we've learnt our lesson — following pressure from teachers — the government drops plans to fully open primary schools in england this term. the change of mind has sparked concern about the long—term impact on children's education and wellbeing. it's a long time to try and recreate the structure that schools give you, and i think without that, a lot of kids and a lot of families will struggle. i do think that children should start coming back to school gradually, because we've got to get back to normality, some sort of normality. we'll be asking what this means for children — and their parents. also this lunchtime... around 64,000 more people than usual have died in the uk since the coronavirus outbreak began — but the weekly figures are improving remembering george floyd — after a memorial service to the man

whose death sparked protests across the world — a funeral will take place in a few hours as four members of national action are jailed — the director of public prosecutions warns about the growing threat from the far—right in britain, the government's got us over a barrel — but says it's sticking to plans to re—open pubs early next month — despite reports beer gardens were to be allowed to start serving sooner and coming up on bbc news... the west indies cricket team arrives in the uk, the first international sports team to fly into britain since the start of the pandemic. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the government has abandoned plans to get all primary pupils in england back to school before

the end of term. ministers had hoped to get children back for at least a month before the summer holidays — but now admit it won't be possible for everyone. schools will be given flexibility to make their own decisions about how and when to restart. teaching unions have welcomed the news, saying social distancing meant the plans were never feasible. but there are concerns many young children will miss more than a third of their school year. dan johnson reports. when these children return to the classroom, the intention was the primary school mates would follow before the end of the summer break. so every pupil could have four weeks of teaching. but in small, normally crowded buildings, where to put them and how to keep them apart were questions that had not been answered. the government are going to have to think about what that social distancing measure it looks like come up with the current two metres we will struggle in the school, with the size of our classrooms, they're quite small. some of our rooms are bigger so we can have bubbles of ten but i think

we re can have bubbles of ten but i think were going to need to think very carefully is a two metres or one metre? now, from the government, a change of direction. we wanted to try and get primary school children back to school, but it's always been clear that had to be done step—by—step. and carefully, looking at the context, for instance, the overall infection rate and also recognising it's not easy getting children back to school. so that means parents children back to school. so that means pa rents are children back to school. so that means parents are facing more time home—schooling. means parents are facing more time home-schooling. it's a long time to try and recreate the structure that schools give you and i think without that, a lot of kids and families will struggle. i do think children should start coming back to school gradually because we've got to get back to normality. if we hold out for another few weeks, it's going to be completely different to what the situation is now, the only trouble is, ina situation is now, the only trouble is, in a few weeks' time, we are then hitting school holidays. a few weeks from now becomes a few months from now. spacing classrooms has helped keep kids apart in your

groups are back already but not every skill has managed that and the prospect of dealing with even more children is posing difficult challenges for head teachers. children is posing difficult challenges for head teachersm children is posing difficult challenges for head teachers. it was never the case that schools come on their current site, they have small schools for the number of pupils in them, it was never the case given them, it was never the case given the scale of the pandemic, that they we re the scale of the pandemic, that they were going to be able to accommodate all their pupils with the current guidelines in place. opposition politicians have welcomed recognition the timescale was not realistic. i question why the government hadn't listened to these organisations and these voices before now, despite myself and others repeatedly telling them they needed to create a task force, the important thing is to provide reassurance to staff and parents about safety. and the government so far has failed on this. but in balance here, is anxiety about the virus and major concerns over what children will miss out on, being away from school for so long. we

worry about the coronavirus, absolutely and we need to do everything we can to be safe but there could be an epidemic of educational poverty, growing digital divide and as a guarding crisis where vulnerable children are affected by mental health. mad to do yet. there are calls for more online teaching and schools to expand by taking over other buildings. latest figures show only half of schools and nurseries took more children last week, only around a quarter of eligible pupils were in class. this decision only applies in england but it highlights the difficulty of filling schools again and the challenge of providing education in the meantime. dan johnson, challenge of providing education in the meantime. danjohnson, bbc news. 0ur assistant political editor, norman smith, is in westminster. however you look at this, this is a u—turn, bit of a mess. however you look at this, this is a u-turn, bit of a mess. however you slice and dice this, it's bad, it's bad for the government because getting primary schools back was regarded as such a central part of trying to return to some sense of

normality. bad as well because ministers were repeatedly warned by head teachers that it was going to be very difficult to reopen by the summer because they just lacked be very difficult to reopen by the summer because theyjust lacked the space to implement the social distancing rules. it's bad in particular, of course, for the children, some of whom have been out of school for what, 12 weeks, some facing being out of school for another 12 weeks and that's a huge amount of their schooling they are going to miss out on. and it's bad as well for all of us who want to get out of the lockdown because it makes it much harder to get parents to go back to work, if they can't get the children into school and there's a lack of childcare. and also, what has happened in schools with the difficulty in redesigning the school space, may be replicated in many, many other parts of our life, our workspace, public in many, many other parts of our life, ourworkspace, public spaces, in our places of entertainment. in other words, getting out of the

lockdown might prove a much slower and more protracted process if schools are, if you like, an example of how difficult it's going to be. so, i'm afraid, pretty much any way you cut this, it is bad with a capital b. norman, thank you. so, is the decision to abandon plans to reopen schools driven by fears over increasing the infection rate? let's talk to our health correspondent, anna collinson. at the heart of this, social distancing and youngsters, that you don't necessarily go together. absolutely and i think before we go together, we've touched on it a bit already, let's go over the r number, it estimates the number of people, infected person passes the virus on to, and if it goes below one it's good, it means the virus is decreasing but if we go above one it means cases of coronavirus are on the rise. currently the r numberfor the rise. currently the r numberfor the uk is said to be between 0.7 and 0.9, but recently there's been a model which has estimated that in parts of england, the north west,

the south—west, it's over one which was a concern. now, the government group of scientific advisers have disputed that but have admitted that a lot of areas in the country are close to one and as we see people moving around and interacting more, we are very close and there is little room for manoeuvre. there have been concerns about sending pupils, all primary school pupils back to school before the summer holiday, from head teachers to pa rents, holiday, from head teachers to parents, councils, and space is a big issue, having kids in the classroom, they are not going to be able to follow social distancing rules but there were also warnings from the scientific community including a recent study from scientists who warned if all schoolchildren returned, there could bea schoolchildren returned, there could be a second wave of cases. add all that in with the warnings around the r number, today the government says they don't want to take any risks that might increase the risk of infection. anna, thank you. less than a fifth of deaths registered in england and wales in the last week of may involved

coronavirus, the lowest proportion since the week the lockdown was imposed. 0ur head of statistics, robert cuffe, is here. so, robert, moving in the right direction, but not yet back to normal? exactly, we are still seeing more deaths than we expected this time of year but in scotland, wales, northern ireland, every region in england, deaths are falling, the number of coronavirus deaths falling, in care homes and hospitals, the same picture is happening, we can show that, overall, nationally. the red line at the top of the graph is the total number of deaths we are seeing each week and the blue line at the bottom, the number of covid—i9 registered deaths and they have both been falling steadily since they hit a peak. as you say, we are not quite back to normal, the grey line across the middle of the chart is the number of deaths we would expect to see at this time of year each week. you can see at the peak back in the middle of april, we were seeing 13,000 extra deaths, above and beyond what we would expect to see

ina single beyond what we would expect to see in a single week, last week in may, that was down to 2000. far better than we were a couple of weeks ago. but not quite where we would hope to be. robert, thank you very much. people in wales will be recommended to wear three—layer face coverings where social distancing is not possible. the health minister vaughan gething said guidance was being updated following advice from the world health organisation. the measures would apply in specific settings where other more effective measures were not possible. a funeral service for george floyd — whose death at the hands of police officers sparked protests across the world — will take place in a few hours — in houston, texas — where he grew up. thousands have paid their respects at a memorial service, queueing for hours in sweltering heat to file past the open coffin. jane 0'brien reports. singing. for several hours, a steady procession of mourners filed past the coffin of george floyd. the vast majority never knew him, but they all felt a deep connection

to the man who has become a catalyst in america's struggle with race. it doesn't really hit home until you really see it for yourself. just to see his senseless body sitting in a casket, you know, knowing he was helpless, no—one was there to help him with the police knee on his neck, it'sjust... it's horrendous. to witness a person who went through a situation that was, you know, unfairly his life was removed from him, just being a part of their history meant a lot to me. this is the last public gathering in honour of mr floyd before the private funeral. thank y'all so much for coming out to support us. and all the families that are here with me today — michael brown, eric garner, ahmaud arbery, itjust hurts,

breonna taylor, everybody. thank y'all, we will get justice, we will get it. yes, we will. we will not let this door close. not at all. former vice presidentjoe biden has met with the family but won't attend the service. in minneapolis, meanwhile, the city where george floyd was killed, the white police officer charged with his murder appeared in court via video link. derek chauvin was remanded in custody and bail was set for $1.25 million. and in washington, lawmakers took a knee as they discussed legislation that would make it easier to prosecute police officers accused of misconduct. a majority of americans, black and white, now say that police reform is an essential first step towards social justice for african—americans. there is certainly momentum and, as george floyd is laid to rest, real hope that change will come.

jane 0'brien, bbc news, houston. borisjohnson has acknowledged what he called "the depth of emotion" which led to more than 100,000 anti—racism protesters taking to the streets across the uk over the weekend. in a video message for the black newspaper, the voice, the prime minister said he understood the anger — but he warned that attacks on police or property would not be tolerated. daniela relph reports. taking matters into their own hands. this merchant, philanthropist, slave trader, the statue of him now gone. raising awareness and is colonial past, it was a response to decades of frustration. people have been, for years, trying to get this statue taken down, democratically, with due process and they've got nowhere. and

this was a moment when people with passion and anger and righteous indignation, took matters into their own hands. debate over landmarks with links to slavery have been reignited. businessman cecil rhodes atan reignited. businessman cecil rhodes at an oxford college, seen by some asa at an oxford college, seen by some as a white supremacist, more than half the city council now want the statue removed. its streets, glasgow, many reference slave traders, there are renewed calls for them to be renamed and in london, there will be reviewed to ensure diversity is reflected in many landmarks. nobody is perfect, whether that church kill, —— whether it's churchill, padma gandhi, malcom x, it's making sure the curriculum teaches children properly about people, warts and all, some things they have done that we don't approve of but there are some strategies that are quite clear—cut, slivers, clear—cut in my view, plantation owners. nelson's column stands tall

on the london skyline, a british naval hero for many, for others, his failure to denounce slavery means he should be taken down. but removed or just explain better?|j should be taken down. but removed or just explain better? i think the column is quite important but it celebrates the battle of trafalgar, a third of nelson ‘s sailors were black, we see images of black sailors on there, there should be some description to remind us why the column is here, why it was commissioned, but also, recognising his past, his connection to the slave trade, and people can make their own determination. this is increasingly a debate about the teaching and communication of history. if past decisions were wrong, should they now be raised? i'm against it and the reason i am against it is because i'm a historian and i believe the really important thing is not to make history disappear but to make sure you have every single context and understanding about it. the demise of the statue has created a

momentum, as cities and towns across the uk reflect on how they remember and honour their past. daniela relph, bbc news. authorities in germany have said they have some evidence that madeleine mccann is dead. police have appealed for more information after a german man was identified as a suspect in the case. 0ur correspondent gavin lee is in praia da luz in portugal, where madeleine went mising 13 years ago. there has been some clarity in this case, according to the regional prosecutor information indicating madeleine mccann is dead. he would not disclose the information of why they know that and acknowledge that they know that and acknowledge that they do not know whether body of the british toddler is. we also heard how there is circumstantial evidence linking the suspected murder to this convicted sex offender serving a prison sentence in germany for drugs

offences, we are told they had not interviewed the suspect. first they are appealing with information to do with his whereabouts here, back—and—forth between germany and here for 12 years. before madeleine mccann disappeared, his two vehicles, including a volkswagen camper van, vehicles, including a volkswagen campervan, two vehicles, including a volkswagen camper van, two properties. there was a direct appeal from the prosecutor said there might be other victims. americans, irish, british people who did not come forward in the 90s, they want to hear from them now. they acknowledge they do not have enough information to bring the suspect to coat. we had spent the last few days here trying to get a sense of the movements of the suspect. we went to a village about 45 minutes from here were people say they mention him, he was strange and intimidating, two people claim he carried a gun. we are getting a sense of the man. also a property said to be used by a german couple, a roster home, where it is

understood he stayed and we have been told that property has not been searched. we have been told there had been between 600 and 700 tip—offs between the met police in london and the german police. our top story this lunchtime: ministers have abandoned plans to get all primary pupils back to school in england before the end of term. coming up, the sikh community kitchen delivering thousands of meals a day to nhs staff and those most in need. coming up on bbc news, raheem sterling calls for there to be more black managers if there's going to be progress in the fight against racism in football. four young adults convicted of being members of the banned neo—nazi group, national action, have been sentenced to prison at birmingham crown court. it marks the culmination of a series of criminal trials of right wing extremists. in an exclusive interview for the bbc, the director of public prosecutions, max hill, has warned

about the growing threat from the far right in britain, saying it's vital offenders are prosecuted as terrorists. he was speaking to our legal correspondent, clive coleman, before the rules on socal distancing were introduced. the growing threat from extreme right—wing terrorism. alice cutter, 23, garryjack, right—wing terrorism. alice cutter, 23, garry jack, 2a, right—wing terrorism. alice cutter, 23, garryjack, 2a, connor scothern, 19, markjones, 25, sentenced today for a total of 1a and a half years for a total of 1a and a half years for being members of the band neo—nazi group national action. the brutal murder of mp jo neo—nazi group national action. the brutal murder of mpjo cox in 2016 horrified the nation, but the actions of her attacker, the right—wing extremist thomas mair, he related wait before killing her, was glorified by members of national action. —— who laid in wait. it became the first right—wing extremist group to be proscribed by the government since 0swald mosley‘s

british union of fascists. at the end of a series of trials, the director of public prosecution service clear about why right—wing extremists need to be prosecuted as terrorists. they are diehards in the way that they think, they hark back to the days of notjust anti—semitism but holocaust, the third reich in germany, and they ta ke third reich in germany, and they take their mindset from those extreme nazi groups and latterly neo—nazi groups in germany. they are criminals because all terrorists are criminals, but not all criminals are terrorists. they are achieving this for a particular purpose, which is to terrorise the people around them —— they are doing this. to terrorise the people around them -- they are doing this. in march 2017 and islamist terrorist carried out an attack on westminster bridge,

killing four people and injuring 50 before running to parliament and fatally stabbing an unarmed police officer. he himself was shot dead. but since that time, eight out of 25 pot foiled by police have been linked to those sharing an extreme right—wing ideology. it is the age profile of those involved in extreme right—wing groups that is perhaps most worrying. usually it is committed by surprisingly young people. we see people as young as in their mid—teens who are being radicalised. the overall numbers involved in extreme right—wing terror remains small, but the threat remains deadly. clive coleman, bbc news. king coal has been the powering britain since the industrial revolution — but tonight the switch to greener energy sources will reach a significant milestone. it will be two months since any of britain's electricity was generated from burning coal. the change has been rapid.

just a decade ago, more than 40% of the country's electricity came from coal. 0ur chief environment correspondent, justin rowlatt reports. it's these guys' jobs to make sure your lights stay on. this is the control room at the heart of the national grid. the screen behind me shows where britain is getting its energy from right now. it's a mixture of gas, nuclear, biomass, hydro, wind and solar. but no coal. and as of midnight tonight, britain won't have burnt any of the black stuff for two months, smashing the previous record. there are nowjust four coal—fired power stations left in the country. why burn coal when you can get power from these? just one rotation of this giant turbine can power the average home for a day, and these days building new renewables isn't just about the environment, it's also about hard cash.

the falling price of renewables is part of a fundamental shift in the economics of energy. what we've seen is essentially a halving of costs in a very short timescale in the last, you know, five years or so. britain's biggest power plant, drax in yorkshire, will stop burning coal completely next march. these days, most of the electricity a plant produces comes from these, compressed wood pellets imported from america. now, because trees take up carbon dioxide when they grow and because new trees are planted when the forests are harvested, it means drax's net emissions have been reduced dramatically. we here at drax decided that coal was no longer the future. today we get about three ships a week that bring wood pellets into the uk, we use about 7 million tonnes

of wood pellets a year, it's been a massive undertaking. the result of all that is we've reduced our co2 emissions from more than 20 million tonnes a year to almost zero. the coal era is not yet over, mind you. elsewhere in the world, particularly in china and some other developing nations, governments actively support the industry. but here in britain, the last coal plants are expected to close within five years. justin rowlatt, bbc news, yorkshire. places of worship in england will be allowed to open next week to allow individuals to pray. though full services aren't yet possible, minsters say finding ways to reopen is a priority, because their contribution to the common good is clear. one of the largest sikh temples — or gurdwaras — in the country has responded to the lockdown by reinventing itself as an emergency food operation, delivering thousands of meals each

day to nhs staff and those most in need. jim reed has been to see how it works. in the kitchen of a sikh temple, or gurdwara, volunteers are preparing hot meals. this part of life hasn't changed. chickpeas and rice and kidney beans and rice is what we are making at the moment. but places of worship are still shut to the public, so the volunteers here have had to reinvent the langar, or community kitchen. one thing that's phenomenal about langar is that it's never stopped, in 550 years, it's never stopped. pandemics, no pandemics, and so for us, we've had the opportunity, instead of people not being able to come in to us, that we can take the food out to them. the temple is now working with councils to send food out to the local community, to try to reach the people most affected by lockdown. my husband is a 90—year—old, he is terminally ill, i feel nervous to go out there and stand in the queue, not knowing who in front or behind me has actually got the virus.

but what started in one small room has grown quickly, now reaching 6000 hot meals and hundreds of food parcels every day. this is what will be going out to one household. bags of tea, about 20 to 25 bags of tea. from the day that we began, the demand grew. either people... income being affected or more people in isolation. that's why the project is now seven days a week, 2a hours a day. meals are also delivered to nhs hospitals and homeless projects like this one. the government says it has taken action to protect those affected by the virus, including an increase in universal credit. but demand for food banks hit a record high in april, and there are worries that as emergency support is wound down, the situation could get worse.

i wouldn't say i'd be relieved or happy when the food programme is over. i would be relieved and happy that people don't need food any more from us, but until that time comes, until our resources are completely finished, we're going to carry on. in england, the doors of gurdwaras like this will be open to the public next week, but for private prayer only. a consultation on reopening is now taking place, but that's unlikely to happen before july at the earliest. jim reed, bbc news. will they, wont they? the question of when — or even if — pubs re—open is worrying many this summer. july 11th is one date being mentioned — but if that is to be d—day for drinkers, then breweries will have start making beer now. 0ur north of england correspondent danny savage has been given a tough assignment in wensleydale.

good afternoon from the garden of the covered bridge in, where they are working towardsjuly the covered bridge in, where they are working towards july the 11th word they will be able to go back to pubs and sit in a beer garden. they are trying to do preparation here and in other pubs across the uk at the moment, but if they want to get beerin the moment, but if they want to get beer in the pubs by then then that process has begun today. at the black sheep brewery, they finally started doing something today that they haven't done for months. this is the first time that we've brewed black sheep best bitter for months, so it's welcoming back an old friend. real ale, to be put in barrels for pubs, has been out of production since march. now with the anticipated partial reopening of pubs on july the fourth, they've got to get brewing now. there's been no cask beer in the country for a number of months, you know, since we've been locked down, and that is unprecedented in these times. so the thought of actually producing some cask beer and getting it back into the pubs

is really, really exciting. smaller breweries have adapted too. the malt in buckinghamshire's chiltern hills has swapped pints across the bar for doorstep deliveries. we redesigned the whole business, really. and you know, community is at the heart of what we do so closing our shop was really difficult for us but the right thing to do. under the circumstances, we are really happy that we can still serve our local consumers with our online store and home delivery and there's been times, frankly, we've struggled to keep up with demand. what we've done is reorganise all the planters on the patio. and the idea being we are going to serve beer from that window and they are going to move around in a one—way system back into the garden. at this inn near middleham, they want guidance about what the rules will be. if it's keeping to the two metre rule, obviously we're going to have to move some tables out, you can see, we got them all

crushed into near each other, we are hoping we can have the one metre plan and yeah, we're going to get a lot more people in, keep a lot more people happy, but who knows? they are worried about having to police customers. i'm a landlord, i'm not a teacher. and i don't want to be telling people you cannot do that, you cannot do that, do not sit there, do not do this. that's not what it's all about. there's still a lot of questions to be answered about how even pubs with gardens will work. 0n the day that hostelries have now been shut for more days this year than they've been open. the guidance, of course, is these pubs and restaurants onjuly four may be able to reopen but only with outdoor seating areas, and here in the uk that puts everybody at the mercy of the weather. so that is the big concern for people going forward , big concern for people going forward, what will the weather do? it always has to be taken into

consideration. danny savage, in a pub garden, and i and not better!