this is bbc news, the headlines: the uk health secretary, matt hancock, has resigned, after he breached social distancing guidelines, by kissing a colleague in his office. mr hancock informed the prime minister he was resigning in a letter, saying he'd let people down. former chancellor sajid javid has been confirmed as the new health secretary. in the us, rescuers searching for survivors after an apartment building collapsed in florida say their efforts are being hampered by fires which have broken out in the rubble. it's emerged there'd been warnings three years ago about the building's structural safety. five people are known to have died, with almost 160 missing.

in the us, five people have died in a hot air balloon accident in albuquerque, in southwestern united states. the accident caused power outages in the area after the balloon came into contact with a power line. police said the wind had pushed the balloon into power lines where it then caught fire. now on bbc news dateline london: hello and welcome to the programme that brings together leading british columnists and the foreign correspondents who write from the dateline, london. borisjohnson and the art of political cross—dressing and electoral cockroaches

began stripping him bare? is it safer to eat a british sausage then meet a british tourist and as india warned there is a delta plus variant, what would a world living with covid long—term look like? steve richards has been analysing politics for 30 years and thomas has spent the last half—century writing about british politics and more recently british history trying to explain the british to his fellow native germans. welcome to you and welcome, to have sarah greene is proudest call herself a cockroach. she ousted the conservatives, the scale of her victory has alarmed some of boris johnson's allies. she represents our leafy community on the north—west fringe and is of london.

not bad for a party nearly annihilated by voters during borisjohnson�*s general election triumph of 18 months ago. but like cockroaches, they are still there, she says. another by—election looms thursday, days after the health secretary was caught mixing business with pleasure and not observing the covid rules he is responsible for. has the prime minister with an 80 seat majority got much to worry about if the order by—election goes against him? i think he has, because boris johnson's omnipotent is almost complete control over this government, is because he is perceived as an election winner. even his most ardent fan would not say he's a great master of detail who implements policy with rigid focus but he appears to be this great vote winner who will not only allow them to keep their seats at an election, but perhaps make more games in the north of england. that by—election where the conservatives lost by an unexpectedly big margin at least challenges that picture.

even if the conservatives gain as many think they will the by—election next week in a red wall area of england, batley and spend, there will be a slight qualification on one level it's an epic triumph to make games meant term but it will be seen as 0k, we are doing extraordinarily

on the one hand he has made extraordinary gains in english midlands and northland seats that were traditionally labour although as steve would know, batley and spend has been conservative in the past, and labour at different times. it's labour at the moment. these seats are also seats that he has in his backyard as it were, southern england. is it possible for him to continue this successful act to satisfy both constituents? i think it will be very difficult. when parties are in power, the longer they spend for the less palatable they are for voters. so far, he has, borisjohnson has benefited from delivering brexit, being in total control of the management of the pandemic with all its mistakes but it means he is leading charge of communication strategy of the pandemic. millions of people unfurlough, thousands of companies being held by the british government and successful vaccine roll—out programme. all of that benefits the conservatives. but it's not going to last until the next election and that is when the problems will start for boris johnson.

we started to see as we saw at the last by—election in chesham and amersham how the liberal democrats are starting to kind of break the blue wall in seats. in typical safe conservative seats. and as steve has said, it's difficult to create a platform that satisfies two very different sets of voters. here the big issue was a promise to build more housing, voters in leafy and wealthy areas are not they feel neglected and at the same time, they number fear the labour party and a labour government that in 2019 the threat was a labour government led byjeremy corbyn, that is no longer there, so those seats are under threat and political scientists estimate around 23 seats in southern england the liberal democrats can win.

thomas, you will recall 20 years ago the lib dems did very well in this country, in by—elections against john major, a conservative government. at the moment, is boris johnson's biggest advance labour's continued perceived weakness? not so much weakness but the absence of public attention on a thing allowing the pandemic. he is lucky in the sense that there is a majority that steve referred to and secondly there is this overriding issue of the covid crisis which keeps everyone on tenterhooks how it will end. you don't change horses in the middle of a virus attacking you on a daily basis. our predictability is ruined,

i'm reminded of an old jewish joke which says if you want to make god laugh, tell him your plans. this is so much our situation. nothing will be as you planned it. that is hard luck for keir starmer because to carve out a profile for his party at a time when no one is really listening to anything other than the current crisis is very tough on him. also the old labour refused to be so prominent in blue�*s time and he arrived at the end of the long tory cycle. nothing like that obtains at the moment. we have a new political ball game. and the attachment of individuals to parties are very brittle and unpredictable. boris can write his luck a little longer yet, i'm sure. steve richards, the wider situation beyond england

in the uk is very interesting. there are signs of perhaps a strengthening of welsh nationalism, labour seems to be pretty secure in wales, judging by the results in the welsh parliamentary and welsh assembly elections, the senate, we have scotland and the pressures on scottish independence. hard to know what that will have on the wider uk. in northern ireland you have a parallel system where none of the parties have a presence and therefore arguably governments don't take northern ireland voters that seriously. the whole package is very, very fluid at the moment. it's incredibly fluid and there are not really parallels with the 80s, beyond the fact that this is another long survey conservative government for the reasons you suggest. in the 1980s, it's easy to forget, all power and effect was centralised at westminster.

there was no scottish parliament. there was no northern ireland and wales assembly. now we have this very diverse and fractured picture. which adds to the uncertainty the other guests have been exploring at the moment. you have this bizarre situation. where the tories are triumphing in seats that were solidly labour once and labour actually in those local elections last month were on the whole doing badly, making substantial gains in areas that were solidly conservative in england and meanwhile as you suggest, you have these other developments and one reason why wee dram over brexit developments and one reason why the drama over brexit and the northern ireland protocol which we won't have time to go into. the traditional parties don't really contest those seats so there isn't as much highly charged fervour around it.

you accurately convey a picture without precedent, we are not used to this. the outcome is very uncertain in terms of the next election. i'm glad you mentioned the northern ireland protocol. it's such a complicated subject. we did have a meeting of the british irish council this week, for the first time in two years they have sat down, we had simon, the foreign minister for ireland suggesting as he had suggested. do you detect any signs of a willingness in brussels to look for a compromise on this? because arguably, the distrust and bad politics between brussels and london could have really damaging consequences on the ground in northern ireland if it is not dealt with soon. if there is going to be, if there is an atmosphere of trust, i do not know.

there was a real upbeat mood between the irish foreign secretary and the northern ireland minister for the uk. there was the expressed desire to have more of these meetings and they are necessary to keep good bilateral relations. but with regards to the northern irish protocol, i think the eu and president macron expressed it very eloquently at the last g7 summit, there is a very great fatigue with brexit. the eu has spent four years painstakingly negotiating first a withdrawal agreement, then a new cooperation agreement between the uk and european union. for the uk within months or days of signing that agreement or weeks, two starting to remain on some of those compromises

so when the new united kingdom government decided to unilaterally extend the grace period, of the application of the northern irish protocol, while at the same time, it refused to recognise the eu ambassador in the uk. this was all great irritants. the eu might concede another grace period of three months where the protocol is not applied for the meat, the famous sausage war, and this is very much in line with what the eu does so well which is kicking the can down the road, hoping for the problem not to be sorted. this is essentially the classic way the eu solves its problems. but there is a very strong fatigue. the eu wants to focus on other things and it also fears it is sending the wrong signs.

it's starting to feel that the uk is not serious about its commitments in its relationship with the european union. and it's also worried about what kind of message is it sending to countries like switzerland and norway and iceland, with which the eu has very strong relations. these are countries that are part of the european economic area, switzerland is a kind of not de facto but in real end reality, is a member of the single market, enjoys the benefits and these countries might say we also want bespoke agreements where we want a bit of this and a bit of that, because this is essentially what the british government is trying to do — it is having its cake and eating it. i think brussels are starting to be tired of having the same conversation over and over. there is something absurd about this, thomas, no one seriously thinks a sausage coming from great britain into northern ireland is going to end up in portugal to be eaten by a portuguese innocently and terrible food

poisoning or something awful happens. people in brussels are angry that borisjohnson appears to be signing and not honouring it. we don't want to reward him, as eunice said, but there is a danger of not seeing the wood for the trees. surely what's more important is stability in a place like northern ireland, the border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland, stability that could be threatened and people would say actually the eu in the uk and the irish all have an interest in ensuring that doesn't happen? isn't that the basis why perhaps some might take a more statesman—like view and say actually even if we appear to be rewarding borisjohnson�*s bad behaviour, the bigger picture is more important, stability. it's not about rewarding either side for sticking to the negotiating outcome, this is a deal signed by the british and you can reasonably assume, but eunice

saying how the eu kicking the can in the grass and waiting for something to happen, the british also have a way of doing business which is muddling through. the downing street plan as it were never really focused on what the eu is, they have no understanding, they think it's the an idea plucked from the sky to have an integrated market as it were. this is the be—all and end—all for the eu as a trading area. so compromise has to be made, but so does borisjohnson have to consider compromising. so far, he is making look like it would be a dent in british pride if he gave one iota and that's the danger, and that will really inflame motivations and feelings all over. if he portrays the need for compromise on his side as relinquishing british sovereignty, that is playing with fire. that is where he has to educate his people, something has to give. it's an opportunity because he has angela merkel coming to check his country...

she is coming in a week to discuss trade areas, trade problems and of course vaccinations and the rest of it. but borisjohnson has to get off his high horse, his grandstanding of sovereignty and british pride and what have you. if you have compromise with your partner and that dents your very standing in the world. the opposite is the case. if you can eat humble pie in small area it will benefit him greatly and won't endanger his success with the british public opinion at all. he could serve sausage and mash for a lunch i suppose steve but seriously is there a way that borisjohnson could say 0k, we will follow the eu veterinary standards for an unspecified period, he could do that and get away with it without brexiteers, people supporting brexit, crying betrayal? no, i think all hell would break loose. it's relatively minor sounding because the uk are theoretically committed

to high standards. but this is the brexiteer case. if they tie themselves to what is called equivalence with the eu, it defeats the whole point of brexit which is to have the freedom to negotiate trade deals elsewhere, unencumbered by legal commitments to the european union so i think it will be difficult because it would be a challenge to the organs he has framed. the arguments are strange because any trade deal is, the one with australia involves compromise and rules etc but they have made such a thing about being freed completely from the european union that i think all hell will break loose. however, there is no other solution because as thomas suggests, the purity of that single market and it's not about out of date sausage ending up in portugal,

it's about protecting that because britain has left so it's a really big problem, even though the examples sound trivial. last week, we talked about the g7 nations pledging to help the poorest by providing vaccine. this week, covax are priced out, half of them already running out undermining the effectiveness of vaccination as a route out of pandemic. south africa's president accused the rich of vaccine hoarding. india says it has identified cases called dealt a plus. as it evolves, so must vaccines. south africa say they are trying to get production on the continent of africa, because they are vanishingly small.

is it enough for rich countries to say let's wave patents laws and people talked about that as an option or for the g7 countries to say look how generous we are, providing 1 million, 1 billion doses over the next year or so. is that any adequate response to the sort of problems being identified by a scheme like covax? no, the response of the west has been not only inadequate, it has been profoundly unethical because what happened was that as you said, the rich countries hoarded all the vaccines leaving the developing world without any choice and actually paying a very high price for the few vaccines that remain available, so i think the whole way in which the distribution of vaccinations were arranged in the last six months or even last year because the british government actually bought

its doses of vaccines last summer, it showed it's actually very important to have a production side with in your region of the world, because otherwise you are not able to access any vaccines and i think south africa is having the help and the support of the world health organization, because the whole question of patents that has to be reviewed, this is almost a form of neocolonialism, a way in which the super wealthy big multinational companies in the west ensured that the developing countries remain extremely poor. the pharmaceutical companies are profoundly hypocritical on this. because the pharmaceutical companies that develop the vaccines in the west are so reliant on public investment. in the united states alone, over $12 billion of public funds were invested in the research of the vaccines, which the commercial pharmaceutical companies are now reaping the benefits.

so this is a world problem, a pandemic that has as the name says, affected the entire world, patents laws have to be, have no place in this situation because the pandemic well only disappear when the whole world is vaccinated and when the pandemic is under control all over the world. since we are not in that position steve, and it doesn't look like we will be any time soon, how do we square that with the kind of huge public pressure that is appearing not just in the uk though it's very visible in the uk, we see it obviously in international sporting events where we had people going, english fans going last month to porto, for the football for the champions league final when large numbers of infections reported there, countries like italy say we will have quarantine against angus travellers, the english meanwhile inviting uefa fans to come and watch

the european euros at wembley. we seem to have a kind of contradictory message on public health against pressures, whether it is for tourism, orfor big sporting events orfor the needs of business. i just wonder how we're going to thing our way through this? it is messier than that. you highlighted the football where big crowds are going to come for the finals of the tournament whereas festivals for music are being, even outdoor ones are being cancelled. theatres and concert halls are still struggling with social—distance audiences. so it is all over the place. the answer is that i think it will remain a mess for some time. i remember during the g7, by the way, if they were going to announce bigger contributions then they won't happen, that was the stage to

do it, people like gordon brown warning we won't be free of this until everyone is vaccinated. there is a massive self interest in getting the vaccinations across the globe. but it didn't happen and it's not going to. that will have the consequences of us in navigating through this maze of contradictory messages for some time to come. in a sense, thomas, it illustrates the problem the prime minister is experiencing with his health secretary at the moment, the public saying it is do as i say, not as i do because that seems to be the case. then there's a big international event we want to host the g7 or the football final, we kind of player the rules. we find exemptions, reasons orjustifications for not doing what we have said everybody else has to do. it would be possible to live with his contradictions for a little while, if they were more understanding of what the ordinary citizen this summer, last summer, need to feel happy again to be able to travel, go on holiday. you are quite right in pointing

out, the bigger problem at the moment is the lack of community in europe and i add here the eu, plus the uk, about each other�*s consulting about what to do with the virus and so forth. it's an unconscionable situation. at the moment, when britain puts maltaon the green list malta itself responds by barring british tourists from coming to their country, what does that say about the ability of politicians to foresight and foresee calamities down the road and in order to avoid get—together, nowjohnson, merkel is coming tojohnson to see him at chequers, he should have done that and much earlier. they should have sought each other�*s counsel. how to allow certain conditions to occur so people can travel. for angela merkel to parade

herself as the proselytiser to stop britain from entering their continent is the worst situation the german chancellor of all people could be in. she should instead overcome her anxiety that she has, rightfully about the coronavirus, the indian virus and consider how under the aegis of the double vaccination that british holiday—makers now mostly would bring to europe, a certain corridor of travel might be allowed. even the risks involved can be coped with by sticking to the statutory rules. instead, she goes around making, trying to make friends by making enemies with britain of all countries. so there should not be a shoot—out between the uk and the eu about how to deal with a vaccination with a travel problem, you should come together and devise a common policy, common approach, how to help the european citizen to get some kind of holiday time in this year.

let's hope that the football on tuesday between england and germany sets a precedent of good co—operation after a lively competition. thank you all for a lively contribution. thanks very much for watching. that's dateline until next week. goodbye. hello there. the first half of the weekend brought us plenty of dry weather. for many places, the second half of the weekend promises more of the same. but in southern areas, there's quite a big change on the way, blue skies in swanage on saturday afternoon, sunday afternoon will bring grey skies and some outbreaks of rain in the south. courtesy of a very slow moving weather system. you can see this curl of cloud and an area of low pressure

that has become marooned just to the northwest of france. it will be throwing this band of rain northwards across the channel islands into southern counties of england through sunday morning, the odd shower running ahead of that into east anglia, the midlands, into parts of wales, more persistent rain to the south midlands and south of wales later, but all the while northern england and ireland, much of scotland will be dry with sunny spells although thicker cloud could bring the odd spot of rain in the far northwest of scotland. 15 degrees in stornoway, 22 the high in london. some of this rain could turn pretty heavy with the odd rumble of thunder. it will move north overnight into parts of east anglia. maybe even clipping into parts of northern england. northern ireland and scotland stay dry with clear spells and temperatures staying in double digits for most of us. the slow moving weather system will still be with us into monday. that means further outbreaks of rain at times across the south with high—pressure building in further north and that

is where we will see the driest of the weather. wet start across parts of wales in the southwest of england. a few more showers developing for southeast england, the midlands and east anglia through the day, maybe one or two into northern england, northern ireland and scotland should be dry with spells of sunshine, i think we see the highest temperatures across western scotland, 23, maybe 2a degrees. those showers in the south not great news for the start of wimbledon. there could be interruptions to the play on monday and indeed heading into tuesday because our slow moving weather system will still be with us, further pulses of rain across the south of the uk where further north our area of high pressure will keep things drier, sunnier and warmer. we could see temperatures in glasgow on tuesday getting up to 25 degrees, but always the chance for outbreaks of rain further south.

hello and welcome to bbc news. the uk health secretary, matt hancock, has resigned, a day after admitting he'd breached social distancing guidelines by kissing a colleague in his office. calls for him to step down had come from some of his own conservative party, after the publication of images showing him embracing his aide, gina coladangelo. mr hancock told the prime minister he was resigning in a letter, saying he'd let people down. he then made a public announcement on social media. borisjohnson said mr hancock

should leave office very proud of what he'd achieved.