this is bbc news. the headlines at 11.00. the government says it is "ready to do more" to support people in theirjobs and help those who rent their homes. there are millions of renters across the country, and of course some of them will feel particular anxiety about this. the housing secretary will come forward very shortly to set out a statement of how we will provide support for renters. supermarkets take action to help elderly and vulnerable people buy food and supplies, and to curb panic buying. toyota becomes the latest manufacturer to suspend production — stopping work at its european factories, including two in the uk. almost 200,000 people are now known to have contracted coronavirus worldwide and almost 8,000 have died. in the uk there have been 71 deaths.

tributes are paid to the man thought to be the youngest in the uk to die from the virus — craig ruston was 45 and had motor neurone disease. and the first people are turned away from the eu border under the bloc‘s new travel ban for non—eu citizens. all day long we'll be working to answer as many of your questions as possible. at 11.30 we'll be answering your work and money—related coronavirus questions with an employment lawyer and personal finance expert. the government is being urged to do more to help families and workers affected by the coronavirus outbreak, after announcing billions of pounds of help for companies. the chancellor, rishi sunak, made more than £300 billion in loans

available to affected firms. but business groups said action had to be taken to pay workers‘ wages, while labour said people struggling with their rent had been ignored. this morning, the government is expected to announce how they plan to protect millions of people who rent their homes. here are the key measures unveiled by the chancellor yesterday. he announced a three—month mortgage holiday for homeowners. mr sunak pledged £330 billion in government—backed loans to help businesses pay for supplies, rent and salaries. also, a package of tax cuts and grants worth £20 billion to protect companies and households. there have now been 71 deaths in the uk from the virus. almost 2,000 people have tested positive for coronavirus but the actual number of cases could be as high as 55,000. a newborn baby is among the latest confirmed cases. the environment secretary george eustice is holding talks with supermarkets to ensure the security of food supplies.

supermarkets are introducing new measures to restrict stockpiling and to help the elderly, vulnerable and those with disabilities. 0ur correspondentjohn mcmanus has this report. 45—year—old craig ruston, living with motor neurone disease, and now believed to be the youngest victim of the coronavirus. he died on monday morning. his wife, sally, says she's heartbroken. the government now moving to prevent similar tragedies. in 1973, in the context of the energy crisis, the government assumed emergency powers. fast forward 47 years, and another conservative government is about to ask parliament to give it sweeping powers, this time to tackle a pandemic. the emergency coronavirus bill will be put before commons on thursday. if passed, it will allow the police to arrest and isolate people to protect public health. the border force would also be able to suspend operations at airports

and other transport hubs if security couldn't be guaranteed. in hospitals, paperwork would be cut back to allow patients to be discharged quickly and free up vital beds. recently retired nhs and social care staff could return to work without losing their pension rights, while those who stay away from work to self—isolate would get statutory sick pay from day one. yesterday, the chancellor, rishi sunak, announced £330 billion in government—backed loans for all businesses. there'll be £20 billion in cash loans and business tax cuts, and a three—month mortgage holiday for homeowners who find themselves unable to meet payments. but there's been no word on whether those who rent will receive similar help. we have never faced an economic fight like this... but this is state intervention on a scale not seen in decades to tackle an unprecedented problem. the coronavirus pandemic is a public health emergency, but it is also

an economic emergency. we have never in peacetime faced an economic fight like this one. some businesses are already adapting. morrison's says it is creating 3,500 newjobs in its home delivery operation, prompted by the coronavirus. from today, sainsbury‘s will restrict customers to a maximum of three of any grocery products and only two of items such as soap and toilet paper and, like iceland, it's reserving some shopping hours for the elderly and vulnerable. john mcmanus, bbc news. there have been a lot of new announcements and further information this morning. toyota has become the latest manufacturer to suspend production. the company is stopping work at its european factories, including at two in the uk. together, the burnaston factory in derbyshire and the engine facility in deeside employ around three thousand people. staff will be put on paid leave until further notice. bmw has announced similar steps, winding down production

at its european plants. both car manufacturers have cited the fall in car sales due to the coronavirus outbreak. one of the uk's biggest train companies is cancelling services "at very short notice" due to staff shortages caused by coronavirus. south western railway is preparing to implement an amended timetable and says it will avoid cancelling trains wherever possible. the transport secretary grant shapps said passenger numbers fell by a fifth last week. the bbc has suspended filming on dramas including eastenders, casualty, doctors and holby city until further notice amid the coronavirus outbreak. the number of eastenders episodes broadcast will be cut from four to two per week in an attempt to make existing recorded episodes last for as long as possible. glastonbury festival's 50th anniversary edition has been postponed from june 2020 until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, its organisers have said.

that has just been put out. last 2020 will have to be cancelled and this will be an enforced fallow year for the festival. clearly this was not a course of action we wanted to ta ke not a course of action we wanted to take but in times of unprecedented certainty this is now our only viable option. the government is being urged to do more for families and workers affected by the coronavirus crisis after it announced £350 billion of help for companies. the business secretary alok sharma said the government is committed to providing support where it is needed. i know this is a very anxious time for lots of people. they are concerned about their livelihoods and i hear that very clearly in the conversations that i have been having with businesses over the last few days. but of course that's why we've moved so quickly to provide this £350 billion package of support. this is one of the most comprehensive packages of support of any government, and we will continue to provide support where it's needed.

the prime minister has been absolutely clear that we will do whatever it takes to protect people's health, to protect people's livelihoods and to protect businesses. the budget was a start, we had a significant intervention yesterday, and we are ready to do more. 0ur assistant political editor norman smith is at westminster. norman, a huge package of measures from the government yesterday, but events from the government yesterday, but eve nts kee p from the government yesterday, but events keep coming and there is going to be more today. bring us up to date. the government is almost scrambling to bring forward a whole range of measures and there we had a huge package yesterday i think eve ryo ne huge package yesterday i think everyone knows that is just the first step. above all there is a huge drive to try to come forward with measures to keep people in work. that seems to be the overriding ambition of government, to avoid redundancies, people being laid off. the focus seems to be on

trying to protect people's wages and enable employers to keep people working, rather than say to boost sickness pay or change universal credit. talks will be taking place between treasury officials and the tuc and employers to see whether the government could look at wage subsidies possibly or cutting employers national insurance contributions to make it easier to keep paying people. the chancellor yesterday, when he was in the commons late last night, was asked about the example of other countries. scandinavian countries, denmark, who i think the state guarantees 75% of people's wages, he didn't rule it out. said he was prepared to look at all different procedures and policies in other countries but his point was scandinavian countries already have those policies in place. in britain we don't and it is quite hard to

work through the detail quickly. that is the key focus. the other thing we can expect soon, it may be today or tomorrow, is help for te na nts today or tomorrow, is help for tenants who are struggling with rent because we have the support mortgage for mortgage holders, with a three month mortgage holiday if necessary. nothing for tenants. and that is being looked at quickly. what is happening with skills but i think —— what is happening with schools? nothing definite but the timetable for closures is moving closer. the easter holidays are unable forth, i think. that is over a fortnight away. 0n the ground, what is happening as many skills are having to close. facts on the ground are

closing any —— michael changing anyway. garment will have to bring forward the timetable for closures. thereby not taking parents who are also nurses, doctors, care workers out of the equation because they have to do stay—at—home. i think the question is whether you can settle any skeleton school services which would enable the children of front linejobs to deal with would enable the children of front line jobs to deal with virus to carry on and there is also anxiety over whether some parents, because they need to keep working to keep getting money, choose to leave their children with their grandparents. that of course is much more risky because we know the fatalities amongst the older generation is much, much higher. there is a number of issues still to be worked through but i think the closure of schools is moving closer. thank you very much, norman. we are going to be

talking to correspondence across the uk covering every angle of the story. in a moment, we'll be speaking to emma vardy in belfast and we will talk about school closures. hywel griffith in cardiff. but first let's speak to lorna gordon, who is in glasgow. what are the prevalent issues? scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon has been out visiting a helpline this morning. it is an age scotla nd helpline this morning. it is an age scotland helpline getting extra funding. she described it as an emergency service for the next few months because of course be advice for older people here in scotland is to reduce their contact, their wider contact. , not to stop it entirely u nless contact. , not to stop it entirely unless they have a specific health conditions which they will be contacted directly about if they have but to reduce their wider contact in the community. she called

this an emergency service that will be there for older people to phone and chat with people if they are feeling isolated because of course one of the concerns is the psychological impact of this social distancing policy. another interesting area is skills. we are hearing that growing numbers of children are being kept off school and individual schools are having to close for deep cleaning if someone tests positive. the first minister has said it is highly possible we will see a blanket approach to school closures in the coming days but for now skills remain open —— schools remain open but it is under co nsta nt schools remain open but it is under constant review. the concern is that knock—on of those closures will hit nhs front line workers. it looks likely if it will change, but they are open for now. unfortunately two

people have now died in scotland from coronaviruses and to the number who have tested is 195. we get the updates for those figures at tpm. thank you. the same issues affecting us thank you. the same issues affecting us everywhere. bring us up—to—date with the latest developments where you are. absolutely, we have heard it from the chief medical officer of wales in the last hour or two. they have identified some 70,000 people in wales who are very vulnerable to coronavirus. we've been told to expect further measures announced later this week about potentially very long terms of isolation. wales has on average the oldest population of the four nations within the uk. that creates particular challenges. also schools are very important issue in wales because a lot of schools not only give education to children, they are a vital source of

food. around a quarter of children in wales in relative poverty are entitled to free meals. conversations are going on between head teachers. if they were to shut the schools as soon as next week, what would happen to those children? how can they guarantee at least one good hot nutritious meal every day? the chief medical officer spoke about how the virus is spreading in wales. he thinks that maybe wales is a couple of days behind other parts of the uk. certainly behind london. he says that is not a reason for complacency. it is maybe a small window to get the nhs ready. there are only 150 critical care beds available in wales. that capacity has to double and double fast. particularly in more rural areas in north wales, there are only 11 critical beds available in one area. yet to have a confirmed positive case of coronavirus but people could be coming into use holiday homes,

second homes, caravans because they wa nt to second homes, caravans because they want to self—isolate. that's good but huge potential strain on the local health service which simply isn't built to sustain those sorts of numbers. it is a worrying picture for everyone but the nhs as much as it can is gearing up for a few weeks and months ahead. let's go to emma in belfast. the schools issue in the is particularly stark with schools already closed in the republic are. a lot of tension and uncertainty here in northern ireland all stemming from those differences in strategy on each side of the irish border. last week the irish prime minister and taoiseach leo varadkar ramped up and asked all pubs to close while at the same time in northern ireland the advice from the uk government remains were schools remains open. that position has been defended, they will continue to

abide by the uk scientific advice, keeping schools open for now. as you can imaginea keeping schools open for now. as you can imagine a lot of uncertainty from parents. we have had today letters from the teaching unions in northern ireland calling on political leaders in northern ireland to decide to close schools themselves. lots have voluntary close their doors. lots of parents we re close their doors. lots of parents were not sending their children to school anyway because of the uncertainty, wondering why they were not taking an all ireland approach, because they live on the same land mass. that is causing a lot of uncertainty. things are fluid, you can expect things to change in the coming days ahead. elsewhere, just yesterday, we had that deathly quiet st patrick's day. almost ghostly. a time when normally the streets are packed, the pubs and bars are scenes of parties. many, many pubs decided to close. there were a few in the centre of belfast that remained open. they received a bit of criticism, a backlash for that, because the advice in northern

ireland is not that pubs should close but people shouldn't visit them. a bit of an ad hoc picture with different businesses taking different decisions are. the other thing to mention is there is also an effort to try to increase the number of intensive care unit beds available in northern ireland to try to prepare for what may come. thank you very much for updating us, all of you. the latest supermarket chain to announce changes to their operation is as dead. it has announced it is restricting all customers to buying up restricting all customers to buying up to three items on all food, toiletries and cleaning products because of that extraordinary surge in demand that the supermarkets are experiencing. 0ther supermarkets have done the same. as do now saying thatis have done the same. as do now saying that is what it will do now. they are also saying they were close cafe is an pizza counties to free space and staff in order to help keep

shells fully stocked and in order to restock their temporarily reducing the opening hours of all 24—hour stores. they will close between 12am and 6am every day for restocking. there is a lot of self isolating going on. some people having to do it under advice, particularly vulnerable people. the elderly. those with health issues. they are staying home. charities are offering support to domestic abuse victims forced to self—isolate with their partners, as it's feared that violence could increase as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. self—isolation can be a dangerous time for women trapped inside with their abuser whose behaviour may be aggravated at this time. here with me now is elizabeth filkin, who's the chair of the employers' initiative on domestic abuse, which advises businesses on how to protect staff. thank you very much for coming in. different issues are emerging all the time. it is not something that has been much discussed but it is obvious when we start to talk about it that it could be a serious problem for some. very serious. it

will be a particular problem for people for whom work is their only safe place. if they are then required to work at home, they will not have a safe place to go to where they can phone their friends or their lawyers and so forth. we are asking employees to be particularly concerned about people who they know are facing domestic abuse or people they fear may be facing domestic abuse and we are asking colleagues to look out for those people. have you had issues emerging already, people contacting helplines to say they are in a precarious position? yes. some helplines i understand have already had people who are worried because they may have to be at home all the time. we are also particularly worried about if the schools close the effect on the children who live in those abusive situations where school is their

only safe place. what can employers do? we have on our website lots of resources that employers can use to get people help. there is a national helpline for domestic abuse which they can use, and we have an app called bright sky. it is free on the app called bright sky. it is free on the app store. anybody can download it. it has a pathway for people who think they are in an abusive situation and a pathway for anyone who wants to help anybody in that situation. in the end, how much practical support can be offered when people are unable to access services? because services, the sorts of services that might deal with these families, they might restrict the services they are offering. that is true but if the escalate, of course they can call the police and should do. i know that some police are already saying they expect domestic homicide rates

to go up and that is a very upsetting piece of information. so if anybody feels they are in a situation of that risk they really ought to contact the police. we are all neighbours. we have all got family. what is the role of neighbours and family in this? the role of neighbours and families is to be sympathetic, to give people the chance, if they want to talk to you, to talk to you, but if they don't, you can always suggest that it's a good idea if everybody downloads bright sky and the person who is suffering doesn't have to tell anybody else but they can get help and advice on their phone. thank you very much. a man from north somerset is working round the clock to cook up to 500 meals a week for people who are self—isolating. some really good stories are emerging of what people are doing for their communities. the meals won't cost

the diners a penny, but are reliant on donations from the community. fiona lamdin has been to yatton. by day, jonny works in recruitment. but he's now spending his evenings here in his kitchen — hoping to cook 500 meals a week for those who can't get out to the shops. sort of relying on my recipe book which is fairly large, and doing as many dishes as possible. we have got 50 recipes ready. the meals are for those self—isolating who can't get out, and they're completely free. no matter how old you are, watching bad news results in a lot more fear. and jonny‘s certainly got the experience. he was trained by chef raymond blanc. this is the van so we can deliver up to around 1,000 meals. as long as people want them we have the capacity to do so, and people in the community have said they will lend us their van as well. a few miles away in yatton, 80—year—old haydn williams hasjust come out of hospital after a chest infection. hello, sir, i have

your food for you. a fresh meal. i would shake your hand but i had better not. bump elbows. there you are. thank you. thank you very much. we made sure we all kept a safe distance from haydn. he is brilliant, doing it off his own bat, not during the daytime but after his work. there's not many young lads like that giving their time. and while we were out filming, jonny‘s local pub offered him their kitchen to cook all the food. my little domain. chip fryer, fish fryer, oven, salads, cooked meats. superb. this is perfect. it is a lot bigger. it is the right thing to do for the village. people, if they need help, we can give it. we are fit and healthy. this time three days ago, jonny hadn't even had this idea. now, with everyone pulling together, this community hopes to feed 500

of their most vulnerable. fiona lamdin, bbc points, yatton. we'd love to know what you're doing to support your neighbours — and what's being done for you? it's not always easy to ask for help, but with so many people having to stay home and hunker down, communicating needs and offering support will be vital. get in touch with me — @bbcjoannag on twitter — and we can share your stories here on bbc news. now, stories have been circulating online suggesting it's dangerous to take ibuprofen if you have coronavirus. alongside genuine medical advice, false messages have been spreading, distorting the facts. the government's chief scientific adviser has suggested that people should avoid ibuprofen, but that appears to be at odds with information issued yesterday by public health england. so, what should we be doing? here to hopefully answer this question is our reality check correspondent chris morris.

it's really confusing. there is so much stuff out there. it is confusing but i think the medical advice is pretty clear. as a first choice, take paracetamol to treat the symptoms of coronavirus, high fever and so on. we know that in normal times if you have a high fever, you might choose paracetamol or ibuprofen. there is a really key caveat here in that first choice of paracetamol. if you are already on ibuprofen for other reasons, don't stop taking it at least until you have consulted your doctor. the thing about ibuprofen is it is an anti—inflammatory drug, so it is used to treat other things. if you need it you should keep taking it. but it is not suitable for everyone. there is research which suggests there are side effects potentially for people with heart problems or asthma. what we don't really know yet and as this coronavirus crisis deepens, we have to acknowledge the things we don't know, and we don't

really know how covid—19 reacts to ibuprofen because there has not been research into it. we do know there has been research which suggests there may be some complications with other respiratory infections caused by ibuprofen. so the nhs has changed its advice in the last couple of days on its website. it didn't originally mention both paracetamol and ibuprofen are suitable for treating the symptoms of coronavirus is that it now says while there is currently no strong evidence that ibuprofen cant make coronavirus worse, until we have more information, take paracetamol to treat the symptoms unless your doctor has told you paracetamol is not right for you. that was basic advice which was backed up or summed up advice which was backed up or summed up by advice which was backed up or summed up by professor callum semple this morning on bbc first. so i would warn people not to believe everything they read on twitter. the story around ibuprofen has actually got very weak evidence and although we are taking a

cautious approach it's very hard to find any hard evidence that ibuprofen is causing harm. so if people are already on it and for good reason they should carry on taking it. if it's a new thing for you and you are unwell then perhaps avoid it, but you certainly don't need to be panicking that because you took ibuprofen last week, you're going to run into trouble. it's inevitable when everyone is hungry for answers, want to know what is happening, that they look anywhere for sources of information? there is a lot of stuff out there thatis there is a lot of stuff out there that is not necessarily right to trust. unfortunately we have already seen trust. unfortunately we have already seen it. just as they will be plenty of stories over the next few weeks and months about people going beyond to help their neighbours, their friends, other people, there are also scam scam and hoaxes. there have been plenty of fake medical advice on the internet about ibuprofen, stories reporting to be from cork in ireland, the university of vienna, from toulouse in southern france. the vienna one was the

university apparently saying it had discovered that the speed of reproduction of coronavirus was increased by ibuprofen. all of these stories are false and have been specifically denied by the institution that have been mentioned in the social media messages. if in doubt, go to the nhs website, checked the government advice, go to what you think are reputable media outlets, whether it is the bbc or elsewhere. it is obvious but worth repeating, do not believe everything you read on social media. it is weird. he was doing it and why? there are plenty of good people out there. sadly there are some bad ones, as well. thank you, chris. for more information visit the bbc news website. we have up to the minute information on the latest coronavirus advice. you can keep up with the latest developments about the coronavirus and what all of the latest announcements mean for you here

on bbc news, and you can find more on our app and on our website. send your questions through if you have questions, particularly about working from home. there is so much information online and also we are trying to answer as many of your questions as we can hear on bbc news. the focus today is home—working and how you can help support your resilience. do let us know if you have tips on that or questions. get in touch. now it's time for a look at the weather. there is some blue skies across northern areas of the uk but for most of us it is quite cloudy at the moment. this rain is going to gradually move further southwards, it is very slow moving. across southern areas of england, particularly in the south—east, staying mild and dry. sunny weather in northern areas. temperatures hear

about the 7—8. mild in the south. tonight, the rain will continue to move southward. further north, with clear skies, temperatures will be dropping close to freezing overnight tonight. england and wales stay in quite cloudy tomorrow with some rain. and it will feel chillier tomorrow as well.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... the government says it is ready to do more to support people in theirjobs and help those who rent their homes. there are millions of renters across the country, and of course some of them will feel particular anxiety about this. the housing secretary will come forward very shortly to set out a statement of how we will provide support for renters. supermarkets take action to help elderly and vulnerable people buy food and supplies and to curb panic buying. toyota suspends production, stopping work at its european factories, including two in the uk. glastonbury festival becomes the latest event to be

cancelled due to coronavirus. tributes are paid to the man thought to be the youngest in the uk to die from the virus. craig ruston was 45 and had motor neurone disease. almost 200,000 people are now known to have contracted coronavirus worldwide and almost 8,000 have died. in the uk, there have been 71 deaths. and the first people are turned away from the eu border under the bloc‘s new travel ban for non—eu citizens. we can catch up with the sport now with hugh ferris. good morning to you. with sporting events around the world moved or cancelled, the tokyo 0lympics remain in place, but plans for the games to go ahead injuly have been described as insensitive and irresponsible by a member of the

international olympic committee. she is part of the candidate team that won four successive ice hockey goals at the winter games, and she says today... well, the organisers are also facing a lot of criticism from athletes preparing for the games. we're nowjoined by our sports news reporter laura scott. why might the ioc and some of the 0lympic organisers be some of the last to be hanging on? well, this is just a much bigger sporting event than anything else that has been cancelled, the olympics is of course the world's greatest sporting mega event and so therefore, the decision to either postpone or cancel it is that much greater, it has more fans,

more sport, more countries involved than any other event that we have seen than any other event that we have seen affected by coronavirus. and also there is a huge amount of money involved in this. they said that their budget is about £9.5 billion. so obviously, having spent years planning for this, it is not a decision that would be taken lightly. no 0lympics has been cancelled in peacetime. so it is a massive decision and of course the ioc are also trying to support the athletes who have trained for years but as you have been saying, it is now those athletes who are concerned about the stance being taken and this commitment and conviction to go ahead with tokyo 2020 and weather thatis ahead with tokyo 2020 and weather that is a feasible possibility at this stage. because for athletes, it is not just this stage. because for athletes, it is notjust the event injuly, it is their physical preparations, and for some, they don't even know weather they have qualified because the qualifying events have been cancelled? exactly, lots of

qualifiers have been cancelled, a lot of the athletes are either unable to train or compete. the preparation is thrown into chaos. and weather or not they can get to that start line many of them just don't know at this stage. we have seen don't know at this stage. we have seenin don't know at this stage. we have seen in the last few days athletes speaking out, typically athletes, a lot of them are worried about speaking out because of sponsorship and issues like that but we have seen and issues like that but we have seen the british heptathlete katarina johnson—thompson, she posted on social media yesterday, saying that she didn't really understand the advice that was being given to keep training as normal, given to keep training as normal, given the restrictions that she and others are facing. and she said that the guidance from the ioc and government were seemingly at odds with each other. and she is not the only one. british middle distance runnerjessjudd only one. british middle distance runnerjess judd also questioned only one. british middle distance runnerjessjudd also questioned how on earth athletes were able to keep

training given the restrictions. so, the athlete community are starting to speak about this and putting pressure on the ioc to come up with guidance for them. the ioc came back to us and said that no solution will be ideal in this situation but certainly they are facing pressure from the athletes. laura scott, thank you very much indeed. meanwhile a plane sporting tokyo 2020 logos departed from the japanese capital today bound for athens to collect the olympic flame. there was no delegation from the organisers on board though due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. the plane off was waved off by staff at an almost empty airport. in tennis, the us open has said it has also not ruled out the possibility of switching to a later date. the tournament is due to begin in new york on august the 31st. that's because the french open, which would normally begin in late may, will now take

place in september. in a pointed statement, the us tennis association criticised the french federation's decision to move the date of roland garros, stating, "at a time when the world is coming together, we recognise that such a decision should not be made unilaterally." meanwhile, wimbledon has closed its museum tours and shop, but the outdoor facilities will remain open. the organisers say they're still planning for the wimbledon tournament in late june, but acknowledge the situation is evolving and say they will "act responsibly". that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. you've been sending in your questions about coronavirus and the measures the prime minister and chancellor announced yesterday to help workers and businesses. ijust want i just want to bring you

ijust want to bring you a breaking line coming from the united states, president donald trump has said he will hold a news conference later today, 4.30 our time, to discuss what he says is very important news from the us food and drug administration related to the coronavirus. no other details have been given. so, we are expecting that at 4.30, the white house task force is then scheduled to hold its daily news conference. so we will find out then what that very important news is from the us food and drug administration on coronavirus. joining me is kevin porter, an employment lawyer and partner at a commercial law firm, joining us live from central london, to a nswer joining us live from central london, to answer your questions on how coronavirus might be impacting you with work issues. thanks forjoining us, kevin. just to start with a question from lauren... what if my employer ignores the advice and

insists i work in the office even if i could work from home? it is a good question, a lot of people are asking us question, a lot of people are asking us the same thing. at the moment it is only advice from the government and they have said unless it is urgent or necessary, you should be staying at home. it is not quite an order and some places can't operate without staff being present. so, if thatis without staff being present. so, if that is the situation or indeed your employer has still asked you to come m, employer has still asked you to come in, there is no automatic right to work from home, it is a case of having a discussion weather your employer if you are having concerns, u nless employer if you are having concerns, unless you are in one of those vulnerable groups, over 70, pregnant, have some underlying conditions or indeed have been to a place which has already been symptomatic or had issues already. so presumably you could lose your job if you're not in one of those vulnerable groups and you decide to unilaterally start working from home? yet, absolutely, you could certainly lose your pay. the typical

guidance is, if you're not at work, you don't get paid. there are opportunities to look at alternative things, consider weather to take holiday if you are in a position to do that. or potentially even unpaid sabbaticals, i know that virgil for example are one company which has been trying to encourage employees to do that. a similar question from kate in cambridge says a... i work for a university and could technically work from home, is it my legal right to decide this? you've a nswered legal right to decide this? you've answered it. like we have said, there is no automatic entitlement under the law, unless there is something in your contract or maybe even a flexible working arrangement already in place. this one says... i have just started a newjob and i and not eligible for sick pay, will i get statutory sick pay? the position is that ssp, and this was announced last week, would be

covered for people who were self—isolating from day one. normally you would have to wait three days for that to start. for somebody who is already in work in a permanentjob, then they are entitled to ssp, from day one, if they have eligibility as well. unlike other sick pay which might be subject to a probation period or a minimum period of employment. it depends on the eligibility, and we all know that it has been widely reported that it is £94.25, it is not a lot for a lot of people. so again, have that conversation with your employer and see where you are. if you have not quite it started under a new contract, the chances are you won't be eligible. this one similarly says... will self—employed people be entitled to sick pay in a possible lockdown? if you're genuinely self—employed, u nfortu nately, genuinely self—employed, unfortunately, at the moment, there is nothing available for you, unless again it is something in your

contract, but it is unlikely. we expected something yesterday from the government to announce what provisions might be available for individuals who were self—employed, freelancing, who didn't have any other opportunity to receive some of these benefits. they have been all focused on companies and employers at this stage. i gather that conversations are taking place, i know there is a lot of pressure on the chancellor to look after these people, and i know there are provisions potentially for renters coming into force. but at the moment if you're self—employed or a freelancer, there is nothing out there for you, apart from universal credit, which is as we know, something which might be something which could be accessed. this one says... will there be any financial help available for freelance office workers who are told not to come in four previously booked shifts? again the first point of contract is with your contract, check what it says.

if you have been pre—booked, there might be some entitlement under that for short notice. 0therwise, speak to the company, get in touch with them, certain people do have protections, it is not probably the right time to go into that now but have that conversation and if help is being provided to companies, there is a chance that might be pushed down to employees as well or even people who aren't quite employees but who are working with orfor employees but who are working with or for those organisations. and a quick final question from michael, who has got in touch on twitter. he says, i don't know what to do. my wife suffers with a rare condition which affects her immune system, and i work for a retailer on minimal hours. iam i work for a retailer on minimal hours. i am worried that if i self—isolate and don't go to work, i will lose myjob. self—isolate and don't go to work, i will lose my job. what do i do? well, there is provision for people to ta ke well, there is provision for people to take time off to care for people. u nfortu nately, to take time off to care for people. unfortunately, as a minimum, you aren't paid for that time off, i

would say speak to your employer, get in conversation with them, and from the employer's point of view, this is a key time to rely on some of that goodwill which has been built up with employees potentially, try and work it both ways as much as possible because we are hopeful that there will be a need for people to be back in work very soon. keep that conversation going and see what help can be put in place. if there are employers who are receiving funding from the government, do what they can to get it down to the people who maybe need it. kevin, it is great to get all of your knowledge and advice. that is kevin porter, an employment lawyer. well, many of us are having to cope with a very different lifestyle, so what sort of strategies can help us adjust? david carry is the ceo of track record, a company specialising in coaching businesses in best work practice. he joins us from south west london.

thank you very much forjoining us. there are so many people now having to stay at home, whether it is with others or alone. if you're having to work remotely, how difficult is it actually initially for businesses to be able to manage this effectively? we're seeing it all the time with the people that we're working with. it is absolutely a different environment. but the key thing is that people have done this before, so, there is an established working pattern about remote working, and being able to use the technology to your advantage. i don't think it is about patronising people about how to do that, but it is about being aware of the environment. for example, we don't know how long this is going to last, so that is a thing that drains the resilience and can affect people. another thing is that now, we're not dialling into hq,

everybody is all over the place. so not having one central focus is also a difference in environment. and also there is this real collision of life and work as well and it's happening all over the place. what we are finding is, if you look at the individual rather than you in the individual rather than you in the workplace, you as an individual, we are seeing that resilience is going down. all our data shows that the most stressful day of the week in normal conditions is on saturday because of this collision of work and life. now that's happening all through the week. so, really be unable to make sure that you as an individual are looking after yourself. think about your resilience like a battery and think about all of the main four areas that you can recharge, and that's physically looking after yourself, mentally making sure that you're focused in the right areas, you're not getting distracted by loads of other things and temptations, emotionally, you're checking in with people, that you are aware of where

you are in that emotional spectrum, but also that sense of identity. because of course we associate ourselves with working and the role that we play. and so, being able to have that are being eroded is really impacting people is resilience and their ability to perform at their best. and so, therefore, being able to focus on these key things in a practical way is really important for people to look after. it must also be an extremely stressful time for the decision—makers, those who are taking the decisions on whether to send staff home from work, whether they need to let people go, at what point they can give them support, there are going to be stresses that people are facing in different contexts, as well as juggfing different contexts, as well as juggling their own personal lives and those they love as well? there is no doubt about it and i think one

of the things that we talk about so often when it comes to resilience is that ability to prepare, recover and adapt in the face of stress. what we are finding is that there is no preparation for this type of thing, and so therefore, it is very hard to predict what is going to happen. the ability to recover is almost nil because of the pressure that's going on. and so therefore, being able to adapt in the moment is incredibly difficult. but what i would say is, being able to pull your team together, not physically but at least being able to have that connection and that open line of communication, is so important. for example, we just spent half an out this morning with our team really thinking about, what do we need as individuals in order to be ok? and how do we know when we are not ok? because usually we have got the human contact, we can tell if people are not quite right, we can see people withdrawing. but it is so much harder when you have either only got a screen or a phone or a

text to do that. so, being able to upfront talk to your teammates, to think about how you can really interact with people, and that is as important for leaders as it is for anybody else within the organisation. if you are able to maintain that, all of a sudden the complexity of those decisions and choices that you have got to make will become easier because you're looking after yourself, that court resilience of you as a person and that collective resilience as a team. then you can start focusing on, ok, what does the new world look like? why are we here? how do we wa nt to like? why are we here? how do we want to perform? what are the key ways of working that we need to establish? and that cannot be prescribed because everybody will be facing different things. so therefore having that conversation upfront, how do we want to take on the next few months...? and perhaps even saying, let's expect this to be like this for the next four months, say, and if it is shorter, it's a bonus. but expect that length of

time to be able to prepare, recover and then adapt to that new world. thank you very much forjoining us with that good advice. this just in... the number of cases confirmed worldwide of coronavirus has now topped 200,000. global confirmed cases of coronavirus have topped 200,000 worldwide, according to johns hopkins university. there's mounting pressure for schools to be shut — but that could have a serious impact on the economy and the health service. andrew bull is a head teacherfrom cardinal newman school in luton — he says his staff are struggling to cope. and we can also talk to kevin courtney, joint general secretary of the national education union — he's written a letter to borisjohnson asking him to close schools. welcome, both of you. so, kevin courtney, you've written to boris johnson asking him to close schools, have you had any response? we haven't had a response as yet, but our letter was more than saying just close the schools. we have said to borisjohnson close the schools. we have said to boris johnson that close the schools. we have said to borisjohnson that in the situation

where anybody who has symptoms has to self—isolate and now where the government has put out a list of conditions that means that people should protect themselves, and that's pregnant women, it is people with copd, emphysema, asthma, chronic heart, lung, kidney disease, with parkinson's, there are so many conditions where teachers and sports staff have now been told they should not be in school, and where those staff, if they are a carer, if their partner has one of those conditions, or the parent that they are caring for, or the children that they are caring for, they obviously feel that they should not be in school because they should not be in school because they are opening themselves up to taking that disease home their loved one. so, on that basis we think that the situation in schools is becoming really chaotic and the government therefore does need to give a lead and to close the schools. but i would like to say more, because, we understand the point about the nhs, the fantastic nhs workers, the

overlooked school distribution workers, the people working on production lines making ventilators. so, we think there is a way of getting volunteer teachers who aren't in those vulnerable categories to reimagine what school is like. but there are going to have to be some decisions made for that, the government has to say something about the gcses and the a—levels, because that is causing more chaos. i wonder what andrew the head teacher things about that, but i will come back on it, if that's ok. let's go to andrew, i mean, there are so many issues let's go to andrew, i mean, there are so many issues for you, for pa rents are so many issues for you, for parents and kids, to bejuggling with. what is the situation in your school, how many staff are currently there, how many pupils?|j school, how many staff are currently there, how many pupils? i had to make an unfortunate decision to have two year groups not come in today... 20 teaching staff off and a further 11 support staff, who all perform important to... untenable at times,

but i have a staff who have humbled me in their willingness... sound cutting out prepare them for their exams... i am going to have to interrupter you because the line keeps cutting out so we will hopefully fix the technical issue. kevin, on the issue of gcses and a—levels, how stressful is it for these kids who currently have no idea whether they are going to be taking these exams?” idea whether they are going to be taking these exams? i mean, i think it isa taking these exams? i mean, i think it is a terrible position they have been put in. not to make a snide point, but this is something we forecast when the government went to terminal exams only and gave up coursework and teacher assessment. it means there is no base for a result at the moment. but the exam seasonis result at the moment. but the exam season is when everybody says

currently that the peak of the coronavirus will be, and during that period, a year 11 child doing gcses might be expected to do 35 hours of exams across a few weeks in an exam hall, and it doesn't seem credible that we are going to be there without lots of children missing out either before because their teacher is off, because they are unwell, because they have been to sell for licen self—isolate because their pa rent licen self—isolate because their parent is self—isolating... so, the run up to it is going to be incredibly chaotic. the number of children who could possibly be there is going to be extremely unreliable, we can't predict it. and i think the government needs to make a decision and say they are going to use some other method at this stage. because andrew as a head teacher will be cracking on as he says and trying to prepare children for an exam, but in a way that i think we know isn't going to work. the government needs to step up to this and make some decisions. when you say use of some

other method, what do you think would be the best thing that could be done for these kids right now? let me say that in primary schools, they should just announced now that they should just announced now that the stats aren't happening. that has been my union's position for many yea rs. been my union's position for many years. iam been my union's position for many years. i am saying that primary head teachers need to be able to think about what matters now, and that is whether the children on free school meals are being fed, whether other children in food poverty are being fed, about the children of nhs families, and they don't need other things to worry about. the year six kids won't be there for the sats exams so kids won't be there for the sats exams so the government should announce that they are not going to happen. with the gcses and a—levels, it is more complicated, because those children at 16 and 18 do need some sort of certification. we want to talk with the government about how that is going to be managed, but it doesn't seem to us that the exams are going to be the way to do it.|j think we can go back to andrew in a moment, but do you think predictions

might do the trick or having the exams later, september? we want to talk with government about that. it depends, doesn't it, on the actual predictions of what is going to happen with the coronavirus. we've been asking the government to give us been asking the government to give usa been asking the government to give us a modelling of different periods of school closure. so far the government hasn't given us those so it is very hard to make those predictions. so, there is a world in which maybe teachers would have to make an assessment of the child, but the child would then need some way of contesting that assessment, of saying, i would like to do the year again, or something of that nature. ijust want again, or something of that nature. i just want to go back to andrew because hopefully we have got a better line now, the head teacher from luton. so, you were telling us that you have had to send home two school years, your staff are depleted but you said you were very humbled by the job the staff are doing, but do you think the school can live on for much longer?”

doing, but do you think the school can live on for much longer? i have a duty of care to my local community, and i will endeavour to keep the school open. more and more tenuous as we go through the week. i have a lot of staff who are either expecting children... having to self— isolate. .. expecting children... having to self—isolate. .. my expecting children... having to self—isolate... my main concern is... andrew, i think we got the gist of what you were saying, obviously your primary concern is for those kids in the school and obviously the welfare and well—being of your teachers as well. thank you very much indeed and thank you also kevin courtney, general secretary of the national education union. this evening, there's a bbc news special on the coronavirus crisis. rachel burden and fergus walsh will be looking at how the nhs and small businesses are responding to the crisis, and they'll be answering plenty of your questions in coronavirus: your essential update. that's tonight at 7.30pm on bbc one.

inafew in a few moments, it's prime minister's questions, we will bring that to you live.

this is bbc news — i'm joanna gosling. the headlines at midday. the government says it is "ready to do more" to support people in theirjobs and help those who rent their homes. this is the scene live in the house of commons where the prime minister will be answering questions on the government's response to the pandemic injust a moment. supermarkets are taking action to help elderly and vulnerable people buy food and supplies — and to curb panic buying. my my thoughts and deepest sympathies are with her family and loved my thoughts and deepest sympathies are with herfamily and loved ones at this very difficult time. this morning i had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others

and in addition to my duties in the house i shall have further meetings later today. like many others in the uk might constituents in aylesbury are understandably deeply concerned about covid—19 and i pay tribute to staff at stoke mandeville hospital, social services and everyone in the community who is helping those with the virus or in isolation. can he assure the people of aylesbury and everybody in the country that the government will take whatever action is needed and spend whatever money is needed and spend whatever money is needed and spend whatever money is needed to save lives and to protect livelihoods? absolutely. i wa nt to protect livelihoods? absolutely. i want tojoin protect livelihoods? absolutely. i want to join my honourable friend in paying tribute to the staff at stoke mandeville, but all the staff in our fantastic nhs for the way they are coping in this extremely difficult time. he can certainly take it that we are not only... if you want me to

put another £5 billion into the nhs last week as he had for my right honourable friend, and we will certainly do whatever it takes and provide whatever funding is necessary to help our nhs through this crisis and indeed to support the whole country with government guaranteed loans as you will have heard yesterday. thank you. i want to thank you for the statement you made and the very responsible approach mps have taken to the question time today by sitting a suitable distance apart to avoid cross—fertilisation of this horrible disease. i also want to join the prime minister in paying tribute to the corporal who is paid in iraq last week. thoughts with the family and friends are. today, people are mourning the loss of loved ones. many more will be suffering from the effects of coronavirus, including those already losing work or losing theirjobs and worried about whether they can keep a roof over their head. 0ur they can keep a roof over their head. our greatest thanks must go to

the front line medical and public health staff who are fighting to combat the disease and to the public servants, postal workers in particular, who have given such sacrifices today and cleaners who are providing vital support to. we must also thank those working round the clock to ensure our shops and warehouses are stocked with the essential food supplies that everybody needs. we on these benches will do our duty to hold the government to account. together we need to ensure the most effective action is taken to protect people and it is in that spirit that i ask questions of the prime minister today. every member of the public will make sacrifices in the effort to stop the spread of coronavirus, but those on low pay, self—employed workers, and small business owners are understandably worried. sue wrote to me this week, her family is in isolation and says the current £94.25 per week statutory sick pay is not enough to pay for the food

shopping. can the prime minister do what the chancellor repeatedly refused to do yesterday and pledged to increase statutory sick pay to european levels ? statutory sick pay to european levels? i want to thank the right honourable gentleman for the way in which the opposition has been approaching this issue generally and for the cooperation that has so far taken place for the cooperation that has so far ta ken place between for the cooperation that has so far taken place between our front benches in this matter. because it is, as he rightly says, a national emergency. we are asking the public to do things to take actions in a way that is really unprecedented for a government in peace time and perhaps even unprecedented in the last century. to come to his question, it is only right that when we are asking people to take action, to isolate themselves if they have the disease or a member of the household has the disease, if we are ensuring, we are asking the public to ta ke ensuring, we are asking the public to take steps which jeopardise

businesses, because people to risk losing theirjobs, it is absolutely right that whatever their circumstances we should ensure that workers get the support that they need. in addition to the package of business support that my right honourable friend the chancellor outlined yesterday, we will be working with the unions, working with colleagues across the house, bringing forward further measures to support workers of all kinds throughout this crisis. the uk sick pay levels lag far behind those of european counterparts. the scandinavian countries are giving many of them 100% of wages during this crisis. and i hope that when the prime minister brings forward proposals on this, they do reflect the reality of people's lives. you cannot feed a family on 90 odd quid a week. and if those people are

putting everybody at risk because they have to go out to work in order to put food on the table. to claim statutory sick pay workers need to prove they earn a minimum of £118 a week. i hope one the prime minister brings forward proposals he will give confidence to the millions of people who work low income jobs, are in insecure work or self—employed, and commit to extending very much enhanced statutory sick pay to all workers. as i told the house before, of course we will ensure that nobody is penalised for doing the right thing and protecting notjust themselves but also other members of society, and of course making sure that our nhs is able to cope. clearly statutory sick pay will typically be supplemented by other

benefits, but we will ensure, and i repeat what i said to the right honourable gentlemen, we will ensure, since the state is after all making these demands of the public and of business, it is only right that throughout this period we should be doing whatever it takes to support the workers of this country throughout this crisis. what it ta kes throughout this crisis. what it takes is a recognition of the social injustice and inequalities that exist in this country. and i hope that when the prime minister makes the proposals aren't statutory sick pay levels, that will be recognised. a quarter of the people that are most crucial to support us in this crisis, social care staff and almost half of home care workers, are on zero—hours contracts, so therefore automatically not entitled to sick pat’- automatically not entitled to sick pgy- by automatically not entitled to sick pay. by not extending statutory sick pay. by not extending statutory sick pay to all workers, the government is forcing social care staff, and they are the people that could unwittingly be transmitting the

disease amongst the most vulnerable in our community, to choose between health and their own hardship. yesterday at the chancellor u nfortu nately offered yesterday at the chancellor unfortunately offered nothing to the 20 million people living in rented homes. including 3 million households with children. they are worried, they are worried sick that they can't pay their rent if they get ill, lose pay, orfeel they need to self—isolate. it is in the interests of public health, of the health of all of us, that people don't feel forced to go to work in order to avoid eviction when they know themselves they may be spreading this terrible disease. will the prime minister now confirm that the government's emergency legislation will protect private renters from eviction?” legislation will protect private renters from eviction? i can indeed confirm that. heat makes a series of a very powerful point and i can indeed confirm that we will do... we

will bring forward legislation to protect private renters from eviction. that is one thing we will do. it is also important, as we legislate, that we do not simply pass on the problem. we will also ta ke ste ps pass on the problem. we will also take steps to protect other actors in the economy. i need the details of that because all of us represent private sector tenants in our constituencies and we note the stress they are going through now. they need something said urgently about this and so i hope the government will say something as as soon as government will say something as as soon as possible. today it would be appropriate. nhs staff and those working in the care sector are on the of caring for patients from coronavirus. however, sadly, those workers have no idea if they are actually transmitting the virus themselves. they may not be obviously suffering from it but they

could still be transmitting it to. if they are ill or not, when they return to work on the front line, what effect it will have. can the prime minister please explain why the government isn't prioritising the government isn't prioritising the testing of all health care staff, both of those in the nhs and those doing such a vitaljob in the ca re those doing such a vitaljob in the care sector. in point of fact, we are prioritising testing of nhs staff for the obvious reason that we wa nt staff for the obvious reason that we want them to be able to look after everybody else with confidence that they are not transmitting the disease this country is actually far ahead of many other comparable countries in testing huge numbers of people. we are increasing our test from 5000 to 10,000 per day. it may be of interest to the house to know that we are getting much closer to having a generally available test which will determine whether or not you have had the disease, and that

will truly be of huge benefit to this country in tackling the outbreak. the world health 0rganization said test, test, test. and we should be testing, i believe, and an industrial scale. when i met the prime minister on monday evening he assured me there were 10,000 tests per day going on. that is better than none, obviously, tests per day going on. that is betterthan none, obviously, but tests per day going on. that is better than none, obviously, but it is nowhere near even the number of people working in the nhs and the ca re people working in the nhs and the care sector. it is a massive undertaking and i wish there was a greater sense of agency and the government in getting this testing available for all staff. nhs staff are obviously on the front line, and many are scared because the guidance that has been changed to say they do not need to work full protective equipment when caring for patients. a senior doctor has said, and i quote, "the rest of the well provide staff with full protective gear and we are restricting it. " this is a doctor saying, "i'm scared." we

shouldn't be scaring doctors and nurses. is there a policy for them to have a full protective equipment or not? because i should believe it should be the case. quickly on testing, to reassure him, we are moving up to 25,000 per day. on ppe for staff, he is right to raise this and this is of huge concern obviously to everyone that our nhs staff should feel they are able to interact with patients with perfect security and protection. there is a massive effort going on, comparable to the effort to build enough ventilators to ensure that we have adequate supplies of ppe equipment, not just now but adequate supplies of ppe equipment, notjust now but throughout adequate supplies of ppe equipment, not just now but throughout the outbreak. generations to come will look back on this moment and they willjudge us. judge us on the actions we take now. our response must be bold and it must be

decisive. the market cannot deliver what is needed. 0nly collective public action led by government can protect our people and our society. that collective action must not allow, must not allow, the burden to foremost on those who lack the resources to cope, as happened after the financial crash. people across the financial crash. people across the country understand, they do understand the need for temporary restrictions on our way of life to protect us all. we will work with the government. but the prime minister must understand that will require balancing action to protect the most insecure and vulnerable in the most insecure and vulnerable in the interests of public health, as well as of social justice. the interests of public health, as well as of socialjustice. the health of us all depends on the health of us all depends on the health of us all depends on the health of the most vulnerable. so i asked the prime minister, would he step up now and not tomorrow, and give support to those vulnerable people who live on the margins of our society, i vulnerable themselves, and make us all

vulnerable, and give them the support and reassurance that they are desperately searching for today? indeed i can. that is why we have announced another 500 million to go straight into councils to help them immediately with the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable. that is why we have announced immediate cash injections into business to help them through unquestionably a very difficult time. that is why we will bring forward further measures to ensure that every worker receives a support throughout this difficult period. be in no doubt, we are asking... he is right to draw the nature to the unprecedented nature of this crisis. we are asking the public to do quite extraordinary things and we are asking business to shoulder quite extraordinary burdens. but the more effectively we can work together to comply with the

very best scientific advice, which is what has actuated this government throughout the crisis, which has guided this government through the crisis, the better our chances of relieving the burden on the nhs, the more it lives we will save, the more suffering we will avoid, and the quicker we will get through it. be in no doubt. he is right. this is an enormous challenge for this country. i think the people of this country understand what they need to do to beat it and they also, i think, understand that we will beat it and we will beat it together. in november that the prime minister and the secretary of state for health and social care came to visit us at and social care came to visit us at a hospital in worksop to see the excellent work done by our local nhs. we were delighted to hear of a £14.9 million investment in

upgrading our accident and emergency department. with the prime minister please update us on the progress of this and if he and the secretary of state will accept an invitation to see the work once completed?” congratulate my honourable friend and what he is doing for the hospital and i remember going to talk to the wonderful doctors and staff at the hospital and they explained in great detail their fascinating plan for improving service for their patients. i am absolutely determined to support him and them in their ambitions. that is why we've put a £15 million already into expanding emergency care capacity in the hospital and my right honourable friend, the health secretary, is working, i know, intimately, with the hospital to ta ke forward intimately, with the hospital to take forward the whole project. can i associate myself with the remarks of the prime minister and the killing of lance corporal brodie gillen? this is an unprecedented

emergency and it requires an unprecedented response. iwelcome the fact that the parties across this house, and governments across these islands, have worked together as we attempt to protect all our people's. it is the right approach and it is the very least the public expect and deserve from us. yesterday the chancellor announced a 330 billion pound financial package for business. today in the uk government needs to announce a financial package for people. members from six parties across this house have expressed support for a temporary universal basic income to help everyone, especially freelancers, renters and the self—employed. using the current tax system, will the prime minister stand up today and give a commitment to provide people with the security

ofa to provide people with the security of a universal basic income? festival, i thank the right honourable gentleman for the spirit in which he has spoken and indeed there is a huge amount of collaboration going across all four nations of this country, as you can imagine. we are in lockstep. what i would say on his appeal for a basic income, do not underestimate the value to people of the measures that we have already announced that will support business and keep jobs going and make sure those businesses continue in existence. that must be the first step. then, as i've said repeatedly now to the right honourable leader of the opposition, it is also important that throughout this crisis we take steps to support workers. the suggestion he makes is one of many such suggestions. can i thank the prime minister for his

answer? there is a willingness from all of us to work together as we go through this crisis. thousands of people are already losing their jobs. it is happening today. millions will face the same threat. they need reassurance and support and they need it today. they need an income guarantee. prime minister, we must not repeat history. people are worried about their bills, they are worried about their bills, they are worried about their bills, they are worried about keeping a roof over their head. in the last financial crisis, the banks were bailed out but ordinary people were not. prime minister, you have it within your power to protect people's incomes and provide them with peace of mind. at this time, and emergency universal income scheme would do just that. will the prime minister, at the very least, commit to meeting

all of us who support this proposal and discuss how we can protect the incomes of all of our peoples? yes, indeed. ican incomes of all of our peoples? yes, indeed. i can make that commitment. indeed i said as much in my earlier a nswer to indeed i said as much in my earlier answer to the right honour of a gentleman. i think it is very important as we go forward that we try and enlist a consensus in this house about how to support people through the crisis. i agree profoundly with what he set about not repeating history. it is very important that as we ask the public to do the right thing for themselves and everybody else, that no one, whatever their income, should be penalised for doing the right thing. we will make sure that that is the case. can i welcome confirmation that routine 0fsted inspections will be postponed? that routine 0fsted inspections will be postponed ? will the that routine 0fsted inspections will be postponed? will the prime minister join be postponed? will the prime ministerjoin in be postponed? will the prime minister join in commending be postponed? will the prime ministerjoin in commending schools, leaders and teachers for all they have been doing in supporting families through this crisis?”

have been doing in supporting families through this crisis? i want to pay a particular tribute notjust of course to our amazing nhs but also to our teachers and everybody who works in our schools for everything that they have done to keep our schools going through this difficult crisis so far. of course we will do everything we can to remove burdens on schools and 0fsted is one in particular that we can address. the house should expect further decisions to be taken imminently on schools and how to make sure that we square the circle both of making sure that we stop the spread of the disease, but also making sure we relieve as much as we can, pressure on our nhs. thank you very much. my nhs colleagues on the front line are already stressed with the pressure that they face. last night i visited my father in a care

home and i am acutely aware that i may have fed him for the very last time. we are in unprecedented times. i would like to know, where was the forward planning for ppe for our nhs and care staff? where is the testing for medics? why are we waiting so long for mass testing? and why our social distancing measures merely suggestions? prime minister, it is right that we have all party loyalty aside to work together during this time of national crisis. but we must scale up the response. without good leadership people in this country will start to panic. there must be no more time for delay. the time to act is now! mr speaker, i completely agree with what the honourable lady says and i thank her for all the work she does in the health service andi work she does in the health service and i can certainly tell her that we have stockpiles of ppe equipment and

we are proceeding... it's very important for the house to understand we are proceeding in accordance with the best scientific advice and it is the timeliness of those measures that is absolutely vital in combating the spread of the epidemic. and indeed that is how you save lives. i am delighted that the uk's approach has been commended not just bite niall ferguson of imperial couege just bite niall ferguson of imperial college today, but also by the doctor of the world health 0rganization. doctor of the world health organization. the weeks and months ahead will test us all and stretch society to its limits. none more so than the national health service, which is working day and night to ca re which is working day and night to care for the sick and save lives, but together we will get through this. will my right honourable friend update the house on his effo rts friend update the house on his efforts to bring together a coalition of manufacturers to supply the nhs with the ventilators and other essential medical equipment if

needed to treat the most adversely affected patients during this pandemic? is the house knows, there is already a coalition of british manufacturers now working together at speed to supply the ventilators that we need. we already have 8000, we are moving rapidly upwards and i will keep the house informed on developments. close questions. number eight. i thank him for his invitation and i am happy to consider his invitation and i will ta ke consider his invitation and i will take it up. what i really hope is that the prime minister will look at the whole of the coronavirus crisis through the eyes of the rhondda because we have a large number of cell traders, chippies, plumbers, builders, we have a lot in very insecure employment, lots of people who are elderly and people on low incomes with next to no savings. many people have already been laid

off this week and i worried they will be laid off in the next fortnight. we really do need the prime minister to address these matters and if i'm honest i don't wa nt to matters and if i'm honest i don't want to be partisan, but it does feel as if we are a bit of an afterthought. i really, really beg the prime minister to look through the prime minister to look through the eyes of the rhondda because i think he would then double sick pay so think he would then double sick pay so that it is a sensible figure. i think he would introduce something like a think he would introduce something likea summit think he would introduce something like a summit version of the winter fuel allowance so that the elderly get some help. i think he will probably introduce some kind of vat holiday for sole traders. i know he hopes, and we all hope, that the whole of the country will bounce back quickly after this but i say to him, after the floods and the poverty that we have historically suffered in the rhondda, communities like mine will find it phenomenally difficult to bounce back if he doesn't take this kind of action

now. the honourable gentleman speaks powerfully and passionately and in my view wholly rightly for the people of the rhondda valley. i continue our thoughts in this government are with the people of this entire country in helping eve ryo ne this entire country in helping everyone to get through this virus. we will do, as i say, whatever it ta kes we will do, as i say, whatever it takes both to support business and, asi takes both to support business and, as i said in my earlier answer to the right honourable gentleman, the leader of the opposition, also to support individuals and families. i welcome the suggestion, the agreement of the right honourable gentleman, the leader of the scottish national party, that we should do this on a cross—party basis. as the member of parliament g re nfell tower, basis. as the member of parliament grenfell tower, i would like to thank my right honourable friend for the additional £1 billion in the budget for cladding remediation.

moving on to today's events, can my right honourable friend assure me that his government will do absolutely everything to support the economy? businesses large and small. the self—employed. individuals including those on low income. because now is not the time to be squeamish about public sector debt. ican squeamish about public sector debt. i can certainly give my honourable friend that reassurance.” i can certainly give my honourable friend that reassurance. i welcome the measures, but yesterday's statement offered nothing for the self—employed. my constituency in vauxhall has an estimated 30,000 self—employed workers and a lot of those people already feel the financial pinch now. back cannot wait for the government to announce something. so will the prime minister announced today a guarantee of measures that were fully compensate all self—employed workers in this crisis? i repeat the answer

i have given several times to several of her colleagues are. we will do whatever it takes to ensure that all workers are protected throughout this crisis. i'd like to extend my thanks to the nhs and all the front line staff, but also offer my thanks to him, the chancellor and the health secretary for their leadership in this crisis. it is warmly welcomed by many in my constituency. the news from the major food retailers this constituency. the news from the majorfood retailers this morning was welcome, with many over 70s vulnerable and self isolating are concerned they will have access to food and medicine through this period. could he confirm what the government is doing to ensure all retailers and pharmacists are going to prioritise these groups throughout the whole of this virus crisis? we are extending the hours in which deliveries can be made and we are talking right now with the pharmaceutical services negotiating committee about ensuring that

pharmaceutical goods get at the right time to customers who need them. in response to covid-19 there are reports from across the globe of anti—retroviral drugs been tested alone and in combination, with varying degrees of reported success. in light of this, can the prime minister advise the house what resources a re minister advise the house what resources are being made for drug security, development and clinical trials in the uk, what efforts are being made by him for the uk to work in concert internationally, does he agree that the price on this occasion must be the victory and not patents and profits?” occasion must be the victory and not patents and profits? i endorse com pletely patents and profits? i endorse completely the sentiment he has expressed about the need to do this collectively. the government has announced a £46 million package of investment in finding a vaccine stop a huge amount of work is going into investing in test kits and those are changing the whole time and

improving the whole time. and we are doing this, the house will be reassured to know this is being done as an international level, working with our eu partners, the g7, the gzo, with our eu partners, the g7, the 620, the who, the imf, with our eu partners, the g7, the g20, the who, the imf, everybody is working together on the very issues he addresses. as my right honourable friend has said, combating this virus will require a huge national effort. supporting doctors and nurses in hospitals and community ca re rs nurses in hospitals and community carers looking after the most elderly in their homes. can the prime minister assure me and his constituents watching and listening in warrington south that this government will do all it can to save lives, protect front line nhs staff, and keep the most vulnerable people in our society safe? yes, mr speaker, he identifies exactly the three priorities of this government. defeating the coronavirus must be the only

priority for the foreseeable future. there is already huge anxiety across the uk, people are facing unprecedented challenge and uncertainty. so, regardless of leave or remain, how quickly will the prime minister recognise the inevitable and seek a one—year extension to the brexit imp limitation process? our priority is to deal with the coronavirus epidemic and the other matter that he mentions has already, as he will know, been legislated for. like other town centres across the uk, burnley has been seeing the evolution of its high street, mixing retail with leisure, which plays a significant role in increasing footfall and supporting smes. with that in mind, can i thank the prime ministerand my that in mind, can i thank the prime minister and my right honourable friend the chancellor for the measures announced in the budget and yesterday, and will he commit to doing whatever it takes to support oursmes, so doing whatever it takes to support our smes, so that once we get through this challenge, our high streets can buzz once again?” through this challenge, our high streets can buzz once again? i can indeed confirm that is exactly why

we have cut business rates and that is why we are making a very considerable sum available for small businesses and indeed for very small businesses, precisely to protect the high street and the enterprise environment on which so manyjobs depend. i'm sure the prime minister will agree with me that protecting our nhs staff at this crucial time is of maximum importance. this week in county durham, at least one gps' surgery in county durham, at least one gps' surgery received a surgical mask from the nhs with expiry dates of 2016 on the box. in other cases, labels had been stuck over, extending the expiry dates of those boxes. what assurance can the prime minister give not only that they will get the equipment they require, but it is actually effective once they get it? mr speaker, to the best of my knowledge, all the equipment we are sending out is of the correct

standard, i will be happy to look at the case that he mentions, and as i said earlier to the house, we currently have stockpiles of ppe and we are making huge efforts to make sure we have enough for the outbreak ahead. the chancellor yesterday unveiled a wide range of motion is to tackle coronavirus. does my right honourable friend agree with me that it is vital we do whatever we can to get through this as a country? mr speaker, i wholly endorse what my honourable friend has said. we will do whatever it takes and we will beat it together. apart from rent arrears, eviction from a private tenancy for class—action 21, no fault eviction, is the biggest reason for homelessness. 0n fault eviction, is the biggest reason for homelessness. on friday i met a 77—year—old woman who had lived in her home for 15 years, i met a couple caring for a sister with down syndrome, both due for

eviction today. can i ask the prime minister to ask the courts to stop section 21 evictions, to take the pressure off hard—pressed councils and these really worried families? mr speaker, she is absolutely right to raise this and that is why i said what i did to the right honourable gentleman and we will indeed be bringing forward legislation to address the point that she raises. mr speaker, address the point that she raises. mrspeaker, in my address the point that she raises. mr speaker, in my constituency of 0rpington, we have enlisted the support of the voluntary sector to join the council in providing support to the most vulnerable residents in combating the coronavirus. can the prime minister confirm that local authorities like mine in. who are at the forefront of this will be given clear guidance in respect of safeguarding and devious checks of volunteers because this will allow us to deploy more volu nteers will allow us to deploy more volunteers when and if the need arises? he is absolutely right, and thatis arises? he is absolutely right, and that is why we are speeding up the checks so that they can be done in

24 hours. i want to thank all of the boroughs around the country for the way they are harnessing those volunteers. the prime minister talked about supporting families, so cani talked about supporting families, so can i ask him to show his solidarity for those households headed up by a single breadwinner, with dependent children? today is the day of the single—parent family, initiated by ronald reagan in 1984. can i ask him tojoin the ronald reagan in 1984. can i ask him to join the right ronald reagan in 1984. can i ask him tojoin the right honourable member for romsey and southampton north on the steps of old palace yard immediately after this pmqs to show that old or young, rich or poor, big or small, all families matter. well, i couldn't agree more powerfully, more strongly, with what the honourable lady has said, whether i will be able to join her at whichever venue she has identified, i'm not sure, i will have to look at my diary. i think i have a date with you, mr speaker. can i thank the prime minister and his team for the

surefooted way in which they are approaching this crisis? given what is unfolding in northern italy and the very real prospect of our brilliant nhs staff being overwhelmed in a matter of weeks, what age and comorbidity criteria are being drafted that will govern access to intensive care and to ventilators? mr speaker, he raises a very important point but this is one thatis very important point but this is one that is not unknown to the medical profession, and we will be relying on the clinical decisions of those medical professionals. on the matter of whatever it takes — it takes more than three word slogans is what i would say to the prime minister. in this case it actually takes a bit of war socialism. we need to get money into the pockets of the workers. has he seen my proposal about bringing

ina temporary he seen my proposal about bringing in a temporary universal basic income to support workers and get money where it is actually needed?” hear the honourable gentleman loud and clear and he is echoing a point that was already made by the leader of the snp and, of course, that is one of the ideas that will certainly be considered. my right honourable friend is rightly busy day to day dealing with covid—19 but can i ask him to cast his mind a bit further forward , him to cast his mind a bit further forward, the chief medical officer and the chief scientific adviser have been clear that the best solution for this is a vaccine, but the chief scientific adviser has said that it could be as much as a year away. he has also suggested that until that vaccine is available, it may be difficult to ease restrictions successfully. does my right honourable friend agree with that analysis, and if so, what does a sensible exit strategy look like? mr speaker, the objective of

the government and the objective of our scientific advisers is to depress the peak of the epidermis, to make sure that we get through it, so to make sure that we get through it, so that we come out on the other side, and we do that as fast as possible. and that is why we are taking all the measures that we've announced, that is why we have announced, that is why we have announced that the package of business support that we have. i am not going to give a timescale on it but that is the strategy, and i and absolutely certain that it will succeed. we come to presentation of bill. i will take them after this statement... studio: prime minister's questions, as you can see there, a very quiet chamber and as you can see there, a very quiet chamberand mps as you can see there, a very quiet chamber and mps sitting some way apart from each other. there have been a couple of positive tests of coronavirus amongst mps. those in

the government, though, seem to be sitting pretty close to each other. the main headlines were from pmqs that the prime minister said that further decisions are imminent on schools. there seems to be a bit of an implication that there may be some sort of a skeleton arrangement announced for schools, not a com plete announced for schools, not a complete closure but possibly a skeleton arrangement involving volunteer teachers so that children of key workers can continue to go to school. that has been one of the key concerns for the government in closing schools. other issues as well of course factoring into their decision—making. talking also about a test to check if you have had coronavirus possibly coming soon. no more detail on that but that would bea more detail on that but that would be a very interesting and significant development in terms of acetate in who may therefore have immunity going forward. also speaking about helpful private renters coming. —— ascertaining. it is expected that there will be measured announced, he said that is coming. he also said that they will

be new measures for workers coming. our assistant political editor norman smith is in the central lobby of the houses of parliament. what are your thoughts? pretty much as you said, pretty much the striking thing i think borisjohnson saying that a decision on school closures will be taken imminently, i presume that means within days. it comes when we know that ministers have sought to push it back because of fears that parents who are doctors, nurses, care workers, might have to stay at home to look after their children, which, of course, increases the pressure on hospitals and care homes. but what seems to be going on is that a number of schools, particularly in london are already closing because of cases of coronavirus, so the facts on the ground are changing. schools are closing anyway. so, that decision, which i think the hope had been to get through to the easter holidays on fourth april, i think, to get through to then. i suspect that may

now be brought forward because events seem to be moving ahead at pace. the other areas, as you say, yes, there will be legislation soon to protect tenants against evictions if they are hit financially because of coronavirus. we've got more words but no details from borisjohnson about the state supporting workers, what does that mean? we don't know. various ideas mooted are, could there be possible way subsidies? could employers' national insurance be cut? jeremy corbyn said, why don't you just raise statutory sick pay? ian blackford, the snp leader, saying, what about a universal basic income? i think the problem with both of them is, what the government is looking at is supporting people to stay in work, not helping them once they are out of work, so i think it is a different tack. the other thing you flagged up is very

important i think, the suggestion from borisjohnson that important i think, the suggestion from boris johnson that we important i think, the suggestion from borisjohnson that we are getting closer to a household test to determine whether you have had coronavirus. now, that is very important for the epidemiologists and others to track the spread and where it is most virulent and to enable them to get a grip on the disease. mrjohnson said that, too, was much closer than many people expected. so, we did get quite a bit of nuts and bolts about aspects of the coronavirus response from the government. thank you very much, norman. the european union is now formally banning travellers from outside in an unprecedented move to seal its borders. it is expected to apply to all 26 eu states as well as iceland, liechtenstein, norway and switzerland. there are exemptions for british citizens, though. the ban came as deaths continued

to soar in italy, spain and france began a strict lockdown. europe is now considered the epicentre of the pandemic, which has killed 7,500 globally. rich preston has this. more than 3,000 people have died from coronavirus in europe and officials are desperate to contain the spread of the virus. the european union's entire external border will be sealed. all nonessential travel into the eu blocked for 30 days. and let me stress once more, we are ready to do everything that is required. we will not hesitate to take additional measures as the situation evolves. in the german capital, berlin, a near total lockdown. businesses in europe's biggest economy ground to a halt. officials raised the risk of infection to german people from medium to high. in france, severe restrictions on people's movements as of midday tuesday.

within minutes, police were on the streets. an extra 100,000 officers deployed to enforce the rules. emergency measures being put in place at this hospital in bordeaux, preparing for a potential surge in cases. in spain, 15 residents of this nursing home in madrid confirmed killed by the virus. spain's seen nearly 12,000 cases, more than 500 of them fatal. a state of emergency has been declared across the country. saxophone plays. others doing what they can to lift their spirits in the face of increasing restrictions on normal life. rich preston, bbc news. saxophone plays. with more and more people working from home, and with schools and universities potentially about to shut, can the uk's broadband network cope? let's speak now to

professor izzat darwazeh, the head of the information and communication and engineering group, at university college london. thank you forjoining us. well, can the systems a few with increased demand in that way?” the systems a few with increased demand in that way? i think the system demand in that way? i think the syste m ca n demand in that way? i think the system can cope and is coping but maybe not very well. i think we are already seeing that the network is being overstretched, we are already seeing that there are problems of connectivity, especially in big cities, where the provision is best but the demand is highest. and even without excess demand anyway, the systems aren't always brilliant, and there are obviously areas of the country where they don't have a good network at all, if anything, in some places? you're absolutely right, there are many places with really terrible network provision, many of the rural areas, many places even on

the rural areas, many places even on the edge of cities don't have good provision at all. and these places will suffer if people have to work from home. or if they are stuck at home and if the kids want to play or strea m home and if the kids want to play or stream media on television, yes. so, are there any easy solutions to this? i think the internets service providers and the network operators can work, and my bet is that they are working now, to change some of the structure of the network so that it can be better. one has to understand that the demand of the network that we see now is com pletely network that we see now is completely unprecedented, much, much higher than anyone would have expected. and i understand why there are problems but i think there must be immediate solutions and i think there should be long—term solutions. the uk has missed a trick in not

being fibred up like many other places in the world. if there had been fibre into the homes, the network would have been much stronger. i think we have to look at this long—term. stronger. i think we have to look at this long-term. do you envisage potentially a situation where, if the network is struggling to cope and people are doing important work from home, traffic might be limited at certain times of the day to enable the important business to be getting done, rather than the other stuff that we all do online which we really don't have to be doing?” mean, i really don't know. this is a political decision for the network operators and possibly for government. i doubt that we will reach this situation. i think there could be provision now where things get better and i think network operators are working on this as we speak. i doubt that there will be

limitations imposed, but i do not know. thank you very much for joining us, professor izzat darwazeh. a pleasure to be with you. lots of nice things are happening in all of this, of course. a man from north somerset is working round the clock to cook up to 500 meals a week for people who are self isolating. the meals won't cost the diners a penny but are reliant on donations from the community. fiona lamdin has been to yatton. by day, jonny works in recruitment. but he's now spending his evenings here in his kitchen, hoping to cook 500 meals a week for those who can't get out to the shops. sort of relying on my recipe book, which is fairly large, and doing as many dishes as possible. we've probably got about 50 recipes ready. the meals are for those

self—isolating who can't get out, and they're completely free. and jonny‘s certainly got the experience. he was trained by chef raymond blanc. this is the van, so we can deliver up to around 1,000 meals. as long as people want them we have the capacity to do so, and people in the community have said they will lend us their van as well. a few miles away in yatton, 80—year—old haydn williams hasjust come out of hospital after a chest infection. hello, sir, i have your food for you. a fresh meal. i would shake your hand but i had better not. bump elbows. there you are. thank you. thank you very much. we made sure we all kept a safe distance from haydn. he's brilliant, doing it off his own back, not during the daytime but after his work. there's not many young lads like that giving their time. and while we were out filming, johnny's local pub offered him their kitchens to cook all the food. my little domain.

couple of microwaves, chip fryer, fish fryer, oven, salads, cooked meats. superb. this is perfect. it's a lot bigger. it is the right thing to do for the village. people, if they need help, we can give it. we're fit and healthy. this time three days ago, jonny hadn't even had this idea. now, with everyone pulling together, this community hopes to feed 500 of their most vulnerable. fiona lamdin, bbc points west, yatton. we'd love to know what you're doing to support your neighbours. lots of you have been getting in touch. this one says... the paperboys are looking after her pa rents paperboys are looking after her parents in edinburgh. the paper came through the door saying, we are your paperboys, we want you to know that

should you have to self—isolate, we would want to help you get anything you need. here is our mum's phone number, her name is nicola, call her if you need anything and we will help you for free. even if you are lonely and you just want a chat, please call us. that is gorgeous, isn't it? this one... yesterday i handed out use some posters to homes helping, alongside offering to basically help to do shopping, so thatis basically help to do shopping, so that is happening. lots to scroll through here. this one says... we are working out who our first aiders in our local are working out who our first aiders in ourlocalarea. are working out who our first aiders in our local area. neighbourhood support network to help any elderly or vulnerable... let's get this going across the uk... this one says punters we need to promote exercise to be done inside your home, especially over 65 is, and she has worked it out some examples of what can be done.

there's mounting pressure for schools to be shut — but that could have a serious impact on the economy and the health service. i've been speaking to andrew bull who is a head teacher from cardinal newman school in luton who says his staff are struggling to cope and kevin courtney, joint general secretary of the national education union he's written a letter to borisjohnson asking him to close schools. we have said to borisjohnson that ina we have said to borisjohnson that in a situation where anyone who has symptoms has to self—isolate, and borisjohnson has now put out a list of conditions people to protect themselves, pregnant women, people with copd, asthma, chronic heart, lung, kidney disease, parkinson's, there are so many conditions where teachers and support staff have now been told they should not be in school, and where those stuff, if they are a carer, if their partner has one of those conditions, or their parent that they are caring for, or their children who they are caring for, they obviously feel that they should not be in school because they should not be in school because they are opening themselves up to taking that disease home to their

loved one. so, that basis, we think that the situation in schools is becoming really chaotic and the government therefore does need to give a lead and to close the schools. but i would like to say more, because we understand the point about the nhs, the fantastic nhs workers, the overlooked school distribution workers, the people working on production lines making ventilators. so, we think there is a way of getting volunteer teachers who aren't in those vulnerable categories to reimagine what school is like. but there are going to have to be some decisions made. the government has to say something about the gcses and the a—levels because that is causing more chaos. i wonder what andrew the head teacher thinks about that, but i will come back on it, if that is ok.

i had to make the unfortunate decision to have two year groups not come in today... 20 teaching staff off and a further 11 support staff in whatever role they do, who all perform important... untenable at times, but i have a staff who have humbled me in their... coming to school, prepare them well for their exams. . . school, prepare them well for their exams... we are cracking on... andrew, i am going to have to interrupt you because the line keeps dropping out so we will hopefully fix the technical issue. kevin, on theissue fix the technical issue. kevin, on the issue of gcses and a—levels, how stressful is it for these kids who currently have no idea whether they are going to be taking these exams? i think it's a terrible position they have been put in. not to make a

snide point, but this is something we forecast when the government went to terminal exams only and gave up coursework and teacher assessment, it means there is no base for a result at the moment. but the exam seasonis result at the moment. but the exam season is when everybody says currently that the peak of the coronavirus will be, and during that period, a year 11 child doing gcses might be expected to do 35 hours of exams across a few weeks in an exam hall, and it does not seem credible that we are going to be there without lots of children missing out either before, because their teacher is off, because they are unwell, because they have been told to self—isolate because their parent is self—isolating. .. so, self—isolate because their parent is self—isolating... so, the run up to thatis self—isolating... so, the run up to that is going to be incredibly chaotic, the number of children who could possibly be there is going to be extremely unreliable... we can't predict it and i think the government needs to make a decision

and say they are going to use some other method at this stage because andrew as a head teacher will be cracking on as he says and trying to prepare children for an exam that in a way that i think we know isn't going to work. the government needs to step up to this and make some decisions. when you say use some other method, what do you think would be the best thing that could be done for these kids right now? well, let me say that in primary schools, they should just announce now that the sats aren't happening. that has been my union's position for many years. i am saying that primary school head teachers need to think about whether children on free school meals are being fed, whether other children in food poverty are being fed, about the children of nhs families, and they don't need other things to worry about. now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller.

some sunny spells in scotland and northern ireland on the way this afternoon but for much of england and wales, stuck underneath the cloud, and some outbreaks of rain around. as we take a look at the recent satellite radar picture. the rain is slowly edging further south. the lion share of the sunny spells will be in scotland. there are showers around, particularly in northern and western scotland. wintry on the hills. these are the average wind speeds. gusts will be high, especially in northern scotland. you can see where most of the rain is sitting, from south wales, across the midlands, to lincolnshire and east anglia. much of south—east england will stay dry and it will be very mild. into tonight, still a few showers in northern scotland but for north wales, northern england, northern ireland and scotland, and clear

skies, we will see quite a sharp frost in the coldest rural parts. underneath the cloud, however, temperatures staying up. the sunshine will turn hazy after a bright start in northern england tomorrow. the best of the sunshine will be in scotland and northern ireland. it will feel a bit colder further south as an easterly breeze sta rts further south as an easterly breeze starts to develop. more places are turning drier, but it will feel a bit colder, particularly the further south you are, because you can see a fairly brisk wind coming in here from the east north—east. the reason for this is the area of high pressure, the isobars tighter together towards the south and the west of the uk. that is where we will have the stronger, chilly, easterly breeze. at the start of the

weekend temperatures will be a bit below normal for the time of the year. but remember, it is high pressure. just a selection of locations to give you a feel of the weather into the weekend, we're pretty much all in the same boat for a lot of dry weather, increasing sunshine by sunday, and by then, the breeze will be using. —— easing.

the government promises more measures to help workers hit by the coronavirus crisis, and people who rent their homes. labour says tenants need to be protected from eviction if they can't pay their rent. they're worried sick that they can't pay their rent if they get ill, lose pay, or feel they need to self—isolate. i can indeed confirm that we will do... we will be bringing forward legislation to protect private renters from eviction. the prime minister also said there'll be a decision imminently on whether to close schools. also this lunchtime... one of the latest victims of

coronavirus, his family paid