police are treating the fatal stabbing of three people in a park in reading on saturday as terror—related. intelligence service sources say officials were made aware of concerns about the 25—year—old libyan refugee last year but an investigation found there was no immediate threat. he is currently in custody. germany has seen another sharp increase in the coronavirus reproduction number. however, health officials say the rise is largely due to specific localised outbreaks. in the town of gottingen, extra police have been sent to a housing block where a number of residents have been resisting quarantine restrictions. frontline healthcare workers in india have told the bbc that the number of coronavirus fatalities in the country has been significantly under—reported. india already has the world's fourth highest number of confirmed cases, more than 400,000. 13,000 people are known to have

died from the virus. now on bbc news — the week in parliament. hello again and welcome to the week in parliament, a week when a 22—year—old footballer changed government policy. marcus rashford, one. prime ministerjohnson, nil. the home secretary condemned far—right thugs who attacked the police on the streets of westminster. they were violent, they were abusive, and aggressive towards the police. they were racist, and there are no excuses for this behaviour. also in this programme, the challenges of the digital parliament for working parents. and about opportunities to improve... child fussing. ..the long—term sustainability — apologies, i have a small visitor.

all that and reports from the uk's four parliaments to come. but first, westminster‘s match of the day was a battle between two number 10s — marcus rashford of manchester united and england, and boris johnson of downing street over free meals in the school holidays. there was a clear winner, and it wasn't the prime minister. the star striker sent an open letter to mps, drawing on his own experience of relying on free school meals as a boy. he called for a scheme to deliver food vouchers to disadvantaged youngsters in england to run during the summer. the prime minister backed down hours before a scheduled vote, amid signs of rebellion from conservative mps. the scheme will cost £120 million and provide vouchers worth £15 a week for 1.3 million children in england. wales and scotland have similar schemes. mps united to praise the footballer‘s role. i'm not only proud to be a man united fan, that one

of our own in greater manchester never forgot where he came from and used his profile to help those without a voice, but i'm proud that he and those who havejoined him have shown the very best that our country can be. and i have to say, i am delighted to say that the government seems to have heard these cries. we should never be ashamed to listen, and i'm pleased to announce that we will provide additional funding for a covid summer food fund to enable children who are eligible for free school meals to claim a six—week voucher. as we prepare for schools to fully reopen in september, we will ensure that no child goes hungry. and why i despair, mr deputy speaker, is because today, it has taken the experience of a 22—year—old black man to actually use his social media to get this government to do the right thing.

i thank the ministers for what they have said today. it really helped me avoid my worst nightmare of having to vote with the labour party, which i spent the day fearing i might have to do. so, i'm very grateful to that, if nothing else. we must turbo—charge our efforts to look at the underlying causes of why some children are being neglected by their parents, rather thanjust let the government step in, doing the easiest thing, throwing money at the problem, rather than sorting out the root cause, which is something we must do. together, with campaigners in parliament and beyond, he's led change. a changemaker. striking his political goal of feeding 1.3 million children this summer. marcus rashford, one. prime ministerjohnson, nil. the u—turn was welcomed by the prime minister's opponents and it sparked a wider debate

about child poverty that continued during prime minister's questions on wednesday. the labour leader said the social mobility commission had warned that the pandemic could push more families into hardship. i'm sure the prime minister would agree that an even higher child poverty rate would be an intolerable outcome from this pandemic. so what's he going to do to prevent it? borisjohnson said his government was protecting jobs. and we intend to make sure that we minimise the impact of coronavirus on the poorest kids in this country, and one of the best ways in which we could do that, by the way, mr speaker, would be to encourage all kids who can go back to school to go back to school now. because their schools are safe. last week, i asked him whether he would say publicly that schools were safe to go back to. he hummed and he hawed.

now is his time to say clearly "schools are safe to go back to". mr speaker, your witness. keir starmer! mr speaker, the prime minister doesn't have the first idea of what the social mobility report actually said last week, a government body, and he talks to me about consistency and u—turns. the government's had three u—turns in the last month. first, we had immigration health charges. then, we had mps voting. and then, we've had free school meals. keir starmer said ministers had promised to do whatever was necessary to help councils respond to coronavirus. does the prime minister believe that the government has kept that promise? mr speaker, we put {3.2 billion extra into local government tackling coronavirus, but i must say, we didn't hear an answer, did we, mrspeaker? how can we talk...? how can he talk about tackling the effect of coronavirus on the most disadvantaged? it's the most disadvantaged kids, mr speaker, who need to go back to school, and it is those groups which are unfortunately at the moment are not going back to school. let's hear it from him for one more time. will he say that schools

are safe to go back to? come on! keir starmer! mr speaker, this is turning into 0pposition questions. if the prime minister wants to swap places, i'm very happy. cheering. we could do it now! and so they continued, keir starmer warning of the impact of the pandemic on living standards, borisjohnson trying to embarrass the labour leader over schools. the snp's westminster leader returned the conversation to poverty. marcus rashford has shown more moral leadership in tackling poverty in a matter of days than this tory government has in the past decade of cuts. but as he says, people were struggling all year round, and more needs to be done. his solution — more money for famil1ies on benefits. an extra £20 a week in social security support would prevent millions of families from having to make the choice of paying their bills

or feeding their children. this is a government that has done everything that we possibly can so far to help families in need to make sure that nobody is penalised for doing the right thing during the crisis, because i know how difficult it has been. that's why we uprated the universal credit by £1,044 benefiting, i think, four million families in this country. but i say in all sincerity to the right honourable gentlemen that we are fully aware that there will be tough times ahead and we do stand by to do more where we can. the prime minister. time for some news in brief now. and the debate over statues of historical figures continues at westminster and beyond. the hoardings around the statue

of sir winston churchill in parliament square were removed on wednesday, ahead of president macron‘s visit to london. the statue had been boarded up after being targeted by protesters, prompting protests of a different kind in the house of lords earlier in the week. every day that the statue of winston churchill remains boxed up is a day when the banner of anarchy is raised over parliament square. the boxed—up churchill is such a sorry sight to see — and i understand it was boxed up for its protection against some of the protests that were going on at the weekend. the sooner churchill is freed and commemorated once again as one of the greatest people who ever lived, the better. the row continues over a controversial proposed housing development in east london. the housing secretary robertjenrick told mps he was confident all the rules had been followed when he overruled a planning inspector to approve the westferry printworks scheme by a conservative donor. he's admitted the decision was unlawful due to apparent or perceived bias.

given the gravity of the allegations surrounding his unlawful decision on the westferry development, will he agree to make a full statement to the house, publish all correspondence, and disclose all conversations with other government ministers and officials relating to this case to reassure the public that the integrity of the planning process cannot be auctioned off at conservative party fundraising dinners? i took that decision in good faith, with an open mind and i'm confident — confident — that all the rules were followed in doing so. it isn't unusual for a secretary of state to come to a different conclusion to a local authority. it isn't unusual for a secretary of state to come to a different conclusion than a planning inspector. the health secretary matt hancock has apologised after breaking social distancing rules to slap a colleague on the back on his arrival in the commons chamberjust before prime minister's questions. the health secretary also said sorry for calling the england footballer "daniel" rashford.

last night, mr speaker, i was reading my son harry potter and it was clearly still stuck in my mind at 7am this morning when i started out on the tv. but we all make errors sometimes. i apologise to marcus for getting his name wrong. marcus rashford accepted his apology, and said he'd been called worse names. maiden speech, alexander stafford. one of the mps first elected at december‘s general election made his maiden speech in the commons. alexander stafford won the seat of rother valley from labour. in his speech, which focused on his constituency, he promised to be a listening mp. but as i look upon this house, whose very walls were crafted from the fine stone of anston in rother valley, i'm mindful of the words of that great barbarian king gelimer as he was paraded in chains through constantinople byjustinian‘s general belisarius following the great liberation of carthage. "vanities of vanities. all is vanity."

for what matters in this house is notjust the pomp and splendour — although these traditions are incredibly important — but it's the people we represent, the beating heart of our nation who put us here, and whose very presence we honour by being here. alexander stafford. borisjohnson told mps that for too long uk overseas aid has been treated as a "giant cashpoint in the sky". he said his plan to merge the foreign office with the department for international development would mean aid spending better reflected the uk's priorities. but the plan was criticised by three of his predecessors, including david cameron, and the prime minister was accused of trying to deflect attention from the government's troubles. we must now strengthen our position in an intensely competitive world by making sensible changes and so, i have decided to merge dfid with the foreign and commonwealth office to create a new department, a new department —

the foreign commonwealth and development office — and this will unite our aid with our diplomacy and bring them together in our international effort. a few hours ago, the 0ns figures showed a fall of 600,000 people on the payroll. the economy contracted by 20% in april. and we could be on the verge of the return of mass unemployment — something we've not seen for a generation. we've also one of the highest death tolls from covid—19 in the world — at least 41,700 deaths, and likely to be far greater than that. mr speaker, this statement is intended to deflect attention from all of that. and can i assure the prime minister it will not work. several conservative mps backed the change. can he confirm that this is a merger, not a takeover, and that actually, this has the potential of enhancing the role

of international development in our foreign policy? and will he also confirm that this government's commitment to investing in support in the poorest areas of our world remains as strong as ever? yes, it certainly does. and i'm grateful to my honourable friend. what is actually happening, of course, is that dle and the fco are nowjoining together to become a new whitehall super department for international affairs, which will be of huge benefit to our ability to project britain's sense of mission about overseas aid. it's for too long, frankly, uk overseas aid has been treated as some giant cashpoint in the sky that arrives without any reference to uk interests or the values that the uk wishes to express, or the priorities — diplomatic, political or commercial — of the government of the uk. when the world's poorest are exposed to the worst pandemic for a century, why has the prime minister chosen this moment to step back from britain's leadership

in the fight against global poverty? isn't the leader of the opposition right this is an appalling version of distraction politics? absolutely not, mr speaker, because now is exactly the moment when we need to intensify and to magnify britain's voice abroad and to make sure that when we make our points in other countries about tackling poverty, that her majesty's ambassador in that country is listened to with the attention that is due to the person who commands the whole panoply of our foreign policy. that is absolutely vital for our success and that's what we're going to achieve. the prime minister's answers today have been massively concerning. will the priority of the new department be to help the most vulnerable people in the world or will it be to increase the uk's voice abroad? of course, it will do both. and let me just explain to the honourable lady that it is no use a british diplomat one day going in to see the leader

ofa country and urging him not to cut the head off his opponent and to do something for democracy in his country if the next day, another emanation of the british government is going to arrive with a cheque for £250 million. we have to speak with one voice. we must project the uk overseas in a consistent and powerful way, and that is what we're going to do. borisjohnson. the home secretary, priti patel, said far—right protesters who demonstrated in westminster were " patently racist" and had "shamed themselves". she described their behaviour as "hooliganism" that was "utterly indefensible" and said there was "no place for their sickening conduct and hate in our society." there were 137 arrests for offences, including assault on police officers and violent disorder. a man who urinated near a memorial to pc keith palmer, who was killed in an attack on westminster three years ago, has beenjailed

for 14 days. the incident was condemned by mps on all sides. priti patel said the government is "considering all options" to stop people attacking statues and memorials, including a new law, as she condemned the weekend's ugly scenes. it is clear that the far—right thugs that descended on london at the weekend with the intent to cause harm shamed themselves with some abusive and violent conduct. they were violent, they were abusive and aggressive towards the police, they were racist and there are no excuses for this behaviour. she also confirmed that the government will set up a new commission to look at racial inequality. her labour shadow said action was needed now to help those facing discrimination. there should be no attempt to draw comparisons between those intent on violence this weekend and the legitimate cause of the black lives matter campaigners, who have brought attention to the impact that racism and inequality continue to have both

here in the uk and across the world. now is the time for action. to borrow a phrase from another movement for equality and justice, what's required now are deeds, not words. the prime minister's decision to announce yet another review falls woefully short of what is required. it's really important that we don't let this reprehensible public disorder and the debate about statues distract us from the most important issue, which is the inequalities suffered by black and minority ethnic people in modern britain. last week, priti patel clashed with labour mps who claimed in a letter she had undermined their own experiences of racism. the home secretary and i, along with other conservative colleagues, have been subject to torrents of hateful prejudice and, frankly, racist abuse from the left's legions — outside, as well as, in the case of my right honourable friend, sadly, from sources from the benches opposite

as we refuse to conform to their prejudices. does the home secretary agree with me that the leader of the opposition should condemn all these attacks and support the full weight of the law being applied equally to everyone, no matter how righteous they believe their views are? i thank my honourable friend for his comments. he is absolutely right. he's absolutely right. we should be calling out collectively racist and intolerant behaviour, and i'm saddened, mr deputy speaker, that the leader of the opposition has effectively failed to depart from the divisive, hateful, racist politics of its former leader. and as for that letter, i will not be dignifying that letter with a response at all. priti patel. to holyrood now, where nicola sturgeon has revealed her government's next steps in easing the lockdown. the first minister told msps that anyone who lives on their own or only with children

can form an "extended group" with one other household. face coverings will be made compulsory for everyone using public transport and most shops will open from june 29, but she said people still had to exercise care and caution. 0ur progress so far is because of lockdown. the virus has not gone away and we must all remember that. so, as we gradually remove the restrictions that have kept it under control, there is a very real risk that transmission could rise again. that is why, if we don't want to go backwards, as none of us do, we must progress forwards very carefully. presiding officer, it's no exaggeration to say lives and livelihoods are on the line over the coming months. we are facing potentially the biggest economic downturn of our lives. we need government to respond in kind with urgency and ambition, and i simply do not think this government is showing that ambition.

labour focused on schools. will you produce a road map with a clear timetable on which will explain how you will get pupils back into classrooms five days a week and how you will provide the resources needed to make sure that this can happen as quickly and as safely as possible? yes, but — i hate to point out the basics to richard leonard — you have to do the work in order to produce that. that is what is happening right now. nicola sturgeon. to stormont now, where northern ireland's first minister, arlene foster, has told mlas she's upset about hold—ups to the new government payment scheme for people who were injured during the troubles through no fault of their own. the scheme‘s been delayed by a dispute over who's eligible for payments and who should fund it. i know the first minister will share in my disgust and anger at the continued blockade by some members of a victims‘ pension

here in northern ireland. and while i accept that the executive and the assembly is the best route to deliver such a victims‘ pension, but in light of delay, would the minister and the first minister be opposed to looking at westminster as potentially the best route to deliver this scheme to ensure that innocent victims and survivors receive the pension that they rightly deserve? i thank the member for his question. and indeed, the office and myself in particular are particularly upset that the scheme has not proceeded as it was meant to do. it is wrong that innocent victims are not receiving what they're legally entitled to receive, and i think we should recognise the hurt that has been caused by this not coming into operation on the date that it was to come into operation and work to try and make sure that we have agreement on the designated department as soon as possible. but if that is not possible, then given this came from westminster, through the executive formation act originally and then through the regulations ofjanuary of this year, then i think

the westminster government have an obligation to look to other ways to deal with this issue. does the minister agree that, 22 years on from the good friday agreement, that it is obscene that our citizens who have been brutally maimed by their fellow countrymen are still in a state of limbo regarding their pension payments? lam ashamed. are you? i think i have already said to the member that we very much should recognise the hurt and the pain that has been caused by the fact that this pension is not in place. i think we all have a duty to acknowledge that, i certainly acknowledge that. but there's no point in acknowledgement unless we try and make sure that it happens quickly, and i'm certainly committed to trying to do that. it is legally in place now and, therefore, there is an obligation on us to make sure that this pension payment comes forward as quickly

as possible so that we can help those people who were dreadfully injured during that period of time euphemistically called the troubles. wednesday's scheduled virtual sitting of the welsh parliament was cancelled after the sudden death of one of its members. mohammed asghar was the first member elected from an ethnic minority and also the first to "cross the floor", defecting from plaid cymru to the conservatives. members of the senedd held a minute's silence before sharing tributes. 0scar saw his colleagues as an extension of his own family. and because he was so warm and bighearted, we will all carry memories of him that will make us smile. he had a warmth and generosity that was never hidden. i know that members in other parties saw it too. oscar was generous and genial to his core, a political free spirit in many ways, a larger—than—life character who could never be contained in the confines of any one party. adam price.

now, lots of us have learned to cope with the challenges of working from home during the pandemic, and mps are no exception. here's what happened during a meeting of westminster‘s northern ireland committee on wednesday. i wanted to talk... you spoke about the independent fiscal council and about opportunities to improve the long—term sustainability... apologies, i have a small visitor. sorry... good morning, young hannah! would you propose that the uk government would be responsible for appointing members to that? i think this is something that, fundamentally, it's. .. minister, minister, minister, could you just pause a moment? it'sjust that... we're all in difficulty. let'sjust let claire deal with her daughter, i think? looked like her daughter? yeah, yeah, sorry. i keep some sweets in this room for bribery. apologies.

she has her mother's hair was all i could see from her... no worries. it's one of the challenges of working from home. i've had my daughter try tojoin a couple of calls... yes, i had my terrierjoin in something yesterday, which was quite interesting. and that's not a euphemism for anything else. now, what do they say about never working with children and animals? that was the week in parliament. thank you for watching. i'll be back on bbc parliament at 11pm on monday evening for the latest from the commons and the lords. until then, from me, david cornock, bye for now. hello. i know not everyone is a fan of intense summer heat, but that's what parts of the uk are facing in the week ahead,

particularly into england and wales, with soaring heat and humidity as well. all areas, though, will be turning warmer. but for scotland and northern ireland, close to low pressure, it'll be atlantic air, there'll be a wriggling weather front for the first half of the week. that will give cloud and outbreaks of rain. there'll be warm air, sunny spells for a time from mid week. but it's england and wales, close to high pressure, with a lot of dry weather. increasing sunshine and the flow of air around that high will be coming in from the continent, a hot continent, lifting temperatures in some spots into the low 30s, the hottest weather of the summer so far. this weather front will serve as a dividing line between that heat and something a bit more bearable. it will be a refreshingly cool start to proceedings for monday morning. bear in mind the nights get warmer and more humid as we go through the week. and, although a lot of us will start the day fine, there will be cloud and outbreaks of rain pushing into northern ireland, into parts of scotland. not too much of that reaching towards the north—east. it will stay bright, and some outbreaks of rain will affect some of us in north—west england, north and west wales, whereas elsewhere in england and wales, warmer sunny spells to be had over the weekend. it will be a blustery day wherever you are, though, in particular

through western parts of scotland and irish sea coasts. some gusts in excess of 40mph. and as for the temperatures — well, high—teens, scotland and northern ireland, low—to mid—20s in the warmest parts of england and wales. to end the day, some heavier bursts of rain in northern ireland, at times overnight into tuesday in scotland. could be a bit damp and drizzly through parts of north—west england and wales as tuesday begins, and it will be a warmer night on monday night into tuesday morning. and on tuesday, this weather front is still around scotland and northern ireland. close to that, you may well see a bit of rain at times. eastern parts of scotland could well say largely dry, with some sunny spells. it may be a damp start for parts of north—west england, north and west wales, but the rain here is going to clear away northwards, and we'll get to see some sunshine around. and that will allow temperatures to head up even further and build more by the time we get to wednesday. not all of us seeing a bit of rain. in scotland and northern ireland, there will be some warmth in the sunshine, if you get to see that occasionally. but it'll be largely clear in england and wales,

and this is where temperatures head up into the high 20s — cardiff, birmingham, leeds — and some spots into the low 30s, but with that higher humidity as well.

welcome to bbc news. i'm samantha simmonds. our top stories: the suspect in the multiple stabbings in britain was already known to the intelligence services having come to their attention last year. a big spike in the virus reproduction number in germany following two localised outbreaks. questions about numbers in india — health workers tell the bbc that virus infection statistics are being deliberately minimised. saudi arabia reopens mosques in mecca, but there's still no word on whether the hajj will go ahead.