good morning, welcome to bbc news. i'm victoria derbyshire — here are the headlines. 7,000 jobs to go at m&s over the next three months — as the pandemic means even more of us shoppped online universities call for urgent government support after the u—turn over a—levels. the education secretary resists calls to resign, but does say he's sorry for the distress caused. this is not something that anyone wanted to,

whether it was from our perspective or from the exam board's or quual's perspective, but that's why we had to take action when we did. if you're an a—level, gcse or btec student, what does the u—turn rain for you? let me know your reaction. also this hour... calls to licence commercial dog walkers — the rspca says it wants to see higher welfare standards. michelle 0bama launches a scathing attack on donald trump at the democratic party virtual convention.

marks and spencer has announced that thousands ofjobs will be cut over the next three months. it will lose 7,000 posts across the business, including customer assistants and support centre management. the business expects a significant proportion to go through voluntary redundancy or early retirement. these cuts are on top of an additional 950 that were announced by injuly, as part of a store management revamp. the company has just under 80,000 employees, so that's around a tenth of the workforce that will be cut in total. marks and spencer says the coronavirus pandemic has made it clear there's been a "material shift in trade". group sales were down 19.2% year—on—year in the 19 weeks running up to 20th august — this includes the lockdown period. with me now is our business presenter ben thompson. ben, this is because presumably even more of us are shopping online? yes,

you're absolutely right. a pretty neat summary of the challenge facing marks & spencer this morning as it has to readjust to life after coronavirus. and to do that, it says it needs fewer staff and it will make those cuts over the next three months. 7000 announced today, the top of the 950 announced earlier in the year. that makes it about 10% of the year. that makes it about 10% of the workforce that will go. the jobs are split across the business. some will go in head office, some will go in regional management. but also, some in individual stores. that, they say, is because during coronavirus they came up with new ways of working. they asked staff to be more adaptable, to multitask to work in different parts of the business. maybe somebody who worked in the food department before it is now also working on the clothing department, or the home department. they have said that was quite a success they have said that was quite a success and they want to continue doing that. hopefully they won't

have to make forcible redundancies. hopefully they will do it through volu nta ry hopefully they will do it through voluntary and early retirement. it underlines the scale of the challenge facing marks & spencer. you touched on sales. they have also told us this morning that their revenues, and if you look at them it gives you a sense of what went on. in the 13 weeks to august, their reve nu es we re in the 13 weeks to august, their revenues were down 39%. they have picked up a little bit as more of us have re—emerged and gone back into stores. but in the last eight weeks their sales are still down by nearly 30%. they have seen a return to stores that are out of town. maybe with big car parks, lots of fresh air. but those in city and town centres a re air. but those in city and town centres are still struggling. a huge challenge for marks & spencer to turn around its fortunes. and of course online being a huge growth area for them now. they have signed area for them now. they have signed a deal with avocado. that comes online in september. that could play into this trend. it is pretty

stark. 68% of orders were delivered to peoples homes in recent months. compare that to the 29% in previous yea rs. compare that to the 29% in previous years. that gives you a sense of how oui’ years. that gives you a sense of how our habits have changed and how firms like marks & spencer have to respond. cheers, ben. we will talk to the shop union later. a fresh scramble for university places begins in earnest today, for those hit by the chaos over a—level results. the government's u—turn yesterday, that results would be given on teacher assessment, followed an outcry over students being graded down by an algorithm. but it's not all over. that turmoil means that thousands have lost out on uni places they would otherwise have secured. now, universities say they face a major challenge fitting them in because they've already given those places away to others. dan johnson reports. when i heard the news, a huge wave of relief came over me, and it's just fantastic. i'm so happy. i feel like the government should've taken the grades that my expert teachers gave me from the start based on my performance. i'm frustrated that this

completely unnecessary mess has set me back a year. the government has heard our voices and accepted that they were wrong and changed the decision because it's literally going to mean so much for so many students across the country. after a painful u—turn in every corner of the united kingdom the question is, what difference does this make for the future? i was in a state on thursday, atrocious. here's one family who felt disappointed by son riley's results last week, and worried about his sister's gcse on thursday. a lot of stress off my shoulders, especially... especially where the university's concerned because... because of the decision now, i don't have to go through the appeal process. it's been such a surreal year and i feel like the past few days have just been all over the place, and it's just great to know that everything — providing they stick

to what they said — is just going to work out the best it can with the situation we're in. the computer models used to standardize grades agreed by teachers produced inconsistent results. there have been apologies from ministers and officials who got their maths badly wrong. but reverting to teachers' estimated grades isn't a simple solution. universities had been busy matching students with available courses through clearing. now some unis will have more students with the right grades than they have places remaining. there's certainly a lot of work for us to do, going ahead. so i think obviously our concern is that the best outcome is available for all students. but at the moment, it's not quite clear to us how we will get the new results, how we have to process them. but we've got our students' interests at heart. i'm just not been sleeping well for the past few nights, just been really stressed about my future. i'm hoping things turn out all right and ijust want some kind of

certainty. clearing now feels more like clearing up — after a mess that put the futures of many young people in jeopardy and leaves question marks over the futures of those in charge. dan johnson, bbc news. and dan has been spending time with some students at leyton sixth form college in east london this morning, who've been trying to work out what the u—turn on results means for them and their future plans. 0riginally they gave me a c, b, c. which meant i didn't get into my first choice uni, which was university college london. 0r second choice to study politics. now after the u—turn i have got an a, a, choice to study politics. now after the u—turn i have gotan a, a, b, which means i can now study i want but it is not exactly have my first choice uni. you still can't get into your first choice? no, unfortunately not. after this i am going to go home, bring the uni, try to get

onto my course, because that's all i can do really. how about you, victoria? last week i got a b, b, c. i'm thinking of repeating as i don't thinking of repeating as i don't think i deserve a b in arts. had i been able to finish the course, i would have got an affelay, maybe even ana would have got an affelay, maybe even an a star. you are thinking of setting yourself back a year to make sure it is sorted out? yeah, because i know what i am capable of if the pandemic had never happened. if i have to sit another year, that's fine. i feel like have to sit another year, that's fine. ifeel like it have to sit another year, that's fine. i feel like it is very unfair. the pandemic was no one's fault. it is very unfair that now i have to deal with the situation and figure out a way on my own to sort this out. the government is not supporting students to sort out properly for everyone. we have to make sacrifices on our behalf to sort us out properly. what about you? i 10096

sort us out properly. what about you? “0096 agree sort us out properly. what about you? i 100% agree with sort us out properly. what about you? i 10096 agree with what victoria is saying. i am in the same situation. i applied for king's couege situation. i applied for king's college london in order to do digital culture. but the grades i received were a, b, d. which was nowhere near the entry requirement. now i found out i can get two a stars and a b. i was able to secure my insurance on results day. i am very happy with that to go to goldsmiths to do journalism. but very happy with that to go to goldsmiths to dojournalism. but i still feel like grades and exams aren't necessarily to just get still feel like grades and exams aren't necessarily tojust get into university. there is something personal. i really do value my great and my academics. for me i will be resetting maths, which i got a d in. i know i am capable of doing much more. let's go to our political correspondent, iain watson. good morning. 20 years ago this would have been a resignation issue foran would have been a resignation issue for an education secretary, maybe even ten yea rs for an education secretary, maybe even ten years ago. but not now, it seems? maybe even several months

ago. borisjohnson's seems? maybe even several months ago. boris johnson's administration doesn't do resignations. we can —— remember dominic cummings and the trip to northumberland during lockdown. he is still there. trip to northumberland during lockdown. he is stillthere. calls for the resignation of robert jenrick. that followed the planning application relating to richard desmond. he is still in place. certainly people useful to loyal johnson —— what might borisjohnson tend to keep theirjobs. there are other reasons why gavin williamson is still in place today. downing street say they have got full confidence in him and he has got a case for his defence, if you like. he is certainly using 0fqual as something of a human shield, saying that he had raised concerns directly with them and time and again he got reassurances that precisely what occurred over the past few days, would not occur. earlier today, speaking to the bbc, he was fairly humble about what had happened up to a point. what did become apparent and what the mounting evidence was was that there were too many students not getting the right grades that they

should have been getting. and as i touched upon, an appeals process, no matter how robust, and we had taken action to strengthen the appeals process , action to strengthen the appeals process, make sure that it was incredibly open, incredibly wide and incredibly open, incredibly wide and incredibly generous, was still not going to be robust enough for those youngsters who have potentially been awarded the wrong grade. that is why we took the action. as someone who went to a comprehensive school, went toa went to a comprehensive school, went to a sixth form college, i'm not going to be sat there when the evidence is there that there are problems, action has to be taken. that is what we did yesterday. and of course, as you can absolutely imagine, iam of course, as you can absolutely imagine, i am incredibly sorry for the distress that this has caused for those youngsters. and incredibly sort of, you know, this is not something anybody wanted, whether it was from our perspective or from the exa m was from our perspective or from the exam board's was from our perspective or from the exam boards or was from our perspective or from the exam boa rd's or 0fqual‘s perspective. that is why we had to ta ke perspective. that is why we had to take action

when we did. conservative mps critical privately of gavin williamson aren't bothered by his u—turn. they are quite delighted by that. they are bothered about the time it took him to get there. concerns were raised a month ago by the cross—party education syste m ago by the cross—party education system — — ago by the cross—party education system —— committee about the methods 0fqual were using. they had asked for reassurances. the case for the defence is that allies of gavin williamson was concerned what would happen to disadvantaged pupils, those were raised directly with 0fqual, the exams regulator, in a meeting on the 16th ofjuly. the regulator had suggested the system would indeed be robust. it only became apparent once the results we re became apparent once the results were out there was a problem with this controversial algorithm itself. there were discussions as to whether it should be fixed. the difficulty there is that would have meant a the gcse results, which were due out this week. at that point he and the prime minister decided it would be much better to go back to teacher

assessed grades. but certainly some conservative mps are saying to me, why didn't he act a little bit quicker? there was a u—turn in scotland last week. he could have made a political decision at that stage. he was asked today whether he had stage. he was asked today whether he ha d offe re d stage. he was asked today whether he had offered to resign. this is how he chose to answer. you have an you have an answer you have an answer of haddock that question yet. will you resign? what we are doing is delivering the grades for those children. we are making sure, we're going to make sure that all schools are returned, andi sure that all schools are returned, and i am absolutely determined over the coming year that i am going to be delivering the words best education system, the improvements and reforms we have made over the last ten years, they need to be built on, that's what our focus is, that's what my focus is and that's what the prime minister's focuses on. that is what i'm going to be doing. he didn't answer the question. i don't know if you have seen the front page of the daily star today. they expect gavin williamson to be out of hisjob they expect gavin williamson to be out of his job at some point in the

future. they say job out of his job at some point in the future. they sayjob spec out of his job at some point in the future. they say job spec for the soon—to—be vacant role of education secretary. according to the daily mail today, other conservative mps have told them that borisjohnson will wait before it sacking gavin williamson, in order to potentially, they say, take the rap for any gcse results chaos and any chaos as schools reopen? that's right. if the newspapers decided on gavin williamson's political career, he would be gone by now. the daily star talk of farce and humiliation. usually supportive papers for the government, including the sun, have been weighing in as well. certainly there are big challenges for the education secretary ahead, the difficulty of actually getting people into universities with limited capacity, even though the cap on admissions has been lifted.

very difficult if people have already been turned down for university places. that is the most immediate challenge. then it is about getting children inning england back into school safety and insufficient numbers back in september. that is another challenge. if he fails those challenges, borisjohnson challenge. if he fails those challenges, boris johnson could reassess whether or not he wants to keep them in his cabinet. certainly one former minister felt that he would be at least reshuffled out of his current position in the autumn. that remains to be seen. certainly he has been very useful behind the scenes to boris johnson. he has been very useful behind the scenes to borisjohnson. very he has been very useful behind the scenes to boris johnson. very useful during the leadership contest last year. his fortunes may yet change. i think from that non—answer he gave on his resignation, he nonetheless said he wanted to build a world beating education system over the next year. i don't think he was planning to go, to fall on his own sword, but certainly of those big challenges give getting kids back into school and getting people to have the right grades into universities, if that goes badly, it will go badly for gavin

williamson too. thank you. we need to hearfrom too. thank you. we need to hear from you this morning if you are a student. this tweet, thank you for asking the question about btecs. leak felt com pletely question about btecs. leak felt completely ignored in all of this. almost like we are insignificant. with me is professor trevor mcmillan, the vice chancellor of keele university. also i'm joined by mike nicholson, director of undergraduate admissions at the university of bath. good morning. professor trevor mcmillan, what does this u—turn mean for you? for us it means again and there is a lot of work to be done helping these young people sort out what their future is going to be over the next few days and weeks. there will be some serious issues for some universities, whether it be in terms of the volume that they now have to take, that is extra, and for others there will be specific situations like medicine, where there are very real limits to how many students we can take in any one year, both because of the placements

we have available but also because of government caps on the numbers. 0n the point about medicine, sorry to interrupt, i have got an e—mail from someone who had an offer from keele university to do medicine, her grades were downgraded, so she didn't meet the criteria, ec explained the school was going to appeal on her behalf and they said, 0k, appeal on her behalf and they said, ok, if you are successful you can come next year and do medicine. now she has got the grades, can she come of this year? we are currently full. what we are saying to students in that situation, as it stands at the moment, is that we will guarantee them a place next year rather than this year. but i think that is one of the areas where there has to be some careful discussion. between government and the universities. as to whether there is any opportunity to whether there is any opportunity to make increased places available this year. mike nicholson at the university of bath, can urinate on decisions you have already made in the last week? no. nor would we want

to. those students that we have admitted were admitted on the basis of the grades awarded. there isn't any suggestion that students grades will be downgraded from what they achieved. i would argue also that we seem achieved. i would argue also that we seem to have forgotten there is a pandemic on. most universities have had to rethink very carefully about the safety of their students, their staff and the wider community around them. that again is a restriction on taking additional students, not the student number controls the government introduced several months ago. professor mcmillan, do you feel that the government has posted this 110w that the government has posted this now onto your shoulders, and the shoulders of other vice chancellors, to sort out? i don't think that's how we feel. we are concentrating 110w how we feel. we are concentrating now and looking after the young people. it would have been helpful if the decision could have been made a couple of weeks ago and a lot of heartache would have been avoided

for young people. as i say, i think we now have to get on with it. as the other gentleman says, we have got a constraints where are thinking about what our campuses will look like with covid. and we will work through it. i think we can be confident that universities will really bend over backwards to make sure that students get there. but there will be some capacity issues in some areas that might mean that a deferral is one of the routes available. right. mike nicholson, the boss of the so—called russell group of universities, which i assume includes yours, says, we need urgent clarification from the government on the additional support it will provide to help universities on the expected increase in student numbers, particularly for high cost subjects like chemistry, medicine and engineering. do you need more money from the government to put into operation what will now happen? i think the university of bath is not a russell group university, but

i applaud the sentiments. i think we are very carefully thinking through what we can do this year within the restrictions around social distancing, accommodation. ithink it is important there will be some universities potentially, because of the changes in decision—making of students, who feel fairly exposed. and it is important to the sector is protected at this moment in time. and also of course students will need to be supported financially, potentially, in this period, because many of them will have to take on costs that they weren't expecting, not least because they will probably be fewerjobs available for them in part—time work. trevor mcmillan, where does responsibility for the algorithm lie? is it 0fqual, the exams regulator, or is it the education secretary? i'm not particularly

knowledgeable about the ins and outs of that. no, but where do you as a vice chancellor think response ability lies? i think, well... the responsibility, i think, ability lies? i think, well... the responsibility, ithink, is ability lies? i think, well... the responsibility, i think, is down to all of us to sort out the young people. i think looking all of us to sort out the young people. ithink looking back all of us to sort out the young people. i think looking back now and sorting out that blame game is not what it is about. it is about these young people. if anything has gone wrong, that is probably what has been lost in the last few weeks. i think the algorithm is statistical. it is looking at numbers. and at some point in the process the people behind that have been perhaps forgotten behind that have been perhaps fo rg otte n a behind that have been perhaps forgotten a little bit. and so that's what we have all got to concentrate on now. sure. that's a enough answer. i just want to know if you come as a vice chancellor of a university in this country, have confidence in the education secretary? i think the education secretary? i think the education secretary has got to work with us in order to do all sorts

of things around universities. there are some immediate questions we have to go through. i don't think it is my position to express that confidence 01’ position to express that confidence or otherwise. i don't know why. i mean, you're a vice chancellor of a really popular university in the uk? yeah, but we work with the system we have. and as i say, through individual universities, universities uk worked very closely with the department for education and the policy that comes through from them and tries to influence those. i think there needs to be much more discussion around that. and then some of these things could well be avoided, irrespective of the individuals concerned. thank you both very much. appreciate your time. a couple of messages from you. a man says, i was offered a conditional place at leicester university to study medicine. having worked so hard over the past two yea rs, worked so hard over the past two years, my centre

assessed grades, the teacher predictions effectively, we re the teacher predictions effectively, were a, a, a. 0fqual downgraded one of my grades. this led to leicester uni withdrawing their offer for this year, even though in most years they ta ke year, even though in most years they take on students with a, a, b, if there are spaces, however, there are no spaces left. i feel devastated my grades have reverted back to aberdulais, a, a, buti grades have reverted back to aberdulais, a, a, but i lost out on my university place. as far as i'm concerned, i have achieved my grades to study medicine this year at leicester and that should be honoured. thank you for those. let me know on instagram, twitter or e—mail your reaction to this and what it means to you if you are an a—level student, gcse student or a btec student. more now on the news that marks and spencer will cut seven—thousand jobs — about a tenth of its workforce — after a slump in sales during the coronavirus pandemic. the posts will go in the next three months. david gill is the national office for the shopworkers' trade union,

usdaw. mrgill, mr gill, good morning. what is your reaction to this news? yeah, first of all, good morning. ithink reaction from our trade union... sorry. it keeps freezing. i'm so sorry. either we can try to dial you back or we can get you on facetime, or audio. we will persist because we a lwa ys or audio. we will persist because we always do that. sorry, what was your reaction to the news?” always do that. sorry, what was your reaction to the news? i think first of all, devastating news for the m&s staff. i think the uncertainty... 0k, staff. i think the uncertainty... ok, i staff. i think the uncertainty... 0k, idon't staff. i think the uncertainty... ok, i don't give up but i might at this point because we do need to talk to mr gill, a representative of usdaw. we will try to get him back. ido usdaw. we will try to get him back. i do apologise. more now on the government's u—turn over exam grades for a—level and gcse students this year. and education secretary gavin williamson says

he is invredibly sorry for the distress caused to thousands of pupils over their results. meanwhile, universities are preparing to deal with a surge in enquiries from students who were rejected last week. we can discuss the fallout of all this now on the wedlake family — that's roger and kate and their sons oliver and robert. 0liver oliver is 18. he got his a—levels last week. robert is 16, and he is awaiting his gcses this thursday. hello to all of you. thank you for talking to us. we have got sarah as well. she is aged 11. i really hope well. she is aged 11. i really hope we can hear you. can you hear me 0k? we can hear you find. perfect. good morning all of you. 0liver, i want to ask you first of all, what difference does this u—turn make to you? well, not much to be honest. i don't think. i don't think i will go through to

oxford. inaudible. to explain, he was downgraded by one point. future assessment amenity probably has enough to get into oxford for they have no places. so he will miss out, it would seem. you will miss out this year, it would seem. as i said you can go to trinity college oxford next year? yes, that is what they said. how do you feel about this? well... a whole year before i can go to uni that means i won't be able to finish uni for another year. it is a waste of a year of my life. i will probably go for my second option, which is bath. so you don't waste a year, as you put it. you sound really flat. are

you done about this? are you sanguine? what would you say? well, i've got a bit of a sore throat at the moment! inaudible. the opportunity to go to oxford has been missed through no fault of his own. it does seem very unfair. you probably have done enough to get there but because of... he can't go this year. inaudible. he doesn't have a trust fund. we can't go to thailand and sit on the beach for a year. he will probably have to go with his second choice. i think you were thinking you would be the first get from your local state primary who would have gone to

0xford. i want to ask robert, who is sitting alongside you, due to get your gcses on thursday. good morning, robert. you will get the grades your teacher is predicted you will get the algorithm grades, whichever is higher. is higher. is that 0k whichever is higher. is higher. is that ok with you? how do you react to the u—turn? that ok with you? how do you react to the u-turn? well, and that kind of glad of the u—turn that is where lam kind of glad of the u—turn that is where i am kind of glad of the u—turn. inaudible. i really don't want to get downgraded. how has it been for the whole family this week, kate? it's been quite emotional. inaudible. it'sjust it's been quite emotional. inaudible. it's just been ridiculous. when they do their marks...

he has missed a huge opportunity. it is such a shame. roger, what are you thinking about how this has been handled by the government? well, to be fairto the handled by the government? well, to be fair to the government, it's an unprecedented situation. i think the idea of using a statistical measure to decide the grades was always going to be a hostage to fortune. they just going to be a hostage to fortune. theyjust need to sort it out. it's their job. theyjust need to sort it out. it's theirjob. the education secretary is supposed to do a job. whether he should resign, well, he may be the best person to sort the mess out. should resign, well, he may be the best person to sort the mess outlj don't know. i am going to say hi to senna because i don't want to leave her out. how has it been for you in the house this week with your brothers feeling anxious?

(inaudible) she mist out on her sats as well, which would have been to do with her set in senior school. she is going to senior school this year. it has been stressful, very weird, thank you for talking to us, i wish you all the best for thursday. good look at bath, i am sure you will have an amazing time, and good—looking secondary school, senna. cheers, roger and kate. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas. for some others it has been quite a murky started the day with low clouds, mist, fog and drizzle, particularly lingering in eastern

scotla nd particularly lingering in eastern scotland and north—east england. we have a band of rain moving into scotland, turning more showery through the course of the day, lots of showers are developing, some will be happy and thundery, with gusty wind and large hail, some sunshine in between, fairly hit and miss. many are fading this evening and overnight with lots of dry weather, but by the end of the night the next system will introduce heavy rain and strengthening winds. tomorrow that will be moving steadily northwards across much of england and wales, not getting into the far north of england and scotland until later on in the day. it will be followed by showers, gusty winds around this too, temperatures range from 15 in the north to height of about 2k in the north to height of about 2k in the south.

hello, this is bbc news with victoria derbyshire. the headlines: 7,000 jobs to go at m&s over the next three months — as the pandemic means even more of us shoppped online. universities call for urgent government support after the u—turn over a—levels. the education secretary resists calls to resign, but does say he's sorry for the distress caused this is not something that anyone wanted, whether from our this is not something that anyone wanted, whetherfrom our perspective all from the exam boards or from the 0fqual suspect —— perspective, but thatis 0fqual suspect —— perspective, but that is why we had to take action when we did. calls to licence commercial dog walkers — the rspca says it wants to see higher welfare standards. we will bring you a full report on that in

a second. michelle 0bama launches a scathing attack on donald trump at the democratic party's virtual convention. sport, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's sally nugent. good morning, victoria. the us open tennis is going to look very different this year, not least because of the players who won't be there. simona halep is the latest to pull out of the tournament because of the pandemic. the reigning wimbledon champion says she's put her health at the heart of her decision not to play in new york. halep is the sixth player from the world's top ten to pull out of the us open, which starts a week on monday. former player pam schriver says it'll still be a competitive tournament, despite the missing players. i don't think it devalues it that much because we're living through an extraordinary time where, no matter what yourjob is, it's different than what it was six months ago, or a year ago. so i feel that anybody who comes through this us open and wins seven rounds under the circumstances of living in a quarantine

bubble — i think this is going to be an incredible performance by the two singles winners, the doubles winners. it's going to show a lot of resilience. england remain 1—0 up in their series with pakistan after the second test finished in a rain soaked draw. when they did play, zak crawley regularly sent the ball to the boundary and made his third 50 in seven tests. but with england 110—4 the captains agreed on a draw. bad light and rain meant there was only a day and a half's play out of a possible five in southampton, and england captain joe root says something needs to change to get more play in bad weather. you could always start earlier in this part of world. maybe a minimum standard of floodlights. maybe look at a slightly lighter red ball. but i think we've got to look after the game and the sort of traditional elements of the game as much as we can — we don't want to change our product too much. i think it's a fantastic game. you've seen throughout this summer,

some great games of cricket, and i do think this week's been very unique. after being humiliated 8—2 by bayern munich in the champions league, barcelona have sacked their manager quique setien. he's exptected to be replaced by ronald koeman. he's the current boss of the netherlands, and spent time in the premier league as manager of everton and southampton. one of the main issues koeman will have to deal with is the future of star man lionel messi, who's said to be unhappy at the club's decline. he has got a decision to make. does he want to be the leader of the transition, because barcelona will ta ke two transition, because barcelona will take two or three years to get to the level they have been in previous yea rs, two the level they have been in previous years, two or three years if they are lucky. does he want to be the leader of that transition in the last years of his career, or does he wa nt to ta ke last years of his career, or does he want to take one of the offers that are still arriving, say psg, manchester city, and bna club where

he can win things straightaway and be part of a competitive side that can win not only domestically but in europe. that is the decision to make. loads of goals for inter milan in the europa league last night. they thrashed shakhtar donetsk 5—0 to book themselves a place in friday's final. the former manchester uniter striker romelu lu ka ku with the pick of the goals. david silva has returned to spain to join real sociedad after leaving manchester city. his ten—year spell at city came to an end after saturday's champions league defeat to lyon. that's all from us for now — more from the bbc sport centre at 12:15pm. with around nine million dogs living in the uk, services such as walking, training and grooming have become big business. now the rspca is calling for better regulation of the industry, after reports some pets are being put at danger. and just a warning that there is some distressing footage in claire

jones' report. i was horrified, i was in shock. i just couldn't believe what i'd seen. she's hit her. if you are a commercial dog walker, you don't currently have to be licensed in england. anybody can set themselves up as a trainer or walker, with no 00:38:19,1000 --> 00:38:20,681 qualifications, not even any experience, really. the rspca strongly believes that this part of the industry does need to be regulated. we are a nation of animal lovers and care deeply about our dogs. but we've been investigating the repercussions of people with little experience or any qualifications who are looking after our animals. they're dog walkers, dog trainers and dog groomers, and they could be putting our animals in danger. sam gaines is the head of companion animals at the rspca, which is calling for these professions to be regulated through a licence from the local authority.

the rspca strongly believes that this part of the industry does have to be regulated. unfortunately there are people out there that are operating not toa particularly good standard of welfare, which does put dogs at risk, and also their owners as well. if you're a commercial dog walker, you don't currently have to be licensed in england. there will be some that do actually have a licence — because some local authorities require that — but it's a complete postcode lottery. and the rspca really wants to see dog walkers regulated, as well. earlier this year a dog walker in birmingham who said she lost five pets in her care was banned from keeping animals for five years. the missing dogs became known as the tamworth five. the owners of the missing dogs were in court for the sentencing. louise lawford admitted four animal welfare offences relating to her business, pawford paws. prosecutors rejected her claim the dogs ran off, but said they couldn't prove what happened and had to drop charges relating to the pets' disappearance. solicitor tina waggon is a specialist legal advisor to the

dogs trust. she's represented numerous dog owners when their animals have been injured from inexperienced walkers and trainers. anybody can set themselves up as a trainer, a groomer or a walker tomorrow with no qualifications, not even any experience, really. no insurance, there is no regulatory body. without some sort of standardisation of qualifications, it very hard for people to understand how qualified if at all their dog trainer is. are your work commitments getting on the way of you walking your best friend? a dog walker from leeds put together this promotional video for her dog—walking business. but jacqueline wilkins, who ran wilkins walkies, based in pudsey near leeds, was caught on cctv hitting a boxer she was paid to look after. you've been a naughty girl! gary hatch contacted wilkins after his partner, louise, suffered an injury which meant she couldn't walk their boxer bella, or their sprocker

spaniel cocoa. so i contacted the dog walker that my mum used, and i class as a family friend, and she was happy to accommodate. she came and started taking bella and cocoa out in the morning and evening for me. after a couple of weeks, bella's behaviour started to change and this one fateful night we were coming back from work and we saw the dog walker on the camera that we've got, hitting bella. this was all caught on camera, wasn't it, where you saw the abuse that unfortunately bella was sustaining? what was your reaction when you saw that for the first time? i was horrified, i was in shock. i think ijust couldn't believe what i'd seen. i said, she's hit her. no words, just there's no excuse for it at all. we reported the case, and then the next day the rspca inspector rang me and said, are you home, can i come round? she came to the house,

we told her verbally what had happened, showed her the footage, she was horrified to see it. to witness it, it was shocking. couldn't believe it. i thought my eyes were deceiving me. wilkins pleaded guilty to a charge of failing in her duty to ensure the animal's welfare, and was handed a 12—month community order, 100 hours of unpaid work, and to pay £385. she's also been disqualified from owning or keeping dogs for two years under the animal welfare act. the rspca is also calling forjob trainers to be licensed by the local authority. a trainer was jailed for five months earlier this year and banned for keeping dogs for life after admitting four charges of animal neglect. the charges related to seven greyhounds, three

of which died. swindon magistrate said the photos say—so of the dogs are extremely distressing and they would have experienced appalling suffering. the government told us... until such regulation and licensing exists, dog owners will have to trust in the people calling themselves the professionals. claire jones, bbc news. that is most watched on the bbc website right now. you can get more information on that page. a senior black police inspector has complained of racial harassment to the met police after being stopped in his car by two white officers. inspector charles ehikioya recorded the incident in which he said officers stopped him withoutjustification as he drove home from work in south london.

he says he was accused of offences that could have ended his 22—year met police career. the force says it has found no evidence of misconduct. we're about to play you the recording inspector ehikioya made. he says he did so because he noticed that the police officer's body camera was not switched on. switch your car off and pavement, please. why? we were in south croydon and we saw you flying across the road at speed, it looks like we went —— she went through a red light, it looks like he went a long way up the road, you were still going up and speed. if you come to speak to me on the pavement, have a chat. inspector ehikioya's solicitor is lawrence davies —

hejoins us now. white is your client feel he was stopped? as a result of racial profiling. the reasons given to him we re profiling. the reasons given to him were that he was driving at excessive speed and might have passed through a red light, he challenged that and said he has been travelling —— had not been travelling —— had not been travelling at excessive speed or pasture through a red light. we know the two police officers that stopped him had said he was also driving suspiciously, or run a suspicious route, and writing unusually, also they suspected he may have been drink—driving. there was no for any of evidence that and that is why he challenged it. when he challenged it, they admitted he had no evidence he had been driving at speed, the officer said that he could not prove that charles had driven through a red light and then later admitted it

was amber at the relevant time, so that had been invented. what was the suspicious route? what is that? when a black driver decides to drive home from working nylon shift hedgerow, dried two miles through various junctions on his way home, a p pa re ntly junctions on his way home, apparently that is sufficient to be suspicious —— from working hard on a long shift, drive two miles. what will you and your client do now? we believe he has been racially harassed and racially profiled. the protection from harassment act of 1997, we are considering that at the moment. and did charles ehikioya tell the white police officers that he was also a met officer?

he did, he was also a met officer? he did, he said he worked for the metropolitan police and they disbelieved him until he showed his badge. sorry, go on? at which point they walked off without engaging in further conversation. the incident was over when he revealed that? that is when they probably should have given a better account of why they had stopped him, and technically they were in the presence of a more senior officer, admittedly off duty, but they just walked off and drove off without saying anything because they were caught out. thank you very much for talking to us, lawrence davies, the solicitor for inspector charles ehikioya. next up, drug dealing on social media. britain's most senior police officer says when it come to drugs, social media companies' bosses would do more if it was their children dying from drugs bought this way. he was speaking to radio 1 newsbeat‘s politics

editorjim connolly. jim's been following the stories of three families with very personal experience of this. three mums brought together by grief after their teenage children died taking illegal drugs. she was funny, sassy, a bit of a diva, a bit of a drama queen. loved to sing. sarah's daughterjodie died after taking ecstasy that she'd bought on snapchat. fiona is leading their campaign to get social media companies to act to stop the trade of illegal drugs on their platforms. how can it be that drugs can be offered to children so openly and apparently nothing done? i want to find outjust how easy it is to find drugs in this way on social media, so i've set up a snapchat account, i've set up an instagram account and i'm going to search for a few phrases and see what comes up. turns out, very easy. within minutes i was being offered class a drugs. and i decided it was time to challenge the people selling them. i'm actually a bbcjournalist and i just want to ask you,

you've made no checks as to who i am and you're willing to sell potentially very dangerous drugs through the post. i could be anyone. do you have a problem with that? you don't care who you sell the drugs to, do you? no, not that i don't but, like, i'm just trying to, like, make sure that, you know, i get my product moving. i could end up dead from the products you're selling. research suggests that a quarter of 16 to 2a—year—olds have seen adverts for drugs like these on their social feeds. and drug workers have told me that with nightclubs and festivals closed because of coronavirus, more unregulated raves have sprung up, meaning buying drugs online is more popular than ever — creating a new challenge for the police. jason harwin is the uk's most senior police officer when it comes to drugs. if that was a son and daughter of one of the social networks that are providing or allowing this to take place, would they be thinking we should do more about this? i'm certain they would. fiona is delivering her letter from what she calls her mums' army.

it's to snapchat and here at facebook, which owns instagram. neither would agree to being filmed. snapchat told fiona that it's more difficult to deal with their platform than other social media, and it's committed to take further steps to ensure the safety of its users. it's also agreed to meet the mums soon. instagram, which is owned by facebook, said... and they have given fiona a video call and invited her to work with them. so some progress for fiona and her campaign, but both she and the police say this billion pound industry has the technology to block more drug dealing. jim connolly, bbc news. we can talk now to fiona spargo—mabbs, who you saw there in that report. her 16—year—old son dan died after taking ecstasy. fiona, good morning. how blatant is

this on snapchat and instagram? incredibly blatant, it is just shameless. there is no pretence of obscurity at all. there are emojis that are completely obvious, there is nothing subtle about it at all, there are special offers, incentivise, price lists and menus, it is alastair and it is easy to find and very clear to see. what do you want them to do, and will they do it? i want them to stop it, i genuinely don't understand why it is so genuinely don't understand why it is so difficult. there are things they can block, they have the technology, i know neither of them are giving nothing, i know there is stuff going on, but it is far, far, far too easy still to be able to find drugs, but also for drugs to find you, for children and teenagers,

because of the way the algorithms work and the social connections work on social media platforms, they can be finding themselves encountering drug office and should deals and that level of exposure to drugs without ever looking for it. let encountering drug offers and judd field. the social media platforms are hugely wealthy and i would imagine they have the best tech brains on the planet working for them, it is difficult for us all to understand, the piece talked about three months, there are 11 of us, three of them lost children to drugs that have been bought on snapchat, two which is 13, been bought on snapchat, two which i513, 116 been bought on snapchat, two which is 13, 116 -- the been bought on snapchat, two which is 13, 116 —— the piece talked about three mums. when done right we started a drug education charity because we realised how much greater

the level of exposure to drugs for young people when dan died. that was six and a half years ago and it hasn't got worse and social media is playing and will continue to play an increasingly significant role in that level of exposure. thank you very much, fiona. good luck in your campaign. and do come back to us if you get any joy from campaign. and do come back to us if you get anyjoy from the social media companies, if the bosses say they will take that stuff off, to tell us. i will. cheers they will take that stuff off, to tell us. iwill. cheers fiona. thanks for your messages about a—levels, btecs and gcses, i will read some shortly. the former us first lady, michelle 0bama, has launched a scathing attack on donald trump, accusing him of not being up to thejob. she was appearing in a pre—recorded speech to support the nomination of former vice—presidentjoe biden

in the upcoming november election. 0ur north america correspondent, peter bowes reports. remote, virtual, and very unconventional. a political gathering in the era of coronavirus. with no fanfare, it was a scaled—down, made—for—tv event introduced from a studio in los angeles by a hollywood actress. good evening. i'm eva longoria baston and welcome to the 2020 democratic national convention. on its first night, the convention showcased the stories of ordinary americans. it also highlighted the issue of racial injustice after weeks of protests around the country. the grim death toll from covid—19 was a running theme with speaker after speaker condemning the trump administration's record on dealing with the virus. the main task of the week is to anointjoe biden as the democrats' choice to take on donald trump. the former first lady michelle 0bama said the former vice president had the experience needed to tackle the coronavirus crisis, and when it came to the president, she didn't hold back. so let me be as honest and clear as i

possibly can. donald trump is the wrong president for our country. he has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. he cannot meet this moment. he simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. it is what it is. the opening salvo of a convention season like no other. steve bowes, bbc news, los angeles. more on the bbc news website about what happened at that convention. collect says we are still waiting for our sun's best result in performing arts five days after result today. we are stressed because his exeter uni pays depends on this result. because of the

u—turn yesterday his english a—level has been upgraded from a b to a, so he now has to as at a—level. why are we still waiting for the btec results ? we still waiting for the btec results? clearing places will be full scene. we have not slept because of the stress, we hope btecs will be included, it seems like they do not care about btecs. audrey says my sun's first choice was to study history at durham, he needed and a star and two as. there have said that the places are taken and he is awaiting jeremy to respond. stress levels have been ridiculous, this is a complete shambles. mason has secured an insurance place but wants and deserves his first choice. —— my sun has secured. you can get in touch with us

on twitter or e—mail. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. i called her sarah earlier! some of us i called her sarah earlier! some of us started off with low cloud and misty, medi conditions. we could hand onto that full much of the afternoon. still some heavy downpours in the forecast. this weather front is drifting northwards, taking reign with edge, maintaining more showery through the course of the day. the spacing on the isobars tell you it will not be windy. the rain is pushing into northern england, turning more showery and also showery in scotland. but there will be sunshine in between. the met office has a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms, becoming more widespread than some heavy downpours across england and wales, they will all be hit and miss but if you catch one it could lead to localised flooding, large hail and gusty

winds. this evening it overnight, most of those will fade away, there will be clear skies and purple and green across parts of scotland and north—east england, by the end of the night a new system from the south—west will introduce heavy rain and strengthening wind. still low— pressure and strengthening wind. still low—pressure year, bringing in this weather front, moving low—pressure year, bringing in this weatherfront, moving northwards, but look at the isobars, it will be windier on wednesday compared to today. lots of dry weather to start the day, even sunshine, low cloud lingers across parts of the north—east, the rain heaviest in the south—west of and south wales, eating a little as it moves northward, followed by showers, but gusty winds, that combination is not particularly pleasant in sparing my beliefs on the trees are very prolific at the moment, you might find small branches coming down. through wednesday it will be windy and you can see weather fronts living northwards, a windy day on thursday, particularly towards the west, strong gusts of wind. the rain

clears northern scotland that the next band comes from the west. temperature rise on thursday, highs of up to 25 and any sunshine that you can see the higher temperatures towards the west, in plymouth we are looking at 21. we see the strongest winds this week on friday, gusts widely of 110 mph, gales in the west, some rain as well but it looks like the wind will ease on saturday.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. 7,000 britishjobs to go at marks and spencers over the next three months, as the pandemic means even more of us shoppped online. universities call for urgent support from the uk government, after the u—turn over a—levels. the education secretary resists calls to resign, but does say he's sorry for the distress caused. this is not something

that anyone wanted to, whether it was from our perspective or from the exam board's or 0fqual‘s perspective, but that's why we had to take action when we did. if you're a an a—level of gcse or btec student, what does the u—turn decision mean for you? btecs haven't been included in the u turn for some reason, no idea why. let me know your reaction. michelle 0bama launches a scathing attack on donald trump at the democratic party's virtual convention. whenever we look to this white house for some leadership or consolation orany for some leadership or consolation or any semblance of steadiness, what we get instead is chaos, division and a total and utter lack of empathy. a un backed court in the hague is due to deliver its verdict