this is bbc news. the headlines... the prime minister has condemned violent protests in central london as ‘racist thuggery‘. groups including right wing activists clashed with police in the capital earlier, as they gathered near parliament and the statue of sir winston churchill. meanwhile in trafalgar square, protestors threw objects at police as they tried to contain the crowds. another 1°1 “ln-“é “1 11121114 have died after testing positive for coronavirus, bringing the total death toll to 41,662. the bbc has obtained a copy of a leaked draft report into the impact of coronavirus on ethnic minority communities. it includes as yet unpublished recommendations on how to protect them.

support bubbles come into effect across england and northern ireland — people who live alone will be able to form a support bubble with another household, in a further easing of coronavirus lockdown rules. the queen's official birthday has been marked with a ceremony at windsor castle this morning. it took place instead of the annual trooping the colour parade, due to the coronavirus lockdown. good evening and welcome to bbc news.

the prime minister has condemned clashes betweeen protesters and police in westminster as "racist thuggery". borisjohnson said anyone attacking the police will be met with full force of the law. the clashes came after protesters, including some right—wing activists, gathered in central london, claiming they were protecting statues from anti racism demonstrators. the police say they have arrested five people for offences including violent disorder. six police officers have suffered minor injuries. this report from our correspondent tom symonds contains some violent scenes from the start. there had been some peaceful protesting. before this happened. but throughout the day, the police have been repeatedly attacked. explosions, shouting these lines of officers where there to keep the protesters apart from an anti—racism demonstration nearby. this team were pushed back from outside parliament.

the crowd broke through. they attacked photographers. we tried to ask why they had come. report the truth! i am asking to speak to you so i can report what your truth is. it is quite hard for us to ask these protesters what their demands are. we have faced threats today. they are from a variety of different groups, from right—wing activist organisations and organised football fans as well. the one thing they say they aren't is racist. the clearest motivation today? protecting, in the protesters‘ words, the statues in this area. though winston churchill, nelson mandela and the others had already been covered up. one protester, who would talk, said he felt churchill, british history were under attack. come on! i mean he had some racist views, but at the end of the day he led us through our darkest hour. i mean, you know... everyone here has no

problem with black lives matter. some antiracism protesters did gather today in central london, but black lives matter brought forward its latest events to yesterday to avoid trouble. however, at a black lives matter event in newcastle, the organiser said she felt there was a threat. we have received a lot of opposition and threats from far right groups and whatnot, so we had to keep this quite low—key. the home secretary, priti patel, said violence in westminster would be met by the full force of the law. she urged the protesters to go home. as we've heard in the last hour, the prime minister hash. ,, ,, , comdemned the violence in central london today. he tweeted "racist thuggery has no place on our streets. anyone attacking the police will be met with full force of the law. these marches & protests have been subverted by violence and breach current guidelines.

the home secretary — priti patel — also condemned violent attacks against police in london. we are in an unprecedented public health emergency, and i have said every single day, as have the police around the country and in london, that these protests, these gatherings are illegal and we have been discouraging them. secondly, we have seen a small minority behave in extreme thuggery and violent behaviour today. that is simply unacceptable. and the individuals who are basically putting the safety of our police officers and the safety of the public at risk will expect to face the full force of the law. we have seen some shameful scenes today, including the desecration of pc keith palmer's memorial in parliament in westminster square, and quite frankly, that is shameful. that is absolutely appalling and shameful. and i think, you know, my final remark very much is that we live in a tolerant country but racism, any form of intolerance and violence,

is simply not acceptable. and my message to people today, and my message to anybody that wants to protest, is simply, please do not. joining me now from near berwick in north northumberland is sue sim — retired police chief constable of northumbria police and former national police chiefs council lead for public order until 2015. dealing with a lot of the situations on behalf of police chiefs across the country. thank you very much for joining us, sue, forjoining us on the programme today. first, what did you make of what we saw in central london today? i think any level of extreme violence is to be condemned. the desecration of keith palmer's

monument is appalling, and there is absolutely no need for that. in our country and our democracy, there is an opportunity and a right to protest, but the issue is to protest peacefully. last week, we had the black lives matter protests, and people are perfectly entitled to protest in the way that they want to, so long as it is peaceful. this week, we've had the alternative side protesting, in this case, not necessarily peacefully. and i believe at the moment five people have been arrested, metropolitan has clearly determined those individuals broke the law and needed to be arrested. as the home secretary said, if you break the law then you will be arrested, and that is right.

but people do have a right to protest. however, in the current time, when there is the coronavirus outbreak, everybody is asking people to stay away, to stay at home, and to stay away, to stay at home, and to be safe, and to keep themselves, theirfamilies to be safe, and to keep themselves, their families and their communities safe. that is what should be happening. however, if protests are going to take place, then they need to be cognizant of the fact that people have to be two metres apart, that their own safety, when that's not happening, that's totally inappropriate. let me ask about that. i mean, this is clearly a kind of very unusual situation, £531; in a a in a lockdown, in we are still in a lockdown, in general terms, we are still discouraging people from babbling in large numbers. technically, any of the protests right now are terribly

in breach of the coronavirus emergency regulations, police would be justified in legal terms to disperse them and not even allow them to take place. presumably, that would have been a hugely risky approach to have adopted, and the met police and other forces around the country have not done that, but presumably that leaves a bit of a dilemma, doesn't it? large parts of the public to pay their taxes are saying, why on earth are the police alone this when i can't even visit my own family, can't even see my own grandchildren, lots of people are angry about these issues. there are things that are happening at the moment that have caused individuals and groups within our communities to believe that they need to protest because they feel that there is a great unfairness across the country. the police should not take sides in this matter, that's very, very clea n. this matter, that's very, very clean. policing has to be impartial. —— that's very clear. however, when

you turn around and say, please should have arrested everybody, the reality is, british policing is policing by consent. those individuals have turned up to protest today and last week and throughout the country today, they are doing so because they feel very, very passionately, and as part of oui’ very passionately, and as part of our democracy, our democracy says that people can speak about the views on the way that they feel. they should be, as the home secretary and the prime minister have said, cognizant of the fact that we are in the middle of the coronavirus epidemic at the moment, and people should be staying at home. however, police officers arresting significant numbers of people, putting them in cells, putting them before the courts at

this time, next month, when we healthily have the coronavirus behind us, those police officers have to go out on the streets. —— hopefully have the coronavirus behind us. and they have to police by consent, that's what british policing is about. and people have a right, as i have said, to peacefully protest. they have undertaken to deliver that right. the metropolitan and other police forces have quite rightly, in my opinion, determined that they should allow people to have their right to protest, but it has to be peaceful. and when people breach that line, then the police have to act as they have done today. thank you very much for speaking to us thank you very much for speaking to us this evening. thank you. that's just give you a view now, we'll take a look at some pictures here on our bbc news, this gives you an indication of the police presence, this is in chinatown, right in the heart of central london, some way away from

parliament square. and the activities around waterloo station that we saw pictures of earlier this evening. the police lines are in chinatown, this is just evening. the police lines are in chinatown, this isjust to evening. the police lines are in chinatown, this is just to the south of soho in central london, just away from leicester square. in the set of streets between soho and trafalgar square. so those are police lines there. whether they are there because they have had some reports of trouble or whether there are there just, of trouble or whether there are therejust, again, as part of the dispersal of police to ensure there are no groups of demonstrators causing trouble around central london, will no doubt find out a little later. we heard priti patel‘s comments about the memorial to pc keith palmer, the police officer stabbed to death outside of parliament. an appeal has been made

to identify a man, who has urinated next to the memorial to pc keith palmer. the police officer was stabbed to death in the westminster bridge terror attack in 2017. this photograph was taken during the protests that were held in westminster this afternoon. but the gates into the houses of parliament there. —— that's the gates. the metropolitan police federation chairman, ken marsh, has suggested the man pictured should be sent to prison. we can speak now to tobias ellwood, the conservative mp for bournemouth east. thanks for talking to us, you are one of the first at pc keith palmer's side and you made a very valiant efforts to help try to save his life along with others who were at the scene that day, and sadly, those efforts were unsuccessful, and you were involved in the efforts included by the police federation to get this memorial. what you make of the photograph you have seen, the image, it appears to show?|j the photograph you have seen, the image, it appears to show? i am really saddened to see this, it's one of the most disturbing images i've seen. we are going through a

very difficult period of self reflection here, quite rightly, for us reflection here, quite rightly, for us to look back and have a long overdue debate about our complex past and perhaps be more aware and more critical of our own history, and black lives matter is actually allowed that to happen. but what we are seeing today with black lives matter actually retreating from wanting to demonstrate, but the minority far right groups wanting to come to london on the pretext of defending monuments, and yet we see a monument such defending monuments, and yet we see a monument such as defending monuments, and yet we see a monument such as this treated in this way, shows you how far this generation still has to go. we don't know who this man was, as i say, effo rts know who this man was, as i say, efforts are being made to identify him. i'm going to put an alternative unity of what we see in that photograph and stop some people might seea photograph and stop some people might see a man desperate for the loo at a protest were of public laboratories have been shut, relieving himself as discreetly as he can manage, and maybe even aware of the plaque that was done by his

left leg. is that a possible interpretation of that photograph?” don't agree with that at all. this is the gates of westminster, the most iconic symbol of democracy in the world, next to a monument for pc keith palmer. he was fully aware of what he was doing, he should step forward and apologise. these images are seen across the forward and apologise. these images are seen across the world. they will damage britain's reputation, there is no doubt about it. it will make us look like were not in control. we are having this debate, it's almost like the teacher has left the classroom and we are having a discussion of what to do and everybody has their own agenda. this cannot go on. i'm pleased to hear the home secretary and prime minister say that they will see the full force of the law put in place here. that absolutely must happen. because i'm afraid things are getting out of control. there at the feeble atmosphere out here, a vacuum was created this afternoon and the far right has chosen to move into it. -- far right has chosen to move into it. —— there is a febriel atmosphere. and that is not who we

are, is not where we want to go. you say it's as if the teachers left the classroom, i want to be clear, are you saying these protests should not have been allowed today and is that because of the coronavirus pandemic or because of the subject matter? there's a number of concerns that you raise there, absolutely, it's during an emergency that we need to be responding to. but ultimately we need greater national leadership to frame this important debate we're having at the moment and not allow events to spiral out of control, that's what i would encourage this government to actually do. we must absolutely be firm on these people who choose to come to london and defend these statues, but actually come here on the pretext attacking the police and pursuing other agendas. this is not where britain wa nts to agendas. this is not where britain wants to go, nor does it do justice for us, reflecting on our complex past. thank you very much.

that's what our political correspondent, who has been trying to gauge the political reaction to today's protests today. let's start, what's very striking, and you can read too much into this but i'd be interested to see what your take is, the home secretary talked earlier today about thuggery, in her original tweets before she did her interview, the prime minister talked about racist thuggery. that suggests there's been quite a conference call based on what the them it is the government has seen in the course of the day, to label this underside a particular group of people were responsible for the trouble is that fair interpretation? i think it is a fair interpretation? i think it is a fair interpretation, it is interesting priti patel talked about extremist agree, going a bit beyond the thuggery line —— extremist thuggery, going beyond the thuggery line which borisjohnson himself is about other demonstration, but talking about racist thuggery does actually mean this is notjust a more robust response but they are

actually, he is in downing street are actually targeting the people they so today is those who were causing the trouble, as you know, the main black lives matter demonstration was moved yesterday to try to avoid some of the clashes that may well have happened in central london otherwise, though as we know, there's a whole range of other demonstrations around the country in any case. but he did specify that this was, as i said, in his view, racist thuggery, that the fight against race of people today, would feel the full force of the law. he is being evenhanded in his approach to what we saw in the streets, —— on the streets, there is a whole sequence of tweets about editing or censoring history when it came to statues, the edward colston statue, the slave owners that she had been pulled out in bristol, to some extent he is making it clear that the people who should be feeling the full force of the law on

either end of as he would say the extremes either end of as he would say the extre m es of either end of as he would say the extremes of his already talked in the past about the danger of these demonstrations and protests would be hijacked by extremists and perhaps undermine the cause for which they we re undermine the cause for which they were fighting. and, to some extent, again, that image we saw, we don't know the motivation of the person involved but that image of pc palmer's plaque for example tends to suggest that questions are being raised over how much the people who we re raised over how much the people who were protesting not far from raised over how much the people who were protesting not farfrom here around parliament square are really cared very much about protecting our memorials or our statues, and it looks as though the prime minister has condemned very, very decisively one side of the debate. it's interesting that there were some of those gathered today saying, we are only here, genuinely, because we ca re only here, genuinely, because we care about the symbols and we are worried that having seen the way that the churchill statue had been treated by some of the protesters a few days ago, they were worried about the threat, what they

perceived as the threat to it. but there were others who are quite explicit, the leader of british first which is one of those organised groups on the far right, saying the mandela statue, one of a number of statues in the square, as you know, walking past it every single day of your career, along with, say, mahatma gandhi and other figures, shouldn't be there, they would like to see that wouldn't go on the grounds that he is not part of our historical heritage. —— they would like to see that one go for that when you start this debate it sta rts that when you start this debate it starts to get quite heated and have huge symbolic significance for people on all side of it, and former politician's point of view, potentially huge headache. it's a good headache for politicians, we heard from tobias ellwood are there, i think he was quite subtle in what he said, talking about perhaps the teachers left the classroom come off the record, i can tell you a lot of conservative mps are far less subtle, as you can imagine. but they are worried that some people describing this as culture wars,

they are just worried in terms of law and order, but things are getting out of control, their constituents are saying, we are being kept, effectively, in lockdown, told we can't meet some of our relatives indoors, we can only meet certain people out of control, their constituents are saying, we are being kept, effectively, in lockdown, told we can't meet some of our relatives indoors, we can only meet certain people helpers, and yet what are the police doing when they see demonstrators from either side of the argument meeting perhaps a thousand impoundments were today, busan's last weekend, they're under some pressure to explain that. —— thousand in parliament square today, many thousands last weekend. and they're under many thousands last weekend. and they‘ re under pressure many thousands last weekend. and they're under pressure when it comes to policing this. i think we will hear over the next 2a or 48 hours hear over the next 24 or 48 hours some attempts by government to try and gaina some attempts by government to try and gain a group, i think we will again hear repeated messages that the government will look for swifter justice, that's actually quite difficult to achieve with such a distance in the court system at the moment, and i think we will also hear calls, as well, for perhaps tougher sentences against those who

attack the police. but it is becoming a headache for politicians when they are effectively trying to say, on the one hand, we are in the midst of a pandemic and you should stay at home, and on the other, we are seeing evidence every weekend that their advice, their warnings, are being ignored. thank you very much. hundreds of black and minority ethnic doctors are still waiting for covid—19 risk assessments, despite guidance from all four uk nations in april that they should have one. 94% of doctors who have died with coronavirus have come from non—white backgrounds. amara sophia elahi reports. the nhs heroes who lost their lives to coronavirus. 94% of doctors who have died from covid—19 has come from ethnic minority backgrounds, according to the british medical association. they worked in general practice as well as in hospitals. what ethnicity are you?

indian. have you had a chance to calculate your bmi? 30. that's why these gps in manchester created a coronavirus risk assessment framework, so doctors can do theirjob safely. listening to colleagues passing away nationally affects everybody within the health service. but with a local colleague who we knew very well, saad al—dubbaisi, and having to then go to his funeral, and to the cemetery to bury him, touched a group of gps and practice managers in this area. at the end of april, nhs england recommended ethnic minority health care workers should be risk assessed for coronavirus. scotland, wales and northern ireland issued similar guidance. but bbc research has found that many doctors still haven't had a risk assessment. in the last two weeks, over 1600 doctors volunteered to answer questions for us. out of those, over 1000 said they hadn't had a risk assessment yet. out of 704 doctors who answered a question about their risk level, 408 told us that they were at either

moderate or high risk from coronavirus. and some ethnic minority doctors also told the bbc that nothing had been done to protect them in their workplace. large numbers of bame doctors do feel let down. they feel they haven't been given timely information. what is critical is that we must avoid further deaths and further ill—health amongst our medical workforce. nhs england told us that covid—19 has put a spotlight on health inequalities. scotland, wales and northern ireland also say they are prioritising risk assessments for ethnic minority staff. hi, doctor. you 0k? very good. as the lockdown eases, doctors like mo feel it's even more important they have the right protections in place so that their risk from the virus is minimised as much as possible.

a leaked draft of a second report from public health england says that racism, stigma, occupational risk and social inequality may exacerbate the risk from covid—19 within ethnic minority communities. the report calls for the provision of adequate protective equipment and better risk assessments. our community affairs correspondent rianna croxford has more detail. this leaked draft is a second report from public health england, including recommendations and contributions from 4,000 organisations about how to reduce the impact of coronavirus on ethnic minority communities. the report is dated from the end of may and says that racism, stigma, occupational risk and social inequality may increase the risk of covid—19 for these groups, and says people from black backgrounds are at the greatest risk. now, the key recommendations they call for are better data collection about ethnicity and religion, including having this recorded on the death certificate to really monitor the real impact. it also suggests making it law for health risk assessments to be brought in for ethnic minority workers and generally calls for better personal

protective equipment, better representation in the nhs, but also suggests there needs to be more culturally sensitive public health messaging to really reach these communities. to make clear, this isjust a draft. there are still questions around the role of diet and vitamin d and no work has been done by the government yet to review this evidence. after being approached by the bbc last week, the government did say it will officially publish this leaked report next week and that this work is being carried forward by the equalities minister. the queen's official birthday has been marked with a military ceremony in the grounds of windsor castle. the traditional trooping the colour on horseguards parade in london was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. the queen was the only member of the royal family attending today's celebration, as our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. a birthday parade for changed times, with windsor castle substituting for horseguards parade.

there were no crowds, and no cavalry. but under perfect summer skies, into the castle's central quadrangle, marched the soldiers who formed the castle guard, accompanied by the rather less than massed ranks of the band of the household division. and on this, the day that officially marks her 94th birthday, the queen was there to watch. she emerged, accompanied by officials from the castle, where she has been in isolation with her husband since the start of the lockdown. social distancing was very much the order of the day. the soldiers from the welsh guards were all standing at least two metres apart. all the troops had learned new marching techniques to maintain safe distances. this was something called feathering. watching intently, the guest of honour.

a birthday celebration this may have been, but we shouldn't forget windsor castle has been the hub of the monarchy during the lockdown. it was from here that the queen broadcast during the pandemic. while we may have more still to endure, better days will return. we will be with our friends again, we will be with our families again. we will meet again. today, at the queen's birthday parade for 2020, her first official engagement since the pandemic began, there was a note of hope — that very slowly and very carefully, life can be restored to a version of normality. nicholas witchell, bbc news. some good news on coronavirus. people who live alone in england and northern ireland will from today be able to form what's being called a support bubble with another household from today.

it means they will be allowed to visit another household and even stay overnight, as our correspondent 0livia richwald reports. this is the first hug lucy gibson has had for three months. she has travelled almost 200 miles via two trains and a taxi to see her sister and family in stockport. ifelt very emotional when i saw them. yeah. wonderful. i didn't want to let them go. i think there will be a lot more hugs. lucy is a make—up artist who lives alone in watford and hasn't worked or seen any family and friends since lockdown began. from today, single parents and those living alone in england and northern ireland can form what is being called a support bubble with one other household. they can stay overnight and do not need to maintain social distancing. the kids adore her so it is lovely to see that relationship and they get so excited. what are your plans this weekend? i am looking forward to hanging out with them. they are my favourite people. i never care what we do

when i come to visit. i'm never bothered about making plans. it is just whatever they want to do on the day. the kids though do have plans. i want to play lego with her. i want to playjigsaws with her. i want to bake a cake with her. lucy's visit also means that james and gemma can enjoy a trip out without the kids for the first time in three months. 0livia richwald, bbc news, stockport. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello. if few heavy showers around tomorrow, and we have got there was at the moment mainly affecting england and wales. further into the night, there was will fade away as we lose the energy of the son, and

at the