point, what you were saying _ impact. a very interesting point, what you were saying there, - impact. a very interesting point, | what you were saying there, that people have made up their minds that the prime minister had broken the rules and had not told the truth about it. yet, that does not translate into some kind of sense that they cannot vote for him or they cannot vote for his party, or it does not translate into a belief that he should no longer be prime minister. is there any kind of evidence as to how people have kind of dealt with this, when you look at their answers to other things? does a kind of make up a picture? that is wh ? i a kind of make up a picture? that is why? i think — a kind of make up a picture? that is why? l think it— a kind of make up a picture? that is why? i think it does. _ a kind of make up a picture? that is why? i think it does. when - a kind of make up a picture? that is why? i think it does. when we - a kind of make up a picture? that is why? i think it does. when we werei why? i think it does. when we were pulling _ why? i think it does. when we were pulling back— why? i think it does. when we were pulling back injanuary why? i think it does. when we were pulling back in january for example, more _ pulling back in january for example, more people said that they believed that the _ more people said that they believed that the moon landings were effect than believe that borisjohnson was telling _ than believe that borisjohnson was telling the truth over partygate. a certain _ telling the truth over partygate. a certain extent, borisjohnson has never— certain extent, borisjohnson has never been — certain extent, borisjohnson has never been particularly trusted among — never been particularly trusted among the public, however he has always— among the public, however he has always been seen as a kind of character— always been seen as a kind of character and leader who can get things— character and leader who can get things done. we all remember that slogan _ things done. we all remember that slogan from the 2019 election campaign, get brexit done and when he was _ campaign, get brexit done and when he was looking damaged in early 2021 over bad _ he was looking damaged in early 2021 over bad decisions about lockdown, he got _ over bad decisions about lockdown, he got the — over bad decisions about lockdown, he got the vaccination roll—out done — he got the vaccination roll—out done his— he got the vaccination roll—out done. his reputation has been damaged _ done. his reputation has been damaged again and the question is can he _ damaged again and the question is can he rebuild his reputation? even if he is _ can he rebuild his reputation? even if he is not — can he rebuild his reputation? even if he is not the kind of person you would _ if he is not the kind of person you would purchase a second—hand car from, _ would purchase a second—hand car from. is _ would purchase a second—hand car from. is he — would purchase a second—hand car from, is he still the kind of prime minister— from, is he still the kind of prime minister who can get things done? he needs— minister who can get things done? he needs to _ minister who can get things done? he needs to rebuild that reputation and i do needs to rebuild that reputation and i do not _ needs to rebuild that reputation and i do not think it is impossible for him to— i do not think it is impossible for him to do— i do not think it is impossible for him to do it, but i think it will be difficult — him to do it, but i think it will be difficult given the fact that everyone is facing a cost of living crisis _ everyone is facing a cost of living crisis and — everyone is facing a cost of living crisis and he is going into it in a slightly— crisis and he is going into it in a slightly damaged out. it will be tough _ slightly damaged out. it will be tough for him and the conservative party— tough for him and the conservative party over— tough for him and the conservative party over the next year. one tough for him and the conservative party over the next year.— party over the next year. one last thou~ht, party over the next year. one last thought. you _ party over the next year. one last thought, you and _ party over the next year. one last thought, you and i _ party over the next year. one last thought, you and i know- party over the next year. one last thought, you and i know that - party over the next year. one last thought, you and i know that the | thought, you and i know that the kind of polling you and your colleagues do is done on behalf of downing street and on behalf of the leader of the opposition, all the political parties, they will presumably have had a similar responses that you have been getting and presumably therefore a lot of what they do and say is not let us see how this plays with the public, it is we know how it has played with the public and therefore this is what we will say?— the public and therefore this is what we will say? 100% and we can see those what we will say? 10096 and we can see those strategies _ what we will say? 10096 and we can see those strategies playing - what we will say? 10096 and we can | see those strategies playing through particularly in how the conservatives are responding. boris johnson's _ conservatives are responding. boris johnson's argument to a certain extent— johnson's argument to a certain extent as — johnson's argument to a certain extent as i _ johnson's argument to a certain extent as i understand what everyone is saying _ extent as i understand what everyone is saying and i appreciated, but let me get— is saying and i appreciated, but let me get back to dealing with the issues — me get back to dealing with the issues that matter, the important things _ issues that matter, the important things. labour may say you're not doing _ things. labour may say you're not doing a _ things. labour may say you're not doing a very— things. labour may say you're not doing a very good job, but boris johnson — doing a very good job, but boris johnson knows that as long as he can convince _ johnson knows that as long as he can convince the — johnson knows that as long as he can convince the public that he is best placed _ convince the public that he is best placed to — convince the public that he is best placed to handle most of important issues, _ placed to handle most of important issues, i_ placed to handle most of important issues, i got all of the big calls right, — issues, i got all of the big calls right, as — issues, i got all of the big calls right, as long as he can convince the public— right, as long as he can convince the public of that, he thinks and i suspect— the public of that, he thinks and i suspect he — the public of that, he thinks and i suspect he is possibly right, that everything else will be forgotten by the next _ everything else will be forgotten by the next general election. chris curtis, that _ the next general election. chris curtis, that is _ the next general election. chris curtis, that is fascinating, - the next general election. (ct 3 curtis, that is fascinating, thank you for digging into the figures for us and giving us some context. that is really helpful and quite thought thank you. let's get more now on the soaring cost of fuel and food that has pushed inflation to a 30 year high — it stood at 7 percent in the year to march, up from 6.2% the month before. food prices are at a seven year high, seven percentage point inflation in march, up from 6.2% of the month before and overall we are at a 30 year high in terms of rising prices. with me now is katie schmuecker, deputy director of policy & partnerships at the joseph rowntree foundation. i have probably mispronounced your surname, forgive me, can i ask you, how much is this fraying the kind of, the sense of people's confidence that they can cope for themselves and their families? that they can cope for themselves and theirfamilies? i that they can cope for themselves and their families?— that they can cope for themselves and their families? i think what we are seeinu and their families? i think what we are seeing is _ and their families? i think what we are seeing is a _ and their families? i think what we are seeing is a time _ and their families? i think what we are seeing is a time of— and their families? i think what we are seeing is a time of great - are seeing is a time of great anxiety and constant pressure on families at the moment, particularly those who are the worst off in our society. if we just step back from the immediate moment and think about the immediate moment and think about the last ten years, what we have seen is a decade of cuts and freezes to social security system, which is fair to top up the incomes of the lowest paid, to support people who are disabled and sick and caring for very young children and perhaps not able to work at the moment, to support people who are currently looking for work. that decade of cuts and freezes brings us into this moment of extreme pressure in terms of rising cost of essentials and it leaves people struggling to make ends meet, going without the essentials, worrying constantly about how they are going to provide for theirfamilies about how they are going to provide for their families and that is just not something that should be happening in a country like ours. 0rwe or we won't put them up because that is one way of managing budget? but, let's put it crudely. the income loss to the country of not supporting people where their mouth is actually not in our own interest. i'm putting this very badly but in a sense, it is going to cost us more later on. i sense, it is going to cost us more later on. ~ ., _, , ., later on. i think what it comes down to his choices. _ later on. i think what it comes down to his choices. we _ later on. i think what it comes down to his choices. we had _ later on. i think what it comes down to his choices. we had a _ later on. i think what it comes down to his choices. we had a budget - later on. i think what it comes down to his choices. we had a budget a l to his choices. we had a budget a couple of weeks ago and the chancellor, in that mini budget, failed to protect those who are worst off and at the worst possible time and the result of that is that we are going to see more and more people going without essentials and struggling and experiencing deepening deprivation and we are already seeing that and it is in the foothills at the moment and yet today's inflation figures are from march so they don't even take into account the big increase in energy prices that we saw in april. already, we are hearing reports of hundreds of food banks writing to the prime minister and the chancellor saying they are struggling to keep up with demand. people asking food banks not to give them fresh food because they don't avoid the energy to cook it. families limiting themselves to one shower a week to save on energy. you know, that level of hardship has long term consequences that we pay for in other ways whether increased pressure on the health service are people trying to seek crisis support people trying to seek crisis support people getting into debt, getting into arrears and, you know, ultimately potentially losing their homes. the consequences of this could be very great and quite frankly the government seems to have head in the sand a little bit. what we need to see is benefits and security system keeping pace with the actual cost of living now and that means increasing benefits in line with prices now and in the longer run, we need to make sure that we have a social security system that does enable people to meet their essential needs and provide them with a firm foundation to be able to build a better life for themselves and their families. thank you very much. now it's time for a look at the weather the manager of northern ireland has apologised after drawing criticism for his post match comments following their 5—0 defeat to england in world cup qualifying in belfast. kenny shiels said women are more emotional than men and don't take well to conceding a goal as a result. former players like siobhan chamberlain and ian wright criticised shiels — who has since issued a statement. well, yvonne harrison — chief executive of the women in football network, that aims to improve represnetation across the game, outlined how harmful such comments can be. they are such outdated views. to stereotype like that and say that women are more emotional therefore concede more goals more quickly, i was a bit taken aback. it is disappointing because for somebody watching perhaps for the first time an international women's game i think you might actually consider that to be true and i think it was an opinion. it was not based upon fact. and therefore, it is quite damaging. and therefore, it is quite damaging. it's another big night of champions league football in madrid where manchester city are bidding to reach the semi finals — and go one better than chelsea — who lost to real last night. city have a 1—0 lead from the first leg with manager pep guardiola expecting the return fixture to be intense. it comes in the middle of a pretty intense period for his side with this second leg sandwiched in the middle of two games against liverpool. you know, this game in the next one in the next one, it is because we have done so far really well and in that moment you are not tired. when you are so close to reach the semifinal of the champions league or, you know, next saturday to reach the cup. we are not tired. we are not tired. and they will play in front of a capacity crowd at the wanda metropolitano — after a partial stadium closure was suspended. the spanish champions had been ordered by uefa to close off at least 5,000 seats as a punishment for 'discriminatory behaviour�* by atletico fans in manchester last week. should be packed at anfield later where liverpool take a 3—1 lead into their second leg against benfica. it�*s a busy schedule forjurgen klopp too — not that he�*s best pleased about it. the only game i am concerned about is tomorrow night. and we play saturday because of the success we had so far we play saturday, city. that would usually be aston villa. so it might be on sunday, i don�*t know. instead we play united comments that we play everton. then, if we get through tomorrow night we have a semifinal and then the premier league will give us. i know i am angry about this but it is just not ok. british number one cameron norrie is out of the monte carlo masters — losing his first match since rising into the world�*s top ten. he was beaten by clay court specialist and former finalist albert ramos vinolas in three sets. norrie has never beaten the spaniard in four meetings on the red dust. british interest in the singles barely made it past 2 o�*clock with dan evans also out was beaten in straight sets by belgium�*s david goffin 7—6, 6—2. he beat novak djokovic and goffin en route to the semis last yeat but his poor form this year continues. the british number two has now lost his last four matches on tour. that�*s all the sport for now. i�*ll have more for you in the next hour. president biden says the evidence appears to suggest, that russia is committing genocide in ukraine. he warns it�*s becoming "clearer and clearer," that vladimir putin wants to "wipe out the idea of even being ukrainian." his comments come as there are growing signs russia could be on the brink of fully capturing, the southern port city of mariupol, which has suffered a devastating, six—week assault. the defence ministry in moscow, says more than a thousand ukrainian marines have surrendered in the area, although a top ukrainian official says some have joined another battalion. as our correspondent, dan johnson, reports from the western city of lviv, ukrainian troops in mariupol have said in recent days, that they�*re running out of ammunition. the ruins of mariupol are symbolicof russia�*s devastating bombardment. and now the city�*s last defences may finally be about to crumble. russian tv says these are ukrainian marines surrendering. the pictures are not verified, and the ukrainians denied claims that 1000 soldiers had given themselves up. russian soldiers are gaining more ground. these pictures were filled with their troops at the theatre where so many lives were lost. the mayor says it isn�*t even safe to count the bodies anymore. 21,000 residents have died he estimates. translation: from the 9th of march, russian military planes were _ targeting our city, and since then, they have been doing this, you can see that... kharkiv has also been under bombardment, and it has been stated that it is not safe to get residents out today. i called it genocide because it has become clearer and clearer that putin isjust trying to wipe out the idea of even being able to be a ukrainian. and the evidence is mounting, it is different than last week, more evidence is coming out of literally the horrible things that the russians have done in ukraine. and we can only learn more and more about the devastation. there is more heavy russian military equipment coming over the border into eastern ukraine, along with extra troops. pressure attacks are expected. and these british volunteers have driven from the uk over the borderfrom poland to deliver aid and help the resistance. simon has been in touch with a friend in kharkiv. i said, what is going on? and she goes, you don�*t want to know. she said it is awful, we�*ve been bombed all night. she sent me some videos. i said, i will quit myjob, i want to do something to help you and your friends and yourfamily can help ukraine. these cars have been donated to ukrainian charities, but also military units. the last trip out here, the vehicle i drove out, the next morning, that vehicle we had a photograph of it on the front line being used literally within12 hours of our arrival, for what they wanted it for. the ukrainians are certainly thankful. we are waiting for you here, please, come here to live. we will food you, come here, please. thank you. but before any victory parties, it looks like there will be more fighting. now on bbc news, your questions answered. today we�*re asking your questions on the rising cost of living. with me is our personal finance correspondent kevin peachey. also i�*m joined by nina skero, chief executive at the centre for economics and business research. good afternoon to you. thank you very much for being with us as well. right, both of you i will flip—flop the questions. i was just saying why we were playing that music that if you want to jump we were playing that music that if you want tojump in please do. this is from someone who said i am on income support, i am struggling with gas and electricity can i get any extra help? element benefits are not keeping pace with the rising cost of living. certainly not keeping pace with the rising costs and energy bills. rising by 54%, taking an average build tooth £5,000 so the pressure is on there, of course. the good news, of course, in terms of income support is there is some support available. generally, from the government it has been broader support. it has gone over council tax bills and this extra help with payments coming in in october but for someone on income support there is other grants and support out there so, for example, the warm home discount paid in the winter that will be automatically paid to someone on income support. if you get in touch with your energy provider they do have hardship funds to help those who are in the most needy. the same is true of charities, too. and there is also income support which with heard a lot about which is served through local councils, which again is there to provide some help for those most in need. 0ften to provide some help for those most in need. often with sort of vouchers or grants for those paying or trying to pay their energy bills but it can be quite difficult to get through the process of that and it is different in different areas. not everyone wants to and there are those who, from a sense of pride, i don�*t want to ask for help. the money is waiting for somebody to claim. if you needed it might as well be you are somebody else may be your need is actually greater. that is true and — your need is actually greater. that is true and there _ your need is actually greater. that is true and there are _ your need is actually greater. irisgt is true and there are millions of pounds in unclaimed benefits and often it is down to people saying, actually, i don�*t really want a hand—out or i�*m going to muddle through. some money is available and our charity say not enough or not enough targeted support but there is some money, there are some grants and there is some support. i think the key thing of course if you are in serious financial trouble, if you are in unmanageable debt, that is so much better to get support early from debt and that will help you may be, but the plan to pay in the future. . ~ ., ., . future. talk to the local council and talk to _ future. talk to the local council and talk to your _ future. talk to the local council and talk to your energy - future. talk to the local council. and talk to your energy company. thank you. i think this is probably done by the people who think, i don�*t think the inflation is high. for me, it is much higher. they want to know where the inflation figures come from. how are they drawn up? the inflation figures come from the office for national statistics and there are a few steps involved in there are a few steps involved in the ons there are a few steps involved in the 0ns process in compiling that so the 0ns process in compiling that so the first step is a survey of households. the 0ns establishes a consumer basket of goods which looks at what share of expenditure goes towards the particular items or what share goes towards clothing or food or energy and then, once they establish consumer baskets of goods on a monthly basis they monitor individual price changes on those goods and services and then they take all of those individual price changes, weigh them up based on the items or services waiting in the consumer baskets of goods and what ends up being published is the sort of comprehensive overall level of price changes and increases so when we say that inflation figure in march were 7%, we mean that the consumer basket of goods cost 7% more last month than it did in march 2021 and i could understand of some people felt that the number they are seeing are not representative of them because it is meant to capture sort of an average expenditure structure and households will have very different expenditure patterns in their own circumstances. . let�*s in their own circumstances. . let's talk about — in their own circumstances. . let's talk about pensioners. _ in their own circumstances. . let's talk about pensioners. stuart cox says, it is written stuart and i think it is stuart. stuart would be an interesting first name, rather nice first name. he said we are out of pocket because inflation is rising faster than the state pension and that is the problem across the board and lots of ways, isn�*t it? inflation are so much ahead because presumably a lot of these rates as a lag, based on what was happening last year. lag, based on what was happening last ear. . , , last year. that is exactly right. from last _ last year. that is exactly right. from last autumn _ last year. that is exactly right. from last autumn before - last year. that is exactly right. from last autumn before we i last year. that is exactly right. i from last autumn before we knew last year. that is exactly right. - from last autumn before we knew that prices were going to be rising the current rate 7%. now, clearly, that is more than double the rise in the state pension, just over 3%. the same is true of benefits as i mentioned. and also, wages as well are not keeping pace so what does that mean? it means there is less money to play with. as i mentioned earlier about claiming for help, some pensioners have similar help to what ijust mentioned to someone on income support. the warm home discount will be paid to sum and pension credit would appear to claim pension credit would appear to claim pension credits are another one where you have to be putting in a claim and there�*s a bit of support out there. i think it really probably the point that it gets at the heart of people on fixed incomes cannot do a huge amount about. they can�*t work extra hours. it is difficult to balance your budget in that way and actually, if we look at the state pension and remember, it seems like a lifetime ago but the so—called triple lock, the protection put in place for rising state pension, because of the effect of covid and furlough payments, it withdrew the link to average earnings said to be skewed. what that would have meant, had it stayed would be the state pension would have gone up by 8%. actually, it is going up by 3% so you can see why many charities are saying we have to have more targeted support now. mr; have more targeted support now. my pensioners would feel hard done by. it is a bit like talking to the nus student how they are saying you have change the goalposts. we thought this was the deal and now you have changed it. this was the deal and now you have chanced it. p, ., this was the deal and now you have chanced it. ., ., ., this was the deal and now you have changed it— changed it. now there of a silver linin: on changed it. now there of a silver lining on that — changed it. now there of a silver lining on that cloud. _ changed it. now there of a silver lining on that cloud. if— changed it. now there of a silver lining on that cloud. if the - lining on that cloud. if the inflation stays high which it is for custody of the rest of the year than next april when the state pension benefits are raised again then that will reflect the high inflation of this autumn so it could be that, as prices, as price rises start to slow, slow benefits and pensions get quite a significant rise. brute slow, slow benefits and pensions get quite a significant rise.— quite a significant rise. we will ho -e that quite a significant rise. we will hope that is — quite a significant rise. we will hope that is the _ quite a significant rise. we will hope that is the case. - quite a significant rise. we will hope that is the case. it - quite a significant rise. we will hope that is the case. it is - quite a significant rise. we will hope that is the case. it is a i quite a significant rise. we will i hope that is the case. it is a good one to remind people of as they try to struggle through the next 12 months. how much the price hikes can be accounted to breaks it? b, months. how much the price hikes can be accounted to breaks it?— be accounted to breaks it? a great auestion be accounted to breaks it? a great question and _ be accounted to breaks it? a great question and also _ be accounted to breaks it? a great question and also one _ be accounted to breaks it? a great question and also one that - be accounted to breaks it? a great question and also one that is - be accounted to breaks it? a great question and also one that is quite hard to answer precisely. i would say that breaks it is playing a role in the inflation story but by no means a leading role. there are a few sources of inflationary pressures and the rising cost of energy coming partially from the russia ukraine conflict, partially from the rising demand and economic bounce back. i think they have been happening more acute the as a result of breaks it because on top of this there are additional new roles businesses are adjusting to at the same time as all of these other factors and i would not say that breaks it is one of the most important explanatory factors and we can look at what inflation is doing around the world and the picture is rather similar to the uk so we have the inflation figures in the united states, and it it and have percent, also seven and a half percent so perhaps the uk is being a little bit impacted by the breaks that fall out but certainly not the only explanatory factor.- but certainly not the only ex-lanato factor. ~ , , ., ~ explanatory factor. wire supermarket still able to raise _ explanatory factor. wire supermarket still able to raise the _ explanatory factor. wire supermarket still able to raise the prices _ explanatory factor. wire supermarket still able to raise the prices they i still able to raise the prices they pgy- still able to raise the prices they pay. they are making significant profits. it is as if it is almost jammed today for the supermarkets. lets look at some of the other things going up. we�*ve got bread, milk, cooking oil, all the essentials, or necessities. they�*re all going in price. for those who are going to celebrate easter, rising in price. all these were a factor in the most recent inflation figures that we had published today. supermarkets of course and their suppliers, significantly, are facing many of the same pressures that households are facing so energy bills, obviously pervasive, businesses don�*t get the same protection from a price cap on the way that households do so they have had all these pressures from energy bills coming through, many of them say they have to pass it on in prices. watch the question said is there are profits being made by the supermarkets. tesco today saying its pre—tax profits tripled last year compared with the previous 12 months. £2 billion. but what they have also said is they are in their words are laser focused on keeping prices down so they are obviously aware of this potential criticism, potential sort of, you know, come they are making profits when we are struggling and they are alive to that. they are also alive to consumer behaviour and remember, they don�*t keep prices down the consumers are very happy to shop around, move to a different supermarket, and try to find the cheapest prices as well as may be trading down on things. we tell experts they may be people traded down to brands that are a bit steeper. light back there are things we can do as shoppers that will kind of force the supervisors in a sense to follow was, if we start buying rather than a fancy brands, they sell the cheaper brands, the supermarkets will respond to that they should respond to that. it is a ke bat they should respond to that. it is a key bat and _ they should respond to that. it is a key bat and clear _ they should respond to that. it is a key bat and clear that _ they should respond to that. it is a key bat and clear that people i they should respond to that. it is a key bat and clear that people are i key bat and clear that people are going to be looking across the whole budget and saying, i need to make some savings somewhere. probably need to make some savings everywhere and the weekly shop, the weekly grocery shop is a big expenditure for many people and that is why will be looking to try to make some savings. sarah asks, when does this end? how did things get better for those of us who are struggling? probably not the answer i would like to be giving but i do think, in terms — to be giving but i do think, in terms of— to be giving but i do think, in terms of the cost of living crisis, things— terms of the cost of living crisis, things are — terms of the cost of living crisis, things are going to get a bit worse before _ things are going to get a bit worse before they start to get better so we saw _ before they start to get better so we saw inflation in march of 7% and we saw inflation in march of 7% and we are _ we saw inflation in march of 7% and we are expecting that to increase further— we are expecting that to increase further and peak around 9% when the eye higher— further and peak around 9% when the eye higher cap on energy prices is accounted — eye higher cap on energy prices is accounted for and over 20 or 22 as a whole _ accounted for and over 20 or 22 as a whole we _ accounted for and over 20 or 22 as a whole. we are expecting disposable incomes— whole. we are expecting disposable incomes to take roughly £2300 per household hit so quiet a significant drop in_ household hit so quiet a significant drop in living standards but i would say there _ drop in living standards but i would say there are two reasons. one is on some _ say there are two reasons. one is on some other— say there are two reasons. one is on some other economic factors, so, for e> will have to announce some more targeted — will have to announce some more targeted support. i had your previous— targeted support. i had your previous guest on the programme correctly— previous guest on the programme correctly mentioned that the spring statement delivered at the end of march _ statement delivered at the end of march was a missed opportunity to help households that are facing fuel poverty— help households that are facing fuel poverty and those that are hit the hardest _ poverty and those that are hit the hardest and, given a sense that the situation _ hardest and, given a sense that the situation has only gotten tougher, i would _ situation has only gotten tougher, i would not _ situation has only gotten tougher, i would not be surprised if the chancellor did announce additional support— chancellor did announce additional support in— chancellor did announce additional support in not too long for those households. support in not too long for those households-— support in not too long for those households. . , , p, households. kevin, finally, why are ener: households. kevin, finally, why are energy daily _ households. kevin, finally, why are energy daily charges _ households. kevin, finally, why are energy daily charges rising - households. kevin, finally, why are energy daily charges rising so - households. kevin, finally, why are energy daily charges rising so fast? these are standing charges. everybody pays them in their consumer bills. they are a relatively small part of our total bill and they are capped in the same aim as our use of energy and cost of each sort of unit of energy is also capped so they have been going up as well and actually, there are regional differences, too. but they have been going up for various reasons. not least it includes sort of maintenance of the network, administration costs and government schemes as well but the key one, the absolute key factor in this is they are going up because we have had so many energy companies go bust, stock trading, 28 of them, which is added to an extra cost on the industry as a whole there. the customers have been picked up elsewhere. that cost has been passed on in our bills and the decision made that the way to pass that on to everyone then ascendsis pass that on to everyone then ascends is through those standing charges and that is the reason why they have risen and as ijust mentioned, we will look to see what happens in october when the next price cap comes into force for domestic and how much that increases energy bills or not.— energy bills or not. kevin and nina, thank ou energy bills or not. kevin and nina, thank you both _ energy bills or not. kevin and nina, thank you both very _ energy bills or not. kevin and nina, thank you both very much. - energy bills or not. kevin and nina, thank you both very much. good i energy bills or not. kevin and nina, thank you both very much. good to| thank you both very much. good to see you both. now it�*s time for a look at the weather with tomasz schafernaker. for most of us, it is not too bad today. quite a lot of cloud around, though, and the possibility of catching a shower, notjust today but over the next couple of days. but i think the main message is that it is going to be quite warm for the time of year. in fact, by good friday, temperatures could get up to 22 celsius, just about, in the south—east of the country. for most of us, it will be around the high teens. a lot of cloud, particularly across northern and north—eastern parts of the british isles. you can see weather systems lining up in the atlantic which will be brushing us in the coming days but generally speaking, i think it is sunny spells for us today and occasional showers developing almost anywhere in england and wales this afternoon and into this evening. they will eventually clear away and then we are left with clear spells overnight, at least the first part of the night and then towards the end of the night, through the morning, it will turn very cloudy around these western and southern coasts, quite murky and drizzly in places. mild, 7—8 degrees. perhaps a touch of frost in the highlands. onto the forecast for thursday. high pressure dominating the weather in the south of the country, the north—west of the uk will be brushed by this weather system here. there is likely to thick cloud across northern ireland and western parts of scotland, rain at times here but nothing too persistent. the rest of the uk, a relatively bright day with temperatures just shy of 20 degrees, i think, in the south—east, and mid to high teens typically elsewhere. here is a look at good friday now. again, lots of cloud. we are being constantly brushed by these weather systems towards the west again. not a completely dry day, certainly the chance of at least a little bit of rain. 20 again in london. mid, maybe high teens across some northern parts of the uk. not a bad day overall. saturday, again, a mixture of cloud and sunny spells and showers, but i think as we head into monday, into easter monday, low pressure is expected to park itself across the uk and it could be quite a changeable, unsettled day. but here is the summary. overall warm, mainly dry with a few showers and overnight mist and fog. this is bbc news. the headlines... inflation hits seven per cent — as prices rise at their fastest rate for 30 years. it�*s driven by sharp increases in the cost of fuel and food. it�*s led some people to turn to charity. there are just so many people that you just would not believe that are in dire straits and have had to come to them for help and everything, all walks of life, it isn�*tjust, you know, the people that you would expect, really. graduates in england and wales will pay up to 12 per cent interest on their loans this autumn — the nus tells us it will hit lower earners the most. dozens of conservative mps have said publicly they support the prime minister — with only one so far calling on him to go. the pm and chancellor are both resisting opposition calls to quit — after being fined for breaching lockdown rules. a whole life sentence is handed down to the islamic state group sympathiser who murdered the mp sir david amess. outside court, police read a statement from his family. it breaks our heart to know that our husband and father would have greeted the murderer with the smile of friendship and would have been anxious to help. how sickening to think what happened next. it is beyond evil. the mayor of the ukrainian city of mariupol says 21—thousand civilians have died there — amid growing signs russia could be about to capture the key port. and coming up... see more of these incredible pictures — which have won this year�*s sony world photography awards. they�*re black and white self—portraits of migrants in mexico, taken as they waited to cross into the united states. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the soaring cost of fuel and food has pushed inflation to a 30 year high — it stood at 7 percent in the year to march, up from 6.2% the month before. prices are going up faster than wages, and there�*s pressure on the government to do more to help people who are struggling. and the cost of living is expected to rise even further — because these figures don�*t include the recent increases in gas and electricity bills for millions of people. here�*s our economics correspondent, andy verity. in this restaurant kitchen in eccles in greater manchester, global prices are feeding through to your pizza. two of the world�*s biggest producers of vegetable oil are russia and ukraine, and the price of it has doubled. the price of tomatoes from spain has more than doubled, partly due to brexit. and that is before you even talk about the cost of the energy needed to cook the pizza and keep customers warm, up, due to the war and the surge in demand for fuel as the global economy recovers from the pandemic. i�*ve never known nothing like this, whether it�*s the prices of food coming into the country come fuel prices, everything is sort of against you at the minute. vat going back to 20%. it is stacking up. i think a lot of people will struggle. businesses like this one are already facing inflation at its highest for 30 years, and this month they have got a quadruple whammy, higher interest rates, higher wages, higher national insurance and soaring energy bills. with that kind of cost pressure, they have got no choice but to pass it their customers. this restaurant is likely to be forced to add to somewhere between 50p in the pound to the pizza price to avoid making losses, but that is nothing compared to other costs. increased petrol is something we�*ve noticed. yes, petrol, itake these everywhere, and my petrol cost has gone up drastically. something we didn't used i to worry about or even think about but going around making sure i lights are turned off when you're i not in the room. some locals have launched a charity to help distribute food to locals who can�*t afford to eat out or even to shop for food. historically we have found that people didn�*t want to come to the charity, because of the stigma attached. now, we are finding that forget the stigma, they need the help. having to swallow pride and accept the help that is on offer. when you break the rising costs of living down, the prices of services rose by 4%, not half as fast as the price of goods, up 9.4%. that underlines a key point. the upward pressure on prices is global. in europe this month they are expecting inflation of 7.5%. in the us, inflation has reached a 40—year high of 8.5%. and the official russian inflation figure is 12.5%, though the us reckons it�*s far worse than they are owning up to. the april inflation number is likely to be even higher, it could well be around 9% when we get the april inflation report next month. so, that points to a further squeeze on standards and it is not going away anytime soon. 0n the old—fashioned measure of the cost of living, the retail prices index, it is already at 9%, its highest level since 1991. opposition parties are now saying the government must do more than it has to help millions cope with the tightest squeeze on living standards in more than 40 years. andy verity, bbc news. earlier i spoke to sara gerritsma , a paramedic student from leicestershire about how inflation is having an impact. back last year, i decided to have a career change, give up my income and become a student to achieve my goal of becoming a paramedic. with that obviously, going from two incomes to one, there are a lot of considerations that needed to be reviewed and scrutinised, shall we say. everything was fine at the beginning. i commute from ashby in leicester to northampton and that usually takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get there on a good day and the same back. every budget was taken into consideration, from fuel costs to living costs, gas, electricity, food shopping... so we understood what our outgoings were to what we needed to bring in. slowly but surely, each month those outgoings have increased. i am obviously in a lucky position were my partner earns a full—time income and i get student maintenance, but that is just enough to cover our outgoings. this now means that when i look at, on a monthly basis, having to review my outgoings, which puts me into a panic constantly, i constantly have to ask the question about remaining a full—time student instead of bringing in an income. that is a tough question, having already made a life—changing decision on what you hoped would be an irreversible one. it is also quite frustrating, because you know better than i know that there is a crisis of staffing in parts of the nhs and paramedics are one of those parts. they are crying out for you, once you are qualified, i am sure they would be crying out for you anyway, but once you are qualified, and yet you could be in a position where you abandon your dream and they lose someone who would have been an asset and help them with that shortage. it seems bonkers! absolutely. for the first six months, i was managing to do full—time at uni and keeping a casualjob as well as mum duties and managing to kind of keep that going, so i could bring in that little bit of extra income and we had the back—up,... our boiler needed servicing and you think of the 60 quid you need just for that. it got to a point where i could not keep up with all of that. i have got exams coming in may, which are stressful as it is. we then had to sit down and review our budgets again and work out where we could cut back, can we cut back here... so i could get away with not having to work to relieve that little bit of a pressure. so i can try and focus on uni, but how long we could do that for, depends on how much costs will keep rising. students and graduates in england face a �*rollercoaster�* of interest rates on their student loans over the next couple of years. according to the institute for fiscal studies the interest will rise to 12% this september. the rate will dip in march 2023, when a cap on the interest will kick in. for students starting degree courses from next year, the rate will be fixed at a lower level. larissa kennedy is president of the national union of students. she says this rise will hit the lowest—earning graduates most. what is abundantly clear and incredibly true is that this change, this astronomical rise in interest rates, which is going up to 12%, is going to hit the lowest earning graduates the hardest. if we look at the calculations from the times and from aj bell, we are seeing that students on the lowest earnings could be paying up to £54,000 more back on their education. so, we are talking about a situation where, just to access education, which of course is a human right, we are asking for students to be shackled into and graduates who have already graduated from 2012 onwards, to be shackled into interest rates that are far higher than any average mortgage, far higher than the government�*s own interest rates on their borrowing, far higher than people would get even if they went to a private lender, this is absolutely ridiculous and it poses a really stark question about what the future of education in this country and in england is going to look like, particularly because this is going to hit marginalised communities even harder. we have spoken in the past decade about access to education, what does this mean for that? how do we actually navigate this and recognise that this would be really, really bad for access to education? it would be unfair, wouldn�*t it, to suggest that this is going to be a permanent situation that would affect students, those who might be considering going into education in the future. this is going to be a temporary period, isn�*t it, when we are going to see extremely high rates, as andy verity was telling us just now, but that will eventually come back down and once that does draw back down, that will eventually affect the rates that are charged under schemes like this one. students have faced broken promise after broken promise and all the while it has become more and more difficult to afford being a student, to afford access to education, so forgive us if we are not, you know, holding our breath for something for things to get better, it has become so difficult to be a student, you know, for the amounts that we have been paying in fees, through to the interest rates and of course the knock—on impact. a judge at the old bailey has sentenced ali harbi ali to a whole—life prison term for murdering the consevative mp sir david amess. it means that in fact he will die in prison. describing it as �*a murder that struck at the heart of democracy�* judge nigel sweeney said the 26 year old islamic state group sympathiser had shown no remorse. outside the court, a police officer read a statement on behalf of lady amess and sir david�*s family. our reporter andrew plant has been outside the old bailey. this happened here at the old bailey just after midday today. ali harbi ali given that whole life sentence and that means exactly as it sounds, of course, he will never be eligible for parole and he will spend the rest of his life in prison. during sentencing, thejudge commended the family of david amis commended the family of david amess for their bravery throughout this process and he said that ali had shown a cowardly refusal to face up to his guilt and shown absolutely no remorse for his actions whatsoever. now, during his trial here at the old bailey we learnt quite a lot more details about what happened that day, october the 15th last year. we now know that he essentially tricked his way into that meeting with sir david in his constituency. he was holding constituency meetings in a church in leigh on sea and ali said that he was an nhs worker, he pretended that he was interested in moving to the area and that he wanted to discuss local issues, but in fact he had been planning his crime for a long time. he took a knife with him to that meeting and stabbed sir david more than 20 times. we also know that part of that plan was to die himself that day. he wanted to be shot by armed police but, in fact, the two police officers are first on the scene were armed only with batons and an incapacitant spray. they managed to overpower him and arrest him. now, we have heard from police during this trial that he was, as they described it, self—radicalised back in 2014. he had been a student at university studying a medical degree, but he dropped out in 2014 and started looking at a lot of islamic state material online and began to plan a trip to syria, but he decided that was the difficult and he was going, instead, he said, in his own words, to help muslims in this country. well, after the sentencing here today at the old bailey, the police made a statementjust outside. it is clear that the man who begins a life sentence today is a cold, calculated and dangerous individual. his attack was stopped by two essex police constables who apprehended this dangerous man whilst he was still armed with a knife he had used to kill sir david. their actions were nothing short of heroic and they undoubtedly prevented others from being harmed. their bravery and the bravery of the members of the public who witnessed the incident called 999 and provided invaluable information to the police was remarkable. and sir david was not his only target, in fact he had researched more than a dozen politicians online, including sir keir starmer and michael gove. he had made reconnaissance trips to people�*s houses and he had even been down to the houses of parliament on several occasions but decided not to launch an attack there because, he said, it was too well guarded. the judge added today that sir david had dedicated his life to public service and his loss, he said, was of national significance and this was a murder, he said, that struck at the heart of our democracy. sir david�*s family, in a statement that was read out on their behalf, said it breaks our heart to know that our husband and father would have greeted his murderer with a smile of friendship. a tory mp who�*s previously called for borisjohnson to resign as prime minister has said it�*s "just impossible" for him to survive after he was given a fixed penalty notice for attending a party at downing street during lockdown. nigel mills says he�*s submitting a letter of no confidence in the prime minister who has resisted calls to resign. both the prime minister and chancellor have rejected calls from opposition parties to leave downing street. helen catt reports from westminster. the prime minister and the chancellor have apologised after the police found that they broke the law. they have accepted fines for being at an event to mark mrjohnson�*s birthday held in the cabinet room injune 2020. mrjohnson said he was only there for nine minutes but that people have the right to expect better. mr sunak said he deeply regretted the anger and frustration caused. neither the chancellor nor the prime minister think it is something they need to resign over. he has paid the fine, it is an event of two years ago and i feel the same anger as everyone else that these events could take place, not least because i could not see my own dad and i did not know whether i would see him again ever. i completely get it, i also know that it was not done out of malice or with intent, it was a mistake, a error and ijudge someone overall for the way that they perform. most of the cabinet have now said they support mrjohnson and mr sunak staying on theirjobs, so any real immediate risk to the prime minister would come from conservative mps choosing to call a vote of no confidence. several dozen have come out to back mrjohnson butjust one has publicly said he should go. in all conscience, i don't think the prime minister can survive or should survive breaking the rules he put in place and he was on the television every few nights reminding us all that we should observe them. we have to have higher standards than that from people at the top. he has been fined, his position is untenable in my view. the liberal democrats and the snp say mrjohnson should resign out of decency and honour. labour says it is not possible for him and mr sunak tojust get on with the job. they are spending more time i justifying themselves on the parties they have been going to, rather than focusing i on the issues that we need them to address as a country. - the idea that we cannot change leadership nowl because of the war in ukraine i or because of the economic crisis, i think it is the other way around. we need fresh leadership i and we need leaders who can concentrate on the job in hand. the met police have not finished their investigation into parties in downing street, so it is possible there will be more fines. the full detailed report by the civil servant sue gray is still also to be published. for now many tory mps are publicly backing the idea that the war in ukraine means it is not the time to change later. the question is if that continues to hold? helen catt, bbc news, westminster. let�*s hear now from the conservative mp for amber valley nigel mills, who spoke to us, earlier saying the prime minister and other seniorfigures, who are found to have broken the law, need to go.. when the story first broke in january i said that anyone who was guilty of attending or organising a party during the strictest lockdown could not be in a position of authority and i think now the fines have been issued and the investigation has been done and they have accepted the fine, they have to stick by that and they should both go and i do not see how you can be the senior lawmakers in the country on television exhorting the rest of us to obey the laws and then are caught breaking them in your place of work. it is unacceptable, we have a right to have the highest standards. i backed borisjohnson and his work during the pandemic, but i�*m afraid the law is law and if you break them there has be consequences. i spoke to our political correspondent a little earlier... there is not a great deal of appetite in the conservative party to bring the prime minister down. cast your mind back to december and january when a lot of these parties were emerging in the media. there was fury among tory mps and many said that if the prime minister was found to have broken the law is that he put into place, it would be very difficult for him to stay in office. many now though are saying that they think the context has changed, that the war in ukraine and the cost of living crisis mean that they do not really want to go through a three month leadership contest to choose a new conservative leader and prime minister. i suppose the question is whether many will feel the heat from their constituents to say something about this, perhaps to change their minds and call for a confidence felt. you heard nigel mills in the peace they are saying that he thinks the prime minister does need to go, will there be any others who join him? there are a few things that could still happen, that could be really important to the story, it is not done yet. firstly the prime minister will be in parliament next week and i suspect the tone he takes will be really important to some mps. he will be accused of misleading parliament and i think some conservatives will want to see some conservatives will want to see some contrition from the prime minister. there is the possibility of more fines and we know that the metropolitan police are still investigating a number of events, some of which the prime minister is said to have attended and if he gets another fine, said to have attended and if he gets anotherfine, that said to have attended and if he gets another fine, that adds said to have attended and if he gets anotherfine, that adds pressure said to have attended and if he gets another fine, that adds pressure and undermines some of the arguments we have heard from him that he was only at this birthday bash for a few minutes. there is also what happens with conservative mps and their constituents, do they start to get pressure from the public to do more? there is the may local elections and if conservative mps are finding that in their local area their vote is collapsing or they are seeing a lot of pressure over this issue, some may feel the need to speak out and thatis may feel the need to speak out and that is what happened injanuary. one final one for your diary, sue gray, remember her, the civil servant looking into all of this, she has another report she is planning to publish after the metropolitan police have finished their investigation and i am told that second report is detailed and could be highly damaging for some in government and some in the civil service. this story still has a bit to play. president biden says the evidence appears to suggest, that russia is committing genocide in ukraine. he warns it�*s becoming "clearer and clearer," that vladimir putin wants to "wipe out the idea of even being ukrainian." his comments come as there are growing signs russia could be on the brink of fully capturing, the southern port city of mariupol, which has suffered a devastating, six—week assault. the defence ministry in moscow, says more than a thousand ukrainian marines have surrendered in the area, although a top ukrainian official says some have joined another battalion. as our correspondent, dan johnson, reports from the western city of lviv, ukrainian troops in mariupol have said in recent days, that they�*re running out of ammunition. the ruins of mariupol are symbolic of russia�*s devastating bombardment. and now the city�*s last defences may finally be about to crumble. russian tv says these are ukrainian marines surrendering. the pictures are not verified, and the ukrainians denied claims that 1000 soldiers had given themselves up. russian soldiers are gaining more ground. these pictures were filmed with their troops at the theatre where so many lives were lost. the mayor says it isn�*t even safe to count the bodies anymore. 21,000 residents have died he estimates. translation: from the 9th of march, russian military planes were _ targeting our city, and since then, they have been doing this, you can see that... kharkiv has also been under bombardment, and it has been stated that it is not safe to get residents out today. the us president has stated how seriously he views the russian invasion. i called it genocide because it has become clearer and clearer that putin isjust trying to wipe out the idea of even being able to be a ukrainian. and the evidence is mounting, it is different than last week, more evidence is coming out of literally the horrible things that the russians have done in ukraine. and we can only learn more and more about the devastation. there is more heavy russian military equipment coming over the border into eastern ukraine, along with extra troops. fresh attacks are expected. and these british volunteers have driven from the uk over the borderfrom poland to deliver aid and help the resistance. simon has been in touch with a friend in kharkiv. i said, what is going on? and she goes, you don�*t want to know. she said it is awful, we�*ve been bombed all night. she sent me some videos. i said, i will quit myjob, i want to do something to help you and your friends and yourfamily can help ukraine. these cars have been donated to ukrainian charities, but also military units. the last trip out here, the vehicle i drove out, the next morning, that vehicle we had a photograph of it on the front line being used literally within12 hours of our arrival, for what they wanted it for. the ukrainians are certainly thankful. we are waiting for you here, please, come here to lyiv. we will food you, come here, please. thank you. but before any victory parties, it looks like there will be more fighting. danjohnson, dan johnson, bbc news, danjohnson, bbc news, lviv. i�*m nowjoined by alya shandra from euromaidan press, an independent news outlet launched by ukrainian volunteers in 2014. she moved from kyiv when the war started and is now in germany. thank you for being with us. what is yoursense thank you for being with us. what is your sense at the moment of how this attempt by russia to effectively gain control of ukraine, whether by changing its government or influencing its government to be more compliant with russia�*s desires, how has that campaign being progressing? brute desires, how has that campaign being huroressin ? ~ ., desires, how has that campaign being haroressin? . desires, how has that campaign being progressing?— progressing? we are saying that after abandoning _ progressing? we are saying that after abandoning an _ progressing? we are saying that| after abandoning an international plan, we see it is not abandoning its military goals. we can expect that on the following months, very intense and bloody battles will insure shoe and many ukrainian civilians, many ukrainian military people will die and basically ukrainian leaders right now are appealing to the world to get the weapons that ukraine needs, the heavy weapons, like jets, weapons that ukraine needs, the heavy weapons, likejets, tanks, multiple launch rocket systems, that can enable ukraine to drive these leaders out of our land and we have seen these horrible maskers in the occupied lands, the lands that russia has occupied and retreated from. basically, honestly, ido not see how russia can achieve its objective of subjugating ukraine, because resistance is as high as ever and right now, you know, honestly, itjust looks like complete genocide, like a complete plan to exterminate the people living on our land, because russia, when the soldiers were just invading in ukraine, they were expecting to see them welcomed as liberators, but that has overwhelmingly not been the case. basically, i havejust read a report from butcher, that soldiers got angry because they expected a warm welcome and upon seeing this military defeat, they got enraged and started killing everybody and everything —— bucha. honestly, i think that what we are going to be seen ahead is a lot of heavy fighting, a lot heavy fighting and a lot of needless killing and destruction that can be prevented. ukraine has shown the world that it can fight and ukraine is taking on the second so—called most powerful army in the world that apparently nato and the us are afraid of and it is taking it with very limited weapons. if we get the weapons that weapons. if we get the weapons that we need, we can end this needless bloodshed and the suffering, not only in our country, but prevent this danger from spreading to other countries in the world. i this danger from spreading to other countries in the world.— countries in the world. i wanted to ask ou countries in the world. i wanted to ask you about _ countries in the world. i wanted to ask you about that, _ countries in the world. i wanted to ask you about that, we _ countries in the world. i wanted to ask you about that, we had - countries in the world. i wanted to ask you about that, we had this i ask you about that, we had this visit today by a number of the baltic nations, prime ministers and presidents, who were shown some of the terrible sites, the burnt out buildings, they were given some sense ofjust how horrific this campaign had become, but to physically see it, to smell, as you know, long after, it burns, you can smell what has happened and that is one of the worst smells to be around. do you think that part of the resilience of ukraine�*s neighbours comes from a sense that there but for the grace of god go r us? in other words, there but for the grace of god go r us? in otherwords, if there but for the grace of god go r us? in other words, if we had been unlucky, we could have been the country that russia turned its fury onto? ., , , ~' . onto? honestly, i think that the west 's to _ onto? honestly, i think that the west 's to arm _ onto? honestly, i think that the west 's to arm ukraine - onto? honestly, i think that the west 's to arm ukraine is - onto? honestly, i think that the | west 's to arm ukraine is fuelled onto? honestly, i think that the i west 's to arm ukraine is fuelled by west �*s to arm ukraine is fuelled by myths. one of the myths is that russia is undefeatable and ukraine should accept its fate, a realpolitik that is just very cynical. another myth, i think, realpolitik that is just very cynical. another myth, ithink, is that russia will retaliate if western weapons are used like patriots in ukraine and that this will lead to a so—called world war iii, which is also a myth, because ukraine is already using western weapons, lots of them, and as we see russia has not retaliated and is not announcing this as an attack by nato. basically, ithink announcing this as an attack by nato. basically, i think that of course the countries that are reluctant to come to the aid of ukraine right now, honestly, they just have not experienced the suffering and maybe they think that the war will not come to them and maybe they think that they are protected by nato and protected by the distance, but on russian television, russian propaganda that has for years explained that a ukrainian nation does not exist which enabled the current russia attack, they are just playing around with nuclear strikes, they are discussing nuclear strikes that should be conducted on poland, on the baltic states and we see that russia is threatening finland and sweden and other countries and basically, really, ithink sweden and other countries and basically, really, i think this is just a self persuasion that the war will not come to you. i think during world war ii many countries also sought to appease their aggressor and the reason the war will not come to them, but we do know that unpunished evil grows. we know that and if russia is not stopped now it will be emboldened and soon you will need to fight this on your ground. the murderer of sarah everard, former policeman wayne couzens, has appeared in court again by video link. he is serving that sentence. we can talk to our news correspondent tim muffett, he�*s been at westminster magistrates what happened today? the 49—year—old appeared here at westminster magistrates�* court accused of four counts of indecent exposure under section 66 of the sexual offences act. now, these offences are alleged to have taken place during january and february of last year before the murder which happened in march for which he was found guilty. now, he appeared via video link from franklin prison in durham and he spoke briefly to confirm his name and his date of birth and when it came to the charges, he did not offer a plea however, he did say he wanted a criminal trial to take place in front of a jury. now, referring to this the judge told way couzens that, on their own, these charges would be suitable for trial at this court but as is your right you have elected for trial byjury so the next stage, then, is on may 11 at the old bailey, a preparation hearing will take place and he has been remanded in custody as a serving prisoner. thank you very much. the manager of northern ireland has apologised after drawing criticism for his post match comments following their 5—0 defeat to england in world cup qualifying in belfast. kenny shiels said women are more emotional than men and don�*t take well to conceding a goal as a result. former players like siobhan chamberlain and ian wright criticised shiels — who has since issued a statement. well, yvonne harrison — chief executive of the women in football network, that aims to improve represnetation across the game, outlined how harmful such comments can be. they are such outdated views. emotional, an therefore concede more goals more quickly, i was a bit taken aback. it is disappointing because for somebody watching perhaps for the first time an international women�*s game i think you might actually consider that to be true, and i think it was an opinion. it was not based upon facts. and therefore, it is quite damaging. it�*s another big night of champions league football in madrid where manchester city are bidding to reach the semi finals — and go one better than chelsea — who lost to real last night. city have a 1—0 lead from the first leg with manager pep guardiola expecting the return fixture to be intense. it comes in the middle of a pretty intense period for his side with this second leg sandwiched in the middle of two games against liverpool. i think be slightly different, because there are momentum is. so their own games so they are not good for the passion that although fans already have. there are moments they will be so aggressive and create problems. should be packed at anfield later where liverpool take a 3—1 lead into their second leg against benfica. i would go for it. full throttle. just go for it. it is under pressure, try to score early. if not, try to score a bit later. that is what you do and that is what we expect. we respect them but i�*m pretty sure during the game they felt come here and there, it was quite good. we were close. we could have done. and that was right about now, but in use for them. it is anfield. it is an field. don�*t play against us, the plague into the whole crowd. , they play against the whole crowd. , they play against the whole crowd. let�*s get more now on what�*s being called �*partygate�* — the fixed penalty notices and fines for the prime minister and rishi sunak the chancellor, for attending events in lockdown. both are resisting calls to resign. the transport secretary, grant shapps, says whilst what happened was wrong — he believes the prime minister is doing a good job and should be allowed to continue my myjudgment is, my judgment is, he myjudgment is, he didn�*t set out to, a minute as a surprise, anyway, so we couldn�*t have done, but he did not set out to create an event. he walks and after eight separate meetings, after visiting a skill. you keep repeating this but as you know, there are multiple events and he be charged but other ones. did he mislead the commons without malice? in other words, did mislead the commons without malice? in otherwords, did he mislead the commons without malice? in other words, did he do that accidentally? i in other words, did he do that accidentally?— in other words, did he do that accidentall ? ~' ~ , accidentally? i think the key point as he did not _ accidentally? i think the key point as he did not knowingly _ accidentally? ! think the key point as he did not knowingly break- accidentally? i think the key point i as he did not knowingly break laws. fightback the key point is the answer to the question i�*m asking you because as you know, misleading the commons is a breach of the ministerial code which requires you to resign so did he mislead the commons albeit, in your view, by accident? not knowingly, is in my view. ., , ., ., ., , view. you did mislead the commons but he did not _ view. you did mislead the commons but he did not mean _ view. you did mislead the commons but he did not mean to. _ view. you did mislead the commons but he did not mean to. you'll - view. you did mislead the commons but he did not mean to. you'll makei but he did not mean to. you�*ll make thatis but he did not mean to. you�*ll make that is for the police to decide. they�*ve issued a fixed penalty notice. you�*ve asked me the question, you know, did he believe that the gathering in the cabinet room or anything else broke the law? no he didn�*t. we do not knowingly break the law. the transport secretary. the transport secretary. with us now is labour mp for yardley in birminghamjess phillips. thanks very much for being with us. what do you make of the government reaction to all of this? and the suggestion that, perhaps, you know, perhaps the sense that the public has moved on from this? they are kinda pocketed. they know what happened and made up their minds, they�*re not really interested in resignations and stuff. they have moved on. you make the government would say that, wouldn�*t they? that is not what my inbox is put up my inboxis is not what my inbox is put up my inbox is the public and not moved on from it. i bet hundreds and hundreds of messages from ordinary people from all over the country telling me exactly how they feel about this so it is not for the government to tell newscasters or anybody else what the public thinks, it is for the public and will be in parliament at the moment i think this strain on that level of public feeling would be great but listening to what he said again, i am great but listening to what he said again, iam not great but listening to what he said again, i am not spread surprise was that they will practice the lines to make sure that they did not seem like it was too bad but, for a start off, what i would say to grant chaps and to the prime minister is if he was in any court in our land to know that ignorance of the law, a law that ignorance of the law, a law that he is no defence against the law. and on that basis, to quote what he said, and i don�*t know if you caught him saying it, he said it is a pay per fine. you caught him saying it, he said it is a pay perfine. in other words, the fine sort of says two or send the fine sort of says two or send the message at least, well, that is not the cv is a thing. we are not throwing you injailfor not the cv is a thing. we are not throwing you in jail for doing something like this. it is and we�*re giving you the fine. the premise is not appealing so he accepts the metropolitan police saying and i exhume, sin that means he accepts the finding. ii exhume, sin that means he accepts the finding-— the finding. if you wish to contest that ou the finding. if you wish to contest that you would — the finding. if you wish to contest that you would have _ the finding. if you wish to contest that you would have to _ the finding. if you wish to contest that you would have to do - the finding. if you wish to contest that you would have to do that i the finding. if you wish to contest that you would have to do that in | the finding. if you wish to contestl that you would have to do that in a court but the reality is is yes, it mightjust be a paperfine court but the reality is is yes, it mightjust be a paper fine for boris johnson and may be the first because there are multiple incidences reported it to sue gray and the metropolitan police but the reality is that piece of paper does notjust represent the £50 charge that it is. it represents what he did not bother to do, while asking for huge sacrifices from the british public on that very same day that boris johnson has been fined for, i worked with of murdered women all the time and am working with a family who had and am working with a family who had a daughter murdered on that day and the mother had to identify the body alone without any other family members with her because of the rules set by the prime minister. so he can say, if it was a surprise and spying on him he should have said, this is not ok. we are going to leave now. he said that his work colleagues but they are just a drinks with work colleagues, it is funny because his decorator was there and others. his wife, his child, his decorator. you know, these people are not normally working with him and we all work at home these days so the reality of the situation is notjust a piece of paper and to try to pretend that the country is notjust been to a huge trauma where many people felt guilty about missing their families and these people do not seem to show any sign of the guilt that they should feel. well, it is what i have come to expect from the prime minister, frankly. . to expect from the prime minister, frankl . ., , ., frankly. , in the end, would you exect frankly. , in the end, would you expect that _ frankly. , in the end, would you expect that the _ frankly. , in the end, would you expect that the kind _ frankly. , in the end, would you expect that the kind of - frankly. , in the end, would you| expect that the kind of evidence frankly. , in the end, would you i expect that the kind of evidence of the politicians and people who work will come through the ballot box whereas in the local elections you would not expect any other mechanism?— would not expect any other mechanism? . ., , ., mechanism? there are a number of other mechanisms _ mechanism? there are a number of other mechanisms that _ mechanism? there are a number of other mechanisms that are - mechanism? there are a number of other mechanisms that are bigger i other mechanisms that are bigger that with honour so we will put a pin in that one that is not going to happen. you could just resign, as others, he is the first prime minister ever to have broken the law from number ten so i think personally that is a resigning matter. you could do that. his members of parliament could call for a no confidence in him and remove him as the leader of the conservative party. i very much doubt they are going to do that because they don�*t have and it is nothing to do with what they think of the substantive. it is because they don�*t think that they have anyone good enough to replace him. and they are worried about the ballot box so i would say, to be perfectly honest, it will likely be the people in our country. it should be but, you know, that is the way that we go with the tory government at the moment, i am afraid. fightback there will be people saying, she would say that, wouldn�*t she? 0f saying, she would say that, wouldn�*t she? of course, yes. i�*d bet all the opposition parties are calling for him to go and that is partly because they still fear him.— they still fear him. they're still worried that _ they still fear him. they're still worried that boris _ they still fear him. they're still worried that boris johnson i they still fear him. they're still worried that boris johnson is l they still fear him. they're still| worried that boris johnson is an worried that borisjohnson is an electorally appealing read and people will vote for him perhaps even despite the fact that they don�*t think of themselves as conservatives or support a conservative government because they like him? i�*m conservative government because they like him? �* ., ., like him? i'm not frightened of boris johnson _ like him? i'm not frightened of boris johnson even _ like him? i'm not frightened of boris johnson even slightly i like him? i'm not frightened of. boris johnson even slightly and, like him? i'm not frightened of- boris johnson even slightly and, to borisjohnson even slightly and, to be honest, it would be a gift if he was the one at the ballot box. the people in my constituency and constituencies across the country are rightly upset that it is one bill for him on one bill for the best of us and it tapers not that it is the a of a chancellor. a variety of trying to cover up for his and change the rules when it was the owen paterson thing. you know, by next week will have another boris johnson disaster. i would be delighted to go to the ballot box against him but i care more about the country than that, though. let me ask you finally, do you think the behaviour of the government is going to be enough to flip those seats back at the election? a lot of black country seats either one story or stage tory. i country seats either one story or stage tory-_ stage tory. i don't think that the government _ stage tory. i don't think that the government of _ stage tory. i don't think that the government of failing _ stage tory. i don't think that the government of failing is - stage tory. i don't think that the i government of failing is enough. stage tory. i don't think that the | government of failing is enough. i think that the labour party has to really present a future for the county which i think that we are going to go about doing as we lead up going to go about doing as we lead up to the election. a strong team that cares about the future and has the decency of our country at its heart. i don�*t think that tory failings is enough. the labour party absolutely has role to play. yes, i absolutely has role to play. yes, i absolutely expect to flip backcountry seats back at the next election put a ban from that anonymous region, the midlands and the north and i very much feel a huge amount of upset in these parts of the world for the behaviour of the prime minister and his friends. thank you very much. get to speak to you again. ian blackford, the snp�*s westminster leader, says the prime minister and chancellor should now resign. there has to come a time when you say enough is enough and this man has abused the office that he holds. he�*s not fit for purpose to be prime minister and he has to be held to account properly and conservative mps had to do that. we know from polling that has taken place over the last 24—hour is that the majority of the to go. if the conservatives don�*t accept the responsibilities for this than the public will do it for them. it is far better that this man is removed, and we can get on with fighting the cost of living crisis, that we can get on across the house of commons as we do. supporting the people of ukraine that would stand up against the war crimes of putin. we need to remove this prime minister who has a stain on our democracy that has besmirched the office. he really must go. there is not enough evidence to prosecute two people suspected of leaking footage of former health secretary matt hancock kissing his former aide in his office, says the information commissioner�*s office. the images showed mr hancock in an embrace with gina coladangelo while social distancing rules were in place. it eventually led to his resignation. the ico launched a criminal investigation after a report of a personal data breach from the department of healths cctv operator, but said today in a statement that its inquiry had now closed. three women, who were groomed and raped as children by gangs of men in rochdale, have received an apology from greater manchester police after a ten year battle. chief constable stephen watson said the force failed to protect them or properly investigate their abusers at the time. phil mccann reports. after dark in rochdale, and unseen by the authorities, and by theirfamilies, girls like daisy were being abused. she was 12. i had one shoe, no coat, it was freezing and the police officers picked me up and said, what�*s happened? i said these men had taken me in the car and asked for sex. he said, what�*s their names? i only know nicknames. the police didn�*t even take me to the police station to question me, they didn�*t even ask for the phone numbers, they took me home to my dad and said, keep your daughter in. in fact, daisy found herself arrested dozens of times for being drunk and disorderly. none of her abusers were arrested. daisy, which is not her real name, spoke to us two years ago, as she launched a civil action against greater manchester police. how did all these authorities get away with it? calling a child a prostitute? people say we are suing for compensation. that�*s not the truth. i want the police to be held accountable for what they�*ve done, for their failings, for their misconduct, for not being there. can you get down, please, or else i'm going to have to ask you to leave? daisy is one of three victims who have won substantial damages from the force. another had her story depicted in the bbc drama three girls, where she was called ruby. billy what? don't know. if he�*s your boyfriend, do you not think it�*s a bit strange you don�*t know his last name? in their legal claim, the women argued the police breached their human rights by failing to investigate offenders, failing to record crimes, and failing to collect intelligence. we took legal action against the police force on the basis that they had failed to protect them against degrading and inhuman treatment. greater manchester�*s chief constable would not do interviews but in a statement he said, the force could and should have done much more. he added, we are committed to leaving no stone unturned to bring these offenders to justice, no matter the passage of time. the claims were settled before getting to court. the claim against the crown prosecution service is still ongoing. daisy said, i don�*t know if i believe the greater manchester police have really changed their ways, but i�*m happy that they have taken into account their failings and there has finally been some accountability. that report was from phil mccann. the government says it�*s reached a deal with dozens of developers for repairs to be carried out on medium and high rise buildings which have dangerous cladding. it�*s thought about half a million homeowners are living in unsafe buildings. it comes nearly 5 years after the grenfell tower fire in london, in which 72 people died. our correspondent james reynolds has more. the ones who signed up, the chairman of the homeowners association expect more is delude meant more to follow. they�*ve agreed this was that they will pay to fix their own buildings, building speed up the last 30 years and have agreed to pay into a fund to fix so—called orphan buildings. that is buildings for the original developer is not known or can�*t be traced or can�*t be forced to pay but at the homeowners federation is not particularly happy about having to pay for other peoples buildings and the government has warned that the 18 firms who have not signed on should sign on orface 18 firms who have not signed on should sign on or face consequences that could be a removal of planning permission. but standing back, looking at the overall principle of this there is something very pay for the cost to fix cladding, not leaseholders were to be made known last few years leaseholders have been worried about the cost they could fall to then put up those cuts are pulling to developers or leaseholders this morning have broadly welcomed the agreement. one campaigning organisation said on social media that it was a welcome step in the right direction but it needed to be monitored, building by building. in some cost, high insurance premiums and patrols make sure fires break—out will not be clawed back. i�*m going to bring you a better braking, two bits of breaking news. in fact, a better braking, two bits of breaking news. infact, let a better braking, two bits of breaking news. in fact, let me update you on a story first that we had on friday put up two children left critically ill in a house fire have died and a hospital four days after the play is that of the girl and boy five years old respectively were rescued from the fire in preston. a 24—year—old man held on suspicion of arson was released with no further action put up a joint investigation by police and fire service have determined, is continuing. click breaking stories. one is that the czech diplomats have announced that the diplomats are returning to kyiv. they�*re going back into the capital. many diplomats moved to lviv or indeed left the country altogether. they say they are pleased to be back. of breaking news. on the campaign trail, the french president, marine le pen said she thinks there should be a change in... a series of black and white self—portraits of migrants in mexico, taken as they waited to cross the border into the united states, has won the sony world photography awards this year. australian photographer adam ferguson won the award for his photographs, after noticing a distinct lack of photography from the mexican side of the border. the photo journalist allowed the subjects to take their own photos, effectively surrendering control of the shutter. mr ferguson travelled to mexico during the height of the covid—19 pandemic. the project was first published by the new york times last year. adam joins me now — let�*s have a look at some of those photographs. lovely to speak to you. congratulations, first of all. thank ou for congratulations, first of all. thank you for having _ congratulations, first of all. thank you for having me _ congratulations, first of all. thank you for having me on. _ congratulations, first of all. thank you for having me on. it _ congratulations, first of all. thank you for having me on. it is - congratulations, first of all. thank you for having me on. it is lovely i you for having me on. it is lovely to talk to — you for having me on. it is lovely to talk to about _ you for having me on. it is lovely to talk to about a _ you for having me on. it is lovely to talk to about a project, - you for having me on. it is lovely to talk to about a project, by i you for having me on. it is lovely to talk to about a project, by the| to talk to about a project, by the sound of it, was inspired by what you are not seeing. at time you conceived it.— you are not seeing. at time you conceived it. . ., ~ conceived it. yeah, the work came from, conceived it. yeah, the work came from. there _ conceived it. yeah, the work came from, there was _ conceived it. yeah, the work came from, there was a _ conceived it. yeah, the work came from, there was a huge _ conceived it. yeah, the work came from, there was a huge flux - conceived it. yeah, the work came from, there was a huge flux of- from, there was a huge flux of migrants on the border up into the change of administrations in the united states in 2021 and i really wanted to make a set of portraits which found a, you know, and honesty that i was not seeing another work. the other photojournalism happening in real time along the border was kind of critical. i wanted to make work that inspired empathy more than it did sympathy. so i embarked on a set of portraits which were collaborative in nature and let each migrant held a shutter release and kind of have control of their own image. and agency, in the process. was difficult to persuade some of them to do this because presumably, is it fair to say a lot of them did not necessarily see photographers and certainly not news photographers are news camera people as kind of particularly sympathetic to them? it is kind of often it is a lens that is kind of often it is a lens that is poked at you or you are observed and watched, you�*re not really, it is not something you have ownership of. ., , ., is not something you have ownership of. ., ,., ., .,_ is not something you have ownership of. ., ,.,., ._ of. documentary that photography has had a problem — of. documentary that photography has had a problem of _ of. documentary that photography has had a problem of being _ of. documentary that photography has had a problem of being voyeuristic- had a problem of being voyeuristic and exploitative in some instances and exploitative in some instances and i wanted to subvert that in a way, and make the photography more of a conversation with each individual. people were very happy to speak to me, actually. after traversing mexico some of the people i spent time with had been held by cartel groups and extorted from money and had just experienced some of the most horrific things so everyone was very willing, actually, to share their story. they wanted it to share their story. they wanted it to be heard. i�*m to share their story. they wanted it to be heard-— to be heard. i'm at some of the thins to be heard. i'm at some of the things you _ to be heard. i'm at some of the things you have _ to be heard. i'm at some of the things you have said _ to be heard. i'm at some of the things you have said about i to be heard. i'm at some of the| things you have said about this. to be heard. i'm at some of the i things you have said about this. you have described the project as recording and forgive me if i am misquoting you, it may be others have described this, according stories and working with them to stage and capture the image in a relaxed space where they would feel less self—conscious. that must be a bit of dilemma when you are a documentary photographer because she was staging these photographs. that was staging these photographs. that was part of the story. how would you present yourself if you had the controller? but then people say, is that documentary?— that documentary? yeah, i lost audio. that documentary? yeah, i lost audio- in _ that documentary? yeah, i lost audio. in reality. _ that documentary? yeah, i lost audio. in reality. stephanie, i that documentary? yeah, i lost| audio. in reality. stephanie, the first photograph you are showing, i found her sitting just as she was and had a conversation with her and her mother and when they agreed, i simply asked stephanie to sit where she was in the picture so every photograph is anchored in the integrity of the moment and the environment that i found people in. are you hearing me again? i environment that i found people in. are you hearing me again?- environment that i found people in. are you hearing me again? i am. you cau~ht the are you hearing me again? i am. you caught the essence _ are you hearing me again? i am. you caught the essence of _ are you hearing me again? i —ii you caught the essence of my questioning, your answer is very clear and i am gratefulfor that. as you say, you are representing a real world. their real world. in that sense, you are to use the stage phased, what you hope you can do with this now, with this profile? what would you most like to do? further work on my career? when is something that the world photography awards is a huge accolade and anything like that, you know, just strengthens my platform as a storyteller and enables me to tell more stories like this so, you know, i have a bunch of work that i am undertaking. i�*m talking about a trip to ukraine. i have a big project in australia so, you know, an accolade like the sony world photography awards just for the strength as a platform for me as a storyteller. strength as a platform for me as a storyteller-— strength as a platform for me as a storyteller. abbott will continue to brina storyteller. abbott will continue to brin: ou a storyteller. abbott will continue to bring you a lot _ storyteller. abbott will continue to bring you a lot of _ storyteller. abbott will continue to bring you a lot of platform. - storyteller. abbott will continue to bring you a lot of platform. , - storyteller. abbott will continue to bring you a lot of platform. , i i bring you a lot of platform. , i hope it will. i�*ve enjoyed being with you for the last few hours. thank you very much for staying with us on bbc news. thomas has the weather prospects. i think the main message is it is going to be quite warm for the time of year. in fact, by good friday, temperatures could get up to 22 celsius just about in the south—east of the country. for most of us it will be found the high teens. so, a lot of cloud particularly across northern and north—eastern parts of the british isles. you can see weather system is lining up in the atlantic. they will be brushing us in the coming days that generally speaking, i think it is sunny spells for us today and occasional showers developing almost anywhere in england and wales this afternoon. and into this evening. they will eventually clear away and we are left with clear spells overnight. at this the first part of the night and end of the night it would turn very cloudy around these western and southern coasts. drizzly in places, mild, seven or 8 degrees, perhaps a touch of frost in the highlands. so onto the forecast, then, for thursday. high pressure dominating the weather in the south of the country. the north—west of the uk will be brushed by this weather system here. likely to be thick cloud across northern ireland, western parts of scotland, rain at here but nothing too persistent. the west of the uk are relatively bright day was tempted just shy of 20 in the south—east and mid to high teens typically elsewhere. here is a look at good friday, now. a lot of cloud. constantly brushed by these weather systems towards the west of us again. not a completely dry day and the chance of a little bit of rain here. 20 again in london. mid, may be high teens across northern parts of the uk. not a bad day, overall. saturday again, a mixture of cloud and sunny spells and showers but i think as we head into monday into easter monday, low pressure is expected to park itself across the uk and it could be quite changeable on saturday but here is the summery. overall, warm, mainly dry with a few showers and overnight mist and fog. this is bbc news. i�*m jane hill. the headlines — inflation hits 7% as prices rise at their fastest rate for 30 years. it�*s driven by sharp increases in the cost of fuel and food. it�*s led some people to turn to charity. there�*s just so many people that you just wouldn�*t believe that are in dire straits. and i�*ve had to come to them for help and everything, all walks of life. it isn�*tjust, you know, the people that you would expect, really. graduates in england and wales will pay up to 12% interest on their loans this autumn. the nus tells us it will hit lower earners the most. dozens of conservative mps have said publicly they support the prime minister, with only one so far calling on him to go. the pm and chancellor are both resisting opposition calls to quit after being fined for breaching lockdown rules.