both the us and and russian presidents have spoken positively about their summit in geneva but significant differences were laid bare. president biden said he'd told mr putin that the us would respond to actions that threaten its interests. the two leaders held about four hours of talks. hong kong police say they've arrested five executives from the pro—democracy apple daily newspaper in a dawn raid on its offices. the newspaper, which has opposed china's tightening grip on hong kong, is owned byjimmy lai, who's already been put on trial over similar accusations. the first astronauts for china's new space station have blasted off in the gobi desert, for the country's longest crewed mission to date. it is china's first crewed mission in nearly five years, and a landmark step in establishing beijing as a major space power.

now on bbc news: wednesday in parliament. hello again and welcome to wednesday in parliament, as mps agree to delay the lifting of england's lockdown rules, despite protests from tory mps. the government has set a disastrous precedent in terms of the future of liberty in these islands. the prime minister's private verdict on his health secretary is revealed — to labour delight. the right honourable gentleman, now forever branded as "hopeless" hancock by his own leader. some lockdown rules have been lifted. couples can now have a big fat covid wedding, up to a point.

being able to hug but not- dance, you can't have a band, you've got to socially distance — that's not the kind of big - day that they wanted for themselves. - all that to come and more. but first, the prime minister has survived a rebellion by conservative mps over the delay to the easing of covid rules in england. dozens of tories voted against the government or abstained. but with labour backing the delay, ministers won the vote easily. the ayes to the right, 461, the noes to the left, 60. so the ayes have it, the ayes have it. that vote came hours after boris johnson's former adviser, dominic cummings, published text messages that suggested the prime minister had described his health secretary, matt hancock, as "hopeless" — with a strong swear word thrown in for emphasis. but at prime minister's questions, the labour leader, sir keir starmer, chose to blame borisjohnson for the delay in easing lockdown — a decision due, he said, to the failure to put india, where the delta variant was first discovered, on the red list, which would have meant new arrivals having

to quarantine in hotels. mr speaker, we all want these restrictions to be over, for our economy to be open, for businesses to thrive, but the prime minister's indecision at the borders has blown it. and the problem with everything the prime minister says today, both what he says at the despatch box and also what he mutters, is that we've heard it all before so many times. last march, he said we could turn the tide in 12 weeks. remember that? then he said it will all be over by christmas. then we were told june 21 would be freedom day. now we're told july 19 is terminus day. the british people don't expect miracles, but they do expect basic competence and honesty. and when it comes to care homes, protective equipment or borders, we see the same pattern from this prime minister — too slow, too indecisive, overpromising, underdelivering. after all these failures and mistakes, why should anyone believe the prime minister now?

mr speaker, why should anybody believe the leader of the opposition when he can't decide what he thinks from one week to the next? he says he has a tough position on borders. actually, he was attacking quarantine only recently and saying that it was a blunt instrument that should be lessened, mr speaker. what i think the people of this country want to see is a government getting on with the vaccine rollout and getting on with our cautious but irreversible road map to freedom, and i'm very pleased — and he should say it again — that we have one of the fastest vaccine rollouts anywhere in the world, certainly the fastest in europe. it would not have been possible if we'd stayed in the ema. we would not have been able to control our borders if, as he voted for 43 times, mr speaker, we'd stayed in the eu.

we're getting with the job, we're bringing forward now 23, 24—year—olds, asking them to come forward for their vaccines. i ask everybody to come forward for their second jab. i trust he has had his, mr speaker. and we are delivering on our commitments to the british people. labour supported the government, but there was more than a hint of tory unhappiness in this question from a conservative backbencher. one of the reasons for the popularity of the prime minister is that he's always been on the side... he's always been on the side of the public rather than on the side of the establishment. given that overall deaths in the uk over the last 13 weeks are 8,873 below the five—year average, which includes the time the indian variant has been around, can my right honourable friend explain why, instead of trusting his world—leading vaccine programme, the common sense of the british people and his conservative instincts of individual freedom and individual responsibility, he instead prefers to trust people like professor susan michie at sage, a long—standing member of the communist party who last week let the cat out of the bag and said she wanted some covid restrictions to last forever?

mr speaker, nobody, least of all i or my honourable friend, want to see covid restrictions last forever, nor that i think that they are going to last forever, mr speaker. as i made clear earlier this week, i think we can have a high degree of confidence that our programme, our vaccination programme, will work, and i think we need to give it a little bit more time, as i have explained, to save many thousands more lives by vaccinating millions more people. that's what we want to do. matt hancock himself came to the commons to try to persuade mps to back a delay he said would save thousands of lives. we propose to give the nhs a few more crucial weeks to get those remaining jabs into the arms of those who need them. although we're taking

these steps outlined in the regulations today, and i know this is disappointing for many people, we know that science has given us a solution. we must use this time to protect as many people as we can as quickly as we can, because even though this vaccination programme has been going at a blistering pace, there are still people who we must protect. a former government chief whip was sceptical with some vulnerable people still unprotected. i doubt we're going to get to 100%. there's still going to be a significant number of people in those groups not vaccinated with two doses. and at that point, there's still going to be some risk. and my worry, and the worry of others, is that we're going to get to this point in four weeks' time and we're just going to be back here all over again extending the restrictions, and that's what we're concerned about. no, on the contrary. that is our view of how far through the vaccination programme we need to get to. we are not aiming to eradicate this virus in this country, because that is not possible,

and indeed, in the parts of the country where it's been tried, it's been found to be not possible. we are aiming to live with this virus, like we do with flu. matt hancock's labour shadow had read the text messages published by dominic cummings which he said had been sent by borisjohnson. the right honourable gentleman, now forever branded as hopeless hancock by his own leader. well, for many of our constituents, when they'll be watching the news tonight, when they know that they failed to protect our borders, when they know that they allowed this variant to take off and when they saw that restrictions are being extended, i think many of our constituents will no doubt repeat the prime minister's expletive—laden sentiment about the secretary of state tonight. but we are being asked to endorse these restrictions because they failed to prevent this variant from reaching our shores. rather than red—listing

the delta variant when it was needed, they gave it the red carpet instead. the liberal democrats agreed. so, mr deputy speaker, - the situation we find ourselves in was avoidable. ministers must take full responsibility for having to delay the lifting - of restrictions next week, and part of that responsibility is to support people to do - the right thing. with businesses on their knees, jobs are at risk and many- of the self—employed have yet to get a penny of support. - the rules are being eased for weddings, although some restrictions do remain. but as colleagues have said, and as my honourable friend will appreciate, for many couples, being able to hug but not dance, you can't have a band, you've got to socially distance — that's not the kind of big day that they wanted for themselves and their families. so can he reconsider this? and for some conservatives, continuing with covid restrictions showed the government didn't trust the people. the government has set a disastrous precedent in terms

of the future of liberty in these islands. now, i can understand it if we were a communist party, but this is the party that inherited the true wisdom of the whig tradition. this is the party of margaret thatcher, who said that liberty was indivisible. this is the party that only recently elected a leader that they believed, that we believed, was a libertarian. there is much on which we are going to have to reflect. sir desmond swayne. you're watching wednesday in parliament with me, david cornock. now, it's been a hectic few days for boris johnson on the world stage. at the weekend, in the picturesque setting of cornwall, he hosted the g7 meeting of wealthy countries. and on monday, he was in brussels for a meeting of nato,

the security alliance of 30 european and north american states. the prime minister called the g7 a "fantastically successful" summit, but the labour leader said it was "a wasted opportunity". the g7 will combine our strength and expertise to defeat covid, minimise the risk of another pandemic and build back better, fairer and greenerfor the benefit of all. alongside our partners, the g7 is now engaged in the biggest and fastest vaccination programme in history, designed to protect the whole world by the end of next year. my fellow leaders agreed to supply developing countries with another billion doses, either directly or through other channels, of which 100 million will come from the uk. on climate change, he said every g7 country had promised to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. there is no contradiction between averting climate change and creating highly skilled

and well—paying jobs both in our country and around the world. we can and will achieve both, by means of a green industrial revolution at home and green infrastructure abroad. as for the uk's relationship with the us, he recalled the first atlantic charter in 19111. president biden and i met within sight of hms prince of wales, the royal navy's newest aircraft carrier and the linear successor of the battleship on which the original charter was devised. and we agreed a new atlantic charter, encompassing the full breadth of british and american cooperation in science, technology, trade and global security. the surest guarantee of our security is nato, which protects a billion people in 30 countries, and the summit in brussels on monday agreed the wholesale modernisation of the alliance to meet new dangers, including in space and cyberspace, reflecting the priorities of our own integrated review of foreign and defence policy. the labour leader said the g7 should have been the most important in a generation.

a chance for britain to lead the world, as we did at gleneagles in 2005, or after the global financial crisis in 2009. but whether on global vaccination, the climate emergency, middle east peace or the northern ireland protocol, this summit ended up as a wasted opportunity. the world health organization has said that 11 billion doses are needed. 11 billion doses. this summit promised less than one tenth of that. no new funding, no plan to build a global vaccine capacity and no progress on patent waivers. but he thought the g7 had delivered "everything the prime minister wanted". some good headlines,

some nice photos and even a row with the french over sausages. but that just shows, that just shows how narrow the prime minister's ambition for britain really is. it's why this was never going to be a gleneagles style success, and why the prime minister played the role of host, but not leader. of tour guide, but not statesman. on those terms, this g7 was a success. on any other, it was a failure. thank you, mr speaker. after a week of ascending - to the heavy heights of hosting global leaders, i can. since just how thrilled the prime minister is to be i back in this house, answering questions from us mere mortals. but even as mere mortals, l looking at the g7 from afar, we can detect the difference between a welcoming host l and an influential leader. because even a raft - of carefully crafted photo opportunities in cornwall couldn't hide the fact - that this prime minister- and his government are deeply diminished on the world stage.

the prime minister waxed lyrical about the fight against climate change, but only after stepping off his private jet. he made the case for investing in girls' education around the world, yet he's cutting the amount we spend on it by 40% this year. borisjohnson insisted there'd be more money for girls' education in developing countries. and he said the uk committed to net zero when the conservatives were, as he put it, "free from the shackles" of coalition with the liberal democrats. now, earlier this week, the prime minister and his australian counterpart, scott morrison, celebrated a free trade deal between the two countries. it's the first original deal to be agreed since britain left the eu. but some farmers feel it will threaten their livelihood by opening up the uk to cheaper food imports from australia — a point raised more than once at prime minister's questions.

for all the spin, it's clear- that this tory government has just thrown scottish farmers . and crofters under their brexit bus, just as they sold - out our fishing community. so, today, those with most to lose from this deal don'tj need to hear the prime| minister's usual waffle. their livelihoods are at stake, prime minister. j mr speaker, this is a great dealfor the uk, it's a great dealfor scotland, it's a great deal for scottish whisky, it's a great deal for scottish business and services export, it's a great deal for scottish legal services. but it's also a great deal for scottish farming. my goodness, idon't even think the prime minister can- believe that tripe. mr speaker, in the tories' desperation to get - a post—brexit trade deal with . somebody about with anybody, they've given the farm away, literally. -

it is blindingly obvious who are the winners . and who are the losers in this deal. _ mr speaker, you would need 200 australian deals to come close i to mitigating - the cost of brexit. we were told that brexitl was all about taking back control, but for our farmers and for our crofters, - there's been no scrutiny, . there's been no consultation and there's been no consent. mr speaker, the people of this country voted for this government to get on and deliver free—trade deals around the world. and i believe they were totally right. he talks about tripe, mr speaker. well, i can tell him that when it comes to exporting the intestines of sheep, which i know is a valuable part of scottish tradition, even that is now being opened up around the world thanks to the deals that this country is doing. the government has said that little progress has been made in efforts to avoid what's being called a "sausage war" with the european union. the brexit minister, lord frost, stressed to mps that the uk could suspend parts

of the brexit deal covering northern ireland to reduce barriers to goods moving across the irish sea. the uk and the eu are locked in a dispute over the implementation of the northern ireland protocol, the part of the brexit divorce deal aimed at avoiding a hard land border with ireland. under the terms of the deal, deliveries of chilled meats — including sausages and burgers — could be effectively banned from crossing the irish sea from great britain to northern ireland at the end of a grace period, at the close of this month. can i ask you what the chances are of getting an agreement on chilled meat and sausages, which has been in the headlines? and whether if we don't get some sort of agreement soon, we will have to extend the grace period? we faced difficulties on the chilled meats issue. we have asked and suggested the right way forward would be to extend the grace period,

at least for a bit, to provide breathing space for the current discussions to continue and try and find solutions. and i still hold out some hope that they might agree to that because it seems very narrow to take such a view about it. but there is a little bit of time left before that. if we can't agree, we'll obviously have to consider all our options. i wouldn't want to tie us down to anything at this point. it does seem to us, in a way, very purest point to insist upon when there is no risk of british sausages ending up in the single market. we're not aware that has happened, and i think somebody would've told us if it had.

i think we probably would have. the point we keep trying to land is that movements from great britain to northern ireland, movements within the country, movements controlled to help protect the single market and protect the good friday agreement, small movements, multipack, multiproduct. that is not the same thing as a normal eu external border, and if you treat it that way, you have problems, and that's exactly what we've got. we would just wish for a more pragmatic approach to that question from the eu. after the month—long delay to easing lockdown in england

was announced this week, many mps had questions about the financial support available to those affected. a minister came to the commons to offer one piece of good news for affected businesses who have fallen behind in rent. we will introduce legislation in this parliamentary session to establish a backstop so that, where commercial negotiations between tenants and landlords are not successful, tenants and landlords go into binding arbitration. until that legislation is on the statute book, existing measures will remain in place, including extending the current moratorium to protect commercial tenants from eviction to 25th march 2022. to be clear, all tenants should start to pay rent again in accordance with the terms of their lease, or as otherwise agreed with their landlord, as soon as restrictions are removed on their sector, if they are not already doing so.

we believe this strikes the right balance between protecting landlords and supporting those businesses that are most in need. but some mps complained this wasn't enough, and other support schemes should be extended, too. the treasury select committee was told last week by the british retail consortium and uk hospitality that their estimates of commercial debt arrears alone stands at over £5 billion. he's extended the moratorium today and spoken of legislation, but what is his plan to deal with this debt? he asked businesses to start paying back, but with what? under the treasury's furlough scheme, businesses must pay an additional 10% of their employees' wages on the 1st ofjuly, rising to 20% in august, before the scheme is due to end in september. when this happened last year, businesses couldn't cope with the costs and people lost theirjobs. the chief secretary has patted the government on the back, i but does he appreciate . they don't feel that way? for the businesses facing - another month of restrictions during which time many will have to find 10% .

of salaries for furlough staff, think about bounce back - without being able to trade again. - when exactly will this - government abandon this approach and reveal. the long—term strategy for recovery? when the public health restrictions are extended, as they were by the prime minister on monday, when the economic support should be extended, too, otherwise we risk falling at the final hurdle. having spent billions of pounds supporting the economy, it would be tragic to see thousands of businesses go to the walljust because the government withdrew support a few weeks too soon. we are not calling for forever support. what we are calling for is economic support that matches the timetable for opening up that the government itself has set. that's the right thing for business, it's the right

thing for workers, and it's right for our economy, too. the government defended the support on offer. the package of support from my right honourable friend, the chancellor, was a designed to accommodate this. he told the house that we were extending our support well beyond the end of the road map to accommodate even the most cautious at the time it might take to exit the restrictions. most of our economic schemes do not end until september or after, providing certainty for businesses and families. the minister had the support of conservative mps who want to balance the books. we must come to grips- with our level of borrowing and spending, and we must have sound financial management - moving forward out of this pandemic. l

but other parties remained angry, especially by the absence of the man who holds the purse strings. my constituents will be very disappointed to see that the chancellor didn't bother to come in such a week as this, didn't bother to come to this chamber to answer my question. the government remained adamant it was providing what it called a "comprehensive package". a proposed new law to recognise that animals can feel emotions and pain has received a mixed reception in the lords. the animal welfare (sentience) bill sets up a committee to report on whether government policy making considers that animals are sentient beings. there's never been any question that this government believes that animals are sentient beings. we are now recognising this formally in domestic law and introducing a proportionate accountability mechanism to help reassure people that central government policy decisions take this into account.

a conservative critic thought the bill was badly drafted. it purports to set up a committee. the government doesn't need legislation, primary legislation, to set up a committee. we already have an animal welfare committee. it purports to enshrine the concept of sentience in law, but we already have the concept of sentience. the bill now goes for more detailed scrutiny, when peers will have the chance to suggest changes. well, that's it for wednesday in parliament. thank you for watching. i do hope you canjoin me at the same time tomorrow for the week in parliament. until then, from me, david cornock, and all of the team here, bye for now. hello there. over the next few days, bouts of thunderstorms will be affecting parts of england,

bringing a risk of some localised flooding. now, wednesday was another very hot day in the capital. 29 degrees celsius, that was the highest temperature recorded in the whole of the uk. it was also very muggy. but we had some thunderstorms that started to break out as well across northern france, and these have been tracking across the english channel into southern and eastern areas of england. really anywhere from around about dorset, somerset north—eastwards at risk of a storm overnight, but really it's a more general area of rain with some thunderstorms mixed in. that's kind of what we'll have over the next few hours. now, across the north west, it should become largely dry here. a fresh night, ten degrees, comfortable for sleeping, but very muggy in eastern england. 18 degrees as we start the day on thursday. now, through thursday, a wet start, i think, across the south east of england, east anglia, a good part of the midlands as well, with outbreaks of rain. still a risk of a few thunderstorms mixed in. most of that rain will clear off into the north sea with the weather becoming drier and brighterfrom the south—east, but still with a lot of cloud around. best of the sunshine, scotland, northern ireland and north—west fringes of both england and wales probably having some

bright and reasonably fresh weather as well. but it will still be very humid in the east. thursday night, well, it should become dry at least for a time before the next batch of storms begin to make inroads from the south. and then through friday, again, we're looking at another pulse of thundery rain kind of affecting the same sort of areas really. southern england, the midlands, east anglia, parts of lincolnshire and yorkshire. and within this area of rain, there will be some hefty downpours bringing a risk of some localised flooding. still relatively fresh weather across the north west with some bright or sunny spells coming through. now, friday night, the rain slowly pushes its way northwards and eastwards with the thunderstorms as well. saturday does look a little bit drier generally. there'll be a few bright or sunny spells around, perhaps one or two showers here and there as well. and then through saturday night, more storms work up from europe. but this time, the rain's going to be more widespread, and it will push right across into northern ireland and scotland as well, still with the risk of some thunderstorms embedded

in that area of rain. so, all in all, very unsettled for the next few days. the biggest storms capable of bringing a lot of rain in a short space of time, which could bring the risk of some localised flooding. that's your latest weather.

welcome to bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: presidents biden and putin describe their first summit as "positive" and "constructive", but serious differences still remain between america and russia. blast—off for the first astronauts to china's new space station, and the country's longest crewed mission. police in hong kong arrest five executives from the pro—democracy apple daily newspaper, which opposes beijing's tightening grip on the territory. the nightmare goes on — hundreds of thousands of rohingya children who fled myanmar�*s military now facing sexual abuse, trafficking and detention.