evacuation when a flotilla of small ships rescued more than 300,000 allied troops from the beaches in northern france. this year's annual gathering of boats to mark the occasion had to be cancelled, but our correspondent, duncan kennedy, watched a small royal navy ceremony in portsmouth and heard the remarkable story of one 99—year—old veteran. he plays last post dunkirk, said churchill, was a miracle of deliverance. lawrence churcher was a witness to that miracle. today, he came to portsmouth to recall dunkirk, its story of liberation and great loss. in may, 1940, lawrence found himself in the chaos of dunkirk. evacuation the only hope against the german advance. he had two brothers serving somewhere in the army. but his only thought was to get off that beach. i didn't think about my brothers.

i thought, well, how am i going to get back, that's the thing, you know. but then, incredibly, in the confusion of evacuating more than 300,000 men, lawrence, here in the middle, ran into his two brothers — george on the left and edward on the right. their reunion came in the bomb—cratered sand dunes of a beach under siege and it's a moment lawrence says he will never forget. relief, just relief. because there were so many soldiers there and continuous aircraft coming over, dropping bombs and things, you know. all three brothers were rescued by the little ships ships sent from britain. this year, there is no reunion of the ships because of covid—19.

but lawrence was today still able to recall the salvation of his country and his family. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in portsmouth. time for a look at the weather here's chris fawkes. we had a more warm sunshine across the country today in a bit more in the country today in a bit more in the way of patchy cloud at times in northern england, for example over this reservoir near sheffield and that cloud is associated with the line of cloud which is a cold front separating the fresh air in the north to the warm air further south. 0ver north to the warm air further south. over the next few hours with patches of cloud in the sky, it might be quite a nice sunset on a couple of hours, but overnight it turns murky gci’oss hours, but overnight it turns murky across the coast on the hills of south—west england with a mist and fog patches and remember the cold front separates the milder air we have in the south and quite a warm night for southern england and wales and with the fresh air in scotland, northern ireland and northern anger.

tomorrow high pressure is still but this weather front is nosing into the warm front in the north, and it might go across the very far west of scotland, but otherwise it is a dry picture and the fog is clearing away from the south—west and then most of us from the south—west and then most of us will see bright or sunny spells. the best of the sunshine and highest temperatures across england and wales and further north temperatures generally in the high teens with some cloud around but it should stay dry and bright for many. for thursday, it gets warm across the northern areas as the high—pressure ships position and some of the warm air is shunted north and into northern ireland and scotland as well, but on thursday we start off with some rain, this time affecting the far north of scotland and easing into the afternoon and slowly brightening up. a sunny day for northern ireland, england and wales are spoiled with clear blue sunny skies for the most part. across england and wales we will have the highest temperatures on thursday but it's getting warmer in northern ireland and scotland with highs in edinburgh reaching 22 degrees. that's the latest weather is the

fine weather is set to stay with us. that's all from the bbc news at six, so it's goodbye from me, and on bbc one, we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. hello, and welcome to sportsday. i'm katherine downes. no crowd, no atmosphere — no point. rory mcilroy says players want this year's ryder cup pushed back

until spectators can be there. what next for the women's super league after the season was cancelled yesterday, amid concerns for women's sport across the board during the pandemic? and two major sports events held in march caused "increased suffering and death. " data shows cheltenham and liverpool's champions league tie with atletico madrid—led to coronavirus hotspots. hello there, thanks forjoining us this evening. the whoops, the hollers, the chanting from the galleries — an integral part of the ryder cup. that's according to world number one rory mcilroy. he believes this year's contest between europe and the usa — due to take place in september

in wisconsin — will be postponed until next year. competitive golf is set to resume next month behind closed doors, but mcilroy doesn't believe the format will work for a ryder cup. the majority of the players would like to see it pushed back to 2021 so that they can play in front of the atmosphere that they want to play. they want to play in front of crowds, that is what makes the ryder cup so special. and if the players aren't on board with that, at the end of the day, the players are the ones that make the ryder cup, and if they don't want to play, there isn't a ryder cup. i see it being pushed back to 2021. honestly, i think that would be the right call. let's speak to our golf correspondent iain carter. rory mcelroy can always be relied on to give an eight honest answer. is there any player who would potentially take part in the ryder

cup this year who actually wants it to go ahead? i don't think so. i think they are much more unanimous that they would like to play the cup with out the micro crowds supporting them, even if they are much more hostile than european players. we've also seen the likes ofjohn romm and brooks erka weighing in, the top three players in the world, and they very, very... the other side of the argument, though, is the logistics, the economic side of it, the financial impact of not satisfying television contracts this year which would weigh very heavily on the organisers's mines. competitive golf due to resume next month, do you think that will influence the decision either way? if organisers can see that golf, the pga tour can return, can be successful as a format without spectators, that it might influence whether they do go ahead and cancel? that's a good

point, we have to wait and see what golf will feel like without spectators there in big events on the pga tour, due to start on 11 junein the pga tour, due to start on 11 june in texas. people will be monitoring that very closely. and of course, the decision doesn't have to be made immediately as far as the ryder cup is concerned, that match will not be played until the end of september in wisconsin. thanks so much for bringing us up—to—date on that, on whether the ryder cup will or will not go ahead. tennis star petra kvitova is on the same page as mcilroy. she's also called for events to be cancelled, if fans aren't allowed to attend. the two—time wimbledon champion says she would prefer this year's remaining grand slam events to be called off, if they have to take place behind closed doors. wimbledon has already been cancelled, but the us open is still set to start at the end of august, and the french open has been rescheduled for september. premier league clubs will vote tomorrow on whether to return

to full—contact training. squads have been in group training for a week, and coronavirus testing for players and staff continues. bournemouth‘s first choice goalkeeper aaron ramsdale's confirmed he's the latest player to return a positive test. he says he tested negative in the 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. lets have a look at some of the other sports stories making the headlines today... world rugby are looking a measures to help reduce the risk of coronavirus spread in the sport, limiting face—to—face contact and reducing time in scrums will be considered, and hygiene procedures will be reviewed. the uk's top swimmers are being told they can prepare for a return to training. it'll be a phased return though, with only 32 athletes invited back at first — and only those who train in loughborough or bath at the national centres. divers and para—swimmers must continue to train at home.

according to formula one sources, prime minister borisjohnson has told his cabinet to make sure two races can go ahead at silverstone this summer, regardless of the impending quarantine rules on international arrivals. the british grand prix was originally set for 19 july, but fi now hopes to hold races behind closed doors onjuly 26 and august 2. audi have suspended and fined formula e racer daniel abt, after he admitted getting a professional gamer to play under his name, in saturday's esports event. his third—place finish raised suspicions after he failed to score a single point in the previous four rounds. the women's super league and championship seasons were ended with immediate effect yesterday — meaning all women's football for the 2019/2020 season has now been cancelled. clubs across the board seem disappointed but have accepted the decision, though there are still big questions left to answer about promotion and relegation now the decision

has been made. 0ur women's sport reporterjo currie joins me for more on this. it's not as simple as just calling off the season is it? there was no clear champion, for instance. how have clubs been reacting? when the faa made that announcement yesterday that the season would end, but they didn't do was clear up what would happen at the top and bottom of the table. will this be declared null and void, or will there be a champion crowned ? at null and void, or will there be a champion crowned? at the bottom of the table, liverpool currently sits at the one relegation spot byjust one point, but if you look at how men's leaks one point, but if you look at how men's lea ks have one point, but if you look at how men's leaks have sorted out, liverpool could be in serious danger of going down. and if they do, will aston villa be promoted? lots of decision for the fa to still make, and it looks in the dark at the

moment. yesterday there was an expression of disappointment that the season will continue, but understanding as to why and the safety has to come first. they said they'll comment further once the fa explains further. there's lots of confusion, but concerns for women's sport more widely, some people are saying it has been disproportionately hit by the pandemic and may take a long time to recover. what you think the main challenges are that we've seen so far? women's sport has been riding the crest of a way for the last few yea rs, the crest of a way for the last few years, but effectively most women sport is running on a financial knife edge. and if you lose a football or netball season, take your pick, the financial implications next year could be hit quite hard. we seen teams down the league quite hard. we seen teams down the lea g u e lost quite hard. we seen teams down the league lost already. but there's also an opportunity potentially for those companies that used to budget the men's teams could be slashed

because of financial obligations of the lockdown, and women sport is cheaper to finance. so there's big worries about the financials going forward , worries about the financials going forward, but for some, this could be an opportunity to build as well. thanks very much for that. two major sporting events held in the uk in march have caused "increased suffering and death" — according to data from the uk's largest covid tracking project. less than three months ago, 250,000 people attended cheltenham festival, and 3,000 atletico madrid fans travelled to liverpool for their champions league tie. at the time, government advice was for events to go on as planned, but now scientists have found coronavirus hotspots in both cheltenham and liverpool shortly after they took place. i think everyone would agree in retrospect it was a bad idea, because the deaths that we've seen and the hospitalizations a few weeks

later — we now see daily deaths increasing or decreasing, this is a view of the past going back three weeks. and i think without breaks, what we know and this is what the who is saying, the faster you can respond and get a handle on the virus, especially when it is so infectious like coronavirus is nc is transmitted so easily, the easier it is to develop policies to manage it. the department for digital, culture, media and sport sent us a statement, saying, "it is our absolute priority to protect people's health and our advice to the public is based on direct, continuous consultation with scientific and medical experts". and we have a special programme here on bbc news, sport and the pandemic, on saturday at 2.30pm and 6.30pm. make sure you tune in for that. that's all from sportsday. thanks for watching, have a great night.

hello, good evening. let's return now to today's downing street briefing, led by the health secretary matt hancock. once again, the questions centred on dominic cummings. matt hancock told the briefing he believed that mr cummings acted within the guidelines set out by the government. he also said he would discuss with the treasury a possible review for people who were fined for driving to access childcare. it was in response to a question from a member of the public. it comes as a further 134 people have died in the uk after testing positive for covid—i9, taking the total death toll up to 37,048. mr hancock said that although the number of deaths appears to be falling, "we must keep our resolve". mr hancock said contracts have been signed to make two billion items of personal protective equipment, or ppe, in the uk. he also said that the anti—viral drug, remdesivir, is probably

the biggest step forward in treatment since the crisis began. 0n the nhs test and trace programme, mr hancock urged people to follow the rules — for both themselves and the wider community. we've been working hard to build our supplies of personal protective equipment. i know how important this is, especially to a colleague on the front line. we all heard in the early weeks of the crisis the calls from the front line for more and better ppe. and we all saw the global scramble to acquire it. i have been completely open about the scale and the difficulties of this challenge, building a new supply chain from scratch, and of course the operational challenge of delivery. general sir nick carter, chief of the defence staff, said himself, "this is the single greatest logistical challenge" that he'd faced in his a0 years of

service. and in response to those challenges, thanks to the armed forces and so many others, including so forces and so many others, including so many in the nhs, we've seen a mammoth effort. we've ramped up domestic production. i can announce that we've now signed contracts to manufacture 2 billion items of ppe here in the uk. i set a national challenge, and i'm absolutely delighted that lord dighton has stepped up and is helping us deliver against it. around the world, we have signed deals with over 100 new suppliers, including agreeing contracts for another further 3.7 billion gloves. while we continue to improve the logistics and work hard to get everybody the ppe they need, these new supplies mean we are not simply keeping up with demand — we are now able to begin to replenish our stockpiles. there is a lot further to go on ppe, as on so many

things. but we have made significant progress, and i'd like to thank eve ryo ne progress, and i'd like to thank everyone involved. let's speak now to shadow health ministerjustin madders. speaking for the labour party, thank you very much for being with us. let's pick up on what mr hancock was staying there about an improved performance on ppe, personal protective equipment, saying contracts had been signed it to make 2 billion items in the uk, and also within the briefing, we heard following death figures, following hospital admissions. so in some ways, is slightly brighter picture? yes, it certainly looks like the effort to lower infection rates is paying off. we are not out of the woods yet by any stretch of the imagination, but i think some of the issues on ppe will clearly be with us issues on ppe will clearly be with us for a considerable amount of time. and we've heard from the government before about the figures they put out, but we don't actually know how that translates into

availability on the front lines. so for example, we have very large figures, we are still hearing regularly from people who were working in the nhs who couldn't get a hold of ppe. so it is absolutely vital, getting ahead of this now, making sure that those stockpiles are replenished. on testing, mr hancock said the figures were 109,000 tests provided. his target of course was 100,000 by the end of last month, by the end of april. the prime minister's target is 200,000 a day by the end of this month, which is just day by the end of this month, which isjust a day by the end of this month, which is just a few days away. do you think they'll make that target? well, the whole testing situation has been a complete mystery because the 100,000 a day target is actually people tested. that's what the prime minister originally said, and in the last four days, the government have been able to tell us how many people have actually been tested. we

know... people who have got symptoms wa nt to know... people who have got symptoms want to know whether they got the virus, but surveys have been undertaken by various institutions to study the prevalence of the disease. so if we are going to get to that target, we need to have a proper strategy in place, they'll have to raise it considerably from where we are at the moment. on the dominant cummings affair, the first question of the briefing was from a vicar, actually, who asked if the government might review finds issued to people who travelled for childcare during lockdown, and other people who broke lockdown for the same reasons dominic cummings gave. matt hancock said while they will look at that and talk to the treasury and get back to the member of the public to ask that question, what is your response to all that? well, i found that extraordinary, to be honest. we're not on a ship where you can go around retrospectively

and change just because the prime minister's eight happens been so broken the rules. we're going to be a laughing stock around the world, and we risk the government's entire strategy because people won't know whether the rules will apply in the future or not. that's absolutely the wrong thing to do, we cannot go down that road. i think frankly think it is an embarrassment were even talking about it. and what about mr cummings's position? it doesn't look like the prime minister will sack him and it doesn't look like he will resign. the honourable thing to have done once the story broke, but the longer the story has gone on, the more questions that we've got, we know from his statement yesterday that actually, his one breach of the rule appears to be 2—3 breaches. he admitted yesterday that when he found out his wife had potentially got coronavirus, he went to see her, then he went back into work,

potentially threatening his workmates as well. what on earth was he thinking about? this story about the drive to barnard castle frankly bizarre. who gets in their car when they're unfair to bizarre. who gets in their car when they‘ re unfair to mark bizarre. who gets in their car when they're unfair to mark unsure about their eyesight to take their family out for a spin? that completely lacks accountability for software also heard that those claims that he had written about coronavirus last year we re had written about coronavirus last year were alive. it looked like he had written about it last year, so if you won't tell the truth on simple things like that, what else is he not telling the truth about? frankly i think his credibility is in shreds, the prime minister has to act on this as quickly as possible. many thanks for being with us tonight, justin, thank you for your time. nicola sturgeon has said scotland's test, trace and isolate programme to suppress the spread of coronavirus will start on thursday. it means anyone with symptoms can be tested and if they're positive, close contacts will be traced and advised to self—isolate for 1a days.

this is a system that will operate ata this is a system that will operate at a scale not seen before in scotland. we have a course had testing and contact tracing before, but it is substantially increasing, the scale. therefore over the first couple weeks, it will need to bed down, but introducing it at the same time as we take the first very cautious steps out of lockdown give his us the opportunity to address any operational issues ahead of a potentially more substantial easing of restrictions at the next review date in three weeks. 0ver of restrictions at the next review date in three weeks. over the next few weeks, we will however also add enhancements to the system. as i said earlier, the technology used by contact tracers will be in place for the start dashed from the start, but we will also add a digital platform to allow people who test positive to enter details of their contacts online. we will also continue to build testing capacity, because we need more than 15,000 and a half

over the future. we will work over the next few weeks to make testing more locally accessible, and we will keep you updated on all that. nicola sturgeon, the first minister of scotla nd sturgeon, the first minister of scotland there. let's talk about all of today's developments with the leader of the scottish national party at westminster, the mp ian blackford. thank you very much for being with us. pleasure to be with you. nicola sturgeon they're us. pleasure to be with you. nicola stu rgeon they‘ re announcing us. pleasure to be with you. nicola sturgeon they're announcing that the test, trace and isolate programme will begin on thursday. how big a step forward you think that is in the battle against the coronavirus? it isa the battle against the coronavirus? it is a very important battle against covid—19. and i'm sad to say that we've had a significant outbreak of the virus in the isle of skye, where i've lived the last few weeks. as a result, we've actually been trialing the test entries regime, and i'm grateful that it's being used, and i believe it is a significant factor in us controlling the spread of the outbreak then

we've had over the course of the last few weeks —— test and trace. so i welcome what is taking place and i'm delighted we are seeing it working even in the isle of skye. so that trial has been working, has it? explain how it has been working. that has, but i must say it is on the back of some real sadness, because we had we had an outbreak in a care home, and it is sadly the case that ten residents died there, and the number of residents and staff that had covid—19... there was one other incident in the island where the test and trace mechanisms we re where the test and trace mechanisms were put in place. i'm proud to say there hasn't been any further spread, so i think a lot of that is down to the response of the population, as well as those who had the virus in doing the right thing in isolating themselves. but we can see it first—hand that these are important developments that will help us constrain the virus. you've

been a vociferous critic of what mr cummings did during the lockdown. we had two press conferences from the prime minister over the bank holiday weekend, and a long one from dominic cummings himself in the row starting on downing street in which they tried to draw a line under the affair. do you think they have succeeded? no, not by any stretch of the imagination. i'm probably getting about an e—mail a minute at the moment, whether it's from constituents or those further afield. there is real anger out there. this is something which has nothing to do with party politics, but about the public health message. so with other opposition mps, over into the prime minister today to say he must now dismiss dominic cummings. we've had a scottish minister who resigned who frankly should not have been resigning, it should not have been resigning, it should have been dominic cummings who was resigning. we know that after a0 tory mps... we've had the absolute disgrace of the health secretary making it up as he went

along and responding to that question from the vicar, essentially saying the government would look at paying back those who have had fines in travelling with children. this is astonishing, it is undermining what we all want to see, which is confidence in the public health message. the prime minister must now call a halt to all this, and the way to do that is to remove dominic cummings from office. of course the prime ministers says he acted reasonably, he acted within the guidelines, that's what he says and what the government says it. hogwash, we know he's broken the guidelines and so many ways. he's in the ridiculous situation of getting ina carwhen the ridiculous situation of getting in a car when you think your eyesight is impaired and travelling up eyesight is impaired and travelling up to 60 miles. driving 260 miles to the residence of your parents and exposing them to the potential risks associated... i think people are

just made it, and it demonstrates that there is one for those who are powerful and one rule for the rest of us. it is not acceptable, i'm asking for people across the party to send a very clear message to the prime minister, and that is that dominic cummings should go, and he should go so we can still have confidence in the public health message. we've seen evidence of the government and prime minister's ratings plummeting, and this is simply because of the cummings effect. the government wants to make sure it can do itsjob, so they effect. the government wants to make sure it can do its job, so they need to get rid of dominic cummings, and they should be doing it now. thank you very much for being with us, ian blackford, leader of the scottish national party in westminster. many thanks for your time this evening. time for a quick look at the weather prospects from chris fox. hello there, fine and sunny afternoon, although a little bit more the way of cloud, crossing skies and or thing in and wells. this was the scene over the

reservoir in loxley valley near sheffield, you can see a patch of cloud there. it was a very weak cold front, not bring any rain, just a few patches of cloud, but the front itself separates the fresh air we have across the north of the uk to the relatively warm air we have further south. 0vernight across the southern areas of england and wales, we will have the highest temperatures. 13—1adc, but a fresher feel to weather for the north. temperatures. 13—1adc, but a fresher feel to weatherfor the north. bear in mind wednesday morning could start off of the few fog patches in southwest england, but for many it isa southwest england, but for many it is a sunny start of the day. northern ireland could see a patch of fog here, working towards western scotla nd of fog here, working towards western scotland in the afternoon. temperatures generally into the high teens, feeling world where we do see sunshine, highest temperatures near the south.

christianity has changed their life, but they did not step out on it by choice. this woman and her injured father were among tens of thousands of workers stuck in cities without money and asked india ‘s lockdown. we went to getting food and drink hungry for two days. then i convinced my father it convinced my hungry for two days. then i convinced my father it that we should set off on the bicycle. she told bbc earlier this month. it took seven based from betty to india, history has grabbed the world. in her village, she has has become a celebrity. girls like you should be pouring in every home in india. she has been gifted for new bicycles. the government is building a plate at her home. and a tap means her family's access to water is easier than ever before. poverty forced her out of school, now she's been enrolled again. i never thought this could happen, and very happy, i want to get educated she says. as they adjust to a new life in the