and you also say in your statement, lord stevens, that there| statement, lord stevens, that there were senior decision—makers, and i would like to take you to a document which records one of those meetings. it is 146616, please. so this, lord stevens, is an e—mail, is it not, dated october 2020, so we are in the autumn of that year. and it is an e—mailfrom imran shafi essentially recording a meeting which had happened i think earlier that week, and we can see from the start, the first line of the e—mail, it was a meeting which included the prime minister, the chancellor, chris whitty, stuart vallance and you, and it may boil be others as well. we don't see your name on the copy list. this appears to have been an internal number 10 document, but i know you have had a chance to look at this document, and obviously if there are any things in it which don't accord with your recollection, you will tell us. first of all, do you will tell us. first of all, do you are going to this meeting in the autumn of 2020? i say going, it may have been a virtual meeting. i do remember _ have been a virtu

lord stevens, by others. mr weatherby. lord stevens. i'm — by others. mr weatherby.rs. mr weatherby. lord stevens, i'm going to ask - by others. mr weatherby. lord | stevens, i'm going to ask some questions about that final topic in behalf of the covid brief families for justice behalf of the covid brief families forjustice in uk. just picking up on that, your answer to mr o'connor regarding the lack of appropriate fitting ppe for women, but also for people from black and ethnic minority workforce, is that by the time it is raised with you, there is ongoing work, is that right? well. ongoing work, is that right? well, essentially. _ ongoing work, is that right? well, essentially, yes. _ ongoing work, is that right? well, essentially, yes. 0k. _ ongoing work, is that right? well, essentially, yes. ok. so _ ongoing work, is that right? well, essentially, yes. ok. so there - ongoing work, is that right? well, essentially, yes. ok. so there arej essentially, yes. ok. so there are two issues — essentially, yes. ok. so there are two issues here. _ essentially, yes. ok. so

but he, lord stevens, had disagreed.d to discourage the idea that 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 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. the prime minister, rishi 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 worl

lord stevens said it was fortunate that what he described as the "horrible dilemma" never crystallisedealth editor, hugh pym. february 2020, 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

lord stevens disagreed and this is what he had to say.tate, other than in the most exceptional circumstances, should be deciding how care would be provided. i felt that we are well served by the medical profession, in consultation with patients to the greatest extent possible, in making those kinds of decisions. matt hancock of course will give his own version of events to the inquiry in the next few weeks. lord stevens was asked later about allegations that had been made by other witnesses that mr hancock had not told the truth at times and he told the inquiry he had seen no evidence of that. , . ~ the inquiry he had seen no evidence of that. , ., ,, israel's prime minister — benjamin netanyahu — says his country's troops are at "the height of battle" in their ground operation in gaza and have made significant progress. video footage from both sides shows israeli tanks and troops pressing towards gaza city. several hundred more civilians are expected to be allowed out of the south of gaza via the rafah crossing and into egypt — among the

but lord stevens giving evidence today, he disagreed.s what he had to say at the inquiry. >> i certainly wanted to discourage the idea that an individual secretary of state should be deciding how care would be provided. i felt that we are well served by the medical profession in consultation with patients to the greatest extent possible making those kinds of decisions. >> matt hancock will have his own version of events and will have a chance to give those at the inquiry in a few weeks time when he appears. i should say that lord stevens went on under questioning to say that in his view, despite all the accusations that at times hancock had been untruthful, he had seen personally no evidence of that. >> huw, questions today about the readiness of hospitals and the nhs as a whole, with a particular focus on delayed discharges. that is where people are staying in hospital because they cannot be cared for in the community. that was addressed today as well. >> it was one of the big questions at the time in march 2020 when the u.k. finally we

lord stevens took us behind—the—scenes to a meeting that happened in whitehall in february 2020, and and who died? it is said in the meeting matt hancock said it should be in decided who lived and who died, not medics and not the public. lord stevens told the inquiry he thought this was highly undesirable and said he had discouraged the idea the secretary of state should take this decision other than in the most exceptional circumstances. he also made clear that the inquiry that scenario never came to pass. what is interesting is a few months ago jeremy hunt, anotherformer jeremy hunt, another former secretary jeremy hunt, anotherformer secretary of state for health, told the inquiry he thought ministers should not be asked to play god and decide who lived and who died in a pandemic. decide who lived and who died in a andemic. ., ~ decide who lived and who died in a andemic. ., ,, , ., , decide who lived and who died in a andemic. ., ~' , ., , . it's been more than sixty years since the beatles released their first single, but today they've got another one coming out. it's called now

the man who led the nhs until 2021, lord simon stevens, told the hearing that he wanted to discourageould decide. fortunately, he said, "this horrible dilemma" never crystallised. with more on this our health editor hugh pym joins me. 0nce once again, some incredible testimony coming in the inquiry. the testimony coming in 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 shou

lord stevens made it clear to the inquiry that he thought that that was not the right decision at allretary of state that that should not be his choice unless it was in exceptional circumstances. that was a very striking moment in the hearing this morning. we also got yet more of a glimpse behind—the—scenes about some of the accusations of dysfunction and chaos at the centre. there was even a text exchange between dominic cummings, the former chief adviser to the prime minister, and matt hancock, where they were discussing getting rid of simon stephens. this was in early 2020. to be clear, dominic cummings has said since then that once the pandemic gripped the country, he was no longer pushing for simon stephens to go. but we got just a bit more of that sense of the kind of characters that were making these decisions and some of them accusations of dysfunction in terms of their relationships. it is accusations of dysfunction in terms of their relationships.— of their relationships. it is worth mentioning _ of their relationships. it is worth mentioning that _ of their relationships. i

the former chief executive of nhs england, lord stevens, has told the covid inquiry that senior ministers meetings chaired by the then health secretary, matt hancock, in the early days of the pandemic. he also told the inquiry how mr hancock wanted to decide "who should live and who should die" if hospitals became overwhelmed. glastonbury festival organisers have pushed back the sale of tickets for next year by two weeks. they had been due to go live this evening , but the organisers say it would be unfair to go ahead as some people have had issues with registration. tickets for 2024 will now go on sale on the sixteenth of november. the royal mint has begun producing a new set of coins inspired by britain's natural habitat. the first coins to be struck include the one pound featuring british bees, the five pence featuring an oak leaf, and the 50p featuring an atlantic salmon. the first of the new coins are expected to enter circulation at the end of the month. you're live with bbc news. winds of more than 100mph have been battering parts of the uk as storm ciaran progresses. hundreds of s

in his witness statement, lord stevens said it was fortunate that what he described as that "horrible by almost a third in the past year. the marine conservation society said the most commonly spotted were huge, barreljellyfish — but that rarer warm—water jellyfish were also seen. a marine heatwave injune increased uk water temperatures by about three to four degrees. the sale of tickets for next year's glastonbury festival has been delayed by two weeks, after some people said they didn't realise their registration profile had expired. customers must provide details of their identities in advance, as part of efforts to prevent ticket touting. you're live with bbc news. an australian woman suspected of poisoning and killing three people after serving them a lunch containing deadly mushrooms has appeared in court. erin patterson faces three counts of murder and five of attempted murder. she says she didn't intentionally poison her former in—laws and their relatives. our reporter, simon atkinson, is in korumburra in victoria. that is where the appearance has happened _ tell us more about

giving evidence, lord stevens added this.ris wormald, said he hadn't seen evidence of lying. among other eye popping accusations this week, claims that matt hancock misled the cabinet over the existence of a pandemic plan which never materialised. and a top civil servant, helen mcnamara, with this recollection read by one of the inquiry lawyers, "he reassured me that he was, quote, �*loving responsibility�* "and to demonstrate this took up a batsman's stance outside "the cabinet room and said �*they bowl them at me, i knock them away�*". i'm trying to explainjust how jarring some of that was and how different places lots of us who are all in the same, theoretically in the same place, that we were. and it does partly go back to my point about, kind of, nuclear levels of confidence. being the health secretary during a once—in—a—century pandemic was a tough job. some argue matt hancock was one of the government's best communicators, even if others felt his approach was a little too hands—on. dominic cummings has proved to be one

lord simon stevens, ovennhelmed. rd simon stevens, who was chief executive of nhs england at the time , said he england at the time, said he discouraged the former health secretary's plan. prefer going to leave such decisions to the medical profession. the inquiry is continuing . this is gb news is continuing. this is gb news across the uk on tv , in your across the uk on tv, in your car, on digital radio and on your smart speaker. by saying play gb news now it's back to esther . esther. >> thanks, tatiana . so are the >> thanks, tatiana. so are the police running scared? not feeling supported? they're not doing the job. the tragic 7th of october attacks in israel have had direct consequences for the streets of britain over the last few weeks. we've seen increasing displays of extremism with the police seemingly increasing , police seemingly increasing, reluctant to use the powers that they have to tackle these problems is, first of all, before the idf even responded to the hamas attacks, we saw riots outside the isra

lord simon stevens, ovennhelmed. rd simon stevens, who was chief executive of nhs england at the time , said he england at the time, said he discouraged the former health secretary's plan. prefer going to leave such decisions to the medical profession. the inquiry is continuing . this is gb news is continuing. this is gb news across the uk on tv , in your across the uk on tv, in your car, on digital radio and on your smart speaker. by saying play gb news now it's back to esther . esther. >> thanks, tatiana . so are the >> thanks, tatiana. so are the police running scared? not feeling supported? they're not doing the job. the tragic 7th of october attacks in israel have had direct consequences for the streets of britain over the last few weeks. we've seen increasing displays of extremism with the police seemingly increasing , police seemingly increasing, reluctant to use the powers that they have to tackle these problems is, first of all, before the idf even responded to the hamas attacks, we saw riots outside the isra

and fortunately this is a horrible dilemma, said lord stevens , dilemma, said lord stevens, never crystallisedng was what the former deputy cabinet secretary, helen macnamara said, who who claimed that matt hancock had nuclear levels of overconfidence. and then she recalled, and you'll probably remember this andrew and bev she recalled this what she said jarring incident where she said jarring incident where she was talking to him about how difficult it must be to be health secretary during the pandemic. and matt hancock responded by miming playing cricket, saying they bowl at me. i knocked them away . the most i knocked them away. the most damning testimony. so far has come from, as you might expect, dominic cummings , who was boris dominic cummings, who was boris johnson's chief adviser. he has alleged that matt hancock lied his way through the pandemic and killed people and dozens and dozens of people have seen it. but there has been some defence of matt hancock as well. michael gove, who gave evidence earlier in the week he was a minister for the cabinet office at the time of the pandemic.

lord simon stevens inquiry. more testimony is all the more powerful fact that he powerful with the fact that he was of hancock was quite uncritical of hancock coming the few coming after coming for the few days had dominic days where he had dominic cummings and helen macnamara being very critical about being very, very critical about him. was him. lord stevens testimony was all for the all the more striking for the absence criticism othennise. absence of criticism othennise. so comments so these latest comments are just nail what just another nail in what remains of matt hancock's reputation. >> any indication as to >> is there any indication as to exactly hancock wanted exactly why matt hancock wanted to to decide lives to be able to decide who lives and dies? >> i think more about >> no, i think it was more about who take that decision in who should take that decision in a democratic society. >> think, though, that >> and i do think, though, that at beginning of of this, at the beginning of all of this, there

and lord simon stevens , who is chief executive stevens, who is chief executive of nhs england at theed the former health secretary's plan , preferring to secretary's plan, preferring to leave such decisions to the medical profession . the inquiry medical profession. the inquiry continues and you can get more on all of those stories by visiting our website, gbnews.com sunday mornings from 930 on. gb news. >> welcome back to gb news live with emily and martin. it's 1238 now, the second day of the ai summit gets undennay as tech leaders, politicians and business owners monitor developing technology and look to attract new business investment. yes. >> so earlier , rishi sunak met >> so earlier, rishi sunak met with the president of the european commission there, ursula von der leyen , pointing ursula von der leyen, pointing out the importance of assessing the risks of ai without being too alarmist. >> the ai has the potential to transform our lives in every aspect from health care to education and our economy. thanks to the actions we've taken this week, britain is well placed to be at t

and so we took a huge amount of action and i thought that simon stephens, lord stevens, describe thatnhs had. what matters is not a physical bed, it is a staffed bed and that is flexible. in some cases, we took the staff ratio in intensive care, normally one—to—one, up intensive care, normally one—to—one, up to six patients to one nurse. so it is flexible because of the nhs, said in your question, where the nhs have survived? of course nhs would have survived? of course nhs would have survived. it would have done its level best and is amazing and adaptable institution. but it would not have been able to provide care to everybody and therefore the number of people who died would have gone up even more than it would have donejust because of gone up even more than it would have done just because of the virus. and done just because of the virus. and therefore, done just because of the virus. and therefore. is _ done just because of the virus. and therefore, is this _ done just because of the virus. and therefore, is this a fair summary. notwithstanding _ therefore, is this a fair summary.

lord simon stevens, who is chief executive of nhs england at the time , said he england at the time,id he discouraged the former health secretary's plan, preferring to leave such decisions to the medical profession. the inquiry is continuing . the prime is continuing. the prime minister has played down concerns of a terminator style rise of the machines on the second day of the ai safety summit, rishi sunak struck a more optimistic tone at bletchley park today, saying it's important to assess the risks without being too alarmist i >> -- >> ai has the potential to transform our lives in every aspect, from health care to education and our economy . education and our economy. thanks to the actions we've taken this week, britain is well placed to be at the forefront of that change. there's debate about this topic. that change. there's debate about this topic . people in the about this topic. people in the industry themselves don't agree and we can't be certain. but there is a case to believe that it may pose risks on the on a scale like pandemics and nuclear war. and why , as leaders, wa

who should hospitals become ovennhelmed , and lord simon ovennhelmed, and lord simon stevens, who wasief executive of nhs england at the time, said he discouraged the former health secretary's plan, preferred to leave such decisions to the medical profession. the inquiry is continuing . this is gb news is continuing. this is gb news across the uk on tv in your car, on digital radio and on your smart speaker. by saying play gb news now it's back to . michelle news now it's back to. michelle >> thanks for that. tatiana michelle dewberry till 7:00 tonight. alongside me and my panel tonight. alongside me and my panel, the columnist for the mail on sunday, peter hitchens, and the editor of labour uncut atoll hats. well, good evening to you. you know the to both of you. you know the drill as well, don't you? you can get in touch with me all the usual ways. gb views gb news dot com. or you can tweet me at gb news. got a lot to pack in tonight. there's lots of quite sensitive topics that i want to try and unpick and unpack tonight. often related to the israel hamas conflict, but much broader

lord simon stevens, who was chief executive of nhs england at the time, said he discouraged the former health secretary's plan, preferring to leave such decisions to the medical profession. the inquiry is continuing here with gb news across the uk on tv, in your car on digital radio and on your smart speaker by simply saying play smart speaker by simply saying play gb news now it's back to . nigel >> good evening. last night you may remember i covered the story of a man who was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated section five public order offence . the police told order offence. the police told him he was being arrested because he was witnessed saying why are they over here, etcetera ? are we let them into our country , etcetera. he was taken country, etcetera. he was taken to an east london police station. i can now tell you a man has been released on bail until late november . sir, i'm until late november. sir, i'm afraid i can say no more than that about it for legal reasons , that about it for legal reasons, as i will try to update you as soon as i . can so . on the 11th

lord simon stevens, who was chief executive of nhs england at the time, said he discouraged the former health secretary's plan, preferring to leave such decisions to the medical profession. the inquiry is continuing here with gb news across the uk on tv, in your car on digital radio and on your smart speaker by simply saying play smart speaker by simply saying play gb news now it's back to . nigel >> good evening. last night you may remember i covered the story of a man who was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated section five public order offence . the police told order offence. the police told him he was being arrested because he was witnessed saying why are they over here, etcetera ? are we let them into our country , etcetera. he was taken country, etcetera. he was taken to an east london police station. i can now tell you a man has been released on bail until late november . sir, i'm until late november. sir, i'm afraid i can say no more than that about it for legal reasons , that about it for legal reasons, as i will try to update you as soon as i . can so . on the 11th

and lord simon stevens, who was chief executive of nhs england at the time, said he discussed urged themer health secretary's plan prefer daring to leave such decisions to the medical profession. the inquiry is continuing this is gb news across the uk on tv, in your car on your digital radio and on your smart speaker by saying play gb news. now it's back to . patrick >> well, it looks like it's actually happening, doesn't it? plans are afoot for a million person pro palestine march on armistice day . i actually can't armistice day. i actually can't believe how disrespectful and distasteful this is . i think if distasteful this is. i think if people felt truly british, there is no way on earth they would organise marches over remembrance weekend. no way at all. one of the organisers has rallied protesters to make the 11th of november national march even bigger than the half a million that paraded through london last weekend. one of the groups behind it wants to do things like boycott israel and boycott coca cola, boycott puma. in case you didn't guess, it, it has another aim. the right t

now lord stevens did what was how many pages was that report, charles, into the death of diana?nsively the conspiracy theories. he was killed. they were killed because that man who was driving the car was drunk and he'd had a cocktail of drugs . cocktail of drugs. >> and omid scobie also says that william is prioritised his loyalty to the monarchy. well, shock, horror . he's the prince shock, horror. he's the prince of wales is going to be king. of course, he's going to prioritise his loyalty to the monarchy. he's going to rule it one day. uh i mean, and the attacks he makes on various people and particularly the princess of wales. i mean , i just find wales. i mean, ijust find utterly disgraceful . beth mead utterly disgraceful. beth mead is a great word, which is probably the only one. broadcastable is tosh. the whole thing is complete and utter tosh. >> do you think just so, do you think the fact, the criticism, the intense, almost misogynistic attacks on on the princess of wales reflect perhaps what meghan thinks of her sister in law? because we know this is all coming from

. >> it was headed by lord john stevens.nally, after three pressure packed years, stevens and his team announced their findings. >> there was no conspiracy to murder any occupants of that car. this was a tragic accident. >> then, in 2007, some ten years after diana's death, the inquiry was followed by a six month court hearing and the jury came to the exact same conclusion. diana was not murdered. >> the notion that she was set up by prince philip has been completely debunked. >> the monarchy eventually moved on. but diana's impact is still being felt. coming up, -- >> her boys, are they her greatest legacy? >> without question. >> the new royal rebels, following indiana's footsteps. >> prince harry effectively snapped saying, back off, your hounding her like you hounded my mother. he was going to make sure that history was not repeated. >> when dateline continues. [coughing] copd hasn't been pretty. it's tough to breathe and tough to keep wondering if this is as good as it gets. but trelegy has shown me that there's still b

the accessing all of them, let alone those who are in the profession of war lords, or other derbies, games all dependent stevens lemming g at me at this deal by some members of a prime minister netanyahu, whose cabinet has been called painful. and as it stands, do you think it's a good deal for israel? and um, you know, i, i definitely don't do this. i just do a good deed to describe negotiating with this barbaric their organization. this is the core, this is necessary and a necessity. this is the commitment of the people of these read to the people who is where they can literally buy from us. it's not about good or bad. this is not the commercial deal that we can evaluate. this is our commitment and he's right. we do whatever is necessary deals of duration, the auction, military maneuvers, international pressure in order to get all the hostages safely back home. mm hm. awesome. it will be willing to release all hostages in exchange for all palestinian prisoners. would that be an acceptable price to pay? i strongly believe and i will explain it a 2nd. why this is yet another psychological manipulation on behalf

fortunately, lord stevens said this dilemma never materialised.tary at the time of the pandemic. and she said, matt hancock had nuclear levels of overconfidence. this does seem to be a running theme about matt hancock , his confidence and his hancock, his confidence and his optimist ism. and then she recalled this very jarring incident where she was talking to him about how difficult it must be to be health secretary dunng must be to be health secretary during the pandemic. must be to be health secretary during the pandemic . and he during the pandemic. and he responded by miming playing cricket and said, they bowl at me , i knock them away. some of me, i knock them away. some of the most damning evidence about matt hancock, some of the most damning allegations was given by dominic cummings. damning allegations was given by dominic cummings . we all know dominic cummings. we all know him very well, don't we? boris johnson's most senior adviser at the time of at the time when he was prime minister. now dominic cummings said matt hancock lied his wa

the lord jesus himself would neither conform nor deny that reporting, so the next best we have a stewart stevens. he's a senior adviser for the lincoln project, in a former chief strategist for mitt romney's 2012 presidential campaign and the author of the book, the conspiracy to end america. five ways my old party is driving our democracy to autocracy. also, steve bannon. producer for the rachel maddow show, msnbc political contributor. he's the author of the book the impostors, how republicans quick governing in and ceased american politics. good morning to both of you. i think troy nehls has being sarcastic about jesus not being able to corral this bag of cats. i'm not entirely sure. >> no, he is not wrong. when you look over the course of last, week you just see one debacle after another. we saw mike johnson trying to bring the bill to the floor, they were derailed by all kinds of republican divisions. they had another good spending bill failed. there is no plan to fix. this, yes we had the speaker's office unveiled a solution, where this tiered approach, but at the same time, as you noted,