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.

boris johnson has been forced to defend his plans for re—opening schools in tetchy exchanges during prime minister's questions. after the government's u—turn on getting primary schoolchildren in england back before the summer break, labour leader sir keir starmer told him he needed to take responsibility for a mess — and accused him of flailing around and blaming others. borisjohnson hit back — saying he acknowledged parents want to get their kids back to school, but the government had to be extremely cautious. he said he would be announcing further measures on relaxing the lockdown later today. jessica parker reports. the way out of lockdown always looked difficult. but decisions have to be made, and explained. we now come to questions to the prime minister. in prime minister's questions today, labour claimed the government's plans for getting schools back lie in tatters. it's no good the prime minister flailing around, trying to blame

others. a month ago today, a month ago today, he made the announcement about schools without consulting relevant parties, without warning about the dates, and without any scientific backing for his proposal. it's time he took responsibility for his own failures. but the prime minister, labelling labour's approach is inconsistent. he can't have it both ways, mr speaker. it's one brief one day, another brief the next. i understand how the legal profession works. but what the public want to have is some consistency, mr speaker. and what i hope he will agree with me is that it's a good thing that we have now got 37% of kids in year six, and our primary schools, coming back, that is increasing the whole time. the scrapping of plans for all primary school children to return for a month before summer in england has caused deep concern. i think we need to see

the government now bringing forward a proper strategy for how children and young pupils‘ education is going to get started again. they have now been out of school for months, and this simply cannot continue without a plan to make sure they can kick—start their education. but a move to open up nonessential shops is set to go ahead on monday, and zoos could start taking visitors next week as well. "careful", "cautious" — ministers‘ watchwords when it comes to easing the lockdown. it's a matter of what sectors open up and when. but the situation around schools has led to questions about the government's priorities. boris johnson will take the downing street press conference later, to talk about what will come next. and perhaps also his decisions taken so far. jessica parker, bbc news.

vicki young is in westminster. he is going to be asked why it is ok to go and see giraffes and lions and not to go to school? i think the answer will be that it is outdoors, and thatis will be that it is outdoors, and that is the point about the restrictions. if you look at them, they are very different for a setting which is inside, and settings which are outside. so the easing so far has all been about being outdoors. with children, they are ina being outdoors. with children, they are in a classroom. and the advice from public health england was that a safe number of children was a bubble of 15. once you take that on board, you are obviously very restricted in what you can do. you are very quickly, as a school, going to run out of either classrooms or teachers. so i think unless that changes, that recommendation of 15, and you go back to the normal class size of around 30, they are going to have to look at trying to get extra accommodation, may be trying to go to other buildings. none of that has happened so far. the answer from the department for education on all of this, really, is that they are doing

as much as they can, but they are not going to apologise for being cautious, because this is about children was ‘s and teachers health. soi children was ‘s and teachers health. so i think the question here is about leadership, who can come up with the ideas. the children's commissionerfor with the ideas. the children's commissioner for england really suggesting there has been a lack of imagination in this. whether the government is hoping that by september the rules will have relaxed, but we are getting no indication of that at all, and schools, of course, want to plan as soon as they can. they are not the only ones, i don't know about you, but a lot of people are desperate to find out when pubs and wine bars are going to reopen. that's all very much to do with this continued to meet a rule. what are the common saying about that? yes, it doesn't affect schools because they are in bubbles of 15. but when it comes to pubs, restaurants, cafe is, there is kind of settings, again, if you want to be indoors or outdoors, the two metre rule applies. and that will be an issue when it comes to making

money. because if you can't get as many people through the door, your profits are going to suffer because of that. at its very clear, listening either to the business secretary or listening to boris johnson himself, he has now said several times in public, really making it quite clear, that when the time is right they do want to relax that rule. if you look at other countries, if you look at the world health organization, it is lower than two metres. but i think it is all about the incidence of the virus, so the number of cases. at the moment, it is around 5000. it would need to come down below that, but they are not giving a figure. they are taking it clear, privately and publicly, that this is under co nsta nt and publicly, that this is under constant review and they know it is crucial to getting those parts of the economy open and, crucially, profitable. 10 million people in england could be waiting for medical treatment by the end of the year, because of the backlog caused by coronavirus. the nhs confederation,

which represents hospital trusts, says the health service is facing an uphill battle to restart normal treatments while still dealing with the pandemic. richard galpin reports. for months, staff in many hospitals have battled to save the lives of tens of thousands of people infected by coronavirus. but now increasingly they are also under pressure to treat people with other serious illnesses, such as heart disease, stroke and cancer. and yet capacity to treat them is reportedly around half of what it should be. staff burn—out and the need for social—distancing measures in hospitals part of the reason. we are trying to rebuild services as covid—i9 is still around within our hospitals and within our communities. and it will take time and it will take patience to try and build up services to where they were before the outbreak. and it will take even longer to try

and deal with the huge backlog that has built up during this crisis. 70—year—old marion is frustrated and in pain. the operation she needs for a knee replacement keeps being rescheduled. the thing that concerns me is that, as time goes on, my condition is probably worsening. and in my bleakest moments, i think, "is it going to get to the stage where it is inoperable?" there is criticism now that the nhs should already be back on course to treat patients with a range of different illnesses. there's always this worry about a second wave, winter pressures, all sorts of things that could happen. but if we don't deal with cancer and heart disease and mental health now, we are going to have far more problems than covid ever caused this year. but the nhs confederation says it won't be possible to switch on all nhs services immediately. instead, it says, we should manage people's expectations. richard galpin,

bbc news. it is also calling for emergency funding to be extended. dr layla mccay is a director at the nhs confederation — which represents health and care leaders. thank you forjoining us. we are talking, really, about the balance between covid, those suffering that, and other patients. are we getting that balance right now? well, it's incredibly challenging, isn't it? we have always known this was something ofa have always known this was something of a trade off. in order to get the nhs ready for the deluge of covid—i9 patients that we were preparing to accept, we were required to see various services being paused or reduced, to make that capacity. it was incredibly important to do that. but now we find ourselves in this challenging situation where we absolutely want to bring back these services, but there are also lots of challenges to doing that. there's

lots of capacity challenges. and as we try to bring them back online, demand is increasing and increasing, not just the usual demand demand is increasing and increasing, notjust the usual demand that demand is increasing and increasing, not just the usual demand that would come from people who were needing care, but additional demand for people who are recovering from covid—i9 and needing rehabilitation. but demand from people who are getting increasingly more ill, if you like. particularly cancer patients, as we heard. many were saying, well, i don't want to bother the nhs at the moment because i don't know how badly ill i am, and may be leaving things too late? absolutely. we are hearing from our members across hospital ceos, primary care, community care, mental health, people are very anxious that patients are sitting at home thinking, gosh, i'd better not bother the doctor about this. and thatis bother the doctor about this. and that is going to come of course, lead to more demand later on, and potentially people coming in at a more serious stage of their disease.

certainly, there is a lot of concerns and it's a very complicated picture. is this about money, or about allocation... i mean, it's rotors, getting people on the right place at the right time, we need to go back to that? it's about a lot of things, we already had a waiting list, about 4.2 million. from what i understand, that increases every month, about 1.6 million people. if those people are not being able to access the care as they usually would, because some of the services have been paused to deal with the covid—19 crisis, then those people are being added to that waiting list. in addition, others are being added. and we need to look at this in the context, notjust a matter of switching back on services. if you think about it, all of the health services are having to do social distancing, which reduces the capacity would have a health care setting to treat people. and we start to think about how we can't

use up all of the capacity, because we are repeatedly told that a second wave of covid—19 is a real risk, and it is something that they have to prepare for. plus we have here staff who are exhausted. and even particular issues, for instance, our members have quite often told us recently they are anxious about setting up some of their old services, bringing them back, because, actually, they are not com pletely because, actually, they are not completely sure they are going to have the ppe they need to deliver those services. people are having to be looked after in different areas of the hospital, depending on whether they have covid—19 or whether they have covid—19 or whether they have covid—19 or whether they don't have covid—19. there are a lot of complications here. and they are all adding up to make bringing all the services back online pretty tricky. god forbid there is a second wave, but we are also talking about the period in the autumn and winter, where those lists get greater anyway, and people are

affected by sickness? absolutely, thatis affected by sickness? absolutely, that is a real concern. we know that this isn't a situation where things mightjust tail off. this isn't a situation where things might just tail off. demand this isn't a situation where things mightjust tail off. demand is going to increase, its going to increase from normal winter pressures. it's potentially going to increase because of a second wave of covid—19. it's going to increase because of all the extra rehabilitation needs and mental health needs of people that have been affected by covid—19. and, really, that is quite a lot to be putting on a service that is trying to recover from what has been a really traumatic and unprecedented challenge. doctor, it's good of you tojoin us. there's been a warning the uk economy is set to be the hardest hit among the world's developed countries because of the pandemic. the organisation for economic co—operation and development says the uk economy will shrink by 11.5% this year — and could contract further if there's a second wave of virus cases.

we can speak to our economics correspondent, andy verity. this is pretty grim? yes, there is no hiding that. this international crisis, as the pandemic is international, so is the economic knock—on effect. the most severe global recession in more than a century is what we are now in. the u nfortu nate century is what we are now in. the unfortunate thing is that our economy does not look robust in terms of advanced economies, in terms of advanced economies, in terms of advanced economies, in terms of how fast it's going to recover or how badly it is going to be affected. the oecd, which is the clu b be affected. the oecd, which is the club of wealthy nations that tries to promote economic development, says we are looking, as you say, at 11.596 says we are looking, as you say, at 11.5% drop in the economy through the year. most of it in the first half of this year. and that's going to have its effect on unemployment, for example, which is projected to get up to 11.7% in the third quarter of this year. and that's if you don't have this second wave of infections. if you do, they are predicting that our unemployment total could get up to 14.8% of the working population. that is much

higher than it got up to in the globalfinancial higher than it got up to in the global financial crisis. and the worrying thing is that our vulnerabilities stemming from the nature of our economy. we are very reliant on tourism, real estate, hospitality, trade, all of those sectors which are being hardest hit by the global economic shutdown that has accompanied this pandemic. we are also a bit slower to release the lock down because our infection rates are still higher, so that is also causing a big slowdown in the economy. and they are predicting that the recovery from this won't be so much, as we said optimistically at the beginning of the shutdown, a v shaped recession, it is instead going to be more like a tick, slowly down, sharply up, or even a double tick. in any case, they are predicting we will still have less economic activity by the end of next year than we economic activity by the end of next yearthan we did economic activity by the end of next year than we did at the end of 2019. so, a gloomy picture overall and we

are one of the worst countries. you have mentioned v, what about b, brexit, does that feature? does, they make an interesting recommendation, almost stepping beyond what the government here would mention. for the oecd to say that the government should make arrangements to stay in the single market after the end of 2020. what they are essentially saying is that this is the most severe global recession in more than a century, the uk has it bad. you don't need, in addition to that, to have an extra drag on economic growth from the fact we haven't yet concluded negotiations or, worse still, further impediments to growth through tariffs and nontariff barriers to trade imposed by our main trading partners because we haven't concluded a deal. we have been distracted by the covid—19 crisis, it would be hard enough, if not impossible, to conclude a trade deal by the end of the year. the oecd is now saying that it's not

realistic and arrangements should be made to extend the transition period so we don't crash out of the single market at a time when our economy least needs it. thank you very much, andy verity. the headlines on bbc news... anger in the commons as the prime minister is accused of failing to take responsibilty for his failures in getting children back to school. 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. many councils are reviewing statues and landmarks with links to the uk's colonial past. last night a statue of a former slave owner was removed from outside the london docklands museum. charlotte rose reports. faces from britain's past. but for how much longer? the future of statues and icons which have for centuries stood

in public places across the uk are now under scrutiny in the wake of the black lives matter protests. 130 labour councils will review controversial monuments in their towns and cities. but in some places, that will come too late. protesters in bristol pulled down a statue of 17th—century slaver edward colston over the weekend. whilst in london's docklands, the council took the decision to remove that of robert milligan, an 18th—century merchant and slave owner. i know a lot of people said that colston's removal was a degree of thuggery, but i'd compare the removal to a symbolic gesture, very similar to when the berlin wall was pulled down in 1989. that was seen as a start of a new, exciting germany and maybe this should be the start of a new, exciting time in britain. after a n

u nsuccessful campaignfouryears ago, protesters in oxford are now hoping to convince the university to remove a statue of the 19th imperialist cecil rhodes, which they believe is a symbol of the oppression of black people. the university's chancellor disagrees. there is a bit of hypocrisy in oxford taking money from 100 scholars a year, about a fifth of them from africa. to come to oxford and then say we want to throw rhodes' statue in the thames. and it is notjust in the uk that such monuments are under debate. in antwerp in belgium, a statue of king leopold ii who was responsible for the genocide of 10 million people in the congo was defaced and has now been taken down. many more could be consigned to the scrapheap of history. the focus on the

statue of edward colston in bristol. we are hearing from bristol council that the toppled statue will be retrieved from the harbour and will be exhibited in a museum. one of the options that was facing the council leaders. there were many that said it should be left at the bottom of the water. but the council, saying that they will retrieve the statue from the harbour and exhibit it in a museum. we will have more from bristol a little later on. the hollywood epic gone with the wind has been dropped from us television because of its depiction of slavery. media organisations, including the bbc, are reappraising some of their content in the wake of the protests over george floyd's death. our media editor, amol rajan, told me why gone with the wind is controversial this was based on a 1936 novel by margaret mitchell and it shows slaves who are not only content with their lot but they continue to be obedient to their white masters long after the abolition of slavery. it actually led to the first oscar for a black actress,

when hattie mcdaniel won for her portrayal of the domestic servant mammy. as a film, it was very successful. adjusted for inflation, it was the highest grossing film of all time, it won ten oscars. though arguably a bit long, at four hours long. but the issue at stake here isn't just about one film or one statue, it's a much broader thing. whether you apply modern standards to history. even while recognising that modern standards, modern morality, is contested, it's fluid, and will one day itself belong to history. the scrapheap of history, as we said in that report. whether it's statues of long—dead men, and it does always seem to be men, or whether it's films like gone with the wind, or programmes like little britain, there does seem to be, as you suggest, a global movement emerging which is saying that we should reappraise our heritage. of course, it's fraught with difficulty. the obvious question is, where does this end? i've just got the collective works of tintin, which i'm reading with my son, my mixed heritage son. and an exhibition of racial tolerance it certainly is not. so the question is whether or not you extend this and apply it to lots and lots of different aspects of our culture. but this is, i think,

the beginning of a culture war powered by digital media, which makes me think that another novelist, william faulkner, had it right when he said, "the past is never dead. schools and colleges in england have to submit their estimated grades for gcse and a level pupils by the end of this week. it's a keyjudgement that will affect tens of thousands of lives without exams being taken due to the coronavirus lockdown. a committee of mps is meanwhile holding an oral evidence session to consider the impact of exam cancellations and the fairness of this new, improvised grades system. that will include whether pupils from underprivileged backgrounds will suffer disproportionately. lord willetts is a conservative peer and a former universities minister, he is now the president of independent think—tank the resolution foundation. good afternoon to you. good afternoon. a lot of students are concerned about this. are they right to be? i understand their concerns. they are right to be concerned. the fa ct they are right to be concerned. the fact is, this year there is going to be an element of even

rougher justice than usual, because it's ha rd to justice than usual, because it's hard to see how they can sit exams in the way that was planned, so things like their performance in mocks will matter more, matter much more than they expected when they we re more than they expected when they were doing them. it is a very imperfect situation we are in. given we are in a unique moment, what choice does anybody have? we are in a unique moment, what choice does anybody have ?|j we are in a unique moment, what choice does anybody have? i think the main thing is the destinations, the main thing is the destinations, the recruiters, and that is mainly, but not only, universities, they have to show more discretion and more flexibility than usual. they just can't put the weight on the grades that they might have done in previous years. if they can, and they have limited resources, that means more investigation, especially for kids from disadvantaged backgrounds about what their potential should be. and i hope also it will mean some relaxation of the criteria for young people get into university, because theyjust won't be able to place as much weight on those estimated grades as they would

have done on actual a—level results in the past. you know better than either politics always gets in the way here. we are seeing many exa m ples way here. we are seeing many examples where you can see the positioning as they await the blame game down the line. i'm wondering how you think that is being played at the moment? well, i don't dig anybody would expect you could have done a levels and exams in the old way. that's not feasible, sadly, this crisis. but where we can and should do more the months ahead is provide more education opportunities for young people leaving school or college, or thinking of going to university, whose education has been terribly disrupted in the past few months. and as soon as the lockdown gets eased, with innovations like online learning, i would like to see more flexibility so that you can, for example, start preparing for university with online courses to top up your knowledge before you officially arrive in september or october. i'd like to see more

flexibility in the benefit rules, so that you can study for more than 16 hours whilst claiming unemployment. things like that, which enable people to catch up on the education they have lost. the very nature of what you are saying, it is those that are less well off that are going to be disproportionately hurt by this? that is the danger, as we all know having a laptop, having access to wi—fi at home, that is not evenly distributed. universities have got better at providing extra resource and helpful students from disadvantaged backgrounds. there is a big budget for that, and a use for that budget will be helping those young people prepare for going to university, because the gap between where they were when schooling for them effectively stopped, in february or march, and then what they will have to pick up when they arrive at university in september or october, that gap could be greater. so, the more innovation there is in helping them prepare for going to

university, with funding to have short courses, online courses, anything to help them get ready, would be a really useful investment. but this will be a nightmare for teachers. many of them say, look, we know that there are pupils taking their exams who suddenly flourish and perform in an exam, and show their true ability. those types of youngsters are really going to suffer with this. they will, if these results are treated as authoritative as usual exam results. if everybody shows some common sense and, for example, if a teacher thinks that someone who underperformed in their mocks, they can communicate that an add that as a note for ucas. there will be ways in which the system can adjust. i think we all have to accept we are working with imperfect information and we have to be more flexible than usual this year. lord willits, good

of you tojoin usual this year. lord willits, good of you to join us. the scottish government has given its first update on the strategy to trace contacts of people infected with coronavirus. it says it's completed tracing for nearly 500 cases. a further 12 people have died from covid—19 — taking the total number of deaths there to 2434. speaking at first minister's questions, nicola sturgeon warned that while progress is significant care must still be taken. the weekly number of covid deaths has now fallen, as i said, for six weeks in a row. today's figures are less than one seventh of their peak level. excess deaths are at less than one 20th of their peak level, and deaths in care homes are also now falling. that progress is significant, but we must take great care now to ensure that it is sustained. if it is, i hope that next week we will be able to announce some further, albeit careful, changes to lockdown measures. health protection scotland have also published some initial data today, presiding officer, on our test and protect system.

this data will become much more detailed in the weeks ahead. however, today's figures show that between the 28th of may, when the system launched, and the 7th ofjune, 681 cases were reported where the individual tested positive for covid. contact tracing has already been completed for 481 cases, it will be ongoing in others. and in total, 7111 contacts have so far been traced. i would remind everyone watching that if you have symptoms of covid—19, you should book a test immediately, and follow the advice on self isolation. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello. not a particularly some —like photograph behind me, is it? but there is a lot of cloud out there at there is a lot of cloud out there at the moment and some rain. sam is light and patchy as it moves its way to the east of the uk. behind it, some sharper showers. these showers will continue for the rest of the day, some of them with the odd rumble of thunder. as we go through the overnight period, they will be merging togetherfor the overnight period, they will be merging together for longer spells

of rain, particularly for wales and south—west england, with the isobars squeezing together. that means the winds are going to strengthen, too. quite a lot of cloud around, so a relatively mild night, seven or 11 degrees. we could see as much as a couple of inches of rain before the system clears away from the south—west. a few sharp showers following behind, driven by a brisk north—easterly wind. by the end of the afternoon, that could bring a speu the afternoon, that could bring a spell of more heavy, persistent rain in off the north sea. the wind remains gusty throughout the day and certainly quite noticeable. but, that said, temperatures are likely to peek into the afternoon, ranging from 12 to 20 degrees. that's it, ta ke from 12 to 20 degrees. that's it, take care. hello, this is bbc news — 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. sport now — and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. the merseyside derby, which could see liverpool wind their first premier league title, can take place at everton's everton part. -- liverpool win their first premier league title. liverpool's

matches at anfield can also go ahead. jurgen klopp's side will be crowned champions if manchester city lose to arsenal on the first day of the restart next wednesday and then liverpool beat everton. clu bs liverpool beat everton. clubs in the efl take their next steps to battle against financial uncertainty, there has been a boost for teams in scotland. over £3 million has been donated to the spfl trust from edinburgh based businessman james anderson. it's trust from edinburgh based businessmanjames anderson. it's to help all 42 professional clubs with a £52,000 share available for each bya a £52,000 share available for each by a grant. if they prove it benefits 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. our tennis correspondant russell fuller has more.. there are clearly far worse years to list, although next time roger federer steps on a court to play

competitively he will be well into his 45th year. —— mega years to miss. he would have been part of roland garros. if the us open happens, given the struggles he has had with humidity in recent years, he was unlikely to win that title. he also thought travelling with a family, two sets of twins, during covid—19 restrictions, was both unappealing and possibly even impractical. one positive note, the last time roger federer did this with knee problems in 2016, he took the second half of the year off and confidently won the australian open in 2017. the captain of the west indies cricket team, jason holder, says he feels assured their tour of england will be safe. 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. holder has speaking to our sports correspondentjoe wilson. from the moment they arrived in manchester in face masks we knew this was different. west indies

cricketers on tour in extraordinary circumstances. old trafford is where they will practice. initially it where they will live. the venues which will stage matches have hotels on the side. they will not leave the grounds during their tour. this morning the captain told me he felt safe. if you put yourself in the position of 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. we are fortunate we haven't been in that position. having said that, at some point in time we need to make the effort to get back to some sort of normalcy. a lot of people have been crying out for cricket. we don't want to be the guinea pigs. the black lives matter campaign isa guinea pigs. the black lives matter campaign is a hugely significant to

eve ryo ne campaign is a hugely significant to everyone around the world. he wanted to talk about the unifying power of sport. racism must stop. it's not a nice thing, no matter what angle you look at it from. but for us to sit and get deeply taken out by it, it might distract us from what we are looking to do. if i was to channel some of it into the right direction, maybe that is more of a factor, again, some people are driven that way, and that definitely could be a motive. for me it's all about equality. england's players have been practising in isolation scattered around the country for matches they must have opposition. and for those who build their summer around cricket, they know that the west indies have saved it. joe wilson, bbc news. 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 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 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. thank you. discussion about black british history, monuments and education is gathering pace — following protests in the uk in solidarity with demonstrators in the united states over the death of george floyd. in bristol on sunday, a statue

of slave trader edward colston was thrown into the harbour, and last night a statue of the slave dealer robert milligan was taken down in london docklands to cheers from crowds. now there are campaigns to have more statues removed — and for universities, hospitals and other institutions to re—label buildings named after invdividuals linked to the slave trade. campaigners are also calling for black history in britain to be made a compulsory part of the national curriculum in england. let's get more on this from teacher camille london—miyo from the national education union. good afternoon to you. good afternoon. before we get onto that, there is breaking news that the statue of edward colston will be retrieved from the bottom of the harbour and will be exhibited in a museum. is that the right approach? yes, i think that's the right approach, because within a museum it can provide a context that explains what he did, who he was, and i think

thatis what he did, who he was, and i think that is the best place. that is where his statue should have been in the first place. taking that argument to the next stage, the statues and the monuments which still exist around the country to many will be offensive. is there an argument to say, put a plaque at the bottom that explains why that is such a controversial thing, or does that not go far enough? it doesn't go far enough because these images area go far enough because these images are a consistent reminder to black people that live in britain, that generations of black people that have lived in britain, that certain communities, certain areas of society still hold in high esteem these statues. that's the reason why those statues are there. because they are held in high esteem. that is almost negating our lives and our experiences, and not holding us as

having any worth at all.|j experiences, and not holding us as having any worth at all. i was interested yesterday, the bristolian artist banksy, he put a suggestion forward that you put the statue back, but then he said you add to it. you show the image of people tearing it down. and explain why that was necessary. and you put perspective on it. is there a pragmatic way in which we can do everything, if you like?” pragmatic way in which we can do everything, if you like? i think what's really important is that black people are given the space, and given the opportunity, to articulate what they want, how they wa nt articulate what they want, how they want their histories to be shown. and i think that the issue with the edward colston statue is that for a0 yea rs edward colston statue is that for a0 years black people have been complaining and requesting and making demands that that statue should have come down. it took

the weekend for that to happen. whilst ba nksy weekend for that to happen. whilst banksy has his opinions, i think the communities within the bristol area should be given the respect they deserve in order to decide how they feel it should be dealt with. again, asi feel it should be dealt with. again, as i said, the best thing for that statue would be for it to be in a museum. does that give people the right to tear statues down if they don't agree with them? it was a council decision to retrieve it from the harbour. surely that must be the right way forward. absolutely. i am not condoning violence. the violence that has been done to black people over centuries, i'm not condoning that either. i'm not saying like for like. but we must understand the context we are in. this is something that black people, the racism we have experienced over hundreds and

hundreds of years, and every single time that we use reason, every single time that we try and debate, nothing happens. and i'm hoping, as a result of what has happened, you know, what has happened with the black lives matter movement, i'm hoping there will be significant change. i'm hoping that the institutional racism that black people experience day in, day out, that these institutions will look at themselves and actually try and address the fact that why are they not seeing black people in the same positions as them stop why can they say that they are dealing with our communities, black communities, and yet there is not one black person around board table. we need to address this. it needs to happen now. there is now a national conversation about the role of black

people, about black people which i'm sure you welcome. a lot of people are saying where are we going to draw the line on this? if you go around the country, you will see statues of people for many reasons, not just about the terrible treatment of black people in history, but other treatment of people. i'm thinking of cromwell and the irish. where do you draw the line? where does that decision rest? i'm interested in the idea of drawing the line. i think many of us who have experienced racism would like to think that we could have drawn the line many, many years ago. asi drawn the line many, many years ago. as i said in an interview yesterday. my as i said in an interview yesterday. my grandson is a fourth generation. i would like to think he wouldn't have to draw a line, that racism wasn't here, and that we are not in that position. i think the way we can address this fundamentally has to be in terms of having a history that reflects the community it seeks to serve. it has to

be a history thatis to serve. it has to be a history that is rewritten, that is rewriting what has been written out. that's what has been written out. that's what has been written out. that's what has to happen. wouldn't you wa nt what has to happen. wouldn't you want your grandson's grandson to look back and say, there was racism, how did that work? in the same way that we would look back and talk about slavery. talk about it rather than trying to move it out of our history altogether. yes, i would like to think he could talk about it in the past tense. i would like to think he could look at it in the past tense, but also that he wouldn't have to experience it. at this present moment in time, in 2020, i cannot guarantee that that would be the case in ten years time. i would like to think that what is happening now will ensure that, yes, he, his children, can be saying that it is something in the past. as the issue, now we are talking about it, are things about to get better, or are things about to get better, or are they about to

stay the same? that depends on political world. that depends on political world. that depends on the will of those in power to actually redress the imbalances that have occurred over the years and years. that depends on whether the institutional racism that exists, that we know from the macpherson report, that we knew from bernard called years and years ago, that depends on people actually implementing the actions that have been called upon. as black people, we can only do so much. those that have the power, those that can make the laws, those that are in the boardrooms and have the power and have the money, they are the ones that can make the changes. we can call for the change, but we have to have the power to do it. i'm so sorry i'm running out of time. were you encouraged that a lot of those who are pulling down the statue of edward colston where white people, that there are many people who are

angry about this? yes. i was encouraged by that. another thing about that was my heart said that if it had been more black people that had pulled down that statue, they probably would have been injail now. yes, iam probably would have been injail now. yes, i am encouraged by that. it is good to talk to you, i wish we had more time, camille. thank you so much. thank you. zoos and safari parks in england will be allowed to reopen next week. the return of visitors after nearly three months will come as a huge relief to those in charge of looking after the animals — amid warnings that some faced financial ruin. holly hamilton reports from chester zoo. after weeks of fearing for its future, a huge step in the right direction. the government's latest easing of lockdown restrictions will allow the reopening of outdoor attractions in england and that includes zoos. we're not out of the woods yet. as you said, we've lost £5 million worth of income and when we do open our doors on monday, we will be on limited capacity.

so it's gonna be a long struggle over the rest of the summer and into next year as well. just last week, chester zoo was told it would have to remain shut indefinitely during lockdown. which is bad news for a place that relies on 97% of its funding from ticket sales. now, in the last week, the zoo says it has been overwhelmed by the support from the public. in fact, a justgiving page set up last week has raised over £2 million. with even a major supermarket chain offering to adopt the zoo's colony of penguins. from individuals, schoolkids, care homes, even to local businesses as well. just yesterday, i was picking up animal bedding from a local company and the support has been... has been huge and overwhelming, really. chester is not the only zoo which has been struggling to stay afloat. last month, london zoo said it faced a perilous future. and the head of knowsley safari park in merseyside has been speaking of the ongoing challenge ahead.

it costs us about £400,000 a month to run the safari, even in the lockdown stage. and by this stage we probably... we're about £3 million behind what we were this time last year. the reopening of zoos and safari parks is on the condition that social distancing guidelines are in place. something chester zoo has been working hard to establish. but they are reminding visitors to book in advance online to avoid a stampede on monday. holly hamilton, bbc news, chester. a medical assistant from california blinded in one eye after police allegedly shot her with a rubber bullet at a black lives matter protest, has told us exclusively she has no regrets aboutjoining the rally. 29—year—old shantania love, a medical assistant and mum of two says she's been told by her surgeon it's 99.9% certain she'll lose her sight in one eye. she's now suing the sacramento police department — her lawyer says if they win the case, compensation could reach "millions of dollars".

it was the first protest ms love has ever taken part in and says it's ironic that on a protest against police brutality — sparked by the killing of geroge floyd — she had become "a victim of police brutality". she spoke to victoria derbyshire about her experience it's hard to describe. ijust keep using the term that it felt like i was a shot with a cannon. it was really, really bad. it's excruciating pain. and what do you think about what's happened to you? i think it is extremely ironic that a protest for police brutality, i am now a victim of that. i am devastated. you know, it's life altering. i have to change my whole life around now because of this injury. so my surgeon told me that there is a 99% chance that

i will be blind in that i, so i have another surgery next week. —— i will be blind in that eye, so i have another surgery next week. and how did you react when the surgeon said that to you, about the likelihood of you losing the sight in your eye? oh, i was devastated. that is hard news to hear after having vision for 29 years and then something this traumatic happens. it was hard. when you look in the mirror, what do you think? i just feel

a lot of sadness. there are times when ijust sit in my room and just cry because it's. .. it's a lot. it's notjust the coronavirus itself which is proving fatal around the world — but also the measures to deal with it. in india 300,000 children could die from severe malnutrition — after millions of daily wage earners were laid off during the lockdown — and are now struggling to feed their families. divya arya reports. too much hunger, too little food. withjobs gone, it's a fight for survival. hunger was always an issue here. but this desperation is new. for these children just outside the capital delhi, even one meal a day now feels like a

triumph. shiva is just one—month—old. his parents rely on daily wages to buy food, and like millions of others, they lost work after the government announced a lockdown in march. translation: we used to cook rice, rotis and vegetables before the lockdown. our children ate well. now they remain hungry because we have no money and no work. these children are too young to understand why this is happening. children under five are vulnerable to severe malnutrition. india is the worst in the world, with one in five children affected. and that might have become much worse. so this is almost a perfect storm for this region, with a very vulnerable population,

the declining quality and quantity of diets and without the access to the essential services that children need to prevent and treat malnutrition. for more than 45 years, the indian government has run a child development scheme to provide essential vitamins and nutrients to children up to the age of six through centres known as the anganwadis. but during the coronavirus lockdown, most of the more than 1 million anganwadi centres such as this were shut down. now some of them are trying to home deliver a much smaller quantity of food supplements at a time when they are most critical for young child ren's development. now it's ordinary citizens who have stepped up, like this man who has been distributing one hot meal a day to 500 children for the past two months. but that is hardly enough. translation: i can provide one or two meals but children need breakfast, lunch and dinner.

they're not getting the nutrition they need. despite a surge in coronavirus cases, the lockdown is easing. the government has a huge dilemma. how to stop the deadly spread of the disease and protect the most vulnerable, particularly children, from hunger and even starvation. they haven't yet found all the answers. divya arya, bbc news. health service leaders are calling on people tojoin in a special day of celebration next month, to pay tribute to nhs staff and other key workers. as well as urging communities to take part in a huge round of applause on sunday the 5th ofjuly — the day regarded as the birthday of the nhs — they want people to light a candle to remember those who've died. mark easton has more. three, two, one... applause.

britain is counting down to what it's hoped will be a national moment of thanks and have a celebration, for the nhs, but also for everyone who supported and protected the health service during the pandemic. at the royal papworth hospital in cambridgeshire, staff have been on the front line. but when it emerged there was a shortage of protective clothing, people in nearby villages responded. a sewing circle got to work, using bed sheets and curtains to make tops and trousers for doctors and nurses. people like dawn, who is shielding from the virus in the fens village of witchford. i was at a loose end and having the scrubs to make has been wonderful because it gives me a sense of purpose. up and down the country, people have been doing their bit. and at papworth, like every hospital, they say the rainbows have been sunshine in the rain. without their support some of us might break down, so knowing that the public was behind us, you know, it sort of gave you a strength. it has really kept us going, to be honest. the support from everybody

has been fantastic. nhs staff clap the community and the community claps the nhs. the women of witchford have spent the long weeks of lockdown 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 makes me feel nice, good. i am somebody, i can help with the stuff i do, it is important. you feel appreciated ? 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. the photo was taken in the castle's grounds during sunny weather last week. now it's time for a look at the weather. it is a pretty messy weather story to get your head around. apologies in advance, i will try and pinpoint the areas of interest.

today has been cloudy today and with one band of rain drifting east, with showers following behind. some of these showers turning quite heavy, and could be thundering through the rest of the day. this maximum temperature of 11 or 16 degrees could be better, and as we go through the evening, through wales and south—west england, showers and larger spells of rain and the winds are strengthening, a couple of inches or maybe more of rain fell overnight. that is welcome but it is a lot in a short space of time and could have an impact. overnight lows with the cloud around 7—12 degrees. tomorrow has scattered showers, driven in by a strengthening north easterly breeze, making it feel pretty cool on those exposed coasts, and by the end of the afternoon, we will see more heavy and persistent rain pushing in to eastern england. gusty reigns as we go through the day. that said, it is going to be a bit warmer away from that east coast, with top temperatures of 20 degrees. this area of low pressure influencing the weather story, it kind of reverts back

into the south—west as we move into friday, so that is going to be a bit of a nuisance and it will bring a spell of wet weather across the channel coast and in the south—west england. still a weak weather front drifting into northern england and southern scotland, and in between there will be some sunny spells. still a blustery winter. —— still a blustery wind. noticeable if you are going to be out and about, but something else that will be noticeable is the temperature is starting to climb, dragging up a bit of humid air from the near continent, so we could see highs of 21 degrees. that low pressure as we move into the weekend, finally it pushes its way northwards, easing offjust a touch. it could bring some showers with it but it is allowing high pressure to build, so eventually things are going to start to quiet down. on saturday, there is going to be the potential for some showers around, some heavy rain in places, but if you dodge the showers and keep the sunshine and you are off to see friends and family, you could actually see 24 degrees, and that is the mid—70s. the week ahead looks to be quieter than the weekjust gone. for some of us, drier

and a little warmer. take care.

this is bbc news. 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 targeted 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.

boris johnson has been forced to defend his plans for re—opening schools — in tetchy exchanges during prime minister's questions. after the government's u—turn on getting primary schoolchildren in england back before the summer break. labour leader sir keir starmer told him he needed to take responsibility for a mess — and accused him of flailing around and blaming others. borisjohnson hit back — saying he acknowledged parents want to get their kids back to school, but the government had to be extremely cautious. he said he would be announcing further measures on relaxing the lockdown later today. jessica parker reports. the way out of lockdown always looked difficult. but decisions had to be made, and explained. we now come to questions to the prime minister. in prime minister's questions today, labour claimed the government's plans for getting schools back lie in tatters. it's no good the prime minister flailing around, trying to blame others. a month ago today, a month ago

today, he made the announcement about schools without consulting relevant parties, without warning about the dates, and without any scientific backing for his proposal. it's time he took responsibility for his own failures. but the prime minister, labelling labour's approach as inconsistent. he can't have it both ways, mr speaker. it's one brief one day, another brief the next. i understand how the legal profession works. but what the public want to have is some consistency, mr speaker. and what i hope he will agree with me is that it's a good thing that we have now got 37% of kids in year six, in our primary schools, coming back, that is increasing the whole time. the scrapping of plans for all primary school children to return for a month before summer in england has caused deep concern. i think we need to see the government now bringing forward

a proper strategy for how children and young people's education is going to get started again. they have now been out of school for months, and this simply cannot continue without a plan to make sure they can kick—start their education. but a move to open up nonessential shops is set to go ahead on monday, and zoos could start taking visitors next week as well. "careful", "cautious" — ministers‘ watchwords when it comes to easing the lockdown. it‘s a matter of what sectors open up and when. but the situation around schools has led to questions about the government‘s priorities. boris johnson will take the downing street press conference later, to talk about what will come next. and perhaps also those decisions taken so far. jessica parker, bbc news. joining me now is our chief political correspondent, vicki young.

he was on the back foot in the commons, the prime minister. as jessica was saying, he‘s going to face similar questioning at the conference later? i think so, particularly on schools. a lot of people are looking ahead to september. even though it appears that for millions of people is going back to school has been written off until then, i think now there is real anxiety about there being a plan in place to deal with what are really logistical problems, come september. because if that rule, that guidance from public health england about a bubble of 15 and no more children in one class, if that is still in place, you‘re going to have all the same problems as schools are facing right now, which is not enough rooms, and not enough teachers. so they need to think about how they are going to sort that. now, that would require quite a lot of work, whether it is portakabins, a lot of work, whether it is porta kabins, whether it a lot of work, whether it is portakabins, whether it is going to other places, taking village halls, whatever, all of that would have to be sorted now. and, of course, it‘s quite difficult, because nobody

knows what the situation will be, come september. because it was clear that there could be more loosening and relaxing of the rules if those numbers of cases of coronavirus do continue to fall. so, i suppose on the other hand they don‘t want to make all these arrangements, put them in place and then they are not needed. but they are coming under real pressure on all of this were not really for seeing the problem of having a lack of space in most schools. meanwhile, children can't go to school, but they can go and see the penguins? at least there is somewhere to go with them, i guess, is the way to look at that. there are things for people to do if they opened their zoos and shops start to open, those kind of things. the argument will be, certainly when it comes to zoos and outdoor places, that there is a difference between the transmission of the virus if you are outside, walking around, socially distancing, than if you are ina socially distancing, than if you are in a small classroom. so, that is the argument. but i think they are trying to open up the safest parts of the economy, with

lots of people and mps extremely anxious about what is coming for employment in particular, and then looking ahead to the hospitality trade, you know, there is a real problem there with there is a real problem there with the two metre rule because lots of those pubs and restaurants, cafe is, saying they are not going to make any money, if you have to limit the number of people that will come through the door. over the summer, if the weather is good, you can do a lot more outside. but that, as we know, is not guaranteed. those of you desperate to get to the pubs will no doubt be pushing the prime minister on that later? no doubt people have forgotten what it is like, there are pubs doing take a ways, people standing around on the pavements or in areas they can sit in. in terms of a business model, they are not going to be making the amount of money they need in terms of employing people, and making a profit. so all of that is going to be an issue, and i think a lot of people will be asking that question.

particularly because borisjohnson has several times said he wants the two metre rule relaxed. it‘s not the same in some other countries, the world health organization says one metre. he will be quizzed on that. but he says when the time is right, it is under review, but they need to wait until the time is right. that is dependent on figures from the ons each week, they are due on friday this week, to show how many cases there are in the community. it is all about that before the next relaxation comes. just between you and me, if you ask a question of the prime minister or any minister at these conferences later, and the question isn‘t answered, is there a chance for you to say afterwards, that‘s not on? chance for you to say afterwards, that's not on? yesterday i asked the question of alok sharma and the business secretary, and we were allowed to come back with a follow—up question. as it turned out, the journalist after me asked the same question again and again. i think it‘s pretty obvious for people watching, if you ask questions and they asked a couple of times and they asked a couple of times and

they are not answered, people see through that pretty quickly. right. thank you very much. ten million people in england could be waiting for medical treatment by the end of the year, because of the backlog caused by coronavirus. the nhs confederation, which represents hospital trusts, says the health service is facing an ‘uphill battle‘ to restart normal treatments while still dealing with the pandemic. richard galpin reports. for months, staff in many hospitals have battled to save the lives of tens of thousands of people infected by coronavirus. but now increasingly they are also under pressure to treat people with other serious illnesses, such as heart disease, stroke and cancer. and yet capacity to treat them is reportedly around half of what it should be. staff burn—out and the need for social—distancing measures in hospitals part of the reason. we are trying to rebuild services

as covid—19 is still around within our hospitals and within our communities. and it will take time and it will take patience to try and build up services to where they were before the outbreak. and it will take even longer to try and deal with the huge backlog that has built up during this crisis. 70—year—old marion is frustrated and in pain. the operation she needs for a knee replacement keeps being rescheduled. the thing that concerns me is that, as time goes on, my condition is probably worsening. and in my bleakest moments, i think, "is it going to get to the stage where it is inoperable?" there is criticism now that the nhs should already be back on course to treat patients with a range of different illnesses. there's always this worry about a second wave, winter pressures, all sorts of things that could happen. but if we don't deal with cancer and heart disease and mental health now,

we are going to have far more problems than covid ever caused this year. but the nhs confederation says it won‘t be possible to switch on all nhs services immediately. instead, it says, we should manage people‘s expectations. it is also calling for emergency funding to be extended. richard galpin, bbc news. i‘m going to take you to the united states. the brother of george floyd is scheduled to appeal to give evidence. he is one of 12 to appear before the committee for an oversight committee on policing practices and accountability. this is the chair of the committee. others scheduled to appear are family attorney, law enforcement experts, civil rights activists on the sister of a slain police

officer. mr floyd is expected to talk about his brother‘s death, during his arrest by minneapolis police, which spawned mass protests worldwide over police brutality. we willjoin the hearing. this is the chair. we are expecting to hear from george floyd‘s brother shortly. today, we examine the state of policing in america and look for ways to prevent racist acts of violence by police officers, to hold accountable those who commit such a cts accountable those who commit such acts and to strengthen the trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. on monday, karen bass, the chair of the crime subcommittee, as well as the congressional black caucus, in introducing the justice congressional black caucus, in introducing thejustice and policing act, which would further the cause. the bill has over 200 co—sponsors in the house. the bill is not an

indictment of all police officers. we must always remember that most law enforcement officers do their jobs with dignity, selflessness and honour, and are deserving of our gratitude for all they do to keep us safe. we owe a debt that can never be paid to the many officers killed in the line of duty every year. and it is clear there are many officers, including some local police chiefs who marched arm in arm with their communities, who want to separate themselves from the dangerous behaviour of others in the profession. but there are too many officers who abuse their authority, and we cannot be blind to the racism and we cannot be blind to the racism and injustice that pervades far too many of our law enforcement agencies. and injustice where the nation is demanding we enact meaningful change. this is a systemic problem that requires a comprehensive solution. that

is why the justice and comprehensive solution. that is why thejustice and policing act takes a holistic approach that includes a variety of front entry forms to change the culture of law enforcement, while holding bad police officers accountable, to separate them from those with a true ethic to protect and serve. among other things, it would make it easierfor the federal other things, it would make it easier for the federal government to successfully prosecute police misconduct cases. it would ban chokeholds, it would end racial and religious profiling, it would encourage prosecutions, independent from local police and eliminate the dubious doctrine of qualified immunity for law enforcement. at the same time, the bill encourages departments to commit to a gold standard of hiring, training, de—escalation strategies, bystander duty and use of body cameras and other best practices. it also creates a new grant programme for community—based organisations, to create local task forces policing innovation that would reimagine

public safety so it is just and equitable for all americans. the goal of the legislation is to achieve a guardian, not worry, model of policing. thejustice and policing act is at once bold and transformative, while also taking a responsible and balanced approach to the many complicated issues associated with policing. i look forward to bringing it before our committee in short order. to the activists who have been sounding the alarm for years, only to be ignored, or greeted with half measures, it is because of your persistence and your determination that we are here today. if there is one thing i have taken away from the tragic events of the last month, it is that the nation demands and deserves meaningful change. we can and should debate the specifics. but at the end of the day, it is the responsibility and obligation of the house

judiciary committee to do everything in our power to help deliver change for the american people. i look forward to hearing from our witnesses, who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in the many issues we are examining today, and he will help guide us in that process. first, iwant he will help guide us in that process. first, i want to address just one witness. philonise floyd, the brother of george floyd. we are all very sorry for your loss, and we appreciate your being here today, to discuss your brother‘s life. we must remember he is notjust a cause, a name to be chanted in the streets, he was a man, he had a family, he was known as a gentle giant. he had a rich life that was taken away from him fartoo a rich life that was taken away from him far too early. and we mourn his loss. this is a very difficult time for our nation. we have lost more than 110,000 people to covid—19, a toll that has

fallen disproportionately on people of colour. we have lost brave police officers and other front line workers who risked their lives to serve their communities. and we have lost george floyd, breonna taylor and the many, many other victims of excessive force by law enforcement. we must act today to honour their memory. i now recognise the ranking member of the judiciary committee, the gentleman from ohio, mrjordan, for his opening statement. thank you, mrchairman. i for his opening statement. thank you, mr chairman. i want to thank all our witnesses will be here today and extend our sympathy to mr floyd and extend our sympathy to mr floyd and miss underwood jacobs. we are also sorry for your loss, and for what your families have had to live through and had to endure. mr floyd, the murder of your brother come in the murder of your brother come in the custody of the minneapolis police, is a tragedy that never should have happened. it is as wrong as wrong can be. and your brother's killers will face justice. miss

underwood jacobs, the murder of your brother by the rioters in oakland is a tragedy. it never should have happened. it is as wrong as wrong can be, and your brother's killers will face justice. there are three and 30 million people in this great country. the greatest nation ever. not perfect, but the best nation ever. and they understand, the american people understand, that it is time for a real discussion, real debate, real discussions about police treatment of african americans. americans also understand that peaceful protest, exercising their first amendment liberties, honours george floyd's memory and helps that discussion, that debate and those discussions actually happen. the people of this great country, you know what else they understand? country, you know what else they understand ? you know country, you know what else they understand? you know what else they get? they understand there is a big difference between peaceful protests and rioting. there is a big difference between peaceful protest

and looting, a big difference between peaceful protest and violence, and attacking innocent people, there is certainly a big difference between peaceful protest and killing police officers. you know what else they get? you know what else the american people fully understand? what else the american people fully understand ? they know, what else the american people fully understand? they know, as the chairman said, the vast, vast majority of law enforcement officers are responsible, hard—working, heroic first responders. they are the officers who protect the capital, who protect us every single day. they are the officers that rushed into the twin towers on 9/11 and the officers in every one of our neighbourhoods, every one of our neighbourhoods, every one of our neighbourhoods, everyone of our communities, every day, every night, every shift they work, that put their lives on the line to keep our communities safe. and guess what americans also get? guess what else they understand? americans also get? guess what else they understand ? they americans also get? guess what else they understand? they know it is pure insanity to defund the police, and the fact that my democrat colleagues will not speak out against this

crazy policy is frightening. think about what we have heard in the last few weeks. we have heard in the last few weeks. we have heard in the last few weeks. we have heard the mayors of our largest city, he said he wanted to defund the police, the mayor of new york said he wants to defund the police. the city council in minneapolis, a vetoproof majority, say they want to defund the police and abolish the department. this congress started off with the democrats, focus on the left, saying that we should abolish ice, then the department of home and security, and then the police. this is wrong, and the american people know it is wrong. we should honour the memory of george floyd, and work ha rd the memory of george floyd, and work hard so that nothing like it happens again. we should honour the memory of dave patrick underwood, and work out so that nothing like that happens again. a week and a half ago, the mission was clearly stated. 11 days ago in florida, the

president of the united states clearly stated what our mission should be. president trump said i stand before you as a friend, an ally to every american seeking justice and peace. and i stand before you in firm opposition to anyone exploiting tragedy to loot, rob, attack and menace. healing, not hatred. justice, not chaos, are the mission at hand. well said, mr president. healing, not hatred. justice, not chaos. that is our mission. the president is right, and i appreciate his leadership. this is the house judiciary committee. with its storied history of defending the constitution of the rule of law. let's adopt that mission. healing, not hatred. justice, not chaos. let's work together to make america, continue to make america the greatest nation ever. continue to make america the greatest nation everlj continue to make america the greatest nation ever. i now recognise the chair of the

subcommittee on crime, areas of homeland security. the lady from california, karen bass. thank you. i wa nt to california, karen bass. thank you. i want to thank you for your years of leadership on this issue. i know you have been involved for many years supporting police reform. what we saw in minnesota, the slow, torturous murder of george floyd by a uniformed officer, was an outrage and a tragedy. what we have seen since then, millions of americans marching in the street to demand justice and call for reforms. it has been an inspiration, minus a few days of violence, it has been peaceful, and it has been in the american tradition. what we have here today is a hearing in the us congress to examine policing practices in america and passed to reform. so we have an opportunity. what we have seen since there is an opportunity to rethink the nature of

policing, an opportunity for meaningful accountability in policing, and it is an opportunity to show the nation on the world that we are listening and we will act. too often, this debate is framed in terms of citizens versus the police, us, versus terms of citizens versus the police, us, versus them. but it is about the america we all want to see. we all wa nt to america we all want to see. we all want to be safe in our communities, we all want the police to come to our rescue when we are in trouble. we wa nt our rescue when we are in trouble. we want to support the brave men and women that put their lives on the line for us every day. when we interact with police, we want to be treated with respect, not suspicion. nobody should be subject to harassment or excessive force just because of the colour of their skin. nobody should suffer the indignity of racial profiling will be on the end of a deadly chokehold. we should all want for ourselves, for our children and neighbours, the same. on monday i introduced with more than 200 members of congress hr 7120, the justice than 200 members of congress hr 7120, thejustice in policing. this

bold and tra nsformative 7120, thejustice in policing. this bold and transformative legislation would help re—examine the culture of policing, while holding accountable the officers that fail to uphold the ethics of protecting and serving their communities. later when we do a mark—up we will entertain an amendment to change the name of the legislation in honour of george floyd. if this had been a law last year, george floyd would be alive, because chokeholds would be banned. breonna taylor would be alive because no knock warrants for drugs would be banned. tamir rice would have graduated high school this may be because the officer that killed him had been fired from a nearby department and lied on his application. this legislation calls for a national register, so that would not have happened and tamir rice would have graduated high school. i understand that change is difficult, but i am certain that police officers, they are rational to risk their lives every day and

arejust as to risk their lives every day and are just as interested to risk their lives every day and arejust as interested in building a strong relationship with the communities they serve based on mutual trust and respect, as those that rely on their protection are. they want to increase and upgrade the profession, and so having national standards should never be that you can do a chokehold in one city and not in another. there should be basic standards, basic accreditation, continuing education, just as there are in so many other professions. when i was at the service yesterday, and when i was there, i looked up at the picture of george floyd, and i saw the year that he was born. he was born in 1973. that what an important year in my life because that was the year in los angeles that ijoined an organisation called the coalition against police abuse. that was 47 yea rs against police abuse. that was 47 years ago. our police chief at the time, we were suffering from a number of victims who had died because of chokehold is. our police chief held a press conference where

he told los angeles that the reason why black people died of chokehold was that our neck veins were different, they didn‘t open up as rapidly as normal people. that is where we were, 47 years ago. the question remains, it was 29 years ago that we saw the rodney king beating. as an activist at the time, i was sad at the tragedy. it was horrific to see him beat like that. most of the activist said, finally, we know we will have justice, there is no way these police officers are going to get off because the whole world saw what happened. in the civil rights movement, it would, the fa ct civil rights movement, it would, the fact that there were cameras there, the beatings and treatment of black people in the south, it had gone on for hundreds of years. but it wasn‘t until those cameras exposed that that things began to change. and so

what has happened... things began to change. 20 years since and king, six yea rs change. 20 years since and king, six years since eric gardner, just weeks since the death of george floyd. his death cannot be in vain. i told his brother that his name will live on in history because the tragedy that he suffered has been the catalyst for what i believe will be profound change. and not just for what i believe will be profound change. and notjust change that helps to professionalise police departments, notjust change that prevents further abuse and deaths, but an opportunity for communities, through receiving grants, to take a look at their community and say, well, there‘s all of these issues that we face, why should police officers have to address

homelessness and mental illness? police officers complain all the time, they are not social workers. that‘s right. so with these grants, maybe communities can take an opportunity to re—envision what public safety is and come up with better models to reduce the problem is that wind up needing a police officer. so, that is what we have an opportunity to do in this congress, with this piece of legislation. and i hope that we work for passage of the legislation in the house, it gets to the senate, the president signs it, and in the year 2020 we never see again what we saw a a few weeks ago. it wasn‘tjust a tragedy for our country and our nation, but it really was an embarrassment of our nation in front of the entire world, well we hold of human rights in the world, we obviously have to hold them up in our country, and, with that, i

yield. hold them up in our country, and, with that, iyield. since hold them up in our country, and, with that, i yield. since mr ratcliffe has left the committee to serve as director of national intelligence, i recognise the ranking memberof intelligence, i recognise the ranking member of the subcommittee on civil rights and civil liberties, the gentleman from louisiana, mr johnson, one opening statement. thank you. i want to join johnson, one opening statement. thank you. i want tojoin my collea g u es thank you. i want tojoin my colleagues today and thanking our witnesses sincerely for being here, especially mr floyd and miss underwood jacobs, for making the trip and sharing your experiences. you have our condolences and our profound sadness for your losses. i am to my family, and the community of faith i represent, have been praying for you and will continue to do that. we are going to talk about policing practices and reforms today. and that‘s a really important topic. but since this is the first full committee hearing we have had in judiciary, full committee hearing we have had injudiciary, since the full committee hearing we have had in judiciary, since the tragic death of mr floyd, i think it‘s also important for us to acknowledge here

in the beginning what is believed by so many to be a root cause of the persistent challenges that we face together as a country, and that is the need for authentic reconciliation in our communities. everybody here understands the plain and simple truth that racism in any form violates the most fundamental principles of our great nation and the rules of our creator. the central idea of america, let‘s not forget, is the idea that we boldly declare the self—evident truth that all men are created equal. and that they are thus endowed by god with they are thus endowed by god with the same inalienable rights. because each of us is made in the image of god, there are serious applications that come from that. among them, the idea that every single person has dignity and value. and our value is not related in any way to the colour of ourskin, ourzip not related in any way to the colour of our skin, our zip code, what we can contribute to society or anything else, it is inherent because it comes from out creator. any fool who believes he has a natural supremacy of his neighbour violates the creed of america and the greatest commandments of the god

who made him. if we can ever learn to see one another as god does, i think it will solve a lot of problems. this unspeakable act of cruelty in minneapolis has opened an important new dialogue on reform. and while policing has always been regarded as an inherently local function, we do agree that congress has a key role to play in ensuring that abuses are not tolerated and can never happen again. justice has to be swift, and bad police officers have to be held accountable for their actions, but, the same time, we wa nt their actions, but, the same time, we want to be careful to recognise, as all my colleagues have this morning, that officers like the ones involved in the death of george floyd a re not involved in the death of george floyd are not representative of the vast majority of america‘s law enforcement officers. most are faithful, self—sacrificing public serva nts faithful, self—sacrificing public servants who put their lives on the line every single day to protect and serve our communities. we need to honour that, and we need to recognise and empower those law enforcement officers, which is precisely the opposite of the radical, dangerous proposals we are seeing right now

to defend them. —— defund them. a government must be a nation of law and order, and public safety is our key to retaining the republic. without that, things like rioting, looting and violence that has led to the destruction of cities and minority owned businesses, ironically, would prevail over the valuable, peaceful protests that are intended to bring about meaningful change. there are solutions we can work towards that will restore faith in our institutions and build trust in our institutions and build trust in our communities. from where we sit we believe the most actionable performance must focus around a core concepts. this common ground is key if we are going to accomplish the goal of keeping our communities safe, upholding the civil liberties of individuals, and protecting the legitimacy of law enforcement. none of these goals that i‘ve outlined

are mutually exclusive. we can and should clearly condemn the senseless violence we have seen and all causes of it. from a few bad apples wearing a badge to the bad actors and anarchist sparking riots and destruction in our streets. at the same time we can work together on meaningful reforms and real results while upholding the respect and appreciation that is due to every american patriot who faithfully serves us on the thin blue line. i have faith we can work together as a community. this is a bipartisan concern and will have bipartisan solutions, i hope. forthe concern and will have bipartisan solutions, i hope. for the future of our country and a future of generations of americans to come we hope to do that. i want to hear and listen to our witnesses to understand the need in our communities to foster our discussions on a future of stability and mutual respect. we have started that and hopefully we can continue that. i give back. with that objection all other opening statements will be included in the record. we have an unusually large

panel today but given the broad range of issues that we will be discussing we have invited a broad range of witnesses. as is customary, the minority was given the opportunity to invite witnesses, as well. they have selected pastor scott and miss underwood jacobs. we welcome everyone and thank them for their participation. i will begin by swearing you in if the witnesses can rise. do you swear or affirm under penalty of perjury that the testimony you are about to give is true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information, and believe, so help you god? let the record show that the witnesses answered in the affirmative. thank you. please be seated. please note that each of your written statements will be entered into the record in its entirety. i ask you summarise your testimony in five minutes. to help you stay within that time, for those witnesses testifying in person,

there is a timing light on your table. when the light switches from green to yellow you have one minute to conclude your testimony. when the light turns red it signals that your five minutes have expired. for our remote participants there is a time on your screen to help you keep track of your time. given the large numberof track of your time. given the large number of witnesses i will introduce each witness and then invite him or her to give each witness and then invite him or herto give their each witness and then invite him or her to give their testimony before introducing the next witness. we will begin with philonise floyd, the brother of george floyd, who was killed by minneapolis police office rs killed by minneapolis police officers on may 25. mr floyd has spoken eloquently about his brother's life and we appreciate him being with us today having flown to washington to testify before us today directly from his brother's funeral in houston yesterday. we are all so sorry for your loss. mr floyd, you may begin.

chairman, and members of the committee, thank you for the invitation to hear today to talk about my big brother george. the world knows him as george, but i called him perry. yesterday we laid him to rest. it was the hardest thing i ever had to do. i'm the big brother now. so it's myjob to cover my brother's and my sisterjust 's parents kids and everyone who loved him. that's a lot of people. —— sister's parents kids. i had to be the strong one now because george has gone. me being the big brother now is why i am here today. to do what perry always would have done. to ta ke what perry always would have done. to take care of the family and others. i couldn't take care of

george that day he was killed, but maybe by speaking with you today i can make sure that his death will not be in vain. to make sure that he is more than another face on a t—shirt, more than another name on a list that won't stop growing, george always made sacrifices for our family, and he made sacrifices for complete strangers. he gave the little that he had to help others was that he was always a gentle giant. i was reminded of that when i watched the video of his murder. he called all the officers sir. he was mild—mannered. he didn't fight back. he listened to all the officers. the man who took his life, who suffocated him for eight minutes and 46 seconds, he still called him sir

as he begged for his life. i can't tell you the kind of pain you feel when you watch something like that. when you watch your big brother, who you looked up to your whole entire life, die. die begging for his mum. i'm tired. i'm tired of pain. pain you feel when you watch something like that. when you watch your big brother, who you looked up to for your whole life die, die begging for his mum. i'm here to ask you to make it stop. stop the pain. stop us from being tired. george called for help and he was ignored. please listen to the call by making to you now. to the call by making to you now. to the cause of our family. and the call is ringing out in the streets across the world. —— maggie the calls. people of all backgrounds, genders, and races, have come together to demand change. honour

them. honour george. make the necessary changes that make law enforcement the solution and not the problem. hold them accountable when they do something wrong. teach them what it means to treat people with empathy and respect. teach them what necessary force is. teach them that force should be used rarely and only when life is at risk. george hadn't hurt anyone that day. he did not deserve to die over $20. i'm asking you, is that what a black man is worth? $20? this is 2020. enough is enough. the people marching in the streets are telling you enough is enough. by the leaders, the world needs the right thing. the people elected you to make positive

change. george's name means something. you have the opportunity here today to make your names mean something, too. if his death ends up changing the world for the better, and i think it will, then he died as he lived. it is all you to make sure that his deathis is all you to make sure that his death is not in vain. —— it is on you. idid death is not in vain. —— it is on you. i did not get a chance to say goodbye to perry while he was here. i was robbed of that. but i know he is looking down at us now. perry look at what you did, big brother. you changed the world. thank you for everything. for taking care of us on earth, for taking care of us

now, i hope you can find, and you can rest in peace and in power. thank you, philonise floyd. the president and ceo of the leadership conference on civil rights. acting previously as districtjenny a general —— district attorney general. you may be in, miss gupta. thank you for being here today, philonise floyd, and thank you for your powerful words. and we are so sorry. members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today, and thank you for calling this hearing on policing practices and the need for transformative policies that promote accountability, begin to

reimagine public safety, and respect the dignity of all people. while the re ce nt the dignity of all people. while the recent murder of george floyd at the hands of four minneapolis police office rs hands of four minneapolis police officers put the issue of police brutality in the national spotlight, the outpouring of pain and anger is anything but a reaction to one isolated incident for the misconduct ofa isolated incident for the misconduct of a few bad apples. instead, the outcry is a response to the long cycle of stolen lives and violence with impunity toward black people in our nation. we are now at a turning point. there is no returning to normal. we have to create a new way forward , normal. we have to create a new way forward, one that does more than tinker at the edges, that promotes data in training. we need something that truly transforms policing and leads to more accountability for communities. it is imperative that we get this right, and that congress is responding and reflects the important work of black lives matter, the movement for black lives, and so many people that are bringing us to this tipping

point. my tenure as head of the justice department civil rights division began two months after michael brown was killed by a police officer in ferguson. the justice department was hardly perfect but we understood our mandate, to promote accountability and constitutional policing in order to build community trust. during the obama administration, we opened 25 practice investigations to help realise greater structural and community centre of change, often at the request of police chiefs and mayors who needed federal leadership. after making findings we had extensive engagement from community advocates, who not only identified unjust and unlawful policing practices, but also help develop sustainable mechanisms for accountability and systemic change. that's not the justice department we have today. under both attorneys generals the government has

abdicated its responsibility under abandoned its use of tools. instead it is focused on dismantling police accountability efforts and halting any new investigations. the disruption of crucial work in the civil rights division, and throughout the department ofjustice to bring forth accountability and transparency in policing is deeply concerning. in the absence of federal leadership, the leadership co nfe re nce federal leadership, the leadership conference education fund launched the new era of public safety initiative, a, heads of guide and talk outlining proposals to build trust between communities and police departments, restore confidence, and imagine a new paradigms of public safety. much of these changes must happen at the state and local level. success is going to require the leadership support and commitment of the federal government, including congress. last week the leadership co nfe re nce congress. last week the leadership conference in more than 400 civil rights organisation sent a letter to congress to move us forward on a path of accountability. —— and more than 400. one, create a national

necessary standard on the use of force. two, prohibit racial profiling including robust data collection. three, banned the use of joe holes and other restraint manoeuvres. for, and the militarisation of policing. —— choke hold. six, strengthen federal accountability systems and increase the justice department's authority to prosecute officers that engage in misconduct. seven, create a national police misconduct registry. the leadership conference was pleased to learn the justice and policing act introduced monday by both members of the house of representatives and the senate reflects much of this accountability framework. this is congress's most combines of effort in decades to substantially address police misconduct, by taking on issues critical issues affecting black and brown communities. as the bill advances towards this passage, we will continue to work on it, and ensure that real change is achieved. let me just say in closing that policing reform alone is not going

to solve the crisis we are in today. this moment of reckoning requires leaders, together with communities, to envision a new paradigms of public safety that respects the human rights of all people. that means notjust human rights of all people. that means not just changing human rights of all people. that means notjust changing policing practices and culture, but ultimately shrinking the footprint of the legal system in black and brown peoples lives. and it means shifting our approach to public safety from exclusively focusing on criminalisation, and policing towards investments in economic opportunity, education, health care, and other public benefits. police chiefs and officers talk about the same thing, this approach will not only further equity but also constitute effective policy. when we stop using criminaljustice policy asa stop using criminaljustice policy as a social policy we will make communities safer and more prosperous. now is the time for congress to pass lasting accountability measures, and we look forward to working with you until the day these reforms are signed into law. george floyd's death has impacted the world. now it is on us

to change it. thank you. thank you very much. at the request of the ranking member, i will now recognise the distinguished minority leader to the house for a brief introduction of his constituent, our next witness, angela underwood jacobs. thank you for convening this important hearing. mr floyd, thank you for your powerful words. i make one promise to you. your brother won't have died in vain. i am here to introduce angela underwood jacobs. her husband, michael, and her daughter trinity. more importantly, i am her daughter trinity. more importantly, lam here her daughter trinity. more importantly, i am here to listen to them and all of you. i know angela and i'm proud to call her a friend. she is a mother, a businesswoman, and the first black woman to become

and the first black woman to become a city council member in lancaster, california. angela is here to testify because her brother, dave patrick underwood, who was tragically and senselessly murdered in the line of duty two weeks ago in oakland. we mourn and pray for angela and the entire underwood and floyd family. as a member of the federal protective service, he was guarding a federal courthouse. a symbol of equaljustice in the rule of law. during the riots in oakland on the night of his death, it appears his death was part of a targeted attack on federal law enforcement. we pray thatjustice comes swiftly and completely. for pat, for george floyd, and all of the victims of violence. pat underwood should be alive today. george floyd should be alive today. david dunn should be

alive today. and so should countless others. and though we cannot bring them back, we can learn from their lives and deliver the justice and change they deserve. i hope that every member of this committee will listen closely and carefully to what angela has to say. our nation must listen, and it must heal. we must reconcile our differences with a renewed sense of love and compassion. we must remember, like president lincoln, that we are not enemies but we are friends. friends that have a responsibility to rise above. to make sure that we become the more perfect union we strive to be. and i hope that at this moment in time we rise to the occasion. i yield back. thank you, mr mccarthy. miss

underwood jacobs, you may begin.|j truly appreciate the opportunity to be here today. as a nation, as a people, we must come together to defeat fear, hate, prejudice, and violence. i want to ensure that the memory of my brother, patrick, is a catalyst against injustice, intolerance, and violence of any kind. iwant intolerance, and violence of any kind. i want to honour my brother, dave patrick underwood, and our family and help our nation think about how to navigate the righteous path to equality, freedom, and non—violent systemic change. i want to extend my sympathies and condolences to george floyd's family. mr floyd's murder was not just cruel and reprehensible, but criminal. the officers involved should be brought tojustice and held accountable for their actions, as well as their inaction.

i wish that same justice for my brother, patrick, who served with distinction and honour as a federal officer for the department of homeland security. until he was murdered anonymously by blind violence on the steps of the federal courthouse in oakland, california. as he took his last breath, on the cold, hard cement, after being shot multiple times, he died. fear, hatred, ignorance, and blind violence snatched the life of my brother patrick from all of us. doctor martin luther king junior preached always avoid violence. if you succumb to the temptation of using violence in your struggle, unborn generations will be recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness. and your chief legacy to the future will

be an endless range of meaningless chaos. i have spoken to many people across this country. in fact, across the world, regarding what is going on in america. america is in pain, and she is crying. can you hear her? i am here to seek justice is crying. can you hear her? i am here to seekjustice through the chaos for my brother patrick, for george floyd, for citizens of all colours, for communities across america, and for the police officers that protect those communities and their citizens every day. the actions of a few are dividing us as actions of a few are dividing us as a nation. at a time when we should be coming together and uniting for the well—being be coming together and uniting for the well— being of be coming together and uniting for the well—being of all people, we will never solve generational systemic injustice with looting, burning, destruction of property, and killing in the name ofjustice. we must find

lawful, peaceful solutions that uplift and benefit everyone. and this, this is greater thana everyone. and this, this is greater than a black, white, or blue issue. it isa than a black, white, or blue issue. it is a humanity issue. when those ina it is a humanity issue. when those in a position of authority choose to abuse their power, that is a very definition of oppression. and when innocent people are harmed in the name ofjustice, innocent people are harmed in the name of justice, no innocent people are harmed in the name ofjustice, no one prevails, we all lose. everyone deserves the opportunity to feel hurt, the scene, and feel safe. police brutality of any kind must not be condoned. however, it is blatantly wrong to create an excuse out of discrimination and disparity to loot and burn our communities. to kill our officers of the law. it is a ridiculous solution to proclaim that

defunding police department is a solution to police brutality and discrimination. because it isn't a solution. —— police departments. it removes the safety net, a protection every citizen deserves. there is a path to achieving what we desire. and deserve as a nation. and as a people. equality, fairness, justice, peace, and freedom from oppression. it is the same path we started on during the civil rights movement. the solution to our nation's ills are simple. education, we need to actually invest in education again, and make it our nation's top priority. through education comes knowledge. through knowledge comes understanding. and through understanding. and through understanding comes opportunity and freedom. jobs, if there isn't any

chance of making a decent living there isn't any chance of having a decent, just society. we need to create more jobs. that in turn will create more jobs. that in turn will create more jobs. that in turn will create more economicjustice for all americans. housing, there is no way to live a decent life if you cannot find or in america's case afford shelter. we need to listen and learn from each other. it's time for everyone to open their ears and listen to what each other as to say. america is the world's melting pot because we have so many people, cultures, beliefs, and points of view. and somehow we have become side load. as a single voice in this chamber, attempting to honour my brother and family, i chamber, attempting to honour my brotherand family, i hope i chamber, attempting to honour my brother and family, i hope i can make a difference today. i want to make a difference today. i want to make america a i want america to make america a i want america to make a change. —— i want

america to make a change. —— i want america to make a change. i want you, as our representatives in congress, to make a change so that no one ever has tawa ke up to a change so that no one ever has tawake up to the phone call that i received telling me that my brother was shot dead and murdered. —— to wa ke was shot dead and murdered. —— to wake up. how my brother died was wrong. i pray we learn something about how he lived. patrick was the type of man... studio: we will come away from there. this is in the wake of the killing of george floyd. of course, we heard from his brother, philonise floyd, who called on congress to find a solution, that force should only be used rarely and only when life is at risk. president trump has been watching these proceedings and has tweeted about the opening state m e nts has tweeted about the opening statements from some of those

on the committee. he is defending the minneapolis police department saying... no reaction as yet from the president as to what philonise floyd had to say. more analysis coming up. the borisjohnson press conference is coming up at five o‘clock. all to come later. for now, a look at the weather. it is a pretty messy weather story to get your head around. apologies in advance, i will try and pinpoint the areas of interest. today has been cloudy and wet with one band of rain drifting east, with showers following behind. some of these showers turning quite heavy, and could be thundery through the rest of the day. this maximum temperature of 11 or 16 degrees could be better, and as we go through the evening, through wales and south—west england, showers and larger spells of rain and the winds are

strengthening, a couple of inches or maybe more of rain to fall overnight. that is welcome but it is a lot in a short space of time and could have an impact. overnight lows with the cloud around 7—12 degrees. tomorrow has scattered showers, driven in by a strengthening north easterly breeze, making it feel pretty cool on those exposed coasts, and by the end of the afternoon, we will see more heavy and persistent rain pushing in to eastern england. gusty winds as we go through the day. that said, it is going to be a bit warmer away from that east coast, with top temperatures of 20 degrees. this area of low pressure influencing the weather story, it kind of reverts back into the south—west as we move into friday, so that is going to be a bit of a nuisance and it will bring a spell of wet weather across the channel coast and in the south—west england. still a weak weather front drifting out of northern england and into southern scotland, and in between there will be some sunny spells. still a blustery wind. noticeable if you are going to be out and about, but something else

that will be noticeable is the temperature is starting to climb, dragging up a bit of humid air from the near continent, so we could see highs of 21 degrees. that low pressure as we move into the weekend, finally it pushes its way northwards, easing offjust a touch. it could bring some showers with it but it is allowing high pressure to build, so eventually things are going to start to quiet down. on saturday, there is going to be the potential for some showers around, some heavy rain in places, but if you dodge the showers and keep the sunshine and you are off to see friends and family, you could actually see 24 degrees, and that is the mid—70s. the week ahead looks to be quieter than the weekjust gone. for some of us, drier and a little warmer. take care.

this is bbc news. 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 the brother of george floyd tells politicians in washington that people around the world are demanding changes to policing practices. george called for help, and he was ignored. please listen to the call and making to you now. to the calls of ourfamily, and the call is ringing out the streets across the world. 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.

calls to celebrate the nhs‘s 72nd birthday and thank key workers for their support during the pandemic — with a nationwide clap next month. good afternoon — welcome to bbc news as we await the daily coronavirus briefing from downing street, today led by the prime minister. it comes as borisjohnson has been forced to defend his plans for re—opening schools — in tetchy exchanges during prime minister‘s questions. after the government‘s u—turn on getting primary schoolchildren in england back before the summer break. labour leader sir keir starmer told him he needed to take responsibility for a mess — and accused him of flailing around and blaming others. boris johnson hit back,

saying he acknowledged parents want to get their kids back to school but the government had to be extremely cautious. he said he would be announcing further measures on relaxing the lockdown later today. jessica parker reports. the way out of lockdown always looked difficult. but decisions had to be made, and explained. we now come to questions to the prime minister. in prime minister‘s questions today, labour claimed the government‘s plans for getting schools back lie in tatters. it‘s no good the prime minister flailing around, trying to blame others. a month ago today, a month ago today, he made the announcement about schools without consulting relevant parties, without warning about the dates, and without any scientific backing for his proposal. it‘s time he took responsibility for his own failures. but the prime minister, labelling labour‘s approach as

inconsistent. he can't have it both ways, mr speaker. it's one brief one day, another brief the next. i understand how the legal profession works. but what the public want to have is some consistency, mr speaker. and what i hope he will agree with me is that it's a good thing that we have now got 37% of kids in year six, in our primary schools, coming back, that is increasing the whole time. the scrapping of plans for all primary school children to return for a month before summer in england has caused deep concern. i think we need to see the government now bringing forward a proper strategy for how children and young people‘s education is going to get started again. they have now been out of school for months, and this simply cannot continue without a plan to make sure they can kick—start their education. but a move to open up nonessential shops is set to go ahead on monday, and zoos could start taking visitors next week as well.

"careful", "cautious" — ministers‘ watchwords when it comes to easing the lockdown. it‘s a matter of what sectors open up and when. but the situation around schools has led to questions about the government‘s priorities. boris johnson will take the downing street press conference later, to talk about what will come next. and perhaps also those decisions taken so far. jessica parker, bbc news. there‘s been a warning the uk economy is set to be the hardest hit among the world‘s developed countries because of the pandemic. the organisation for economic co—operation and development says the uk economy will shrink by 11.5% this year — and could contract further if there‘s a second wave of virus cases. the brother of george floyd — the african—american man who died while being restrained by us police — has addressed a congressional hearing on police brutality in

washington. philonise floyd called on lawmakers to make meaningful changes to how law enforcement operates, asking for accountability, empathy and respect. he said george floyd‘s calls for help were ignored, but that his death didn‘t have to be in vain i have to be the strong one now, because george is gone. and me being the big brother now is why i am here today. to do what he always would have done. to take care of the family and others. i couldn‘t take ca re of family and others. i couldn‘t take care of george that day he was killed. but maybe by speaking with you today, i can make sure that his death will not be in vain. to make sure that he is more than another face on a t—shirt, more than another name on a list that won‘t stop growing. george always made sacrifices for our family, and

growing. george always made sacrifices for ourfamily, and he made sacrifices for complete strangers. he gave what he had to help others. he was our gentle giant. i was reminded of that when i watch the video of his murder. he called all of the officers sir. he was mild—mannered. he didn‘t fight back. he listened to all of the officers. the man who took his life, who suffocated him for eight minutes and a6 who suffocated him for eight minutes and 46 seconds, he still called him sir, as he begged for his life. i can‘t tell you the kind of pain you feel when you watch something like that. when you watch your big brother, who you looked up to your whole entire life, die, die begging for his mother? i‘m tired. i‘m tired of pain. the pain you feel when you watch something like that. when you watch something like that. when you watch your big brother, who you

looked up to for your whole life, die, die, begging for his mum. i‘m here to ask you to make it stop. stop the pain, stop us from being tired. george called for help, and he was ignored. please listen to the call and making to you now. to the calls of our family, call and making to you now. to the calls of ourfamily, and call and making to you now. to the calls of our family, and the calls ringing out on the streets across the world. people of all backgrounds, genders and races have come together to demand change. honour them, on honour george and the changes that make law enforcement to the solution, not the problem. here — many local councils are reviewing statues and landmarks with links to the uk‘s colonial past. last night a statue of a former slave owner was removed from outside the london docklands museum. charlotte rose reports.

faces from britain‘s past. but for how much longer? the future of statues and icons which have for centuries stood in public places across the uk are now under scrutiny in the wake of the black lives matter protests. 130 labour councils will review controversial monuments in their towns and cities. but in some places, that will come too late. protesters in bristol pulled down a statue of 17th—century slaver edward colston over the weekend. whilst in london‘s docklands, the council took the decision to remove that of robert milligan, an 18th—century merchant and slave owner. i know a lot of people said that colston‘s removal was a degree of thuggery, but i‘d compare the removal to a symbolic gesture, very similar to when the berlin wall was pulled down in 1989. that was seen as a start of

a new society in germany and maybe this should be the start of a new society in britain. after a n u nsuccessful campaignfouryears ago, protesters in oxford are now hoping to convince the university to remove a statue of the 19th imperialist cecil rhodes, which they believe is a symbol of the oppression of black people. the university‘s chancellor disagrees. there is a bit of hypocrisy in oxford taking money from 100 scholars a year, about a fifth of them from africa, to come to oxford and then say we want to throw rhodes' statue in the thames. and it is notjust in the uk that such monuments are under debate. in antwerp in belgium, a statue of king leopold ii who was responsible for the genocide of 10 million people in the congo was defaced and has now been taken down. many more could be consigned to the scrapheap

of history. the hollywood epic gone with the wind has been dropped from us television because of its depiction of slavery. media organisations, including the bbc, are reappraising some of their content in the wake of the protests over george floyd‘s death. our media editor, amol rajan, told me why gone with the wind is controversial. this was based on a 1936 novel by margaret mitchell and it shows slaves who are not only content with their lot but they continue to be obedient to their white masters long after the abolition of slavery. it actually led to the first oscar for a black actress, when hattie mcdaniel won for her portrayal of the domestic servant mammy. as a film, it was very successful. adjusted for inflation, it was the highest grossing film of all time, it won ten oscars. though arguably a bit long, at four hours long. but the issue at stake here isn‘t just about one film or one statue, it‘s a much broader thing. whether you apply modern standards to history. even while recognising that modern standards, modern morality, is contested, it‘s fluid, and will one day itself belong

to history. the scrapheap of history, as we said in that report. whether it‘s statues of long—dead men, and it does always seem to be men, or whether it‘s films like gone with the wind, or programmes like little britain, there does seem to be, as you suggest, a global movement emerging which is saying that we should reappraise our heritage. of course, it‘s fraught with difficulty. the obvious question is, where does this end? i‘ve just got the collected works of tintin, which i‘m reading with my son, my mixed heritage son. and an exhibition of racial tolerance it certainly is not. so the question is whether or not you extend this and apply it to lots and lots of different aspects of our culture. but this is, i think, the beginning of a culture war powered by digital media, which makes me think that another novelist, william faulkner, had it right when he said, "the past is never dead. in fact, it‘s not even past." health service leaders are calling on people to join in a special day of celebration next month, to pay tribute to nhs staff and other key workers. as well as urging communities to take part in a huge round of applause on sunday the 5th

ofjuly — the day regarded as the birthday of the nhs — they want people to light a candle to remember those who‘ve died. well we can speak now to the founder of clap for carers, annemarie plas and also to mike sharrock, chief executive of the british paralympics who is supporting the campaign. good afternoon to you both. thank you so much forjoining us. anne—marie, the weekly thursday clap for carers was widely seen as a great success. you yourself said that come the tenth week, that was probably enough. so what is the idea behind this particular celebration? well, i think it is a different moment to the clap for our carers, really everybody around us, our communities, it gives that moment to checkin communities, it gives that moment to check in with one another. so, yeah, to bring what we had on the thursday

night, the togetherness, at least to bring that back for sunday afternoon, where we can also have the children be incorporated in it because 8pm was often too late for them, and they have also done a really good job during this crisis. so people of all backgrounds, all generations, coming together. what time are you proposing? at noon on sunday. mike, you are supporting the campaign, as are lots of people. why? well, it seemed like a very natural thing for us to do. as the british paralympic association, our job, of course, is to send the team to the games. and it is all about the incredible performance of our athletes. but, behind that, there is also a very big purpose that we have, which is to try to create a more inclusive society. so, this campaign, this

coalition, the together coalition, aimed at bringing people together and finding ways to reconnect, it seemed like a very good thing was to do. you are going to think i‘m very nasty now, but i‘m going to ask you this question anyway. some people will say it is a lovely gesture, but it is all it is? i think the intent is a very serious one. on the 5th of july, the aim is to bring everyone together, to say thank you. not just together, to say thank you. not just to the nhs, but to everybody. i think it's more than that. it's also an opportunity to bring everyone together. and i think what all of us will feel is that there are divisions in our society which are deeper than divisions in our society which are deeperthan any divisions in our society which are deeper than any would want. and the campaign, the coalition, is very much aimed at trying to at least make a start on bringing people together, to connect one another, to start to understand one another at a different level. you

know, over the next ten years, even, to create a kinder, closer and more connected country. so, ithink kinder, closer and more connected country. so, i think there kinder, closer and more connected country. so, ithink there is kinder, closer and more connected country. so, i think there is a very serious intent there. and if you look at the range of people that have signed up today, and are wanting to be involved, i think this is something which, hopefully, people will get behind. is something which, hopefully, people will get behindlj is something which, hopefully, people will get behind. i wasjust going to say, the list of people is very impressive indeed. the nhs chief executive, the chief nursing officerfor england, chief executive, the chief nursing officer for england, the archbishop of canterbury, baroness doreen lawrence, anne—marie, this is a campaign, i wonder who gives the go—ahead for this to happen, who says yes ? go—ahead for this to happen, who says yes? well, not me! the impressive list, that you have just summed up here, it does not come from me. i slightly wonder, this is

a campaignfor from me. i slightly wonder, this is a campaign for this to happen. but who needs to give permission for it to happen? well, i think permission for it to happen, in this case, one of the driving forces are the people starting the campaign are also those that made that happen. and then they are good enough to get a lot of people on board who believe in it. and then i hope that, with moments like this, we can inspire and reach out to even more people, so that, actually, on the 5th ofjuly we get altogether, and also realising, after what has already happened in the last ten weeks, and the approach thatis the last ten weeks, and the approach that is happening right now, that it is so important that we do this altogether, and may be the idea alone of a class or thank you as a small gesture. but if we can make a connection, then it is way more powerful, from the bottom up,

through the nation, than at the other way around from top to bottom. it can be a powerful start for the change that i hope is about to happen. and it is a fact that i suppose, despite the terrible privation is that people have had to endure under lockdown, there are certain things that people say may have changed for the better or may have changed for the better or may have been beneficial. and one of them as having a bit more time for each other? absolutely. i think there is no doubt that for many people the lockdown has been a huge hardship. and it has led to an awful lot of physical and mental health issues, and people have lost loved ones. i mean, it's been terrible for many people. but i think there is also a sense that the sense of community that people are feeling through the crisis has grown stronger. and i think

that's what the coalition has come together, the together coalition is trying to act on, that sense of community that has grown stronger, and see if we can't hold onto that. the first part of thatis hold onto that. the first part of that is to bring people together on the 5th ofjuly. but, actually, it is only the beginning. in coming out of that, there will be some deep listening, some maths listening, in a sense, that goes on across the country. — — a sense, that goes on across the country. —— mass. ithink there is a desire to understand how different people have experienced the lockdown and what could bring us together and create a society that is more connected, and has a greater sense of kindness behind it. all right, we have to leave it there. very good to talk to you. thank you so much. sharrock, from british paralympics, and anne—marie plas, the creator of

clu b and anne—marie plas, the creator of club for carers. the headlines on bbc news... 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. a dire forecast for the global economy — the biggest downturn in peacetime in a century — with the uk hardest hit of developed countries the brother of george floyd tells politicians in washington that people around the world are demanding changes to policing practices. a former government adviser has said there would have been many fewer deaths had the uk entered lockdown a week earlier. proffesor neil ferguson — who quit as a government adviser last month after breaking lockdown restrictions — told mps on the commons science committee that the government and its advisers underestimated the scale of the pandemic in this country before lockdown. of the pandemic in this before lockdown happened, the first few weeks of march, we probably had

more infections reported in italy and spain. which we have not seen in the surveillance data until that point. so that was much heavier than we had expected. if i go back to the report, what we looked at were a range of scenarios where the key things in the number of deaths is at what point in your local academic do you create interventions? how far in are you when you shutdown transmission? and we frankly underestimated how far into the epidemic this country was. we tried very ha rd to epidemic this country was. we tried very hard to estimate what proportion of cases were being missed. obviously at the time we had a policy of trying to screen people at borders. and we estimated then that may be two thirds of imported cases had been missed. what we now know, because the epidemics had taken off in italy and spain, the point that we realised

was probably 90% of cases imported into this country were missed. because we were not checking people. you were a member of sage at that time. did sage advise that we should be making tests, not least to detect whether that was an important source? so, what happened, i mean, this was really decisions by the foreign office and by the department of health and social care, not by sage. sage recommended that where a country had been identified as having active transmission, we should check travellers from those countries. the difficulty was, as we now know, particularly with spain and italy, they were a source of many infections, they had large academics before they even realised. we were just not aware of the scale of transmission in europe as a whole. the chief minister of delhi has said

the city could have more than half a million coronavirus cases by the end ofjuly. he warned hospitals would not be able to cope with such an outbreak. meanwhile, the number of covid—19 cases in mumbai has surpassed wuhan in china, where the virus first appeared. india is now consistently among the top four countries in the world for new covid—19 cases. more from the bbc‘s india correspondent yogita limaye. deli‘s chief minister has said that to cope with the number of cases his government is expecting to see in his city, they need as many as 80,000 beds. they are trying to ramp up 80,000 beds. they are trying to ramp up capacity by acquiring beds and private hospitals. but we are hearing of so many people who are going from one facility to another, struggling to find a place where they can get their loved ones admitted. and that‘s notjust the story there. here in mumbai, i‘ve been talking to families who have lost loved ones before they could even be looked at by doctors. in fa ct, even be looked at by doctors. in fact, this city has now surpassed

wuhan in china, where the virus first appeared, as far as the number of coronavirus cases is concerned. even as these cases are rising, you can see cities in india are opening up. this junction looks almost like it did before the shutdown was imposed. buses are back on the streets, rickshaws, taxis, private offices are functioning at up to 10% offices are functioning at up to 10% of their capacity. in many other parts of india, places of worship, shopping malls and even restaurants are open. leaders in india have said it is economic and portions that are driving them to open up. at what that means for ordinary people is that means for ordinary people is that even if the risk of coronavirus is high, for many of them it‘s no longer an option to stay indoors we re longer an option to stay indoors were to completely avoid public transport, or avoid coming in contact with other individuals. there‘s growing evidence that a second wave of coronavirus has hit iran, which was one of the earliest epicentres of the virus. but, despite the increase in cases,

there is no new lockdown in place yet for the 80 million people living there. some cities have already been announced as red zones for infection. the bbc persian‘s rana rahimpour reports. could this be iran‘s second wave of coronavirus? the country was opened up from lockdown just about a month ago, and this is how it looks like now in one city. buses are being used to transfer covid—19 patients to the capital of this province. it is one of at least nine provinces where infections are rising rapidly. according to iran‘s ministry of health, this province in the south—east is now a red zone. the hospitals are full. their staff are overwhelmed.

last week, iran recorded the highest daily increase in the number of coronavirus cases since the first were reported four months ago. many local officials say this is a second wave of infections, but iran‘s president insists that the term "second wave" creates too much fear among people. there are no signs of social distancing here. shoppers and street vendors don‘t seem too worried. the authorities say this is the reason behind the recent spike — that people have ignored public health advice and travelled to other cities. translation: in the last 24 hours, we learned that about 60—70% of the new patients in tehran hospitals have travelled to other cities recently. this has happened during eid al—fitr holidays, as we were expecting. as life begins to look relatively normal in large parts of iran,

most schools remain closed. but year 12 exams had to go ahead, which according to this student didn‘t feel safe. translation: they‘ve taken our body temperature, but when we asked them about the results, we were told nothing. but they sent all the students to the exam zone. none of the desks were disinfected. when i wiped my desk with alcohol, the wipe went completely black. iran‘s official number of confirmed cases is around 176,000 cases, with over 8,000 deaths. yet many, including the iranian parliament, believe the correct number of infections is eight to ten times more, and the deaths are at least twice as much. the president has warned that, if people don‘t follow social distancing, the restrictions may be reimposed.

but the economy, already badly hit by us sanctions and corruption, is on its knees. many say that iran can‘t afford another lockdown, even if the government wants to. rana rahimpour, bbc news. now it‘s time for a look at the weather. hello. not a particularly summer—like photograph behind me, is it? but there is a lot of cloud out there at the moment and some rain. some is light and patchy as it moves its way to the east of the uk. behind it, some sharper showers. these showers will continue for the rest of the day, some of them with the odd rumble of thunder. as we go through the overnight period, they will be merging together for longer spells of rain, particularly for wales and south—west england, with the isobars squeezing together. that means the winds are going to strengthen, too. quite a lot of cloud around, so a relatively mild night, seven or 11 degrees. we could see as much as a couple of inches of rain before the system clears away from the south—west. a few sharp showers following behind, driven by a brisk north—easterly wind.

by the end of the afternoon, that could bring a spell of more heavy, persistent rain in off the north sea. the wind remains gusty throughout the day and certainly quite noticeable. but, that said, temperatures are likely to peak into the afternoon, ranging from 12 to 20 degrees. that‘s it, take care.

this bbc news. we‘ll bring you the latest coronavirus briefing from the government in half an hour‘s time, today led by the prime minister borisjohnson. but first, 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 in england back to school. is no good the prime mi flailing it is 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 that 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. 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.

good afternoon. the prime minister will lead the government‘s coronavirus briefing in half an hour. borisjohnson has been forced to defend his plans for reopening schools in tetchy exchanges during prime minister‘s questions after the government‘s u—turn on getting primary schoolchildren in england back before the summer break. the labour leader sir keir starmer said the decision to drop plans for all primary pupils to return this academic year showed the current arrangements were "in tatters". but borisjohnson hit back — saying he acknowledged parents want to get their kids back to school — but the goverment had to be ‘extremely cautious‘. he said he would be announcing further measures on relaxing the lockdown later. jessica parker reports. (vt next)

jessica parker reports. the way out of lockdown always looked difficult. but decisions had to be made, and explained. we now come to questions to the prime minister. in prime minister‘s questions today, labour claimed the government‘s plans for getting schools back lie in tatters. it‘s no good the prime minister flailing around, trying to blame others. a month ago today, a month ago today, he made the announcement about schools without consulting relevant parties, without warning about the dates, and without any scientific backing for his proposal. it‘s time he took responsibility for his own failures. but the prime minister, labelling labour‘s approach as inconsistent. he can't have it both ways, mr speaker. it's one brief one day, another brief the next. i understand how the legal profession works. but what the public want to have is some consistency, mr speaker. and what i hope he will agree with me is that it's a good thing that we have now got 37% of kids in year six, in our primary schools, coming back, that is increasing the whole time.

the scrapping of plans for all primary school children to return for a month before summer in england has caused deep concern. i think we need to see the government now bringing forward a proper strategy for how children and young people‘s education is going to get started again. they have now been out of school for months, and this simply cannot continue without a plan to make sure they can kick—start their education. but a move to open up nonessential shops is set to go ahead on monday, and zoos could start taking visitors next week as well. "careful", "cautious" — ministers‘ watchwords when it comes to easing the lockdown. it‘s a matter of what sectors open up and when. but the situation around schools has led to questions about the government‘s priorities. boris johnson will take the downing street press conference later, to talk about what will come next. and perhaps also those decisions taken so far.

jessica parker, bbc news. joining me now is our chief political correspondent — vicki young. on the question of schools, zoos and clothe shops can re—open, but not schools until september, boris johnson will surely be asked about his priorities and what the strategy is this afternoon? yes i think he will be, now the response from the government is of course getting children back to school is a priority, but it has to be done safely and they will not apologise for being cautious. the guidance is to have bubbles of no more than 15 children, so that means there is a pretty big problem and you quickly in most schools run out of classrooms and you run out of teachers. until that guidance changes, it is difficult to see how they get around this. they can do rotas maybe, but that

has not been welcomed by many. do they try to find extra space in portacabins or other empty buildings. but for planning ahead, we don‘t know what the situation is going to be by september. but he is being accused ofa september. but he is being accused of a lack of leadership and yesterday by the children‘s commissionerfor yesterday by the children‘s commissioner for children for a large of imagination on all sides. she feels there hasn‘t been that will and determination that there has been about other aspects like the health service, or opening up parts of economy, she doesn‘t think that has been applied to schools and there needs to be more imagine to make sure in september children can all go back to school. we think that the prime minister is going to announce something about a further easing of lockdown measures. what are his options? he has talked about the road map and if you look at the different phases, they have been laid out in that n phase 2, which is what we are in at

the moment, from monday in england, nonessential retail shops will open. outdoor activities, we have talked about zoos, things like motor show rooms, open markets, all of that kind of thing has happened. the one thing that has not been announced, we heard about household bubbles, more social contact. i was told last week by someone working on this the idea that two families could get together and share child care that proved they thought to be too complicated, because the children could be in different schools and it adds to the transmission of the virus. but maybe they can come up with something else along those lines. that is the only thing that has not been brought forward in phase 2. phase 3 is when you start looking at puss and cafes, the prime minister saying they were not going do that any earlier. the

4th not going do that any earlier. the athjuly is the earliest that can happen and there is a lot of issues to do with the two metre rule, many businesses say it doesn‘t make it profitable, if you can‘t have lots of people inside a pub, for example. thank you. we will speak later before the briefing. the prime minister borisjohnson has insisted the two—metre social distancing rule is "under review" after being challenged in the commons today about the prospect of reducing it. there have been calls to ease the rule, as the government attempts to get people back to work or school, and to prevent thousands of hospitality businesses collapsing in the coming months. professor robert dingwall is professor of sociology at nottingham trent university — and part of ones of the groups which reports into sage, the government‘s scientific advisory group for emergencies. hello, thank you joining us, where do you stand on the two metre rule? well, i think it is the clear

that the science behind the two metre rule is contestable and there is a respectable body of evidence that would justify a reduction to one metre and still leave a safety margin. but the evidence comes from communities of scientists who are not strongly connected with the networks around sage and with the sorts of expertise that sage routinely draws upon. do you think that we have over the last weeks of lockdown become conditioned to maintain our distance from people and do you feel that that might mean that actually the rule can be relaxed? well, i think that you know various measures were taken early on ina great various measures were taken early on in a great hurry, without perhaps an opportunity to fully appraise the science that was involved.

and which perhaps over did the precautionary elements. i think we‘ve perhaps become a little more aware of the risks of transmission in that period. but it is also clear i think that for a lot of people they‘re significantly overestimating the distances involved. i go to my local supermarket which allegedly has two metre spacing, if you take a tape, you discover it is nearer to three. are we being over cautious do you think? i think what we social scientists call there is a bit of gold plating going on, people take a rule and think if we do a bit more than that, then it has to be better, when in fact we are trying to get the economy going again, we are not really seeing any significant increase in risk in moving from two metres to one metre. it

is movie from a tiny risk to a very small risk and we have to set that against the harm that is being done to people in the course of lockdown, the harm that will result from the social and economic impacts of this pandemic that will continue for several years to come. i think it is time that we really accepted that there are scientists out there who have produced a solid body of evidence that questions the assumptions that have been brought to bear and justifying the two metre rule. do you think we have become exceptionally risk adverse?” rule. do you think we have become exceptionally risk adverse? i think there is an argument about that. if you take the case of schools, we know that schools are hotspots every winterfor influenza, children know that schools are hotspots every winter for influenza, children are superspreaders of that virus. but we don‘t think it necessary to close schools every winter.

simply because of those outbreaks. similarly, most winters, seasonal influenza exacts a considerable toll on care homes, the vulnerable and frail people you find there. but again we have moderate precautions that we take. but we acknowledge that this is not something that is worth disrupting the entire society for. i think we have to accept that actually for most people, you know going back to work and driving ing a car is probably putting them at a greater risk than they will get an infection, let alone an infection which is fatal. i don't if you heard professor neil ferguson who has been advising the government, has said that introducing lockdown measures a week earlier could have reduced the

coronavirus deaths by half. do you have a view on that, do you agree with him? well, i think we were looking at a period of great uncertainty. this is a virus that is entirely new to human populations. and it generally took some time to appreciate that this was different from other respiratory viruses, this was different from other coronavirus viruses we had seen before. and work out what the correct measures were andi out what the correct measures were and i think it is very easy to look back with hind sight and to say, well, maybe we should have done this, maybe we should have done that. i think that you know in the fullness of time we will see that reasonablejudgments fullness of time we will see that reasonable judgments were made on the evidence available at the time. evenifin the evidence available at the time. even if in retrospect those were not necessarily the best judgments even if in retrospect those were not necessarily the bestjudgments that we could have made.

thank you. we have some new daily figures. they are of uk death toll and the number of confirms cases has gone up to 41,128. that is a rise of 245 on yesterday. so that is the daily death toll of 245 in the last 24 hours. bringing the total number of uk deaths to 41,128. there‘s been a warning the uk economy is set to be the hardest hit among the world‘s developed countries because of the pandemic. the organisation for economic co—operation and development says the uk economy will shrink by 11 and a half percent this year — and could contract further if there‘s a second wave of virus cases. we can speak to

our economics correspondent, andy verity. andy, we have used to hearing these very gloomy forecasts now, but why is the uk so particularly hard—hit, the worst hit potentially. it is partly because better a service—based economy. that includes things like tourism and real estate, we are orientated to the housings market and hospitality and restau ra nts a nd market and hospitality and restaurants and hotels, our economy is reliant on those. and trade. all sectors that have been hard hit and they refer to our high rate of infections. it is interesting the oecd head made this point very specifically saying that it was false to present the dilemmas facing policy makers as a choice between lives and livelihoods, because in fa ct if

lives and livelihoods, because in fact if we have a second wave there is going to be no choice, the economic shock is going to be bigger. the measures to prevent further infections and deaths are not at odds necessarily with measures to make the economy improve. but having said that, it has made it clear, the oecd that we have a long road ahead in term of getting back to where we were and the global recession, which they say is the most severe in a century will not recover to before its precrisis level this year or next year. their predictions for unemployment is it will get to over 11%, in spite of the huge sums, 27 billion pounds, that the government has spent on the job retention scheme to try to protect jobs. they say job retention scheme to try to protectjobs. they say if job retention scheme to try to protect jobs. they say if there job retention scheme to try to protectjobs. they say if there is a second wave the unemployment rate could get up to

14.8%. second wave the unemployment rate could get up to 14.896. 0k. thank you. the scottish government has given its first update on the strategy to trace contacts of people infected with coronavirus. it says it‘s completed tracing for nearly 500 cases. a further 12 people have died from covid—19 — taking the total number of deaths there to 2,434. speaking at first minister‘s questions, nicola sturgeon warned that while progress is significant, care must still be taken. the weekly number of covid deaths has now fallen, as i said, for six weeks in a row. today‘s figures are less than one seventh of their peak level. excess deaths are at less than one 20th of their peak level, and deaths in care homes are also now falling. that progress is significant, but we must take great care now to ensure that it is sustained. if it is, i hope that next week we will be able to announce some further, albeit careful, changes

to lockdown measures. health protection scotland have also published some very initial data today, presiding officer, on our test and protect system. this data will become much more detailed in the weeks ahead. however, today‘s figures show that between the 28th of may, when the system launched, and the 7th ofjune, 681 cases were reported where the individual tested positive for covid. contact tracing has already been completed for 481 cases, it will be ongoing in others. and in total, 741 contacts have so far been traced. i would remind everyone watching that if you have symptoms of covid—19, you should book a test immediately, and follow the advice on self—isolation. ten million people in england could be waiting for medical treatment by the end of the year because of the backlog caused by coronavirus. the nhs confederation, which represents hospital trusts, says the health service is facing an "uphill battle" to restart normal treatments while still dealing with the pandemic. richard galpin

reports. now increasingly, they are also under pressure to treat people with other serious illnesses, such as heart disease, stroke and cancer. and yet capacity to treat them is reportedly around half what it should be. staff burn out and the need for social distancing measures in hospitals part of the reason. we are trying to rebuild services as covid—19 is still around within our hospitals and our communities. it will take time and it will take patience to try and build up services to where they were before the outbreak, and it will take even longer to try and deal with the huge backlog has built up during this crisis. 17-year-old marion is frustrated and in pain. the operation she needs for

a knee replacement keeps being rescheduled. what concerns me is that as time goes on, my condition is probably worsening. and in my bleakest moments, i think, worsening. and in my bleakest moments, ithink, is it worsening. and in my bleakest moments, i think, is it going to get the stage where is inoperable? there is criticism now that the nhs should already be back on course to treat patients with a range of different illnesses. there is always this worry about a second wave, winter pressure, there are also some things that could happen. but if we don‘t deal with cancer and heart disease and mental health now, we will have far more problems than covid ever caused this year. but the nhs confederation says it is not possible to switch on all nhs services immediately. instead, people‘s expectations need to be managed. it is also calling for emergency funding to be extended. zoos and safari parks in england will be allowed

to reopen next week. the return of visitors after nearly three months will come as a huge relief to those in charge of looking after the animals — amid warnings that some faced financial ruin. holly hamilton reports from chester zoo. after weeks of fearing for its future, a huge step in the right direction. the government‘s latest easing of lockdown restrictions will allow the reopening of outdoor attractions in england, and that includes zoos. we‘re not out of the woods yet. as you said, we‘ve lost £5 million worth of income and when we do open our doors on monday, we will be on limited capacity. so it‘s gonna be a long struggle over the rest of the summer and into next year as well. just last week, chester zoo was told it would have to remain shut indefinitely during lockdown. which is bad news for a place that relies on 97% of its funding from ticket sales. now, in the last week, the zoo says it has been overwhelmed by the support from the public. in fact, a justgiving page set up last week has raised over £2 million. with even a major supermarket

chain offering to adopt the zoo‘s colony of penguins. from individuals, schoolkids, care homes, even to local businesses as well. just yesterday, i was picking up animal bedding from a local company and the support has been... has been huge and overwhelming, really. chester is not the only zoo which has been struggling to stay afloat. last month, london zoo said it faced a perilous future. and the head of knowsley safari park in merseyside has been speaking of the ongoing challenge ahead. it costs us about £400,000 a month to run the safari, even in the lockdown stage. and by this stage we probably... we're about £3 million behind what we were this time last year. the reopening of zoos and safari parks is on the condition that social distancing guidelines are in place. something chester zoo has been working hard to establish. but they are reminding visitors to book in advance online to avoid a stampede on monday.

holly hamilton, bbc news, chester. i‘m joined now by kathryn england, the chief operating officer of the zoological society of london, which runs both london and whipsnade zoos. is that penguins behind you?m is that penguins behind you? it is. it isa is that penguins behind you? it is. it is a colony of penguins. you must be delighted that you are getting the go—ahead to open next week. how tough has it been for you? it's been really tough. we have been sailing close to the wind. we have depleted all our reserves and savings. so we we re all our reserves and savings. so we were really getting to the point where it was becoming desperate, so this is very welcome news. you are going to have to open with social distancing rules in place. what have you managed to do in order to observe those rules? lots of changes here at london zoo. we have made a one—way route all the way around the

zoo one—way route all the way around the zoo to help manage capacity and deal with social distancing. there are hand sanitiser is everywhere you look as well as hand washing stations. to meet a social distancing measures have been put in place. signage everywhere. you name it, we have put measures in place to make sure that our staff and visitors feel safe. i must say, i had the pleasure of driving through regenfs had the pleasure of driving through regent‘s park when i come to work and one of the best bits of the day is seeing the giraffes, which still come out to feed and there are sometimes people at the gates looking at them. are you hoping to get lots of people coming because you feel that they will be keen to get out again? we have an important role to play in making sure people have a great day out. having said that, it‘s got to be balanced, so we are opening with limited capacity. but we also need to balance that we getting income in. whilst this

is welcome news for us, we are nowhere near out of the dark. we need to do a lot to get our income back. so it isa a lot to get our income back. so it is a fine balance, but we want to welcome people back and share the zoo welcome people back and share the zoo again. as you say, our residents are willing and able to share the zoo are willing and able to share the zoo with lots of people. and zoo keepers have been coming in to look after the animals during this time? absolutely. our animals still need feeding, care and attention, so we have had dedicated teams in the whole time, which costs a lot of money. we are not willing to compromise on standards. so hats off to all of the guys who have kept coming in and keeping the zoo ticking. in terms of the numbers you think you can have in each of their zoos, what are you looking at, half the usual capacity or even less? we will be starting off with really limited numbers. we will be looking to open up with 2000 for the

first few days. how many would you normally have? on a busy summer day, we could have up to 8000 9000, so it‘s a really big hit for us to open up it‘s a really big hit for us to open up with these small numbers, but we wa nt to up with these small numbers, but we want to get it right and we want people to feel safe and have a great day out. we want to do itjustice. very good to talk to you. health service leaders are calling on people tojoin in a special day of celebration next month, to pay tribute to nhs staff and other key workers. as well as urging communities to take part in a huge round of applause on sunday the 5th ofjuly — the day regarded as the birthday of the nhs — they want people to light a candle to remember those who‘ve died. mark easton has more. three, two, one... applause. britain is counting down

to what it‘s hoped will be a national moment of thanks and of celebration, for the nhs, but also for everyone who supported and protected the health service during the pandemic. at the royal papworth hospital in cambridgeshire, staff have been on the front line. but when it emerged there was a shortage of protective clothing, people in nearby villages responded. a sewing circle got to work, using bedsheets and curtains to make tops and trousers for doctors and nurses. people like dawn, who is shielding from the virus in the fens village of witchford. i was at a loose end and having the scrubs to make has been wonderful because it gives me a sense of purpose. up and down the country, people have been doing their bit. and at pa pworth, like every hospital, they say the rainbows have been sunshine in the rain. without their support some of us might break down, so knowing that the public was behind us, you know, it sort of gave you a strength. it has really kept us going, to be honest. the support from everybody has been fantastic. nhs staff clap the community,

and the community claps the nhs. the women of witchford have spent the long weeks of lockdown 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. this makes me feel nice, good. i am somebody, i can help with the stuff i do, it is important. you feel appreciated ? 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. we are waiting for the daily downing street briefing, today hosted by the prime minister. butjust before that, let‘s talk to our chief political correspondent vicki young at westminster. i wonder if we will get questions about government strategy, because there has been such controversy about the delay to the opening of schools, and also the opening up of clothes shops and zoos? that is right. ministers have a lwa ys zoos? that is right. ministers have always said that coming out of lockdown will in many ways be much more difficult than locking down in the first place, because people have strong views about what they think should happen first, which

restrictions should be eased first. and itjars for many people that millions of children will not be going back to school until september. meanwhile, by then you might be in a position where pubs might be in a position where pubs might be in a position where pubs might be open on monday in england. nonessential retail shops will be open and some people think that is the wrong priority. but the government say this is about keeping children and teachers are safe, and of course they took advice from public health england, who talked about having a bubble of a maximum of 15 children, and that of course leads to lots of logistical problems. a lot of criticism from labour about it not being thought through and how the government should have done more to help schools deal with that, but the real anxiety now is to make sure that come september, if those restrictions are still in place, how they will get to a point where all primary school children can come back. and of course, senior schools, which have very limited return for some pupils, and in many ways it is harderfor some pupils, and in many ways it is harder for them because they have to

move around lots of different classrooms. they are not taught by one teacher, so lots of people are looking for answers to those issues. as the government looks to open up the economy, workers have children and if they can‘t send them to school, it is hard to see how they can go back to work? yes the two have been seen as being part of the same issue, if you like, of course it is children‘s education first, a real anxiety about those who have been struggling with their learning. there is evidence from research to suggest even over the six week summer holiday, many children fall behind and it takes time to catch that up, let alone being off since march. a lot of schools are offering stuff to do at home, but it is not the same as being in the classroom. for people with younger children, if there is nowhere for them tog for people with younger children, if there is nowhere for them to g and there is nowhere for them to g and there is no wrap around care, it is about the after school clubs and if

none of that is available,