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tv   BBC News at Six  BBC News  May 20, 2020 6:00pm-6:31pm BST

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rolls royce announces plans to axe a fifth of its workforce in the wake of coronavirus — most of the jobs will go in the uk. the aircraft engine maker is cutting 9,000 jobs — amid warnings it take years for the airline industry to recover — the unions are furious. nobody‘s trivialising the challenges we face here, but i think it's rash and it's premature for rolls—royce simply to resort to sacking and throwing under the bus thousands of uk workers, loyal workers. many of the jobs are expected to go from the main site at derby — rolls—royce is, you know, the heart of derbyshire. derby is one of the biggest sites, isn't it? if you look at the area it's in, it's huge. to lay off a lot of those people
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would be devastating for the area. growing pressure on the government from councils and teaching unions to reconsider plans to reopen england's primary schools to some pupils from 1stjune. welcoming back the tourists — italy says its airports will reopen in a fortnight, as some of europe's holiday hotspots start making plans for the summer. clapped out of intensive care — the fit and healthy gp who spent five weeks on a ventilator. ——seven weeks. you give yourself goals. and my goal was to get home. it was just to get home. and on the hottest day of the year so far — beachlife amid social distancing. and coming up on bbc news — watford have resumed socially distanced team training today. it comes after two members of staff and a player confirmed that they'd tested positive for coronavirus.
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good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. rolls royce says it is cutting 9,000 jobs — the bulk of them in the uk — in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. rolls royce, whose main site is in derby where it makes plane engines, warned that it will take several years for the airline industry to recover. unions have accused the company of "throwing workers under the bus". thousands have already been furloughed on the government scheme. but rolls—royce says the impact of the pandemic on the company and the whole of the aviation industry "is unprecedented". sarah corker is in derby. these are highly skilled, well—paid jobs, and this is a huge blow, not just for the thousands of people
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working here, but for the whole economy. rolls—royce has a big sites in bristol, glasgow and nottinghamshire, and this pandemic is thrown of the aviation sector into turmoil, and it is now hitting the order books of manufacturers. derby is a city shipped by manufacturing. rolls—royce is one of its largest employers. but tonight, thousands of jobs its largest employers. but tonight, thousands ofjobs at this huge site, the compa ny‘s aviation thousands ofjobs at this huge site, the company's aviation headquarters, are now at risk. and that will send are now at risk. and that will send a ripple effect through this community. it is huge. and to lay offa community. it is huge. and to lay off a lot of those people will be devastating for the area. rolls—royce is the backbone of derby, really, as far as wages and cost of living goes. it employs people from generations. it is a big hit for every family in a derby. unfortunately, it lot of people have lost theirjobs and businesses, a sign of the times. demand for the
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aircraft and engines that rolls—royce makes has slumped, so it is cutting a fifth of its global workforce. the covid—19 pandemic has grounded planes across the globe, and it could take several years for passenger numbers to recover.m and it could take several years for passenger numbers to recover. it is a very difficult day for our employees all around the world, but we need to get on and do this now, because it is about creating a sustainable business for the future so that ultimately, we can protect thejobs so that ultimately, we can protect the jobs that we will have left as a result of this. the rolls-royce workshops have derby have been producing engines for almost 20 years. rolls-royce has a 116 year history in derby, and is one of the uk's world leading manufacturers, it has created highly skilled, sought afterjobs. the car parks here are virtually empty, because rolls—royce has furloughed thousands of staff. managers, though, know that that scheme cannot and will not last, and
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have described this as a deep crisis. and while the bulk ofjob losses are expected to be here in derby, the company has sites at 30 other locations across the uk. the scale of these job cuts has raised fears of factory closures, as the company plans to save £1.3 billion. we are not oblivious to what is going on out there. we absolutely see the difficulties and challenges that employers and businesses face. but that should not mean that the workers pay the price for that. everyjob workers pay the price for that. every job lost that workers pay the price for that. everyjob lost that rolls—royce is fourjobs everyjob lost that rolls—royce is four jobs lost everyjob lost that rolls—royce is fourjobs lost in the supply chain industry, so it is massive. this is another sign of that big business has accepted there will be no immediate bounce back, and the economic recovery will be slow and painful. 0ur economics editor, faisal islam, joins me now. terrible news for rolls—royce were coaxed, but no doubt there will be more of this to come. —— rolls—royce
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workers. aviation is an industry when it is difficult to see how you get a rapid bounce back from coronavirus. things have changed fundamentally, people are not buying airline tickets for holidays or business travel, so airlines are not buying aeroplanes, in a are not buying aeroplanes, in a are not buying engines, and so on. one worker in the sector said they had done all their orders for engines for this year, and they have no idea if anything will be ordered in 2021. so you can see that you're not good to get a rapid bounce back. andrew bailey, the governor of the bank of england, saying that he fears that, until we know for certain what is happening with the shutdowns, that he cannot predict exactly where the economy is going to go. some room for manoeuvre for the bank of england, though, because inflation has fallen pretty sharply, the sharpest fall for nearly 12 years, so it means that the bank and might be able to do something next year. but it is too late for these workers from rolls—royce.
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the government says it will listen to the concerns of parents and teachers about plans to re—open some primary schools in england at the beginning ofjune. now the bbc has learnt that more than 35 councils have warned that not all their schools will be ready in time — with some expressing opposition to opening any amid safety concerns. 0ur education editor branwenjeffreys reports from bury in greater manchester, one of the towns which has said it won't be re—opening schools next month. bury streets, empty of children on a sunny day. at home, waiting to go back to school. here, the council says it's too soon. parents and teachers, still too fearful. we have the second highest rate of covid—19 in greater manchester. this is playing quite heavily on our parents' and carers' minds. also, more regionally, the north west is the second hardest—hit region in the country in terms of infection rates. are you playing politics with this? absolutely not. and i'm so sorry that some people have labelled this against bury council.
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taking precautions already. this is what a five—year—old would see on arrival. no shared toys, no soft play areas. wow, this is your library? yes, this is our library. the head teacher, showing me what they have to do. normally, you would see groups of children, three or four groups of children working here. we're a small school. all of the books taped off? all the books taped off, because we can't have them touching them. she tells me they wanted to get year six back soon. but primary schools in bury aren't ready yet for the youngest. it was when reception and year0ne yeargroups were added on to the year six, that is when the shift in feeling came. because there was a great deal — and i use the word fear advisedly — there was a great deal of fear for the children and the parents, and the staff in the schools. it will be one child at a time to the toilet. every risk has to be considered. so, who decides?
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well, it's the head teacher and the school governors. but it would be a very brave primary school that decided to go against the advice of its local council. and even in areas where councils are saying it's up to schools, it's very clear that any reopening of schools is going to be very patchy. if, for some reason, the school did want to continue to open when the local authority was advising not to, it would need to be very clear about its reasons for that decision. why had they come to a different decision from the local authority? the longer these classrooms stay empty, the harder it is for parents to get back to work. it's about what risks, and when to take them. branwenjeffreys, bbc news, bury. the deaths of another 363 people have been reported
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across the uk in the past 2a hours, bringing the official death toll to 35,704. the prime minister and labour leader have clashed in the commons over the government's preparations for a trace and testing system to control outbreaks of coronavirus. borisjohnson said he was confident that it would be operational from the 1st ofjune. but doubts have been raised by some. sophie hutchinson reports. every day, thousands of new coronavirus infections are still being reported in the uk. tracking the virus down and isolating the infected is widely believed to be the best way to control the pandemic. but today in parliament, the labour leader questioned why there had been such a delay in the setting up a track and trace system. in the united kingdom, despite 2 million tests having been carried out, there has been no effective tracing in place since march 12 when
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it tracing was abandoned. that is nearly ten weeks in a critical period without effective test track tracing. that is a huge hole in our defences. we will have a test, track and trace operation that will be world beating, and yes, it will be in place, it will be in place by june at first. there will be 25,000 trackers, and they will be able to cope with 10,000 new cases per day. ——june cope with 10,000 new cases per day. —— june first. cope with 10,000 new cases per day. -- june first. we spoke to a newly recruited tracker, a graduate. he asked to remain anonymous. he started work three days ago, but described a chaotic system with barely any training for this online job. i had one a day in a classroom. that was 90 people in one group with one teacher. whenever we asked questions, he would try, but the main answer was, wait for the coming days, you will get an e—mail or something. right now, i am just
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sitting strolling through netflix. people say we cannot complain, we are getting paid, which is very true, but at the same time, why would they set us up doing this if we arejust would they set us up doing this if we are just sat around waiting? it is not very productive at all. but evenif is not very productive at all. but even if the government does get the 25,000 new tracking recruits up and running in” 25,000 new tracking recruits up and running in 11 days, there are still questions about whether this app, intended to trace the contacts of those infected, will be ready anytime soon. 0ur political editor, laura kuenssberg, joins us from westminster. so, the government wants track and trace to be up and running before schools go back, but it's all very complicated? yes, and it is something that ministers and government scientists have said they want to be in place in order to be more possible for children in years one and two and year six to be able to join the kids of key workers who have already been back at school, and some vulnerable children as well, who have been at primary school in england throughout
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this. but when the prime minister announced that was his ambition a few weeks ago, at the desk in downing street, while some parents might have been cheering, others might have been cheering, others might have been cheering, others might have thought it might not be safe enough of the outbreak still continuing. and since then, day by day, whether it is parents, teachers, unions, or councils, there has been a lot of head scratching and a lot of hard work to figure out how it will actually come into place. now, inside government, there is maybe a bit of frustration that they have tried to answer lots of they have tried to answer lots of the questions that people have. for example, many people might wonder, how do you keep a bunch of wriggling five—year—olds at least two metres apart from each other? the government says, according to the guidance, as long as children are keeping in smaller groups of no more than 15, the actually can be closer to each other than the rest of us are advised to be. but i think the truth of it is this is simply fiendishly complicated. you have got 150 local councils, hundreds and
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hundreds of schools, central government here in westminster only looking to schools in england at the moment, then you have teachers and pa rents moment, then you have teachers and parents and everybody with their own concerns. and from a political point, this next phase of gradually moving out of the lockdown is absolutely abundantly clearly going to be much harder than going into it. because in truth, nobody really knows what the new normal is going to look like, so it is a bit as if the government is trying to do a jig without a picture on the box. but the final decision on moving into this next phase will be taken by central government on the 28th of may, and then after that, we will have to see what schools make of it themselves. —— trying to do a jigsaw without a picture on the box. as the rate slows, hospitals across the country are now planning for the next challenge, trying to get back to normal. but the boss of ipswich hospital is warning that the implications of social distancing together with the possibility that covid—i9 could be here for years means they are having to find new ways
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of working, including one way systems and fewer beds. 0ur health editor, hugh pym, reports. the eyes behind the mask. staff at ipswich hospital in a covid—i9 ward at the height of the crisis, captured by one of their own colleagues. it's much easier to stop services than it is to start them. and this is the hospital now. we were given access as senior staff planned for a new future and restarting other services. it talks about the different phases of recovery, and obviously we are in phase two now. here, they are following national guidelines in england for bringing back nonurgent work. so, we are doing it very carefully. i think it would be wrong to start a lot of services and then realise we had to close them down again because we didn't have the capacity, the staff or the ppe. but i think there is also an important message, that we are open for business. we talked about what we would be using this ward for, going forward. as you know, we previously had our covid patients in here...
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this area was for dementia patients, then it was converted into a covid—i9 ward. we filmed only in areas where there are currently no overnight patients. now they're working out how to get back to its use. so, we are now challenged to look at how we can socially distance our patients within the bay. so, we are looking at whether we put screens up, clear perspex screens, so we can still see the patients. we do have to think about the safety of our patients, as well. so, drawing the curtains is not a simple answer. before the lockdown, waiting lists for routine surgery were increasing. then came a raft of cancellations as hospitals focused on covid—i9 patients. now there's a backlog to be cleared, as well as getting to grips with those original waiting lists. a huge task in this new climate. meet rob, who's a lifeguard at a local swimming pool. he has a heart problem, and needed an operation. but it was postponed because of coronavirus. you do end up thinking,
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what if i never get there? you know? what if the next step i take is my last step? but the hospital did manage to treat him after all. in late april, he was called in for his operation. miracle workers. literally everyday heroes. the fact they can deal with the crisis and still do what would be seen as the mundane stuff. obviously not mundane to me. how's it going? yeah, not too bad. as for a&e, they're working out how best it can be run at this new stage. it really is going to be a challenge for us. often, when we have visitors and patients at the numbers we usually have, it's a very crowded environment. so, we are really having to look at how we see people, and how we see people differently, in order to allow social distancing to occur. are you having to plan long—term for covid—i9 being present? this isn't temporary. we're going to have to assume that we are going to have social
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distancing and some of our elective plans in place for some time. so, certainly, this isn't one or two years we are thinking about, it could be several years. the shadow of the virus lingers. though hospitals are planning and hoping for calmer times. hugh pym, bbc news, ipswich. greece has said it plans to start its tourist season onjune the 15th, with international flights operating from the 1st ofjuly. the foreign office here still advises against all but essential overseas travel — but all the major european destinations are now gradually relaxing their lockdowns. france currently allows only essential travel from abroad. it hasn't said when its foreign tourist ban will be lifted. but many beaches are now open — with sunbathing still banned. spain has started loosening its restrictions on a region—by—region basis. italy will reopen to tourists in a fortnight, with airports running from the 1st ofjune. but as mark lowen reports that's
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evoking mixed emotions among locals. perfection isn't shared. at least not for now. the jewel of lake como glitters in the stillness. but italy hopes to lure tourists back from two weeks today, when it lifts restrictions to visitors from europe and drops its quarantine. the tranquillity is breathtaking. but the economy is starved. lake como was set for a record year. george clooney‘s villa here, helping to pull tourists. but then the virus hit this region, lombardi, the ha rd est hit this region, lombardi, the hardest in italy. tourism luca leoni because watched as all bookings in august have been cancelled here. now they are trying to extend the season to save it. that means he will keep his hotel open right through until january, hoping the rooms fill up as confidence returns. the british
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tourists, the first one is arrived at lake como in the 18th century. we are ready to welcome them again, like we have always been in the past. for us, it's not a question of working with them, but it is to share our feelings with them, our soul and heart with them. because they started the tourism for us and we wa nt they started the tourism for us and we want them to be back. as soon as possible. local businesses need them badly. italy is expecting a recession this year of almost 10%. having imposed a national lockdown before any other country, italy is now unlocking fast, bringing forward the lifting of some measures, desperate to salvage its tourism season and the economy. but the balance between welcoming visitors back here and the risk of a second wave is what italy, and every other country, is now trying to strike. at the local market, restarting today, there is little to keep them busy. traders want the custom back, but not the possible side effect. translation: i don't think the
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tourists will come back quickly. they, and way, are scared of the infections rise again. translation: the italian government is making a mistake. we in the north were worst affected by the virus. the south wasn't. so why not open their first, where they are not afraid? lake como exceeds anything i ever beheld in beauty, wrote shelley. this place is poetry, but it wants an audience. the government has confirmed there will be some new checks on goods coming into northern ireland from the rest of the uk as part of the brexit deal. ministers are stressing that controls will be kept to a minimum. 0ur ireland correspondent, emma vardy, is at belfast port. what will it all mean? well, this has been the most agonised part of brexit. because goods that enter the eu, well, they need to be checked. so this plan came about to avoid the
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need for those checks taking place on the irish land border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland. because keeping that board are invisible has been a key part of the peace process here for many yea rs. the peace process here for many years. so, instead, the border has effectively been moved here, to northern ireland's ports. what it's going to mean is that goods from great britain and drink northern ireland here will be subject to new checks, it will mean more paperwork for great british businesses to fill out if they are exporting goods here. the new checks will mostly be on food and animal products. northern ireland will also have to keep abiding on eu rules on manufactured goods. all of this is supposed to be operational here by january. it is an arrangement which the democratic unionists in northern ireland have been deeply uncomfortable with. they don't like the idea of northern ireland having to stick by eu rules, and under eu processes after the uk has left the eu. the uk government and the eu still don't see eye to eye on a few
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elements of this, too. there is concern from the eu that it won't be enough to prevent northern ireland from being used as some sort of back door. still a few things be ironed out between now and january when it all kicks in. london has been harder hit by coronavirus than anywhere else in the uk. almost 6,000 people have died in hospitals in the capital since the beginning of march. newham in east london has been particularly badly affected. 0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan's report contains some flashing images. this is not an equalising virus, this is a virus that has a disproportionate effect on those poorer communities here in newham. busy. yeah, we've almost done, i think, about 30 bodies within the last couple of weeks. the past few weeks have been really, i would say, depressing, really difficult. covid—19 has preyed on newham like nowhere else, a mixture of deprivation and ethnicity allowing the disease
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to exploit the area's mainly black and asian population. at the jamia mosque, they have seen for themselves the cruel reach of the virus. some members volunteer to prepare the dead for burial after, they say, a backlog of corpses built up. the stock of coffins has now diminished. over a ten—day period last month, they cleansed and prayed for 32 people. i think we did six or seven bodies in one day. we cannot forget our deceased. we cannotjust leave them to be buried without the ritual washing, we couldn'tjust stand back and watch them be buried in mass graves. first couple that i did do, i was thinking about them, but then as it got more regular, ijust thought, "you know what? "i'm doing this for the community, i'm doing it for the family." among the victims have been key
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workers — gp yusuf patel, teacher dr louisa rajakumari, and several taxi drivers have died. it is a really difficult time for everyone. labour councillor ayesha chowdhury knows about 15 people who've died recently, many of them bangladeshi. when they passed away, the community could not even participate in the funeral, they cannot go and visit the family, so everything is completely shocking. some in newham were accused of not taking the virus seriously, at least initially, but the area was at greater risk anyway. many residents work in jobs that can't be done from home. and the mayor also highlights high levels of both overcrowding and underlying health conditions. if we want to avoid a second wave, if we want to minimise the deaths, if we want to stop the risk, we have got to be given the resources, the flexibility at a local level.
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command control top down will not work in light of what the evidence is showing us. the same community that has lived through this crisis is now charged with rebuilding newham. many teachers at this school had the virus, pupils have lost relatives, and a staff member is caring for two children who lost both parents. bringing hope here means restoring normality. being serious about the education we offer actually gives them a way of seeing a future for themselves. we can't obviously turn things back to a different situation, but the fact that they can see a future is the best thing that we can give them. this covid crisis reflects the nation's long—standing health inequalities, and leaves the poor to feel that, once more, they're being left behind. michael buchanan, bbc news, newham in east london. a gp who spent more than a month on a ventilator fighting
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for his life has been describing what happened to him. mike hare was a fit and healthy man in his 50s, with no underlying health conditions. he fell ill before lockdown and spent seven weeks in hospital. 0ur health correspondent, catherine burns, has been speaking to him and his daughter, imogen. mike hare is a gp, butjokes that his nickname should be mr fit. he's run a marathon, skis and loves to sail. but in march he got coronavirus. he soon became very ill and spent seven weeks in intensive care. he barely remembers anything, but for his family it was all too real. we actually received a facetime off him on tuesday morning, just before he was put on a ventilator. with him saying this is what's happening, this might be the last time that, you know, we speak. which was absolutely heartbreaking, really. because we thought that was it. so, it was pretty horrible. i think it must have been pretty hard for you. when people usually go
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on to a ventilator, they go on for a few days, just to give them a bit of rest. but that then turned into a week, and then it turns into three weeks, it turns into five weeks. we weren't able to see him. we asked if we could come in and hold his hands, none of that was possible. when he was less heavily sedated, nurses helped the family video call him. it was the first time imogen had seen her dad for weeks. you don't know this, but later on, around week four or five, he was going, where are you, why aren't you here? and for him, you became ill the week before lockdown even started. so he had no acknowledgement or realisation of what the whole country was going through. do you have any memories of that at all? no. you know, i had the "you've been asleep for six weeks" whisper in my ears. and then i woke up and i was in a bed. i think the patient has the lucky
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run, to be honest with you. and my thoughts would go to anybody who is on a ventilator at the moment. but particularly their relatives. tell me about the care you got. they were fantastic. it's a testament to the hard work of colchester hospital. the attention, the sense of love, and they would do anything for me. how has this changed you, physically? i won't be doing any more marathons. as i sit here now, i'm a bit breathless. i've been out for a week, and it's bloody hard work to get moving. and it hurts at night time. there is a plus side to this. i've had more time with my family. i think we've got closer. we've reflected, to see what life would have been like without me being around. what was that first hug like? oh, you give yourself goals. and my goal was to get home. just to get home. you're here. yeah, yeah. but recovery from a trauma like this
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isn't straightforward. and since we filmed this, mike has had to go back into hospital. he's optimistic that he'll be home with his family soon, though. catherine burns, bbc news. today is the hottest day of the year so far. temperatures in some parts of the country have reached 28 degrees. sarah campbell has spent the day on brighton beach where people have been trying to sunbathe and social distance at the same time. it's been busy? yes, it has. people are still coming to the area to make the most of the beautiful evening sunshine. most of the people i have seen through the day have been trying to keep this to meet a safe distance. but when there are so many people out and about, trying to avoid all close contact is difficult. sun, sea and social distancing. it's not easy to find an isolated spot on the beach when so many other people have the same idea. for businesses,
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too, there is a

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