circle sometime over the last possible help i can. welcome to all our viewers from around the world live from central london this is r.t. u.k. . party host and former 1st minister of scotland alex salmond has been found not guilty of all 14 sexual offenses against 9 women. meanwhile the government accuses the public of ignoring advice about social distancing to come back to the coronavirus reports claim your thought is could order a top down similar to italy or france. and the chancellor faces

pressure to do more for britain's $5000000.00 self-employed after bailing out both businesses and homes that permanent star. trek's it is say the u.k. should push ahead with trade talks and cup ties with the e.u. in december despite the ongoing virus crisis. and oxford university bans the society which counselled a speech by former home secretary for rudd at very short notice for to 2 wrongs make a right i'll be talking to a lawyer and free speech advocates. alone we have some breaking news this hour former 1st minister of scotland and r.t. host i'd like summoned has been found not guilty of all 14 of sexual offenses against 9 different women the jury reached a majority decision on all the charges and we'll give you more details on this

breaking news story as we get them. well the government in the meantime has pleaded with the public to follow their advice on social distancing after this weekend's who are a significant portion of the public ignore the guidelines but despite hinting that tougher sanctions could be around the corner there's no announcement yet well i. mean i'm late. hi there shadow so bring us up to speed well certainly the situation will change it's just a matter and question of exactly when the prime minister's latest comments he expressed reservations just yesterday we know he's quite reluctant to go all out an authoritarian sort of route but listening today to mark hancock the house secretary it seems like the government is edging closer to that inevitability of a lockdown scenario and it really follows this weekend's antics remember the advice is essentially to stop going out as normal boris johnson close down power restaurants and shops with the london mystique can going a step further saying to the public do not go out stay at home on all of courts

despite that though this weekend has been some seen some really concerning things for instance we've seen numerous people taking to parks i myself drove past many of which were full looked like scenes in the summertime people playing football rugby even having picnics as a result today than not hancock has said that the government is prepared to introduce much further measures if people go within 2 metres of others who they don't live with then they are helping to spread the virus and the consequence of that costs lives now many senior labor m.p.'s are coming out to say we need more restrictions for the measures it's known temp to try and urge the prime minister ahead of that press conference later on today so kids star included john ashworth the shadow health secretary just to name a few but mixed messages then came from boris johnson just yesterday on the one hand he said don't think that going out to fresh will make you immune from catching

this virus but on the other hand saying going out and about into the open fresh air will actually be good for your mental wellbeing so not exactly the clearest message but he did stress the fact that people must keep 2 metres apart which we are not sorry we will try and get that crap to you as soon as possible boris johnson here explaining that no. you have to stay 2 meters apart you have to follow the social distancing advice and even if you think that you are personally invulnerable there are plenty of people that you could infect and whose lives will then be put at risk and i see this now. on sunday afternoon sunday evening and i take this advice seriously follow it because it's

absolutely crucial now this afternoon the government are looking at data collated just to see how many cars are out and about and indeed how many people are as well we've seen some figures neck quite dramatic in terms of the drop off we've seen an 81 percent drop off of people using the chips in comparison to any other normal monday plus 60 percent drop off in terms of bus use as well so we're seeing some quite big changes the question is is that enough for the government to hold back on a full scale lockdown the sense is that it won't be because what we're seeing now is everything is moving in that direction individuals and business owners and all forit is are taking matters into their own hands choosing to lockdown in their own accord it almost feels like a lockdown is by default to reddit we've seen mcdonalds costa coffee and also national parks closing their doors so it really does appear like it's just a matter of time until it officially comes into force of course looking across europe we're seeing all of these full scale lockdowns already globally 1000000000

people have already been told instructed to stay at home here the information is much more advisory they're requesting the public to follow their certain advice but today it seems like that advise could soon become impose policy and to show you thank you very much. well in france official figures say there are now more than 16000 cases of coronavirus of the 674 people who have died most were over 70 years old while the french parliament declared a health emergency yesterday which will last for at least 2 months this gives the government more powers during the outbreak such as implementing restrictive measures support for struggling businesses and the requisition of goods and services fronts went into lockdown last week with people only allowed to leave their homes for essential trips but officials are still being accused of negligence in their response to the crisis artie's shot to do bensky reports from paris. death

rate rises the infection rate goes up but here in france we are hearing from french medics that they are unhappy that they feel that not enough was done enough to stop the pandemic here in france they've actually filed a legal complaint against some of france's top officials including the prime minister and the former health minister who's ill what they say is that these officials knew as early as january how bad things were going to get and yet they didn't do enough some of the evidence for their complaint comes a real interview with the former health minister herself who had talked about france holding the 1st round of municipal elections just over a week ago and saying it was a masquerade and saying as she stepped down from her job as health minister she did so crying because she knew that a tsunami was coming. for the medics has told r.t. that the government was simply lying to the google doodle we're dealing with

a government that's lying to us they say we'll be taking measures and they'll say again we need to do this we need to do that the truth is we've lost the advantage struggle to catch back up if you want an example you must remember the president stopped speeches last week when he used his war like trying as commander in chief to convince is that marched will arrive soon because most of the main tools in this war may help medical work where are those markets. where the french government says it's doing all it current to handle the crisis in regards to those shortages we have heard from the french prime minister edward felipe requisitions have been made and requested be made to manufacture some researches to come up with new prototypes for things such as mosques well another accusation from the medics that the lawyers told us about was the lack of testing for code 19 they think that this is a problem. take no falls isn't the only country that's been experiencing shortages

for the kits to test for the virus many of the countries are experiencing the same shortages that and the other medical supplies as well we've been hearing about this over the past few weeks and that is why the current health minister says that it's just not possible to test everyone. today we don't test automatically so far we made the choice like most countries and as per the european recommendation to reserve transfer the priority members of the public the targeted people are just like in neighboring european countries those who are most at risk well covered 19 is cause panic across the world and each country is handling the crisis in the way that it feels is best and it could of course be months before we see the facts seem developed and a vaccine that usable on humans and what governments including the one here from calling for is a sense of togetherness that we are all in this together this is

a sense of unity so perhaps it would feel at the moment a legal complaint like this is particularly unwelcome. well meanwhile the german chancellor is now self isolating after finding out she had come into contact with a doctor who tested positive for cope at 19 i'm going to merkel has now taken a coronavirus test and is waiting for the results on sunday she introduced tougher measures to curb the spread of infection speech all over reports from berlin. well monday morning we had our latest briefing from the head of germany's public health institute the robert cock institute now. he said as it stood at the moment the exponential growth curve that's the way in which the virus grows out of that that seems to be leveling out right now he did go on to say that it was too soon for real optimism about that but if i continued to say wednesday and they would be looking at it as something particularly positive he also said that testing

is crucial he also pointed out one interesting fact that's come out from 'd this testing is that the the average wealth of in fact 57 percent of those who've tested positive here in germany have been 45 year old men so that's kind of different from other countries that we've seen where it seems to have affected the elderly or all those with underlying health conditions now. so far around $25000.00 cases of being confirmed in germany with just under $100.00 deaths confirmed what we have heard coming out from the government are new well strict guidelines strict instructions when it comes to social isolating often in public people are wrongly allowed to move around alone or with one other person who is not a member of their own household or they can move around with members of their own

household in public people must keep a distance between each other of a minimum of 1.5 meters preferably 2 meters well one person who is self isolating at the moment is the german chancellor angela merkel she went into quarantine it was found that a doctor who did ministered a vaccination for something else that later tested positive for covert 19 is absolutely no question of being unable to care. duty is chancellor while she's in self isolation it's worth noting in fact though that her party the christian democratic union currently should be well fighting it out for who's going to essentially be her replacement they're supposed to be having election campaign to see who would be the next leader of the party that's of course on suspension at the moment jus to the covert 19 hour break and $51.00 of the front runners there friedrich metz he called well it was confirmed last week that he actually has the

coronavirus before chancellor merkel went into quarantine she was spotted in a berlin supermarket pushing around a shopping trolley of a rather well rather frugal collection of groceries she had in there not an awful lot in it if that's what she's taking into well potentially 2 weeks worth of self isolation she might be giving some of the secret service a call asking them to to drop her off a few extra things that's the way it looks at the moment under merkel's in isolation but the good news it would seem if we're allowed to call it good news just yet comes from the public health institute which gests that if current trends continue well the exponential growth of the virus in germany appears to be leveling out. or the chancellor is under pressure to help self-employed workers through the coronavirus crisis with a decision expected very soon unions and business groups say richie soon that

should do more for creatives contractors and freelancers after he took action to bad at both businesses and those in permanent employment. well so far the chances bailout only supports those in permanent employment but cannot work because of the outbreak they will have 80 percent of their salaries covered or up to $2500.00 pounds with the rest to be negotiated between workers and employers but there is who are self employed on a contract or in the creative industry have no such support and can only claim $94.00 pounds a week. or meanwhile london's of footsie 100 opened almost 5 percent down dropping 242 points in early morning trading it rotted by this afternoon but is still below today's opening high of just under 5200 points well economics professor jones told me there is often the assumption that self-employed workers are in a more stable financial position. self-employed earnings do go up and down a lot and you've got a lot of people working for example in that good economy where there's

a lot of uncertainty attached to what the appropriate level of earnings would be so the government has found it a bit of a challenge to come up with a mechanism to support self-employed workers but it does sound as though really soon at is going to be announcing something quite shortly it will the self-employed they can claim expenses there are tax breaks i mean some people would even argue that financial ups and downs is one of the risk you take when you are self employed yes but at the moment all that they would be able to claim if they are knocked out through the coronavirus they come to work for whatever reason either illness or because the market has gone what this crisis is on all they can claim this is $94.00 pounds $25.00 which is the equivalent of sick pay and they can claim that it's important support allowance for universal credit if you compare that $94.00 pounds $25.00 but week with the maximum would be available for employees

then the gap is about 6 folks so they are being supported a whole lot less than employees and these are people in the self-employed sector that are keeping the economy go and we're talking about people who can often look forward to take a cut in their pay so you know you think of self-employed people often as being employers and running large companies but many many self-employed people are employed in the construction industry domestic service industries you've got cleaners there you go things like headdresses who's who's traders are devastated by the effects of the coronavirus. coming up after the break. rex it is say the u.k. should press ahead with trade talks despite the coronavirus crisis. and oxford university fans a society for breaching free speech guidelines offering counsel in the form of home secretary just half an hour before switching to speak not me speaking to a noir and free speech activist.

join me every thursday on the alex salmond show and i'll be speaking to guest on

the world of politics sports i'm sure. i'll see you then. thank you thank. all the back and where is he with the remind of our breaking news this hour r.t. host alex salmond has been acquitted of all 14 a sexual offense charges 65 year old sam it was originally charged with 14 sexual offenses against 9 women the prosecution with $31.00 of those charges meant trial and the former 1st minister of scotland was found not guilty on 12 others the 14th charge of sexual assault with intent to rape was not proven

a unique verdict allowed under scottish law the jury at the high court in edinburgh took around 6 hours to make its decision. prominent breaks it is claimed the country's departure from the e.u. should go ahead as planned despite the coronavirus crisis that's as the scottish environment secretary calls for breaks it to be put on hold while ati u.k. seasonality joins me with more on this. hi there isa so what's the thinking on getting bracks it done despite the coronavirus well i think it's fair to say though with the current of lawyers traces the issue of drugs which was once dominating the headlines at the forefront of everything is not really an os thought however as far as some politicians are concerned roots and should power ahead and continue. leaving the e.u. when this transition period that we're currently in and at the end system but this year speaking at the launch of a new cross party think tank for the jury cabinet minister. and former goods and

you've agreed that polity a reprieve jordan longworth has called for groups it to take place when that transition period ends and they say that keeping distance from the e.u. will help insulate its all or isolate the u.k. should we say away from the impending euro financial crisis. it is not in our interest to see a precipitous collapse we must however put as much distance between us and the eurozone as possible it would not be wise to be in the same room with an explosion the period of recovery could be long but the countries which emerge the strongest will be those which can manage their own laws and affairs to suit their own circumstances now of course that deadline at the end of many analysts is already tight enough to get all the negotiations done it's a good deal in place and he fought fires but since then we've seen the prime minister still saying that senator and he's ruling out any extensions recently as last week even when the issue of coronavirus i don't dominate him pretty much

shutting everything down became clear and now we've also seen the lead negotiators the lead officials on both sides david frost the u.k. chief rates in the garage and show body 80 coordinator both of them self isolating mr barmy having tested positive for the virus but even so with all of that taking place that mr johnson said that he's still not willing just yet anyway to change course when it comes to. it's been done. if b. if b. if b. if it i think i had to sort of start to being regulated discussed i can tell you in 93 to the moment and we're getting on with. the other. legislative legislation in place that i have no intention of changing. now of course there are those who see things very differently there are calls for briggs it to effectively be put on irish rosanna cunning and she's

a scottish government's candidate secretary for informant trying to change the narrative flow if she thinks that groups it is and on this is very destruction in any case the u.k. still has until the 1st of july to request that extension of the transition period and depending on how this coronavirus issue jest we could see the prime minister having to change course whether he wants all of the days of the caucus taking many thanks thank you. or former president party any pain andrew carroll thinks the perm demick shouldn't affect the government's backside strategy which should certainly be pushing ahead with bracks said there are real dangers for the u.k. being tied into the e.u. and most important tool the counties it's a bit like rather us being asked to guarantee a company that's not be to collapse you wouldn't do it and we should be doing here because if we no longer we leave it the grace of the guarantees will be and the euro in particular is always destined to fail even the chief economist that dreamt

up the euro has predicted its fate well under the problem is they both chief negotiators the south and isolating we don't know where they're going to be back at work or up. number one there was quite a few calls when i was sitting in parliament for barnett to be replaced because pete were not happy with these how he was conducting matters but i've long been ongoing this is not to get the heads of agreement the broad base of agreement was not unduly difficult and i'm glad to see a lot of bamford came out a few months ago and agreeing with me you know if those were real willingness to get a deal it could be done but the trouble is and i have said it over and over again they is fighting for it so i will even before this bar is broke out why and why such an urgency when we have an issue of national emergency and national health. it is quite separate and no sir there are many who predict it will not be unduly

difficult to obtain. a fair deal if parties were really willing we have common we have a common trading terms we have common standards and it is far more in the e.u. benefit to have a deal than for us because they export far more but it is really the political shenanigans that are stopping prompts an assertion do you think we must be drawn down you know down this this part of this rabbit hole. now oxford university has banned the society that cancelled a speech by the former home secretary with just 30 minutes to spare. speech to u.n. women oxford u.k. was stopped following the vote of the society's committee which some claimed was due to her role in the wind draft scandal in 2018 some of the wind rush generation who came from the caribbean to help rebuild post-war britain were branded illegal immigrants despite having lived and worked in the u.k. for decades later the former home secretary said such treatment was rude and badly

judged and called students to stop hiding and start engaging well in response commons leader jacob rhys marks said oxford was being was being snowflake central and education secretary gavin williamson urged the university to take action later oxford proctors in charge of university discipline ruled that the cancellation breached their guidelines we have determined that the cancellation of this event was not carried out in accordance with the university procedures codes of practice and policies in particular that of the freedom of speech therefore the society will be deregistered with the proctors in addition the proctors have directed the society to issue an apology to amber rudd. well for more on this issue are now joined by lawyer and free speech advocates think it else they thank you for joining us this afternoon is it a case of 2 wrongs make a right they ban rights but does banning them make it ok well i think no platforming on the rug was a mistake and i think it's right to raise it as

a free speech issue and it's right that this is now been recognized recognized as such but i don't think that the response should be to limit the activities at this particular student society i think the response of the proctors arguably speaks of a kind of legalism around free speech you know the objection that they've raised is that this breach certain procedures with regards to cancellations and things like that you know free speech on campus is a real systemic problem amongst young people it's a problem which means that these events happen more and more these cancellations happen more and more it's a cultural problem that can't be fixed by simply appealing to procedure i think the real issue here is that students are excluded you know there was a justified outrage against the invitation you know against imitation being canceled because the best way to deal with someone with whom you disagree someone like iraq who i disagree with on all sorts of matters is to have gotten to

university and challenge them if anything the university is the perfect place in order to do that so i think it was a mistake for the invitation to be rescinded by and slightly concerned that what we are moving towards now is a kind of forcing freedom of speech through the lord for through dick tatton through punishment and i don't think that's necessarily the best way to do it what we need to do is to encourage students to believe in freedom of speech and to recognize its value to their education and i think that's what we're for them down at the moment students need to know that their role in society is to engage in freedom of speech to challenge the arguments they disagree with and we should encourage them to think that rather than forcing them to take particular decisions in the meantime then jacob race modesty is oxford being a snowflake central do you agree with that. i don't like the term snowflake because it suggests that this is the student's own fault i don't think it is the student's own fault and i think the type to snowflake is unhelpful i think there is a genuine problem with young people today elevating the need to remain unoffended

in the re and the need to remain safe you know this support for safe spaces and things like that will reflect a generation of students who elevate the importance of feeling safe and content when really university should be about up setting your preconceived opinions it should be challenging and it should be it should occasionally be upsetting it should occasionally be offensive because that's all part and parcel of testing ideas and exploring ideas but i don't think the term snowflake is particularly helpful because we have to recognize that student culture reflects adult culture in a many ways you know these are the reaction against free speech is not something which is confined to universities you know we see in the culture around you know people being called out on twitter for what they say what they believe what they have absolute if there is something this big if i could cite and just bring you back to the campus on that this particular point is it because it does seem that right wing views are shut down more often on campus the left wing ones do it

therefore do we need a law to balance it out well i think those issues don't buy sites on the one hand you do have the issues with regards to right wing speech but on that in regards to the left you know more and more left wing speakers and individuals are being targeted by things like the prevent laws which have an equal impact i would say in cracking down on digital freedom of speech so i don't think it's necessarily isolated to one side and i don't think that law is the answer because more doesn't actually encourage freedom of speech it forces freedom of speech and what that will do is simply create another reaction against it you know if someone is told that they have to sit and listen to someone that's not the kind of environment which is conducive to testing argument and testing. to testing people's ideas what. we need is a culture which respects freedom of speech respects the value of freedom of speech and recognizes that only through engaging with ideas and gauging with debate can you become a better thinker can the truth be better accessed and that we all benefit as

a society that respects freedom of speech because we all are able to express the ideas that underpin our society is not going to be a good fact i leave it that ligeti as many thanks for joining us this afternoon thank you. and that's all for this hour we're back in just over 30 minutes. when i was still seem wrong but i'll roll just on. any world yet to say proud disdain as a whole.