this is bbc news. i'm clive myrie. the top stories... the uk, us and canada claim that hackers — almost certainly working for the russian state are trying to steal research into a vaccine for coronavirus. we have seen russian spies with names like cozy bear trying to hack into the networks hosting the vaccine research. in a separate development, the government says it's "almost certain" that what it calls russian actors sought to interfere in last year's general election. the government's chief scientific adviser admits the outcome of the uk's response to the coronavirus pandemic has "not been good". there are many factors that will play in when we say, what is it make some countries having done worse

than others? and there will be decisions made that will turn out to be not the right decisions at the time. a court rules that shamima begum, who went to syria as a schoolgirl to join the islamic state group, should be allowed to return to the uk to challenge the removal of her british citizenship. the harsh toll of the lockdown onjobs — new uk figures show the number of people on company payrolls fell by nearly 650 thousand payrolls fell by nearly 650,000 between march and june. good afternoon. shortly, we will be taking you to the house of commons where the health secretary will be updating the house on the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic. but first, britain, america and canada are claiming hackers, almost certainly working for the russian state, are trying to steal research

into a coronavirus vaccine. the uk's national cyber security centre, says the hackers "almost certainly operated as part of russian intelligence services" that they exploited software flaws to get access to vulnerable computer systems, and used malware to upload and download files from infected machines. meanwhile, the government has announced it's "almost certain" what it called russian actors sought to interfere in last year's general election. a statement released by the foreign secretary, dominic raab, says sensitive government documents relating to the uk—us free trade agreement, were illicitly acquired before the 2019 general election and spread online, via the social media platform reddit. in the last few minutes the foreign secretary has made a statement., let's have a listen to what he had to say. we are in a position to say that we believe we know with reasonable confidence that russian actors were involved in trying to interfere with

the 2019 election, principally through trying to spread, amplify online, illegally obtained leaked documents relating to the trade negotiations. there is a criminal investigation so i cannot say too much more on that. it is important to wait but we will reserve our right to take appropriate measures when we have the conclusion of that investigation. are you saying labour has done anything wrong or might have? i think that is for labour to answer, both jeremy have? i think that is for labour to answer, bothjeremy corbyn and keir starmer. is there evidence they might have done anything wrong? they are questions for them but i can also tell you today that with our us and canadian counterparts, we are making it clear and have released a statement indicating we know the russian intelligence agencies have been targeting in terms of cyber attacks against efforts across those three countries and here in the uk oui’ three countries and here in the uk our attempt to find a vaccine

through research and development. we will leave dominic raab. we will go to the house of commons and matt hancock giving a statement on the uk response to the pandemic, an update. lindsay hoyle the speaker is on his feet. with permission i would like to make a statement on our action against coronavirus and the decisions we have been taking today to determine the future of the action needed in leicester. we continue ourfight action needed in leicester. we continue our fight against this invisible killer. the number of new cases yesterday was 642, lower than when lockdown began. according to the latest figures, the number of deaths in all settings is down to 66. we are turning the tide. part of this success lies in our ability to ta ke this success lies in our ability to take action locally whenever we see it flare up. 0ften,

take action locally whenever we see it flare up. often, this is on a small scale, swiftly and quietly, like an individual farm small scale, swiftly and quietly, like an individualfarm orfactory. when needed, we also act on a broader basis as we have done in leicester and today i want to update the situation in leicester. at the end ofjune we decided to close schools and nonessential retail in the city and not to introduce the relaxations that applied elsewhere from the 4th ofjuly such as the reopening of pubs. this was not an easy decision but one we had to take. at that point, the seven day infection rate in leicester was 135 cases per hundred thousand people which was three times higher than the next highest city and leicester was accounting for 10% of all positive cases in the country. this decision was taken with the agreement of all local leaders and i am grateful to the leader and officers of leicestershire county council and officers of leicester

city council for support and hard work. since then we have double testing in the city and through a programme of communications and community engagement we have pushed oui’ community engagement we have pushed our important messages. i committed to reviewing the measures in leicester every two weeks and this morning i chaired a gold meeting of the local action committee. this afternoon, i held a further meeting with local leaders, public health england,j bc with local leaders, public health england, j bc and with local leaders, public health england,j bc and local resilience forum and clinical advisers. the latest data show the seven day infection rate in leicester is now 119 cases per 100,000 people and the percentage who tested positive is 110w percentage who tested positive is now at 4.8%. these are positive indicators, especially in light of the increase in testing in the area. but they still remain above the national average and the average for

surrounding areas. thanks to the effo rts surrounding areas. thanks to the efforts of people in leicester, who followed the lockdown while others across the country have had their freedoms relaxed, we are now in a position to relax some but not all of the restrictions in place. from the 24th ofjuly we will remove the restrictions on schools and early yea rs restrictions on schools and early years childcare and take a more targeted approach to the restrictions on nonessential retail. replacing the national decision to close nonessential retail with a local power to close them where necessary. this is part of our more targeted approach. but other restrictions, like those for travel and only having social gatherings up to six people, will remain in force. measures introduced on the 4th of july such as reopening the hospitality sector will also not yet apply. the initial definition of the

geography covered by the lockdown was a decision i delegated to leicestershi re was a decision i delegated to leicestershire county council and they made and published. the leader of that council has advised me, based on the data and the best public health advice, that he recommends these restrictions now apply only to certain areas of leicestershi re apply only to certain areas of leicestershire as well as the city itself and i have accepted his advice. some say the local lockdown is unnecessary. i wish this were true, but sadly, it remains vital for the health of everyone in leicester and the rest of the country that these restrictions stay in place. we will review them in a fortnight. i hope this careful easing of restrictions will provide comfort to people in leicester and leicestershire, and i say directly to people of leicester and leicestershire, i pay tribute to you all. your perseverance and hard work

has brought real and tangible results. you have shown respect for one another. i understand this has not been easy. strong representations have been made by my honourable friend is the members for charnwood, harborough, south leicestershi re charnwood, harborough, south leicestershire and from members opposite to represent the city of leicester. in behalf of those impacted, the constituents who wa nted impacted, the constituents who wanted to see lockdown lifted, however there is a lot to do and the public health messages remain critical. please, geta public health messages remain critical. please, get a test if you have symptoms, follow the rules in place, please, do not lose your resolve, because the sooner we get this virus under control, the sooner we can restore life in leicester and across the country to normal. this statement gives me the opportunity to inform the house of an issue relating to testing. we have identified swabs that are not up to

the usual high standard we expect and we will carry out further testing of this batch. as a precautionary measure and while we investigate, we request the use of these swab test kits are paused in all settings until further notice. the problem was brought to my attention yesterday and we contacted settings using the swabs last night and published then pause notice immediately. advice is there is no evidence of any harm, that test results are not affected. there is no evidence of issues with other test swa bs a nd no evidence of issues with other test swabs and there is no impact on access to testing. 0ur test swabs and there is no impact on access to testing. our ability to ta ke access to testing. our ability to take action on this local level in leicester is the keystone of our plan to defeat the coronavirus, so we can keep this virus on the run and defeat it once and for all. i am grateful to you for allowing me to make a statement and i commend the statement to the house. shadow

secretary of state to reply. just before turning to leicester, could he update the house and comment on sirsir he update the house and comment on sir sir patrick vallance's remarks who advised today, i beg your pardon, who at the select committee advised sage advise the government to implement lockdown measures as soofi as to implement lockdown measures as soon as possible on the 16th of march. why did it take a further seven days for the government to implement lockdown if sage was advising the 16th of march? i put on my record to the city council and health officials my thanks, to all the work they are doing to drive infection rates down. i welcome extra testing capacity were received asa extra testing capacity were received as a city and i want to pay tribute to the people of leicester, the city where i live, for their fortitude in doing all we can to drive this infection down through 17 weeks of lockdown. we still... if we still

have to make personal sacrifice to keep people safe and hunt the virus down with a lockdown, so be it. there is no question there will be dismay across the city in response to his remarks. we welcome the opening of nonessential retail, but there are businesses who are prepared to open their doors for the beginning ofjuly who still cannot open their doors and they will want to know if they will get extra business support. the secretary of state suggested previously they would. the business minister ruled it out. the continued lockdown coincides with the traditional leicester fortnight. i do not know if he is familiar. it is two weeks injuly where if he is familiar. it is two weeks in july where schools if he is familiar. it is two weeks injuly where schools break if he is familiar. it is two weeks in july where schools break up earlier than other schools in the country, and it is a time where many leicester families would have booked holidays. they cannot go on holiday because they are not allowed. many

travel companies refuse to pay them compensation and so on. can he guarantee they will not be out of pocket, because they are not allowed to go on holiday they have saved up for all year round? can the government step in all can he force the travel companies to reimburse those families? leicester is a city with poverty, low pay, and we have deep—rooted economic problems and the spike, the large outbreak in the city, appears to coincide with these inner city areas where we know there are high levels of deprivation and overcrowding. we have a large ethnic minority community, so can he explain why he has not implemented the recommendations of the report in protecting those from those backgrounds. there has been speculation about the garment industry. can he tell us how many

health and safety inspections and hmrc inspections have now taken place in leicester's textile factories? particularly since the home secretary promised us she would stamp out any illegal exploitation. we note he has rejected the advice of the city mayor of leicester to partially ease restrictions in parts of the city, although he has taken advice from the leader of leicestershire county council to ease restrictions in part of the county. could he explain what the public health evidence is behind that decision? because if the advice is to maintain for example the lockdown in the west of the city, when we know the infection rates are at their highest in the east of the city, why does that not also apply to the neighbourhoods that border the city boundaries? this is one

greater urban area. what is the public health reason why someone in one side of gil morton avenue, what is the public health reason why someone is the public health reason why someone living on one side of the avenue is subject to restrictions because they fall under the city council, but they are presumably not allowed to cross the road to speak to their neighbour opposite because they fall under another district council. there are other examples across the city. if he could offer advice, i think we would appreciate it. leicester went into lockdown because of the infection rate and it took so long to get the specific data. local authorities still complain they are not getting patient identifiable data and no data on a daily basis, and they are not getting contact tracing data. the prime minister yesterday said we have a world leading system for testing and tracing and it will

avoid a second spike. we know there have been problems with this testing and racing. last week it was revealed he had over this dated by 200,000 the test data. i believe this is a £130 million contract that was given with no tender. what is wrong with these kits? how many of these presumably faulty kits have been used and is there a health risk to anyone tested with these kits? the government are withdrawing these kits. how many people have these unsafe kits being used on? why were certifications not checked before they were used? these kits tend to be used in many care homes. we want residents to be tested regularly and

staff to be tested regularly. can he guarantee those care homes will now get alternative kits rapidly? finally, today we have seen the broader testing... more testing data came out today. the prime minister said tests would be delivered within 24 hours but today showed only 66% are. on the tracing data, only 71% have been contacted, not the 80% promise. is it the truth that we now have swabs being recalled, we have contact tracing data are not meeting the target, we have call centres with people not doing anything, and it is costing ten billion and he is now bringing in mckenzies. why does he not invest in public health services, primary care and local health teams instead to do the

testing? mr speaker, he has spent weeks complaining about capacity to do contact tracing and now complains we have too much capacity. i think he should decide on a position and stick to it. on the points on certification and on randox and the kits we put a pause on, the reason is they had a ce stamp and upon investigation of the certification of that stamp, it was not forthcoming, and, therefore, physical checks were done and we found the swabs were not up to the standards we expect. this is limited to the randox element of the testing system, not the broader testing system. i explained the clinical position, which is there is no evidence of harm having been done

and there is full access to testing because we have plenty of other test kits available. he asked about test and trace. 99% of the tests that need to be done quickly are returned the next day. he asks about more broadly about the comments of the chief scientific adviser to the select committee. the 16th of march is the day when i came to this house and said that all the necessary social contact should stop. that is precisely when the lockdown was started. so i am glad... it is unusual to be attacked for saying exactly the same as the chief scientific adviser. 0n the questions

with respect to leicester. he rightly raises the leicester fortnight and schools have effectively risen for the summer. already. 0f effectively risen for the summer. already. of course i would urge holiday companies, that people in leicester have booked with, to reimburse people in leicester who might‘ve booked a holiday at this point. he the public —— the challenges of work to do in leicester. across the house we would strongly support action to ensure illegal, insecure work is stamped out. the home secretary is taking action where that is appropriate. of course, the public health response is vital. finally, he asked about the public health advice on geography. given that there were no cases in many areas of the county

that are part of the conurbation of leicester over the last week, it was i think leicester over the last week, it was ithinka leicester over the last week, it was i think a reasonable recommendation to me by the county council to lift the lockdown in those areas. i gave the lockdown in those areas. i gave the mayor of leicester the opportunity to put forward any changes he might have wanted to within the city boundary, but he declined to do so. i think, based on public health across the whole city of leicester, incidents of this disease is higher than a sustainable level and we need to bring it down and that is the basis on the advice and that is the basis on the advice and working with and listening to local leaders that we took the decision of the geography of the lockdown in leicester and i end by paying tribute to people in leicester who are enduring the

lockdown longer than others. it is their fortitude that will help get their fortitude that will help get their city save again. we are now heading to the select committee. jeremy hunt. thank you for special dispensation to ask this question remotely. i want to ask about the worrying variation in coronavirus mortality rates between hospitals, which range from 12.5% to 80%. there may be issues of deprivation, ethnicity, but some of that variation is likely to be a failure in some hospitals to adopt best practice, which is what the getting it right first time programme led by professor tim briggs does. i wonder if he would agree to meet me and sir tim briggs to discuss whether the programme could help reduce mortality rates going forward?”

would be happy to meet him and the professor, who does an incredible job. he is a brilliant public servant who has done great work on the programme. as my right honourable friend knows better than almost anybody, the unjustified variation in performance between different hospitals within the nhs isa different hospitals within the nhs is a huge issue across the board, because if the standards in every hospital were the same as the standards in the best hospital, the performance as a whole would be so much higher. that is what the programme was designed to deliver. it was instigated by him and i would be happy to listen to what he and the professor have to say. to scotland. doctor philippa whitford. we are going to leave it there. just to bring you up—to—date with what we

heard, it was the health secretary's statement in which he made it clear an easing of restrictions would take place in leicester. leicester has for the past two weeks been under lockdown where the rest of the country, the rest of england, has had restrictions eased. he said the seven day infection rate had improved. but the infection rate is still above the national average. some rules will be relaxed, removing restrictions on schools and early yea rs restrictions on schools and early years centres. nonessential retail operations and restrictions on those will be lifted but could be reapplied if there is a spike in infection rates. social gatherings of six people will stay in place, up to six people, and travel restrictions will stay in place. the opening of hospitality sector, like pubs, will not happen. we will get

more from our correspondent in leicester. i suspect you probably did not hear too much of what the health secretary had to say, but, by and large the restrictions in leicester will stay in place at least the next two weeks. yes, i was listening and you know what it is like when you listen live to something, it drops out at the worst moment but we got most of it. also, some areas that were in lockdown in the leicester area are no longer in the leicester area are no longer in the lockdown zone. i am in one of those, glenfield, just outside the city centre. people here had been concerned they were in lockdown and there had been a petition to get glenfield out of that status, because they said there had been very few cases here. andrew norman had been organising that petition. what is your reaction now glenfield

is no longer in the zone? we share in the disappointment for neighbours in the disappointment for neighbours in the city of leicester and any areas in the county still in the lockdown zone, but for those of us now released in this area and anywhere else in the county that can enjoy the freedoms of others have, it isa enjoy the freedoms of others have, it is a good day. i guess a sense of relief? a massive sense of relief and certainly for businesses that can now operate in the same way their neighbours have and hopefully they can reclaim business they have lost in the past week. there had been confusion generally and pre—july the fourth, you'll like many other pubs in england expected he would open and you were getting the pub here ready, then you were told that was not going to happen. what is your reaction now?” told that was not going to happen. what is your reaction now? i am happy glenfield is out but still unsure whether i can open my pub.

and what we can hear, we cannot open. some clarification on whether ican open open. some clarification on whether i can open would be nice.” open. some clarification on whether i can open would be nice. i think obviously it was being said that in the areas that remain in the lockdown zone, pubs would not be opening. some easing there, but it may be you are able to open. if we look on the positive, what will it mean? everybody is welcome in the pub andl mean? everybody is welcome in the pub and i cannot wait to see my customers. i am pub and i cannot wait to see my customers. lam raring pub and i cannot wait to see my customers. i am raring to go. when matt hancock was speaking and you heard some of that news, you were jumping for joy and heard some of that news, you were jumping forjoy and pretty emotional. what will it mean to people in this community? there have been frustrations you were included in the first place. i think my customers are ready to come out and they want to come out and come back to their normal lives. yes, i cannot

wait to open the doors to them. thank you so much. we heard that they hope in glenfield they will be able to return, not to normality because it is not normality for anybody, but they will be putting plans in place for perhaps getting back to a little bit more of a normal life. thank you. time for the weather. hello, it's been a cloudy day for many parts of the british isles. the chance of some sunshine, particularly out to the eastern side of scotland and some eastern spots of england, as well. the reason — we are jammed between two weather fronts. the more westerly feature, a cold front, eventually drags cloud to introduce rain across northern and western scotland and northern ireland during the night. further south, a close night yet again with temperatures never lower than 14—16 degrees.

we are off and running into friday. it looks like it will be a dry start for the greater part of england and wales. a lot of cloud, the odd bit of brightness. the weather front slowly dragging rain across the borders down into the north of england and eventually the north of wales. brighter skies following on behind, but a fresher feel across the north western quarter of scotland. as high as 24—25 in the south. and that front takes the whole of the weekend before it staggers its way further south, introducing a fresher feel, eventually, to all parts.

hello this is bbc news. the headlines. the government says the local lockdown in leicester will be partially relaxed from the 24th ofjuly, despite the infection rate remaining well above national average in the area. thanks to incredible efforts of

people in leicester who followed the lockdown even whilst others across the country had relaxed, we are now ina the country had relaxed, we are now in a position to relax some but not all of the restrictions that were in place. others in a separate development, the government says it's "almost certain" that what it calls ‘russian actors‘ sought to interfere in last year's general election. the government's chief scientific adviser admits the outcome of the uk's response to the coronavirus pandemic has "not been good". a court rules that shamima begum, who went to syria as a schoolgirl to join the islamic state group, should be allowed to return to the uk to challenge the removal of her british citizenship. the harsh toll of the lockdown onjobs — new uk figures show the number of people on company payrolls fell by nearly 650,000. between march and june.

let's return to the claims by the uk, america and canada that hackers, almost certainly working for the russian state, are trying to steal research