good morning, welcome to bbc news, i'm victoria derbyshire here are the headlines.... hands up, don't shoot! tens of thousands defy curfews to take part in largely peaceful protests in cities across the united states, following the killing of george floyd. george floyd's family spoke of their heartache, afterjoining protesters in his home city of houston in texas. he will never see her grow up and graduate. he will never walk her down the

aisle. black lives matter will stage a protest london's hyde park this lunchtime labour leader sir keir starmer says borisjohnson needs to "get a grip" and restore public confidence in ministers‘ handling of the pandemic. nhs test and trace will help britain get back to normal by breaking the chain of infection. a clinical contact tracer tells us exclusively she's spent much of her time since the government's track and trace system went live last week watching netflix — because she hasn't been assigned a single case. she spoke to me anonymously. i've worked 38 hours as a contract tracer. i say "worked", i've been available to work, as a contract tracer, since it went live. and i've yet to, in over 38 hours, to make a single phone call. we'll play you that interview at 9:30 and let me know — have you been called by a contact tracer? also this morning... portugal's foreign minister says british tourists would be most welcome in his country this summer —

and that his government is talking to the home office about a so called ‘air bridge‘ between the two countries also this hour, british airways cabin crew tell us they're ashamed of the airline — and are suffering from anxiety amid the news that thousands of theirjobs are at risk. demonstrators have defied curfews in cities around the united states, protesting over the death of george floyd, who was killed after a white police officer knelt on his neck. big marches took place in los angeles, atlanta and new york. around 1,600 soldiers have been flown to bases around washington in response to the protests there. in houston, mr floyd's family

joined 60,000 people in a march in his memory, as nada tawfik reports. this is what those officers took from me... choked with emotion, the mother of george floyd's six—year—old daughter gianna speaks of the gaping hole left by his death. we will never see her grow up, graduate, he will never walk her down the aisle. if there's a problem she's having and she needs her dad, she does not have that anymore. roxie washington says he was a good father who continued to take care of his family after he moved from houston to minneapolis. what she wants now is justice for him and gianna. chanting

sharing in their pain and the pain of the nation, tens of thousands marched through the streets of downtown houston. alongside them, 16 members of the floyd family who again urged protesters to remain peaceful. they're expecting you to behave unbecomingly. carry yourself like a fool! but we don't have to do that. once again, look around! we all we got! let me hear you say it — we all we got! all: we all we got! we all we got! all: we all we got! 0ne victory to come out of the demand for widespread change — the state where mr floyd died, minnesota, announced a civil rights investigation of the minneapolis police department. governor tim walz said that police policies and practices over the last ten years would be scrutinised. minnesotans, you can expect our administration to use every tool at our disposal to try and deconstruct systemic racism that is generations deep. and as we move forward,

we're going to need to do it with the community, but i think the thing i'm hearing from the protesters is, we're not...we‘re not watching and we don't care what you say. we care what you do. cheering. protests across the country showed no sign of waning tuesday night. in new york's union square, nurses took to their knees to show solidarity with activists. healthcare workers have been cheered daily for the efforts fighting the coronavirus, but they thought it more appropriate to applaud and honour those fighting a different kind of disease. as an 8pm curfew set in, officials braced for another night of demonstrations and possible unrest. after months of eerily quiet streets, new york, once the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, is finally starting to reopen. but as it does, american cities are facing another epidemic — racism, and the consequences of ignoring decades of injustice and inequality. nada tawfik, bbc news, new york.

in new york, thousands of protestors ignored the curfew, halting traffic on manhattan bridge. they were boxed—in by police blockades on both ends of the bridge. i don't know if you can quite make that out. elsewhere in the city, traffic police have been deployed to prevent a repeat of the looting seen in manhattan in recent nights. in washington, protesters rallied in front of the lincoln memorial. the large crowd sat in front of the memorial, while the national guard and other law enforcemnent officials were stationed across its famous steps, cutting off access. the show of force was criticised by many on social media with people questioning why so many officers were needed. here in the uk, george floyd's death continues to resonate. the global organisation black lives matter will stage a protest in hyde park in london later, despite it going against government

guidelines on social distancing. this was sunday in central london. chant: george floys, george floyd! protests over the death of african—american george floyd, who was killed in minnesota, after a white police officer knelt on his neck, have occurred in cities around the uk. but this week there were more plans of protests in britain because the death of george floyd is just one of the issues people in the black communities say they are angry over. the black british community feel they are fighting their own many battles with racism. i think that it's notjust a problem for black america, it's a problem for black people everywhere, so i think once this kind of unrest happens in one place in the world, everyone has a kind of solidarity with it, like, and we have all experienced that somewhere everywhere, every country has this kind of racism. it is important to come together and show the world that

black lives matter as much as climate change, as much as everything else that seems so dear to people's hearts. i feel like we really have to beg people to come when it is to do with a black person's life. you know, you see people posting things on social media in solidarity but that is not enough. we have been talking to a number of people here who did not want to appear on camera, who are angry enough to protest, who say that the uk has its own issues, including how the police treat black people, the windrush scandal, the grenfell tower tragedy, and the number of key workers from black ethnic minorities backgrounds that have died as a result of fighting covid—i9. white people have had privilege for centuries and black people are angry because nobody is listening to them, their voices are not being heard, the government are not listening, the white house is not listening. it is just fighting for what is right, fighting for the right to live. no—one asks to be

pushed to the back of the queue but black people were. we will talk to some british protesters who are going to that protesters who are going to that protest shortly. we had a peaceful night in minneapolis, a contrast to many nights across america. it feels like the city, this is where the entire movement started. this, right here, is where george floyd lost his life. this city seems to have turned a corner, where, five or six days ago, the city was burning. there were fires being set up businesses, looting, there were protesters being tear gassed. for three nights straight, we have not seen anything like that, the protests have been peaceful. police have arrested some

people who violated the curfew. but not in this location. in this location, where there is a memorial set up for george floyd, police have left protesters alone and let them to protest all night. while we are still seeing disturbing acts of violence and many other cities, that has not been the case here.|j violence and many other cities, that has not been the case here. i wonder if you think there is peaceful demonstrations that you are now witnessing the are going to spread across the states? that is what we are hoping, we have heard those powerful comments from the floyd family in houston, an emotional appeal to keep the protests peaceful, to not let violence distract from the message. that has really been what we have heard from the protesters here. they want this to be an opportunity to talk about institutional racism. to talk about what has been happening in america. when we see images of looting and americans being tear gassed, it distracts from what people are trying to accomplish. thank you very

much for talking to as again. michael george, in minneapolis, where george floyd died. daniel has been taking part in protests in portland. tell us what it has been like that? i came out with a heartbroken, just like everybody else did in the city of portland, to show solidarity and support for the people of minneapolis, to george floyd's loved ones. we occupied the justice centre steps, in an effort to raise awareness and also let his family know that we are there to support them. we had about two mega days, two and a half days of peaceful occupation in front of the doorsteps of the justice centre, demanding justice. for george floyd, in minneapolis, as

well as those in 0regon. in minneapolis, as well as those in oregon. the crowd started building, we had people come out that were upset. unfortunately, we have had to deal with a lot of backlash from law enforcement, who are not very happy we are out there, standing up for oui’ we are out there, standing up for our rights, and be in solidarity with the folks of minneapolis. we are showing footage from you or your friend of some of the protests, when you say a backlash from law enforcement, tell us what that involved from your point of view. we have had to deal with a lot of tear gas. the reports i was getting after the first night, they almost run out of tear gas. there are explosives that look like fireworks. they drive around in brands that look like

swat. they jump off around in brands that look like swat. theyjump off and toss these canisters at you. —— in vans. they we re canisters at you. —— in vans. they were telling us to get out of downtown portland. they were saying go home, riding around, people that we re go home, riding around, people that were still on the streets, they said go home and about two seconds later they were gassing us. they are doing things in the streets that don't seem very legal. it's disheartening, how much the police are not letting us how much the police are not letting us bea how much the police are not letting us be a peaceful protest, because they are inciting violence by the way flash bombs, tear gas canisters. the first thing that came out, they we re the first thing that came out, they were just driving around and spraying were just driving around and spraying pepper spray were just driving around and spraying pepper spray are people. we wa nt spraying pepper spray are people. we want people to know that we are not here to tear up our town. we are not here to tear up our town. we are not here to tear up our town. we are not here to loot stores or anything like that. we want peace,

we want justice. it just seems that. we want peace, we want justice. itjust seems like we are having a hard time getting out. because the same people, the people that killed droid —— george floyd, we are having to deal with them. what would you like to see? we are having to deal with them. what would you like to see ?|j we are having to deal with them. what would you like to see? i would like to see justice served for george floyd and his family. i would like to see some police reform. i would love to see police accountability. those are the things that we need, in an effort to make things better. the relationship between police and immunity, police and citizens in the united states is damaged severely. i would love to see that relationship ended. we have a saying here called acab, and i am sure people can find out what that

means, right now, when we say black lives matter, while black lives are the ones that are being slain in the streets right now, we are seeing bloodshed, the loss of life, at a higher rate than anywhere else in the country, i would like to see that stop. i would like to see that abolished. i would like to see the system changed. i would like to see police reform. thank you for talking to us. we are going to talk to two people joining to us. we are going to talk to two peoplejoining the to us. we are going to talk to two people joining the protests to us. we are going to talk to two peoplejoining the protests in london today. tell us why you are going to this protest. i think the answer is about justice, justice for george floyd in america, and calling for our government to condemn the actions of donald trump and the us sanction to police violence. and as well, protesting for black lives at home.

and to change the culture of institutionalised racism in the uk. brogan, what about yourself?m institutionalised racism in the uk. brogan, what about yourself? it is a problem that hits home for a lot of people, especially black people even here. it's ridiculous in this country it is still taboo to talk about racism. do you really think so? i've been working at the bbc for 25 years, i know i'll be accused of white privilege, that's fair enough, but i have been involved in conversations about racism for decades. i'm not saying that's led to progress, i'm just saying we are open to these conversations.” to progress, i'm just saying we are open to these conversations. i think may be in the news we are, but not in real life. i don't think a lot of people acknowledge, especially in this country, that racism exists. a lot of people are offended by it,

they think that black people are saying that it's a white problem, and we are against white people. when really it is not black people against white people, it's black people and white people against racism. that is what it is supposed to be. some people think, actually, we don't have an issue with racism in the uk? we most definitely do. i'm not doubting that for a moment, but do you think that progress has been made, it's not a big deal, certainly not like the united states ? certainly not like the united states? well, there's definitely a lot of inequality in the way that people are treated. for example, my dad works in a bank in the city, and he has been stopped over 120 times on his way to work. he has been stopped by armed police for allegations. and just a lot of things. sorry, i'm welling up right now. please don't feed off i was just going to say

—— please don't dr, i wasjust going to just going to say —— please don't dr, i was just going to say, why do you think he has been stopped so many times? i think it is racial profiling. it is silly reasons they are stopping people, you fit the description of this person. itjust doesn't seem right. and we have many examples, for example, raoul moat admittedly killed his ex—girlfriend and her boyfriend, and was talked to for over six hours, holding a deadly weapon, while other people are being beaten up by police behind closed doors and other people are being beaten up over allegations. do you think britain has the same or similar issues to do with race and law enforcement as the us? 0r similar issues to do with race and law enforcement as the us? or not? yes, i do. law enforcement as the us? or not? yes, ido. i law enforcement as the us? or not? yes, i do. ithink law enforcement as the us? or not? yes, i do. i think america acts as the litmus test for the whole global system. i don't think it is fair to make the assumption that... i

hear a lot of people in the argument saying, at least it's not america, or we can't compare the brutality gear to the one in the states. but we've had sarah reeves, who died the same way sandra bland has, we have had an issue of police brutality, and the same sort of institutionalised racism that deals with this persecution of over policing of black people all over the world, the same in france, the same in the uk, the same in brazil and the us. how do you think the coronavirus pandemic plays into this? i think it's unfair to believe that we are protesting, blase, that we are not aware of the pandemic. in fa ct, we are not aware of the pandemic. in fact, we are acutely aware. as we have seen with the reports that have been released, black people and ethnic minorities are more

susceptible to catching the virus, and are less likely to receive the same treatment in hospitals. so, we are aware that there is the risk of the virus, we have close relations who have been affected. but the protests, despite the pandemic, shows the urgency of the condition, that this is our only avenue. we tried to petition, we try to write to mps, we tried to open a dialogue. we have had this discourse since 1999, the mcpherson report, and we are still talking about the same issues that haven't changed to do with this type of systematic racism in the police service. brogan, what words would you use to describe how you feel about the need to take part ina

you feel about the need to take part in a protest in the uk, in 2020, about racism ? in a protest in the uk, in 2020, about racism? it's imperative, that all of us, whether you are black, white, that you are involved in this, because we need change and we need it now. it is upsetting that we are still talking about this in 2020, when we have been fighting the same fight for decades and decades. since martin luther king, since the jim crow laws, we have been fighting the same fight. obviously we are not in the same position and it is not as bad as it used to be, but we are still fighting to be accepted. and it's ridiculous. thank you both very much. thank you for coming on the programme. that rally in london is at hyde park and there is one in birmingham tomorrow. as of monday almost anyone arriving in the uk will have to quarantine for 1h days.

in an interview with the bbc, portugal's foreign minister says british tourists will be "most welcome" this summer. augusto santos silva confirmed that his government is talking to officials at the home office about securing what's known as an air bridge agreement between portugal and the uk so that, in the future, tourists returning from portugal might not have to self—isolate for two weeks. you are welcome. so you can visit places in portugal, you can spend your holidays in portugal and, if you used to spend holidays in portugal, you can come to us this summer. because we are preparing well to receive you with the most safest conditions. we are already contacting in order to see if the quarantine that was imposed by the uk until the end ofjune cannot be prolonged throughoutjuly or august, because if it was prolonged,

of course, the holidays of british people and portuguese people living in the united kingdom in portugal would be very severely damaged, put in question. so, quarantine is an enemy of tourism. the government say it's important to keep the country safe from infected passengers. when asked why these measures are being brought in now, health minister edward argar said putting restrictions in sooner wouldn't have impacted the spread of the disease. once the response to this disease moved from the phases earlier on back in march, the cmo effectively said this disease is now having wide community transition already in the uk, and it is prevalent within this

country. and, therefore, putting restrictions at the border at that point, the medical advice was, would have virtually no impact on the spread of the disease. and we saw some countries at that stage you had done it, and actually ended up with very, very high infection rates. so, the medical advice was that, at that point, when it was spreading so rapidly already within our community, it wouldn't have been affected. now we are getting that under control, now those numbers are being brought down, it's one of those measures, alongside test and trace and so on, that actually will help us control and contain the disease again in the future. and that's why, now come on the basis of the advice, we think this is the right time to bring forward the proposals the home secretary set out later today. let's speak to our business presenter ben thompson. how will this affect the aviation and travel industry? yes, you heard

from portugal's foreign minister, sa ntos from portugal's foreign minister, santos silva, saying quarantine as the enemy of tourism. it is something we have heard from all the big travel firms, airlines, travel agents and the wider industry, because very few people will be willing, it seems, to book a two—week holiday in the sun and then have to book another two weeks off after that to be able to quarantine themselves when they return to the uk. now, plans are expected to be announced by the home secretary later this afternoon. those plans will insist that anyone returning to the uk will need to quarantine themselves, and if they don't they will face a fine of up to £1000. what they are hoping for, and this is something that all of the travel phones are pinning their hopes on, is the idea of air bridges. that is a link between the uk and countries with lower infection rates that could provide some sort of answer. so, it would be a specific list of destinations where people may be able to go on holiday safely

and return without having to quarantine themselves. but we already heard that, unlike portugal, which says yes, tourists are welcome this summer, yes, they will be welcome and there may be less nightlife, there might be fewer things to do, people will not be able to congregate in groups, spain said until the infection rate in the uk falls significantly... 0k, ok, ben, i'm sorry, forthe ok, ben, i'm sorry, for the first time since we chatted at you at home in all those weeks, suddenly skype has given up on us. we are going to talk to norman smith right now, our assistant political editor. you may have read that keir starmer has accused boris johnson have read that keir starmer has accused borisjohnson of have read that keir starmer has accused boris johnson of winging have read that keir starmer has accused borisjohnson of winging it over plans to ease a lockdown and suggests he needs to get a grip on

the crisis or risk a second wave of infections. speaking to the guardian he also accuses the prime minister of causing a collapse in public confidence, in part due to the dominic cummings row, and said number 10 will be directly responsible if infection rates begin to rise. let talk to norman at westminster. good morning. people say sir keir starmer has been relatively moderate when it comes to criticising the government in recent weeks. this is much stronger?m criticising the government in recent weeks. this is much stronger? it is. he has adopted a fairly clinical, restrained, analytical approach. a lot of labour mps believe it has paid dividends, forced borisjohnson to concentrate on detail, where he is not so comfortable. what we get todayis is not so comfortable. what we get today is a significant raising of the stakes. he is in effect saying that boris johnson the stakes. he is in effect saying that borisjohnson will be personally culpable if there is a rise in infections, or if the virus spreads, or there is an increase in

deaths, because of his handling of the easing of the lockdown. which he, frankly, thinks has been mishandled, that he has rushed to the test and trace scheme out, he has ended shielding too suddenly. there have been conflicting messages and, of course, the bloated public confidence from the dominic cummings saga. some in labour, i think, take the view that they should have been his approach all along, that he has actually been a bit bloodless, and he has let borisjohnson off the hook. i think the thinking of team starmer is that borisjohnson is one of those politicians who always managed to evade responsibility, and in this crisis, that has, they would argue, been evident of the fact that he has been able to hide behind scientists, or he has been able to express regret for what has happened in care homes, while somehow distancing the government from any responsibility for what happened in ca re responsibility for what happened in care homes. what they want to do is

to pin the blame, or the responsibility, very directly on borisjohnson for the responsibility, very directly on boris johnson for the mistakes that they believe were shown to have been made in the handling of the coronavirus outbreak and which have already led to us having the highest death rate in europe. the quarantine plans which we were just trying to talk about with ben thompson, they are going to be announced by the home secretary today. it will be interesting to see the detail. the daily mail claims dominic cummings came up with this idea to distract from what was going on in care homes? number 10 vehemently denied that. either way, it's homes? number 10 vehemently denied that. eitherway, it's pretty homes? number 10 vehemently denied that. either way, it's pretty clear that. either way, it's pretty clear that the home secretary, priti patel, is very much in favour of the quarantine. she has written a joint article with the transport secretary grant shapps, they have pitched the argument that it is all about the scientific advice and ensuring there is no increase in infections being brought into the country from abroad, saying we outwit to those that have lost their lives from

covid. —— we owe it to those. an awful lot of the detail will have to be looked at very closely, not least of which how on earth this is going to be enforced. because it seems the 14 to be enforced. because it seems the 1a day self isolating is going to be checked out by public health england. public health england have got rather a lot on their plate with testing, never mind ringing round and trying to find out who is self isolating. and there have been suggestions that actually the checking will only amount to around one in five people actually being given a phone call, then the police would have to be sent round, the police have a lot on their plate too. there are question marks about how a the enforcement will be, and at the same time there is a huge momentum building up in the tory backbenchers to get around this quarantine by establishing air bridges with other countries, so that people can travel to and fro, and so people can have their summer holidays without having to come back and isolate.

we are going to talk about british airways in the next half an hour with cabin crew who say they are threatened with redundancy and they are being given the opportunity, they say, to reapply for theirjobs after redundancy on a much reduced pay packet. norman mentioned contact tracing. a clinical contract tracer has told me exclusively she's spent much of her time since the government's track and trace system went live watching netflix, because she hasn't been assigned a single case. the government's scheme began in england last thursday. the woman who i've been speaking to is a nurse, and has worked around 38 hours in total so far, over several shifts, earning £17.35 an hour. she says she hasn't made one call in that time and feels guilty for being paid to "sit idle". i spoke to "becky" yesterday evening — it's not her real name, because she asked to remain anonymous.

it was on the downing street briefing on wednesday, led by matt hancock, that i found out that the system was going live on thursday morning. since the system's online, i've worked 38 hours as a contact tracer. i say worked, i've been available to work as a contact racer since it went live and i'm yet, over 38 hours, to make a single phone call or be assigned a case. so you've worked 38 hours as a clinical contact tracer, on shift, since the system went live and you haven't phoned anyone? no. i've had no contact from anyone. i've had no contact from supervisors, i've literally been on the system, refreshed the system and entertained myself during that watching netflix. what are you watching? i've been watching the good place. i've returned back to season one and now i'm halfway through season

three. i've just watched it, alongside going back to the system, refreshing it, occasionally having to log back in because it's timed out. yes, i'm yet to have contact with anybody regarding contact tracing. so taxpayers are paying you to watch netflix? yes, and it is frustrating, because, you know, i have signed up to become a contact tracer in my professional capacity, which is, you know, underpinned by public health. the reason why i have signed up to do this is to support the greater good of our communities. i live in a high incidence area. i assumed, for that reason, we would have quite a few calls to make in relation to contact tracing, in order to try and control the virus. i'm disappointed that i'm sat idle, when i could be otherwise giving my time to maybe

wards within the nhs. i would normally pick up shifts elsewhere. it's just very frustrating and what i find most frustrating is the lack of transparency and what i'm doing here is trying to offer transparency from my professional perspective. now, i can't speak for other contact tracers, but myself and my own personal experience, i'm yet to apply any of my professional skills as a nurse in the role as a contact tracer. and why do you think you haven't had to call anyone? what is going on? it is a difficult one, really. i can't imagine it's because we haven't had positive tests, because its apparent that we are still getting quite high numbers of positive tests. i would suggest it is possibly because we haven't yet got a system which is ready to function and it has been pushed forward prematurely.

as a member of the british general public, i would prefer that people in government say it is not ready yet, hang fire, step back, let's wait a moment, it is still dangerous out there. we need an effective track and trace system so that we can start to release lockdown when we have got some control of this, instead of giving the illusion that there are systems in place to try and control it and i don't personally feel that that is where we aren't at present. the health secretary matt hancock said to mps today, i'm just going to read it, he thinks the test and trace system is "working well, as thousands of people have been contracted..." like you. "..and their contacts traced." what do you say to that? from my 38 hours of experience as a contact tracer, since going live, i've not made any contacts.

so from my personal experience, i can't see that that has been occurring, unless there are people who are in the same position as me who have been getting the phone calls to make. personally, i've not had a single phone call since it went live on thursday. i mean, maybe it is good news, maybe we are all observing social distancing so much that there is no one you need to contact to tell them that someone they've been close to has had a positive test. i think if you look across the media, it is quite apparent that there are lots of people in groups, at beaches and in parks and at other beauty spots. i think that some of the social distancing has become lesser and, even from my experience of popping to the supermarket, there's not a lot of social distancing occurring. so i feel that there's a false sense of security, that we are kind of stepping out of the danger zone and that there isn't a disease. do you feel guilty, just sitting there, refreshing your screen and watching netflix?

i do, yes, definitely. i've gone into nursing because it is a vocation and i've gone into this role with the intention of providing care for people in whichever capacity i can. this contact tracing idea, which is working in other countries, like in germany, it is quite effective, it is frustrating to know that i am sat idle when there are people that need contacting. i can't understand why we haven't had any contacts. it doesn't make any sense to me. what do you think of that? i think it's appalling. i think it's dishonest. and that is one of the fundamental concerns about this. we are trying to build a very large system that is trying to keep people in england safe, to try and prevent a second spike. i understand it is complex and i understand there are going to be challenges,

but, from my perspective, as a citizen of england, i would prefer honesty. it is not ready yet. hold fire. you know, they have released aspects of lockdown which, without track and trace, it is not safe to do so. not having a system up and running is obviously frustrating, but it's about people's lives. becky, thank you very much for talking to us. the department of health and social care told us in a statement... "the new nhs test and trace service is up and running "and will help save lives. "these claims do not reflect the huge amount "of work already underway. "anyone in this country can book a test and we have over 25,000 "contact tracers in place to undertake this vital work." have you been called by a contact tracer? let me know. you can message me on twitter or send

us an e—mail, victoria@bbc.co.uk. victoria send us an e—mail, victoria@bbc. co. uk. victoria says contact tracing has been completely pointless. kelly says what do people expect, it is brand—new and in its infa ncy expect, it is brand—new and in its infancy and will take time. would people rather the government didn't set this up and we needed it? give it time, for goodness' sake. hi, victoria, i was contacted by a tracer two days after my partner was diagnosed with covid—19. on the first call, the computer system crashed and they said they would phone me back the next day. they did and it crashed again so they rang the day after that. they asked for my address, date of birth and phone number. i was told it would be 20 minutes and asked of questions and advice, and after three minutes, it was over after i gave my information. ricky said what is so ha rd to information. ricky said what is so hard to grasp? if there are 25,000 traces but only 2000 confirmed cases, there are going to be some

who aren't going to be doing much. please can you stop this ridiculous storyline? emma says a friend of mine requested a test last wednesday, still nothing in the post, can't track and trace it no one tests positive. really interested to hear from you, have you been contacted by one of the contact tracers? let me know. british airways cabin crew have told this programme that they are ashamed to work for the company and they are having to take sleeping pills and are suffering with anxiety amid news that their jobs are at risk. ba says up to 12,000 staff could be made redundant due to severe losses in the covid—19 pandemic and have asked thousands of workers to take pay cuts and accept new conditions or face losing theirjobs. some reports say that employees — who have been placed on consultation — have been told they must accept pay cuts of up to 60% if they want to continue working for the airline. we can talk now to angela — not her real name — who's worked for ba for 25 years and has been told she could be made redundant.

i'm also joined by len mccluskey, the general secretary of unite — which represents ba cabin crew. and chris loder, the conservative mp for west dorset and member of the transport select committee. angela, good morning. iwanted to ask you how you feel you have been treated by british airways. good morning, victoria. ithink treated by british airways. good morning, victoria. i think what we are hearing a lot at the moment from crew is how sad we all are about what is happening, but i also think a lot of what we are feeling is angen a lot of what we are feeling is anger. i mean, fora a lot of what we are feeling is anger. i mean, for a company to make £1.2 billion in profit, it sort of ta kes £1.2 billion in profit, it sort of takes more than the board members having some good ideas, it means hacking away, really, for years at operating costs and reducing legroom and stuff like that and to really make the profit, yourfront—line staff have to keep people coming back. i mean, that is where

the revenue comes in, so, for all of us, for so many years, we have been apologising pretty much all day every day and trying our best to bring people back because we love wearing the uniform and we are so proud of working for ba, and i think because we have had to do that for so because we have had to do that for so long, to make this one billion profit, i think to then not only receive a penny of bonus from that, by the way, but to then find out from a news by now that the company we have defended for so many years is making us redundant, without exploring, it seems to us, one other option to help protect ourjobs, and to do it without a word of empathy or thanks, just seems so callous to us or thanks, just seems so callous to us and! or thanks, just seems so callous to us and i think people asking us what we are feeling, a lot of what we are feeling is grief. we are grieving for a company that we were once so proud to call our employer and,

instead of pride, we are now feeling com pletely instead of pride, we are now feeling completely betrayed and i think that comes as a huge shock when you have devoted your life to a brand you have loved for so long. 25 years in your case. british airways have given a statement, saying they are acting now to protect as manyjobs as possible, the airline industry is facing the deeper structural change in its history as well as facing a severely weakened global economy. we call on unite and the gmb to consult with us on our proposals as our pilot union is doing. working together, we can protect morejobs as wework for a new future. what do you say to that? i would say that we ta ke you say to that? i would say that we take that on board, we know these are tough times, we are not idiots by any means as ba staff, we understand about the structural change but, surely, for a company with ba's revenue and wealth, to restructure, you have the time and a privilege ba have two really use

the union as our voice and to treat employees as just more than collateral damage in this, so eve ryo ne collateral damage in this, so everyone involved in this, they are capable of empathising with people who have given their working lives to bringing passengers back again and again and i think if you allow a company with as much revenue as ba to just use mass redundancies as the first and only option for a temporary problem, i am scared it is just a green light for other companies to follow suit and that would affect everyone in britain in the months after the pandemic. what we wa nt the months after the pandemic. what we want is very simple, we just want some respect for passengers, some respect and recognition in these troubled times and treat the union as our voice because it is all we have got at the moment. let's talk to len mccluskey, general secretary of unite. there is a massive drop in demand for air travel, it has

gone through the floor. what can ba do in these circumstances? well, they can withdraw their section one, they are the only company my union deals with, and we deal with over 35,000 companies, who have taken the opportunity to use this crisis to issue consultation legislation that issue consultation legislation that is unlawful, in our opinion. listening to angela and to the thousands of members who work for british airways, it is heartbreaking. it is a wanton act of industrial vandalism, industrial thuggery. what they are doing and it is important to your viewers know this, they tend to sack 42,000 —— is attempted to sack 42,000 employees and then re—employ 30,000 of them on rates and pay and conditions

of 60 or 70% less. it is disgraceful. of course, the aviation sector and indeed many other sectors in our country, manufacturing, hospitality, are going through difficult times and we have proved in the past with british airways that we are capable of sitting down and resolving their issues but the fact of the matter is that they have to take a step back. we are already negotiating and discussing with other airline companies who have taken a different approach and angela mentioned one particular important word, and that is respect. and that is all workers want, they wanted to be treated respectfully and have the sword of da mocles respectfully and have the sword of damocles ta ken away respectfully and have the sword of damocles taken away from them, let's sit down and talk properly about the problem i can delete problems that british airways have. if those conversations happen, are you saying you could help avoid all of those

redundancies, or are you saying there are other options? what is achievable? there are lots of options. it british airways behave sensibly and we get into a room to debate it, and i have said to the ceo on a number of occasions, i will meet anywhere, anytime, in order to try and deal with their issues. we saved them billions just a few years ago dealing with changes in the pension scheme. our shop stewards, our representatives, all of the sectors, and, remember, we represent the membership right across the different sectors and british airways... briefly, before i bring in chris loder, have you not had any conversations from unite with the ba executives? we have had conversations, trying to get them to move away from what i can only describe as industrial thuggery. they are the only company that our sacking the whole of

their workforce. this is a workforce, incidentally that, over the past few yea rs, incidentally that, over the past few years, has made the company billions and billions of pounds of profit. step back and can ijust say before you bring chris in, i want to thank chris and his colleagues, this is an all—party approach. the prime minister is interested in this and we are hoping that pressure will be brought to bear on british airways to do the right thing, step back from the brink and lets try to help each other out, including, we have been involved with discussions with the government over an aviation sector package, because the government will have to assist in this process. chris loder, you are a conservative mp, your party is in power. what are they going to do for the aviation sector to try and prevent the aviation sector to try and p reve nt te ns the aviation sector to try and prevent tens of thousands of redundancies, not just at prevent tens of thousands of redundancies, notjust at ba but across the sector? i think it is very clear that the government is doing a great deal already and one of the great frustration that i have

at the moment is that the job retention scheme, which is otherwise known as furlough, is being taken up by british airways to the considerable extent, to the tune of give or take £35 million for april alone, so the government itself is doing a great deal. the thing that is so wrong with all of this is that you have a company such as british airways, that is undoubtedly the national flag carrying airline of the united kingdom, that is taking government money, it is using this opportunity, which is an opportunity for british airways, to grasp their staff, slash their terms and conditions and to the extent where some viewers may recall, when i asked willie walsh in the transport select committee the other day, are you planning to go to compulsory redundancy or voluntary redundancy,

he told me that was subject to consultation. i'm afraid it feels to me now, with the light of this new news, that that was indeed disingenuous because...” news, that that was indeed disingenuous because... i just news, that that was indeed disingenuous because... ijust want to be really clear, then, british airways is taking british taxpayers' money to pay 80% of many of their staffs' wages and then threatening them with redundancy. is that abusing the furlough scheme?” believe it is, very clearly so. i think british airways need to take ca re think british airways need to take care here. i have been very moved by the communication i have received from british airways employees, not only in my constituency but across the country and i wrote an open and personal letter to those employees on the 15th of may. i think ba need to take care because parliament is very exercised about this. we have an urgent question, which is coming to the house of commons later this morning, and i feel that there is cross—party morning, and i feel that there is cross— party support, across morning, and i feel that there is cross—party support, across the whole house of commons, that will

take ba to task. and i think that is very sad... i am sorry, to take them to task? that doesn't change what they are planning to do. the point being that british airways now, i believe, is abusing the trust not only of its employees, but of the nation. the united kingdom parliament speaks on behalf of the nation and we shall do as much as we can to make sure that that voice is well heard. there are no two ways about it. i think i described, if i re call about it. i think i described, if i recall correctly, ba as a commercial predator and i have to say, everything i am seeing now, to the fa ct everything i am seeing now, to the fact that we are now in the position of threatening every single member of threatening every single member of staff with the sack and only reinstating them on massively reduced terms and conditions, that is not the spirit of what the furlough scheme, the job retention scheme, was meant for. and from what

you have just said to scheme, was meant for. and from what you havejust said to me, you have made it very clear, you think they are abusing it, you have called them are abusing it, you have called them a commercial predator for doing that but there is nothing you can do, is there? it is a private company at there? it is a private company at the end of the day. you are correct, it isa the end of the day. you are correct, it is a private company, there are no two ways about that and it is not something i wanted to see, that the government directly intervenes. for example, there have been some calls for the government to take a share of the business. the business is commercially viable, it operates financially, but this is a point of national crisis. sorry, before i go back to angela, on that point, in the way that, in the financial crisis, the british taxpayer took a sta ke crisis, the british taxpayer took a stake in certain banks, is it not possible for that with british airways? the situation was very different. is it possible now? the situation is worse now.” different. is it possible now? the situation is worse now. i don't think it is possible now because the finances of ba

don't require it. iag isa finances of ba don't require it. iag is a hugely... has a considerable amount of cash and, indeed, when you look further afield at its airlines across europe, they are indeed much better off. so it is totally different as a state of play. that isafair different as a state of play. that is a fair point. i want to go back to angela, if i made. i mean, what can you do to stop this happening? we can't do anything. just listening to len mccluskey and chris loder, this is how we are all feeling at the moment, totally helpless. we are not people who usually feel vulnerable, we are an incredibly strong workforce, we are committed, we are passionate, we do what we do well. and british airways have chosen this time, in particular... neverforget, they chose to let us know via the

news. they chose this time while we are furloughed, many others would love to be working, we volunteered to come in and help repatriate people, they chose to do this while we are in our homes, alone and scared, and we feel very, very vulnerable and we hear people argue above our heads, some of which we understand, some of which is too complex legally for us to understand and it is just the most horrific feeling. it is like nothing we have ever experienced before and we just wa nt to ever experienced before and we just want to do what we do best and it is just terrifying for all of us. well, thank you very much for talking to us, angela, not her real name, for obvious reasons. a ba cabin crew and has been for 25 years. len mccluskey, thank you for your time. did you want to say something else or were you just saying goodbye? really briefly. two very quick things. iag, who own british

airways, also own iberia, the spanish nationalflag airways, also own iberia, the spanish national flag airline. spanish national flag airline. spanish workers are not being treated in any way like british workers. this is outrageous. you say what can the government do about it? well, airlines operate on routes, they are called slots. these are allocated and the government should say to british airways if they don't stop treating british workers in this disgraceful way, then the consequences will be in relation to the allocation of slots and routes which british airways desperately need. 0k, which british airways desperately need. ok, that is interesting. thank you very much, len mccluskey from unite and chris loder, conservative mp on the transport select committee. thank you for your messages. i have been asking if you have been contact traced. before i read a message about that, colin says i have been watching

your interview with two activists for black lives matter and i thought it was balanced until one of them said it was institutionalised racism in the uk and was borne out in hospitals, when bame people were not given the same treatment as white people with coronavirus. why didn't you correct this statement which drives a dagger into the heart of the nhs workers we clap for every thursday. that is a fair point. catherine says on contact tracing, a colleague's father has been contacted and they told him he had recently been in the vicinity of someone recently been in the vicinity of someone with covid. since he had just come out of hospital having had the virus, he said he already knew that and they said oh and hung up. really interesting to hear from you, have you been called from a contact tracing? this is on the back of the interview with a clinical contact racer who has been watching netflix on her shifts. now the weather with chris.

hello, again, a much cooler and cloudier day today. yesterday, in the sunshine, we got temperatures widely into the mid 20s, peaking at 27 celsius and today is much cooler, temperatures running around ten degrees celsius lower. it is a cooler day, cloudier as well and this clade you can see on the satellite picture is working its way southwards and is rain bearing clouds. the heaviest rain is working across northern england, particularly north—east england, and across wales. you could get 5—10 millimetres falling quite widely but around 15—30 over the high ground of the pennines. this rain is of course welcome rain, given that many of us barely a drop of rain last month. notice across more eastern areas, the rain very patchy and probably not amounting to do much. across scotla nd not amounting to do much. across scotland and northern ireland, the afternoon looking brighter with sunny spells and only isolated showers. it will feel cooler today and we have a fairly brisk north to north—easterly wind around as well.

overnight, the rain does eventually move overnight, the rain does eventually m ove a cross overnight, the rain does eventually move across the midlands into east anglia and south—east england, is a weakening feature so they probably won't be huge amounts of rain falling but every little drop is welcome for those gardeners out there. and across northern areas, it turns cooler overnight, temperatures down to six or 7 degrees. tomorrow, quite a bit of n but broadly speaking it is a day of showers and sunny spells. they will push southwards from scotland and northern ireland into england and wales. the heavy is probably across the midlands and eastern areas of england. temperatures range in foremost between 13 and 16 celsius. another showery day on friday with brisk winds but, this time, the showers look like they will really be quite heavy, particularly across scotla nd be quite heavy, particularly across scotland and across eastern areas of england. as i say, although they could be heavy with some hunter and hail mixed in, they will bring some welcome rain for some of you. then

into the weekend, an area of deep low pressure, bringing outbreaks of rain and also some strong winds, they could gust in excess of 60 miles per in the north—west, strong enough potentially to bring some trees down. the rain easing to showers as we head into sunday. that is your weather.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. hands up, don't shoot! tens of thousands defy curfews to take part in mostly peaceful protests in cities across the united states, following the killing of george floyd. george floyd's family spoke of their heartache, afterjoining protesters in his home city of houston in texas he will never see her grow up and graduate. he will never walk her down the aisle. black lives matter will stage a protest in london's hyde park

this lunchtime. nhs test and trace will help life get back to normal by breaking the chain of infection... a clinical contact tracer tells us exclusively she's spent much of her time since the uk government's track and trace system went live last week watching netflix — because she hasn't been assigned a single case... she spoke to me anonymously i've worked 38 hours as a contract tracer. i say "worked", i've been available to work, as a contract tracer, since it went live. and i've yet to, in over 38 hours, to make a single phone call. uk home secretary priti patel will tell mps that new travel quarantine rules are necessary to avoid a "second wave" of the coronavirus; portugal's foreign minister says he wants to avoid restrictions by establishing an "air bridge" between his country and the uk. but in the last few minutes, the german foreign minister says his country would advise against non—essential travel

to britain if 14—day quarantine rules remain in place