good morning. welcome to breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. our headlines today: government ministers rally to support the prime minister's top adviser, but opposition parties say dominic cummings still has questions to answer. i don't regret what i did. as i said, i think reasonable people may well disagree. i think what i did was reasonable in these circumstances. ido i do not believe anybody number 10 has done anything to undermine our messaging. shops in england will be able

to open from the middle of next month. sean's got the details. yes, non—essential retailers will have and still june 15 yes, non—essential retailers will have and stilljune 15 to make their shops covid—secure while car showrooms and outdoor markets will be free to open from monday. —— next monday. as the latest round of coronavirus testing in the premier league continues bournemouth goalkeeper aaron ramsdale confirms he's tested positive. 80 years on, we remember the miracle of dunkirk. i wish i could have met the chaps who picked us up, because they were very brave loads. —— blokes who were at risk of being machine—gunned as well. we have a dry and sunny day ahead of us. any spots of rain should dry up quite quickly. i'll have more in 30 minutes stop good morning. -- good

morning. it's tuesday the 26th of may. our top story. government ministers will try today to shift attention away from the row over dominic cummings' travels during the coronavirus lockdown, as they announce plans to further ease the restrictions in england. non—essential shops will open next month but questions continue to be raised about the prime minister's top adviser. borisjohnson said he understood the "confusion and anger" caused by the row but is standing by mrcummings. here's our political correspondent iain watson. something you don't see every day. government advisers usually defend their political masters. this one had come to defend himself. dominic cummings took his family 250 miles from london to durham during lockdown when his wife was already healed. —— already ill. yesterday, he was asked if he now regretted his actions. no, i don't regret what i did. as i said, i think reasonable people may well disagree about how i thought about what to do in the circumstances but i think that... i think what i did was reasonable

in. . . in these circumstances. at the socially—distanced impromptu press conference, he insisted that isolating close to his extended family was the best option in case he needed childcare. but why had he then also gone on a 30—mile trip from durham to barnard castle on easter sunday? he said he was giving himself an unconventional eye test. my wife was very worried, particularly given that my eyesight seemed to have been affected by the disease. she did not want to risk a nearly 300—mile drive with our child, given how ill i had been. we agreed that we should go for a short drive to see if i could drive safely. at his press conference last night, the prime minister sounded a bit more contrite than his advisor. i do regret the confusion and the anger and pain that people feel. i really did want people to understand exactly what had happened.

but he wasn't going to sack his advisor and he insisted that no—one at number 10 had undermined the government's message on health. and a range of cabinet ministers have taken to social media with a remarkably similar message — time to move on. opposition parties will meet today and are pressing for an enquiry into dominic cummings' actions. many of the papers are less ready to move on than government ministers, and some conservative mps waiting to see if angry constituents have been soothed or riled by dominic cummings before deciding if they should renew calls for him to go. iain watson, bbc news. we'rejoined now from downing street by our political correspondent, nick eardley. good morning to you. the government is clearly trying to move on from this issue but there still seems to be quite a few questions to answer? yeah, there are, dan. the whole plan yesterday was to bring dominic cummings out, let him give a fairly

lengthy explanation of what went on and hope that that drew a line under it. and i suppose that he was trying to convince two key groups, conservative mps who had been really worried this look hypocritical, and oui’ worried this look hypocritical, and our viewers, the public, those people who thought there was one rule for folk people who thought there was one rule forfolk in people who thought there was one rule for folk in there and one rule for everybody else. now, as you say, there are some of those questions which some people are still asking this morning. why did he get in the car to drive 30 miles when he wasn't sure if he was completely back to normal? and that main issue, the overarching one, was he right to go from london up to county durham because he thought he and his wife we re because he thought he and his wife were about to get sick. but i think some of the political head has been taken out of it, some of the tory mps who were really worried about how this was looking to the public area bit how this was looking to the public are a bit less worried, they think yesterday was a slightly better day

for the government than it had been. opposition parties are going to discuss what they think later this morning, and that could be quite important. but the keeping is, does this undermine the government's message? and i suspect that is what borisjohnson will be looking out over the next few days. nick, thank you very much. we will be speaking to michael gove from the government at 7:30am this morning. meanwhile, the prime minister has set out plans for some businesses to reopen in england. you might have seen this. outdoor markets and car showrooms will reopen from the firstjune, if it's safe to do so, followed by all other non—essential shops on the 15th ofjune. sean has more details. lots of people will be going, right, what shops, shawn? not the hairdressers, let's get that out of the way early doors. the change of policy is to do with the risk of transmission of the virus in various sta nzas. transmission of the virus in various stanzas. that is why outdoor markets and car showrooms, without extra

space and better ventilation are being given that point next monday of being able to reopen. then those non—essentialjobs from of being able to reopen. then those non—essential jobs from june 15 in england. so we're talking things like clothes stores, furniture stores, indoor markets as well, there is a long list of places that can look to open from that day. they will need to carry out risk assessments and have agreements with unions where necessary and workers as well about them feeling safe to go back to work and the customers there will be changes. queueing systems we have seen in supermarkets, they will be applicable a lot more in many more shops on the high street that would like to reopen. and for people running their businesses as well, if products returned back in store, they need to have recommendations in they need to have recommendations in the new guidelines that they are put to one side with 72 hours before they are put back on the shop floor. so many things for customers to get used to and businesses as well. the question is, it isn't that far away, will businesses be ready? yeah.

there is a lot businesses have had to go through to get to this point, particularly if they have been closed up this entire time. finances has been an issue. the federation of small businesses bank just has been an issue. the federation of small businesses bankjust because a business doesn't have the money to put in the cash ready, for these measures that i needed, so, new stickers, new posters, new organisations within stores, that shouldn't be something that should obstruct them from reopening. they are looking for some kind of government support for that, if businesses are struggling there. and then you have businesses that are wondering, should i'll be bringing my staff of the fur those scheme? thejob retention my staff of the fur those scheme? the job retention scheme? my staff of the fur those scheme? thejob retention scheme? —— very low scheme? —— furlough scheme. so, finances around this as well are a big issue for a lot of businesses. notjust big issue for a lot of businesses. not just how big issue for a lot of businesses. notjust how does the chewing work on high street? so questions need to be answered but at least businesses have been given a date and many in

the retail industry in particular are the retail industry in particular a re pretty the retail industry in particular are pretty happy to have something to work towards. sean, thank you very much. as the world awaits a coronavirus vaccine, doctors and scientists in england have been looking at different ways to treat those who are severely affected by the disease. it's hoped plasma therapy could offer a solution. it's a process which sees recovered patients donate their blood which contains antibodies. our health correspondent laura foster has been finding out more about it. when alessandro contracted coronavirus and ended up on a hospital ventilator, he feared he'd never get to see this family again. it's why when he recovered, he wanted to help others by donating plasma in his blood. instinctively, the last thing you want to do is go in a hospital environment again and have a needle put, but then i thought actually that i had been given so much and literally, like, you know, those people saved my life and you feel so hopeless and you feel so unable to help others, and that was the only way i could figure at that point to give some

of this back. when alessandro was sick, his immune system produced antibodies to help fight the virus. these antibodies are found in the gold—coloured part of our blood known as plasma. the idea is that this plasma can be given to other people whose immune systems are struggling, to help them fight coronavirus. the nhs wants more people who've had covid—i9 to donate their plasma. it's making its donations centres bigger and creating pop—up ones so they can take up to 8,000 donations a week. it can be very, very emotional and it does actually get you quite upset sometimes, but then you see these people have come out from the other side and they're so, like i said, they're so enthusiastic and so willing. the researchers have found that men, those over 35 and anyone who was hospitalised with coronavirus produced the most antibodies. in fact, alessandro's blood

contains a0 times more antibodies than the average donor. so that means i can give a lot of them away, which i'm very pleased to do, and suddenly as my friends knew about that, they all become very nice to me in case they ever need it in the future! they're particularly asking for people to come forward in manchester, birmingham and london where there have been a lot of cases of covid—i9. laura foster, bbc news. and we will be speaking to him later, sorry to interrupt. i'm like a ventriloquist dummy there! we will be discussing that at 7:20am. the scientist leading the uk's largest coronavirus tracking project says that people will have probably died prematurely as a result of attending two major sporting events that took place in march. professor tim spectre, from king's college london, has analysed data from millions of volunteers across the uk.

he identified covid—i9 hotspots following the cheltenham festival, and liverpool's champions league match against athletico madrid. a man and a teenage girl died in separate incidents along the cornish coastline on bank holiday monday. the girl had become trapped beneath a capsized boat while the man was pulled out of the sea. despite warnings not to go into the water, volunteer and off—duty lifeguards rescued dozens of people in a spate of incidents yesterday. police said it had been "a very tough day for local emergency services." one of the story to bring you this morning. —— other. imagine coming face to face with a wild bear — that's what happened to a young boy in italy who was enjoying a picnic with his family. have a look at this. in a minute. the 12—year—old has been praised for his bravery after the potentially terrifying encounter, which happened in the dolomites mountain range in the north of the country. tim allman has the story. never have the words "don't panic"

seemed more appropriate. looking back over his shoulder to see what is behind him, a young boy moves slowly, ever so slowly, down the side of this hill. ambling along in his wake, a giant brown bear — just a little bit curious about this small visitor perhaps. alessandro and his family were enjoying a picnic when the boy went off for a stroll. it turns out he had made a new friend. his mother's partner tried to reassure him, explaining that the bear was just minding its own business. mamma! alessandro can then be heard calling out to his mother. mamma! shh! if you think alessandro was scared, think again. he told the italian media he had been really excited and this was the best day of his life. the bear, on the other hand, was unavailable for comment.

tim allman, bbc news. 0h, oh, my goodness. wowzers. is a mum, i don't think i could have kept that calm. —— as a mum. i don't think i could have kept that calm. -- as a mum. i'm glad there's a happy ending to that one. as plans are announced to ease more of the lockdown restrictions in england, including reopening outdoor markets and car showrooms from ijune and other non—essential shops from isjune, more people will begin using public transport and returning to work. so, as some of the rules are relaxed, what are the risks of being infected with coronavirus? our science editor david shukman has been looking at the latest research. as people think about getting back to work, going out to do more shopping again, and travelling on public transport, what are the risks of becoming infected ? this animation simulates

the inside of a train carriage. marked in red, it shows someone who has got the virus, maybe without realising, and how, when they talk, they could release it all over a fellow passenger. a grim thought, but some scientists say that droplets containing the virus are very easily spread. if you are just breathing, talking, then obviously the droplets don't travel as far. but they can travel far enough to infect your friend who's sitting opposite you, chatting to you, ok? so that's the key distance. how far do they have to travel to affect somebody else? so, when someone is coughing or sneezing, it is vital to keep your distance. otherwise, this is the easiest way to catch the virus. another way is when someone infected contaminates surfaces, like in a kitchen, and others then touch those areas. and the virus might be carried through the air for several metres.

we don't know how far it can go while remaining infectious. all of these risks are reduced out of doors. not eliminated — keeping apart is still important — but any virus should be dispersed in the air, and if it lands on a surface, it should be killed pretty quickly by ultraviolet light. but it's a very different story when you're inside. so what happens indoors when someone coughs, like in this scenario? what is crucial is how the ventilation works. here, an air—conditioning unit circulates the air, and that spreads the virus around. in another scenario, a window is opened and the cough is carried by fresh air. the infection is still spread, but to fewer people. and the team behind this research say there are ways to reduce the risks when restaurants and other places come to reopen. you can open windows to help get more outside air coming into your space.

you can talk to mechanical contractors to see if you can increase filtration or add humidification. adding humidification helps to get the particles to drop out of the air more quickly, so they are less likely to swirl around and cause other infections. and new research keeps coming up with answers. in this experiment, a breath is seen travelling through the air. but, when a mask is worn, the breath doesn't get so far. as the lockdown is relaxed, ideas for keeping people safe which seemed unimaginable before covid now seem to make more sense. david shukman, bbc news. let's take a look at today's papers. the daily telegraph leads with the news that some shops in england will be allowed to reopen from isjune. it also features a large picture of dominic cummings with a quote from yesterday's press conference — "i don't regret what i did." beneath an almost identical

headline, the daily mirror describes mr cummings as shameless for refusing to quit or even apologise for his behaviour. the daily mail's headline is, "no apology, no regrets." it says the news conference was a rose garden roasting, and asks how mr cummings can survive in his post in the face of what it describes as public fury. the story also features on the home page of the huffington post. again, under a large photograph of dominic cummings from yesterday's press conference, is the quote, "i do not regret what i did." yesterday you might have seen if you follow bbc breakfast on various social media challenge that we have michael gove coming on, who does no dominic cummings very well. many have sent in questions, some points of clarification. i know some people are watching this morning and think it is time to move on, but i think others are watching and would like to ask some questions of mr gove about what dominic cummings was

doing. on the inside pages, i rather like this story. this is about elizabeth cook and she is with her grandfather and father, james. basically she is only nine but she isa basically she is only nine but she is a champion pigeon racer. she has beaten her dad in the process. i love this headline now, that is quite a coup. she has 76 pigeons which she looks after all the time. last season she and her charges, two young birds, “i last season she and her charges, two young birds, 11! out of six races in devon and cornwall —— won four out of six. ruffling lots of feathers in the professional pigeon fancying circles. her first victory is a 90 mile contest in which her father's bird ‘s fourth. he worried that she might do so badly she would be put off for life, but not at all. she is obviously very talented and spends hours looking after the birds and giving them breakfast and studying every single movement that they

make, which is brilliant. are you a watcher of the last dance? no. if you don't know, this is the netflix documentary that centres on michael jordan and talks about the success of the chicago bulls in the i990s and we will be speaking to bj armstrong, who is one of those chicago bulls players who was in that dressing room with michael jordan in the i990s. it has quite a few people talking, because michael jordan obviously a serial winner and the chicago bulls very successful, but did he cross the line on any occasions? his style. he demanded the best not only of himself but those around him as well, so interesting to hear what bj armstrong has to say to sally about that. we were talking about white stalks last week, as well.|j that. we were talking about white stalks last week, as well. i don't remember the white storks. the first white storks born in britain for 600 yea rs have white storks born in britain for 600 years have delighted naturalists by appearing out of their nests for the

first time, and here they are. this is near horsham, in west sussex. this castle very popular at the moment. the birds born last month as a result of the white stork project which is attempting to bring the species back into britain. after we covered it last week, or white stork news in the papers today. and fire and rescue services do an amazing job in all sorts of ways, of course fighting fires, but other things as well. this is a three—year—old cross breed, ruby, who had been walking through woods near shrewsbury, and she apparently chased the squirrel and got her head firmly wedged in a little gap. her owner couldn't free herb at shropshire fire and rescue came to the rescue and use the cutting tool to remove part of the wall before gently lifting the stone away and freeing her. we have some guests coming, what we have enjoyed doing over the last few weeks is showing how some very creative people have been keeping busy during

lockdown. we have a brilliant cellist who has been playing popular tunes on her cello, playing all the parts herself, and she has been playing the theme tune for knight rider. she will bejoining us later. the evacuation of more than 300,000 allied soldiers from the beaches of dunkirk in 1945 is still regarded as one of the most successful rescue missions in history, and a turning point in the second world war. a fleet of little ships, including sailboats, trawlers and lifeboats, were used to ferry soldiers off the beaches and onto waiting royal navy and merchant ships. 80 years on, robin gibson has been looking back at the miracle of dunkirk. all along the rivers and creeks of britain, yachtsman and part—time sailors are kissing their wives farewell and making their way to dover. the true story that became a legend, arguably the greatest escape

of world war ii. i wish i could meet the people, the chaps who came over and picked us up, because they were very brave blokes. because there we re very brave blokes. because there were mines, and there were a good chance of being machine—gunned as well. our countrymen is on a tiny merchant ship. he is risking his life to bring you the pictures. he is on his way to dunkirk. crossing the channel on a trawler or a pleasure boat in 1940 to face the killing fields of the dunkirk beaches was a test of bravery bordering on madness. they were in the thick of it for several days, some of them. though i have huge admiration for them, and i have huge admiration for them, and i have huge admiration for the little boats, because they are tiny little boats that were used to go up to the beaches to get the boys off the beaches to get the boys off the beaches and then ferry them to the larger vessels standing offshore. so they stayed. our ideas today come largely from recreations, dramas and films. home. at 100 years old, john

port is one of the last left to describe what it was to spend days on that beach, then to be rescued by a scheme which the german generals could barely believe. it was a horrendous experience. we were just lying on the beach, hands on the back of the head. there was a brighton paddle boat was there. that was burning from end to end. and another transport was loaded with oui’ another transport was loaded with our chaps, another transport was loaded with ourchaps, and a another transport was loaded with our chaps, and a bomb dropped right amongst them, in the stone. that was pretty awful. sadly, the still surviving wooden boats aren't able to mark the 80th anniversary, but they do send a message from the past, symbolising a moment when people with their backs to the wall came together to face down disaster.

that was robin gibson reporting. fascinating, isn't it? let's bring you up—to—date with some other news this morning. seafronts across england were busy over the weekend as sun seekers tried to make the most of the bank holiday weather. with travel restrictions eased earlier this month, crowds flocked to beaches in bournemouth and southend. but in other parts of the uk, where stricter lockdown is still in place, many tourist destinations remained quiet. adam mcclean has more. in scotland, beaches were largely empty, and in northern ireland and wales, people are still told to stay home. this was southend—on—sea. in what looks like any normal bank holiday, but this was yesterday. a scene repeated in other english beauty spots, in the middle of a global pandemic. thousands enjoying the sun and the sand. in seaside

towns, there are concerns about what visitors may bring and take away. people living near the beaches depend on everybody who does come to behave responsibly, and it is better if you live on a highway —— live a long way away not to come to the beach. you can do that another day, in good weather, when this crisis is over. there were concerns about shifting attitudes towards coronavirus rules after senior government advisor dominic cummings said he didn't regret taking his family to county durham.|j said he didn't regret taking his family to county durham. i have barely left my house on lockdown. this is the first sort of time going back out, and then we find out these sorts of stories. and when they do get caught out, there is always some sort of excuse. he says one thing but does another. i don't think it should be one rule for the elite and one rule for sort of everybody else. we have not seen family, and obviously with a young baby, people are missing. people are missing seeing her, as well, like

grandparents. but others here in merseyside feel it is an issue that has gone too far. like, we were told that we couldn't go and do this and that, and he went ended, went out. but personally, i feel like we all need to get over a bit. one advisor or individual has got a personal decision, and he has made it. and i wouldn't imagine we need to, you know, just spend time, money, to dig out why he has gone. here on this beach, groups were happy to spread out across the miles of sand and keep their distance, as many headed out for fresh keep their distance, as many headed out forfresh air keep their distance, as many headed out for fresh air and sun sunshine, after nine weeks of sunshine. —— weeks of lockdown. here is carol with a look at this morning's weather. good morning, carol. good morning, good morning to you as well. a beautiful start to the day, as you can see in norfolk. look at that lovely sky. yesterday the top temperature was 26.6dc, so knocking on the door of 27. today we won't be

too far off that it imparts of the south—east of england, —— in parts of the south—east of england. for the next few days it will remain dry for most of us with spots of rain in the forecast, and it will be warmer very warm for such high pressure is still in charge of our weather. we have got this weather front which has been sinking slowly southward through the course of the night. it is bumping into that high pressure and weakening all the time. but it does mean first thing this morning there is a fair bit of cloud around, especially in northern england, through wales, parts of northern ireland, producing the odd spot of rain. that won't last. this front sinks further south. and behind it it will brighten up in northern england, parts of wales, northern ireland, and the cloud we have in scotla nd ireland, and the cloud we have in scotland also breaking up. might find a wee bit of coastal fog around some of the coast, but it shouldn't be too problematic. temperatures today ranging from 12 in lerwick 25 or 26 today ranging from 12 in lerwick 25 or26 in the today ranging from 12 in lerwick 25 or 26 in the south—east. now, through this evening and overnight, eventually that weak weather front with its cloud makes it down into southern and south—eastern england,

and the channel islands. behind it, we've got some clear skies. variable amounts of cloud, and then there's the first signs of our next front coming in from the west, introducing cloud across northern ireland and western scotland. and by the end of the night we could well see some rain from that in northern ireland. not going to be a cold night, although cooler in the north than the nightjust gone. for tomorrow, well, high pressure still very much with us. this is the front coming in by the end of the night. moving northwards, taking its cloud and some rain with it. again, through parts of northern ireland and western scotland. come south, we are under brighter skies, especially the midlands, and also wales. we could see a little bit of low cloud coming in at times across that far south—eastern corner, coastal corner, of england. now, temperatures tomorrow, 12 to gain in lerwick, i7 temperatures tomorrow, 12 to gain in lerwick, 17 in belfast, 2425 as we get down towards the south —— 24 or 25 as we get down towards the south -- 12 25 as we get down towards the south —— 12 again in lerwick. we pulled in all this continental air across our

shores. on thursday, a fair bit of sunshine and cloud in the east could produce the odd shower, with a wee bit of cloud across parts of scotland. still that hazy sunshine, and these are temperatures. 21 in glasgow, 26 in cardiff. some people will probably enjoy those, won't they? thank good morning. it's 6:30am. hello this is breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. we'll bring you all the latest news and sport in a moment, but also on breakfast this morning: we'll hear from cellist samara ginsberg, who has been entertaining fans with her compositions of famous theme tunes including inspector gadget and star wars. that was night radio with a leather jacket as well —— knight

have you turned to tiktok to entertain yourself during lockdown? we'll hear from an 88—year—old grandmother who posted videos of herself dancing to lift our spirits, which then unexpectedly received more than 30 million views! we'll find out how this video of a herd of wild goats descending on the empty streets of a llandudno helped a local hospice raise £50,000. good morning. here's a summary of today's main stories from bbc news: the government is seeking to turn attention away from the prime minister's top advisor as they announced plans to further ease restrictions in england. some opposition mps are not fully satisfied with dominic cummings' explanation about why he travelled from london to county durham during lockdown. boris johnson from london to county durham during lockdown. borisjohnson said he understood the confusion and anger caused by the row but is standing by mrcummings. all non—essential retailers in england will be able to reopen

from 15th june. retailers will have to adhere to new guidelines around social distancing and hygiene standards in order to protect shoppers and staff. outdoor markets and car showrooms in england will also be able to reopen from the first ofjune. the nhs blood and transplant service is appealing for more of those who have recovered from covid—19 in england, to donate their blood, as part of a clinical trial of plasma therapy treatment. antibodies in blood plasma could help treat others who are badly affected by the virus. more than 2,000 people have so far donated but researchers are particularly keen for middle—aged men to come forward. spain has announced foreign travellers will be able to visit the country from the beginning ofjuly without going through quarantine. the foreign minister said it looks forward to welcoming tourists back now the worst of the pandemic was behind them. 80 million visitors go to spain each year and 20 million of them come from the uk. you are

up—to—date with all the latest news. now it's time to look at some of the latest coronavirus issues with today's gp. this morning we're joined from liverpool by doctor rob barnett. thank you very much for being with us thank you very much for being with us this morning. however things that your surgery this morning? dorcas do the situation you and your fellow doctors are in. to be honest, we are getting back to what i call a normal sort of working week. whereas a few weeks ago, the number of patients we we re weeks ago, the number of patients we were dealing with was very small. i would say over the last 7—10 days we have gotte n would say over the last 7—10 days we have gotten back to a normal caseload, dealing with all sorts of problems that you would expect a gp to see, whether that's back pain, joint pain, respiratory problems, asthma... and the only difference is the vast majority of them we are dealing with is over a telephone

rather than coming into the surgery, face—to—face. rather than coming into the surgery, face-to-face. and in terms of the patients who are sitting at the moment, we spoke to a gp last week and talked about anxiety around the return to school, is that something your patients are still talking to a lot about? we are seeing more of that. we actually practice right next door to a primary school, which had been closed for the last six or seven weeks. and there is no doubt that families are worried about not only sending their kids to school, but actually how they are physically going to do it. i know with the school there is a very small entrance, the one next to us. and we we re entrance, the one next to us. and we were used to seeing lots of parents queueing up with their young children, either taking them in or collecting them. so there is concern about how that is going to work in terms of social distancing. but there is concern of children go to

school, infections, ifany, there is concern of children go to school, infections, if any, are they going to bring back to the household? especially going to bring back to the household ? especially if going to bring back to the household? especially if you have got people in the household who are potentially vulnerable? there is another question i wanted to ask you this morning. i don't know if you have heard, but there is a report looking specifically at the spread of the virus linked to the cheltenham festival and liveable's game with atletico madrid in march. did you see a rise in cases of people talking to you about coronavirus on the back of that match? there is no doubt a lot of people think that that match just literally days before the lockdown was probably irresponsible. you know, this influx of people from spain, a place where we knew there was coronavirus, you know, coming into the city would undoubtedly cause problems. liverpool have been

quite badly hit with coronavirus and we are still a way behind the london rate. so i'm sure that would have had an adverse impact, yes. and just to clarify, you had people talking about that game, but did you have and people coming to you following that match? not specifically having been there. but certainly there was a lot of talk about it. there was something else i wanted to talk to you a bit about this morning. i noticed you had been mentioning concerns about patients receiving other sorts of treatment. things like ultrasounds, ways that a concern to you at the moment? one of the difficulties we have been having really, is getting investigations for patients. i think there are two bits around that, one is that the hospitals, certainly around us, just stopped doing investigations. so if

we had problems with patients, trying to get them seen, in the hospitalfor trying to get them seen, in the hospital for tests, that has trying to get them seen, in the hospitalfor tests, that has been difficult if not almost impossible. also, anxiety from patients in respect of actually going to hospitals themselves, you know, they are worried if they go into a hospitalfor a are worried if they go into a hospital for a test are worried if they go into a hospitalfor a test or are worried if they go into a hospital for a test or investigation are they likely to catch the virus? so there is no tension there we are going to have to try and sort out and get you over the coming weeks and get you over the coming weeks and months. but! and get you over the coming weeks and months. but i am worried about the backlog in investigations that just seems to be ever—growing, and it is difficult to see how we're to get to a situation where people are going to have investigations and tests done in a timely fashion. doctor rob barnett, great to talk to you. good to hear about your concerns and some of those other issues people have outside the current pandemic at the moment. indeed. and sally is here. good

morning. similar information about the premier league coronavirus testing, which is continuing at the moment. with bournemouth's first choice goalkeeper confirming he is the latest player to return a positive test. aaron ramsdale said he had a negative result in the first round of testing last week but in the second batch he was going to have contracted the virus. he said he hadn't experienced any of the symptoms but of course he is now self— isolating. symptoms but of course he is now self—isolating. clubs will vote tomorrow on proposals for a return tomorrow on proposals for a return to contract training —— contact training. and while the premier league is hoping to return next month, and championship players returned to non—contact training yesterday, the women's super league has been ended immediately. the outcome of the wsl title, plus promotion and relegation issues, are still to be decided. the football association say the decision came after "overwhelming feedback from clubs" and was made "in the best interest of the women's game." the japanese prime minister shinzo

abe has called for swift development of treatments and vaccines for covid—19 as a priority towards holding the olympics in tokyo next year. he says until a vaccine is found, athletes all across the globe won't be able to train and prepare. the games were due to take place later this summer but due to the spread of the coronavirus, had to be postponed until next year. what have you been watching on the telly in lockdown? lots of us have been watching the michael jordan documentary on netflix. the last dance follows the man who played 15 seasons in the nba, winning six championships with the chicago bulls. let's take a look at michaeljordan getting the better of bryon russell from utahjazz, with just 20 seconds of the game remaining. here he is.

incredible, incredible. iam thrilled to say we are joined by bj armstrong, who won three of the bulls' six titles alongside michael jordan and features in the documentary. i wonder all of those yea rs documentary. i wonder all of those years ago if you would have expected to be sitting here today, still talking about what happened? well, i

can say that i thought 20 years later, playing back than that i would still be talking about it, but he such a polarising figure and one of the most popular players ever, regardless of what sport, entertainment, what have you. so to be talking about it, i shouldn't be surprised but certainly it was a remarkable time for all of us who play back then on all of those teams. what was it like to play alongside? well, he's incredibly focused. you saw the determination, saw the commitment, and you saw a young man who was willing to do whatever was necessary to reach that goal. we had a team that was very committed to the lifestyle as well, and certainly michaeljordan was an exceptional talent. to see him every single day reach his full potential was quite amazing to watch stop we seeing him now. there he is, number 23. i wonder, seeing him now. there he is, number

23. iwonder, at seeing him now. there he is, number 23. i wonder, at times in the documentary, did he ever get too much for you while to handle, because he is unrelenting in his pursuit of perfection. well, no, i think it was a beautiful environment because there were no hidden agendas. certainly we were there, our best player was really focused. we just kind of old, you our best player was really focused. wejust kind of old, you know, felt that that was the way that was what we wa nted that that was the way that was what we wanted to do. we could have done it one way or another but we were committed to this stop and when you see someone with that kind of talent committed to excellence, you just kind of want to continue to do that and follow along as well. so, it was and follow along as well. so, it was a great match for us and we are very fortu nate to a great match for us and we are very fortunate to have one like we did backin fortunate to have one like we did back in those times. you knew him well. obviously, professionally and privately. is it to you once managed to talk him out of retirement? well,

i would love to think that i talked him out of it. but for all of us who know michael personally, you know, he is not going to be talked out of anything. but certainly we maintained our relationship, we maintained our relationship, we maintain our communication and like any good friend you just want to be there for a good friend and i'm very fortu nate there for a good friend and i'm very fortunate that when that time came fortunate that when that time came for him, when he began to think about potentially coming back, that he give us a call and as they say, the rest is history. one of the things that is really fascinating from watching this is you mention the lifestyle stop when you see the ball is coming off court and you see them relaxing, quite a few of them and michael in particular, have a big cigar or a beer. was it really like that? yeah, you've got to put it back in those times, back in the late 80s and 90s. that was kind of the year, kind of the times when you look back at it now you go, what

we re look back at it now you go, what were those guys doing? but those we re were those guys doing? but those were those guys doing? but those were those times. we are all looking back on that and kind of cringing at it, but you know what, that was the error in which we all grew up in. —— era. and we are seeing images of a man who is in many ways still shrouded in mist three. do you think thatis shrouded in mist three. do you think that is because all of this was happening at a time before social media, before we knew everything about everybody? well, i think the one thing that makes michael unique is, you know, all of the other things that make someone popular or get them out in the public eye, that wasn't his goal. he wasn't playing the game to be popular, he wasn't playing the game for the fortune and all of the other things, he was playing the game with one idea in mind, that! playing the game with one idea in mind, that i am here to perform. and i think his performance did all of his looking for him and allowed to

keep this mystery. you know, once he retired he really hasn't said much. no—one has really said much within the team, so the amazing thing is here we are 25—30 years later still recounting the story is because no—one has really said anything since those times and i think it should only be michael who tells those stories to get the fans and all of the people who followed the chicago bulls a peek behind the curtain. 23 million people outside the united states have watch this. it is incredible, isn't it? do you think michael's style of leadership would work in the modern game? would it work now? well, i think it would work. certainly this is giving you a peek at one perspective. you know, the one thing i don't think you could see is that our team was committed to this, and you know, he was clearly our best player, but we had a team where we all had our ways of leadership and what we were able to do. we became each other‘s truth

tellers. so as much as he could dish it out, he could also take it, so i think it would work as well in this era, because you need tough—minded people, and certainly we had a group of tough—minded individuals. people, and certainly we had a group of tough-minded individuals. talking about this modern era, discussions about this modern era, discussions about the nba are under way at the moment, to perhaps try to resume at disney world. is that something that you see might work? well, i think it is interesting, and like most, all around the world, people are trying to get back to their normal, whatever that may be. and for the nba and what we are discussing here, you know, first and foremost we want to have the safety of all, all of the players, all of the people that work in these environments, and most importantly the people that work in those communities. so i think safety will be at the forefront of whatever decision will be made by the nba. will be at the forefront of whatever decision will be made by the nbae armstrong, it is brilliant to talk to you this morning, and congratulations on being part of, i

think, one of the media phenomena of this year, certainly one of the best sports documentaries i have ever seen. thank you for talking to us. thank you very much, and stay safe. all ten episodes of the last dance are available on netflix. it is one of those shows that you watch and you think am i going to really get into this? it is gripping. and it is one of those that you can hate sport and have no interest in basketball but still be fascinated by the relationships between this man who is still one of the biggest names in sport and at the biggest names in sport and at the time was the biggest name in sport on the planet, and how he manages to inspire, sometimes crossing the line, as people have said, but managed to inspire this tea m said, but managed to inspire this team to incredible success. it is fascinating, isn't it? key is it is not really about the sport, a way. excellent. i loved watching that, sally. i am excellent. i loved watching that, sally. lam in. more businesses in england could be able to reopen from next week.

sean's having a look. you did stipulate earlier, for all those thinking about getting their hair cut, it is not about hairdressers at the moment, is it? no, unfortunately not just no, unfortunately notjust yet, and that industry, the hospitality sector as well, still waiting for this kind of advice from the government about a firm date that they can work towards. this is about retailers and our favourite shops reopening, and that starts from next monday. so, from next monday, car showrooms and outdoor markets — places with plenty of fresh air, where the risk of transmissiion of the virus is considered lower. in an hour i'll be talking to a car dealer about how exactly that is going to work. then the big rollout is planned for 15june of everything from clothes stores to furniture shops, tailors and indoor markets.

they will be able to reopen at that date if the government tests remain in place, and they are at low enough levels. those businesses will need to follow covid—secure guidelines. there is a long list. jeanette runs a sweet shop in poole. she has given us a taste of what is needed. i have installed a new glass screen to protect my staff from the customers. i have reduced floorspace within my shop so that customers can come in one at a time. on the floor, both shop aside and customer side, will be signage to remind them of the two metre distance ruling. i also hope that the bournemouth, poole council install some additional signage so that it reminds the general public of

keeping social distancing, especially in older town pool, where we have a 1—way system and our streets are narrow —— poole. we have a 1—way system and our streets are narrow -- poole. and that queueing may be one that bigger businesses can manage a bit easier. that is one of the concerns that businesses have put forward. another being just having the resources to pay for everything that is needed to meet the guidelines, after having no income for several weeks. i have had chris get in touch saying they are worried about not having enough business to pay for the restrictions in place, so there are calls for the government to give a bit of support there as well. for people looking for a date for hairdressers and barbers, we have previously had the government mention fourth ofjuly as part of its roadmap to get things open, as a potential date, but we have not had that confirmed as a date yet, in the

same way we have had the prime minister telling us that 15 june, nonessential stores can look to reopen on that date if they abide by all these guidelines. one little thought from people already getting in touch, christine for example says iam not in touch, christine for example says i am not interested in going to the shops. i want to see my mum and grandchildren. there is that point of view as well. more on our top story now. the government's scientific advisors say it is more important than ever that people adhere to social distancing rules, particularly as some retailers are due to reopen from next month. however, concerns have been raised that the prime minister's decision to back dominic cummings may undermine this message at a critical time. let's speak now to professor robert west, who is part of a group which advises the government on the response to the pandemic. good morning to you. thank you very much indeed forjoining us, and you have been openly critical of the government, both before what has happened with dominic cummings, and now as well. so many questions, aren't there? specifically, as a

behavioural scientist, what do you think the impact might be of what has happened ? think the impact might be of what has happened? well, i think we're already seeing it, to some degree, people reporting that they are adhering less to the guidelines because of what they have seen. and i think it is terribly important, obviously, as you just said a minute ago, that people remember why they need to adhere to the guidelines. and it isn't, you know, to support people like dominic cummings or the government, and so on, it is for our own safety and for the safety of our loved ones and our communities. and so the guidelines are there. if you look at them carefully, they are clear. but also, as we move into easing of the lockdown, they are going to require people to apply more of their own judgement as they go forward, because, you know, it is very, very hard to put hard and fast laws in place when you are opening

shops, and so on. and the key messages, i mean, the key principles, really, are that infection is primarily taking place indoors, and it is primarily taking place when you are close to someone for a reasonably extended period of time, and probably doesn't need... we originally thought it did, but it probably doesn't need somebody to cough or sneeze. you can probably get it through droplets that ijust sort of in the air. i don't know this for sure, but we need to assume that that is the case. and the fact that that is the case. and the fact that so many people have... are you 0k, that so many people have... are you ok, by the way? yes, sorry, just clearing my throat. the fact that so many people have stuck by the guidelines, have stayed at home, have stayed two metres apart, and all the rest of it, that really has made the difference, has it? oh gosh, yes. i mean, absolutely. i can't stress this enough. just think about it. we probably have seen

around... probably over 60,000 excess deaths all told, so far, and thatis excess deaths all told, so far, and that is with a probable infection rate in the country as a whole of around 10%. that means somewhere around 10%. that means somewhere around 90% have not been infected. can you imagine, you know, what the situation would have been like if we hadn't taken situation would have been like if we hadn't ta ken these situation would have been like if we hadn't taken these measures? we were seeing a doubling of the infection rate every three days or so. so these measures have absolutely been important. i mean, some of us felt that they should have been taken earlier, but we are where we are. so as we move forward, we can'tjust go back to business as normal, i'm afraid. right, ok, so we now know more of the plan to open, for example, some shops at least on 15 june. do you support what the government is doing? yes, i think that it government is doing? yes, i think thatitis government is doing? yes, i think that it is reasonable to start to ease the lockdown. i think, you

know, there are different views around exactly what kind of easing should take place, but the broad principle is that you stick with the restrictions in places where the infection risk is highest, and that is where people are in extended close contact with each other, and that you can ease them in situations, for example outdoors, where the risk is much, much less. and people now have learned a lot of epidemiological jargon, and people now have learned a lot of epidemiologicaljargon, and and people now have learned a lot of epidemiological jargon, and we and people now have learned a lot of epidemiologicaljargon, and we talk about the r—value, which is the rate at which people... or the number of people that a person will infect if they are infected, and we need to keep that one. now, at the moment our estimates of this value are somewhere in the region of 0.7 21. so it wouldn't take much for it to go over one and for the epidemic to ta ke go over one and for the epidemic to take hold again —— 0—7—1. go over one and for the epidemic to take hold again -- 0-7-1. how important is it psychologically that

people are seen to obey the rules, and all of us, what kind of impact does that have? it is really important. you don't need to be a behavioural scientist to know how important norms are. we are very imitative creatures, and when we see other people doing things, we quite instinctively tend to do them ourselves. and this doesn'tjust apply to overt behaviour. it also applies to attitudes, and our sentiments about things. so it is really important to focus on the fa cts . really important to focus on the facts. and this is true. i'm not just making this up, people have been very adherent. most people have done a tremendousjob, been very adherent. most people have done a tremendous job, at huge cost to themselves. you know, livelihoods, is one of your earlier speakers was saying, you know, not seeing loved ones. these are sacrifices people are making, but they are worth it, and they really are important. professor, thank you very much for your time here on brea kfast. very much for your time here on breakfast. thank you.

thank you for all your comments and questions coming into the programme this morning. you can get in touch on social media. a lot of comments about dominic cummings's test conference from yesterday. lots of questions, as well, for michael gove. michael gove will be with us in half—an—hour live on the programme and we will get to as many of your questions as we can with him. we saw people on the beach a couple of moments ago enjoying sunshine. carol, what have we got today? a bit more of the same, good morning, everybody. the sunshine in england and wales will be a little bit easier than it has been in the last couple of days. but look at this sunrise in paignton from one of our weather watchers. for the next few days it will remain dry for most of us and it will be sunny and warm, and by the weekend, for some, very warm. today high—pressure is firmly in charge of our weather, a weak weather and sinking south into it, thatis weather and sinking south into it, that is producing a fair bit of cloud at the moment, also some spots of rain stop at the rain won't last,

and it is going to continue to slip southwards. for scotland, you have got some cloud this morning as well, but that will break up and you will have some sunshine. sunny skies across parts of fife, and the same for northern ireland. any cloud you have continuing to break up. but for northern england, wales, for the north midlands, we have got the cloud. south of that we are back into sunny skies. now, that whether front producing the cloud will continue to sink south during the course of the day, again turning the sunshine hazy in doing so. but it will brighten up later across wales, northern england, northern ireland and scotland. temperatures ranging from about 12 in the far north to 25 in the far south, and still quite easy a cross in the far south, and still quite easy across the northern isles. through this evening and overnight, the weather front eventually makes it down towards the south. behind it, some clear skies, but by the end of the night what you will find is the next whether front coming in, introducing some cloud, and by the end of the night some rain into northern ireland. there will also be some fog to watch out for tonight

across south wales in south—west england, but it is not going to be a cold night, although it will be cooler in the north compared to the nightjust gone stop so the fog that we have in south wales and south—west england slowly lifting tomorrow, and then a lot of dry weather, once again a lot of sunshine. we have this showery rain moving through northern ireland, getting into western scotland, and a little bit cloud at times across this east coast. top temperatures tomorrow, 25. the are next. —— headlines are next.

good morning. welcome to breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. our headlines today: government ministers rally to support the prime minister's top adviser but opposition parties say dominic cummings still has questions to answer. i don't regret what i did. as i said, i think reasonable people may well disagree. i think that what i did was actually reasonable in these, um, in these circumstances. i can't give any unconditional backing to anybody, but i do not believe that anybody in number 10 has done anything to undermine our messaging. shops in england will be able to open from the middle of next month. sean's got the details. yeah, non—essential retailers have untiljune 15 to get their shops

covid secure, but from next monday car showrooms and outdoor markets can open. the search for antibody super—donors — an appeal for those who've recovered from coronavirus to donate their blood plasma. as the latest round of coronavirus testing in the premier league continues, bournemouth goalkeeper aaron ramsdale confirms he's tested positive. it's tuesday, the 26th of may. our top story: government ministers will try today to shift attention away from the row over dominic cummings, as they announce plans to further ease the restrictions in england. non—essential shops will open next month but questions continue to be raised about the prime minister's top adviser. borisjohnson said he understood the "confusion and anger" caused by the row but is standing by mrcummings. here's our political correspondent iain watson. something you don't see every day. government advisers usually defend their political masters. this one had come to defend himself. dominic cummings took his family 250 miles from london to durham during lockdown when his wife was already ill.

yesterday, he was asked if he now regretted his actions. no, i don't regret what i did. as i said, i think reasonable people may well disagree about how i thought about what to do in the circumstances but i think that... i think what i did was reasonable in. . . in these circumstances. at the socially—distanced impromptu press conference, he insisted that isolating close to his extended family was the best option in case he needed childcare. but why had he then also gone on a 30—mile trip from durham to barnard castle on easter sunday? he said he was giving himself an unconventional eye test. my wife was very worried, particularly given that my eyesight seemed to have been affected by the disease. she did not want to risk a nearly 300—mile drive with our child, given how ill i had been.

we agreed that we should go for a short drive to see if i could drive safely. at his press conference last night, the prime minister sounded a bit more contrite than his advisor. i do regret the confusion and the anger and pain that people feel. i really did want people to understand exactly what had happened. but he wasn't going to sack his advisor and he insisted that no—one at number 10 had undermined the government's message on health. and a range of cabinet ministers have taken to social media with a remarkably similar message — time to move on. opposition parties will meet today and are pressing for an enquiry into dominic cummings' actions. many of the papers are less ready to move on than government ministers, and some conservative mps waiting to see if angry constituents have been soothed or riled by dominic cummings before deciding if they should renew calls for him to go. iain watson, bbc news.

we'rejoined now from downing street by our political correspondent, nick eardley. you will have watched that wisely. has this sort of stop the argument, stop the questions?” has this sort of stop the argument, stop the questions? i don't think it has stopped the questions, louise, there are still some outstanding ones being asked this morning. the main one is why dominic cummings couldn't have stayed in london and gotten help here. that said, i think downing street are hoping that because mr cummings came out and gave that pretty lengthy press conference, people will start to draw a line under this issue. amen, there is no guarantee that is going to happen. there are two key groups: tory mps, some of whom are furious about the way this has been handled, we are getting tons of mps from constituency fell this was hypocrisy —— who felt this was hypocrisy.

whether those mps will be persuaded about whether this hit the rates own and the public, —— whether this hit the right tone, and how the public feels. there is no doubt this is how damage on the number 10 operation and has had some damage to the government's authority on this issue. what mrjohnson has to try and do now is when some of that back. his aim is to talk over the next few days about using some of the restrictions and getting life back into the economy and life itself getting back to something that approaches a new normal. he needs to do that in his own way apart from talking about how his top aide broke the rules. thank you. all non—essential retailers in england will be able to reopen from 15thjune, as part of plans

to further ease the lockdown. retailers will have to adhere to new guidelines around social distancing and hygiene standards, in order to protect shoppers and staff. outdoor markets and car showrooms in england will also be able to reopen from firstjune. council leaders across merseyside say their region is facing a cash shortfall of almost £250 million, because it's been hit harder by the pandemic than anywhere else in the uk. officials claim that money already allocated from whitehall will only cover 30% of their costs. the area has higher than average infection and death rates. the world health organization has suspended its coronavirus—trials of the anti—malaria drug hydroxychloroquine. the group say the temporary move follows concerns that the drug could cause heart problems, and may even increase deaths among covid—19 patients. last week, us president donald trump drew criticism from doctors after announcing he was taking the drug. a man and a teenage girl died in separate incidents along the cornish coastline

on bank holiday monday.the girl had become trapped beneath a capsized boat while the man was pulled out of the sea. despite warnings not to go into the water, volunteer and off duty lifeguards rescued dozens of people in a spate of incidents yesterday. police said it had been "a very tough day for local emergency services." dominic cummings is one of the prime minister's most senior advisors. we know that. he is often heavily involved in government decision making. two men who knowjust how important this role is to number 10, are jonathan powell, the former chief of staff to tony blair and theresa may's former advisor, joeyjones. they both join us now. thank you forjoining us. jonathan powell, what did you make of that hole, in the rose garden news conference yesterday? the point of special advisors as they are supposed to be seen and not heard,

and work in the background. giving a press co nfe re nce and work in the background. giving a press conference in the rose garden is an extraordinary event. you are talking about a special adviser, it isa talking about a special adviser, it is a very major problem. as jonathan said, it's external know. i've never seen anything quite like it and it reinforces the centrality of dominic cummings do the whole downing street operation and how closely boris johnson is bound to his fortunes. that's great when he is doing well, lecturing in the election campaign, but not so well when he has been making mistakes as he has been over the past few days. i think it would johnson in a vulnerable and exposed position. jonathan, his obviously as we sat in the introduction, interval to what is going on in the government at the moment. he has had i provide support from the government and by minister but also a series of —— prime minister and also a series of high—ranking ministers as well. i imagine he

doesn't want to throw him overboard, but the problem is there is a reason why you have this sort of process and every other government which is if the special adviser becomes a problem, you send him overboard because otherwise it in fact the government. why dominic cummings has done by being capped by boris johnson is in fact now notjust one person who broke the rules and appears to arrogant to admit they broke the rules are even apologise, it is going to alter the way we behave by the government defending him. dominic cummings said i don't think there was one rule for me and another for other people. i think there was one rule for me and anotherfor other people. i know what the guidance was, he talks about exceptional circumstances with all children. he says he believes he behaved legally and reasonably. but to that point about the special adviser becoming the story, as jonathan was saying, quite unusual, isn't it, that they have not moved on at this point. would that be fair to say? i think it is only because

it is dominic cummings that he is still in thejob. i think it is dominic cummings that he is still in the job. i think that anybody else, anybody else, and that goes for senior cabinet ministers who were in this situation and viewed as indispensable, he isjust too important to borisjohnson to allow him to go. i think right now it feels like he has bought himself a bit of time but this was too late in the day. by the time he did this press co nfe re nce , in the day. by the time he did this press conference, peoplematthews had become entrenched. i'm not sure how many new people will persuade. he's done enough to, if you like, create a situation where we have the momentum which was styled, running against the government, we have a stand—off, really where people will not be persuaded by the account he gaveit not be persuaded by the account he gave it such great length. and senior cabinet ministers who will obviously grow in behind. it is going to prolong the agony. and when we asa going to prolong the agony. and when we as a population need things to be

getting back to normal. jonathan, i saw an interesting assessment of this yesterday, there were 48 hours that pass now without further revelations, it would he be able to ride this out? you might be able to ride this out? you might be able to ride this out? you might be able to ride this particular controversy out but i think at the beginning of the year, —— ithought but i think at the beginning of the year, —— i thought at the beginning of the year he wouldn't last year and that's because of his obsession with the news. remember the windows and so on. there is an impact on special advisors but cannot keep away from the news, their lifespan is very short. even if you were to survive this crisis, i don't think you would survive another scandal. don't you forget the story of rasputin, an evil mongo who advised azar in the —— monk who advised the tsar and was wrapped up in chains and disposed of because of his

difficult position. there are really important messages coming out today about shops. how is it important that those messages get out to those jobs? —— how important is it that those messages come out about shops? dominic cummings has been outright contemptuous in the past, but i think what was more damaging was the real anger and confusion about constituents and people at large out there in the country. i don't see any reason why that would necessarily have been diffused by a very, very long and complex is conference story that was given by dominic cummings was that if it continues to be an issue, people will say hang on a minute, ijust

don't know what the government is trying to tell us. i don't really believe this guy anymore. that is a massive problem. jonathan, you are nodding along with that. and a lot of the correspondence we are getting this morning is it isn't necessarily what dominic cummings did, but the impact he is having on other people who feel they were abiding by those government rules and they were staying at home. i think that seems to be for many people, the problem. not necessarily what he did, but the fa ct not necessarily what he did, but the fact he felt he could do it and others haven't. absolutely. i totally agree. this story has a com plete totally agree. this story has a complete cut through, cut through means against you normally —— gets through to normal people. there is hypocrisy in it. government will undermine the own message by saving dominic cummings' skin. i saw people go on dominic cummings' skin. i saw people goona dominic cummings' skin. i saw people go on a bicycle ride yesterday, why would they socially distanced

themselves if the government doesn't do it? so the government is distracted worrying about dominic cummings' survival are not about us, so there is a real cost for notjust the government but the country, and it may cost lives. would saying sorry have made a difference? earlier on, yes. ijust can't understand why with the guardian and the mirror, coming forward with the story weeks ago they didn't feel it would be great a good idea to ask legitimate questions. instead they bunkered down into an area of paranoia and feeling this was some kind of politically motivated conspiracy. itjust made the situation worse. in the policy now from downing street's point of view is to grind it out stop by the end of that press conference it was getting pretty repetitive. and i think they wanted to try to bore the

lobby and the press and wider media into submission over the next few days. it is going to take some time and that is even with the best effort for how this could be out for dominic cummings. and jonathan, just to look at the full width of opinion, i think there are probably quite a few people watching this morning who do think that explanation was fine and feel it was time to move on, and would accuse the media in the same way as dominic cummings suggested yesterday, of this being a bit of a witch—hunt against this man in particular. well, i am not sure that is right. there are many millions of families who have small children who face very difficult choices. they have to do if one or both of them gets sick, who is going to help them? who gets sick, who is going to help them ? who is gets sick, who is going to help them? who is going to leave food outside? they don't travel 250 miles to visit their parents and live in a spare house. i think people do resent this. the story may die in westminster terms but i think the damage is done with the public, and the failure to have any contrition at all, to go out there and tell us

he was doing right, what would have happened if all of those millions of families had all driven 250 miles, supposedly not stopping for petrol, which is by the way rather difficult especially if you have a small child in the back who wants to go to the toilet on the way to the castle, certainly want to go to the toilet on the way from london to durham. it just doesn't ring true to people, and that causes real damage, and as i say, it causes real damage for all of us, because if people stop obeying these restrictions, we all suffer. and we will get a response to all of those things you have been talking about from michael gove. he joined us at 7:30am on breakfast. —— hejoins us at joined us at 7:30am on breakfast. —— he joins us at 7:30am on breakfast. as the world awaits a coronavirus vaccine, it is hoped plasma therapy, a process which sees recovered patients donate their blood to the seriously ill, could be used as a potential treatment in england. we're joined now by covid—19 survivor and blood plasma donor dr alessandro giardini, and also by professor mike murphy, consultant haematologist from nhs blood and transplant.

good morning, both. alessandro, you are likea good morning, both. alessandro, you are like a superhuman. tell us about your special blood. so i had coronavirus and required admission to the intensive care unit. i became very sick and following my recovery i was contacted by nhs blood and transplant, asking me to donate plasma, which i wasn't expecting the call and i was very happy to see if i could help anyone else who was going through what i had just gone through. and then i had the fantastic news that i plasma seems to be very rich in antibodies, which iam very to be very rich in antibodies, which i am very happy to donate. so what happens, and we will come to the professor in the moment, they are taking your blood and essentially giving it to other people? yes, so they are taking your blood, and importantly they are giving you back some of the components of the blood, some of the components of the blood, so you don't actually develop low haemoglobin. you don't become

anaemic as a result of that. they ta ke anaemic as a result of that. they take what they need and everything else goes back into you. it is a fairly short process, about an hour orso, andi fairly short process, about an hour orso, and ifelt fairly short process, about an hour or so, and ifelt absolutely fairly short process, about an hour or so, and i felt absolutely fine when i left the donation centre. mike, alessandro has talked a little bit about the process. how important could this treatment be? well, there is no effective treatment known for covid yet, convalescent plasma is a potentially effective treatment so we are keen to explore this as a possibility. we have collected plasma from 2000 donors already, and what we have found is that those individuals with the highest antibody levels are males, people over 35, and those who have been treated in hospital. exactly like alessandro. so we are calling today for anybody who falls into one of those categories, male, over35, been treated in hospital, to contact

us been treated in hospital, to contact us to come and donate plasma. this is really important. we are hoping it is going to be effective. we don't know yet that it is effective. we are conducting large clinical trials to demonstrate this, and if the trials demonstrate patient benefit, then we will scale up collection of plasma very quickly, so that it is available for patients still sick in hospital. and professor mike murphy, why is it that they may have a potentially rich source of antibodies? we don't know that yet. we have carried out this testing and identified these groups of individuals as having particularly high levels of antibodies. we don't know why, but obviously we want to take advantage of that and use them as plasma donors. and alessandro, you obviously know what you are doing, you are a medical professional

yourself. were you worried about the process at all? i was not worried about the process in terms of physically what was going to happen to me, but having spent two weeks in hospital, including a week in the icu, i was a little bit afraid and going into another medical environment and having, again, needles sticking into my skin. so i think ijust needed to think about why this was so important, and give a chance to other people to recover if possible. and just tell us a little bit about your recovery. you have just told us you were quite real. how are you now?|j have just told us you were quite real. how are you now? i would say i am 90, 95%. iam back at real. how are you now? i would say i am 90, 95%. i am back at work, i real. how are you now? i would say i am 90, 95%. iam back at work, iam enjoying that very much. i am spending a little bit more time with my family, which i missed when i wasn't well. i think the disease has left initially a very great burden in terms of tiredness and breathlessness, but i have been pushing myself a little bit, that

has been getting better and better. and i feel has been getting better and better. and ifeel quite has been getting better and better. and i feel quite positive, has been getting better and better. and ifeel quite positive, actually. professor murphy, i am sure some of our viewers will be watching this thinking they might have heard something about plasma therapy, this sort of thing, when we were talking about ebola a few years ago. was it sort of put on hold after that? yes, convalescent plasma has been explored in other infectious diseases, like ebola and pandemic flu. the problem with those pandemics was that they are over so quickly, and by the time we had collected plasma from people who had been infected and recovered, the pandemic was over and there were no patients to treat. with this covid pandemic, which is going on for such a long time, we do have the opportunity to test convalescent plasma properly this time. professor, we know that alessandro right now has antibodies, but there is so much that we don't know about coronavirus, and this particular

covid—19. do we know that that will protect him from getting it again, for example? we don't know that. you are asking the wrong person to give an announcement on that. so we don't know that yet, but he is very useful to us in providing plasma to treat patients. we are grateful to him. and alessandro, how many times have you given plasma, and will you continue to do so? i am booked for another round this week. fantastic, and how do you feel being this human antibody carrier? if they have to make sense of what happened to me, i think this is the way it was meant to happen, and me having gone through that is just to be able to give some back. professor mike

murphy, how do people get in touch and find out about how they can donate as well? well, they can phone 0300 123 23 23 donate as well? well, they can phone 0300123 23 23 or they can contact us via our website, nhsbt.nhs.uk. we will make sure we have those on our social media channels. thank you very much for your time. fantastic, superhuman plasma. from this week, the people of greece will be able to travel freely within the country and visit its islands. it is hoped the move will bring a welcome boost to tourism following two months of lockdown. our correspondent quentin sommerville who is on the island of milos. well, lucky you. tell us what is going on. well, we were here yesterday when milos and all the other islands in greece reopened for business. it wasn't usually busy, it

was merely greek tourists who were arriving here. the ferries when they landed at this point here, they had about 50% capacity to ensure social distancing. but the hope is that greece and tourism is now back in business. on a 100—mile—plus journey, these athens doctors are the first visitors to sikinos in months. the greek islands are accepting visitors again. the mayor of the island welcomes them ashore. we're greeted with elbow bumps instead of handshakes. there are enough coronavirus tests for whoever wants them. we do know that so far there haven't been any cases on the remote islands, but there hasn't been any testing, also. there are only 250 people on this island, and none of them have been tested for covid—19 until today. the village was built on a hilltop to safeguard it from pirates.

they're hoping its isolation continues to offer protection. greece has only had 172 deaths from covid—19, and is leaving lockdown faster than expected. foreign tourists still have to undergo quarantine. terry harris has been living here for 40 years. i came here and i isolated myself for two weeks in my house. and the lady from the supermarket, flora, who — she delivers everything, so they brought up on a donkey water and any supplies i wanted. at the temporary test centre, father theodorus leads the way. these tests are essential as greece prepares to welcome back foreign tourists in the coming months. today is the first day that everything comes back to normal, including restaurants, and all the borders and ships.

so we are concerned about everything being as planned, and in the best possible way. greece is emerging from the pandemic earlier than others, not unscathed, but in better shape than most. isolation is a way of life here, but so too is tourism. the health of the islanders depends on both. quentin, it is lovely to see the islands there, and so many people will be thinking they would love to go to greece, but what about visitors from the uk? well, that is tricky at the moment. the greek authorities have said that countries with higher infection rates, that includes britain, the united states and russia, will have to wait a bit longer before they are welcome back. but probably not too much longer, louise. maybe the middle ofjuly or the end ofjuly. let me show you a little bit more of the island, if you can bear it. if we walk over here, you can see the tavernas, which officially reopened yesterday. all of the bars, all the

restau ra nts, all of the bars, all the restaurants, across greece reopened. you can sit down and have some moussaka. you can't do that quite yet if you are a foreigner, but you will be able to very soon. these islands see the numbers increase tenfold, 100 fold, thanks to tourism in the summer months, so they are absolutely dependent on the business thatis absolutely dependent on the business that is coming in here. but they wa nt to that is coming in here. but they want to strike a balance and ensure all the islanders remain safe and well with the huge influx of tourists that's in the next few months. i certainly can bear to see more of it, it makes me happier, evenif more of it, it makes me happier, even if we can't go there at the moment. it looks very peaceful there at the moment, doesn't it? michael gove on the way on bbc brea kfast. michael gove on the way on bbc breakfast. right now let's find out what the weather is like here. good morning, carol. good morning, everyone. this morning we have seen some beautiful sunrises and some of us will have had a dry and sunny day. for the next few days that is the forecast. if you want rain,

there is not much of it around at all and it will be warmer very warm for some by the time we get to the weekend. today, high pressure is firmly in charge of our weather. look at this week whether from slipping into it, and as it does so, any rain and will continue to dry up, and all that is going to do through the afternoon ‘s turn the sunshine hazy as it continues its descent south. it won't arrive on the far south of england until tonight and as it slips towards the midlands, wales and the far south—west, it will brighten up in north wales, northern ireland, northern england and also scotland. still quite breezy across the far north of scotland. for the rest of us, we have got gentle breezes and temperatures of 12 in levick, 17 in aberdeen and belfast, 21 in cardiff on 25 in london. as we head to the evening and overnight, here comes that front heading down towards the south. we will also see some fog patches form across south wales and south—west england. excuse me, and by the end of the night, whether front approaching from the west will introduce more cloud across northern

ireland and western scotland. at the end of the night, also, we will start to see some of that rain getting into northern ireland. the cooler night in the north and the onejust gone. still cooler night in the north and the one just gone. still mild as we push further south. now, for wednesday and into thursday, high pressure is still very much with us, but on wednesday you can see our weather friend continues to bring its cloud and its patchy rain in across western areas. and it will eventually cross, not bringing much rain with it in doing so. a lot of dry weather around, bits and pieces of cloud from that front in the south turning the sunshine hazy, and we will see a bit of low cloud and mist and sea fog coming in across the south—east corner on the coast itself. temperatures in norwich, 19, huizing cardiff of 25 and in aberdeen we are looking at 15. it is going to get warmer, though. you can see on wednesday how we have got orange and the amber turning that bit darker across the land as we head into thursday, indicating the

rise in the temperature. so on thursday, a lot of dry weather, a lot of sunshine. we say goodbye to our weather front. eventually it pushes into the north sea, with its splashes of rain. a lot of dry weather, with temperatures getting up weather, with temperatures getting up to 25 or 26 degrees. carol, thank you very much. we will see you a little bit later. thank you. hello, this is breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. the government is seeking to turn attention away from the prime minister's top adviser, as it announces plans to further ease restrictions in england. some opposition mps are not fully satisfied with dominic cummings' explanation about why he travelled from london to county durham during lockdown and will meet today to discuss the issue further. borisjohnson said he understood the "confusion and anger" caused by the row but is standing by mrcummings. all non—essential retailers in england will be able to reopen from the 15h ofjune. retailers will have to adhere

to new guidelines around social distancing and hygiene standards, in order to protect shoppers and staff. outdoor markets and car showrooms in england will also be able to reopen from the first ofjune. it has just passed 7:30am. we're joined now by minister for the cabinet office, michael gove. mrgove, mr gove, thank you for spending a bit of time with us this morning. i do want to talk to you about the shops announcements a little bit later, but we have had many questions about what people watched yesterday, both the dominic cummings press co nfe re nce yesterday, both the dominic cummings press conference in the prime minister's briefing as well. we had dominic cummings, didn't we? he spoke about mistakes and even mention regret. you know why he didn't use the word sorry or apologise? i think dominic com pletely apologise? i think dominic completely understands the sense of concern that people who felt as these ore broke, i think the account he gave yesterday was exhaustive, it was detailed, it was verifiable. and

i think people will make their own mind up as they listen to dominic's account or as they read about it subsequently. i think most people will understand that he was someone who was under pressure who sought to put the health of his wife and his son first. and, who took care to ensure that they as a unit, as a family unit, were not in danger of infecting other people. mr gove, many people have been under pressure for many weeks because they have been following government guidance of staying home until it was to stay alert. and some have not been able to attend funerals or see their pa rents. to attend funerals or see their parents. yet their response was to follow the guidance, which they felt was quite clear. and that is guidance dominic cummings felt he didn't need to follow. that is the issue for a lot of people watching this morning. i quite understand. i

would say two things. the first is the guidance does make it clear that there are specific circumstances, not least for the care of a vulnerable child, that some flexibility is allowed to any family. the second is as dominic himself made clear in his statement, he was unable to go to the funeral of his own uncle stop and of course, many of us have faced restrictions during this period of lockdown because of those restrictions i can entirely understand why people are concerned. if someone was deliberately flouting them in a way that was headless, reckless or careless... dominic gave an account of his actions and the steps he took do not only make sure his family we re do not only make sure his family were saved but make sure there was no risk of infecting other people —— his family were safe. and i'm glad people are were adhering to guidance, so we can maintain

downward pressure on the infection curve, and that is what so many people have sought to do. ok. oh and i thank many people for following the guidelines in the uk.m eve ryo ne the guidelines in the uk.m everyone had followed those guidelines, what effect do you think that would have had in the uk? well, for all of us, what we need to do is reduce the risk of infecting others. asi reduce the risk of infecting others. as i say, dominic gave a full account of his actions and it was clear he was seeking to avoid infecting others while also seeking to ensure... on that point specifically, just to clear up some specifics, it would appear either he suspected that his wife had coronavirus on march 27, and yet even though it seemed a little bit unclear about that, he returned to work at that point before returning

to durham. so that in itself is not following government guidelines. if there was any suspicion, it should be to self—isolate? there was any suspicion, it should be to self-isolate? let me be clear about that. his wife was ill but she was not displaying symptoms of coronavirus at that time. so if you have a family member who has symptoms, a high temperature, is persistent —— a persistent, dry cough, you should self—isolate but his wife did not have these symptoms at that time. ok, if this is as you are trying to explain, that this was fine and he was in exceptional circumstances, then why, this happened on march 27, mr cummings and his wife travelled to durham, downing street was asked to confirm where he was and they said he was isolating at home. why was that information given out if there was nothing to hide? one of the questions was in the minds of dominic and his family, the security concerns he mentioned yesterday as a

result of some misreporting earlier in this year. there were a number of u nfortu nate in this year. there were a number of unfortunate and unattractive security threats to dominate, and so therefore it was the case that he made the decision that he did on the basis of safeguarding his family. —— threats to dominic. and that was to ensure appropriate safeguarding was in place. did you know he was in durham? no. eight at what point were you aware of that? i saw the newspapers break the story on friday evening. and what do you think about? it seems the prime minister was aware of it before it was available in newspapers. when i read the story i was convinced they would be an explanation from dominic, because i know he's a man of honour and integrity. and as people would have had the chance to hear yesterday, they will know from his

own account that he was acting in a way which sought to safeguard his family, sought to limit and reduce the risk of infection to anyone else, and which could have occurred the range of circumstances. people can make up their own mind and as dominic said, there will be people who think his actions were wrong or mistaken, but looking at it in the round, i think his actions were reasonable. one area in particular which i think has drawn quite a bit of interest from people is this issue of driving 30 miles to barnard castle to check his eyesight. just to clear that up, the chairman of the police federation of england and wales said no—one should drive to test their ability to do so. can you explain a way around that? why you would take on thatjourney to test your eyesight in that you asian? the first thing to say is that dominic

cummings had received medical advice but it was safe to return to work at that point. it was more than 14 days since he had shown symptoms of the virus. he believed it was important he returned to work and it was he —— and his determination to work is phenomenal. it was confirmed, he confirmed it himself, but he was safe to drive. mr gove, if your eyesight is not good enough, that it self is an offence under the road traffic act. but it was good enough, that he could drive safely. so you are entirely happy with that explanation, which also happens to be on his wife's birthday, another reason why people have brought that into consideration when they are listening to his explanation of what they heard yesterday? yes. but to my mind, ican't they heard yesterday? yes. but to my mind, i can't see the relevance of

that. he drove to barnard castle, the family stopped, he walked a few yards and suddenly very short period of time and then drove back to his home. so, ithink of time and then drove back to his home. so, i think the fact it was also easter sunday, is immaterial. the issue, mr gove, is people will be listening to dominic cummings, listen to him yesterday and you and the prime minister today, and they have had these conversations with themselves and their family members. they have been desperate to visit that family members that they have been not seeing, who have been ill or with coronavirus. and yet they abided government guidelines. even if dominic cummings didn't break those guidelines, what he did was against the spirit of the guidelines. there is a man who was pa rt guidelines. there is a man who was part responsible for bringing these regulations in, which would have governed all of us, and many people

watching this morning thinking i followed that to the letter because i was trying to protect not only myself, my family and others. and dominic cummings, didn't. that is the case that has been put forward consistently over the last three days. but as i think you have acknowledged, he didn't break the letter of those guidelines, he was acting ina letter of those guidelines, he was acting in a way that... i said the spirit of the guidelines, mr gove. that's the point. i think people will make up their own mind on the basis of what they heard yesterday. but... you quite understandably make some points. people haven't seen their parents, i haven't seen mine. i appreciate the pain and difficulty. but it wasn't the case dominic went to see his parents in the way that was reported or speculated on over the weekend. there were a number of things that we re there were a number of things that were set over the course of the weekend and i'm not critical of

anyone. this is a fast moving media environment, but they were inaccurate. and on that basis i can understand why some people, on the basis of some of those inaccurate stories, were particularly angry. now some of those stories have been put to rest and it's clear dominic cummings didn't break the guidelines, people can form their ownjudgement about guidelines, people can form their own judgement about whether or not what he did was wise. my own view as it was entirely reasonable. the allegation from some was he was hideously and recklessly putting other people at risk and in danger, i think if we look at the whole story we can see that that is not the case. and he was seeking to act ina way the case. and he was seeking to act in a way which is, as i say, sought not to risk any spread of the infection, but also to make sure his family were safe and protected. quickly, to go back to my first question. why couldn't he have just said sorry? that would have appeased a lot of people. well, i think anyone who saw dominic's account

yesterday would recognise that this has been a situation that he has wrestled. and there are no easy options for anyone when it comes to balancing so many requirements. but on the whole, as a man of integrity, he thinks he did do the right thing. he also recognises as a fair—minded man there are many other people who may take a different view and i understand that. i want to ask you about shops before i move on. given as you have said, he is a man of integrity, if there is a police investigation and they decide he has broken those regulations, will he have two standdown?” broken those regulations, will he have two standdown? i would speculate on that because i don't he has. and we heard earlier in the week stories about what the police may or may not have done before that was subsequently clarified. so i just don't think speculating about the police in this way is fair to them or him or anyone else. the prime minister announced yesterday

all retail shops can reopen onjune 15. can you ensure this morning to all of our view is that there will be safety built into that and measures built in two sure there is protection wants people to return to shops, —— to make sure there is protection for people who return to shops and businesses as well. yes. what you want to say? thank you. it's important we have social distancing. we know already from the way supermarkets and food stores have opened that it is possible to sell goods and get the goods people need to people while social distancing. as more stores open, it's important we have high—quality hygiene and ensure everything from the provision of hand to overnight hygiene in stores is of the highest level. we also need to make sure some of the shopping habits people may have grown used to win the pre— covid—19 days change. so when it

comes onto trying on clothing or make up, people exercise restraint in not doing that. as stores reopen, it isa in not doing that. as stores reopen, it is a new normal but it will allow us to ensure that there is a wider range of goods. it will also ensure of the economy can return to a new normal. that is absolutely vital for people because my job normal. that is absolutely vital for people because myjob it is vital because some of the, you know, some of those in our society who are poorer work in retail and we need to make sure that we provide them with economic security and we also need to make sure our economy is restored to make sure our economy is restored to greater health. mr gove. .. our economy is necessary to ensure our nhs gets the resources it needs in order to keep people well. just a brief comment from christine, who says "i'm not interested in going to shops, i want to see my mum and my grandchildren again. " what do you

have to say about that? we are going to have more in the next two weeks about how we can ensure more people can see each other. it is the case that you can see a relative or a friend outside and in an appropriately socially distance circumstance, but we are looking to ensure more people can see each other outside in a safe way. you very much. we will see you a little bit later. thank you. appreciate your time this morning, mr gove. that is michael gove joining us on breakfast this morning. and in sports, more coronavirus testing. good morning, everyone. the premier league are doing constant testing, with aaron ramsdell confirming he is the latest player to confirm a positive test. —— —— aaron ramsdale, confirming

he is the latest player to return to return a positive test. ramsdale says he returned a negative result in the league's first round of testing last week, but in the second batch, he was shown to have contracted the virus. he says he hadn't experienced any symptoms and is now self—isolating. clubs will vote tomorrow on proposals for a return to contact training. and, while the premier league is hoping to return to action next month and championship players resumed non—contact training yesterday, the women's super league has been ended immediately. the outcome of the wsl title, plus promotion and relegation issues, are still to be decided. the football association say the decision came after overwhelming feedback from clubs and was made in the best interest of the women's game. across europe, a number of leagues have already been postponed because of the pandemic, including in france. but now, the owner of lyon has written to the french government to ask them to reconsider the decision. ligue1 is the only one of the big five european leagues to not be back under way or planning to resume in the next few weeks, and jean—michel aulas says french football is facing an unprecedented economic and social crisis. the japanese prime minister, shinzo abe, says the development

of treatments and a vaccine for covid—19 will be key in the olympics being able to be held in tokyo next year. he says, until a vaccine is found, athletes all across the globe won't be able to train and prepare. the games were due to take place later this summer, but due to the spread of the coronavirus, had to be postponed. interesting that we are starting to hear from interesting that we are starting to hearfrom him the idea that interesting that we are starting to hear from him the idea that actually the next thing that we need to guarantee the olympics next year is a vaccine, and without it, again, the olympics would be under serious threat. i already miss them. we continue to wait, sally. thank you very much. they are playing them somewhere, the 2012 highlights.” think that is why i am so into the

last dance, i will watch any sport at the moment on any channel. more businesses in england could be able to reopen from next week. sean is here with all the details. some businesses but no hairdressers, is that pretty much right? that is the key thing for a lot of people. 15june is the date given for non—essential shops, from clothes stores to indoor markets, to reopen in england if they meet the covid guidelines for staff and customers. but next monday, outdoor markets and car showrooms, with their better ventilation and fresh air, can open. so the risk of transmission is lower, that is why that has been prioritised. robert forrester runs the vertu motors dealership group. good morning to you. if someone walks in next monday, what is going to be the big difference for them doing that then compared to how they would have done it a few months ago? i think there's going to be a number of differences. clearly the showrooms, as we have all come to expect in retail, have 1—way

systems, hand sanitisers. they will be people with masks, we have perspex screens to protect customers and colleagues, and there will be other differences as well. we have done thorough risk assessments and when colleagues arrived they have their temperatures checked before they start work. i have had my temperature checked this morning. and another major difference with car retailing is when you go for a test drive, you will be the only person in the car. the sales executive will not be in the car with you, which will be quite a major change for customers. is that a major change for you? there is a reason, i guess, why that wasn't the case beforehand. what does that mean for your business if you are allowing people to just drive off in your ca rs allowing people to just drive off in your cars on their own? well, there are some fairly obvious potential risks but we trust the vast majority of our customers to do the right thing, do the right roots and come back. clearly it changes how we sell ca rs back. clearly it changes how we sell cars but there are a lot of changes in terms of how we sell cars. people are doing far more on the internet,

our online sales have gone up quite considerably, we have sold 650 cars la st considerably, we have sold 650 cars last week as a group without a single test driver not one person coming into the showroom. and realistically, whether it is someone going out on a test drive or someone coming in and saying ijust want to see how comfortable that driver's seat is, check the legroom, and things like that, will you be able to deep clean every single car, every time someone touches one of those? these cars will be locked, so a customer will have to come, find a colleague, they will open it, lock it again when the customer is finished and they will sanitise the car. it is exactly the same with courtesy cars and used cars on our forecourts. we have got the protocols in place, we have done the risk assessments, and the whole industry has been involved both with this and with the trade bodies to make sure we are ready for next monday. and we have had people get in touch, whether it is customers saying i am not ready to go out yet, or businesses saying i desperately

need those customers i won't have the cash coming in. are you worried that might be set up but you might not have the sales coming in to mean you can support your staff and business the way you have done? well, we have seen sales since the lockdown. it has been gradually rising. web enquiries have been going up during the lockdown. there isa pent—up going up during the lockdown. there is a pent—up demand for cars, some people are nervous about public transport and are looking to buy cars. we have to assess that over the next few weeks. i think the market will be there. the manufacturers particular want their factories running, they want the retailers open, and there will be some fantastic deals as we try and get the machinery of one of the largest industries across europe up and running. robert, thank you very much, from vertu motors, reflecting on how it is often notjust one dealership, but whole industry waiting to see what the sales are like before manufacturers wrap up and start building cars to the level they were before. a lot going but next monday a big date for car

showrooms and markets. thank you very much, see you a little bit later. with entertainment venues closed and performances cancelled, lockdown is continuing to take its toll on the arts world, leaving many musicians without work. london—based cellist samara ginsberg decided to offer her fans something more creative, and came up with these compositions of famous theme tunes from tv and cinema. let's take a look. # knight rider theme. # imperial march.

# inspector gadget theme. i think ithinki i think i should give that a round of applause. that was samara's cover of three scores, the knight rider theme, imperial march, that's darth vader's theme, and inspector gadget. good morning to you. how are you? what an amazing thing to put together. how long does each one take? well, it kind of depends how complex it is. the imperial march was kind of the most complicated one. i arrange that from a full orchestral score. it took about

three hours to do the arrangement, but the other two weren't quite so complicated. i just transcribe those by air. it took about an hour to arrange, about another hour to record, and i am not going to tell you how long it took me to edit videos. has got to be one of the toughest things, just cutting it up and getting it all to look so perfect. for the first couple i use this app called a cappella, which does that technical side for you, but you have to get everything in one take, and you can't really edit the audio at all. so it was a bit difficult from that point of view. so for the last one i recorded the audio separately and stitched everything together at the end. talk to us about the attention to detail, samara. we saw there the darth vader

helmet, and i spotted the leather jacket from knight rider. let me tell you about the mask. i borrowed it from my friend's six—year—old son, via noncontact delivery, i should say that quite clearly, and i could barely see out of it. so i ended upjust... could barely see out of it. so i ended up just... in could barely see out of it. so i ended upjust... in my kitchen, trying to read the first violin part from star wars, having to get it in one take through a mask. it took yea rs of one take through a mask. it took years of my life, honestly. i am never doing that again. and lots of people are loving these. have you been amazed by the reaction? and thatis been amazed by the reaction? and that is not presumably why you started it. yes, honestly, the first one ijust did it because i thought it would make some friends laugh. everyone needs cheering up now, right? so it wasjust everyone needs cheering up now, right? so it was just a everyone needs cheering up now, right? so it wasjust a bit everyone needs cheering up now, right? so it was just a bit of fun. but then the views kept going up and people kept retreating it, and i was just staring at my phone, and my giddy aunt, i can't believe this is happening —— retweeting it. it has

been crazy. what have you got lined up been crazy. what have you got lined up next? have you got a new recording you are working on? yes, i am going to keep doing these. it is not like i have anotherjob right now. a lot of people have been asking for airwolf, i will have to do that one, for sure. you talk about not having a job right now, it has had a big impact on musicians, hasn't it? yes, it is going to be a long time before we can go back to our normaljobs. i have beenjust applying for everything i can find. i have been volunteering at the local food bank. in i have been volunteering at the localfood bank. in the meantime, but yes, it has had a huge impact, obviously. and not just but yes, it has had a huge impact, obviously. and notjust on our industry, but on many. and also, i suppose, the thing about working in an orchestra, for example, you are accustomed to all sitting just physically really close together, aren't you? yes, but that's not

unique to musicians. know, but when you go back, how will that impact on you go back, how will that impact on you all going back? i don't think we will be going back to work until after this is over, to be honest, because it is just... after this is over, to be honest, because it isjust... i mean, the southbank centre was announcing yesterday that they think they probably won't open again until 2021, quite possibly. the whole industry is just on hold for the foreseeable future. and it is just... there are so many more issues than just protecting musicians' health in an orchestral setting. there is a whole machine behind this that has just ground to a halt. they are brilliant. just briefly on airwolf, is that... sings airwolf theme. i hadn't heard of it

until people started asking for it. you need the signature, if you do airwolf. all right, i will see what ican do. airwolf. all right, i will see what i can do. it is airwolf. all right, i will see what ican do. it isa airwolf. all right, i will see what i can do. it is a steep learning curve, isn't it? and absolutely wonderfully put together, thank you very much. it shows you how the cello is, as well. anyway. carol. good morning, everybody. forsome of us it is a beautiful start to the day. look at this picture from one of our weather watchers taken in cambridgeshire this morning, and for most of us as we go through the next few days, it is going to remain dry. so if you are looking for rain, you will be disappointed with this forecast. it is also going to be warm, and by the weekend for some, very warm, and by the weekend for some, very warm. warm, and by the weekend for some, very warm. today high—pressure is still very much in charge of our weather. we have this weather front sinking south and weakening all the time, and what it is doing is introducing a bit more cloud. so the sunshine across england and wales

today will be hazy than it has been in the last few days, and it will continue into the midlands, wales and the south—west through the afternoon, but not arriving on the far south—west or south—east. behind that, for north wales, northern ireland, northern england and scotland, it will brighten up where you have also had a cloudy start. still quite breezy across the north where you have highs of 12 to 14 degrees. 17 in belfast and liverpool but the top temperature of 25 in london. through the evening and overnight, our weather front eventually making it down towards the south. we will also see some fog form across south wales and south—west england stop a lot of clear skies. however, by south—west england stop a lot of clearskies. however, by the south—west england stop a lot of clear skies. however, by the end of the night, new weatherfront clear skies. however, by the end of the night, new weather front coming in from the west will introduce the cloud and some spots of rain into northern ireland. it is going to be a cooler night in the north compared to the nightjust gone stop still mild as we can further south. so, for tomorrow, high—pressure still in charge. here is ourfront coming in by the end of the night. it is going to be drifting northwards and

eastwards, taking its cloud and its patchy rain with it. but it won't make a huge amount of progress in terms of rainfall. we will see some in northern ireland, possibly some getting into western scotland. the mist and fog lifting from south—west england and south wales, a lot of dry weather, but at times a bit more cloud just hugging the coastline along the east coast of england. now, temperatures of 12 in lerwick to hires of 25 in cardiff, and then it starts to get that bit warmer. you can see that indicated in the colours. look at thursday, and right the way across the uk, notjust going to be in the south. so, talking of such things, on thursday, a lot of dry weather around. our weather front pushing northwards and eastwards, taking its cloud and the odd spot of rain as possible in north—east england and south—east scotland. but there will be a lot of dry weather. and these are the temperatures. 21 in glasgow, 20 in belfast, 23 in birmingham and 26 in cardiff. the headlines are next.

good morning welcome to breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. our headlines today: government ministers rally to support the prime minister's they say they understand public concern but that dominic cummings acted reasonably. on the whole, is a man of integrity, he thinks that he did do the right thing. he also recognises, as a fair—minded man, that there are many other people who... who may take a different view, and i understand that. shops in england will be able to open from the middle of next month — sean's got the details. nonessential retailers have until june the 15th to get their shops covid secure whilst car showrooms and outdoor markets can open from next monday. 80 years on — we remember the miracle of dunkirk. i wish i could meet the people, the chaps who came over and picked us up. because they were very brave blokes. because there were mines, and there was a good chance of being

it's tuesday 26th may. in the last half an hour, minister for the cabinet office, michael gove, has defended the actions of the prime minister's top adviser, describing him as "a man of honour and integrity". mr gove told bbc breakfast that dominic cummings' actions were "reasonable" and that the restrictions make clear in certain circumstances the guidelines allow for flexibility. we'rejoined now from downing street by our political correspondent, nick eardley. i know you were listening to what michael gove had to say. at one point the government are trying to move on but he was quite open in answering some of those questions about dominic cummings. good morning, dan. it was an interesting interview. clearly what the government hopes now is that since dominic cummings came out yesterday and answered questions and gave that statement, that people will start to move on, they will understand his reasoning and think that this story

is basically done. there are u na nswered is basically done. there are unanswered questions. i think they are still there this morning. some people are still going to be really frustrated that prime minister's chief adviser drove basically the length of england to find a spot where he was happy to self—isolate. but ministers are hoping that they have done enough to keep him in his job. have a listen to michael gove defending mr cummings. job. have a listen to michael gove defending mrcummings.” job. have a listen to michael gove defending mr cummings. i know that he isa defending mr cummings. i know that he is a man of honour and integrity. and, as people will have had the chance to hear yesterday, they will know from his own account, that he was acting in a way which was to safeguard his family, he sought to limit and reduce the risk of infection to anyone else, and which took account of a range of circumstances. people will make their own circumstances. people will make theirown mind up circumstances. people will make their own mind up and has dominic cummings has said there will be many people who think that his actions we re wrong people who think that his actions were wrong or mistaken, but looking at it in the round i think his

actions were reasonable. has the government done enough to draw a line under this row? it is not going to be easy. i suspect there are a couple of things that will be crucial. firstly, well tory mps who are really concerned now, few less concern? there are some signs that some of them are a bit happier after mr cummings came out yesterday but the second thing, public opinion, will also be really important. do mps continue to be launched by constituents who are really unhappy? also the question of whether this has damaged boris johnson's political standing and the government's messaging when it comes to the lockdown. thanks nick for that. all non—essential retailers in england will be able to reopen from 15thjune, as part of plans to further ease the lockdown. retailers will have to adhere to new guidelines around social distancing and hygiene standards,

in order to protect shoppers and staff. outdoor markets and car showrooms in england will also be able to reopen from 1stjune. the nhs blood and transplant service is appealing for more of those who have recovered from covid—19 in england, to donate their blood, as part of a clinical trial of plasma therapy treatment. antibodies in blood plasma could help treat others who are badly affected by the virus. more than 2000 people have so far donated, but researchers are particularly keen for middle—aged men to come forward. we have collected plasma from 2,000 donors already, and what we have found is that those individuals with the highest antibody levels are males, people over 35, and those who have been treated in hospital, so we are calling today for anybody who falls into one of those categories, male, over35, being treated in hospital, to contact us, to come and donate plasma.

the scientist leading the uk's largest coronavirus tracking project says that people will have probably died prematurely, as a result of attending two major sporting events that took place in march. professor tim spector, from king's college london, has analysed data from millions of volunteers across the uk. he identified covid—19 hotspots following the cheltenham festival, and liverpool's champions league match against atletico madrid. the world health organisation has suspended its coronavirus trials of the anti—malaria drug hydroxychloroquine. the group say the temporary move follows concerns that the drug could cause heart problems, and may even increase deaths among covid—19 patients. last week, us president donald trump drew criticism from doctors after announcing he was taking the drug. spain has announced that foreign travellers will be able to visit the country from the beginning ofjuly — without going into quarantine.

the country's foreign minister said it looked forward to welcoming tourists back now the worst of the coronavirus pandemic was behind them. 80—million visitors go to spain each year, 20 million of which are from the uk. some amazing pictures to show you now. and imagine coming face to face with a wild bear — that's what happened to a young boy in italy who was enjoying a picnic with his family. the twelve—year old has been praised for his bravery after the potentially terrifying encounter, which happened in the dolomites mountain range in the north of the country. tim allman has the story. never have the words "don't panic" seemed more appropriate. looking back over his shoulder to see what's behind him, a young boy moves slowly — ever so slowly — down the side of this hill. ambling along in his wake, a giant brown bear — just a little bit curious about this small visitor, perhaps.

alessandro and his family were enjoying a picnic when the boy went off for a stroll. it turns out he had made a new friend. his mother's partner tried to reassure him, explaining that the bear was just minding its own business. mamma! alessandro can then be heard calling out to his mother. mamma! shh! if you think alessandro was scared, think again. he told the italian media he'd been really excited, and this was the best day of his life. the bear, on the other hand, was unavailable for comment. tim allman, bbc news. what a super calm young boy. incredible, isn't it? i wonder what would be going through your mind if you are a parent! dominic cummings has faced several days of criticism for his decision to travel from london to county durham during lockdown. speaking at a press conference

in the downing street rose garden — he said he wanted to "clear up the confusions and misunderstandings", but said he has not considered resigning. let's take a look at what we know so far. on 23rd march, the prime minister told the public they "must stay at home" as lockdown measures are introduced. this includes a warning not to mix with friends or family members outside the household. four days later, dominic cummings discovers his wife is ill and is seen running out of downing street, before returning later that day. that night, he drives more than 200 miles with his wife and four—year—old son to his family's farm in county durham. the next day mr cummings says he woke up in pain and had covid symptoms, "including a bad headache and a serious fever". at some point in the next few days, he discussed his decision to travel to durham with borisjohnson — both men were ill and confined to their beds. on the 12th april — having recovered and taken medical advice — mr cummings and his wife

and son drove 30 miles to the market town of barnard castle. he says this was to "test his driving and eyesight", before making the trip back to london. finally — on the 13th april — the family returned to london — mrcummings is seen in downing street the next day. yesterday, during the news conference dominic cummings defended his actions. no, i don't regret what i did. as i said, i think reasonable people may well disagree about how i thought about what to do in these circumstances. but i think that... i think that what i did was actually reasonable in these... in these circumstances. in terms of the rules, i that think the rules made clear that, if you're dealing with small children, then that could be — that can be exceptional circumstances. and i think the situation i was in was exceptional circumstances and i think that the way that i dealt

with it was the least risk to everybody concerned if my wife and i had both been unable to look after our four—year—old. at yesterday's daily briefing — the prime minister once again defended his key adviser. i didn't know about any of the arrangements in advance. we had a brief conversation in which i think dominic cummings mentioned where he was. but i have to tell you, laura, at that particular stage, i had a lot on my plate and really didn't focus on the matter. i do regret the confusion and the anger and the pain that people feel. i really did want people to understand exactly what had happened, and so that's why we had the statement and the very extensive questions that we did. we're joined now by former conservative party leader lord michael howard. good morning to you. thank you for joining us. i am sure you probably watch the press conference and the

prime minister. you think dominic cummings has given a reasonable explanation for everything that he did? i do. as michael gove said on your programme earlier, everyone will make up their own minds. but i do think that he gave a reasonable explanation. to be honest i was a bit disappointed by what the prime minister said on sunday, because i thought people really needed a full explanation and answers to all the questions that had been raised. i think they got explanation yesterday. dominic cummings answered questions for more than an hour. it was a pretty rigorous cross—examination and i think it was a reasonable explanation. do you think it is a reasonable thing to do, to get in your car and do a 60 mile round trip to check whether you can see properly? if you want to make sure that you're going to be able to drive down to london safely, it seems to me reasonable to test

that. but everybody will make their ownjudgment on that. but everybody will make their own judgment on that. at the same time the government was asking people to stay—at—home. the message was clear, but he didn't appear to be doing that. the message was clear, but there is also a clear provision in the guidelines that you can leave home, to take care of a vulnerable person, and the reason they left home and went to durham was to provide care for their vulnerable four—year—old child. so, as far as vulnerable four—year—old child. so, as farasi vulnerable four—year—old child. so, as far as i can see it was entirely within the guidelines. i'm sorry, i was referring to that trip to barnard castle, a 60 mile round trip, on easter sunday, when everybody else was very clearly being told to stay at home. he was doing it for the specific purpose of making sure that his eyesight was up to the drive back to london. he was going to drive back to london. he had work to do back in london. and

that was the purpose of that trip. everybody will make up their own minds as to whether or not that was a reasonable thing to do. do you think that "sorry" would have been perhaps a word to have used? well, he explained very fully that he thinks that what he did was the right thing in all of those circumstances. other people may disagree. he admitted the consequences that have arisen over the huge amount of publicity that this has attracted over the last few days, but if you think you have done the right thing, then it is a bit difficult to apologise for something which you think was the right thing to do, isn't it? tell us about what you think happens now. it is quite clear he wants to stay in his job. he says he has not even considered resigning. how damaging is it for the government ‘s clear messaging on public health? we can see, i don't

think it will be damaging, because i think it will be damaging, because i think most people will understand that these were special circumstances, which are covered by the rules, so i don't think it will be particularly damaging, but we shall see. i am be particularly damaging, but we shall see. iam not be particularly damaging, but we shall see. i am not blessed with the gift of seeing into the future. we shall see. we have been contacted by many people on this programme you are upset, frustrated and who had obeyed the rules to the letter of the law, not seen their families, not being able to perhaps see dying relatives. do you understand the impact that seeing what he has done has on them? i completely understand people's reaction, and all those emotions that you have described. i don't know whether you are referring to m essa g es don't know whether you are referring to messages that you receive before yesterday's press conference or afterwards. i hope that most people, if they watch the press conference, will come to the same conclusion

that i have come to, which is that he behaved in a reasonable way, but eve ryo ne he behaved in a reasonable way, but everyone will have to make their own judgment. i am referring to messages coming into us here this morning. would you have handled it differently? the government was asked some weeks ago about where he had been. would you have handled it differently in the first place?” don't know about in the first place, but i think it is a pity that it took until yesterday before he made that full statement and answered those questions. i do think it would have been better if that had been done a couple of days earlier. better for you, for the done a couple of days earlier. betterfor you, for the prime minister, the government, dominic cummings? it would have cleared up a lot of the confusion which has been around. it would have dealt with some of the inaccurate allegations that were made, and it would have enabled people to have a clearer view at an earlier stage of the motivation behind his actions.

michael howard, thank you very much for joining michael howard, thank you very much forjoining us here on bbc breakfast this morning. it is 60 minutes past eight. —— 16 minutes. dominic cummings' trip to durham has been dominating the newspapers over the bank holiday weekend. the daily mail and the northern echo are just two papers which feature the story on their front page this morning. the mail's headline reads: "no apologies no regrets" while the northern echo writes: "a sight for sore eyes" — commenting on mr cummings' drive to barnard castle. we can speak now to the daily mail's political editor, jason groves as well as hopefully the editor of the northern echo, hannah chapman. you were there jason, in that rose garden. it was an intense atmosphere watching it on the television. what was the atmosphere? did you get the a nswe rs you was the atmosphere? did you get the answers you wanted to get?m was the atmosphere? did you get the answers you wanted to get? it was an extraordinary atmosphere. i've been doing thisjob a long time extraordinary atmosphere. i've been doing this job a long time and extraordinary atmosphere. i've been doing thisjob a long time and i've never been to something quite like that. i had to pinch myself this morning to make sure that it

actually happened. did we get the a nswe rs we actually happened. did we get the a nswers we wa nted ? actually happened. did we get the answers we wanted ? to actually happened. did we get the answers we wanted? to be fair to dominic cummings, he gave a pretty full account. he took a lot of questions. and he gave the answers that he believes, so, yes, i'm not, they are not necessarily the answer is that people want to hear, as you will have seen from our front page today, we were struck by the lack of contrition, but that is what he believes, so i think probably we did. jason, many will have watched it yesterday. this is a clip of some of the questions you are asking. do you accept that you've... whatever legal niceties you may have to say that you haven't broken the letter of these regulations, you've driven a coach and horses through the spirit of them, and that is why people are so cross about it? i don't agree. i think that that's... you don't agree? no, i don't agree. so let's... well, let's go through it, shall we? you left london with your wife, who had coronavirus symptoms,

completely against the regulations. you're up in durham and you decide to go for a drive on a weekend when, a few yards from here, the foreign secretary that weekend was telling us to stay at home and save lives. you went for a drive, you sat by a river, you went for a walk in the wood. imean... you may or may not have a way ofjustifying this to yourself — and possibly there may be some legal loophole — but you've broken the spirit of it, haven't you? no, i don't think that i have. yesterday's big headline in the mail was what planet are they own? what now? what do you think should happen now? what do you think should happen now? we don't know what is going to happen now. he is not out of the woods yet stop people are going to ta ke woods yet stop people are going to take a view on that performance. our readers are furious about this. i

think what has happened is that anyone who has got their own lockdown story, everyone has made sacrifices, some people have found themselves in much tougher situations than dominic cummings and they have borne it, without too much grumbling because they felt it was pa rt grumbling because they felt it was part of a national effort, and now they see that this man, who is setting the rules, war is not only not really abiding by the spirit of them but actually said he was doing them but actually said he was doing the right thing. all of their sort of resentment about what they have had to do will be channelled at him, andi had to do will be channelled at him, and i think that may well prove quite difficult to switch off. there are two tests, it is, is this going to make enforcing the lockdown more difficult? i don't think it will, actually, and i hope that it won't. is it going to damage support for the government more broadly? i think that question is still in the balance. it was quite notable last night that there were some doors

left open for the prime minister to change his mind in the future, if he decides that mr cummings does have to go. i think the feeling in government is that he has done enough, but there are also a lot of nerves about, about that question, are the public going to move on now, orare are the public going to move on now, or are they going to remain as angry as they are, with those e—mails pouring into tory mps, will they slow down or continue? i think we won't know what is going to happen to him fora won't know what is going to happen to him for a few days yet. people reading the mail today are seeing the argument that he must lose his turbulent left in it. —— tenant. —— liuetenant. we are nowjoined by hannah chapman of the northern echo. what is the feeling in the area?

people are furious that this interpretation of the guidelines has been put forward, when everybody was staying to the letter of the law of the stay—at—home message. and with how it has been handled there is a lot of deflecting the blame onto the media yesterday, whereas he has had a chance over the past few days and weeks to give a full account and come forward and say why he travelled to county durham. they could have explained themselves and put forward the reason why and maybe apologised and people might have had apologised and people might have had a little bit more sympathy. have you spoken to the police in durham? do they feel that they have been put in a difficult position? it is difficult to comment, really. i cannot put words in their mouths on that score but in my view they have been put in a difficult position and they have got quite a bit on at the

moment and they are now having to deal with this enormous storm around them and precisely what happened, etc, and there has been a lot of reinterpretation of exactly the conversations that took place, which was correct, and it does make it more difficult for the lockdown going forward because now it seems that they are not regulations, it is about instinct, which is such a nebulous area to police, i mean how is that even possible? you were telling us what a strange scenario it was to be in the rose garden, and you are one of the top political journalist in the country. give us a flavour of the atmosphere there beforehand. he was due to start at 4pm, it was going to be two minutes, three minutes, it was around the corner, it was 30 minutes late. what was happening during that time, and any idea why he was 30 minutes later than he should have been. they never

really said. that was the only apology we got was from dominic cummings for being a bit late. i think he was probably dotting the i's. for, i hadn't put a suit on for a couple of months, i haven't been in the office, so we were sitting around, it is a lovely garden, and a fewjokes going around, it is a lovely garden, and a few jokes going round around, it is a lovely garden, and a fewjokes going round about putting a barbecue on, and everyone was comparing notes about what a surreal day it was. we were sat there in the sunshine, waiting for an adviser. this is a place where you normally do press conferences with government leaders from around the world. i rememberseeing leaders from around the world. i remember seeing david cameron and nick clegg in there, at the start of the coalition and here we were getting a humble adviser, coming to talk to us about his trip to barnard

castle. it was bizarre. shall we leave it with that? thank you, jason g roves, leave it with that? thank you, jason groves, and hannah chapman. it was a remarkable day. thank you for being with us this morning. the evacuation of more than 300,000 allied soldiers from the beaches of dunkirk in 1940 is still regarded as one of the most successful rescue missions in history. a fleet of little ships, including sailboats, trawlers and lifeboats were used to ferry soldiers off the beaches and onto waiting royal navy and merchant ships. 80 years on, robin gibson has been looking back at the ‘miracle of dunkirk‘. archive: all along the rivers and creeks of britain, yachtsmen and part—time sailors are kissing their wives farewell and making the knots for dover. a true story that became a legend — arguably the greatest escape of world war ii.

i wish i could meet the people, the chaps who came over and picked us up, because they were very brave blokes. because there were mines, and there was a good chance of being machine—gunned, as well. our cameraman is on a tiny merchant ship. he is risking his life to bring you the pictures. he is on his way to dunkirk. crossing the channel on a trawler or a pleasure boat in 1940 to face the killing fields of the dunkirk beaches was a test of bravery bordering on madness. they were in the thick of it for several days, some of them. so i have huge admiration for them, and i have huge admiration for the little boats. because they are tiny little boats that were used to go up to the beaches, to get the boys off the beaches, and then ferry them to the larger vessels standing offshore. so they stayed. our ideas today come largely from recreations, dramas and films. home.

at 100 years old, john port is one of the last left to describe what it was to spend days on that beach, then to be rescued by a scheme which the german generals could barely believe. it was a horrendous experience. we were just lying on the beach, hands on the back of the head. there was... a brighton paddle boat was there — that was burning from end to end. and another transport was loaded with our chaps, and a bomb dropped right amongst them, in the stern. that was pretty awful. sadly, the still—surviving wooden boats aren't able to mark their 80th anniversary. but they do send a message from the past, symbolising a moment when people with their backs to the wall came together to face down disaster.

that was robin gibson reporting. what an amazing operation that was. here's carol with a look at this morning's weather. lovely picture behind you, carol. yes, this is from one of our weather watchers from lowestoft, blue skies. for the next few days, not much rain in the forecast. lots of dry weather and it is going be worn or indeed very and it is going be worn or indeed very worn and it is going be worn or indeed very worn for and it is going be worn or indeed very worn for some and it is going be worn or indeed very worn for some by the weekend. high pressure is dominating the weather. today we have a weak weather. today we have a weak weather front pushing southwards. that is introducing more cloud, turning the sunshine hazy, but we are seeing some spots of rain from that but most of that has now died out. we continue to journey southwards through northern england into the midlands, and south—west england. much of southern england and the south—east staying dry, with blue skies. behind it, for north wales and northern england, scotland and ireland, where you started with

clark, you will see sunshine and blue skies as we go through the day. breezy in the north, the highest temperatures at 14, further south, looking at 17—25. this evening and overnight that weather front continues its journey, overnight that weather front continues itsjourney, eventually making it to the south coast. will see some patchy mist and fog forming across south wales and south—west england. but a lot of dry weather and a cooler night than the one just passed. by the end of the night, thicker cloud starting to show its hand, across parts of northern ireland and western scotland, with some spots of rain, and that will be with us tomorrow. they will not be much rain coming out of this at all. we will lose the mist and fog from the south—west, and there will be some low cloud lapping unsure across eastern parts of england. again, lots of dry and warm weather, 16 in glasgow, 16 in newcastle, 25 in cardiff. then it gets a bit warmer across the board. you can see the

oranges moving northwards across all of the uk as we start to pull in warm airfrom the near of the uk as we start to pull in warm air from the near continent. of the uk as we start to pull in warm airfrom the near continent. on thursday, lots of dry weather once again. the weather front coming in on wednesday eventually pushing off towards the north sea. still a bit of cloud left over from that. you might see the odd spot of rain but thatis might see the odd spot of rain but that is all across south—east scotla nd that is all across south—east scotland and north—east england, but with the exception rather than the rule, with highs of 26 in cardiff, 23 liverpool, 21 in glasgow and edinburgh. what about after that? heading through the weekend, it does remain dry for most. some weather fronts waiting in the wings in the west that may come our way, the jury is out on that, that will be for northern ireland and western scotla nd northern ireland and western scotland with temperatures getting into the mid, even possibly the high 20s celsius for some.

thank you. some people might enjoy that. thanks a lot. it's 8:30am. this is breakfast with louise and dan. in the last hour, minister for the cabinet office michael gove has defended the actions of the prime minister's top adviser, describing him as "a man of honour and integrity". dominic cummings travelled 260 miles from london to county durham to self—isolate during lockdown with his wife and four—year—old son. mr gove told us that his actions were "reasonable" and that in certain circumstances the restrictions allow for flexibility. i know that he is a man of honour and integrity and, as people will have had the chance to hear yesterday, they will know from his own account that he was acting in a way which sought to safeguard his family, sought to limit — indeed reduce — the risk of infection to anyone else, and which took account of a range of circumstances. people will make their own mind up and, as dominic himself said, there will be many people who will think that his actions were wrong or mistaken, but looking at it in the round, i think that his actions

were reasonable. council leaders across merseyside say their region is facing a cash shortfall of almost £250 million because it's been hit harder by the pandemic than anywhere else in the uk. officials claim that money already allocated from whitehall will only cover 30% of their costs. the area has higher—than—average infection and death rates. spain has announced that foreign travellers will be able to visit the country from the beginning ofjuly — without going into quarantine. the country's foreign minister said it looked forward to welcoming tourists back now the worst of the coronavirus pandemic was behind them. 80—million visitors go to spain each year, 20—million 80 million visitors go to spain each year, 20 million of which are from the uk. seafronts across england were busy over the weekend, as sun seekers tried to make the most of the bank holiday weather. with travel restrictions

eased earlier this month, crowds flocked to beaches in bournemouth and southend, but in other parts of the uk — where stricter lockdown is still in place — many tourist destinations remained quiet. adam mcclean has more. in scotland, beaches were largely empty. and in northern ireland and wales, people are still told to stay home. this was southend—on—sea. in what looks like any normal bank holiday — but this was yesterday. a scene repeated in other english beauty spots in the middle of a global pandemic. thousands enjoying the sun and the sand. in seaside towns, there are concerns about what visitors may bring and take away. people living near the beaches depend on everybody who does come to behave responsibly, and it's better if you live a long way away not to come to the beach yet. you can do that another day, in good weather, when this crisis is over.

there were concerns about shifting attitudes towards coronavirus rules after senior government advisor dominic cummings said he didn't regret taking his family to county durham. i've barely left my house on lockdown. this is the first sort of time getting back out, and then we find out these sort of stories. and when they do get caught out, there's always some sort of excuse. he says one thing but does another. i don't think it should be one rule for the elite and one rule for sort of everyone else. we have not seen family, and obviously, with a young baby, people are missing. people are missing seeing her, as well, like grandparents. but others here in merseyside feel it's an issue that's gone too far. like, we were told that we couldn't go and do this and that, and he went and did — went out. but personally, i feel like we just all need to get over it a bit. one advisor or individual has got, you know, a personal

decision, and he's made it. and i wouldn't imagine we need to, you know, just spend time, money, to dig out why he's gone. here on formby beach, groups were happy to spread out across the miles of sand and keep their distance, as many headed out for fresh air and sunshine, after nine weeks of lockdown. adam mcclean, bbc news. we're joined now by malcom bell from visit cornwall and mark canniford, mayor of weston—super—mare. good morning. good morning. thanks both very much indeed. malcolm, there were sad news from cornwall yesterday, or over the weekend, about people dying from being in the sea. yes, i think we've been trying to get the message across, that there are lifeguards on the beach, spring tides yesterday, think once, think twice, planned but put your safety first and i know we have all been dying to get back to the beach but we have been asking people to stay well within their limits and it

isa stay well within their limits and it is a real zidane —— shame that two lives were lost in,. what was it like in weston—super—mare over the weekend? yesterday afternoon was busy but the rest of the weekend, people had been very sensible and ke pt people had been very sensible and kept their social distancing, and it wasn't too busy. it was busy enough to cause concern locally but it was manageable. yesterday afternoon you get to a certain figure of people on a promenade, as we know in any tourist resort, then it becomes difficult to social distance. where people are able to do it, malcolm... sorry, mark, whether able to social distance or was it too difficult for them? they were able. you just have to be considerate and thoughtful, make space for others and use the beach itself. we are very lucky here, we have a huge, wide beach and people can certainly give themselves a space on the beach itself. but the promenade, it is a strip of land

thatis promenade, it is a strip of land that is slightly restricted. there isa that is slightly restricted. there is a lot of people looming in that space and it becomes difficult to keep away from everybody and people have to be very sensible. malcolm, what is the message from cornwall? it is clear, people are still not able to go and stay there, but what is the message? when would you like visitors back and when would you hope they can come back? the government's plan is for some limited opening from the 4th ofjuly so we we working with businesses and we will over the next month to get them covid—19 safe, to get all the hygiene and extra things they will have to do to adapt, so that from july, if the virus allows, we will be able to start opening. we will be welcoming back... it is great to see a number of local people at this weekend. it's wonderful weather, really bizarre in my 20 years in tourism, that we had a great easter and great spring bank when we can't invite people down. that is the irony of life and obviously the virus will dictate the timetable. we

freeze the opening, manage it, and welcome people to come back and enjoy this wonderful part of the well. that is the balance of finding that between the weather being beautiful and people wanting to be output protecting public health and also trying to support local businesses who have been really struggling over the last few weeks and have got to, in order to survive, they need a revenue. they do. one in three household income or partly depends on tourism. the food and drink industry is over one quarter of the spend. it is really the bedrock of the economy down here. that's why we have to be responsible, not open to soon but said in as as soon as possible. but open responsibly. we did a survey and we know two thirds of businesses feel that with some work they can deal with social distancing and hygiene, but that leaves a third that will be struggling. if we can get those businesses that can provide safe opportunity to come and enjoy quarrel, that will be great. the other message to the public is that we got used to the restrictions

on our daily lives. out and about we will have to learn though is because we don't want to revert back to pre—virus ways of doing it. it is a matter of keeping those distances. luckily in cornwall with 400 beaches and coves there is plenty of space to spread out. we note the western general hospital stopped accepting — — westo n general hospital stopped accepting —— weston general hospital stopped accepting patients due to high numbers of corona patients. are you concerned? we are concerned but we have to take stock. we unlocked two weeks ago in government policy. the we st weeks ago in government policy. the west country here, right down to cornwall, we have been on a very low level in terms of london and the north, so it could be a test case of catch up time. but i think it probably wouldn't be good to speculate. we are working hard with our partners to make sure we can get all this under control as soon as possible and reassure our residents

that it possible and reassure our residents thatitis possible and reassure our residents that it is safe and we are doing all we can. malcolm, it's going to be really ha rd we can. malcolm, it's going to be really hard for some businesses. i was looking at a queue for an ice cream seller yesterday and obviously it is long on a bank holiday when it is hot. when it is two metres between people and there is ppe being used in the truck, it snakes all the way up the road and you think about those small, little tea rooms in cornwall, the little ice cream sellers, how will they cope with regulations of the necessary space they need? that is a real challenge. some people are looking to reconfigure their business shape and premises so they can have more outlets, particularly takeaways. we know people will be nervous in restaurants and with to metre distancing it almost makes it very difficult. people are looking at all sorts of ways, looking at bringing in mobile catering so they can actually increase the number of outlets you don't just actually increase the number of outlets you don'tjust have one big queue, you might have to wait three more reasonable cues. those are the sort of challenges and innovations

people are thinking about. we have a great b&b that will take tea rooms so everyone great b&b that will take tea rooms so everyone who stays will have separate rooms for their breakfast. we are thinking of creative ways people can feel safe and have a quality service. thank you both for joining us. lots of people planning on how they will work things out with those new regulations. it will be interesting to see how it works. think of those places in cornwall that are so small and slightly packed and they rely on the business. that is the big balance to find. also we need the date. it might be the 4th ofjuly. we've got more detail on when retailers can reopen in the next few weeks. sean's been looking at this this morning — can we get a haircut yet? not yet. you are welcome to borrow my clippers! i'm guessing that may not be on the cards just yet. this is more about the retailer is looking to open in the next few

weeks and having to think creatively about how they keep customers safe while giving them a good enough experience to make them want to come in. we are looking at next monday, outdoor markets and car showrooms. that will be the next one that we will see. those with a bit more fresh air, better ventilation, reducing that risk of transmission. thenjune 15, reducing that risk of transmission. then june 15, a reducing that risk of transmission. thenjune15, a big date for a lot of those nonessential retailers that have been closed until now. they have been closed until now. they have been closed until now. they have been told that date, providing other things are in place and they have their covid secure guidelines in place and those five tests the government has for making sure the nhs can cope, and the risk of transmission across the country is low enough, where it wants to be. if those things are in place then those shops can start to reopen. will businesses be ready? as we were talking about with cornwall, that is the big question. they want to be ready but there is a long list of guidelines they will need to abide by and we have a flavour of some of

that when we caught up withjeanette who runs a sweet shop in a poole.” have installed a new glass screen to protect my staff and customers. i have reduced floorspace in my shop so have reduced floorspace in my shop so customers can only come in one at a time. on the floor, both shop side and customer side, there will be signage to remind them of the two metre distance reeling. there are some of those things. customers will be encouraged not to touch products in the store so much, as well. use co nta ctless in the store so much, as well. use contactless payments where possible, so it minimises cash being handed over. lots of changes for businesses and customers, but the big issue, i think, for a lot of business will be whether they get enough business coming in in those first few days to enable them to pay their staff. i've had people get in touch with me about that already this morning. hearing about that b&b thinking creatively and using some of their rooms for people

to have breakfast, those rims will not generate the money where they might have had people staying there before. it won't be back to the way we we re before. it won't be back to the way we were beforehand but it will enable businesses to take those first steps towards what we hope will be back to normal one day. very real difficulties. thank you very much. from djing to the bbc news theme tune, to families singing together — the last nine weeks of lockdown has seen some performers propelled into the spotlight. the latest to become an online hit is an 88—year—old grandma from kidderminster, whose dancing on tiktok has earned more than 30 million views. let's take a look at some of her moves. music: laxed byjawsh 685. music: match of the day theme.

music: blinding lights by the weeknd. the dancing gran, ruth rudd, joins us now along with her granddaughterjess rudd. she is dancing! good morning, it's been so good watching that. good morning to both of you. thank you so much forjoining us. ruth, you are clearly a movie. when did you start doing these things? doing these dances? well, you call them dances. you must know i can hardly walk a few steps unaided without a stick or my little walker! it's not actually dancing, i want to say. i am having to stand still and my granddaughter came one day and was trying to make

the family laugh. none doing something! asjess will tell you, have you ever heard of tiktok? doesn't mean anything to me! and then all of a sudden, i come up... this world, i think i'm going to wa ke this world, i think i'm going to wake up. i'm living in a surreal life. he would ever have thought this war has come and we haven't got anyone to fight it? its a surreal, i can't believe it's happening! so then, this crazy thing comes on top of that, i can't believe that me, just doing silly fewjerks... captain tom, what did he do? £30 million! that's worth doing! i'm doing a fewjokes and getting 30... how many million views? what is it all about? laughter lets ask that question tojess, your

granddaughter. i'm going to wake up, i think, soon! jess, we all clearly love your grandmother already, but you have introduced her to tiktok and 30 million new fans. describe that conversation initially of trying to get your gran involved in this. yeah, so i got tiktok during lockdown and i love it myself and then one day i saw a boy with his nanna doing the one she did, her first ever video, and i thought, my nan will love to do that. i went round and tried it. i put it on public on tiktok, thought nothing of it, and it went absolutely crazy! it's got over 30 million, just that one video. it's been absolutely amazing. i love it. for people who don't know what tiktok is, do a brief explainer. it's just like don't know what tiktok is, do a brief explainer. it'sjust like a social media platform but it'sjust really a short video clips, that's all it is. you can do dancing, talking. they are really quite funny. but my nan sticks to the

dancing one and then you've seen her foot ball dancing one and then you've seen her football one, as well. ruth, have you got your head around what tiktok is? not really! not really! i'mjust doing a fewjerks on tiktok and have all these people viewing me! when was the last time you play football? because your skills are quite something! you know, i'm having to sit down to do them. i'm sitting down and, to be truthful, it took me...a down and, to be truthful, it took me... a little goalpost a few feet in front and i missed every time for the first few and then the very last one i scored the goal and i thought oh... and the music had run out! i had to do it about ten times for me to get the goal in! ruth, they are brilliant to watch. you talked earlier about it being a strange old time. have these videos... obviously spending a bit of tiktok time with your granddaughter, have they made your granddaughter, have they made you feel better? oh, they have. they

have kept me going. you know, it's not nice being locked on your own. i appreciate a lot of people are in my situation. when we are on our own, and no matter how many times there are visitors outside, there is no hugging or kissing. and then they've gonein hugging or kissing. and then they've gone ina hugging or kissing. and then they've gone in a short period of time. they keep me well, i got everything i need to eat, but you have to look and see not what you are missing, but what is happening now. and you would be surprised at the things that have happened to me. people coming up to me and waving through the window. do you know what i mean? it's not feeling sorry for yourself, you have got to appreciate what is happening now and all the extra benefits i'm getting, like my shopping done for me and things are. apart from tiktok, ruth, what else are you doing to keep yourself amused or occupied? to sit outside sometimes, do you? i live in a lovely little white shoe. there are 11 little houses in a voice you and

we all sit out side —— i live in horseshoe. we can shout across to one another and we had a little tea party when it was ve day, the neighbours are very, very good and we all help one another. it's... before the war, in the olden days, we had a little rows of houses and eve ryo ne we had a little rows of houses and everyone was. . . how we had a little rows of houses and everyone was... how i remember it. that sort of situation has come back now. we are all... i can't explain... we can leave our doors open and things. do you understand what i'm saying? because we don't. that's brought it all back to me up here. there is a bit of a delay on the line. i have this wonderful image of you all sitting outside having a chat with each other. i wonder if all the other people on this quest you in kidderminster, i they all on tiktok? i don't think

they all on tiktok? i don't think they know what it is! —— this horseshoe in kidderminster.m they know what it is! —— this horseshoe in kidderminster. it has brought so much joy. horseshoe in kidderminster. it has brought so muchjoy. what horseshoe in kidderminster. it has brought so much joy. what about the rest of your family? you have millions of users worldwide but this is fun for everyone. we are all absolutely loving it, yeah. she is keeping us all entertained and we are so proud of her, it's so lovely to have a nan. we have heard from ruth talking about the various takes to sort out that match of the day one. i saw you giggling while she was describing that. how difficult was describing that. how difficult was it to get that perfect take on occasions? do you know what? she's been fantastic. my nan has been a dancer all her life so she is good with the beat but the football one in particular, she wasn't great at it but kept trying, bless her, and it but kept trying, bless her, and it took her 12 attempts but eventually we got there. ruth, please tell me you will carry on doing these. well, if they want me, i'm willing! it keeps me happy and occupied and if it makes people happy that's all i want. jess, york

nan is obviously quite a good movie. it is it shuffling beyond ruth, do you think, or will that be the next one? a bit of shuffling with your nan? i've so i did a few, i got a few prepared. i'll keep going until people have had enough. i've got a few good ones ready and prepared so i can't wait to. have you told ruth about this be a surprise? we practised one yesterday. i went to see herand! practised one yesterday. i went to see her and i thought i'd get her to practice one. we got one ready to go. what is your latest one? can you show us some practice, ruth, of what you got lined up? i'm having people ask me to do the jive. years ago i could have shown them the jive, but i can't do it any more. my legs won't move! i can't do the jive for them but i do what i can. i've got to do beep, beep, beep or something like that now. laughter ruth, i can't wait. you can clearly

see that back in the day you loved your dancing, didn't you? oh, i did, and now i can't dance properly. this isn't dancing for me but it's lovely, it is lovely, lovely. it's given me such a boost through this awful time and anything i can do to help anybody else, i will. you are helping a lot of people in mind i'm sure you put a lot of smiles on people's faces. yes, you must be very proud of your nan. i'm so proud of her. ijust wasn't expecting this but now it's happened, it couldn't have happened to a nicer person. she really deserves all this and she is absolutely loving it, so thank you to everyone. an absolute pleasure. ruth, jess, lovely to see you. can't wait for the next video. thank you so much for your time. good luck with the beep, beep, beeps. thank you. bye-bye. ok, officially love ruth! laughter if you haven't seen them, you have

to go and watch them. they are brilliant. as ruth says, it has been a strange old time. there have been some terrible things to talk about but also we have been able to speak to people like her who are so wonderful. in the early days of lockdown, this is one of my favourite stories! the goats! in the early days of lockdown, the empty streets of llandudno played host to a new meaning of "herd immunity" — when a video emerged of wild goats munching on garden plants in the centre of the seaside town. the kashmiri goats soon gained worldwide attention and their antics have since helped a local hospice raise more than £50,000. here's a reminder of what happened.

we are still on! we are still on! joining us now is margaret hollings, who's head of fundraising at st david's hospice in llandudno — shejoins us from her home on rhos—on—sea. good morning. lovely to see you. normally llandudno is a busy seaside town and the goats do live nearby but they are not normally running around the street. what happened? yeah, sale, at this time of year it isa yeah, sale, at this time of year it is a bustling tourist town full of holiday makers but it is a bit of a ghost town at the moment

u nfortu nately. ghost town at the moment unfortunately. due to the current circumstances. the goats, they are a feature of the town. they do regularly come off the headlines where they live. they do come into the town and there has always been a nice relationship between the population and the goats. but of late they have become more cheeky, to say the least! they are heading the under the boundaries they have been before and they still continued date today to cross those boundaries. they run the town at the moment, it's quite funny. it's amazing, isn't it? one thing to have these videos go viral but then to be able to cleverly market it to raise money for a local hospice. he came up money for a local hospice. he came up with that idea? it has gone so wonderfully for you. it has. it was a team effort. we had a very unique opportunity with our hospice in based on abbey road. the idea of the t—shirts was born from the beatles

album cover from many t—shirts was born from the beatles album coverfrom many moons ago, abbey road. best being based on abbey road. best being based on abbey road, the goats roaming free on the same road, the only thing we don't have is the zebra crossing! up, we might havejust lost you there. i will ask you another question. you came up with the idea of combining the goats with abbey road, which i think we can see on the t—shirt but we might not be able to talk to her. you came up with the idea of combining the two. we did, yes. with the hospice being based on abbey road and the existing beatles album, abbey road, we basically converted the beatles for the goats to come up with this concept between us and it has done amazingly well. they are totally overwhelmed by the response we've had. what is the most bonkers place you had an audit from? you have shipped them all over the place. we have been shipping t—shirts worldwide. 3000 sales so far. just last week we sold one in

japan! we sold one in california, switzerland, canada, australia and new zealand, and further afield. it has been remarkable. the take—up has been incredible, we could never dream of it. tell us how much difference that is making your work and the kind of work you are doing at the moment. the t-shirts self i have raised £50,000, which isjust an amazing total to raise. we could not have done that without lockdown and the current circumstances. the situation we are in at the moment as a hospice is that 90% of our income generation activity has ceased, so we have had to close 26 retail stores, two cafe is, we have had to cancel our events and we have also had to stop all of our cash collections and face to face fundraising activities. we are very, very limited on what we are able to do within the rules and the law. he raised £50,000. i'm going to have to leave it there, i'm so sorry. it's been wonderful to talk to you and i

love the t—shirt. that's all from us for today — we'll be back tomorrow from six. until then enjoy the rest of your day. goodbye.

good morning, welcome to bbc news, i'm victoria derbyshire, here are the headlines. government ministers rally to support the prime minister's top adviser — they say they understand public concern but insist dominic cummings acted reasonably. on the whole, as a man of integrity, he thinks that he did do the right thing. but he also recognises, as a fair—minded man, that there are many other people who may take a different view, and i understand that. almost all retailers in england will be able to reopen from 15thjune, as part of plans to further ease the lockdown. the world health organization halts trials of an anti—malarial drug as a potential treatment for covid—19 — as it's found it could cause heart problems. hong kong's leader, carrie lam,

has rejected suggestions that