"Open the curtains," Emma Eastham tells her son Alex, "shall we show them your oxygen and what we do with it?"
Alex is a thriving 16-year-old who loves music, DIY and (of course, because this is Wigan) Rugby League.
"I want to go to College," he tells me, "and become a joiner."
But when he was a baby, Alex's mum was told by doctors that he would not survive.
Alex was born prematurely and had liver failure.
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He's developed epilepsy, chronic lung disease and sleep apnoea amongst a range of other difficult, and incurable, conditions.
At night, he uses an oxygen machine.
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During the day, a pump provides vital food, water and medicine.
"Everything is run off batteries and mains power," Emma explains. "It's constantly on the go in this house and I have noticed that as prices are going up, I'd say it's been an extra £300 a month for us to pay just in terms of household bills and things."
For this family, this is more than an cost-of-living crisis: it's a health crisis too.
"For Alex it's a case of life or death obviously, because he's on his oxygen machine overnight. So if we couldn't literally afford to pay those bills, I don't know what would happen."
Image: Alex has a series of complex health conditions
This is the stark situation faced by families with sick and disabled children at home, who rely on life-supporting machines.
As energy prices go up, they simply cannot unplug.
"It worries me for the future if things do get worse," Emma says. "How will it affect us as a family, what do we do? It's all very well and good someone coming in and saying "get an extra job, do this and do that" but I struggle now with the work I do now and looking after Alex. I mean Alex alone is a full-time job, caring for him.
"I've just got to deal with what I can, I suppose."
For Emma's family, and families like hers locally, some respite comes at a nearby care centre for children and young people with disabilities and complex health needs.
Called "Brighter Dayz", the centre was set-up by Emma and other local parents when other care provisions shut down just before the first COVID-19 lockdown.
The facility was entirely built and funded by the community and has become a life-line for families.
Image:Emma co-founded the Brighter Dayz care centre
Andrea Mordechai travels half-an-hour the town of St Helen's to bring her son Jack, 13, here once a week.
"It's stressful enough raising a disabled child," Andrea tells us, "and right now with the price of everything going up it's even more of a worry. It's just unaffordable."
"Coming here, it's support at the end of the day, and there's not much of it around at the minute."
The community has come together in Wigan, to provide children and their families with this support that they so acutely need.
And which they worry, as prices rise and budgets tighten, will become harder to find.
The MP arrested on suspicion of rape should be suspended by the Conservatives and named, Labour has said, arguing that their constituents have “a right to know”.
MPs and parliamentary staff called for the accused man to be banned from the parliamentary estate on grounds of workplace safety.
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A Conservative MP in his fifties was arrested on Tuesday morning over alleged offences in London between 2002 and 2009. The allegations made against the MP, who cannot be named for legal reasons, include rape, indecent assault, sexual assault, the abuse of a position of trust and misconduct in public office.
He has been released on bail pending further inquiries from the Metropolitan Police, which first received a complaint in January 2020. The Met refused to comment
The surge came as millions of people saw an unprecedented £700-a-year increase in energy costs last month.
Higher fuel and food prices, driven by the Ukraine war, are also pushing the cost of living up, with inflation expected to continue to rise this year.
Citizens Advice said "the warning lights could not be flashing brighter" for the government to offer more support for households, and debt charities urged anyone finding it difficult to pay bills to seek help earlier rather than later in the year.
Around three quarters of the rise in inflation in April came from higher electricity and gas bills, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
"There are desperate stories behind these figures," said Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice. "People washing in their kitchen sinks because they can't afford a hot shower; parents skipping meals to feed their kids; disabled people who can't afford to use vital equipment because of soaring energy bills."
'I can't do much more'
Health analyst Cheryl Holmes, a mother-of-two, said she was trying to keep her living costs down to "as low as possible" by spending less on food and clothes, and cancelling TV subscriptions.
"I've already for several years been turning the lights off in each room, setting the heating on a timer, making sure I'm using a full dishwasher and washing machine and I'm running out of ideas.
"It's a battle and it seems like there's not really much more that I can do."
A higher energy price cap - which is the maximum price per unit that suppliers can charge customers - kicked in last month, meaning homes using a typical amount of gas and electricity are now paying £1,971 per year on average.
Up until now households of all incomes had faced similar rates of inflation, but the poorest are now being hit hardest by rising prices because they have to spend far more of their household budgets on gas and electricity, think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies said.
The ONS, which publishes the UK's inflation rate, said the costs of food, machinery, furniture and other household goods also rose in April.
"All items" on the menus of restaurants and cafes went up too, due to the VAT rate for hospitality returning to 20% after being cut during the pandemic to help businesses.
Meanwhile, average petrol prices stood at £1.62 per litre in April 2022, the highest on record, compared with £1.26 per litre a year earlier.
Inflation is the rate at which prices are rising. For example, if a bottle of milk costs £1 and that rises by 9p, then milk inflation is 9%.
Prices have been rising for months, as fuel, energy and food prices surge higher due to the pandemic and the Ukraine war, and wages are failing to keep pace.
The ONS estimated inflation is now at its highest level since March 1982, when it stood at 9.1%.
The Bank of England warned earlier this month that the cost crunch could leave the UK on the brink of recession, with inflation peaking at over 10% later this year amid further expected rises in energy bills.
UK inflation is simply not supposed to hit levels this high. And as the Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has said, these sorts of rises hit the poorest the hardest.
9% is an average across the population. The older Retail Prices Index measure is already at 11%.
But Mr Bailey's institution has a battle on now to get this under control. The really painful issue is that this rate will sustain and is on course to get higher over the course of this year.
And only this week he acknowledged that there was "not a lot" the Bank could do about four-fifths of the anticipated rise, as it is being imported from globally rising prices for energy and food .
With households under increasing pressure, the government faces growing calls to offer more help.
Commenting on the latest figures, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said he "cannot protect people completely" from rising inflation as it was a global problem.
Mr Sunak is expected to call on businesses at the CBI's annual dinner later to boost investment and training in order to grow the economy and help ease the cost of living crunch.
He will pledge that he will cut taxes on firms in the Autumn to "invest more, train more, and innovate more".
Meanwhile, at Prime Minister's Questions, Boris Johnson said he would "look at all the measures" needed to help people struggling with rising bills.
Sir Keir Starmer pressed the PM on Labour's call for a one-off tax on oil and gas profits, arguing it would raise "billions" to help.
The PM replied that the government was "not in principle in favour of higher taxation".
It's impacting the economy, which shrank in March and risks falling into recession next year, according to the Bank of England.
Bank of England faces criticism
The Bank's response has been to raise interest rates to try and cool prices. The idea is that when borrowing is more expensive, people will have less money to spend which dampens demand.
But UK now has the highest rate of inflation (9%) of any G7 country, including Germany (7.4%) and France (4.8%).
Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said higher prices in the UK risked becoming embedded due to wages "spiralling upwards" as firms fought for talent.
There are currently more job vacancies than unemployed people in the UK for the first time since records began, partly because many people dropped out of the labour market during the pandemic.
Ms Streeter said prices across the hospitality and leisure industries were now at a 30-year high.
"So far companies have succeeded in passing on higher costs to customers keeping margins resilient, but worries do linger about just how long consumers will continue to pay the price," she added.
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Wayne Rooney has described how the then England manager asked him to speak with Jamie Vardy to ask his wife Rebekah to "calm down" during the Euro 2016 tournament.
Mr Vardy's representatives later told the press outside of the hearing that Mr Rooney was "talking nonsense" regarding the claim.
Giving evidence in the High Court on Tuesday, Mr Rooney also revealed that his wife Coleen Rooney has become "a different mother" and "a different wife" since her "reveal" post and Rebekah Vardy's subsequent libel claim against her.
In a viral social media post in October 2019, Mrs Rooney said she had carried out a "sting operation" and accused Mrs Vardy of leaking "false stories" about her private life to the press - prompting her to be dubbed "Wagatha Christie".
Image:A court sketch by Elizabeth Cook depicts Wayne Rooney giving evidence
Mrs Vardy, 40, who is married to 35-year-old Leicester City striker Jamie, denies leaking stories to the media and is suing her fellow footballer's wife for libel.
Mrs Rooney, 36, is defending the claim on the basis her post was "substantially true".
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Case documents were released on Tuesday showing the fake stories created by Ms Rooney on Instagram - and viewed by Ms Vardy's account.
Image:The court was shown undated screengrabs of Instagram stories posted to Coleen Rooney's account and viewed by Rebekah Vardy's account
Former England captain Mr Rooney has attended court with his wife for each of the six days of the trial so far, sitting in the front row of court 13 in the Royal Courts of Justice.
But on Tuesday the 36-year-old moved into the witness box to give his evidence to the packed courtroom.
Mr Rooney described how he was asked by then England manager, Roy Hodgson, and his assistant manager, Gary Neville, to speak to Mr Vardy to ask his wife to "calm down" during the Euro 2016 tournament.
Image:Rebekah and Jamie Vardy arrive at the Royal Courts Of Justice, London, along with Wayne and Coleen Rooney
"They asked me, as captain, would I be able to speak to Mr Vardy on issues regarding his wife and I think we all knew that it was an awkward subject," he said.
"I'd need to speak to Mr Vardy and ask him to speak to his wife and ask him to say to ask his wife to calm down."
Hugh Tomlinson QC, representing Mrs Vardy, said: "Ask his wife to calm down? She wasn't dancing on tables."
Mr Rooney replied: "No, she wasn't, as far as I was aware."
He told the court that he "100%" had the conversation with Mr Vardy but did not know if he then spoke to his wife.
Following questioning from Mr Tomlinson, Mr Rooney revealed he did not recall speaking with Mr Vardy to a Sun journalist about their conversation.
"As England captain, I would always try and protect the players in public as much as I could," he said.
He later added: "Everyone knows the history between Liverpudlians and The Sun newspaper, I have never spoken to a Sun journalist on a personal level."
Image:Former England player Wayne Rooney told the court he has seen his wife Coleen 'really struggle'
Rooney is 'talking nonsense'
Mr Vardy made his first appearance at the trial on Tuesday, sitting beside his wife and in front of their lawyers during the hearing.
His representatives claimed that Mr Rooney was "talking nonsense" in his evidence to the High Court.
The statement, given outside the hearing, said: " He [Wayne] must be confused because he never spoke to me about issues concerning Becky's media work at Euro 2016.
"There was nothing to speak about, I know this because I discuss everything with Becky."
'It's been very traumatic for my wife'
Mr Rooney also told the court that the period after his wife's "reveal" post had been "very traumatic" for her and that he had watched her "really struggle".
"For me and my wife, we don't want to be in this court," Mr Rooney said.
"I've watched my wife over the last two and a half years really struggle with everything, becoming a different mother, a different wife.
"It's been very traumatic for my wife."
He continued: "Hopefully, whatever the judgment is in this case, myself, my wife and our children can get on and live our lives because it was not something that we wanted to be part of."
He explained that he was only made aware of his wife's so-called "sting operation" when he woke up and saw the "reveal" post in October 2019 while in the US.
Mrs Rooney is defending the libel claim brought by Mrs Vardy on the basis of truth and public interest.
It comes after Mrs Rooney publicly claimed that an account behind three fake stories published in The Sun that she had posted on her personal Instagram account was Mrs Vardy's.
The fake stories Mrs Rooney posted on Instagram featured her travelling to Mexico for a "gender selection" procedure, a plan to return to television, and the basement flooding at her home.
In the post on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, she wrote: "I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them.
A three-year-old who died in a dog attack at a farm was "a happy, kind and caring little boy", his family have said.
Daniel John Twigg was outdoors with several dogs in Carr Lane, in the town of Milnrow, before he was found with serious injuries on Sunday.
He was treated by paramedics but later pronounced dead at hospital.
A 48-year-old man was arrested under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 after handing himself into police.
"Daniel was a happy, kind and caring little boy who was loved by all who knew him," his family said in a statement.
"He loved Paw Patrol and playing with his brother and sister. He also loved being around animals - especially his pony, Splash.
"He brought us many laughs and was a comical character. He was brave, intelligent and full of many characteristics."
The family asked for their privacy to be respected, adding: "Daniel loved being with his whole family and will be missed by all."
Several dogs were seized following the attack including a Cane Corso, which was humanely destroyed, Greater Manchester Police said.
The force said it was looking at previous incidents involving dogs at the home, in a rural area close to the M62 motorway, and had referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct "due to previous contact".
Det Ch Insp Gina Brennand said the force was working to establish the full circumstances surrounding the boy's death.
"We understand this incident has had an impact on the community but we ask members of the public and the media to refrain from speculating whilst we complete our investigation and any subsequent proceedings are concluded," she added.
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A Cabinet minister has said he was "somewhat surprised" to hear the Bank of England warn of "apocalyptic" food price rises.
Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis was asked by Sky News' Kay Burley about the comments made by Andrew Bailey, the BoE governor, in a select committee appearance on Monday.
Mr Bailey told MPs on the Treasury committee that rising food prices, at a time when supplies of goods such as wheat and cooking oil are being squeezed due to the war in Ukraine, was an issue "that I am going to sound rather apocalyptic about".
Mr Lewis told Sky News: "I was somewhat surprised to see that particular turn of phrase because obviously we can all see that prices can move... one way or another relatively speedily.
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"But we will be doing what we can to put that support in there for people across the country.
"We do recognise there's a challenge. This is not a straightforward challenge to deal with - it's a global challenge but it is one that I know the chancellor is very very focused on.
His comments came as a poll for Sky Newsrevealed rising bills have meant one in four people have resorted to skipping meals.
Mr Lewis said the comments from Mr Bailey were "a matter for the Bank of England - they are independent".
He added: "It's not for me to comment on what they said other than say, yes, I was surprised to see that kind of terminology there - particularly in light of the fact that obviously food supplies for supermarkets... are ordered and bought a long way in advance.
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BoE governor warns of 'apocalyptic' food prices
"So supermarkets are already now placing orders for many many months down the line for certain products and they're working on today's prices, and what they're buying for today is what we will be seeing in the supermarkets in the period ahead."
The comments come at a time when inflation is at a three-decade high as energy, fuel and food prices soar - and is predicted to climb to more than 10% later this year.
Over the weekend it was reported in the Telegraph that Cabinet ministers have turned on the Bank of England - which is tasked with keeping inflation at around 2% - with one saying that the Bank had been "failing to get things right" and another that it had failed a "big test".
Official figures published on Tuesday showed that wage growth, excluding bonuses, has been failing to keep pace with inflation, meaning that a real terms fall in pay is intensifying.
M&S chairman Archie Norman told the BBC's Today programme that food price inflation could climb as high as 10% this year. Latest industry figures showed it hit 5.9% in April, the steepest rate since December 2011.
Conservative ministers have been criticised over their public comments about the crisis, most recently when safeguarding minister Rachel Maclean told Sky News the government's plan to grow the economy would mean people could in the long term "protect themselves" by taking on more hours or moving to a better-paid job.
Mr Lewis defended the government's response, pointing to a £22bn package designed to ease the burden of council tax and energy bill increases and a planned cut in the national insurance threshold.
He said Ms Maclean's comments about working more hours were a reference to work "across the whole economy and us making available to people those opportunities".
Mr Lewis added: "Obviously in some industries and in some sectors people will already be working very long hours for the jobs that they do whether it's in the public sector or elsewhere and that's why we've put in this package of support to help people."
Labour and other opposition parties have claimed Tory politicians are out of touch over the crisis.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Jon Ashworth told Sky News: "Ministers are sleepwalking into a cost of living tsunami."
Labour is on Tuesday seeking to force a Commons vote on its plans for a windfall tax on energy company profits to pay for a cut in household bills.
