this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines at 2pm. back to school for all children in england from september — that's the prime minister's aim. i want every child, every pupil, every student back in september, and i'm sure we can get it done. the prime minister's pledge comes as schools in england get £1 billion — to help pupils who've missed out on months of education during lockdown. the uk's coronavirus alert level is reduced from four to three — with pressure on the government to reduce social distancing measures. government borrowing hits a record high because of the pandemic. the uk's debt is now bigger than the entire economy. wales‘ first minister confirms that all nonessential retail shops can open from monday.

the actor sir ian holm — who played bilbo baggins in the lord of the rings films — has died, aged 88. hello and good afternoon. the prime minister borisjohnson says children of all ages in england should be able to return to school by the autumn on a five—day—a—week basis. his comments came as the threat from the coronavirus pandemic was downgraded from a rating of four to three, potentially allowing for a further easing of lockdown measures. earlier, primary and secondary schools in england were told they'll receive £1 billion to help children catch up on the months of education they've missed during the lockdown.

labour says the plans lack detail and ignore older students — but the prime minister says the fund will allow teachers to help pupils who've fallen behind. this report is from danjohnson. it goes tenths, hundredths and thousandths. this is what catching up looks like, one on one targeted support for the children who have fallen further behind. it was already happening at this primary school in east london but now there will be much more for pupils across england. you don't know whether to put your hand up and say, "i know the answer," because you don't know how everyone is going to react, whereas in the tutoring, because it's one—to—one, you don't have to be, like, scared of saying what the answer is. so, it's helping you get better at maths? yeah. is that something you struggled with before? kind of, and you don't have to worry about other people thinking, "why is he asking that question?"

it's part of £1 billion of government money which head teachers will likely decide how to spend on what their kids really need. pupils who need remedial help, perhaps, really need help because they've lost time, they've lost time to learn over the last few months but it is also helpful kids who have promised but we don't normally get it. this is one of the things we really wa nt it. this is one of the things we really want to develop as a government, the idea of really helping schools to give more direct focus, more one—to—one tutorial help. let me be very clear — i want a world in which as far as possible, provided we can make the classroom safe, and i think we can, i want every child, every pupil, every student back in september. these sessions are run by a charity using volunteer tutors. promising starts from our online

tutoring that we're offering already, with pupils commenting that it's helping them to re—engage with their learning, that it is replicating what they might get in the classroom and that, crucially, it's giving them that individual support and space where they can ask questions. you probably wouldn't get to know that person very well, so what do you think that was very well? questions, too, about how far this will go. £1 billion, a third of it ring—fenced for the poorest kids but there is an estimate of the rest boils down to £80 per pupil which won't buy much personal tutoring. we welcome the funding, absolutely but what we would like is the autonomy to spend it in the best way we see fit, a focus not only on academic performance and support but also on well—being. performance and support but also on well-being. the money has been welcomed by primary and secondary school head teachers but there are questions about exactly how it will be spent and which children will benefit and there is disappointment that nurseries are not covered in this announcement or 16 and 17—year—olds. this announcement or 16 and 17-year-olds. there is for me a big

question about why my child in year 12 halfway through a levels, staying ina six 12 halfway through a levels, staying in a six form, is going to have funding for extra catch up but going toa funding for extra catch up but going to a separate sixth form colleges and. that seems unfair from a government which talks about levelling up for everyone. filling classrooms again is still a conundrum without extra space and more teachers. it is a challenge to make sure children don't fall further behind, let alone helping them all catch up. danjohnson grabbed seniors. let's now speak to the head teacher of hartford manor primary let's tford manor primary school and nursery, simon kidwell. your thoughts first of all on is that welcome, what will you do have it, what are the priorities for you? it isa it, what are the priorities for you? it is a welcome announcement because we we re it is a welcome announcement because we were talking about the prime minister mentioning a huge summer of

catch up and we know some schools are not effective at providing long—term support for children so it feels like the government is listening, it is giving schools the independence and autonomy to choose which catch our programmes are best for their school so it is welcome especially the fact they are not directing us to do four weeks of summer directing us to do four weeks of summer school which is a very expensive and sometimes it doesn't have as much gains as you do with long—term tuition. have as much gains as you do with long-term tuition. is your gut feeling that isn't something you will be doing, that you will be ploughing this, once things resume in september, in the regular academic time? yes, because we know that children that will not be engaging online will come in september so we want to get the best and high quality tuition, where they can liaise with their class teachers to make sure that children work on the right things. when you say you have children who have not been engaging with the online learning,

is that because theyjust don't have the right equipment or good broadband connection, all the basics that have to be in place or is there more than that? what's been going on? there is a digital divide and i wish before this outbreak we had done more to address that divide in oui’ done more to address that divide in our school. we do have access issues. there's also motivation issues. there's also motivation issues. all the head teachers i talk to across cheshire say there has been a falling off in the amount of children have done on my because it has been a long time now children have had, 12 weeks out of schools, so have had, 12 weeks out of schools, soi have had, 12 weeks out of schools, so i think it has been hard families to keep up their motivation. it's been hard for children to stay as motivated as they could online. teaching is a social activity done best in a classroom, you see some great stuff brought out for schools doing the best effort with online learning but ultimately we want to see children back in the classroom. and when boris johnson see children back in the classroom. and when borisjohnson says very forcefully as he had in the last

couple of hours, from september i wa nt couple of hours, from september i want all schools in england back five days a week as it should be, do you welcome that? is that something thatis you welcome that? is that something that is achievable as far as you're concerned and your teachers are concerned? i share the same ambition as the prime minister because we wa nt as the prime minister because we want all children back as soon as possible but there was an announcement children would return full—time before the summer holiday and if we have a class size cap of 15, it is impossible to bring back all children full time so we will need to hear from all children full time so we will need to hearfrom public all children full time so we will need to hear from public health to new need to know if they will lift the class limit of 15 which will then have two win over the confidence of parents because in many schools about 50% of parents are choosing not to send their children in even for the eligible year groups. right, so, if you don't get different guidance, then, health guidance, between now and september, you are saying it isn't physically possible for you to have all your stu d e nts possible for you to have all your students back, is that correct? yes,

back full—time. they'd have to come back full—time. they'd have to come back part—time or we would have to employ 15 additional teachers and build 15 additional classrooms. so that needs to change for you and for other schools, then, for this to be possible in a full—time way? other schools, then, for this to be possible in a full-time way? yes, it does, we need to have the guidance that it does, we need to have the guidance thatitis does, we need to have the guidance that it is safe to have normal class sizes from september.” that it is safe to have normal class sizes from september. i am interested in the parents as well. could you judge the breakdown of the pa rents were could you judge the breakdown of the parents were getting in touch with you, sing, please, please, we want you, sing, please, please, we want you back, we want our children back and everything up and running, versus those who might say to you, i don't care whether you're opening in september, i'm not convinced it's going to be safe. there is a large amount of anxiety in schools about the safety element, and it is about the safety element, and it is about the safety element, and it is about the safety of the children going back into their homes and passing it on to other family members which are not quite sure about yet, so we need better guidance, better signs around how children pass it on two adults

and then hopefully we can start opening in september with confidence, that we can do it in as safe a way as possible. right, interesting to hear your perspective, thank you very much and perhaps we will talk nearer the time 01’ perhaps we will talk nearer the time or when advice changes. head teacher ofa or when advice changes. head teacher of a school in cheshire. more now on that cut in the coronavirus alert level this morning from four to three, after a continuing decrease in the number of cases. the chief scientific advisers of all four nations of the uk have agreed to the downgrade, though they warn that localised outbreaks are still likely and the virus remains in general circulation. the prime minister said "watch this space" about current social distancing measures, and promised more guidance to be published "very, very shortly". let's speak to our political correspondent nick eardley, in westminster. prime minister has been very active in the last couple of hours, suggesting a promising and hinting a

lot of things to talk us through where we are in terms of guidance and the ambition that borisjohnson seems to have here. hello, jane. in some ways what we have seen today is the advice from the chief medical officers catching up with some of the decisions politicians, frankly, have already taken. level three are supposed to be the point where we can supposed to be the point where we ca n start supposed to be the point where we can start easing restrictions but as we've seen of the last few weeks across the uk, different governments have been taking those decisions to ease restrictions already. what this does do is add pressure to boris johnson when it comes to some of the further measures he is being urged to make. tory mps, among them ministers, are knocking on his door, saying to him, you need to reduce the two metre rule to one metres. you had a head teacher talking about the difference that sort of guidance could have and we have seen similar moves in northern ireland where to two metre rule is being reduced for school children in school to make

sure they can all go back in august andi sure they can all go back in august and i suspect some tory mps will ta ke and i suspect some tory mps will take the reduction in the alert level as further evidence things are getting better and this could be the time to ease that. have a listen to the prime minister speaking to reporters about an hour ago about whether that to me to rule can be relaxed. on the social distancing measures, as i've said, watch this space. we will put in further changes. as the science allows. that's what the public also want to see, they want to see us working with the reality. you began by saying there are hotspots, there are... outbreaks in parts of the north of the country. yes, that is true. but we are moving now from... a world in which we have to impose a huge, one size fits all national lockdown programme to one in which we are able to do more localised responses.

it is interesting because this reduction in the alert level gives the prime minister something to be fairly optimistic about at the end of what has been sometimes quite a tough week for the government, frankly. we had the u—turn on free schools for england very publicly early in the week, yesterday the admission from the health secretary that the app the government was working on, the nhs app to try to track and trace people who had been in contact with other people who ended up with coronavirus, that isn't going to work in the way the government had initially told us, and what the reduction in the alert level allows the government to do is look at what the scientists are saying — this is starting to work, the strategy is paying off, all the ha rd the strategy is paying off, all the hard work that has gone on over the last few months is starting to show some progress. knitterrdly, thank you, at westminster. the first minster of wales has confirmed that non essential shops

in wales will be allowed to reopen next week. in the daily briefing, mark drakeford also said travel restrictions, which limit people staying within five miles of their homes, could be lifted next month. so, on monday 22nd june, next monday, we will introduce changes to restart our economy. all nonessential retail will be able to open, provided they can comply with the physical distancing duty. the reopening of nonessential shops, will mean a few adjustments to high streets, as our correspondent tomos morgan explained from cardiff city centre. nonessential shops will be open and here in one of cardiff's busy suburban high streets as you can see they have already put some plans in place. this is one of the trials across the city centre to try to extend the pedestrianised areas across this busy high street so more football can come, and at a safe and social distance. that comes into

place on monday, many of these shops will try to reopen putting social distancing measures in place and the first minister keen to emphasise they will only reopen if they can ensure social distancing measures ta ke ensure social distancing measures take place. the other things that will change on monday is that outdoor noncontact sports, things like tennis, can restart from monday but the thing that will not be changing in wales on monday is the reduction of the stay local message that has been put in place in wales. at the moment people have to stay within a five mile radius of their homes, if they can, well, they should do as much as possible. that will be reviewed within the next two weeks and today's announcement brings a new package of measures which will begin on monday with the reopening of shops. the following monday, schools will reopen in wales, most pupils will go back in a phased fashion with reduced capacity. on monday after that in three weeks' time, potentially if the virus reduces in the rate it has

been going in wales, tourism and further travel restrictions might be eased then. tomos morgan in cardiff. some people in scotland are, from today, able to meet people from another household indoors, without physical distancing. it's part of the country's move into phase two of its four part routemap out of lockdown. with more detail on that, here's our scotland correspondent james shaw. from today, up to three households will be able to meet outside, no more than eight of them with physical distancing, and then there will be this possibility, as you mentioned there, for a single person or a single parent with children to form an extended household with one other household. for people who are shielding, in other words particularly vulnerable to the virus, they will be able to take outdoor exercise and also get involved in outdoor activities which enable physical distancing, and they can also meet one other household group outside.

quite modest changes at the moment. on monday we will see face coverings becoming compulsory on public transport and then i think the really big changes in scotland are going to be at the end of the month, a week on monday 29th, when lots of businesses will be able to reopen. so, almost all high street shops, except those in shopping malls, factories, warehouses, playgrounds, even zoo. one omission from that that outdoor spaces at pubs and restaurants will not be able to open. that has caused some anxiety in the hospitality sector. nicola sturgeon also coming under pressure about education. that will not start again until august 11th, she says as close to normal as possible, given there has to be a lot of control of the virus before that can happen. james shaw in glasgow. government borrowing hit a record

high last month, as a result of the coronvirus pandemic. it borrowed more than £55 billion in may — nine times the figure for the same period last year. and it means government debt is now larger than economy's annual income. our business correspondent darshini david reports. a favourite of influencers and celebrities yet this retailer started up just a few years ago. it's used to rapid change but it faces new challenges and, like many, has needed government help to tide it over the last few months. everyone from the store was unfortunately furloughed but it's just what has to happen. i think the whole retail market is very uncertain at the minute but we feel very supported by... ..the government at the minute and the guidelines they are bringing out so we are just very hopeful for the future, that things will eventually get back to normal. for high streets everywhere, government support schemes have been a lifeline so the treasury thinks

that was worth running up a record overdraft for which it can borrow cheaply to fund but this retail landlord thinks more help is needed. i think it'll be hugely helpful if the business rates relief could be extended and notjust for the tiniest shops prior to this but in real terms, and then also vat relief, i think on transactions in physical shops. so, how do you keep the recovery going? there is one thing that might help bring down prices, boost sales, protectjobs and profits, and that's a cut in vat, currently 20%. but for every one percentage point you take off vat, it could cost the government £7 billion. it would be a tough choice. it is already facing a shortfall, a deficit, of around £300 billion. but giving shoppers, retailers and the wider economy a boost may pay off for now. spending now that helps the economy

recover is worth doing but in three or four years time i fear that actually the economy might still be impaired, the deficit might still be pushed up from what we previously thought, and that's when the second part of the plan, do we need to start thinking about for example tax rises and we will also start thinking about how we will manage this elevated debt, probably for decades to come. iam here i am here to buy my lunch, that is the plan. the chancellor knows his plan will have to extend beyond lunch to keep retail and the rest of the economy thriving. but, just like many businesses and households, his government will be exiting this crisis with far more depth than before. more debt than before. and it will have to figure out how to pay it back. economic survival has come with a considerable price tag. dharshini david, bbc news. let's talk a little bit more about education, several things going on today, with the announcement of £1 billion in total to schools in

england, all to do with helping children catch up because children have missed so much education during lockdown, and also we have heard from the prime minister in the last hour also been very forceful, saying school should be able to get back to full—time learning five days a week, as he put it, from september, that is the ambition. let's talk about the experience of education in the last few months, let's talk to lauren rosenberg, who has five children, and, clearly, as you can see, has one of them with her! hello, good afternoon, good to talk to you. tell us, which of your children is with you? this is mini, she is eight. hello, welcome, are you 12? yes. great to have you with us. lauren, parents have been expected to do a lot of home—schooling in the last few months, it is a heck of a challenge, so how have you been getting on?

months, it is a heck of a challenge, so how have you been getting 0mm has been a challenge but we have been quite lucky because the school set up an online school so she's got a timetable, so she has been having a timetable, so she has been having a few lessons, so she needs to get up a few lessons, so she needs to get up early, so there is a routine, so she has structure. we have been lucky in that way. for my work, i a lwa ys lucky in that way. for my work, i always look at the positive side. we adapted, we needed to adapt. it is an event we never thought could happen. and we had to adapt, so we had did it make we had to adjust. the dining room became my husband's offers. we literally had to adapt in seeing the needs for each child.

obviously for my work as well. we have been very lucky in the sense we have been very lucky in the sense we have online schooling from the school and the teachers have been amazing, they've adapted, they've had training, and everybody has had to adjust and adapt in that way, so she has got structure. it has been goodin she has got structure. it has been good in that way. i'd love to hear, miri, what you have made of it, what has been good and bad about it? the good side is that online we can see our teachers and our friends, and that we are learning, like, good. the bad side is we can't actually see them so it is different. we have to get used to that. still missing your friends, to get used to that. still missing yourfriends, i'm sure! to get used to that. still missing your friends, i'm sure! yes. it's tough, we are all missing our friends let me tell you whatever age you are, it is tough for everyone. lauren, we have heard the prime minister talking about extra funding to try to help schools catch up

because however hard you have both worked on all your children have worked, you know, inevitably kids fall behind with their schoolwork. what you hope to see, come september? do you think extra support will be needed for children? i think, yes, support will be needed for children? ithink, yes, extra support will be needed for children? i think, yes, extra support will be neededin i think, yes, extra support will be needed in education but also extra support will be needed on the mental side for children. we have to also bearin side for children. we have to also bear in mind that they are children, it isa bear in mind that they are children, it is a completely different world, everything has changed, the anxiety level may be higher, some of them might not be able to sleep properly, so we also need to address that, so it's brilliant to have more funding. i think the government is doing as much as they can, adjusting as much as they can but we're also going to into the mental health, notjust about the level of education. they both need to be addressed. that is

interesting. the prime minister has been pretty positive, i can put it that way, in the last couple of hours, saying i want everyone to be back at school five days a week from september but you, as a parent, you welcomed that? is that something you absolutely want to see? ideally, yes, i'd love everyone to be in school and have a normal life. we have to make sure they stay safe. unfortunately, i lost a child four yea rs unfortunately, i lost a child four years ago, so i would want to make even more sure that everything is safe and that my children are happy to go back to school. but, yes, if everything is put in place, we have to get back into normal life. we can't keep staying at home. if the measures are in place and if everything is ok, then, yes, hopefully, i hope that miri and her siblings will be able to carry on

education. goodness, well, we are very sorry to hear what you went through as a family. in terms of where we are today, what sort of reassurance would you want, from a health perspective, to get all your children back to school full time? are you happy right now to send all your children back? do you feel confident? with what is happening right now, i wouldn't do it because i don't think everything is put in place, i wouldn't feel comfortable. but also, miri has suggested online schooling, so now that it is working smoothly for the next few weeks that is left, i think it is better for the children to carry on having a structure because they all got used to online schooling. from september, if the social distancing, or hand washing, if everything is put in place or if there are more tests,

anything we can put in place, or less children in a classroom, then, yes, i would want miri and her siblings to go back because we can't live in fear. so we need to adapt and move on and we have to move forward. we can't just and move on and we have to move forward. we can'tjust restrict our movements, if we can't reduce that to being nonexistent. let's hope eve ryo ne to being nonexistent. let's hope everyone can go back to school in september, miri. what are you looking forward to the most? seeing my teachers and friends, to see them again. of course! and your teachers will be delighted to see that you are delighted to keep seeing them! top marks all around and lovely to speak to you both. lauren rosenberg and her daughter, 12 years old, talking about, one hopes, full return to education, come september. it is edging up to 2:28pm, good

afternoon. in the last hour or so, the debt has been announced of the actor sir ian home. lots of stage roles but perhaps best known for his roles but perhaps best known for his roles in in chariots of fire and the lord of the rings, has died at the age of 88. his death was related to parkinson's. sarah campbell looks back at his career. he was one of britain's most familiar and most reliable character actors, oscar—nominated for this performance in chariots of fire. no! back again, get it level. harold pinter said he was his favourite actor. if i can see the big prize hanging there, believe me, i won't waste any time. he was terrifying as the treacherous

android ash in alien. what's this thing with all these numbers? and funny as a priest trying to save the earth in the fifth element. it's a, it's a, it's a... no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. because if it was a bomb, the alarms would go off because all these hotels have bomb detectors, right? alarm sounds. george? at five foot five, he was often cast in diminutive parts. in the borrowers, he played one of a family of tiny people opposite his then—wife, penelope wilton. screaming. you do me wrong to take me... at the national theatre, he was an acclaimed king lear. thou art a soul in bliss, but i am bound upon a wheel of fire

that mine own tears do scald... yet, for 17 years, he refused to appear live because of stage fright. i am old, gandalf. as bilbo baggins in the lord of the rings, he captured the character's good sense and selflessness. i feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread. i need a holiday. a very long holiday. and i don't expect i shall return. rarely the star, but scores of productions were lit up by sir ian holm's wit, warmth and intensity. sir ian holm, who died this morning, aged 88. this now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller.

hello. we are still not done with this week's rain or showers, still damp out there for some of us although parts of england and wales are brightening up but for northern england some heavy showers, a few thunderstorms around. northern ireland sing a few scattered downpours but to end the day, particularly southern and western parts of scotland, most at risk for possible disruption from intense, slow—moving, thundery downpours, including the central belt. still around into the night across part of the west and north—west of scotland before gradually fading, as most other places overnight become dry. temperatures mainly in the range of 10—12, one or two mist and fog patches. an altogether different day on the way tomorrow. we will all get to see some sunshine, although staying cloudy towards the north and north—east of scotland with a few showers. one or two showers dotted about elsewhere, by no means everybody will catch them and they will tend to move through because there

will be a freshening, fresher south breeze during the day. feeling warmer in the sunshine. this rain for northern ireland in the evening. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... back to school for all children in england from september — that's the prime minister's aim i want every child, every pupil, every student back in september. i'm sure we can get it done. the prime minister's pledge comes as schools in england get one billion pounds — to help pupils who've missed out on months of education during lockdown. the uk's coronavirus alert level is reduced from 4 to 3 — with pressure on the government to reduce social distancing measures in england. government borrowing hits a record high because of the pandemic — the uk's debt is now bigger than the entire economy. a major study has found that people of south asian origin

are the most likely to die from coronavirus after being admitted to hospital in britain. the research suggests that high levels of diabetes are partly to blame. richard galpin has more details. it is people from ethnic minority backgrounds in this country who are being hardest hit by a coronavirus. the number of deaths disproportionate. and amongst them, it's now been revealed that members of the south asian community have the highest risk of dying from the disease. he needed huge amounts of oxygen and lost more than six kilograms in weight. at the point of being infected, i didn't have any idea that by virtue of being south asian, i was at that by virtue of being south asian, iwas ata that by virtue of being south asian, i was at a greater risk of contracting the disease and of the

complications which happens only for a small minority of people, and then ididn't a small minority of people, and then i didn't know that those who were hospitalised, a higher proportion of them are likely to have a fatal outcome in comparison to the rest of the population. might make the study released today involving 260 hospitals and almost 35,000 covid patients provided clear evidence the south asian community was in most vulnerable to the virus. it found people from this community were 20% more likely to die after being admitted to hospital than white people. another study today by the office for national statistics said men from south asian backgrounds we re men from south asian backgrounds were about 50% more likely to die from the virus than white men. 0n top of this, 40% of those hospitalised with covid have diabetes. this adding significantly to the risk of death. diabetes we

know is more prevalent among the asian community compared to the white population. whether that is a single factor that is attributing that higher rate, we do not know but it isa that higher rate, we do not know but it is a factor. that is why we need more research, more understanding. the findings of this research have major implications for people from south asian backgrounds. would they need to become a priority or any vaccine becomes available and would they need extra protection is at work? the government was like science advisers have already seen this research. four months ago, the northern italian region of lombardy became the global epicentre of coronavirus, as it saw the first major outbreak in europe. as key mistakes were made, the pandemic stretched medical resources to breaking point. 0ur italy correspondent mark lowen has returned to lombardy, to ask what went wrong. it's four months since lombardy became the wuhan of the west, its sufferings seared into memory. the virus throttled,

taking hold in europe and exporting cases around the world. let's get the very latest on the situation in northern italy. 0ur correspondent mark lowen is in... i've reported on the story from the start. now i'm back to meet those who want answers. in bergamo, 6,000 people died in march alone, thought to be the highest rate of excess deaths in the world. ines and her husband were married for 53 years. he spent his last month in hospital. we are facing a war now here. as the outbreak erupted and our coverage took us across italy, i spoke to a doctor whose hospital was overwhelmed. stefano, hi, mark from the bbc. very nice to see you again. we were late in finding the virus.

we were told that we had to search for a link with china but we were not able to see patients with that kind of symptoms that were coming from china. we lost time in closing the area. so, the lockdown came late. politicians passed the buck over closing italy's second richest city, under pressure from business groups. delayed lockdown, as other countries have seen, cost dearly, as did the decision to move some of the sick to care homes. half of the 140 patients in this one died. when angela 0livella's mother developed a fever, she wasn't tested and she died a week later.

we spoke to one worker who wanted her identity hidden. translation: i had my first symptoms after helping a patient who was positive. the head of the care home wing said i should go home, but the director said no, because my fever wasn't 37.7 degrees as the rules said. three to four days went by. while i was infected, i must have infected other people. if they had managed this well, everyone should still be alive. the care home declined an interview but in a statement told us the claims were false and they'd followed health protocols. at the heart of europe, and with italy's largest elderly population, lombardy was an easy target. key errors mean it's still the infection hub. this is the legacy of lombardy‘s emergency. the daily presence of the ambulances, the need for complete protection, the full mobilisation of resources to prevent another spike of the virus. the crisis may no longer be at its height but it still lingers on, ready to bounce back.

italy was used as a model of how to respond to the virus. now it's a mirror of the mistakes that so many others, too, have made. mark lowen, bbc news, lombardy. a new report describes the labour party's heavy loss in the last general election — the worst since 1935 — as the result of a toxic culture, organisational failures and the leadership ofjeremy corbyn. the report is written by the "labour together" group — which includes different wings of the party. 0ur political correspondent iain watson reports. thank you very much... jeremy corbyn's leadership, brexit and a manifesto that did not seem credible — some of the reasons labour lost in 2019, according to a new report.

the labour together group, which includes the party's former leader, ed miliband, and the shadow business minister, lucy powell, have spent nearly six months analysing the reasons for the defeat. some of it will make grim reading for labour supporters. they say that mps and activists have told them that labour's strategy was inadequate and the organisation was muddled and that factionalism, internal arguments and division affected the party's performance. but we haven't got on to the really bad news for labour yet. the reports says that a new leader will not in itself improve the party's fortunes. over the past two decades, traditional voters have been drifting away so, by 2019, it was easier for the conservatives to pick off some seats labour had held since the war and a further 58 constituencies are vulnerable to a small conservative advance. the report declares that labour has an electoral mountain to climb and it contains a stark warning for keir starmer, unless he makes fundamental changes, labour could have further to fall. iain watson, bbc news. it's been a week to forget

for president trump. he's been called incompetent in a new book by his former security advisor, and been embroiled in a social media storm with both facebook and twitter and now the supreme court has ruled that he can't throw out legislation that protects child migrants from deportation. david willis reports. protesters chant. it came as a ray of light to the dreamers, and a slap in the face for the president. i'm so happy... the threat of deportation lifted, for now at least. the nation's highest court rejecting the trump administration's attempt to end protections for some 700,000 young, undocumented immigrants. i will immediately terminate president 0bama's illegal executive order on immigration. the decision, a major blow to a president who made immigration reform a centrepiece of his run for office, branding the supreme court's verdict horrible and politically charged. social media has also proved a battle ground for donald trump on occasions, and twitter has once again

added a warning label to a presidential tweet, this time one that featured a video criticising the news media. facebook also announced it was removing trump campaign ads that featured a nazi symbol. a trump spokesman maintained the symbol was associated with a left—wing group which the president has blamed for recent anti—racist violence. coming hard on the heels of claims by the former national security advisorjohn bolton that the president is poorly informed and uses the power of office for personal and political gain, this might be a week mr trump would rather forget. further adding to his woes, the news that one of the administration's highest—ranking african americans, state department official mary elizabeth taylor, has resigned in protest at the president's response to racial tensions here. and the week isn't over yet. david willis, bbc news.

facebook‘s head of security has defended the company's decision to take down advertisements by president trump's election campaign that — as we saw in that piece — featured a symbol used by the nazis to label their opponents. the ads were aimed against antifa, the left—wing grouping of activists that mr trump describes as violent agitators. facebook say the ads violate its policy against organized hate. you obvious they want to be careful to allow someone to put up a symbol to allow someone to put up a symbol to condemn it or discuss it but in a situation we don't see as either, we will take it off the platform. we saw that with this ad and anywhere that symbol is used, we would take the same action so we will be consistent when enforcing whatever

our systems identify the symbols and, as you expect, when we identify something like this come out we make it within our system that we get other instances where it can appear so we can find and remove it automatically and also if there was something we miss because we certainly are not perfect, if someone were to bring that to our attention, we would take that action there as well. it's against the symbol. cbs news correspondent michael george says facebook‘s action to remove the ad is surprising. this is an unusual move for facebook. even recently, they've said they will not release the president because my comments on facebook including false statements. they will let that slide and not be the arbiter of what is true and what isn't. in this case, they did pull down these ads which comes down to the upside down red triangle they used in president trump's ads which isa used in president trump's ads which is a symbol the nazis used to identify political prisoners. the trump campaign said the symbol is actually associated with far left

antifa protesters but that is not accurate and in this case facebook did take immediate action. the trump campaign has maintained this is not a nazi symbol but rather a antifa symbol which is not accurate. the president has indicated lately that he is more willing to seek legislation to allow more control over social media so while he has not directly responded to this latest development by facebook, he has said he could pursue action against social media if they continue to block or modify his state m e nts continue to block or modify his statements online. the headlines on bbc news... borisjohnson says he envisages every child being back in school in england by september — it comes as1 billion pounds is promised for tutoring for children the coronavirus alert level for the whole of the uk is lowered from four to three — meaning that the rate of transmission is believed to have fallen

the actor sir ian holm — who played bilbo baggins in the lord of the rings films — has died, aged 88 a video filmed by a pregnant woman with coronavirus from her hospital bed was shared widely on social media back in march. karen mannering appealed to people to follow the lockdown restrictions after she developed pnuemonia in both lungs. but now there's good news — karen mannering has given birth to a boy. colin campbell reports. cradling her newborn son, three months ago karen mannering feared they would both die after she contracted covid—19. she was at the time 26 weeks' pregnant. on sunday night, tyson lee mannering was born, weighing in at 8lb 1oz.

the moment i gave birth to him and i heard his cry, i think that was it, the emotions can all kick in then. i actually felt i could cry, grieve, feel sorry for everything we've been through together and put it in perspective — oh, dear — and how lucky we both are to be here. i have pneumonia in both lungs. i'm fighting for me and my baby. karen was rushed to hospital in march. from her bed, she filmed this video appeal which went viral. it's not worth going out. stop going out, listen to boris. i was a 39—year—old pregnant women that come down bad with it, and ijust wanted everyone to know it's not a joke, take it seriously — people are dying from it. after making a speedy recovery, she was back at the qeqm hospital in margate in may to thank staff who had cared for her.

i literally can't thank you enough for the sacrifices you all make. like, i remember... she wasn't expecting to return to give birth untiljuly but was admitted last week to be induced. her baby son eventually delivered by c—section late sunday night and aptly named tyson. mike tyson and tyson fury are the boxers. obviously they've both been good fighters, and this is another good fighter, so i think he deserved the name. is this your cousin? relatives are being given a sneak—peak of the new arrival. although pregnant women are considered, as a precaution, to be at moderate risk of covid—19, the nhs says there's no no no the nhs says there's no evidence they're more likely to become seriously ill from the virus. we know pregnant women are no more likely to catch coronavirus than any other, so the advice is the same — hand washing, making sure they hydrate and making sure they socially distance. i think i was quite worried about whether he was ever going to be here and how things were really going to turn out, but now he's here, i'm, like, an emotional wreck!

a covid survivor in the safety of his mother's arms meeting excited siblings. there is further relief for karen, who's just discovered she's developed antibodies for the virus. she's waiting to find out if her little fighter has too. colin campbell, bbc news, herne bay. the australian prime minister says a major cyber attack is under way against the country, targeting government, industry and political parties. scott morrison says a sophisticated state—based actor is behind the attack but didn't say which country was responsible. mr morrison told a news conference in canberra that the intrusions had been intensifying in recent months. 0ur sydney correspondent shymaa khalil has more. scott morrison was clear about two things in his statement. one was the scale of the attack and the fact that it targeted political, educational, economic and health organisations in australia and, too, that this was done by a state actor with significant abilities. we know it is a sophisticated, state—based cyber actor because of the scale and nature of the targeting

and the tradecraft used. those who are engaged in this are not doing this to help us. that's certainly not their intention and so you could describe it as malicious. what he wasn't clear about was which country was behind those attacks and why he chose to make this announcement at this particular moment. the one word he hasn't mentioned in his statement was china and the one country he was asked about directly was china. he declined to make a comment and he declined to make any public attribution is about who is responsible for this, but we do know that the relationship between canberra and beijing is at an all—time low, especially when australia sided with the united states asking for an independent inquiry about the origins of the coronavirus which was detected in china late last year. at the time, beijing dismissed those calls and called them politically motivated, but soon after that started imposing

tariffs on australian barley and also stopped importing australian beef and then recently warned its citizens about coming to australia because of racist incidents and then we saw the prime minister himself then ratchet up his rhetoric, saying he is not going to give in to coercion by beijing. unless he comes out and says it explicitly, it's hard to know 100% whether china is behind these attacks, but what we do know is that australia and it's very powerful trading partner china are at odds. they are in a tense relationship. and we also that australia chose this particular moment to say that it's under cyber attack from a very powerful country. as lockdown measures are slowly lifted, tourism businesses in england are getting ready forjuly 11th — the date when they hope they will be able to reopen. many are busy working out how to do so — but also say they need more government guidance.

danny savage reports from the lake district. when it comes to the ideal—looking uk tourist destination it doesn't get much better than the lake district. lucy and ian metcalfe own sykeside campsite near brotherswater. for weeks they've had to look at empty grass, but that will change on july the 4th. i think people are desperate to come away. we get probably 50, 60 e—mails a day now. are you open? can we book? if we book and we can't come, what's going to happen? and social distancing will make it very different to what it once was. it's a tricky thing for us to balance because we want people to come here and enjoy themselves and it's not ourjob to police people, but equally we want people to feel safe, our staff and customers. so we have to find

a way of doing this. no, we are not looking to come round and tell people off, but unfortunately we think we will have to remind people because it's the way it is, human nature. these are the campsite toilets and showers. and here's the dilemma, shared showers and loos are a bit of a nightmare. do we knock off every other sink? do we put up little screens in between them? do we insist people wear masks indoors? or is it only one entrance and exit and the showers and toilets are not clear, you can see if there's somebody already in them? so that's going to be challenging. a few miles away at the langdale hotel they have it all. self—catering lodges, hotel rooms, spa and restaurant. so here is one of our three—bedroom time—share lodges. what they really want, though, is clear government guidance. we are planning for a plan at the moment, which is to open on the 11th ofjuly, but we simply don't know whether that's actually doable. so adequate notice would be great and anything this week would be brilliant. this national park is nearly ready and waiting for overnight visitors.

but it's those pinch points where people end up in close proximity that are still the worry. danny savage, bbc news, cumbria. let's return now to news today that the first minster of wales has confirmed further easing of lockdown measures, including the reopening next week of non essential shops. let's speak now to helen maryjones, plaid cymru's economy spokeswoman. good afternoon. good afternoon. do you welcome the slight easing? yes, it is good that we have things beginning to open up. we have welcomed the fairly cautious approach. businesses that are going to be allowed to open it much clearer, more detailed guidance of what they need to do before they can

open up and an area of where we really have to do so as the restrictions only allow meeting outdoors are not travelling more than five miles outdoors to do so are still in place. we have had constituents say they can travel as far as they like to go to a close shop on monday but still not to visit their aunty or grandmother. we think the welsh government has not got the balance quite right. i'm sorry, i missed a very slight part of that. the fact mark drake for the saying please try not to go much further than five miles from your home. —— mark drakeford. are you saying it is time for that to be released? it is time. we would prefer released? it is time. we would p refer to released? it is time. we would prefer to take a similar approach to the one being taken in scotland. they have had a cautious approach and come on the whole, people in

wales have been very self disciplined over this. we have not seen lots and lots of people liking that breaking lockdown but it's getting to the point where people are asking questions about if they can go to the shops now, if tourists can go to the shops now, if tourists can visit their rural communities in a couple of weeks, why can you still not travel more than a very short distance to see your family and friends? i think the welsh government needs to look at that again. he is talking again further forward about tourism, welcoming tourists, he hopes, from july. it is important to the economy of course. is that the right approach as far as you're concerned? it's incredibly important to the economy, tourism is a more important part of wales' economy than is true across the average of the uk. a sensible, measured approach to reopening those aspects of tourism businesses that when we can do so safely is very much welcome. what those tourism businesses are saying to me now that they need detailed guidance now from

they need detailed guidance now from the welsh government so they can make any adaptations they need to to their properties, they can move ca rava ns their properties, they can move caravans if they have to and caravan sites. all sorts of practical things that cannot be done overnight. you are talking about... i'm so sorry, there was a slight interruption, i do apologise. i apologise, thank you very much indeed. we must leave it there as we approach the top of the arab it could have you to join us. we got through to you in the end. thank you very much indeed. thank you. just before we take a look at the weather, we've just had a few more details in. the daily death toll, i'm sorry, hasjust details in. the daily death toll, i'm sorry, has just been released details in. the daily death toll, i'm sorry, hasjust been released in the past few moments. the overall toll, this is a uk wide figure, confirmed cases rising to 112,400 and 61. a rise of 173. those are the

latest figures there through in the last few minutes. sadly the daily figures that we are often given around this time. much more to come from three. we willjust pause there and catch up with the weather prospects. now, the weather with nick miller. hello. we are still not done with this week's rain or showers, still damp out there for some of us although parts of england and wales are brightening up but for northern england some heavy showers, a few thunderstorms around. northern ireland sing a few scattered downpours but to end the day, particularly southern and western parts of scotland, most at risk for possible disruption from intense, slow—moving, thundery downpours, including the central belt. still around into the night across part of the west and north—west of scotland before gradually fading, as most other places overnight become dry. temperatures mainly in the range of 10—12, one or two mist and fog patches. an altogether different day

on the way tomorrow. we will all get to see some sunshine, although staying cloudy towards the north and north—east of scotland with a few showers. one or two showers dotted about elsewhere, by no means everybody will catch them and they will tend to move through because there will be a freshening, fresher south breeze during the day. feeling warmer in the sunshine. this rain for northern ireland in the evening.

this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines. the uk's coronavirus alert level is reduced from four to three, with pressure on the government to reduce social distancing measures in england. as i've said, watch this space, we will be putting on further changes as the science allows. back to school for all children in england from september — that's the prime minister's aim. the prime minister's pledge comes as schools in england get £1 billion to help pupils who've missed out on months of education during lockdown. government borrowing hits a record high because of the pandemic, the uk's debt is now bigger than the entire economy. wales' first minister confirms that all non essential retail shops can open from monday. the actor sir ian holm,

who played bilbo baggins in the lord of the rings films, has died, aged 88. good afternoon. our top story, the uk's coronavirus alert level has been reduced from level four to level three. the lowering comes after a continuing decrease in the number of cases. the chief scientific advisers of all four nations of the uk have agreed to the downgrade, though they warn that localised outbreaks are still likely and the virus remains in general circulation. during a visit to a primary school today the prime minister hinted that we could see further easing of restrictions, saying "watch this space" about current social distancing

measures, and promised more guidance to be published "very, very shortly". mrjohnson has also said it's his intention that children of all ages in england should be able to return to school on a five—day—a—week basis in september. also in the last few moments the department of health has confirmed a further 173 deaths with coronavirus in the uk in all settings. it brings the total number across the uk to 42,461. let's speak to our political correspondent leila nathoo, who's in westminster. and a busy afternoon, so, in terms of education the prime minister sounding pretty adamant or trying to sounding pretty adamant or trying to sound adamant about september. clearly the ambition is to get all schoolchildren back in classrooms in full time from september. as yet there isn't a road map to get to

that point. clearly a crucial element of that is this idea of the two metre rule because that we have got a view primary school year groups back, capacity issues there because only a certain amount of stu d e nts because only a certain amount of students can be in classrooms at any one time. clearly what is needed is extra capacity and the two metre rule, just like too many businesses, shops, hospitality, the two metre rule all the possible relaxation is going to be crucial. have a listen what he said about it when he was speaking to reporters earlier this afternoon. on the social distancing measures, as i've said, watch this space. we will put in further changes. as the science allows. that's what the public also want to see, they want to see us working with the reality. you began by saying there are hotspots, there are... outbreaks in parts of the north of the country. yes, that is true. but we are moving now from...

a world in which we have to impose a huge, one size fits all national lockdown programme to one in which we are able to do more localised responses. so, that was the prime minister in the last couple of hours and in terms of the reduction of the alert level, it is down to three. talk us through more about that because it was striking the point was made all four chief medical officers had gone along with that downgrade. four chief medical officers had gone along with that downgradelj four chief medical officers had gone along with that downgrade. i think it is worth briefly going back to when this alert level was brought m, when this alert level was brought in, at the beginning of may, designed as a new way of conveying and assessing the risk of coronavirus. it started off at level four, which is when transmission was high. the invocation at the time was when the alert level was reduced, only then could social distancing measures and knock—down measures start to be relaxed. what we have

had is the relaxation happen across the country already, despite the alert level not coming down until today. yes, it is something that provides reassurance, clearly transmission isn't as high as it was some months ago. but in terms of the consequences of this, it isn't clear there will be immediate consequences although those chief medical officers have agreed with this independent advice from this new joined by a security centre, it isn't clear this will immediately lead to lockdown restrictions but it paves the way for future relaxations, certainly in terms of the two metre rule. all right, we will wait to see! thank you. the first minster of wales has confirmed that non essential shops in wales will be allowed to reopen next week. in the daily briefing, mark drakeford also said travel restrictions, which limit people staying within five miles of their homes, could be lifted next month. so, on monday 22nd june, next monday, we will introduce

changes to restart our economy. all nonessential retail will be able to open, provided they can comply with the physical distancing duty. the reopening of nonessential shops, will mean a few adjustments to high streets, as our correspondent tomos morgan explained from cardiff. nonessential shops will be open and here in one of cardiff's busy suburban high streets as you can see they have already put some plans in place. this is one of the trials across the city centre to try to extend the pedestrianised areas across this busy high street so more footfall can come, and at a safe and social distance. that comes into place on monday, many of these shops will try to reopen putting social distancing measures in place and the first minister keen to emphasise they will only reopen if they can ensure social distancing measures take place. the other things that will change on monday is that outdoor noncontact sports,

things like tennis, can restart from monday but the thing that will not be changing in wales on monday is the reduction of the stay local message that has been put in place in wales. at the moment people have to stay within a five mile radius of their homes, if they can, well, they should do as much as possible. that will be reviewed within the next two weeks and today's announcement brings a new package of measures which will begin on monday with the reopening of shops. the following monday, schools will reopen in wales, most pupils will go back in a phased fashion with reduced capacity. on monday after that in three weeks' time, potentially if the virus reduces in the rate it has been going in wales, tourism and further travel restrictions might be eased then. tomos morgan in cardiff. some people in scotland are, from today, able to meet people from another household indoors, without physical distancing. it's part of the country's move into phase two of its four part

route map out of lockdown. with more detail on that, here's our scotland correspondent james shaw. from today, up to three households will be able to meet outside, no more than eight of them with physical distancing, and then there will be this possibility, as you mentioned there, for a single person or a single parent with children to form an extended household with one other household. for people who are shielding, in other words particularly vulnerable to the virus, they will be able to take outdoor exercise and also get involved in outdoor activities which enable physical distancing, and they can also meet one other household group outside. quite modest changes at the moment. on monday we will see face coverings becoming compulsory on public transport and then i think the really big changes in scotland are going to be at the end of the month, a week on monday 29th, when lots of businesses will be able to reopen.

so, almost all high street shops, except those in shopping malls, factories, warehouses, playgrounds, even zoo. 0ne omission from that that outdoor spaces at pubs and restaurants will not be able to open. that has caused some anxiety in the hospitality sector. nicola sturgeon also coming under pressure about education. that will not start again until august 11th, she says as close to normal as possible, given there has to be a lot of control of the virus before that can happen. james shaw in glasgow. let's talk a little bit more about schools in england. the prime minister borisjohnson says children of all ages in england should be able to return to school by the autumn on a five—day—a—week basis. today, primary and secondary schools in england were told they'll receive £1 billion to help children catch up on the months of education they've missed during the lockdown.

0ur education correspondent dan johnson has more. it goes tenths, hundredths and thousandths. this is what catching up looks like, one on one targeted support for the children who have fallen further behind. it was already happening at this primary school in east london but now there will be much more for pupils across england. you don't know whether to put your hand up and say, "i know the answer," because you don't know how everyone is going to react, whereas in the tutoring, because it's one—to—one, you don't have to be, like, scared of saying what the answer is. so, it's helping you get better at maths? yeah. is that something you struggled with before? kind of, and you don't have to worry about other people thinking, "why is he asking that question?" it's part of £1 billion of government money which head teachers will likely decide how to spend on what their kids really need.

pupils who need remedial help, perhaps, really need help because they've lost time, they've lost time to learn over the last few months but it is also helpful kids who have promised help for kids who have promised but who don't normally get it. this is one of the things we really want to develop as a government, the idea of really helping schools to give more direct focus, more one—to—one tutorial help. let me be very clear — i want a world in which as far as possible, provided we can make the classroom safe, and i think we can, i want every child, every pupil, every student back in september. these sessions are run by a charity using volunteer tutors. promising starts from our online tutoring that we're offering already, with pupils commenting that it's helping them to re—engage with their learning, that it is replicating what they might get in the classroom and that, crucially, it's giving them that individual support and space where they can ask questions. you probably wouldn't get to know

that person very well, so what do you think it's about? questions, too, about how far this will go. £1 billion, a third of it ring—fenced for the poorest kids but there is an estimate of the rest boils down to £80 per pupil which won't buy much personal tutoring. we welcome the funding, absolutely, but what we would like is the autonomy to spend it in the best way we see fit, a focus not only on academic performance and support but also on well—being. the money has been welcomed by primary and secondary school head teachers but there are questions about exactly how it will be spent and which children will benefit and there is disappointment that nurseries are not covered in this announcement or 16 and 17—year—olds. there is for me a big question about why my child in year 12 halfway through a levels, staying in a six form, is going to have funding for extra catch up but going to a separate sixth form colleges isn't.

that seems unfair from a government which talks about levelling up for everyone. filling classrooms again is still a conundrum without extra space and more teachers. it is a challenge to make sure children don't fall further behind, let alone helping them all catch up. dan johnson, bbc news. let's discuss that sum of money being promised to schools. we can speak now to leora cruddas who is the chief executive of the confederation of school trusts. good afternoon stopping a good afternoon. is this money welcome? how do you envisage it best to being used. so, this money is very welcome for a number of reasons. firstly it recognises all young people have lost time on education but some young people will be more affected than others and secondly it is based on the evidence about what is most effective in tutoring programmes. thirdly, it will support what is going on in classrooms in terms of

curriculum, and, finally, i think it isa curriculum, and, finally, i think it is a substantial amount. how in practical terms could it actually worked, then? schools, it seems, are being given a fair degree of autonomy to decide how best to use it, whether it is one—on—one or group sessions, that sort of thing. what would a head teacher, presented with some money, how would they best use it, do you think? that is an excellent question, and i think it is important we follow the evidence. so, the first step would be to make an assessment of where the gaps in learning are and for which children. the second step would be to target pupils who have the greatest gaps in their learning, which might not be every child in school. and i think the education endowment foundation, which is the organisation that provides an independent view on evidence in education, has talked

about the importance of considering group tuition, notjust one—to—one tuition, and there are very good group due to programmes, which is something head teachers could think about. is this about bringing in outside tutors, bringing in extra teachers from outside the school? 0r longer hours for the existing staff? how do you view it? that depends on the resources that a school or trust has at their disposal. and, certainly, teachers have the most impact in terms of one—to—one tuition. there is also evidence that impact can be had through teaching assistants, delivering programmes of this nature, if they are trained to do so. in terms of whether you bring in teachers from outside of your school or trust or use your own staff, that is an assessment that needs to be made on a school by school or trust by trust basis,

depending on your resources that you have at your disposal. certainly bringing in teachers from outside, for example, a very good supply of supply teachers, and may well be something that schools consider. and a quick thought, i must ask about pupils themselves — who would be targeted for this? are we talking about in certain year groups that are coming up for important exams? is that how it will be decided? there is a lot of flexibility for leaders to be making those decisions themselves and i think on a school by school basis it'll look different. so, if your cohort of pupils has had a high level of engagement with online learning platform during the knock—down, they might target only those that have significant gaps in their learning. if you are worried about your exam groups, for example a high level of

pupils who haven't engaged in online earning, you might decide to target sources there. this is a strategic decision that school leaders will have to make. leora cruddas, thank you very much, from the confederation of school trusts. thank you for your time. a major study has found people of south asian origin are most likely to die from coronavirus after being admitted to hospitals. the research suggests that high levels of diabetes are partly to blame. richard galpin has more details. it is people from ethnic minority backgrounds in this country who are being hardest hit by a coronavirus. the number of deaths disproportionate. and amongst them, it's now been revealed that members of the south asian community have the highest risk of dying from the disease. this associate professor at university was lucky to survive

after being infected with coronavirus in march. he needed huge amounts of oxygen and lost more than six kilograms in weight. at the point of being infected, i didn't have any idea that by virtue of being south asian, i was at a greater risk of contracting the disease and of the complications which happens only for a small minority of people, and then i didn't know that those who were hospitalised, a higher proportion of them are likely to have a fatal outcome in comparison to the rest of the population. the study released today involving 260 hospitals and almost 35,000 covid patients provided clear evidence the south asian community was the most vulnerable to the virus. it found people from this community were 20% more likely to die after being admitted to hospital than white people. another study today by the office for national statistics said men from south asian backgrounds were about 50% more likely to die

from the virus than white men. on top of this, 40% of those hospitalised with covid have diabetes. this adding significantly to the risk of death. diabetes we know is more prevalent among the asian community compared to the white population. whether that is a single factor that is attributing that higher rate, we do not know but it is a factor. that is why we need more research, more understanding. the findings of this research have major implications for people from south asian backgrounds. would they need to become a priority or any vaccine becomes available and would they need extra protection is at work? the government was like science advisers have already seen this research. richard galpin, bbc news. dr annemarie docherty, of the university of edinburgh co—led the analysis on this. she's also on the government's

clinical information network thank you so much for your time. people trying to follow this might pick out the high incidence diabetes is one of the key features of this, how much input should be put on that specifically? good afternoon. this is the study which looks at around four out of ten patients admitted to hospital with covid—19 in england, scotland and wales. we found that south asian people who are admitted to hospital were more likely to have diabetes, around 40% of them had diabetes. and they had a 20% increased risk of dying in hospital. we think probably around 20% of the increased risk of dying is due to

diabetes. whereas the further 80% is as yet unknown. and the sort of details you have been able to pull out in your report, i guess one of the key questions is in terms of social policy, what should we as a society be doing with this information now we have it to try to better protect people who are more vulnerable? what are the obvious policy decisions that could come from this? i am not a politician, certainly, but from our research, we found that south asian people were significantly younger than the white population, they were more likely to be employed in front line occupations, and there are socioeconomic differences contributing to this as well, i think, so increased poverty, overcrowded housing, increasing the risk of transmission and vulnerability. so, ithink risk of transmission and vulnerability. so, i think these are important areas to look at in order

to try to protect the vulnerable in our society. and important to stress this is about looking at people once they've already been admitted to hospital, so would i be right in saying that there is a lot of work that can be done, needs to be done, in terms of the broader picture? in terms of how and why certain people are contracting the virus in the first place? because not everyone needs to go to the hospital, of course. absolutely, it is a small proportion of people who need to come to hospital, whose disease is severe enough, and we can really comment on those patients that have been admitted to hospital, so we are linking with primary care data to try to improve the granularity of our study, and i think that'll help us to look at the influences of ethnicity, not only the biological, genetic causes but also the socioeconomic differences that surround ethnicities. and, again, as

i understand it, you are the expert and correct me if i'm wrong, but this is not about access to health care? this is about something else thatis care? this is about something else that is going on that we still have a lot to learn about? so i think there have been concerns in many other diseases and many other conditions, looking at differences in health care, seeking behaviour of people between different ethnicities so we can comment on this in a limited fashion. we didn't find any difference in duration of symptoms before hospital or severity of illness when they came into hospital, suggesting there were not health seeking differences between different ethnicities in this study, but there will be more nuanced data to pull out, looking at primary care. of course. in terms of longer term research, what would you like to see? what would your ambition be,

in terms of future research, that can be done because this is something that is relatively new, eve ryo ne something that is relatively new, everyone is grappling with it whatever field they are in and there is still so much we have to learn so what are the key areas you hope will be studied, going forward, so we understand so much more? in covid—19? understand so much more? in covid-19? yes, exactly. there is so much, isn't there? we don't understand the virus at the moment. there is an lot of genomic, virology data which is being collected, and it'll be important to try to understand both the host response to the virus as well as the virus response in the human. the recent finding from the recovery trial of the improved effect with the steroid is fascinating, and will direct our treatment. thank you so much for your time at such a busy time as

well for you. doctor anne marie doherty of the university of edinburgh, many thanks for your time. just coming up to 3:25pm, let's turn our attention to the sad news from the world of the arts today, the death of the actor sir ian holm, famous on stage and screen but perhaps best known for roles in chariots of fire and the lord of the rings among other things. he died this morning at the age of 88. his agent said he died from illness related to parkinson's and he was surrounded by his family. in a moment i'll talk to the director sir richard eyre but first correspondent sarah campbell looks back at ian home's long career. he was one of britain's most familiar and most reliable character actors, oscar—nominated for this performance in chariots of fire. no! back again, get it level.

harold pinter said he was his favourite actor. if i can see the big prize hanging there, believe me, i won't waste any time. he was terrifying as the treacherous android ash in alien. what's this thing with all these numbers? and funny as a priest trying to save the earth in the fifth element. it's a, it's a, it's a... no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. because if it was a bomb, the alarms would go off because all these hotels have bomb detectors, right? alarm sounds. george? at five foot five, he was often cast in diminutive parts. in the borrowers, he played one of a family of tiny people opposite his then—wife, penelope wilton. screaming. you do me wrong to take me...

at the national theatre, he was an acclaimed king lear. thou art a soul in bliss, but i am bound upon a wheel of fire that mine own tears do scald... yet, for 17 years, he refused to appear live because of stage fright. i am old, gandalf. as bilbo baggins in the lord of the rings, he captured the character's good sense and selflessness. i feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread. i need a holiday. a very long holiday. and i don't expect i shall return. rarely the star, but scores of productions were lit up by sir ian holm's wit, warmth and intensity.

we can talk now to film, theatre, television and opera director, sir richard eyre whojoins me live. thank you so much for your time this afternoon. you directed king lear, the famous production, your thoughts and memories of working with sir ian holm. well,... he hadn't done much for 15 years. he had been a shakespeare actorfor 30 for 15 years. he had been a shakespeare actor for 30 years... he was 35, he suffered from stage fright when he was in a production by eugene o'neill. that was 15 or 20 yea rs before by eugene o'neill. that was 15 or 20 years before so it was an extraordinarily brave thing for him to do. and he appeared to be com pletely to do. and he appeared to be completely fearless. he went for it.

the only time he ever showed any hesitation was just before we opened and he said," i've lost my voice". i said, you're frightened it's going to bea said, you're frightened it's going to be a repeat of your stage fright and he said, "you're right, of course i haven't lost my voice", and he hadn't. he was a virtuoso actor, extraordinary skilful. he was like a great musician, like so many great actors are, he could drop in and out ofa actors are, he could drop in and out of a performance, just, as it were, asa of a performance, just, as it were, as a musician, starting in the middle of a piece, at a particular bar, and he could start with the intensity, maximum intensity, without any hesitation. he was very... a very reserved man. but very open about his feelings. he

would talk very openly about his reserve. and i think that is one of the reasons he was so popular, he kept everything tapped down, and it was only when... his passion emerged, it was all the stronger because he didn't wear his heart on his sleeve. unfortunately, your line isa his sleeve. unfortunately, your line is a little bit wobbly but i know you have such rich stories to tell but i want to persist if i can. as someone who has directed him, both on stage and on film, i am interested in your perspective as to do you think you had a preference? i think your loft... hejust i think your loft... he just loved acting. ——i i think your loft... he just loved acting. —— i think he loved... he said to me on the opening night of king lear, which had been a sort of

what he said was an everest of his career, i remember going round to his dressing room and he was lying in his bath and, having given this titanic performance, he says, this is the best night of my life. i don't know. the thing with actors, they can do stage and film, then of course they just they can do stage and film, then of course theyjust more fulfilling because it is in the present tense and because you are aware of your achievement. it's not a matter of accumulation of moments as film is for actors. in the actor is in charge of the performance and the whole arc of the performance, the dynamic of the performances in the hands of the actor, so i think he probably loved being on stage but it

terrified him, and that's one of the reasons he was so good at it.|j wa nted reasons he was so good at it.|j wanted to ask you because we did lose you mike right at the beginning but i know you are explaining that he famously suffered stage fright and did not perform on the stage for yea rs and did not perform on the stage for years because of it so i am fascinated to know how hard you had to work to persuade him to come back to work to persuade him to come back to the national theatre after all those years of not being on stage. was it a toughjob or was he ready to come back, do you think? he was ready to come back and you may have missed it but i said that he hadn't... when missed it but i said that he hadn't. .. when i missed it but i said that he hadn't... when i asked him to play king he hadn't been on stage in a shakespeare play for 35 years, so he was 65 at the time. he stopped playing shakespeare when he was 30 and then later he had stage fright, about ten years later, so it was, i think, 15 years before he regularly... since he regularly appeared on stage. i asked him if

you would do king lear, he didn't say yes, you didn't say no. he said, how do i play a man of 80? say yes, you didn't say no. he said, how do i playa man of 80? he say yes, you didn't say no. he said, how do i play a man of 80? he was 65 at the time, and i said, oh, you should meet the conductor, guy was working with the time, he was 84 and playing tennis every day. he just grasped the opportunity and went for it, and there was great courage and something so determined about ian. he somehow could always remake his life. he had no regrets. he never felt regret about the past, and i think he never felt pain about the past. it was curious that he went from performance to performance from relationship to relationship and it was each time as if he was opening a

new book. lovely. wonderful memories. before we let you go, may ijust ask you memories. before we let you go, may i just ask you more broadly about the arts during coronavirus? how do theatres and music videos operate with social distancing? how anxious are you about the future of so many theatres and venues up and down the country? how anxious on a scale of one to ten? yes. 11. 11. theatre by definition can only happen with a group of individuals who go in as separate people, strangers, and they are welded together in the course of it and you cannot have a group

u nless it and you cannot have a group unless your standing shoulder to shoulder, sitting shoulder to shoulder. why track very good of you tojoin us for shoulder. why track very good of you to join us for now. thank you for sharing your memories. sir ian holm, who died this morning, aged 88. now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller hello. we are still not done with this week's rain or showers, still damp out there for some of us although parts of england and wales are brightening up but for northern england some heavy showers, a few thunderstorms around. northern ireland sing a few scattered downpours but to end the day, particularly southern and western parts of scotland, most at risk for possible disruption from intense, slow—moving, thundery downpours, including the central belt. still around into the night

across part of the west and north—west of scotland before gradually fading, as most other places overnight become dry. temperatures mainly in the range of 10—12, one or two mist and fog patches. an altogether different day on the way tomorrow. we will all get to see some sunshine, although staying cloudy towards the north and north—east of scotland with a few showers. one or two showers dotted about elsewhere, by no means everybody will catch them and they will tend to move through because there will be a freshening, fresher south breeze during the day. feeling warmer in the sunshine. this rain for northern ireland in the evening. hello this is bbc news with the headlines... the uk's coronavirus alert level is reduced from 4 to 3 — with pressure on the government to reduce social distancing measures in england. the department of health says a further 173 people have died

with coronavirus in all uk settings. back to school for all children in england from september — that's the prime minister's aim government borrowing hits a record high because of the pandemic — the uk's debt is now bigger than the entire economy. wales' first minister confirms that all non essential retail shops can open from monday.