this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at seven: a cabinet minister indicates that the use of face coverings will become a personal choice when lockdown restrictions in england are eased. we trust the british public to exercise good judgment. people will come to different conclusions. more than 20 million people watched england's brilliant night in rome, as they thrashed ukraine, and moved on to the semifinals of the euros. it has been a long year for everybody, and i'm chuffed that the two performance we put on have brought so much enjoyment and happiness to people. it was a saturday night to celebrate for fans — football now is coming home — with england facing denmark

at wembley on wednesday night. ministers extend the period in which legal action can be taken against housing developers in light of the cladding crisis. street closures and evacuations after a fire breaks out in strabane. from retail to real estate — john lewis outlines plans to build 10,000 homes for rental over the next few years. and coming up — it was all stacking up nicely for an engineer who's tasted a sweet victory after breaking an unusual world record.

the government is signalling that all legal restrictions relating to covid will end on the 19thjuly in england — including the wearing of facemasks. the housing secretary, robertjenrick, said the public must learn to live with the virus and use their personaljudgement. labour said they're keen for the economy to open up — but they want to see the science guiding government decisions. 0ur political correspondent, chris mason, reports. from the cobbles of york... to the minster, a portrait of england, wandering back to normal, as the government suggests that legal rules around checking into cafes, wearing facemasks and such like are likely to go in a fortnight. i think it is fantastic. i'm not sure that masks have been such a great idea in the first place. personally i hope that we are outside but i will continue to wear them in shops and enclosed spaces. i think there is a risk

of another spike. - from a cabinet minister today another message about the next stage. it does look as if, thanks to the success of the vaccine programme, that we now have the scope to roll back those restrictions and return to normality as far as possible. we should all be prepared, though, that cases may continue to rise. they may continue to rise significantly, but we now have to move into a different period, where we learn to live with the virus, take precautions, and we, as individuals, take personal responsibility. the best part of 18 months, we've had to get used to an unprecedented squeeze on our liberties and the imposition of all sorts of rules, like wearing facemask in shops which would have seemed bizarre a couple of years ago. what we saw from the minister was the strongest indication yet that many of these rules are about to be swept away in england.

why is the government sounding confident? take a look at this graph. the number of coronavirus cases is going up, but look at this line, too. the number of people ending up in hospital isn't rising anywhere near as quickly. patients the link is not totally broken. the link is not completely broken, so the key aim is to get as many people as possible vaccinated before july the 19th. labour wants to get rid of the rules, too, but... it is important that if the qr codes are going to stop and masks are going to come off, that we are absolutely confident that that is the right thing to do. at the moment we are hearing from the ministers rather than the science behind it, and we need to see that science. prime minister will explain the government thinking and direction of travel within the next of days. separate decisions will be made for scotland, wales and northern ireland. chris mason, bbc news.

joining me now is martin mckee — he's a professor of european public health at the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine. thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. allowing the public to make their own decisions on this — what are your thoughts on that? i suppose, if the public had all the data which the government presumably will be sharing with us, then it might be a little bit easier, but it's quite difficult. personal responsibility works very well in some areas — bungeejumping would be a good example — but it doesn't work so well in other areas, like for example drunk driving or speed limits. what we do know with the pandemic is the one thing that has really worked has been collective action, everybody looking out for each other, so with wearing face coverings, we are wearing them to protect ourselves, but much more to protect ourselves, but much more to protect other people. quite how people will then work out what

decision they are to make when they are actually protecting other people and they don't know if they are coming into contact with other people who are vulnerable, who have been vaccinated or not, i'm struggling to understand the logic behind all of this. is your reporter said, we do need to wait to hear the details of all of this, because at the minute, all we are doing is going on the basis of some briefings, and we don't have a date. 0k, briefings, and we don't have a date. ok, so you have ended on the point i am going to pick up on. you said it depends on the data. which data, and what would it look like ideally to lift all restrictions? in a what would it look like ideally to lift all restrictions?— lift all restrictions? in a way, it doesnt lift all restrictions? in a way, it doesn't matter _ lift all restrictions? in a way, it doesn't matter which _ lift all restrictions? in a way, it doesn't matter which bit - lift all restrictions? in a way, it doesn't matter which bit of- lift all restrictions? in a way, it doesn't matter which bit of the j lift all restrictions? in a way, it - doesn't matter which bit of the data we are looking at, the coasts delete my question is whether cases, hospitalisations and s are going up or down. we've learned from the beginning of this pandemic that if they are going up, they will continue until you do something to bring them down, and they are all going up at the minute, both cases going up at the minute, both cases going up at the minute, both cases going up very dramatically, hospitalisations still going up. they may not be at the levels we

were seeing earlier, and there may be a much lower hospitalisation rate, but we know that the delta variant among unvaccinated people is about 85% more likely to put you in hospital. you have to take into account that many more people are vaccinated, and that is good news, but if you look at the entire population, we are still only at about half of the population fully vaccinated. we are a long way off getting to full vaccination, and about 20% of the population, under 18s, we are not even vaccinating at all at the minute. the key point is, other data going up or down? it is fine to say that the hospitalisation data are going up slowly, but the point is that they are going up, and i think we have learned with exponential growth that even though they go up slowly to begin, they get faster and faster until you do something about them, and we also know that there is a lag period between cases and hospitalisations.

presumably the secretary of state does have data that he will share with us so we can understand his confidence about where we will be on the 19th ofjuly, but i have to say, i have learned through the pandemic to be rather cautious about predicting the future. how to be rather cautious about predicting the future. to be rather cautious about ”redictin the future. ., ., , ., predicting the future. how would you a- roach predicting the future. how would you approach this — predicting the future. how would you approach this cautiously? _ predicting the future. how would you approach this cautiously? what - predicting the future. how would you | approach this cautiously? what would our approach this cautiously? what would your suggestions _ approach this cautiously? what would your suggestions be _ approach this cautiously? what would your suggestions be quizzed - approach this cautiously? what would your suggestions be quizzed back- approach this cautiously? what would your suggestions be quizzed back up. your suggestions be quizzed back up until now, we have had this situation —— would your suggestions be? up until now, we have had a situation where we have been changing the rules on the government have explained why they have changed the rules on the basis of the data, so that is what i would like to see. a clear presentation of a comprehensive strategy with a clear objective. you know, how high do they want the number or are they willing to allow the cases to go up to? how many hospitalisations are they willing to accept, and how many deaths? i don't have any of that information yet, and i think we need to be clear about what it is and

also then to look at the measures they take on for them to explain to us what impact each of those measures will have on those parameters. that's what we need to understand the rationale behind the decision. we understand the rationale behind the decision. ~ ., �* ., ., , decision. we don't have that yet. from a public— decision. we don't have that yet. from a public health _ decision. we don't have that yet. from a public health point - decision. we don't have that yet. from a public health point of - decision. we don't have that yet. i from a public health point of view, how key will the booster programme b, autumn? and also, let me take a step back, in terms of the seasons, because we know things will likely get complicated, autumn to winter because we have the likelihood of flu, for example, which has been suppressed up until now, certainly. season wise, is now the best time? it is, because the schools are breaking up, children are not mixing. that's where a lot of transmission is taking place. we can get into semantic arguments about whether infections are coming from community into schools or vice versa, probably a mixture of both, but the key point is that we see it at half term, summer and easter

holidays, the transmission goes flat. people are in dorsalis, you can eat outdoors, so that is good news. as for the autumn boosters, this is quite a complicated issue, because we know for example that people who had the sars virus back in 2003 maintained immunity and still have that 17 or 18 years later, but that virus is not mutating because it is not circulating. the real challenge is the potential emergence of variants that to some extent escaped the vaccines, and we are of course beginning to see that a little bit, but we don't know what will be coming down the road. certainly, the that having a booster will help, but probably the most important thing is to have new variants of the vaccines that will be specifically targeted to the beta gamma, the delta variant in particular, and any others, like the one in south america we are concerned about.—

the one in south america we are concerned about. gosh, that's a new one. 0k, professor— concerned about. gosh, that's a new one. 0k, professor martin _ concerned about. gosh, that's a new one. 0k, professor martin mckee, i one. 0k, professor martin mckee, thank you very much. england's football team are back in the country, after their convincing victory over ukraine in rome in the quarter finals of the euros. bookmakers now have england as favourites to win the tournament. but first, there is the little matter of needing to beat denmark in the semi—final at wembley on wednesday. our sports editor dan roan is at england's training ground: that didn't take long. just what england wanted. ukraine blown away, england on their way. having seen his side run riot in rome, gareth southgate finds himself in rarefied coaching company. only the second manager after legendary 1966 world cup winning sir alf ramsey to lead england into the semifinals of both that tournament and the european championship. it is an absolute honour to be in that sort of company, so i know how high i hold them in esteem, and yeah,

it's lovely to be able to get the results that are putting our country on the football map again, really. if there had been any nerves against ukraine, harry kane settled them within five minutes. this is the first of two more goals for the captain. harry maguire also getting on the scoresheet. england's confidence will again be soaring. as the team recorded the biggest ever knockout win that a major tournament to cruise into the last four. this is what you look forward to as a kid. don't use it as a point of fear, use it as a point of excitement to go out and prove to the world how good you are, and i think that change in mentality means the players are going out, they are expressing themselves. england's quarterfinal triumph became the most watched live tv event of the year, with a peak audience of almost 21 million. today, a nation unified in praise, little time to recover ahead of what fans believe could be a week to remember.

it has been amazing. we have come and helped each other. especially last night because my game, had a barbecue going, drinks. really nice after the last couple of years we have had. attention now returns to wembley, where england know that success against denmark on wednesday night will see them reach a first ever final in this tournament, fans desperate to be among the 60,000 there to potentially witness history. both the semifinal and the final was about 1500 euros, so it was a bit of a gamble, but you know, seeing england's performance through that germany game just gave us real confidence and belief that england can go all the way. 0pponents denmark have been one of the stories of euro 2020, inspired by christian eriksen, after the cardiac arrest he suffered during their opening match, they have ridden a wave of emotion, but they also pose a stern footballing threat and they stand

between england and a date with destiny. the latest coronavirus figures show that 15 deaths were recorded across the uk in the last 2a hours, and 24,248 new infections. there were on average 211,809 new cases a day in the past week. 137,389 people have received a first dose of a vaccine in the latest 24—hour period. in total, more than 45.2 million people have had theirfirstjab, which is 86% of all uk adults. 196,209 people have had their second jab in the past 24 hours, which means more than 33.6 million people are now fully vaccinated — which is nearly 64% of adults.

the government wants to give people who own flats with flammable cladding or other fire safety defects, in england and wales, up to 15 years to sue developers for poor construction. it's the latest attempt to try to solve the cladding crisis in the wake of the grenfell tower fire. the proposal is in the building safety bill being presented to parliament tomorrow. here's our business correspondent katy austin. four years on from the grenfell tower fire, hundreds of other buildings still haven't been made safe. the government says it is putting over £5 billion towards the removal of dangerous cladding. and today, the housing secretary announced a change that will increase the current six—year time limit for homeowners to seek compensation from developers for sub—standard building work. it is not right that either the leaseholder or the taxpayer has to step up.

and i am announcing today that we are going to change the law retrospectively to give every home owner 15 years in which to take action against the people who built their building, if there is shoddy workmanship. but some flat owners say this won't help them. this building in sheffield is set to receive £6 million from the government's building safety fund for cladding removal. however, to fix other fire safety defects, the leaseholders still face another £6 million in bills, an average of £50,000 each. willis one of them. i welcome it. it won't help me, my building is over 15 years and even if my building was less than 15 years old, my developer is insolvent so it won't help me. mrjenrick this morning said on the show that the majority of these buildings were built in the 2000s so it doesn't take a mathematician to work out that by the time the bill is implemented many of those buildings will not benefit from this because they will be over

15 years old. labour's shadow housing spokesperson this to say. the labour's shadow housing spokesperson this to sa . ., labour's shadow housing spokesperson this to sa . . , , ., this to say. the main issue that leaseholders _ this to say. the main issue that leaseholders are _ this to say. the main issue that leaseholders are being - this to say. the main issue that leaseholders are being landed l this to say. the main issue that. leaseholders are being landed with bills for works that they can't afford to pay for. that is what needs fixing.— needs fixing. meanwhile, the government _ needs fixing. meanwhile, the government insist _ needs fixing. meanwhile, the government insist good - needs fixing. meanwhile, the - government insist good progress has been made towards removing grenfell style cladding. qe’s been made towards removing grenfell style cladding-— style cladding. 9596 of those buildinus style cladding. 9596 of those buildings have _ style cladding. 9596 of those buildings have either- style cladding. 9596 of those buildings have either had i style cladding. 9596 of those | buildings have either had the cladding removed or there are workers on site now removing it. and about 70% of them have finished the job altogether. but about 7096 of them have finished the job altogether-— job altogether. but the latest government _ job altogether. but the latest government figures - job altogether. but the latest government figures actually. job altogether. but the latest - government figures actually show just 61% of buildings with acm cladding in the public sector, for example housing associations, have had it completely removed and replaced. 0ne private sector blocks,

it is 44%. the extended period to seek redress for shoddy building work will take time to come in. it will take longer still for legal cases to get going. those stuck in flammable flats they can't sell say they need help much sooner. a fire has caused a huge plume of smoke to fill the skies above the town of strabane in northern ireland. it happened in the railway street area of the town, which people are being told to avoid. a local councillor has told the bbc that the fire is coming from a coffin makers. explosives will be installed later today in what's left of a collapsed apartment block near miami, to enable its controlled demolition. the decision to demolish was made because of concerns that an approaching tropical storm could endanger the lives of rescuers. 120 people are still missing, nine days after the block collapsed. the vatican has said pope francis has undergone scheduled surgery on his colon in rome.

unconfirmed reports say the operation went well and that he will be under observation for the next 48 hours. pope francis is 84 years old. representatives of the owners of the ship that blocked the suez canal in march say they've struck an agreement with the egyptian authorities that will finally allow it to leave. the vessel, the "ever given", has been detained in the area during protracted negotiations over compensation. the ship became the focus of world attention after it ran aground in the canal, and swung out across its narrow channel. it blocked the normally very busy waterway for six days, causing significant disruption to global trade. john lewis has announced plans to move into the residential property market by building 10,000 homes for rental over the next few years. the department store chain said it wanted to address

the national housing shortage and support local communities. tenants of the new properties — which will be built on sites owned by the chain — will have the choice of renting fully furnished with john lewis products or using their own. i can now speak to vicky spratt, who's housing correspondent for the "i" newspaper. vicki, lovely to have you with us here on bbc news this evening. what do you make of this announcement? across the country, we do have the housing emergency. there are not enough affordable homes, and there isn't enough social housing, but 10,000 really won't make a dent in that emergency, and i suppose what we have to wonder is, will these homes be affordable in terms of rent? at what point in the market will the rent be set, and who will they be aimed at? whether they are furnished or unfurnished, that is kind of by the by. 0bviously, john

lewis having suffered a bit of a financial hit due to the pandemic are looking for other revenue about when it comes to housing, we need affordable homes that people can actually afford to live in, and it will depend on where they are as well. they want to build in on car parks, for instance. will that work was make will they be in places with enough infrastructure? i visited some buildings around the country over the last few years while i've been reporting on the housing emergency where homes have been built in former office blocks, for instance, and there isn't enough green space nearby, so i think it really depends where they are going to be at how much they are going to cost. , ., , , �* , cost. john lewis isn't the first retail company _ cost. john lewis isn't the first retail company to _ cost. john lewis isn't the first retail company to move - cost. john lewis isn't the first retail company to move into l cost. john lewis isn't the first - retail company to move into property development, is it? we've got the likes of ikea — what have they done? their homes in this country at least are in partnership with local authorities, and they are being used primarily as emergency accommodation, and they are flatpack homes, as you would expect from

ikea, and those agreements were struckjust before the pandemic. i'm not sure if any of them are finished construction yet, but it makes sense for a company like ikea, and for john lewis, to move into this sector. they aren't the only ones. earlier this year, it was announced that lloyds bank wanted to diversify and become a landlord. cynically, you could say that being a landlord is rather lucrative and is a guaranteed income, so that is also something you could consider. you said we need _ something you could consider. you said we need good quality homes — what is a good quality home and why aren't we getting those now? there aren't we getting those now? there are lots of questions _ aren't we getting those now? there are lots of questions about - aren't we getting those now? there are lots of questions about this. - are lots of questions about this. the new homes quality board has been established to ensure that new homes being built are up to scratch. we had a lot of problems with new—build s over recent years, including but ijy s over recent years, including but by no means limited to problems with cladding and the safety scandal that has emerged in the wake of grenfell. there are also new developments where people have leaks, where plaster falls off. you just have to

look on facebook to see people complaining about some of the biggest developers. i think what we need is homes that quite simply don't fall apart but also at a basic level are not flammable and are safe to live in, and also in this country, we have some of the smallest times in europe. we are throwing homes up that are really quite tiny, so these flats would also need to be a decent size. what also need to be a decent size. what does all this — also need to be a decent size. what does all this say, _ also need to be a decent size. what does all this say, and _ also need to be a decent size. what does all this say, and i _ also need to be a decent size. what does all this say, and i don't know if you are more of a business correspondent, i know you're right about the housing market, but what would this say to you about the future of the high street? i would this say to you about the future of the high street? i think that's an interesting _ future of the high street? i think that's an interesting point, - future of the high street? i think that's an interesting point, and i that's an interesting point, and clearly, as i mentioned, lloyds bank are looking to become a landlord. businesses who have suffered during the pandemic looking to diversify, asjohn lewis clearly are, know the pandemic looking to diversify, as john lewis clearly are, know that there is money to be made in housing. you know that property developers do very well, and landlords, indeed corporate landlords, indeed corporate landlords who build lots of homes and rent them out, this is called built or —— build to rent, this also

does very well. if you're a business that has suffered through a pandemic because stores have been shot, housing might look quite attractive. a general question — what this pandemic done to our housing choices? ~ ., , ., , ~ choices? where do you begin? i think that housing — choices? where do you begin? i think that housing really _ choices? where do you begin? i think that housing really has _ choices? where do you begin? i think that housing really has become - choices? where do you begin? i think that housing really has become such. that housing really has become such a crucial front line that housing really has become such a crucialfront line in the that housing really has become such a crucial front line in the defence against coronavirus. we were ordered to stay at home. and that exposed at home for some people is not as safe and secure as it needs to be. if you live in overcrowded accommodation, for instance, isolating would have been very difficult, being at home might not have been entirely pleasant. lots of people live in overcrowded accommodation. in terms of our choices more broadly, i think it would depend on whether you are a homeowner or a renter. renters right now depending on where they are in the country might be seeing rents fall, as they are in london, or if you're outside of london, somewhere

that lots of londoners have decided to move to, you might be seeing them rise, so there is not a one size fits all answer to the question. part of the problem with the housing emergency is that it manifests differently in the different markets, renting and buying, and of course social housing. but it really depends on where you are in the country, too. thank you so much. borisjohnson may perform a u—turn on planned cuts to the foreign aid budget. a report in the sunday times says the prime minister will allow mps a vote on the issue before parliament breaks for the summer recess. there s been growing controversy over the plans, which would see the uk s spending on aid slashed from 0.7% to 0.5% of national income. around 50 conservative mps, including the former prime minister theresa may are amongst those against the £4 billion cut. one of those mps is tobias ellwood. he says he would welcome a vote on the issue

the uk prides itself on its strength to identify problems across the world, find solutions and take nations with them, so this decision to cut our aid budget has caused huge harm both on a strategic and on our operational level. it's damaged our hard—fought reputation as a soft power superpower, it's sent a poor example to other nations. as us as a permanent member of the united nations security council, how do we persuade others to stand with us? and, of course, we were the only g7 nation at the summit this summer to actually cut our budget. and, operationally, this saves lives. this money provides support for clean water, for polio vaccinations, for tackling hiv, and, of course, the critical humanitarian support in places like yemen, in syria and in libya. and those vacuums get filled either by extremists or, indeed, by other nations with very different agendas. if china or russia push in then they will pursue very, very different agendas — very difficult for us to get back in there.

so, we've spent most of the day reflecting on the sporting success of england, but this mightjust top that. will cutbill from solihull has made his way into the world record books, and the history books, after he broke one of the most challenging world records of all time — succesfully stacking five of his favourite oval shaped chocolate confectionary on top of each other. it isa it is a record for the ages, and i am so glad to say that we have will with us. thank you forjoining us. well, why? i with us. thank you for “oining us. weu, mat with us. thank you for “oining us. well, wh ? . . , ., .,

well, why? i have always wanted a guinness world _ well, why? i have always wanted a guinness world record. _ well, why? i have always wanted a guinness world record. my - well, why? i have always wanted a guinness world record. my gran i well, why? i have always wanted a l guinness world record. my gran has been buying me the book from a very young age and i have been wanting to see my name in there. one day in lockdown, the start of lockdown three, it was raining, miserable, really grey outside. i was eating a pack of m&ms and i started stacking them up. i thought, you know what? there might be a record in this. i gaveit there might be a record in this. i gave it a go and i thought, i looked online and there was only four. i thought, i can do this, i can beat that. ~ ., ., ., ., , ., that. well, i am going to attempt to beat our that. well, i am going to attempt to beat your record. _ that. well, i am going to attempt to beat your record. 0k? _ that. well, i am going to attempt to beat your record. ok? i _ that. well, i am going to attempt to beat your record. ok? i was - that. well, i am going to attempt to beat your record. ok? i was going i that. well, i am going to attempt to| beat your record. ok? i was going to say, he was one we made earlier, but it is not as easy as it sounds, and it is not as easy as it sounds, and it toppled. whilst i set everything up, this is a live world record attempt. how long did it take you to complete? was this a one day thing, or did you have to train for it? it! or did you have to train for it? i'd love to or did you have to train for it? i�*c

love to say that or did you have to train for it? if. love to say that i've been training all my life for it, but unfortunately it was, it was look how many of the record is, i'll give that a go tomorrow. but no, it took me hours. it took me hundreds of attempts, many failures, but you don't get success without failure, is what i was told. qm. don't get success without failure, is what i was told.— is what i was told. ok, so, i've been trying — is what i was told. ok, so, i've been trying this _ is what i was told. ok, so, i've been trying this in _ is what i was told. ok, so, i've been trying this in the - is what i was told. ok, so, i've been trying this in the office, | is what i was told. ok, so, i've i been trying this in the office, 0k? been trying this in the office, ok? i thought i would need to get the practice in. it's not as easy as it looks, is it? because they are not flat. you are an engineer. what advice would you give me? i’d flat. you are an engineer. what advice would you give me? i'd love to be able to _ advice would you give me? i'd love to be able to say, _ advice would you give me? i'd love to be able to say, whack _ advice would you give me? i'd love to be able to say, whack a - advice would you give me? i'd love to be able to say, whack a bit - advice would you give me? i'd love to be able to say, whack a bit of i to be able to say, whack a bit of glue on a stick a toothpick through the middle of them all, but unfortunately... i the middle of them all, but unfortunately. . ._ the middle of them all, but unfortunately... i got two, i got two! sorry. _ unfortunately... i got two, i got two! sorry. we _ unfortunately... i got two, i got two! sorry, i've got _ unfortunately... i got two, i got two! sorry, i've got two. - unfortunately... i got two, i got two! sorry, i've got two. how. unfortunately... i got two, i got i two! sorry, i've got two. how long did it take you to get to, not that i'm competitive? you did it take you to get to, not that i'm competitive?— did it take you to get to, not that i'm competitive? did it take you to get to, not that i'm com etitive? ., . , . i'm competitive? you have beaten me to two there. —

i'm competitive? you have beaten me to two there. you _ i'm competitive? you have beaten me to two there, you are _ i'm competitive? you have beaten me to two there, you are doing _ i'm competitive? you have beaten me to two there, you are doing well. - to two there, you are doing well. 0k, to two there, you are doing well. ok, so, what is next on your agenda? 0h, what's next? i don't know — smarties? oh, what's next? i don't know - smarties?— 0h, what's next? i don't know - smarties? ~ , ., ., ., smarties? we should say that other brands are available. _ smarties? we should say that other brands are available. i _ smarties? we should say that other brands are available. i must - smarties? we should say that other brands are available. i must excuse | brands are available. i must excuse the state of my hands. i've been gardening. i do apologise. i get told off by my mum. anyway, will, thank you very much for sharing that. i think you are keeping it a secret, but thank you very much and huge congratulations. i'm going to keep on trying. in the meantime, something a little bit more scientific — helen willetts has got the weather. hello. the damning menacing clouds across many sing to make many parts of the uk today and there is heavy thundery showers will continue through the evening. little bit of

thundery comic