this is bbc news. i'm reeta chakrabarti. the headlines: borisjohnson sets out the next stage of the government's plans to ease the coronavirus lockdown in england, including a timeline for returning to workplaces. we will give employers more discretion and ask them to make decisions about how their staff can work safely. can we have confidence that the government's advisers support these measures? this cannot be done on a wing and a prayer. it requires a credible plan and national leadership. the prime minister says local authorities will get more powers to bring in lockdowns in their areas to contain future outbreaks. the nhs in england will get an additional £3 billion to prepare for a possible second coronavirus wave this winter. the health secretary calls for an urgent review

into coronavirus death data in england following confirmation that anyone who has ever tested positive for the virus is included in the figures. arise, sir tom — captain tom moore, who raised millions for the nhs, is to be knighted this afternoon. it isn't everybody gets the chance to see the queen, is it? i think that's going to be absolutely marvellous for me. although if i kneel down, i'll never get up again. and princess beatrice ties the knot with property tycoon edoardo mapelli mozzi at a secret ceremony in windsor. good afternoon.

the prime minister has announced a fresh timetable for the easing of coronavirus restrictions in england, saying he hoped there could be a "more significant return to normality" by november, in time for christmas. borisjohnson said that by august 1st the government will give employers "more discretion" in how staff can return to the workplace, instead of telling them to work from home. bowling, ice—skating, and beauty services will also be allowed to resume, as will indoor performances, if that can be done so safely. in september, schools, colleges and nurseries are to reopen — this was already known — but mrjohnson said universities were also working to reopen as fully as possible. in october stadium audiences will return, and conferences and other business events will be allowed to restart. the government will keep more close contact between friends and family under review. boris johnson also announced new powers for councils to bring in "targeted, local action" to deal with new coronavirus outbreaks. our first report is by our political correspondent iain watson.

even as the coronavirus comes under greater control, the economy is not exactly bouncing back to life. some people have been wary of returning to the workplace and of travelling on public transport so from the 1st of august, the current advice, work from home if you can, will change. the prime minister shifted responsibility for working practices from the government to employers. instead of government telling people to work from home, we're going to give employers more discretion and ask them to make decisions about how their staff can work safely. that could mean, of course, continue to work from home, which is one way of working safely, and which has worked for many employers and employees. or it could mean making workplaces safe by following covid—secure guidelines. and to give people the confidence to return to work,

the prime minister set out stronger measures to bring the virus under control. there will be more resources for the nhs and a big increase in testing by the end of october. in leicester, where the entire city had to go back into lockdown, the local council demanded more data and more powers from central government. today the prime minister gave all english councils more responsibilities. from tomorrow, local authorities will have new powers in their areas. they will be able to close specific premises, shut public outdoor spaces and cancel events. these powers will enable local authorities to act more quickly in response to outbreaks where speed is paramount. but the prime minister dispensed carrots as well as wielding sticks and set out a road map for the further lifting of restriction in england.

next month weddings of up to 30 people will be allowed but nightclubs and soft play areas remain closed. indoor performances with live audiences will be piloted with a view to a wider reopening in the autumn. borisjohnson has talked about fighting a long hard fight against coronavirus but he also likes to strike an optimistic tone, notjust preparing for the worst but hoping for the best, as he puts it. he even suggested it might all be over by christmas. it is my strong and sincere hope that we will be able to review the outstanding restrictions and allow a more significant return to normality from november at the earliest, possibly in time for christmas. but labour said the prime minister had to do more to rebuild the confidence of the public. i think you build confidence by recognising where the problems and mistakes are and setting out what you're going to do about them. i don't think you build confidence by pretending everything is fine.

there is no longer hard and fast advice to work from home if you can, but returning to the workplace and returning to normality might take quite some time. iain watson, bbc news. let's speak now to professor sir chris ham, non—executive director of royal free hospitals and former chief executive of the health think tank the king's fund. good afternoon. we haven't spoken in the past during this lockdown and you have been critical of the government for not using local expertise —— we have spoken. what do you think to die borisjohnson‘s announcement that local authorities will be given more powers? it's the right thing to do but should have come much sooner. right thing to do but should have come much sooner. the government was slow to recognise the expertise in councils across england, especially public health teams who have been trained to do contact tracing and

contain outbreaks of the kind we are seeing now so the government has got there eventually, that is to be welcomed but we are not yet in a position where every council is fully prepared for what's to come over the autumn and winter. so how do councils need to be prepared? what they are doing is publishing their local outbreak plans, plans that set out what they are doing at the moment in their areas to gather data, understand what the current position is with their population and then how they will intervene so if there is an outbreak in a factory oi’ if there is an outbreak in a factory ora if there is an outbreak in a factory or a care home or a school, the actions they will take, and often the council work hand—in—hand with public health england which at a regional level has expert health protection teams, very experienced in doing this kind of work but the councils are still putting in place the staff they need to contact tracing, they need more detailed

information about what is happening in their areas. they are finally getting a full set of test results from the nhs laboratories, the so—called lighthouse laboratories, the private ones set up in april and thatis the private ones set up in april and that is to be welcomed but if you speak to public health directors, they would like to have more granular information about precisely the names of the people who had been tested positive, where they work so they can do a local detective work which is what contact tracing is all about and which is what contact tracing is all aboutand nip which is what contact tracing is all about and nip these in the blood and thatis about and nip these in the blood and that is happening in some places but not universally. the prime minister spoke several times about fears of a possible second wave of the coronavirus in the winter. you say the government has been slow to act but ina the government has been slow to act but in a sense all these measures are being put in place now with a view to there being a possible second spike. indeed and what we are

likely to see over the coming months into the depths of winter is local products. we have seen that in leicester, in kirklees and blackburn, most areas of the country have had small—scale local outbreaks and this is the protection now we are being given by our councils, their public health teams, contact tracers and their experience and thatis tracers and their experience and that is very much to be welcomed but the fear is, and this came out from sir patrick vallance and the academy of medical science's report this week that the likelihood is coronavirus will come back as we get into winter, it seems to be related to seasons and temperatures and you can see the effects in other countries that have had a resurgence as of covid—i9 and the way they are struggling to cope, so we need to be as well—prepared as possible, i'm encouraged we are now moving in the right direction, the announcement of

new powers for local authorities will be welcomed by local government but the key is not to have to use those powers, they are only there to be used when you get to a high level of infections in a community of the kind we have seen in leicester. success would mean the power is either but they don't have to be used. good to talk to you as always, professor sir chris ham. let's get more on borisjohnson's comments that employers will have more discretion to bring staff back to workplaces in england with our business correspondent katie prescott. is borisjohnson effectively handing over responsibility to employers for deciding whether people should work at home or in the workplace? that is what unions are concerned about, they say employers should put risk assessments in place when they bring people back into the office if they employ more than 50 people and eyesight employers haven't been

doing that but businesses and employees today are quite pleased with this announcement because the discussion means it is up to different businesses how they work, how they transition back into the workplace if they do at all. what is interesting is this period has transformed the way we work so this date of the ist of august, i don't think will change very much going forward , think will change very much going forward, i hear lots of businesses saying they are quite pleased with the way they are working at the moment, working from home is working or them, big law firms and banks site they might not go back until the end of the year because the crucial point is safety and employees are worried about how you bring people back into the workplace with social distancing because officers will not be able to be as full as before. lift and skyscrapers will be won in one out, this makes challenges for employers so we will see this transformation going

forward in the years ahead. boris johnson said he wanted employers to consult with their employees about the best way forward and there are other factors to consider, if employees have children for example, they will not go back to school until september in england. chad campbell is a massive issue for many people here and public transport, the guidance might have changed and up—to—date but many people may not feel comfortable using it —— childcare is a massive issue. these new ways of working we have become used to, video conferencing, flexible working and staggering hours will become part of the new normal as we go back to the office. thanks, katie prescott. let's get the employers' view now. i'm joined by adam marshall, director general of the british chambers of commerce. i'm now being told that in fact we haven't got him, he hasjust

disappeared from our screen. we will come back to him if we can but let's move on. the prime minister also spoke of preparations for a possible second wave of coronavirus this winter, confirming that the nhs in england will get an extra £3 billion of funding. scotland, wales, and northern ireland will also receive additional money. it follows warnings earlier this week that without counter measures, a second wave could lead to 120,000 covid—i9 deaths in uk hospitals this winter. our health correspondent dominic hughes has more. as life begins to return to something like normality, at the height of summer, thoughts are turning to winter and the challenges that will bring. as we approach winter, we will need to go further, not least as many more people will show covid—like symptoms as a result of seasonal illnesses, and therefore require a test. it is possible that the virus will be more virulent in the winter months and it is certain that the nhs will face the usual

annual winter pressures. £3 billion for the nhs in england, with extra funds for scotland, wales and northern ireland, will help maintain nightingale hospitals over the winter. it will also allow the nhs to continue using private hospital capacity, an important part of reducing the backlog of cancelled non—urgent operations, such as hip and knee replacements, but the body that represents nhs trusts in england said managers need more detail on exactly what the money will cover. they are facing a triple whammy of pressures coming up. so, they have the pressure obviously of winter itself plus the possibility of a flu epidemic alongside coronavirus. they are dealing with this ongoing pandemic and need to be ready for a surge and also, finally, they have got to start getting usual services up and running. so they are dealing with a lot of ongoing pressures.

there is also a new target for coronavirus tests — 500,000 a day by the end of october. but while £3 billion sounds like a lot of money, it is less than 3% of the annual budget of the nhs in england and there is a warning that if a second wave of covid—i9 does hit, more will be required. if we have learned anything over the last few months, it is that more money can become available as need increases, so i would see this more as a down payment to help the service prepare for the known risks that we are already aware of, but of course, if a second wave does emerge, i would expect that the treasury and the nhs will start negotiating again on how much extra money is needed. even as lockdown measures are being eased, preparations for what might still lie ahead are being put in place. it is all a reminder that the coronavirus crisis is farfrom over. dominic hughes, bbc news. the health secretary, matt hancock, has called for an urgent review into how data on coronavirus deaths is compiled in england.

the figures include everyone who has ever tested positive — other parts of the uk include only those who've died within 28 days of a positive result. let's speak to robert cuffe, who is our head of statistics. just start with why the health secretary has ordered this inquiry. it's an unusual way of counting deaths, public health england site there is no world health organization a great way of doing this so they thought it was more conservative to include all doubts that happen after someone tested positive for coronavirus but we are now ina positive for coronavirus but we are now in a situation where if someone tested positive in february and was hit by a boss injuly, they would be included as a coronavirus task and that makes it less and less sense as we move into winter and are seeing few infections at the moment. so does that mean the figures for england are overblown? maybe by a

little bit but not a lot. public health england site if you limited the wind out down to 28 days for their figures, the wind out down to 28 days for theirfigures, you would lose may be 10% of deaths so it would change the figures by a bit but not a lot and if you look at registered deaths that don't rely on a positive coronavirus lab test, england is still one of the hardest—hit countries in europe so there is maybe a bit of an increase in figures but not overall, it has changed the trends, how quickly anglin's numbers have come down. how do we read the figures as they stand? we need to be aware that the other nations in the uk cut off the debt sooner so that would enable figures to come down because they don't include these extra deaths. politicians and epidemiologists say as we move into the winter and start to worry about more spikes, the coronavirus coming back, it will be ha rd to coronavirus coming back, it will be hard to understand the figures if you include somebody who died of a

stroke or a heart attack six months after they tested positive —— statisticians and epidemiologists. they want public health england to change how they counter data and public health england site it is not the right time to review how they do this counting. thank you. more now on borisjohnson's news conference today and his timeline for returning to workplaces. let's get the employers view now — i'm joined by adam marshall, director general of the british chambers of commerce. we lost you just as i was going to you so it's good to see you there. what do you make of the prime minister'ssaying to employers it's up minister'ssaying to employers it's up to them, they must use their discretion as to whether they can bring employees back? companies have beenin bring employees back? companies have been in conversations with employees for some time now about what a safe return to work at looked like so in

that sense it's not a huge change but what businesses all over the uk are telling us repeatedly is that they need crystal clear guidance from the government. they are facing questions from employees about things like public transport, childcare and schools, and those questions need to be answered as well as the ones employees have about whether the workplace is site. so presumably you would want an employer to look specifically at their own workforce and work out whether there are difficulties for pa rents, whether there are difficulties for parents, for example? that's what employees and employers are doing together now, every business we speak to together now, every business we speakto in together now, every business we speak to in the chamber of commerce network says there top priority is keeping their people safe and keeping their people safe and keeping them confident so that when they do return to the workplace they can do so with confidence and not lose some of the benefits in terms

of productivity that they have had while working at home. a lot of people have found they can balance their work and family responsibilities quite successfully during this period and some of those changes will persist into the future. that's interesting. how long will it be until we find out what the shape of business will look like now? i think those who say everything is sorted and we know exactly what office needs of businesses have for the future or how much flexibility employers will have, it's probably premature. i think it will take time for a new normal to emerge but some things have already shifted. a lot more businesses are not comfortable with remote and flexible working, more have noticed productivity gains from it and have noticed productivity gains from itandi have noticed productivity gains from it and i stand in sharp contrast to companies who depend on having their people in the workplace itself. they are the ones who had the hardest

time in the past four months. do you see a difference between the challenges for small business versus big business? i don't think you are able to listen in earlier but our business correspondence was saying for people who work in high—rise multistorey blocks, using the lift isa multistorey blocks, using the lift is a problem because it is a one in one out policy. indeed, for small businesses the biggest problem is having the bandwidth, time and space to get to grips with official guidance and to implement it with their employees because they don't tend to have the big infrastructure, hr tend to have the big infrastructure, h r staff tend to have the big infrastructure, hr staff that bigger firms have but bigger companies have bigger premises issues as well, they have questions about how they get their people to the workplace and move them around and keep them safe while they are there so businesses of every size are facing a significant challenge. one thing the government could do to be of help in the coming

months as look at ways to help businesses that have to spend money when they are pressed for cash on making changes to their workplace to ensure it's secure. there might be a way to make that deductible or offset against their taxes over the next year because a lot of companies are having to spend a lot of money to keep their people say. many thanks, adam marshall, good to talk to you. thank you. captain tom moore, who raised more than £30 million for the nhs at the age of 100, will be knighted by the queen at windsor castle later this afternoon. it will be her first face—to—face engagement with a member of the public since march — and the only honour to be awarded since the beginning of the lockdown. let's speak now to our correspondent helena wilkinson, who's there in windsor for us. the sun is shining down here on windsor castle, the weather couldn't be better for what will be an

incredibly special day for captain sir tom murray. his reaction when he first found out he would be honoured is this cannot be true. we can show you pictures of him leaving his house in bedfordshire a little earlier today, looking very smart indeed and before he left, he said a few words. how are you feeling about seeing the queen this afternoon? i'm overwhelmed by that. it isn't everybody gets a chance to see the queen. i think that's going to be absolutely marvellous for me. and are you still worried about kneeling down and getting up? ifi are you still worried about kneeling down and getting up? if i kneel down i will never get up again!

so that was captain sir tom moore leaving his house in bedfordshire a little earlier today. this will be a unique ceremony, it's essentially a very personal official ceremony with sircaptain tom very personal official ceremony with sir captain tom miller and the queen. he will be joined sir captain tom miller and the queen. he will bejoined by sir captain tom miller and the queen. he will be joined by one of his daughters, hannah, and two of his daughters, hannah, and two of his grandchildren as our world correspondent, sarah campbell, now reports. # happy birthday to you! it started as a family challenge — walk 100 lengths of the garden to mark a 100th birthday, and, in the process, raise £1,000 for nhs charities. the uk and much of the world was in lockdown at the time and as the former army captain's story spread, it became clear that his understated manner and wise words were what people needed to hear. the donations kept coming and coming. by the time he celebrated his birthday, the total had topped £30 million. he received an estimated 140,000 cards from around the world,

an raf fly—past, and, it was subsequently announced, a knighthood. his response was typically modest. i'm still tom moore. i think "sir thomas" sounds very nice, but inside i haven't changed! nothing's changed inside. today, he and his family will travel here, to the quadrangle inside windsor castle, where the queen's birthday parade was held last month. all investitures have been on hold during the pandemic, but for captain sir tom, the queen has made an exception. it isjust the most sensational day. of all of the things tom has been honoured by, this is truly the absolute icing on the cake. "i could never have imagined this would happen to me," he tweeted earlier this week... an inspiration to many thousands of people around the world, his will be an exceptional ceremony for an extraordinary man. sarah campbell, bbc news.

now it's time for a look at the weather with louise lear. she is coming, i promise! today it's a case of hot and humid for some but not all, the best weather in terms of sunshine and heat has been in eastern england, for a heat has been in eastern england, fora and heat has been in eastern england, for a and west a weather front brought cloud and outbreaks of light rainfor brought cloud and outbreaks of light rain for scotland and northern ireland, here at temperatures of 15 to 20 degrees but in the sunshine mid—20s, possibly peaking at 28 degrees. it stays warm and sultry in the south—east, or weather front pushes into north—west england and wales with heavier pulses for a time, a man start to saturday morning but once again a contrasting

start for many. it means the best sunshine on saturday will be across the southeast and eastern england, the southeast and eastern england, the weather front will move into the east midlands and across parts of south wales for afternoon. sunny spells and scattered showers in the far north—west with a high of 1a or 24 far north—west with a high of 1a or 2a in the south.

hello this is bbc news. the headlines... borisjohnson sets out the next stage of the government's plans to ease the coronavirus lockdown in england, including a timeline for returning to workplaces. the prime minister says local authorities will get more powers to bring in lockdowns in their areas to contain future outbreaks. the nhs in england will get an additional £3 billion to prepare for a possible second coronavirus wave this winter. the health secretary calls for an urgent review

into coronavirus death data in england following confirmation that anyone who has ever tested positive for the virus is included in the figures. arise sir tom — captain tom moore, who raised millions for the nhs, is to be knighted this afternoon. and princess beatrice ties the knot with property tycoon edoardo mapelli mozzi at a secret ceremony in windsor. sport now, and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. the prime minister has announced a plan to get fans back at live sports events in england, from october. test events will be held in the coming weeks at events including the world snooker championship at sheffield's crucible theatre, as well as horse racing and county cricket matches. we will also pilot larger gatherings

in venues like sports stadiums, with a view to a wider reopening in the autumn. from october, we tend to bring back audiences in stadio, these changes must be done on a covid—secure way, subject to the successful outcome of pilots. let's get more details now from our reporterjo currie — and jo, what are these pilot events that the prime minister referred to? hello. the long wait for fans to be able to go and watch sport in person and not just in able to go and watch sport in person and notjust in television is appearing to be over. just a reminder some sports like football and cricket have already returned, but there was a behind closed doors. what are the prime minister is talking about today is when fans can go to stadiums and watch it live. this will begin with pilots starting towards the end of this month, beginning of august. there will be two men's county cricket matches including the likes of surrey versus middlesex at the oval. the horse racing festival known as glorious

goodwood will be one of the pilots, with potentially 5000 people attending. the world snooker championship, at the crucible theatre, that is on the 31st of july. the department for digital culture, media and sport say further pilots will go ahead after a review, and could perhaps return to stadiums in october. strict greyness —— or bonus —— coronavirus rules. they will be screening when fans come in the stadiums. social distancing will be observed, a challenge for some stadiums how you do that with the seats in grand. crowd management plans should be in place in terms of the entry and exit of stadiums, and of course extra hygiene stations in terms of hand washing and gels will also be in place. a reminder that this is just also be in place. a reminder that this isjust for also be in place. a reminder that this is just for england. also be in place. a reminder that this isjust for england. we also be in place. a reminder that this is just for england. we are yet to hear when the rest of the uk will open up their grounds and stadiums.

thank you very much indeed for that. it may be slow—going but england's cricketers are building a decent total on day two of the second test against west indies at old trafford. it's all down to dom sibley and ben stokes, who've made a century apiece — sibley‘s coming off a mammoth 312 balls — that's the slowest test hundred for six years. stokes' century soon followed — that's his 10th test hundred — and his slowest. england are now 304—3 — remember they're 1—0 down in the three—match series. there's a huge game at the bottom of the premier league tonight. west ham, down in 16th, take on watford, who are one place below them. both sides are just three points clear of the relegation zone, so victory for either would be a huge step towards top flight survival. we have our noses are slightly in front. we have to stay in front and do everything to be in that position. we hoped it would get there. i would position. we hoped it would get there. iwould rather position. we hoped it would get there. i would rather be in our position than a couple of other teams' position, that's for sure,

but we have not done the job. far from it. the players are aware of that and we have to at least win another game. they are doing what we are doing, fighting for their lives. it is what i would expect. they have good players. they have found some decent form of late, and i'm sure david will be expecting a tough game in the same way we are expecting a tough game. maro itoje is the latest england player to sign a new long—term deal at saracens — despite their impending relegation from the premiership. he had been linked with loan moves to leicester and the french club racing 92 but he's nowjoined england captain owen farrell in confirming his commitment to saracens, who were penalised for breaking salary cap rules. second practice for the hungarian grand prix is under way, and you can follow it on the bbc sport website. lewis hamilton was quickest in p1. that's all for now. i'll be back with more later. thank you so much.

so as we've heard, the prime minister has changed government advice on going to work in england to encourage more people to return. mrjohnson told a downing street news conference that from today anyone could use public transport, and from the first of august employers would be given more discretion to ask people to return to the workplace. our correspondentjon donnison is at spitalfields market near the city of london — it's an area which relies on the custom from people working in offices in the capital's financial district. borisjohnson boris johnson says borisjohnson says he wants a significant return to normality by christmas. i can tell you here at spitalfields in the city of london there is quite a long way to go. this area has a lot of offices here you can see behind me, and frankly most people are not back at work yet. these are the kind ofjobs, we have a couple of big banks, where people are still choosing to work from home. but you also have a lot

of retail here. you have spitalfields market to my left and on the side rows of shops. we have spoken to some of the business here who are saying they are operating at about 10% of trade as compared to pre—this pandemic. so clearly a long way to go, and that is what boris johnson is pushing for, because he is worried that these city centre areas, especially in london, could really be in trouble if people do not go back to work soon. we spoke toa not go back to work soon. we spoke to a few workers today here at spitalfields who said they were coming back today. some of them, it was their first day back. it is a superquiet, was their first day back. it is a super quiet, yes. usually this place is very busy, and it is sunny even more. yes, very quiet. they opened the office about 15 days ago and only two or three people are going. todayis only two or three people are going. today is my first day because i have been on holidays the past couple of weeks. but i think it is about 7%.

of the occupancy, yes. weeks. but i think it is about 7%. of the occupancy, yeslj weeks. but i think it is about 7%. of the occupancy, yes. i got an e—mail today of the occupancy, yes. i got an e— mail today saying there of the occupancy, yes. i got an e—mail today saying there were only 16 people in an office of about 1000 people, so it will feel very empty, andl people, so it will feel very empty, and i do not know how that is going to feel like. i do not know if i am going to have anyone on the same floor as me. going on the tube when it is so crowded and during rush hour, that is not something i am looking forward to. i am hoping that there is going to be a summer moderation in terms of the times, the working hours that you are to be allowed in the office. it is interesting because of a couple of the people we spoke to there, they said they actually had to book a desk before they came in with their employer to make sure that there we re employer to make sure that there were not too many people in the office at any one time. i think a lot of employers and employees could say they feel a bit confused today because of course yesterday we had the government's chief scientific

adviser, said patrick —— sir patrick vallance, saying he could see no reason why the government should change their advice on staying at home to work if they could, and then you have the prime minister today saying that is not the case and really putting the onus on to employers to make the choice from august the 1st. some are going to be not too clear about what they should or shouldn't be doing. thank you for that. as we've been hearing under the new guidelines, people may use public transport forjourneys immediately. i'm joined by robert nisbet, director of nations and regions at the rail delivery group. i assume you welcome this guidance. it is quite unequivocal. we do welcome it. railway, the railway in britain obviously plays a huge part in the economy, but also in a

national life. and throughout the lockdown, we have been fulfilling that role by ensuring that key workers get to where they need to go and that supermarket shelves have remained trapped and feel gets to power stations for example. as we move into this next phase now of listening the lockdown, we are standing by to be ready to deliver the safest possible service for our customers, but also to keep our staff are safe as well. can you give us some staff are safe as well. can you give us some idea of at what capacity the network is running now? at the moment, nationally, we are running about 95 —— 85% of services at pre—covered levels, but because a social distancing is in play, the capacity obviously is severely restricted. what we are saying, and we understand the government is obviously having to strike a tricky balance here, between managing demand and travel demand, but also trying to ensure that we stay as

safe as possible. but we want to reassure potential customers that as this invitation has now been extended to use public transport that it extended to use public transport thatitis extended to use public transport that it is a safe, and we have a safer travel pledge where we are committing to do certain things and we are asking our customers to join us we are asking our customers to join us and to help us make it as safe as possible. if i canjust us and to help us make it as safe as possible. if i can just outline those from the railway point of view. briefly. we are making our trains and stations as clean as possible. we are helping people keep their hands clean by putting hand sanitiser and a liquid smoke where they can get to it. improving information so that when trains get busier and such other six is difficult, we can warn people in advance. —— social distancing. we could increase the length of trains as well as a number of trains as well. —— liquid soap. as well as a number of trains as well. -- liquid soap. what are

passengers like in terms of numbers? they are down in many places. it depends, because obviously if you're going to do it simply in areas where there is a lot of commuting and areas that are long—distance services. but the capacity we can offer at the moment of about 35%, it is fairto offer at the moment of about 35%, it is fair to say that on many of those trains there is extra capacity that can be used at the moment. we are not saying you should hit the big button and everybody charged back onto the railway. we are saying we are making it as a safe and experience as possible, but this also has to happen incrementally, and we are asking customers to avoid the busier times, so perhaps rush hour, traditional rush hour in the morning and evening. also to wear face coverings whenever they are on trains. observe social distancing where they can. check before they travel, because obviously this is an

agile and dynamic situation, and services may change. we keep hearing from employers and people working in business that it could be that our ways of working change permanently, or certainly for some people that working for home will become much more the norm. that is going to have an impact on you, isn't it? yes, and this is something we sell before the virus, and in many ways there are many aspects of our lives where things have been catalysed by the virus. —— we saw. this may be the case, so we have to look at abbott response post virus together with the government, looking at different ticket propositions for example. at the minute we have a system that is rigid and old—fashioned, so we are talking to the department for transport at the moment for a flexible season ticket for example that takes into account that not everybody is going to be doing the

monday to friday 95. this could be a way by offering new products that we encourage people back onto the railway networks. for all of us, life is not going to be the same as it was before march. good to talk to you. many thanks. well we can speak now to anthony lorenz, ceo of lorenz consultancy and a commercial property expert — who has been working across all market sectors, advising landlords and tenants — who are facing enforced closure of their premises, as a result of the pandemic. that afternoon to you, anthony. you have been in this sector in the commercial property sector for the past 50 years. you must have seen a lot of changes. have you seen anything like this before?m lot of changes. have you seen anything like this before? it is actually 5a years, since 1972. we went through the recession and also the three day week at one time, and there is nothing like this that i

have ever seen. there is a blood bath on the streets at the moment. te na nts a re bath on the streets at the moment. tenants are not able to pay their rents, especially in the hospitality sector, where most of the hospitality tenants use the first six weeks of the water to build up the ability to pay rent, rates and service charges, and one property owner found me in service charges, and one property ownerfound me in march of service charges, and one property owner found me in march of this year saying that he usually takes as 160,000 a week, how am i supposed to pay my landlord ? unless 160,000 a week, how am i supposed to pay my landlord? unless there is cooperation especially in the centre of london and even worse in the provinces, we are going to see liquidations all over london with an estimate from me personally that 30% of restaurants, bars and clubs in leicester square will be empty. that isa grim leicester square will be empty. that is a grim forecast. so that is a

situation at the moment. we have been looking today at the way in which people might want to go back to the workplace or might not want to the workplace or might not want to go back to the workplace. that they might want to stay and work from home. will that affect the premises that employers will be looking to buy or to rent in order to runa looking to buy or to rent in order to run a business? not so much employers looking to buy. tenants looking to rent is probably the right answer. we have been researching our office clients, many of whom are in the city. quite a lot of whom are in the city. quite a lot of the city tenants are actually looking to get back into the west end. most of our clients are working ona70—30 end. most of our clients are working on a 70 — 30 rule. i don't think anybody has realised we could work remotely as well as we have, even for me to arguably should be working with a quill pen, i have suddenly realised that i can run a whole

office from home and we are com pletely office from home and we are completely immobilised, and whether i need my office is very questionable. obviously you would have to get into central london for meetings, and on the agency side, inspecting properties, but! meetings, and on the agency side, inspecting properties, but i do think there is going to be a 30% drop or thereabouts, which is much higher than forecast from anybody else in the need for offices. what will happen is we will see a very busy market with tenants in central london who are looking at downsizing opportunities. downsizing does not necessarily collapse the market, because when somebody takes from 20,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet, and they are paying 100 and £50 per square foot all in, it would cost them 3 million per year but in the new space as it is 1.5 million per year. so whether rents will be affected is questionable. but in

layman terms, i do three rent reviews in the same building, which was on burlington street onjune, december and september respectively. the rents went down there from £102 of square foot injune two... £68 square—foot in december, which was a 33% fall in office rates. this is much worse than lemons, because lemons did not close us down for six months. most of my office tenants are not looking to get back to the office before september anyway. hospitality who has been open, most of them are trading very badly. the casinos are still closed. i'm not sure when the casino group will reopen, but we are looking at a london that unless we can try and save the relationships between landlords, tenants and bankers, it is going to look... the stage will

not look like it did when the curtain closed in march. we are going to have to leave it there. thank you so much. uncertainty over foreign travel has got many of us looking to britain's beauty spots for the chance of having at least some kind of holiday this year. our correspondentjohn maguire has been finding out how residents and visitors in cornwall are finding the uk's new ‘stay—cation' trend. there's sand, sun and surf, as you would expect from a st ives summer, but social distancing means it's far from business as usual. challenging times for all who are trying to work within the restrictions. in terms of the tourists who are coming, it's reminding them to be respectful of how we are here, come and enjoy it, we will help you enjoy it, but if we have anti—social behaviour, then we will issue dispersal notices but that's a last resort — that's not our style here. a welcome return, but serving so many visitors all at once isn't easy.

we have gone from having the place to ourselves to it being completely packed, as usual. however, of course, all the restaurants and shops can take half capacity, some people haven't gone back to work, so there's still quite a big issue for the future of st ives, and the future of some of our local shops and businesses who are going to still struggle, although people — thank goodness — are now here. cornwall is famous for its sardines — the fish, of course, not the game — but you wouldn't know it today. when lockdown was in full effect, people here warned visitors to stay away, promising that when the situation improved, they would be welcomed back with open arms. andy cameron's boat and surf school company in north cornwall has reinvented its business model. probably one of the real positives of the whole covid issues down in cornwall is a lot of the businesses have started working together that would have traditionally been competitors. so for the boat businesses in padstow, we now have an email group just working out how we can

not be on the pontoons at the same time to allow separation between the passengers. padstow is synonymous with rick stein. his businesses employ 600 people in the area. the cookery school has been converted into a pop—up restaurant. we are a seasonal business. this summer season will save us, there is no doubt if we had missed out on this revenue, i think we, as a company, 45 years old restaurant company, we would likely be not trading next year, simple as. change to survive is the mantra here. emma's cafe is around the cornerfrom one her grandfather used to run. she was brought up in new zealand but is now back in padstow and adapting her business to cope with coronavirus. we normally cram people in like sardines, really, so it was a tough decision but we decided forjuly and august, we'd go takeaway only, just to deal with the social distancing. living on a peninsula jutting out into the atlantic ocean requires a good deal of resilience,

and never has that been more severely tested than now. john maguire, bbc news, cornwall. it's the first night of the bbc proms and things are going to be rather different to usual. the coronavirus restrictions mean audiences at home are being offered a ‘fantasy season' with archive performances and some live concerts. a grand virtual orchestra made up of all the bbc orchestras will perform a new mash—up of beethoven's nine symphonies recorded in lockdown. here's our entertainment correspondent colin paterson. the 125th anniversary of the proms, and they never looked or sounded quite like this. no live concerts for the first six weeks, instead, the opening performance tonight on radio 3 is a special commission recorded during lockdown. 323 bbc musicians in their own homes combined to mark beethoven's 250th birthday.

they are playing a mash up of his symphonies. accompanied by two dancers who are in a beethoven bubble. ian was chosen to create the piece. there is an entire season, an entire proms season that has had to be replaced. so, yeah, it's a wonderful honour but not one that i was expecting to do. and, um, i have made the most of it and it's something i have enjoyed hugely and something that it hope captures a lot of the celebratory spirit of the proms. and the whole piece, including a nod to saturday night fever will be shown on sunday night on bbc four. from then until the august bank holiday weekend, the proms will feature reruns of archived performances. but for the final two weeks, a return to the royal albert hall and live performances from the likes of sheku kanneh—mason

and nicola benedetti. for the orchestral pieces, it is not clear how many musicians will be allowed on stage. so four different programmes have to be planned for each concert. and as for the last night of the proms, it's unclear if the public will even be allowed in, singing along to land of hope and glory. at the moment, the audience can just hope. so how will this year's prom look different? and how will it feel for the performers? we'rejoined now by sakari oramo, chief conductor of the bbc symphony orchestra. good afternoon to you. how is it going to be for you? well, it is going to be for you? well, it is going to be very emotional, because

iand all of going to be very emotional, because i and all of my colleagues have been offstage for the best part of half a year, and there has never been a gap that long in any of our professional careers. it is going to be very special, but of course different because we will play to an empty royal albert hall as it looks like now. it will feel very strange because presumably the communication between the performers and the audience is usually very important. and nowhere more so than at the proms and at the royal albert hall, because the proms are created by the audience, especially those in the arena. it will feel different, but we will still make the best possible music in those circumstances of course. have you got a full-sized orchestra and if you do, how you cope with social distancingwe cannot have a full size orchestra as i know it now. there is a limit to the

number of players, but also a limit to how many players we can change during the programme, so it is quite restricted. also, we will have to observe depending on the instrument groupa observe depending on the instrument group a distance between each player, which could be from one, one metre, all the way to three metres for certain instruments, so this is quite tricky. we are high quality professionals. we know how to deal with these things, and it will be probably fine, but of course it ta kes a probably fine, but of course it takes a bit of getting used to, because usually symphony orchestras play as close together as possible to be able to hear each other very well. it will affect the chemistry between you to a certain extent, won't? absolutely. on the other hand in my profession as an orchestra conductor, also conduct enquiries quite a lot, it is essential to be able to communicate also to a very wide instance —— wide distance. i do

not think the distance will be the main thing. i am worried about the effects of the acoustics, because the royal albert hall is a cavernous space, very big, and there are a few reflections to the stage. i am unclear as to how well the players will be able to hear each other, but also themselves. that proms will be eight weeks of music. am i right in thinking the final repertoire has not completely decided ? thinking the final repertoire has not completely decided? that is correct. the live proms will be only two weeks of music, but the entirety of the proms is eight weeks. you are right in saying that the final repertoire, we have not been able to decide it. normally we would decide ona decide it. normally we would decide on a repertoire 18 months before each concert, but in this case, when we do not know what the regulations and restrictions will be on the date

of the concert of the 28th of august, we have about four different options with different sizes of ensemble and august and also different possibilities to observe the social distancing, so this is all still up in the air, and we will of course inform the public in due course what we will do. but you are excited it is going ahead? well, absolutely. after six months of the stage, which as i said i have never done before in my life, it has not all been bad. it has been great to relax and to think about longer term plans and live a life basically, but of course getting back on the stage isa of course getting back on the stage is a priority now for everyone i think. very good luck to all. thank you so much talking to us. the queen's grand—daughter princess beatrice has married her fiance edoardo mapelli mozzi. the couple wed at a private ceremony in windsor which was attended

by her majesty, the duke of edinburgh and close family. buckingham palace said the wedding adhered to the government's social distancing guidelines. now it's time for a look at the weather with louise lear. good afternoon. summer sunshine has deserted us a little just recently. i have managed to find some today. the cloud has broken up. some sunny spells coming through, snapped just a few hours ago this picture. best of the sunshine across the south—east. a weather front bringing some outbreaks of rain. to the north, the isobars are squeezing together. winds are strengthening. a contrast across the country. clouds and rain spilling over scotland into northern ireland. slowly pushing its way steadily south and east. brightening up behind with sunny spells and scattered showers, and the cloud and light rain, we will see temperatures peaking at 21 degrees, pretty warm and humid. mid

20s quite widely. it is going to be a warm evening in the south—east corner. frontal system continues to push into northern england and wales, some heavier through the night. mild night, temperatures into the mid teens. it does mean we are going to start off on saturday with that front still with us. it is really going to take its time to clear. it is going to bring some rain across northern england and wales, not moving very far very quickly. it gradually pushes into central wales and the midlands as we go through the afternoon. may be increasing cloud into the south—east. sunny spells and scattered showers accompanied by a brisk breeze across the far north—west, only 1a or 16 degrees. highest values through saturday afternoon, 24. it is going to be a little bit of a question on how much we are going to see for a play of the second test, but hopefully it

will improve as a day continues. it is still with us, and out of saturday into sunday, this rain goes into the south—east corner. another interesting thing is behind it, there is a colderfront, so as it continues to clear south and east, it will be a noticeable difference in the feel of the weather. sunday morning could start off as a contrast, cloudy and rain easing through. sunny spells and scattered showers continuing, most up into the north but look at the difference with the feel of the weather. widely temperatures into the high teens and maybe if we are lucky 21.

this is bbc news. the headlines: borisjohnson sets out the next stage of the government's plans to ease the coronavirus lockdown in england, including a timeline for returning to workplaces. we will give employers more discretion and ask them to make decisions about how their staff can work safely. can we have confidence that the government's scientific advisers support these measures? this cannot be done on a wing and a prayer. it requires a credible plan and national leadership. the prime minister says local authorities will get more powers to bring in lockdowns in their areas to contain future outbreaks. the nhs in england will get an additional £3 billion to prepare for a possible second coronavirus wave this winter. the health secretary calls for an urgent review into coronavirus death data

in england following confirmation that anyone who has ever tested positive for the virus is included in the figures. arise, sir tom — captain tom moore, who raised millions for the nhs, is to be knighted this afternoon. it isn't everybody gets the chance to see the queen, is it? i think that's going to be absolutely marvellous for me. if i kneel down, i'll never get up again. and princess beatrice ties the knot with property tycoon edoardo mapelli mozzi at a secret ceremony in windsor. good afternoon. the prime minister has announced a fresh timetable for the easing of coronavirus restrictions in england, saying he hoped

there could be a "more significant return to normality" by november, in time for christmas. borisjohnson said that by august first the government will give employers "more discretion" in how staff can return to the workplace, instead of telling them to work from home. bowling, ice skating, and beauty services will also be allowed to resume, as will indoor performances, if that can be done so safely. in september, schools, colleges and nurseries are to reopen — this was already known — but mrjohnson said universities were also working to reopen as fully as possible. in october stadium audiences will return, and conferences and other business events will be allowed to restart. the government will keep more close contact between friends and family under review. boris johnson also announced new powers for councils to bring in "targeted, local action" to deal with new coronavirus outbreaks. the prime minister said his so—called road map remained conditional on continued progress

in controlling the virus. the lords science and technology committee is hearing evidence from the government's scientific advisors about how scientific advice is obtained by government and used in making policy decisions — let's listen in now. the third is that we ask our own questions and often topics will come up questions and often topics will come up that we think are important and need to be looked at, ones that we have pursued quite heavily in this around immunity where we have asked questions that are unlikely to come from cabinet office or from questions that are unlikely to come from cabinet office orfrom members of sage and our work, questions around the science of transmission which are things that we would drive ourselves and we also set up a working group on transmission in ca re working group on transmission in care homes which would be things we would set up ourselves rather than

wait for a question to come from a cabinet office so those are the three major routes by which questions come into sage and sage will either deal with the in itself asa will either deal with the in itself as a group or more often the questions will go to some groups of sage and we have a number of subgroups populated largely by academics from different backgrounds which range from modelling to behavioural science to specialists coming together to tackle problems on transmission to clinical groups and others including genetics so there are a number of groups that would put questions. in terms of the feedback, the way it works is that when we meet at sage, either i or chris or others who have been in meetings will give a general commentary at the beginning of the meeting and a situation update where

some of the outputs and there how they have been used may be discussed as part of that and the chairs of the subgroups are all on sage and so are ina the subgroups are all on sage and so are in a position to feed back to their subgroups were appropriate anything relevant to the work of that subgroup, so that is how sage works and we get our questions. i may ask whether chris wants to add anything because he has been in government and been on sage for longer than i have and he may have comments to add. i was about to ask professor come, do you have any questions to ask? only two or three, ifi questions to ask? only two or three, if i may. the first is the great majority of science advice to government does not come through sage, that is not the only route but the sage mechanism that was set up undersir the sage mechanism that was set up under sirjohn billington the sage mechanism that was set up under sir john billington and the sage mechanism that was set up under sirjohn billington and his

adjusters was a vast improvement as it allows lots of groups to feed on and then several science disciplines and then several science disciplines and individuals to challenge one another but then a unified view to be presented to the cabinet or to cobra so you get the variety of views fed in but you don't get an un—digestible group of opinions being thrown into a cabinet meeting. you need a single consensus view with whoever is presenting it saying how wide the variation is around that, then the other thing to add is that, then the other thing to add is that some of the subgroups that patrick talked about are set up just for this sage but several of them are scientific advice committees, for example a standing advisory committee that looks at respiratory infections made up of independent scientists and that is between emergencies and of sage. professor do you have anything to add?

professor finn, are you muted? i think you might still be needed, professor finn. is that better? apologies. i think the only thing to add is that public health england sits on sage, we have put some of our experts on to that group and we also prepare a number of contributions to the discussion within sage. we also contribute to one of the groups that professor whitty was referencing and we either asa whitty was referencing and we either as a source of advice to any other groups that are needed on relevant matters. thank you. so, can i ask a

question that comes up now with this biosecurity group? what is the role of the biosecurity group now, vis—a—vis sage? of the biosecurity group now, vis-a-vis sage? shall i have a first go at that? i think the new gbc group is going to be doing much of the operational work in collaboration with public health england, pulling together the epidemiology and giving information day to day, but what it is not currently doing is the job sage is doing at pulling together science from multiple disciplines so it's very much where the science will be fed and, for example trying to identify hotspots of infection and make sure we get them properly delineated and the best advice can be given local. that will be the joint biosecurity centre and public health england and their equivalents

in scotland, wales and northern ireland but the larger science questions still come through sage. ifi questions still come through sage. if i may add to that, it's a very important distinction, sage is an advisory group, not an operational group, or a management advisory group, not an operational group, ora management group, it's not formulating policy but giving science advice on topics that cross departments and are of major importance during the emergency. j bc is an operational group and there are many around government and it is much more akin to the function of public health england in terms of being able to identify hotspots, being able to identify hotspots, being able to identify hotspots, being able to identify where numbers are going in the wrong direction, with operational delivery and that distinction is important and there are many such operational science groups around government. thank you.

professor phin, do you have anything to add? just to say that pag has statutory responsibilities related to public health and we are working with the joint biosecurity centre to offer expertise to assist them in this matter. baroness young? we have already heard a little bit about how sage deals with uncertainty in scientific evidence communities relating to the government. perhaps you could describe how the process deals with uncertainty and how that is taken forward into the advice you gave government, how that

uncertainty is communicated to government and whether there is any danger of groupthink as a result, how you deal with iconoclastic views that come in from left field. perhaps sir patrick could start and then we will go on to professor whitty? almost everything we have been dealing within this crisis has been dealing within this crisis has been about uncertainty because it was a brand—new virus and knowledge of it was nonexistent last year, although it is in a class of viruses about which things are known, this one, nothing was known so uncertainty is very often what sage has to deal with and often what science advice in government has to deal with and it is the expression of uncertainty which is important. on that point it's very obvious that there is no such thing in this crisis and indeed in all aspects of

science, there is certain scientific truth, it is about at scientific process which learns and grows in information and the expression of where we are during that process and the uncertainty around that, so the weight we deal with that in sage, it may be mathematical so you can put some mathematical uncertainty around a problem in sight we think this is the answer at the moment and here are the uncertainty boundaries, more often it's not that, often we will express our output in terms of low, medium or high confidence in the evidence and try to describe the evidence and try to describe the evidence base. to go back to a point chris whitty made earlier, it's not helpful to just chris whitty made earlier, it's not helpful tojust give a chris whitty made earlier, it's not helpful to just give a wide range chris whitty made earlier, it's not helpful tojust give a wide range of different opinions on site here they are, take your pick. the point of sageis are, take your pick. the point of sage is to coalesce that into a

position with the uncertainty expressed. you asked about how we deal with differences and iconoclastic views and sage is full of senior academics, and as you will know, the chances of them all politely agreeing on something are rather low and that is the point of sage, to hear different views. an example that has been taxing lots of scientists in the uk and elsewhere over this period has been, for example, on face coverings, where people have had strongly held views and there are different lines of evidence they will consider. some favour the mechanistic work where you look at dropped a deep addition on masks or transfer through masks or airflow, some would favour more randomised clinical trials giving you the answer of what this does in practice and some would say it's the

observational data when you introduce these into a system and see what happens, whether a new country or any time during an outbreak and look at the outcome, and people hold strong views about the different information that comes from those and those are the discussions that form the basis of eight sage debate which we would come up within terms of them trying to express at the end of that what we think the position is and where the outliers are so it's clear to policymakers what the range of opinion is that what we will not do is site here is a range of opinions, ta ke is site here is a range of opinions, take your pick. we try to formulate an agreed position where we can. do you believe the questions you were asked by cobra or whoever sufficiently expect a range of uncertainty or do they sometimes get couched in a way that asks for a

degree of a single due to be expressed? some degree of a single due to be expressed ? some of degree of a single due to be expressed? some of the modellers say they were asked for a single line on a graph rather than a range of possibilities, is that because politicians cannot cope with rangers? it is true there is a process in making sure the questions are right so we go to an iteration with cabinet office to make sure we get answerable questions and we will reject things where someone is looking for a point specific answer on something where we do not believe there is such an answer, we will say this is not a possible thing to do, we will give you the range of the uncertainties which i'm afraid is the reality to be dealt with. many people would like to have a precise answer, is it x or y and this is seldom the case where we can deliver that so we try to make sure the

questions are ones that are amenable to answer by scientific method. can ijust add two things to what sir patrick has said? the first is that still now an even more at the beginning of this epidemic, one of the point of uncertainty was we simply do not now so when we started off we did not know at all whether there might be immunity and if so, what sort, whether there might be people who have had symptoms who we re people who have had symptoms who were infected without any symptoms and one thing we had to say it was these are things we cannot give you information on because there is no data, so the uncertainty is complete, and secondly, we may be in a situation where and we almost certainly will be in a situation where people have to change the current view as where people have to change the current view as new where people have to change the current view as new data comes in and that is an important part of trying to get policymakers to

understand the level of uncertainty they are dealing with. to pick up your exact question, often the difficulty presenting complicated data visually and a single line has to be explained by the scientists in the room to the people making the decision, to avoid just providing data that is not easily interpretable in the context of decision—making. interpretable in the context of decision-making. is there any risk of groupthink caused by the need to develop a consensus? you think that submerges disagreement in a helpful way on occasions? go ahead, chris. that risk is always there and this has rightly come up in some of the things people have looked at what has gone right and wrong in government on multiple occasions in multiple countries, groupthink is a big risk so it is important that we

do have people inside challenging but also people outside challenging andl but also people outside challenging and i welcome that when they do so ina way and i welcome that when they do so in a way that provides a logical argument, data, arguments backed up by science, those are extraordinarily helpful. when they turn into a rant that is less helpful but enormously helpful having strong external challenges. helpful but enormously helpful having strong external challengeslj would having strong external challenges.” would make the same point, it's important we get that external challenge and it was welcome that the royal society set up groups to look at similar things and we worked to help make sure that got setup and we go to the other academies, the royal academy of engineering has been helpful and the academy of medical sciences recent report on winter make sure we get the diversity of views into this and if you look at the number of scientists involved across sage and the subgroups, it's over 100,

involved across sage and the subgroups, it's over100, different groups, there is clearly a lot of challenge in that system but in any syste m challenge in that system but in any system groupthink is a risk on something that needs to be guarded against and! something that needs to be guarded against and i think that external challenge is important and as chris said, it's important the external challenge in this context is scientific and based on evidence, it's not terribly helpful having policy challenge the science because those are different points and that is not really the issue. thank you very much. lord winston, i was going to ask for slightly brief answers so ican get to ask for slightly brief answers so i can get through all the questions. just to come back to something chris whitty was talking about, we heard the monthly evidence in different countries is largely similar but the interpretation has been the difference, in what ways do you think the evidence has been interpreted differently in england

compared to other countries and why? shall we ask professor phin?“ compared to other countries and why? shall we ask professor phin? if i can take an example, many of us are seeing the same evidence but when you look at how that is translated into practice, you get some countries who were not even recommending face coverings like new zealand, australia and sweden, in other countries it is mandated indoors, in other countries it is a requirement for children and teachers attending schools, so they are all looking at the same evidence but depending on what the cultural and societal norms are, they are then translating that into a policy which reflects their society's norms, so i think it's not a simple solution, the evidence speaks for

itself but it's the interpretation on the policymakers that makes the difference. maybe i could come to sir patrick and perhaps professor whitty, because one of the issues we have been talking about our face coverings. to what extent has this been interpreted differently in england? i'm interested to know whether a wet mask or disposable mask is a danger were wearing masks, we see a lot of people wearing masks we see a lot of people wearing masks we would regard as inadequate in a medical situation. can i ask chris whitty first what you think about the public acceptance of this aspect of limiting the virus? if we are talking about masks, just to build on what professor phin said, the stronger the evidence and a more

clear it is, the more similar to the response tends to become wrapped in a durable fact across a range of areas but you have to translate it into people buying into it and understanding what they are meant to do and you are right, there are important but relatively technical variations in face coverings used in the general public. clearly respiratory masks for high procedures are highly regulated but we are talking about face coverings elsewhere, but the variation in thoseis elsewhere, but the variation in those is much less important than getting people to do the basics and the basics are if you are going to wear one and the basics are if you are going to wearone and a the basics are if you are going to wear one and a high risk area, it must cover your nose and mouth. a mass covering only your mouth will clearly have limited a fact. but isn't one of the issues about public acceptance, perhaps i can ask sir

patrick, if the issue is public acceptance, surely the biggest chance of getting acceptance is if it is good for me, for my protection rather than other people? if you ta ke rather than other people? if you take track and trace, unless you are going to be able to diagnose the thing quickly so treat someone quickly, there isn't a great advantage in the person being traced and isn't that similar with all the protective things where it might protective things where it might protect the rest of the community and how we get that message across, that would be interesting to hear from both of you. i think it is important that chris or nick talk about this because this is public health advice you are right, many of the measures... we will leave that session of the lord's science and technology committee talking down to a couple of familiar faces, technology committee talking down to a couple of familiarfaces, sir patrick vallance, the government's chief scientific officer and

england's chief medical officer, professor chris whitty. captain tom moore, who raised more than 30 million pounds for the nhs at the age of 100, has been knighted by the queen at windsor castle. it was her first face—to—face engagement with a member of the public since march — and the only honour to be awarded since the beginning of the lockdown. these pictures, which arejust these pictures, which are just a few minutes old, have just come these pictures, which are just a few minutes old, havejust come in these pictures, which are just a few minutes old, have just come in of the moment. you can hear there the sound of bagpipes played by the queen's piper, pipe major richard grisdale of the royal regiment of scotland. captain tom had set out to raise £1000 for the nhs by walking 100 laps of his garden in his

village in bedfordshire before his 100th birthday on april the 30th. but he got a lot of publicity come as you will remember, and his effort struck a chord with the nation at a time when we were all in lockdown, and he ended up raising it not £1000 but almost £33 million for the nhs. so that effort has earned him today a knighthood. the queen dubbed him a night with her fathers sword. we are told she touched him first on his right shoulder and then his left with the blade while dubbing him a night. we will keep with those pictures but i will bring in art correspondent, helena wilkinson. she

is in windsorfor us correspondent, helena wilkinson. she is in windsor for us and helena, correspondent, helena wilkinson. she is in windsorfor us and helena, we knew this was going to happen but it's a lovely occasion, isn't it? yes, an incredibly personal and private and special occasion for captain sirtom. you private and special occasion for captain sir tom. you can see those pictures there where he is not far from where we are standing, the queen coming out to greet sir tom mark and you can probably see very few people there, one of his daughters, hannah, and two of his grandchildren watching for that very special ceremony. this is all taking place with social distancing taken into account but this is a first time since the lockdown that the queen has had an officialface time since the lockdown that the queen has had an official face to face meeting with a member of the public and the queen there lighting

officially sir tom mark, about to tap him on each shoulder, she is tapping him with the sword that belonged to her father, tapping him with the sword that belonged to herfather, so tapping him with the sword that belonged to her father, so a very special occasion and when sir tom moore found out he would be honoured, his first reaction was this cannot be true, he is an honest man despite having raised so much money and in so much in such a short amount of time at his age, he has inspired not only people in this country but around the world. very special for country but around the world. very specialfor him, he country but around the world. very special for him, he was country but around the world. very specialfor him, he was incredibly excited when he left his home in bedfordshire this morning to make his way to windsor castle but what you are seeing is the quadrangle within the grounds of windsor castle within the grounds of windsor castle with the queen having lighted captain sirtom with the queen having lighted captain sir tom mark. his daughter

hannah this morning was saying out they are just an ordinary family and this all began for them is a bit of afamily this all began for them is a bit of a family challenge, that captain sir tom moore would work some laps of his garden to raise about £1000, that escalated and escalated and he raised over £32 million, so a very special moment, we will hopefully find out what the queen and he discussed after she lighted him but a very special occasion for an incredible man who has done so much and it's important for his family who have been great supporters of what he has done and they have been able to share his story, they have been able to be here to watch on for this moment. helena, you probably cannot see the pictures but we are

watching pictures of her majesty speaking to captain sir tom moore and members of his family and it's good to remember the queen herself is in her 90s, she has been shielding during this time and this is her first public appearance, meeting people in the flesh. yes, but don't forget that during the lockdown she has been trying to be seen as lockdown she has been trying to be seen as much as she can, it has clearly been important for her to be that voice of calm, as everyone went into lockdown, so she has been keen to be publicly seen but this is the first official time she has met a member of the public face—to—face and that is significant as well, she has chosen, if you like, captain tom moore for that moment here and she sent him a birthday card on his

100th birthday with an extra special message recognising the charity work, the amount of money, the incredible achievement that he made over the lockdown with the money he raised for nhs charities and she has taken a personal interest in that so there was a special message in his birthday card but there was a nice quote from captain tom moore before today when he found out he was going today when he found out he was going to be honoured, it wasn't clear when the state was going to come and he said he hoped the queen is not very heavy—handed with the sword as by then, he said, i might be a rather poor old weak soul, but he's said die before he came here it was going to be the most special day for him and when he was talking about the fa ct and when he was talking about the fact he would be a sir, he found that special but a very modest man,

he said he would still remain the same person but today a great moment for this incredible man. we can see the queen has just walked backin we can see the queen has just walked back in the, and that is the ceremony over. but clearly a very special moment for captain sir tom moore and his family. just before you go, i wanted to ask you something else, because that is not the only news emerging from windsor today. a lot is happening in windsor today. a lot is happening in windsor today. we found out a couple of hours ago that a wedding has taken place not far from hours ago that a wedding has taken place not farfrom here in windsor castle in the grounds of the great park, which is a short drive away from here. princess beatrice got married to her partner, they had got engaged in september. like many couples, they had to postpone their wedding, which had been due to take place in london in may. but they had

to postpone that. the palace had not given a date or publicised a date of when the wedding would take place, but we found out earlier on today that the couple did get married in the royal chapel, which is not too farfrom here, the royal chapel, which is not too far from here, and the royal chapel, which is not too farfrom here, and it was a very personal and a small ceremony. the queen was there. she was at the marriage service, as was the duke of edinburgh as well, and some family members, some close family members at that ceremony. princess beatrice having got married here today on the day that sir captain moore has officially been ignited by the queen. four of years who are just joining us, we want to be able to show them that moment of captain sir tom moore becoming a server. —— for viewers. we can see that now, the queen approaching him with a sword that belonged to her father, since

george vi. tapping him on both shoulders and dubbing him a night. you were saying, you were talking about the kinds of things that captain sirtom about the kinds of things that captain sir tom was a saying in anticipation of this moment. a humble and modest person. an incredibly humble and modest person. when he found out he was going to be honoured in this way, he frankly couldn't believe it. i think the words are used where, this cannot be true. he is the kind of person who doesn't like the attention, if you like, on himself. as you know, he raised over £32 million for nhs charities, and he was a voice during lockdown of reassurance, much like the queen as well. two people there having a moment after the queen

knighted him, becoming esther officially. having a chat together, and it will be interesting to see if captain tom mara will reveal what was said between the two of them. —— a sir. captain tom moore 100 years old, and a very special moment for him there today. that quote he gave when he found out he was going to be honoured, he didn't know what date it was going to be because do not forget, birthday honours were postponed because of the lockdown, and that —— that is what makes that ceremony today very special because an exception was made for his knighthood today, but he said at the time that he hoped the queen with the knighting, that tapping him on the knighting, that tapping him on the shoulder with the sword, he hoped the queen is not very heavy—handed with the by then i

might be rather poor old, weak soul. —— the sword. he looks beautifully dressed with the occasion for the queen. that flash of weight, we heard it again this morning when he left his home in bedfordshire to go to windsor, and hejoked about left his home in bedfordshire to go to windsor, and he joked about how he was worried he would not be able to get up again after being knighted. he does not look like he is having any trouble. just worth reminding people that the prime minister borisjohnson spoke of him as he was conducting his fundraising effort as providing us all with a beacon of light through the fog of coronavirus, and i think it will be one of the abiding images, won't it, of lockdown, when we look back in months to come of captain tom moore going up and down his garden steadfastly, doggedly. absolutely, and the message he was giving, when things were pretty bleak over the

last months, was one of hope and one of carry on, keep going, things will get better. that was the message that tom moore wanted to get across, and that resonated with so many people, and as i said, notjust in this country but he has been recognised now globally for the amount of work that he has done for nhs charities. it is going to have been a long day for him. as i say, he left bedfordshire earlier on today. his daughter, before he left, his daughter said they were going to ta ke his daughter said they were going to take it easy before the ceremony here this afternoon. no tripping up orfalling here this afternoon. no tripping up or falling just here this afternoon. no tripping up orfalling just so here this afternoon. no tripping up or falling just so they could make it here in one piece. but he looked incredibly smart. he was clearly moved and very honoured by this ceremony today, and i think we should hear from ceremony today, and i think we should hearfrom him perhaps a little later on hopefully with how

he felt and what he said to the queen and what she said to him. many thanks. aber correspondent helen at wilkinson there in windsor forest. —— hour. let us get more now on our top story. the prime minister has announced a fresh timetable for the easing of coronavirus restrictions in england, saying he hoped there could be a more significant return to normality by november in time for christmas. he said that by august the 1st, the government will give employers more discretion on how staff ca n employers more discretion on how staff can return to the workplace instead of telling them to work from home. our political correspondent ian watson reports. even as the coronavirus comes under greater control, the economy isn't exactly bouncing back to life. some people are wary of returning to work and travelling on public transport. from the 1st of august, the current advice is to work from home if you can will change. the minister shifted

responsibility for working practices from the government to employers. instead of the government telling people to work from home, we are going to give employers more discretion and ask them to make decisions about how their staff can work safely. that could mean of course continuing to work from home, which is one way of working safely, and which has worked for many employers and employees. 0r and which has worked for many employers and employees. or it could mean making workplaces safe by following covid—19 secure guidelines. to give confidence, he set out stronger measures to bring it back into control. an increase in testing is one reason. the entire city of leicester had to go into lockdown. the local council demanded more data and powers from central government. the prime minister today gave all english councils more response

abilities. from tomorrow, local authorities will have new powers in their areas. they will be able to close specific premises, shut public outdoor spaces and cancel events. these powers will enable local authorities to act more quickly in response to outbreaks where speed is paramount. but the prime minister dispensed carrots as well as wielding sticks, set out a road map for the future of lifting restrictions in england. next month, wedding receptions of up to 30 people will be allowed. casinos will reopen, other nightclubs and soft play areas will close. indoor performances with live audiences will be piloted with a view for a wider reopening in autumn. boris johnson has talked about waging a ha rd johnson has talked about waging a hard and long fight against coronavirus, but he likes to strike an optimistic tone, notjust preparing for the worst but hoping for the best, as he puts it. he even

suggested it might all be over by christmas. it is my strong and sincere hope that we will be able to review the outstanding restrictions and allow a more significant return to normality from november at the earliest, possibly in time for christmas. but labour said the prime minster had to do more to rebuild the confidence of the public.” think you build confidence by recognising where the problems and m ista kes recognising where the problems and mistakes are and setting out what you are going to do about them. i don't think you build confidence by pretending everything is fine. there is no longer hard and fast advice to work from home if you can, but returning to the workplace and returning to the workplace and returning to the workplace and returning to normality may take quite some time. we were listening to the committee earlier hearing evidence from the government scientific advisers about

how scientific advice is obtained by government and how it is used in making policy decisions. let us go back and listen in. we can hear at the moment from professor chris whitty from public health england. clearly, as wea mix of the things that have been removed are largely in the grip of a different aim, not around isolating individuals but breaking contact between individual households. several of those have now been lifted, not all of them, but we have tried to do that in a phased way, and the phasing is continuing as the prime minister laid out this morning. some things right at the end, which we know from other environments, night clubs is an example that he gave, are associated with outbreaks. we have to be completely clear that getting the exact balance right so that we neither stay over locked lockdown

with huge damage to families and their long—term health through that or open up too fast and some countries have tried this, and they have appeared to maintain their level of transmission to a very low level, continuing to go down in some places. others are doing quite similar things, have tried this and then there has been an upsurge in then there has been an upsurge in the virus subsequent to that. we are obviously trying to go cautiously, and the question is have all the things that we got which are countermeasures, provided people are really systematic and continue to do all those things, provided we continue that, we'll be able continue that, we'll be able continue to open up the society and the economy but without needing to be hard —— the rh going above one. going back to previous question and the academy of medical sciences

report, we think there are probably, and this is a very common view of doctors and scientists who have looked at this. a group of things you could do for three seasons of the year but it may be that in winter this is more difficult, because it is much more difficult in the winter. that is why we get more flus and coughs in winter. we have to be able to accept we may be able to be able to accept we may be able to do things for a period but women in other —— in winter. i think the pie minister made that very clear this morning. thank you, professor. —— prime minister. sir patrick, do you have anything to add, and just give usa you have anything to add, and just give us a feeling of what assessments are made on a community transmission and what measurements will be introduced at a local or national level as professor whitty goes into them mentor months? let me

ask —— the winter months. the first thing to say is that as you release measures, it is inevitable as you get more contact that you will see more cases. that is what happens, and that is therefore a consequence of anything that is done to release measures. at the moment, we are in a position where things stay low and they look ok, but i do not think looking around the world that you would say you would rest on your laurels and assume that is going to be the case. the critical question is measurement and detection as early as possible and understanding how to react to it. the model that you can see around the world and here is that the most likely thing is that you get an increase in local outbreaks, and those local outbreaks may be very local, which you need to act on quickly and deal with in a way that is proportionate to what has happened so you do not end up

with widespread lockdown is or measures to try and deal with that across the whole of society when in fa ct across the whole of society when in fact the problem is local, so that is the way this goes. as chris has said, come winter, the challenges will be greater, and there is a risk this could also need national measures as well. in terms of what you can look at, the r value is decreasingly useful as you get down to local levels, particularly when the incidents and prevalence of the disease is low. just to make an absurd example, if there was only one person infected and they then infected five other people, the r value would be five, yet you have still only got six people. r jumps around when it numbers is low and is not useful for local monitoring, and neither our growth rates, and therefore you need to look at

absolute numbers, incidence, prevalence and a number of other measures that you might take as surrogates of whether there is virus out there, which is exactly what the gbc is setting up to try to do. i will leave it to others to try and explain how that works. how would involving —— explain how that works. how would involving — — how explain how that works. how would involving —— how much involvement with public health have in these outbreaks? we work very closely through our local health protection teams with local authorities, the nhs and others, firstly to identify surges in activity or outbreaks, and then working jointly to make measures to try and control and stop the spreading. so we have this are local to national perspective, where at national level we are there to provide support, and locally that liaison, that operational response

is available. i think the key point as chris made, and that is to say that as we move into winter and as things start to relax, the key point has to be early detection of surges and prompt action, and that is what the public health england and jcb will be doing during the forthcoming weeks and months. i'm done. i want to ask... i think your sound. i will try again. i wanted to ask about the strategy. can you hear me now? the strategy. can you hear me now? the strategy for managing this. i think we have heard the evidence so far

that there is an expectation that that there is an expectation that that could change during the course of the winter and the response to the science report, but i would like to ask the panel how convinced they are that we we will continue with the broader science strategy amended at the edges during winter or will they have to significant changes? who would like to start? professor whitty. thank you very much. the first question is do we, over the next six months, end up with some very different tools at our disposal that actually change our strategy, and obviously the one we would all love to see is in the next six months if we got an effective or fairly effective vaccine or a highly effective drugs. i think patrick and

i certainly would be very surprised if that was the case but very pleasantly surprised, and we are working as fast as we can to achieve that. that would lead to a change in strategy. we are learning the whole time, notjust from our experience, but the experiences of people around the world. we both talked to our opposite members in many other countries to learn what is working and what is not and read a bit behind the headlines, because what you read in the newspapers and what actually is the reality is often quite significantly divorced from one another. i would be very surprised if our strategy in four months or five months' time was identical to the one we have at the moment. the bare bones of it will be the same. we will still be wanting people to isolate if they have symptoms and have contact tracing, still have the measures which protect others, like face masks. we will still be needing to have some local outbreaks responses. but what

we need to do in terms of the wider strategy and how we can do the maximum damage to the virus with the minimum damage to our society, that is going to evolve over time. some of that is from learning from other people and some of that is as the science people and some of that is as the science emerges, so people and some of that is as the science emerges, so i do think it will evolve, and our strategy now is quite different to what it was four months ago. i think it will be different again in four months' time. patrick may have a different view. i do not have a different view. i do not have a different view. i do think there is an overarching principle, which is to try and keep the levels of infection as low as you can, and that remains the overarching aim. up until the time you have something like an effective therapeutic where you might change that, but until that time, and particularly going into winter, it is incredibly important to keep levels low. for all the reasons we have alluded to, winter is going to be a very complex time,

where the vast majority of people of course who end up with the symptoms may not have covid—19. they may have something else, so there may be people who are being isolated for reasons that are non—covid—19, so it isa reasons that are non—covid—19, so it is a complexity which is going to be difficult to manage and may necessitate changing the way we think about various approaches.” have a couple of other additional questions, one of which i would like to put to professor flynn, which is whatever the strategy is now, and i am sure you can all articulate it and the expectation it will change, are you confident that the coordination between you, the nhs and what you are hearing from the sector and the new bio—security centre, that is all i hope well coordinated and working together? can you confirm ? coordinated and working together? can you confirm? thank you very much. the bio—security centre is a

new entity. we are working very closely with it to ensure that we have the links, the joint working, we are avoiding duplication and more importantly there is a clear line of sight between us around where the operation of responsibilities rests. we have seen the formation of a variety of host links through local authorities and director of public. there has always been a very close relationship with our protection teams and local authorities. we are now building on to make sure that we have this local international perspective that enables us to take action quickly and promptly, should issues arise. my final question, i think i can guess the answer to, but i would like to hear what the panel think. we know some countries plan to eliminate the virus. is this a

credible option at any stage, even with a vaccine and the therapeutics and diagnostics? i don't meanjust regulate, but i am quite interested in the answer. i shall have the first go at this. i have the privilege of working with diseases that were slated for elimination, so i have thought about this a lot. it is very important if we are going to talk about elimination, to be precise. very low numbers of cases, and keeping it as low as we can is what we should be trying to do. elimination means something quite specific. it means zero cases other than imported ones. no onward transmission within a country. if you think about this virus, which has got a very common syndrome, is a cinematic travel, millions of cases around the world, very easy to transmit, lots of countries have

tried to give it out and not succeeded. trying to eliminate this, particularly if you are highly connected like a country like the uk, and london is one of the most highly connected countries in the world, it's quite optimistic. the difference between elimination, zero, and very low is in absolute terms, in terms of numbers of cases very small, but conceptually it is very small, but conceptually it is very big. i think some of the people who are calling for elimination may actually be meaning control, but in science it is important to be precise. elimination means zero cases onwards transmitted, and that is going to be very difficult for this disease. i would just draw to the panel, to the committee's attention that we try to eliminate or eradicate a very large number of diseases over the years. so far we have eliminated one, smallpox, and we have tried on many other occasions. this is not an easy thing

to do. i confirm that. from a public health perspective, can you say more about the distance between managing the pandemic in a centralised manner as has been done in england, compared with the benefits of decentralised management, with greater involvement of local public health authorities, perhaps professor flint you could start. thank you very much. if you want to watch more of the lord science and technology committee, you can see that on bbc parliament. an interesting session there. you heard england's chief medical officer professor chris whitty talking about how hard it is to eliminate the disease that the only one scientists have managed to eliminate is a smallpox. he also said that public health guidance needs people buying into it so they can understand what actions to take. professor whitty

said that for example with masks, if you were a brilliant mask that only cove rs you were a brilliant mask that only covers half of your mouth, or only your nose, clearly it is going to only have a limited effect, so there must be much more public understanding. time for a look at the weather. here is louise. summer sunshine has deserted us a little just recently, but i have managed to find some today. the cloud has broken up, seeing some sunny spells coming throughjust broken up, seeing some sunny spells coming through just a few hours ago. best of the sunshine across the south—east. there is a weather front bringing some outbreaks of rain, and to the north of that, the isomers are squeezing together and the winds are squeezing together and the winds are strengthening as well. in marked contrast across the country. —— isobars. cloud contrast across the country. —— isoba rs. cloud and contrast across the country. —— isobars. cloud and rain out of scotla nd isobars. cloud and rain out of scotland into northern ireland, slowly pushing south and east. brightening up behind with sunny spells and scattered showers. light rain will see temperatures peaking at 17-21d, but rain will see temperatures peaking at 17—21d, but in the sunshine it is quite warm. humid for some. mid 20s

quite warm. humid for some. mid 20s quite widely, and it is going to be a warm evening overnight for the south—east corner. frontal system pushing into england and wales. there will be heavier bursts through the night. relatively mild night, temperatures in their mid teens. starting off saturday with that brand still with us. it is going to ta ke brand still with us. it is going to take it's time to clear. bringing some rain across northern england and wales, not moving very far very quickly, but gradually pushing into central wales and the midlands as we go through the afternoon. may be increasing cloud the south—east. sunny spells and scattered showers with a brisk breeze, that is in the north, with low temperatures. in the south, 24 degrees. there is a bit of a question about how much play we are going to see for the second test with that front slowly easing through. hopefully improving as the

day continues. it is still with us, and into sunday we have the rain going into the south—east corner. another interesting thing is that behind it, it is a cold front, so as that front continues to clear south and east, it will be a noticeable difference in the feel of the weather. sunday morning could start off as weather. sunday morning could start offasa weather. sunday morning could start off as a contrast. cloudy with light outbreaks of rain. sunny spells and scattered showers continuing. most of those up into the far north, but look at the difference of the feel of the weather. widely temperatures into the high teens and may be 21 if we are lucky.

this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. the headlines: borisjohnson sets out the next stage of his plans to ease the coronavirus lockdown in england, including a timeline for returning to workplaces. we will give employers more discretion and ask them to make decisions about how their staff can work safely. can we have confidence that the government's scientific advisers support these measures? this cannot be done on a wing and a prayer. it requires a credible plan and national leadership. the prime minister gives local authorities more powers to bring in their own lockdowns to contain future outbreaks. this afternoon the uk's chief medical adviser says people need to ‘buy into' public health guidance, especially when it comes to wearing face coverings.

if you are going to work one in a high risk area it must cover your nose and mouth. wearing our brilliant mask covering only your mouth or your nose will have very limited of heart. —— if that. arise, sir tom — captain tom moore, who raised millions for the nhs, is knighted by the queen. it isn't everybody gets the chance to see the queen, is it? i think that's going to be absolutely marvellous for me. if i kneel down, i'll never get up again. and also at windsor today, a secret wedding cereony as princess beatrice ties the knot with property tycoon edoardo mapelli mozzi. good afternoon. the prime minister has announced

a fresh timetable for the easing of coronavirus restrictions in england saying he hoped there could be a "more significant return to normality" by november, in time for christmas. borisjohnson said that by august first the government will give employers "more discretion" in how staff can return to the workplace, instead of telling them to work from home. bowling, ice skating, and beauty services will also be allowed to resume, as will indoor performances, if that can be done so safely. in september, schools, colleges and nurseries are to reopen — this was already known — but mrjohnson said universities were also working to reopen as fully as possible. in october stadium audiences will return, and conferences and other business events will be allowed to restart. the government will keep close contact between friends and family under review. boris johnson also announced new powers for councils to bring in "targeted local action" to deal with

new coronavirus outbreaks. the prime minister said his road map remained conditional on continued progress in controlling the virus. our first report is by our political correspondent, iain watson. even as the coronavirus comes under greater control, the economy is not exactly bouncing back to life. some people have been wary of returning to the workplace and of travelling on public transport, so from the 1st of august, the current advice — work from home if you can — will change. the prime minister shifted responsibility for working practices from the government to employers. instead of government telling people to work from home, we're going to give employers more discretion and ask them to make decisions about how their staff can work safely. that could mean, of course, continuing to work from home, which is one way of working safely, and which has worked for many employers and employees.

or it could mean making workplaces safe by following covid—secure guidelines. and to give people the confidence to return to work, the prime minister set out stronger measures to bring the virus under control. there will be more resources for the nhs and a big increase in testing by the end of october. in leicester, where the entire city had to go back into lockdown, the local council demanded more data and more powers from central government. today the prime minister gave all english councils more responsibilities. from tomorrow, local authorities will have new powers in their areas. they will be able to close specific premises, shut public outdoor spaces and cancel events. these powers will enable local authorities to act more quickly in response to outbreaks where speed is paramount. but the prime minister dispensed

carrots as well as wielding sticks and set out a road map for the future lifting of restrictions in england. next month weddings of up to 30 people will be allowed, most leisure facilities and casinos will reopen, but nightclubs and soft play areas will remain closed. indoor performances with live audiences will be piloted, with a view to a wider reopening in the autumn. borisjohnson has talked about waging a long hard fight against coronavirus but he also likes to strike an optimistic tone, notjust preparing for the worst but hoping for the best, as he puts it. he even suggested it might all be over by christmas. it is my strong and sincere hope that we will be able to review the outstanding restrictions and allow a more significant return to normality from november at the earliest, possibly in time for christmas. but labour said the prime minister had to do more to rebuild the confidence of the public.

i think you build confidence by recognising where there are problems and mistakes and setting out what you're going to do about them. i don't think you build confidence by pretending everything is fine. so there is no longer hard and fast advice to work from home if you can, but returning to the workplace and returning to normality might take quite some time. iain watson, bbc news. speaking at the lords' science and technology committee, the chief medical officer for england, professor chris whitty, says people need to ‘buy into' public health guidance, so they understand what actions to take during the pandemic. the stronger the evidence and a more clear it is, the more

similar to the response but across a range of areas but you have to translate it into people buying into it and understanding what they are meant to do and you are right, there are important but relatively technical variations in face coverings used in the general public. clearly respiratory masks for high risk procedures are highly regulated but we are talking about face coverings elsewhere, but the variation in those is much less important than getting people to do the basics and the basics are if you are going to wear one are going to wear one in a high risk area, it must cover your nose and mouth. a mask covering only your mouth will clearly have limited effect. the uk's chief scientific adviser, patrick vallance, was asked about community transmission and what that could mean for local or national lockdown measures as we approach winter. as you release mergers, it is

inevitable as you get more contact you will see more cases so a consequence of anything done to release measures, at the moment we are ina release measures, at the moment we are in a position where things stay low and look ok but i don't think looking around the world you would re st looking around the world you would rest on your laurels and assume that will be the case, so the critical question is measurement and detection as early as possible and understanding how to react to it, and the model you can see around the world and here is that the most likely thing is you get an increase in local outbreaks and those may be a very local, which you need to act on quickly and deal within a way thatis on quickly and deal within a way that is proportionate to what has happened so you don't end up with widespread lockdown is work measures to try and deal with that across the whole society when the problem is local so i think that is the way this goes but come winter, the

challenges will be much greater and there is a risk this could need national measures as well. the health secretary, matt hancock, has called for an urgent review into how data on coronavirus deaths is compiled in england. the figures include everyone who has ever tested positive — other parts of the uk include only those who've died within 28 days of a positive result. let's speak to robert cuffe who is our head of statistics. this is interesting because theoretically you could have had covid—19 and recovered from it and then be killed by a bus or something a few months later and that would be recorded as a covid death. a few months later and that would be recorded as a covid deathm doesn't change the overall numbers that much, public health england looked at data and said of the 40,000 deaths in england, coronavirus deaths, only about 4000

of those happen outside that 28 day window and even half of those ended up window and even half of those ended up having coronavirus registered as the cause of death on the certificate so it doesn't really change england from having one of the leading academics in europe too untouched by coronavirus. it's more important to identify what has been changing over recent times. as i speak to you i'm getting today's coronavirus death figures and the daily number of covid—19 dealt in the uk is 114, i'm just seeing. 114 additional doubts. what would you say generally about the death rate at the moment? it is downward. maybe flattening out and this could explain why it is a flattening outcome if you are seeing people who we re outcome if you are seeing people who were infected a long time ago now being included in the figures for reasons other than coronavirus so the broad answer is the rolling

average has been below average for a couple of days now but moving into winter we are trying to identify whether we are hitting a second wave, we will have a lot more people who have been tested positive for coronavirus and we include their deaths for other reasons alongside actual coronavirus deaths, that would make it hard to know if something is a second spike so that is why epidemiologists have called for public health england to change the way they count deaths and review matt hancock announced has been welcomed by public health england who site now is the right time for a review. and we have more sophisticated knowledge of how coronavirus cases are happening around the country, the government spoke today about giving local authorities more powers to deal with lockdown. we are seeing the information we get every week from public health england to identify the areas they are looking at and we

just had data on that and many of the names i will read out are quite familiar, leicester, wigan, blackburn, pendle, and what we are seeing is a patent we have seen in the last few weeks that has largely continued so leicester still has by a mile the highest rate of coronavirus infections in the country, about 100 cases per 100,000 people in a week and no one else is half of that. is that figure coming down from what it was? it's down by about 20% on last week so we have seen about 20% on last week so we have seen steady falls in leicester under the lockdown and we hope that will continue and some of the other places in the top ten have also seen false, so you look at it may be bradford, they have started to come down, also sheffield was one of the areas mentioned by public health england so you see falls in those areas of concern for public health

england not only take the cases figures but look at if it is just due to testing, action is taken locally, do we get a sense we are working so they bring that together to give an accurate picture of hot spots. one area that is not in here is herefordshire where we saw a massive spike in cases but that was because there was an outbreak at a single farm and you go in and test eve ryo ne single farm and you go in and test everyone and suddenly get 90 cases, that isn't evidence of a widespread problem in herefordshire but a single outbreak and that is why it doesn't figure in this list here. on that data collection, we have had a statement from doctor susan hopkins, public health england's director, who said...

we can discuss this with the oncologist professor karol sikora. thank you very much for being with us. are you surprised by this revelation that anybody with a covid who later dies of anything could be included, being hit by a bus, could be counted in covid figures? i'm shocked, i only found out about 7pm last night this was going on. i have a vested interest, might cancer patients are not coming through, they are scared stiff and not only that, we put a lot of effort of the nhs into covid and it now turns out that some of the data on which major

decisions are being based completely the idea that everyone who tests positive for the rest of their life, whenever they doubt they are counted asa whenever they doubt they are counted as a covid death, to use the who as an excuse, they never sanctioned that, that's not about how things are done in other countries. i wondered from the beginning how britain had such a high death rate, there was nothing we were doing differently from germany or italy so what was different about our death right and it turns out it's the way public health england counted them. you think that exaggerated the uk dealt right? if you look at the death rate gets roughly 44,000 at the moment. don't get me wrong, it is all very sad and i appreciate the loss grieving families have had but the majority of deaths per older people, most of whom would have died

within a few months or a few weeks of the time they did and that is the problem with this, and now we hear that the way it has been counted, the fact someone dying of terminal cancer is counted as a covid death is clearly not a good way to assess, we need tight information to make good clinical decisions, notjust for covid patients but cancer and heart disease and mental health patients. we have to balance the whole thing to keep the health service going to forget the economy for now but we have to get health ca re for now but we have to get health care back to normal much quicker than we are. speaking of that, what is happening on that? as an oncologist, you could maybe tell us, we know a lot of people have not been able to get the right sort of cancer treatment because of coronavirus, is that changing? it's getting better week on week. partly it's fair, people are not coming

forward. one that not that well known is around half the number of heart attacks have happened in the last three months so the ones who have not gone to hospital, what has happened to these people and people have just looked after themselves, they have not gone to the emergency room but with cancer you do not get away with it so easily and by the time you do get the symptoms that you find intolerable and get enough courage to move forward, the tumour may be spreading so the message has to be don't let that happen, if you have the symptoms, call your gp, the nhs is welcoming patients now and it will go better as the weeks go on. we have heard a lot of talk this week about the possibility of a second wave during the winter combined possibly with a flew epidemic, possibly more than 100,000 deaths. how anxious are you about

that? it is worrying but i think a lot of it is over and i would like to see the data on which this is based. i know it's mathematical models i cannot understand and they say you don't understand, we are telling you this is how it will happen, but it's just prediction, it's just possibilities. there happen, but it's just prediction, it'sjust possibilities. there is also a good possibility that there won't be a second wave. there never was with sars or mers and these are the older sisters of the current virus we have so again i think all the figures are flattening, they look encouraging, little local blips, the farm in herefordshire, a few districts in leicester and other towns but on the whole the overall data is fantastic and if you look at 111 telephony, the earliest sign, people burning up with that for key

symptoms, it is down at the bottom and you can see the blips in the different areas by postcode, beautifully curated data so i don't think there will be a second wave, it's more important we concentrate on getting the nhs back to normal for a whole range of things which will kill more people than corona did if we don't get going now. good to talk to you, professor karol sikora, thank you for talking to us. let's get more now on the news of the easing of the lockdown in england. i'm joined byjosh hardie, deputy director general of the cbi. do you welcome what borisjohnson was saying? i think it's a good step forward , was saying? i think it's a good step forward, for individuals as well as firms and high streets, getting back to work is something they want to

do. it will not be straightforward, it will rely on people feeling they are healthy, the huge investment the firms have made in covid secure workforces and it will rely on the conversations employers are having with staff about what works for them and how they can come back in ways that suit them so it won't be any sudden august rush but it paves the way for those who are willing and able to come back to work. it's important to remember millions of people are already back at work operating safely and supporting our economy. so businesses get more discretion on whether staff should come back but what does that mean and how many businesses will take advantages of that? have many seen advantages of that? have many seen advantages in staff working from home? the first thing is to recognise this has already happened for vazquez of the economy, whether retail or manufacturing, businesses are sitting down with staff and

think how do we make sure this works for you and investing heavily in covid security so this is just the next step in that but i think 20 million people at one stage were working from home and starting to talk to them and say are you co mforta ble talk to them and say are you comfortable coming in, often the challenge will be getting to work, not being at work. i don't think evenin not being at work. i don't think even in the long term it will be a return to where we were before, i think more people will work blended ours and that will help with transport but the key is to do it step—by—step in ways that work for individuals. a difficult question but what are the pros and cons of working from home? if this will be pa rt working from home? if this will be part of our future, blended ours, how well does that work for all businesses? i suppose what i'm getting at is to what extent do you need face—to—face communication, not down a zoom link or a conference call but face to face by the photocopier or in that left? it's

been interesting, like at first experiment and its work differently for different firms, some thrive on face—to—face contact, that collaboration, for others it's been relatively straightforward so there's a difference at a firm level, clearly a difference at a separate level depending on the type of work you do, some cannot be done from home but also a really big difference on an individual level. for some people working from home just doesn't work, they haven't the right home environment. some people miss their colleagues and that interaction so we will probably move toa interaction so we will probably move to a blended model where individuals have more flexibility but some meetings, being able to read body language, brexit negotiations, we heard they work much better face to face so if we have to play to individual circumstances, that is why government guidance for giving that flexibility is quite important.

do you think the government has the timing right or would you have liked to see the these earlier? so much of this is about psychology, it will only work when people feel it's ok to do that and starting it now doesn't mean the expectation is for this all too suddenly changed in august, this is starting to lay a path for the autumn were as long as there is not a second spite, and business's number one fear is a second spot, i don't want to be knocked down again, as long as the infection rate stays low, we could start to see this gradually build up over the autumn in ways that work for businesses so it's a good time to do it but the question is how this plays out in the next three months. josh hardie, thank you for being with us. let's get more reaction to the announcement. i'm joined by sir ed davey, acting

leader of the liberal democrats. the cbi telling us that they think the prime minister'stiming is right, do you agree? many people want to get back to normal, businesses want to get back to work, my concern is there seems to be a difference in opinion between the prime minister and the chief scientific adviser and that will alarm people who are still concerned about coronavirus and i think my concern is that the testing and tracing systems which are so crucial to back the health of our society and our economy, back them up, they are still not good enough, they are much better in other countries in the government have had plenty of time, the liberal democrats have been urging them and they haven't got that in place so yes, we all want to get back to normal but i have concerns about this. you think it's premature, easing the lockdown, the plans boris

johnson has announced?” easing the lockdown, the plans boris johnson has announced? i want to better understand why the chief scientific adviser seems to take a different view and it seems that the government is putting all the onus on employers to sort this out and some employers will be nervous about that, and the prime minister also said, this is important, he said we need to plan for the worst while hoping for the best and of course thatis hoping for the best and of course that is right but planning for the worse suggest we should get to the inquiry, the independent inquiry i have been calling for which last week, in answer to my question in the house of commons, the prime minister committed the government too. even though i questioned him again today in private, he is still refusing to press ahead with that independent inquiry and it's not just liberal democrats, many people out there want that inquiry to happen as soon as possible so we can learn the lessons, especially if we

are planning for the worst and if there might be a second wave of coronavirus in the late autumn or winter, it would be crazy not to learn the lessons now so that is why liberal democrats are calling and leading the charge for that independent inquiry to be set up as soon as independent inquiry to be set up as soon as possible. what about the government's announcement they will put another £3 billion into the national health service, give local authorities more powers to impose local lockdown is, to try to stop a second wave of coronavirus over the winter. do you welcome that approach? i welcome preparations in case there is a second wave and clearly the nhs will need more funding but i want to know what has happened to social care, to the care sector, that is where the government failed so lamentably last time, they left care homes and domiciliary care workers far too late, they didn't

provide ppe or tests so it's all right giving money to the nhs, of course that's welcome but where is the support for the care sector? they cannot make the awful mistakes they made last time and we sought so many people, patients and residents and staff, dying of covid in the ca re and staff, dying of covid in the care sector so i'm still not convinced the government has all the plans ready in case the worst happens and that's why i will keep coming back to it, when are they going to start this inquiry? it's critical. surely one of the big lessons we learnt from that shambolic handling of the first wave of covid is that they failed to protect the care sector and i want to know what they are doing now, and that's why i come back to it, let's get the inquiry started. sir ed davey, thank you. i should explain for anyone wondering about the background to your interview, you

are running in the liberal democrat leadership election and the other candidate is layla moran, but thank you for being with us. captain tom moore, who raised more than £30 million for the nhs at the age of 100, has been knighted by the queen at windsor castle. it was her first face—to—face engagement with a member of the public since march — and the only honour to be awarded since the beginning of the lockdown. let's speak now to our correspondent helena wilkinson, who's there in windsor for us. basking in the afternoon sunshine, and quitea basking in the afternoon sunshine, and quite a date for captain sir tom and quite a date for captain sir tom and fought her majesty the queen. yes, an incredibly special moment, a very personal one for sir tom moore, who had that ceremony not far from where we are in the grounds of

windsor castle in what was brilliant sunshine. he was joined windsor castle in what was brilliant sunshine. he wasjoined by windsor castle in what was brilliant sunshine. he was joined by one of his daughters, two of his grandchildren and his son in law, all very socially distanced but it was a unique ceremony and you can see those pictures of the queen tapping sir tom are on the shoulder twice, the sword that she is tapping him with belongs to her father. after that happened they had a brief chat, the queen thanked him, she said, for the amazing amount of money he had right and they were overheard talking, the queen said to sirtom, overheard talking, the queen said to sir tom, who turned 100 a couple of months ago, she said to him 100 is a great age. they then turned to talk a little bit about the lockdown and the queen asked him whether he had been isolating during that, but a hugely significant and poignant moment for sir tom who has achieved

so moment for sir tom who has achieved so much and he spoke after that ceremony took place.” so much and he spoke after that ceremony took place. i think to meet the queen was more than anyone could expect. never, ever did i imagine i would actually get so close to the queen and have such a kind message from her, that was really outstanding, it was truly outstanding. can you explain the message? what did she say? now. that's between you and her majesty? that's between you and her majesty? that's between you and her majesty? that's between the queen and i, i don't think i will tell anybody what she said. the queen and i spoke privately and it was a great honour for me to be able to speak to her at all. thank you, congratulations, i will hand you over to another colleague. captain sir tom and

doesn't he deserve it, and a busy day at windsor, not just a knighthood but a secret wedding. secret wedding yes, princess beatrice married—cam, they wanted to get married earlier in the year but like many couples they had to postpone it, we heard they got married not here at windsor castle but at the royal chapel which is a short drive from here in windsor great park and a busy day for the queen, we are told she was at that service, the duke of edinburgh as well and very close members of the royal family. we are told also by the palace that the ceremony took place with all the relevant government guidance, so that marriage having ta ken government guidance, so that marriage having taken place here in windsor earlier today. helena

wilkinson, thank you. a beautiful blue sky for both those events at windsor, let's see if the fine weather is continuing. louise layer has the latest. southern england sought sunshine and warm on friday and it looks like the weekend. promising for some but not others, all because of this cold front meandering its way across the country, so it brings a change of fortu nes country, so it brings a change of fortunes across northern england and wales, more cloud and outbreaks of rain on saturday, ahead of it we are still in the warm air, still some sunshine here, behind it fresh conditions with a few scattered showers to the north—west, so here 14-17d showers to the north—west, so here 14—17d as opposed to 24 in the south—east but that weather front will push south and east, it will bring light and drizzly rain through the night so way rather grey and

damp start first thing on sunday morning, slowly improving to sunnier skies with a few scattered showers in the north and ate noticeably fresher feel for all, in the north and ate noticeably fresherfeelforall, highs in the north and ate noticeably fresher feel for all, highs of 21. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... borisjohnson sets out the next stage of his plans to ease the coronavirus lockdown in england, including a timeline for returning to workplaces. we will give employers more discretion and ask them to make decisions about how their staff can work safely. can we have confidence that the government's scientific advisers support these measures? this cannot be done on a wing and a prayer. it requires a credible plan and national leadership. the prime minister gives local authorities more powers to bring in their own lockdowns to contain future outbreaks. the nhs in england will get

an additional £3 billion to prepare for a possible second wave of coronavirus this winter. this afternoon, england's chief medical officer says people need to ‘buy into' public health guidance, especially when it comes to wearing face coverings if you are going to wear one in a high risk area, it must cover your nose and mouth. wearing a brilliant mask covering only your mouth or your nose will be very limited if that. the health secretary calls for a review of coronavirus death data in england as it's revealed that anyone who's ever tested positive for the virus and then dies is included in the figures. arise, sir tom — captain tom moore, who raised millions for the nhs, is knighted by the queen. and also at windsor today, a secret wedding cereony as princess beatrice ties the knot with property tycoon edoardo mapelli mozzi.

while the economic pressure to ease the lockdown restrictions is strong in many countries, the global rate of infection continues to rise. in the last 24 hours brazil has reached 2 million cases, india 1 million. and yesterday saw the highest daily total of new infections in the us, over 73,000. today, the un has warned that millions face starvation as a result of the pandemic. caroline hawley reports. most of the world hadn't heard of coronavirus six months ago, hadn't seen friends and family fall sick, hadn't felt the stranglehold it would put on our lives. now some countries are easing restrictions. in other places, though, it's still taking hold with truly devastating effect. today from india, a frightening new figure. more than1 million people have now been infected in the country, and localised lockdowns that had been lifted are now being swiftly reimposed.

"we sanitise our vehicles," this rickshaw driver says. "we maintain social distancing." but he says he is still very scared. the other side of the globe, and the grave—diggers of brazil have never been busier. the country now has two million cases of coronavirus, second only to the united states. there's deep disquiet here about how they are far right president is handling the virus. he has regularly appeared without a mask and wants a return to normal life. translation: we must stop suffocating the economy. there's not enough money. unemployment kills more people than the virus. in the us, the virus is still killing relentlessly. it's the worst affected country in the world and it's just recorded its biggest ever daily leaping cases, close to 75,000. donald trump says that is down to increased testing but others blame his policies and say lockdown

was lifted too early and with too many young people carrying on their lives as normal. america's chief coronavirus adviser anthony fauci spoke last night to mark zuckerberg of facebook. so what i would urge, and almost plead with the younger people, because i know if they really understood this they would take it seriously, that you have to have responsibility for yourself but also a societal responsibility that your getting infected is not just you in a vacuum, you're propagating a pandemic. this unprecedented global pandemic is having catastrophic consequences. today the united nations is launching its biggest ever appeal for funds to help poorer countries cope. it's warned that unless richer countries step in as many as 265 million people could, by the end of this year, face starvation. caroline hawley, bbc news. british airways is to retire all 31

of its boeing 747 jumbo jets from service immediately, because of the impact of the pandemic on travel. ba says it will focus on more modern, more fuel—efficient planes. the fleet was originally due for retirement in 2024. let's get more on the news that the prime minister has announced more easing to the coronavirus lockdown in england. well, we can speak now to laura hinton — chief people officer at pwc. thank you for being with us. what do you make of the easing of restrictions, especially as it affects the workplace, encouraging people to go back to work?” affects the workplace, encouraging people to go back to work? i think it is encouraging news today. having that clearer direction of travel in terms of supporting the return to offices and return to work for more people is definitely a positive sign. we have been reflecting over

the last few months and really engaging with our people in terms of what has worked well and what has not, and we know that there are real advantages to being back in an office environment. if somebody is co mforta ble office environment. if somebody is comfortable doing so, and of course if it is safe. being able to have more discretion in terms of what that transition back into an office environment looks like is a really positive move. from your point of view as an employer, what are the advantages of people working in an office space like the one behind you as opposed to working from home? the good news is we know that people can work really effectively from home. they can be productive, they can be effective. but what we know is there are certain activities that are better done in an office. we recruit, train a lot of people every year. actually training, development, coaching, team building events a re development, coaching, team building events are much easier done in an office environment. the feedback from our people, we have had about 10% of people coming back so far

where they felt they had a need to be back in an office, and their feedback has been incredibly positive. there are certain activities where it feels better and different in an office environment, but actually the reality is that there will be more of a balanced perspective, because working from home works for other activities as well. there will be more of a balance and a blend as we go forwards. do you think people miss the buzz of the officer, missed the companionship and comrade if they are working from home? or do they like the freedom of working from home and think they get more done? they do not have to spend time travelling into an office for one thing. i think it is a bit of both. we know that working at home full—time is very offence, particularly focused on a laptop can be really draining. having more variety is a good thing. we know the comrade rate, the catch ups around the water cooler are the glue that holds a lot of us together. that is really positive to be able to bring more of that back into the working

week. we also know we could have more of an impact on our broader communities as well, so aware we have offices, and we have 20 of them up have offices, and we have 20 of them up and down the country. those businesses, whether that is cafe is, restau ra nts, businesses, whether that is cafe is, restaurants, businesses around our office buildings are incredibly pleased to see us returning, so if we do not come back to the office, they cannot either. i think we have a responsibility to think about the wider impact we can have on those businesses and the communities and economy more broadly. just give us a rough idea of the figures. how many people have you got back now working in offices, and how is that going to change in the coming months over the summer? we have gotjust under 10% of people back now, and we have been consulting with our people in terms of what they would like to do over the summer months. again, i was pleased to see that in terms of the announcement today that the consultation with people will continue to be important. i think it needs to be voluntary. people need to be comfortable to come back. we

have been surveying our people, and another 30% of them are keen and ready to come back now, so i think we will see that transition over the coming months —— summer months. those who are not comfortable coming back yet, one of the concerns was around public transport, so hopefully that will be eased through the announcements today, but as schools go back in september, public transport is more available to people, as the colleagues that have been back to share their positive experiences of being back in the office and the fact they feel very safe, that will start to build a bit ofa safe, that will start to build a bit of a multiplier effect and we will see more people coming back through into the autumn. good to talk to you. i'm joined byjane longhurst — chief executive, the meetings industry association. thank you to you for being with us. we have had a significant announcement from the prime minster as far as you're concerned, in terms of events, because major business

meetings and events can restart from the 1st of october are subject to pilots. what is your reaction to that? to be honest, the industry is ecstatic today. it has been a long time coming. we started to feel the impact of covid—19 way back in february when international delegates —— delegates stopped coming into the uk, and the impact was very coming into the uk, and the impact was very huge straightaway. we have just been waiting. we knew we had to wait and it had to be done in a safe way, and we have been preparing for that. to get that used today is fantastic, but there is another bit of news that we hope will come as soon as of news that we hope will come as soon as the guidance is released, and that is with that we can start small events of up to 30 people from the 1st of august, and that really will be significant, because it will mean people can start ringing their teams back straightaway. and how different our meetings, conferences, events going to be in the future

with social distancing? although it is reduced from two metres to one metre. what distance is that going to make? massive obviously. the whole connection element of an event is not going to be there. networking can still be taking place, but socially distanced, and you will see differences in venues as well. we have always been brilliant at safety. we have always been really good at health care and infection prevention, but i think it will be accentuated, so we will see a lot of changes around that. we do not know about masks yet, we are waiting for the guy knits, but that may be part of what we need to do when we reopen. this industry is very adaptable, and we will work with anything the government needs to make this work. —— guidance. it is so make this work. —— guidance. it is so important for the whole industry. it is so important for the country. we deliver 70 billion for the economy, and we generate huge

amounts of trade for hotels and restau ra nts, amounts of trade for hotels and restaurants, and without business events, basically those elements of the business applied. as you say, a huge part of the economy, but to what extent has your sector been devastated by this pandemic? how many of your companies, businesses have gone under or are about to go under? we are predicting 30,000 losses across the whole sector, and thatis losses across the whole sector, and that is merely the tip of the iceberg. it is really —— has really devastated their suppliers in the sector. there is a huge amount of independence in our sectors. production houses, staging etc, and they have had so little support so they have had so little support so they are devastated. in terms of how many have gone under, we are yet to see the eventual roll out of those figures unfortunately. good luck to you and all in the industry, and it isa

you and all in the industry, and it is a very important sector. jayne longhurst, chief executive of the meetings association. european union leaders are attempting to agree a huge covid—19 stimulus package in their first face to face meeting since the outbreak of the pandemic. the german chancellor, angela merkel, and the french president, emmanuel macron, are pushing for grants to make up the bulk of a 750 billion euro recovery fund but four other nations are insisting on loans. the man who has to get everyone to agree is the president of the european council, charles michel. here's what he had to say. i know that it will be very difficult, because i know it is not about money, it is about people, the european future and about our unity, and even if it is difficult, i am convinced that with political courage, it is possible to reach an agreement. the prime minister of the netherlands made it clear on his way into the summit

that the states requesting help need to do more to reform their own economies in future. solidarity, yes, from countries that can free up more in their budget towards countries that are less able to, but the other way around for those countries to be able to do everything they can to resolve this, and that means reforms in the job market and in pensions. we asked our correspondent in brussels gavin lee whether it's true — as president macron says — that this summit could define the bloc‘s future. it is. it's hard to underplay this, and there is a sort of syndrome, inadvertently, about the eu, where you hear crisis after crisis over the last five years, whether it's the greek economy, terrorism, migration, brexit, almost the boy who cried wolf, but angela merkel, the german chancellor, emmanuel macron, the french president, saying this is the crisis of crises.

this is the moment that they have to take a decision to be able to say, we will put more money into the coffers, notjust about the recovery fund and giving grants to other countries who need it most and about actually sharing more, but also this budget for the next seven years of the eu, spending more than one trillion euros together and saying, this will keep us going. this matters, because every single leader who is in that building behind me right now — all socially distant, wearing masks, and we'll get through plenty of them, we expect... it's in a room where there are usually about 500 people, reduced to 31, just the leaders and immediate assistants allowed to brief them today. no journalists allowed inside at all. that's a first. ultimately, those leaders have to go back to their countries and explain to parliament what they've done, how they've made their moment, which they will be remembered for. for example, the danes — last time they negotiated the budget, they came away with a rebate worth 1 billion euros, so that's why this is going to take a long time and, on top of that, i there are two sticking points to look out for. the dutch — mark rutte, the prime minister, digging in at the moment, saying that he doesn't want to see grants given. there have to be either loans or a dutch sign—off

and a commitment by these countries to the dutch, for example, that they'll commit to spending and won't go over. and hungary, too — the suggestion that there could be rule of law implications here, that countries sign up to the code of conduct of the eu and, if hungary doesn't, they don't get the money. viktor orban, the prime minister, threatening to walk out if there are conditions to attach. a man has beenjailed for life for killing his girlfriend and their unborn child. aaron mckenzie has been told he must serve a minimum term of 35 years after he was found guilty of stabbing his heavily pregnant girlfriend kelly fauvrelle while she slept. their son riley was delivered by caesarean section but died in hospital four days later. a former church minister and bbc wales presenter has pleaded guilty to sexual offences against children and adults. ben thomas — who is 44 and from flintshire — admitted 40 offences, including indecent

assaults and voyeurism in the uk and romania. let's get more from our wales correspondent hywel griffith. what is latest? bring is up—to—date. ben thomas had a long lasting links with evangelical churches in wales, and the majority of these offences we understand and relate to his work with the church from a relatively young age. they go back as far as 1990, and as recently as 2019. for a large part of that, he was also employed by the bbc, a well—known figure within welsh language broadcasting for a long time. he presented the children's news programme, a welsh version of newsround, and while the offences don't relate directly with his work in the bbc, they happened before, during and after that. we know these offences involved 15 different child victims and more than ten adults and took place as i said over the course of three decades. he has pleaded

guilty to all 40 offences. we have heard from the church he went on to work with after he left the bbc, they are saying they are completely shocked by this. they say he came very well recommended to them. that they had carried out safeguarding measures and it was only when he was arrested last year that they realised something deeply disturbing had happened that only now he has pleaded guilty that they are able to realise what they say is his grievous sins. we have also heard from north wales police that this was an abuse of vulnerable victims and an abuse of trust by young people and their families. ben thomas will return to court on august 18 when he has been warned by thejudge he is likely to august 18 when he has been warned by the judge he is likely to face a custodial sentence. uncertainty over foreign travel has got many of us looking to britain's beauty spots for the chance of having at least some kind of holiday this year. our correspondentjohn maguire has been finding out how residents and visitors in cornwall are finding the uk's new ‘stay—cation' trend.

there's sand, sun and surf, as you would expect from a st ives summer, but social distancing means it's far from business as usual. challenging times for all who are trying to work within the restrictions. in terms of the tourists who are coming, it's reminding them to be respectful of how we are here, come and enjoy it, we will help you enjoy it, but if we have anti—social behaviour, then we will issue dispersal notices but that's a last resort — that's not our style here. a welcome return, but serving so many visitors all at once isn't easy. we have gone from having the place to ourselves to it being completely packed, as usual. however, of course, all the restaurants and shops can take half capacity, some people haven't gone back to work, so there's still quite a big issue for the future of st ives, and the future of some of our local shops and businesses who are going to still struggle, although people — thank goodness — are now here. cornwall is famous

for its sardines — the fish, of course, not the game — but you wouldn't know it today. when lockdown was in full effect, people here warned visitors to stay away, promising that when the situation improved, they would be welcomed back with open arms. andy cameron's boat and surf school company in north cornwall has reinvented its business model. probably one of the real positives of the whole covid issues down in cornwall is a lot of the businesses have started working together that would have traditionally been competitors. so for the boat businesses in padstow, we now have an email group just working out how we can not be on the pontoons at the same time to allow separation between the passengers. padstow is synonymous with rick stein. his businesses employ 600 people in the area. the cookery school has been converted into a pop—up restaurant. we are a seasonal business. this summer season will save us, there is no doubt if we had missed out on this revenue, i think we, as a company, 45 years old restaurant company, we would likely be not trading next year, simple as.

change to survive is the mantra here. emma's cafe is around the cornerfrom one her grandfather used to run. she was brought up in new zealand but is now back in padstow and adapting her business to cope with coronavirus. we normally cram people in like sardines, really, so it was a tough decision but we decided forjuly and august, we'd go takeaway only, just to deal with the social distancing. living on a peninsula jutting out into the atlantic ocean requires a good deal of resilience, and never has that been more severely tested than now. john maguire, bbc news, cornwall. it's the first night of the bbc proms and things are going to be rather different to usual. the coronavirus restrictions mean audiences at home are being offered a ‘fantasy season'— with archive performances and some live concerts. a grand virtual orchestra made up

of all the bbc orchestras will perform a new mash—up of beethoven's nine symphonies recorded in lockdown. i wonder what beethoven would have made of that. here's our entertainment correspondent colin paterson. the 125th anniversary of the proms, and they never looked or sounded quite like this. no live concerts for the first six weeks, instead, the opening performance tonight on radio 3 is a special commission recorded during lockdown. 323 bbc musicians in their own homes combined to mark beethoven's 250th birthday. they are playing a mash up of his symphonies. accompanied by two dancers who are in a beethoven bubble. ian was chosen to create the piece. there is an entire season, an entire proms season that has had to be replaced. so, yeah, it's a wonderful honour but not one that i was expecting to do.

and, um, i have made the most of it and it's something i have enjoyed hugely and something that it hope captures a lot of the celebratory spirit of the proms. and the whole piece, including a nod to saturday night fever will be shown on sunday night on bbc four. from then until the august bank holiday weekend, the proms will feature reruns of archived performances. but for the final two weeks, a return to the royal albert hall and live performances from the likes of sheku kanneh—mason and nicola benedetti. for the orchestral pieces, it is not clear how many musicians will be allowed on stage. so four different programmes have to be planned for each concert.

and as for the last night of the proms, it's unclear if the public will even be allowed in, singing along to land of hope and glory. at the moment, the audience can just hope. i beethoven mash up. let us see what the weather is doing. sunshine is pretty strong at this type of year, so pretty strong at this type of year, so not much for those temperatures to respond once we get it, and we certainly had it on friday with temperatures widely in the south—east corner around the mid to high 20s. a beautiful blue sky and sunshine here, but not for all of us. weather front bringing sunshine here, but not for all of us. weatherfront bringing cloud sunshine here, but not for all of us. weather front bringing cloud and rain, and the rain was slow—moving. behind it windy of isobars driving ina summer behind it windy of isobars driving in a summer showers to the north—west of the great glen. that is going to be the story over the next few hours. cloud and rain

slowly meandering into the north of england and north wales. it stays relatively mild even muggy in the south—east corner, where we will see friday's heat. as we start off saturday morning, that cloud and rain pushing in south—east. breezy in the north—west, driving in summer showers. a day of mixed fortunes. sunny spells and scattered showers for scotland and northern ireland. rain pushing southwards slowly, not in any rush at all. that means east anglia, midlands and down along the channel coast will see some sunshine and warmth, not quite as warm as today. temperatures peaking into the mid 20s. the question unfortunately is what is going to happen to the cricket. if you are following the second test, that whether frontjust sitting around the north—west, so it likely to be some interruption to play. hopefully slowly improving as

we through the latter stages of the afternoon. really not moving very far very fast. one interesting thing about it is it is a cold front, so squeezing south and east it will continue to introduce the fresh air from the north—west. you will notice a difference for the feel of the weather across south—east england are particularly. grey, dulland drizzly in places, slowly brightening up. we keep the risk of some showers driven on by that westerly breeze in the far north—west, look at the temperatures. widely into the mid to high teens. if lucky, we could see 21 degrees. high pressure are said to build and start the week off on quite a quiet note. a good deal of dry weather before there is the risk of more cloud and rain pushing into the far north—west later on. take care.

this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. the headlines. borisjohnson sets out the next stage of his plans to ease the coronavirus lockdown in england, including a timeline for returning to workplaces. we will give employers more discretion and ask them to make decisions about how their staff can work safely. can we have confidence that the government's scientific advisers support these measures? this cannot be done on a wing and a prayer. it requires a credible plan and national leadership. the prime minister gives local authorities more powers to bring in their own lockdowns to contain future outbreaks. the nhs in england will get an additional £3 billion to prepare for a possible second wave of coronavirus this winter.