a senior minister says face coverings shouldn't be compulsory in english shops — days after the prime minister signals a stricter approach. boris johnson's view came as he said more of us should get back to work — today one of his cabinet said people could use their own judgement: so i think that it is basic good manners, courtesy, consideration to wear a face mask if you are, for example, in a shop. we'll be looking at the latest evidence on the use of face coverings. also tonight... the first covid—19 outbreak on a farm — 200 workers are self—isolating after more than 70 test positive. six months to new post—brexit

customs arrangements at the border — labour says the government is acting too late. victory for the west indies! and the west indies take the first test — beating england in southampton. good evening. two days after borisjohnson siganlled a stricter approach to face coverings in england — one of his most senior ministers has said he believes they should not become compulsory in shops. michael gove — the cabinet office minister — said he trusted people's common sense and that it was good manners to wear a mask in a shop. labour has called for clarity, with the government also urging people to get back to work if they can — here's our business

correspondent katy austin. face coverings are now a common sight in public places. some shoppers were wearing them in huddersfield today. i think it's safer, from all the advice that people have given that it's becoming more airborne. especially in small shops, i think it should be worn, yeah. customers don't have to wear masks in stores. this shop owner is starting to think they should. i know people who have been affected by the coronavirus, my personal family members and friends. imean... but i would. if it helps to save lives, imean, anything. scotland is currently the only part of the uk where wearing face coverings in shops is mandatory. the uk government is considering the same rule for england. on friday, the prime minister talked of needing to be stricter about face masks in confined spaces. however, senior cabinet minister michael gove told the bbc today that in his opinion, a law wasn't needed. if necessary, if tough measures are required, as we've seen in leicester,

obviously a very different situation, then tough measures will be taken. but on the whole, my view is that it's always better to trust to people's common sense, to give them a clear sense of what is wise. i think individuals and businesses are responding well to that need. but labour's rachel reeves supports compulsory face coverings in shops, and she called for clarity from the government. i think it would inspire greater confidence and might encourage more people to go out and spend money if they see more people wearing face masks in shops. boosting the damaged economy is now a big priority for the government. it's trying to encourage more people to get back to work and start spending again, but it faces a difficult balance. the virus hasn't gone away, and that's why we're hearing about new measures which could mitigate the risk of it spreading as activity ramps up and make people more confident. the trade body for independent shops isn't convinced that mandatory facemasks alone will boost

weak consumer confidence. there's no evidence that wearing masks suddenly will increase footfall in shops. that's the concern. without any evidence, there's a fear that it could become a barrier to shopping instead of an enhancement. businesses want to avoid any further lockdown in the run—up to christmas, so welcome measures designed to protect public health. but retailers question how tougher rules on face coverings in england would be enforced if the government does decide to introduce them. katy austin, bbc news. today the deaths of another 21 people who'd tested positive for covid—i9 were announced, taking the uk total to a4,819. the approach to face coverings has shifted considerably since the early days of the pandemic — they are now compulsory on public transport in england, scotland and northern ireland. they're also mandatory in scottish shops, but only recommended in wales whereever social distancing is difficult. here's our medical

correspondent fergus walsh. at the height of the epidemic here in april, the official view was that face coverings were of little benefit and might encourage a false sense of security and make people less likely to wash their hands or socially distance, and could lead to a shortage of surgical masks for health care workers. but since then, the evidence has shifted. and although not definitive, more studies suggest they can limit the spread of the virus. and perhaps help prevent asymptomatic transmission, where people infected unwittingly pass on the virus. there's also emerging evidence that the virus can remain airborne in tiny particles suspended in the air. the percentage of people who say they wear a facemask in public has risen substantially in the uk and now stands at 36%, but that's

well behind other hard—hit european countries like italy and spain where it's over 80% and in france, 78%. but it is above australia, where it's just 20%. wearing a face covering in public is largely an altruistic measure. michael gove called it basic good manners. one of the biggest sceptics on facemasks, president trump, has been photographed wearing one in public for the first time and on friday, borisjohnson was pictured in his constituency wearing a facemask. they say a picture paints a thousand words. perhaps the image of world leaders wearing a facemask will encourage more of us to put on one of these when out in public. fergus walsh reporting. around 200 workers at a vegetable farm in herefordshire are having to self—isolate after more than 70 of them tested positive for covid—i9. public health england says it is the first serious outbreak on a farm.

joan cummins reports. workers make their way to the entrance of as green vegetable farm in herefordshire, to collect shopping, all confined to the farm after 73 out of a workforce of 200 tested positive for covid—i9 following a massive testing of the pickers and packers on thursday. one individual and then another small group of individuals were symptomatic. we did proactive mass testing of all the people who work on site. you'll be aware that all local authorities have to produce an outbreak control plan and this is about trying to control the situation, which i'm pleased to say is going very well. translators have been working with the eastern european seasonal workers, ensuring that self—isolation procedures are followed. the workers have been treated as a single family bubble. the leader of the council says he's confident

that the risk to the public is low. we've taken precautions very quickly, we've dealt with it. the owner of the farm has been very cooperative and we are very hopeful that it'sjust isolated to this one particular farm. defra, the food standards agency, and public health england, are all working on extra guidance for the food production industry, but the advice remains the same for all communities. social distancing and good hygiene are the best ways of combating the disease and preventing its spread. the farm say the site remains closed and their priority remains the welfare of the workforce and community to ensure the spread of the virus is controlled. joan cummins, bbc news. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, has refused to rule out imposing quarantine measures on visitors from england. she told the bbc that any restrictions would be based on risk, not politics. scotland has been recording a lower rate of covid infections than england.

the government is spending more than £700 million on new border controls — and staff — in england, scotland and wales, as part of preparations for the end of the brexit transition period in january. ministers say measures for northern ireland will be announced later this month. labour says the government has been too slow to lay the groundwork for new customs arrangements. our political correspondent iain watson reports. this is the moment, a new start. welcome back... to brexit. it's perhaps not been uppermost in our thoughts during the coronavirus crisis, but this week the government publicity machine will begin to convey the big changes that will take place when the brexit transition period ends. the government has decided not to extend it into next year, so from january, brexit may really mean brexit. the uk's biggest channel ports will be in the front line of the new customs procedures. as we'll be leaving the eu's customs union at the end of the year,

new checks on goods will be unavoidable. tomorrow, traders will get a hefty 100 pages of guidance on the new rules and today the government said it would pour hundreds of millions of pounds into new facilities, it systems and staff recruitment. we will be, we know, outside the single market and the customs union, come what may. that means businesses need to take some steps and government certainly needs to take some steps to make sure we're ready. that's the basis of the announcement today, more than £700 million in order to provide infrastructure at ports, to invest in technology and also to make sure that we have the personnel to keep ourselves safe. some of this new infrastructure simply won't be ready by january 1st. the government is going to phase in its new customs checks over a six—month period. but the eu will impose its checks from the start of 2021. in a leaked letter to michael gove, the international trade secretary liz truss expressed concerns about a lack of border infrastructure and wanted

assurances that there will be no further delays. even if borisjohnson does get a free trade deal with the eu this year, new customs checks and many of the new facilities at our ports are still going to be necessary. but remember, the referendum was four years ago. so the opposition are asking publicly, and some conservative mps privately, why it's only now that we appear to be getting some of the post—brexit preparations under way. i think it's too little, too late. it's just over five months now until the end of the transition period. the government have had four years now to put in place the procedures that we need to ensure the free flow of goods and services across that border. when the transition period ends, there won'tjust be checks on goods coming from the eu, but on people too. the home secretary priti patel was in calais today, signing a co—operation agreement with france to clamp down on illegal immigration.

but tomorrow she will outline new restrictions on legal migration too when free movement ends. so from january next year, there will be big changes at the border. we formerly left the eu at the end of january this year and not we formerly left the eu at the end ofjanuary this year and not much changed in our everyday lives. we are still following the rules during that transition period. but this week, the government is going to give us a real sense, for better or worse, of what life will feel like outside the eu. there will be commons statements and that big publicity campaign telling businesses and the rest of us how we are going to be affected. talks are still going on with brussels to try to strike a trade deal, but deal or no deal, by january next to strike a trade deal, but deal or no deal, byjanuary next year, i think it's going to really feel as if brexit has arrived. iain watson reporting from westminster. one striking aspect of coronavirus response in recent weeks has been the contrasts between the four nations of the uk — decisions on easing lockdown

being taken at different times and in different ways. we'll be exploring those contrasts — and what they reveal — in a series of reports this week, beginning tonight with our wales correspondent hywel griffith. a gateway to wales, abergavenny sits six miles from the english border. many here live their lives crisscrossing that political divide. two big ones, two smaller ones. devolution has allowed wales to choose different solutions to the same crisis. here, pubs and cafes remain locked down. schools have reopened. masks aren't mandatory. so how do people feel the pandemic has been handled? do they think it's brought the uk together, or pushed us apart? claire owns a bike shop and has three school—age children. sophie runs a bakery which supplies the hospitality trade. and julie runs a care home that lost ten residents to covid—i9. we were asking for testing back at the beginning of march, but they didn't come and test us

until 17th may, when we had somebody with symptoms. so it was a long time. some of the decisions in wales have been great. we are devolved, so i suppose it's up to the welsh government to make the decisions on what they think right. but it would have been nice to have some kind of structure where everyone was on the same page. the impact of those decisions will be huge. i've got friends who have already had to make redundancies. our staff are still in a sort of state of limbo. during the pandemic, the welsh government's decisions have become more directly relatable to people's everyday lives, where they can go, who they can see. arguably, it's become more relevant now than at any other point in the last 20 years. polls suggest that there has been a recent rise in support for both welsh independence and for the abolition of the welsh parliament. most people are still somewhere in between. mark drakeford is the man who has led wales during the crisis.

the welsh labour leader says moving at a different pace to the rest of the uk has been a strength, not a weakness. their message across our border has been a bit more, "let's rip it up and carry on as though it hadn't happened", whereas in fact, the actual things they are doing are not so very different. but when you send that sort of message, you end up with the scenes we saw in soho oi’ the scenes we saw on the beach in bournemouth. so have they been risking lives? well, it's not for me to make accusations. that is what you are suggesting. no, you asked me what we had done differently. i think their messaging has led to some unfortunate outcomes. i would be sorry to see those outcomes in wales. what we will see here next year is an election, a chance for people to show whether their trust has been won or lost. hywel griffith, bbc news, abergavenny. it is 17 years since the darfur conflict began in western sudan —

one that led to hundreds of thousands of deaths and charges of genocide against sudan's former president. the worst of the violence was more than a decade ago, but the uk has granted asylum to some of those fleeing continuing instability there. fergal keane, who reported from darfur in 2004, has been talking to two cousins who are from there — and now find themselves on different sides of the channel. it is a story of numberless journeys, driven by the enduring legacy of genocide. journeys that bring some to refuge in britain, while others languish in makeshift camps. it is the story of the lost sons of darfur. the search at twilight for migrants waiting to cross the channel near calais. we are facing situations

of despair, total despair. and they are very determined to cross, because they are so... close to their goal. these are frequent hiding places, abandoned bunkers from the second world war.