showing their appreciation with needle and thread. it definitely makes me feel good to be able to do something. and it's been kind of a family effort. my mum has been doing the ironing and pressing and my dad is helping with the cutting out. it has been a lot of work, i would say that. for people like adriana in the linen department of papworth, the weekly clap for carers has been welcome recognition for the work of those who are often seen as the unsung heroes of the nhs. it is makes me feel nice, good. i am somebody, i can help with the stuff i do, it is important. you feel appreciated 7 yes. actually, yes. july the 5th is the official birthday of the nhs so this year the hope is for applause to commemorate an extraordinary national effort. the idea is to distil the community spirit that has been flowing throughout this pandemic and strengthen it for the months and

years ahead. with backing from nhs leaders, churches and charities as well as famous and not so famous faces, the hope is for the country to join together to remember, to give thanks, and to learn from the pain of pandemic. mark easton, bbc news, cambridgeshire. the duke of edinburgh is celebrating his 99th birthday. he's spending the day at windsor castle, where he and the queen have been staying during the lockdown. this photo was taken in the castle‘s grounds during sunny weather last week. time for a look at the weather. good afternoon. the weather story over the next few days is a real mess. a cloudy start for many with some light rain moving to the east. these darker blue areas mean the art

rumble of thunder mixed in later this afternoon perhaps. some of those showers could merge to give longer spells of rain. and temperature is disappointing for the second week ofjune. 12, 16 degrees. the show across wales and south—east england could merge together overnight for longer spells of rain, may be a couple of inches before it eases. that is welcome rain but it isa eases. that is welcome rain but it is a lot in eases. that is welcome rain but it isa lotina eases. that is welcome rain but it is a lot in a short space of time so that could have an impact. elsewhere some sharp showers driven by a brisk north easterly wind. going through the day some improvements in places before more persistent when pushing into the east of england by the latter stages of the afternoon. a blustery when as well and on the east coast feeling cool but the sunshine highs of 20 degrees. low

pressure d rifts sunshine highs of 20 degrees. low pressure drifts its weight further south into france but the tail end of that by the front circulating around that low will flick back up into southern england during friday potentially bringing heavy rain gci’oss potentially bringing heavy rain across central and southern england, drifting steadily west. at the same time we have some scattered showers easing slightly north, still blustery wind with that and to add something else into the mix it sta rts something else into the mix it starts to feel a little more humid. highs in the sunshine of 21 degrees. so the low pressure that is causing this issue is going to push its way steadily north—west for the start of the weekend. then it allows high pressures to build across the near continent so as we move into the weekend still the risk of some showers around drifting their way steadily north, some sharp showers in the south—west. if you dodge those showers you keep the sunshine and you might be experiencing temperatures back into the mid

20s. into next week it looks as though things quieten down a little with high—pressure with us, dryer and a little warmer but stilljust high—pressure with us, dryer and a little warmer but still just the risk of a few isolated showers. a reminder of our top story... the labour leader, sir kier starmer, has accused the prime minister the prime minister has accused —— has been accused of not handling the schools issue correctly. we nowjoin the bbc news team where you are. good afternoon, i'm gavin ramjaun and this your latest sports news... the merseyside derby, that takes place a week on sunday — which could see liverpool win their first premier league title — can take place at everton‘s goodison park. their game was one of those considered a risk by police with fears that fans

would gather outside the ground but the city's council have given it the go have given it the go ahead rather than moving it to a netural venue. liverpool's matches at anfield can also go ahead. jurgen klopp‘s side will be crowned champions if manchester city lose to arsenal on first day of the restart next wednesday, then they beat everton. while clubs in the efl take their next steps to battle against financial uncertainty, there's been a boost for teams in scotland. 0ver £3 million has been donated to the spfl trust from edinburgh based businessmanjames anderson. it's to help all 42 professional clubs with a £50,000 share available for each via a grant, if they prove it benifits the community. anderson says more funding may follow. the 20—time tennis grand slam champion roger federer won't play again this year after having another knee operation. he had an initial procedure in february but suffered a setback in rehab so went under the knife again. 0ur tennis correspondant russell fuller has more..

there are clearly far worse years to miss, although next time roger federer it steps on a tour court to play competitively, he will be well into his 40th year. he would have been an outsider at roland garros when the delayed french open takes place. if the us open takes place, given the struggles he has had with the humidity he in latest years, he is unlikely to have one. he also thought to travel with a family, twins and children would be impractical. last time he did this with knee problems in 2016, he took half a year off and won the open in 2017. cricket now, and west indies captain jason holder says his team were put under no pressure to tour england this summer. they're the first international side to come to the uk since the coronavirus outbreak, when they arrived yesterday. the three test series starts next month at biosecure venues without fans, and holder says it was time for safe first steps to be

taken... if you put yourself in the position asa if you put yourself in the position as a health care worker or someone who has worked on the front line during the whole pandemic, they have not had the opportunityjust to sit back at home and run from the virus. they have had to deal with it. having said that, at some point in time we need to make the effort to get back to some sort of normalcy. the only way we can get back there is to be safe and cautious, and we do not want to be guinea pigs, but having said that, we have always had a plan here in the uk. everyone was co mforta ble, a plan here in the uk. everyone was comfortable, and here we are now, in england, ready to play. professional golf is back tomorrow in the usa, and the likes of rory mcilroy and colleagues will be paying tribute to george floyd at the event in texas. mcilroy will be joined by some of the world's top players at the colonial country club. but there will be no 8.a6am tee—off time to support the anti—racism protests and reflect the 8 minutes and 46 seconds that george floyd

was pinned to the ground by a police officer. asa as a hispanic immigrant in the us, even though i am not even close to experiencing what some people have experienced in this world, even myself just speaking spanish experienced in this world, even myselfjust speaking spanish with one of my team—mates or with people in some public areas, i have gotten dirty looks. i have never been racially profiled for the colour of my skin, but i have had some experiences, and it is not a good feeling. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk/sport. let's recap on what happened during prime minister's questions with our assistant political editor — norman smith — whojoins me now from westminster. live indeed. funny old p and q is, really. i am not sure we really

learned a huge amount, and it went along the predictable lines, the two big stories at the moment, one being the government retreat over schools, the government retreat over schools, the other issue of course is the toppling of statues, black lives matter, a little bit surprised at their prime minister's questions that the pro—minister did not have anything to say on the schools, given he must have known that sir keir starmer was bound to go on the attack over that, albeit he started on the issue of racial equality. he questioned really why some of the key reports which have been done recently, such as by the labour mp david lammy and of course the report into the windrush scandal, doesn't seem to hit have been much progress made with them. i spoke last night to black community leaders, and they had a very clear message for the prime minister. implement the reports you have already got. so can the prime minister now turbo—charge the government's responses and tell us when he will implement in full the lammy report and the windrush recommendations? prime minister.

i am grateful to the right honourable gentleman, and of course i understand, as i said, i understand the very strong and legitimate feelings of people in this country at the death of george floyd. of course i agree that black lives matter, and we are getting on with the implementation, not just of the lammy report but also the report into windrush, for instance on the lammy report which this government commissioned, for which i thank the honourable member for tottenham. we are increasing already the number of black and minority ethnic people in the prison service, as david lammy recommended. we are increasing the use of body worn cameras and we are trying to ensure, amongst other things, that young bame people are not immediately prosecuted as a result of the trouble they find themselves in, and we try to make sure that we give people a chance. i must stress that on the lammy report, among all of these

matters, it is vital at the same time that we keep our streets safe and that we back our police. and then this was the exchange on schools. the current arrangements lie in tatters, parents have lost confidence in the government's approach, millions of children will miss six months‘ worth of schooling and inequality will now go up. several weeks ago, i suggested to the prime minister that we set up a national taskforce so that everybody can put their shoulder to the wheel. it is not too late. will the prime minister take me up on this? prime minister. mr speaker, as i told the house before, i had been in contact with the right honourable gentleman by a modern device called the telephone in which we have tried to agree a way forward which he then seems to deviate away from later on. last week, he was telling the house that it was not yet safe for kids to go back to school.

this week he is saying that not enough kids are going back to school. i really think he needs to make up his mind. so what are we to make of it all? did either of the two leaders come out on top? did anyone end up flat on their backthree mps watching intently and he join on their backthree mps watching intently and hejoin me now are on their backthree mps watching intently and he join me now are the conservative dean russell, labour's tulip siddiq and the liberal democrat is at wilson. mr russell, let me start with you. little bit surprising that borisjohnson didn't have anything to say on schools. surprising that borisjohnson didn't have anything to say on schoolslj think have anything to say on schools.” think he said quite a bit, actually. when you look at what we have been doing with schools, and i have to say, i really praise all of the teachers and parents over the last few months that have been dealing with a very difficult so unexpected and unanticipated times. we have been listening, and the real point here is that over the last few weeks, and i had it in my own inbox,

large numbers of e—mails from pa rents, large numbers of e—mails from parents, some wanting to go back and some not wanting to, same for teachers, and an incredible push for unions to push for that as well. the key thing here is we have to make sure that we are constantly listening to the best advice and acting upon that, and it would be very strange for the government not to do that. in these times, we have to do that. in these times, we have to make sure that people know we are listening to their concerns, that we are following the best advice and putting safety first. i think talk of u—turns and all of these things don't really help, because actually what would you prefer? would you prefer that we announce something, stick to it even though it might not be the right thing to do or to actually listen and make sure we are doing the right thing every time? tulip siddiq, that is a fair point, when the pro—minister made that not so when the pro—minister made that not so long ago, keir starmer was saying we have to be cautious and not open to sinful stop now he is criticising for not opening straightaway. he has wobbled on this, hasn't he? norman, actually, i think the thing that keir starmer was saying is we do

wa nt keir starmer was saying is we do want children obviously to go back to school, but we want them to go back when it is safe. look, i realise this is a challenging situation was that there is no doubt about this. this is unprecedented times and we have to make sure that we get the best for our children. but i am genuinely worried, and i am not saying this as a constituency mp. iam not saying this as a constituency mp. i am saying this as a mother of two children —— two small children and also a governor at a local school to say that i am genuinely worried that some children in our country will not be going to school for six months now, and it does not look like we have any plan to actually get them back. i listened to gavin williams statement very carefully, and he said we hope to get them back by september, but it doesn't seem to be a concrete plan about children. it is notjust the educational attainment gap that i am worried about. i am worried about children's mental health, i am worried about the fact that children will go without food, we know that one in five households are now

lagging food in this pandemic for children and that they rely on the free school meals to get them going. iam free school meals to get them going. i am worried about the fact that there is such a lack of remote access of learning for a lot of deprived children. 700,000 children are without electronic devices at the moment, so for the government to keep talking about online resources, zoom calls, this is only a reality for a very small number of children. in my opinion, ifeel the government has really failed children, and i felt like children and schooling has been an afterthought. how on earth are we talking about opening zoos and opening pubs when we still don't have a proper concrete plan for opening schools? munira wilson, isn't it possible that what happened in other countries, initially the return to school was patchy and iffy, it gradually picks up as pa rents iffy, it gradually picks up as parents gaining confidence and schools put in place new procedures, and quite probably that is what will

happen here as well. well, it can only happen if it is logistically possible, and in line with the current guidance and being made in line with expert advice around social distancing and how schools need to operate, it is impossible for our state schools, who are used to having classes of 30, to suddenly have double the number of classrooms and teachers in place. nonetheless, i think gavin williamson, the education secretary, has had ten weeks to focus on this issue and start to think about how we can creatively open up spaces to welcome children back into schools, and i think the thing i think greaves pa rents think the thing i think greaves parents and teachers and governors the most, that actually when the announcement was made a month ago that schools would reopen this month, when teachers

and governors said it is impracticalfor us to welcome all children back in line with your guidelines, they were shut down and told they were not being helpful and not stepping up to the plate at the time of national crisis was up now gavin williamson realises seven weeks later that is not possible, so he owes these teachers an apology. there are many pupils and parents out there who were disappointed and had their expectations raised, while they were also parents who did not want their children to go back. but this confusion is really eroding public trust as we have seen in so many other areas, whether it is being on testing or ppe or other parts of how the government has dealt with this crisis. it is the lack of clear communication and lack of honesty, and lack of humility when they get things wrong. it is a crisis like we have never seen before, so actually sometimes saying we got this wrong but we want to work with you

to find a way through it, that is not a bad thing, andi a way through it, that is not a bad thing, and i agree with a tulip that iam thing, and i agree with a tulip that i am really concerned about the most disadvantaged pupils who are missing out on education. my colleague layla moran challenged gavin williamson in the house of commons yesterday on a fraction of the lights laptops that are needed to equip children to be able to learn at this time have actually been provided to the government was that they really need to focus, just like they did when we made sure we had enough capacity in the nhs and building nightingale hospitals within weeks, we need that kind of book is now on our education system, for children's learning ad for their mental health and well—being. for their mental health and well-being. dean russell, is it not clear that something has to change here and if schools are going to open by september, either more classrooms are going to have to be provided or the scientific advice is going to have to change and you are going to have to change and you are going to have to change and you are going to have to be able to have larger bubbles or larger classes than 15, because if not, surely we are going to be in the same

situation in september?” are going to be in the same situation in september? i think the truth of this is that the government has been listening. i speak to local schools, all the mps have been representing their local constituencies and a feeling that m, constituencies and a feeling that in, and the government is listening. we have been doing huge amounts in this space. 0ver we have been doing huge amounts in this space. over this time, the idea that schools have been closed over the past few months simply isn't true. there has been a huge number of schools open to key workers, vulnerable children have been getting free school meal vouchers. i have been personally out delivering shopping to schools for vulnerable kids. we have put 63 million into the local welfare assistance in addition to all the other measures, and we have also been putting out la pto ps. and we have also been putting out laptops. i believe 100,000 laptops are going out to people to make sure that they are being supported, so i think this idea that somehow we have just closed down all the school over the past three months is not true. the reality is what we have got to do is to do this safely and in a way that works best for students

was not i agree that i do not particularly wa nt i agree that i do not particularly want children to be out of school longer than they should be, and i think one of the disingenuous teas of this is that sadly when we were pushing for schools to prepare to reopen, i have to say we said that very clearly that they had to prepare based on the alert system, we got a huge number of e—mails from unions saying that forcing schools, or putting the point to schools that they should not open and to parents, and really causing a lot of fear around this. i think the key point here is that we should make sure we have an open dialogue. i talked to my opposition in my local area and i wa nt to my opposition in my local area and i want to make sure the government here is that, but the idea there is no plan is unfair, and it is unfair really to parents and teachers because they are working so hard to make sure that their kids have the best education. but what we do have to make sure is that we do it in a safe way, that we ensure that children who are vulnerable are looked after and we have been doing

that, but we also make sure that there are no long—term effects of this. one of my big passions is around mental health, and i am concerned about kids who are not able to go back to school, but that is one of the reasons i felt it was important to ensure that schools where prepared to open their doors. 0ver where prepared to open their doors. over the summer, there will be a lot more measures and especially for september, the goal is to make sure schools can reopen, but to try and push for it when we feel the scientific evidence is not quite there, then i think that is the right thing to do. the idea of saying the scientific evidence should change is not really the way science works. i am a former physicist and data is data, facts are facts, and we need to make sure we are taking all of that into account. i am really pleased the government is doing that. if we had not done a u—turn as it has been called, which is a really unfair phrase, what we have done is listen, and when we are listening and making sure we have listened throughout this crisis on all sorts of aspects from ppe to

hospitals to staffing to police, to everything, and it is really important we continue to do that. tulip siddiq, we heard the prime ministers say that keir starmer would be better spending his time talking to the teaching unions. have they not been a pretty obstructive and unhelpful when it comes to opening schools? keir starmer is speaking to the teaching unions, andi starmer is speaking to the teaching unions, and i would say to dean that ido unions, and i would say to dean that i do not know who he is talking to, but in no way to the head teachers in my area, the local teachers and eve ryo ne in my area, the local teachers and everyone who contacts me because i am in the shadow education team, they have not said the government is listening. i think it is absurd to say the government is listening. here starmer has been pushing boris johnson to come up with a national plan that includes people from the education sector, experts from the education sector, experts from the education sector, experts from the education sector, people from teaching unions and head teachers and local people on the ground because, as we know, in local authorities, the infection rate varies from area to area. it

is people on the ground who know what is right and what is wrong for the children, to come together and come up children, to come together and come up with a constructive plan. boris johnson has not responded to them. i genuinely think, this is not the time for a political point scoring, but it is a time for a constructive working. iam but it is a time for a constructive working. i am genuinely worried about the children who will be without schooling for so long. the tory mp on this has just said 100,000 laptops were sent out. guess what? we need a 700,000 electronic devices to be sent out so that children have a fair chance of accessing online resources. if i just mention the council estate down the road from where i live, there are four children or, four or five children picked up in one bedroom flats, fighting over one laptop to try and get some sort of access to online learning. this is the reality of the situation. i have not even got started on the fact that children with special educational

needs are being badly let down by this government, the fact that today in the chamber we are having a debate shortly after this interview, iam going debate shortly after this interview, i am going into the chamber to debate about the fact there is a relaxation of regulations for children in care. we are failing their most vulnerable in society, andi their most vulnerable in society, and i am urging the government to get together with experts, with the opposition, with head teachers, with teaching unions, to benefit from their expertise. this is an charted water. we need to make sure that we get experts from everywhere to help us come up with an exit strategy. we cannot sit around while children are going hungry, children with special educational needs are not having them met, the inequality in our society is widening more and more, and just because the government has not prioritised children in this pandemic. munira wilson, if you are not a party political person and are just looking at the situation in schools, you will certainly look at other comparable european countries,

i'd rather wonder why it is they have managed to open schools. looking at countries like denmark, which opened schools back in april, what is they have done that we might be able to follow and learn from?” think if wejust be able to follow and learn from?” think if we just go back estate, i think if we just go back estate, i think the thing that many other countries have done better than us is putting in place all the safety measures you need in order to release any part of lockdown, whether that is going back to school or business is opening up again. that is around testing and tracing and isolating, and we know that whole system is still in disarray, and whilst the government likes to tell as it is operational, we know that it tell as it is operational, we know thatitis tell as it is operational, we know that it is not. we have talked to local authorities... even the government person who created it said it was only very basic. until thatis said it was only very basic. until that is fully operational, to try

and get schools back where business very difficult. but nonetheless, in the meantime, what we should be doing as i suggested earlier is looking at creative ways, which has also been looked at in other countries, opening up spaces in a safe way, bringing in people, whether they are retired teachers or stu d e nts whether they are retired teachers or students and others to try and help to open up schools, but also going back to the point about how we can support the most disadvantaged pupils who are going to be disproportionately impacted by what is going on, yesterday when i was in the house of commons, gavin williamson was questioned repeatedly about putting provisions in place over the summer holidays, not with teachers because as he has —— as has been pointed out, the schools have been pointed out, the schools have been shut and —— schools have not been shut and —— schools have not been shut and they are working incredibly hard. the chair of the education select committee has some great ideas on this, but gavin williamson kept saying we need to do this as part of a bigger plan, but

that plan does not seem to be there. time is running out, and these kids are getting further and further behind and struggling at home, so we really do need some renewed focus, whether that is looking at what other countries are doing well or, as tulip has said, bringing all the experts together to thrash through this. the reasons the unions are up in arms because they were not consulted with and spoken to initially. you have to work together, we are all in this together, we are all in this together, we are all in this together, we have got to try and find solutions in a consensual and constructive way. thank you very much indeed. we have had a good thrash around the issue of schools. thank you very much indeed. i am sure there will be plenty more of this at the downing street news conference at five o'clock, which is being fronted by one borisjohnson, and he is bound to face questions about schools was up interesting as well whether he has something up his sleeve, i would not be surprised if he manages to come forward with

something, maybe just to shunt the headlines away a bit from the schools. interesting to see if he actually a nswe i’s interesting to see if he actually answers them. it can only be an improvement on yesterday, i was looking at my notebook after the business secretary had been at the stand for half an hour and i didn't really see anything in it. norman, talk to you later on. we will stop there. thank you very much. you are watching bbc news. we will have the latest reaction to prime minister's questions and criticism of borisjohnson prime minister's questions and criticism of boris johnson from prime minister's questions and criticism of borisjohnson from sir keir starmer over the u—turn yesterday over schools and whether the government had a plan to get schools schoolchildren back into the classrooms. we will have more on that and also predictions for the uk economy. now for the weather. not a summer —like photograph, but there

isa summer —like photograph, but there is a lot of cloud and rain. some of it is light and patchy moving through the eastern half of the uk, but behind it, some showers which will continue for the rest of the day, some of them the odd rumble of thunder. as we go through the overnight period, they will be merging togetherfor a overnight period, they will be merging together for a longer spells of rain, particularly across wales and south—west england, with isobars squeezing together meaning the winds will strengthen. quite a lot of cloud so relatively mild tonight, 7-11d, but cloud so relatively mild tonight, 7—11d, but we could see a of inches of rain before that system clears from the south—west. a few showers following behind, driven in by a brisk north—easterly wind. by the end of the afternoon, that could bring a spell of more heavy and persistent rain in to the north sea. the winds remain dusty throughout the day and certainly quite noticeable, but that said, temperatures are likely to peek into the afternoon ranging from 12—20d. that is it, take care.

this is bbc news, i'm simon mccoy. the headlines... anger in the commons as the prime minister is accused of failing to take responsibilty for his failures in getting children in england back to school.

it's no good the prime minister flailing around, trying to blame others. last week he was telling the house that it was not yet safe for kids to go back to school. this week, he is saying not enough kids are going back. a dire forecast for the global economy — the biggest downturn in peacetime in a century, with the uk hardest hit of developed countries escape from lockdown — human beings will be allowed out — to visit zoos and safari parks from next week. councils under pressure to act as other controversial statues are targetted by protestors. applause and calls to celebrate the nhs's 72nd birthday and thank key workers for their support during the pandemic with a nationwide clap next month.