it i‘a : “rf it cuts the risk of death by a third for patients on ventilators. those on oxygen it cuts death by a fence. mrjohnson said they have enough supply in the uk even in the event ofa supply in the uk even in the event of a second way. that comes as a further 233 people have died in the uk from covid—19. it takes the total death toll to a1,969. let's just hear a little of what the prime minister had to say about dexamethasone today at the briefing in downing street. i am proud of these british scientists backed by uk government funding who have led the first robust, clinical trial anywhere in the world to find a coronavirus treatment proven to reduce the risk of death. and i am very grateful to the thousands of patients in this country who volunteered for the trials. thank you. this drug dexamethasone can now

be made available across the nhs. and we taken steps to ensure we have enough supplies even in the event of a second peak. of course, while the chances of dying from covid—i9 have been greatly reduced by this treatment or significantly reduced by this treatment, they are is still too far too high. we much double our research efforts and we certainly will. but today, there is genuine because to celebrate a remarkable british scientific achievement. and the benefits it will bring notjust in this country but around the world. so, that was the prime minister at today's downing street briefing. also alongside him the professor of emerging infection diseases. in the apartment of oxford

university which can ducted that research into dexamethasone. in said the drug was cheap to make it would be available globally. we close the arm of the trial because we had enrolled more than 2000 patients on dexamethasone and we compare them to for thousand patients who had standard care. what we saw was really quite remarkable. so we've looked at different treatment groups and the drug has a different treatment effect in different groups. in ventilated patients with covid—i9 the drug dexamethasone, so ten days of treatment with that which is a tablet or an injection, reduces the risk of death by that 35%. in patients on the ward who require oxygen and have covid—i9. it reduces the risk of death by about 20%. that covers about 75% of patients in the hospital who received a mortality benefit from using this drug. there is another

group of patients who don't require oxyge n group of patients who don't require oxygen but have covid—i9 and we did not see a benefit in those patients. so it is not a drug that you would use so it is not a drug that you would use in the community or in outpatient or inpatient on the world who didn't have breathing difficulties. but in patients with breathing difficulties who require oxyge n breathing difficulties who require oxygen or ventilation it really is showing quite a significant effect. you know the drug itself is very widely available. it's on every pharmacy shelf in every hospital. it's available throughout the world. it's available throughout the world. it's extremely cheap. so, we looked at the numbers will save one lie. and the total cost of treating all eight patients is only about £40. so this is really, really remarkable. we are extremely pleased with this result. let's get reaction to what was said at today's downing street briefing. we can talk to labour shadow secretary. hejoins briefing. we can talk to labour shadow secretary. he joins us from his constituency in ilford. first of

all on that drug that appears to reduce the death rate quite significantly for in hospital. that's interesting breakthrough. yes, it certainly sounds like a very welcome breakthrough. let's hope it delivers the kind of impact they alluded to at the conference this afternoon. so absolutely. really exciting. let me also ask you about the government change of heart on school meal vouchers, free school meal vouchers forfamily for the vouchers, free school meal vouchers for family for the summer holidays. are you turn that's been brought about not by the labour party but not by the opposition but the football or first and foremost over a million children i get to get fed this summer that wouldn't have done otherwise. before we get into who gets the credit let's just welcome the fact first of all that children who would've gone hungry now won't. it's fantastic news. the other thing

ijust it's fantastic news. the other thing i just say it's fantastic news. the other thing ijust say on it's fantastic news. the other thing i just say on the it's fantastic news. the other thing ijust say on the campaign itself is a huge thank foot league i thank you to marcus rashard. he didn't have to wait into this debate. he's a professional footballer it's a risky thing to do but he did because it matters to him. his letter to mps was one of the most powerful cases for free school meal and against child poverty that i have read for a very long time. as someone who grew up very long time. as someone who grew up on free school meals myself it really struck a chord with me. i think it's fair to say that we wouldn't have achieved this victory today without marcus radford. and we wouldn't have achieved this victory without labours in front of the house of commons. you need the combination of things. you need the pressure in the country to put the government and conservative mps under pressure to do the right thing. and you need that parliamentary moment. that risk of embarrassment, risk of losing votes, list delete that risk of splits. success has many masters. the important thing is that we won. all and say to the government this evening is that i hope they search their consciences. it really shouldn't have ta ken their consciences. it really shouldn't have taken this kind of

pressure from a footballer to persuade them to act on something as basic as making sure that children in our country do not go hungry. i don't think it was a difficult choice. we face difficult decisions all the time and politics in the house of commons. this wasn't one of them. so i don't understand why the prime minister had to be dragged to this position. the fact is we won the u—turn, that's good news. but there are going to be other big issues coming down the track particularly when you look at some of the economic figures. the figures published today this country is in for a really ha rd published today this country is in for a really hard time. and people out there are losing theirjobs are falling on hard times need to know that they've got the government on their side. and if they can't do the right thing on instinct, as something basic as tackling child poverty and hunger, how can we trust him to do the right thing otherwise? the prime minister says quote, this is the right thing to do, it will help kids from the families who really need it. yes thanks for the

bleeding obvious. why didn't the prime minister do the right thing on the outside? on afraid boris johnson'sjudgement and the outside? on afraid boris johnson's judgement and incidents are wrong and that's why he had to bejudged to his position. it makes me worry that a big economic questions in the big test that lie ahead where people out there need to know they've got government on their side. good to talk to you thank you very much forjoining us here on bbc news this evening. that is just about it from me. much more at the top of the hour. let's get a look at the latest weather forecast. hello again. thunder storms have been pretty widespread. over the next few days, warm spells ofjune sunshine heavy afternoon foundry downpours bringing a risk of some localised flooding. it will remain quite warm and quite humid. overnight those storms taking a wild before they calm down across england and well. later on in the night perhaps a few showers make their way across the isle of man, on into northern ireland by the end of the night. quite muggy and warm kind of

night. quite muggy and warm kind of night temperatures 11 to 14 degrees. with low cloud forming around some of our north sea coast. tomorrow, many will be a dry start today. showers for the morning affecting northern ireland perhaps western scotland. that cloud within back to the east coast and then the sunshine comes out. we will start to get big showers developing in the afternoon. have you storms through wednesday afternoon through wales, the midlands and southern england which delete mac with a risk of localised flooding.

this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. a major breakthrough: for the first time, a drug has been found that significantly reduces the risk of dying from coronavirus and could save thousands of lives. a win for england footballer marcus rashford. his campaign to extend free school meals this summer, prompts a major government u—turn. after the protests, an executive order on police reforms from donald trump, as he bans choke holds — unless an officer's life is at risk. and more action to shut down a new outbreak of coronavirus in beijing — all schools will be closed.