this is bbc news, i'm reeta chakrabarti. the headlines... a £4 billion cut in vat to kickstart the economy — but some companies say they need to keep the cash to stay in business. we're looking to pass some of that on to customers, but i think we are in survival mode right now. what it allows us to do is comfortably put on larger discounts, so we are passing it on. the health secretary says the government has ruled out making masks compulsory for office workers in england. borisjohnson confirms there'll be an independent inquiry into the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic — but not now. china warns of retaliation over huawei, as donald trump takes credit for the decision to exclude it

from the uk's 56 network. the biggest easing of lockdown restrictions in scotland is under way. the first minister says it's the riskiest stage to date. facing another lockdown — blackburn is given a deadline to deal with a "rising tide" of coronavirus cases. and the statue of slave trader edward colston is replaced with a sculpture of one of the protesters whose anger brought him down. good afternoon, and welcome to bbc news. a £4 billion cut in vat has come into force across the hospitality sector, allowing companies to cut their prices — but not all of them say they will.

the tax, which has been reduced from 20% to 5% untiljanuary, is aimed at helping to boost the economy and protectjobs. starbucks and mcdonald's are among those saying they will reduce their prices — but some firms are expected to use the windfall to shore up their own finances hit by the lockdown. here's our personal finance correspondent, simon gompertz. it's the chancellor's £4 billion giveaway to try to get the economy moving. slashing the vat you pay for going out, including to restaurants and pubs, and to campsites, cinemas and zoos. we need to give these businesses the confidence to know that, if they open up, invest in making their premises safe and protectjobs, demand will be there, and be there quickly. restaurants like this one point out there's a big hill to climb to get sales back up to the levels they were before the virus. i don't know how much the vat cut itself will drive sales. i mean, is a 15% discount really going to bring us

the level of revenue we need? the vat cut could mean a £5 saving on a mealfor two normally costing £40, nearly £11 off an £85 room for two at a hotel or b&b, or £16 off a family entry to a theme park worth £130 — that's if customers are given it. some businesses — nando's is one of them — have promised to pass on 100% of the saving, but the big worry is that others will hold onto some or all of the benefit, effectively pocketing the tax cut, saying they are struggling and they are the ones who need it. we are looking to pass some of that onto customers but i think we are in survival mode right now, and i think it's important that, i guess, the public recognise that this cut will go a long way to help the business get through what will be, i guess, a tough trading period in the months ahead.

the treasury says it wants businesses to give customers the full 15% off if they can but it recognises that firms like this coffee roasting and grinding place in manchester may have been without an income for a long period and it's up to them to decide how to handle the tax break. our approach is to make it flexible, so it wouldn't be a blanket 15% across all our products. what it allows us to do is comfortably put on a large discount so we are passing it on but i would say it's more a flexible approach that was under our control depending on what sales are like in the coming months. bigger chains are more likely to pass on the cut. starbucks says it will on coffees. pubs, like wetherspoons, face the problem that alcoholic drinks don't qualify, so it's using some of the saving on food in order to cut the price of beer. simon gompertz, bbc news. our political correspondent

nick eardley is in westminster. nick, the vat cut is one of several measures the government is bringing in to boost the economy after this lockdown. i think that the view and the treasury is that they can't be too prescriptive about this, quite frankly. yes, they are hoping that businesses do pass that vat cut on to all of us when we go and buy a sandwich or go stay the night in a hotel, or something like that. but they also acknowledge that many of these businesses have been absolutely hammered since march and might need to keep the money themselves simply to stay afloat. so they won't tell them what to do. and that kind of approach does encompass some other areas where the government is offering support but not telling companies exactly what to do with it. we did hear sir keir starmer, the labour leader's pushing

that sector specific support, saying "look, we need to target those areas that are failing to start again, rather than offering everyone blanket support" like that £1000 companies will be given for every employee that bring back from furlough still on the books in january. but we've also heard rishi sunak, who was that a committee afternoon, saying that a lot of people like the idea of sector specific support, but they aren't really prepared to say what sectors they think should get that support. soi they think should get that support. so i think we know where the government is going with this. the rules have been explained, they are in place, and they hope to work as intended. i spoke earlier to sir ed davey, the acting leader of the liberal democrats, who asked a question about the inquiry into the government's handling of the coronavirus at prime minister's questions. borisjohnson said there

would be an inquiry, but we don't know much more? i think this is the first explicit promise from the government that we would get an independent inquiry, looking at the various decisions made over the last few months. ministers have always said that we would learn the lessons —we said that we would learn the lessons — we don't know exactly how that will look, though the number ten briefing we had this afternoon didn't really shed any light on what sort of inquiry that would be, whether it would be judge lead, whether it would be judge lead, whether it would fall in the matter in the 2005 inquiries act, which is to tell mike a quite descriptive in how these things work. in the last hour they've been pushing for more details about that, he's written to the prime minister looking for a bit more on what exactly the pm is promising. i'm not too sure we will get much light on that anytime soon, i think it is a broad promise from the government to eventually hold that independent inquiry. but i don't think that's necessarily going to be anytime soon. the argument that's being made by number ten is

that's being made by number ten is that they don't want to take officials away from all the work they're having to do on the response anyway, they would ratherfocus they're having to do on the response anyway, they would rather focus on getting us out the other side then looking back on the decisions that have been made, and whether they we re have been made, and whether they were right or wrong. many thanks, nick. the health secretary matt hancock says the government will not be recommending that people wear face masks in offices in england. there was speculation that rules for work places could follow shops where people will have to wear face coverings from 24july. mr hancock said that the government rejected the idea on the basis that if people spend a long time together, face coverings do not offer protection. when you're in close proximity with somebody who you have to work closely to, then if you are there for a long time with them, then a mask doesn't offer that protection, as opposed to a shop or public transport for instance, when you're with somebody for a reasonable amount of time, a few minutes, but not all day,

in the same way that the same logic applies for schools. we are not recommending masks in schools because if you are in a classroom with kids all day then the mask doesn't give you that much protection. the point is that it's when you are in interaction with people who you aren't normally with. that's where the mask can be particularly helpful. the biggest easing of lockdown restrictions in scotland is under way, with the reopening of indoor spaces including hotels, places of worship, and hairdressers. the first minister, nicola sturgeon, has described it as the riskiest stage of the process to date. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon has the details. it's the latest kit for hairdressers heading back to work. scotland's salons are the last in the uk to reopen. in this one, they're already booked up, weeks ahead, and things will be very different to before. we are a small salon, so we just wanted to really take every measure

that we could to make things safe. so, the screens, obviously, will give each workstation a safe space. it's different, but i think it's a workable, fun space. you know, it's safe. and it's notjust hairdressers that are reopening. today sees the biggest steps out of scotland's lockdown. some cinemas including this one in glasgow are welcoming back moviegoers while tourist attractions, museums, galleries and libraries can also from today, if they choose to, open back up. worshippers can once again gather for communal services and prayer as long as congregations maintain strict physical distancing. and holiday accommodation including hotels and b&bs are accepting guests as the tourism industry fully reopens for business. today's steps are, by some margin, and i mean that, by some margin, the highest risk changes we have made since we began the process out of lockdown. and so it is vital, more vital

than it has been at any stage of this crisis so far, that all of us stick rigidly to the rules and guidance on how to behave in these different settings. because it is only by doing that that as we open up these services, we will stop the virus spreading again. table 823, your drinks aren't free, but they are on the bar waiting to collect. beer gardens, outdoor cafes and restaurants were allowed to welcome customers back ten days ago. now they're also allowed inside, as indoor hospitality reopens. so, there are three stools here that people will be able to sit. so, there are three stools here that people will be able to sit at and drink at the bar, but that'll be the only place someone can sit. in this bar—restaurant, restrictions mean they will only be allowed half the numbers they had before, but are hoping people will quickly return. from opening the garden last week, we have been swamped with customers, and if we could have fit more people in, we would, however i'm not sure if the same will stand for inside. but i think the more we can show that we're adhering to the rules

and the social distance guidance, the more comfortable customers will feel coming back. hoping confidence, customers and business will return, as more restrictions ease in scotland and many more aspects of normal life resume. lorna gordon, bbc news, glasgow. chiara bedin is the owner of luna caffe in bathgate, earlier she told me that the relaxtion of measures has been well managed. it's been extremely well. you know, we've been very, very history to make her happy, we had more staff going back to work today. even they just pass by, and we had an extremely community support from everyone. that's very nice. so tell us everyone. that's very nice. so tell usa everyone. that's very nice. so tell us a little bit about your cafe — how big is it, how many tables have you been able to reopen? so we used to have nine tables and used to sit 29 people. we have it downjust to

four tables, we have to introduce dividers — you can probably see one behind me. so everyone needs a space so behind me. so everyone needs a space so they don't get in touch with someone so they don't get in touch with someone else. these curtains can be pulled back if they want, but it just makes people very secure. so you've got potential curtains around each table? right. and how any customers have come in today, then? we had around 30 customers today so why are you happy with that? yes, we are happy. to be very honest, it's just another day for us what we would've been before the lockdown. that's very good news. and what has lockdown been like? because you've been shot since late march, you could yes, we've been shut since 23 march. initially it was very tough because the business is pretty new, it's only two years old. it was two yea rs old it's only two years old. it was two years old during the lockdown. it was quite hard being able to work

and everything, but despite scotland, we had very nice weather. laughter. but we are looking forward to coming back. yes, and here you are open. it must feel very good. i was wondering, do you feel you've had enough guidance about how to open safely? i researched a lot, i've beenin safely? i researched a lot, i've been in contact with my local counsel, which gave me a lot of guidance. because you mentioned a little earlier that you are adhering toa little earlier that you are adhering to a two metre social distancing rule — you could have changed that to one metre, couldn't you? yes, we could have but we felt it was safer, and it gave customers the extra reassurance that we were doing the best for them. and what are you hoping forfor the rest best for them. and what are you hoping for for the rest of the week,

then, that customers will increase in numbers? i think so. we have a lot of bookings, we introduced a booking system on facebook. so being only four tables, we advise the customers to a book in advance. and we are almost fully booked until saturday. the headlines on bbc news... a temporary cut to vat comes into effect today, allowing the hospitality and leisure industries to lower their prices. the health secretary says the government has ruled out making masks compulsory for office workers in england. borisjohnson has confirmed for the first time that there'll be an independent inquiry into the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. new measures to stop the spread of covid—19 in blackburn with darwen have been introduced, after a spike in cases. for the next month, people living there must limit the number of visitors to their homes,

and wear face coverings in all confined public spaces in a bid to avoid a lockdown like leicester. sophie hutchinson reports. blackburn with darwen, where they have seen a spike in covid—19 cases. 114 people have tested positive in the past two weeks, in what public health experts have described as a rising tide of infection, particularly in the south asian community. what we think is going on is one person is asymptomatically infected, they are then going back to their own households, other household members are infected, that only becomes visible once somebody has symptoms. they go and get tested, then the household is tested and then we get a cluster in that household of four orfive members. and that's happening across the bame, the south asian community, in significant numbers and that is what is driving our rising tide event. the tighter new measures include limiting the number of people

who can meet to one household, plus a maximum of two people from a second household, face coverings to be worn in all enclosed public spaces, increased ventilation in small shops, and no handshaking or hugging — only elbow bumping. officials say the problem is centred on terraced housing with large multi—generational families. but compared to leicester, where a local lockdown has been imposed due to a substantial rise in cases, blackburn with darwen is some way off. while we had to take the action nationally in leicester, i announced that to the house of commons, in blackburn, the council have taken the lead and done what they think is the right thing to do to tackle the problem in theirarea, and i applaud them. officials in blackburn are hoping to avoid a full lockdown, but with additional testing in the at—risk communities, they expect the numbers of confirmed infections to rise over the next few

weeks, and there are fears about other parts of lancashire, where infections are also on the increase. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. meanwhile, the lockdown in leicester is taking a toll on its economy. the prolonged shutdown caused by the city's coronavirus infection rate has forced one business to permanently close. and there's a warning that unless urgent government support is on its way, it might not be the only one to go under, as navteonhal reports. i have been running for two years now, or ran for two years, and it means the world to me. i am devastated, having to close. i have put all my time, effort and love into it and created something that i want to go into work to every day. getting ready to say goodbye. arti chudasama's cafe and deli will not be reopening when leicester's coronavirus restrictions are eventually lifted. she says the local lockdown has forced her to close. i was 50—50 on it, and then as soon

as that happened, that was it. it was like my decision was made, because if there is no one around — you can see there's nobody here — i could open but there's nobody coming in, so if nobody is coming in, i don't really have a business to run. i'm just sat in there because i love it and that's not enough. herfate is unlikely to be unique — at least according to an organisation which represents businesses in the city centre. it says many of them are crying out for more help. it's a very simple message that we need grants or support directly to our businesses if they are going to survive. what impact will it have on the city if businesses don't get that extra support? if that support doesn't arrive urgently we will see the shutters coming down and the doors closing and a lot of businesses, particularly in our nonessential retail, food and drink sectors, closing. but leicester's mayor believes help may be on the way after speaking to the health secretary this week. although we still haven't got the absolute commitment that that is going to happen, i think

there was certainly an indication that the secretary of state understood the importance of that and i very much hope that we will soon be able to give good news, at least to the businesses of the city. either way, any support will come too late for arti. how are you feeling today? upset, sad. it is sad. it's emotional. you don't expect to close a business after two years, especially in the situation that we are in. the government says the circumstances of individual local lockdowns continue to be carefully assessed and that its support package is one of the most comprehensive in the world. but it's clear that many businesses here in leicester believe that extra help is needed if they are to continue to survive. navteonhal, bbc news, leicester. the latest death figures for the uk have been released. 85 people have died from the virus in the last 24 hour period across all settings — bringing the total number of deaths to 45,053. 291,911 people have tested

positive for the virus. china has said it will take all neccessary measures to safeguard its interests, after britain decided to exclude the telecoms giant huawei from its 5g mobile networks on national security grounds. donald trump welcomed the move and took credit for personally persuading "many countries" not to use huawei. he also widened the gap in relations between the us and china by dismissing any resumption of trade talks and cutting hong kong's preferential trade status. peter bowes reports. the us has long been campaigning for britain and other countries to ban equipment from the chinese tech giant. the about—turn follows months of pressure from washington, including imposing tariffs on china. huawei posed a national security threat, said the trump administration. the company denied it. at a news conference in the rose garden at the white house, ostensibly to announce actions

against china over hong kong... thank you very much, everybody. ..donald trump let it be known that he felt vindicated. we confronted untrustworthy chinese technology and telecom providers. we convinced many countries, many countries, and i did this myself for the most part, not to use huawei, because we think it's an unsafe security risk. it's a big security risk. i talked many countries out of using it. china's ambassador to the uk has criticised the british government's decision, describing it as disappointing and wrong. he said it was now questionable whether the uk could provide a fair business environment for foreign companies. huawei is unlikely to be surprised by the us response. what happens next may hinge on the result of america's presidential election in november and future tone of us—china relations. right now, the country's leaders are not on speaking terms, and a second phase trade deal is in doubt.

donald trump has moved to hold china accountable for its actions against hong kong, signing a bill that passed unanimously in congress. today, i also signed an executive order ending us preferential treatment for hong kong. hong kong will now be treated the same as mainland china. no special privileges, no special economic treatment, and no export of sensitive technologies. thank you all very much. but overshadowing everything, the coronavirus, with donald trump again saying that he holds china fully responsible for unleashing the virus upon the world, ratcheting up the rhetoric even more. peter bowes, bbc news. there's been a development in the search for a new chair of the intelligence and security community. we go to nick early. tell us more.

we go to nick early. tell us more. we expected that chris grayling, the former transport secretary, would be elected the chair of this new powerful committee that's not sat for several months since the general election. the majority on the committee is tory mps, so it looked like it was a done deal. but now hearing that there was a bit of a coup in the room, and the new chair isn't chris grayling, but actually julian lewis, and other tory mp. but it sounds like in the last minute, the committee — there's three labour members and one snp — said they wa nted members and one snp — said they wanted to back julian members and one snp — said they wanted to backjulian lewis, and he backed himself as well. so against expectation, it's not chris grayling butjulian expectation, it's not chris grayling but julian lewis. expectation, it's not chris grayling butjulian lewis. now why does this all matter? there was a fear that this committee could lose some of its impartiality of someone to close to borisjohnson was elected to the chair. they thought chris grayling potentially fell into that category. but it now seems that the committee

has gone for someone who was talking more to the opposition parties than to some of the other conservatives on the committee over the last few days. and it does mean that that russia report, the report into alleged restaurant democrat russian interference into british democracy which has been completed for months now, finished by october by the last security committee membership — that cannot be published. we don't have a timetable for that, i don't think it will be imminent, but the committee is up and running and julian lewis will be its new chair, not chris grayling. so interesting. so julian lewis is another conservative mp but generally thought to be more independent minded? is that it? potentially. julian lewis has been a member of this committee before. it is quite a tedious committee within parliament, they oversee the intelligence community in the uk and

has the ability to scrutinise m15, mi6. has a lot of top—secret documents, and julian lewis was that in the past. he is someone who potentially is maybe a bit more distant from boris johnson then chris grayling would have been. but what i think it's really interesting is the fact that there was clearly a plan from the conservative mps to put chris grayling in the chairman position. and it hasn't happened, quite frankly. the opposition parties have decided on an alternative strategy, and julian lewis went along with them and decided he wanted the job. nick, thanks. now it's time for a look at the weather with susan powell. hello. grey has certainly been the order of the day today. why the order of the day today. make the uk stuck und coherent why make the uk stuck under a coherent blanket of moisture in the cloud, making things misty and murky, particularly across the high

ground and some of our coasts. this is anglesey a little bit earlier in the day. and it's those western hills and coast that will continue to struggle with lingering cloud on into thursday, pulling a lot of moisture across the uk from the atlantic. it will continue to pull away eastwards. 0vernight, a lot of cloud lingering however. that cloud will make for a very mild night in some spots, with temperatures dropping down no lower than 14-15dc. temperatures dropping down no lower than 14—15dc. more in the way of wetter weather for the northern isles after some decent sunshine here through the day on wednesday. thursday doesn't look too promising first thing, but look at the change in the wednesday our temperatures could shoot up to 24-25 our temperatures could shoot up to 24—25 degrees, making it the warmest

spotin 24—25 degrees, making it the warmest spot in the uk. we have a cold weather front approaching here, spot in the uk. we have a cold weatherfront approaching here, and that will slowly sink its way south across scotland and northern ireland, eventually infringing into northern england on friday. to the northern england on friday. to the north of the front, you guessed it, cooler air, just 15 celsius. to the south, potentially our warmest day of the next few at 25—26dc possible with more in the way of sunshine. the front continues to track its way south eastwards as we go to the weekend. exact timing of that from pulling away into the continent is a little in question. it looks like the front will bring thicker cloud across england and wales, maybe the odd shower on saturday. more showers in western scotland, but generally a somewhat cool field to proceedings then perhaps we expected for the time of year. as for sunday, the risk of that front across the southeast, so some wonder whether that should brighten up as the day pans out, showers across scotland.

temperatures taking back

hello this is bbc news with reeta chakrabarti. the headlines. a £4 billion cut in vat to kick—start the economy — but some companies say they need to keep the cash to stay in business. the health secretary says the government has ruled out making masks compulsory for office workers in england. borisjohnson confirms there'll be an independent inquiry into the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic but not now. china warns of retaliation over huawei as president trump takes credit for the decision to exclude it from the uk's 5g network. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre,

here's jane dougall. bournemouth manager eddie howe says they need luck ahead of their match against second placed manchester city which kicks off in less than half an hour. this is howe and his squad arriving at the ethiad a little earlier. bournemouth are 18th in the table, desperate to get out of the relegation zone. their win their last match on sunday 4—1 against leicester, howe hopes they'll perform as well against last season's champions. as you sit here now before the game i think that the focus has to be prepare the team as well as we can. let us try and be silent, we know how good manchester city can be and how good manchester city can be and how good manchester city can be and how good they are. so it is up to us to be competitive, stay in the game and try to get the fortune that we had a bit of a guest leicester. —— try and be solid.

well that game at the etihad is one of three games that kick—off shortly at six o'clock. the first—half of burnley versus wolves is live on bbc two with the second half on bbc one. newcastle against tottenham is also at 6pm. arsenal against the champions liverpool kicks off at 8.15. the option to have five substitutes will be allowed next season, according to football lawmakers. ifab made the announcement that each compeition, including the premier league can decide if they still want that option. it comes as the dates for the summer transfer window have been announced. premier league shareholders have agreed it'll open for ten weeks from the 27th ofjuly to the 5th of october. a domestic—only window will be added from the fifth to the 16th of october when premier league clubs can trade with efl clubs. it's all subject to approvalfrom fifa. following his efforts to end child poverty in britain, manchester united forward marcus rashford will be given an honorary doctorate from the university of manchester, making him their youngest ever recipient. the player campaigned to allow

1.3 million children to claim free school meals through the summer holidays, with the government footing the bill. it's the highest honour the university can bestow with the likes of sir alex ferguson and sir bobby charlton having also received the accolade. jimmy anderson is to be rested for england's second test against the west indies. it's just one of three changes the selectors have made. captainjoe root is back, and has confirmed he'll replace joe denly in the side. root missed england's defeat in the first match to be at the birth of his daughter. durham's mark wood is also being rested. root‘s return for the old trafford test also means zak crawley will bat at three, but root admitted it was a tough decision to make, with denly a key part of the team over the last year. the way that he's managed some very difficult periods, batting long periods of time, of course he will have gone on and made bigger scores. but he enabled gaz below him to go and do that.

so it's a shame that he misses out, but it's one of those difficult things that you have to deal with in professional sport. root will have to turn things around quickly if he's to get the better of an in—form west indies side. their captain jason holder says their opening win has brought the islands of the carribean together. he even got calls from three different prime ministers, to congratulate them. their support means a lot to us. definitely we came over here under the circumstances, and to have the support from not only the prime ministers at the heads of government back in the caribbean, but for the people in the caribbean, it means a lot to us. there have been a lot of west indian fans who live here in england who would have been disappointed not being able to come and see the cricket first—hand, but they have been sending their love and messages as well to us all. again, it's a great start for us, but more or less we've got to knuckle back down and start again. the former british and irish lions head coach ian mcgeechan says the tour of south africa will be outstanding

after the announcement that it will go ahead earlier today. the lions will play three test matches against the world champions injuly and august, as well as five tour matches. i think had it not been made until later it becomes more complicated. i think at least now players, coaches, everything can be planned and i know they are working at 30,000 plus supporters wanting to be there. so, it all helps i think in the organisation for what should be an outstanding tour. katie boulter has won her first match on the opening day of the progress tour women's tennis championships. boulter beat emily arbuthnot in staight sets, 6—1, 6—3, at the national tennis centre in roehampton. she will play another two matches in the round—robin stage. earlier katie swan was forced to retire from her match. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk/sport.

thank you so much, jane. the chancellor, rishi sunak, has apologised to individuals and businesses not helped by any of the government's coronavirus support schemes. speaking to mps on the treasury select committee, he said the government had provided "unprecedented" economic support as "quickly as possible". but mps questioned the chancellor on criticisms that measures announced last week on ending furlough were "badly timed and poorly targeted". mel stride is the chair of the treasury committee and joins me now from central london. good afternoon to you. good afternoon. i wonder if we can take this criticisms first of all about thejob retention this criticisms first of all about the job retention bonus this criticisms first of all about thejob retention bonus scheme i think, mps saying that it has been poorly targeted. what is your and opinion of this scheme? it is undeniably the case that there will

bea undeniably the case that there will be a great deal economists call dead weight associate with this measure in other words encouraging people to keep people in employment but whether it is there or not, unknowns of people would say in employment and therefore the £1000 in those cases is argued we wasted and i think that is a real downside to this particular approach. and i think one of the things i would urge the chancellor to do and the committee wants the chancellor to do going forward is perhaps get in a greater level of targeting in particular areas where sectors of the economy as we learn more about which areas are going to damaged more than others and which have a reasonable chance of survival provided they are given the support. did you get any hint from the chancellor that he might be considering that? i have to say no actually. i think that the chancellor has consistently said and discussed for the furlough scheme as well and the self—employed support scheme that these are universal measures, there will be dead weight

and he was constantly saying to the committee which areas you would draw support from? committee which areas you would draw support from ? that committee which areas you would draw support from? that was his refrain when we suggested targeting but i think it will be inevitable in the months coming that there will be some areas that are going to need additional support, additional shoring up and i think he is going to have to take those decisions in due course. when you talk about the months coming up because this bonus scheme which i should explain is the government will pay £1000 to an employerfor government will pay £1000 to an employer for every government will pay £1000 to an employerfor every for government will pay £1000 to an employer for every for roadwork are kept beyond january, are you thinking it will be beyond january that those particularly vulnerable sectors might need more money? well, that remains to be seen. it will clearly be in the autumn a major event and which measures in the budget will be set forward but i think my advice to the chancellor andi think my advice to the chancellor and i think this is how he would probably see it is he sees this as an intensely iterative process. as

more is known about what is happening in the economy and their huge uncertainties out there and thatis huge uncertainties out there and that is the problem, as more information is not than he needs to cut his cloth accordingly coming with more targeted measures, perhaps more tax cuts here or more spending there, more support measures in other areas, etc. a lot of that is just unknown at this point but as soon as these things emerge, he has got to be nimble and agile and getting in there to fix them. the chancellor as i said a little earlier apologise to individuals and businesses who have not been helped by any of the government to's support schemes. you and the passive been critical of those who have been left out. what did you make of what he had to say? welcome if you can say nothing else, he has been remarkably consistent on this point which is that he recognises that there are over a million who in fact have fallen through the gaps of support. however he is saying that if you are going to go out at scale and it pays for these measures, then

they will be hard edges to these policies but we are saying as a committee is he does need to think again. and he has shown great agility in adjusting various of the support measures that have been out there including loans to businesses for example. but he hasn't shown the same ability when it has come to provided support. for example for those who work for their own businesses and paid themselves by way of dividend where that has not been taken into account in the assessment for example of furlough claims. so there are hundreds of thousands of people out there that have fallen through the gaps and i think we really feel as a committee he needs to look at this again. 0k. many thanks, that is mel stride at the chair of the treasury committee. thank you very much. a bbc investigation has revealed chronic failures in the health system of south africa's eastern cape province, where key staff are on strike or sick with covid—19, nurses forced to act as cleaners, and there are reports of unborn babies dying in overcrowded, understaffed wards. exhausted doctors and nurses say the province's health system has collapsed under the strain

of the coronavirus pandemic, with one medic calling it "an epic failure of a deeply corrupt system". south africa is experiencing a steep rise in coronavirus cases, currently seeing more than 10,000 new cases a day. 0ur africa correspondent andrew harding sent this report from port elizabeth, in the eastern cape: a windswept cemetery outside port elizabeth and a queue of hurried burials as covid—19 finally searches across south africa. but already this troubled city pots like health system is close to collapse. we've uncovered shocking evidence from two filthy chaotic state hospitals. here, security guards cover for absent medical staff as a sick man is hauled into casualty. inside livingston hospital, essential cleaning and laundry and some nursing staff are refusing to work. translation: we found blood on the door, we

cannot risk the lives of the nurses, they are human beings. but that means a handful of doctors they are human beings. but that means a handful of dot these hide