this is bbc news, the headlines: manchester united's premier league football match against liverpool has been postponed after angry fans invaded the old trafford stadium. hundreds of supporters swarmed in ahead of the game to call for the removal of the club's american owners, the glazers. several thousand more demonstrated outside. both the united states and britain have denied an iranian media report that an agreement has been reached with tehran on prisoner releases. but the uk's foreign secretary, dominic raab, has said that tehran�*s treatment of the detained dual national, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, is tantamount to torture. dozens of cities across brazil have been forced to stop giving people a second dose of coronavirus vaccine because of severe shortages. the health minister has blamed his predecessor for allowing too many people to receive the first dose without having enough stocks for a follow—up.

now, on bbc news, it is dateline london. hello. i'm shaun ley. welcome to the programme which brings together some of the uk's leading commentators, uk specialists and the foreign correspondents filing and blogging to audiences back home from the dateline: london. this week: embarrassmentfor borisjohnson ove rwho originally paid for his wallpaper, but does it really deserve the days of headline coverage devoted to it? and the world rallies to india's aid, but is it too late to halt the virus�* deadly course? joining us to discuss those questions: ashis ray, indian foreign correspondent who's reported from london since the 1970s. steve richards, uk political commentator who's even

turned hisjournalism into a successful stage performance. and here in the studio with me, lyse doucet — a canadian whose passports must be thick with immigration stamps by now, having reported from so many parts of the world. no wonder she's our chief international correspondent. lovely to see you again, lyse. and good to have you with us, steve and ashis. now, when in london, british prime ministers live over the shop, as it were. borisjohnson, his partner and their young son occupy an upstairs flat in downing street. for the entire week, the news media here has been transfixed by this question. who originally paid for it to be refurbished to the prime ministerial family's taste? though mrjohnson says he's paid for it, his coyness over the alleged involvement of his conservative party — and perhaps one of its donors — has now prompted an official investigation into a possible breach of election law. steve, there could be people watching this who think, "i don't really care who paid for borisjohnson�*s

refurbishment, provided it's not me." yeah, and there's evidence in vox pops around the country, with elections in britain scheduled for next week, where that is a view. i think it's a misguided view for several reasons. first of all, it's not so much about the detail, as the principle. whether a prime minister should comply with the rules outlined to, to some extent, constrain and hold prime ministers to account as to who funds what. and it's also part of a pattern where borisjohnson appears to be, if i can put it politely, more casual with the rules than many of his predecessors. and that applies on a much bigger stage, threatening to break international law, found to have broken the law over proroguing parliament. there are questions of integrity, but very briefly, they are obvious and common. i think it raises issues aboutjudgement and trust — who a prime minister trusts,

when people are leaking all over the place, including apparently, or allegedly some in number 10 who work for him. what does it say about his judgement, that he appoints dominic cummings to the most powerful place in government, and he now is accusing him of being notjust a liar, but also a deranged liar. it raises many deeper issues beyond his taste for wallpaper. and it probably isn't his taste, it's his fiancee�*s taste. that raises another issue about the nature of their relationship, which is never talked about publicly, he doesn't have to. but now that's being drawn into it, and he will hate that because he doesn't like talking about his personal life. so for many reasons, there's a lot of talk in britain about... it has no cut through with voters, but it will affect the mood of number 10 and the government and johnson's leadership in quite profound ways. one way or another, ashis ray, it is an extraordinary

distraction because it seems to be consuming... the media can report whatever stories they want and it doesn't matter if it's consuming their time, but it's consuming the time of the prime minister, the cabinet secretary, who is the most senior official in government, cabinet ministers desperately trying to find forms of words that don't look like a commentary on it and avoid answering questions on it. parliament, the opposition seems obsessed by it, and frankly, there are probably much more important things the government should be focused on. you're absolutely right. you said that i've been a foreign correspondent in this country since the 1970s, which is indeed true. i came here whenjames callaghan was prime minister and i can say this much, that no prime minister in my memory has been under so much pressure as borisjohnson has been in the past one week for his personal conduct. and this is serious because now that the electoral commission

has taken up the matter, it's going to investigate it and it sees reasonable grounds for an offence or offences having occurred. that's a very serious statement from the electoral commission, and this story, whether it impacts on the local elections and the mayoral elections on 6th may or not, is probably not going to go away so easily. it could have a medium—term impact, if not long—lasting impact, and therefore, i think there should be reason for concern in the conservative party because it's the party that is now under attack because the investigation will look into the party's conduct as well and can penalise the party if any wrongdoing has been discovered. that said, this may not be the only inquiry because the parliamentary standards commissioner may look at the matter as well. lyse, as you have said,

this is now the eighth prime minister and if my maths is right, ashis has reported on from london. you travel internationally constantly. at least, normally, covid aside, you travel constantly. how do you think this compares with the treatment of political leaders? i know he's not the head of state, but nonetheless, he's one of the most important politicians in our country. how do you think this looks internationally? i think even domestically, - when you get up in the morning and you hear the news - and reading the paperand it's all about curtains and sofas and wallpaper and when . there are huge issues — steve mentioned the trust, but also transparency — - do we really know- what really happened? and is this a microcosm . of where we're not getting the full story, not - just for borisjohnson, but about the conservative . party and politics in general? so i think it's emblematic of something wider, - if you like. but certainly internationally,

10 downing street is notjust a property, it's a symbol of british power, britishl status, the whole aura, if you like. i the back door with the silver lettering. yes. it is known. if you say 10 downing street. almost anywhere in the world, people know. so... people do find it odd . that the prime minister, to use your expression, lives above the flat - and obviously when i travel, . i have interviewed many world leaders and they live sometimes in literally in palaces _ and sometimes it's surreal- because i've often noticed that sometimes in the countries that are falling apart, - they still have the bone china, and the curtains, the lovely. chintz sofas, everything properly in its place, i even though outside it'sl complete pandemonium. but i've never, ever- heard people discussing the cost of curtains. you know, you hear aboutl renovations, but not in this way and certainly not. connecting the leaders.

so is this really symptomatic of the politics we live in, - where nothing - is beyond the pale? where, especially with social media, especially with really| divisive and fractured i politics, that these sorts of issues are fair. game, if you like? ashis, iwonder, given the detachment you enjoy by being an outsider looking in for many years — and you mentioned jim callaghan, who i think most people would say was, regardless of his party politics, was a model of rectitude on things like this, and would probably be the kind of old—fashioned politician who would be quite appalled with people talking about things like sofas and curtains, when there are so many big issues. do you think one solution to this would be to start paying our prime ministers properly? i think that's an argument which can be debated and tossed about in parliament, for instance. but the sum that the prime minister earns is not inconsiderable, so if he is out of pocket for any reason, then there must be

something to it. obviously, he earned a lot more money writing for the telegraph and also doing lectures, including india, where he was very handsomely paid once for a lecture in 2019, if i'm not mistaken. so yes, his income has come down, but he also has, even while being prime minister, income from royalties from his books, he's got two properties and rental income, so it's adding up and it's not as if he's living in poverty. but, in this case, it is a matter of principle. i'm reminded of a case more than 20 years ago. and a lot of you may remember this, which is of peter mandelson having to step down as secretary of state because he had borrowed money

from a fellow mp and a fellow minister called geoffrey robinson. the actual loan that was given to mandelson to buy a house in london, took place or was given to him before the labour party came into government in 1997. but since the matter came to light while he was secretary of state, he had to step down, so that was certainly the standard that was applied and therefore, in this case, whether the original money came from a loan or a grant, i think that's bad enough because we all know that people, businessmen in particular, do not lend or give aid unless there is something in return and that's where it gets really murky.

the level to me is disturbing. ——it gets so murky at the level of prime minister, the level to me is disturbing. we don't know the details of it, of course. the prime minister says, "i have paid for it." and as far as we know that's the end of the subject. steve, this may not imminently bring borisjohnson�*s career to an end, but is there a possibility that this will shorten the amount of time he has left in downing street, do you think? it depends on what happens with the opinion polls. i think it could anyway, if he finds it all just too hellish in the coming months. but that apart, he has this protective shield of opinion poll leads and while they're in place, colleagues, while viewing him privately with some wariness these days — and in fact all the way through — will not move against him because he still seems to be a winner. if that changes, he is on a really slippery slope. but i want to contextualize this for a moment. there's a myth in britain that sleaze alone can bring down prime ministers,

asjohn major has cited. other factors have to play into it, economic incompetence as there was with major when it came to falling of the exchange rate. there has to be a dynamic alternative as there was seemingly in the mid—90s with tony blair and new labour. so there has to be other factors for it to have that fatal impact, and sleaze alone, there is a pattern where voters turn away and actually, you mentioned callaghan, wilson before callaghan, a lot of sleaze allegations there and one for elections at a five. there needs to be other issues whirling around as well him this vaccine roll—out being very successful in britain, that doesn't apply at the moment. but it might well do when the economic consequences of the pandemic are addressed along with all the other

chaotic things going on in number ten, incedentally including brexit. so, otherfactors might also come into play. we will find out any i local elections, then, what the people think - because it will be a barometer if you like, is this really - just on the political classes? as important as it is. there are three, possibly for investigations here, l so there must be something serious in this, but the sun. is shining, britain has one - of the most successful vaccine roll—outs in the world, we are hearing there l is going to be - an economic revival. how are people going to vote? are they going to vote? and does this really matter to the british public - in the same way that it matters to our conversation today - and to the pundits - and parliamentarians? as you say, and we will be discussed and that of course next weekend's edition of dateline london. steve mentioned harold wilson, jim callaghan�*s predecessor, if you want to know what that's all about,

just go onto your computer and type in ganax raincoat and see what comes up. journalism is running out of words to capture the horror of the crisis in india. it is no surprise the number of people who contracted the virus is in the millions. almost every day recently and yet again on friday, the number of infections has reached a record high. yet measured as a percentage of the population, india's fertility rate is relatively low. much lower than that of the united states or britain. i was looking at the figures on one of the sites, thejohn hopkins university site and they have india down at 14.5 people in the 100,000 in terms of mortality rate. even the uk's 191. the us is 175. slightly worse than the us because we were hit particularly bad in the first wave. how credible are these mortality figures in the light of the international

comparison? as you very rightly said, the official figures point to fatalities in india not being at the level of what has occurred in the united kingdom or the united states and we are talking about the percentage of the population. but i would venture to say — and this is an expert opinion that has come from the medical fraternity, it has come from eyewitness accounts, it has come from what i would— call circumstantial evidence — the figures do not appear to be correct. and this is not merely pertaining to this year, but also last year. what's being said is that right at this moment, the figures are way below what is reality and that being the case, i think there is reason to worry. i don't know if india, in percentage terms, will go past other countries but for the moment,

it is a very grim situation. if you take an aerial view of delhi, it would appear as if there has been a bombing raid over the city because fires are burning everywhere. fires are burning in car parks, public parks, back gardens, —— they are burning in back gardens of residences — funeral fires — because the crematoriums cannot cope. it is a devastating scene and i think that tells you how serious this story is. the government is at its wits' end and india, which has a very good team of doctors nationwide, does not have good infrastructure. and this is a modi—made crisis because we had one year to prepare for the second wave, but didn't, modi declared victory told

the world, the forum, that he saved humanity and yet, this was always a possibility and so when it struck, he and india were completely unprepared. lyse, it's interesting, isn't it, because as ashis says, there was a year of grace period almost, some governments saying that the worst is over and that we've got vaccines that solve the problem. first of all, a vaccination on its own is not enough, out — india has had some problems with that. but in the newspaper this weekend, reporting that the tribal area which does not have a lot of money but they spent their budget on things like insuring all of the oxygen can generate their own oxygen. there are people who have fought ahead. not all the officials have been sitting in their hands, waiting for political direction from above. other people thought ahead and others set on their hands waiting for political direction from above. but that makes government's performance look even worse, doesn't it? it's always when you see -

a crisis of these proportions, it is in these most inhumane . moments where you see these moments of shining humanity. you mention this person| who took it upon himself to prepare, but every time we see an absolutely - heartbreaking report from delhil or from mumbai or from another part of india, there is also| the heart—warming stories about how local people are coming together. with whatever means they have. you have the local businessmen collecting the oxygen _ canisters, you have the big businessmen with his — - providing — a helicopter to fly people to places where there are hospital beds - available in icu units. so indians are - pulling together and i have to say is it _ because there is such a large community here in britainl with south asian ancestry, or is it because of- the scale of the crisis? but everyjournalist — - and i don't know whether ashis is the same — but every time. you hear a journalist reporting from india, they say they also have a personal note, -

they say, "i have lost - a friend, i have lost a family. when i wake up in the morning, the first thing i do is check- who i have lost - that is close to me." and the bbc's — _ we have a wonderful team, a strong team in india doing fantastic reporting, - but you can see they are also worried about their friends, i their family, they are - worried about themselves. and the number of — i on social media saying, "my friend needs oxygen — - does anyone know where i can get an oxygen canister?" "does anyone know - where i can get a bed?" the social media is pulsatingj with the passion and the fear and the cries for help. and it's a reminder, steve, isn't it, that this is one of the situations in which social media really earns its spurs and justifies the amount of attention, resources and money that are thrown into it? why it really matters. it is life and death for many communities. yeah, no, social media is, in many ways, an enabler and does empower people at a local level — not least in a crisis where there has been a kind of leadership

vacuum. it is odd that india escaped early on but it kind of — it has engendered this complacency at the top. and the lack of that national leadership, the lack of smart ways of networks to distribute, especially the vaccine, has led to this sort of panic stricken dependency on goodwill and local communities acting in this way. but it is desperate. i find it unwatchable and that image evoked of sort of of the equivalent of a bomb hitting delhi is unbearable to contemplate. and it — the the worry, of course, is that although social media can mean that people can communicate and coordinate, the power to resolve and to instruct remains with leaders, as we know from our experiences here, and that has been lacking with terrible consequences.

ashis, you mentioned borisjohnson and we have said on balance the scandal, in inverted commas, about the refurbishment may not have much political impact on his prospects of remaining prime minister, but this is a real scandal and it is one that is costing thousands of lives on a weekly basis. do you think there will be a significant political backlash against mr modi — notwithstanding the kind —— kindness of strangers to help people in a crisis? whether the anger will actually be demonstrated against the bjp in coming months? well, at the moment there is deep and rising anger, but it is too early to tell whether it will lead to prime minister modi having to step down. at the moment, he has done everything wrong. for instance, india, as you know, has a company called serum institute, which is the biggest manufacturer of vaccines in the world. and serum institute had acquired the license

from oxford to manufacture the oxford vaccine. and what did modi do? narendra modi asked serum institute to export the vaccine to other countries, to win brownie points, rather than give vaccines to his own people. today, with this crisis, and with people panic—stricken, there's a shortage of vaccines and therefore, what britain has achieved by way of vaccinating people and creating this safe — relatively safe and feelgood factor of situation and feelgood factor — that simply does not exist in india at the moment because india has a very, very long way to go before it can vaccinate, adequately, its people. it is still below 15% of the population in terms of the first dose only, so you can imagine at what scale the problem has escalated in just a few weeks.

and indeed, the chances then of averting the path of this are very, very remote at this stage. let me end the programme by asking each of you in turn just a very brief question — is there a story or something perhaps we haven't either given much attention to, given all our obsession with wallpaper, and rightly with the crisis in india, that perhaps has got a bit neglected? steve, anything you have noticed that you would like to mark our audience's cards is about? yeah, the obsession isn't with wallpaper but with rules and propriety. quite right. but yeah, thejoe biden speech this week, which was a radical argument for the state and spending to boost the economy, was really interesting because he has been described as a centrist, but he's always actually been a radical. he was the one who lifted the neil kinnock speech about 1000 generations of kinnock and the advance

of the state as an enabler, and i think it is very interesting that in britain, people like george osborne and david cameron were described as centrist, but in the us, you have someone perceived as that who is actually doing a lot in terms of using the state as a benevolent force, and the polls suggest it is popular. good. ashis? well, i think from a british perspective, i am very, very surprised that not just now, but for several weeks, british media have ignored a story in india. this concerns a briton. his name is christian michelle, who has been in prison in india for over — well, nearly 2.5 years — without a trial. he is accused of having paid bribes in a helicopter deal some ten years ago and that doesn't appear to be a credible charge against him, yet he is in the most hazardous

of conditions in a delhi jail and with this covid situation, i think the danger to him is even greater. but the point of the matter is that even if he isn't accused and even if he needs to go on trial at some point, you cannot hold a person indefinitely for 2.5 years. i am really shocked that british media have not picked up the story of christian michel so far. up the story of so far. very little coverage has taken place. as it happens, one at the stories that i did was for a british paper on this very matter — this was because the united nations has slammed india on this matter and asked india to release christian michel immediately. and we have not heard from the british government. thank you very much, ashis. very briefly, lyse doucet. i have to talk very quickly. my colleagues have been great, the history in afghanistan, -

20 years after the us led nato forces went in, - they are now pulling out. britain as well, to a very uncertain future for- afghanistan. it is not really on the news radar now but afghans - are really, really worried. america is ending its longest war, but the war is not - over for afghans. lyse doucet, ashis ray and steve richards, thank you as ever, very much. thank you for being with us on dateline london. back at the same time next weekend. goodbye! good morning. what a difference a day makes — that may well be the phrase that springs to mind when you wake up this bank holiday monday because it's turning increasingly wet and windy with this area of low pressure pushing from the atlantic. so the rain will be there first thing across northern ireland,

into western fringes of scotland, wales and england, gradually pushing across the pennines, reaching east anglia and the south—east by the end of the afternoon. may welljust be a few scattered showers in the northern isles and the far north of scotland, but windy for all. gusts of winds widely in excess of a0 mph, maybe 60 mph—plus in the south—west. and that's just going to make it feel disappointingly cool for the time of year — 6—12 degrees the high. it stays cold, windy and showery for the next couple of days, i'm afraid, so the weather story certainly has changed. to summarise our week ahead, bank holiday monday is going to be wet and windy. once that eases away, a combination of sunshine and blustery showers and cold for all.

welcome to bbc news — i'm rich preston. our top stories: protesting manchester united fans — angry with the club's american owners — invade the pitch, forcing the game against liverpool to be called off. the club has just been bled dry by the glazers. it's a cash cow. but for us, it is the manchester united football to not communicate with the fans for 16 years and this leads to this kind of anger we've seen on this level. a day of national mourning in israel, for the victims of the deadly crush at a religious festival. both the us and uk deny iranian tv reports that they've agreed prisoner release deals with tehran.