hugh pym, thank you for the _ contributed to these problems. hugh pym, thank you for the update.w health secretary and the challenges they face. the real blockbuster move todayis they face. the real blockbuster move today is the return of former pm david cameron to one of the great offices of state. in case you hadn't noticed, he is now foreign secretary. we have been getting more reaction to that point. this is what sir lindsay hoyle had to say. i don't usually discuss urgent questions but today i received one, rather than discuss the matter in the chamber i thought it would be better for me to set out my thoughts on the particular issue involving the procedures of this house. the house will be aware that the prime minister today has appointed the right honourable david cameron, secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth development affairs. this is not the first time in recent years that a cabinet minister has been appointed in the house of lords. but given the gravity of the current international situation, this is especially important that this is especially important th

our health editor hugh pym was at the hearing, and he's in our newsroom. hugh? we've heard a lot this week from senior scientists and health officials, particularly about the first lockdown in march 2020 and the fact that as most people who give evidence this week said it came in a week too late. today, the focus was a bit more on the second lockdown in the autumn, and how scientists and the autumn, and how scientists and the government experts advisory committee had been pushing for restrictions to kick in in the middle of september, but ministers decided not to do that. the deputy to sir patrick vallance, the chief scientific adviser but she occasionally appeared at some of the downing street press conferences and was an expert at that time, she was asked by the inquiry council today what she thought about the events in the autumn of 2020. you what she thought about the events in the autumn of 2020.— the autumn of 2020. you described this uuite the autumn of 2020. you described this quite accurately _ the autumn of 2020. you described this quite accuratel

here's our health editor, hugh pym., sporting fixtures taking place with crowds present and limited public awareness of coronavirus. an individual secretary of state, other than in the most exceptional circumstances, should be deciding how care would be provided. lord stevens also said he'd seen no evidence for accusations at the inquiry that mr hancock was untruthful. the timing of lockdowns was also discussed with the top civil servant at the department of health at the time, and still in post, saying they'd come too late, including the second in november. if you're going to have a lockdown, which we did, it would have been it would have been much better to do it earlier, in my view — i wasn't the decision taker, but in my view — than when we did in november. matt hancock will give his version of events at the inquiry in a few weeks�* time. hugh pym, bbc news. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. on friday, hong kong will become the first asian city to host the gay games. athletes from 45 countrie

hugh pym, bbc news, oldham. people, to take the publisher of the daily mail and the mail on sunday to trial, claiming his privacy was breached by private investigators. they've accused associated newspapers of unlawful information—gathering, which the publisher denies. here's our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds. morning! cameras click. this case began in the spring with relatively dry legal arguments, so it was a surprise when the duke of sussex unexpectedly turned up. so did baroness lawrence, mother of murdered stephen. her allegations are among the most striking from this high—profile group. they allege journalists paid private investigators for bugging cars and phones, hacking voicemail messages, paying police officials and obtaining medical and financial records. the law says they should have claimed within six years, and these allegations go back decades, so associated newspapers wanted the judge to throw them out, but the seven said they'd never realised they had a case. one reason? 12 years ago,

hugh pym, bbc news.ishi sunak, says he believes the first global ai summit will "tip the balance in favour of humanity" with an agreement from some governments and tech firms to work together to test the safety of new ai models. tonight, the world's richest man, elon musk, has been discussing the future of ai with rishi sunak — one of his particular concerns are humanoid robots that he said can basically chase you anywhere — they must have an off switch, he told the audience. we'll have more on that in a moment from our technology editor who was there. but first, here's our political editor chris mason on today's ai summit at bletchley park. the world of artificial intelligence. i'm standing in front of a picture of parliament, a real picture of parliament. but here is the twist. if we zoom out, this technology, ai, has the capacity — of its own accord — to fill in the blanks. now, i can tell you, that is not what parliament actually looks like, but it is believable. and we can also choose what to add, s

hugh pym, bbc news.ill not return to our screens for the foreseeable future after one of the programme's presenters, freddie flintoff, was seriously injured during a crash while filming last december. our media and arts correspondent david sillito reports. that looks very, very dangerous. top gear, and freddie flintoff... 0h, here we go. ..the car show�*s charismatic daredevil. here — dramatically running out of road. but in december of last year there was an accident at the dunsfold park track in surrey that left him with serious facial injuries. filming of the show came to an end, and even months later, freddie's injuries are still visible. however, little is known about what actually happened that day. his co—host chris harris told bbc breakfast that everyone had agreed to say nothing. he's healing, you know? it was a serious incident, i'm not going to say any more than that, and i'm so proud of the fact that team top gear kept everything quiet. even the report into the accident is not being made publ

hugh pym, bbc news.no doubt" about the sovereignty of the falkland islands, after argentina's new president—elect suggested it was time to "get them back." javier milei reportedly said that buenos aires had "non—negotiable sovereignty" over the falklands. in 1982, britain sent a task force to recapture the islands after argentina invaded and briefly occupied the territory. doctors have been told that they must be on high alert for measles as the number of children being vaccinated against the disease has dipped to a ten—year low. it's the first time in decades such guidance has been issued. experts say that at least 95% of children should be double vaccinated by the age of five, but the uk falls well below that figure, atjust 84.5%. in india, dozens of workers have been trapped for more than a week now in a tunnel they were building in the himalayan foothills. part of it collapsed after a landslide and rescuers have been trying to reach them. today, for the first time, they managed to get this extraordin

hugh pym, bbc news. do stay with us we will be back in a minute, some leading experts to guide you through the top business stories. i'll see you in a moment. hello there. if you thought sunday was a cold day, well done — you go to the top of the class. yeah, it was cold across large areas of the uk — really cold as well. temperatures in lentran, near inverness, only got to 0.4 degrees celsius. the november average, meanwhile, here is nine. with the cold air in place, the next question — will it snow this week? stay tuned for the answer to that one. now, it's cold at the moment because we've got this northern latitude blocking. this area of high pressure in the arctic is sending cold air our way and this blocking pattern is with us all week, so it's going to stay cold all week as well. low pressure that's been bringing rain over recent hours through monday will slowly pull away to the near continent but still some wet weather to come across eastern england with the rain reluctant to clear here. some show

hugh pym, bbc news, 0ldham.booths is cutting almost all its self—service tills in nearly all of its 28 stores. danny savage joins us from one of them now in clitheroe. yes, it is an interesting idea, doing away with self—service tills in an era of increasing automation. booths admit it may not work for other supers, booths admit it may not work for othersupers, but booths admit it may not work for other supers, but they believe it is the right decision for their business. shopping in booths is much like any other food—buying experience, although it has to be said this is an upmarket supermarket. good afternoon. but when you get to the checkout, there�*s a noticeable difference compared to some of the other big chains — you have to interact with another human. this business has done away with self—service checkouts. in a shop like ours, where we have lots of loose produce, lots of loose bakery items, it slows the whole thing down, it makes it really complicated. and go towards them with a bottle of wine and all o

here's our health editor hugh pym. in the battle against covid. sir chris whitty was questioned on key events in the crisis. the inquiry focussed on the early days injanuary, with the virus threat emerging. sirjonathan van—tam, deputy chief medical officer in england, had warned of a significant pandemic. sir chris had said hold on and wait for more data. i don't see what i would have done differently, at this particular point. if i had said to him, ok, what's the evidence on which this is going to be a pandemic, and lots of other things aren't, he would have said, this isjust, this feels like that to me — that is quite a narrow basis on which to make quite big decisions. by march 2020, the virus was spreading fast and lockdown loomed. sir patrick vallance, the chief scientific adviser, wanted to go earlier, but sir chris wanted to weigh things up. the risk of going too early, in which case you get all the damages from this with fairly minimal impact on the epidemic, and the risk of going too late, in which case you ge

hugh pym, bbc news.st—serving fire investigation dog, and retired earlier this year. now, he's been awarded for his outstanding work, as abigail smitton reports. fire investigation dog rex closing down for the final time, over. today, fire investigation dog rex is headed for retirement. after 11 years on the job, injuly rex earned himself a rest and the chance to put his paws up. the uk's longest—serving fire investigation dog, rex racked up some impressive figures, attending more than 500 fires and helping find evidence that's led to more than 250 years behind bars for convicted offenders. so he's trained to detect ignitable liquids so that is things like petrols, white spirits, barbecue lighter fluid, cigarette lighter fluid. he's an amazing search dog. he was right from the initial stages of his training. he just excelled in every area of his training really early on. so we could tell from obviously that really early age that he was going to be really good. rex's dedication and bravery has now seen hi

hugh pym, bbc news.lklands medals were stolen a0 years ago — but he's been recently reunited with them — just in time for this year's commemorations. our reporter, steve knibbs has the story. one from the wedding. so that was the last time you saw this? that was the last day that i ever wore the medals. when paratrooper keith got married in berkeley in 198a, he proudly wore his uniform and medals earned for service in northern ireland and during the falklands conflict. but that was the last time he saw them. went to the ceremonies after the wedding. put them in the boot of my car and the next morning they'd gone. what did you think? devastated, really. shocked. and it didn't go down very well with the regiment because i actually got seven days restriction of privileges. keith had given up hope of ever seeing them again and had bought replicas to replace them. but a couple of weeks ago he had a text from a friend who he'd served with. nick taylor sent me a message asking if i was ok, and he said, well, wh

our health editor hugh pym was listening to patrick vallance�*s evidence and spoke to sophie raworth.ore and more inevitable, so patrick's diaries referred to a shambolic day at that time when the prime minister was arguing for, "letting it rip", and there would have to be more casualties because people had, "had a good innings". dominic cummings had, as well in vallance�*s diary, said that rishi sunak had also agreed that it was ok to let people die. of course, mr sunak and mrjohnson will give their own evidence to the inquiry. borisjohnson, rishi sunak and the former health secretary, matt hancock, will all appear at the inquiry before christmas. you're live with bbc news. devastating flash flooding in the horn of africa has killed ovre 100 people and caused extensive damage to homes and infrastructure. the united nations says more than three million people were affected between september and mid—november and more than 700,000 people have been displaced. kenya, somalia, uganda, burundi, and ethiopia are the worst hit countries. it's the latest in a series weather events to hit the h

let's take a closer look at some of today's announcements with our health editor hugh pym, climate editorjustinor mark easton. with a general election likely a year, the conservatives have put crime and punishment at the heart of their policy agenda. more whole life orders for murderers, more jail time for sexual offenders and rapists, measures to force convicts to appear in the dock to hear victim statements and sentencing remarks. many of these measures are not new. there is very little in the way of new detail. we don't know how much they will actually change things, or how much they will actually cost. what we do know is that prisons in england and way is have more inmates than ever before and overcrowding is a huge problem. —— england and way is. it is easy to say you want to be tough on crime, but there are social and economic consequences you also have to recognise. the main health announcement was a plan to legislate for measures already flagged up aimed at curbing smoking by future generations. the idea is that the legal age for selling tobacco products and cigarettes, currently 18, wi

let's talk to our health editor hugh pym, whojoins us from the newsroom with the latest. gh, this news has just come in to us. what are the details of what looks like a breakthrough in a long—running dispute? it like a breakthrough in a long-running dispute? like a breakthrough in a lonua-runnin disute? ., , long-running dispute? it does look that way although _ long-running dispute? it does look that way although the _ long-running dispute? it does look that way although the deal - long-running dispute? it does look| that way although the deal will have to be put to members over the next month. but it does lift the threat of further strikes by senior doctors which was really worrying nhs leaders. they were very concerned about what might happen over the winter period. consultants in england were given a 6% pay award for this year. what's been added on top is a sum of about 4.95% that won't be paid out until the start of the next financial year in april and backdated. it's a complex set of reforms to the way consultants are paid so some won't get any more than 6%, others w

our health editor hugh pym is here.— another record high — that's waits for operations, procedures and appointments. and that covered 6.5 million patients — some have been waiting for more than one treatment. there've been predictions the numbers could keep on rising till next summer. some hospitals though are working hard to cut their backlog. you don't look any different the day you came back from surgery. ken is back at huddersfield royal infirmary, meeting staff who treated him. he had surgery for bowel cancer, and was the first to be operated on with a new surgical robot injune this year. the technology can mean less intrusive surgery, which is betterfor the patient. they've cut waits of more than a year to just a few dozen. it's all part of a surgical hub where resources are focussed just on planned treatment. by protecting the elective beds, by ring—fencing them, that makes it harder to deal with other aspects of care, but the teams have been really involved in making sure that those elective beds are protected,

our health editor hugh pym was listening to patrick vallance's evidence — and spoke to sophie raworthle, sir patrick's diaries refer to a shambolic day at that time when the prime minister was arguing for "letting it rip" and that there would have to be more casualties because people had "had a good innings". and dominic cummings had suggested, according to sir patrick's diary, that rishi sunak had also agreed that it was ok to let people die. of course, mr sunak and mrjohnson will give their own evidence to the inquiry early next month. borisjohnson, rishi sunak and the former health secretary, matt hancock, will all appear at the inquiry before christmas. you're live with bbc news. the us supreme court has rejected an appeal by former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin over his conviction for the murder of george floyd. chauvin was found guilty of second—degree murder in the killing of george floyd during a 2020 arrest on a minneapolis street. his lawyers claimed thatjury bias and previous rulings by a judge deprived him of his right to a fair trial. chauvin is serving a 22.5—

with more on this our health editor hugh pym joins me. 0nce once again, some incredible testimony comingin the inquiry. tue: background testimony coming in the inquiry. tte: background today says that in february 2020 ad group of officials had modelled the likely worst scenario for covid—19. at that time there weren't many cases in the uk and there was a general sense of business as usual, life as usual. these officials had carried out the worst case scenario acts aside concluded... there have been a discussion about some very difficult choices if hospitals were overwhelmed in that scenario and whether frankly some patient should be given treatment enabling them to survive that others would not be so fortunate, would not get the treatment and would not survive. matt hancock, then health secretary covering england, had said they had heard today that this secretary it should be he did make that decision rather than medical professionals or the public. i wanted to discard the idea that in the most _ i wanted to discard the idea that in the most exceptional circumstances should _ the most ex

our health editor, hugh pym, has the latest.d surgical procedures, the impact of doctors' strikes in england. now there is a plan aimed at reforming the pay of consultants and ending walk—outs by these most senior doctors. we are seeing reforms to the pay structure that will mean it is faster, simpler and fairer for consultants, but also, critically, for patients, and so i really hope that consultants feel able to accept this offer, pay for the newest consultants and the most senior will go up, which has been welcomed by the doctors' union. so the pay scales currently are very out—of—date and they're a big contributor to the gender pay gap. we are trying to reform that, so that money is being used to achieve this reform. but why did senior doctors have to resort to strike action? we would rather not have done that, we would have preferred if these talks happened at the start of the process, as we tried repeatedly to have, but it has taken strike action to get to the stage where there is a credible offerfor members. so what are t

our health editor hugh pym has been at the inquiry today. hejoins us now. what more did we learn?he early stages of the pandemic has been very controversial and much talked about the step today the inquiry was shown e—mails between a senior health official and dame professorjenny harries, then the medical officerfor dame professorjenny harries, then the medical officer for england. dame professorjenny harries, then the medical officerfor england. the official says it looks as if we will have two discharged patients with covid symptoms into care homes otherwise the nhs will get clogged up. damejenny says it is not something we should wish for but it does look as if that will have to happen because of all the pressures. here is a little bit of what she had to say today. it was a very bleak picture because i think the reality was this isn't an invitation to be discharging covid patients, its actually a reality that says if hospitals overflow those who can benefit from treatment there?will be there. anybody — it doesn t matter if it's residental care settings or going on to other ones

our health editor hugh pym has been at the inquiry today and has the details.or health official and professor, damejenny harries, then deputy chief medical officerfor england. and the official says it looks as if we'll have to discharge patients with covid symptoms into care homes because otherwise the nhs will get clogged up. damejenny says it's not something we should wish for, but it does look as if that'll have to happen because of all the pressures. here's a little bit of what she had to say today. it was a very bleak picture because i think the reality was this isn't an invitation to be discharged in covid patients is actually a reality that says if hospitals overflow, those who can benefit from treatment, there will will be there. anybody it doesn't matter whether it's residential care settings or going home or going on to other ones that hospitals will have to manage that. damejenny went on to say she'd warn people in government at that time, a week before the final lockdown, about the possible impact on safeguarding of children. and dominic raab, who w

our health editor hugh pym was listening to sir patrick vallance giving his evidence today — what didmost revealing? the revelation by isere patrick that there had been a disagreement between him and sir chris whitty. we got used to seeing them both at press conferences. sir patrick said over the decisions are not down sir chris had been worried about pulling the trigger too early. he was considering impact on mental health on the popular wider hell. he said he respected that view but he personally wanted to go earlier with the lockdown. on to the issue of the second lockdown in the autumn of 2020. again, sir patrick fallon said he would have gone earlier than the decision that was made, which was to go into tears in england. he said thatjust resulted in delaying the inevitable and mps were always wanting to go down a tear in their particular area. and finally we get to the political views at that time in the late autumn of 2020 as lockdown was looking more and more inevitable. sir patrick diaries referred to a shambolic day at that time when the prime minister was arguing for letting

more money towards their pay in return for reforms to the way consultants work. 0ur health editor hugh pymdure. the impact of doctors strikes in england. now there is a plan aimed at reforming the pay of consultants and ending walk—outs by senior doctors. we are seeing reforms to the pay structure that will mean it is faster, simpler and fairer for consultants but also critically for patients and so i really hope that consultants feel able to accept this offer, when it is put to the vote. pay for the newest consultants and the most senior will go up, which has been welcomed by the doctors' union. so the pay scale are out—of—date and there are big contributor to the gender pay gap. we are trying to reform that. but why did senior doctors have to resort to strike action? we would rather not have done that, we would have preferred if the talks happened at the start of the process as we tried to have but it has taken strike action to get to stage where there is a credible offerfor members. so what are the detail oils the new offer and how has the government found the extra money? consultants i

joining me now is our health editor, hugh pym.ng it all day, there is more tomorrow. for you, the most significant moments? weill. most significant moments? well, lookin: most significant moments? well, looking through _ most significant moments? well, looking through the _ most significant moments? -ii looking through the theatricality of the situation, the revelation by mr hancock, that we haven't heard before, that he thought the government should have lockdown three weeks earlier than march the 3rd to 2020. he said today that was with hindsight. but it's really quite an important guide as to where this inquiry might be going, that such a senior cabinet minister at the time, involved in all of these decisions, thinks that lockdown should have been so much earlier. critics will say, well, why didn't you do more about it at the time? the inquiry heard today that he did not say to boris johnson until march the 13th that such action should be taken. but very significant anyway. and that revelation from him that, actually, the prote

hugh pym is here. tell us more about what simon stevens was saying.t what simon stevens was saying. we heard in the in t ui that stevens was saying. we heard in the inquiry that in _ stevens was saying. we heard in the inquiry that in february _ stevens was saying. we heard in the inquiry that in february 2020 - inquiry that in february 2020 officials had carried out a worst—case scenario exercise on what impact covid might have and they concluded there might be 840,000 deaths overfour months. concluded there might be 840,000 deaths over four months. in the wake of that we learned what was said to be a very difficult ethical discussion over if hospitals were going to be overwhelmed which patients would be given treatment and a chance of survival and which ones would not be. lord simon stevens said in his evidence that matt hancock had been in favour of the secretary of state making that decision and not medical professionals. lord stevens disagreed and this is what he had to say. i certainly wanted to discourage the idea that an individual secretary o

our health editor hugh pym reports. surgical procedure your the impact of doctors strikes in england. now there is a plan aimed at reforming the pay of consultants and ending walk outs. me at reforming the pay of consultants and ending walk outs.— at reforming the pay of consultants and ending walk outs. we are seeing reforms to the _ and ending walk outs. we are seeing reforms to the pay _ and ending walk outs. we are seeing reforms to the pay structure - and ending walk outs. we are seeing reforms to the pay structure that - reforms to the pay structure that will mean it is faster, simpler and fairerfor will mean it is faster, simpler and fairer for consultants but also critically for patients and so i really hope that consultants feel able to accept this offer, when it is put to the vote. pay for the newest consultants and the most senior will go up, which has been welcomed by the doctors union s0 has been welcomed by the doctors unio , ., , has been welcomed by the doctors unio ., union so the pay scale are out-of-d

hugh pym, bbc news.shareholders are to vote later on whether to back a rescue deal aimed at securing its future. metro has warned that if the plans are rejected, it might be deemed unviable by the bank of england and then put into a process for managing failed banks. the tobacco company, bat, is calling for more stringent regulations on vaping, including a ban on flavours based on desserts or sweets that could appeal to children. it says the products should be licensed in the same way as alcohol or cigarettes. the government is already considering regulations because of concerns that many young people are vaping. a new independent adviser has been announced to provide better support for victims of major disasters in england and wales. the ministry ofjustice says the independent public advocate will offer faster help and advice to survivors of major incidents, like the manchester arena bombing and the grenfell tower fire. allies of the former home secretary, suella braverman, are claiming that rishi sunak

hugh pym joins us. how significant is the apology?— is the apology?ficant because he was at the heart - is the apology? pretty significant because he was at the heart of. because he was at the heart of government, in the response to the pandemic in 2020 and part of the so—called quad with rishi sunak with borisjohnson and matt hancock, who was then the health secretary. mr gove was pretty frank about failings and mistakes, as he saw them, locking down too late in 2020 and again in the autumn and he was critical of the system of tears, saying it did not work well and said the testing system had not delivered, ppe procurement should be looked at in some detail and he said the impact on children had not really been taken into account. he was asked about the performance of matt hancock and he said he had a high opinion of mr hancock and boris johnson's decision making, he said, well, that was mrjohnson's style, weighing things up carefully. matt hancock and boris johnson will give evidence to the hancock and borisjohnson will give evidence to the inquiry

our health editor hugh pym is here.those critical decisions in 2020 made at the highest levels of government — with sir patrick vallance a key player. what was really going on behind the scenes as covid infections soared and an unprecedented lockdown was looming? the coronavirus. .. mid-march 2020, the da s the coronavirus. .. mid-march 2020, the days before _ the coronavirus. .. mid-march 2020, the days before lockdown, _ the coronavirus. .. mid-march 2020, the days before lockdown, still- the days before lockdown, still normal life, but officials and ministers were realising that disaster beckoned if the virus was not suppressed. so on monday the 16th the prime minister had a strong message for the public.— message for the public. now is the time for everyone _ message for the public. now is the time for everyone to _ message for the public. now is the time for everyone to stop - time for everyone to stop nonessential contact with others and to stop all unnecessary travel. but before that. _ to stop all unnecessary tr

our health editor hugh pym has the story. get in there, it's crazy at the moment.est priorities-— vaping is one of the biggest riorities. , . , priorities. there is a trend, it is risin: , priorities. there is a trend, it is rising. and _ priorities. there is a trend, it is rising, and one _ priorities. there is a trend, it is rising, and one priority - priorities. there is a trend, it is rising, and one priority for- priorities. there is a trend, it is rising, and one priority for the i rising, and one priority for the police to get involved, not necessarily for things like needing possession repair, or was supplying these liquids and vapes, that eventually turn into things like spice and thc, so where they are getting it from and the supply and thatis getting it from and the supply and that is the issue. abs, getting it from and the supply and that is the issue.— that is the issue. a stark warning has come from _ that is the issue. a stark warning has come from a _ that is the issue. a stark warning has come from a head _ that is the issue. a stark warning has co