delegates of trades union congress are gathering for their annual congress in brighton — we'll be there live for the general secretary's main speech in a moment. the covid inquiry enters a new phase, covering the pandemic�*s impact on healthcare systems. a record of stories submitted by the public and nhs staff is being published as evidence. and members of paralympics gb are about to return to the uk following their success in paris — finishing second in the medals table, behind china and ahead of the united states. we'll be live at st pancras in london as they arrive. hello, i'm sarah campbell. the next phase of the covid inquiry is about to get under way with the public hearings looking at the impact

on patients, healthcare workers and the wider nhs. the hearings will also focus on issues such as the diagnosis and treatment of patients with long covid, protective equipment in hospitals, and the policy of shielding. more than 30,000 people in the uk have shared their personal stories from the pandemic 7 as part of a report called every story matters, which will be published today. at the worst point, i didn't want to live any longer. my lungs were white, . i'd got covid pneumonia. every single household across the country lived

through covid in a different way. everything in you has just drained, gone. the first person i met, mandy, was a community midwife, when reports showed a new virus emerged. like everybody in health care, we were really struggling, trying to get equipment was absolutely horrendous. mandy still finds it hard to breathe. even after our short walk. she spent three weeks in hospital after catching covid at work at the height of the pandemic. a bit breathless. coming back up so it is fine. that's what happens to me when i haven't done anything. i hadn't got the strength to walk into the hospital. so my poor husband had to go and get a wheelchair for me. he had to turn around and walk away. at that point the stats were coming out on how many people were dying of covid. sorry.

good morning, guys, how are you? we are gathering people's stories of their experience of the lockdown. linda lives in constant pain after a serious accident 20 years ago. an operation on her spine was cancelled as covid hit. it is now too late to have the surgery. your mac i will know how to live my life with the consequences of not having the

surgery. the rest of my life is destroyed. the agony is never going to go away now and i will have to live for the rest of my life with the consequences of not having had that one surgery. nearly five years on, those consequences are still being felt across the country. the inquiry must now decide if different actions, different decisions, should have been taken at the time. jim reed, bbc news. so this part, this third part of the covid inquiry is going to run until the end of november. it's been described by victims groups as the most important part in their mind, because the first two parts that we've had already dealt with the planning for a pandemic and dealt with the kind of political response at quite a high level. this is the first part that really gets into how patients, how healthcare workers, how the relatives of those who lost their lives were dealt with on

the ground and the experiences that they went through. as you just heard from the report that we played there. so this week, we're going to start to hear from this afternoon. they're going to play a film about a 20 minute film made up of more of that witness testimony from those kind of people. then we're going to start to hear from some of the lawyers representing the different groups involved, whether that is bereaved families or people who represented the department of health and then later on this week, we're going to start to hear from direct witness testimony from some of those people. starting tomorrow, with witness testimony from some of the family members who lost loved ones during the pandemic and their experiences of the nhs and healthcare through that time. you can keep all the latest lines on the covid inquiry on the bbc news app. we start this hour in brighton where delegates of trades union congress are gathering for their annual congress as pressure from unions is growing over the government's plan to cut winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners in england and wales. unite and the pcs union have both criticised the plan after the head of the tuc said

he had real concerns. the head of the tuc, paul novak, is due to address the tuc in the next few minutes, we'll bring it to you live. sir keir starmer has said the cut is necessary to fix the country's finances. speaking to us earlier, the general secretary of the tuc, paul novak, says his members will be looking at the winter fuel payment cuts this week, and will very likely ask chancellor rachel reeves to rethink her plans. we're going to be debating that issue this week at congress. i think it's very likely our unions will ask the chancellor to rethink that decision around winter fuel allowance. i think the chancellor, the whole of the government, and indeed everyone down here at the tuc congress this

week will want to make sure that pensioners aren't in a position where they can't put on the heating this winter. so, as i say, we'll debate that this week. i think it's right that the chancellor should rethink those plans and think about the support that she puts in place for pensioners. home office minister diana johnson said there were many issues. i johnson said there were many issues. ~ ., ., ' . issues. i know how difficult this is.

home office minister dame diana johnson told bbc breakfast she understood how the vote was a "really hard decision" for many mps. i think there are various things that we can see in train alongside this really very difficult decision. i understand for many mps this is a really hard decision. i myself have had lots of constituents contact me, so i know how difficult this is. but first let's speak to our political 0ne one of the most incompetent anti—union and morally bankrupt governments in this country has ever seen. governments in this country has everseen. it governments in this country has ever seen. it feels good to be back here in 15 years under a labour government with a 174 seat majority. some tory mps have the good sense or lack of backbone to do the chicken run before the vote cast, the likes of michael gove �*s capital away from that mess they left behind. 0thers decided to face the voters and while i am not one to rebel in other people �*s misfortune, i have to say i enjoyed every single portaloo

moment in the early hours of july for. it was a roll call of political failure. july for. it was a roll call of politicalfailure. gillian keegan gone. grant shap gone. —— grant shapps. penny mordaunt gone, and the former prime minister that couldn't outlast a lettuce liz truss gone and jacob rees—mogg gone. good riddance to every one of them. their legacy as public services ruined by negligence and austerity, and economy shattered by shambolic brexit and unfunded tax cuts for the

rich and legacy of britain divided by nasty culture wires and dodgy pp contracts. it has been a tough 14 years for the people we represent but once we can look back on with some pride. because despite the attacks, despite the anti—union legislation, despite the relentless squeeze on wages, defending working and helping labour to rebuild and we should be proud of our achievements. in the last 12 months alone a membership went up by 90,000. unions win in four workers up and down the country. and on top of all that one standout victory, cast your mind back 12 months, congress in liverpool and then a special congress in december we pledge to fight the

tories mount an attack on the right to strike and fight it we did. a year on and those appalling laws are about to be repealed before they have ever been used. congress, generations of working people thought for the right to strike and thanks to you and thanks to every union in this room and thanks to the whole of the trade union movement we have protected the fundamental right to strike for future generations of working people. applause. generations of working people. applause— generations of working people. applause. ., �* , ' . applause. that's the difference in unity and _ applause. that's the difference in unity and solidarity _ applause. that's the difference in unity and solidarity makes - in unity and solidarity makes and that is the difference labour in government makes. let me say upfront we won't always agree with the new government on every issue. but we know keir starmer and this government have the interests of working people at heart and the conservatives never did and never will. congress, the conservatives never did and neverwill. congress, no never will. congress, no government neverwill. congress, no government can put right 14

years of tory chaos overnight, and in fact no government can take on thejob and in fact no government can take on the job of rebuilding this country on its own so it is vital that labour delivers its mandate for change, a new dealfor working people its mandate for change, a new deal for working people to look at info, stronger public services, clamping down on the tax cheats and the nondoms and bringing railways back where they belong under public ownership. politics is not a spectator sport and neither is a long and hard job of rebuilding our country. we can just elect a government and sit back and ask them to right every wrong. we need to roll up our sleeves and get involved, so let's pledge today that we will work with the new government to rebuild our public services and play our part in recasting britain's industrial future and above all we will work with the government to face down those

on the right who wish to sow division and discord in our communities. and our message to the tinpot politicians and the street thugs and any ragtag group to try to promote their message of hate is clear. not in our workplaces, not in our communities and not on our watch. �* ~ ,, communities and not on our watch._ last - communities and not on ourj watch._ last year communities and not on our. watch._ last year i watch. applause. last year i told ou watch. applause. last year i told you about _ watch. applause. last year i told you about my _ watch. applause. last year i told you about my family, - watch. applause. last year i told you about my family, a l told you about my family, a nurse story, working—class hard—working people, some born and bred here in the uk and some migrants from ireland and poland and as far away as hong kong, people who came to britain and built their lives and raise theirfamilies here. they and generations from the west indies and across the west indies are now part of us enriching our communities and

working alongside us and they are friends and and represent our country far better than the far right ever will.— far right ever will. applause. i don't believe _ far right ever will. applause. i don't believe for _ far right ever will. applause. i don't believe for one - far right ever will. applause. l i don't believe for one moment that most of those who voted for reform at the last election a racist but let me say clearly that nigel farage is not a friend of the working class, he is a public school educated private enterprise vladimir putin apologist fraud. my grandfatherjoe played his part against fascism decades ago and in may i find myself in southern poland and boarded an overnight train to kyiv and

visited a power station waste on the ground by russian rockets. i saw city apartment blocks destroyed by missiles strikes and i visited the children's hospital in kyiv met some of those at the sharp and very human end of war. people like a 14—year—old who was wounded by the russian shelling that killed her mother. six weeks after my visit, vladimir putin bombed the same children's hospital and operating theatres were wrecked and kids with cancer traumatised, doctors and nurses hunting through the bubble for their colleagues. so when i see —— rubble. so when i see farage making apologies for vladimir putin at times my stomach. the far right are not patriots, they are frauds. —— it turns my

stomach. we had the proof of that a few weeks ago. in southport we sell a deep and unimaginable horror. three children who lost their lives in the most terrible of circumstances. 0ne in the most terrible of circumstances. one of our own, are cwu member loss his seven—year—old daughter. some decided to use that tragedy as an excuse to attack places of worship and loot shops and attack the same emergency workers who wished to save lives. some use that to promote conspiracy peas and fake news and some use that to drive clicks to their social media platforms. that was not most of us and was not the best of us and we should never forget the overwhelming majority of working people in this country are decent and kind and are

generous. they are the ones who built a wall outside a mosque and picked up the debris after the riots and gathered not for hate but to show love to the victims. we will always stand with the decent majority and we will always work to bring communities together, that is our ambition and communities together, that is ourambition and our our ambition and our responsibility. our ambition and our resonsibili .�* �* ,, m responsibility. applause. our movement _ responsibility. applause. our movement rooted _ responsibility. applause. our movement rooted in _ responsibility. applause. our. movement rooted in communities across the country in the shop floor and the office and a work canteen and community centre and high—rises and high streets demonstrate by actions as well as words that solidarity is the living and breathing spirit of this movement. solidarity here at home, solidarity in every community and solidarity across the globe as well, and that

includes our calls for peace, return of hostages and an immediate ceasefire and respect for international law in gaza and an end to the carnage that is seen innocent people targeted and trade union buildings bombed and children starving and a feature built on a two state solution and a safe and secure israel and its safe and secure israel and its safe and secure israel and its safe and secure and free palestine as well. �* �* ,, and secure and free palestine j as well._ solidarity as well. applause. solidarity also means — as well. applause. solidarity also means standing - as well. applause. solidarity also means standing up - as well. applause. solidarity i also means standing up against injustice, something this movement has always done, for the 96 victims of hillsborough —— make 97, for the lawrence family, further miners brutalised in 0rgreave and for

those who died tragically and affordably at grenfell. as a sign of merseyside i am proud that the government has committed to bringing forth the hillsborough law. never again should working—class families be denied justice for decades. applause. 50 be denied justice for decades. applause— be denied justice for decades. applause. ., ,., applause. so a new government and a new opportunity. _ applause. so a new government and a new opportunity. our - and a new opportunity. 0ur movement played its part to rebuild the country and bring communities together, something we have done throughout history, helping to rebuild the country after the second world war and to create the nhs and helping workers when maternity pay and protections against discrimination. and in recent years detecting workers during the pandemic, leading the fight for a minimum the pandemic, leading the fight fora minimum wage, all down the pandemic, leading the fight for a minimum wage, all down to this movement. but all of those achievements, everything we aspire to do, need a growing

and vibrantand aspire to do, need a growing and vibrant and inclusive trade union movement. congress, employment rights count for absolutely nothing if you don't have a strong union to enforce them. cabinet ministers can't get your pay rise. she'd been bullied at work and mps can't hold every bad boss to account, that's the job of the trade union movement. so our challenge now is more representatives and more unionised workplaces and more wins for workers. last year i told congress we would train at least 500 new black activist and i can announce today we trained 534 new black activists and they are just the start. applause. and they are 'ust the start. ”muss.— and they are 'ust the start. applause. ., , , a, applause. each and every year we will train _ applause. each and every year we will train more _ applause. each and every year we will train more and - applause. each and every year we will train more and train - we will train more and train and recruit more women representatives and take trade union message into more workplaces working with good employers to secure the decent jobs are members to serve and

using those new rights to hold every bad boss to account. days after the election, members of the gmb at amazon and coventry staged their historic vote for union representation. amazon spent millions stopping their workers having a voice deploying every cynical trick in the book and after all of that bullying and all that money and all that scaremongering they won byjust 29 votes. so let's paid tribute to the 1400 amazon workers who stood up to be counted and took 38 days of strike action and very nearly beat one of the most powerful corporations in the world. and let's pledge to them and every other worker facing an anti—union boss, this is not the end, this isjust the beginning. today i want to put amazon and every other

anti—union anti boss on notice. if you think you can get away with paying poverty wages and think it's acceptable to force people into work when they are sick and if you want to fire and rehire your staff so you can put a few bob on and i sat think again. our movement is going to take on the bad bosses and we will applause. win. msls and we will applause. win. msls one, the and we will applause. win. msls gone. the new _ and we will applause. win. msls gone, the new deal— and we will applause. win. msls gone, the new deal delivered in full and re—delivering our public services and hope back into politics. i can't imagine a privilege bigger than being your general secretary and every day and eat inspiring union activists and representatives and members, people doing some of the hardest and most importantjobs you can think of. cleaning hospitals and building new power stations and railways and

inspiring our young people and keeping the public safe. all united by one belief, together we are stronger, together we can rebuild our communities, together we can win for working people stop congress, together we are unstoppable. solidarity, congress, thank you. . applause. that was paul novak, the general secretary of the trades union congress well now brighton. plenty more detail on the bbc news website should you want to keep across what is being said in brighton. i should say you can see on your screen the other big story happening today covid is the

inquiry —— the third phase of the covid inquiry analysing the impact of health care and there is a qr code you can use to see if you want to keep across it. the actor idris elba has joined the prime minister in downing street to launch a new effort to tackle knife crime. police, technology companies and campaigners are attenting the first annual knife crime summit in downing street. an anti—knife crime campaigner, idris elba is helping to bring together community groups and victims' families who have first—hand experience that can be used to change policy.

keir starmer has described the problem as a national crisis, and has promised to deal with it head on. the government hopes to halve knife crime over the next ten years. let's turn to the situation in the middle east — where the syrian state news agency says israeli air strikes have killed at least 14 people across the country. it says a number of sites were targeted, including what it calls a scientific research centre. meanwhile, the border crossing between the occupied west bank and jordan is due to reopen, a day after three israeli security guards were killed in a shooting there. jordan's interior ministry said the attacker, a truck driver, was a jordanian national. he was shot dead by israeli security forces. the incident happened at the king hussein—allenby bridge crossing. jordan has launched an investigation into the shootings. in gaza, the un and local

health authorities are moving to the north to vaccinate more children against polio. the campaign aims to immunise 640,000 children after the first case in 25 years. un officials said they're making progress, having reached more than half of the children needing drops. 0ur middle east bureau chiefjo floto, who is injerusalem, updated me on the latest in syria a little earlier that death toll is coming up. we are hearing now 14 killed in those air strikes overnight. air strikes by israel, who hasn't commented on this one, into syria, they are not uncommon, they are a regular occurrence, but they have certainly picked up pace over the last year or so.

the targets tend to be related to the supply of weapons to hezbollah. they are the iranian—backed militant group operating out of lebanon and fighting between his brother and israel has certainly increased. there was a little lull a couple of weeks ago after a major crisis. that lull is now well and truly over. yesterday we saw 50 missiles crossing the border and israeli jets striking several locations across lebanon. let's go to our political correspondent who was listening. what were the main takeaways from this speech by paul novak? i takeaways from this speech by paul novak?— paul novak? i thought it was interesting — paul novak? i thought it was interesting he _ paul novak? i thought it was interesting he stressing - paul novak? i thought it wasj interesting he stressing what it constructive engagement with the new labour government and it was very critical of the conservative years and he said he managed to maintain the right to strike but 14 years of chaos and keir starmer is addressing the trade union congress tomorrow and paul

novak said hope is back in politics but crucially it would take some time to turn around the chaos of the past 14 years which is what keir starmer wants to hear. he does not want immediate demands from trade unions to solve various problems they have and instantly increase wages and they have full package of workers' rights coming soon before parliament next month and paul novak prays out and also some other labour policies such as the reorganisation of the railways so this was by and large fairly supportive of the labour leadership and also he suggested that as he saw it he could roll up his sleeves and work constructively without government this afternoon we will hear from some unions were far more critical, such as the unite union and also gmb who are worried aboutjobs for all and gas workers and worried labour are embarking on a new era of austerity as they see it

by having two tight fiscal rules. in the next few minutes, members of paralympics gb will return to the uk from paris on a specially chartered eurostar following the team's success at the paralympics in paris. the games closed last night in a lavish and lively ceremony — with team gb celebrating finishing second in the medals table, behind china and ahead of the united states. let's go live to st pancras station in london and speak to our reporter emily brown. emily, so coming in on the specially chartered train. yes, we are poised _ specially chartered train. yes, we are poised and _ specially chartered train. yes, we are poised and ready - specially chartered train. yes, we are poised and ready any l we are poised and ready any minute now. paralympics team gb members will be arriving here at the state bank rates. they have had an incredibly

successful couple of weeks. great britain were represented in 19 sports and in 18 of those they managed to secure a medal, so really successful pa ralym pics so really successful paralympics for them. so really successful paralympics forthem. sarah paralympics for them. sarah storey, paralympics forthem. sarah storey, she extended her run as great britain's most decorated paralympian with 19 gold medals. lots of people are starting to arrive now and they are poised and ready for the athletes to arrive here. your 'ob on athletes to arrive here. your job on our— athletes to arrive here. your job on our behalf— athletes to arrive here. your job on our behalf is - athletes to arrive here. your job on our behalf is to - athletes to arrive here. your job on our behalf is to try . athletes to arrive here. your| job on our behalf is to try and get as many of them to talk to you as possible. something like half of the team members received some sort of medal of whichever colour, and we know there were 49 goals, the chances are whoever you talk to might well have a medal.- might well have a medal. yes, that's what _ might well have a medal. yes, that's what we _ might well have a medal. yes, that's what we are _ might well have a medal. yes, that's what we are hoping. - might well have a medal. yes, that's what we are hoping. we | that's what we are hoping. we would quite like to see some

medals. poppy maskell would be great.