this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines... the chancellor says it's very likely the uk is in a significant recession, as a result of the coronavirus lockdown. it is now, yes, very likely that the uk economy will face a significant recession this year and we are in the middle of that as we speak. at prime minister's questions, boris johnson promises another £600 million for infection control in care homes — but is challenged on thousands of excess deaths amongst residents. can the prime minister give us the government's views on these unexplained deaths? he is right to draw attention, as i have said, to the tragedy that has been taking place in care homes. the easing of lockdown begins in england — people are encouraged to return to work, though avoid public transport where possible.

definitely is still quite busy. and i think a lot of people, some people are really conscious about keeping their distance. you know, two metres, and other people just aren't, really. and, good news if your lockdown lawn needs some love, as some garden centres re—open. good afternoon. the chancellor rishi sunak has said it's "very likely" the uk economy will face a significant recession this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. he was speaking as official figures showed the uk economy shrank by 2% in the first three months of this year, which include

the early days of lockdown. it's the sharpest dip since the global financial crisis in 2008. it comes as some of the lockdown restrictions have been eased in england — and some people have returned to work. the prime minister has announced a further £600m to help tackle the virus in england's care homes. more on that shortly but first this report from our economics correspondent andy verity. if the economy looked like this at the start of the year, not growing but still busy, then this is how it looked at the end of the first three months. and this is a chart showing how big the fall was in the services sector which makes up four fifths of the economy, down a record—breaking 6.2% in march alone and it is likely to get even worse. the bank of england for example put together a scenario suggesting in the second quarter we might see a 25% fall in economic output and that is completely unprecedented, that is nine or ten times the biggest quarterly

fall we've ever seen. the speed with which this has hit the economy and the depth of the impact is really unprecedented. this manufacturer in derby normally makes bespoke stainless steel equipment mostly for restaurant kitchens and other caterers. it successfully adapted to the shutdown in march by furloughing some staff and converting machines to make equipment needed in the crisis. we recently supplied 1000 mobile washbasins which have gone into a variety of sites including the nhs but also some large supermarkets. we are now in the process of manufacturing drug dispensing tables for the nhs manchester nightingale. but now demand for wash stations is slowing down and the firm will be lucky to get half of its normal income this year. even if it furloughs more staff

it is likely to be forced to make some redundant to keep its core business afloat. do you remmeber before the shutdown when there was all that concern about avoiding a cliff edge brexit? well, actually, it turns out the economy was flat before we left the eu at the end of january and in the transition it fell a little bit, but of course it was the antivirus measures that really pushed the economy over a cliff. the official estimates of economic growth only cover a few weeks of antivirus measures but it is already the worst quarterly performance since the height of the financial crisis and the worst month for the economy on record. the result of deliberate government policy to fight the virus. in common with pretty much every other economy around the world, we are facing severe impact from the coronavirus. you are seeing that in the numbers. and that is why we've taken the unprecedented action that we have to support people's jobs, their incomes, livelihoods, at this time. and support businesses. so we can get through this period of severe disruption and emerge stronger on the other side. in spite of that unprecedented support today came another

devastating jobs announcement when air travel company and owner of thomson, tui, said it was laying off 8000 people. labour said the government had to keep up its unprecedented expansion of the state's role in the economy to stop unemployment rising even faster than it has been. andy verity, bbc news. borisjohnson has announced a further £600 million for infection control in england's care homes. at prime minister's questions the labour leader, sir keir starmer, challenged mrjohnson to explain why official figures show there were an additional 10,000 unexplained deaths in care homes in april. the prime minister acknowledged the death rate has been too high, but said outbreaks in care homes are coming down. here's our political correspondent iain watson. the lockdown is slowly easing in england. though westminster remains subdued. labour had long called for an exit

strategy but criticised the prime minister's planned route out of lockdown for lack of clarity and for being too slow to get on top of the crisis. so keir starmer began by questioning the government response to infections in care homes for the care home residents were granted for about four in ten deaths from coronavirus recently. does the prime minister accept the government was too slow to protect people in care homes? the prime minister seemed to anticipate the question as he had a fund ready to announce. what we've seen is a concerted action plan to tackle what is unquestionably an appalling epidemic in care homes and huge exercise in testing is going on, a further £600 million i can announce today for infection control in care homes. the number of deaths in care homes for april was 26,000. three times the average. 18,000 additional deaths this april.

using government figures only 8000 are recorded as covid deaths and that leaves 10,000 additional and unexplained care home deaths this april. since the care homes action plan began we are seeing an appreciable and substantial reduction notjust in the number of outbreaks but also in the number of deaths. i want to stress to the house and also to the country that solving the problem in care homes is going to be absolutely critical, getting r down not just in care homes but across the country will be critical to our ability to move forward as a nation with a stepped programme that i announced on sunday. then sir keir starmer wondered why graphs showing international comparisons of death rates from coronavirus had recently apparently disappeared from downing street press briefings. i'm baffled, it is not me seeking

to draw comparisons but these slides have been used by the government for seven weeks to reassure the public and the problem with the prime minister's answers it is obvious that for seven weeks when we were not the highest number in europe they were used for comparison purposes but as soon as we get that unenviable place they've been dropped. just on his earlier point about not learning from other countries, nothing could be further from the truth, we are watching intently what is happening in other countries. sir keir starmer says he's offering constructive criticism but nonetheless it is criticism and in his recent questioning the prime minister and has begun to emerge, to try to establish the government has been slow to react to the crisis and for his by the prime minister wants to convince us that he is doing his very best under challenging circumstances. iain watson, bbc news, westminster. iain joins us from westminster. ca re care homes was a massive topic at

pmqs today. i think there has been a development since that session. keir starmer has written more about this. explain further. usually we get the arguments across the floor of the house at prime minister's questions in the house of commons. the rail here appears to have broken out after pmqs. sir keir starmer has written to the prime minister challenging him to correct the record, he says, on inaccurate information which the prime minister has given. to give you some context, we saw a bit of that exchange on ca re we saw a bit of that exchange on care homes. it was quite detailed and as part of keir starmer‘s questioning of the prime minister he suggested that government advice, government guidance, before march 12 was, that it remains unlikely people receiving care in a care home would become infected with the virus, to quote. what the prime minister said in response to that, and again i will quote accurately. it was, it

wasn't true that the advice said that. it wasn't true that the advice said that. that was the response from the prime minister. sir keir starmer, with his legal background lost no time at all in firing off a letter challenging what the prime minister said. what he is referring to, and bear with minister said. what he is referring to, and bearwith me, is minister said. what he is referring to, and bear with me, is guidance for social and community care in residential settings of covid—19. this advice applied from 25th february until the 12th of march. there is a paragraph in there, section seven, guidance and facemasks. it says there that during normal day to day activities facemasks do not provide protection. but they can be recommended by health care workers to reduce the risk of transmitting infection. it then goes on to say that it remains very unlikely people receiving care ina care very unlikely people receiving care in a care home or the community will become infected. technically, what keir starmer said, is in the

guidance, but in terms of context, it's in a section relating specifically to facemasks. we haven't yet had a downing street response but i think the row goes to the heart of keir starmer‘s style of pmqs, to sound constructive and restrained in his tone, asking questions that seem reasonable to the prime minister, but also going for borisjohnson‘s vulnerability the prime minister, but also going for boris johnson's vulnerability as he sees it, assuming borisjohnson might not be across the detail and then enticing him, if you like, into perhaps blustering his way through. and in this case, on that narrow point, borisjohnson said the advice didn't say what keir starmer said it did, but his team had clearly delved into the document. this document has 110w into the document. this document has now been withdrawn. that advice has been replaced. and as the prime minister said at pmqs, they are now putting more money into care

homes as the prime minister said, six that will be put into care homes. care homes have almost seem to be treated as second best. initially it was about hospitals and ppe in hospitals. there was the narrative that the care sector was really forgotten about. does this tie into that? that is certainly pa rt tie into that? that is certainly part of what's going on here, undoubtedly the case that a lot of focus was on getting ppe to hospitals first, there was an assumed big peak in the infection rate and in fact icus were not overwhelmed but government advisers thought that was a distinct possibility before the virus reached its peak. and care homes, much more difficult to get to, many privately owned and managed. some people

believing that care sector was certainly the poor relation. i think something is wider going on for keir starmer. he used care homes today, but he also talked about international death comparisons and britain's unenviable record in the number of deaths. i think he is trying to establish a narrative that the government has been slow to respond to the crisis, perhaps slower than some other nations, so when the time comes and we are out of the immediate crisis, he will then try to build up a picture that perhaps a different government or different prime minister could have acted sooner. iain watson at westminster, thank you. and more details coming later today about that sum the prime minister announced in the commons about more money for infection control within the care home sector. we've had the latest figures from the department of health and social care.

as of 5pm yesterday, of those who had tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, 33,186 have died. that's an increase of 49a on yesterday's figures. more than 33,000 people across the uk have now died having tested positive for coronavirus. those figures go up to 5pm yesterday. seven weeks after the prime minister announced the lockdown, some restrictions have been eased in england. people who can't work from home are now encouraged to return to work — although avoiding public transport if at all possible. 0n the london underground, early morning passenger numbers were up 8.7% on the same period last week. here's our transport

correspondent tom burridge. social distancing impossible in places this morning. london inevitably worst. not everyone was following the government's advice to cover your face. i have my mask with me, so if anything, i will put it on and just turn my head — my face off people. that's what i'm going to do, that's the plan. people who cannot work from home are now being encouraged to go back. some able to avoid public transport altogether, some of the time. when i have had to use it, it definitely is still quite busy. i think a lot of people... some people are really conscious about keeping their distance, you know, two metres. and other people just aren't, really. the rmt union says rail staff should refuse to work if they feel unsafe. train bosses plan to

ramp up capacity soon. we are going to need everybody‘s help to make this work. we are going to start scaling up our services, so in some places have longer trains, so there is more space for people to maintain that social distance and, from next week, we will see a gradual upscale in services. the government concedes that social distancing will not be possible all of the time. and working out how many people get on a particular service at a particular stop, at a particular time, is complicated. so the message is change the way you travel, if you can. absolute key here is for anybody who can to make alternative arrangements for travel, so cycling, walking — last week i put a £2 billion package together to try to encourage more cycling and walking and, if necessary, cars, as well.

traffic on some of our main roads also appears to have risen. governments normally encourage us to ditch our cars, but now we are told any form of private transport is better than travelling in a public space. tom burridge, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news... the chancellor says it's very likely the uk is in a significant recession, as a result of the coronavirus lockdown. at prime minister's questions, boris johnson promises another £600 million for covid—19 infection control in care homes — but is challenged on thousands of excess deaths amongst residents. the easing of lockdown begins in england — people are encouraged to return to work, though avoid public transport where possible. with apprenticeships and junior positions being cut, and no savings to fall back on,

many young adults are under considerable financial strain at the moment. newsbeat reporter kirsty grant reports. gemma is 16. she was a year into her hairdressing apprenticeship when she was let go, just before the lockdown. i was quite far through it. i was starting to cut hair and learn about colour theory. then i was shampooing a client and i got called upstairs and i was told that i had to leave. it sounds so dramatic, but i felt literally heartbroken. because it was all so perfect for me. like, i struggled at school, so i left school and i had this apprenticeship and it was like, this is amazing. i am finally getting to learn. gemma has the support of her family, but she is worried about finding a new salon to complete her apprenticeship, whenever that might be. according to the association of employment and learning providers, 60% of employers have stopped recruiting apprentices entirely. i don't know what to do any more. it's all very unexpected.

like, you are going to be so lost with nothing to find after. it is so difficult. amelia was made redundant from her marketing firm just before the lockdown. she's 23. it was firstly a bit of a shock. i was kind of sat outside and just did not know really how to react. she is isolating with her boyfriend, who is helping support them both. she says she was not offered furlough, because her company told her they didn't want to use the government scheme. at the moment, i'm 0k, but i basically have managed to stretch my last pay cheque, or pay cheque and a half. obviously, that is, you know... it will dwindle eventually. 26—year—old jarrod is a self—employed tree surgeon. like about 650,000 other people, he has not been eligible for the government support scheme for the self—employed, as he only started his business last summer. i am really fortunate to have a supportive family, so my grandmother has sent me some money, my mother sends me £100 a month.

technically, jared can go back to work now the government has eased its restrictions this week. but he says people are not looking to use his services at the moment, so he will have to keep claiming universal credit. we would not be able to survive if we were not claiming. so, our rent is paid for and we have enough money for a weekly shop, i suppose. money for a weekly shop, for food. jared, gemma and amelia are still dealing with the immediate impact of the crisis, but the bigger challenge for them might be longer term prospects. kirsty grant, bbc news. and a reminder that at 2:30pm this afternoon, we will be answering your questions on how the pandemic has had an impact on the finances of young people. just a few minutes left to send a question in if you have one, or raise any of those queries or concerns you may have. that's coming

up concerns you may have. that's coming upjust after concerns you may have. that's coming up just after 2:30pm here concerns you may have. that's coming upjust after 2:30pm here on bbc news and we will get through as many of your questions as we can. builders, factory workers and garden centre staff are getting back to work in england, but businesses need to be "covid secure". they must be safe for their staff. let's talk more about the issues for employers around the return to work and speak to cate walter, co—founder of rhino safety, a health and safety consultancy which advises businesses. good afternoon. hello. given what you do, you must be exceptionally busy. i wonder what your thoughts are here on this day when we have the beginnings of an easing in england. what sort of questions are you being axed by your clients and what are the key areas of concern

for employers. we have been extremely busy this week. we actually started to see things pick up actually started to see things pick up last week. we found that i think most employers started to get an inkling things would start returning to normal, so they were trying to be proactive. but the guidance was not published until late on monday evening, so we have been working for the past two weeks on the draft guidance we had available to us to try and prepare clients. we have actually produced a pack specifically for them that covers all the things they need to be doing. i think the main concerns most of our clients have are around the actual clarity of the guidance itself in terms of the fact, first of all it is just guidance, it is not legislation. so it is an advisory document. what that means is that it allows employers to make their ownjudgments is that it allows employers to make their own judgments and assess things within their own workplaces and premises. but that also places a

huge amount of responsibility and liability on them. there are obviously a lot of business owners out there scared of the ramifications of getting this wrong. it's really interesting that it is guidance and is not legislation. the guidance and is not legislation. the guidance is, try to enable members of staff, for example most of us need to distance ourselves two metres apart, to section off kitchens so people go in almost on a rota system so they can keep socially distant. that is easier said than done depending on the workplace. absolutely, yes. and it's worth noting the fact that all the guidance says in terms of social distance and keeping two metres apart in the workplace, it says to do that where possible. a lot of businesses use businesses that are as small as possible because of issues with things like business rates, so it might not be possible

to spread out two metres. —— make use premises that are as small as possible. what our clients are saying to us is that if it is not possible and employees refused to return to work because they don't think it is safe, what do they do because they can't magic up space from nowhere. there are grave concerns about how to practically apply the guidance. it is interesting, what do you say to them and what can they do? in terms of the advice we are given, we are finding actually at the moment it is slightly easier to implement for businesses, particularly where they have furloughed some or all of their tea m have furloughed some or all of their team because they are managing to bring injust a team because they are managing to bring in just a few staff at a time. behind me, in my office at the moment, we only have one other member of the team in at the moment. the rest of our team are working from home because they can. in that sense, measures like that can be taken, but longer term, when we

start to move towards june, taken, but longer term, when we start to move towardsjune, july and the end of the summer, where there are likely to be more people wanting to return to work and more businesses trying to get staff off the furlough scheme, i think it will get really tricky. i think businesses will have to be really creative about perhaps a staggering working hours between staff, may be having teams of people who work in the premises at any one time and eve ryo ne the premises at any one time and everyone else works from home. i think it will take a lot of adaptation on businesses' behalf. think it will take a lot of adaptation on businesses' behalfm so adaptation on businesses' behalfm so interesting, there is much more to discuss but it is a long road ahead, so we may well speak ahead. an awful lot for employers to speak about, the co—founder of rhino safety, a health and safety consultancy. thank you. one sector that has been allowed to reopen today... garden centres have been allowed to re—open in england a few days after a similar move in wales.

it's something welcomed by millions of gardeners keen to stock up on supplies. perhaps to get a sense of normality as well. phil mackie reports. welcome back to our garden centre. cheering. unlocking lockdown. some think this is too much too soon. thank you for coming, really appreciate it. but for the 45 people who arrived for the reopening this morning, it was a welcome relief. after months in which other stores were able to sell seeds, plants and garden tools, but garden centres had to stay shut, they've done everything they can to make it safe for customers. so we put markers down throughout the garden centre to mark two metre spacings. having already lost tens of thousands of pounds, the garden centre can now begin trying to get back to normal. it'sjust a huge relief to be back open and get some customers coming back in the door. it's been hugely stressful time over the last few months so it's just great to have some people back in. even though they are back open

and customers are coming back through the doors, this garden centre only has 30% of its staff back to work — that's because the very busy cafe can't reopen and they have to really restrict the number of people who can come in at any one time. so long as people feel safe, they will come back to places like this that have been out of bounds since march. how does it feel to be back in here? absolutely fantastic. have you been looking forward to coming back out to a garden centre? we certainly have. excited, yeah, just to try to get a bit of normality back in life, isn't it, really? are you at all worried coming out today? not at all. i haven't been worried throughout it, i'll be quite honest with you. you've got to be sensible. and that's what we are. sensible. but, yes, good to be outside. good to be doing things. we couldn't wait to come down, we've been desperate. we've made some seedbeds at home so we want some seeds to plant it all up now. it's been sad that it's been closed for so long. happy then that some businesses are open? do you think it's the right thing?

i do think it's the right thing. yes, the economy needs to get up and running so it is step—by—step before things really start to get back to normal. i still think it is going to be some time. many people today wore masks or gloves or both. customers are told to maintain social distancing at all times. all trolleys are cleaned before use and the tills are cleaned after every transaction. in a small way, it's back to business as normal today. the safety of customers and staff remains paramount, even for the garden centre cat, pudding. phil mackie, bbc news, worcester. let's speak now to william blake, director of st peter's garden centre in worcester which re—opened this morning. how is your first day going? going good, thank you. a huge relief to have the place open again and have customers coming in the door. have you had a lot of customers, our people keen? yeah, it's a lot

quieter than the normal. i guess people are more hesitant to coming out. but people are buying quite large quantities when they do come in. they are obviously stocking up so in. they are obviously stocking up so they can continue gardening projects. people are desperate, aren't they? what about your staff? were they keen to come back? we have just been talking about the fact that it's a lot of work for employers to try to make the workplace safe. did your staff, were they keen and feel confident about coming back? yes. we asked for volu nteers coming back? yes. we asked for volunteers first up we have not forced anybody to work whatsoever. when we explained the social distancing measures we were putting into place, i think that gave them confidence to return. we have not had issues. they are all using the systems we have put in place and eve ryo ne systems we have put in place and everyone is quite happy. and it's working, you have space in the aisles for people to move around. people are pushing some big trolleys with compost, so you need a lot of

space to get around. we widened all the main pathways, many of them are more than three metres wide so there is plenty of space, and also outside in the open, there is plenty of space, so in the open, there is plenty of space, so we are in the open, there is plenty of space, so we are not in the open, there is plenty of space, so we are not having any issues with overcrowding or pinch points with regard to the customer is. fantastic. i assume points with regard to the customer is. fantastic. iassume you points with regard to the customer is. fantastic. i assume you are not allowed to, or you are not opening your cafe. is that her big loss of revenue for you? yes, i'm currently sat ina revenue for you? yes, i'm currently sat in a very empty restaurant, currently being used as a bit of a warehouse. yes, it's normally about 20% of our turnover, so it's having a very significant impact on the overall business. 20% is a lot, but all the best to you and we hope you get good football. thank you, william blake from saint peter's garden centre in worcester, which reopen today. that takes us nicely

onto the weather prospects. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. typically only 1a degrees today and it will be cold, the wind is dropping as well, so temperatures falling sharply. northern scotland will see and showery outbreaks of rain keeping temperatures up here, but elsewhere in rural areas particularly a risk of a touch of frost. tomorrow was not cold, but bright and this cloud will move southwards across scotland and northern ireland, bringing with it showers. is where we'll stay dry, some sunshine around in the afternoon, destiny south—west and temperatures may be a bit higher than today, but temperatures —— like a cool wind blowing across the english channel. into friday that will ease down, but a lot of cloud and a breeze and temperatures are continuing to rise up to around 17 01’ continuing to rise up to around 17 or 18 degrees. most places will be

dry, but if you showers and parts of scotland. hello this is bbc news with jane hill. the headlines: the chancellor says it's very likely the uk is in a significant recession, as a result of the coronavirus lockdown. it is now, yes, very likely that the uk economy will face a significant recession this year and we are in the middle of that as we speak. at prime minister's questions, boris johnson promises another £600 million for covid—19 infection control in care homes, but is challenged on thousands of excess deaths amongst residents. can the prime minister give us the government's explanation for these unexplained deaths? he is right to draw attention, as i have said, to the tragedy that has been taking place in care homes. the easing of lockdown begins in england. people are encouraged to return to work, though avoid public transport where possible.

definitely is still quite busy. and i think a lot of people, some people are really conscious about keeping their distance. you know, two metres, and other people just aren't, really. and good news if your lockdown lawn needs some love, as some garden centres reopen. much more coming up in this half hour, we are going to talk particular about young people's finances during all this, but right now here's the sports news. here's sarah mulkerins. we know that today has seen the return of a lot as a recreational sport here in england, with the lockdown measures eased here in england. tennis, golf and some other sports.

so today marks the return of some amateur sport in england. tennis clubs will be open, people will be allowed to go fishing and golf clubs, like this one near manchester, are reopening today too, but under very, very strict rules. i'm joined here by one of the executive committee members chris melton, good morning to you. you have worked really hard to make this safe or as safe as possible. what do people need to know if they are coming to play golf? two things. one, the social side. you park a sensible distance in the car park, you get here ten minutes before, no sooner, you don't all meet your mates in the bar as you would normally do and then clear off ten 10 minutes after the round has finished. that is the social side. 0n the course, only two people, you keep your distance, you don't rake the bunkers and if your ball goes in the hole, when you get it out, you do not touch anything else. we've got special holes designed to enable just that. hopefully, in two or three weeks, we will be able to move on. how much have you missed playing golf? ask my family, don't ask me.

i have missed it enormously. it is the game, but it is more the society, your friends, daylight, sunlight, just meeting the people you enjoy playing playing with. chris, lovely to talk to you, thanks very much indeed. important to state that these rules apply only to england at the moment. golf courses in wales can reopen from next monday. as far as scotland and northern ireland are concerned, the situation in those two countries has not changed. golf courses there are still closed. agustin pichot has resigned from his role on the world rugby council. the argentine was beaten by bill beaumont in the recent election for the post of the global body's chairman. pichot, who won 71 caps for argentina, served as vice—chairman under former england skipper, beaumont, for the past four years before deciding to run for the top job. his statement said,

england wicketkeeper jos buttler has told the bbc he feels some unease about leaving the coronavirus—enforced lockdown to return to action. as it stands there will be no cricket played until at least the 1st ofjuly but details on how england players can train are set to be revealed on thursday. we actually had some apprehension and anxiety around just going into a com pletely and anxiety around just going into a completely new situation. it is going to be very alien to us as we have never experienced this before, s0 have never experienced this before, so to try to get your head round what it might look like, the situations you might come up against... i don't know the answer to this yet, but in 80 days, hopefully, we will have some sort of, my own guidelines as to what i

am happy with and if i can't get the assurance of x, then either like it is not quite right for or, just so i feel completely happy to be able to concentrate on cricket. middlesbrough midfielder adam clayton has been talking about his dad beating covid—19. he was moved to a regular ward after 51 days in intensive care. clapping and cheering really nice scenes there and his son is obviously delighted as well. we gotan is obviously delighted as well. we got an idea that he was leaving about an hour before and then he face timed my mum as it was happening and then we got the videos in the next five or ten minutes after the long journey we had been onjust to see after the long journey we had been on just to see him sort of moving and talking and on the road to

recovery was. . . and talking and on the road to recovery was... it brought a tear to the eye. really good for him and his family. that's all the sport for now. we will have much more throughout the afternoon. it's time for your questions answered. and we've been asking young people to send in their questions about the impact coronavirus has had on their financial situation. with me to answer your questions is dan whitworth from bbc radio 4's money box programme. and also, i'm joined from edinburgh by iona bain, founder of the young money blog. hello and a warm welcome to both of you. we have a lot of questions. let's start with this one from samina, who is 23 in leicester. she asks iona bain, what support is therefore new starters who have now lost theirjob because their player can't put them on furlough? yes, a

very good question, you are one of the unlucky ones who wasn't on payroll by the 19th of march, which was the cut—off date for the job retention scheme, which means you're going to have to look at the benefits system. so the good news is you should be eligible because it is available to anyone who is over the age of 18, is based in the uk and has lost work and is on a low income or no income. that certainly seems to apply to you at the moment. now, it would seem to be the case that if you are 23 that means the minimum that you are eligible for is £342.72 a month. if you are in a couple and the other person is under the age of 25 as well, then it would be at about £488. that is just the minimum, you might be able to get more than that if you are paying rent, for instance, and are in a

particularly expensive part of the country when it comes to rent. if you care for children or have other caring responsibilities you may be able to get more as well. so i would say your first port of call is the return to work charity, which has a brilliant benefits calculator. if you type in, turn to us, benefits calculator, you will be able to figure out how much you can claim. really interesting, there are comprehensive, thank you. than, let's bring on a question from laura, clacton—on—sea, 24. can my work force me to take annual leave during the lockdown? thatis that is an interesting one and basically the short answer is yes. to give you a pre—coronavirus example of why that is, let'sjust say you work in a chemical factory and each year it needs a huge deep clean and it takes two weeks. in that instance, your employer will say you have got to take the last

week ofjuly say you have got to take the last week of july and say you have got to take the last week ofjuly and the first week of august of every year so that we can shut the factory down and clean it. obviously, that is pre—corona virus. and not sure it applies to all of you, but certainly your employer can direct you to take some leave. now that the job retention scheme has been extended to october, employers are worried that all of these people who have been furloughed, around 7.5 million or so, are going to come back to work in october and had then accrued all of these holiday leave because just because you have been furloughed, it doesn't mean you don't have holiday leave. all of a sudden, people have all this holiday leave to take. one thing employers and employees need to know is that if you take holiday while you are being furloughed, the government doesn't pick up the tab, the employer does. it is not 80% of your salary, it is 100%, so as an employee you should perhaps remind your employer about that. a lot of people in my air going, really? i

didn't know that! let's turn to a question from nicky nicky, 29, stoke—on—trent. i'm a carer, with so many staff getting months at home with most of their pay. will essential workers get any bonus for working as normal? ican i can completely understand why you are asking that question, and u nfortu nately are asking that question, and unfortunately it is up to the sound that employs you to decide whether you are entitled to a bonus. at the moment, there are no plans from the government to award bonuses to those who are on the front line, but that could change. let's wait and see. it is worth pointing out that in wales the welsh government has said they will award a one—off bonus of £500 to all care workers, regardless of the hours that they have worked, and in scotland, and this doesn't apply to those who are working full—time as carers, but if you are an individual caring for somebody in your household also a neighbour,

then you are also entitled to a top up then you are also entitled to a top up of your carer‘s allowance and that would come to about £230. that will be paid next month as well, so that could be helpful someone or someone that could be helpful someone or someone who is in scotland caring for somebody and obviously those in wales who are carers are going to get at bonus next month. not much good news for you at the moment, u nless good news for you at the moment, unless your besides you have been working so hard you deserve bonus and you should get it. i very much hope so. what is being done to support the people who are on furlough from apprenticeships? this is from daisy. certainly, yes. the people i have been speaking to are very much hoping that colleges and employers ta ke hoping that colleges and employers take a flexible approach to this. we had a guild minister for england on our programme recently and of course

education is a devolved issue, so advice might be different in wales, england, scotland and northern ireland. she was saying go to the government website for all the latest updates and you will be able to get help and advice there. also the prince's trust is an organisation that is a lot of work with apprenticeships. i was speaking to michelle farmer from there today and she says she has been speaking to colleges nonstop. the hope from coueges to colleges nonstop. the hope from colleges is there will be flexibility and apprenticeship schemes need to run longer there is very much the hope that there will be flexibility from employers and colleges. obviously, it is a cliche now, but this is unprecedented, so we are not quite sure how it is going to work, but certainly for those involved, they understand the situation and what is going on and very much hope will be for people like daisy there will be flexibility and there will be exceptions. we hope so. a question for iona bain

from jake who asks will self employed people be getting the same extended hope as employed staff? the short answer is we don't know yet. the longer answer is that whilst the chancellor did announce an extension to thejob retention chancellor did announce an extension to the job retention scheme this week, so that furloughed workers could continue to get at least 80% orup to 80% could continue to get at least 80% or up to 80% of their pay paid by the government, at the moment the self employed income support scheme is only expected to last three months and you should be able to get up months and you should be able to get up to £7,500 if you are earning less than £50,000 per year, although there has been some discussion about maybe bringing that down to £30,000 per year, but that is just speculation at the moment. the chancellor said he is keeping the situation under review, so we're just going to have to wait and see. i will personally be very surprised if, at the point when it is clear that self—employed people are not going to be able to go back to work

ina going to be able to go back to work in a meaningful way, that we don't get that same help extended to the self—employed. but we willjust have to wait and see. yes and also am i right in saying there is a time element to this as well? if you have to be registered tax wise for more than a year, i think, as a self—employed person, to even claim for what is available right now? yes, that is right, so you will had two files a self—assessment tax return any tax year from 2019—2020 authoring 2018—2019, which makes it confusing. it is very confusing for those who have been in the self—employed world for not that long and who have started businesses recently and haven't been freelancing for that long. they obviously don't qualify for that support, very frustrating for them. yes, that is really difficult for a lot of people. a question from ellie about the housing market. i was

hoping to buy my first time this year or next year, she says. how will coronavirus affect me being able to do this? are young people going to be need to save more money now than they even did before. dan. probably the short answer for ellie is yes, we covered this exact story on money box yesterday. i was in touch with a lot of people about mortgages and people who have had pay cuts, and have been put on furlough. i was speaking to uk finance, which represents lenders, the banks. essentially, they told me that lenders, the priority for them is to lend responsibly and in relation to if you are on 80% of your salary at the moment, whether or not that is on furlough or whether or not you have had a pay cut, lenders will take that into account. i also spoke to a leading independent mortgage broker and he raised an important issue on this once, saying that it really depends

also on what sector you might back in because lenders are going to be so in because lenders are going to be so risk averse and so they will look at whatjob so risk averse and so they will look at what job you do. i so risk averse and so they will look at whatjob you do. i am sad to say, if you work in aviation, tourism or hospitality, clearly those are some of the industries that are going to be hardest hit by this economic downturn as a result of the pandemic and a mortgage broker i spoke to said mortgage lenders are going to ta ke said mortgage lenders are going to take that into account, so the short answer for you is yes, you will probably have to save more. hopefully, depending on her individual circumstances, she will still be on 100% of her salary because again that is a key factor on whether or not you are able to get a mortgage and if you are, how much you are able to borrow. get a mortgage and if you are, how much you are able to borrowm get a mortgage and if you are, how much you are able to borrow. it is all fascinating. we have had so many questions in and there is much more i could go through, but i'm going to lea p i could go through, but i'm going to leap from to one from ben in steve na g e. leap from to one from ben in stevenage. he is asking, if the company you work for isn't able to provide protective gear, masks, sanitiser and so on, am i allowed to

choose to be furloughed rather than go to work? well, then, it is worth clarifying that you can't choose to be furloughed. your employer has to furlough you, so if you haven't been furloughed yet, talk to your boss and see that as possible. if you have been furloughed, then that will continue in some form until october. however, the government this week have published these guidelines around how to make workplaces relatively safe for people to come back and do their work. however, it is also worth stressing that doesn't apply to those who can continue to do theirjobs from home, so if that is you you shouldn't have to go back toa is you you shouldn't have to go back to a workplace if most of the work you do can be done from home. however, if you did have to go back toa however, if you did have to go back to a workplace to do yourjob, it is up to a workplace to do yourjob, it is up to your employer to make sure it is safe. they will have to follow risk assessment, they will have to conduct that risk assessment to make sure your workplace is safe and they will have to take a number of

precautions, including social distancing, and where that is not possible, staggering work times, installing barriers and so on. actually, the health and safety executive can conduct on the spot checks to make sure that your employer is following those guidelines and if they are not they could be prosecuted, so it is really important that they do. but i would say talk to your employer, ask what they are going to make sure what your workplace is safe and conduct that conversation with your collea g u es that conversation with your colleagues and in theory, you wouldn't be dismissed or at least, you wouldn't be legally, you wouldn't be on the hook for raising those concerns. you couldn't be dismissed for raising those concerns. but i wouldn't want it to come to that. you know, i would prefer, and i'm sure you would both earn everybody would prefer in a situation like this, to try to resolve those issues amicably because it would not be good for you to just not because it would not be good for you tojust not go because it would not be good for you to just not go to work and then for your workplace to have to consider a

dismissal and then for you had to have to take them to court. all of that could be avoided if you just talk about what they are doing to make sure you are safe, not least because that is a legal requirement. and dan was nodding through a lot of that as well. so interesting, both of you, thank you very much indeed. excellent advice from iona bain and dan whitworth, good to have you with us. dan whitworth, good to have you with us. thank you. the time is nine minutes to 3pm. the former sinn fein leader, gerry adams, has had two historic convictions for attempting to escape from prison in the 1970s overturned by the supreme court. the judges ruled that his detention without trial at the maze prison outside belfast in 1973 had been unlawful because it wasn't authorised by the then northern ireland secretary, willie whitelaw. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page is in belfast.

explain more about this case, then, chris. for decades, gerry adams has been one of the most controversial figures here, throughout the conflict in northern ireland and the peace process as well, the president of sinn fein for 35 years, the party that was regarded as the political wing of the ira,. mr adams has a lwa ys wing of the ira,. mr adams has always denied being in the ira himself. this case goes back to the conflict in the early 1970s, when the security forces arrested paramilitary suspects without trial. mr adams was interned in 1973. he twice tried to escape from jail in 1974 and then again in the following year and he was found guilty to those escape attempts and was sentenced to four and half years in prison. those were his only convictions from the troubles. his

lawyers have argued his initial internment was unlawful because the law at the time required that in orderfor the internment to be personally considered by the cabinet of northern ireland secretary,. it went through the courts in northern ireland and gerry adams wasn't successful there, it to the supreme court and five judges that had unanimously ruled in his favour. given that they have now said his initial investment was unlawful, that means his initial convictions for trying to escape from jail will be overturned now because the legal cases he shouldn't have been injail in the first place. gerry adams has been giving his reaction here in belfast. remember what the british did. they set aside due process, they brought in special, coercive legislation and what the supreme courtjudgment does today is to set that clearly in that context and to say that it was unlawful, that the british government were responsible for unlawful actions

against citizens here. gerry adams there. what is the overall significance of this? what is your assessment? as far as gerry adams is concerned, the historical debate over his role in this city in northern ireland in irish politics over the last half century will continue, though he will not be able to say that mackie will now be able to say that mackie will now be able to say that mackie will now be able to say he has a clear record. as far as the wider implications go, many hundreds of people were interned during that period here in the 19705, during that period here in the 1970s, mainly people from the nationalist community, but also loyalist paramilitary suspects, you can imagine they will be looking carefully now at this judgment by the supreme court and gerry adams himself has said he thinks the government should identify others who were interned unlawfully and look at how what they could do in order to give them redress. chris,

in belfast, thank you very much for now. from early in the coronavirus outbreak in wuhan, china has faced criticism of its handling of the pandemic, particularly — as we've seen this week — from the united states. now china's diplomats are fighting back, with a new and aggressive campaign to take on the critics. 0ur diplomatic correspondent, james landale, reports: they are popular, violent and nationalist. now china's wolf warrior action films have given their name to a new form of aggressive diplomacy, as the country takes on critics over the way it's handled covid—19. china's wolf warrior diplomats may wear suits instead of uniforms, but their words are weapons. this spokesman suggested it was the united states that might have brought coronavirus to wuhan. across social media, other diplomats have launched a barrage of hostile tweets. 0ne accused president trump of being full of racism.

another said critics need to be injected with disinfectant to stop them spreading lies and hatred. all this is new. the german marshall fund think—tank says the number of official chinese twitter accounts has increased by 300% in the last year. in the past, china's public face has managed to show a positive image of the country. frankly, cute panda videos would be much more common than harsh take—downs of various government responses. some of the chinese pushback has been less aggressive, such as this cartoon by state media. but there is a backlash. the ambassador in france is one of seven chinese envoys summoned by their host in recent weeks to be hauled over the goals. hauled over the coals. the risk for beijing is that all this robust aggressive diplomacy that is coming out of its embassies

around the world begins to harden attitudes in the west, with some countries becoming more distrustful and less willing to engage with china. conservative mps have set up a new lobby group to scrutinise china more closely. the ruling state apparatus is so paranoid at the moment about maintaining control that they feel that they have to project force. and, in the us, china is now firmly an election issue with both candidates talking tough. the fear is that post—covid cooperation to repair the world economy is getting harder by the minute. in the films, china's wolf warriors always prevail. the outcome of the diplomatic battle has yet to be decided. james landale, bbc news. more coming up from 3p n.

now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello, typically only 14 degrees today and temperatures wilful sharply, but northern scotland will see more cloud and showery outbreaks of rain keeping temperatures up here, but elsewhere in rural areas certainly a risk of the touch of frost. tomorrow will start cold, but bright and sunny, cloudy creasing through the day, cloud moving southwards across scotland and northern ireland, bringing with it showers. elsewhere probably staying dry and sunshine still around the afternoon, best in the south—west. temperatures may be a shade higher than today, but still some cool wind blown into england and the english channel. that will ease down by the time we get to friday, but a lot of cloud coming down in the breeze on friday and he bested the sunshine in southern parts of england and wales, where temperatures are continuing to rise up to 17 or 18 degrees. most

places will be dry, but we have a few in scotland.

this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines... the chancellor says it's very likely the uk is in a significant recession, as a result of the coronavirus lockdown. it is now, yes, very likely that the uk economy will face a significant recession this year and we are in the middle of that as we speak. at prime minister's questions, boris johnson promises another £600 million for covid—19 infection control in care homes — but is challenged on thousands of excess deaths amongst residents. can the prime minister give us the government's views on these unexplained deaths? he is right to draw attention, as i have said, to the tragedy that has been taking place in care homes. the easing of lockdown begins in england — people are encouraged to return to work, though avoid public transport where possible.

definitely is still quite busy. and i think a lot of people... some people are really conscious about keeping their distance. you know, two metres, and other people just aren't, really. and, good news if your lockdown lawn needs some love, as some garden centres re—open. good afternoon. the chancellor rishi sunak has said it's "very likely" the uk economy will face a significant recession this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

he was speaking as official figures showed the uk economy shrank by 2% in the first three months of this year, which include the early days of lockdown. it's the sharpest dip since the global financial crisis in 2008. it comes as some of the lockdown restrictions have been eased in england — and some people have latest figures from the department of health show another 494 coronavirus—related deaths have been recorded in the past day in the uk. the prime minister has announced a further £600 million to help tackle the virus in england's care homes. more on that shortly but first this report from our economics correspondent andy verity. if the economy looked like this at the start of the year, not growing but still busy, then this is how it looked at the end of the first three months. and this is a chart showing how big the fall was in the services sector which makes up four fifths of the economy, down a record—breaking 6.2% in march alone and it is likely to get even worse. the bank of england for example put together a scenario suggesting

in the second quarter we might see a 25% fall in economic output and that is completely unprecedented, that is nine or ten times the biggest quarterly fall we've ever seen. the speed with which this has hit the economy and the depth of the impact is really unprecedented. this manufacturer in derby normally makes bespoke stainless steel equipment mostly for restaurant kitchens and other caterers. it successfully adapted to the shutdown in march by furloughing some staff and converting machines to make equipment needed in the crisis. we recently supplied 1000 mobile washbasins which have gone into a variety of sites including the nhs but also some large supermarkets. we are now in the process of manufacturing drug dispensing tables for the nhs manchester nightingale. but now demand for wash stations is slowing down and the firm will be

lucky to get half of its normal income this year. even if it furloughs more staff it is likely to be forced to make some redundant to keep its core business afloat. do you remmeber before the shutdown when there was all that concern about avoiding a cliff edge brexit? well, actually, it turns out the economy was flat before we left the eu at the end of january and in the transition it fell a little bit, but of course it was the antivirus measures that really pushed the economy over a cliff. the official estimates of economic growth only cover a few weeks of antivirus measures but it is already the worst quarterly performance since the height of the financial crisis and the worst month for the economy on record. the result of deliberate government policy to fight the virus. in common with pretty much every other economy around the world, we are facing severe impact from the coronavirus. you are seeing that in the numbers. and that is why we've taken the unprecedented action that we have to support people's

jobs, their incomes, livelihoods, at this time. and support businesses. so we can get through this period of severe disruption and emerge stronger on the other side. in spite of that unprecedented support today came another devastating jobs announcement when air travel company and owner of thomson, tui, said it was laying off 8000 people. labour said the government had to keep up its unprecedented expansion of the state's role in the economy to stop unemployment rising even faster than it has been. andy verity, bbc news. we can speak now to the conservative mp and chair of the commons treasury select committee mel stride. good afternoon to use. good afternoon. your thoughts about these figures? i don't think they tell us anything we didn't already know, that there has been a contraction in this quarter and a far deeper contraction is to come in the economy in the next quarter and we

are heading into a recession. i think your viewers, when they look outside and see what has happened to shops, pubs and businesses throughout the country, none of that will come as surprise. what matters... to hold the economy in the best possible position as we come through this. what measures the government is taking to bring us out of lockdown as simply and quickly as possible and what measures the government will be undertaking in the future to grow the economy and try to growjobs as we come out of the other side. we are losing your sound occasionally but i do want to persist if we can. we know a lot about the furlough scheme, we have talked about it a lot. people welcomed it, of course. can we talk about exactly to your point much further in the future, because how a north does demand come back and how on earth can the economy be pulled through this given we are at the beginning of this economically. ——

because how on earth. what the government will need to do is firstly do whatever it can to keep consumer confidence is high as it possibly can be. i think their handling of the exit from the lockdown strategy will play a key pa rt lockdown strategy will play a key part in that to let people know they are safe to engage with the economy more fully as time goes forward. the second thing is, a lot of people on the consumer side will probably have saved, actually, a bit of money in this lockdown, there are less opportunities to spend money in the economy at the moment and it will be the case of the government perhaps incentivising consumer expenditure, perhaps in the short—term through cuts to vat to get people out spending. the other measure will be to support business, and business investment, particularly companies are saddled up with debt, to see how debt forbearance measures might come into play so they can focus on investing rather than paying down

much debt. and finally, of course, making sure that the workforce itself is repurposed, and we invest in training and development to make sure workers can move out of those businesses that sadly won't make it into this new normal economy, even to the emerging parts of the economy that we will look to to produce jobs going forward. but what are these emerging areas? where willjobs go, because as you say, some businesses will simply be lost? there will u nfortu nately will simply be lost? there will unfortunately be a number that are lost, in the world of social distancing their models will be unviable. but in the sense, many of the things we have been doing right here at home under lockdown, we have been doing far more online, for example. my family has certainly engaged far more with entertainment and we have done a lot of online shopping. we have done things at a distance, so you might find those

kinds of businesses, or distribution businesses bringing things to people's homes etc... the main thing here is that there is clearly a great deal of uncertainty around. it remains to be seen, depending on how quickly we come out of this, exactly what shape the economy will take. this reminds us all of the financial crash of 2008. we know years of austerity followed that. is that what this country is going to be faced with again? i think the appetite from the government and indeed to the public for what is termed austerity, or economists might call fiscal consolidation, is relatively low. but the challenge, however, is going to be very steep because there really are only four leaders one can look to to get the deficit down and pay down debts going forward will stop one is to borrow more, and i think there is some capacity for doing that. a second would be to tax more, and i think there will certainly be some

of that. cutting spending, which i think there is less of an appetite for, but that might have to be looked at. and finally, to grow the economy so looked at. and finally, to grow the economy so the size of the cake gets bigger and the tax take is increasing accordingly. it will be a balance between those four areas. it seems to me the government will have to look seriously at all four of those given the magnitude of the level of the deficit we are likely to inherit at the end of this crisis. so measures such as tax rises or pay freezes are among the measures the treasury is presumably going to have to look at? the treasury will have to look at everything, such is the magnitude of what's going on here, and it will particularly have to look at, for example on the taxation front, those broader base taxes that have high yields. that would be income tax, vat and national insurance. they will have to look at those bigger, heavier lifting taxes and perhaps making changes in those areas. i don't think this will be something of the tax front that will be solved

bya of the tax front that will be solved by a bit of tax tinkering at the edges. they will have to be some big and difficult decisions that will be made. i'm interested in what you feel about much younger people in particular, the younger generation, and figures that show young adults are particularly hit by this, losing jobs and apprenticeships, and i have no savings to fall back on because they are too young. i don't want to sound apocalyptic, but is this a lost generation? what can be done for that age group?|j lost generation? what can be done for that age group? i think this is a hugely important point. you are right, young people and indeed to lower paid people, will bear a disproportionate, will have a disproportionate, will have a disproportionate impact as a consequence of the crisis. this is an area! consequence of the crisis. this is an area i think the treasury select committee will want to look at very carefully indeed. but for younger people a number of interventions are available for the government to look at, including training and reskilling so younger people are there to take up newjobs that will

emerge all sorts of other elements. you could have taxed based or indeed grant —based incentives for young people. there are a number of tools one can deploy but it's certainly an area that needs to be looked at, not least because even precrisis, young people... when i was younger i went to university and i didn't have to pay for university education. i got onto the housing ladder relatively easily. and of course, the younger generation have struggled on both those fronts and are now struggling with this, so the committee will look closely at it, i think. good to speak to you, mel stride, the chair of the treasury select committee. dou btless of the treasury select committee. doubtless more on that over the course on the afternoon with those dramatic economic figures through today. borisjohnson has announced a further £600 million for infection control in england's care homes. at prime minister's questions the labour leader, sir keir starmer, challenged mrjohnson to explain why official figures show there were an additional 10,000

unexplained deaths in care homes in april. the prime minister acknowledged the death rate has been too high, but said outbreaks in care homes are coming down. here's our political correspondent iain watson. the lockdown is slowly easing in england. though westminster remains subdued. labour had long called for an exit strategy but criticised the prime minister's planned route out of lockdown for a lack of clarity and for being too slow to get on top of the crisis. at pmqs, sir keir starmer began by questioning the government's response to infections in care homes. care home residents accounted for about four in ten deaths from coronavirus recently. does the prime minister accept the government was too slow to protect people in care homes? the prime minister seemed to anticipate the question, as he had a fund ready to announce. what we've seen is a concerted

action plan to tackle what has unquestionably been an appalling epidemic in care homes and a huge exercise in testing is going on, a further £600 million i can announce today for infection control in care homes. the number of deaths in care homes for april was a staggering 26,000. that's three times the average. 18,000 additional deaths this april. using government figures only 8000 are recorded as covid deaths and that leaves 10,000 additional and unexplained care home deaths this april. since the care homes action plan began we are seeing an appreciable and substantial reduction notjust in the number of outbreaks but also in the number of deaths. i want to stress to the house and also to the country that solving the problem in care homes

is going to be absolutely critical, then sir keir starmer wondered why graphs showing international comparisons of death rates from coronavirus had recently apparently disappeared from downing street press briefings. the uk has been going through an unprecedented, once in a century epidemic, and he seeks to make comparisons with other countries, which i am advised... which i am advised are premature. i'm baffled, it's not me seeking to draw comparisons but these slides have been used by the government for seven weeks to reassure the public. and the problem with the prime minister's answer, it's pretty obvious that for seven weeks when we were not the highest number in europe they were used for comparison purposes but as soon as we hit that unenviable place they've been dropped. just on his earlier point about not learning from other countries — nothing could be further from the truth. we are watching intently what is happening in other countries.

sir keir starmer says he's offering constructive criticism but nonetheless it is criticism and in his recent questioning the prime minister a pattern has begun to emerge, to try to establish the government has been slow to react to the crisis. for his part, the prime minister wants to convince us that he is doing his very best under challenging circumstances. iain watson, bbc news, westminster. 0ur political correspondent helen cattjoins us from westminster. it seems there is quite a row brewing around the whole topic of ca re brewing around the whole topic of care homes. there is, and a particular argument that has blown up particular argument that has blown up over particular argument that has blown up over one particular argument that has blown up over one specific exchange at prime minister's questions, where sir keir starmer said he was quoting from official government guidance that was in place until 12th march will stop you quoted it and said, it remains very unlikely that people receiving care in a care home will become infected. in response to that, borisjohnson said that it wasn't true that the advice said

that and actually we brought the lockdown in care homes ahead of the general lockdown. that line is in some public health england guidance that was issued on the 25th february to ca re that was issued on the 25th february to care homes. it's in a paragraph which relates specifically to whether or not care workers should wear face masks. 0n whether or not care workers should wearface masks. on that whether or not care workers should wear face masks. on that basis, whether or not care workers should wearface masks. on that basis, sir keir starmer has said he wants boris johnson to come to the house of commons at the earliest opportunity to correct the record. he recognised this was government guidance. downing street's approach says this was one line in a much bigger document will stop downing street has accused keir starmer of inaccurately and selectively quoting the guidance. a spokesman said that in his letter the leader of the opposition concedes he hasn't quoted actively from the document, and by putting the word therefore in, he got it sounds like we are in the weeds on this looking up one line but that's because care homes is such a huge issue. we are seeing

thousands of deaths. you heard in iain watson's piece that keir starmer has been trying to suggest the government were too slow to act and that was stop the gunmen saying they are putting on much more money now but there is still an issue in ca re now but there is still an issue in care homes. i think there is a concern that it's not perhaps understood exactly what is going on there. and certainly the uk government scientists say there are three epidemics, if you like, going on at the moment in england certainly, where you have what's happening in the community, what's happening in the community, what's happening in the community, what's happening in hospitals, and also what is happening in care homes and they are all slightly different and they are all slightly different and they need to get a real grip on that. helen catt at westminster, thank you. seven weeks after the prime minister announced the lockdown, some restrictions have been eased in england. people who can't work from home are now encouraged to return to work — although avoiding public transport if at all possible. 0n the london underground, early morning passenger numbers were up 7.3% on the same period last week. here's our transport

correspondent tom burridge. social distancing impossible in places this morning. london inevitably worst. not everyone was following the government's advice to cover your face. i have my mask with me, so if anything, i will put it on and just turn my head — my face off people. that's what i'm going to do, that's the plan. people who cannot work from home are now being encouraged to go back. some able to avoid public transport altogether, some of the time. when i have had to use it, it definitely is still quite busy. i think a lot of people... some people are really conscious about keeping their distance, you know, two metres. and other people just aren't, really. the rmt union says rail staff should

refuse to work if they feel unsafe. train bosses plan to ramp up capacity soon. we are going to need everybody‘s help to make this work. we are going to start scaling up our services, so in some places have longer trains, so there is more space for people to maintain that social distance and, from next week, we will see a gradual upscale in services. the government concedes that social distancing will not be possible all of the time. and working out how many people get on a particular service at a particular stop, at a particular time, is complicated. so the message is change the way you travel, if you can. absolute key here is for anybody who can to make alternative arrangements for travel, so cycling, walking — last week i put a £2 billion package together to try to encourage more

cycling and walking and, if necessary, cars, as well. traffic on some of our main roads also appears to have risen. governments normally encourage us to ditch our cars, but now we are told any form of private transport is better than travelling in a public space. tom burridge, bbc news. we will take a few minutes to discuss one specific area of the economy that is now restarting. and some might argue never really stopped during lockdown forced up we might be able to discuss that with our guests, and the difficulty of managing the world of construction. joining me now is clive docwra who is the managing director of the construction consulting

and design agency mcbains. hello and good afternoon to use. hello, good afternoon. hello and good afternoon to use. hello, good afternoonlj hello and good afternoon to use. hello, good afternoon. i assume from your perspective, big projects up and down the country are still happening, is that your experience and your desire? to quote the national statistics, from our perspective. we monitor and are involved in projects in the region of £10 billion worth of construction. as of the lockdown in late march we saw a drop of well over 50% of activity on the site. half those sites completely closed down or stop so carried on but in very limited fashion. if you look back at the original guidance given at that point, we have heard many times, work from home if you can, and clearly construction can't work from home on operational sites. some contractors took the view they will try to carefully operate during that

period. they use the period between the original lockdown and now to come up with detailed risk assessments and how they can operate, but there are huge challenges in doing so. with the announcement as of sunday, there is more encouragement to see contractors back to sites, which is good, providing they can follow clear and safe methods of operation. and that's a challenge for all employers, of course was up we have been reflecting that all day here. the bottom line surely in construction is that sometimes to make men, and i say that because it often is men, on a building site simply can't be two metres apart. is that something that employers and employees are just accepting? is that the nature of your business? what are your thoughts around that? the construction leadership council with operating procedures during the crisis and those procedures have

evolved. 0ne crisis and those procedures have evolved. one of the pieces they were looking at was that particular issue. to that end they have made recommendations along the lines that if there is a requirement to be within two metres, there are minimum requirements. 0ne within two metres, there are minimum requirements. one is that facemasks must be worn, and second it must be for absolutely essential work, and ideally if there is that need to be within two metres, to avoid doing it if at all possible, but there are limitations in that regard so it's not a perfect solution. is everything getting... i use the word normal in a limited sense. is everything starting to get back to normal in your world, but are there issues, particularly perhaps with the supply chain and building materials? have some things just stopped as a result of notjust lockdown here but other countries? yes indeed. looking at our sites that we are involved with, i would

estimate circa 80 or 90% are operational, but as for those operational, but as for those operational earlier, they are at a limited capacity. clearly social distancing reduces the number of people you can have on a site, but the other issue in a challenge out there is within the supply chain. some issues with labour shortages and various continental labour returning home at the outset and not returning home at the outset and not returning immediately. so whilst those sites are quoted as being operational, they are nowhere near reaching levels of productivity they would have been pre—covered mac. so there is massive pressure is for contractors, who have historically operated... cash flow is much better for the industry. while projects slow down, cash flow slows down which will present issues for contractors and construction

workers. it is a huge topic and i am sorry we can't discuss it earlier. thank you for speaking to us. the managing director of mcbains, like so managing director of mcbains, like so many employers we are speaking to today, big challenges across many sections of industry. households in england are now able to drive to other destinations in england — such as parks and beaches. the new guidance is still pretty confusing as far as a lot of people are concerned. well, let's get the picture from exmouth beach in devon and our correspondent sarah ransome. this is such a huge area of debate. what do people who happen to live in some of our country's most beautiful areas think about people perhaps being allowed to drive and come to the beach where you are? being allowed to drive and come to the beach where you are ?|j being allowed to drive and come to the beach where you are? i think in essence, it is a beautiful spot here, on exmouth esplanade, one of the oldest seaside resorts in devon,

and the gateway to the world heritage site of thejurassic coast. speaking to people here today, they have told me they have really enjoyed and are embracing this easing down of the lockdown. certainly the locals i have spoken to. i have spoken to one or two who have travelled a bit further, coming from exeter, and they talked about feeling like they had been released, like they had been prisoners in their own homes or own area and are now able to drive that ten or 15 miles, make thatjourney here to exmouth. when i asked them about how they would feel perhaps about people coming further afield, may be taking a few hours in their car to come down here, that was a mixed picture. some were very down here, that was a mixed picture. some were very concerned down here, that was a mixed picture. some were very concerned about the fa ct some were very concerned about the fact that by coming that sort of distance, they could possibly overwhelm a place like exmouth, and some were quite concerned about this coming weekend. 0thers some were quite concerned about this coming weekend. others were quite pragmatic and said, they are perfectly entitled to do that. but

the overriding concern was what they might bring. so if in fact large numbers came and perhaps brought the virus with them, this region has been very fortunate to have very low numbers of people who have died. every death, of course a tragedy for those involved. but looking at all the graphs there have been in recent weeks and in the last couple of months, the south—west figures have a lwa ys months, the south—west figures have always been on the low side of that. so there is a real concern about that. tourism bosses and others are saying, please don't come at the moment. there is nothing open, so please stay away until restrictions are fully lifted and they can welcome you back with open arms. that's part of the problem, it's interesting listening to tourism bosses, because it looks beautiful but most things are still shocked, car parks, no caffays and restau ra nts car parks, no caffays and restaurants in many areas. let's face it, there is nowhere to go to the toilet! we have to remember life

is not functioning as normal at the moment. it most certainly isn't. i can certainly vouch for the fact there are no toilets open in and around the exmouth area. and there are very around the exmouth area. and there are very few car parks open as well. this part of the esplanade is open but you will struggle to find a place here this afternoon. when i was here just over a place here this afternoon. when i was herejust over a month place here this afternoon. when i was here just over a month ago place here this afternoon. when i was herejust over a month ago it was herejust over a month ago it was dizzily deserted. —— it was deserted. but now people are enjoying the sunshine. but you are right, this is a bustling and thriving seaside town with cafes, pubs, hotels, bed—and—brea kfast, thriving seaside town with cafes, pubs, hotels, bed—and—breakfast, all of which would ordinarily be open and hoping for a of which would ordinarily be open and hoping fora bumper of which would ordinarily be open and hoping for a bumper year. of which would ordinarily be open and hoping fora bumperyear. but they are all sing with one voice, local authorities, tourism authorities, anyone you speak to who lives locally, please don't come at the moment, they don't want to see you, they can't have your custom

because they are simply not open. you can't get an ice cream for love nor money on the seafront, and believe me i've tried! they are saying, please don't come yet. when they can open up, please come then, but not at the moment. and as you say, there are no toilets open so please don't come yet! let that be a warning. and sarah, i have to tell you, people are yelling in my ear asking whether you and the cameraman are able to spin around to give a sense of what's going on. everyone in london is desperate to see the seaside. is that possible? it's beautiful. andrew is doing that for you now. the tide has gone out since i have been here. a few moments ago there were people in the water braving it. and the rnli are saying, if you do feel you need to take the

plunge and go into the water, please be careful because there are no lifeguards on the beach at the moment. they are still trying to work out how they can accommodate that in a socially distant and safe way for employees. we can all take a look at the water, but they are saying at the moment please take ca re if saying at the moment please take care if you intend to go either in or on it. thank you to andy from all of us. i have a dog that would love to run on that beach! i can't decide whether it makes us feel better or worse for saying that, but anyway, feel better or worse for saying that, butanyway, i'll correspond feel better or worse for saying that, but anyway, i'll correspond in devon. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello again. typically only 11 to 14 celsius today and it will get cold quickly overnight. a lot of this cloud that has bubbled up will tend to melt away, clearing skies, the winds dropping as well, so temperatures will fall sharply. northern scotland, though, will see more cloud, some showery outbreaks of rain, keeping temperatures up here. elsewhere, particularly in rural areas, the risk of a touch of frost.

tomorrow, for many, will start off cold but bright and sunny. cloud will gradually increase through the day and we will see this cloud moving southwards across scotland and northern ireland, bringing with it some showers. elsewhere, probably staying dry, some sunshine still around in the afternoon, best in the south—west. temperatures may be a shade higher than today but still a cool wind blowing across southern england and the english channel. that will have eased down by the time we get into friday, a lot of cloud coming down in the breeze on friday, the best of the sunshine for southern parts of england and wales, where temperatures are continuing to rise up to 17 or 18 celsius. most places will be dry, but we have got a few showers in parts of scotland. hello, this is bbc news with jane hill. the headlines: the chancellor says it's very likely the uk is in a significant recession, as a result of the coronavirus lockdown.

it is now, yes, very likely that the uk economy will face a significant recession this year and we are in the middle of that as we speak. at prime minister's questions, boris johnson promises another £600 million for covid—19 infection control in care homes, but is challenged on thousands of excess deaths amongst residents. can the prime minister give us the government's views on these unexplained deaths? he is right to draw attention, as i have said, to the tragedy that has been taking place in care homes. the easing of lockdown begins in england. people are encouraged to return to work, though avoid public transport where possible. definitely is still quite busy. and i think a lot of people, some people are really conscious about keeping their distance. you know, two metres, and other people just aren't, really. and good news if your lockdown lawn needs some love, as some garden centres reopen.

sport and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's sarah mulkerrins. hello, jane, thank you very much, good afternoon. we know that today has seen the return of some outdoor recreational sport in england, with the lockdown restrictions being eased to some people can now play socially distant games, including golf and tennis and our reporter spent the morning at a golf club. so today marks the return of some amateur sport in england. tennis clubs will be open, people will be allowed to go fishing and golf clubs, like this one near manchester, are reopening today too, but under very, very strict rules. i'm joined here by one of the executive committee members chris melton, good morning to you. you have worked really hard to make this safe or as safe as possible. what do people need to know if they are coming to play golf? two things. one, the social side.

you park a sensible distance in the car park, you get here ten minutes before, no sooner, you don't all meet your mates in the bar as you would normally do and then clear off ten minutes after the round has finished. that is the social side. 0n the course, only two people, you keep your distance, you don't rake the bunkers and if your ball goes in the hole, when you get it out, you do not touch anything else. we've got special holes designed to enable just that. hopefully, in two or three weeks, we will be able to move on. how much have you missed playing golf? ask my family, don't ask me. i have missed it enormously. it is the game, but it is more the society, your friends, daylight, sunlight, just meeting the people you enjoy playing with. chris, lovely to talk to you, thanks very much indeed. important to state that these rules apply only to england at the moment. golf courses in wales can reopen from next monday. as far as scotland and northern

ireland are concerned, the situation in those two countries has not changed. golf courses there are still closed. agustin pichot has resigned from his role on the world rugby council. his statement said, england wicketkeeperjos buttler has told the bbc he feels some unease about leaving the coronavirus enforced lockdown to return to action. as it stands there will be no cricket played until at least the first ofjuly but details on how england

players can train are set to be revealed tomorrow. we actually had some apprehension and anxiety around just going into a completely new situation. it is going to be very alien to us as we have never experienced this before, so to try to get your head round what it might look like, the situations you might come up against... i don't know the answer to this yet, but in a few days, hopefully, we will have some sort of...i will have my own guidelines as to what i am happy with and if i can't get the assurance of x, then either it is not quite right for me or, just so i feel completely happy to be able to concentrate on cricket. middlesbrough midfielder adam clayton has been talking about his dad beating covid—19. he was moved to a regular ward after 51 days in intensive care. clapping and cheering

always good to see those scenes. and his son is also delighted. we got an idea that he was leaving about an hour before and then he facetimed my mum as it was happening and then we got the videos in the next five or ten minutes, but after the long journey we had been on, just to see him sort of moving and talking and on the road to recovery was. . . it brought a tear to the eye. really good for him. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. as we've been reporting, people who can't work from home are now encouraged to return to work, although avoiding public transport if at all possible.

0ur our people even in a position to do that? we've got the latest london underground figures for you — and by 10.00am passenger numbers were up 7.3% on the same period last week. that equates to about 5,700 extra journeys. however, compared to the same day last year tube journeys are down by 94%. a transport for london spokesman said that next week, the aim is to increase to 75% of tube services and 85% of bus services. lets discuss the whole issue of public transport and the safety of it for both passengers and staff. joining me now is mick lynch — the assistant general secretary at the rmt union. what are your staff, first of all,

saying to you about their willingness or otherwise to try to get the public transport network back up and running, whether they are in the country? well, our members have been working throughout lockdown and obviously the usage numbers have been drastically reduced, with only key worker is essential to the economy and our nhs and other services meant to be travelling, but the floodgates have opened a bit on that this week and there is no cap on who can use the buses, the main line rail all the tube network, or the metro services around the big cities, so that is a major concern to us. our members don't want to put themselves in unnecessary danger and we don't want the public or our communities put in that kind of danger with the transport system becoming a transmission system for the virus itself. so people are being released from lockdown, they are not allowed to visit their mothers or their

fathers if they have got elderly pa rents fathers if they have got elderly parents or whatever, they can't see their friends, but they are allowed to co m press their friends, but they are allowed to compress themselves into a tube carriage or on an escalator in the tunnels under london or any of the interchanges around the country. it isa interchanges around the country. it is a very peculiar situation, where we have an unplanned release of people into the mass transit system, and therefore we could have an unplanned release of the virus via those transport systems. we want to see a system of control. we had an agreement with the rail industry and we we re agreement with the rail industry and we were seeking one with london transport as well, to ramp up services on a controlled basis for next monday, the 18th, where train provision and bust provision would have been increased, which obviously would allow more people to be dispersed in the system, but a government for some reason has decided that short notice to encourage people to go back on monday and then they said wednesday, and then of course all the businesses that will receive these workers will get fully up and

running over the next few days and we can expect a significant increase going through the week. if you get 7.596 going through the week. if you get 7.5% and 10% increases per day, we will soon be up at 60—70% of passenger usage, which we think is a very dangerous cocktail because there is nothing to stop anyone who has virus or anyone who doesn't know they have the virus coming into those carriages, bumping up against fellow travellers and not observing social distancing. i think we all know that once the system gets towards normal usage, there will be no social distancing and we want to protect our members and we want protect our members and we want protect our members and we want protect our fellow citizens from the danger of that transmission, so we have got to have a better system. cani have got to have a better system. can ijust have got to have a better system. can i just ask you about have got to have a better system. can ijust ask you about masks? because people are advised to wear a mask, not outdoors, but when they are indoors in a situation where they can't socially distance. now, public transport is a prime example of that. would you like to see

different guidance around masks, specifically on public transport? because at the moment it is just advising. absolutely, all this ambivalence is no good to anyone. if you are in france or belgium and coming intoa you are in france or belgium and coming into a train into st pancras, you have to wear a mask. the staff and all the passengers and all the workers on the system, including the authorities, passport control, police and everyone, has to wear those masks. it is a mandatory scheme. in britain, you can do whatever you like, it seems to me. we need certainty. certainly, our members want to have the proper ppe and if they don't have it and a social distancing can't be achieved, they have the right to remove themselves in that situation under themselves in that situation under the legislation, but we want an agreement with the government and the employers about what standards we are setting that can include imaginary wearing of masks on public transport. i think that is going to become more and more necessary as time goes on. we have seen the pictures this morning of the rush

hour and that is only going to get worse and worse as we go through. so i think the time for mandatory mask wearing is upon us. but also other methods of control, like changing shift times, controlling access to stations, controlling access to particular carriages and so forth, one—way systems of leading people round the interchanges, all of that needs to be considered and we need a national plan for that, including the railway companies, the government, the local authorities and of course the trade unions and the staff that are working on system. as those i spoke to mr khan about this last week and he was putting quite a lot of onus on employers, saying please, staggered start times and don't say that all your staff have to be in the office for 9am because that will overload tubes and buses. does that make sense to you as an approach? is the plenty that employers could be doing? there is a range of common

sense approaches, staggered start times, shift working, alternating workforces, so you have a lighter number through the day. sadik khan has a lot to answer for for the transport networks that have died on his watch and his failure to put in any protection measures for several weeks has probably led to the deaths of ellie 30 london bus drivers, so he can't grow too much about what the government has done because he hasn't done very much on cell. he hasn't done very much on cell. he has done very little on london transport to get this confidence that we have a seat system. he has no confidence at all of any of the people at london stations, so he has got to play his part. that demonstrates that the local authorities, big—city mayors, regional politicians and the transport companies and central government is all got to play a role in making an agreement in how we manage this transition back to work and we need everyone to understand what the limitations are, including users, so

what the limitations are, including users, so that we know what the right amount of people are in services and how they will get access to those services to the days and weeks coming. sadik khan not here this afternoon to answer those points, but we do know that for example the system on london buses has changed over the course of london lockdown and now people are only, passengers are only allowed to get on in the middle, not at the front where the bus driver is. are you satisfied that the situation is much betterfor you satisfied that the situation is much better for drivers you satisfied that the situation is much betterfor drivers now, even though we know it wasn't like that at the start of lockdown? well, it is much better than it was, but there are uncontrolled amounts of people on the buses this morning, so the driver is isolated, but the passengers have no distance between them. this is repeated all across them. this is repeated all across the country. the bus services around the country. the bus services around the country. the bus services around the country are still taking cash, in some circumstances. there are some appalling levels of protections in the county bus services for drivers, where there is very little

isolation going on, they don't have screens and there is no control about the access people have to those buses, so we need a plan and we need everyone to stick to it and we need everyone to stick to it and we all need to support it when we had got a position that is common sense and protects users and staff and those communities. let's not forget you are moving people around between communities now that have been lockdown and lack in the air transmission from one town to another, and one region to another and we don't want that happening. another, and one region to another and we don't want that happeningm the same token, people have to get back to work eventually because we are talking today about the impact on the economy and we all know what is happening to the economy, so there is a balance to be struck, isn't there? public transport plays a part in that. there is a balance to be struck and that is why you would expect that to be a phase, incremental return to work under control, not just an incremental return to work under control, notjust an announcement from a politician, i want you to go back to work tomorrow, pretty much if you are a blue—collar worker, but if you are a blue—collar worker, but if you are in management grade any

financial need or media industries, you can stay at home. the blue—collar workers have been exhorted to go back to work, but the protections had not been put in place for them on the transport system. so we want to protect those people. the worst thing that could happen for this country and our communities now is for a further outbreak of those barriers where we would have to have another lockdown, which would be even more serious than the other, so we need to have a phased exit from the lockdown in a safe and controlled management and we needed a place of science leading the way. there has been no research, no studies and no data on how we should implement the changes on the transport system. not one piece of evidence to show that anyone can get ona evidence to show that anyone can get on a bus at any time without social distancing. that research should have been done ahead of time and that would have led us to what is a safe system, but at the minute that is sorely lacking. we will leave it there, mick lynch, secretary of the rmt union, thank you.

as some rules are relaxed in england, new guidelines for the police say they have "no powers to enforce social distancing." earlier i spoke to our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford, and he explained what the police are saying about the new guidance. we can't tell people by law to keep two metres apart. that's down to common sense. but what they are having to do is also much more nuanced regulations that they are policing now. the rule used to be that you could only be outside to exercise. now you can do that for recreation, you can be sunbathing. no more police moving people on from sunbathing. the places you can go are changing, to include garden centres and recycling centres. the distances you can travel have changed so you can go anywhere in england as long as it's a day trip for your recreation. so it's actually quite a few new guidelines they are having to deal with and this was the head of england's largest police force speaking about it this morning. i don't expect all of them to be encyclopedic this morning in legislation,

which was actually only announced in its detail very late last night. but i'm absolutely confident that they will learn their way through this quickly and i'm also very confident the vast majority of the public will adapt well too. the other thing that's going to change from today is the level of fines that can be levied. so actually the starting point has gone up to £100 from £60. but police don't expect to be giving out has many fines. giving out as many fines. they think they will be giving out fines now really for large gatherings that refuse to disperse and also for things like house parties. with apprenticeships and junior positions being cut, many young adults are under strain at the moment. 0ur correspondent has more.

gemma is 16. she was a year into her hairdressing apprenticeship when she was let go, just before the lockdown. i was quite far through it. i was starting to cut hair and learn about colour theory. then i was shampooing a client and i got called upstairs and i was told that i had to leave. it sounds so dramatic, but i felt literally heartbroken. because it was all so perfect for me. like, i struggled at school, so i left school and i had this apprenticeship and it was like, this is amazing. i am finally getting to learn. gemma has the support of her family, but she is worried about finding a new salon to complete her apprenticeship, whenever that might be. according to the association of employment and learning providers, 60% of employers have stopped recruiting apprentices entirely. i don't know what to do any more. it's all very unexpected. like, you are going to be so lost with nothing to find after. it is so difficult. amelia was made redundant from her marketing firm just before the lockdown. she's 23. it was firstly a bit of a shock. i was kind of sat outside and just did not know really how to react. she is isolating with her boyfriend, who is helping support them both.

she says she was not offered furlough, because her company told her they didn't want to use the government scheme. at the moment, i'm ok, but i basically have managed to stretch my last pay cheque, or pay cheque and a half. obviously, that is, you know... it will dwindle eventually. 26—year—old jared is a self—employed tree surgeon. like about 650,000 other people, he has not been eligible for the government support scheme for the self—employed, as he only started his business last summer. i am really fortunate to have a supportive family, so my grandmother has sent me some money, my mother sends me £100 a month. technically, jared can go back to work now the government has eased its restrictions this week. but he says people are not looking to use his services at the moment, so he will have to keep claiming universal credit. we would not be able to survive if we were not claiming. so, our rent is paid for and we have enough money for a weekly shop, for food.

jared, gemma and amelia are still dealing with the immediate impact of the crisis, but the bigger challenge for them might be longer term prospects. kirsty grant, bbc news. one of the top priorities during the coronavirus outbreak has been getting supplies to where they're needed. 0n the isle of wight they're using a new drone service to deliver to their only nhs hospital. the unmanned aircraft has been brought into service four years early, so things like personal protective equipment, ppe, can be sent to the island quickly. duncan kennedy has been to see it in action. mid—air, mid solent, midway to the isle of wight to land vital hospital equipment. this is britain's first drone medical supply service. delivering protective clothing in the covid—19 crisis to the island's only nhs hospital.

called a windracers ultra, it's a massive autonomous aircraft that is remote—controlled and with the cargo hold the size of an estate car boot. it's capable of carrying a very significant payload of 100 kilos for 1,000km, and it's capable of flying at nearly 100mph, so it's relatively fast and, most importantly, it's cheap. the drone was originally designed to deliver food to remote areas of africa, but southampton university and a consortium of companies called solent transport have combined to adapt it, remove supplies and ppe to the isle of wight at the request of the government. it needs a runway no longer than a football pitch to take off and land. and it's quick, taking only 10 minutes to fly over the solent. it's fully safety—tested,

capable of flying in all weathers and on one engine or none. if both fail, it can glide to land or float on water. when it touches down on the island, its supplies are taken the short journey to st mary's hospital. in britain, this is the first of its type. we are the first people to have done flights beyond visual line of sight and deliver medical facilities between hospitals. what we're trying to do is provide a really, really useful, timely service that can provide really fast transfer of urgent, time sensitive goods. the drone wasn't supposed to be fully operational for another four years. it's been given special permission by the civil aviation authority to get airborne. this is an incredible period for the isle of wight. not only is it the test bed for the government's new covid—19 smartphone app, but it's also the destination for this highly sophisticated drone.

two types of cutting—edge technology, set to work in this coronavirus crisis. the islands hovercraft and ferry services are still running but on a reduced service. they'll continue to be used by the nhs to transport supplies and patients. but is the drone any match of a helicopter, which can also travel quickly to the island. the helicopters are very expensive we need to use a helicopterfor saving life, but the drone can back that up. the drone is a workhorse. the covid—19 story has driven invention, change and creativity. this drone combines all three to make mainland an island, in a new air bridge of high—tech innovation. duncan kennedy, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello there.

it's quite chilly again today and it will turn cold overnight tonight. but gradually over the next couple of days, we will see temperatures rising both day and night and it should be dry again for much of the country, as it's been today. we've still got a few showers across some north—eastern areas but high pressure is essentially in charge. that weather front thickening the cloud in northern scotland. elsewhere, the cloud that was seen bubbling up will melt away this evening, we'll have clearer skies overnight and the winds will drop a bit as well, allowing temperatures to fall sharply. northern areas of scotland, though, seeing more cloud, seeing some showery rain moving in, that will keep temperatures up here. elsewhere, with those clearer skies and light winds, we are looking at a touch of frost, actually, particularly across rural parts of the country. so tomorrow will start off cold, but it should be generally bright and sunny. cloud amounts will increase throughout the day and this cloud will move southwards across scotland into northern ireland, bringing with it some showers. elsewhere, probably staying dry, the best of the sunshine in the afternoon towards the south—west of england, parts of wales. here, temperatures of 16 celsius.

0n the whole, temperatures should be a degree or two higher tomorrow compared with today, but still a bit of a breeze blowing in southern england and through the english channel. that is around the edge of that area of high pressure that continues to build down across the country overnight into friday. around it, we are drawing down much more cloud so for many areas it won't be as cold to start with on friday. a cold start for southern parts of england and wales where the cloud is more tenuous, here we will see the best of the sunshine, perhaps. 0n the whole, there will be more cloud around on friday, some showers mainly for the north and west of scotland. further south, temperatures continuing to rise in the lighter winds, 17 celsius. over the weekend, the wind direction starts to change. we pick up some warmer air coming in from the south—west. there is still a patch of colder air in the far north of scotland and where there's two air masses collide, you see these weather fronts setting up and bringing the increasing chance of catching some rain as well. that is mainly for the northern half of the uk, still even here, temperatures will be higher over the weekend.

there will be more cloud around, the wettest weather i think will be for northern parts of scotland but more areas at risk of some rain, i think, during sunday. head further south across the uk, higher pressure, the wind still in from the west or south—west, there will be some sunshine around, temperatures continuing to rise up to 20 celsius in the south—east.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 4:00pm... the chancellor says it's very likely the uk is in a significant recession, as a result of the coronavirus lockdown. it is now, yes, very likely that the uk economy will face a significant recession this year and we are in the middle of that as we speak. another £600 million for covid—19 infection control in care homes is promised by borisjohnson, but he's challeged by labour on thousands of excess deaths amongst residents. can the prime minister give us the government's views on these unexplained deaths? he is right to draw attention, as i have said, to the tragedy that has been taking place in care homes. the education secretary defends plans to reopen some primary schools in england next month, insisting they're based on scientific advice. the easing of lockdown

begins in england — people are encouraged to return to work, though avoid public transport where possible. and, good news if your lockdown lawn needs some love, as some garden centres re—open. good afternoon. the chancellor rishi sunak has said it's "very likely" the uk economy will face a significant recession this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. he was speaking as official figures showed the uk economy shrank by 2% in the first three months of this year, which include the early days of lockdown. it's the sharpest dip since the global financial crisis in 2008. it comes as some of the lockdown restrictions have been eased in england — and some people have returned to work.

latest figures from the department of health show another 494 coronavirus—related deaths have been recorded in the past day in the uk. and the prime minister has announced a further £600 million to help tackle the virus in england's care homes. more on that shortly but first this report from our economics correspondent andy verity. if the economy looked like this at the start of the year, not growing but still busy, then this is how it looked at the end of the first three months. and this is a chart showing how big the fall was in the services sector which makes up four fifths of the economy, down a record—breaking 6.2% in march alone and it is likely to get even worse. the bank of england for example put together a scenario suggesting in the second quarter we might see a 25% fall in economic output and that is completely unprecedented, that is nine or ten times the biggest quarterly fall we've ever seen. the speed with which this has hit the economy and the depth of the impact is really unprecedented.

this manufacturer in derby normally makes bespoke stainless steel equipment mostly for restaurant kitchens and other caterers. it successfully adapted to the shutdown in march by furloughing some staff and converting machines to make equipment needed in the crisis. we recently supplied 1000 mobile washbasins which have gone into a variety of sites including the nhs but also some large supermarkets. we are now in the process of manufacturing drug dispensing tables for the nhs manchester nightingale. but now demand for wash stations is slowing down and the firm will be lucky to get half of its normal income this year. even if it furloughs more staff it is likely to be forced to make some redundant to keep its core business afloat. do you remmeber before the shutdown when there was all that concern about avoiding a cliff edge brexit? well, actually, it turns out the economy was flat before we left

the eu at the end of january and in the transition it fell a little bit, but of course it was the antivirus measures that really pushed the economy over a cliff. the official estimates of economic growth only cover a few weeks of antivirus measures but it is already the worst quarterly performance since the height of the financial crisis and the worst month for the economy on record. the result of deliberate government policy to fight the virus. in common with pretty much every other economy around the world, we are facing severe impact from the coronavirus. you are seeing that in the numbers. and that is why we've taken the unprecedented action that we have to support people's jobs, their incomes, livelihoods, at this time. and support businesses. so we can get through this period of severe disruption and emerge stronger on the other side. in spite of that unprecedented support today came another devastating jobs announcement when air travel company and owner of thomson, tui, said it was laying off 8000 people.

labour said the government had to keep up its unprecedented expansion of the state's role in the economy to stop unemployment rising even faster than it has been. andy verity, bbc news. borisjohnson has announced a further £600 million for infection control in england's care homes. at prime minister's questions the labour leader, sir keir starmer, challenged mrjohnson to explain why official figures show there were an additional 10,000 unexplained deaths in care homes in april. the prime minister acknowledged the death rate has been too high, but said outbreaks in care homes are coming down. here's our political correspondent iain watson. the lockdown is slowly easing in england. though westminster remains subdued. labour had long called for an exit strategy but criticised the prime minister's planned route out of lockdown for a lack of clarity and for being too slow to get on top of the crisis.

at pmqs, sir keir starmer began by questioning the government's response to infections in care homes. care home residents accounted for about four in ten deaths from coronavirus recently. does the prime minister accept the government was too slow to protect people in care homes? the prime minister seemed to anticipate the question, as he had a fund ready to announce. what we've seen is a concerted action plan to tackle what has unquestionably been an appalling epidemic in care homes and a huge exercise in testing is going on, a further £600 million i can announce today for infection control in care homes. the number of deaths in care homes for april was a staggering 26,000. that's three times the average. 18,000 additional deaths this april. using government figures only 8000 are recorded as covid deaths and that leaves 10,000 additional and unexplained care

home deaths this april. since the care homes action plan began we are seeing an appreciable and substantial reduction notjust in the number of outbreaks but also in the number of deaths. i want to stress to the house and also to the country that solving the problem in care homes is going to be absolutely critical. then sir keir starmer wondered why graphs showing international comparisons of death rates from coronavirus had recently apparently disappeared from downing street press briefings. the uk has been going through an unprecedented, once in a century epidemic, and he seeks to make comparisons with other countries, which i am advised... which i am advised are premature. i'm baffled, it's not me seeking to draw comparisons but these slides have been used by the government for seven weeks to reassure the public.

and the problem with the prime minister's answer, it's pretty obvious that for seven weeks when we were not the highest number in europe they were used for comparison purposes but as soon as we hit that unenviable place they've been dropped. just on his earlier point about not learning from other countries — nothing could be further from the truth. we are watching intently what is happening in other countries. sir keir starmer says he's offering constructive criticism but nonetheless it is criticism and in his recent questioning the prime minister a pattern has begun to emerge, to try to establish the government has been slow to react to the crisis. for his part, the prime minister wants to convince us that he is doing his very best under challenging circumstances. iain watson, bbc news, westminster. 0ur political correspondent helen cattjoins us from westminster. labour keeping up the pressure, particularly over this issue of 10,000 unexplained deaths in care

homes, they say. there has been a particular row blowing up since prime minister's questions earlier today. it's to do with the detail of this. it's around one particular exchange that was held at prime minister's questions, when labour leader keir starmer quoted from what he said was official government guidance in place until 12th march. in which he said it remains very unlikely people receiving care in a ca re unlikely people receiving care in a care home become infected. in response to that, borisjohnson said that no, it wasn't true the advice said that and we actually brought the lockdown into care homes ahead of the general lockdown. that line does appear in guidance issued by the public health england on 25th february, in place until 12th march, when it was withdrawn and replaced. 0n the strength of that, keir starmer has said borisjohnson should come to the house of commons at the earliest opportunity to correct the record. this line appears in that guidance within a paragraph that is about the wearing of face masks. downing street's approach seems to be, this is one

line ina approach seems to be, this is one line in a much wider document. they have accused keir starmer of inaccurately and selectively quoting from that guidance. they say he is hiding the fact there is a preceding paragraph by using the word therefore. this might all seem a very granular look at the minutiae of this, looking at one line in a whole bit of guidance. but that's because the issue of care homes is so because the issue of care homes is so important. we have seen those thousands of excess deaths. there is a sense of needing to really understand what's going on in care homes and how we got to where we are and where do we go from here. so this all feeds into that debate. helen catt, thank you. the government has insisted its decision to approve a phased re—opening of schools from june 1st in england is the right one. education unions have expressed concerns over capacity and the ability to maintain social distancing among young children. but speaking in the commons this

afternoon the education secretary, gavin williamson, insisted the government had taken appropiate scientific advice, and he rejected a call from his labour opposite number, rebecca long—bailey, to rethink the date. i have always been clear that we would give the sector as much notice as possible, and we have said that, you know, if we are allowed, which it seems likely that we will be able to, we would like to see schools opening from the 1st ofjune, giving schools as much forward notice as possible in order for them to get ready. we think this is a responsible and sensible approach in terms of a phased return. i slightly fear that the honourable lady, if we were asking to pin her down as to what would be the date, it would end up being as to what would be the year, as against what would be the actual start date? we do want to work with her. we do want to work with the whole

sector to make sure that this is a phased, sensible and controlled return to schools because the people who suffer the most from schools not being open are those children who are so desperate to attend. seven weeks after the prime minister announced the lockdown, some restrictions have been eased in england. people who can't work from home are now encouraged to return to work, although avoiding public transport if at all possible. 0n the london underground this morning, passenger numbers were up 7.3% on the same period last week. here's our transport correspondent tom burridge. social distancing impossible in places this morning. london inevitably worst. not everyone was following the government's advice to cover your face. i have my mask with me, so if anything, i will put it on and just turn my head — my face off people. that's what i'm going to do, that's the plan. people who cannot work from home are now being encouraged to go back.

some able to avoid public transport altogether, some of the time. when i have had to use it, it definitely is still quite busy. i think a lot of people... some people are really conscious about keeping their distance, you know, two metres. and other people just aren't, really. the rmt union says rail staff should refuse to work if they feel unsafe. train bosses plan to ramp up capacity soon. we are going to need everybody‘s help to make this work. we are going to start scaling up our services, so in some places have longer trains, so there is more space for people to maintain that social distance and, from next week, we will see a gradual upscale in services. the government concedes that social distancing will not be possible all of the time. and working out how many people get on a particular service

at a particular stop, at a particular time, is complicated. so the message is change the way you travel, if you can. absolute key here is for anybody who can to make alternative arrangements for travel, so cycling, walking — last week i put a £2 billion package together to try to encourage more cycling and walking and, if necessary, cars, as well. traffic on some of our main roads also appears to have risen. governments normally encourage us to ditch our cars, but now we are told any form of private transport is better than travelling in a public space. tom burridge, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news...

the chancellor says it's very likely the uk is in a significant recession, as a result of the coronavirus lockdown. at prime minister's questions, boris johnson promises another £600 million for covid—19 infection control in care homes — but is challenged on thousands of excess deaths amongst residents the easing of lockdown begins in england — people are encouraged to return to work, though avoid public transport where possible. the governor of california has announced an easing of lockdown restrictions in america's most populous state. gavin newsom said offices and some restaurants could now open, provided they follow certain precautions. it follows a warning from one of the country's top infectious disease experts that reopening the economy too quickly could lead to needless death and suffering. speaking remotely to a senate committee hearing dr anthony fauci said the us did not yet have total control over the coronavirus outbreak. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes reports from los angeles. beaches, shops and restaurants. it's beginning to feel like california again.

there are still restrictions. the beaches are open in los angeles county but only for exercise. surfing and swimming are allowed but no sitting, picnics or volleyball. social distancing will be enforced and masks must be worn. i'm excited, you know, the two kids, we're getting antsy in the house but we are making it work. i want to feel the ocean, this is my backyard, this is all of our backyards. the governor of california says the state is moving into the second phase of reopening, relaxing restrictions for its 40 million residents. today, we're announcing additional modifications statewide for our stay—at—home order, that include offices, if you cannot telework, we will allow for office modification and office openings on a statewide basis. he also said restaurants in parts of the state will open for sitdown dining and customers can pick up items from outside some stores at shopping malls.

but the governor insisted it is not a return to normal life just yet. i am not naive and no one should be. and i think one of the biggest mistakes we can make in this pandemic as we start to move into a reopening phase, is somehow over—promise what it means. it means relief for many, but nervous days ahead for officials, who are well aware the virus hasn't gone away. it has killed about 500 people every week in california for the past month. around the country, most states have begun to ease restrictions, but the us government's leading pandemic expert has warned the states not to move too quickly. my concern is that as states or cities or regions, in their attempt, understandable, to get back to some form of normality, disregard to a greater or lesser degree the checkpoints that we put in our guidelines about when it is safe to proceed in pulling back on mitigation.

because i feel if that occurs, there is a real risk that you will trigger an outbreak that you might not be able to control. a sobering warning for a nation struggling with its priorities. peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. from the early days of the coronavirus outbreak in wuhan, china has faced criticism of its handling of the pandemic, particularly — as we've seen this week — from the united states. now china's diplomats are fighting back, with a new and aggressive campaign to take on the critics. 0ur diplomatic correspondent, james landale, reports: they are popular, violent and nationalist. now china's wolf warrior action films have given their name to a new form of aggressive diplomacy, as the country takes on critics over the way it's handled covid—19. china's wolf warrior diplomats may wear suits instead of uniforms, but their words are weapons.

this spokesman suggested it was the united states that might have brought coronavirus to wuhan. across social media, other diplomats have launched a barrage of hostile tweets. 0ne accused president trump of being full of racism. another said critics need to be injected with disinfectant to stop them spreading lies and hatred. all this is new. the german marshall fund think—tank says the number of official chinese twitter accounts has increased by 300% in the last year. in the past, china's public face has managed to show a positive image of the country. frankly, cute panda videos would be much more common than harsh take—downs of various government responses. some of the chinese pushback has been less aggressive, such as this cartoon by state media. but there is a backlash.

the ambassador in france is one of seven chinese envoys summoned by their host in recent weeks to be hauled over the coals. the risk for beijing is that all this robust aggressive diplomacy that is coming out of its embassies around the world begins to harden attitudes in the west, with some countries becoming more distrustful and less willing to engage with china. conservative mps have set up a new lobby group to scrutinise china more closely. the ruling state apparatus is so paranoid at the moment about maintaining control that they feel that they have to project force. and, in the us, china is now firmly an election issue with both candidates talking tough. the fear is that post—covid cooperation to repair the world economy is getting harder by the minute. in the films, china's wolf

warriors always prevail. the outcome of the diplomatic battle has yet to be decided. james landale, bbc news. here, with apprenticeships and junior positions being cut, and no savings to fall back on, many young adults are under considerable financial strain at the moment. newsbeat reporter kirsty grant reports. gemma is 16. she was a year into her hairdressing apprenticeship when she was let go, just before the lockdown. i was quite far through it. i was starting to cut hair and learn about colour theory. then i was shampooing a client and i got called upstairs and i was told that i had to leave. it sounds so dramatic, but i felt literally heartbroken. because it was all so perfect for me. like, i struggled at school, so i left school and i had this apprenticeship and it was like, this is amazing. i am finally getting to learn. gemma has the support of her family, but she is worried about finding a new salon to complete her apprenticeship, whenever that might be. according to the association of employment and learning providers,

60% of employers have stopped recruiting apprentices entirely. i don't know what to do any more. it's all very unexpected. like, you are going to be so lost with nothing to find after. it is so difficult. amelia was made redundant from her marketing firm just before the lockdown. she's 23. it was firstly a bit of a shock. i was kind of sat outside and just did not know really how to react. she is isolating with her boyfriend, who is helping support them both. she says she was not offered furlough, because her company told her they didn't want to use the government scheme. at the moment, i'm ok, but i basically have managed to stretch my last pay cheque, or pay cheque and a half. obviously, that is, you know... it will dwindle eventually. 26—year—old jared is a self—employed tree surgeon. like about 650,000 other people, he has not been eligible for the government support scheme for the self—employed, as he only started his business last summer.

i am really fortunate to have a supportive family, so my grandmother has sent me some money, my mother sends me £100 a month. technically, jared can go back to work now the government has eased its restrictions this week. but he says people are not looking to use his services at the moment, so he will have to keep claiming universal credit. we would not be able to survive if we were not claiming. so, our rent is paid for and we have enough money for a weekly shop, for food. jared, gemma and amelia are still dealing with the immediate impact of the crisis, but the bigger challenge for them might be longer term prospects. kirsty grant, bbc news. the number of coronavirus deaths in scotland has fallen for the second week in a row. the national records of scotland says 415 people, confirmed or suspected to have the virus, died last week. that's compared to

525 the week before. care home deaths were also down. the figures also show people in scotland's most deprived areas are more than twice as likely to die than people in other communities. garden centres have been allowed to re—open in england a few days after a similar move in wales. it's something welcomed by millions of gardeners keen to stock up on supplies. phil mackie reports. welcome back to our garden centre. cheering. unlocking lockdown. some think this is too much too soon. thank you for coming, really appreciate it. but for the 45 people who arrived for the reopening this morning, it was a welcome relief. after months in which other stores were able to sell seeds, plants and garden tools, but garden centres had to stay shut, they've done everything they can to make it safe for customers. so we put markers down throughout the garden centre to mark two metre spacings. having already lost tens of thousands of pounds, the garden centre can now begin trying to get back to normal. it'sjust a huge relief to be back

open and get some customers coming back in the door. it's been hugely stressful time over the last few months so it's just great to have some people back in. even though they are back open and customers are coming back through the doors, this garden centre only has 30% of its staff back to work — that's because the very busy cafe can't reopen and they have to really restrict the number of people who can come in at any one time. so long as people feel safe, they will come back to places like this that have been out of bounds since march. how does it feel to be back in here? absolutely fantastic. have you been looking forward to coming back out to a garden centre? we certainly have. excited, yeah, just to try to get a bit of normality back in life, isn't it, really? are you at all worried coming out today? not at all. i haven't been worried throughout it, i'll be quite honest with you. you've got to be sensible. and that's what we are. sensible. but, yes, good to be outside. good to be doing things. we couldn't wait to come down, we've been desperate. we've made some seedbeds at home

so we want some seeds to plant it all up now. it's been sad that it's been closed for so long. happy then that some businesses are open? do you think it's the right thing? i do think it's the right thing. yes, the economy needs to get up and running so it is step—by—step before things really start to get back to normal. i still think it is going to be some time. many people today wore masks or gloves or both. customers are told to maintain social distancing at all times. all trolleys are cleaned before use and the tills are cleaned after every transaction. in a small way, it's back to business as normal today. the safety of customers and staff remains paramount, even for the garden centre cat, pudding. phil mackie, bbc news, worcester. at around five o'clock we're expecting the daily downing street news briefing on coronavirus and we'll bring you that live when it happens. it's being led today by the communities secretary robert

jenrick and he'll be joined by the deputy chief medical officer for england, drjenny harries. that's expected in just over half an hour. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello there. it's quite chilly again today and it will turn cold overnight tonight. but gradually over the next couple of days, we will see temperatures rising both day and night and it should be dry again for much of the country, as it's been today. we've still got a few showers across some north—eastern areas but high pressure is essentially in charge. that weather front thickening the cloud in northern scotland. elsewhere, the cloud that was seen bubbling up will melt away this evening, we'll have clearer skies overnight and the winds will drop a bit as well, allowing temperatures to fall sharply. northern areas of scotland, though, seeing more cloud, seeing some showery rain moving in, that will keep temperatures up here. elsewhere, with those clearer skies and light winds, we are looking at a touch of frost, actually, particularly across rural parts of the country. so tomorrow will start off cold, but it should be generally bright and sunny. cloud amounts will increase throughout the day and this cloud will move southwards across scotland

into northern ireland, bringing with it some showers. elsewhere, probably staying dry, the best of the sunshine in the afternoon towards the south—west of england, parts of wales. here, temperatures of 16 celsius. 0n the whole, temperatures should be a degree or two higher tomorrow compared with today, but still a bit of a breeze blowing in southern england and through the english channel. that is around the edge of that area of high pressure that continues to build down across the country overnight into friday. around it, we are drawing down much more cloud so for many areas it won't be as cold to start with on friday. a cold start for southern parts of england and wales where the cloud is more tenuous, here we will see the best of the sunshine, perhaps. 0n the whole, there will be more cloud around on friday, some showers mainly for the north and west of scotland. further south, temperatures continuing to rise in the lighter winds, 17 celsius. over the weekend, the wind direction starts to change. we pick up some warmer air coming in from the south—west. there is still a patch of colder air in the far north of scotland and where there's two air masses collide, you see these weather fronts setting up and bringing

the increasing chance of catching some rain as well. that is mainly for the northern half of the uk, still even here, temperatures will be higher over the weekend. there will be more cloud around, the wettest weather i think will be for northern parts of scotland, but more areas at risk of some rain, i think, during sunday. head further south across the uk, higher pressure, the wind still in from the west or south—west, there will be some sunshine around, temperatures continuing to rise up to 20 celsius in the south—east.

this is bbc news. the headlines. the chancellor says it's very likely the uk is in a significant recession, as a result of the coronavirus lockdown. it is now, yes, very likely that the uk economy will face a significant recession this year and we are in the middle of that as we speak. another £600 million for covid—19 infection control in care homes is promised by borisjohnson, but he's challenged