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narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> hello. i am lewis vaughan jones. you are watching "the context" on bbc news. >> do you apologize to parents? >> that is completely wrong. one of the first things i did as chancellor was announce a new 10-year school rebuilding program. >> does anyone ever say you have done a -- good job and anyone

else has sat and done nothing? i want to apologize for my choice of language. it was an off-the-cuff remark. lewis: here in the u.k., crumbling concrete in our schools. a list of schools at risk will be published by the end of the week. also in the program, african leaders are meeting for a climate summit. kenya's president says they have to be the solution to the problem rather than the victim. also, there are warnings about these asian hornets. we will see why there is a threat to the humble bumblebee in the u.k. the mass exodus from the desert is on the way. the weather is getting better so people can finally leave burning

man in the matter. -- nevada. first, we start in the u.k. quite the first day back at parliament for mps here. a government minister swearing into the microphone, having to apologize straightaway. we will come to that in a moment. first to the actual problem itself, a type of concrete in schools that can crumble, meeting parts of school buildings can be unsafe. the prime minister had to defend his previous decisions, accused of not investing enough in school repairs. here is our political editor. >> you probably have not heard of it until the other day, that this concrete can get crumbly, and isuilding into a political mess. did rishi sunak, when chancellor, walk away from repairs happening sooner? the man who used to be the department of education's most senior servant -- civil servant

reckons that he did. >> i was amazed to see the decision made by the government was to halve the school rebuilding program, down from 100 a year to 50. >> the man in charge? >> rishi sunak. >> what does the prime minister may come that? prime minister sunak: one of the first things i did as chancellor in my spending review in 2020 was to announce a new 10-year school rebuilding program for 500 schools. that equates to about 50 schools a year that would be refurbished or rebuilt. if you look at what we've been doing over the past decade, that is completely in line with what we've done. >> this school was meant to open for the new term tomorrow, but it cannot because of dangerous concrete. in both 2020 and 2021, the government promised 50 schools a year would be rebuilt. in 20149, the national audit

office said 760 5 million pounds was allocated to repairing school buildings. that number has since fallen and now stands at 450 million pounds. so squeezed budgets and competing priorities for spending. speaking to those involved in the internal negotiations at the time, the department of education wanted more money for repairs, but treasury was not persuaded. but i'm told there were other, bigger priorities than for education, not least the amount of funding allocated per pupil. this concrete was not regarded as dangerous then as it is now. it is the education secretary who had decided on the need for greater caution but there was not much caution when she went potty mouth during interview this afternoon. >> does anyone say that you have done a -- good job because everyone else has sat on their hands and done nothing? >> it turns out, not really.

a few hours later, a new outfit and a rather different tone. >> i want to apologize for my choice language. that was unnecessary. it was an off-the-cuff remark based on the interview. the interview was quite hard, why had not solved an issue that was going on since 1994. it is frustrating because we are doing everything now to take a leading position, to be on the front foot. >>. the consequence of that is schos like this one in south london having to close the gym. >> [indiscernible] there is this passing the buck within the cabinet. is rishi sunak strong enough to do anything about it? i doubt it. >> for some pupils, parents, and teachers, it will not be the start of the new term they expected. lewis: let's get some thoughts

on all this from a newspaper columnist and president of the academy of social sciences. thanks for coming on the program. what do you make of this whole row? >> i think -- look, education expenditure in 2024-25, the end of parliament on the government's plans on real terms will still be below the level it inherited when it came into office in 2010. that is a 14-year period in which education spent on everything, new schools, new prep materials, has actually gone down in real terms. that is an astonishing kind of reality. in 2019, we were spending around 725 million pounds, rebuilding

150 schools. the education department wanted a number to go up. they were aware of these deficiencies with the concrete. when rishi sunak became prime minister, he cut that number back, announce that over 2020's, 50 new schools built a year. actually the number should have been 4000. lewis: the context of all of this is coming off of a financial crisis, austerity, things like covid. these were all things that influenced spending decisions. >> this is a long story, but many economists now take the view of what happened in 2010, the government's response was

100% incorrect. there was a massive, what is called in the economics trade, balance sheet depression. if you were a homeowner or business, you had lots of debt. you were going to try and repay your debt and that would reduce demand in the economy. what should happen is the government should compensate for that by spendi itself. it didn't do that and decided to go for austerity. that is what happened in japan in the 1990's, because their prolonged recession in japan, and the same thing is happening in britain. i would take the view, other economists would agree with me, the context in which education spending was cut -- and by the way, that is an investment in our future, our kids. and it was across-the-board. further education has been even more savagely cut than secondary school expenditures. apprenticeships, the same story.

at the moment, the demand for apprenticeships ithree times the number being provided. wherever you look, investment by the british in their future, skills, literacy, numeracy, technical skills, across the piece, has been weakened in the last 14 years. there is no escaping it. lewis: the government are not here to answer for themselves. i am sure they would argue that their decisions at the time were in the best interest of the u.k. i want to move to the politics of today. this moment from julian keegan, saying those comments, hot mic moment. when someone is saying something they shouldn't be saying in public. we are kind of use to these. i want to play you a couple of them. >> everything. just a bigoted woman.

>> what are you doing? are you leaving? lewis: they were a little bit off mic, hard to hear but that was former prime minister gordon brown, then prince charles in 2005 speaking about a bbc report. former u.s. president george w. bush speaking to former prime minister tony blair, 2006. what can we take from these kind of moments? >> very elementarily, never ever say anything unless you are absolutely sure the mic is switched off. that is the first thing. second thing, gordon brown's remarked it cost 10, no question -- him, no question.

who is that bigoted woman? especially when she was talking about immigration. i don't think the education secretary will have the same problem today. in a sense, she is a kind of -- she speaks well and articulately. i am certain that whatever the families i talked about earlier, i am sure she is aware of them, will use this moment to try and get redress, more money into schools. and she is right. she was the only one making the case. everyone else was letting her take the flak. these are collective decisions. it was the governor's decision about expenditures, and she is the minister, but she could have done some buttressing. i don't think rishi sunak's remarked, not me, when it was, helped her at all.

i understand her frustration. i don't think people will exact a price on her for that, i think there will be sympathy. lewis: great to get your thoughts and analysis. thanks for coming on the program. i am still wearing my microphone so i'll be careful indeed. let's go to the first africa climate summit, underway, happening in kenya. 23 african heads of state are there. they will all be talking about how to respond to climate change. ethiopia, kenya, somalia recentl went through their worst drought in decades. five consecutive failed rainy seasons. one of the deadliest storm to hit africa in the last two decades, cyclone freddie ripped through malawi, mozambique, madagascar, killing over 1000 people. west and central africa experienced one of the worst flooding disasters ever in 2022.

more than 1500 people were killed. 3.2 million displaced after that. kenya's president opened the summit and laid out the scale of the challenge. >> this is our home. that is why the conversation of north versus south must come to an end. who did what he is not a conversation that we have the luxury to engage in. because when the apocalypse happens, it will happen for all of us, for the entire humanity. lewis: our africa correspondent told us more about the significance of the africa climate summit. >> this is the first africa climate summit, organized by the kenyan government together with the african union. the thinking is, we have heard from the president william ruto,

saying this is the time to think about solutions, not the time to list our grievances. everyone knows where the problems are. africa contribute to least to climate change but suffers the biggest impact from it. therefore, he says it is time to look for ideas, time to bring them together. that is what they are hoping to do during this conference, to bring together ideas from across the continent, come up with a document that articulates the position of african countries going into cop 28. the united nations climate summit coming up in november. he says some of the solutions lie in their land that is available for agriculture which is underutilized, minerals that are used for the manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles. he did drive himself and yesterday to the conference in an electric vehicle. just the african population, the

youth population, makes economies of scale make sense. however, it sounds good when it is put on paper, but there are so many complications. these minerals are found in the conflict areas. the conflict has been going on for a very long time. the land question is still very contentious on the continent. there are no instant solutions here, but it is a start, a start to get africa's voice on the table. lewis: our regional director for east africa, islamic relief worldwide, a humanitarian organization which helps communities adapt to climate change. thanks for coming on the program. we mentioned the priority here is not just coming up with a list of grievances but actually

solutions. what are some of the big things that will be looked at here? >> the africa climate summit is actually the first of its kind. i think it is coming at a very important time, when the outcomes of this summit will hopefully feed into cop 28 which will take place at the end of this year. by and large the climate impact is very visible in africa. it is happening, really causing havoc among the communities, particularly in the vulnerable communities who live in marginal lands. dry lands in particular. the mo vulnerable, the climate impact has displaced millions of people, actually affected millions of people in the horn of africa. the drought started in late 2020

through early 2023. that means the failure of five consecutive rains. agricultural areas, it has affected 36 million people. these people contribute at least to the global warming and climate change. yet, they are paying the price that price includes destruction of livelihoods, displacement of millions of people, and the erosion of livelihoods. close to 9 million livestock have been lost in the past two years in the horn of africa drought. lewis: given that very long list of the damage done already, and that will be done, what are the kind of concrete solutions or actions, objectives that the leaders will come up with do you think? >> beyond the speech, headlines

that usually happens in global, continental conferences, what is actually needed israel solutions for people -- is real solution for people impacted by climate change. that ranges from giving them really the support to adapt to the changing climate. providing them the necessary technology for them to adapt. the inputs and the knowledge. also the finance that is needed to help them adapt to the changing climate. the pastoral livelihood system, which is there in large parts of africa, the horn of africa, eastern africa, is in real danger of becoming completely wiped out over a period of time if something is not done now.

likewise, for the farmers who rely on rainfall, rainfall has become really erratic. that means poor harvests which means extended hunger for people in africa. as i said in the beginning, these people have very little to do of what is happening on the global level in tes of climate change. the corporations, those that have the know-how, tecology, need to really invest in a meaningful way to help communities adapt. this is not about helping. if you look at the loss that the recent drought in the horn of africa has caused, that needs to be costed. the damage will be in billions of dollars. lewis: i'm afraid we are out of time but thank you so much for coming on the program. thank you.

that conference is running all week. we will see what priorities come out of it. around the world and across the u.k., this is bbc news. taking a look at some other news now. former cabinet minister gavin williamson has apologized in the house of commons chamber after an inquiry into his behavior last year found he bullied a colleague. in a statement, he said during an exchange with the then chief whip, he used inappropriate language which i regret. he apologize for the comment shortly after. the parent of a teenager who died after failures in treating her sepsis are calling for patients to be given the right for an urgent second opinion if they feel their concerns are not being taken seriously. martha mills would have been 16 today, died two years ago. an inquest said she could have survived if her care was better. the metropolitan police say a

man was arrested on suspicion of assault after sky sports pundit roy keane was allegedly head butted following arsenal's match against manchester united on sunday. footage of the incident circulated on social media. you are lie with bbc news. next, we are going to ukraine. the latest on the situation on the ground in just a minute. first, the politics there. the defense minister is out. president zelenskyy says new approaches were needed. here he is, this is oleksei reznikov. he has been in post since before the war started but not anymore. this is the new man. he was in charge of the privatization program up until now. now in charge of the defense ministry. here is president zelenskyy explain his decision. president zelenskyy: this week,

the product will be asked to make a stop related decision. i want to outline it now. i have decided to replace the minister of defense in ukraine. oleksei reznikov has been through more than 550 dues of full-scale war. i believe the ministry needs newer forms of interaction with the military and society as a whole. lewis: let's look at the situation on the ground in ukraine now. progress is being made in the counteroffensive, that is when generals say. they say they have cut through the first line of russian defenses in the south. minefields had blocked troops for weeks, and that makes them vulnerable to russian shelling. mine clearance has meant that this latest advance has been possible. you can see here gains in the south. ukrainian units expanding toward the logistical center for russian forces.

so how significant is all of this? let's speak to a senior lecturer at the department of international politics. thanks for coming on the program. how significant do you think this breach of the russian defense is? >> i think it is potentially very significant, both symbolically and in material terms. we have known for the last several months that the russian defenses were very formidable, very difficult for the ukrainians to get through. the ukrainians have been making very slow and very painful progress in clearing these mines . the battle is not over yet. the indications are they have managed to clear a narrow channel and one areas, so there is more work to come, but this demonstrates that the ukrainians have the determination, willingness to play the long

game, to do what needs to be done in order to take their counteroffensive forward. lewis: with these minefields, how long it takes to clear them, and how long it has been before any kind of punching through any kind of line of defenses, it b odes for a very long battle ahead. >> we should not be diluted in thinking that this will all be over with quickly or easily. yes, definitely, there are many hard weeks and months ahead of the ukrainians. but it is worth pointing out, while they have been painstakingly removing mines, they've also been striking russians behind the lines, even in occupied areas of ukraine like crimea, even russian territory itself. we have seen quite a few drone attacks over the past few weeks and months, very damaging attacks in that sense. i think ukrainians are pursuing

a wide range of different tactics and strategies as they pursue this counteroffensive, to try and we can russians in some areas, while they push ahead in others. lewis: can i ask you about airpower? ukrainians decided not to wait for it before launching the counteroffensive. some say it is hard enough, and without air superiority it is even harder. any idea when that will arrive? >> the sense is the training has already begun. talking about the f-16s that have been promised. they are likely not to arrive until the end of the year or early 2024 at the earliest. ukrainians are under enormous pressure to get their counteroffensive going. the more advanced aircraft was not forthcoming, not possible to have them as quickly as they needed them. they needed to both have air

superiority, which they could not get, but also to push the counteroffensive forward. they were in a difficult situation. lewis: thank you for coming on the program. those were pictures that we were showing, into us in the last three minutes, showing president zelenskyy visiting some of the troops on the front lines. plenty more to come. i am lewis vaughan jones. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

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