this is bbc news, i'm martine croxall. the headlines... a police officer is shot dead at station in south london by a man who was being detained. it's understood the suspect then turned the gun on himself — he's now in a critical condition. the head of the met police paid tribute to the officer. the met is a family, policing is a family in london and across the united kingdom. and today we police are all mourning a great loss. a minute's silence has been held at new scotland yard — as well as the croydon custody centre — in tribute to the sergeant. tougher restrictions are imposed in leeds, stockport, wigan and blackpool which will ban households mixing in homes or gardens from tomorrow.

meanwhile cardiff, swansea and llanelli are put into local lockdown from this weekend — it comes as concerns grow over the rapid increase in the number of coronavirus cases. the r—number in the uk — the rate at which coronavirus is spreading — has risen to between 1.2 and 1.5. hundreds of thousands of high street jobs may not survive because of the pandemic, says the boss of the clothing firm next. and — as royal finances are hit by the pandemic — new figures show harry and meghan‘s last royal visit cost almost a quarter of a million pounds. hello, welcome to bbc news.

two separate minutes silences have been held this afternoon in south london and at new scotland yard to pay tribute to a police officer who was shot dead at a custody centre in croydon by a man who was being detained. in croydon officers came outside the building and stood to attention in the car park and at the front of the building to pay their respects to their colleague. and at scotland yard, the met police commissioner, joined senior officers and the force's chaplain to pay their respects. the incident happened just after 2am last night. it is thought the suspect was searched at the custody centre, before producing a weapon and firing it at an officer. it's understood he then turned the gun on himself. the officer, who has not yet been identified, was treated at the scene but later died in hospital of gunshot wounds. the 23—year—old suspect is in a critical condition. our home affairs correspondent

daniel sandford reports. investigating the murder of one of their own colleagues, forensics officers pouring over the scene at croydon custody centre in south london. it appears that a suspect was brought into the centre and a police vehicle at around 2:15am, and then shot the custody sergeant in the chest before shooting himself. the officer, who was only a few weeks from retirement, died in saint george's hospital in tooting. he has not yet been named as his family overseas is still being contacted. we are all deeply shocked and very sad. the met is a family, policing is a family in london and across the united kingdom, and today we police are all mourning great loss. as well as investigating the murder, the metropolitan police has referred the case to the independent office

for police conduct. there is deep concern that a suspect under arrest and a police vehicle was able to bring a loaded gun into a police station. this is a sad day for a country is once again we see the tragic killing of a police officer in the line of duty as they are trying to protect us and keep us safe. later on today, i will be meeting with the metropolitan police commissioner to discuss the investigation that is currently taking place, and of course, the metropolitan police service now need the time and the space to get on with the inquiry that now needs to follow. the prime minister said his deepest condolences go to the custody sergeant‘s family. the police federation said the news was utterly devastating and heartbreaking. i know the met police service is like a family, and many of his colleagues, notjust in croydon, but across the met and indeed across the country, will be grieving and feeling the loss of this brave police officer. the suspect in the shooting is in a critical condition in hospital after having surgery.

the investigation will focus on whether the suspect had already been searched before he arrived at the custody centre and whether he was in handcuffs. but above all today, all those involved in policing are in deep shock, as once again, an officer has been killed in duty. daniel sanford, bbc news, croydon. our reporter greg mackenzie is at the scene of the shooting. also, that minute silence took place, an important opportunity for collea g u es place, an important opportunity for colleagues and members of the public, greg, to pay their respects. a real poignant moment at four o'clock this afternoon. yes, many of his colleagues stood just over here are my rights to pay their respects to this much loved colleague, a custody sergeant shot whilst on duty. in terms of the background, we know a 23—year—old was brought to

the police centre at two o'clock this morning and at about quarter past two, he shot the custody sergeant who is trying to book him in having been arrested on suspicion of possession of firearms and ammunition. he was subsequently searched here and produced this weapon, shot the custody sergeant, then shot himself. as for the custody sergeant from the ambulance ci’ews we re custody sergeant from the ambulance crews were called immediately, but sadly, they couldn't save him, and he was pronounced dead in hospital a short time later. as for the 23—year—old suspect as we believe is known on the radar of counterterrorism police, he is in a critical condition in hospital and has since been arrested on suspicion of murder. malcolm attributes all day, members of the public have been turning up here, leaving flowers just behind me. many say that he was a nice one, he was one of the nicest police officers you would know. and shocked and saddened, really, that he has died in such a way. of

course, as anyone would be shocked, it has an impact on the writer police come unity, notjust in london, but in other forces too, probably because, thankfully, it's a relatively rare occurrence. it is indeed a rare occurrence. i mean, shootings of officers is very rare. you hear about it. obviously, we hear about firearms offences up and down the country, but officers being shot at or even killed in this way, you just don't hear that every day. so, across the police community, their shocked and saddened, even his collea g u es their shocked and saddened, even his colleagues arriving at work today, you can see it on their faces, they arejust in shock, you can see it on their faces, they are just in shock, really, that this has even happened. as a rehearing earlier, there is an investigation, and that investigation will be looking into why and how this individual managed to get a gun into a custody centre. it's just unheard of. so all of these tough questions

will need to be answered. of course, the prime minister leading those tributes today to this much loved officer as well as the home secretary, priti patel, and the london mayor, and even the local mp ca re london mayor, and even the local mp care all gathering and paying their respects, really to this much officer who the met ari yet to officially name or release the details of. we believe his family are still being contacted, hence his name has not been released by the metropolitan police as of yet. greg, for the moment, thank you very much. greg mckenzie in south london. from next week nearly half the population of wales will be under local lockdown restrictions after the welsh government announced new measures. cardiff and swansea will have local lockdowns imposed from sunday. in llanelli, carmarthenshire the rules will come in at 6pm tomorrow. in england, leeds, wigan, blackpool and stockport will see tighter restrictions imposed. from midnight there is a ban on households mixing. london is now on a watch—list after a spike in covid—19 infections

and hospital admissions — it means no new restrictions at the moment but it will be monitored as an area of concern. these annoucments come as the latest r — or reproduction number — of the virus across the uk is now shown to be betweeen 1.2 and 1.5. that's up from 1.1—1.4 last week. a further 6,874 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the uk in the past 2a—hours, an increase on the previous day. a futhrer 3a people have died within 28—days of testing positive, due to technical reasons scotland's figures aren't included today. following those announcements on new restrictions to be be introduced in cardiff, swansea and llanelli, our correspondent hywel griffith gave us this update from cardiff. so these restrictions will come into force over the weekend. there are already six council areas in wales under local lockdown measures. this adds three more, cardiff, the capital, and swansea,

the second largest city in wales, will both commence the local lockdown measures as of 6pm on sunday, but before that, the west wales town of llanelli will also come under measures at 6pm tomorrow. what does it mean for people living there? they can no longer travel in or out of the council area without good reason, like going to work or travelling for education. vitally, people shouldn't go into anyone else's house, so extended households, or bubbles, come to an end in those areas at those times. already, closing time has been fast forwarded to ten o'clock here in wales and across the uk, so the other restriction that we saw in the other areas aren't so relevant, but it will now mean once those measures are in place, that almost half the welsh population, 1.5 million people, will be under local lockdown measures. they were announced earlier on by the welsh government's health minister, vaughan gething, this is what he had to say. the local restrictions mean that when enforced, people living in llanelli, cardiff and swansea will not be able to enter or leave the area

without a reasonable excuse. they will not be able to meet indoors with anyone they do not live with for the time being, so extended households, sometimes called bubbles, will be suspended for the time being. there was the question of why the rest of wales isn't being put under similar measures if we are seeing this virus spread. the answer was that at the moment, local intelligence suggest in north and west wales, the rates are far, far lower, however, this will be a warning to people there that rates are rising across the country. the boss of the clothing store next has warned that thousands of retail jobs may become "unviable", because the coronavirus pandemic may have caused a permanent shift to online shopping. lord wolfson welcomed the newjob support scheme announced yesterday by the chancellor, which will see the government top le unable to work full—time. but he said it was important that businesses eventually learn to live without government support.

our business correspondent theo leggett reports. in better times, the swingers golf bar in central london would be thronging with people but the new realities of social distancing, limited group sizes and curbs on opening hours are taking a heavy toll on its finances, and the boss says the latest government help doesn't go far enough. now we are reopened, we are really not getting that much in the way of support. the vat cut is going to help us a bit and it will free up a little bit of cash but the job support scheme, frankly, is coming too late. we have already had to make staff redundant because we didn't know what the future looked like and the government was giving very little clarity. so there will be bits of money that we save from it but overall the industry needs a lot more support. the newjob support scheme comes with strict conditions. for example, staff will have to work at least one third of their normal hours in order to be eligible. it is much less generous than the furlough scheme it replaces and employers themselves will have to make a bigger contribution.

even so, it is expected to cost the taxpayer £1.2 billion every month. many businesses are now facing the prospect of a very bleak winter. pubs, clubs, theatres and restaurants have already been badly hit. airlines and travel firm say they are haemorrhaging money. and high street retailers are losing out too as customers move online. we will inevitably, and have already, reduce the number of people working in our shops and i expect that to continue over the coming five or six years as the demand for retail goes down. but we are taking on people in our call centre, we are training new recruits in our call centres, in our warehousing, our distribution networks are taking on new employees. tackling the pandemic has been an expensive process for the chancellor, rishi sunak. in august, government borrowing was more than £30 billion higher than the same month last year. the government insists the furlough scheme has to end because it simply can't afford to continue paying most of the wages of millions of workers indefinitely.

it is about striking a balance between both the protection ofjobs but the longer term affordability from a wider economic perspective and that is why the chancellor set out more targeted measures, those jobs that are viable, but alongside that has a package, a plan forjobs, to enable us to retrain, get the skill support in to boost those sectors of the economy that can grow. the chancellor insists his newjob support scheme will benefit large numbers of workers but critics believe it will only slow job losses rather than preventing them. what has done will help but it won't completely halt the rising unemployment. the big worry here is that what we will see is a large rise in the coming months and particularly worrying is that it could happen in january when the virus looks set to still be around. the government believes that by targeting its support towards viable jobs and businesses, it can sow the seeds of a strong recovery when the pandemic is over.

but for many, the withdrawal of the furlough scheme has left them facing a struggle simply to survive. theo leggett, bbc news. we can speak now to professor chris martin from the department of economics at the university of bath. professor martin, welcome. things very much forjoining us. how valuable do you believe this job scheme is that the chancellor has announced 7 scheme is that the chancellor has announced? i think it is useful but i don't think it goes far enough. it's a difficult situation for the chancellor, he has got to make sure that wages remain high, so demand is strong. he needs to make sure to keep workers injobs strong. he needs to make sure to keep workers in jobs and he strong. he needs to make sure to keep workers injobs and he needs strong. he needs to make sure to keep workers in jobs and he needs to do the without increasing borrowing too much. there's no way you can do all three of those, so what he has done really is he has increased —— limited the increase in public debt with supported wages by putting a lot of cost on employers. that's fine ifan lot of cost on employers. that's fine if an employer thinks they can keep a job going until the situation improves, but for an awful lot of

firms, they are not in that situation. what would be better than this scheme? what would be better is one of two things. either continue the target on those sectors that needed, or secondly, adopt the german scheme, which is basically that the government pays all the cost of workers working short time. that takes a lot of burden off employers, that will mean jobs can survive until they get out from the other side of this problem. the cost is already enormous. how much more can the country afford to spend? the costis can the country afford to spend? the cost is enormous, there are no good choices here, but the country can... if we think of this of being a little bit like wartime, we pay off wa rs little bit like wartime, we pay off wars over a period of 50 years, so over a period of 50 years, we can pay this debt down reasonably easily. if we think that this is not like a

easily. if we think that this is not likea war easily. if we think that this is not like a war situation, we need to pick a sophomore in ten years, than the cost is going to be much greater. i would prefer the cost is going to be much greater. iwould prefer a much the cost is going to be much greater. i would prefer a much more ofa greater. i would prefer a much more of a view that we pay this off around much longer period of time. how blunt an instrument is it, though, if you apply it across the whole country rather than localising it, or making its particularly targeted at certain sectors which are struggling more than others?|j think are struggling more than others?” think that is certainly true. in terms of the country moving very quickly, so i don't think we could target it regionally, because things change so rapidly. as i say, i would prefer a targeted extension of the job retention scheme, focusing on those areas, hospitality, retail, personal services, dentists, things like that. but they are viable, but they need some help to get over the next six months. professor chris martin. thank you very much for talking to us. our apologies for the crackle there on the line. the headlines on bbc news...

a police officer is shot dead at station in south london by a man who was being detained. it's understood the suspect then turned the gun on himself — he's now in a critical condition. the head of the met police paid tribute to the officer. a minute's silence has been held at new scotland yard — as well as the croydon custody centre — in tribute to the sergeant. tougher restrictions are imposed in leeds, stockport, wigan and blackpool which will ban households mixing in homes or gardens from tomorrow. family and representatives of breonna taylor have spoken to the media — after angry crowds defied a second night of curfew in louisville, kentucky — to protest at the lack of criminal charges over her killing by police. ms taylor was fatally shot in her home by police in march. earlier this week, a grand jury failed to prosecute any of the three officers involved with her death. earlier, attorney ben crump said

ms taylor's family had a right to know why no—one was facing prosecution over her killing. ms taylor's entire family is heartbroken — devastated and outraged and confused and bewildered. just like all of us — as to what the kentucky devastated and outraged and confused and bewildered. just like all of us — as to what the kentucky attorney—general, daniel cameron, presented to the grand jury. did he present any evidence on breonna taylor's behalf? or did he make a unilateral decision to put his thumb on the scales ofjustice to help try and exonerate and justify the killing of breonna taylor by these police officers — and in doing so, make sure that breonna taylor's family never got their day in court,

never got their chance for due process, and in essence, denied them justice. that's why we are standing here today, united in solidarity, declaring and demanding that he release the transcripts of the grand jury proceeding. so we can know if there was anybody giving a voice to breonna taylor. as we've been hearing, people in leeds will face further restrictions in the bid to cut coronavirus infections in the city, from midnight tonight there will be a ban on people meeting in private homes or gardens. richard burgon is the labour mp for leeds east and joins me now. welcome. why was this unavoidable in leads? because the coronavirus infection rates are going up almost

per hundred —— 100 per 100,000. infection rates are going up almost per hundred —— 100 per100,000. so it's been a worrying escalation in the city. what do public health experts put that increase down to? well, there are a whole host of things. but what i would say is that these latest measures will be introduced at midnight tonight. i do believe are necessary steps to new measures, if we can do everything to avoid a second deadly wave, and what frustrates me and a lot of people in leads is that this wasn't inevitable, it wasn't inevitable that the coronavirus rates would rise to the levels they are again rising to, and that's because of government failure. it's not as if the government hasn't been warned about this months and months ago, but they were telling people to go out and spend and get back to work and get back to school. he made a mess of the testing system, so the situation we are in now has become necessary , situation we are in now has become necessary, but it's only become necessary, but it's only become necessary because the government's

repeated failure. so it's something that i won't stand for, people in leads being blamed by the government for the situation here. the government needs to take response ability for the situation. when the government has been blaming the people of leads? welcome of a government's repeated narrative has been, somehow, young people are letting us all down. some help other people across the country are letting us all down. people have done with the government has told them to do. of course, we all need to account for it, we all need to look after each other. the government now needs to take action. with the government needs to do is drive the virus down to very low levels, because otherwise, we are not going to be able to get an economic recovery, so that means that the government needs to fix testing and tracing input sick pay at levels that people can actually live on so people can afford to self—isolate. live on so people can afford to self-isolate. so, should we not have gone out and spent when we were encouraged to? should we not have sent children back to school? i

thought the labour party were in favour of those things? the national education union, in my view, have the correct position. the government didn't heed its warnings, and i would say that the government's messaging that somehow it's people's patriotic duty to go about their life as normal, as of this virus didn't exist, was deeply irresponsible, and deeply reckless, and people in leads are suffering now as a result of the government's approach. they wasted, for example, billions of pounds on private companies and messed up the testing system. it is a complete mess. the government now needs to sort it out, but what we can't have is the government blaming people for this, but we all do need to now make sure that we follow these necessary measures, look out for each other, look after each other, social distance and let's hope the government actually gets a grip of

this so this doesn't have to go on almost indefinitely. but if you are asking people to do the right thing by each other and to think about that sense of community to keep each other safe, that is what we should have been doing all the way through, not just the have been doing all the way through, notjust the people of leeds, but the people across the whole country, shouldn't we? and we know that some people are more cavalier than others about that. well, i don't want to call people cavalier, because when you have pictures of the chancellor of the exchequer grinning as he gives out food at a restaurant encouraging people to head out to restau ra nts a nd encouraging people to head out to restaurants and live life as normal. of course, people are going to draw conclusion from that that it is safe, that things are completely normal. the government in their very first instance when this all started delayed in locking down thousands of people died unnecessarily as a result. we were promised the world beating system, we haven't got that, and we all know the promises ——

problems with the testing system. so people are suffering every day, there are pupils in my constituency being sent home from school, all of the worry that means for their family and the knock on effect. so, we do need to abide by these new measures the government's bringing in tonight. it measures aren't necessary but it's deeply reg retta ble necessary but it's deeply regrettable that the government's mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis has led to a situation where the rates are going up in the way that they have done. they have been warned by science experts and medical experts through this, they didn't listen. it's the government's that's been cavalier unfortunately, they need to turn that around. richard, thank you forjoining us. two television journalists have been stabbed and seriously wounded in the centre of paris. the attack on the man and woman happened near the former headquarters of the satirical magazine charlie hebdo — the scene of an assault by islamist gunmen five years ago in which 12 people died. two people have been arrested. our correspondent lucy williamson

sent us the latest. police have cordoned off the area around this attack. they have told us that they have arrested two suspects, one of them, they say, was found with blood on his shirt. and the prime minister has spoken briefly about this attack saying that four people have been injured, two of them seriously, he, the prime minister, is now going into a crisis meeting with other members of the government, but the sight of police blocking off this area, very close to the former offices of charlie hebdo will bring back painful memories for people here in france. and the timing of this attack also won't go unnoticed, with the trial happening in paris at the moment of many of those accused of involvement in that attack five years ago. lucy williamson in paris. the income of the royal family has been hit by coronavirus, with a drop in the number of visitors to buckingham palace and windsor castle. the latest palace accounts show a potential 35—million—pound shortfall. the figures also show that harry

and meghan's final royal visit to southern africa cost nearly a quarter of a million pounds. our royal correspondent sarah campbell has more. cheering the most expensive royal tour of the accounting period was the duke and duchess of sussex's trip to southern africa. along with baby archie, they visited south africa, and harry travelled on to botswana, angola and malawi. it would prove to be their last tour as working royals, and cost almost a quarter of a million pounds. injanuary, unable to secure a last—minute scheduled flight, the prince of wales travelled by charter to oman to offer his condolences after the death of the sultan — at a cost of more than £200,000. and sporting patronages proved expensive for both the princess royal and prince andrew. princess anne flew to rome to watch a six nations rugby match — cost £16,000, and the duke racked up a similar amount watching the open in portrush, northern ireland. in total, the sovereign grant

for the year 2019—2020 totalled £82.4 million. that's the amount of taxpayers' money used to fund the monarchy, minus things like security. the biggest overall cost was the ongoing refurbishment of buckingham palace which, over the same period, cost £33 million. the coronavirus is expected to impact future accounts, with an expected £20 million shortfall in funds to pay for palace improvements and a £15 million drop in income, with the reduced openings of royal galleries and palaces. addressing the potential shortfall, the keeper of the privy purse, sir michael stevens, said there was no intention of asking for extra funding and they will look to manage the impact of the pandemic through their own efforts and efficiencies. the duke and duchess of sussex now live in los angeles, but as for their uk home, the palace has confirmed that they paid a lump sum to the sovereign grant to cover the £2.11 million refurbishment, as well as rent at a commercial rate

for frogmore cottage in windsor. exactly how much rent they're being charged may, or may not, be revealed in next year's accounts. sarah campbell, bbc news. it has been announced that princess eugenie and her husband jack brooksbank are expecting a baby in early 2021. princess eugenie, who is tenth in line to the throne, has been married to mr brooksbank forjust under two years. the baby will be a ninth great—grandchild for the queen and the duke of edinburgh. now it's time for a look at the weather with tomasz schafernaker. that cold wind really noticeable for many of us today, particularly on the north sea coasts. it's actually a screaming gale off the north sea, and it's going to stay chilly right through the weekend. there will be some sunshine around, but it will be nippy. now these are the afternoon gusts, end of the afternoon around the north sea, around 50 mph they are off the coast of yorkshire, in excess of 60 even in some areas. and on top of that,

we've got heavy rain. this is a nasty little area of low pressure that's parked itself in the southern portion of the north sea, but for many of us, it's not the case. in fact, the winds will be much lighter there across the northwest of the country, clearing skies and a touch of frost outside of town this coming night. so, tomorrow, we still have gales in east anglia, especially around coastal areas. not quite so windy inland, and in fact, many western areas should have a fine day with some sunshine, but it's nippy in some areas. temperatures, though, higher than around 11 or 12 degrees. ——temperatures, no higher than around 11 or 12 degrees.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... a police officer is shot dead at station in south london by a man who was being detained. it's understood the suspect then turned the gun on himself. he's now in a critical condition. the head of the met police paid tribute to the officer. a minute's silence has been held at new scotland yard, as well as the croydon custody centre, in tribute to the sergeant. tougher restrictions are imposed in leeds, stockport, wigan and blackpool which will ban households mixing in homes or gardens from tomorrow. meanwhile, cardiff, swansea and llanelli are put into local lockdown from this weekend. it comes as concerns grow over the rapid increase in the number of coronavirus cases. the r number in the uk,the rate at which coronavirus is spreading, has risen to between 1.2 and 1.5. hundreds of thousands of high street

jobs may not survive because of the pandemic, says the boss of the clothing firm next. and as royal finances are hit by the pandemic, new figures show harry and meghan's last royal visit cost almost a quarter of a million pounds. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's kathryn downes. at cycling's road world championships, filippo ganna has been crowned the is the new world time trial champion. the italian looked at home on the roads and race track at imola upgrading his bronze from last year to gold. he beat belgium's wout van aert by 26 seconds. britain's former tour de france champion geraint thomas was 11th and alex dowsett 9th. the women's road race takes place tomorrow with the men's on sunday. chloe dygert is expected to make a full recovery after a horrific crash

in yesterday's women's time trial. the american was on course to retain her title, when she lost controljust after the half way point. she suffered a deep cut above her left knee, but surgery to repair the damage was successful. mercedes have dominated second practice ahead of this weekend's russian grand prix where lewis hamilton could equal michael schumacher‘s record of 91 wins. he's got team mate valtteri bottas standing in his way though. the finn was more than a quarter of a second quicker than hamilton around the sochi autodrome. bottas was also fastest in first practice. off the track its been announced former ferrari team boss stefano domeni—cali will become president and ceo of formula 1 in january. tomorrow's league two match between cheltenham town and grimsby town has been called off because a member of the grimsby squad has tested positive for coronavirus. it means other players and staff have to self—isolate. a new date will have to be found for the fixture.

tottenham have been given a bye into the next round of the league cup. they were due to play leyton orient on tuesday but a number of orient players tested positive for covid—19 and their stadium and training ground were closed until further notice. they've also been forced to postpone tomorrow's league two game at walsall. spurs will now play chelsea next week. manchester united have had a miserable start to the season. they may have beaten luton in the league cup but manager ole gunnar solskjaer wasn't happy with their performance, and it came three days after they'd lost at home to crystal palace in their opening premier league match. they're away at brighton in the lunch—time kick—off tomorrow, and solskjaer says he's not in the business of giving players match time to make sure they stay in peak form, they all need to be ready to go. players are happy when they play well and win games, and so am i? it's not my job well and win games, and so am i? it's not myjob to keep them happy. it's not myjob to keep them happy. it's myjob to pick players for the clu b it's myjob to pick players for the club that we get results. and it's up club that we get results. and it's up to them to be fit, to work hard

and be ready. only 1,000 spectators will be allowed each day at the french open, which starts on sunday. the french tennis federation aren't happy. they'd already reduced the number from 11,500—5,000, but they've now been forced to comply with new government coronavirus restrictions. by contrast, over half a million people attended the event at roland garros last year. there'll be a draw this afternoon to determine which ticket holders get to keep their seats. essex are on top against somerset on day three of the final of the bob willis trophy which is being played over five days at lord's. in reply to somerset‘s first innings 301 all out, essex are going well and former england captain alastair cook has passed his century. a few moments ago essex were 196 for1 with cook on 131. you can follow that match right across the bbc, and it's being streamed live on the bbc iplayer and the bbc sport website. i'll be back with more later.

that do very much. a week of police action against drugs gangs in england and wales has led to a thousand arrests, and the seizure of drugs worth more than a million pounds. the move has been against so—called ‘county lines‘ gangs. that's when organised criminals in cities expand their market by forcing vulnerable children to sell drugs for them in smaller towns. police said the operation was the most successful of its kind, with around 10% of the country's county lines drug networks being shut down. sian lloyd reports. police! police! they'll be sold a lie, they'll be told its just a day but that could turn into two weeks, so you've got a missing person inquiry, so we need to keep the kids safe. drug dealers don'tjust deal class a, they'll deal whatever they can make money out of. raids to seize drugs and find the gangs who deal them, part of a week of operations by forces across the country. if i had to guess,

i'd probably say heroin. slightly brownish colour. they'll be nice to you for a bit, buying you nice stuff, giving you money and that, and after they willjust tell you, "0h, because you have done all of this, "i need you to do this for me." so they will tell you to go on a train to different cities and then go to this house and sell drugs and that. young people look for father figures they never had and that is what these people become, they become the people who offer them what they want, whether that be monetary value or clothes, or even just attention. it is something which these people are fully aware of and use to their advantage. here, police are targeting criminal networks who exploit the vulnerable to traffic drugs from the west midlands into smaller cities and towns. it's known as county lines. would it surprise you if i said young people as young as... ..children as young as seven are being exploited and groomed? historically, children in care have been targeted. helen is a police officer who has

seen young people end up in prison and even lose their lives after getting involved with county lines drugs gangs. this visit to a children's home is to help these young people understand the risks. they blackmail you, they use you for certain things. it's a bit scary. how is it scary? because at the end of the day, you could end up getting stabbed or losing your life to it. the 43 police forces came together to target those who run and control county lines. here, officers from west midlands police worked with colleagues in south wales. they are checking out a train trying to identify people who traffic drugs along a suspected line operating out of the midlands into swansea. this was a week—long crackdown, building on efforts that continued during the lockdown. coronavirus didn't stop the gangs who run county lines but police say the number of arrests they've made

have increased since march. county lines continue to operate. i think the criminals have evolved what they've done, maybe not travelling so far, maybe a bit more on your doorstep, probably using more local people to become involved with that, but we are aware of that and that is what we are trying to target through coordinated activity. during the week, more than £1 million worth of drugs were seized and a record number of lines disrupted. the aim is to make a long—term impact and prevent new drugs routes springing up in their place. sian lloyd, bbc news, in the west midlands. with me now is nequela whittaker. she is a manager at youth charity, the young brent foundation, the author of ‘street girl', director of committed empowered original youth service and an ex—gang member. that's a long list of things that you're involved in. thank you for joining us. very briefly tell us how you became a gang member.m

joining us. very briefly tell us how you became a gang member. it became pa rt you became a gang member. it became part of my environment, things i wasn't able to access as a young person, feeling like i was able to have a sense. so i became affiliated on the grounds of wanting to belong, have a form of comfort from friends and like—minded like myself. it escalated into criminal activity. you are very much a girl who was going places with music and sport, and that you got picked up on. yes, it led to choices from me feeling like i didn't want to become someone who would be a victim in my area, so i became more like the perpetrator and became someone who had to survive. much of the local conduct and gang life is about survival. you became what's known as a ten star general. what does that mean? when you come from a certain area, it comes with the attributes of

fighting, not having the stigma of what your peers are throwing upon you. so it becomes a rating amongst your friends, like you. so it becomes a rating amongst yourfriends, like a code of you. so it becomes a rating amongst your friends, like a code of conduct oran your friends, like a code of conduct or an honour between friends and peers. how did you get involved in the county lines drug networks? you travel the length of the country?” was involved in terms of filling myself with drug trafficking gangs at the time. i was just quite naive and wanting to make money, and i was befriended. it was a way out of my home life and situations that i was encountering, so for me, it was a way out. but it was a negative way out in terms of trying to make fast money, thinking the lifestyle was a lifestyle everyone rotated to be. you went to prison but you turn things around. how? what changed?” changed. in terms of that, ended up

in prison was a big wake—up call from where i came from and the reality i wanted to aspire to. with that it was, and i feel like reality i wanted to aspire to. with that it was, and ifeel like i could come back out in my community and help other young people. i could tell the truth of what this lifestyle is about an let young people and our community adults, family friends know that this is what some people are doing and they need support. just telling a story from a real perspective to help other young people, but most of all to help myself. how do you spot them, particularly young girls either getting involved in this sort of criminality or vulnerable to it? much of it is what is the young person's lifestyle. a lot of young people won't admit to being groomed or exploited, so starting to understand what the lifestyle is light. the young people who has

trainers or an ice bag and they don't have income, you start to put the pieces together. young people are not attending school, where the young people are in the daytime, it becomes a missing episode. it's about how we train as professionals, if we all work as multi multi—agency, we can understand where the gap is for that young person and potentially understand if it's criminal explication. what can you tell them to make them see there is another life there for them if they want it? there is help out there for them. there is a space where there are people who have gone through that lifestyle who can help them rehabilitate themselves, not reform, move them rehabilitate themselves, not reform , move away them rehabilitate themselves, not reform, move away from that lifestyle. it's just asking for the help in letting people know that you are not a victim sometimes. young people sometimes see themselves as victims. you are not a victim, you just went through circumstances that

led you to this position. if you wa nt led you to this position. if you want help, there's help you can see for many professionals who understand. nequela, thank you for telling us all about it. ceremonies have been taking place in washington to honour the us supreme courtjustice ruth bader ginsburg. she is the first american woman to lie in state in the capitol. the equal rights champion is being honoured during a private ceremony attended by family members and some officials as well as invited guests, including the democratic presidential nominee, joe biden. thousands of people have already paid tribute to her outside the supreme court building. the us house of representatives speaker nancy pelosi opened the ceremony with a brief address. it is with profound sorrow and deep sympathy to the ginsberg family that i have a high honour to welcome justice ruth bader ginsburg in the

capital of the united states. she does so on account built for abraham lincoln. may she rest in peace. speaking at the memorial service, rabbi lauren holtzblatt said the latejustice had been a determined defender of people's rights. asa as a lawyer, she wanted equality for women and men, not in one swift victory, but brick by brick, case by case. through meticulous, careful lawyering. she changed the course of american law. and even when her views did not prevail, she still thought. the headlines on bbc news... a police officer is shot dead at station in south london by a man who was being detained. it's understood the suspect then turned the gun on himself. he's now in a critical condition. the head of the met police paid tribute to the officer.