and that was a very, very grave error. now, it was consensual, but it was my fault. in bournemouth, following the deaths of two young swimmers yesterday, there's still no clarity about what happened. survivors of abuse in the church of england say they've risked further trauma, because of failings in the church's support scheme. and the sign that summer is coming — england's cricketers start their first test match of the season, against ireland at lord's. and on newsnight at 10.30... we will go deeper behind the headlines and speak live to key players in today's egg stories plus we did a first look on what's tomorrow's front pages.

good evening. we start tonight with the escalating legal battle between rishi sunak�*s government and the independent public inquiry, into the handling of the covid pandemic. government officials in the cabinet office missed a deadline, earlier today, to hand over all of boris johnson's private messages and papers, to the inquiry. what's more, the government is now launching a legal challenge, arguing that some of the material is not relevant to the inquiry�*s work. the chair of the inquiry, baroness hallett, a formerjudge at the court of appeal, says it's for the inquiry to decide what is or is not relevant. and she's hinted that the inquiry could launch its own legal action against the government. labour has accused the government of undermining the work of the inquiry, as our political correspondent alex forsyth reports. the covid pandemic had a huge and lasting impact.

now a public inquiry is examining what happened, the decisions taken in government that affected so many lives. it's about learning lessons in case it happens again, but already there's a row over what exactly the inquiry should be allowed to see. the chair, baroness hallett, wants borisjohnson's notes and his whatsapps with other government figures in full... welcome everyone, including those attending remotely... ..so she can decide what matters to her work. but at the heart of government the cabinet office is refusing, saying some of the material isn't relevant to the pandemic, like personal whatsapps, and they should be kept private. this was the prime minister earlier. the government has cooperated thoroughly with the inquiry today, handing over tens of thousands of documents and we will continue to comply, of course with the law, and cooperate with the inquiry. we are confident in our position but are carefully considering next steps.

then four o'clock came, the deadline for the government's response to the inquiry�*s demands, then a letter from the cabinet office sticking to its position. it's not handing over unredacted material. in fact, they're taking the matter to court. it said... it went on to say... so, what is the crux of their argument? any material, you know, . frank advice from officials, confidential discussions - between cabinet ministers, might make it out into the public domain and they say that that's i damaging for the business of government. _ from the inquiry's point of view, the problem they've got - is if they say the government can decide what's relevant, - then what's to stop everyone deciding what they send - to the inquiry, at which point it - undermines their ability to say that they're doing a thoroughjob.

borisjohnson has added pressure, saying the government should pass everything to the inquiry in full, even offering to himself. but it's emerged he hasn't yet handed over his phone from the crucial first year of the pandemic. he says he will if security concerns are addressed. labour says the government should trust the inquiry with the material. i think that britain deserves to know the truth. deserves to know they have a prime minister that can be trusted by the judges because if rishi sunak the prime minister doesn't trust one of our nation's most seniorjudges, then they'll be asking themselves how can we trust him? so the row continues and now seems headed for court, while many of those who lost loved ones during the pandemic just want answers. so there is still some dispute tonight over a phone borisjohnson had during a key part of the pandemic which he says he is happy to hand over its security concerns

are addressed but the bigger picture doesn'tjust involve borisjohnson, its dozens of ministers and officials and the government says it's prepared to take the inquiry get established to court on a point of principle about privacy and how the government will work in future. the danger as it leaves itself open to claims of a cover—up which labour has already levelled and all of this before that public inquiry has even had its public hearing. alex forsyth, many thanks, with the latest tonight at westminster. the television presenter phillip schofield has given his first interview since leaving itv, after admitting he'd lied about his affair with a younger colleague on the daytime show this morning. he's been speaking to the bbc�*s amol rajan. the full interview will be broadcast tomorrow, but amoljoins us now to tell us about the exchanges. let's start with a blunt question. why has he agreed to do this interview?— why has he agreed to do this interview? ,, ., ., interview? quite, he gave two interviews. — interview? quite, he gave two interviews, want _ interview? quite, he gave two interviews, want at _ interview? quite, he gave two

interviews, want at the - interview? quite, he gave two interviews, want at the sun i interviews, want at the sun newspaper, one to bbc news. the reason he did it i think it's because he wanted to say sorry, he wanted to show some contrition and i think he wanted to correct what he sees as some false narratives that are circulated in the public domain over the past week and all that point i think it's important to try and elevate this story beyond mere celebrity gossip. this isn't about holly and phil off this morning, it isn't about daytime tv sofas and who isn't about daytime tv sofas and who is replacing who, it's about serious allegations of sexual abuse of a child by someone with a public profile. the young man in question was 15 when he met schofield and schofield said to me at the sun he was much older, a consenting adult when the relationship turned sexual. but it's also about abuse of power and workplace culture. there is a reckoning going on across many advanced democracies about how people behave in workplaces. it started out in american media, it spread to our media, it spread to many other sectors and phillip

schofield is now and itv are part of that reckoning. he is someone who knows quite a lot about the power of televisual testimony, he's been doing it more than a0 years, he was clearly in an extremely agitated and emotional state today, which does create a tension between our duty of care to an interviewee and i duty of care to an interviewee and i duty of care to an interviewee and i duty of care to the truth which we try to get to by asking questions on behalf of the audience and as you will see there was some pretty tough questions but i think he invited the scrutiny. see this. you met someone who was a child, you were in a position of power over them. you used your power eventually to give them something they craved, which was a shot at a job in the media. you nurtured that relationship and then that relationship became sexual. they might ask what is the difference between that and grooming? i would say that the initial list of things was not, not right anyway. tell me, why? because it was a totally innocent picture, a totally innocent twitter follower, of which i follow 11,400 people, and then it was a completely

innocent backwards and forwards over a period of time about a job, about careers. you do that, what's wrong with that? what's wrong with talking to someone, no matter what age they are? does that mean that if you are, you are following anyone on twitter, you absolutely don't talk to anybody else or you don't give advice? so i disagree with the summation that you just gave, because that does paint a very grey picture. in which case why do you say it was unwise? because you are clearly sensitive to the power differential and you're clearly mindful of the dangers of abuse of power? the brief communications, backwards and forwards, up to the point that he came to work on this morning i think wasjust a chat. what was unwise was the fact that it happened and that was a very, very grave error. it was consensual

but it was my fault. there's plenty more when that came from from six o'clock tomorrow morning. it's important to emphasise this is his account of events, this is phillip schofield's account of events and his account at a very particular time on the basis of the evidence in front of us today. other people, including the young man schofield had an affair with, will have their version of events. itv have their version of events. itv have an external review which could uncover fresh detail about itv�*s handling of this issue and you leave that interview this afternoon feeling while we are getting slowly closer to the truth about phillip schofield the real question, the big question, is whether britain's biggest commercial service wrought castor is sufficiently interested in and tough on potential abuse of power and i think that is where the story goes next. and you can see amol�*s interview with phillip schofield across bbc news and the iplayer from six

o'clock tomorrow morning. thanks very much, amol rajan. police in bournemouth have ruled out suggestions that a 12—year—old girl and a 17—year—old boy, who died after being pulled from the sea yesterday, had been hit by a vessel. a man in his a0s was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, after a total of ten swimmers got into difficulty. police confirmed the man, who has now been released under investigation, was "on the water" at the time of the incident. our correspondent duncan kennedy is in bournemouth tonight. well, this is very much a family resort and everyone you speak to here is in a state of some disbelief over what has happened. what we now know is that these swimmers were not hit by a boat, they were not hit by a jet ski and they didn't get injured byjumping off this peer behind my shoulder here. apart from that everyone including the families

of the two young people who died, are waiting to find out what did for several hours, this part of bournemouth beach was transformed into a major incident. the sand was cleared of the public to allow in helicopters and other emergency crews. medical teams worked at the water's edge to save those who'd been brought ashore. eyewitnesses said they saw several people being taken away on stretchers. it's horrific, what happened. and i do feel absolutely awful, just to even be there, and obviously people were watching and taking videos and things. yeah, it was just a really distressing event to be a part of and obviously be so close to it. next to the lifeguard post there was someone laying on a stretcher with respiratory gear on, with lots of children and adults surrounding them with stress blankets and water bottles. two of those in the water, a 17—year—old boy from southampton and a 12—year—old girl from buckinghamshire, suffered critical injuries and later died.

police today rejected some speculation, including the suggestion that those in the water had been hit by a jet ski. early investigation indicates - that there was no physical contact between a vessel and any of the swimmers at the l time of the incident. i can also confirm there is no| suggestion of people jumping from the pier orjet| skis being involved. the tragedy happened just after a:30 yesterday afternoon in the sea off bournemouth pier. ten people were in the water, although no physical contact took place between the swimmers and a vessel in the area. tonight police said a a0—year—old man who was on the water and arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, has been released under investigation while inquiries continue. the other eight people involved in this incident were treated on the beach and are not thought to be seriously hurt.

at the same time, the police have asked for anybody who saw or filmed the incident to come forward to help with their investigation. the beach has attracted tens of thousands of people during this half—term week. local leaders say it will remain busy but safe. bournemouth remains a really fantastic place to visit and, you know, this incident needs to be investigated properly and we are confident with our partners that any lessons that need to be learned in the future will be learned. this safe, benign setting has been transformed into one of pain and distress, and we still don't yet know exactly what happened, but two families have been left grieving the loss of their children. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in bournemouth. a support scheme set up by the church of england to help survivors of abuse risks subjecting people to more trauma, according to a report seen by the bbc.

the report, by the church's independent safeguarding board, says one man's experience of the scheme left him suicidal. other survivors told the bbc they had been treated with contempt. the scheme is said to have been "set up in haste" and was "under resourced". our religion editor aleem maqbool has the story. they won't let us go. they won't realise that they are the problem. the church, the institution that damaged him, still has a hold on graham sawyer. but now it's notjust because of the clergymen that abused him. i was able to forgive that man from my heart many, many years ago. no, no. it's the... enduring trauma of dealing with the church of england. he didn't lose his faith but he did move to ireland, partly to escape the past. the trouble is, every time i have any contact

from the church of england, it retraumatises me. as a teenager, graham was a victim of peter ball, the former bishop convicted of a string of sex offences. it was the case that led to a massive inquiry and a scheme was set up by the church to offer support to survivors. but it's dealing with that scheme that some survivors say is causing their anguish now. teresa cooper has serious health problems after being drugged and abused as a child in a church—run home. she's received funds from the church scheme but has also been denied applications for help. when she criticised the scheme on social media, the church threatened legal action. they're supposed to be christians. they're supposed to be caring. they're supposed to want to look after you and help you. this was forced on me through no fault of my own. the least they could have done was looked after me. we've seen a report

by a new independent board reviewing one survivor's experience of the church. and what it concludes is that the support scheme was under thought, under resourced and dealing with it took a heavy toll on the mental health on the abuse survivor involved. the church says it's paid nearly £1.5 million in support to 68 abuse survivors but acknowledges some have had terrible experiences. i would say that i wish it had been for them and i am genuinely sorry that they've had poor experience of the scheme. i know others have had positive experiences. i do get those phone calls and e—mails where they sing the praises of the scheme. both are true and i am genuinely sorry for those who haven't had that positive experience. in 2020 and inquiry called on church leaders to quickly settle final compensation claims, notjust these interim payments. the church still hasn't done that and graham sawyer is desperate that it does.

please, just let go and leave us alone. you can get on with your lives and do your thing. and then finally, perhaps, we will be allowed to do the same. aleem maqbool, bbc news. russia's foreign minister, sergei lavrov, is in south africa, ahead of a summit of major economies, the so—called brics group, in august. south africa is coming under increasing pressure to decide whether vladimir putin can attend the meeting, after the international criminal court issued an arrest warrant for the russian president in relation to war crimes in ukraine. russia is part of the brics group. the letters represent the five key members — brazil, russia, india, china and south africa. the presence of china and india means that the brics group

represents a3% of the world's population, with more than 3.25 billion people. together, they now account for a larger share of the world's economy than the g7 group, which includes the uk and united states, and it's set to be more than half of the world's economic ouput, or gdp, by 2030. our africa correspondent andrew harding reports from cape town. at the southern tip of africa today, russia is hard at work assembling allies. the russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov, joining his chinese, indian, brazilian and south african counterparts. a growing alliance seeking to challenge the west on many issues, including the war in ukraine. mr lavrov lashed out at a "selfish west",

accusing it of exploiting and imposing its will on poorer nations. stop putin, stop the war! on the seashore outside the venue, a small group of ukrainians, protesting against russia's invasion of their country. we want minister lavrov to immediately stop an unjust and unprovoked war. to stop killing civilians, to stop killing our children. russian officials watch from their balcony. for russia, the point of all this is to show that it's not isolated. yes, the west may be united against it because of ukraine but huge countries like india, like china are still supporting moscow, and large parts of africa too are at least trying to sit on the fence. officially, south africa is neutral on ukraine butjust down the road from today's gathering, a naval base from where its claimed weapons were recently shipped to russia, an act allegedly caught on this amateur video.

we are confident that weapons were loaded onto that vessel and i would bet my life on the accuracy of that assertion. south african officials insist that's not true but they have an even bigger headache now. vladimir putin, wanted by the international criminal court, is due to come here in august for a summit meeting. so if putin comes here, what will it achieve for him? yet another propaganda coup. "i'm strong, i'm not alone and the west is helpless to stop me going where i want." minister, andrew harding from bbc. if president putin coming here in august, will you arrest him? yes or no? the south african government is currently looking at what the various legal options are. but it sounds to a lot of people like a lot of fudge. the answer is clear cut, your obligations are to arrest him. the obligations are clear but the answer is not fudged.

the answer is the president will indicate what the final position of south africa is. privately though, officials here are hoping for a deal that avoids a putin visit and spares south africa's struggling economy from a furious western backlash. andrew harding, bbc news, cape town. the us presidentjoe biden has fallen during a public event in colorado. video of the us air force graduation ceremony shows the 80—year—old president tripping on what appeared to be a sand bag, being helped up by officials and walking back to his seat unassisted. a white house spokesman said mr biden was "fine". the social media personality andrew tate has denied using his influence among young people to fuel a culture of misogyny and intolerance. he's currently under investigation

by romanian prosecutors, following accusations of rape, human trafficking and exploiting women. he's denied the claims and he's told the bbc that he was "acting under the instruction of god to do good things". he also dismissed the testimonies of women, who have accused him of rape and exploitation. andrew tate spoke to our correspondent lucy williamson in bucharest, and lucyjoins us now. we have been following this investigation closely for many months, eversince investigation closely for many months, ever since the brothers were arrested at the end of last year and we have been speaking to as many people as possible to try and get a picture of the situation. we have seen and heard testimony from several women, seen and heard testimony from severalwomen, including seen and heard testimony from several women, including one woman the bbc called sophie to protect her identity. those allegations of abuse and exploitation were a key part of the reason why we decided to speak to andrew tate. andrew tate has built his image

around cars, cigars and controversy, his followers swallowing his sexism along with his success. you know i'm innocent. he's said little in public since his arrest in romania five months ago for rape and human trafficking. today, the bbc was the first major media outlet to challenge him on those allegations and on concerns from police, schools and rights organisations that he's spreading misogynistic attitudes among boys and men. andrew tate. hello. have you raped anybody? absolutely not. have you trafficked anybody? absolutely not. exploited any women for money? absolutely not. but you have admitted using emotional manipulation to get women to work in the webcam industry for you. no. the bbc has spoken to somebody since your arrest who says exactly those things — that with you, it's all manipulation. there's an ulterior motive to everything... is this sophie? oh, sophie. the fake name. no face. "i was so intent on wanting to please him and wanting him to be

"happy that i was just kind of, �*yeah, ok, do whatever you want.”' has she accused me of a crime, this imaginary sophie? she's making the point that there... has she accused me of a crime? ..emotional or psychological manipulation... i've asked you a question. and i allowed you into my house. i'm asking you a question. correct. but you're not the boss here because i've allowed you into my house. i'm asking you the questions... correctly, and i'm telling you... you get to decide the answers. no, we're equal here. i've allowed you into my house. you don't come here with a position of authority. i'm doing you the favour as legacy media, giving you relevance by speaking to you. and i'm telling you now — this sophie, which the bbc has invented, which there is no face of, nobody knows who she is... the bbc did not invent her. of course not. because you never invent anything. we've got the chief executive of rape crisis naming you individually as spreading a dangerous ideology of misogynistic rape culture. absolute... it's the comments you make that are leading people to say things like this. absolute garbage. national organisations who are saying, blaming you for increasing levels of misogyny, schools that are saying they are having increased incidents

of girls being attacked, of female teachers being harassed... if that was true... ..by pupils, because of you and your teaching, and your influence. that's absolute garbage. i have never, ever encouraged a student to attack a teacher, male orfemale, ever. i preach hard work, discipline. i'm an athlete. i preach anti—drug. i preach religion. i preach no alcohol, i preach no knife crime. every single problem with modern society i'm against. i've presented you with case after case after case, with quote after quote after quote, of people who are genuinely concerned about the impact you're having, and you brush it off as if it's nothing. no, what you have done is come here with an agenda. you've come here with loaded questions. things taken out of context. you come here with things that you don't understand are satirical and you expect me... satirical, sarcastic and jokes. that's how you explain the comments you make. for you to sit down... would you like to apologise for any of them? for you to sit down and say that one woman said that her boyfriend watched an andrew tate video and now he won't do the dishes or whatever your argument is... schools, police...

..and that i'm somehow the worst, most dangerous man in the world because i have a car, isjust disingenuous. andrew tate's arrest and detention haven't dented his influence. he's followed by media to the prosecutor's office, followed by millions on twitter. an indictment in this case, expected here within weeks, will mark a new phase in his fight with romania's legal system, as teachers across the uk continue to battle his message. lucy williamson, bbc news, bucharest. lucy they're standing her ground very firmly against andrew tate's repeated refusal to answer the questions. joining me now is our education editor branwenjeffreys. teachers and others involved in education have been raising questions of the kind of influence that man has on young people. teachers report having andrew tate's

language repeated back to them, seeing some of the behaviour and attitude on his online content seeping into a culture of disrespect, over normalising discounting women and feeding into a wider concern that that is there about all the online content that teenagers are seeing, some of it graphically sexual or violent. that they have access to now. it has contributed to growing concern about sexual assaults in schools, sexual harassment. we know that nine out of ten gales have either been sent an explicit image or asked to take one up explicit image or asked to take one up themselves, and this kind of influence of culture is one part of teachers concerns. they are trying to build through all the lessons around relationships a more resilient attitude towards healthy, normal relationships. without over

focusing on one individual like andrew tate because it is a much bigger problem. andrew tate because it is a much bigger problem-— andrew tate because it is a much bigger problem. the clearest sign that summer is on the way, england's cricketers have started their first test match of the season, against ireland at lords. later this month, the all—important ashes series against australia will get under way, so there's plenty to look forward to, as our sports correspondentjoe wilson reports. ireland, lords and a sunny day. it was a combination which suited england. especially stuart broad. right into his rhythm to prove what he already knew — he's essential to england. on five occasions, too good for ireland. too good for australia? that will be the hope through the next two months. the confidence england have injack leach, the confidence he has in himself should also be noticed. three wickets for leach, ireland all out for 172 and england soon batting. whatever england do in test matches these days, they do it quickly and so, zak crawley and ben duckett took england's innings to 100 inside the 16th over.

it is, we presume, what they'll try and do against australia because they know no other way. england will resume just 20 behind but zak crawley not there. he was out for 56 thanks to the fast fingers of fionn hand. good reaction, really good reaction. test matches are rare, make the most of this one. joe wilson, bbc news, lord's. time for a look at the weather. here's ben rich. thank you. good evening. western parts of the uk have seen the best of the sunshine and highest temperatures. further east, you will know this already, many places have seen cloud lingering and it has stayed rather cool. parts of the east coast only got to 11 degrees, compared that to 2a, or 25 in northern ireland and north west wales. hopefully more of us will see sunshine because the cloud coming our way is a little bit thinner.