borisjohnson denies allegations poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people. he was responding to claims made by his former top adviser dominic cummings. at every stage, we've been governed by a determination to protect life, to save life, to ensure that our nhs is not overwhelmed. the health secretary has also robustly defended claims by mr cummings that he's a liar and should have been sacked. these unsubstantiated allegations around honesty are not true and that i've been straight with people, in public and in private, throughout.

we'll have the latest, live from westminster. also this lunchtime... gps in england say they're facing a "tsunami of patients" as the country emerges from lockdown. hundreds of children are rescued during operations against county lines drugs gangs. scientists believe at least one of the next five years could be 1.5 celsius hotter than pre—industrial levels, smashing climate change targets. and a very special reunion — the friends get back together for the first time in 17 years. and coming up on the bbc news channel — marcus rashford reveals he received at least 70 racist messages after manchester united's defeat to villarreal in the europa league last night.

good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. borisjohnson has denied allegations made by his former top advisor, dominic cummings, that poor handling of the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people. he was speaking on a visit to a hospital in essex, and said an "incredibly difficult series of decisions, none of which we've taken lightly" had to be made at the start of the crisis. the health secretary, matt hancock, has also robustly defended his actions throughout the pandemic, following claims from mr cummings that he had lied in private and in public. the shadow health secretary, jonathan ashworth, now says the public deserve the truth. here's our political correspondent, ben wright. when a cabinet minister wakes up to this in the morning, they're usually on the ropes. yesterday, dominic cummings made the most serious allegations possible against the health secretary,

matt hancock, during his demolition of the government's handling of covid. i'm just off to drive forward the vaccine programme and then i will be going to the house of commons and i will answer questions there. boris johnson's closest former advisor accused matt hancock of misleading colleagues and parliament about testing, ppe and care homes. i think that the secretary of state for health should have been fired for at least 15, 20 things, including lying to everybody in multiple occasions in meeting after meeting, in the cabinet room and publicly. in the commons this morning, labour wanted answers. these allegations from cummings are either true, and if so, the secretary of state potentially stands in breach of the ministerial code and the nolan principles, or they are false, and the prime minister brought a fantasist and a liar into the heart of downing street. which is it? the minister's denial was firm.

these allegations that were put yesterday, and repeated by the right honourable gentleman, are serious allegations, and i welcome the opportunity to come to the house to put formally on the record that these unsubstantiated allegations around honesty are not true. and that i've been straight with people, in public and in private, throughout. every day since i began working on the response to this pandemic last january, i've got up each morning and asked, "what must i do to protect life?" perhaps the most serious claim made by dominic cummings was that covid spread like wildfire in care homes, because mr hancock falsely claimed patients were being tested before being discharged from hospital. today, matt hancock said ministers followed the clinical advice and a former health secretary who quizzed mr cummings said these remained allegations. we asked for evidence to be provided, and until such- evidence is provided, - those allegations should be treated as unproven.

over seven hours of testimony, dominic cummings savaged the government's competence, a government he was at the heart of. he claimed the prime minister was unfit for office, and that thousands died who didn't need to. it's your birthday today. many happy returns. visiting a hospital in the south of england this morning, borisjohnson was pressed on dominic cummings�* claims. we did everything we could to protect the nhs and to protect care homes as well. did you test everyone? you didn't, did you? and we did everything we could, to protect the nhs and to protect care homes. i think that it's important for us to focus on what really matters to the people of this country, and i think if i may say so that some of the commentary i've heard doesn't bear any relation to reality, and what people want us to get on with is delivering the road map. fran hall's husband steve contracted covid just a few weeks after their wedding. he died a day before his 66th birthday.

if decisions had been made differently, and the virus hadn't been allowed to spread the way that it did, into care homes, into hospitals, into the community, i really think that steve might still be here, and it breaks my heart. borisjohnson wants to look forward, but dominic cummings�* dynamite claims about past mistakes will need proper answers. these were very serious allegations against the health secretary made by dominic cummings. his response today, has that take on any pressure off? . , today, has that take on any pressure off? ., , ., , , ., off? clearly the heat is still on matt hancock _ off? clearly the heat is still on matt hancock who _ off? clearly the heat is still on matt hancock who was - off? clearly the heat is still oni matt hancock who was singled off? clearly the heat is still on - matt hancock who was singled out for fierce criticism by dominic cummings yesterday. we have seen the health secretary issue a broad denial in response to the allegations made, but there are big specific questions he still needs to answer in detail, particularly around the decision around testing in care homes. mr

hancock will be answering questions in the press conference later. the fallout goes far beyond just the health secretary. this engulfs a whole system of government that dominic cummings said was woefully unprepared for the pandemic and then made a series of lethal mistakes over many months. the labour leader sia kier starmer said this paints a picture that had borisjohnson at the centre, and that the buck stops with him. a full public inquiry has been promised, labour says that cannot wait until next spring as the government currently plans. the government currently plans. the government has a decision to make about whether to fully lift restrictions on june about whether to fully lift restrictions onjune the 21st, and this morning borisjohnson said they were seeing some signs that infections were increasing. he said he didn't see anything in the data yet that would stop unlocking on june the 21st but said we may need to wait. june the 21st but said we may need

to wait. . ~ june the 21st but said we may need to wait. ., ~ , ., and the health secretary matt hancock will be holding a press conference later. you can see that live on the bbc news channel from 5pm today. gps in england say they're facing a "tsunami of patients" as the country emerges from lockdown. nhs figures show more than 28 million appointments were made in march, that's one of the highest on record. the royal college of gps is warning that without urgent resources they'll no longer be able to meet demand. here's our health correspondent, dominic hughes. the start of another busy day and dr dean eggitt is already feeling the pressure. it's 8.30, bang on the dot, which is great, which means that we can start consulting now. i've got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine patients waiting for me. hello. morning. it's dean speaking, dr eggitt. are you still seeing the guys up at the hospital? the easing of lockdown has released a huge amount of pent—up demand

from patients needing help, many of them with multiple complex health problems. i've never experienced anything with the workload pressures that i've got at the moment, over the number of patients that i've got, the complexity of the patients that i've got, and the mental intensity of the workload. people are incredibly sick. is this how you saw your career? did you know this would be the kind of pressure you worked under? people can't see what we're doing so they think we're sat here twiddling our thumbs, when actually we're sat here holding our head in our hands thinking how are we going to cope through the day. there is this hidden demand and hidden workload that nobody gets to see. so, are you 0k to take a call back this morning? in reception the phones are ringing constantly as patients try to get an appointment. busier than we've ever been. i can still hear the phone ringing when i go to bed. but dr eggitt worries about those who can't get through. in medicine we're taught not to worry about the people who shout, we worry about the people who can't shout, but actually in the nhs they don't even get a voice, they don't get on the phone, they don't get through to us,

they're just unheard. some people simply can't be assessed over the phone. do you want us to just keep an eye on you and keep you fit rather than do anything to... that's right. 0k. so you've got a nerve and an artery up here. i'm just making sure it's not damaged. back at the surgery, the appointments are put on hold. mitchell has walked in with a nasty cut above his eye. i'm going to stitch you back up. this minor surgery keeps mitchell out of a&e, but it adds to the time pressures dr eggitt already faces. the nhs over the past few years has always been pretty constant. instead of that massive winter peak and the summer lull, you've still got the massive winter peak but you don't have a summer lull any more. you have constant work so the ability to catch up has gone. that was before covid. then covid hit. then it'sjust peak, peak, peak, peak all the time. the department of health and social care in england says extra funding is available to help gps and there's a commitment to expanding the workforce

and delivering more appointments. dominic hughes reporting there. in northern ireland, anyone over the age of 18 is now able to book a covid—19 jab. it's the first part of the uk to offer the vaccine to all its adult population. more than five million people in melbourne, australia's second—biggest city, will enter a week—long lockdown from today to contain a new coronavirus outbreak. for the next seven days, people will be required to stay at home except for essential work, shopping, exercise, and caregiving, or to get a covid vaccine. so far, 26 new infections have been reported. 0ur sydney correspondent shaimaa khalil has more details. melbourne has been here before. last year, an outbreak plunged it into a second wave of covid—19, killing more than 800 people. this is a reminder of dark days that melburnians had hoped were now behind them.

once again, we are faced with a challenge in our ongoing battle against covid. a challenge and a battle that we've faced many, many times, and on each occasion, together, we have overcome. there is a great deal of nervousness, as 5 million victorians go into another strict lockdown for the next seven days. panic buying has already started. although numbers are comparatively low here, the authorities have been quick to act, compared with other countries. officials have said that if they wait any longer, it could spiral out of control. and once again, businesses have to brace themselves. how often is the state government going to expect small business to pay for all of this? and you know, it wasn't that long ago, in february, that they flicked the switch off, which was absolutely devastating for small business back then. there are 10,000 primary

and secondary contacts to those who have tested positive. so a big potentialfor the number of community cases to increase. more crucially, not enough people have been vaccinated. for the past year, the numbers have told australia's success story in containing and for a while eliminating the virus. but they are telling a very different one when it comes to vaccinations. and all it takes is an outbreak like this to put that success at risk. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, sydney. president biden has ordered a fresh investigation by the us intelligence agencies into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. a world health organization report found that suggestions it was the result of a leak from a laboratory in wuhan was unlikely. but it did criticise china for not providing complete data. police say they've rescued more than 570 children

during a week of operations against county lines drugs gangs across england, wales and scotland. more than a thousand arrests were made. county lines gangs are urban drug dealers who sell to customers in more rural areas, often using children as couriers. angus crawford reports. holly, the sniffer dog, is busy looking for drugs... how much have you got there? is that a couple of grams? ..and the young people used to move them around the uk. police forces across the country, even here on the railways, are targeting county lines. they're looking for drugs, weapons, money. but what they really want to find are the children are being exploited by these criminal gangs. how old are you? in a week of action across england, wales and scotland, police say they safeguarded more than 570 children involved in the trade. just go down there a second. we know that young people are involved in this, but we haven't criminalised many of those. we don't seek to

criminalise young people. what we do is we criminalise young people as a last resort because we see them as victims. i was about ten, 11, in youth court... i like rhys, selling drugs when he should have been in primary school. i then started getting into trouble... - now a youth worker helping children take a different path. so when they've got you in there, you know, it can be simple things like threats of violence, _ you know, threatening your family members, your siblings. you're trapped in that stage and there's no. way, once you're in it, you're in it, really, - and that's why we tried to get to these young people before | they were in it. how old are you, boys? two teenagers stopped in northampton with drugs and a knife. you're not missing, are you? later, one's found to be bruised and scarred. you're both going to be detained for a stop search. he had ligature marks around his neck, hand marks around his throat, and he also had welts on his back

from whatever other gang member he was aligned to up in birmingham. so they've been punishing him? yes. forcing him to work? i believe so. there are fears too the pandemic has made things worse — more children missing school, making them even more vulnerable. and so the work goes on... searching for the dealers and the children they prey on. angus crawford, bbc news. our top story this lunchtime... borisjohnson dismisses criticisms by his former adviser, dominic cummings, saying some of his testimony bore no relation to reality. marcus rashford responds to racist abuse on social media after manchester united lost on penalties last night. coming up, english cricket prepares

for the return of fans. the engineering giant rolls royce will today officially open a new aircraft engine testing facility at its headquarters in derby. it will allow the very largest engines to be checked to destruction if necessary, while being monitored by an array of sensors, and even x—rayed in real time. the company says it will be a vital tool in developing more environmentally friendly engines and fuels and help safeguard jobs at the plant. this report from theo leggett contains flashing images. it's taken three years to build and cost £90 million. this is the massive new aero engine test bed built by rolls royce at its headquarters in derby. it's here that the company will put some of the biggest and most powerful aircraft engines in the world through their paces. if you want to test a really big engine like this one,

you need a large facility on a grand scale, and that's what this place is. look at it. it's like a cathedral in here. it's huge. it covers more than 7,000 square metres — the size of a premier league football ground. and when it's in operation, vast quantities of air will be sucked in through this chamber, in through the engine, which will be running flat out, and then a stream of burning gases will come out the back through that, which is the world's largest exhaust pipe. so, in here, we're going to be doing all sorts of testing to simulate different loads and experiences and engines in flight. so this isn't really a production test facility. we've got others of those in derby. this is where we'll test it and inject water into it, x—ray it real time, put birds into it to test the engine throughout its flight envelope. in the aviation industry, keeping costs down is vital while environmental pressures are growing, so engines need to be

both cheaper and cleaner to run. the real pursuit is to always be able to reduce the fuel consumption. in other words, make the engine ever more efficient whilst keeping it as light as possible. because, of course, having a fuel efficient engine on the wing is great. but if it's too heavy, then it's obviously going to not make the most of being efficient. like the rest of the aerospace industry, rolls—royce has had a dreadful year, slashing production and cutting thousands ofjobs. that led to questions being asked over the very future of engine production in the uk. i think this is a huge rejection, actually, of the spirit of pessimism and fears. i think it's a great investment in derby, and more importantly, it's a vote of confidence in the uk. the new test bed, the largest of its kind in the world, is a powerful statement of intent from rolls—royce. the company says it will provide a platform for developing new technologies for decades to come, and ensure a major part of its global operation will remain firmly based in its traditional british heartlands.

theo leggett, bbc news. police looking for a suspected victim of serial killer fred west have not found any human remains while excavating a cafe in gloucester. 15—year—old mary bastholm worked at the clean plate cafe before she went missing in 1968. police confirmed it had completed the excavation of the cafe cellar and that no items of significance had been found. it's a decade since undercover filming by bbc panorama at a residential care unit near bristol shocked britain, revealing bullying and abuse at winterbourne view, of people with learning disabilities and special needs. now, the families of some of those abused, have of those abused have written to borisjohnson warning there are still 2,000 people locked in in—patient units and at risk of abuse

and mistreatment. alison holt has that story. the images were deeply upsetting. undercover bbc panorama filming showed people with learning disabilities and autism being bullied and abused. that was ten years ago. government promises followed that all places like winterbourne view hospital would close in england with better support provided for patients in the community. winterbourne view has shut, but today, more than 2000 but today, more than 2,000 people still live in similar institutions, among them, elliott. he was taken to a specialist hospital when he had a crisis. three years later, he is still there to the distress of his sister. he says, this is not my home, this is not my hospital. when am i coming home? and you're kind of fobbing him off, you can't give him a direct answer to say you're coming home in august. because giving him that guarantee and that not happening is difficult. the charity mencap has calculated that since 2015, an average of four people have been admitted to these hospitals each day.

and since 2018, when data was first collected on restrictive practices, patients have been restrained, drugged or held in isolation more than 100,000 times. anna's son simon faced some of the most distressing abuse at winterbourne view. she feels let down that government promises did not mean change. they failed their own targets and i find that astonishing because we were talking at the highest possible level of government. and those changes did not happen. people did not come out of units and people continue to go in them. the government and nhs england have said the number of people with learning disabilities and autism in specialist hospitals has reduced significantly. and that providing more support in the community is a priority. alison holt, bbc news. new research suggests there's a 40% chance that at least one of the next five

years will be 1.5 celsius hotter than pre—industrial levels. the study, for the world meteorological organisation, says rising temperatures mean more melting ice, higher sea levels and extreme weather patterns. our science editor, david shukman, joins us. how much of a shock is this? well, to man , how much of a shock is this? well, to many. it — how much of a shock is this? well, to many. it is _ how much of a shock is this? well, to many, it is not _ how much of a shock is this? well, to many, it is not a _ how much of a shock is this? well, to many, it is not a huge _ how much of a shock is this? well, to many, it is not a huge surprise, | to many, it is not a huge surprise, but to the scientists are doing the work, it is confirmation of yet another step towards potentially dangerous levels of warming. what happened was that scientists at the met office and in ten other countries pulled the results of their modelling efforts to try to work out what is going to happen in the coming years, and that is how they came up with this agreed conclusion, that there is a 40% chance, a reasonable possibility, that one of the next five years will see that average level reaching 1.5 degrees above the preindustrial level. they point out that this will be a temporary situation, that

natural fluctuations, for example, la nina, in the pacific, could pull the temperature down again for the next few years, but they do say it is a step towards the paris agreement limit of global warming, which is 1.5 degrees, and of course, that with every step that you take towards that, they say that the impacts of global warming could potentially become more severe. and for them it isjust potentially become more severe. and for them it is just another argument, another piece of evidence, for why the world needs to listen to what scientists said some years ago, that the world needs to make dramatic cuts in the emissions of the greenhouse gases that are heating the planet, and that of course puts more emphasis than ever before on the climate summit taking place in glasgow at the end of the year. place in glasgow at the end of the ear. ,, ~ ., ., ,. . year. david shukman, our science editor, year. david shukman, our science editor. thank _ year. david shukman, our science editor, thank you _ year. david shukman, our science editor, thank you for _ year. david shukman, our science editor, thank you for that. - the manchester united footballer marcus rashford says he's been racially abused on social media after last night's europa league final loss to villarreal.

the spanish side won 11—10 on penalties in poland after drawing 1—1 at the end of extra—time. our sports correspondent joe wilson reports. last night, manchester united lost a football match. commentator: and villareal win the europa league! the commentator: and villareal win the eumpa league!— europa league! the circumstances were extraordinary. _ europa league! the circumstances were extraordinary. their- europa league! the circumstances i were extraordinary. their goalkeeper missed the decisive penalty in a shootout where everyone else scored. as villareal and celebrated winning the europa league, manchester united players, management and supporters shared a profound sense of deep disappointment. marcus rashford had to take a loser�*s medal, and then, online, he was racially abused. in the early hours of this morning marcus rashford tweeted that he had at least 70 racial slurs counted on my social accounts so far. for those working to make me feel any worse than i already do, good luck trying. he also said... i am more outraged that one of the abusers had left a mountain of monkey messages in my

direct messages is a maths teacher with an open profile, he teaches children and he knows that he can freely racially abuse without consequences. it is understood that account has been deleted and the abuser has been reported to police, but for campaigners, there is a weary sense of disgust about the abuse marcus rashford received. it was all—too—familiar, and predictable. was all-too-familiar, and predictable.— was all-too-familiar, and predictable. was all-too-familiar, and redictable. , , ., , ., predictable. this is not 'ust a new thin , it predictable. this is not 'ust a new thing. it is — predictable. this is not 'ust a new thing. it is a h predictable. this is not 'ust a new thing, it is a regular _ predictable. this is notjust a new thing, it is a regular occurrence, i thing, it is a regular occurrence, it's absolutely happening after every match day. something extreme needs to happen now, in terms of how we move forward in situations like this. . , . , we move forward in situations like this. ., , . , ., we move forward in situations like this. . , ., ., this. there was recently a social media boycott. _ this. there was recently a social media boycott, manchester- this. there was recently a social - media boycott, manchester united's players took the knee before last night's match, villareal�*s didn't. united today condemned the abuse and urged social media platforms and authorities to strengthen measures to prevent this disgusting behaviour. few sportspeople match marcus rashford's profile, campaign as well as footballer. instagram say they removed a number of comments and accounts after the latest abuse

aimed at him and they say they are now introducing new online tools. what is clear is that black footballers play through every result an emotion, but the abuse of their race persists. joe wilson, bbc news. 17 years after they drank their last cup of coffee at central perk, the cast of friends has got back together for a one—off special interview programme. james corden was the host and some of the show�*s favourite fans also put in an appearance. here's our entertainment correspondent colin paterson. the cast of friends! this is the day for which friends fans have been waiting 17 years, the six cast members back together in front of a camera. it's not a new episode, rather, this reunion show features almost an hour and three quarters of them visiting the old sets... wow, does courtney still have her lines written on the table? getting a bit weepy... it was an incredible time. we became best friends. and paying homage to some

of the series' most famous scenes, including the trivia game. each team will answer ten questions. rachel wrote ross a letter and demanded he read it before they got back together. how many pages was that letter? 18 pages! 18 pages... front and back! _ front and back, is correct! and the cast explain what it's like to film in central part. like to film in central perk. remember our marks, do you remember what colour you were? yellow. blue. i never looked at it, i always used the corner of the... you looked! fans in manchester had gathered together this morning to make sure that they were the first people to watch the show. just like the ultimate comfort blanket, you should enjoy it with your friends! i loved it, i actually feel a little bit emotional, it was quite an emotional ending, so, i loved it, loved every bit. spoiler alert — there are very few new revelations, butjennifer aniston and david schwimmer reveal that they almost became romantically involved.

the first season, we...i had a major crush onjen. so, we just channelled all of our adoration and love for each other into ross and rachel. aw! is this blowing anyone else's mind? i'm starving! matthew perry says that the live recordings left him crippled with anxiety. i felt like i was going to die if they didn't laugh, and it's not healthy, for sure. but i would sometimes say a line and they wouldn't laugh and i would sweat, and just, like, go into convulsions, if i didn't get the laugh i was supposed to get, i would freak out. it would take you down. yeah _ you didn't didn't tell us that. no? no, i don't remember you ever saying that. yeah, i felt like that every single night. lady gaga joins lisa kudrow for a version of smelly cat. # smelly cat, smelly cat... and at the end, courtney cox confirms that's it as far as friends is concerned.

there will be no new episodes and no film. this will be the last time that we're ever asked about the show us a group, that we will do this — like, we're not going to do this again in 15 more years. to some it up friends—style, this is the one where the fans were not disappointed. colin paterson, bbc news, central park. news, central perk. there was a lunar treat for star gazers across the globe last night. a supermoon made an appearance, with the closest full moon to the earth of the year, making it appear larger and brighter than usual. in some parts of the world it coincided with a lunar eclipse, which gave it a red glow. heavy cloud shrouding the uk meant the view from here was obscured. time for a look at the weather, here's stav danaos. hello, we should see some

improvements with being able to view