hello this is bbc news with mejane hill. the headlines... there are calls for the government to have an open debate with the public about plans to ease covid restrictions injune. the group that represents nhs trusts in england warns of the pressures currently faced by hospitals. the newly—elected leader of the democratic unionist party accuses the eu of using northern ireland as a "play thing"

to punish the uk for brexit — saying it's playing "fast and loose" with the peace process. a new nationalflagship is to be commissioned by the government in a bid to boost british trade and industry overseas. and... borisjohnson has married carrie symonds in a secret ceremony at westminster cathedral yesterday afternoon. now on bbc news, the week in parliament. hello and welcome to the week in parliament. the week dominic cummings said sorry over the covid crisis.

tens of thousands of people died who didn't need to die. he'd warned a hard rain was going to fall — the prime minister got a soaking. the only problem was, fundamentally, i regarded him as unfit for thejob. and borisjohnson wasn't the only one... i think that the secretary of state for health should have been fired for at least 15, 20 things. mps drew their own conclusions. if true, this is one of the biggest scandals and tragedies of the pandemic. but matt hancock hit back. these unsubstantiated allegations around honesty are not true. - also in this programme, the long wait for dental appointments, and should we all have lessons in pavement courtesy? but first, covid has killed almost 128,000 people in the uk. tens of thousands of them needlessly. many in care homes. that's according to the prime minister's closest adviser

during the early months of the pandemic. in explosive evidence to mp5, dominic cummings painted a picture of a chaotic government that failed to take the virus seriously at first, a government led by someone who was unfit to be prime minister with a health secretary who should have been sacked for repeatedly lying. he spent seven hours facing questions from the health and the science and technology committees. and he began with an apology. the truth is that senior ministers, senior officials, senior advisers like me fell disastrously short of the standards that the public has a right to expect of its government in a crisis like this. 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. he gave the impression that early last year boris johnson wasn't taking the threat of covid

as seriously as he should have done. the basic thought was that — in february, the prime minister regarded this as just a scare story. he described it as the "new swine flu." did you tell him it wasn't? certainly. but the view of various officials inside number ten was, if we have the prime minister chairing cobra meetings and hejust tells everyone, "it's swine flu, don't worry about it, i'll get chris whitty on live tv to inject me with coronavirus so everyone realises it's nothing to be frightened of" — that would not help actually serious planning. with the virus spreading, on march the 12th, number ten faced competing distractions, including a us request for military support. that day, the times had run a huge story about the prime minister and his girlfriend, and their dog. and the prime minister's girlfriend was going completely crackers about this story, demanding that the press 0ffice deal with that.

so we had this, sort of, completely insane situation in which part of the building was saying, "are we going to bomb iraq"? part of the building was arguing about whether or not we were going to do quarantine, or not do quarantine. the prime minister has his girlfriend going crackers about something completely trivial. carrie symonds, the prime minister's fiancee, got off lightly compared to the health secretary, matt hancock who might want to look away now. all we're really hearing here is incompetence, chaos — so how would you rate the performance of the department of health, the secretary of state? outstanding, good, requires improvement, or inadequate? and why? 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. rosie?

oh dear! i think i heard you correctly in that you are accusing - the health secretary of having lied. did i hear that correctly? yes. lthat's obviously a serious charge —| can you provide the committee with the evidence behind that assertion? yes! imean... there are numerous examples, i mean, in the summer, he said everybody who needed treatment got the treatment that they required. he knew that was a lie because he'd been briefed by the chief scientific adviser and chief medical officer himself about the first peak, and we were told explicitly that people did not get the treatment they deserved. many people were left to die in horrific circumstances. the conversation moved on to care homes but the health secretary was still in the firing line. hancock told us in the cabinet room that people were going to be tested before they went back to care homes. what the hell happened? so he actually said in cabinet...

not in cabinet, in the cabinet room. sorry. note in cabinet. but directly to the prime minister? yes. we were told categorically in march that people would be tested before they went back to care homes. we only subsequently found out that had not happened. now, all the government rhetoric was putting a shield around the care homes, it was complete nonsense. quite the opposite of putting a shield around them. we sent people with covid back to the care homes. dominic cummings was no less critical about the prime minister, suggesting that he had come to regret the first lockdown. last month, the bbc was told that borisjohnson had said he would rather see "bodies pile high" than take the country into a third lockdown. did you hear him say "let the bodies pile high in their thousands," or, - "it's only killing 80—year—olds"? there's been a few different versions of these stories knocking around. there was a version of it in the sunday times which was not accurate. but the version that the bbc

reported was accurate. and you heard that? i heard that in the prime minister's study. dominic cummings left downing street late last year after a power struggle in number ten. by 31 october, our relations were essentially already finished. the fact that his girlfriend also wanted rid of me was relevant, but not the heart of the problem. the heart of the problem was fundamentally, i regarded him as unfit for the job, and i was trying to create a structure around him to try and stop what i thought was bad decisions and push other things through against his wishes. and he had the view that he was prime minister, and i should just be doing as he wanted me to — and that's obviously not sustainable for very long. dominic cummings, who was still going strong when prime minister's questions began two and a half hours after he'd started giving evidence. his evidence had already generated plenty of ammunition for the labour leader, sir keir starmer.

one year ago almost to the day, he described his former adviser as, in his words, "in every respect acting responsibly, legally, and with integrity. " this morning, that same adviser has said that senior ministers fell, his words, "disastrously short of the standards the public has a right to expect of its government," and that lives were lost as a result. does the prime minister except that central allegation, and that his inaction led to needless deaths? prime minister. no, mrspeaker. and, of course, all those matters will be reviewed in the course of the public inquiry that i have announced. i noticed that he's fixated, as ever, on the rear—view mirror, mr speaker, whilst we on this side of the house are getting on with our job of rolling out the vaccines, making sure that we protect the people of this country — and that, i think, has been the decisive development on which i think people are rightly focusing.

in the light of the drip of very serious allegations and the failure of the prime minister to provide even basic answers, and continuing mistakes affecting millions of people, does the prime minister now recognise he must bring forward the timing of the public inquiry into covid, and that it should start this summer, and as soon as possible? prime minister. no, mr speaker, as i've said before, i won't concentrate valuable official time on that now whilst we're still battling a pandemic. and i thought actually that was what the house had agreed on. and mr speaker, he continues to play these pointless political games whilst we get on with delivering on the people's priorities. the snp�*s westminster leader said what dominic cummings had said was extraordinary but not surprising. when people were dying, - the united kingdom government was considering chickenpox partiesl and joking about injecting the prime minister with covid live on tv. we had a circus act when we needed

serious government. _ isn't it the case that, _ what the country needed leadership most, the prime minister was missing in action? i thousands have paid the ultimate price for his failure. _ when will the prime minister finally accept responsibility— for the failures of his government? mr speaker, as i've said repeatedly in this house, i take full responsibility for everything that the government did, and will continue to do so. one of the reasons why we've set up an independent public inquiry is i believe the people of this country do deserve to have daylight shone on all the issues he raised. the prime minister. matt hancock got his chance to respond to dominic cummings' allegations a day later, answering an urgent question from labour. now these allegations from cummings are either true, and if so, and 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? families who have lost loved ones deserve full answers from him today. these allegations that were put yesterday and repeated by the right honourable gentlemen 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 have been straight with people in public and in private throughout. does the health secretary agree that the uk government failed l the public and had he acted sooner, how many lives could have been - saved or restrictions i could've been avoided? will he act urgently to prevent further unnecessary suffering i and death in our immediate future by holding a comprehensive public inquiry immediately? matt hancock said he'd been working on the pandemic since january last year and ministers wouldn't wait

for the formal inquiry to learn lessons. conservative mps were supportive. yesterday, we had some outrageous claims by an unelected spad who broke covid regulations, admittedly leaked stuff to the bbc, and by his own admission, wasn't fit to be in number 10 downing street. mr speaker, will the secretary of state agree with me the only mistake the prime minister made in this pandemic is he didn't fire dominic cummings early enough? but opposition mps wanted an apology to bereaved families. "we sent people with covid back to the care homes." l these were the words - of the prime minister's former chief adviser yesterday. if true, this is one - of the biggest scandals and tragedies of the pandemic. we have published the full details of the approach that we take and that we took, and we worked with the care home

sector as much as possible to keep people safe, and we followed the clinical advice on the appropriate way forward. 519 residents in my borough lost their lives to covid. in my own family, we lost five of our relatives, and theirfamily members are grappling with that loss to this day. the hearings yesterday were incredibly distressing. mr cummings has admitted to government failures in handling the pandemic and said it meant tens of thousands of people died who didn't need to die. out of respect to those families, the over 128,000 families who lost their lives, will the secretary of state admit to the failures today and apologise? the pandemic has taken far too many people away far too soon, and that's happened in her family and it's happened in mine. and she's absolutely right

that we need to ensure that we learn as a country how to prepare as well as we possibly can for pandemics in the future, as it is likely that pandemics will become more frequent, not less. matt hancock. covid continues to dominate politics throughout the uk. in wales, the labourfirst minister has been challenged over his government's plans to ease restrictions. unlike in england, there's no equivalent date tojune the 21st, when restrictions are due to end. mark drakeford was answering questions for the first time since the senedd elections. what is the first minister's view on the regulations that the events sectors in particular will have to deal with going forward, when we know other parts of the united kingdom have a date of june the 21st? i appreciate that date might move, first minister. move, so are you able to offer us any view of the way the welsh government see

things panning out in the late summer and early autumn with the restrictions that the events sector and the hospitality sector have to operate here in wales? it is a very important point that the member raises about hospitality and events sector, and i wish i could give them a more definite answer than i'm able to. we moved to level two restrictions. the cabinet will be considering this week and next whether or not it is sufficiently safe in wales to move to level one restrictions, and that would further liberalise the ability of hospitality and the events sectors to get back to business. of course that is what we want to happen. mark drakeford. at holyrood, the scottish conservative leader focused on the impact covid restrictions in glasgow are having on the economy, and he gave his own view on a possible cooperation agreement between the snp and the greens. | businesses don't see anyone around j the scottish government table who's fighting their corner. even one of the first minister's-

own economic advisers has said that her government is anti—business. that's one of the first . minister's own advisers. instead of business people - who understand how to create jobs, it's the greens that might get a seat around the first - minister's table. a green party that doesn't even believe in economic growth, - a green party that ignores business unless they want to celebrate - |at a high—end bar in george street, j and a green party that wants to risk the entire oil and gas industry and the tens of thousands - of jobs it supports. this government, this snp- government does need to reset its relationship with business. does the first minister honestly i believe a coalition with the greens is the way to do that? first minister. i think most people across the country, and actually, most responsible businesses that i speak to and have interaction with know that yes, it is important to support a strong, vibrant, sustainable economy, but it is also vital — in fact, it is a moral imperative — to do that in a way that

meets their obligations to the planet and delivers a climate change targets. from that last question, i'm not sure that the climate is particularly high up the agenda of douglas ross. nicola sturgeon. time now to have a brief look at what else has been going on around westminster. a conservative mp, rob roberts, has been suspended for six weeks after sexually harrasing a member of his staff. an independent panel found he'd breached parliament's sexual misconduct policy. he's lost the party whip, but a loophole means that his constituents won't be able to force a by—election through what's known as a recall petition. the leader of the commons said he wanted to close that loophole, but rob roberts should resign. following a case of this severity, in which it would be honourable for a member to stand down after the withdrawal of the whip, we need to look at whether the process is striking the right balance between independence, protecting the confidentiality of complainants and ensuring consistent outcomes across different

types of conduct codes. england's minister for sport has called on football to put more money into researching head injuries. nigel huddleston was appearing before mps on the culture committee. they've been looking at the impact of concussion in sport. you can't really say with a straight face that football's done anywhere near enough in order to fund the research, but also, crucially, to ensure that those who may face damage due to concussive head injury, the proper support and proper long—term care that they need. you can't honestly say that football's doing a good job in this respect. no, i couldn't, which is why i wouldn't say that. - i agree completely with you. |as i said, i think more research| is probably conducted than most people recognise because some people say there's been nothing done, - they're ignoring it, _ they're trying to kick the problem into the long grass.

i i don't believe that's the case, i but as to whether they're putting i enough money in research into it, i my answer would be absolutely no, they're not, and i would - like to see them put more in. the former police 0mbudsman who chaired an inquiry into the murder of the private investigator daniel morgan has urged the home office to publish her long—awaited report. the government's been accused of blocking the publication of the findings into why the murder, which dates back to 1987, hasn't been solved. the case has been beset by allegations of police corruption and links between police, private investigators and journalists. can the noble baroness, the minister, despite her previous answer, give the house an assurance that publication will occur by the 16th ofjune to enable the family of daniel morgan, who have been waiting 3a years and three months for answers, finally to see this report? a minister told her that before it can be published, the report still had to go to the home secretary, priti patel, to assess any national security implications. we are as keen as she to see that

report published in parliament, and ijust want to echo her words about the family who've had to wait 34 years for some of the answers that they seek, and that must be an incredibly painful process for them. a culture minister has warned that the bbc�*s reputation has been tarnished by the scandal surrounding martin bashir�*s interview with diana, princess of wales. the former supreme courtjudge, lord dyson, found the bbc covered up "deceitful behaviour" used by bashir to secure the interview. the bbc board accepted the findings in full and apologised. john whittingdale told mps that the revelations about how bashir faked documents and the cover up afterwards had made for "shocking reading". in an era of fake news and disinformation, the need for public service broadcasting and trusted journalism has never been stronger. the bbc has been and should be a beacon.

this has damaged its reputation here and across the world. the bbc now needs urgently to demonstrate that these failings have been addressed and this should never happen again. we must remember the bbc is bigger thanjust martin bashir. it is bigger than panorama, bigger than other programmes or bigger than the current affairs department. the bbc is one of the most trusted sources of news in the world, at a time when trusted sources are more important than ever before. the new director general in the chair of the bbc whose appointments were welcomed by the government have been in post for less than a year. they need to be given time to make the reforms they have promised. jo stevens on the crisis at the bbc. now the challenge of getting a dental appointment during the pandemic. an mp has told how a constituent was forced to pull out 18 of his own teeth. a patient body, healthwatch england, has said access to dentistry has worsened during the pandemic, with some people asked to wait up

to three years for care. this is a service that is broken. many constituents i've heard from now face insurmountable barriers to access basic health care. they face extreme delays in getting appointments if they can secure one at all, and then they're faced with costs they can't afford. an mp who works part time as a dentist said it was time to lift covid restrictions. the time has come to release dentists from ppe and all other restrictions. we need to return to the pre—covid treatment of patients, and we need sage to look at it and get on with it. but in his experience in east london, people's lifestyles were to blame for bad teeth. kids and parents did not toothbrush. some parents didn't know toothbrushes existed. if you went into the supermarket, the biscuits and cakes shelves

were packed and huge. the vegetables and meat were diminished. if you go to less deprived areas, it's the other way around. so it's not the deprivation, it's the shoppers. the parents. someone who owns a business in my constituency was forced to pull 18 of his own teeth out after receding gums left him in agony and the broken dental care system left him with no other options. perhaps the honourable member would like to come and tell this businessman that his agonies are his own fault and that of his diet. i would suggest that the honourable member may want to change his dentist side manner. the government has set targets for dental practices in england to try to clear the backlog. the british dental association. report says the majority will hit the target by working on contacted | hours, prioritising complex cases, | that are best unsustainable -

and at their worst are dangerous. the aerosol generating procedures, obviously, involve high—speed drilling, creating a fine spray of saliva, and that creates a heightened risk for transmission, as pointed out. in response to our usual high street dental practices, we required dentists to wear full ppe and rest rooms early in the pandemic for up to an hour. this caused problems and challenges with getting volume through, with the new guidance, it's down to as low as ten minutes in many cases, depending on level of ventilations and other things. and the minister told clive lewis that anyone needing to find urgent dental care in england could dial 111. now, you may have noticed the growing popularity of e—scooters. trials are taking place across england as part of a government push to make local transport greener. but while the schemes offer a legal

route to use the vehicles, the illegal use of privately—owned scooters is still causing safety concerns, especially in the house of lords, where one peer had a very polite suggestion. how can we be confident that the illegal riding of e—scooters on pavements will be prevented while the illegal riding of bicycles on pavements flourishes almost unchecked. how about introducing compulsory training before anybody is let loose on an e—scooter and indeed a bicycle? my lords, my noble friend notes a very important problem on this. as a humble pedal biker, i know how frightening it isjust on the road to be approached by one of these e—scooters. actually, riding on the pavement can result in a fixed penalty notice of £50, but to my noble friend's point,

i would recommend that everybody who rides a cycle wherever they ride it gets the proper training they need. lady williams in that hotbed of courtesy, the house of lords. and that was the week in parliament. thank you for watching. from me, david cornock, bye for now. hello. 0ur weather so far may have been very wet and very cold, but we have had a change of fortunes. the next few days, warm sunshine. we have seen plenty of that today. already, a top temperature of 23 in the pool. not far behind that in

aberdeenshire. 0n the coast of aberdeenshire, only eight. why the difference? it is down to this area of cloud trapped underneath our area of cloud trapped underneath our area of high pressure. it is continuing to bring murky, misty and cold weather to those eastern coasts of scotland, and some across eastern areas of england. 0vernight, the mist and fog will expand and become slightly more widespread as we go through the night, across central and eastern parts of scotland and england. temperature seven or 10 celsius overnight. tomorrow, the mist, fog and low cloud will take a while to burn back to the coast. you have a better chance of seeing some train across the eastern coast. that is probably the exception, aberdeenshire and shetland may be murky and cool. 0therwise, more sunshine and a bit warmer. temperatures up to 24.

this is bbc news with mejane hill. the latest headlines... calls for the uk government to have an open debate with the public about restriction easing plans onjune the 21st. the group that represents nhs trusts in england warns of the pressures being faced by hospitals. we think there are significant numbers of people who have put off coming into hospital and actually have now reached the stage where they must come in and get treatment, but because they have left it so long, it means that the treatment required will take longer and it's more complex. we will share the evidence with the country on the 14th ofjune to basically explain exactly where we are on infection rates, on hospitalisation, and,

of course sadly, of death.