my colleague layla moran challenged gavin williamson in the house of commons yesterday on a fraction able to learn at this time have actually been provided to the government was that they really need to focus, just like they did when we made sure we had enough capacity in the nhs and building nightingale hospitals within weeks, we need that kind of book is now on our education system, for children's learning ad for their mental health and well—being. for their mental health and well-being. dean russell, is it not clear that something has to change here and if schools are going to open by september, either more classrooms are going to have to be provided or the scientific advice is going to have to change and you are going to have to change and you are going to have to change and you are going to have to be able to have larger bubbles or larger classes than 15, because if not, surely we are going to be in the same situation in september?” are going to be in the same situation in september? i think the truth of this is that the government has been listening. i speak to local schools, a

. -- gavin williamson. toughjob of gavin williamson as doing a really tough job of taking a bullet for borisjohnson and tough job of taking a bullet for boris johnson and by the government has problems with the schools. they see him as taking on the unions and two we e ks see him as taking on the unions and two weeks ago when he ditched the pledge to get all primary school pupils back they saw that as not reality. the unions will find any excuse to try to oppose the plans to get back to schools. even today the union leaders were saying even at one metre we will not be safe to get all the kids back by september. i think it'sjust that all the kids back by september. i think it's just that we get to the age—old political battle between the conservatives and the hard left unions. i get the hunch now that gavin williamson will actually be safe at least a cabinet position, maybe not in his current role. has he still got his tarantula from when he still got his tarantula from when he was chief whip? i don't know a

it looks like gavin williamson will be bearing the brunt of this was of gavin williamson wake me notise or does his next reshuffle in the autumn. likely not to be when the premise or reshuffle. he will not be because he has been too weak in the face of unions and not been able to push hard against them. dominic cummings and numberten push hard against them. dominic cummings and number ten has battled with unions before and overruled them along with michael gove when he was education secretary. i think there is little sympathy in number ten for gavin williamson not having put upa ten for gavin williamson not having put up a fight against the unions. looking at the metro, sebastian work on sound after all those days and weeks of the government saying we are just following the science and the science and the message from the scientists was confusing they disagreed each other, so much of this in fact all of this really is political and that is what the focus for the metro, 15 deaths 950 cases but would be called. and on this, a prime minister positive reputation and place in history as p

gavin williamson gave more details of a £1 billion covert catchup plan to help children get back to where. the fund would help with catch lessons and tutoring. and he reconfirmed that the coronavirus alert level across the uk has been downgraded to level three which means the virus is still in general circulation but cases are not rising exponentially. he said r, the reproduction number of the virus, remains unchanged from last week and still below one. a further 173 people have died in the uk after testing positive for coronavirus. we are joined uk after testing positive for coronavirus. we arejoined not uk after testing positive for coronavirus. we are joined not by the labour and co—op and p from nottingham north and shadow public health minister alex noris was up a trigger listening to what galleon —— gavin williamson had to say. what extra restrictions would you like to see being lifted in the coming days and weeks given that we are now down to level number three? we are glad to level number three? we are glad to see that. with a responsible opposition that we are supporting the gove

this is something that the education secretary gavin williamson mentioned ina secretary gavin williamson the idea now is that schools that can manage it can actually start taking in other classes not just manage it can actually start taking in other classes notjust here and in yearone in in other classes notjust here and in year one in your six. this is all very well but i was the depends on the school and this is why i think the school and this is why i think the whole planning for the opening of school was such a chaotic mess. that the schools and many of the schools i know who have the pupils backin schools i know who have the pupils back in on section one, and six are now at 50% capacity because if you divide them up into bubbles of 15 pupils. now surely they will have known that right from the beginning and so it is actually always going to be impossible to open schools fully to everyone. now they are trying to get a few other kids back but i was in the more children who are back in school the better it is for them. but really this is the kind of planning that should have gone and b

a lot of criticism for gavin williamson, including from a former education secondary, that it does seemsecondary, that it does seem —— secretary that it seems extraordinary that the government will open pubs, but hasn't sorted out education. it is a real concern and this to me smacks of a failure of planning and this is something people have criticised the government for throughout this pandemic. education is key. and you would think if we could set up a hospital from scratch in 11 days we could find ways of building temporary accommodation, temporary build beings, temporary —— buildings, temporary space for children to go back earlier and still observe social distancing. i acce pt still observe social distancing. i accept what some people say, particularly teachers, that we don't know whether or not children, even if they don't suffer from grave symptoms could be spreaders and we have got to wait to see what kind of data comes in from other countries that are further along the path. but i think it is a failure of planning, because we could have done this, we could have given children a

in an open letter to the education secretary, gavin williamson, signed by one hundred specialists in urge the government to reconsider its decision and release children and young people from lockdown. we can speak to our health correspondent anna collison. tell us more. this is an open letter from a long list of leading psychologists, more than 100, as you say it has been sent to the education secretary gavin williamson and in it they are urging him to release children and young people from the restrictions of lockdown, asking them to reduce social distancing measures we are all getting so used to buy now. they have called the measure is incredibly harmful for children and say the most vulnerable are likely to be seriously affected by this. even before lockdown, we were aware of serious concerns about the mental health of young people, particularly with conditions like anxiety. since the pandemic, these psychologists say the feeling of isolation, that feeling of loneliness has been made even worse. schools have been shot across the uk since the end of march. aside from children of cr

elsewhere at question time, gavin williamson told mps that next year's a—levels and gcses in england later in the summer. the change would allow schools to catch up some of the time lost since the coronavirus lockdown. his comments came in response to a question from a conservative mp. my honourable friend may have seen suggestions i've made about moving the 2021 exam season from may to july, to allow students and teachers more time in the classroom to try and complete the curriculum. i wonder if my right honourable friend would give consideration to that, or other matters, in getting extra teaching time to get ready for the exam season. my honourable friend raises an important point about how do we add more teaching time in? and that's why we will be consorting with 0fqual about how we can move those exams back, giving children extra time in order to be able to learn and really flourish, and do incredibly well. at the end of last week, the government announced a package of support worth £1 billion for children in england, to tackle the impact of lost teaching time. but a labour mp r

is gavin williamson also going to talk about secondary schools today?able to do home learning but not quite the same challenges as there are four children in the very early years of school. but, actually also really important for older children to be at school and it is a mental hills challenge for children not having the social contact as well as the importance of being in school for education. as i say, as you said in fa ct, education. as i say, as you said in fact, i do not wish to pre—empt the secretary later. you are care minister and involved in hills as well we know that now we have the numbers, 137,000 people attended protests all over the uk, sparked by the killing of george floyd. we understand a further protest planned today, the prime minister has spoken about this concern about social distancing with those protests. what would you say? it is such a difficult question because the anger... the anger that people feel about the killing of george floyd and the police in america of course it isa and the police in america of course it is a moment

we will be speaking to gavin williamson shortly. government put together a task force or something together a task force or something to bring people together and say what needs to be done, risk assessed every school, if you need temporary classrooms let‘s build them, we put up classrooms let‘s build them, we put up nightingale hospitals which was a good thing, could have put up temporary classrooms or used libraries, community centres which at the moment are empty. the problems are practical and could have been solved. it needed leadership from the top from the prime minister and that has been found wanting here. that‘s the core problem here. the thing the prime minister accused you of, and he said this in the commons, is having the great ox of the education union stood on your tongue when asking you those questions. are the unions focusing too much on teachers rather than pupils? the prime minister is talking absolute nonsense. what he was trying to do was to avoid answering questions himself by asking questions of me. it is an ol

listen to gavin williamson talking about it this morning.into school. we want to see all year groups back into school. we have rapidly approaching 1.5 million children actually going back into school at the end of last week. i imagine those numbers are going to grow this week and grow the following week as more children return to school, parents' confidence about what their children are receiving increases. and schools get comfortable about what they are offering. but we are going to have to make changes as to how it currently operates. we've seen the relaxation of social distancing rules and we are going to see the return of full class sizes, for primary schools and for secondary schools, because we do need to ensure that every child is benefiting from the education that we all so richly value. labour has said schools could have gone back already had the government had actually put a plan in place. for example, to create more classrooms, to enable you to have the maximum class size of 15, possibly by putting portakabins in playgrounds or re

before i talk to doctor mary bousted from the national education union, i have found a quote from gavin williamsond ata williamson, education secretary, who said at a recent number ten briefing, i know a lot of you will be worried about sending your children to school, everyone of us wa nt children to school, everyone of us want the best for our children and i know how stressful this time has been. i want to reassure you this approach is based on the best scientific advice, with children at the very heart of everything we do. well, the government needs to set out in the house of commons today that they are still following the scientific advice. they are obviously not, this is a political decision, and that may be fine but they need to be honest. we need to what they have to say in the house of commons and we need a national plan. —— we need to hear what they have to say. many trade unions, not all, are opposed to it, and some local authorities have been. it has not been easy. but that does not mean, asi not been easy. but that does not mean, as i say, if schools cannot open everywhere it does not

when gavin williamson says we slope it down, people —— williamson says we slope it down, people — — sloweople say we need our children educated. we don't get children back to school, never minds, social distancing, it will be... the whole of society... kids who are behind won't be able to catch up. something needs to be done to get kids back into school. the sunday telegraph are suggesting that primaries are told they can re—open if they have a 15 pupil cap. is that a way forward? again, a lot of people will concerned about children falling back. a lot seems to depend on the cultural capital you get at home and the parents who can stay at home and the parents who can stay at home and the parents who can stay at home and nd educate their kids, will be atan home and nd educate their kids, will be at an advantage. the government are thinking they need parents to go back to work and they cannot do that and the economy can't open without child care. the teaching unions have pointed out that actually practically there is so many problems with this. they would need bigger classrooms, more class

will beyond, which gavin williamson will be setting out next week.here is a comfortable option has not understood the situation we are in. i think of this as every doctor or health care professional wood. it is always about balance of risk. giving a drug — there are side effects. during operation, there are side effects. you have to take a risk because that is the best thing to do at the time. we are obviously having to balance a large amount of risk in government. all of society is having to balance a large numberof all of society is having to balance a large number of risks, but you are trying to manage those risks as best we can with the information we have to minimise the risk of a bad outcome and to maximise the possibility of a good outcome. but the idea that there is some option which is completely safe and it is all fine is clearly not true and i don't believe the prime minister thinks that is not optional. we thinks that is not optional. we think this is reasonable, provided people here what the prime minister is saying and stick to what he

there was no sense of gavin williamson saying, we got this wrong and we have had a rethink.asising, an ambition to make sure all children came back for four weeks, but they are saying it was not a target in that sense. but he has not had a high profile during this pandemic, he has done one preference conference we have seen daily, he has done question time in the house of commons, but we have not heard a lot from him during this time man behind the scenes the government had been working closely with teachers and unions trying to find a way through all of this that could work, but still the overriding picture here is of different things happening in very different ways depending on a head teacher's individual decision and the area you are in and that does become a real problem when it comes to inequalities in the different kind of service that children are getting. so we will have the daily news briefing later today, no doubt this will come up. we got sent there in parliament that there is still a lot of money is on the government's and benches about this issue. and particula

gavin williamson there., the next day at prime minister's questions, the labour leader attacked the prime minister over the english schools u—turn. sir keir starmer said boris johnson was "flailing around" and had failed to come up with a robust plan to allow the majority of pupils back into the classroom. the current arrangements lie in tatters. parents have lost confidence in the government's approach. millions of children will miss six months' worth of schooling and inequality will now go up. last week, he was telling the — he was telling the house that it was not yet safe for kids to go back to school. this week, he is saying that not enough kids are going back to school. i think — i really think he needs to make up his mind. 97% of the schools that have submitted data are now seeing kids come back to school, and i think what we would all like to hear from the right honourable gentleman is a bit of support for that and a bit of encouragement to pupils, and perhaps even encouragement to some of his friend

in an open letter to the education secretary, gavin williamson, signed by one hundred specialists inwn is harming already vulnerable young people. and they urge the government to reconsider its decision and release children and young people from lockdown. today marks three years since the grenfell towerfire in london. to mark the anniversary, people in the uk are being urged to illuminate their homes with green lights to remember the 72 people who died. church bells will also sound across london. the grenfell united campaign group says the fight for safe homes and justice continues, as our correspondent rajini vaidya nathan reports. the faces of those who died in a tragedy which exposed some of the deep inequalities in our society. each story of loss is as painful today as it was three years ago. hesham rahman lived alone on the 23rd floor. his family say marking this anniversary during a pandemic is especially tough. we are still going the grieving process and the rest of the country right now is grieving because of covid, and people have lost family and friends ahead of their time

in a letter to the education secretary, gavin williamson, signed by 100 specialists in mental health,nerable young people. and they urge the government to reconsider its decision, and release children and young people from lockdown. we can speak to the person who organised the letter, ellen townsend, professor of psychology at the university of nottingham. can you write thank you very much for being with us, why is it so important to draw attention to the mental health issues of children not being at school? thank you. well, i think there is converging evidence 110w think there is converging evidence now from a range of sources, from national surveys, from charities, from helplines, indicating that young people from preschool age to later adolescents are really starting to struggle with the extended lockdown. and a struggle in what way is in particular? i mean just talk us through psychologically the harm and the damage you think is being done to young people? well, we knew that mental health issues were on the rise even before the lockdown, and the factors that lead to mental health

does your education secretary, gavin williamson, have an erect —— any responsibility for this?state for education is, you know, he came to talk to or education select committee not so long ago. we had a long session with him. my view is that the education secretary can absolutely see the damage that is being done by schools having closed. so why is he not sorting it?! why is he not providing portakabins? you managed to build and equipa portakabins? you managed to build and equip a 4000 bed hospital, the nightingale hospital, why is he not thinking creatively about how to help union leaders and teachers sought this? well, to be fair, i think he has done. he has. he has made it absolutely clear he is doing everything he can. which is what? what is he actually doing? he has had close dialogue with head teachers. what, he has spoken to them? what teachers. what, he has spoken to them ? what about teachers. what, he has spoken to them? what about practical solutions? why can't you provide portakabins for solutions? why can't you provide porta kabins for schools that solutions? why c

you heard gavin williamson talk about going back to full class sizes.f 15, which is part of the problem because it means you need twice as much classroom space. what he is suggesting as you go back to classes of up to 30, doing away with the existing bubble. labour's view is the way to get round this is to just create, build more classes, whether it is through portakabins in playgrounds or requisitioning vacant council buildings, using libraries 01’ council buildings, using libraries or whatever, to create the additional space, so you could still maintain social distancing in schools. this was the labour leader sir keir starmer talking about that this morning. the question is how quickly can we get all children back into school safely? i think we could have done it by now, had there been some leadership on this from the prime minister. it was obvious from the day that schools were closed what would be needed to get them back open, because most of the problems are practical problems. all the head teachers i've spoken to had said if you have a big score w

the education secretary for england, gavin williamson, has raised the prospect of fining parents whoen back to school by september. mr williamson said he wanted all age groups to resume their education in the autumn. teaching unions said it was the wrong approach to threaten parents who were concerned and needed to be reassured about the safety of their children, as our education editor bra nwen jeffreys reports. genetic variation... we look around this room and we have very different features... lessons have started, but at a distance. by september this classroom could be full. with a—levels next year, they are keen to be back. i would want to be back in september as long as it is deemed to be safe but there is a was going to be safe but there is a was going to be some risk. it's going to be so ha rd be some risk. it's going to be so hard to then get back on track and make sure we get the grades we need for universities. but if parents don't send younger children back, there will be fines. school in england, are compulsory in september. tonight we had from a mock senior conservative

gavin williamson.the children's commissioner for england expressed serious concerns last month about the treatment of children in custody during the coronavirus pandemic. it said some were spending as little as a0 minutes a day outside their cell due to restrictions intended to prevent the spread of covid—i9. those findings were raised at question time in the commons. the children's commissioner for england found significant consequences for children's rights, well—being, and long—term outcomes. and she said that family and professional visits were being severely curtailed. as the government prioritises returning children to school, will she give me a date by which she expects all children in custody will have access to education, activities, family, and professional visits? we took those measures to save lives. we were looking at 2,500 to 3,500 deaths across the estate. and so we took drastic action that we considered very carefully which resulted in his right to say, in a severe lockdown. the situati

this is gavin williamson, the education secretary saying he made the plans and you will apply with theth the grades of god rather than the predictions that a lot of people applied for university in the past and then get conditional or unconditional offers from university. what they're saying is the reason is it's all part of the leveling up a gender that this government is trying to get going. socially leveling up and what they're saying is that a lot of grades predicted for people in underprivileged areas and also black and mixed ethnicity young kids, sometimes they're very talented kids, but they are being undervalued in terms of the grades that are being predicted. and so they are disadvantaged. this they believe will write that wrong and so when it come out with good grades they want to have to had that mad rushjust really trying to get university and it will be a level playing field. it seems to be well received on the front of the guardian which surprised me a little bit. not too much commentary on it so i think the are prepared to see whether this will work. sounds like a good i

gavin williamson. you're watching tuesday in parliament with me, david cornock. on the government to deliver a "back to work budget" next month, with a focus on jobs and kick—starting the economy following the coronavirus lockdown. the call came as official figures showed the number of workers on uk payrolls had dropped by more than 600,000 since march, while the numbers claiming out of work benefits had more than doubled. in the commons, labour used an urgent question to press ministers to do more to boost employment. it seems a slow and confuseed health response is being followed by a slow and confused response to saving jobs despite the huge long—term costs of unemployment. rather than a limited budget statement in july, will the government set out the back to work budget we need with a focus on jobs, jobs, jobs? the government has adopted a more differentiated approach than she gives us credit for as witnessed all over the work we have done with the hospitality and leisure industries. so i'm a little confused but i do think it is important to focus on the pos

and jacob rees—mogg a p pa re ntly gavin williamson and jacob rees—mogg apparently standing close togetherp unfortunately gets the virus, questions will be raised again about the system of voting, and this so—called hybrid parliament where people could participate, those questions will be raised again. a liberal democrat mp wa nts a raised again. a liberal democrat mp wants a debate on that but downing street today justifying wants a debate on that but downing street todayjustifying bringing mps back, saying that is the way to pass legislation and have proper scrutiny, but i think that issue is not over yet irrespective of whether the business secretary test positive 01’ the business secretary test positive or not. we will see to what extent that debate comes back on parliament and how it is working. the northern ireland executive is meeting today to discuss the easing of lockdown. if it confirms the changes, large retailers such as shops in retail parks and car showrooms will also be allowed to reopen on 8thjune. let's speak to paul ward, who is the sales director for shelbourne motors —

be logistically impossible as more space and teachers will be needed the education secretary gavin williamson has reassured parents and said the welfare of children and staff are considered i recognise there may continue to be some nervousness among families but i want to reassure parents and those working in schools and nurseries that the welfare of children staff continues to be at the heart of all our considerations were teachers union leader geoff barton told me the plan to bring all primary pupils back before the summer holiday was never going to be possible. it's worth remembering that actually since schools were closed down they also remained open fit for 2 groups they remained open for children of. key workers and also for those priority people's lawns too since you got social workers who need to be in school the schools have done a pretty good job looking after those children then from yesterday we've seen the courtships reopening for some groups for the youngest children reception year one india 6 now that promise which was made by the prime minister for every child in primary to ha

the education secretary gavin williamson is expected to confirm the decision in parliament later todayn correspondent sean coughlan has more. pupils in reception, year one and year six began returning to schools in england from june 1st. there have been differences in what schools have been able to offer and figures published later today will show how many families took up places. since the proposal was announced to bring back all primary pupils for four weeks before the end of term, head teachers have challenged the practicalities of accommodating them while expecting children to stay in small groups that would require twice as many classrooms. whatever the ambition, school has said they simply do not have the space to fit everyone in at the same time. ministers said plans to open to all years would only go ahead if it were feasible and they have now accepted that it is not. it means that many pupils already out of school for 11 weeks, will now be missing lessons until september. the head teachers‘ union, the association of school and college leaders, welcomed the change, saying the g

logistically impossible as more space comes teachers will be needed the education secretary gavin williamson has reassured parents and said the welfare of children and stuff are considered i recognise there may continue to be some nervousness among families but i want to reassure parents and those working in schools and nurseries that the welfare of children staff continues to be at the heart of all our considerations. when teachers union leader jeff johnson tell me the plan to bring all primary peoples back before the summer break was never going to be possible it's worth remembering that actually since schools were closed down they also remained open fit for 2 groups they remained open for children of. key workers and also for those priority people's homes too since you got social workers who need to be in school the schools have done a pretty good job looking after those children then from yesterday we've seen the cautious reopening for some groups for the youngest children reception year one india 6 now that promise which was made by the prime minister for every child in primary to have

that's really interesting, you will know gavin williamson, the education secretary says throughout the welfare of children and staff at the heart of considerations. the prime minister ‘s announced the five tests have been met and based on all the evidence we will move forward with her plan for a phased and cautious return of a limited number of pupils to primary schools. does that reassure you? not particularly. i think you've got to wait to see what happens when the world reopens. to see, there might be a seasonal element to this, it might be like the cold and flu, it might start dying out over the summer months. but at the moment my children are still experiencing symptoms, i'm still experiencing symptoms, i'm still experiencing symptoms, i'm still experiencing symptoms. i wouldn't potentially want to send my child in thinking we might still be infected, we might give that to other children, their grown—ups. and at the moment, it feels a lot safer for her to be at home. understood. let me bring ben in, good morning. why are you sending your five—year—old son back today? why are you s

and gavin williamson, the education secretary's statement doing the u—turn in the commons, got up andoing this u—turn, but free school meals are so important to our constituents. i wonder, school meals are so important to our constituents. iwonder, even school meals are so important to our constituents. i wonder, even if you took marcus rashford out of the equation, whether the government would have found itself in an incredibly difficult position? no doubt, he was the key element in bringing about the u—turn, listen to matt hancock talking about him this morning. i think what matters is the substance and also the way that marcus rashford has made his case, using his personal story but telling it in such a dignified and compelling way. so i congratulate him, i know he spoke to the prime minister yesterday and we are really grateful to be able to make this change. norman, what does this say about the decision—making process at number ten? because the questions being asked on the criticism as even hinted at, isn't just asked on the criticism as even hinted at, isn'tjust coming from othe

will be logistically impossible as more space and teachers or be needed the education secretary gavin williamson has reassured parents and said the welfare of children and staff are considered i recognise there may continue to be some nervousness among families but i want to reassure parents and those working in schools and nurseries that the welfare of children stuff continues to be at the heart of all our considerations. well for more on the situation i'm now joined by the general secretary at the association of school and college leaders jeff barton yes thank you very much for joining us reopening all primary schools before the summer break could be challenging but it's not impossible is it. well it depends what you want to do in terms of reopening i mean it's worth remembering that actually since schools were closed down they also remained open fit for 2 groups they remained open for children of. key workers and also for those priority people's homes too since you got social workers who need to be in school the schools have done a pretty good job looking after those children then from yester

in the last couple of minutes, gavin williamson, the education secretary in england, praising marcusly inevitable, to be honest, as this morning trundled on that... chris, thank you, the downing street briefing is beginning and here is the prime minister, borisjohnson. good evening, i am delighted to be joined today by the chief scientific adviser sir patrick vallance and by professor peter horby from oxford university's centre for tropical medicine and global health. today, i'm going to let them do most of the talking as they have some news to share on a new treatment for coronavirus but i will start by updating you briefly on the latest data. the first slide, please. we have had 6,981,493 tests carried out or posted in the uk, this includes 113,107 yesterday. of those, 298,136 have tested positive. the second slide show is the latest data from hospitals. 410 people were admitted to hospitalfor hospitals. 410 people were admitted to hospital for coronavirus hospitals. 410 people were admitted to hospitalfor coronavirus in england and wales and northern ireland on the 13th ofjune, do

education secretary gavin williamson says it will protect what he calls a lost generation to the pandemicuncement and the schools are trying to work out what they can practically do and how they will work with this money. absolutely. i am back in the classroom this morning but so many children still aren't after three months of disruption to their education. head teachers have been waiting to find out what the government would offer them and how they can get more children back into they can get more children back into the classroom but how they can help them catch up after missing so much time over the last few weeks. marie is the boss of this school and quite a few others across leicestershire. a lot of money, what would you do with your share to help children catch up? the announcement of additional funding is most welcome but now we need to find out the specifics and what we would need to do is analyse any gaps in our children's learning and put the appropriate provision in place. it will all be about quality interventions. what are those gaps and how do you start helping children? it'

government tells us regularly that it is following the science, and it told us on may the 16th, gavin williamsonf everything we do. the science hasn't changed so why has your education secretary and prime minister failed your education secretary and prime ministerfailed to your education secretary and prime minister failed to persuade those unions that were cautious? ultimately, as the education secretary made clear yesterday, the five tests have been met and he does believe that he can continue to encourage as many scores to be open and getting some kids back for face—to—face contact before september, but ultimately, the reality is that the government cannot snap its fingers and all children get back to school. of course not. nobody watching thinks it's a click of the fingers, of course, but your government has failed to persuade people that it is safe, even though it tells people that they are following the science. that is a failure, yes? it isn't a failure. i think the government has done everything it can to try and convince as many partners as possible that it is safe to go back, and also

we are going to get confirmation next week from gavin williamson, this education secretary about howwell. the decision in england, to be confirmed next week, but it looks like what it will be, speaking to those involved in the discussions, that you will have class or year group bubbles, in other words there won't be a need for pupils to keep a metre or two metres apart within school, instead they will be within bubbles in each class allowing, so the theory goes, education to return to near normality. chris, thanks very much for taking us through that. royal mail has announced it is to cut around 2,000 managementjobs. sean has more details. the announcement just coming the announcementjust coming in the last half hour. tell us what you know. yes, not surprisingly, royal mailare know. yes, not surprisingly, royal mail are saying this morning that the impact of covid—19 has meant they are having to cut costs quicker than they previously thought. they say this morning that 2000 jobs will be going in the consultation will start today. half of senior leaders will be included in that, so th

we heard yesterday from gavin williamson on this programme saying in september schools will be goingd for very good reasons. at this moment, some schools are open but they are quite accommodating to how families want to manage their risk. getting closer into september, it seems to be more that you need to there will be consequences. i would that you need to there will be consequences. iwould hope that you need to there will be consequences. i would hope by then we would be able to explain really well what the risks are of keeping your children at home and staying isolated or letting them go to school and what accommodation schools have made to manage this. when people have all that information and its information they can trust, they then make decisions for themselves and that's where we need to be with this. it's a new disease, we are still learning, we no more than we did before but as this information comes, people will be able to make their decisions for theirfamilies. be able to make their decisions for their families. dr fari ahmad, thank you forjoining us. no appearance from t

the full details are due to be published in the next two weeks, but the education secretary gavin williamson about this prospect of all children, all year groups, full—time, back in september. doable? i think the devil will be in the detail, really. hopefully i, like all head teachers, really want all of our children back in school, because we miss them greatly and schools aren't schools without children and children's voices in them. so i guess i would like to know how to do it, and there are a couple of things that are preventing us from doing it at the moment. one is the limit on class sizes to 15, and that makes it really tricky for schools with limited classroom spaces schools with limited classroom 5 pa ces to schools with limited classroom spaces to expand those out and find those other rooms in the school were pe equipment might be or you are storing art equipment. there just isn't the space at the moment. so it would be great to hear based on scientific advice that we can spread those children into bubbles of 30. and then the other thing is, the one or two—metre rule and then relaxi

the education secretary, gavin williamson, said advice for schools on how to plan their full reopeninglished in the next two weeks. and said class sizes could increase from the current maximum of 15 pupils to normal sizes of around 30. he also gave more details of a one billion pound "covid catch—up plan" to help children "get back to where they should be." the fund would help with catch—up lessons and tutoring. the coronavirus alert level across the uk has been downgraded to level three — which means the virus is still in general circulation but cases are not rising exponentially. r — that's the reproduction number of the virus — remains below one — unchanged from last week in wales, nonessential retailers are to be allowed to start trading again from monday. schools could reopen the following week and tourists may be able to return to wales injuly. a further 173 people have died in the uk after testing positive for coronavirus. well let's get more on the schools proposals — with our education editor bra nwen jeffreys. so let's start with those unusual comparisons... back in front of

coronavirus press briefing from downing street, being led today by the education secretary, gavin williamsont, though, a look at today's developments. the uk's coronavirus alert level has been downgraded from four to three. under level three, the virus is considered to be "in general circulation" and there could be a "gradual relaxation of restrictions". previously, transmission was considered to be "high or rising exponentially". the rate of spread of the coronavirus infection across the uk is shrinking, according to new figures published by the government. for the uk as a whole, the current growth rate is minus 4% to minus 2% and the estimate of the reproduction number, referred to as r, remains between 0.7 and 0.9. the negative number means that the cases of falling. a further 173 people across all settings in the uk have died in the past 2a hours after testing positive for coronavirus. it takes the total number of uk deaths to 42,161. and the prime minister says further guidance on the current two—metre social distancing guidelines will be published "very, very shortly", after mounting p

where they were going to channel cash through councils to families in need and listening to gavin williamsonetary in the commons area, he was talking about this idea of free school meals is not actually to help with hardship as such but to make sure that children learn better because they learn better when they are fed at school. but it doesn't start to look like perhaps this can be perceived as splitting hairs and there is a recognition that what is happening now in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic means we are in a very different place to where we would usually be and i think that is what has swan and. hound, think of a much indeed. whatever the arguments had been it is going ahead as of today for site —— how thank you. more now on the increase in the number of people who are unemployed. new official data reveals the unemployment rate in scotland is now the highest among all the uk nations. 4.6% of people over the age of 16 in scotland were out of work between february and april, higher than the uk rate at 3.9%. 0ur scotland business correspondent laura goodwin reports. 0wen had a plan