01/08/2017 BBC News at One

British Gas is to increase its electricity prices by more than 12%,

The company says it's because of rising costs,

and government environmental policies.

We'll ask whether the Government might introduce an energy price cap.

Anthony Scaramucci is fired as White House Communications Director before

he's even started the job - the third official

A new treatment for pancreatic cancer increases the number

of patients whose surgery is successful by nearly a third -

a charity says the findings are exciting.

The RNLI rescues a man a mile out to sea in a toy dingy -

and warns about the risks of taking to the water unprepared.

And the first male editor in the magazine's history,

Edward Enninful, takes over today at the helm of British Vogue.

I was spotted on a train when I was 16 years old to be a model.

And coming up in the sport on BBC News...

Champion gymnast Ellie Downey will miss October's World

Championships in Canada, after having ankle surgery.

She plans to return for the Commonwealth Games.

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One.

British Gas will increase electricity prices by 12.5%

in September, a move which will affect more

Its parent company, Centrica, said the price rise

is because of the increasing cost of transmitting energy to people's

homes, and government environmental policies.

The Government has indicated that it may still legislate to impose

Our business correspondent, Theo Leggett, reports.

British Gas likes to say it is putting its customers in control

will stop but even if they turn the heating down, those on a standard

variable tariffs will see their bills going up. After the increases

announced today, the cost of an average dual fuel energy bill,

electricity and gas, provided by British Gas, will be going up. It

will now cost ?1120 a year, an increase of ?76 compared to last

year. It is not the cheapest among the big players any more, but it is

not the most expensive. British Gas says it does mean 3 million people

will pay more for their energy, but another 5.3 million customers will

not be affected. British Gas's owner Centrica says it has little choice

but to increase bills because of the cost of providing electricity in

particular which has increased sharply. The reason for this is the

transmission and distribution costs have been going up as well as the

environmental and social policy costs, and recently, we have been

selling electricity at a loss. Those are the reasons why we have had to

put prices up, beginning in the middle of September. Over the past

six months, Centrica has seen profits from its home energy

business falling sharply and it has also lost hundreds of thousands of

customers. It is gas has had pressure on its profits, and the

domestic side, reflected in this announcement which they argue is

because the price freeze and they argue most recently they have made a

loss and electricity overall, so there is a on them I guess to make

sure they are not loss-making. Earlier this year when other major

energy companies raised their prices, the regulator of gems that

the increases were not justified. But plans for a cap have been

watered down. The Government needs to urgently look at what they do for

the customers paying over the odds. There has been so much discussion

about the energy market and it does not work for consumers, the

discussion needs to end and we need to see some action. Regulators want

more people to shop around and switch suppliers to find a cheaper

deal. But not everyone is willing to do that. For the sake of my case of

nearly ?20 saving a year, it is not worth it. Not worth my time. It is

dear enough as it is, that is why I have both and gas and Electric

together because you have the 10% discount. If I could get a better

deal somewhere else, I will always look for the best deal possible.

Centrica says it would welcome some changes to the energy market

including the abolition of the expensive standard variable tariffs.

Our business editor, Simon Jack, is here.

What are the things that are really driving this as far as the companies

concerned? Centrica look like clear today, it is not the price of the

electricity itself in the wholesale markets, that has gone down, it is

the transmission costs. When the Goodman says they want to use more

renewables, that comes with a cost, and you have to connect the

renewable sources to the network. There the things the companies have

to do, things like rolling out smart and subsidising installation. These

are government policies which they say have a knock-on effect. So the

price of the stuff is not going down, but the permit is saying, we

are not having that. We will not take the blame for these prices

going up. But it is a big hit for a lot of households and could have an

impact on inflation generally, it is a big part of everybody's Bill going

up by 12.5% and we saw rises earlier in the year and there might be more

to come which will have a knock-on effect on inflation.

Our assistant political editor, Norman Smith, is in Westminster.

What chance did you think ultimately some kind of price cap coming in?

Put it this way, I would not hold your breath. It is like expecting

England to win the World Cup, England men. It could happen, but on

balance, probably not. And the reason we will not get the big price

cap to cover 70 million customers is our old friend Brexit, she is taking

up so much of the Government's time and energy, there simply is not a

legislative space to push through this sort of huge measure. The

Government had the option to include it in the Queen's Speech and decided

against that. And many Tory MPs do not like the idea of a cap, it is

not a Tory sort of thing. But ministers want to talk top, to leave

it on the table almost as a stick to say to the energy companies, behave,

or else! More likely, we could get a much more limited cap targeted on

the most disadvantaged families, those on the warm homes allowance,

around 2 million families. The regulator Ofgem will issue a report

later in the summer which is expected to be one of their

recommendations. We will not get the big cap covering all 17 million

customers, we might get a Mini cap. Norman, thank you.

The White House Communications Director, Anthony Scaramucci,

has been fired just ten days after his appointment.

He was dismissed last night, hours after General John Kelly,

a retired marine general, was sworn in as the President's

Officials say Mr Scaramucci made "inappropriate" comments

It means three top officials have been sacked in the last ten days,

My start state is going to be in a couple of weeks so it is 100% tone

-- totally cleansed and clean. Anthony Scaramucci never made the

official start state, the White House decided what had to be

cleansed was him. Why? Looked at his comments to the New Yorker magazine

where he said of the then White House Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus

is a paranoid schizophrenic. And of the chief strategist of Donald

Trump, I am not trying to build my own brand on the strength of the

President, I am here to serve the country. But as it turned out, not

for much longer, the victim of a vicious political culture he had

spoken out to the BBC. One of the things I cannot stand about this

town is the backstabbing that goes on here, where right grow up, in my

neighbourhood, we are front-stabbers. This is the man who

helped to wield the night, the new Chief of Staff John Kelly, the first

retired general in the post since the Nixon administration. His task

is to bring order to the White House. As I think we have made clear

a number of times over the last couple of days to several people

individually, general Kellie has the full authority to operate within the

White House and all staff will report to him. President Trump has

nothing but praise for General John Kelly but friends say the general

was reluctant to become his Chief of Staff and will want to drive the

White House agenda forward. If the President of the United States is

disrupted in himself, I think General Kellie will have frank

discussions about things he could do that would help the situation and

improve it. With three high-level departures from the administration

in two weeks, General Kellie's job to maintain discipline will be a

challenge. The question is, will we see a more disciplined President

Trump and that is the big question going forward. Keep in mind, the

departure of Scaramucci is perhaps the easiest thing that John Kelly

will be able to get done in this White House. General Kellie will be

watching this space, the President's Twitter feed, which described

yesterday's extraordinary shake-up is simply a great day at the White

House. Medical researchers have revealed

details of a new approach to treating people with pancreatic

cancer - one of deadliest Scientists in Birmingham say a pilot

treatment increased the number of patients whose surgery

was successful, The charity Pancreatic Cancer

UK says the findings Our health correspondent,

Michele Paduano, reports. Kate Rigby was amazed at how

smoothly the NHS worked when she was diagnosed

with pancreatic cancer. Within seven days, she had had

surgery at the Queen Elizabeth I can't control NHS budget,

and all the other things for all the poor people

who aren't as lucky as me, but what I can do

is spread the word. Normally, patients with jaundice

like Mrs Rigby have a stent put in to relieve symptoms,

which delays the main operation. A nurse was employed

to speed up treatment Cutting out the stent also saved

the NHS ?3,200 per patient. We save the NHS potentially ?200,000

per year, with the number of patients that have surgery

within our team. And so that, then, is a reproducible

model that other units up and down At this point in time,

you would want to go forward with the operation if you could,

rather than go off and have a stent and the operation seven weeks

down the line. Pancreatic cancer has

a very low survival rate. The survival rate is only about 7%

in the UK, so sadly very low. I think what this provides us

is a glimmer of hope for the future. It provides us with that

all-important surgical technique, faster, and with proven results

in terms of outcome. It will be two years before doctors

can say whether treating patients more quickly actually means

that they live longer. And if they do, that will beg

the question as to whether or not other aggressive cancers should be

treated more quickly. For now, Kate Rigby knows she's been

given the best chance possible A hospital trauma unit in Oxford

is being closed for up to a year Cladding on the building

at the John Radcliffe Hospital was assessed following

the Grenfell Tower disaster. 52 inpatient beds will be

moved to other wards The local NHS trust says

a combination of fire safety factors They found a number of things.

First, they found the cladding was flammable. Second, they found that

the measures in place to stop fire from spreading from to floor were

not as good as they should be. We have good measures to stop fire from

spreading within a single floor, but we do not have measures it turns out

in that building to stop spread from floor to floor as reliably as we

want. All babies born in the UK will today

be offered a new vaccine to protect from hepatitis B. It also immunises

against five other diseases including diphtheria, polio and

looping cough. It replaces the so-called five in one injection

which has been given up until now. Relatives of two opposition leaders

in Venezuela say the men have been re-arrested,

just two days after a controversial The daughter of one of the men -

Antonio Ledezma - posted this She says it shows her father

being taken away by officers The wife of the other man -

Leopoldo Lopez - said she would hold the President responsible

if anything happened to her husband. Let's speak to our correspondent,

Will Grant, in Caracas. What is happening here? Well, it is

a worrying development. Certainly, the authorities in Venezuela have

claimed for a long time that they are not a dictatorship, as has been

said by the opposition over and over. But this sort of action in the

dead of night, with the opposition leaders in their pyjamas as they are

dragged away by armed and masked men of the security forces does nothing

to strengthen that argument. On social media, there has been a huge

reaction by their supporters, who say this is simply a further step

into autocracy and controlled by the Government of Nicolas Maduro, but

the Government says the two men violated the terms of their house

arrest by calling for action on the streets and violence during this

recent and very controversial vote on creating a new legislative body

in Venezuela. So an extremely complex picture and things like this

do nothing to calm the tensions of ordinary people on the streets not

just of Caracas, but across Venezuela. Thank you.

British Gas is to increase its electricity prices

by more than 12 percent - affecting 3 million customers.

A makeover for the cloth-trading hall which was once at the heart

In the sport, hearts have sacked head coach Ian Cathro after six

months in charge. It follows their shock exit from the Scottish League

Cup. A man who drifted a mile out to sea

in a toy dinghy had to be rescued by a lifeboat crew last night,

as he battled against the wind The alarm was raised

at 7.30 in the evening - after he was spotted near a wind

farm off the coast. The man was wearing

just shorts and a top. It comes as the RNLI says the number

of near fatal incidents in UK waters is highest in August -

and it's launching a campaign, urging people to take proper

precautions when heading out Tens of thousands of people will go

into the water of the UK this month. One of the most popular places is

here in Newquay. How would you describe the conditions? It is

pretty good, pretty solid out there. Josie has the job of watching

hundreds of surfers and swimmers here. On a beach like this, what are

the trickiest things that could cause a problem? For holiday-makers,

they just don't understand the water like we do. They just think they can

go wherever they want. Sometimes when you tell them, they don't like

to be told what to do. Every year, under 200 people die on the

coastline and thousands more are injured. Anthony Miller was 23 when

he went into the water. They were drinking, partying, and he said, I'm

going skinny-dipping. He ran in the sea and disappeared. I really,

really want people to be aware that when you are on holiday or a live by

the sea, and your out drinking, by all means have a good time but the

water. Because you may not come back out alive. The temperatures do not

get much about 16 Celsius, which is about the same that comes out of

your. It is also the time that the guys that work in this lifeboat

station are the busiest. You could be out slipping on rocks, if you end

up in the water you will be in your clothes, because you were not

prepared. I want you to on your back, push your chin as chin as high

as you can towards the air. It is that initial part of giving yourself

90 seconds, let your heart rate go back, get your breath back, compose

yourself. Trainer Lewis wants people to go against their natural

reactions. Despite the warnings, the amount of injuries and deaths has

remained steady and the RNLI want fewer people to get into trouble

with this device. Greater Manchester Police is facing

fresh investigations by the police watchdog in connection with 3

fatal firearms incidents. The BBC's Victoria Derbyshire

programme has learned that the Independent Police

Complaints Commission is examining new evidence in the cases,

which date from 2008 to 2013. Many of the officers involved

are still serving in the force. Greater Manchester Police

says its armed units do a very difficult job under the highest

levels of scrutiny. Anthony Grainger was shot

dead in the village of Culcheth in Cheshire

in Police believed he was

planning an armed robbery. There were known

violent criminals with And then they said

the police did it. There was a public

enquiry into his death. It was argued that

there were mistakes Some of the armed

officers had failed training courses

the most senior officer had changed his notes

on the You've got separate failures

which brings up the big picture of an organisation

that is questionable. We've discovered there's

a new investigation into the case It follows evidence given

at the public enquiry. We've learned there's another

new investigation into a shooting involving firearms officers

from Greater Manchester Police. Ian Terry was devoted

to his job as a firearms He was killed on a training exercise

at this disused factory in An inquest jury ruled he would have

been saved if the training had We were told there had

been an accident at work and everyone had done all they could

but could not save him. John Foxcroft ran

the firearms training unit at Greater Manchester but left

over safety concerns in 2006. I thought we were

getting a little too The more aggressive you get,

the more likely you are Earlier this year, the IPCC launch

the new investigation into the case of Jordan Begley, his mum

called the police after a row with I've called the police

as quick as I can. He died after being tasered

and restrained by officers. Greater Manchester Police

says the firearms officers volunteer for the role

and do a very difficult job, quite rightly, under the highest

levels of scrutiny. But with many of the officers

still serving, it poses tough questions for

Greater Manchester Police. Pakistan's parliament

is to elect a prime minister to replace Nawaz Sharif,

who was forced to resign last week in the wake

of corruption allegations. The ruling party has nominated

a former minister to serve as an interim leader -

until Mr Sharif's Our South Asia Correspondent Justin

Rowlatt is in the capital Islamabad. The thought has taken place in the

last few minutes. What happened. We got the result through. It's exactly

what we expected. He has been elected Prime Minister of Pakistan.

This is by the members of the assembly, not by the people of

Pakistan. He is only in place for two months. The man appointed by the

former Prime Minister, disgraced and kicked out of office, he nominated

his brother to succeed. His brother is not actually an MP. He will be

elected by the Parliament as a Prime Minister succeeding Biscay. We have

a new Prime Minister but he won't last for long. For now, thanks.

Britain's only surviving cloth trading hall reopened today,

The Piece Hall in Halifax once operated as a centre

for handloom weavers, and was at the centre

The refurbishment of the Grade-1 listed building

Our correspondent Fiona Lamdin is there now.

Yes. The great gate opened this morning. Thousands came flooding in.

There were locals, we met a couple who came all the way from Cornwall.

Extraordinary to think that in the 1970s this place was nearly

demolished. It was saved by just one vote. I've been taking a look back

at its history. For the last two and a half centuries, the Piece Hall has

stood at the heart of Halifax. People came to trade pieces of

cloth. There were 315 individual rooms built for the sale of cloth,

from which clothiers would have sold the wall to merchants, who came from

quite far afield, including Europe. The trade went back to Europe and

also to the Americas. This is the only surviving Cloth Hall. 315

individual yet identical trading rooms. It seems such a waste that

this beautiful building was only opened for two hours every week. But

after the Industrial Revolution the cloth was mainly made and sold from

the mills. In its place, the Piece Hall was filled with fruit and veg

sellers. One century on, this is how it looked. A blot on the landscape,

flattened to make way for a car park. One of those who fought to

save it was Mary. She had a shop on the second floor. She's not been

inside for decades. We took her back. Isn't that lovely! When I

first came in it was all black. There were warehouses and vehicles.

Double hulls that there were -- there were holes on the floor and it

smelt cats. At 10am on the dot today, the people of Halifax were

welcomed back in. It is brilliant. It is a plus for the tone. I am born

and bred here. Fantastic. Good to see it how it is back to where it

should be. I used to come here and hang out with my mates. It is really

nice to see it. I hope that it takes off and people come and visit it

because it is a fantastic place to be. Nothing is new for these old

stones, who have witnessed that before. You would think we are in

Italy. We've got the lovely weather. Those I've spoken to are confident

this will pull people to the region. It is extremely fitting that the day

that it opens is Yorkshire Day. Glorious, how fantastic.

British Vogue has a new editor today - the first man at the helm

Edward Enninful has taken over from Alexandra Shulman,

The UK fashion industry is worth 26 billion pounds

a year to the economy - so people will be watching closely

to see how Mr Enninful shapes the magazine.

He's already made some some staffing changes, as our

Arts Correspondent David Sillito reports:

He looks very eccentric and that will be perfect. I got into fashion,

I was spotted on a train when I was 15 years old. It is a massive

change. Edward Enninful is today in charge of one of the most important

names in British fashion. Vogue. It does not happen very often. The last

British editor was in place for 25 years and from day one, change is a

foot. They've gone on to Snapchat and there is a more diverse team. He

has 500,000 Instagram followers. He has appointed Steve McQueen,

independent professionals who rely on social media to keep building

their brands. Vogue is the top of the fashion tree and features

clothes only a few can afford. It has been a pretty torrid time for

the magazine business. There is new competition. Fashion on your phone.

Newsagents have been closing. Sales of glossy magazines have been

dropping. People like Whitney have been shaping the business. This is

my blog. Everybody wants fashion today, what is cool right now. That

is why social media is so important. Do you still read the magazines? I

do. People have been predicting the death of print for a few years and

it hasn't happened. It is the excitement of flicking the page.

Waiting for the shoot to come up, for the new trend. It's everything.

It's a new era and a new name in charge for business that is changing

fast. Let's catch up with the weather

prospects. Looked into the Atlantic, an area of low pressure bringing

these weather fronts with it. For today, a bit like yesterday,

sunshine and showers. Some sunshine at 10am. An hour and a half later it

looks very different indeed. Across Scotland and Northern Ireland, the

heel mixing in with that and not a great deal of sunshine in between.

Potential for thunder and lightning. There is more showers. The south

coast of England doing very well. This morning we saw waterspout.

Through this evening the showers slowly fade away. In the south-west

the showers will be showing their hand. Temperature will be 15 degrees

in Cardiff. 10 degrees in Aberdeen. Oral Scotland into single figures.

-- rule. This week it is all about what is coming in from the

south-west. It is blowing nearly a gale. Wet weather pushing

northwards. Northern Scotland will be the place to be. Northern Ireland

has worked for a time. Still some showers around. It looks pretty

miserable. Through Wednesday evening the rain makes its way up. We will

see persistent rain for a time. It will eventually clear out into the

North Sea. As it does that, we start to see the centre of that system.

That will bring a rash of showers. We are back to square one on

Thursday. Persistent rain to the Northern Isles. Not too many in the

south-east. We will see temperatures getting into the low 20s. We do it

again on Friday. Another day of sunny spells. Upper teens and low

20s. Just a reminder of the main story. British Gas is to increase

electricity prices by 12%, affecting 3 million customers. That is all. It

is goodbye from