this is bbc news. the headlines at eight... borisjohnson says he's anxious about a rise in the indian covid variant in the uk as scientists meet to discuss its spread. there to discuss its spread. have been more than 1000 cases. there have been more than 1000 cases. it there have been more than 1000 cases. , . there have been more than 1000 cases, , ., ., ., there have been more than 1000 cases. , . ., ., ., there have been more than 1000 cases. ., ., ., . cases. it is a variant of concern. we are anxious _ cases. it is a variant of concern. we are anxious about _ cases. it is a variant of concern. we are anxious about it. - cases. it is a variant of concern. we are anxious about it. it - cases. it is a variant of concern. we are anxious about it. it has. cases. it is a variant of concern. - we are anxious about it. it has been spreading. david cameron says he didn't break any rules when lobbying ministers on behalf of the collapsed financial company, greensill capital. i accept that there is a strong argument _ i accept that there is a strong argument having a former prime minister— argument having a former prime minister engage in behalf of any commercial interest, no matter how laudable _ commercial interest, no matter how laudable the motives, can be open to misinterpretation. israel has called up thousands of reservists. its military is reported to be considering a ground invasion into gaza. this comes after palestinians continue firing barrages of rockets into israel,

mostly at tel aviv. hundreds of people protest in glasgow to try and stop uk immigration enforcement from removing two men. police have agreed to release the men for the time being. and we will be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers this evening, including dawn foster. but is it 10:30 on bbc news. good evening and welcome if you have justjoined us. the prime minister says he is anxious about the spread of the indian coronavirus variant in parts of the uk and says he can't rule anything out. public health england say

there are now more than 1,300 cases, up from 520 last week. bolton has one of the highest rates of the indian variant, with most of the infections thought to be among the under 25s. in blackburn with darwen, additional vaccination clinics will be opened up next week — though the jab will only be available to those within the current government guidance, which is currently anyone aged over 38. 0ur correspondent dominic hughes reports from bolton. surge testing, and now an extra push on vaccinations is under way in bolton. this is a part of town that has seen a spike in infections. 553 new cases in a week, more than doubling the infection rate. we are doing just over 300 vaccines a day. the concerns around the unknown is, how many cases are linked to the variant that originated in india, and how far has it spread? the variant from india seemed to appear around the time

that our rates started to rise. what we don't have the full detail on is how to what extent the rise is down to that, that is why we are doing the surge testing in part, we have lots of sites across bolton that allow people without symptoms to be tested and we really need them to do that to get down to the detail of what variants are in our community. next week, most students will be able to stop wearing masks in schools, but not here at the academy, where the vaccinations are being carried out. in light of a spike in this local area, it is really important we continue wearing face masks for the next few weeks. i think it is important we all do our bit to keep each other safe and that is the number one priority of any principle that any school, so the mask wearing will continue. bolton has been here before. only a few weeks last summer were free restrictions. the worry is that areas now seeing infections surge could find themselves subject to yet more local lockdowns. it is a variant of concern, we are anxious about it, it has been spreading, but we want to make sure

we take all the prudential, all the cautious steps now that we could take. there has been no change in national policy on who gets the vaccine, despite council leaders calling for more freedom to respond to local outbreaks. so far, vaccines remain highly effective. but new variants are the biggest threat to the path out of lockdown. it might feel sore for a couple of days, all right? dominic hughes, bbc news, bolton. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. the guests joining me tonight are jamie njoku—goodwin chief executive of uk music and former special adviser to the department of health, and the broadcaster

and writer atjacobin, dawn foster. she returns to us after several months break and it will be lovely to have her back. it be great to have you with as well. david cameron has said he believes he was acting in the public interest when he lobbied ministers and senior civil servants on behalf of the collapsed financial company, greensill capital. the former prime minister — giving evidence to mps conducting inquiries into the affair — faced a series of uncomfortable questions, but he again insisted he had not broken any rules. 0ur political editor, laura kuenssberg was watching. money, power and how it moves around. the former prime minister used his phone book to push the case for his employer along to the treasury, to the bank of england. arguing for now failed greensill greensill capital to take part

emergency loans last year. he is silent. emergency loans last year. he is silent- this _ emergency loans last year. he is silent. this is _ emergency loans last year. he is silent. this is a _ emergency loans last year. he is silent. this is a painful— emergency loans last year. he is silent. this is a painful day. - silent. this is a painful day. admitting at the start that he could have acted differently, but he... nothing i did was against the rules, but it would be better to only use the most formal means of contact by a letter. . , , ., the most formal means of contact by a letter. , ., ., ., a letter. last year, david cameron a- ealed a letter. last year, david cameron appealed to _ a letter. last year, david cameron appealed to colleagues _ a letter. last year, david cameron | appealed to colleagues repeatedly. lobbying... a message to the chancellor, saying that... and then his old friend, michael gove. is the treasury rejected a request but one which has now gone hunter was allowed to give out millions

of pounds through a separate scheme. mps this afternoon were determined to wrinkle mr cameron smooths reputation. you not feel you have demeaned yourself and your position by using whatsapp to get your way around? what i did at the time of the economic crisis was put to the government and i genuinely believed it was_ government and i genuinely believed it was a _ government and i genuinely believed it was a good idea to get money into the hands _ it was a good idea to get money into the hands of small businesses. it the hands of small businesses. [11 has the hands of small businesses. has been the hands of small businesses. it has been an embarrassing afternoon for the man he is to run the country. he was being coy about how much he was being paid and how often you use the companyjet. he did not deny that he knew that greensill was in big trouble at the beginning of the pandemic when he was sending all the pandemic when he was sending all the texts. ~ ., ,, the pandemic when he was sending all the texts. a, ~ , ., ~ ., the texts. more like stalking than lobb inc, the texts. more like stalking than lobbying, looking _ the texts. more like stalking than lobbying, looking back— the texts. more like stalking than lobbying, looking back at - the texts. more like stalking than lobbying, looking back at least i the texts. more like stalking than | lobbying, looking back at least are you not embarrassed about how you behave? , ., , ,., , you not embarrassed about how you

behave? , ., , , ., behave? yes, there are lessons to learn and for _ behave? yes, there are lessons to learn and for me _ behave? yes, there are lessons to learn and for me to _ behave? yes, there are lessons to learn and for me to learn. - behave? yes, there are lessons to learn and for me to learn. the - learn and for me to learn. the failure begs — learn and for me to learn. the failure begs the _ learn and for me to learn. tie: failure begs the question as to how influence as well as money can be part of trade. gabriel pogrund is whitehall correspondent for the sunday times — and one of the journalists who brought this story to light. you watch david cameron's evidence. what struck me most about it? i think i was struck by the essential issue that he still maintains he didn't do anything wrong. he says he regrets the extent of his communication, perhaps, in retro suspect and should have —— retrospect and should have potentially sent a formal letter rather than a tax. that comes down to a format rather than the principle of the lobbying in question. as was conveyed, he said it was a painful day for him and it was depressing that greensill�*s

demands had been so damaging to people. forthe demands had been so damaging to people. for the man that is at the head of the next big scandal, what we saw from david cameron today is quite a significant lack of contrition. i5 quite a significant lack of contrition.— quite a significant lack of contrition. , ., , ' contrition. is it any different with mothers who _ contrition. is it any different with mothers who have _ contrition. is it any different with mothers who have subsequently| contrition. is it any different with - mothers who have subsequently gone on —— others who have subsequently gone on to go back into areas that they are previously working. is it a conflict of interest? he they are previously working. is it a conflict of interest?— conflict of interest? he was a lobb ist conflict of interest? he was a lobbyist and _ conflict of interest? he was a lobbyist and he _ conflict of interest? he was a lobbyist and he was - conflict of interest? he was a lobbyist and he was a - conflict of interest? he was a lobbyist and he was a former| conflict of interest? he was a - lobbyist and he was a former prime minister. this is unusual because he got caught. he did say one thing, which is that you took credit for the fact that he had been caught. he said the only reason that they know about the scandal because of changes. as myself another journalist of the financial times pointed the government did not

proactively or publicly dispose any of his contact or meeting with officials, ministers, the treasury, nhs, public health and social care. we only know about this because of leaks and information between reporters and sources. even cameron himself said that lobbying rules don't go far enough, but in this instance as well, it is not a happy by—product of rules not being implemented. that is properly a significant fact of theirs. when the ministers order an enquiry to be undertaken about the architecture of our rules on lobbying and the influence on public life, they may wish to impose stricter regulations on such things. llse wish to impose stricter regulations on such things-— wish to impose stricter regulations on such things. use the phrase got cau~ht, on such things. use the phrase got caught. but — on such things. use the phrase got caught. but he _ on such things. use the phrase got caught, but he hasn't _ on such things. use the phrase got caught, but he hasn't been - on such things. use the phrase got caught, but he hasn't been found l on such things. use the phrase got| caught, but he hasn't been found to have done anything that broke the rules, so in a sense, his relationship and how he used his influence has been exposed. that is

under public light and scrutiny because of you and your colleagues, because of you and your colleagues, be hasn't broken any rules and not something that had to be acknowledged by the committee. another thing that we mentioned is what he knew about greensill�*s difficulties in one. this is an important question because it makes a difference in how we try to influence getting money for his former employer. do you think we are any further in answering that question?— any further in answering that cuestion? . , ., any further in answering that cuestion? ~ . , ., ., question? what is important say also is the fact that _ question? what is important say also is the fact that no _ question? what is important say also is the fact that no rules _ question? what is important say also is the fact that no rules have - question? what is important say also is the fact that no rules have been i is the fact that no rules have been preached as far as we know. in terms of what he knew about the company, bank of england report revealed a meeting took place in march 2020 with cameron and greensill and other representatives of the company with bank officials. greensill acknowledged that the company faced

significant pressure in the current market. cameron must have known that they faced problems, but he said that he didn't know they were existential until december 2020. in the latter appearance in the public council committee, he was aware of the finances and... he did say at a basic understanding of the company and he knew that they were in some trouble. cameron says that during the time you lobbied for them, he didn't know how bad things were. thank you very much. figures out today show another big rise for nhs waiting lists in england — a backlog caused by the pandemic. just underfive million people are waiting for hospital treatment, more than 400,000 who have been waiting for more than a year.

nhs england has allocated £160 million to fund extra clinics at weekends, and virtual assessments, as part of a trial scheme to help tackle the backlog. 0ur health editor hugh pym reports. susan needs two knee replacements. she's waited since the start of last year for the first one, and still no date's been offered. she is a primary school teacher, but has now had to stay off work. i kept going all last year, kept going through lockdown, through everything else, but unfortunately it's come to this year, and i can't, couldn't carry on. she really wants to get back in the classroom. i am upset, and i do feel that i have let the children down, although it's out of my hands, and it isn't my fault. just one example of howjobs and everyday lives are blighted by long waits for nhs treatment. the total waiting for nonurgent operations in england in march was about 9% of the whole population. in scotland, it was 8% in december,

the latest available figures. in wales, it was 17% in february, and in northern ireland, 23% of the population was on a waiting list, according to data in december. so what are the solutions? well, money is being made available to some hospitals in england who have come up with ideas for using technology and smarter ways of working to get more operations done, and more patients off the waiting list. bristol's southmead hospital is one of them, with a range of new plans. we are trying to get more people through clinics now by increasing our numbers of face—to—face and also virtual appointments, and then, as regards to theatre operating, we are increasing the number of lists and extending the lists for longer time, going into the evenings, and hopefully using weekends, as well. i'm sorry i'm not there with you. how are you feeling? rebecca, who is a surgeon, is talking via video link tojulia, who had a complex ankle operation.

if i turn it around... what is in effect an ipad on wheels provides the sound and pictures. it's called hospital at home, and allows doctors to monitor julia from a distance. because of the hospital at home team, i was able to come out that much earlier, and i suppose i was able to leave a bed for somebody else, and i could come home to my own bed, which has been a sheer delight, i can tell you. nhs england said operations were back to 80% of pre—pandemic levels. staff are working flat out, but there is a huge backlog of work, which could take years to get through. hugh pym, bbc news. during the course of today, my colleague victoria derbyshire has been at guy's hospital talking to doctors are tackling the backlog and

patients and their experiences. here in the cancer centre at guy's hospital with my glasses that are steaming up as you can see, we are going to talk now to gregory winning, who is right now having chemotherapy treatment and thank you very much for talking to us. while you are having this infusion, sir. and also rhianna moore who is assistant here in the chemotherapy unit. gregory, you have had your chemo treatment all the way through the pandemic. yes, 15 months. 15 months, tell us what that has been like for you. they have been so good here and i have never had to miss a single treatment. not one? i have heard so many stories of people's cancer treatment being cancelled and i have had every single one. rhianna, how have you managed to do that? because it is notjust with gregory, is it? it is with all the cancer patients. exactly. we have kept running throughout the whole year that this has been going on now. we did have a lot of staff redeployed to intensive care, those that have the skills relevant for that. but then we also trained up a lot of other nurses in giving chemotherapy and other treatments and so we managed to pull

on lots of different staff within the trust to come and help us out over here. we have been able to kind of keep running at almost full capacity if needed. gregory, obviously you haven't been able to have visitors or anyone sitting alongside you while you have had chemo. how has that been for you? again, my girlfriend, she is very au fait. she knows a lot about what is going on, so when i have a consultation, i generally have her on the phone. and she can ask questions. yes, but when you are having chemo, you are on your own and the infusion can last for hours. as long as someone brings me a cup of coffee and a sandwich, which they do, i am fine. really? so how do you and your staff make sure as much as you can, because you are busy, make sure that people like gregory and others don't feel isolated when they are going through what can be, sometimes it can make you feel sick and like you've got a migraine or a hangover... we have a lot of time for our patients here in the unit. we are well staffed so we can

provide care at a good level for them and also we have a 24/7 helpline. patients can call in at any time and there is always someone at the end of the phone that they need it. we do also do check ins with them after their first treatment to see how they found it and how they are getting on and allow them tojust kind of off—load any thoughts that they have. and obviously, these drugs are going into you right now. you are being treated for lung cancer and also brain cancer. what do you feel? what does it feel like? just describe that for our audience. you don't really feel anything except when they wash it through to make sure that it's clear, but it is not difficult having the treatment and i'm very lucky that i don't really suffer side effects, some people have terrible side—effects. but i don't really suffer from any. gregory, thank you very much for talking to us and especially while you are actually undergoing treatment. and to rhianna, i know you are super, super busy,

so thank you for giving us your time also. victoria derbyshire there and can i just say there are 8pm this evening, we will be discussing the backlog and what can be done to prevent it from getting any worse. we'll be talking to chris hobson from the nhs providers and others. israeli forces are massing on the border with gaza — as the military considers plans for a possible ground invasion. israel has continued its air strikes on gaza — where people say they endured the hardest night of air strikes since the 2014 war. at least 83 people are reported to have been killed there since monday. seven people have died in israel. palestinian militants have continued firing barrages of rockets at several target cities across israel. by side, on the streets of tel aviv, lod and beyond have intensified amid warnings of civil war. from jerusalem here's our

middle east editor, jeremy bowen. vicious night after long, hard days and none unexpected front line on the streets of israel. sectarian violence between israeli citizens is a new dimension of this crisis. not all israelis arejews, around 20% of palestinian arabs. last night, young men were on the prowl for people to attack. jews versus arabs, arabs againstjews is, how it has been. the president warns they should not abandon the country to civil war. in the last 15 years, was among the masses have followed a pattern. the next big decision for israel is

whether to send in its troops. tens of thousands of palestinians gathered in jerusalem of thousands of palestinians gathered injerusalem to pray at of thousands of palestinians gathered in jerusalem to pray at the most holy place other than mecca and medina. chants and banners celebrating hamas and its leaders celebrating, on the holiday that ends ramadan. it is meant to be a fun time forfamilies, ends ramadan. it is meant to be a fun time for families, but this time not so much. the president has been upstaged by his viral is —— rivals in hamas. no peace, or stability whilejerusalem is occupied. in this israeli town close to gaza, a five—year—old boy was killed when a bomb hit his building. his neighbours _ bomb hit his building. h 3 neighbours have had enough. it is very, very difficult to live under

the circumstances. it is track the government should wipe out gaza once and for all. , ., , ., ., ,, and for all. they went to see troops runnina and for all. they went to see troops running the — and for all. they went to see troops running the iron _ and for all. they went to see troops running the iron dome _ and for all. they went to see troops running the iron dome missile - running the iron dome missile defences. he said that it will take time, but israel would decisively restore quiet. it is a modest warning. you will need more to tell israelis than that before all of this content. the prime minister is also struggling to save his job. right across israel and the occupied territories this week, there are serious violence. this is a town in the occupied west bank, dudes confronting each other and another generation cursed by the failures of its leaders. —— young people confronting each other. joining me now is professor 0mar dajani from the university of the pacific. he has worked as a legal adviser

to the palestinian negotiating team in peace talks with israel. thank you very much for being with us. there is a lot of talk about the escalation and others have said, what is the point of de—escalation for something you haven't resolved. 0bviously for something you haven't resolved. obviously there is an immediate crisis here. what other steps that you think would be most useful to take to persuade both the hamas leadership and indeed israel that further conflict is not in either side interest? i further conflict is not in either side interest?— further conflict is not in either side interest? ,, ., ., side interest? i think that in order to tie-escalate — side interest? i think that in order to de-escalate effectively, - side interest? i think that in order to de-escalate effectively, you . side interest? i think that in order l to de-escalate effectively, you have to de—escalate effectively, you have to de—escalate effectively, you have to do address the incentives that both of the parties have to continue along the path of violence. right now, hamas seeks to portray itself as the only palestinian political actor that is prepared to defend jerusalem and it is important to bearin jerusalem and it is important to bear in mind, thatjerusalem is always a potent political and

religious symbol for the palestinians but it is supercharged right now with the evictions, or planned evictions of palestinian residents of the jerusalem neighbourhood of residents of thejerusalem neighbourhood of sheikh she—ra. connect what's happening there to palestinians prolonging this... and also in the mosque compound, again, one of the holiest site in islam at one of the holiest site in islam at one of the holiest site in islam at one of the holiest times of the year is something that touches a nerve in a way that few things good. particularly following palestinian authority presidents decision to cancel elections scheduled for the summer, hamas seized the opportunity to forge a leadership role for itself and that is particularly important in view of the economic desolation from the gaza strip as a

result of israel's now more than decade—long blockade on the strip. for hamas, there are powerful incentives, there were powerful incentives, there were powerful incentives to engage and now they may already feel that the show of force that they have engaged in makes a point and sets them up, though i wouldn't be surprised to see them demanding a range of other things. some of which they in the past, like improved for palestinians in gaza to the rest of the world, a reconstruction package for the gaza strip, but i also wouldn't be surprised to see them demanding steps from israel to ensure that provocations injerusalem will halt. sorry to interrupt, what about on the israeli side? what would incentivise israel to feel that it could step back from the current military campaign? because the defence minister may be considering some sort of ground invasion. that

could be a kind of brinkmanship to persuade hamas to back off, saying we are serious about coming in if you don't back off. but others might be quite serious, at a time which is very politically fractious anyway. i think you hit the nail on the head. i think the problem is that we have got the perfect storm in israel right now, there is always a desire on the israeli park to —— israeli part to abide biologic of disproportionality as a means of termination. there will be reluctant not to take very serious measures, which means a lot of pain for civilians in the gaza strip. i don't think the actors like the united states are powerless to alter this trajectory and offer incentives to

change this. where the biden administration to enable a change in how the united states deals with israeli overreactions in circumstance on the ground, i think you might see israeli leaders taking notice. i think the logic right now is listening. we don't want hamas to get any credit to regard itself as coming ahead in any respect as a result of this. and so we are going to make things as damaging as possible. to make things as damaging as ossible. ., ., to make things as damaging as ossible. ., ,, , ., , to make things as damaging as ossible. ., ~' ,, , . possible. thank you very much. the rofessor possible. thank you very much. the professor from _ possible. thank you very much. the professor from the _ possible. thank you very much. the professor from the university - possible. thank you very much. the professor from the university of - possible. thank you very much. the professor from the university of the pacific. thank you so much for your analysis of the situation. hundreds of people have been out on a glasgow street all day, trying to prevent a uk immigration enforcement team removing two men. after the men were placed in a van, someone lay under it and other people surrounded it, which meant the van couldn't be driven away. in the last hour the men have been released. aileen clarke reports

from pollokshields. the message from the protesters was clear. two men in the van detained this morning by uk immigration enforcement should be released and there were no signs that those who gathered to block the van's path and even underneath it had any intentions of leaving until that happened. when your neighbour is in trouble, then you stand for your neighbour. this is what the people of glasgow are doing. ijust live right next door, so these are my neighbours that are in the van at the moment. ijust kind of came back after having a coffee and saw the immigration van and obviously, i was really worried, these scenes, prompted nicola sturgeon, the first minister who is also the local msp to criticise the uk home office, saying their action today created a dangerous and unacceptable situation. the local mp also concerned. the way in which the home office are carrying out their business and removing people from their homes in the midst of a pandemic is completely unacceptable. this didn't have to happen today

and i'm trying to get answers from the home office as to why this has gone ahead in the midst of a pandemic. applause. police scotland emphasised today that they did not assist in the removal of asylum seekers, but without to police the protest. this afternoon, they said that to protect public safety and for public health, an operational decision had been taken to release the men detained by uk immigration enforcement back into the community in the meantime. the opening up of the van happened several hours after the scandal began, but the protesters eventually got their wish. and just in the last hour, the home office has issued this statement... it went on to say...

now it's time for a look at the weather. you may have been caught in the downpours today. a real wash—out for some of us. especially because south—western parts of the uk. friday will bring further showers, but they won't be as widespread and in fact for most of us, it is going to be mostly a dry day. the forecast then for this evening still shows some showers across the south and in fact, it has actually been prolonged rain across the south—west of england and parts of wales rather than showers. showers have occurred further north. i think by the end of the night, it is cloudy and damp more than anything, and frost free with temperatures between 6 degrees and 9 degrees. an overcast start on friday for most of us. through the afternoon, we will have some sunshine, but showers will break out in western and southern areas, some of the showers could be heavy with