studio: matt hancock, health secretary, and professorjohn newton.e department of health and social care. this takes the total number of deaths in the uk from the virus to 39,369. in response to the publication of a report today which confirmed that people from black, asian and minority ethnic communities have been hit harder by coronavirus, the health secretary said, "black lives matter". matt hancock said the report was particularly timely given that people across the world are angry about racial injustice following the death in the us of george floyd. he also praised the role played by ethnic minority medical and care workers in the nhs. following criticism of the government's testing data by the uk statistics authority, the health secretary said he was looking at ways in which the information could be "improved." he insisted the data is the "simplest way of presenting what is a complicated picture." and on the topic of a second wave, professorjohn newton, england's testing coordinator, said it was likely to be patchy and in local areas. with me n

the health secretary matt hancock is due to update mps this evening after talks with local officials.f leicester, sir peter soulsby, says the number of cases has gone up because of higher levels of testing but is concerned that keeping restrictions in place for longer won't do much to slow the spread of the virus. lets talk to the shadow health secretaryjon ashworth, who is the mp for leicester south... thank you very much for being with us. thank you very much for being with us. are you any clearer as to what the government is planning for leicester? is the lockdown going to be continued for a couple of weeks? we are expecting matt hancock to be making a statement about now is actually in the house of commons. it has been delayed until nine 15 pm this evening. given that matt hancock announced 11 days ago that leicester had an outbreak, i had expected that they might have got this statement a bit earlier than where we have at the but i

we heard again from matt hancock today. what we got from matt hancock today.e changing too, which is what we don't know at the moment. this is the idea that has been floating around in some of the papers today of one metre plus, just to add some more jargon to the coronavirus thesaurus. this is the idea you can cut eight to one metre but you need to put some other methods in place to put some other methods in place to add some extra protection. matt hancock talking earlier was talking about mitigation. there are also odds of mitigation you can put in place to be physically closer than two metres but not have the transmission of the virus or the risk of transmission that he would otherwise have. so for instance, we have seen in lots of the retail that has open, lots of shops, perspex screens. obviously you can be closer than two metres with a perspex screen and the risk of transmission is very, very low. masks also make an impact. hence the role that masks must be worn on public transport and in hospitals. there are other mitigations you can put in place as wel

this contact tracing system that matt hancock was asked about by journalists tracing system that mattthem are twiddling their thumbs. yes, it looks that way and actually, downing street put out a statement earlier saying that the test and trace system, they are using the phrase world beating but they are saying it is not in its final state of operation. they are saying work is under way to get tests to people and then their contacts are traced. they are admitting it is a work in progress. we know obviously there have been problems with it, particularly of course with the app which has been trialled on the isle of wight, a lot of work still to do with that. but the manual, the people doing the contact tracing, thatis people doing the contact tracing, that is clearly up and running and it seems to be proving to be effective. it looks like it. they are saying the number of tests and contacts trace is high and the system is working well, they are saying stuff like they would not give numbers on that, though they promised they would come up with numbers in the nearfuture. but generally, in

, thatis terms of the number of fatalities, that is declining, 55 matt hancock was telling the house of commons earlier, the lowest death rate since before the lockdown. yes, and i think we will see matt hancock reflecting on those statistics, 55 deaths in the last recorded 24—hour period, in the news conference. the lowest since the 21st of march, before the lockdown. he mentioned that there were no deaths in the london hospitals in the latest accounting period, not in scotland, either. and he emphasised that the government statistics suggest that this crucial r rate, the rate of reproduction of the virus, is below one in every region of the country. there has been some people suggesting it was above one, particularly in the north—west of england, and loads of mps particularly in the north—west of england, and loads of mp5 from the north—west of england expressing concern to him about that. he was at pains to say that the government statistics suggest that the r number is below one. in other words, each person with the virus is giving it on average to fewer than one other person in

todayit today it is led by the health secretary, matt hancock. the offical number of deaths in the uk from coronavirus has passed 40,000 — according to new figures from the department of health — coming amid continued controversy about how quickly to ease the lockdown. figures reveal a further 357 people have died after testing positive for coronavirus in the uk, taking the total number of deaths in uk care homes, hospitals and the wider comminuty to more than 40,000. it comes as the latest study of coronavirus infections in england suggests a fall in the number of people with the illness. figures from the office for national statistics indicate one in 1,000 people had the virus in the community in the last two weeks of may — down from one in 400 the week before. elsewhere, the british medical association says the government's decision to make face coverings compulsory on public transport should be extended to anywhere that cannot ensure safe social distancing. 0ur health correspondent, lauren moss, reports. the virus that's put so many lives on

matt hancock at the downing street briefing. let's speak to our correspondent at westminster.d other statistics are very much pa rt and other statistics are very much part of the downward trend in some room for cautious optimism but at the same time the disease is not done yet. i think what ministers are attempting to do obviously we have seen today, it measures being used in england so for example small groups being allowed to meet outside and there are some variables on that in scotland wales and northern ireland and shielding of vulnerable groups able to go outside to a limited degree to allow to meet someone from outside the household. in primary school the opening of show rooms and trying to ease the lockdown but also while doing that, send this message as we just heard from matt hancock at the disease is not done yet and urging people to remain vigilant in urging people to remain vigilant in urging people to remain cautious and then tying into that of course is the test, track and trace and contact tracing programme which is now running but i think questions because it i

we can speak now to the health secretary matt hancock.he resident but those elsewhere thinking about what could happen in the coming weeks. to start with on that issue, how exactly is this localised lockdown going to work? it is so important that we get a grip on this spike, this outbreak thatis a grip on this spike, this outbreak that is happening in leicester and that is happening in leicester and thatis that is happening in leicester and that is why we have wrought in these measures that i announced last night stop and i really appreciate how, for people in leicester, how difficult this is going to be, especially given that the rest of the country thankfully we are able to ease some guidelines but it is just not possible to do that in leicester. working with the council, thatis leicester. working with the council, that is thejudgement leicester. working with the council, that is the judgement we came to yesterday stop and so the way that it will work is that from today nonessential retail will have to close in leicester and the schools

yes, it is an uncomfortable time for matt hancock.igitally assisted. so all sorts of questions here. also there were questions here. also there were questions raised from the beginning of may or maybe earlier, issues about how this would work. the government say this is the point of trialling this, they did it on the isle of wight to make sure it works, but the fact there is now no date, partly because they know you are just setting yourself up each time to bejudged against just setting yourself up each time to be judged against something which might not be so easy to deliver, but i think probably the broader issue is people watching will have heard the promises and now they are not being delivered. there could be good reason for that but it doesn‘t help with people‘s confidence, particularly as we are coming out of lockdown, and this was seen as one of the ways he would be able to safely lift those restrictions because you would have this world beating system in place which meant you could trace people with coronavirus and those they

one of matt hancock's junior ministers said yesterday that it could be the winter and matt hancock todayldn't go anywhere near putting a timeframe on it, which is kind of proof, that it is nowhere near happening and basically that the one the nhs had been trialling on the isle of wight, this centralised app, as opposed to one that is decentralised, that is important in terms of where the data sits on the whole process, doesn't work, it isn't compatible with various systems, and so they are going to rely on the old—fashioned stuff, the testing and tracing stuff of e—mailing and phoning up people and getting e—mails and phone calls out to people who you may have bumped into. but it does mean, that if you're sat next to somebody on the bus, who has coronavirus, you're not going to be told about it, because there is going to be no way that they can get in touch with you. and it has all gone into a tangle with the technology companies, too, but essentially what has happened is that the nhs is giving up on developing its own app and is instead going to be working with the tech companies. there

and matt hancock said lots of scientists have different views and come to differentjudgments and sage and sage is a very large group. the reason it is a very large group. the reason it is important but also we are at a point where we understand boris johnson is going to update his cabinet on tuesday about potential changes in lockdown restrictions from mid june. we heard they are going to open up places of worship for individual prayer which is a loosening of restrictions. professor edmonds said he would like to see infection rates are lower than they are before restrictions are eased, but that is a judgment for the politicians to make. the labour party, which has said that they believed we went into lockdown too late, their shadow foreign secretary was also on the andrew marr programme and she asked if labour supported the easing now. we support the easing, but it has to be safe so we want the government to ta ke be safe so we want the government to take a cautious approach. they should be doing things now which... track and trace system needs to improve. one of the major problems fo

the health secretary, matt hancock.ndustry, we‘ve had almost four months, now, of 100% cancellations. if the government go ahead and introduce quarantine next monday, we are going to see an industry on the verge of catastrophe. more than 100 bosses in the travel and hospitality sector, who oppose the quarantine, say, if it goes ahead, they will have to lay off 60% of their staff. we are told ministers are now working hard to negotiate so—called air bridges, so that people arriving from countries with a low infection rate of covid will not have to self—isolate for two weeks. a growing number of senior conservatives say that has to happen. there are plenty of ways we can introduce a targeted system which could reassure people and mitigate the health risks, but allow people to travel round and also show that britain is open for business. there is some level of normality now in spain. but british tourists will not be allowed to travel here until the infection rate in the uk falls more significantly. holidays, if they happen

i put those concerns to the health secretary, matt hancock.nds will be confused why it has taken six weeks for the government to simply confirm what studies have already shown, that they are dying with covid—i9 at significantly higher rates. why haven't you done more to protect and support these communities? you are absolutely right that there is much more work that needs to be done and this report shows that. so we are asking... i have asked the equalities minister, kemi badenoch, to take this forward and to look into the causes and what further can be done. divina is a nurse from birmingham looking for an answer. yeah, it makes you even more anxious, thinking how can you sort of minimise the risk slightly. but i can't, because of the colour lam, and i can't change it. it makes me really angry and the government is supposed there are many factors driving these figures and they point towards socioeconomic inequalities — an existing problem the pandemic has only further exposed. rianna croxford, bbc news. under scrutiny today has been the gover

matt hancock, the health secretary, suggested today that he hoped that would be the case.nt, but the important thing the government has stressed is their advice at the moment has been not to travel. they are saying until that changes you shouldn't be thinking about booking holidays. some of the airlines had been hoping to start up flights again for next month, so the quarantine make that idea redundant for now, but it is a confusing situation for people. what is clear at the moment is this quarantine is going to happen from tomorrow, so people should have to expect to have to isolate for 14 days. 0ur correspondence. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. hello. after the warmth and sunshine of last weekend, this week and has been very different, cool, windy, we have had some outbreaks of rain. but the winds have been easing and will continue to do so as we head into tonight. some showery rain across eastern england will tend to fade and as the skies clear through scotland down into north—east england it's going to turn into a decidedly cool night, some spot

matt hancock.ry has said china's proposed national security law for hong kong would be a "clear violation" of its international obligations. china is seeking to pass a law that would ban treason, secession, sedition and subversion in hong kong, sparking fresh protests. in a statement, dominic raab said the uk was talking to international allies about how to handle a mass exodus of hong kong citizens if beijing presses ahead. working very closely with our partners in australia, canada and the united states, the uk released a joint statement expressing our deep concerns over this proposed new security legislation. our partners in new zealand and injapan have issued similar statements and the eu has too, and i've had discussions with a various number of our eu partners. so the uk stands firm with our international partners in our expectation that china live up to its international obligations under the sino—british joint declaration. he urged china to step back but warned that if beijing pressed ahead

now we can get some more details from matt hancock. 36 more details from matt hancock. 36 more deathsble disease. that comes against this horrible disease. that co m es after against this horrible disease. that comes after borisjohnson announced a review of the two metres social distancing rules, and we will explain ina distancing rules, and we will explain in a bit more detail about when that might change and what scientific advice as he was at some shops in westfield in east london ahead of the reopening of some nonessential shops tomorrow. today marks three years since the grenfell tower fire, and to mark the anniversary, people are being encouraged 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. # hallelujah, hallelujah. ..# an empty church, filled with the memories of those who died in grenfell tower. in times of coronavirus, it is one of a number of services being str

studio: matt hancock bringing that briefing to an end, as he said.eople who have tested positive for covid—19 to 41,279. the health secretary matt hancock emphasised if anyone has symptoms it is their civic duty to get tested. baroness harding, the head of the uk's test and trace programme, went on to announce the testing figures for the first week between the 28th of may and the 3rd ofjune. she said 8117 people who tested positive were entered into the test and trace system. the tracing team reached 67% of those who tested positive and ask them to provide details of those they had been in contact with. of those contacts that the team reached, 85% of them agreed to self—isolate. well, when questioned why there wasn't100% take—up in agreeing to self—isolate, baroness harding said the system can, needs to and will get better. matt hancock also said the government hadn't ruled out enforcing people to take pa rt ruled out enforcing people to take part in the test and trace programme. our health correspondent nick was listening to all of that and it is wi

well and they‘re describing this as another embarrassment for the government but we heard today matt hancockacking both horses and it is not going to be easy, but germany and italy, the financial times are pointing out, are rolling out apps based on apple and google system and yet we have onlyjust realised that they are not necessarily compatible. this with the criticism life, it‘s been weeks and weeks but we have persevered with their own version of an app and i feel as though, as journalists working, where indicted very much by the idea that too after being developed in the same time or two horses, as matt hancock strangely referred to at downing street. but thatis referred to at downing street. but that is what it‘s been going on the whole time and have been looking at this alternative technology, but it is only with us now that they‘ve actually come clean and said look, we are going to have to change tracks and we‘re going to look at google and apple in more detail. but interestingly, i‘m not sure that it is in this report of the tapes tomorrow. he of the statement saying that we are not

let's go to the u.k., where the health secretary matt hancock is being criticized by the head of thetatistics authority over the way the government prevents takers on coronavirus testing. today, he said the data is still far from complete and coppehas a blog, which is why it is not surprising that the statistics are so widely criticized and so often mistrusted. >> a drive in testing center today but with very little activity, as a new debate on precisely how many virus tests are being carried out has flared up. the health secretary, matt hancock come amid great play in the recent weeks about the plans to boost testing. >> i am setting the goal of 100,000 tests per day. >> currently just over 50,000 tests available. >> i can announce we have met our goal. >> today, he's been criticized by the head of the u.k. statistics watchdog group cast doubt over the number of tests that have actually been carried out. in his letter, david nor growth welcomes new data that adds, i'm afra the figures are still far from complete and current principal. the way the data are analyzed and present curren

i put those concerns to the health secretary, matt hancock.rity ethnic backgrounds will be confused why it has taken six weeks for the government to simply confirm what studies have already shown, that they are dying with covid—19 at significantly higher rates. why haven't you done more to protect and support these communities? you are absolutely right that there is much more work that needs to be done and this report shows that. so we are asking — i have asked the equalities minister, kemi badenoch, to take this forward and to look into the causes and what further can be done. divina is a nurse from birmingham looking for an answer. yeah, it makes you even more anxious, thinking how can you sort of minimise the risk slightly. but i can't, because of the colour i am, and i can't change it. there are many factors driving these figures and they point towards socioeconomic inequalities — an existing problem the pandemic has only further exposed. rianna croxford, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: spike lee speaks out — the directo

matt hancock says a lot of people have expressed a willingness to do so.rently released and why can't we have those now? thanks. 0n the point about the blanket measures, the truth is that we are attempting to move the system from these national blanket measures to a more targeted approach and this is why test and trace is such an important part of that. but we have always said, we have always said that we are prepared to reintroduce measures, whether that is nationally or in response to a localised outbreak, if that is necessary. the steps that we are able to take today, they are cautious steps, they remove some of the most difficult parts of the lockdown, with the goal of course of keeping r below one, as one of the five tests that we wanted to meet. i have also been able to change the basis in law of the lockdown. because for the lockdown until today, the law has been that you can't leave your home except for reasons that are specifically set out and this is very unusual in english law, not the approach we traditionally have taken for hundreds of years.

i put those concerns to the health secretary, matt hancock.and minority ethnic backgrounds will be confused why it has taken six weeks for the government to simply confirm what studies have already shown, that they are dying with covid—i9 at significantly higher rates. why haven't you done more to protect and support these communities? you are absolutely right that there is much more work that needs to be done and this report shows that. so we are asking... i have asked the equalities minister, kemi badenoch, to take this forward and to look into the causes and what further can be done. divina is a nurse from birmingham looking for an answer. yeah, it makes you even more anxious, thinking how can you sort of minimise the risk slightly. but i can't, because of the colour i am, and i can't change it. there are many factors driving these figures and they point towards socioeconomic inequalities — an existing problem the pandemic has only further exposed. rianna croxford, bbc news. let's get a quick round up of coronavirus developments: brazil's i

here in the uk, the health secretary, matt hancock denied —— the uk has recorded its lowest number ofmarch, with 77 deaths in the past 2a hours. the health secretary, matt hancock denied that the failure to lockdown sooner had cost lives as he responded to the view of a senior scientist who advises the uk government. dominic hughes reports. as the restrictions on daily life start to be eased, there are doubts. are we coming out of lockdown too soon? but also, did we go in too late? yes, we should have gone into lockdown earlier. the data that we were dealing with in the early part of march and our kind of situational awareness was really quite poor. and so i think it was...would have been very hard to pull the trigger at that point. i wish we had. i think that has cost a lot of lives, unfortunately. that's a judgement made with the benefit of hindsight and one flatly contradicted by the health secretary. no, i think we took the right decisions at the right time, and there's a broad range on sage of scientific opinion and we followed, we were guided by the science, which means guided b

matt hancock.rther concession to mps angered by the ending of the hybrid chamber. at the peak of the coronavirus, members of the commons had taken part in debates and voted online, but jacob rees—mogg asked them to return to westminster, arguing legislation was being held up by remote working. after an outcry from members, the government offered a concession that some would be able to continue taking part in bits of parliamentary business by video link and be able to vote by proxy. a lib dem called an emergency debate and urged the government to go further. it is good and i commend the government for their movement in the least of restoring virtual per dissipation by video link that we have seen now operating again thankfully. but the position with regard to divisions is an important one and it runs right to the heart of this question of equality. if you are somebody who has an underlying health condition, so you yourself are not able to attend then you are allowed to nominate a proxy. if however y

matt hancock.ra mirza to lead his commission into racial inequality. munira mirza, who's one of borisjohnson‘s advisers, has questioned the idea of "institutional racism" and said there's a "culture of grievance" among anti—racism campaigners. ..the pages of...living marxism in the revolutionary communist party into the heart of number ten has not gone unnoticed, mr speaker. on a monday, the prime minister appointed him to lead the commission, the government's commission for racial inequality and it was greeted with some disbelief, given their well—known views on the matter. so, iwonder mr speaker, can the prime minister tell us today, does he with miss mirza that previous inquiries have fostered "a culture of grievance" within minority communities? mr speaker, i am a huge admirerof doctormirza — who is a brilliant thinker about these issues, and we are certainly going to proceed with a new intergovernmental commission to look at racism and discrimination, and it will be a very thorough piece of wo

the health secretary matt hancock made great play in recent weeks of the plans to boost testing.... currently just over 50,000 tests available... i can announce that we have met our goal... but today he has been criticised by the head of the uk statistics watchdog over the numbers. he cast doubt over how many tests have actually been carried out and on how many people. in his letter sir david norgrove welcome the addition of some new data but added, i'm afraid the figures are still far from complete and comprehensible. the way that the data are analysed and presented currently gives them limited value. the aim seems to be to show the largest possible number of tests, even at the expense of understanding. the health secretary was challenged by labour in the commons. the uk statistics authority wrote to him today to say that his figures are still far from complete and comprehensive, that the statistics still fall well short of standards in the code and this is not suprising testing data is mistrusted. i mean, this quite damning, i have to say to the secretary of state. we will work

we can now speak to the health secretary, matt hancock. there wouldn't be free school meals in england. so talk us through what prompted the u—turn. talk us through what prompted the u-turn. i think we have come to the right decision. i wasn't involved in thejudgement that the right decision. i wasn't involved in the judgement that the prime minister made. they understand that until yesterday he hadn't seen the video, the interview that you made with marcus rashford. i think the way that marcus rashford has conduct this campaign and made his argument has just been so impressive, such dignity and emotion and how he has done that. but i think we have come to the right decision. the thing is, marcus rashford and many others, as you mentioned, a very happy you made that change. we have spoken to somebody who will benefit from that, a lady called jane. a lot of people are intrigued about the way this came about. that letter was with the education secretary on sunday. it was published very early monday morning. it has been front—page news for tw

the health secretary matt hancock says the government made the right decisions at the right time, over the coronavirus lockdown, after a senior scientist who advises ministers said that lives would have been saved if they'd acted sooner. professorjohn edmunds, who's a member of the sage advisory group, said restrictions should have been imposed in early march, but scientists lacked enough information. richard galpin reports. the beautiful weather of recent weeks broad thousands to the beaches. social distancing often difficult or simply not followed. so it is no surprise the so—called r number, the rate at which coronavirus spreads has now increased, according to some reports. one computer model shows that in some areas of england the rate is thought to be just below the figure of one, except in the south west, where it is estimated to be right on one end in the north—west, it is just above one, which means increased infections. also today there has been an admission of m ista kes there has been an admission of mistakes made back in march, on the decision when the country should have l

that was vital, matt hancock said. now he is saying it will be the cherry on the cake.ple from a confidence perspective and from trust in terms of reopening the country as a number of reopening the country as a number of infections come down, and they are coming down on the government is very keen to point to that, albeit slowly, but they are coming down slowly, but they are coming down slowly and steadily, if you want to open up hospitality and travel and tourism, it is now a rather strange tourism, it is now a rather strange to see this juxtaposition of manual tracing being now the cornerstone and the app, which has run into problems, is now being abandoned. they are going to look at an alternative. to be fair to the uk, other countries have also had problems with a centralised app in the same way. only south korea has really worked and it is a different setup there. the question about competence that you raised is important, not just from competence that you raised is important, notjust from the public, not just from important, notjust from the public, notjust from o

the health secretary matt hancock made great play in recent weeks of the plans to boost testing.ests per day. currentlyjust over 50,000 tests available. i can announce that we have met our goal. but today he has been criticised by the head of the uk statistics watchdog over the numbers. they cast doubt over how many tests have actually been carried out and on how many people. in his letter sir david norg rove many people. in his letter sir david norgrove welcome the addition of some new data but added i'm afraid the figures are still far from com plete the figures are still far from complete and comprehensible. the way that the data are analysed and presented currently gives them limited value. the aim seems to be to show the largest possible number of tests even at the expense of understanding. the health secretary was challenged by labour in the commons. the uk statistics authority wrote to him today say that his figures are still far from comprehensible and statistics for short of standards and the code and this is quite damning, i have to say. we've awoke with the uk statisti

the health secretary at westminster, matt hancock, insists that the new advice for people shielding —s based on clinical advice and hasn't been rushed through. 2.3 million people in england and wales were told to stay at home and not go out at all for the past 10 weeks, but the uk government now says they can go out, as long as strict social distancing is observed. the advice in scotland and nothern ireland hasn't changed. 0ur correspondent hywel griffith reports from cardiff. safe at home, protected from the outside world. the guidance may have changed for nine—year—old dylan but his parents are not convinced it is time to lower their guard. they started shielding 13 weeks ago, just as his cancer treatment for lymphoma was ending. how do you feel about not really being able to go out? bored! it took three weeks to secure food deliveries. then, for ten weeks, there was no new information, only to be told now it is safe to go outdoors. i think it is just very confusing, and very upsetting. i feel like it's an afterthought. there has just been no thought, actually, it's not even an afte

matt hancock said this is the downing street briefing. i would not recommend an app if less i'm confident in it. i hope i've explained why the best part of the two systems we are working on can be brought together, but i am confident that we will get there, we will put that we will get there, we will put that cherry on dadoes cake. kind of hesitated a bit. i'm conscious that you should not throw too many stones in glass houses because we may have beenin in glass houses because we may have been ina in glass houses because we may have been in a similar boat when you get halfway down a sentence in front of a camera realised that reversing is really not an option. can you explain why that slightly perplexing statement came out of the health secretary's mouth chris green i did the political bit of thought you we re the political bit of thought you were going to ask why that was u nfortu nate. were going to ask why that was unfortunate. or gaffes you have narrowly avoided. we said it's not happening, it's still not happening. what have we heard

series of strict measures, outlined in the house of commons this evening by the health secretary matt hancockclosure of all schools for most pupils in leicester from thursday. from tomorrow, nonessential shops will also close. and all but essential travel to and from the city is to be avoided. mr hancock said the government would keep all measures under review and won't keep them in place longer than necessary. with the latest, here's our health editor hugh pym. leicester city centre tonight. pubs and leicester city centre tonight. pubs a nd restau ra nts leicester city centre tonight. pubs and restaurants which have been closed since lockdown in march all set to reopen on saturday along with others in england, but they've now been told they can't. it's very disappointing. at the end of the day we've been gearing up to reopening for this period. i we've been gearing up to reopening forthis period. i mean, it we've been gearing up to reopening for this period. i mean, it was announced a couple of weeks ago, so whether it is our colleagues, our suppliers, we have all been getting together, work

britain's health secretary, matt hancock, denied that the timing of the lockdown had cost lives, andisted the government made the "right decisions at the right time," "guided by the science." professor edmunds was asked on the bbc‘s andrew marr programme whether, as a scientist, he had any regrets about the advice given to ministers. yes, we should have gone into lockdown earlier. i think it would have been hard to do it and i think the data that we were dealing with in the early part of march and our situational awareness was really quite poor. and so, i think it would have been very hard to pull the trigger at that point, but i wish we had. i wish we had gone into lockdown earlier. i think that has cost a lot of lives, unfortunately. our political correspondent helen catt is with me now. what is the significance of what this leading scientist has been saying? this feels quite reflective from professor edmunds. as you said, he was asked if he had any and as he said there, we did not enter the lock down sooner, but you also had say the data was not there to be able to do that easily.

in response to those latest figures,the health matt hancock, said "we are winning the battle againsticeman involved in the fatal shooting of a black man in the us city of atlanta has been sacked, after a night of unrest over the killing. the victim, rayshard brooks, who was 27 years old, was shot after a scuffle with officers in a drive—through restaurant car park. another officer involved has been put on leave, and the city's police chief has resigned. atlanta is one of many us cities to have seen protests since the killing last month of george floyd by police in minneapolis. a warning — you may find some of the images and details in andy moore's report distressing. it started as a very routine police incident. a man apparently asleep in his car, blocking the drive—through lane of a fast—food restaurant. guess somebody called 911 because you were asleep behind the wheel while you were in the drive—through, right? rayshard brooks, who had been celebrating his daughter's birthday, said he was doing no harm. i'm not causing any problems. well, we got to make sure that you're safe to op

the health secretary, matt hancock has said the government is preparing to set out "another step" ine the uk out of lockdown. he told the bbc‘s andrew marr show more details would be announced this week, ahead of a further easing of the restrictions at the start ofjuly. mr hancock said any change to the two—metre social distancing rule would come with other safety measures. here's our political correspondent helen catt. could two metres be cut to just one? the government is due to announce the result of a review in the next week. this morning, the health secretary said he very much hoped the distance could be brought down, suggesting other measures could make up for the missing metre. we've seen in lots of the retail that's open, lots of shops, perspex screens. obviously, you can be closer than two metres with a perspex screen, and the risk of transmission is very, very low. masks also make an impact, hence the rule that masks must be worn on public transport and in hospital. wearing a face covering in other places like shops is currently only recommended. a leading expert in viruses

and that guidance that matt hancock was setting out now in terms of the details of it, able to meet six people, for example, shielding and being at the end of july, do you think that timescale is appropriate, is that right?” july, do you think that timescale is appropriate, is that right? i think it will come as i shock to a lot of people. kind of how quickly this has happened. there won't be of anxiety about going out, people who have not been outside for quite a long time, i think they really want to be reassured and he will want to see the published guidance and be able to have that opportunity to read their weight and really think through what peoples own individual risk is. given that anxiety, there was a question that was raised once 01’ was a question that was raised once or twice during the briefing today about what happened to people who have been shielding don't actually wa nt to have been shielding don't actually want to go back to their place of work because they don't necessarily feel enough safeguards are in place at that workplace? whether they should then be entitled for

earlier the uk health secretary, matt hancock, repeated his call for people not to take part becausef spreading coronavirus. elsewhere in the uk, protestors in the city of bristol pulled down a statue of the 17th century slave trader, edward colston — a number of landmarks in bristol are named after him. he was a philanthropist locally as well. here in london, the demonstration began at 2.00pm, with protestors kneeling in a tribute to george floyd. the 46—year—old black man killed in minneapolis. yesterday's demonstrations in london saw 29 people arrested after clashes with police — and 1a officers were injured. police chief dame cressida dick urged protesters to "find another way" of making their views heard, which does not involve coming out on the streets of london. 0ur correspondent, chi chi izundu, is in central london. that is, she was in central london earlier, but i think we can go to oui’ earlier, but i think we can go to our home affairs correspondent. tom symonds, is at downing street in central london, where crowds are beginning to gather. what is happening? there has bee

i have to disagree with matt hancock saying the disease does not discriminate. reports it discriminates against us but even in those circumstances people are taking to the street. they're not doing it lightly and people are talking about social distancing but is it -- it talking about social distancing but is it —— it isa talking about social distancing but is it —— it is a issue that does and last any longer. there were some incidences of violence yesterday in central london around whitehall. what would you say about that? we need to focus on justice. it has been over 1000 deaths in police custody in the last ten years. there has been violence on the streets from the police would stop and search and we have no justice for that. i find it search and we have no justice for that. ifind it very search and we have no justice for that. i find it very difficult to get upset and emotional that police are having to deal with the disruption that has been brought on oui’ disruption that has been brought on our community since we have been here. what would you say about th

even sits matt hancock made that announcement without warning and notice, there has been at least fiveto close because of teachers testing positive. there have been the local supermarket having to close because of positive testing there. and there's been food processing plants that have had to close, and these are processing pla nts close, and these are processing plants where many of my constituents will be going to work. so, all of the conditions seem to allay itself to now that we have a situation where we are ten days on from that and in initial announcement of a problem, ten days on, and there doesn't seem to be a positive progress that says that we are now safe, we a re progress that says that we are now safe, we are now in recovery, we are 110w safe, we are now in recovery, we are now moving forward, and therefore, we cannot trust, and i cannot trust, what it is that the government are 110w what it is that the government are now saying, because they are briefing all over the place in terms of briefing the possibility of a lockdown. i don't think we should ta ke lockdown. i don't

matt hancock, health secretary, 5aid authorities.‘s not a power we have. we have 15 miles of coastline. people here live on the beach, it‘5 coastline. people here live on the beach, it‘s not like a private beach at the end of road where can shut off the road. people are living directly by the sand, so that‘s just not practical. what we did yesterday was trying to bring all the agencies together so we were able to do things like the police issuing a section 35 di5per5al order at one point because of the bad behaviour, we we re point because of the bad behaviour, we were able to get extra patrols to stop the overnight camping we have 5een stop the overnight camping we have seen on the beaches, we were able to recruit in people from other counties and ask them for staff we can use to try to deal with the problem. let‘s go 23, good morning, leader of sefton council, what‘s happened at thornbury beach so far? —— to the ian maher. so far we have lovely weather and people coming down in their thousands to our 22 miles of coastline, but the

the health secretary, matt hancock, made great play in recent weeks of the plans to boost testing.0 tests per day. currently, just over 50,000 tests available. i can announce that we have met our goal. but today, he's been criticised by the head of the uk statistics watchdog over the numbers. watchdog over the numbers, who casts doubt over how many tests have actually been carried out and on how many people. in his letter, sir david norgrove welcomes the addition of some new data, but adds... the health secretary was challenged by labour in the commons. the uk statistics authority have written to him today, saying that his figures are still "far from complete and comprehensive," that the testing statistics still fall well short of standards in the code and that it is not surprising that testing data is mistrusted. i mean, this is quite damning, i have to say to the secretary of state. we will work with the uk statistics authority to make sure that they are happy with how we're publishing that data, to make sure that we get the data published in a reasonable and sensible way. the da

r rate is in countries and suggesting that is higher in the northwest and the southwest and so matt hancock at the press conference was asked how are you going to deal with this? does this mean that you are going to finally stop bringing local lockdowns and he suggested that the problem in the northwest is actually a challenge and that is something that could be quite possible there. but in the question is how do you do you do the whole region? and how do people respond to that? realm and into the lockdown together as a country. if you say to people in one area that you cannot do something while the rest of the country is starting to open up again, it will be interesting to see whether people stick to that or not? if you look at the entire island, there have already been three different ways of doing this, wales, england and northern ireland. but would it be practicalfor northern ireland. but would it be practical for liverpool to be cut off? with the people he signed a cordon around the cities in the northwest saying to people that they can't go there? do you know how the government would

actually, matt hancock got into a bit of a ke rfuffle matt hancock got into a bit of a kerfuffle thiscame to as well. thank you, norman. we will see you later. it is prime minister's questions at mid—day, more from norman late and full coverage on bbc news. a uk government watchdog has suggested the home office has no idea how many people are in the uk illegally. the national audit office says the department responsible for tracking cases hasn't seen an up—to—date estimate in 15 years. the home office says it's working "tirelessly" to tackle illegal migration and remove those with no right to remain. facebook says it is taking action to prevent interference in the us presidential election in november. the compa ny‘s vice presidential election in november. the company's vice president, the former uk deputy prime minister nick clegg, says foreign state media will be banned from advertising on the platform during the election period. facebook has been criticised for its recent decision to allow controversial posts by president trump to remain on the platform unedited. the chinese capital

the health secretary matt hancock says the scheme has been successful.sunday suggest nearly 11,500 covid—19 cases were reported to test and trace during this time. of those just over 1,800 had provided information about their close contacts. the woman my colleague victoria derbyshire has been speaking to is a nurse, and has worked around 38 hours in total so far over several shifts earning £17.35 an hour. she says she hasn't made one call in that time and feels guilty for being paid to ‘sit idle‘. victoria spoke to ‘becky‘ yesterday evening — it‘s not her real name because she asked to remain anonymous. it was on the downing street briefing on wednesday by matt hancock when i found out the system was going live on thursday morning. since the system has gone live, i‘ve worked 38 hours as a contact tracer. i say worked, i‘ve been available to work as a contact tracer since it went live. and i‘m yet over 38 hours to make a single phone call or be assigned a case. so you've worked 38 hours as a clinical contract tracer on shift since the system went live and

but you've also going to tracing out based on apple and google technology for health secretary matt hancock says his country's prototype wasn't working with i phones he declined to say when a new app would be ready and. it's turning out to be a bad year for wildlife tourism a strict lock down in south africa is seeing the $3000000000.00 euro industry implode at lily dale village next to the kruger national park game reserve locals a fight for survival. elephants rhinos. this impressive wildlife normally attracts a 1000000 visitors a year to the kruger national park but right now they're finding things noticeably quieter than usual the park was closed to tourists in march because of the coronavirus it's a threat to people like him being a long one and his livelihood depends on the park's tourists. this vehicle was delivered a few days before the look down it never had a single tourist on it and yet we still have to pay the bank ever since every single month the future if you own $1.00 in this team of 13 has never looked more bleak. bordering a famous kruger park this community relies on inte