that's it for the shortcut of click for this week. the full—length version is available for you right now on iplayer. and you can keep up with the team throughout the week on instagram, youtube, facebook and twitter. thanks for watching and we will see you soon. bye— bye. good afternoon. as we wait for the daily government news briefing which today is led by oliver dowden the culture, media and sport secretary and jonathan van—tam, the deputy chief medical officerfor england.

some scientific advisers to the government have warned of the risk of lifting the lockdown in england and wales, with rules set to change next week. several scientists on the advisory committee, sage, have raised concerns that restrictions are being relaxed too soon. from monday, up to six people in england can meet outside. but police forces are reminding people they must still only meet on a one—to—one basis this weekend. here's our political correspondent, jonathan blake. allowing groups to gather outside, a significant step out of lockdown, already taken in scotland and northern ireland. england and wales will follow on monday. with the number of coronavirus cases falling, ministers say the time is right, but some of those advising the government have concerns. if we make multiple releases of the lockdown at the same time, we won't know what is causing the inevitablejump in cases. and we don't have an established test, track and isolate process to follow these people up, so we are at a very risky point

where we could take the lid off a pot that is still bubbling in places, and it risks overflowing in these places. he is one of several members of the scientific advisory group for emergencies to speak out, after borisjohnson confirmed this week restrictions would be relaxed in england. these changes mean that friends and family can start to meet their loved ones, perhaps seeing both parents at once or both grandparents at once, and i know that, for many people, this will be a long awaited and joyful moment. downing street insists these decisions are informed by data and evidence and designed to ease the lockdown while keeping the rate of infection down, but some want more detail about the risk at a local level. the time has come, i think, to empower the public with much more information about the level of risk in their own part of the country, and i think it's now imperative that the government publishes this

regional r number on a regular basis so that the public can judge what they should do, in response to the level of risk they are facing. the mayor of london, sadiq khan, has also expressed concern about a rush to lift lockdown measures, but others argue easing restrictions could have a positive impact. there is a huge amount of stress and strain which goes along with not being able to see friends and family, and being able to see them, albeit at a distance, may help people's mental health and help them to live with lockdown a bit better, and may help them comply better. the debate will not change decisions already made but with so much at stake, the effect of easing the lockdown will be watched very closely. calum semple is a professor of outbreak medicine at the university of liverpool, and is part of the sage group of scientists who advise the government.

earlier he gave his response to number 10 saying that the the measures had been carefully designed "so that we can ease the burdens of lockdown while expecting to keep that r below one". it does not fill me with a huge degree of confidence. the letter are tells you about the increasing rate or the decreasing rate, it does not reflect the number of cases in the community —— the r number. we know we still have 2000 proven cases a day and that is because we have limited testing, the reality is it is probably closer to 8000 cases a day, so we still have a fairly high levels of transmission in the community and we are making several changes to lockdown, a period where we have excellent weather and people are desperate to get outside, and confidence in some of these restrictions has been eroded. we are ina

restrictions has been eroded. we are in a precarious position and i think having just a little bit more time letting the test, trace and isolate process come in, that would have perhaps been a better idea. professor susan michie is another member of sage — she's a professor of health psychology at university college london and is also concerned that the lockdown measures are not being lifted in the right way. 0ne one of the powerful reasons why the population has been so adherent is they really have developed a very strong sense of collective solidarity. we are in this together, we are helping each other getting through this and the concern now is that that sense of collective solidarity and of unity across different sections of the population is breaking down. i think it is important to recognise where people are at, bring everyone along, but it

does mean requiring understanding of what the challenges are in what sectors of the population and rather having —— rather than having blanket easing of restrictions, develop partnerships with civic organisations and begin to really listen to those who are going through the problems who can generate solutions so there is this collective approach to, if adherence is dwindling, and why. so we understand the nature of the problem in order to think how best to intervene, to help with it, rather than, asi intervene, to help with it, rather than, as i say, this blanket easing of restrictions, which are already concerning and i think if it moves to things like opening nonessential shops, i think we are in really a lot of trouble at that point. the concerns shown by sage members have also been echoed

by other members of the scientific community, including professor sian griffiths, chair of staffordshire university's centre for health and development and professor of public health at the chinese university of hong kong. being able to meet, and ifully concur that we need to be very careful when we are meeting and i ee, careful when we are meeting and i agree, picnics are better than barbecues. do everything you can to reduce the spread but at the same time, get that thrill of seeing your family orfriends time, get that thrill of seeing your family or friends but be very careful. undoubtedly, if it was the model is, they would be saying it is not yet safe, the numbers do not indicate it is it safe enough. sorry to interrupt, but if that is the case and the modellers are saying it is not correct, and you think it is reasonable to assume that if the scientists are casting doubt on this political decision, then surely something needs to change? while...

something needs to come back, because that was the message a few weeks ago. we'll have our parts to play in it and i go back to this idea that it is about what we do as as anything else. i think keeping the social hygiene messages is important and as i say, there are different groups of scientists who may be giving different advice for top i am not on stage, i do not know, but i think there is a huge amount of stress that goes along with not being able to see your family ——i with not being able to see your family —— i am not on sage. being able to see people at a distance may help people's mental health and may help people's mental health and may help people's mental health and may help people comply better because there is always the issue of compliance with advice and we haven't really touched on that today, but people need to understand that the risks are still there and need to weigh up the risks for themselves. so many issues to cover

it today. with me now is our health correspondent catherine burns. i thinkjust watching some of those professors and concerns expressed leaves one with the feeling that the government have been clear about following the science and whether we are now seeing following the science and whether we are now seeing some sense following the science and whether we are now seeing some sense of dissent in the ranks, in terms of you have some scientists sitting on the sage committee saying we are actually not co mforta ble committee saying we are actually not comfortable with the easing of lockdown, as you're putting it, the political decision, and really starting to make it clear. it is my observation somewhere along...e starting to make it clear. it is my observation somewhere along... ? i have been trying to take a bit of a snapshot on whether it is. we are talking about sage which is the committee that advises the government and after that there are subcommittees. 0ff sage, we have managed either speak to or read the tweets of seven people who i think this is not right for us. i will give you a flavour. the level of

infections are still very high. we are ina infections are still very high. we are in a precarious position. 0ne says that we are making several changes at the same time and they would prefer it if we did one at a time. covid—i9 is it spreading to faster to lift lockdown in london, another says. i would have waited a few more weeks to wait to make the changes announced. that is just on the main sage committee. 0n the subcommittees that feed into this, but these are scientists who are advising the government, once said to me, i am advising the government, once said to me, iam not against advising the government, once said to me, i am not against relaxing the lockdown but it needs to be more gradual. they were saying, if you think, this three week lag between any measures being taken and the effect kicking in, which is what we saw when we went into lockdown, they are saying, let's come out of lockdown in the same way. let's do something and then three weeks later do something else and then three weeks later at something else. another one said to me, we are still dealing with a staggering number of daily deaths. we have not got a grip on this. i said, i am also trying to

find a scientist who are saying we are backing the government, saying they are doing the right thing, and they are doing the right thing, and they said you will find it hard to find someone who says the government is following the science. the garment has the prerogative to ignore the science but if they do that they owe the country and its the notion of where they are doing this does migrate the government. —— an explanation of why they are doing this. we have not found a scientist who is willing to come in records and say otherwise put up at the press c0 nfe re nce and say otherwise put up at the press conference today, it will be interesting to see what is said. can you put it into context as yet in terms of the number of people who may well be supportive of this?|j think may well be supportive of this?” think there will be several. it is a saturday, you cannot get through to everybody, not all the numbers are there. in no way i am presenting this as a scientific fact, it is just a snapshot of what we found today. there are obviously scientists who are very high up the pecking order at who are appearing at the government briefing who may have other things to say. it will be interesting to see what is said

today. indeed, and you are going to stay with us for that briefing. in a moment we will be due to lee mack are joined moment we will be due to lee mack arejoined by viewers moment we will be due to lee mack are joined by viewers on moment we will be due to lee mack arejoined by viewers on bbc one, today led by the culture secretary. now, time for a look at the weather. whatever you are doing, the chances are you have blue sky and sunshine, it seems like this. it really is a sunny saturday for all of us. as we go through to this evening, it looks like you we will keep those blue skies. the easterly breeze could just pick up a little cloud of the north sea, affecting eastern scotla nd north sea, affecting eastern scotland and north—east england. it isa scotland and north—east england. it is a comfortable night for trying to get a good night sleep, temperature is diving back between eight and 13 degrees. we start after my morning with any low cloud and mist quickly melting away. lots of sunshine expected once again. that easterly breeze will always just temper the feel of things along that east coast, highest values of 21 degrees, but further inland, with shelter, we

could see 26 or 27. the sunshine and the warmth is likely to stay monday and tuesday. if that is what you like, make the most of it with change to come from wednesday onwards.

you're watching bbc news — and we welcome viewers on bbc one and bbc world news as we expect today's coronavirus government briefing from downing street to start shortly. it's led today by the culture, media and sport secretary, 0liver dowden, and professorjonathan van tam, the deputy chief medical officerfor england. with me now is our health correspondent catherine burns. a quick few headlines of what we might expect today? the interesting thing today will be seeing what the scientists say. we have had the government starting to bring in some levels of us opening up we have seen in the last day or so a bit of controversy about that. we have seen scientists from sage, the group that advises the government, saying this

is