tonight at 10:00, the high court rules that government policies at the start of the pandemic, on discharging hospital patients into care homes in england, were unlawful. in england were unlawful. the court heard that moving untested patients into care homes had been one of the most devastating policy failures of the modern era. the ruling came after two women whose fathers died in care homes took legal action against public health england and the then health secretary. matt hancock's claim that the government threw a protective ring around care homes in the first wave of the pandemic was nothing more than a despicable lie. we'll be looking at the implications of the ruling for families across the uk.

also tonight, the latest on russia's invasion of ukraine. president putin declares that russia will respond immediately, to any country attempting to interfere in the conflict. translation: if they create threats for us, threats - of a strategic nature, our retaliation, our counter—strike, will be instantaneous. prince andrew, the duke of york, no longer holds the freedom of the city of york, following the recent legal case in the us. we report on a new service here in wales allowing pharmacists to prescribe some medicines, taking pressure off the gps. and in champions league football a good night for liverpool against villarreal and coming up in the sport, on the bbc news channel, ronnie 0'sullivan is through to the semi—finals at the world snooker championship, as he aims for a record—equalling seventh title.

good evening and welcome to bbc news at ten, which comes tonight from the headquarters of bbc wales in cardiff. it's a very significant day for those families who lost loved ones in care homes during the pandemic. the high court in london has ruled that government policies on discharging patients from hospitals to care homes at the start of the pandemic were unlawful. the ruling was made after two women took legal action against public health england and the health secretary at the time. they said covid patients were discharged from hospitals back to care homes without testing, causing what was called a shocking death toll. in the first wave of the pandemic, almost 20,000 care home residents had died with coronavirus by mid—june in england and wales. that's more than a third of all people who who died with covid during that period.

the uk government said it worked tirelessly to protect the public. 0ur social affairs editor alison holt has the story. two women determined to hold the government to account for what they believe was a failure to protect their fathers. both men lived in care homes. today, the high court ruled policies around the high court ruled policies around the discharge of patients into care homes were unlawful. doctor cathy gardner's father died with covid in early april 2020. she was shocked that hospital patients had been discharged into his care home without clear guidance on infection control. she is relieved by today's ruling. i control. she is relieved by today's rulina. ., , control. she is relieved by today's rulina. , ., ~ control. she is relieved by today's rulina. .,, ., ~ ., ruling. i hope it will make a difference _ ruling. i hope it will make a difference by _ ruling. i hope it will make a difference by ensuring - ruling. i hope it will make a difference by ensuring this | ruling. i hope it will make a i difference by ensuring this can never happen again. also that the people responsible understand they are being held to account, that the decisions they made were wrong, they

not only put lives at risk but almost certainly cost lives. fei harris's father _ almost certainly cost lives. fei harris's father died from a covid shortly after hospital patients were moved into his care. she sees the case is the last thing she was able to do for him. we case is the last thing she was able to do for him-— to do for him. we left on their health , to do for him. we left on their healthy. fit — to do for him. we left on their healthy, fit and _ to do for him. we left on their healthy, fit and happy. - to do for him. we left on their healthy, fit and happy. the i to do for him. we left on their. healthy, fit and happy. the last photo _ healthy, fit and happy. the last photo i — healthy, fit and happy. the last photo i have of him, in the chair, smiling, — photo i have of him, in the chair, smiling, because we were watching tv. smiling, because we were watching tv and _ smiling, because we were watching tv and he — smiling, because we were watching tv. and he just disappeared and nobody— tv. and he just disappeared and nobody is — tv. and he just disappeared and nobody is answerable. and somebody has to— nobody is answerable. and somebody has to answer the question, how could _ has to answer the question, how could it — has to answer the question, how could it be — has to answer the question, how could it be allowed to happen? this was a could it be allowed to happen? ti 3 was a complicated case, examining a number of laws and policies. in the end, thejudgment was number of laws and policies. in the end, the judgment was very clear about the decision to discharge hospital patients into care homes at the start of the pandemic. it concludes it was unlawful and irrational. today'sjudgment concludes it was unlawful and irrational. today's judgment says early in the pandemic there was growing awareness that people could spread the virus without showing symptoms. it sets out what was known

about covid at the time. as well as very early discussions by governance advisers, on march the 9th 2020, the health minister lord bethel told parliament that large numbers of people are infectious but completely asymptomatic. 0n the 13th, the chief scientific adviser said some degree of asymptomatic transmission was likely. a few days later, official guidance was published on the discharge of patients from hospitals to care homes. the aim was to free up to care homes. the aim was to free up beds for the wave of covid patients. up beds for the wave of covid atients. ., , ., patients. right from the start, we have tried to _ patients. right from the start, we have tried to throw _ patients. right from the start, we have tried to throw a _ patients. right from the start, we have tried to throw a protective i have tried to throw a protective ring around our care homes. despite such reassurances, _ ring around our care homes. despite such reassurances, the _ ring around our care homes. despite such reassurances, the ruling - ring around our care homes. despite such reassurances, the ruling says i such reassurances, the ruling says there was no evidence that ministers considered or were asked to consider the risk asymptomatic transmission posed to care homes. that angers the families in the case. it is posed to care homes. that angers the families in the case.— families in the case. it is also now clear that matt _ families in the case. it is also now clear that matt hancock's - families in the case. it is also now clear that matt hancock's claim i families in the case. it is also now. clear that matt hancock's claim that the government through a protective

ring around care homes in the first wave of the pandemic was nothing more than a despicable lie, which should be ashamed and should apologise. in should be ashamed and should aoloaise. , ., apologise. in response, the former health and car— apologise. in response, the former health and car secretary _ apologise. in response, the former health and car secretary said - apologise. in response, the former health and car secretary said the i health and car secretary said the now abolished public health england failed to tell him about transmission. the prime minister also faced questions. the transmission. the prime minister also faced questions.— transmission. the prime minister also faced questions. the thing that we didn't know _ also faced questions. the thing that we didn't know in _ also faced questions. the thing that we didn't know in particular, - also faced questions. the thing that we didn't know in particular, mr - we didn't know in particular, mr speaker, was that covid could be transmitted a symptomatically on the way that it was. that was something that i wish we had known more about the time. the that i wish we had known more about the time. , ., that i wish we had known more about the time. , , the time. the government says every death is a tragedy _ the time. the government says every death is a tragedy and _ the time. the government says every death is a tragedy and that _ the time. the government says every death is a tragedy and that it - the time. the government says every death is a tragedy and that it has - death is a tragedy and that it has put billions of pounds into providing care services with protective equipment and support for infection control. lets talk more about the significance of the ruling. lets join alison in central london. when you see the detail, and of course you see the detail, and of course you already told us about the reaction of some of the families,

underline the importance of what happened today?— underline the importance of what happened today? well, there will be many families _ happened today? well, there will be many families hearing _ happened today? well, there will be many families hearing this _ happened today? well, there will be many families hearing thisjudgment many families hearing this judgment who lost loved ones in that first wave of the virus, in care homes. and they will be relieved at what they heard. because i certainly remember speaking to many families and care workers at the time who said they felt abandoned, they felt forgotten because protective equipment was difficult to get hold of, guidance, they felt, was slow. so, it is a significant ruling for them, setting out what they feel happened at the time. it also underlines the difficulty of decision—making when you have a fast changing situation such as this, and it is worth remembering that, across the uk, there were high numbers of deaths in care homes. so, all the different nations struggled to make these decisions. the importance of this lies in the fact that if, when there is a future pandemic, we need

to be better protecting the vulnerable, olderand to be better protecting the vulnerable, older and disabled people who live in care homes and notjust protecting the nhs. maw; notjust protecting the nhs. many thanks again _ notjust protecting the nhs. many thanks again for _ notjust protecting the nhs. many thanks again for the _ notjust protecting the nhs. many thanks again for the analysis. let's turn to the latest on the conflict in ukraine. president putin has warned that russia will respond immediately to any country attempting to interfere in the war. speaking to parliamentarians in st petersburg, mr putin said he had all the tools to respond and that he'd already chosen his likely approach. during the day, the european union accused moscow of economic blackmail and of escalating the war by cutting off russian gas supplies to poland and bulgaria. 0ur russia editor steve rosenberg reports from st petersburg. the venice of the north, they call it. it was peter the great who built st petersburg, to make russia look and feel european. today, though, the gulf between russia and europe is growing ever wider.

in the st petersburg palace, the president... vladimir vladimirovich putin. ..vladimir putin was addressing lawmakers. from them, a sign of loyalty, the letter z, symbol of russia's offensive in ukraine. from him, a warning to ukraine's western allies. translation: if anyone from the outside intends to interfere in what's happening, then they should know this — if they create threats for us, threats of a strategic nature, our retaliation, our counter—strike, will be instantaneous. we have all the necessary instruments, ones that no one else can boast of. all the decisions on this have already been taken. across town, another decision announced.

state energy giant gazprom had shut off gas supplies to poland and bulgaria, an escalation condemned across europe. the european union has accused russia of using gas as an instrument of blackmail. it said that was unjustified and unacceptable. but russia is unrepentant. in fact, the speaker of parliament here said, "good, let's cut off the gas now to all countries who are hostile to russia." talking of hostile... ..russia continued to attack ukraine. here, with cruise missiles. there are russians who oppose this operation, but public protest is dangerous. sasha skochilenko knows that. she has been charged with spreading fake news about the russian army. she is accused of replacing supermarket price tags with anti—war messages. for that, she faces up to ten years in prison. sonia, her partner, believes it is a case that says so much about russia.

translation: what this tells us is that freedom of speech - in our country is being stamped out, political repression has got worse, and that people who are against the war are being persecuted and put in prison. what those in power here demand is unflinching support for the offensive in ukraine, and for russia's confrontation with the west. steve rosenberg, bbc news, st petersburg. here, the foreign secretary liz truss has said russian forces must be pushed out of the whole of ukraine, in what amounts to the clearest statement yet of britain's war aims. in a keynote foreign policy speech, she said victory for ukraine

was a strategic imperative for the west and it must use its economic strength to deter future russian aggression. 0ur economics editor faisal islam is here. first of all, when you see president putin talking more about using economic weapons, if you like, such as stopping gas supplies, what are the rippling effects now that are being felt in a much wider sphere by russia's actions?— russia's actions? ordinarily, when ou aet russia's actions? ordinarily, when you get entire _ russia's actions? ordinarily, when you get entire nations _ russia's actions? ordinarily, when you get entire nations cut - russia's actions? ordinarily, when you get entire nations cut off - russia's actions? ordinarily, when you get entire nations cut off from the gas they have relied on and they need, you would expect to see in the international markets, where uk energy companies buy their gas, seeing prices surge. that didn't really happen today. in fact, the bigger move has been over the past couple of weeks, to see the international gas price is now two thirds below the peak at the beginning of the invasion. in fact, at a lower price than it was, than it has been since the invasion. so, there is a consequence to that in terms of bills, which have already

gone up by a huge amount. there had been some anticipation when we had the price hikes in the international markets that they could go up as much as £1000 in the autumn, when the price cap is reset. that is looking more like a few hundred pounds if these levels stick. but if poland and bulgaria is the first step, and, say, germany follows in the next few months, severe outcomes are still possible. you the next few months, severe outcomes are still possible.— are still possible. you talked about ressures are still possible. you talked about pressures on _ are still possible. you talked about pressures on household _ are still possible. you talked about pressures on household finances. i pressures on household finances. more calls on the chancellor to offer more help than he has offered so far people who are facing higher bills. the reaction? he so far people who are facing higher bills. the reaction?— bills. the reaction? he was questioned _ bills. the reaction? he was questioned by _ bills. the reaction? he was questioned by the - bills. the reaction? he was questioned by the social i bills. the reaction? he was - questioned by the social network mumsnet, its users, about how quickly any further help would be forthcoming, and he said it would be silly to do that now. because of the volatility i have just described, in terms of where bills are going to go in autumn. this has led to a backlash from the opposition parties who say it shows the chancellor is

out of touch. but the important thing here is that many of these campaigning organisations and the opposition are arguing that there needs to be further action now, and we are already seeing the impact, for example, in direct debits paid for example, in direct debits paid for in household bills. still a tricky conundrum for the chancellor. faisal islam, our economics editor. the dj tim westwood has stepped down from presenting his capital xtra radio show until further notice following claims of sexual misconduct. the former radio 1 dj, who's 64, has strenuously denied allegations of predatory sexual behaviour and touching made by seven women. 0ur entertainment correspondent chi chi izundu reports. westwood! tim westwood has been at capital xtra since 2013, presenting a weekly saturday night rap show. but today his employers at global, who own capital xtra, confirmed he was to step down until further notice. it's after allegations from seven black women who've accused the dj of predatory sexual behaviour and touching in a joint

investigation between the bbc and the guardian. nyla — it is not her real name — met the dj at a new year's day party in 2017. one of my friends and i were at the front, and he kind of shouts me out for being the pengest girl in the rave. i wasjust like, "um, 0k." but one of my other friends wants a video with him. but as she's taking this video, he essentially moves his hand down my back and puts his hand up the back of my skirt. i step back because i'm a bit shocked from it, and i didn't really expect it to happen, but ijust felt kind of, like, objectified, really. tim westwood worked at bbc radio 1 for nearly 20 years, but speaking at a conference this morning, the director—general of the corporation said he was shocked by the allegations and urged anyone with a complaint to come forward. the testimony of the women is powerful and appalling.

and, by the way, i would note the bbc... i credit the bbc and guardian teams for going after the story, by the way. i think that's absolutely what we should be doing. westwood, we know what we doing here. two nightclub appearances in birmingham and bognor regis have also been cancelled, but the 64—year—old has denied the serious allegations in their entirety and says he has not acted in the manner described. chi chi izundu, bbc news. a man has been charged with the murder of a woman who went missing in lancashire five days ago. 33 year—old katie kenyon, a mother of two, was last seen in burnley on friday morning. andrew burfield, who is 50 and from burnley, is due to appear in court tomorrow. prince andrew, the duke of york, has been stripped of his freedom of the city of york. it follows his legal settlement in the us with virginia giuffre after she accused him of sexually assaulting her — allegations he always denied.

0ur correspondent phil connell is in york tonight. how did this decision come about? he: is still known as the duke of york by prince andrew's freedom at this historic city has been dramatically removed tonight. this honour was given him by the council as a wedding gift in 1987, but tonight a new generation of councillors voted almost unanimously to remove that. the princes now generating the kind of publicity they simply do not want. the city of york council does not have the power to remove prince andrew's duke of york title but many councillors would like to see that taken too and following the meeting tonight representations will be made tonight representations will be made to buckingham palace and the government, with some councillors even calling for a complete rethink on how these owners are given out.

phil connell in york, thank you. —— on how these honours are given out. a new service has just been launched here in wales which allows pharmacists to prescribe some medications as a way of trying to relieve the pressure on gps. patients suffering from some acute illnesses, such as respiratory infections or gout, can bypass the doctor's surgery and go straight to community pharmacies. scotland is aiming to deliver a similar service but, by contrast, england is yet to adopt this approach. 0ur health editor hugh pym reports from the welsh city of newport. can you just open your mouth, jack, and i'll have a look at your tonsils. jack has tonsillitis. he is being examined byjonathan. but this isn't a gp surgery, it's a pharmacy in newport. jonathan is trained to prescribe medication as well as being a pharmacist. take one or two, up to four times a day. he has given painkillers to jack, which means there is no need to go to a gp. i think it's brilliant, i think it will help a lot of people because gps are quite hard to get into at the moment, so probably

will relieve a bit of the pressure off them. i spent years referring people to the gp for conditions that i knew i could treat myself, and now i'm in the position i can do that. patients have much better access to care and the added benefit is you know you are freeing up gp appointments for more complicated patients. local gp practices are reaping the benefits. have we referred any patients to the pharmacy today? - this surgery refers around 25 minor ailment patients each week to the pharmacist. that is 100 gp appointments saved each month, and more time for doctors to visit seriously ill patients in their homes. we are finding that demand is outweighing capacity, and so anything that relieves some of the pressure on general practice is very welcome. at times, some medicines are in short supply. right now there are stock problems with hormone replacement therapy — hrt — which can lead to distressing delays for women needing repeat prescriptions. when you think about, for example,

the shortages and the hrt issues that we are currently facing, having a pharmacist prescriber being able to prescribe alternative medicines without the patient having to wait to see the gp is a great thing for the patient. health professionals in local communities agree this is an important move towards improved services, but it will take time and the bigger picture at right now is that there are significant stresses across ambulance services, hospitals and the wider nhs, here in wales and across the uk. it's bad everywhere, really. the wards are full. that means there is pressure on the a&es, which means that people cannot even get into a treatment room, they are often being treated on trolleys, and the ambulance people are looking after acutely ill patients in car parks. the welsh government says staff sickness in the nhs has added to the pressures. unlocking the potential of highly skilled health staff is important, but only part of the solution. hugh pym, bbc news, newport.

the conservative party are looking into claims that one of their mps was seen watching pornography on his mobile phone in the chamber of the house of commons. it's understood that concerns were raised by a minister at a meeting of conservative mps last night. 0ur political correspondent ione wells is at westminster. what have you learnt about this? these allegations were raised last night in a meeting between female conservative mps and the government chief whip, who is essentially in charge of discipline. 0ne mp said a tory mp had been spotted watching pornography in the house of commons chamber, this was corroborated by another mp in the meeting. the tory mp pauline latham said colleagues left the meeting shell—shocked and she and opposition parties have said if the culprit is found that he should lose hisjob. the chief whip

said any witnesses today should refer it to parliament's independent complaints scheme and on the conclusion of any investigation he would take appropriate action, but these investigations can take months and sometimes years to conclude and there was also pressure to tackle there was also pressure to tackle the wider issue of sexism in westminster at the moment, with reports that dozens of mps facing sexual misconduct complaints and to mps of all stripes condemning an article in the mail on sunday where some tory mps were quoted as saying that the deputy labour leader angela rayner was distracting the prime minister by crossing under crossing her legs. this is not the first time that sexual misconduct allegations have been raised in westminster and there is some concern that we are still having these allegations in 2022. ione wells, thank you. a week tomorrow, voters will be taking part in local elections here in wales, in england and scotland, and in assembly elections in northern ireland. and as we saw recently, with the intervention

of the archbishop of canterbury in the debate on immigration policy, the role of faith leaders in political debate can be highly controversial. the church of england, which is represented by 26 bishops in the house of lords, is far from united on the question, as our religion editor aleem maqbool reports. in troubled times, churches are of course a huge part of the front line response. glad you've come, because we got an empty cupboard. now, in a deepening cost of living crisis, they are feeling the strain. i have noticed since the new year huge change. donations have gone down. but beyond the volunteers helping out are church leaders speaking out, and criticising the government. levels of income do matter so i do think that not raising the benefit levels by a high rate of inflation is massively significant. but of late, there has been criticism of the church for being too overtly political

in its statements. the archbishop of canterbury came under fire from the government after using his easter sermon to criticise its plan to send some asylum seekers to rwanda, but it wasn'tjust him. 0ther bishops did the same. so what did their congregants think? i had lots of people thanking me and i had those who said, "bishop, you shouldn't have said that." do you think it turns any of those people off? it might. senior members of the church of england don'tjust talk about government policy — 26 of its bishops sit in the house of lords and vote on it, making the uk the only country in the world, alongside iran, to reserve places in parliament for religious leaders. graham taylor is a former anglican priest who has been disillusioned about the direction the church has been going for some time. it's the job of the church, of the people of the church, to be active amongst those we are trying to serve, not

being political advocates with some sort of pseudo—liberal agenda. you don't see it as just raising a voice when they see injustice? i see it as raising a profile, raising a profile for the people themselves and trying to raise the profile of the church. but church leaders are not backing down in confronting the government on issues where they disagree. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in durham. so, as we mentioned, a week tomorrow voters in england, scotland and wales will take part in local elections, with assembly elections in northern ireland. here in wales, elections are being held for 22 councils. seven are currently held by labour, one held by the conservatives, one held by plaid cymru, with the remaining 13 not controlled by any single party. among the issues provoking lively debate among the issues

—— among the issues provoking lively debate in wales, is the possibility of imposing a tax on tourism, to try to deal with the impact of visitors. 0ur wales correspondent hywel griffith reports from one of the most popular tourist destinations, pembrokeshire. eight days to go before voters take the plunge and decide who they trust. in wales, the national landscape is dominated by labour but in local elections, independent candidates often rise to the top. here in pembrokeshire, five years ago they took over half the seats, so what will sway voters? here it could be the idea of a tourism tax, with plans to let welsh local authorities levy their own charge. with over1 million overnight visitors a year, pembrokeshire could cash in. cleo, who runs a coasteering company, says it depends on how the money is spent. i think if it is put back directly into tourism, it could be fantastic. it could go into the physical things you can see and touch, so back into the coast path, certainly the toilets.

not going hidden into the coffers somewhere we won't see the benefit. around the world, tourism taxes are added to the room bill. how it is raised and spent here has not been decided but mark, who runs a guesthouse in fishguard, fears it would hit trade. tourism tax is a negative thing. it is supposed to stop or prevent or try to dilute your masses from coming, but we don't have that. as far as a tax on tourism goes, i'm totally against it. in an election dominated by big national and international events, the tourism tax is an example of a local issue that could be decided at council level. it also gives us a snapshot of what is happening in welsh politics — a policy put forward by the welsh labour government, supported by plaid cymru. the two parties are not lockstep in coalition but they have struck a deal to work together on policies

like the tourism tax. it is also supported by the lib dems. the welsh conservatives want to sink the idea but in this election, they face another challenge. we know the furore around borisjohnson at the moment at a uk level, and i'm sure the welsh conservatives will be wanting to drill down and make this an election about their counsellors�* successes in local government but in the public at large, certainly some of them, will not separate out those issues from the bigger national picture. with so many independent candidates in the mix, next week's vote could be followed by months of negotiations before we know exactly who governs in some parts of wales. hywel griffith, bbc news, pembrokeshire. in northern ireland, the alliance party has published its manifesto for the assembly election next week. the party, which is neutral on the issue of northern ireland's constitutional future, pledged a new payment of £20 per child per week for low income families.

it has also proposed a green new deal to create 50,000 sustainable jobs by 2030. to football, and in the champions league liverpool comfortably won the first leg of their semifinal. they beat spanish side villareal 2—0 at anfield. 0ur sports correspondent nesta mcgregor was watching. liverpool is well known for its fab four. the red side of the city is chasing the big four — four trophies that, like its music, could go down in folklore. liverpool's opponents, villarreal, are nicknamed the yellow submarine, and it was a first half where the two sides were oceans apart. first, mo salah found sadio mane, who couldn't find the net. managerjurgen klopp looked far from impressed. then, just before half—time, thiago had a go from distance. the goalkeeper was beaten,

but the post stood firm. it felt like just a matter of time. and when a goal did come, jordan henderson claimed it. but it was an own goal. two minutes later, it was to mane, having better luck with his toe, than his head. in the end, it was a dominant performance, although it's only half—time in the tie. still, the long and winding road to the final looks clear. so liverpool take that 2—0 advantage to spain and will be favourites, but villareal have beaten bayern munich of germany and italian giants juventus to get to the stage so it will not be easy. man city are a goal up in the other semifinal, meaning we could have an all english affair in paris in may. football, je

t'aime.