the questions that just will not go away. where exactly did the prime minister get the tens of thousands of pounds he spent doing it up? brian rickard wondered... well, we asked bbc news about the priority it has given to the subject, and a spokesperson told us...

we'll return to "cash for curtains", as it's been called, later. but another incendiary charge against the prime minister was made in the mail online on sunday that he said last autumn that he would rather see "bodies pile high" than take the country into a third lockdown. anonymous sources also told the bbc they had heard the remarks, but borisjohnson strongly denied saying the phrase, describing the reports as "total rubbish." have you ever said that you would rather see bodies pile up than go into another third lockdown? no, but again, ithink the important thing people want us to get on and do as the government is to make sure the lockdowns work. so, was that on—the—record denial by the prime minister the end of the story? no — much to the disgruntlement of neville rhoades, who emailed on tuesday.

we put that point to bbc news who gave us this statement. there was a similarly robust denial of wrongdoing we put that point to bbc news who gave us this statement. there was a similarly robust

denial of wrongdoing by boris johnson last week after the bbc published leaked text messages between mrjohnson and sirjames dyson. the messages showed the prime minister saying he would "fix" concerns the businessman had over his employees�* tax bills if they moved to the uk to make ventilators at the start of the pandemic. if you think that there's anything remotely dodgy or weird or sleazy about trying to secure more ventilators at a time of a national pandemic and doing everything in your power to do that, then i think you're out of your mind. and on wednesday, sirjames dyson wrote an article in the daily telegraph in which he laid into the way bbc news had reported the story.

he went on to criticise laura kuenssberg, writing... sirjames added that he was responding to the prime minister's urgent call for help with ventilators, and that he was looking not for any favours, but for clarification on the tax status of his employees. and this is what the bbc had to say on the matter. but some newswatch viewers were still unhappy, with nick reilly describing the coverage as... on several occasions this week, bbcjournalists questioned government ministers

about these various allegations, and one of those occasions came during wednesday's downing street press conference, with this encounter between laura kuenssberg and the health secretary, matt hancock. if a serving government minister is found to have broken the rules on party funding or even law, should they resign? given that this is a coronavirus press conference, you won't be surprised that i'm not going to add to the answers the prime minister's already given to very extensive questioning. thanks. a number of newswatch viewers thought that wasn't an appropriate forum for a question on that subject. one of them, bridget herniman, recorded this video for us. i find the national coronavirus briefings a really important. portal for all of us in the uk to get the most up—to—datej and accurate information i on the coronavirus agenda. i also find the questioning from the press really- important. i was therefore horrified - to find that laura kuenssberg

chose to use bbc's slot to ask a, quite frankly, | ridiculous question on the pm's flat renovation costs _ while we have thousands dying in india. _ i would've much ratherl seen a specific question on the england variant and implications to us| in the uk. so, please, laura, don't hijack these briefings. for political questions. you provide excellent i analysis and information on other platforms. in reply to those points, the bbc told us... well, we asked bbc news for a correspondent and editor or an executive to come on and discuss any or all of the points we raised on the programme, but were told that no one was available. instead, let's talk to another

newswatch viewer who got in touch with us, mike denny. mike, you complained specifically about laura kuenssberg asking the question she did about the flat at that covid news conference. can you tell me what concerned you? i just thought that the question was entirely inappropriate. a lot of people all over the country had been tuning in to hear a very, very important news conference about the coronavirus pandemic. and for ms kuenssberg to effectively attempt to hijack that was, i think, quite frankly, appalling, and i think it was a delight for me and a lot of the country to see mr hancock quite firmly but politely put her in her place. there are otherjournalists who asked a covid question and then added on, "and would you like to respond to laura's question?" so to be fair, other journalists felt it was a question worthy

of an answer. it's a question probably worthy of an answer, but not in the setting that news conference was taking place, in my opinion. how much coverage did you notice in the build—up to you deciding to complain to newswatch? it felt to me, for several days, that the coverage was completely over the top. it seems to me that every news bulletin i watched over a period of a day or three or four led with this story or things linked to this story. and not only did the broadcasts lead with it, but the actual depth that the broadcasts went into was just way beyond, i think, what was necessary. you raised the question of depth, and the bbc argument is — and i think it's fair to say a lot of viewers have also felt — that the flat refurbishment is a big story because it's part of a larger

issue for the government. can you see why they made the argument that it does merit as much coverage as it was given? frankly, no, ican�*t. i think it is a story and i think it is an important story, but for me, there are much more — many more, rather — important things going on in this country, and indeed, in the world, than who did and who didn't pay for the refurbishment of boris johnson's flat. mike denny, thank you so much for coming on newswatch. you're welcome. thank you for all your comments this week. if you want to share your opinions about what you see or hear on bbc news, on tv, radio, online and social media, e—mail newswatch@bbc.co.uk. or you can find us on twitter at @newswatchbbc. you can call us on 0370 010 6676, and do have a look at previous discussions on our website — bbc.co.uk/newswatch.

that's all from us. we'll be back to hear your thoughts about bbc news coverage again next week. goodbye. hello there. we are seeing a change in the month, but not too much change in the weather. it is staying cold. if we look at april 2021, it's been exceptionally cold the past month or so. in fact, the overnight temperatures on average have been the lowest in almost 100 years, and it is going to stay quite cold on into the first part of may as well. this was the picture on friday. the final day of april brought us sunshine and april showers, and those april showers will be rolling on through the course of the first weekend in may as well. so, sunny spells in store, but also some scattered, fairly heavy downpours. we're in between a couple of areas of low pressure at the moment, this one waiting in the atlantic. that will be more of a pair by the time we get to bank holiday monday, but for the here and now, we've got these cold northerly winds drawing in this chilly arctic air, so still cold for the time of year. after that frosty start to saturday for some of us,

lots of sunshine around through the day. cloud will tend to bubble up as the ground heats up and that will bring some scattered showers almost anywhere during the course of the afternoon. so, they're going to be hit and miss. if you do catch one, there's a risk of hail and some thunder mixed in as well. still quite chilly around the east coast — 7—11 degrees. further west, 13 or 14 celsius. so, heading through saturday night overnight into sunday, showers clear away for the most part, so clear and dry and cold once again. so, an overnight frost, i think, as we start out the day on sunday, with temperatures in more rural spots getting down below freezing once again. sunday evenings another day of some sunny spells and a few scattered showers. probably fewer, i think, on sunday compared to saturday, but again, by the afternoon, it will be that hit—and—miss risk of catching those heavy downpours. possibly a little bit warmer than saturday —

up to about 13 or 14 degrees fairly widely. still chilly across the north of scotland. but then it's all change into bank holiday monday as low pressure approaches from the atlantic, so something we haven't seen in a while — quite a deep area of low pressure. although many areas start off dry, the strong winds and the fairly heavy, persistent rain will move across most areas. probably just dry across the far north of scotland, could be some mounting snow mixed in as well. not only the rain, but the strong gusty winds for many of us on bank holiday monday, it will feel cold with temperatures only about 9—12 degrees. bye— bye.

this is bbc news — i'mjames reynolds — our top stories: as india deals with a huge surge in coronavirus cases — the us announces it will restrict travel from the country next week. funerals begin for the victims of the stampede in israel — at least 45 people died at a crowded jewish festival. we have a special report from mali, as british troops join what's been described as the world's most dangerous peace—keeping mission. british sport takes action over racist abuse online — with many stars and clubs boycotting social media and, heading back to the dancefloor — without social distancing. it's part of a uk pilot on how to gather safely without spreading covid.