26/02/2018 Breakfast

Hello, this is Breakfast,

with Dan Walker and Louise Minchin.

A promise of cheaper energy bills

for millions of households.

New laws will limit how much

companies can charge customers

on expensive energy tariffs.

The government says 11 million

people will benefit

but there's a warning that it

could reduce competition.

Good morning it's

Monday, 26th, February.

Also this morning.

Six people are injured

after an explosion destroys

a shop in Leicester.

Witnesses say it felt

like an earthquake.

I heard a low explosion then felt a

tremendous shock through the house,

it felt like it was going to bring

the ceiling down.

Jeremy Corbyn will set out Labour's

new position on Brexit this morning.

In sport, could this be the first

of the three trophies

for Manchester City this season,

as they beat Arsenal

to lift the League Cup.

Hello? Are you with us?

And the coldest weather

for years is on its way.

Carol can tell us more.

It's going to be cold, especially

midweek when you add on the

wind-chill, for some part of the

maximum temperature will feel more

like -10 or -12, that's half of the

issue because we have also got snow

in the forecast, it will become

heavier and more widespread each day

going through the week.

Good morning.

First, our main story.

Legislation to crack

down on expensive energy

bills is being introduced

to Parliament today.

The government says it

will protect 11 million people

from paying high tariffs.

But there are concerns it will

reduce competition among suppliers.

Steph has more details.

The bill is an admission that

encouraging consumers to regularly

switch energy suppliers hasn't been

as successful as hoped.

Around a third of UK

households pay default energy

tariffs, which are usually

the most expensive.

But from next winter,

new legislation will allow

the energy regulator Ofgem to limit

how much companies

can charge customers

on standard variable tariffs.

The price cap will be enforced

until at least 2021.

The government says the Domestic Gas

and Electricity Bill will benefit up

to 11 million people who could make

on average annual

savings of up to £300.

Energy UK, which represents gas

and electricity suppliers,

said it was vital the cap didn't

stifle competition

in the energy market.

We have got extremely cold weather

on the way so particularly at the

moment people are thinking about the

heating. These are significant

changes?

Yes, they are, the standard

variable tariffs is for the default

for the people" so if you haven't

chosen a deal or no Deal is ending,

you can end up on this tariffs and

it is often expensive. 11 million

households in the UK are on this

tariff. We have had caps in the past

on prepayment meters that have the

standard variable rate, there was a

lot of discussion around that,

bringing down costs for people who

are the poorest in society. On the

standard variable rates. That's why

it was introduced for repayment

meters. Recently we were talking

about that being extended, for

people who get the warm home

discount. So we have seen this cap

in the past but what difference this

would mean is it would be anybody

who is on a standard variable

tariffs. That's what the government

is proposing because they say

switching isn't working. The concern

is, it might reduce competition

because then even if you people

would switch and then energy

companies could not feel the need to

be as competitive with prices.

When

would this happen?

It's being

discussed in a bill which is

proposed today and then we headed

Theresa May says that she would like

it to come in from next winter but

it still needs to go to a few

hurdles.

When he's speaking to the

energy Minister? I'm not -- when are

you speaking to him?

I'm not sure!

750 apparently! The voices in my

head.

Two people are in a critical

condition after an explosion

destroyed a shop in Leicester.

Four others were described

as "walking wounded."

Emergency crews have

spent the night searching

through the remains of the building

and dozens of nearby homes

have been evacuated.

Andy Moore reports.

The immediate aftermath

of an explosion that destroyed

a shop and a flat above it.

Local people helped paramedics deal

with the casualties.

Two of them were in a critical

condition, four others

described as walking wounded.

We heard a low explosion,

then felt a tremendous

shock through the house.

It felt like it was going

to bring the ceiling down.

I just rang the police,

999, and they asked me

which service I want and I said,

everything you can send.

Police say they don't know

what caused the blast.

A fierce fire followed

the explosion.

The power supply to a number

of neighbouring properties

was switched off as a precaution.

The emergency services worked

throughout the night to clear debris

from the site and to make sure

there were no more casualties

hidden in the rubble.

Quite a dramatic scene. Our

correspondent is at the scene this

morning. They are still working on

this, what's going on?

In the last

hour, they have put these big

screens up across Hinckley Road,

there's still thick and acrid smoke

coming out of the sight of the

explosion. The emergency services

have been here all night in what the

Fire Service described as arduous

conditions. It's just started

snowing, to which it had been below

zero and they have been searching

through the rubble with dogs despite

the acrid smoke. Local people said

they heard a loud bang followed by a

rumble, sounding like an earthquake

when the building collapsed like a

pancake. It looks like the aftermath

of a powerful gas explosion. The

police say they do not know the

cause and they look will have to do

a full investigation with the Fire

Service, they have said it did not

appear to be terrorist related and

asking people not to speculate. That

appears to be a response to some

quite unhelpful speculation on

social media.

Thank you very much,

the investigation still going on

there.

Jerremy Corbyn will set out Labour's

position on Brexit this morning.

In a speech in Coventry,

he'll say the UK should retain

membership of a customs union

with full tariff-free access to EU

markets for UK businesses.

Our political correspondent

Chris Mason is in Westminster.

Probably very happy to be inside

rather than outside today! How big

shift are we looking at here from

Jeremy Corbyn is a Labour Party?

I do love this cupboard when it's

cold outside, I will sit here all

morning! This is a big shift on

Brexit for Labour. When people like

me are on these programmes

blathering on about Brexit, there's

always stuff we can talk about but

we achieve saying anything? Today we

are because Labour are shifting

their policy, there's a big gap

between what Labour are saying and

what government is saying. They are

they would remain part if they were

in government of a customs union

with the European Union. It close

trading relationship, meaning that

if you're in the customs union,

stuff can move around within the

European Union, stuff you sell to

France and Spain, without extra

taxes being added to it, added

tariffs. It doesn't stop you doing

trade deals around the world which

some of those who advocate Brexit

say is one of the big advantages of

pressing ahead with leaving the

customs union. Why this matters is

that the government doesn't have a

majority in the House of Commons.

There's a feeling here that there

might be a majority in the comments

for staying in some sort of customs

union because some conservatives

would quite like it as well so there

is the potential for Theresa May to

be defeated in the Commons down the

track government policy to be forced

into changing. David Davis has an

article in response saying this is

snake oil from Labour, and as far as

he and the government is concerned,

Labour would be thrown away one of

the principal advantages of leaving

the European Union.

Thank you very

much.

We'll be talking about that through

the week.

Parts of the UK will feel colder

than the Arctic Circle this week

with widespread snow

and bitterly cold winds.

Rail companies in East Anglia have

already cancelled some

services from tonight.

There is one benefit, we get more

from Carol in the programme!

Snow is on the forecast, already

falling in parts of eastern UK.

The Met Office has issued

an amber weather warning

for disruptive snowfall in parts

of the UK this week.

Part of northern England, round

Yorkshire and in the Midlands, and

another area of cross the

south-east. So here we will sleep

around areas of snow -- here we will

see prolonged areas of snow in Kent,

Essex and Sussex. It will not just

be in those areas, will swear we

will see further snow. Day by day,

we will get snow further west and it

is getting heavier. It is going to

be cold, temperatures will be low

anyway. When you add on the

wind-chill, it will feel, by day,

maximum temperatures with the

wind-chill, as low as -10 in some

parts of the North. Locally, as low

as minus 12. Someone like London is

going to be minus five. That is

midweek, Wednesday and Thursday.

With the wind blowing this slow

around, that will leads to travel

disruption so it check before you

head out. We could see some

blizzards and we will have further

weather warnings on Wednesday, and

Thursday into Friday, there's the

potential of heavy snow coming up

from the south of England with

strong winds which could lead to

some treacherous conditions. There

will be a full round-up in ten

minutes. The message is, keep in

touch with the weather forecast this

week.

The Syrian government has been

accused of using chemical weapons

in the rebel held area

of Eastern Ghouta.

Doctors say several people have

suffered symptoms consistent

with exposure to chlorine gas.

Fresh air strikes and heavy clashes

have been reported in the area

despite a UN security council

resolution calling for a ceasefire.

An expedition hoping to complete

the first successful winter ascent

of the world's second highest peak,

K2, has revealed that one

of its climbers appears to have

struck out for the summit

alone, without permission.

A spokesman told the BBC

that Denis Urubko's move

had shocked the team.

But he said they would

still try to support

the climber.

K2 is the only peak over

eight-thousand-metres yet

to be climbed in winter.

That's an extraordinary story. On

all sorts of levels. It's an

extremely dangerous thing to do

anyway.

We need some more

information.

You can't just have

someone going ahead.

It's a team

effort.

It is here! Part of the

team!

Teamwork makes the DreamWorks,

and is doing the business for

Manchester City at the moment. They

won the League Cup yesterday and

this could be some trophies for

them, they got knocked out of the FA

Cup. Aided by Arsenal's inept

performance which has frustrated

Arsenal fans.

It was ordered

one-sided.

Was, but Manchester

one-sided.

Was, but Manchester city,

Pep Guardiola has come into

mastermind this. This is not one of

the biggest trophies but it is

stepping stone to bigger things to

come. The Champions League and the

Premier League title looking likely

to becoming their way as well. 13

points clear in the lead.

They beat Arsenal 3-0 at Wembley,

David Silva rounding

things off in style.

This a trophy Arsene Wenger has

never won, Pep Guardiola adding it

to his collection in his second

season managaing in England.

You wonder how the more chances

Arsene Wenger will get to win this

trophy.

Watch out for Jesse Lingarrd linking

up with Romelu Lukaku here to score

United's winner against Chelsea,

who drop out of the top four

after Tottenham beat Crystal Palace.

The Winter Olympics are over.

Yesterday's closing ceremony had

pyrotechnics, puppets,

and light shows to mark the end

of two weeks of competition,

GB's best Winter Olympics on record.

And watch closely, England

and Scotland have been asked

to explain what caused a scuffle

in the tunnel before England

and Scotland's Six Nations

match on Saturday.

Owen Farrell was involved. The

organisers of the tournament wants

to know what happened there. The

clerk of minor thing, I'm sure far

worse goes on on the field. -- it

looks like a minor thing.

Far more importantly, Scotland were

brilliant.

They were superb.

We

don't want to let that the track

from anything else.

It's really important to keep up

with the weather today.

Yes, especially if you're

travelling. There disruptive weather

on the cards. There is disruptive

snow, bitter winds, significant

wind-chill this week, frost and ice

but in between will be some

sunshine. With each passing day

there will be a little bit more snow

and it will travel closer to the

west. Some western extreme views of

the UK will not see the snow that is

a maybe. It's coming from Russia,

cold air being dragged across

Europe, look at the amount of blue

across the shores. And easterly wind

does bring snow and it brings snow

and cold weather. This morning cold

and frosty, temperatures falling and

part of Gloucestershire to minus

five. We have some snow showers. At

the moment they are in eastern

areas, a few flurries in London.

Towards the West, brighter

conditions but today, there will be

a fair bit of cloud around. Some of

the snow showers will just a bit

further west. Cold day in prospect

but not as cold as it will feel

through this week. This evening and

overnight, another cold night in

prospect. Clear skies. Then we

started to watch this area of snow

coming in from the North Sea. This

will be significant. Another cold

night, watch out for ice on

untreated surfaces and some frost

around. The Met Office has two amber

warnings for tomorrow, meaning be

prepared. Be prepared for some

disruption. The areas covering the

number of Yorkshire, into the

Midlands, and the second area is

down towards the south-east. Kent,

part of Essex and Suffolk. Snow

showers extending into the channel

islands. The world significance

though into the north of inward, the

north-east and into the Midlands.

Into between, drier and brighter

weather but if you are travelling,

we could see some lying snow and for

some of us it will be starting to

accumulate. Temperatures, maximum

for some, not even breaking

freezing. And these indicate what

you can expect in towns and cities.

Overnight, you can see this though

clearly on the chart, in the evening

and overnight, and on Wednesday,

another under weather warning from

the Met Office. For north-east

Scotland, eastern Scotland and North

East England where we will see some

more significant snow. Into the

West, snow showers in between,

brighter conditions in between but a

cold day, and regardless of what it

this is how it is going to feel in

towns and cities against your skin.

In parts of the North it could be as

low as minus 12. These are the

values that were looking in terms of

snowfall. 20 centimetres not to be

sneezed at. Then for Thursday into

Friday, this system coming up from

the continent is going to bump into

this cold air and it looks like it's

going to produce a fair bit of snow

across southern areas, look at the

isobars. It's going to be windy.

Also looking at drifting snow,

potential blizzards into Friday and

it will drift northwards. So lots

going on with the weather this week.

And it is already making the front

pages. The Daily Mirror is saying it

is the week-long freeze. Don't

worry, Carol will take us through

it. They say, beware the beast from

the East.

And on the Daily Mail, Corbyn's

Brexit betrayal. He will snub

millions

millions of migration. The front

page of the Guardian, we are talking

about Jeremy Corbyn all throughout

the programme this morning. He is

making a speech later about the

future. It has been written up in

lots of different ways. The Daily

Telegraph says he is selling snake

oil over Brexit. That is a quote

from David Davis. This is a

wonderful picture as well of the

Winter Olympics. It is just so

beautiful. I loved it. And another

picture in a few papers. Ivanka

Trump, the daughter of President

Trump and the North Korean general

at the closing ceremony.

It is so interesting to see them

together.

Also, embattled universities face

limits on powers. Watchdog to tackle

high pay and equality at

universities.

And in the Financial Times another

picture. The Olympics end with an

North Korean olive branch. A bit of

hope.

I have an interesting story

about making money on holiday when

you leave your car at the airport.

Gatwick are looking at a scheme

where you can park your car for

free. Then somebody can hire it and

you can make a bit of money on your

car. You can rent out your car

whilst you are at the airport.

That

leads to so many questions.

I am

sure, there will be insurance and

things like that.

What if you have

got crisps all over the back seat?

It gets cleaned first.

You could

find all sorts of things on the

floor.

I had an entire pack of Pringles

scrunched across the back seat. On

purpose? No, it had been there for

ages. I digress. But you have an

interesting business story.

It is also like the well-known bed

and breakfast company, hiring out

bits of your house.

The Winter

Olympics are over and it has been

GB's most successful games ever with

five medals and this is a great

picture of Billie Morgan who won the

fifth medal. We know he has got the

talent will stop he was also GB's

flag carrier in the closing

ceremony, which he balanced on his

chin impressively. He has got the

tricks in the air and he has the

talent with the flag as well. UK

sport are talking about the medals,

five, does it count when the

investment has been 20 million. It

is just about 5 million for a medal.

This is the debate people are

having.

Can I give you some news as

well. There

well. There is a potential shortage

of raisins. It is to do with fires

in California. There will be a

shortage of currents and raisins.

Quite frankly, I am happy, I think

they are awful.

Don't you have them

on your porridge in the morning?

I can eat them clean. You can have

fudge and chocolate?

You put bacon

in a barn and tomato sauce and that

is what is called a bacon buddy.

Brown sauce and tomato sauce!

We talk about the cold a lot.

Apparently this week it might hit

mobile phone networks. It might be

so cold that masts don't work

properly. If you lose a bit of

coverage this week, that may well be

the reason why.

Thank you to both of you.

Most people's pets are like a member

of the family, and if you've ever

had one go missing you know how

upsetting it can be.

So imagine if you then found out it

had been brutally killed.

Over the past two years there have

been hundreds of horrific cat deaths

and police think it could be

the work of one person.

A £10,000 reward is

being offered to help

catch the cat killer.

Graham Satchell reports.

This road is basically were the

first murder that we are aware of

happened.

We are driving with Tony

Jenkins, founder of an animal rescue

charity. He is taking us to where it

all started.

The body was left on a

neighbour's doorstep.

How many cases

have you now encountered?

We are

over 450 now.

450?

Yes.

It was along

this path, an old railway line, that

the first attack happened over two

years ago. Tony has been working

with the Metropolitan police,

investigating each reports of a

suspicious cat death.

He needs to go

to court because he is bringing

horror to people's lives. Most

people consider their cat as part of

the family, it is like losing a

child, and it is devastating.

The

attacks began to do half years ago

in an area around Croydon in south

London and since then cats have been

killed all around the M25 in Kent,

Essex, Hertfordshire and further

afield, Manchester, Liverpool,

Sheffield and Portsmouth. All the

pets have been attacked in the same

way. What is so horrifying is not

just that so many have been killed,

but in every case they have been

dismembered and the body pies left

deliberately to be discovered.

You

could not help but love him, he had

these massive green eyes. He was

just a boy, he would come bowling

in.

He was great. Jane's cat was

found mutilated in her neighbour's

garden.

It was devastating, and I

think everybody who saw him have

been scarred. I think you can never

erase that out of your memory. I

cannot get that round my head, why

someone would want to be so

vindictive to any animal and two

hurt loving families with their

pets. I don't understand it.

This

person, if it is one person, I think

that is what the police suspect, is

displaying psychopathic traits.

For

forensic psychologists there are

comfortable echoes of history here.

Animal cruelty is a recognised

starting point for Maud horrific

crimes.

People that start with

extreme violence towards animals do

progress and there is a progression

hypothesis that suggests it is like

a start and they will move on and

they will often progress to doing

sadistic violence towards human

beings.

The Metropolitan police do

not know who the cat killer is.

There have been no arrests and there

are no specific suspects. Jane's

hope is that there is a breakthrough

soon before more cats are killed.

Graham Satchel, BBC News.

That is such a grim story.

It is such a worry. Hopefully they

will get to the bottom of that one.

Hopefully they will get

to the bottom of that one.

It was the Skeleton team

which provided most of Team GBs

medals at the Winter Olympics.

And John is at the training centre

where it was all masterminded.

The thing is, what is amazing about

this is there is no snow or ice

there.

And we don't even have a full track,

it is starting track.

Good John. Maybe we will get some

snow in the next couple of days. We

are at the University of Bath, the

home of the skeleton team. This is

the push start track. Athletes will

do this thousands of times in their

career. They will fire off down the

track. There is a Flickr down at the

end. You go all the way up to the

top and slide back down again. This

is the nerve centre. They have got

electronics and computers to keep an

eye on things. We know from watching

athletes like Lizzie Yarnold just

how important the start is. This is

what they go on, this is what they

take their life in their hands on

and fire down below circuits around

the world. In PyeongChang they are

on something like this, although

this runs on wheels, it is for

training purposes. I will tell

Plenty more on our website

at the usual address.

Now though it's back

to Dan and Louise.

Bye for now.

Hello this is Breakfast,

with Dan Walker and Louise Minchin.

We'll bring you all the latest news

and sport in a moment,

but also on Breakfast this morning:

She wins gold again!

It's been a Winter Olympics

to remember, and Team GB is heading

home with a record medals haul.

We'll be looking back

with one of the stars,

slopestyler James Woods.

The Beast from the East

is on its way.

Winter returns with

a vengeance this week.

We'll bring you the latest

advice on how to stay safe

during the big freeze.

Also this morning,

she was the reason a King

gave up his throne.

Now a new book about Wallis Simpson

suggests she was actually

in love with someone else.

We'll speak to biographer

Andrew Morton about his revelations.

Good morning, here's

a summary of today's main

stories from BBC News.

Legislation to crack down on

expensive energy bills is being

introduced in Parliament today. The

government says it will protect 11

million people from paying high

tariffs. With average savings of

around £300. Other are concerned it

will reduce competition among

suppliers.

Two people remain in a critical

condition after an explosion in

Leicester. Emergency crews have

spent the night searching through

the remains of a shop in the city

centre which was destroyed as a

result of a blast on Sunday night.

Police have said they do not think

the incident was related to

terrorism. We can show you the scene

live from better this morning, it's

still rather dramatic to look at,

firefighters are still in the area.

We expect a press conference in

around half an hour from the police

so we'll will bring you that and we

speak to a couple of eyewitnesses,

one who lives around the corner and

one Across

one Across to street, and it is

beginning to snow there as well.

Jeremy Corbyn will outline

the Labour party's position

on Brexit this morning.

In a speech, he is expected

to say the UK should keep

a customs union with the EU,

allowing businesses tariff-free

access to European markets.

Theresa May has said the country

should leave the customs union

after Brexit so it can

negotiate its own trade deals.

The Syrian government has been

accused of using chemical weapons

in the rebel held area

of Eastern Ghouta.

Doctors say several people have

suffered symptoms consistent

with exposure to chlorine gas.

Fresh air strikes and heavy clashes

have been reported in the area

despite a UN security council

resolution calling for a ceasefire.

70% of people born from the early

1980s to the mid '90s,

the so-called millenials,

will be obese or overweight

by the time they reach 40

according to new research.

That would make them the most

overweight generation

since records began.

Cancer Research UK is launching

a nationwide campaign to raise

awareness about the link

between obesity and cancer.

Those are some of the main news

stories. The end of the Winter

Olympics, we can't go to Pyongyang

any more.

Sorry about that, it was a

great success. Talking about medals,

and the silverware, Manchester City

I think are going to accumulate a

lot of trophies. Pep Guardiola came

into

into Manchester City to mastermind a

dominant of European football and

this is a step on that path. They

look like they could win the

Champions League and they are 13

points clear in the Premier League.

This the first trophy

of Pep Guardiola city's career.

Sergio Aguero, with their opener.

Before City captain Vincent Kompany

scored an emotional second goal -

he's been out injured for much

of the season.

David Silva added a third.

Pep pleased to get off the mark

after a trophy-less first season

in English football.

I am so happy but I am part

of Manchester City so every title

we won or we won in the past,

you are part of the group,

said that is why I am so happy

for Manchester City because I cannot

forget how they took care of me last

season when it was not so good

in terms of results and titles.

Manchester United have moved

back into second place

in the Premier League after beating

Chelsea 2-1.

United had to come from behind

but Jesse Lingard's header earned

them the three points.

Chelsea have slipped to fifth

and are outside the Champions League

places with just ten games remaning.

Antonio Conte admit it could be

harder to make the top four.

Not because it is Chelsea,

very special because we beat

the champions, we beat a fantastic

team that is very difficult to beat

and because these three points

are the points that keep us

in the second position,

which is the position

we are fighting for.

Harry Kane said he's scoring quicker

than expected after notching

the 150th goal of his club career.

He's scored 24 this season

in the league alone.

Celtic have restored

a nine-point lead at the top

of the Scottish Premiership

after beating Aberdeen

2-0 at Pittodrie.

Moussa Dembele was involved in both

goals, scoring the first before

setting up Kieran Tierney

for their second.

The chair of UK Sport,

Dame Katherine Grainger,

insists that the British haul

of five medals at the

Winter Olympics does

represent a good investment.

Sports like basketball have

questioned whether winter sports

deserve nearly £30 million

in funding when they receive none.

The Team GB athletes are in the air

at the moment as they fly

back from South Korea.

They're due to land

at Heathrow just after midday.

There is an amazing reaction from

people who see the Olympic games,

whether they love sport or they

don't follow sport. I think it's so

much more complicated than just,

that medal gusts that many million

or otherwise. The money you see

their buys into a huge system of

sport throughout the country and

there is huge benefits from there.

She will be with us after 730.

There is a lot of money spent. Those

skeletons are 6.5 million.

That's a

lot of money, but it is the

technology.

It's the sharing of

information across sports as well,

skeleton had a great success but

bobsleigh didn't, so is there a more

effective way of sharing

information? It will be interesting

to hear from her at half past seven.

Six Nations Rugby have asked England

and Scotland to explain the clash

between team members

before their match at

Murrayfield on Saturday.

England's Owen Farrell

and Scotland's Ryan Wilson appeared

to clash in the entrance

to the tunnel before

Scotland's victory.

This is the much that Scotland won,

they dominated, beating England.

Once the respective camps

give their reply, Six Nations Rugby

will decide if any further

action is needed.

Meanwhile in the Women's Tournament,

Ireland have moved to third place

after a 35-12 win over Wales.

Claire Molloy scored two

tries as the Irish pulled

away in the second half.

England captain Eoin Morgan hailed

the return of Ben Stokes

to the team, but the all-rounder,

playing for the first time

since being charged with affray,

couldn't prevent England losing

the first one-day international

against New Zealand.

Stokes took two wickets

but the Black Caps managed to chase

down their target in the final over.

The next game takes place

in Tauranga on Wednesday.

And there was a birdie

of a different kind on the PGA tour

at Palm Beach in Florida.

This is Tiger Woods.

He's hit plenty of birdies

in his career, a few eagles too.

Dare say he's never hit a goose.

No animals were harmed in the making

of this film! Probably a little bit

uncomfortable but he strolls off, he

looks fairly happy. Just goes to

show that he's firing all cylinders!

He's playing all very well. Rory

McIlroy says he has never seen him

playing so well when he had around

with him. If Rory McIlroy says that,

and a goose can contest to it! He's

playing well at the moment.

We just want to bring you up-to-date

with some news from the explosion in

Leicester, there has been an press

conference and we understand that

four people are confirmed to have

died in the explosion. These are the

pictures that we can see, there is

an ongoing investigation at the

moment.

moment. Leicestershire Fire And

Rescue Services, East Midlands

Ambulance Service and Leicestershire

police all responded to reports of

this explosion and fire at a

building in Hinckley Road at around

last night. Just to confirm what

we've heard from the police this

morning, they say there are four

confirmed fatalities and four people

remained in hospital. One of those

four has serious injuries. A bit of

a quote from the superintendent

Shane O'Neill, he said there were an

large tub of resources from various

agencies in place and they will be

there throughout the day. We will

sort our reporter later on. We will

also talk to some eyewitnesses who

spoke about the enormity of the

explosion and how they fought it

could have been an earthquake. They

went on to say that once the site is

deemed to be safe, a joint

investigation with the letter

further and rescue -- Leicestershire

Fire And Rescue Services will look

around at the circumstances which

are not being linked to terrorism at

this stage. Four people compelled to

have died last night. -- are

confirmed to have died.

Starbucks is going to start

charging an extra 5p

if you want a takeaway cup.

Steph's got more on this.

Morning, Steph.

Yes, it's the first coffee company

to try this and it will come

in from this morning in 35

stores across London.

It's all to do with trying

to reduce the amount of waste

we throw away every year.

In 2015 the government scheme

of a 5p charge on plastic bags

caused an 83% fall in their use.

We asked people in Manchester

whether they would pay an extra 5p

for a disposable coffee cup.

I'm addicted to coffee, so, yeah.

Definitely.

I would pay 10p.

I think

it a good idea. There's too much

waste at blue it would be fine, not

an issue. It's whether people would

still recycle those or whether they

would we use them or whether they

would go in the bin again, I don't

know.

I don't think it will make a

difference in privately, it might

make some money off people, it an

inconvenience but it's not good to

change the world, 5p more expensive.

I go to buy my own reusable cup

because that will contribute to this

waste to the rabbit and I think

that's what Starbucks is trying to

incentivise people to do.

Thinking

about it, everyone complains about

it but they still pay it, so if you

like copy your pay the 5p I think

everybody needs to get behind it,

the retells and the consumer, I had

a bag that I take with me and I have

a cup that I take with me, there's

no difference.

We can talk now to Simon Redfern

from Starbucks, he joins us from one

of the branches where they're

bringing in the charge.

Why have you gone with charging

customers more if they use a

disposable cup, rather than giving

them a discount if they use a

reusable one?

We've had the discount

of 25p for about 20 years. What

we've found is it hasn't really

moved the needle in terms of people

reusing cups in the way that we

thought. We have 1.8% of customers

who use one of these things, and

reusable cup, and we want to

increase the number.

When one of

your rivals brought in a discount of

50p, which research suggests would

make a difference to consumer

behaviour, will you do that and much

more rivals?

We did 50p in 2016 at a

discount, for three months. And it

didn't move the needle. We found

that we got customers, a few more

customers using it, we were about

1.8% of all of our customers, then

we dropped it back to 25% and they

didn't fall away, they kept using

the cup. So what we think it is, if

we can make a psychological change

for people, and say actually, we

really want you to use reusable, you

get 25p off, but if you don't, you

will be charged for it, that might

make people charge for reusable.

A

lot of people perhaps don't realise

when they get a takeaway cup that it

is not recyclable. It's because it

is difficult to recycle, why can't

you use cups that are easier to

recycle?

This is the cup and it has a lining

that makes it safe and keeps to the

heat. We have to get a solution to

that. We are working on that.

If you bring your cup to the store,

we can recycle it. People are using

their own cups and we are getting

the recycling element right as well.

It is an 35 stores in London and we

throw away 2.5 billion cups every

year, so is this much of a

commitment?

This is a big experiment

for us. We are the first ones we

think who have ever done this. We

are working with a third party

called Harvard, and they are doing a

study into this. They are looking at

the way the customers react and the

way the behaviour change works. We

will share that, with any

competitor, with government, with

anyone in Europe, we will share that

with them and we will take a

decision about where it goes from

there.

What will happen to the money

you make from it?

That all goes

straight to this NGO, an

environmental charity. They have

worked with us before and a lot of

other companies to see if we can get

more people recycling cups outside

stores. They will give all of the

proceeds to this to run this

campaign.

Simon Redfern from

Starbucks on their new charge on

their takeaway cuts. Interesting to

talk about that. And if you need

one, you need it this week because

it is called this morning and it

will get colder throughout the week.

Good morning.

And that is also not because of the

drop in temperature, but also the

winter chill. This week we will see

disruptive snow in the UK. Bitter

winds accentuate that cold field.

There will be frost and eyes and

also some sunshine. We are dragging

in cold air all the way from

Siberia. You can see how cold it is

in Europe generally. This easterly

wind is coming from a cold direction

and it brings snow this week.

Already we have got snow showers

affecting eastern parts of the UK.

During the day some of those will

get over towards the West, and some

of us will see a dusting of snow.

Today it is going to be cloudy and

it will feel cold. These are the

maximum temperature in towns and

city, freezing in the Midlands.

Overnight snow showers had down into

the Channel Islands and more

significant snow in North East

Scotland and England. Once again it

will be a cold night and there will

be a widespread frost. As we head

into tomorrow, and tonight as well,

the Met Office has an amber weather

warning. Be prepared for disruption

because of the snow. The areas this

warning covers for Tuesday are in

parts of North East England, the

Midlands, and also in the South East

corner. That is Tuesday, but the Met

Office has an amber weather warning

out on Wednesday. That is across

northern and eastern Scotland and

North East England. Again the risk

of disruption due to the amount of

snowfall. Back to today and we are

looking at the snow coming in,

sorry, Tuesday. Some of that will be

moving across the Midlands toward

the south West. Further west it will

be drier and brighter, but it will

be a breezy day as well, so some of

the snow will be blowing around.

These temperatures are indicative of

towns and cities. Maximum

temperatures again barely breaking

freezing. In the countryside we will

be lucky if we break freezing. On

Wednesday significant snow in the

north and east of Scotland and North

East England and that will be

pushing eastwards. A significant

wind-chill during the course of

Wednesday. These are the

temperatures on your thermometer,

but as you step out this is how it

will feel, much colder. -10 in parts

of Scotland. I'd then the amount of

snowfall that will be settling is

this, 20 centimetres in the North.

The reason there is a disparity is

because it is coming in in lines. If

you are in line with that snow, you

will see a lot. On Thursday this

weather system comes up from the

south and bumps into the cold air

and we are likely to see a period of

heavy snow heading northwards. The

exact timing and position of this

could change, but the isobars are

close together and we could be

looking at drifting snow and

blizzards in parts of the South. For

Thursday and Friday that will move

northwards. A lot going on with the

weather, if you are travelling,

please keep watching the weather

forecast.

It looks like it will be a difficult

week for Google, but I know you will

be looking after us.

be looking after us. As temperatures

continue to plummet, the so-called

beast from the East arrives.

We would love you to send us a

photograph. We will show as many as

we can this week.

You can email us at

[email protected]

or share your thoughts with other

viewers on our Facebook page.

And you can tweet about

today's stories using

the hashtag BBCBreakfast -

or follow us for the latest

from the programme.

And stay safe, everybody. Can we

show you how cold it is by showing

you John Maguire jumping up and

down?

With the Winter Olympics

over in Pyeongchang,

and British Athletes heading home

with a record number of medals,

you might be feeling inspired

to head to a local ice rink,

or even try your hand at curling.

But it was the skeleton team

which provided GB with most

of its success at the games.

And this is where they train.

Absolutely, this is the push, start

track. They screamed down 1.5

kilometres of ice and it looks

terrifying, but this is where they

practice at the University of Bath.

The sledge is on wheels, on runners,

not on ice. It uses gravity to bring

the athletes back down and they will

use this thousands of times during

their career. Let's talk to some of

the team based here at the

university. You are the performance

director.

Head of performance.

Three

out of the available six medals is a

good return.

Amazing. Put that into

the context of 50 medals available

and that is phenomenal. And winning

three gold medals on the spin is

equally amazing.

And Shelley got the

silver before that so you have done

well in the progression. What works

between Britain and skeleton? Why

are we doing so well?

Something

unique. We have got a formula that

works. This is as close as we get to

ice in the UK, so we have to look at

every single aspect of the programme

and how we do things. We have got a

small team that works really well

together and we are committed and

the athletes were ultra hard behind

the scenes as well. It is the whole

package. The vision, the support of

UK sport and the national lottery.

You are hoping to go to China.

What

was your background? I was a

heptathlete. I competed for GB

Juniors when I was a heptathlete,

but I struggled with injuries.

What

do you think of this crazy sport?

Well, I got into it through a talent

ID search.

These guys find you as a

heptathlete and said, have a go at

this?

Yes, then they took us on ice

to see what we thought of it and it

was a crazy experience. Some people

loved it, some people hated it. I

loved it and here I am now.

You are

a former sailor which I found

surprising. What is it about this

sport that you enjoy?

The

adrenaline. You don't have a run

without it. Starting at the top,

sprinting as fast as you can, then

you have to make sure that your load

onto the sled is perfect to get the

most amount of speed out of the

push. As you lie there and steered

the speed builds and builds and the

adrenaline bills as well and you get

to the end and quite often you are

shaking because there is so much

adrenaline.

Where did you watch the

final last Saturday? Did you get

together?

Everybody who was not at

the games, we all watched it

together. It was so tense. We were

screaming, crying, hugging each

other.

We can see Lizzie's Goldman

ran. How confident were you?

Lizzie

is a championship performer so we

knew what she could achieve. I think

we were more anxious because as the

run was progressing we knew it was

good.

It was really exciting.

We

look forward to seeing you in China.

Can you do me a favour? Do some

punditry for me. Hold that. They are

letting me have a go. This is a

triple XL helmet. How many times a

day would you do this?

About 6-8.

I

have had a few goes. Goodbye,

mother, if this does not work out

well.

And off he goes. A wonderful

load onto the sled. Perfect form as

he goes down. And then he will go up

at the end. And that is the best

bit, and then you come back down

backwards, with no idea of when you

are going to stop.

are going to stop.

That was a great

effort. He needed a bit more heave

at the start.

I am not going to criticise his

performance in any way. I thought he

was excellent. You are next.

It does look really fun, but you

have got to be strong and fast.

What are you saying? Time to get the

news, travel and weather where you

are.

news, travel and weather where you

news, travel and weather where you

are.

I am back in half an hour.

Hello this is Breakfast, with

Charlie Stayt and Louise Minchin.

Police confirm four people have died

in an explosion in Leicester.

A shop was destroyed and fire

engulfed the building.

Witnesses said it felt

like an earthquake.

Good morning, it's

Monday 26th February.

Also this morning, lower energy

bills could be on the way.

New laws will limit how much energy

companies can charge customers

but there are warnings it

could stifle competition.

I'll be speaking to the energy

minister just before 8am.

Jeremy Corbyn will set out Labour's

new position on Brexit this morning,

he wants the UK to stay in the

customs union.

Could this be the first of three

trophies for Manchester City this

season, as they beat Arsenal

to lift the League Cup.

And Carol has the weather.

Good morning. As we go through the

week, it will get progressively

colder day by day and the snow

showers will become more significant

and more widespread day by day as

well. The wind chill making it feel

on Wednesday in some parts of the UK

as cold as -10 minus 12. More on

that in 15 minutes.

Four people have died after

an explosion at a shop in Leicester.

Emergency crews have spent the night

searching through the remains

of the building and dozens of nearby

homes have been evacuated.

Four others are being treated in

hospital. We can go live to the

scene now. Hopefully you can give us

the latest information, what more

can you tell us? The latest within

minutes the last five minutes,

police and Fire Service have talked

about how difficult this rescue have

been and confirmed the sad news that

four people have died here.

Superintendent Shane O'Neill is from

Leicestershire police. Tell us a

little bit about the operation and

what has been happening.

We had a

report last night of an explosion

and subsequent fire, shop premises

and a flat on Hinckley Road. The

explosion caused the building to

collapse and there has been a search

and rescue operation has been going

on, we thank the community for being

patient with us. But sadly we have

to confirm four people died as a

result of the explosion.

Do we know

how they are related to the building

and who the people were?

All I know

is that is was a shop and it was a

flat and buff, it is still a search

and rescue operation, -- are flat

above, we are still looking.

The

Fire Service have talked about the

rescue and local people have tried

to help rescue people in the

building, and that such a still

going on?

Yes, I would like to thank

everyone who gave us information and

tried to help but it is a dangerous

scene and as soon as we could, we

relieved those months of the

community from helping and got the

specialist officers in place to do

what they did. Thank you to

everybody.

Do you have any ideas

what might have caused the

explosion?

I can't say, there will

be a joint investigation but the key

priority at this time is to make the

building safe and confirm there is

no one us we can help.

Thank you

very much, the Fire Service say they

are still continuing to search the

building despite the smoke coming

out, and the freezing temperatures.

That search is continuing and they

have not given up hope of finding

someone else alive.

Thank you for

the latest. To confirm, four people

have been confirmed dead at that

explosion in the property and four

others are still in hospital, and

one of those has serious injuries.

We will bring you the latest on that

through the morning.

Legislation to crack

down on expensive energy

bills is being introduced

to Parliament today.

The government says it

will protect 11 million people

from paying high tariffs.

But there are concerns it will

reduce competition among suppliers.

Steph has more details.

The bill is an admission that

encouraging consumers to regularly

switch energy suppliers hasn't been

as successful as hoped.

Around a third of UK

households pay default energy

tariffs, which are usually

the most expensive.

But from next winter,

new legislation will allow

the energy regulator Ofgem

to limit how much companies

can charge customers

for standard variable tariffs.

The price cap will be enforced

until at least 2021.

The government says the Domestic Gas

and Electricity Bill will benefit up

to 11 million people who could make

on average annual

savings of up to £300.

Energy UK, which represents gas

and electricity suppliers,

said it was vital the cap didn't

stifle competition

in the energy market.

This is particularly relevant to

this week because we know there is a

really big cold snap on the way.

It's not going to happen for a while

but it is significant?

Yes, and it

something we've seen happen with

prepayment meters, a cap on the

standard variable rate because often

it is the poorest people in society

and are on these rates. What we see

from this is an extension of it,

it's not just about prepayment

meters or people who use the warm

home discounts which of the current

people who have a cap on the

standard friable rate, it will now

apply to everyone and a standard

variable rate. It's some time before

it will come in. It'll make a big

difference to 11 million households

on this rate, that is the rate that

people end up on when the deal comes

to an end or they do not come to

choose a new deal and it is often

most expensive, the government say

we are just not switching. Some

research was done and more than half

the people don't even know that you

can switch energy supplies. And we

talk about it all the time. A lot of

people, they just think, it won't be

much of a muchness, whoever I'm

with. It's a lot to do with

competition. There are concerns it

could hinder competition because

there could be a cap so people will

not switch so people will think

everyone is the same and the energy

company 's will not have an

incentive to try get your custom by

reducing prices. But on the whole,

this is to try and make sure people

are not paying too much for their

energy bills.

Interesting timing as

well. It's so cold this week.

Parts of the UK will feel colder

than the Arctic Circle this week

with widespread snow

and bitterly cold winds.

Rail companies in East Anglia

say their services

will end early tonight.

C2C and Greater Anglia have also

cancelled a number of services

on Tuesday and Wednesday.

They urge customers

to check before travelling.

Carol will have more details

on the weather shortly.

Well worth paying attention to her

because she has details through the

next few days, there is some snow

and even blizzards coming on

Wednesday and Thursday.

The Syrian government has been

accused of using chemical weapons

in the rebel held area

of Eastern Ghouta.

Doctors say several people have

suffered symptoms consistent

with exposure to chlorine gas.

Fresh air strikes and heavy clashes

have been reported in the area

despite a UN security council

resolution calling for a ceasefire.

The Nigerian force says it has

deployed additional aircraft to

search for more than 100 missing

schoolgirls. Suspected Boca

militants --

militants -- militants kidnapped the

girls last week.

70% of people born from the early

1980s to the mid '90s,

the so-called millenials,

will be obese or overweight

by the time they reach 40

according to new research.

That would make them the most

overweight generation

since records began.

Cancer Research UK is launching

a nationwide campaign to raise

awareness about the link

between obesity and cancer.

Put yourself in this position, how

would you react?

An expedition hoping to complete

the first successful winter ascent

of the world's second highest peak,

K2, has revealed that one

of its climbers appears to have

struck out for the summit

alone, without permission.

A spokesman told the BBC

that Denis Urubko's move

had shocked the team.

But he said they would still try

to support the climber.

K2 is the only peak over 8000m yet

to be climbed in winter.

It does seem quite an

extraordinary...

He's gone rogue. I

think I would be a bit miffed.

If

you are in the team, you're all

going to go, but we don't know all

the details.

If it's been so

carefully planned as you imagine it

would be, it's never been done

before and he breaks off and goes on

his own, I would be a little

annoyed.

I think we would like to

talk to him when he gets back.

We

will put in about!

I nearly said BBC Brexit then! Thank

you for joining us on BBC Breakfast.

As Brexit negotiations

between the Government

and the European Union have

progressed, attention has remained

largely on Theresa May

and how her position could be

influenced by forces

within her own party.

But today focus turns to the Labour

party's stance as leader

Jeremy Corbyn prepares to deliver

a major speech on Brexit,

in which he's expected to say

the party would stay

in the customs union.

The shadow International Trade

Secretary Barry Gardiner joins

us from Westminster.

The speech is later but could you

spell out in detail exactly what you

mean, is it to the customs union, is

it a customs union, what is it?

The

customs union is a function of the

European treaties, and therefore

when the leave the European Union,

the treaty is no longer apply. What

we would be doing is creating a new,

a customs union, that would be with

input from the both the UK and the

EU with respect to quotas and

tariffs that we apply to third-party

countries and it would mean that

there were no tariffs and quotas for

goods that were transferred between

ourselves, the EU and the UK.

So you

would have to do renegotiate this

special customs union, would you?

Yes, it's just a customs union, but

we can't stay in the customs union

which is a function of this

treaties. We don't want the sort of

customs union agreement that Turkey

has the EU, negotiating that when it

was about to join the EU many years

ago, that no longer seems feasible.

That is an asymmetric treaty which

means that the European Union and up

negotiating for Turkey, and Turkey

has to liberalise its markets to

third-party countries but has no

right of access into those countries

in return. We would not want that.

So what are you saying, so you would

have similar to Turkey but the

exception would have be that we can

strike our ideals?

Out saying that

he would come to an agreement the

European Union where both day and we

adopted -- both they and we adopted

the same tariffs for third party

countries and we had no tariffs for

goods transferring between

ourselves.

Can I put to you, and you

will be familiar because these are

your words, in July 2017, you said,

as a transitional phase, a customs

union agreement might be thought to

have some merit however as an end

point it is deeply and attractive,

it would preclude us from making our

own independent -- deeply

unattractive, it would preclude us

from making our own independent

trade agreements?

You have to read

the paragraph before that and the

paragraph after that, I have, go on.

-- I was referring to a Turkish

style model, not a new

-- I was referring to a Turkish

style model, not a customs union

with the EU.

The problem with the Turkish model

is that asymmetry. We don't want the

European Union to be able to

negotiate a deal with America,

perhaps, on our behalf, that was

beneficial to countries in the EU

but not beneficial to us, in terms

of liberalising our markets to some

of the things that we do not want

from America. It's very simple, we

don't want to be taking the rules

from Europe, we want to be

co-creating those rules in terms of

the third-party arrangements that we

have with other countries.

Let's go

to the paragraph afterwards, you

said, 52% who voted to leave the EU

would consider it a con if it was

out of Europe but still subservient

to its laws and institutions. So how

do we...

That's precisely the point

I just made, isn't it? That we don't

want that.

That we ask you a

question, thank you. How do we get

to this point, the devil is in the

detail? Where we can procreate?

What

he would do is... This happens in

many customs unions across the

world. -- where we can co-create.

There are many customs unions across

world, they have a forum where they

decide on the mandate they would

have negotiating trade agreements

are third-party countries, and it

goes off and negotiate a half of all

that parties.

How much of that is

trying to defeat the government, how

much of this is that?

I would

welcome defeating the government,

let's

welcome defeating the government,

but it's not about -- let's be clear

but it's not about that. It's about

trying to get the best outcome for

Britain. We respect the referendum

result and we going to leave the

European Union, that is the same.

But in our manifesto, we said that

we recognised that there are

benefits from the single market, and

if it's from having been part of the

European Union customs union, and we

wanted to retain those benefits.

This is a way in which we can retain

some of the benefits that we have

had over the past 40 years whilst

still leaving the European Union,

not being subject to its rules and

not being paid rules take, that is

why we have Jeremy Su'a date setting

up the way in which we would

negotiate for Britain in the best --

Jeremy today setting out the way in

which we would negotiate, a

different sort of Brexit than the

one from the Tories are saying.

More

than 80 single members of your --

senior members of your party saying

the UK should stay the single

market, is that going to the next

set from Labour?

The point that he

made a that you quoted me on is

relevant. That is about not being

subservient to the rules made by

others. The trouble with the single

market, there's many benefits from

the single market, economic

benefits, and we want access into

the single market and as much as the

benefits as we can possibly get but

what we do not want to be subject to

the rules from Europe that the

European single market would impose

upon us, and if we work to do it in

the way that some of my college less

jesting, that would mean that we

were actually -- colleagues were

suggesting, that would mean that we

were subject to the rules but no

longer around the table when the

rules were committed. When we were a

member of the EU, we were around the

table, we influenced the creation of

the rules, it's very different when

you would say we would just take the

rules from Europe and abide by them

no matter what without having a say.

That I think is a red line.

Thank

you to your time.

You need to pay attention to carol

this week. If you are up and out

from under the duvet, it is going to

get cold. It looks beautiful in the

picture, but it will really be to

lead this week.

picture, but it will really be to

lead this week.

Good morning. We are looking at some

disruptive snow this week. Each day

it will become more widespread and

heavier. Bitter winds and a cold

deal with frost and ice, but there

will be some sunshine as well. All

this weather is coming from Siberia

and you can see how cold it is

generally across Europe. An easterly

wind is heading across our shores.

It will bring snow with it. Already

we have snow showers in eastern

areas. They will be on and off

during the course of the day. One

odd two of them make it over to the

west. Generally the West will be

drier. We will see a bit of

sunshine, but there is cloud across

the country generally. These are the

maximum temperatures, some places

not even breaking freezing.

Overnight snow showers come in

across East Anglia, Kent, and down

towards the Channel Islands. We will

also have some snow in the North

east of the UK as well. Widespread

frost tonight, cold weather risk of

ice. The Met Office has issued an

amber prepared warning, due to the

snow. It starts tonight and it will

run through some of tomorrow as

well. We have got two areas

affected. The first is Yorkshire,

Lincolnshire and into the Midlands

and the second is in parts of the

south-east. These are the areas

where we could see disruption

because of the snow. We also have

another amber weather warning, be

prepared, for Wednesday and that is

for northern Scotland and eastern

England. If you are travelling, take

extra care. This is not the only

part of the UK that will see snow on

Wednesday. If we start once again on

Tuesday we have got snow coming in

across northern England, eastern

Scotland, heading down towards

Wales, and the second line comes in

across the far south-east. In

between there will be sunshine, but

it will also feel cold. Temperatures

struggling to break freezing across

some parts of the UK. Roughly the

temperatures from freezing to up to

one odd two. On Wednesday all that

snow means we have a second amber

weather warning for the North of

Scotland the north-east of England.

Some of the snow gets over towards

the West. In between there will be

brighter skies, but it will also be

windy. These are the temperature

values you should see on your

thermometer, but adding on the

wind-chill means it will feel much

colder than that. We are not done

with this inclement weather yet.

These are the snow levels that we

will be looking at settling as we

had through Wednesday afternoon.

More snow on the cards as well

because as this system comes up from

the south, it will be windy and

there will be drifting snow and

possibly blizzards. By the time we

get into Friday it will all be

moving northwards.

What a week for Greg James doing his

Sport Relief challenge. He is

climbing Snowdon today.

At least it will be OK today.

Support him if you can. Let's have a

look at the front pages.

The beast from the East makes the

front page of the Daily Mirror.

In The Times, pictures from the