this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the bank of england warns that the uk is heading for its deepecst recession on record, with economic output likely to fall by 14% this year due to coronavirus. the government says it's doing all it can. when we do come to the other side of this virus, we have a good

opportunity for our economy to recover as quickly as possible. boris johnson reviews the coronavirus lockdown with his cabinet, having suggested some rules could be eased from monday. analysis of deaths from coronavirus in the uk reveals that the risk of dying from covid—19 among some ethnic groups is significantly higher. just adjusting for age, we saw that the black ethnic grouping was just over four times more likely to die of covid—related issues than the white group, and the bangladeshi and pakistani group was about three and a half times more likely and the indian grouping about two and a half times more likely. hundreds of thousands of surgical gowns, ordered from turkey last month, haven't been given to nhs workers because they don't meet british safety standards. a massive gas leak at a chemical plant in eastern india has killed at least 13 people,

with hundreds more taken to hospital. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. i'm annita mcveigh. the bank of england has warned the uk is already in a deep recession, with the economy set to shrink by 14% this year — the biggest one—off contraction in over 300 years. the bank says it expects growth to plummet by a third and unemployment could more than double to 9%. the uk prime minister is chairing

a meeting of the cabinet to review the coronavirus lockdown, having signalled some measures will be relaxed from next monday. borisjohnson will set out his plans on sunday. in france, the government will decide later today whether to lift the country's eight—week lockdown on monday. new data in the uk from the office for national statistics says ethnic minority groups are far more likely to die from covid—i9. and, at least 13 people have died and hundreds taken ill after a gas leak in southern india. let's speak to our business presenter, ben thompson. we can talk about that briefing from the bank of england earlier. the biggest contraction in uk history, they says, contraction in the economy tell us more about the headlines from the briefing. economy tell us more about the headlines from the briefingm economy tell us more about the headlines from the briefing. it is a

stark assessment and one that really gives an indication of what could happen next and how the uk economy mightfind happen next and how the uk economy might find its way out of this prolonged downturn. let's not forget, it is unprecedented and the scale of the shutdown is really taking its toll on business. what we have heard from the bank of england is not necessarily a forecast that one potential scenario they think is most likely to play out. in it, some pretty stark assessment of what could happen for all sorts of things like unemployment and economic growth. on economic growth, they suggest the first quarter of this year, january, february and march, the economy could have shrunk by 2.996 the economy could have shrunk by 2.9% but it is in the second quarter that we start to feel the real economic pain, for the following three months, a fall of 25% in economic growth over that period. that is quite simply because businesses are shut, people cannot get to work, consumption has fallen sharply and businesses are finding it difficult to find their way out

of this point of as far as unemployment is concerned, it is currently around 4% and that could rise to as high as 9%, more than doubling by the end of the year because people simply cannot get back to work. there are all sorts of forecasts for things like spending, whether as consumers we will feel nervous about putting hands in pockets and are spending again. because that is one of the real concerns, that even when all this is over and people can go out and live a more normal life and get back to work and start going to shops and businesses, many will still be concerned about their income and employment and where the next paycheque is coming from. so the repercussions of this could be felt for a long time. earlier in this pandemic, the government was talking perhaps at about a v—shaped recovery, perhaps at about a v—shaped recovery , a perhaps at about a v—shaped recovery, a sharp falloff in economic growth before a sharp rebound, perhaps taking us back to where we were four, a blip on the economic horizon. i think what is pretty clear from these statements

from the bank of england is that it could take much longer post the impact of this will be felt for a while. we have seen all sorts of businesses, big and small, having to make very tough decisions about their future and warning that demand will not be back to precrisis levels for some time to come and that means we could all feel the economic pain for much longer. thank you for giving us that overview about what the bank of england has said. i'm joined now by former chancellor of the exchequer lord lamont. thank you for your time today. do you think the scenario set out by the bank of england today is a reasonable view of what might happen? yes, it obviously doesn't make comfortable reading, it is quite grim but it's not a surprise, and it is happening all over the world. iam and it is happening all over the world. i am sure there will be similar estimates from the united states, france, italy, european countries. this is not really a normal recession, it is a shutdown

of the economy that has been caused by the correct decision of the government to shut the economy down temporarily in order to combat the virus. the question is, how quickly will we recover? how do you get out ofa will we recover? how do you get out of a recession that is not a normal one? you have to lift the restrictions when it is safe to do so restrictions when it is safe to do so and that can only be done gradually. we will hear soon how that will be done. i think one of the problems will be that, for much of the service sector, hospitality, entertainment, restaurants, hotels and tourism, if social distancing is maintained, it will be quite difficult for those businesses to get back to normality quickly. so while much of the economy might get back relatively quickly, that sex that might struggle for quite a while. —— that sector might struggle. if people don't feel safe about going out and doing what they

might have number for the lockdown, how does the government get in the reve nu es how does the government get in the revenues it needs to start turning things around? revenues it needs to start turning things around ? ultimately revenues it needs to start turning things around? ultimately it needs to make people feel safe, doesn't it? you are quite right and that is where the balancing act comes in. prolonging the measures to defeat their virus versus the cost of maintaining people when they are not at work and subsequently their employment. it is very difficult balance for the government to get. we do need consumer confidence to come back and it will only come back gradually and very heavily influenced by the effectiveness of the health measures. therefore does the health measures. therefore does the government, in order to make people feel safe, do better on testing, on setting up a tracking and tracing mechanism that people will confident in using?|j and tracing mechanism that people will confident in using? i think thatis will confident in using? i think that is certainly part of it, getting the tracking going and the

testing going, that will help to bring confidence. i think confidence will come back gradually and slowly. but other parts of the economy the non—consumer part, will come back more quickly. i'm asking really if the government needs to do more than it has done up to this point. you think it could have done more than it has done on testing pricing and so it has done on testing pricing and so on? i'm not going to comment on the testing and tracing, i'm here to comment on the economy. what i think the government has got to do is maintain and taper its employment measures so there maintain and taper its employment measures so there is not a cliff edge. that way, you can get the economy gradually returning to normality. i suppose the two things are absolutely linked, the testing and tracing and whether the economy can get up and running ultimately but let's talk about the ongoing government to support. how long do you foresee that needing to last for, given that we cannot predict what will happen, if there

will be another spike, for example, in the virus that necessitates another lockdown? it is very difficult. the cost of the furloughing scheme is huge. in a three month period, it might cost 40— £50 billion and that can't go on for very long. at the same time, if it is withdrawn immediately, there is a cliff edge and companies will struggle to get people back working as they were before very quickly. i think what you might see it would be a tapering of the measures, which would cost less but it might mean that for certain sectors, they will continue with the scheme. they might also move to a system where you subsidise hours worked rather than whole jobs, and that would encourage part—time working. all that would help to ease getting back to

normality. the enormity of this is unlike anything we have ever seen enormity of this is unlike anything we have ever seen before. ultimately, how is the uk going to pay for this? are taxpayers going to pay for this? are taxpayers going to pay for this and how long do you think it might possibly take?|j think it might possibly take?|j think the cost of this will be huge. there will be an increase in the deficit and in borrowing and that is going to happen all over the world. i have seen forecasts that the average debt to gdp ratio in advanced countries might be something like 150% of gdp and that is the average, some countries would be worse. we are going to have to let borrowing rise and i would counsel accepting that in the short term until the recovery is really firm and really going. 0k, lord lamont, former chancellor, thank you for your time this morning. as we've been hearing, the uk's coronavirus lockdown

will be reviewed by the government today, with signs that some restrictions could be eased from monday. the government's "stay at home" message is expected to be dropped, in order to kickstart some sections of the economy. but most of the current lockdown measures are due to remain in place. the uk has now become the first country in europe to record more than 30,000 deaths linked to coronavirus, as jon donnison reports. olume and isi ivowi — brothers and best friends, both victims of covid—i9. olume died on good friday in luton. he was 46. isi, who had down's syndrome, died nine days later, in milton keynes. he was 38. the family, who could not be by their sides when they died, are urging people to stick to the lockdown. social distancing, making sure you stay at home, don't go out if you don't need to, and if you do go out, follow the guidelines, listen to all the medical professionals because they are the ones that can really guide us through this and be sensible, because this does kill

people. and the number dying continues to rise. 649 more deaths were confirmed yesterday, making the uk the first country in europe to pass 30,000. in online videos and elsewhere, the government is still urging people to stick to the lockdown, but it's understood the government's core stay—at—home message is to be scrapped at the weekend. the prime minister is due to make an announcement on sunday, but officials say don't expect dramatic changes. restrictions will most likely remain largely in place. we have to be sure that the data is going to support our ability to do this. that data is coming in continuously over the next few days. we'll want, if we possibly can, to get going with some of these measures on monday. i think it will be a good thing, mr speaker, if people had an idea of what's coming the following day,

and that's why i think sunday, the weekend, is the best time to do it. meanwhile, the government is still facing questions on testing. here, the military are helping test key workers but since the weekend, the government has failed to meet its target of 100,000 tests a day, and there are still concerns about protective equipment for the nhs. in april, an raf cargo plane was dispatched to fly in ppe supplies from turkey. the government has now confirmed that 400,000 surgical gowns that were delivered have been unusable because they did not meet the required safety standards. it will add to claims that the health service has not received the support it needs. tonight, though, as on every thursday for the past six weeks, people will yet again take to the streets to clap for their carers. jon donnison, bbc news. our political correspondent,

helen catt is at westminster. hello, helen. the government has a tricky balancing act to perform. it wa nts to tricky balancing act to perform. it wants to suggest there is light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak, but at the same time perhaps not that much is going to change come next week. that is certainly the strong message we are getting. today is the day the government has to review those lockdown measures, it has to do it every 21 days by law but they stay in place by default until the government decides to change them. as you heard, we are not expecting to hear what might happen until sunday night on that which is when borisjohnson has promised to set up this thing he is calling a road map that will address things like how you reopen schools perhaps, how you go back to work place is put at what we are expecting from that is what they are thinking of, perhaps what order they might do those things in but not when. there will not be a specific timetable on it and certainly we are

looking at a gradual easing of restrictions. that is because they are very restrictions. that is because they are very aware restrictions. that is because they are very aware they do not want to risk this idea of having a second peak of the virus, so they want things that can be turned on and off, if you like, and done in phases. we are expecting some sort of overnight changes. you heard borisjohnson of overnight changes. you heard boris johnson saying of overnight changes. you heard borisjohnson saying they of overnight changes. you heard boris johnson saying they were of overnight changes. you heard borisjohnson saying they were take effect from monday and a strong hint is that is likely to be around issues of like being outdoors. the current rules are that you can only be outdoors for exercise once a day and we expect that might change. a senior government minister, brandon lewis, was talking to media this morning and stressed that nothing will change before monday. i fully appreciate that, i appreciate there will be people who have been in lockdown for a considerable number of weeks, doing so in difficult circumstances. small properties with families, and i'm very, very keen, particularly if we do see the good weather that is being promised this bank holiday weekend, but i would just say to people, i would really urge caution. the safest thing to do at the moment with this virus

and the way it spreads is, whenever you can, to stay home. yes, get out and get that daily exercise, and if you can't work from home and can work in safe circumstances, then the guidelines are there for that very purpose. but we have got to continue in the process we have had and we are doing everything we can to ensure people's safety. and if the government wants people, albeit very slowly and gradually, to start getting out more and doing more things, how much of a job does it have to do to actually convince people that it is safe to follow that advice? because they have not got the testing up and running in the way they wanted, they have not got a track and trace system in place yet so it seems like there is quite a job to do. there certainly is and in a way it is because the stay at home the message has been very effective and people have embraced it. they now have to convince the public that it will be safe to go back to your workplace, that maintaining social distancing is enough. we should say that

when borisjohnson is enough. we should say that when boris johnson sets is enough. we should say that when borisjohnson sets out his road map on sunday night, he can only set the rules for england. most of the lockdown measures are set by the different governments, the scottish, welsh and northern ireland executive will set the rules for each area of the uk and so far they have all moved together in lockstep, as they say. but this is the point i think where we will see if those are going to be applied differently in different areas of the country. we have seen some small differences in scotla nd have seen some small differences in scotland for example, with nicola sturgeon already recommending covering your face when you are out ina covering your face when you are out in a circle of circumstances which of the uk government has not. that might be key in giving people the confidence to be going outside their houses again and returning to work. there is a huge amount of work that has to be done ahead of this. thank you very much, helen. france will learn later today whether its eight—week lockdown will be lifted on monday, as planned. pressure is growing for economic and social life to resume,

with france registering a drop in growth of almost 6% for the first three months of this year. our paris correspondent, lucy williamson, reports. hotels and factories may be deserted but food banks are getting busier. this centre, run by one of france's biggest charities, saw a 40% rise in subscriptions last week. coronavirus has meant finding new ways of operating and new kinds of people in the queue. this woman began coming here last month after the lockdown left her husband out of work. they ate through their savings in weeks, she told me. france's biggest economic players have also been badly hit by coronavirus — tourism, construction, manufacturing. france's economy shrank by almost 6% in the first part of this year as the government brought in one of the strictest lockdowns in europe. we are all touched and the problem is that we have medically triggered

artificial coma of all our economies and france is very good at that because france is totally centralised. later today, the government will set out how to lift those restrictions, dividing the country into red and green zones, with the rules tailored to each area. paris is likely to be a red zone. the virus is still circulating here and the hospitals are still under pressure. what exactly that means for residents and companies, no—one yet knows. the government has suggested that some small tourist sites in green areas of the country could reopen from monday. but france's borders are still closed, as are its hotels and restaurants. obviously, when you hear what italy has been saying last week, they have been saying, "we are ready to welcome everybody for this summer. " it is not the message

france is sending so far. we definitely have the means to adapt but in the end, it is going to be a psychological message of what the government will want to send to citizens, and tourists from abroad. shops and primary schools are preparing to reopen from monday and people should be able to travel freely within 100 kilometres of their homes. the new message after weeks of confinement, "don't stay at home" — a new mantra for the nation's economic health. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. people in new zealand are to be allowed to visit family and friends again, in small groups, when the country's lockdown is further eased. but the prime minister, jacinda ardern, said measures would be introduced carefully and hasn't named a date. shops, bars and restaurants will reopen but with strict hygiene and social distancing rules. ultimately, level two is our safer normal, not a return to business as usual.

treasury modelling did tell us we are better off in the longer term to move down through the alerts progressively, so it does mean getting every stage right. that means both the decision to go there, but also what we do when we get there. think of ourselves halfway down everest. i think it is clear that no one wants to hike up that peak. the descent is known to be even more dangerous and so we need to proceed with caution, with the highest degree of confidence, and to look after one another on the way, and i absolutely believe we can do that. a new study reveals that men and women from an afro—caribbean background are four times more likely to die with covid—19 in england and wales than white people. that's just one of the findings released in the last hour by the uk's office for national statistics. it also says that people with bangladeshi, pakistani, indian and mixed ethnicity backgrounds also have an increased risk of dying with the disease. earlier i spoke to nick stripe, the head of health analysis at the office for national

statistics, who explained the data. the risk is significantly higher for some of those ethnic groupings compared to the white ethnic grouping. so, we already know from previous work we've released and published that things like your age, things like your gender, and things like where you live, your location, are key things in terms of people's likelihood thus far of dying of covid—related issues. so, what we've actually got is your probability of dying with covid is made up of two things. firstly, your probability of actually being infected in the first place. and, then, secondly, your probability of dying once you have been infected. now, those two things are influenced by your personal circumstances to a large degree. so, the first thing we did is we looked, adjusting for age, at what the difference was in terms of risk of dying by these ethnic

groups and that brought out some quite stark differences. so, just adjusting for age, we saw the black ethnic grouping was just over four times more likely to die of covid—related issues than the white group. the bangladeshi and pakistani grouping was about 3.5 times more likely. and the indian grouping, about 2.5 times more likely. with me is our head of statistics, robert cuffe. hello. i know you have been examining this in the last half an hour or so. the headline from all of that, we began with black men are four times more likely to die with covid—19 than white men and the ons looked at other people from other ethnic backgrounds. they then factored in other adjustments like age, where they live, socioeconomic status and so on point it's important to go beyond the headline numbers and look at the

differences. is one of the first things you have to do when trying to understand how big a problem this is. of course, black and asian communities, minority ethnic communities tend to be younger than the white british population so you have to take account of that but also where people live because cities are more ethnically diverse and it is also where we have seen that i was hit ha rd est. where we have seen that i was hit hardest. we can hopefully show the data. when you can take account of region as well, you see that there is still an increased risk. if you are black you are almost twice as likely to die with covid and if you are white. if you are bangladesh or pakistani, it's not quite as high come in the 60-80% it's not quite as high come in the 60—80% group. and what the viewers should be looking at, when we look at these markers on the screen, is the dot in the centre which is telling you how high the risk is. if you look at the chinese community, it looks as if the death rate might

bea it looks as if the death rate might be a bit lower but that line shows you the margin of error around the estimate and it shows that actually we cannot say it is exactly lower, it might be the same or a bit higher but it is really clear that for the black community, the risk is higher. 90% up is definitely high and even if you go as wide as you can in that range of uncertainty, it is still different to the white community. how does this move us on? i spoke to trevor phillips, who is involved with the government study into how covid—19 affects different ethnic groups and he said the uk traditionally has been too squeamish about collecting data on ethnicity. how does this move us on in terms of understanding how people are affected and what to do? we have seen some analyses affected and what to do? we have seen some analyses that try to get into this question of region, where people live and how old they are but this goes further. the ons have done that they have linked the death data to information from the 2011 census which is where people do give their ethnicity and when you tie those

together, you are able to adjust for other things as well, notjust where people live but if they live in particularly deprived area, are they renting or owning a house outright? how well off are they? when you add in those factors, you get more into the why. it looks like these data are not fully explaining because if you could come all of the risks we have shown you would be the same if they said we could adjust for the different professions people are in, that would tell us what we need to do next. i think what this shows us is that there is an issue, clearly a strong signal that there is a difference between different ethnicities production it explains some of those differences but certainly not all of them. thank you very much, robert. a massive gas leak at a chemical plant in southern india has killed at least 13 people and thousands have been taken ill. residents near the plant owned by lg polymers in the city of visakhapatnam in the state of andhra pradesh complained of a burning sensation in their eyes

and breathing difficulties. the gas is reported to have spread several kilometres. the indian prime minister narendra modi has tweeted, "i pray for everyone's safety and well—being" in the city. it's not clear what caused the leak. our correspondent in mumbai, yogita limaye, gave us more details. well, the bbc‘s telugu service has been told that some of those taken to hospital are on ventilator and in serious condition but we do not know of the numbers yet, authorities are not confirming sort of what is the exact scale, how many people have been affected by this leak. they have traced the leak back to a factory owned by lg polymers, on the outskirts of visakhapatnam city, but you know, surrounded really by a lot of residential areas as well and distressing visuals that we have been seeing here since this morning, people laying on the ground, finding it difficult to breathe, families trying to rush them

to hospital in cars, trying to call ambulances. and, you know, a lot of the people have had breathing difficulties, they have complained of stomach pain, irritation in their eyes, imitation on the skin. —— irritation on the skin. the leak is believed to have taken place at about 3am local time and what an official has told us was that it happened as the factory was trying to open up for the very first time since lockdown was imposed in the country on the 24th of march it's emerged that a shipment of thousands of medical gowns, ordered from turkey for british healthworkers, have not been distributed to front—line staff because they did not meet safety standards. nearly half a million gowns were flown to the uk by the raf but are now stuck in a government warehouse. to give us more on this, let's speak to our science correspondent, pallab ghosh. the government talked a lot about

the shipment of downs coming from turkey but now we are told they don't meet standards here in the uk. why did this happen, why did the government not know that they were not what they expected them to be? if you cast your mind back to mid april, you will recall the government was under immense pressure because there were a shortage of ppe, doctors and nurses and front—line staff and social care staff just not getting and front—line staff and social care staffjust not getting the equipment they needed. one would imagine that they needed. one would imagine that they had cut corners not checked the equipment that they needed to, that they otherwise would have and shipped over this consignment from turkey which has turned out not to meet the safety standards. i have had a look at what those standards should be and they include four surgical gowns that they should be made of well established materials, they must be sterile, what it repellent. all these things were not checked. until the consignment of

400,000 gallons arrived —— water repellent. it arrived on the 22nd of april. we have not had a full report from the government on the grounds yet but what would we have expected? we mention some of the things we expected the guns to be but do we know what was wrong with them in terms of why they did not comply —— the gowns? the government have not given any details of why they have not complied, i'm just speculating really based on some of those essential technical requirements. but at the time, the government was saying, injustification but at the time, the government was saying, in justification for why it did not have enough ppe, that they could not place orders willy—nilly to supplies that might not exist or provide them to the adequate standard. yet we find that in this instance, that is exactly what they did, perhaps to relieve a particular political problem but they have ended up with another embarrassing political problem further down the line and itjust shows

that it is worth sticking to the procedures and making sure you get it right rather than telling people you're going to get it right. 0k, thank you very much. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... the bank of england warns that the uk is heading for its deepecst recession on record with economic output likely to fall by 14% this year due to coronavirus. borisjohnson will review the coronavirus lockdown with his cabinet today, having suggested some rules could be eased from monday. analysis of deaths from coronavirus in the uk reveals that black people are four times more likely to die from covid—19, and the risk to other ethnic groups is also significantly higher. hundreds of thousands of surgical gowns, ordered

from turkey last month, haven't been given to nhs workers because they don't meet british safety standards. a massive gas leak at a chemical plant in eastern india has killed at least 13 people, with hundreds more taken to hospital. india is beginning the process of bringing home 15,000 of its citizens stranded abroard by the coronavirus pandemic. there'll be a total of 64 flights from 13 countries, including the uk, the united states and singapore, and they'll start with the most vulnerable, including pregnant women and older people. dinesh sardana has been stranded in morocco for the last two months. he was visiting for business when the lockdown began. he's one of 120 indians stranded there. and ra njeet rathore who is a student here in london.

he was due to graduate this summer but instead finds himself waiting for a flight home, with no idea when that will be. beginning with you, ranjeet, how much would it mean to get back to yourfamily in much would it mean to get back to your family in rajasthan? these times have been really challenging, really difficult for me and all of the students. you asked, what will it mean to me? it will mean the world to me. i am in this new country, when you come to a new country, when you come to a new country, it is a cultural shock anyway, and on top of that, more trouble on what you already have in a foreign land, this things happened, you cannot go back to your country. it has been immensely distressing to myself that i cannot graduate, cannot be with my family in this difficult time. there is no money to support me. ijust don't know what is going to happen. you are in halls of residence. how are you managing on a practical level?

ona you managing on a practical level? on a practical level, what i was doing earlier, i had a part—timejob through which i was getting some expenses covered. now i don't have my part—timejob. i'm using all of my part—timejob. i'm using all of my savings i have left. i still have to pay for my rent even though i am not working and i have to pay for other expenses. just using my savings. i am other expenses. just using my savings. iam burning other expenses. just using my savings. i am burning through all the cash i saved earlier. dinesh you are in morocco. i know you are extremely anxious to get back to yourfamily, your wife, extremely anxious to get back to your family, your wife, your children, your mother, you but you have been there for two months, what has it been like in that time? almost two months i am here and the situation here is reasonably controlled in terms of the covid situation. the problem is i am a chronic asthma patient and i am on regular steroids, inhalers, nebulisers. in terms of race, i have a greater risk in case

there is some issue with regard to covid. i was in casablanca and i shifted but then there were cases coming up so i shifted to a very small town just to be away and to reduce the risk. fortunately, in this town, zero cases at this point in time. more than me, i am worried about family in india. they have a very serious problem. my house is in a containment zone. my mother is a chronic asthma patient like me and has a heart problem. my daughters are young. has a heart problem. my daughters y has a heart problem. my daughters are young. my wife is also passing through her own share of troubles, diseases. it is actually... i am so much distrust in fact a few days ago

here, and much, first few days of the lockdown, i could not sleep for six, seven days, i had symptoms of asthma starting because this is the season. it is the worst possible time to be away from your family, dinesh. give you have asthma, you should, in theory, be one of the first to be repatriated. but what contact first to be repatriated. but what co nta ct have first to be repatriated. but what contact have you heard from your authorities, the indian authorities, about the possibility of getting on about the possibility of getting on a flight to get back home? about the possibility of getting on a flight to get back home7m about the possibility of getting on a flight to get back home? it is very unfortunate. the embassy have been very helpful in terms of getting back to me at least and giving me feedback in terms of what is happening in india. unfortunately, all the borders are closed in morocco since the 15th. i arrived on the 11th of march. india, border was closed around 20 seconds. the only

option is special flight —— 22nd. there were no flights from morocco. the situation here, there are very few people in terms of indians stranded here, not more than 120 people, maybe it is not a priority for the government of india, understand that. the same question to you, ranjeet. what help have you had, what information, from consular embassy officials about the possibility of getting home and when that might be? as compared to morocco, over here, the numbers... what the high commissioner has told us, to fill out a google form they gave us detailing all of the issues we have, our passport number, home address here in the uk and back in india. ishared address here in the uk and back in india. i shared the details with them and on the basis of the form is submitted, they will filter out the

priority, the vulnerable citizens, ta ke priority, the vulnerable citizens, take them back home. but apart from that, i have not really had any other communication between myself and the embassy. but in this dire time, challenging time, we are struggling with food and i company pay for groceries. don't have too much money to pay for living costs —— andi much money to pay for living costs —— and i can't pay for groceries. an organisation has helped us, indian stu d e nts organisation has helped us, indian students association, i heard about this from neighbours down the street. they have been a tremendous help. in a line from both of you, if you wouldn't mind, are the indian authorities doing enough given the exceptional nature of what is going on? ranjeet? what they are doing to be honest, their efforts, i would say hats off to them for organising one of the biggest

across the world, i would say. for us here, i would not say much has been done already in the uk. same question, dinesh, given the exceptional nature of the circumstances, is india doing enough? they have started an initiative but they should in fact be targeting the other countries also. where there are a small number of indians. i see a lot of indians stranded, even people who came on vacation for almost two months, nothing to eat, and we are trying to help them. since i came here regularly, i know morocco well, we are trying to help these people. but people who have come on very short visits, they are in a distressed situation. the problem is in morocco we have ramadan

season, food for these people is also a problem. i have a particular problem. there are 30 people i know in even more worse condition than me. dinesh and ranjeet, thank condition than me. dinesh and ra njeet, thank you condition than me. dinesh and ranjeet, thank you both full talking to us at bbc news. good luck with getting home hopefully before too long. thank you so much. let's return to the findings by the uk's office for national statistics that black men are four times more likely to die with covid—19 than white men, while bangladeshi, pakistani, indian and mixed ethnicities also have an increased risk of dying with the disease. the data shows, for the first time, links between covid—19 deaths and socioeconomic status, qualifications, housing, self—reported health conditions and ethnicity. we can speak now to dr abdul hafeez, chair of the association of pakistani physicians and surgeons in the uk. thank you forjoining

us. i have spoken to you before, colleagues of yours, who have anecdotally been reporting concerns about ethnicity and covid symptoms and ethnicity and covid gas and of the 31 doctors who have died from covid—19 in the uk so far, 29 have been from the bame community —— covid debts. what do you make of the data from the ons? thank you. this is what we always expected. only now there is conclusive evidence behind what we suspected before. the association of pakistani physicians and surgeons, we are concerned in terms of the figures specifically showing health staff, obviously, bame makes up an important part of the workforce and

7296 important part of the workforce and 72% of the people who have actually died, medical staff, they are from bame communities. startling discrepancy between the asians, and other ethnicities, compared to white local populations. i think the data overall, looking at the data for the uk, it does show, obviously, the inequalities and now we have a very strong evidence and this is something we need to work on, the socioeconomic differences. there are a number of reasons why there could be the difference between the asians and bame communities and local populations but none of them are proven to stop this is what we would like. we take this data as the benchmark and investigate what is going on behind—the—scenes. benchmark and investigate what is going on behind-the-scenes. what do you think needs... you mentioned

government, what do you think needs to be done on a policy level to try to be done on a policy level to try to address these health inequalities? if you have, for example, people who as a community are more disposed to certain health conditions and if you have people from a certain community are in more public facing jobs coming into contact with large numbers of people and therefore may be more susceptible to picking up viruses, how do you address all of those things at a policy level?|j how do you address all of those things at a policy level? i think thatis things at a policy level? i think that is the first thing we need to do, asa that is the first thing we need to do, as a benchmark, first of all, we need to have a look at the data and make a new policy. risk assess. first of all, we are talking about health staff, working on the front lines. these people, doctors and nurses and other health professionals, all nhs organisations should risk assess them, look at... using bame as a high risk

category. they should be removed from the front and given responsibilities in areas where there is less risk —— from the front line. they have created separate covid and non—covid—19 areas in a&e. more bame doctors have been given responsibilities in hot areas... and they should have ppe at all times. absolutely. i will come to that in a second. one member has reported she was working in a surgery where she was working in a surgery where she was the only one looking at the patient as opposed to other members of the staff doing telephone triage. these are issues we need to look into in more detail, what organisations are doing at a high level and hospital level and gp surgery level and hospital level and gp surgery level so no one is put

at risk unusually. ppe is a big question. we know there are shortages and there are cases of members reporting when masks have been... asking them to not use too much. we can see bame doctors have a much. we can see bame doctors have a much higher risk of dying from this disease so as an organisation, the association, we would like them to be moved to safer areas and quick action is required from government. dr abdul hafeez, association of pakistani physicians and surgeons of the uk, thank you for your time today. the headlines on bbc news... the bank of england warns that the uk is heading for its deepecst recession on record with economic output likely to fall by 14% this year due to coronavirus. borisjohnson will review the coronavirus lockdown with his cabinet, having suggested some rules could be

eased from monday. analysis of deaths from coronavirus in the uk reveals that black people are four times more likely to die from covid—19, and the risk to other ethnic groups is also significantly higher. in australia, a royal commission has found that cardinal george pell, one of the country's most senior catholics, was aware of child sexual abuse by clergy as early as the 1970s, despite his claims he was not. the findings were not published for three years to protect his trial for child sexual abuse. he was convicted and imprisoned but acquitted last month. cardinal pell has always maintained his innocence. our correspondent in sydney is shaimaa khalil. this is part of a bigger royal commission into australia's institutional response to child sexual abuse. this was the result of a five—year comprehensive inquiry into this

and was published in 2017. the parts that had to do with it, that were related to how cardinal george pell responded to some of the sexual abuse claims and complaints that came to him at different stages were redacted for, as you say, three years because of legal actions against him. and it is only after his acquittal last month by the high court that we are now seeing what the commission has found. and it does make for some damning reading, really, as far as cardinal pell is concerned because it found out that george pell knew about sexual abuse, child sexual abuse, being committed by the clergy as early as the 1970s but that he had failed to take action or protect children on more than one occasion. it goes on to give examples. back in 1973, at the dioceses of ballarat, in the state of victoria, and specifically to behaviours that have to do with gerald ridsdale, a priest that had

later admitted to abusing hundreds of children, but that george pell was publicly supportive of. another example from back in 1989 where george pell was the axillary bishop in melbourne and this had to do with allegations, sexual abuse allegations, of father peter searson. at the time, he himself had received complaints about father searson but failed to take any action. he told the commission that he thought action was being taken by more senior catholic officials and by the archbishop of melbourne at the time. but really, at that time, it was incumbent upon him, the report found, for the protection of children, to take action and at least call for an investigation into these allegations. donald trump has described the coronavirus pandemic as the worst attack ever on the united states, saying the global outbreak would not have happened if china had acted quicker. mr trump said the fallout from the pandemic had hit the country harder

than the japanese bombing of pearl harbor in world war ii, or the september 11th attacks. our north america correspondent, david willis, reports. word that the white house task force was being disbanded alarmed public health officials here. since the crisis began, two of its leading figures, dr anthony fauci and dr deborah birx, have emerged as some of the most trusted voices on the spread of the pandemic in the us. reports it was being wound up led to speculation that they were being sidelined, and prompted the president to change course. the task force will be around until it is no longer necessary. the task. as they respected. people said, we should keep it going. supplies — maybe not so much. at an event at the white house,

a nurse told the president she had been using the same medical mask four weeks. so, ppe has been sporadic, but it has been manageable and we do what we have to do. we are nurses and we learn to adapt and do whatever the best thing we can do for our patients. to do the job and get the care provided and that is what we will continue to do as covid—19 continues. the president begged to differ. sporadic for you but not sporadic for a lot of other people. oh, no, iagree, mr president. because i have read the opposite. although additional names will be added to the coronavirus task force, the often outspoken dr fauci will remain part of it. he has differed from the trump administration on a number of occasions, most recently over their assertion that the virus originated in this laboratory in the chinese city of wuhan, rather than in a local wet market. nonetheless, it is a view the administration continues to press. we don't have certainty about whether it began in the lab or whether it began some

place else. there is an easy way to find out the answer to that. transparency, openness. chinese state media lampooned the trump administration in a propaganda video, depicting an imaginary dialogue about the virus between china and the us. president trump says the virus has harmed the us more than the attack on pearl harbor or september 11 terrorist attacks. he faces the uphill task of rebuilding the economy before the election in six months' time and he is unlikely to let up on who he thinks is to blame. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. tomorrow marks 75 years since ve day, the day victory in europe was secured. john maguire has been to meet 97—year—old audrey gerrans who worked in munitions factories and married her sweetheart, joe, a soldier, during the war. "darling, please be careful

of those flying bombs. i'm so worried about you. everything is ok with me, dear, and there is nothing i want you to send me...unless you could get mum to wrap you up in a neat little parcel, label it "with utmost care" and send it to me, urgent." "my dearestjoe, i heard one of your songs on the radio at lunchtime. i remember when you used to sing it to me and sometimes play it on the gramophone at home and we'd dance together, darling. i would love to be dancing with you just now. " the words of lovestruck newlyweds, married in 1944 and kept apart by conflict. but through more than 700 letters, joe and audrey gerrans were never far from each other‘s thoughts. and i wrote everything in those letters. i mean, people would say, "what the hell do you write about every day?" because some of them were 17, 18 pages long! and joe used to say it was as if i was in the next room,

he never, ever thought he was apart from me. joe was a talented footballer who once met the king while playing for barnet. during the war, he served with the royal army medical corps while his young wife worked in a munitions factory. when you say "munitions", it makes you feel you were brave. we made 3.7, and they were the big guns on the coast, you know. yep. "big bertha", we called our one that was on our kent coast. by all accounts, if they got scratched at all, they wouldn't fire. every time i was night work, i did everybody's hair for them. i washed it and rolled it up when i went in, and i combed it out before they went home. and of course, the supervisor couldn't grumble because she was the first one to have hers done. audrey was next tasked with helping to manufacture

aircraft fuel tanks — just one of two women in the factory small enough to crawl into the tank and by torchlight finish off its interior. and then they pulled us out by our feet. withjoe now in northern germany, news came through on the radio at home that hitler was dead and the war, in europe at least, was over. people were dancing in the street, so we joined them. all the lights were on, you know. and fairy lights and everything! i thought that was the end of the war, and so did everybody else. joe died in 1997. their romance, born in war, had lasted more than half a century. "now i'm happy, dearwife, that our love will remain as strong as yesterday." "i hope you're not worrying about me too much, sweetheart, for you know i will be all right." john maguire, bbc news. she was the british forces' wartime sweetheart whose song

we'll meet again has become a message of hope during lockdown. today, a new official portrait of dame vera lynn has been unveiled to mark the 75th anniversary of ve day. the oil painting is called the enduring sweetheart and is by the artist dan llywelyn hall. it has been commissioned to raise funds for the dame vera lynn children's charity. the main story, the bank of england warns the uk is heading for its deepest recession on record because of coronavirus. you were watching bbc news. martin is here next. right now, the weather forecast. bbc news. martin is here next. right now, the weatherforecast. a bbc news. martin is here next. right now, the weather forecast. a chilly start to the day earlier but things are warming up and that will be the theme of the next few days. temperatures on the rise. warm sunny weather around. also a

few showers. some could be quite heavy and potentially thundery as well. high pressure still in charge. drifting off towards the east allowing a couple of weather fronts to affect western parts of the uk at times today and tomorrow. cloud in northern ireland, western scotland, western wales, south—west of england. the odd shower here. further east across england, wales and scotland, you should keep the blue sky. temperatures and warmer spots up to 22,23. blue sky. temperatures and warmer spots up to 22, 23. typically, 17-20. as spots up to 22, 23. typically, 17—20. as temperatures built, heavy showers for south wales, the midlands, east anglia. the odd rumble of thunder this evening and tonight. temperatures staying on the mild side with more cloud than last night. frost free start to friday and friday will be a milder day. quite a bit of cloud around. southern and eastern parts staying largely sunny with more showers and parts of scotland, northern ireland and later won for wales and south—west of england, some

drifting east. temperatures tomorrow little bit warmer than today. typically, high teens, low 20s. the weekend? you will notice a real change in the weather. gradually turning colder. that trend starts in northern scotland, quite an active cold front, bringing rain and cold are air moving in from the north. elsewhere, largely dry start, showers and thunderstorms building in the afternoon, across the midlands, south wales, for instance, but in warmer spots, up to 24,25 midlands, south wales, for instance, but in warmer spots, up to 24, 25 in the south—east. contrast that with single figures in the north of scotland. colder air single figures in the north of scotland. colderairsinking single figures in the north of scotland. colder air sinking south across all of the uk on saturday night and into sunday and cold northerly wind arrows on the map, different feel to sunday and initially rain showers in the south and snow flurries even to lower levels across the north and the east of scotland. quite a cool northerly

wind and many10 of scotland. quite a cool northerly wind and many 10 degrees colder than saturday by sunday with temperature 6-16. saturday by sunday with temperature 6—16. goodbye.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the bank of england warns that the uk is heading for its deepest recession on record, with economic output likely to fall by 14% this year due to coronavirus. the government says it's doing all it can. when we do come to the other side of this virus we have a good opportunity for our economy to recover as quickly as possible.

boris johnson discusses the coronavirus lockdown with his cabinet, having suggested some rules could be eased from monday. analysis of deaths from coronavirus in the uk reveals that the risk of dying from covid—19 among some ethnic groups is significantly higher. just adjusting for age, we saw that the black ethnic grouping was just over four times more likely to die of covid—related issues than the white group. the bangladeshi and pakistani grouping was about 3.5 times more likely, and the indian grouping, about 2.5 times more likely. hundreds of thousands of surgical gowns, ordered from turkey last month, haven't been given to nhs workers because they don't meet british safety standards. a massive gas leak at a chemical plant in eastern india has killed at least 13 people. over 800 have been treated in hospital.

hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. the bank of england has warned the uk is already in a deep recession, with the economy set to shrink by 14% this year — the biggest one—off contraction in over 300 years. the bank says it expects growth to plummet by a third and unemployment could more than double to 9%. the uk prime minister is chairing a meeting of the cabinet to review the coronavirus lockdown, having signalled some measures will be relaxed from next week. borisjohnson will set out his plans on sunday. in france, the government will decide later today whether to lift the country's eight—week lockdown on

monday. new data in the uk from the office for national statistics says ethnic minority groups are far more likely to die from covid—19 than people of white ethnicity. and at least 13 people have died and hundreds taken ill after a gas leak at a chemical plant in southern india. let's speak to our business presenter, ben thompson. they are alarming figures but only one scenario the bank of england accepts could be played out. absolutely right, what the bank of england is saying is not that this isa england is saying is not that this is a forecast of what will happen, but one most likely scenario for how the uk economy gets out of the worst of this. we know business has been shut and people have been unable to go to work. but the bank of england and people around the world have been saying that will take some time to recover. we will see effects on the uk economy for some time to

come. you touched on the big issues, one of which is unemployment, currently around 4% in the uk and expected to double to more than 9% by the end of the year. the other issue, economic growth. the first quarter of the year from january to march, falling by just quarter of the year from january to march, falling byjust 3%, but it's the second quarter, the months after that, that are expected to fare much worse. we are writing that second quarter right and businesses are struggling in many cases. they expect the knock—on effect of that will be a 29% fall in economic growth. the big question is how long ta kes to growth. the big question is how long takes to recover when business can get back up and running. they expect it will take some time until we are back to precrisis levels and until business is operating as normal. that's primarily because us as consumers might find it difficult to put our hands in our pockets and spend money. we are nervous about jobs and the economy, nervous about where the next pay packet may come

from. that could have a knock—on effect for the wider economy if we simply rein in spending on day to day things. we have seen big business also worried about demand getting back up to precrisis levels, not least airlines who have already announced many job losses not least airlines who have already announced manyjob losses because they think it will take many years for airline passenger demand to get back to somewhat normal. a little earlier we spoke to brandon lewis, the northern ireland secretary, and he has laid out what could happen next, and crucially what the government has been for the health crisis but now increasingly towards the economic crisis as well. we were always clear and we were very open with people, the chancellor himself was very open about the fact that this virus would have a big impact on our economy. that is why we put such an unprecedented support package out there and why we were determined and continue to be determined to do everything we can to make sure the support is there, that both people, from a health point of view and an economic point of view, and

businesses need. as i say, when we do come to the other side of this virus, we have a good opportunity for our economy to recover as quickly as possible. that was brandon lewis speaking to us earlier about what could happen next. but the bank of england is saying this is just one possible scenario and it says there are many other scenarios that are plausible here. yes, they initially talked about what we have discussed, a v shaped recovery, a sharp falloff in economic growth before bouncing back quickly. it's fair to say it could ta ke quickly. it's fair to say it could take longer because of the nervousness we have all got about getting back to normal. but the new governor of the bank of england, andrew bailey, has been talking this morning about what could happen next. he has said, yes, this is an unprecedented slump in economic growth and a recession that hasn't seen growth and a recession that hasn't seen before or since records began in1949, seen before or since records began in 1949, but he says the economy is likely to recover more rapidly than after the financial crisis and i

think many will take heart from that. we have seen the impact of that. we have seen the impact of that economic crisis in 2008 and its effects still being felt all this time later. so whilst what we are seeing right now is unprecedented in terms of a slump in demand, there is an expectation that it may not take us long to recover as perhaps it has donein us long to recover as perhaps it has done in the past. thank you, ben thompson. let's get more on that now with andrew sentance, who's a senior adviser to cambridge econometrics and former member of bank of england's monetary policy committee. thank you forjoining us. given what we have been through and what we are still in, how alarming should we find those figures from the bank of england? i think the bank of england's forecast is in line with other figures we have seen, for example for the budget from office responsibility, the output of the economy has been cut by close to a third. close to 30% according to the bank's figures. that's

mainly a product of the lockdown and also a product of the lockdown and also a product of the lockdown and also a product of uncertainty and obviously people's incomes have been affected. but i think the key issue is what happens next. their bank is actually quite optimistic in this reference scenario that there will be some sort of v shaped recovery. but there are quitea sort of v shaped recovery. but there are quite a few reasons why that may not pan out. we don't have to have social distancing measures and other restrictions in the economy for quite some time, and there is the uncertainty you referred to in your news report. so i think the bank is probably erring on the optimistic side in terms of how quickly the economy will rebound. the nature of it leads the bank to seem to assume that compared with the financial crash of 2009, the rebound could be quite marked and fast. how realistic

is that? i think it depends very much how consumers respond. at the moment, consumers are being held back by the fact they can't consume many things they would normally consume because parts of the economy are down, pubs, restaurants and garden centres and things like that. as restrictions are relaxed, that problem will ease, but we will not return to the sort of situation we we re return to the sort of situation we were in before the pandemic because we've got to have social distancing and other restrictions on business activity. some parts of the economy, like pubs and restaurants, may be very slow to open back up. so i think the longer term impact of the pandemic and the lockdown will be greater than the bank central forecast indicates, and that's something we will have to adjust to over a period of years. it's obviously a balance in how long you

keep locked down and the wider effects that those restrictions have on society, not least economically. how much worse might it have been without the measures the government has taken? i think the government had to take the measures that it has taken. some commentary has been that we could have actually moved a bit more quickly, but that's hindsight. i think the key issue now is how can we unwind these measures. it's clear it will have to be done gradually and it has to be done in different ways in different parts of the economy. so we will hear from the prime minister on that issue over the weekend. i think we can't expect the weekend. i think we can't expect the economy to suddenly bounce back into life. given the extent of the lockdown we have been in for nearly six weeks now. former member of

the bank of england monetary policy committee, now with cambridge economic tricks. thank you for joining us. as we've been hearing, the uk's coronavirus lockdown will be discussed by the government today, with signs that some restrictions could be eased from monday. the government's "stay at home" message is expected to be dropped, in order to kickstart some sections of the economy. but most of the current lockdown measures are due to remain in place. the uk has now become the first country in europe to record more than 30,000 deaths linked to coronavirus, as jon donnison reports. olume and isi ivowi — brothers and best friends, both victims of covid—19. olume died on good friday in luton. he was 46. isi, who had down's syndrome, died nine days later, in milton keynes. he was 38. theirfamily, who could not be by their sides when they died, are urging people to stick to the lockdown. social distancing, making sure you stay at home,

don't go out if you don't need to, and if you do go out, follow the guidelines, listen to all the medical professionals because they are the ones that can really guide us through this and be sensible, because this does kill people. and the number dying continues to rise. 649 more deaths were confirmed yesterday, making the uk the first country in europe to pass 30,000. in online videos and elsewhere, the government is still urging people to stick to the lockdown, but it's understood the government's core stay—at—home message is to be scrapped at the weekend. the prime minister is due to make an announcement on sunday, but officials say don't expect dramatic changes. restrictions will most likely remain largely in place. we have to be sure that the data is going to support our ability to do this. that data is coming in continuously over the next few

days. we'll want, if we possibly can, to get going with some of these measures on monday. i think it will be a good thing, mr speaker, if people had an idea of what's coming the following day, and that's why i think sunday, the weekend, is the best time to do it. meanwhile, the government is still facing questions on testing. here, the military are helping test key workers, but since the weekend, the government has failed to meet its target of 100,000 tests a day, and there are still concerns about protective equipment for the nhs. in april, an raf cargo plane was dispatched to fly in ppe supplies from turkey. the government has now confirmed that 400,000 surgical gowns that were delivered have been unusable because they did not meet the required safety sta nda rds. it will add to claims that the health service has not received the support it needs. tonight, though, as on every thursday for the past six

weeks, people will yet again take to the streets to clap for their carers. jon donnison, bbc news. our political correspondent, helen catt, is at westminster. todayis today is a key moment in that by law the government has to review those lockdown restrictions, it has to do it every 21 days. but they stay in place until and unless the government changes them, so nothing is likely to change until monday. we know we will get a road map from borisjohnson on know we will get a road map from boris johnson on sunday know we will get a road map from borisjohnson on sunday in which he says he will address some of those things people want to know, like how you might reopen schools and how you might get people back into work places, for example. but the sense is that might be what could be done and in what potential order rather than a timetable. we understand there are likely to be some immediate changes overnight going into monday morning and the strong

hint so far is that is likely to be around things like outdoor exercise. current rules in the uk are that you can only go outdoors to exercise once per day. we think that may change, but we won't get detail until sunday night. this morning a senior cabinet minister, brandon lewis, has been speaking to broadcasters and has made it clear that despite this is a bank holiday weekend, nothing will change until at least monday. i fully appreciate that, i appreciate there will be people who have been in lockdown for a considerable numberof weeks, doing so in difficult circumstances. small properties with families, and i'm very, very keen, particularly if we do see the good weather that is being promised this bank holiday weekend, but i would just say to people, i would really urge caution. the safest thing to do at the moment with this virus and the way it spreads is, whenever you can, to stay home. yes, get out and get that daily exercise, and if you can't work from home and can work in safe circumstances, then the guidelines are there for that very purpose. but we have got to continue

in the process we have had and we are doing everything we can to ensure people's safety. the important thing to say is that when borisjohnson sets out those potential changes to lockdown restrictions on sunday, he only really speaks for england because lockdown rules in scotland, wales and northern ireland are set by the respective governments there. so far, all four nations have been largely similar. we have seen small differences, and for example in scotla nd differences, and for example in scotland their advice is to wear face coverings and construction sites have been closed, which they are not in england. but largely they are not in england. but largely they are in lockstep, calling it a four nation approach. but it's up to each individual devolved administration as to what the precise lockdown rules are set in each nation of the uk. it is important to draw that distinction, thank you to helen catt in westminster. indian officials have described a gas leak at a factory in southern india

as a chemical disaster. officially there are now at least 13 people dead, but hundreds have been taken ill and it seems highly likely the death toll will rise. residents near the plant, owned by lg polymers in the city of visakhapatnam in the state of andhra pradesh, complained of a burning sensation in their eyes and breathing difficulties. the gas is reported to have spread several kilometres. the director of india's national disaster response force had this update. overall, i think about 800—1,000 people have gone to hospital and they have been taken care of, so now the focus is not so much on the gas leakage as the effects of the gas leakage and the treatment of the people who have been affected. let's get the latest from our correspondent in mumbai, nikhil inamdar. this plant had been closed for some weeks and was just being opened up again. that's right. the plant was actually closed from the 24th of march when india went into a block

down and it was remaining idle, is what officials have told us, who also said there might have been procedural lapses which resulted in this chemical disaster, which, like you said, has claimed 13 lives with 1000 or more people now in hospitals. tell us what the plant makes and why the fumes were so noxious. this plant is owned by the south korean company lg polymers and it makes a substance used in the manufacturing of consumer appliances as well as stories. the gas is styrene, a flammable liquid substance that can cause nausea, dizziness and even coma in some certain circumstances. these are the symptoms that many of the patients have been showing. we woke up in

the morning here in india to very distressing images of people fainting on the road and lying unconscious. clearly this is possibly the worst disaster, chemical disaster, we have seen in a while, although officials are now suggesting things are being brought under control and at least 90, 90 5% of the league has been contained. that would be good news, but it sounds as though more people may succumb to the effects of the gas. absolutely. right now, what has been done by officials is to ascertain the long term damages of this sort of chemical leakage and what it could potentially do to people not just immediately but in the long term. this is potentially a figure thatis term. this is potentially a figure that is going to go up, like you said. as of now, the zone around the factory has been contained. we know

hundreds, up to a thousand people have been hospitalised in the city, and more could be on the way. thank you. a new study reveals that men and women from ethnic minorities are significantly more likely to die with covid—19 in england and wales, than white people. earlier we spoke to nick stripe, the head of health analysis at the office for national statistics, who explained the data. the risk is significantly higher for some of those ethnic groupings compared to the white ethnic grouping. so, we already know from previous work we've released and published that things like your age, things like your gender, and things like where you live, your location, are key things in terms of people's likelihood thus far of dying of covid—related issues. so, what we've actually got is your probability of dying with covid is made up of two things. firstly, your probability of actually being infected in the first place. and, then, secondly,

your probability of dying once you have been infected. now, those two things are influenced by your personal circumstances to a large degree. so, the first thing we did is we looked, adjusting for age, at what the difference was in terms of risk of dying by these ethnic groups and that brought out some quite stark differences. so, just adjusting for age, we saw the black ethnic grouping was just over four times more likely to die of covid—related issues than the white group. the bangladeshi and pakistani grouping was about 3.5 times more likely. and the indian grouping, about 2.5 times more likely. nick strike from the office for national statistics. with me is our head of statistics, robert cuffe. talk us through these numbers, community by community. we should be able to show some of

the data to our viewers. when you look at what the ons have done, and they take full account of lots of different measures, not just account of lots of different measures, notjust agent account of lots of different measures, not just agent where people live, but other socioeconomic factors, you see a slightly different pattern to some of the numbers being quoted a second ago. just to orient people, at the top of the graph we see risk for black women compared to white women. the dot shows you the risk of dying from covid is almost twice as high. there isa covid is almost twice as high. there is a line around it showing it might not be that much, a little bit higher or a little bit lower. looking through other communities, at women in bangladeshi and pakistani communities, the elevated risk is not quite as high. going down further, looking at chinese women, there is no significant difference between women in chinese communities against white

women. and other bangladeshi and pakistani communities, the risk is higher but not quite as high as for black people. why is that? it addresses some of the big questions we have, this analysis, but not everything to stop it does take account of age, we know ethnic minority communities are generally younger and live in cities and crowded areas more. the virus has been further advanced, that's one reason why they might be higher risk. but this analysis says, even after you account for where people live, the risk is still higher. it also takes account of some measures of deprivation or disadvantage, so how deprived an area is and the highest level of education of someone highest level of education of someone in the household. these are big broad measures that get us to some of the questions around systemic disadvantage and how that affects people a putter lives. but it doesn't tell adults everything.

asa it doesn't tell adults everything. as a statistician, what more would you like to know? loads more. we still don't know, is this driven by not just someone's still don't know, is this driven by notjust someone's health when they report from the 2011 census. the way the analysis has been done is they tied deaths together with ethnicity from the census in 2011. the kind of measures you get there, it's not like, have you had a heart attack in the last two years. you don't know those kind of risk factors, and we know that has a big impact on how likely you are to die if you catch covid. that's one big thing for stop another thing is occupational exposure. if people are working on front—line jobs they are more likely to be exposed to the virus and exposed in bigger doses which will drive the risk. answering those kinds of questions will help us to unpick exactly why this is happening, but it's clear there is a difference going on. robert cuffe, our head of statistics,

thank you. everyone living on the isle of wight, off the south coast of england, is being encouraged from today to download a new smartphone app, designed to limit the spread of the virus. the nhs covid—19 app is being trialled on the island despite privacy concerns about centralised sharing of data. this morning, thejoint committee on human rights has published a report which raises significant concerns regarding surveillance and the impact on other human rights, which it believes must be addressed before the app is rolled out. labour mp harriet harman is the chair of thejoint committee on human rights. thank you forjoining us. what exactly a re thank you forjoining us. what exactly are your concerns about the app? this is an unprecedented gathering of people's personal data and its necessary to have this information so the lockdown can be eased safely. but people won't sign up eased safely. but people won't sign up to the eased safely. but people won't sign the app eased safely. but people won't sign up to the app unless they are confident that their data is being protected. that confidence can be given if parliament passes a new law to say what will be the purpose

of the data gathering, to restrict any other use of the data, to define who can have access to the data and prohibit anyone else having access, and providing for it to be deleted at the end of the covid crisis. we gave the government new powers on an emergency basis to deal with the covid crisis. now parliament needs to pass a law to make new protections for people in the face of this unprecedented data gathering. what are the merits in light of these many concerns you have? the merits are that it enables people to ease the lockdown, but still trace those who are infected and make sure the infection is limited. it is a useful measure to try to enable lockdown to be eased safely. but actually what the government need to do, because if not enough people download the app, or if people who have

downloaded it, suddenly there is a scare about hacking and everybody goes off the app, it won't work because it needs about 60% of the people in the population with smartphones to download it. we gave emergency powers to the government and we can now give emergency protection for people and that's what parliament could and should be doing now. what sort of scrutiny are politicians being offered by the ferment? none at all. —— by the government. so far we only have a letter from health secretary matt carin koch —— matt hancock to me as the chair of the committee. but we need it protected in law. we need to do it quickly. it is being piloted in the isle of wight right now, a couple of weeks before it is rolled out, and parliament has shown it can agree quickly in this crisis. we also need to put into law a certification from gchq that the government have

actually got in place the security so actually got in place the security so the data is not hacked. without those safeguards in place, what would your advice to be to people when it is rolled out across the rest of the country? the government have got no excuse for resisting the legislation. they have given assurances and we are just saying, you have given assurances, a letter is fine, but we need legislation. there is no reason for... and we have lost harriet harman. thankfully, we had got pretty much to the end of the interview. harriet harman shares the joint committee on human rights, the labour mp. france will learn later today whether its eight—week lockdown will be lifted on monday, as planned. pressure is growing for economic and social life to resume, with france registering a drop in growth of almost 6% for the first three months of this year. our paris correspondent, lucy williamson, reports. hotels and factories may be

deserted but food banks are getting busier. this centre, run by one of france's biggest charities, saw a 40% rise in subscriptions last week. coronavirus has meant finding new ways of operating and new kinds of people in the queue. this woman began coming here last month after the lockdown left her husband out of work. they ate through their savings in weeks, she told me. france's biggest economic players have also been badly hit by coronavirus — tourism, construction, manufacturing. france's economy shrank by almost 6% in the first part of this year as the government brought in one of the strictest lockdowns in europe. we are all touched and the problem is that we have medically triggered artificial coma of all our economies and france is very good at that because france is totally centralised.

later today, the government will set out how to lift those restrictions, dividing the country into red and green zones, with the rules tailored to each area. paris is likely to be a red zone. the virus is still circulating here and the hospitals are still under pressure. what exactly that means for residents and companies, no—one yet knows. the government has suggested that some small tourist sites in green areas of the country could reopen from monday. but france's borders are still closed, as are its hotels and restaurants. obviously, when you hear what italy has been saying last week, they have been saying, "we are ready to welcome everybody for this summer. " it is not the message france is sending so far. we definitely have the means to adapt but in the end, it is going to be a psychological message of what the government will want to send to citizens, and tourists from abroad.

shops and primary schools are preparing to reopen from monday and people should be able to travel freely within100 kilometres of their homes. the new message after weeks of confinement, "don't stay at home" — a new mantra for the nation's economic health. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: the bank of england warns that the uk's is heading for its deepecst recession on record with economic output likely to fall by 14% this year due to coronavirus. boris johnson will discuss the coronavirus lockdown with his cabinet, having suggested some rules could be eased from monday. analysis of deaths from coronavirus in the uk reveals that the risk of dying from covid—19 among some ethnic groups is significantly higher.

hundreds of thousands of surgical gowns ordered from turkey last month haven't been given to nhs workers because they don't meet british safety standards. a spokesman for company says they haven't yet been received any complaint about the goods. a massive gas leak at a chemical plant in eastern india has killed at least 13 people, with hundreds more taken to hospital. borisjohnson will review the coronavirus lockdown in england with his cabinet later, after suggesting some rules could be eased from monday. by law, the government must review the restrictions every three weeks, and today marks the latest deadline. the prime minister will address the nation on sunday to outline plans for the next stage of the lockdown. professor lucy yardley, a behavioural scientist at the university of bristol is one of the members of the government's scientific advisory group

for emergencies, or sage. thank you very much. what is your assessment of the impact that the lockdown has had on the population generally? i know it is a huge question to ask, but so far? we do have survey data that shows quite widespread effects have been happening. so generally, most people say they are happy most of the time, and that is a very reliable finding. what we find is that, since the lockdown, the emotions people have been expressing are things like anxiety, frustration, low mood and so one. anxiety, frustration, low mood and so one. so we know that for quite a lot of people, lockdown has been quite a difficult period. what then might the reaction be to an extension of the lockdown as it is? we are being told there may be some reason, but not for everybody.

no, and it is of concern. i think you have got two populations here, really. one is that most people can manage another three weeks, especially with a little bit of easing. so we know by now that it's relatively safe to go outdoors as long as you don't get close to people, so we really recommend that for mental health reasons, people are allowed to go out and about a bit more and be more active. and for the minor mood problems, that should help a little and help people get through another three weeks towards, hopefully, being able to resume more things. but there are particularly vulnerable groups, people who are in long—term isolation, of course, won't be able to benefit from this, and they are very vulnerable group. what is the risk, though, are saying, yes, you can go out, the stay at her message being lifted,

how do you encourage people to still be cautious? i think we're immediately replacing the stay at her message with a go out but stay apart message. and i think people have got used to that over the last few weeks. people have been going out for shopping and so on and i have seen that most people are becoming very good at habitually keeping their distance from everybody else. that is very encouraging that that has become a habit and people should find it really quite easy to stick to this habits. how much at odds other scientists advising the government with the economist advising the government? you have very different approaches, very different interests, i'm sure. i don't think we have very different interest, i'm sure everyone would love to end the lockdown and get on top of the virus. as i said, in terms of mental health, we're aware that problems

economically have a really bad effects on mental health. at the last recession it caused a very sad spike in suicides and we know that lasting economic problems because a big mental health problems. so i think everyone's on the same side here. at the moment, the evidence is that we're not on top of things you burn it to be able to resume a lot of economic activity safely. so if we try to come out of a lockdown too quickly, we'rejust we try to come out of a lockdown too quickly, we're just going to end we try to come out of a lockdown too quickly, we'rejust going to end up backinit quickly, we'rejust going to end up back in it again because the virus will take off. so i don't think there is a conflict at this point in time. good to hear. very good to have your insights, thank you. thanks very much. breaking news from pakistan where writers are saying that president imran khan is saying that lockdown restrictions will be lifted from saturday, this is

despite pakistan recording an all—time high in the number of covid—19 cases being reported. nonetheless, pakistan, by its prime minister, choosing to end lockdown restrictions on saturday. the cruise ship at the centre of a criminal investigation about the spread of the coronavirus in australia has arrived in the philippines. the ruby princess has dropped anchor in manila bay, where it will repatriate its filipino crew. our correspondent in manila howard johnson has more details. this morning, the ruby princess arrived in manila bay around eight o'clock, and joins 13 other ships currently in anchorage some five kilometres from the shore. we saw the philippine coast guard fly out on a helicopter to pick up paperwork. what happens next is the filipino crew, some 200 of the 400 crew on the ship at the moment, will undergo quarantine, 14 days in self—isolation in their cabins, and then they will be swab—tested to see if they are allowed to return to land. the ruby princess is currently at the centre of a public enquiry

and a criminal investigation in australia as to why it's allowed almost 2700 passengers to disembark back in mid—march when there were reports, as the ship was approaching, there were patients suffering from covid—19—like symptoms. what happened next is some nearly 700 people confirmed as having covid—19 connected to those passengers and 21 deaths. at the moment the public enquiry is ongoing. they are looking at the communications between the ship and health workers on the shore and the findings from that enquiry are expected around mid—august. andy harmer is the director of the cruise lines international association, the trade ssociation for the cruise industry. hejoins us now from sevenoaks. welcome, thanks for joining welcome, thanks forjoining us. looking back over the last few months, how well or ill

prepared work cruise companies for the pandemic? the cruise industry responded within 48 hours of its becoming a global emergency. actually, the cruise industry is well placed to deal with issues such as this. we've been dealing with public health and health on our ships for 50 years. if you look at the protocols in place on—board cruise ships even over the last 20 yea rs, cruise ships even over the last 20 years, they have unfold having medicalfacilities on years, they have unfold having medical facilities on board, years, they have unfold having medicalfacilities on board, doctors on board, prescreening, premedical screening, hand sanitiser stroke the ship. so we were well—prepared for this. and we responded within 48 hours of it becoming a global emergency. then we were one of the first industries to voluntarily cease operations in order to ensure that we keep our guests and crew is our number one priority. in terms of

the uk cruise sector, how much have companies lost during this lockdown? i think if you look at the losses, those losses are for both the cruise industry but also for that wider cruise community. cruising in the uk is worth around £10 billion a year. it equates to about 90,000 jobs. it is those coastal communities that will be really affected by this, and some of them really do rely on tourism. places like guernsey or liverpool or tyneside as well as southampton and dover, for example. it is also the suppliers to our industry that are based in the uk, and some of those are small and medium—sized businesses, people supplying artisan cheeses or gins, there really is quite a strong cue cruise community in the uk that relies upon the industry. you don't

realise how many people are connected to it indirectly. what sort of recovery plan are you working on? you clearly have to have the confidence of potential passengers before they make a booking. absolutely. we are using this pause in our operations to work with the world health organization, to work with national governments, with public health bodies, to review and strengthen those particles we already have in existence. i listed some of the protocols we already have in place, so it is about taking those further to ensure we protect those further to ensure we protect those guests and crew auto. as you say, is about ensuring that we communicate what those protocols are as an industry. we are fortunate in many ways that we have a very strong following of guests from the uk who enjoy and take multiple cruises within the year and they will certainly be aware of some of the work that is already done on board to protect them and their health and well—being. so it's about working with past guests and also with

our travel agents community, who understand the work the industry does, and it's about us expelling to them and educating that community about the new protocols and enhanced steps we will be taking on board. what would you then like to hear most of all from the prime minister when he addresses the united kingdom on the sunday? like all industries, we are waiting to hear what the prime minister says, but we should also remember that cruising is very much a global business, that we depend very much on global organisations, such as the world health organization, but also of the international maritime organisation and others, and we want to make sure that when we do set sail again and when the time is right, we do so safely for our guests, crew and the communities that we visit. thank you very much forjoining us. thank you. president trump has described the coronavirus pandemic as the worst attack ever on the united states, saying the global outbreak would not

have happened if china had acted quicker. mr trump said the fallout from the pandemic had hit the country harder than the japanese bombing of pearl harbor in world war two, or the september the 11th attacks. our north america correspondent david willis reports. word that the white house task force was being disbanded alarmed public health officials here. since the crisis began, two of its leading figures, doctor anthony fauci and doctor deborah birx, have emerged as some of the most trusted voices on the spread of the pandemic in the us. reports it was being wound up led to speculation that they were being sidelined and prompted the president to change course. i had no idea how popular the task force is. until actually yesterday when i started talking about winding it down. i get calls from very respected people saying, "i think it would be better to keep it going,

it's done such a good job." i mean, you look at thejob we've done on everything, on supplies, on everything. supplies — maybe not so much. at an event at the white house, a nurse told the president she had been using the same medical mask four weeks. so, ppe has been sporadic, but it has been manageable been using the same medical mask four weeks. so, ppe has been sporadic, but it has been manageable and we do what we have to do. we are nurses, and we learn to adapt and do whatever the best thing we can do for our patients. the president begged to differ. sporadic for you but not sporadic for a lot of other people. oh, no, iagree, mr president. because i have heard the opposite. although additional names will be added to the coronavirus taskforce, the often outspoken dr fauci will remain part of it. he has differed from the trump administration on a number of occasions, most recently over their assertion that the virus originated in this laboratory in the chinese city of wuhan, rather than in a local wet market. nonetheless, it is a view the administration continues to press. we don't have certainty about whether it began in the lab

or whether it began some place else. there is an easy way to find out the answer to that. transparency, openness. chinese state media lampooned the trump administration in a propaganda video, depicting an imaginary dialogue about the virus between china and the us. and the chinese foreign ministry has also hit back, saying the us has no evidence to support its claims of a cover—up. translation: for domestic politics, some us politicians repeatedly blamed china, regardless of the facts. on this issue, countries in europe and other areas in the world do have a choice to make — not between china and the united states but between lies and facts. president trump says the virus has harmed the us more than the attack on pearl harbor or the september the 11th terrorist attacks. he faces the uphill task of rebuilding this battered economy before the election in six months' time, and he is unlikely to let up

on who he thinks is to blame. people in new zealand are to be allowed to visit family and friends again, in small groups, when the country's lockdown is further eased. but prime ministerjacinda ardern said measures would be introduced carefully and hasn't named a date for them. shops, bars and restaurants will reopen but with strict hygiene and social distancing rules. ultimately, level two is our safer normal, not a return to business as usual. treasury modelling did tell us we are better off in the longer term to move down through the alerts progressively, so it does mean getting every stage right. that means both the decision to go there, but also what we do when we get there. we think of ourselves as halfway down everest. i think it is clear that no one wants to hike up that peak. the descent is known to be even more dangerous and so we need to proceed with caution,

with the highest degree of confidence, and to look after one another on the way, and i absolutely believe we can do that. lets get some of the days other news. poland's governing coalition parties have agreed to postpone this sunday's presidential election because of coronavirus. it will now be rescheduled to a date as soon as possible and it will be a postal—only ballot. russia has reported 11,231 new cases of coronavirus, a record daily rise. it pushes the national case total to over 177,000. but the death toll, atjust over 1600, remains low compared to many european countries. russians have widely disputed the figures. the health ministry insists the numbers reflect a rapid response to the pandemic. the chinese leadership is saying international experts will not be allowed in to investigate the origins of the coronavirus until the pandemic is over. china is coming under increasing pressure to allow an independent inquiry. officials say the priority at the moment is still

fighting the virus. germany has announced significant steps in easing its lockdown. shops, cafes and schools will begin to reopen and football will return behind closed doors. chancellor angela merkel seems cautiously optimistic that the first phase of the outbreak is over, but warned any spike in the virus will result in a return to strict measures. freya cole reports. the sun is shining, and in this city in central germany, cafes have reopened and people can sit and enjoy at a distance. translation: it's a nice feeling to see how happy people are, thejoy of living again. i'm really happy to go out again. the leaders of germany's 16 states have been eager to restart local economies, and now they can. translation: it is going forward. you have to see that our people want to work.

shops, restaurants and hotels can open their doors, but residents are urged to wear a mask in public, and the 1.5—metre distance rule should be maintained. germany has slowed the virus. 7,000 people have died, but that figure is much lower than other european countries. new infection rates are also consistently low, but if that increases to more than 50 cases per 100,000 patients, the lockdown will return, but it'd be isolated. translation: if the infection increases somewhere, we have an emergency mechanism, and then it is not the whole country that has to be put in danger again. the national football league will also make a comeback, but stadiums will remain empty and players will be routinely tested. students will also return to class in stages, but as

for cinemas, theatres and early childcare centres, that's still a grey area in the gradual steps towards normality. the headlines on bbc news: the bank of england warns that the uk's is heading for its deepecst recession on record with economic output likely to fall by 14% this year due to coronavirus. boris johnson will discuss the coronavirus lockdown with his cabinet, having suggested some rules could be eased from monday. analysis of deaths from coronavirus in the uk reveals that the risk of dying from covid—19 among some ethnic groups is significantly higher. prison and probation staff in england and wales who work extra hours. who work extra hours during the pandemic are

being given bonuses of up to £1700 on top of overtime pay. prison governors and managers are being paid an additional £1500 in australia, a royal commission has found that cardinal george pell — one of the country's most senior catholics — was aware of child sexual abuse by clergy as early as the 1970s, despite his claims he was not. the findings were not published for three years to protect his trial for child sexual abuse. he was convicted and imprisoned but acquitted last month. cardinal pell has always maintained his innocence. this is part of a bigger royal commission into australia's institutional response to child sexual abuse. this was the result of a five—year comprehensive inquiry into this and was published in 2017. the parts that had to do with it, that were related to how cardinal george pell responded to some of the sexual abuse claims and complaints that came to him at different stages were redacted for, as you say, three years because of legal actions against him. and it is only after his acquittal

last month by the high court that we are now seeing what the commission has found. and it does make for some damning reading, really, as far as cardinal pell is concerned because it found out that george pell knew about sexual abuse, child sexual abuse, being committed by the clergy as early as the 1970s but that he had failed to take action or protect children on more than one occasion. it goes on to give examples. back in 1973, at the dioceses of ballarat, in the state of victoria, and specifically to behaviours that have to do with gerald ridsdale, a priest that had later admitted to abusing hundreds of children, but that george pell was publicly supportive of. another example from back in 1989 where george pell was the axillary bishop in melbourne and this had to do with allegations, sexual abuse allegations, of father peter searson. at the time, he himself

had received complaints about father searson but failed to take any action. he told the commission that he thought action was being taken by more senior catholic officials and by the archbishop of melbourne at the time. but really, at that time, it was incumbent upon him, the report found, for the protection of children, to take action and at least call for an investigation into these allegations. a civil engineer from kent who struggled to get home from the caribbean has just arrived back in england after sailing his way home across the atlantic. lee brook was working in antigua when the lockdown began, so couldn't fly back. fortunately for him, two other uk residents who own a boat were also trying to get home, so they invited him on board to learn how to sail during the journey home of nearly 4,000 miles. lucy vladev has more. 22 days aboard a boat in a bid to get home.

lee brook has only sailed once before. this is how we do it. life on deck! but when lockdown hit antigua and tourists couldn't get much information about flights, lee was offered a place on a 12—man racing boat called telefonica black. the airport closed. a lot of people couldn't afford the flights. so it then turned into a, right, how are we getting out of here, kind of situation. i felt really lucky to be part of the crew and be accepted. the 3000—mile journey west to east across the atlantic is one of the most challenging. there were moments of quiet calm for the crew. day number five. but they also saw nine metre waves and had to struggle on with ripped sails. we were hanging on to the wheel, trying to control the boat, and then one of the lines, the ropes, the lazy sheet, it forked, tightened and hit me

straight across the face. it bloodied my nose, actually it knocked to me straight off the helm onto the deck. fortunately, the skipper is lance shepherd, a clipper round—the—world yacht racer and professional trainer for sailors, which came in handy when faced with a difficult decision. we had to get the boat back into european waters by the 1st of may because of insurance restrictions with the hurricane season. the clients that we had booked to fly out to antigua to sail back with us couldn't get out because of the cancellation of flights, so we put a shout—out for people and every day was a teaching day, all about sail training, sail handling and everything else. and we developed the crew all the way across. by the time we got to bad weather, they were well shaped into quite a formidable crew, to be honest. and all that sea water has given lee a taste for a new life. i think it's created a sailing monster out of me because i want to become a sailor now because of it! i really do.

she was britain's wartime sweetheart whose song we'll meet again has become a message of hope during lockdown. today, a new official portrait of dame vera lynn has been unveiled to mark the 75th anniversary of ve day — the day victory in europe was secured. the oil painting is called the enduring sweetheart and is by the artist dan llywelyn hall. it has been commissioned to raise funds for the dame vera lynn children's charity. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas. hello, it was a bit of a chilly start to the day earlier on today but things are now warming up, and that's going to be the theme over the next few days. those temperatures will be on the rise, quite a bit of warm and sunny weather around, but also a few showers. and if you do catch some of the showers, they could be heavy

and potentially thundery as well. but high pressure still in charge, just drifting off towards the east, allowing a couple of weather fronts to affect western parts of the uk at times today and tomorrow as well. a bit more cloud through parts of northern ireland, western scotland, the western fringes of wales and south—west england as well. the odd shower around here, but further east across england, wales, scotland too, you should keep blue sky and temperatures in the warmer spots up to 22 or 23. down to the south east, typically 17—20 celsius. but as temperatures build, heavy showers developing in south wales, parts of the midlands, east anglia, which may well see the odd rumble of thunder this evening and tonight. temperatures are staying on the mild side with a bit more cloud than there was last night, so a frost free start to friday. friday will be a milder day. quite a bit of cloud around. southern and eastern parts staying largely sunny through the day. more showers for parts of scotland, northern ireland and laterfor wales and southwest england with some of them just drifting eastwards. temperatures during the day tomorrow, a little bit warmer than today, up to about 23, possibly 24 celsius. typically, the high

teens or low 20s. what about the weekend? you will notice a real change in the weather, with things gradually turning colder. that colder trend starts off across northern scotland. quite an active cold front here bringing a bit of rain and the colder air moving in from the north. elsewhere, after a largely dry start to saturday, there will be a few heavy showers and thunderstorms once again building through the afternoon across parts of the midlands, south wales as well for instance. in the warmer spots, temperatures up to 24 or 25 down to the southeast, contrast that with single figures across the north of scotland. the cold air then sinks south across all of the british isles through the course of saturday night and into sunday. we have cold northerly wind arrows on the map as well so a different feeling day on sunday. initially a few rain showers in the south. we will also see some snow flurries even to lower levels across the north and east of scotland. quite a cool northerly wind too, and many of us about 10 degrees colder than saturday by the time we get to sunday with temperatures between six and 16.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the bank of england warns that the uk is heading for its deepest recession on record, with economic output likely to fall by 14% this year due to coronavirus. what both the government and bank of england have put in place a very big package of measures and we will go

on utterly focused on that and doing the things we need to do to support the things we need to do to support the people of this country. boris johnson discusses the coronavirus lockdown with his cabinet, having suggested some rules could be eased from monday. france will this evening outline how they intend to ease their lockdown, starting from next week. analysis of deaths from coronavirus in the uk reveals that the risk of dying from covid—19 among some ethnic groups is significantly higher. just adjusting for age, we saw that the black ethnic grouping was just over four times more likely to die of covid—related issues than the white group. the bangladeshi and pakistani grouping was about 3.5 times more likely, and the indian grouping, about 2.5 times more likely. a massive gas leak at a chemical plant in eastern india has killed at least 13 people. over 800 have been treated in hospital.

hello, and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. the bank of england has warned the uk is already in a deep recession, with the economy set to shrink by 14% this year — the biggest one—off contraction in over 300 years. the bank says it expects growth to plummet by a third and unemployment could more than double to 9%. the uk prime minister is chairing a meeting of the cabinet to discuss the coronavirus lockdown, having signalled some measures will be relaxed from next week. borisjohnson will set out his plans on sunday. in france, the government will decide later today whether to lift the country's eight—week lockdown on monday. new data in the uk from the office for national statistics

says ethnic minority groups are far more likely to die from covid—19 than people of white ethnicity. and at least 13 people have died and hundreds have been taken ill after a gas leak at a chemical plant in southern india. the factory had just been reopened, following the lockdown. we'll have more on those stories soon, but first let's go back to the news of a uk recession. the new governor of the bank of england, andrew bailey, says the uk economy hasn't seen anything like this before. he's been speaking to our economics editor, faisal islam. the very sharp sort of downturn we've had is really a product of the situation we have been in since march. and the restrictions that are in place, which obviously affect economic activity very severely. the interesting question is, what's the path from here onwards going to look like. the scenario, i should say it's not a forecast. we have been very careful about this. we don't feel we are in a position to do what

i would call a normalforecast. it's really a scenario based on gradual lifting soft restrictions from the beginning ofjune to the end of september. and thereafter, not all the economic activity comes back. there's quite a sharp recovery of economic activity, but we've also factored in, people will be cautious of their own choices, as it were. people in a sense will be cautious. they will not engage and re—engage fully. it's only through until next summer fully. it's only through until next summerand fully. it's only through until next summer and thereafter that activity comes summer and thereafter that activity co m es fully summer and thereafter that activity comes fully back. then finally, we have the question about how much long—term damage to the economy is done. again, we've made assumptions on that. but they are quite limited and the reason for that is we think the policies in place, policies the

chancellor has put in place, particularly in thejob chancellor has put in place, particularly in the job scheme, are really working and will enable people, the furloughing scheme really enables people to come back into the economy more quickly so it isa into the economy more quickly so it is a much quicker recovery than we have seen in the past in terms of recessions, if there is such a thing, asa recessions, if there is such a thing, as a normal recession, that we could have seen. how can you assume there will be a recovery almost as sharp as the downturn given basic public health facts, we don't have a vaccine or a treatment. it's a different virus to the ones that have been planned for. first of all, the recovery we have in our scenario is not as fast as the downturn, which was unprecedented, it happened very quickly. we are not experts in this field, we have made certainjudgments experts in this field, we have made certain judgments and we have assumed some impacts to that from the public outside. we have

stayed in touch and talked to epidemiologists. we have talked to the government and hear about what's being planned in terms of track, test and trace, how the lockdown could be lifted. the reason we haven't published a forecast today in the normal sense of a bank of england forecast is because we are unusually uncertain. if the picture changes then we will come back to that and do an update and a new scenario, we will have to do that. what we have done today in a sense isa what we have done today in a sense is a sort ofjudgment we can based on what we know today. people at home will see that chart and it looks quite scary, looks like a horror show. should they be scared, should they be reassured? the chart reflects the reality we have now beenin reflects the reality we have now been in since march. where i think they should be reassured is that i can tell you both the government and bank of england have put in place a very big package of measures and we will go on utterly focused on that, and doing the things we need to do to support the people of the country. at the end of the day, we

have had this discussion, we are here to support the needs of the people and we will do that. governor of the bank of england andrew bailey talking to our economic said at a pfizer lent them —— faisal islam. let's speak now to carl emmerson, deputy director of the institute of fiscal studies. how realistic is that bank of england forecast? there is clearly a huge amount of uncertainty and we don't know how much economic activity is currently happening. clearly it's much reduced on what was happening at the end of last year. we also don't know the extent to which the lockdown will be eased. will it be gradually eased or more quickly? that will shape how fast the economy bounces back. we also don't know how much long—term damage has been done to the economy from this. we know from previous recessions that people who leave education when economies are weak, people become unemployed when the economy is weak, they often suffer enduring effects that can go on a number of years. it's notable in

the bank's forecast, despite sharp recovery, they don't have unemployment returning to precrisis levels until the end of next year. i fear it could be even longer than that before we see unemployment back down at relatively low levels. the belief seems to be there will be a faster rebound than after the financial crash of 2009. how likely is that? i think it is fairly likely. this is not a usual style recession. when you have a normal recession, that usually reveals lots of structural problems in your economy, your economy needs to make big adjustments with lots of employers and structural changes in the economy. that's not the kind of recession we have at the moment was not what has happened is, we have deliberately and for very good reason shut down large parts of the economy. once the coronavirus health problem is out of the way, we want the economy to go back how it was. we don't need the weights think the economy needs to

radically change. —— we don't think the economy. the question is, how quickly can we get back to how it was at the end of 2019. will it be a full recovery or could there be scarring, some unemployment groups that suffer for a longer period of time. one consideration the government needs to make is around the furloughing scheme. that will be a really difficultjudgment call. if the government switches off furloughing too soon, lots of employees will become unemployed and lots of employers and businesses will go to the wall and we will see lots of long term damage. but if we leave the furlough scheme in place too long, it means people not working when they could otherwise be working. it means much more damage to the economy and the government's finances so that judgment to the economy and the government's finances so thatjudgment on how quickly to ease off furlough, and can we do it in a targeted way, you don't necessarily want to turn it off at the same place for every industry or every part of the uk and as far as possible the treasury

needs to look at ways of focusing the scheme where it is really needed and turning it off where it is no longer needed. deputy director of the institute for fiscal studies, thank you for your time. as we've been hearing, the uk's coronavirus lockdown will be reviewed by the government today, with signs that some restrictions could be eased from monday. the government's "stay at home" message is expected to be dropped, in order to kickstart some sections of the economy. but most of the current lockdown measures are due to remain in place. the uk has now become the first country in europe to record more than 30,000 deaths linked to coronavirus, as jon donnison reports. olume and isi ivowi — brothers and best friends, both victims of covid—19. olume died on good friday in luton. he was 46. isi, who had down's syndrome, died nine days later, in milton keynes. he was 38. theirfamily, who could not be by their sides when they died, are urging people to stick to the lockdown. social distancing, making

sure you stay at home, don't go out if you don't need to, and if you do go out, follow the guidelines, listen to all the medical professionals because they are the ones that can really guide us through this and be sensible, because this does kill people. and the number dying continues to rise. 649 more deaths were confirmed yesterday, making the uk the first country in europe to pass 30,000. in online videos and elsewhere, the government is still urging people to stick to the lockdown, but it's understood the government's core stay—at—home message is to be scrapped at the weekend. the prime minister is due to make an announcement on sunday, but officials say don't expect dramatic changes. restrictions will most likely remain largely in place. we have to be sure that the data is going to support our ability to do this. that data is coming

in continuously over the next few days. we'll want, if we possibly can, to get going with some of these measures on monday. i think it will be a good thing, mr speaker, if people had an idea of what's coming the following day, and that's why i think sunday, the weekend, is the best time to do it. meanwhile, the government is still facing questions on testing. here, the military are helping test key workers, but since the weekend, the government has failed to meet its target of 100,000 tests a day, and there are still concerns about protective equipment for the nhs. in april, an raf cargo plane was dispatched to fly in ppe supplies from turkey. the government has now confirmed that 400,000 surgical gowns that were delivered have been unusable because they did not meet the required safety sta nda rds. it will add to claims that the health service has not received the support it

needs. tonight, though, as on every thursday for the past six weeks, people will yet again take to the streets to clap for their carers. jon donnison, bbc news. our political correspondent helen catt is at westminster — she explained some of the possible changes boris johnson might make to the lockdown. laura kuenssberg has also been tweeting about what we could expect at the weekend. she says the statement from boris johnson about the route out of lockdown will be at 7pm on sunday. we will now return to helen catt at westminster, who explained some of the possible changes boris johnson might explained some of the possible changes borisjohnson might make to the lockdown. today a key moment in that, by law, the government has to review those lockdown restrictions. it has to do it every 21 days, but they stay in place until and unless the government changes then. so nothing is likely to change until monday. what we know is we're

going to get this road map from borisjohnson on sunday, in which he says he will address some of those things thatpeople want to know, like for example how you might reopen schools and how you might get people back into the workplaces. but the sense is that is going to be a what could be done and what order it could be done, but not really a timetable, if you like. we do understand there are likely to be some immediate changes overnight, going into monday morning. strong hints so far is that is likely to be around things like outdoor exercise. the current rules in the uk is that you can only outside to exercise once a day. so we think that might be where that is likely to change, but we won't get detail on that until sunday night. and this morning, a senior cabinet minister, brandon lewis, has been talking to broadcasters and made it quite clear that, despite it being a bank holiday weekend, nothing is going to change until at least monday. i fully appreciate there are people

who have been in lockdown for a considerable number of weeks in difficult circumstances, small properties with families, and are very, very keen, particularly if we do see the good weather that has been promised this bank holiday weekend. but i would say to people that i urge caution. the safest thing to do at the moment with this virus and the way it spreads is, whereever you can, stay at home. yes, get out and get that daily exercise, and if you can't work from home and can work in safe circumstances, then the guidelines are there for that very purpose. but we've got to continue on the process we have had and we are doing everything we can to ensure peoples's safety. to ensure people's safety. the important thing is there that when borisjohnson sets out those changes or potential changes to lockdown restrictions on sunday, he only really speaks for england, because the lockdown rules in scotland, wales and northern ireland are set by their respective devolved governments. so far, all four nations have been largely similar. we've seen some small differences. for example, in scotland, the advice is to wear face coverings,

and we've seen construction sites closed, which we haven't in england. but they have been largely moving in lockstep, calling it a four—nation approach. but it will be up to those individual administrations as to what the precise lockdown rules are set in each nation of the uk. indian officials have described a gas leak at a factory in southern india as a chemical disaster. officially there are now at least 13 people dead but hundreds have been taken ill and it seems highly likely that the death toll will rise. residents near the plant owned by lg polymers in the city of visakhapatnam in the state of andhra pradesh complained of a burning sensation in their eyes and breathing difficulties. there are some distressing images in this report from yogita limaye. woken up by toxic gas in the air, people stumbling out onto the streets in panic. some

waited for help to arrive. some rushed seriously ill to hospital any way they could. among those affected, children. more than 1,000 families live near the factory where the leak occurred in the dead of the night. hundreds are in hospital, some in critical condition. the gas they've inhaled — styrene. it causes nausea, headache and dizziness, but severe exposure can even lead to coma. overall, i think about 800 to 1,000 people have gone to the hospital and they've been taken care of. so now the focus is not so much on the gas leakage as the effects of the gas leakage and the treatment of the people who have been affected. rescue personnel went door to door looking for anyone who'd fallen unconscious at home. authorities also worked to contain the leak. as of now, things are under control. i would say that the leakage situation is much better now in the sense that the silo

that was leaking is now down to minimal and there is hardly any leakage there. but as i say that, i also underline that we will be there till that leakage is totally plugged. south korea's lg chem says it's looking into how the leak occurred. its factory was just opening up after the lockdown for the coronavirus crisis. the immediate effect of the gas clearly visible, the long—term impact still to be assessed. yogita limaye, bbc news, mumbai. a new study reveals that men and women from ethnic minorities are significantly more likely to die with covid—19 in england and wales than white people. earlier we spoke to nick stripe, the head of health analysis at the office for national statistics, who explained the data. the risk is significantly higher for some of those ethnic groupings compared to the white ethnic grouping. so, we already know from previous work we've released and published that things like your age, things like your gender,

and things like where you live, your location, are key things in terms of people's likelihood thus far of dying of covid—related issues. so, what we've actually got is your probability of dying with covid is made up of two things. firstly, your probability of actually being infected in the first place. and, then, secondly, your probability of dying once you have been infected. now, those two things are influenced by your personal circumstances to a large degree. so, the first thing we did is we looked, adjusting for age, at what the difference was in terms of risk of dying by these ethnic groups and that brought out some quite stark differences. so, just adjusting for age, we saw the black ethnic grouping was just over four times more likely to die of covid—related issues than the white group. the bangladeshi and pakistani grouping was about 3.5 times more likely.

and the indian grouping, about 2.5 times more likely. let's speak now to jabeer butt, ceo of the race equality foundation — a charity which promotes race equality in social support and public services. thank you forjoining us. what do the figures tell you that you didn't already know about health inequalities in britain? i'm afraid, while the evidence is shocking, it's not surprising. we have been warning for a while that black and minority ethnic communities were at greater risk, and unfortunately what we are now seeing is the evidence for it. clearly the complexity of the ons analysis is useful, particularly in showing the impact when you control for socioeconomic factors. but as i say, it's not surprising but remains

shocking. obviously more data is needed to truly understand why this is happening. in your view, what would help you get a better understanding of the causes? as i say, a deeper analysis and analysis that looks at issues to do with things like overcrowding, but also analysis that looks at whether the preventative messages have got through. however, it's also clear that we shouldn't wait for this analysis to actually start taking action. we have been calling for some time for attention to be paid to these issues and for action to be taken, for example in the clinical guidance that has been issued so far, it doesn't mention high risk at all for these communities. that is a surprise to us, because you would think if people are at high risk then clinicians should be taking that into consideration in the decisions they are making. why do

you think these particular populations are at so much higher risk? is it to do with the kind of health issues they often face that the white population doesn't tend to be troubled with? some of that clearly plays a part, there are higher rates of diabetes, hypertension and higher blood pressure, they will inevitably be pa rt pressure, they will inevitably be part of this. but i think sur michael marmot's work on health inequality and what has happened over the last ten years has clearly shown that for these communities, those inequalities have risen in that period and we find ourselves in 2020 in a situation where the health of minorities, as well as poorer other communities, has deteriorated and a pandemic happening in that context is inevitably going to have a disproportionate impact. clearly very useful data to have, ceo of the charity race equality foundation, thank you for

your time. the race is on to find a vaccine to prevent coronavirus. the german pharmaceutical company biontech is working together with the american drug company pfizer to find a vaccine. last month they began human trials in germany and this week the trials started in the us. ugur sahin is leading the team and hejoins me now from mainz in germany. welcome to bbc news. tell us what you are basing your vaccine trials on. cancer immunology, i believe. yes, good afternoon. the cancer vaccines are based on messenger technology and we are a company which is particularly focused on cancer immunotherapy, but since we are engineering immune responses, the technology we are developing is suitable for developing infectious disease vaccines. how important is

it that this is an international project between germany and the united states? yes, from the very beginning we were interested to have international cooperation for this project. this is a global pandemic disease, and we would like to have a global solution for that. we have partnered with pfizer, who is a giant in the field of vaccine development. we have also partnered with a chinese company to also have clinical studies in china. the advantage of doing clinical studies in different continents is that we can recruit different types of populations, which can validate findings on one continent by data and safety data in the other part. when will you know whether your vaccine is

useful? we are in the phase where we are recruiting around 200 participants in germany for clinical trials. in the united states we will recruit around 360 participants. in the next 6—8 weeks we will understand not only the safety profile of the vaccines, but also the immunogenicity. this immunogenicity is about examining the body to look at tea cells which can inhibit the virus. we can take blood samples from participants and analyse this for the inactivation of the virus. very briefly if you would, i know you have to get regulatory approval, but when might there be a vaccine ready to roll

out for use around the world? this is the most important question. usually, the classical development ofa usually, the classical development of a vaccine includes safety assessment, activity assessment, and that means, is it immunogenic, and the third element of the vaccine assessment is efficacy. so if the question is, if subjects that have been vaccinated are protected against the disease, and this is done by a comparison using a placebo and getting the data. this usually ta kes and getting the data. this usually takes 12—18 months. and getting the data. this usually takes 12-18 months. ugur sahin, thank you forjoining us from biontech in germany. now it's time for a look at the weather forecast with tomasz schafernaker. most of us it's been a nice day out

there and that's how it will stay for the rest of the day and into the evening hours. there is the chance of showers developing in one or two places but the vast majority of us will miss them. we have had a little bit of rain already to the west and south—west with clouds spiralling into this area of low pressure that is parked just to the west of us. but the vast majority of the country, a fine, bright and if not sunny day. temperatures, 22 in london and a western 17 in the lowla nds london and a western 17 in the lowlands of scotland. the evening weather, watch out for blobs of blue with showers developing may be across parts of the midlands and a few showers to scotland and may be northern ireland. towards the end of night, the possibility of some rain reaching the far south—west of the country. for most of us, it's a mild night with clear spells, perhaps turning murky and cloudy out towards the west. on friday, the best of the sunshine will be to the east of england, east anglia, the south—east and along the south coast. but

in cornwall, devon and parts of wales and eventually the midlands and may be the north, some showers developing. a warm day on friday with june and july temperatures, developing. a warm day on friday withjune and july temperatures, 24 in london and a very pleasant 18 in glasgow. through the weekend, we will see some big changes going on especially across northern parts of the uk at least initially. a cold front stretching from norway across the sea and into northern scotland and the atlantic. those cold northerly winds blowing out of the norwegian sea and spreading across scotland. this is cold arctic air. look how chilly it will be on saturday afternoon in central and northern scotland, whereas in the south we still have thosejune and july -type south we still have thosejune and july —type temperatures. through the course of saturday night and into sunday, that cold, dense arctic air spreads slowly across the country. like dense honey, all the way down to the south. and on sunday afternoon we are all in that cold air mass. winds will be blowing

hard, gusting at 30 and may be 40 mph, so it will feel very chilly in the shade especially with the drop in temperature. by day, only 13 in london and single figures across the north sea coast.

hello this is bbc news. the headlines: the bank of england warns that the uk is heading for its deepecst recession on record, with economic output likely to fall by 14% this year due to coronavirus. the government and bank of england have put in a very big package of measures and we will go one utterly focused on that and doing the things that we need to do to support the people of this country. boris johnson will discuss

the coronavirus lockdown with his cabinet, having suggested some rules could be eased from monday. analysis of deaths from coronavirus in the uk reveals that the risk of dying from covid—19 among some ethnic groups is significantly higher. hundreds of thousands of surgical gowns ordered from turkey last month haven't been given to nhs workers because they don't meet british safety standards. a spokesman for company says they haven't yet received any complaint about the goods. a massive gas leak at a chemical plant in eastern india has killed at least 13 people, with hundreds more taken to hospital. scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon is giving her daily government briefing. the podiums are empty at the moment, but we'll go back to edinburgh as soon as we see her but we'll go back to edinburgh as soon as we see her

take to the stage. now... where i'm going to stay on this, apparently. they are very prompt in edinburgh, normally they are out there very quickly and don't keep us waiting for very long. we are used to seeing the first minister nicola sturgeon out there around this time every day. the interesting thing is, the british prime minister, boris johnson, interesting thing is, the british prime minister, borisjohnson, is meeting his cabinet today and discussing how the lockdown might be eased next week, but it will be up to scotland to decide for itself ease the restrictions, because all the four nations that make up the united kingdom are able to make their own decisions. i want to start with the usual statistical update on covid—19 in scotland. as of 9am, there have been 12,924 positive cases confirmed, which is

an increase of 215 from yesterday. a total of 1587 patients are currently in hospital what either confirmed or suspected covid—19, that is a decrease of 45 since yesterday. a total of 86 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected covid—19, and that is a decrease of three since yesterday. i'm also able to confirm that today, since the 1st of march, 9054 patients who had been tested positive and admitted to hospital have now been able to leave hospital andi have now been able to leave hospital and i wish them all that well. u nfortu nately and i wish them all that well. unfortunately though, i also had to report in the past 24 hours, 59 deaths have been registered of patients who were confirmed through a test is having the virus. that ta kes a test is having the virus. that takes the total number of deaths in scotla nd takes the total number of deaths in scotland under that measurement to 1762. as always, let me stress that

these numbers are not statistics, not just statistics, these numbers are not statistics, notjust statistics, they represent real people whose loss is being felt and mourned by many, and i want again to send my deepest condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one to everyone who has lost a loved one to this virus, we are all thinking of you. i always i'm also wish to thank again at our health care workers for the extraordinary work you are doing and is most difficult circumstances. i don't want to thank all you watching at home for the sacrifices you are continuing to make as you follow our very clear advice to stay at home, save lives and help us to continue to protect the nhs. i have one main point i wa nt to the nhs. i have one main point i want to update you on this afternoon. as i have indicated previously this week, the scottish government is legally required to review the regulations giving effect to the lockdown every three weeks, and the latest review falls due today. our assessment of the evidence leads me to

the conclusion that the lockdown must be extended at this stage. more detail of our analysis will be posted long—sighted 31 analysis will be posted long—sighted as daily statistics out 2pm. let me say this now, we are, together, making really significant progress in our efforts to get this virus under control. i have reported today a further reduction in the number of patients in intensive care and, yesterday, national records of scotla nd yesterday, national records of scotland reported the first weekly decline and a number of registered deaths related to the virus since this outbreak began. all of that gives us real hope and real encouragement. but we also know that progress remains fragile. estimates suggest significant numbers of people in scotland infected with this virus. we're not yet confident that the all—importa nt this virus. we're not yet confident that the all—important r number is co mforta bly that the all—important r number is comfortably below one i've explained it set out before why it is

so important to get it and keep it co mforta bly important to get it and keep it comfortably below one. advance, we think it could still hovering around onejust now, which means any significant easing up of restrictions and this stage would be very risky indeed. also, we think the r number might still be a bit higher here than other parts of the uk, perhaps reflecting the fact that our first cases came later than england's, so we may be at a different and slightly later stage of the infection curve. all of that tells me that extreme caution is required at this criticaljuncture to avoid a rapid resurgence of the virus. before we can judge that it is safe to begin any significant, albeit gradual easing of the restrictions, we want to see data in the days ahead that confirms a very clear downward trend is. in particular, i want to see what

our estimates of new cases and the r number look like a week from now. i will be looking very carefully, as i'm sure all of us will be, to see if the figures show a continued fall in the number of deaths. letters to allow for such further careful assessment of that we have concluded that the lockdown and associated regulations must remain in place for now. the legal deadline for the next review of these regulations will be three weeks from now, the 28th of may. i want to be clear again today that we can make changes to the regulations before then if the evidence suggests it is safe to do so. evidence suggests it is safe to do so. iam evidence suggests it is safe to do so. i am as anxious evidence suggests it is safe to do so. i am as anxious as anyone evidence suggests it is safe to do so. i am as anxious as anyone to restore some degree of normality to our lives as soon as possible and to reduce the harms we know lockdown itself is doing. it is also open to us to amend the support and guidance if we think that is possible,

and indeed there is one limited, specific change to the guidance we are considering already, not want to come back to that shortly. first of all, i want to address reports that you might have seen in today's media, that the prime minister might be planning on sunday to announce changes to the lockdown in england. i must stress these are only media reports, i don't know yet how accurate they are. before i go further, i want to take the opportunity to remind you that none of the decisions i'm taking just now are driven by politics, they are driven only by doing what is right tackle this virus and to save lives, andi tackle this virus and to save lives, and i believe that is true for all leaders across the uk. however, i have to be clear with you that the potential changes reported in media today have not yet been discussed with the scottish government or, as far as with the scottish government or, as farasi with the scottish government or, as far as i know, with the other devolved governments. i hope we will have discussions in the next few days. we had expected a cobra

meeting today or tomorrow, but it seems know it may not take place until sunday, which is the day the prime minister is due to make his statement. however, the last half hour, understand the prime minister has requested a call with the devolved governments later today and i welcome that. if and when those discussions to take place, i will make very clear, as i have all along, that it is my preference if possible for all four uk nations to make changes together at the same pace, because that certainly helps us give clear, consistent messages to you, the public. however, for that approach to work, we must agree to make changes only when all four governments are satisfied that they don't risk a resurgence of the virus. and again, let me be make a port, if the prime minister decides he wants to move at a faster pace for england than i consider is safe for england than i consider is safe for scotland, that is right, i will

respect that and not criticise him, but i hope you understand and indeed ee, but i hope you understand and indeed agree, that i must makejudgments provided by the evidence provided for scotland. i will not be lifting restrictions prematurely until i am certain as i can be that we would not be risking a resurgence in infection rates. of the changes floated in the media today, there is only one that i may now stress may, be prepared to agree to in the immediate future, and that is a change to the guidance limiting outdoor exercise to once a day only. that is currently one of the limited number of reasons that you are permitted to leave home at. as i alluded to earlier in the week, we are already considering whether it would be possible now, without increasing the r number, to permit you to exercise outdoors more often than once a day, but under strict conditions that you remain within your own household group, stay

two micrometres away from others and stay reasonably close to your own home. it would not change the overall message to stay at home, except for the limited reasons of exercise, food and medicine. we will report back on our consideration and any four nations discussion on that in the next few days. in the meantime, however, let me be clear that the once a day rule does remain ina that the once a day rule does remain in a place. the other possible changes that are reported in the media today, such as encouraging more people back to work or opening a your gardens or encouraging more use of public transport would not, in myjudgment, use of public transport would not, in my judgment, be use of public transport would not, in myjudgment, be safe for us to make yet. and i particularly strongly believe that for us to drop the clear, well understood stay at home at message right now, could be a potentially catastrophic mistake. there is discussion in many countries about the timing of lockdown is. all along, we have taken the decisions we

have considered right and at the time we thought right, and that is what we will continue to do. none of us have the benefit of hindsight when we make those decisions. right now, we do have the benefit of foresight, and what i do not want a few weeks from now is for us to see a resurgence of this virus for you to be asking me why did you start to ease lockdown a week or a couple of weeks too early? it is not an exaggeration to say that the decisions we take no are a matter of life and death. and that is why they way you so very, very heavily and why they must be taken with great ca re why they must be taken with great care and is why as i take them, i will continue to error on the side of caution. i'll keep you updated on any and all discussions with other uk government over the weekend. for now, the advice remains the same as it has been, it

is easierfor us now, the advice remains the same as it has been, it is easier for us to start emerging from lockdown the lower the r number is and if your infectious cases there are. for all of us, the way we emerge from lockdown more quickly is to stick with the current restrictions. so please, stay at home except for essential purchasers, exercise, and continue seeing two metres away from other people and avoid meeting up with other households. wear face covering and isolates completely if you or someone else covering and isolates completely if you or someone else in your household has symptoms. i know these restrictions are very tough and i also know and worried that any talk of easing the lockdown might make it more tempting to go out that bit more tempting to go out that bit more often. but please resist that temptation, stick with the current rules. we must protect the progress we have all made together so far,

because it is by doing that we will continue to slow down the spread of this virus, continue to protect the nhs and continue to save about like you much indeed for listening, i will handle briefly to the secretary for health briefly before her, i and the chief medical officer take questions from journalists. thank you. is the first mist i said, we are all as anxious as anyone else to see more normality restored and reduce the harms that we know lockdown is doing. given that the sacrifices we are asking many people to make in these extraordinary times, the government has a duty to support to people who are isolating as best we can. even before covid—19 came into our lives, tackling loneliness and isolation was already a key priority for this government and a personal priority for me. we know that becoming disconnected from

those around us can have a serious limiting effect on our physical and mental health. issues which have been threw into the spotlight during this pandemic, particularly for those who are shielding and in a high risk group. and during these la st high risk group. and during these last few weeks, i think all of us have developed a new—found appreciation for being digitally connected, whether that is keeping up connected, whether that is keeping up with local news, being able to remain in contact well physically apart from family, loved ones and friends or using those digital connections to access resources to help us with our mental health or well—being. help us with our mental health or well— being. but we also know that many people are still excluded from the digital world and is now more than ever, we want to see them get online and in stay connected to. so today, the scottish government is unveiling a £5 million programme to

help bridge the digital divide. the connecting scotland programme will offer an internet connection, training and support and a laptop or tablet to people on low incomes who are considered clinically to be at high risk and are not already online during this current pandemic. those who take part in the programme will be paired with a digital champion or buddy to support them at for six months while they get connected, find the information they need and gain confidence in using what so many of us take for granted. prior to this roll—out, the scottish council for voluntary organisations has been trialling this approach with glasgow disability alliance and govan housing association. and the success of the pilot has made clear that this investment will bring significant benefits to a number of individuals. we expect it to bring

about 9000 people on line over the coming months. that's 9000 people who would otherwise not experience the benefits of the digital world. we know that shielding is absolutely critical for a group of people who are clinically at high risk of very serious illness indeed if they contract this virus. but we also know there are the group of people we are asking to take the hardest steps of all. so anything that we can do to support them, to help them remain connected, to help with mental health and well—being, we will do. and if there are other steps we can take, be assured that we will take those. thank you very much. i got no straight to questions, the first today from sharon donelson from stv. during

this lockdown, how will that go down with the public if indeed measures are eased elsewhere in the uk?” think what the public expect from me as first minister to do is to arrive atjudgments that as first minister to do is to arrive at judgments that are as first minister to do is to arrive atjudgments that are in the interests of keeping them safe as possible. i don't want lockdown to be in place for any longer than it has to be. i have been clear that letting lockdown is not like flicking a switch. it will be a gradual, slow, careful process and some of were living with for now we will continue to have to live with for some time to come. but were to prioritise protecting the progress that has been made. i said yesterday it remains my view that we are at a pivotal point where, if we continue to stick with these measures, we will see the forest continue to decline and become more under control. but if we eat up now, we we re control. but if we eat up now, we were most it going the opposite direction and before long, i will be standing here saying we have to impose stricter measures and u nfortu nately impose stricter measures and unfortunately putting figures that are coming in the wrong direction. i

don't want anybody in scotland to be able to look at me and say, why on oeste did you start to lift these measures before you were certain we had the fire risks officially under control. so i will make those judgments as best i can. i have said all along and i said today, there is merit in all four nations of the uk moving out of these measures at the same pace, because that helps us with messaging. but if that is the case, that can only happen if we agree that any changes have to be agreed by all of us. and if we decide we want to go slightly different paces, we respect each other‘s rights to do that. but my responsibility is to take the judgments i think are right for keeping scotland safe. the bbc? first minister, is lockdown lifting to some extent across scotland, regardless of any changes announced by government, and if

so, you 0k with that? i don't want us to ease up with that? i don't want us to ease up on the restrictions right now, so the regulations aren't changing, the guidelines today, whether that is to individuals, businesses or wider society, has not changed. i talked today about one potential change to guidance that we may make in the coming days, but we have to consider carefully what the limitations of that would be and the clear messaging around that to make sure it doesn't have unintended consequences, because clarity messaging is important. i do know, because i get messages from people who are worried that the roads and streets are busy and some businesses that are not required by law to close but have done so voluntarily are now starting to reopen. i said earlier this week, i share much of that concern because i know how finely balanced these things are. so is first minister, i am seeing clearly to everybody, our guidance remains as it has been, and that a

stay at home except for the essential purposes of exercise, right now, once a day, getting food and getting medicines and follow all the other advice we give. channel 4? in england and wales, carers are included in covid—19 bereavement payments for workers who lose their lives. in scotland, they are. not. i'd be grateful for a yes or no for the avoidance of any doubt, do you have the power to make bereavement payments for carers? i don't make a yes or no answer to this issue that you raise right now, because it is important and you raise right now, because it is importantandi you raise right now, because it is important and i want to make sure i understand the detail before i get an answer. on an issue as important as that, it will probably be more than a yes or no, but with regards to our powers, i will give you a

clear a nswer. to our powers, i will give you a clear answer. do you wish to say any more as two things i would say is, as you will know, we have agreed a death in service additional benefits for those in the nhs who are not a pa rt for those in the nhs who are not a part of the nhs pensions scheme for theirfamilies. part of the nhs pensions scheme for their families. is an initial payment but also an ongoing payments. it is in turn are comparable with the benefit that is there for those who are part of the pension scheme. we have done that in recognition of the situation, but also because we are their employers. where care assistants, social care staff, they are not employed by us, they are employed by local authorities and private providers, and what i have said very clearly is that if those employers want to talk to me about what we have done and what they might do, then i am very happy to have

that discussion. we will get you a detailed answer and if there are areas we require to look out further here, i give an undertaking today that we will do that urgently. is it possible for in england and wales but not in scotland? this may not be a useful a nswer scotland? this may not be a useful answer for scotland? this may not be a useful answerfor a scotland? this may not be a useful answer for a politician, but scotland? this may not be a useful answerfor a politician, buti scotland? this may not be a useful answerfor a politician, but i don't know right now what the answer to thatis, know right now what the answer to that is, so i will go away and look at the detail and check the answer so at the detail and check the answer soi at the detail and check the answer so i know the answer i give you is the correct one, rather than trying to pretend to you i know all the detail of the issue you're racing with me. so we'll come back to you. i have people watching will agree thatis i have people watching will agree that is a better approach to try to get to the facts and a proper, robust answer, even if it takes a little bit longer. but the issue is important. jean has talked about nhs and people who are employed as carers. we also, just yes, announced

further financial support for unpaid ca re rs further financial support for unpaid carers through an additional supplement to the carers' allowance, so we are supplement to the carers' allowance, so we are of the view that all these issues matter deeply, so it is important that we take time to look properly into issues raised with us and come back into detail on them. itv news? thank you very much. it's beena itv news? thank you very much. it's been a couple of weeks since we raised the idea of, if you were to ta ke raised the idea of, if you were to take a different path from the uk, how would policies like the job retention scheme be paid for, because that is currently funded by the treasury in westminster. now we are to points what you could be talking about extending lockdown further than other parts of the uk, you certainly have the powers to do it, but who pays for it? let's see if there are differences that open up if there are differences that open up and seen the possession that i take. i'm not changing my position, if the prime minister decides he wa nts to

if the prime minister decides he wants to go to different pace, that isa wants to go to different pace, that is a decision he is entitled to make. iam is a decision he is entitled to make. i am commenting today because i think make. i am commenting today because ithinki make. i am commenting today because i think i have to, people are eating to media reports. i will be speaking to media reports. i will be speaking to the prime minister later this afternoon so i will not get further into hypotheticals. it may be there is not much difference in our possessions, but we will see is that weekend progresses. sky use? thank you very much. you have stressed the value of a united uk approach today, and also repeated that this is a life and death issue. if boris johnson breaks on sunday from a united uk approach, is he heightening the risk to life?“ united uk approach, is he heightening the risk to life? if you listen carefully to what i'm saying, andi listen carefully to what i'm saying, and i do know people watching this do listen carefully, i am saying the only thing that matters to me is that we take the decisions that are best going to suppress and tackle this virus and save lives. i think thatis this virus and save lives. i think

that is what all of us in leadership positions across the uk are doing. one key point i've made previously this week and i make again, and this could be the case with a different regions... let's leave the first minister as she continues with that press co nfe re nce . minister as she continues with that press conference. she made the point that there have now been 1762 deaths from people who have tested positive with covid—19, 59 further tests reported in the last 24 hours. giuseppe lockdown will remain in place, it would be catastrophic to lift it until the evidence suggests it is safe to do so, it is only prefera ble it is safe to do so, it is only preferable for all four uk nations to act at the same pace. because they can, of course, act separately. summer breaking news from london sta nsted summer breaking news from london stansted airports, summer breaking news from london sta nsted airports, they summer breaking news from london stansted airports, they are going to be issuing guidance for all passengers arriving and departing through the airport. passengers will be asked to wear gloves and cover their faces from now

on. in a moment, the one o'clock news but first the weather. there is a chance of some showers developing in some places, but the vast majority will miss them. fax, a little rain already out to the west and south west. new base spiralling into this area of low pressure that is part just of into this area of low pressure that is partjust of the rest of us. the vast majority of the country, a fine, bright and sunny day. temperatures, 22 this afternoon in london and 17 in the lowlands of scotland. here's the evening weather, showers developing across parts of the midlands and scotland and northern ireland. towards the end of the night, the possibility of rain reaching the far south west of the country. but for many of us, a mild night, perhaps turning

cloudy out towards the west. friday, the best of the sunshine towards the east of england, east anglia, the south east and along the south coast. in parts of england and wales, perhaps showers developing recovery and art friday developing, pleasa nt recovery and art friday developing, pleasant in glasgow. they changes in the air across northern parts of the uk, at least initially on friday. a cold front from norway stretching and across the sea into north and scotla nd and across the sea into north and scotland and the atlantic sea, cold winds blowing out of the norwegian sea, spreading across scotland, cold, arctic air. look actually will be on saturday in central and northern scotland, whereas in the south, we still have thosejune—july like temperatures. into saturday, that cold, dense artic slowly across the country, like dense honey,

all the country, like dense honey, all the way down towards the south, and then towards afternoon, we are all in that cold air mass. there will be gusting up to 40mph, so it will feel very chilly, especially with that dropping the temperature. by day, only 13 in london and single figures there are across the north sea coast.

bringing devastation tojobs and incomes — the bank of england warns the coronavirus pandemic will push the uk towards its deepest recession on record. that would be the biggest economic slump in 300 years, with the bank warning that the unemployment rate could more than double. government and the bank of england have put in place a very big package of measures, and we will go on utterly focused on that and doing the things that we need to do to support

the people of the country. we'll be analysing the bank of england's grim forecast. also this lunchtime: the cabinet meets to discuss easing the lockdown — but we'll have to wait until sunday to find out how the prime minister intends to do it. no easing of the lockdown in scotland — the first minister says to do so would be "very, very risky indeed". i will not be pressured into lifting restrictions prematurely, before i can be as certain as i can be that we will not be risking a resurgence of infection rates. at least eight people die, and thousands hospitalised, after a gas leak at a chemical plant in southern india. protecting nothing — the shipment of 400,000 ppe gowns from turkey, which was flown here by the raf, is impounded in a warehouse after failing uk standards. not the celebration they'd planned — but, under lockdown, britain prepares to mark tomorrow's 75th anniversary of ve day.