tonight at ten , the man who was borisjohnson's closest advisor , says thousands have died needlessly during the pandemic. dominic cummings told mps that the handling of the pandemic was flawed from the start and that chaos had reigned inside number ten. when the public needed us most, the government failed and i d like to say to all the families of those who died unnecessarily how sorry i am for the mistakes that were made and my own mistakes at that. tens of thousands of people died who didn t need to die there was a blistering attack on the performance of the health secretary, matt hancock, who was accused of lying repeatedly. i think that the secretary of state for health should have been fired for at least 15,

20 things, including lying to everybody, on multiple occasions. and mr cummings went further, declaring that borisjohnson�*s handling of the pandemic made him unfit to be prime minister. also tonight... 32 years after the hillsborough football disaster, two former policemen and a solicitor are cleared of altering police statements. a special reports on forced adoptions — we hear from the children who grew up not knowing their mothers. the legacy papers and personal possessions of the late professor stephen hawking are to be saved for the nation. manchester united are level. and in tonight's football, it's extra time in the europa league final between manchester united and villareal. and coming up in the sport on the bbc news channel: he's back on the market — the former chelsea manager antonio conte leaves italian title winners inter after two years in charge.

good evening. for seven hours today, the man who used to be boris johnson's closest advisor lashed out at the prime minister's handling of the pandemic. giving evidence to a parliamentary committee, dominic cummings, who left downing street last november, said thousands of people died, who didn t need to die, because of a failure of leadership in government. in a relentless assault, mr cummings declared that borisjohnson was unfit for thejob and likened the situation in downing street to an out—of—control movie. there was a blistering attack on the performance of the health secretary matt hancock, who was accused of lying repeatedly, but the prime minister refused to sack him. and on the wider context of the handling of the pandemic, he said there were major failures from the start, and a realisation that there was no serious plan for lockdown or for protecting society s most vulnerable people.

our political editor laura kuenssberg listened to the session. her report contains some strong language used in today's exchanges. reality or revenge? delving back into troubled recent history, dominic cummings day to give his version of events. a verdict of failure and an apology for his part. senior ministers, senior officials, senior advisers like me failed disastrously short of the standards that the public has a right to expect. when the public needed us most, the government failed and i'd like to say to all the families of those who died unnecessarily, how sorry i am for the mistakes that were made and for my own mistakes at that. the government's position at the start was it was well prepared. but he revealed, how in the second week of march senior officials suddenly, in graphic terms, said that wasn't the case.

someone said, i've come through here to the prime minister's office to tell you all, "i think we are absolutely expletive. i think this country is heading for a disaster, i think we are going to kill thousands of people. he described the original expectation, a peak in early summer, protecting the most vulnerable. but as flaws in the numbers emerged, how rapidly plans were sketched out on white boards to accelerate to lockdown. showing if nothing changed, the nhs would collapsed and the poignant line, who do we not save? and why did it take him so long to ask the prime minister to change his mind? do you not recognise that that was a massive failure on your part? yes, it was a huge... it was a huge failure of mine and i bitterly regret that i didn't kind of hit the emergency panic button earlier than i did. but i was incredibly frightened, i guess is the word,

about the consequences of me kind of pulling a massive emergency string and saying, the official plan is wrong and it's going to kill everyone and he's got to change path. because what if i'm wrong? number ten sounded sometimes in chaos. on one particular day, grappling with the possibility of lockdown, potential strikes in iraq and the number ten dog. we had this sort of completely insane situation in which part of the building were saying, are we going to bomb iraq? part of the building was arguing about whether or not we are going to do quarantine or not do quarantine. the prime minister has his girlfriend going crackers about something completely trivial. and a prime minister unwilling to take the disease seriously. in february, the prime minister regarded this as just a scare story. if we have the prime minister chairing cobra meetings and he just tells everyone, its swine flu, don't worry about it, i'm going to get chris whitty to inject me live on tv with coronavirus so everyone realises it's nothing to be frightened of. that would not help

actually serious planning. only half through... i first called the prime ministerto answer... the prime minister had to defend the claims next door. this morning, the prime minister's former closest adviser said, - "when the public needed us most, the government failed." _ does the prime minister agree with that? - the handling of this pandemic has been one of the most difficult things this country has had to do for a very long time and none of the decisions have been easy. to go into a lockdown is a traumatic thing for a country. mr cummings real vitriol was saved for the health secretary, who may notjust be able to run away from a long list of accusations. i think that the secretary of state for health should have been fired for at least 15, 20 things, including lying to everybody on multiple occasions in meeting, after meeting in the cabinet room and publicly. whether he claimed misleading on testing, or ppe and putting people in care homes in danger.

the government rhetoric was we put a shield around care homes and blah, blah. it's complete nonsense. quite the opposite of putting a shield around them, we sent people with covid back to the care homes. the health secretary's team has rejected his claims, i haven't seen this performance today— i haven't seen this performance today in— i haven't seen this performance today in full, instead i have been dealing _ today in full, instead i have been dealing with getting the vaccination roll-out _ dealing with getting the vaccination roll—out going, especially to over 305 and — roll—out going, especially to over 305 and saving lives. i will be giving — 305 and saving lives. i will be giving a — 305 and saving lives. i will be giving a statement in the house of commons — giving a statement in the house of commons tomorrow and i will have more _ commons tomorrow and i will have more to— commons tomorrow and i will have more to say— commons tomorrow and i will have more to say then. but then there were accusations that the prime minister wouldn't listen to mr cummings all the top scientists to bring back lockdown to save lives in the autumn, as covid began to take hold again and cases rose. i said to him, the whole lesson of what happened before it is, that by delaying the lockdown came later, it had to be more severe, it had to last longer. surely you've got to learn the lessons from the past? the prime minister decided, no,

and said, basically we're just going to hit and hope. whose advice was he taking? he wasn't taking any advice, he was making his own decisions and he was going to ignore the advice. did you hear him say, let the bodies pile high in their thousands? i heard that in the prime minister's study. the pm's denied that but it was blasted by the man who helped him into number ten. fundamentally, i regarded him as unfit for thejob and i was trying to create a structure around him to try and stop what i thought were extremely bad decisions. the relationship between dominic cummings and borisjohnson is bitter and broken, so there is no surprise the former aide didn't hold back today. but whatever his motivations, dominic cummings was borisjohnson's most senior adviser during the country's worst crisis in many decades. so his evidence can'tjust be brushed off as irrelevant. but after hours, for those who lost family, for those who've suffered, this most important verdict. tens of thousands of people died

who didn't need to die. for the first time, someone who was involved in making the decisions during this crisis has come to that conclusion in public. a claimed the government's always disputed or try to ignore, but one day will have to answer in full. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. in a year of disputes and controversies within government, one of the most talked—about events during the first lockdown was dominic cummings' infamous trip to barnard castle in county durham — the purpose of which, he claimed, was to test his eyesight. today he admitted he hadn't told the whole story, he apologised for his handling of the matter, but said there were security reasons for the trip which he should have been more open about. our deputy political editor vicky young reports. we'd all been told to stay at home, but dominic cummings didn't. he, in fact, travelled to his parents' home in durham. before setting off, he was seen rushing out of downing street after discovering his wife had

covid. weeks later, in the rose garden at downing street, he was forced to explain. i was worried that if my wife and i were both seriously ill, possibly hospitalised, there was nobody in london that we could reasonably ask to look after our child and expose themselves to covid. but today he revealed another version of events. my wife called saying, "there's a gang of people outside saying they're going to break into the house and kill everybody inside." so it was actually repeated security threats which prompted the move to durham. but when the story erupted, mr cummings decided not to mention that. now, at this point i madejust a terrible, terrible, terrible mistake, which i'm extremely sorry about. so i ended up giving the whole rose garden thing where what i said was true, but we left out a kind of crucial part of it all. and just the whole thing was a complete disaster, and the truth is, it undermined public confidence in the whole thing. the most bizarre part of mr cummings's original story

was the now infamous drive to barnard castle to test his eyesight after being ill with covid. if i was going to make up a story, i'd have come up with a hell of a lot better story than that one, right? you were testing your eyesight with your wife and child in the car with you? it didn't seem crazy at the time. obviously i wish i'd never heard of barnard castle and i wish i'd never gone, and i wish the whole nightmare had never happened. after his evidence today, it's his colleagues still in government who will be having nightmares. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. as we've heard, borisjohnson repeated today that in dealing with the pandemic, his government has at all times followed the scientific advice. our health editor hugh pym looks at what we learned from dominic cummings today, about the scientific and health assessments that were available to the prime minister through the crisis. some will contest it, but today's dramatic evidence shines new light on the government's handling of the biggest peacetime crisis in modern times.

dominic cummings' account of the first covid wave in 2020 is highly critical of ministers and officials. british people back from wuhan in china were quarantined in late january, but until the end of february, he said, there was no attempt to get on a war footing. some key players even took skiing holidays. all this as italian hospitals were being overrun with seriously ill covid patients. mr cummings argues there should have been tough restrictions by early march. but big sporting events like the cheltenham racing festival went ahead. he said experts thought stopping these events would mean people went to pubs instead but, he says, this was the wrong approach and officials were also misguided in thinking the british public wouldn't accept a lockdown. now is the time for everyone to stop nonessential contact with others. by march the 16th, he says, there had been a big change in thinking, with the start of restrictions — though a full

lockdown was delayed another week. but a medical expert on one of the main advisory groups says none of the options were clear—cut. really urgent action needed to be taken, but that was very difficult, ithink, for the politicians to balance all the different inputs they were getting from the scientists on one hand, and from those who really felt that this was going to be very damaging to the economy on the other. mr cummings slams the lack of preparation, including shortages of ppe. he alleges even with virus cases surging, there were no urgent plans to secure more supplies. by september, the second wave of the virus was developing. mr cummings says action should have been taken then. the testing system was coming close to being overwhelmed, and he claims the prime minister rejected the idea of a short circuit breaker lockdown in england. some experts agree that was a mistake. there was a lot of arguments in favour of taking early action in the autumn,

in september, when we could see that cases were rising again and we didn't have vaccines. people had been able to travel, and we had reimported infection back into the country, people moving around. we should have done something earlier. the number of uk deaths is one of the highest of leading industrialised nations. mr cummings said mistakes had been made, and he was sorry for his part in them. adrian hamer died with covid on boxing day aged 55. his widow, lisa, says today's developments provide no comfort. mistakes have been made. people need to be accountable for their actions. and they need to take accountability. they all need to take accountability and learn, because if this ever happens again, god help us. more chances to learn will come with a public inquiry next year. others will give their version of events. some may well differ from those of mr cummings. hugh pym, bbc news.

let us return now to our deputy political editor — vicki young is at westminster. given this title wave of criticism today, where does that leave the prime minister?— prime minister? over the years i have watched — prime minister? over the years i have watched hundreds - prime minister? over the years i have watched hundreds of - prime minister? over the years i have watched hundreds of selectj have watched hundreds of select committee hearings like that and never heard anything like it, somebody who so recently has been at the heart of government during such a traumatic period for the country and someone who has turned out his former boss the prime minister in spectacularfashion. for many former boss the prime minister in spectacular fashion. for many he former boss the prime minister in spectacularfashion. for many he is an unreliable witness, many only know him because he broke lockdown rules, he left downing street after a power struggle and at times it sounded like he had an axe to grind and like he was the only one who knew the answers, but no government can justin knew the answers, but no government canjustin smith seven hours of evidence like that, because he laid out in appalling failure across

government, whether planning, decision—making, official scientists or politicians, they all came in for criticism. but this is only his version of events, we overhear others tomorrow starting with health secretary matt hancock. he came under searing criticism, he will answer questions in the house of commons tomorrow at different a press conference. the inquiry into the covid pandemic is due to start next year but the argument was already wanging. —— the argument is already wanging. —— the argument is already raging. vicki, thank you. and the latest government figures on coronavirus show 3,180 new infections and nine deaths reported in the latest 24—hour period. in the vaccine roll—out 186,147 people have received a first vaccine dose in the last 2a hours. in total, more than 38 million people have had theirfirstjab. that's nearly 73% of the uk adult population, nearly 388,000 people

had their second dose in the past 2a hours, meaning more than 23.5 million people have had two doses. that's almost 45% of the adult population. the survivors and families of the victims of the 1989 hillsborough football disaster, have reacted with anger and bitter disappointment after two retired police officers and a former solicitor were acquitted after a judge ruled they had no case to answer. they were accused of trying to minimise the blame being placed on south yorkshire police in the aftermath of the disaster, in which 96 liverpool fans died at the stadium. our correspondent judith moritz reports. hillsborough is a double tragedy. the disaster itself, 96 lives lost when the football terraces became overcrowded at the sheffield wednesday ground. and its aftermath, as fans were unjustly blamed for their own deaths. the families of those who died have spent 32 years fighting forjustice.

today came the end of the legal road as the last trial collapsed. it does not mean that there wasn't a cover—up, itjust means that the law as it is today is not fit for purpose. there needs to be something done to recognise that the 96 were failed, they continue to be failed, and not only that, is its setting a standard for everyone else who was getting shafted by the establishment. former police officers alan foster and donald denton and retired police solicitor peter metcalf were accused of amending statements to mask police failings after the disaster. but the judge ruled thet mr metcalf and his co—defendants have no case to answer. this false accusation of cover—up has been whipped up continually over the years. the facts were investigated here yet again, by a judge and jury. there was no cover—up at hillsborough. though it is not disputed that the statements were changed,

the courts found it didn't amount to a crime. the judge accepted that the defendants didn't know the statements were going to be used for anything other than the 1989 public inquiry, which was not a court of law. this is the former headquarters of south yorkshire police. back in 1989, officers met here to organise the syp response to the disaster. the police statements ended up being used for three purposes — the public inquiry, the first set of inquests and the original criminal investigation into hillsborough. despite a string of inquiries, inquests and trials, the hillsborough families and survivors don't feel they've had accountability. as culture secretary, andy burnham backed their campaign in 2009. today he called for a change in the law. i proposed a hillsborough bill when i was in parliament, to give families like margaret and others parity of legalfunding when they are at an inquest where the state is involved.

that is the very minimum we should be demanding. the recent hillsborough investigations are said to have been the longest and most expensive ever mounted in britain. the crown prosecution service has defended its decision to bring this prosecution, saying it was important for a jury to test the evidence, but the bereaved say it has been a farce. judith moritz, bbc news. last night we reported on the suffering of hundreds of unmarried women in the uk, who were forced to hand over their newborn babies for adoption in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. they're now campaigning for a formal apology from the prime minister, in line with practice in other countries such as australia. the trauma suffered by the mothers has been shared by many of the children, and some of them have been speaking to our correspondent duncan kennedy. jan is one of the children at the heart of this story. i had an identity forced upon me. i feel like i just wasn't

the person i was meant to be. she was born in 1960. her mother was 18 and unmarried, and was forced to give jan up for adoption. jan says it has caused lifelong pain. i am angry for the system allowing me to be given to those people. i'm angryfor... ..for the trauma and pain caused to my birth mother. in the 50s, 60s and 70s, unmarried pregnant women faced intense pressure to give up their babies for adoption. i was 17 years old, 1963,

when i found myself pregnant. pat felt that pressure and remembers the cruelty she faced in hospital. i remember one particular nurse who seems to enjoy being quite rough when she examined me, and i remember her saying to me, "well, how did you get like this if you don't like somebody doing this to you?" it was really quite abusive, they were quite abusive. that was horrid, that really hurt me. i was a human being, you know? why couldn't i be accepted for that? all i had done was, i was having a baby, made a mistake. around a quarter of a million unmarried mothers in britain were forced to give up their babies in the 30 years after the second world war. the heartless attitudes towards them was reflected in documents from the time. in one, an official wrote "the baby is beautiful, unlike its mother."

the women were seen as a baby supply chain, unworthy of dignity or respect. some birth mothers have cast doubt on the legality of the adoption consent forms they had to sign. that is reflected in this letter from an adoption hearing, which quotes the judge saying he was doubtful about the validity of thejp or magistrate's signature on the consent form. i was lucky. i had really good parents. many children born to unmarried mothers did end up in loving families. rachel langham was taken to live in canada as a baby, but still says her birth mother suffered. i feel terrible empathy, you know, and sorrow for her. it's terrible. but you certainly should apologise for any heinous things that you have done.

tonight, following the bbc�*s reports on forced adoptions, mps from all sides havejoined calls for an official government apology to the birth mothers. there is a huge amount of support for this motion, and we expect there will be a great deal of support within government for an apology to be issued. every day these women have been told, "you gave your baby up for adoption. " they didn't, they were forced. the children of the birth mothers agree that it is now time to act. an apology is warranted. but of course it can't ever take away the pain and trauma that has been suffered. the government says it sympathises with the birth mothers, but has stopped short of an apology. those who have lived through forced adoptions say an injustice has been done. duncan kennedy, bbc news. the president of belarus, alexander lukashenko, has defended the forced diversion of a ryanair plane to minsk,

where a prominent critic on board was arrested. the eu and the uk have imposed new sanctions on belarus, following the detention of roman protasevich and his girlfriend on sunday. our moscow correspondent sarah rainsford reports. in minsk, appearances are deceiving. this is a country in deep political turmoil. we were heading to meet a woman just plunged into the heart of it. she asked to meet in the open on the edge of town because anna's daughter is now in a kgb prison, arrested with her opposition activist boyfriend when their flight over europe was diverted by force to belarus. the last anna heard from sofia was a text message. itjust said, "mum." the next was a video confession taped by her interrogators. it seems clear it was done under duress. anna is still reeling.

translation: we are in such a state i that we keep saying to each other, i "this can't be happening." we don't believe it's happening to us, to our daughter. anna says sofia wasn't even part of the protests that swept belarus last year, as minsk turned red and white with crowds calling for president lukashenko to go. nine months on, everything has changed here. the mass arrest of opposition supporters and people's own fear have cleared the streets of protesters. but alexander lukashenko is still very much in power, and today he made a defiant address to the nation from right here in the country's parliament. he called new sanctions over the diverted plane a western plot to try to topple him. translation: our ill-wishers have l changed their methods of attack. l they've crossed many red lines

and the boundaries of common sense and human decency. they've moved from plotting riots here to strangling us. it's no surprise many belarusians are keeping their heads down these days. as a new summer begins, very different from the last. sarah rainsford, bbc news, minsk. let's take a look at some of today's other news. in the scottish parliament, nicola sturgeon has set out her plans for the first 100 days of her new government following the recent election. the first minister said the most important priority was to lead the country safely out of the pandemic, but she also raised the prospect of much closer co—operation with the greens, who also back another independence referendum, including the possibility of positions in government. police investigating the shooting in south london of a black lives matter activist — sasha johnson — have arrested five men aged between 17 and 28.

msjohnson was shot in the head during a party in the early hours of sunday morning, and remains in a critical condition in hospital. the scientific papers and personal possessions of the late professor stephen hawking are to be saved for the nation. the items include childhood letters, scripts from his television appearances, as well as his pioneering research. most of the 10,000—page archive will be permanently housed at cambridge university, as our science correspondent pallab ghosh reports. there is nothing like a eureka moment of discovering that no one knew before... he was the world's most inspiring scientist. his research, photographs and letters are his legacy to the world and they're to be saved for the nation. ah, here he is, yeah. 0h, brilliant. his son, tim, sees many of them for the first time, including a letter that his father wrote

to his dad when he was just six. "dear father. once upon a time, some pirates were loading some treasure..." i think it shows a sort of tenderness in his relationship with his father. you know, he had a very loving relationship with his dad, as i did when i was at the age he was when he wrote the letter. here he is as a student. motor neurone disease went on to debilitate his body, but not his mind. this is his most important scientific paper on black holes, which have such strong gravity that not even light can escape. in a covering letter to a leading journal, he writes immodestly, "the result reported is rather sensational. life feel it's necessary to publish something as soon as possible." the theory of a doughnut—shaped universe is intriguing, homer. i may have to steal it. his script from the simpsons is an important part of the collection. he had an enormous sense of humour, that comes out through interviews - that people will have seen through that kind of-

characterisation, willing to be in the simpsons, i for a little fun to be taken. if what that did was help to. communicate about science. the contents about stephen hawkins' office will be transferred to the science museum in london. most iconic of all is his wheelchair, a symbol of the physical challenges he faced and also the strength and determination he had to overcome them. the eventual aim is to reconstruct his entire office. there are very few scientific spaces that survive, so actually having stephen's office is wonderful because he is extraordinary, but it sends a big, powerful message about the prestige of science as well. future generations will now be able to learn about the life and work of a man who inspired us with his brilliance, courage and humanity. pallab ghosh, bbc news. football, and manchester united have been in action against villareal in the final

of the europa league tonight in gdansk in poland.