borisjohnson house written to keir starmer in the afternoon saying keir starmer is the one who is misleadingd get to the ins and outs of the guidance, but ultimately if you take a step away, i think care home deaths are really big problem, but they are also a problem for this government because there are lots of questions that need to be asked about the decision to make patients in hospitals move back to care homes where in some cases they didn't have coronavirus test. david, what do you think was? sir keir starmer accused of politicizing the issue rather than working with the conservatives. but it is an important point to have made? absolutely, there is no question that now, we have a serious politician and forensic lawyer questioning the prime minister at prime minister's questions. and as katie says, that is much more newsworthy as a result. 0n katie says, that is much more newsworthy as a result. on a slightly more frivolous note, if i might, those of us of a certain age are jealous of any man who at that age has plenty of hair. boris seems to have returned to his tousled look in the com

starmer: mr.speaker, i did pay tribute last week, and i am glad the prime minister has now said that the target now is 200,000 tests a day by the end of this month. but, of course, just having a target is not a strategy. what is needed is testing, tracing and isolation. that is the strategy. contact tracing was happening in the u.k., but it was abandoned in mid-march. we were told at the time that this was because it was "not an appropriate mechanism," but yesterday the deputy chief medical officer said that it was to do with testing capacity. so can the prime minister clarify the position for us? just why was contact tracing abandoned in mid-march and not restarted sooner? >> prime minister. p.m. johnson: as i think is readily apparent to everybody who has studied the situation, and i think the scientists would confirm, the difficulty in mid-march was that the tracing capacity we had, it had been useful, as he rightly says,, in the containment phase of the epidemic. that capacity was no longer us

keir starmer said intervention is very significant.ight newspaper over years ofjeremy corbyn sobbing the media perhaps that patriotism as well. the labour party was criticised for not being patriotic enough. keir starmer is hammering at home. stunning picture of the second world war veteran. saluting from the window. and will just end with a look at some of the photographs and the express and the mirror. of course everything is changed, all those 1945 style tea parties, street parties and stuff are going to be done with social distancing. quite interesting just looking at the faces of these reproduce pictures in color. do you think it's right that the paper should be making there's a wartime link with what were going through now? because it is very different, is in a? it is. butl now? because it is very different, is in a? it is. but i think it's quite delicately done across the papers. it they are re—coloring of the pictures are really quite beautiful. the comparison being made is really to remind people to respect the freedoms that t

i think he struggles with keir starmer as an opponent. and detailed and he is a former lawyer is people like to point out. you can see that when he goes and he goes through the various things of the government has done lives of the evidence. and i think that's difficult for boris johnson because he is quite famously not a details person in this not to the same degree and you have bit of a clash in different styles and i think it is keir starmer who was the more commanding presence but we are only a couple of sessions in and if the prime minister does more prep, perhaps they may change. perhaps to cut a little bit, the prime minister does have a lot going on right now, which is why his performance is as strong as it could be. if it seems to me that boris is much more to play off them to really feel. there have been times in this week's prime minister's questions when he was looking behind him, to see his mps, but because of the virtual parliament, only a handful in the chamber,. the prime minister decided to not raise taxes borisjohnson ha

what keir starmer was trying to do today was get an accurate picture of how many people had died.at there are 18,000 extra deaths, more than we would normally take, from care homes in april, yet the government figure for care home deaths from the virus is much more, and he simply asked borisjohnson to explain the disparity between those two figures. this is what irresponsible opposition should do. the least the public have a right to is how many people this virus is going, particularly at a time with the government is trying to ease the work done and get people back to work. we can only do that if we are properly on top of the death rate from this virus, which in this country has sadly been very high. from this virus, which in this country has sadly been very highlj would put it to the fact that we are on top of the figures coming out, we are monitoring rate of infection, and to go back to our earliest point, going back and try do say that this guidance on march 12 was not correct and why did i say this, it did not achieve anything. it did not save lives. what does save lives isa

whereas keir starmer is arguing the opposite. you're right.t the four nations of the united kingdom are going to come out of this lockdown a different stages. it's just inevitable despite us going down into lockdown together, but i think there will be a different story in terms of the regions, especially in england because it would be very hard to stop people travelling from birmingham to manchester or birmingham to manchester or birmingham to manchester or birmingham to london. you could stop people going to the more remote parts, cornwall and possibly the highlands in scotland, but nothing outside of the four nations, there's going to have to be a united approach. perhaps nicola sturgeon and the other devolved nations, the lea ks and the other devolved nations, the leaks that and the other devolved nations, the lea ks that came and the other devolved nations, the leaks that came out today, that spurred them to say we are probably going to have to take a different approach, because we're not going to go about lifting these restriction that we

i think something is wider going on for keir starmer.day, but he also talked about international death comparisons and britain's unenviable record in the number of deaths. i think he is trying to establish a narrative that the government has been slow to respond to the crisis, perhaps slower than some other nations, so when the time comes and we are out of the immediate crisis, he will then try to build up a picture that perhaps a different government or different prime minister could have acted sooner. iain watson at westminster, thank you. and more details coming later today about that sum the prime minister announced in the commons about more money for infection control within the care home sector. we've had the latest figures from the department of health and social care. as of 5pm yesterday, of those who had tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, 33,186 have died. that's an increase of 49a on yesterday's figures. more than 33,000 people across the uk have now died having tested positive for coronavirus. those figures

keir starmer said what was needed was to test, trace and isolate.said he was confident progress on testing and tracing could be made. already, we've recruited 2a,000 trackers. and by the 1st ofjune, we will have 25,000. they will be capable of tracking the contacts of 10,000 new cases a day. and to understand the importance of that statistic, i should just remind him that, today, the new cases stand at 2,a00. and i hope therefore that he will abandon his slightly negative tone and support it. keir starmer. 34,000 deaths is negative. of course i'm going to ask about that. and quite right, too. the prime minister knows. he says feigned ignorance. for ten weeks, there's been no tracing, unlike germany and south korea. and tracing is critical. there's no getting away from that. we have growing confidence that we will have a test, track and trace operation that will be world—beating. and, yes, it will be in place, it will be in place byjune 1. keir starmer moved on to ask the prime minister to exempt more key workers from abroad from having to pay a surc

he was question on the spacer keir starmer on pmqs. —— question on this by sir keir starmer.it is pressure from opposition, backbenchers and his own party who are not happy about it. this is a completely unjust surcharge, asking nhs workers to pay twice, to pay a surcharge for a service in which they are working in such hard, awful conditions, saving lives, is completely glacially unjust. but i think now that they come and has you turned on that, we need to look at why anybody‘s pain that surcharge. no migraine should be paying twice to be using the nhs stop —— no migrant. the nhs was for people who reside in the uk, not for people who reside in the uk, not for people with a particular colour passport. everybody should access to health in this country, it is one of the most basic rights. thoughts from giles, what do you make on this? they said it was not his finest hour, he got the figures wrong about what it was going to cost the nhs. yes, i mean, look, good government, good leaders, it is all about admitting when url and changing your mind and rectifying that and i think it

keir starmer.id not have a covid status, but were symptomatic, that word discharge into the care homes. from the 15th of april, i quote, negative tests are not required prior to transfers or missions into ca re prior to transfers or missions into care homes. what is protective about that? as he knows full well, of course he is right to draw attention to what has happened in our care homes and we mourn the loss of every victim, but no one was discharged into a care home this year without the express authorisation of a clinician. and as i put it to him, who have the interest of those patients at hard, and as i said to him last week, which he does not seem to have remembered, actually, the number of patients discharged from hospitals into care homes was 40% down in march onjanuary. the guidance was changed to reflect the change in the epidemic and that guidance was made available to care homes, and of course, since they ca re homes, and of course, since they care homes action began we have seen a shar

care starmer has been quite careful in his criticism of the government —— care starmer.s as safely as possible. —— kier starmer. there are around 80,000 tests that have been completed, but around 20,000 not necessarily processed and conducted. there are a lot of tests that are just home kits and they been sent off to private homes and they haven't been completed from beginning to end, so it's probably not what people would think of when they say 120,000 tests have been completed. look at the ft now. i remember a couple months ago, it was a tough time for everyone. food was not on the shelf and people worried about the supply. now europeans are urged to feast their way through state, chips and cheese gluts. france is calling on the french to do what they can for cheese. not a bad inc. to do. not people would need to debate that. one of the problems in the uk is that without restau ra nts problems in the uk is that without restaurants being able to open, its not being sold so there's a campaign a p pa re ntly not being sold so there's a campaign apparently in the uk encour

pm starmer: -- starmer: thank you, mr. speaker.can i welcome the prime minister back and say it is good to see him back in parliament, and i congratulate him publicly on the birth of his son. mr. speaker, when the prime minister returned to work a week ago monday, he said many people were looking at the "apparent success" of the government's approach, but yesterday we learned, tragically, at least 29,427 people in the u.k. have now lost their lives to this dreadful virus. that is now the highest number in europe. it is the second-highest in the world. that is not success or apparent success. so can the prime minister tell us, how on earth did it come to this? sir hoyle: prime minister? pm johnson: mr. speaker, first of all of course, every death is a tragedy, and he is right to draw attention to the appalling statistics, not just in this country but of course around the world. i think i would echo really in answer to his question what we , have heard from professor david spiegelhalter and others, stage, at this stage, i do not thin

that was sir keir starmer.he latest from our political correspondent nick eardley in westminster. the prime minister was criticised last night after his televised address for a lack of clarity, spreading some confusion, that was the criticism from some people. we have had a lot more detail today about the government plans for easing the lockdown. i think we have quite a goodidea lockdown. i think we have quite a good idea now of what the government plans to do in england over the next few weeks, provided they can keep that r rate of reinfection down. also some clarity on what is happening this week, again in england, when it comes to slightly easing some of those restrictions. as we know, people who cannot work from home are being actively urged to go back to work. that covers things like manufacturing and construction. in the next few hours, potentially quite soon, we're going to get the guidelines for workplaces. and a sense of what the government wants to happen in individual workplaces to make sure they are

so starmer has already had an impact.ll get a chance later today to question johnson on this latest part of the plan. francine: what does labour party actually want, after the statement by boris johnson, starmer saying it raises more questions than answers? what hehink in a sense can do is afford to sit back a bit and watch the government make mistakes and get itself into trouble. to try and help the government. there is a lot of political game to be made from pointing out the mistakes at the same time. keir starmer has the unions on board, saying they are not going to advise workers to go back until johnson has made it completely clear that it was safe to go back and workplaces by changing the law. that is something the government is reluctant to do at the moment. francine: thank you so much, tim ross there. coming up, we will hear from the austrian chancellor. that is in exclusive conversation later on bloomberg markets. this is bloomberg. ritika: this is "bloomberg surveillance." i'm ritika gupta. indreds of department

at prime minister's questions the labour leader, sir kier starmer, challenged mrjohnson to explain whys show there were an additional 10,000 unexplained deaths in care homes in april. the prime minister acknowledged deaths had been "too high" but outbreaks in care homes were coming down. here's our political correspondent iain watson. the lockdown is slowly easing in england. the westminster remain subdued. labour had long called for an exit strategy but criticised the prime minister of cosmic plan its lack of clarity and for being too slow to get on top of the crisis. so keir starmer began by questioning the government response to infections in care homes for the ca re infections in care homes for the care home residents were granted for about four in ten deaths from coronavirus recently. does the promise to accept the government was too slow to protect people in care homes? the prime minister it seemed to anticipate the question as he had a fund ready to announce. what we've seen a fund ready to announce. what we've seenis a fund ready to announce. what we've seen isa a fund ready to

keir starmer. to assure the prime minister, i'm not expressing my own view. to him the evidence of experts to the committees yesterday. we have a growing confidence that we will have a test, track and trace operation that will be world beating, and, yes, it will be in place, it will be in place byjune the 1st. the snp's westminster leaderjoined calls to exempt more key workers from abroad from having to pay a surcharge to use the health service. people migrating to these nations and choosing to work in our nhs and our care sector must have this government's cruel nhs surcharge removed and removed immediately. will the prime minister make that pledge today, or will he clap on thursday hoping that no—one really notices that he's giving with one hand and raking it in with the other? well, boris johnson didn't answer that directly, but he had earlier been asked a similar question by keir starmer and told him that changing the system would leave a hole in the nhs budget. like him, i've been the personal beneficiary of people, or carers who've come from abroad and

, who says as you can see borisjohnson is starmer, who says as you can see boris johnson is right starmerosal to remove the nhs charge for health professionals and care workers this isa professionals and care workers this is a victory for common cease psi. —— decency. so sir keir starmer claiming a victory there because this san issue he raised yesterday at prime minister's questions. issue he raised yesterday at prime minister's questions. over £20 million raised by captain tom moore has been handed out to nhs charities across the country. each charity has been given a grant of £35,000 from the fund and will be issued with a second grant based on the size of the trust that they each serve. organising the work is the team at nhs charities together, a federation of over 250 charitable organisations that support the nhs. ellie orton is the chief executive, and joins me now from warwick. ellie, what sort of charities are getting this money first of all? thank you, so so nhs charities together is a, is the way the nhs can receive hold and spend charitable funds, and so, we grant the funds tha

he was responding to accusations from the labour leader, keir starmer, that the government had been slow to react. the prime minister also revealed that some lockdown measures could be eased as soon as monday. our political correspondent nick eardley reports. not much feels normaljust now, not at westminster, not around the country. here though scrutiny of the government's strategy goes on and questions are being asked, after the uk's death toll overtook italy's to become the highest in europe so far. after a six—week absence, during which he had coronavirus, the prime minister heading back to parliament to face some of those questions, for the first time from new labour leader xi keir starmer. i'm looking forward to it and i'm glad to see he's back in parliament.” forward to it and i'm glad to see he's back in parliament. i would like to welcome the prime minster back to his rightful place in the chamber. his government was accused of acting too slowly at the start of the crisis. at least 29,427 people in the uk have now lost their lives to this dreadful virus. that's now the highest nu

at pmqs, sir keir starmer began by questioning the government's response to infections in care homes.s accounted for about four in ten deaths from coronavirus recently. does the prime minister accept the government was too slow to protect people in care homes? the prime minister seemed to anticipate the question, as he had a fund ready to announce. what we've seen is a concerted action plan to tackle what has unquestionably been an appalling epidemic in care homes and a huge exercise in testing is going on, a further £600 million i can announce today for infection control in care homes. the number of deaths in care homes for april was a staggering 26,000. that's three times the average. 18,000 additional deaths this april. using government figures only 8000 are recorded as covid deaths and that leaves 10,000 additional and unexplained care home deaths this april. since the care homes action plan began we are seeing an appreciable and substantial reduction notjust in the number of outbreaks but also in the number of deaths. i want to stress to the house and also to the country that sol

in prime minister's questions with keir starmer.ows pressure from the labour leader and also tory backbenchers. the international edition of the international type —— the financial times focuses on hong kong says china risks reigniting protest by imposing security law. the paper also has a story, in fact a headline on coronavirus, securing millions of doses of an imprisoned vaccine. the mail asks could this be the biggest virus hope we have had pondering if the antibody test, together with a 20 minute swab test, could get the nation back to work. the mirror is taking on the roll—out of the antibody test, says it could bea game of the antibody test, says it could be a game changer in the fight against the virus. the times says the so—called immunity certificates to free people from social distancing are being considered again by ministers alongside its main picture, sun—seekers could return a locked down to square one. similar theme in the telegraph. a police spot checks to enforce quarantine, the paper says mps will be asked to supp

get this report from laura kuenssberg on boris johnson's first prime minister's questions with keir starmerters of commuters. westminster quiet, masks sometimes. but not lonely any more. one new normal has begun. weeks after keir starmer became the labour leader, the first of his weekly chance to put the prime minister under pressure. i'm looking forward to it and i'm glad to see he's back in parliament. how are you going to handle the new labour leader? with boris johnson back at work, back at the despatch box, too. i would like to welcome the prime minister back to his rightful place in the chamber. but no hiding place from the rising coronavirus toll, now tipping 30,000. that's now the highest number in europe. it's the second highest in the world. that's not success or apparent success, so can the prime minister tell us how on earth did it come to this? he is right to draw attention to the appalling statistics not just in this country, but of course around the world. at this stage, i don't think that international comparisons and the data is yet there to draw all the conclusions that we

keir starmer did very much focus his mind around what he would say was a moral issue.t some of the very people who were protecting the nhs, possibly helping borisjohnson himself when he was ill — care workers from outside the economic area — were going to have to be charged to use the very service that they were working in and protecting? borisjohnson held his fire in response to keir starmer and stuck to his guns in response — i think what changed for the government, and for him personally, because he said he had thought about it a lot, which was revealing, was that a number of conservative mps said straight off they were not going to support it. and all of a sudden you are presented with this image of what is the right thing to do? it's a hackneyed phrase, and the common—sense of keir starmer allowing some of those tory mps to be able to say we are not going to back it despite a thumping majority that borisjohnson has, they changed their minds. and as a final point it will be interesting to see what happens to the status of care workers, particularly in a post—brexit

the leader of the opposition, sir keir starmer.parts of europe. in france, some shops and most primary schools are re—opening. in spain, people can meet in groups of ten if they keep their distance. but badly—affected areas, including madrid and barcelona, are excluded. germany too has been gradually unlocking, though the process has been thrown into doubt as the rate of infection there appears to be rising again. gavin lee reports. a coffee on the terrace of a seville bar this morning. a moment that could be taken for granted before the lockdown, now, after two months of strict confinement, cafe life is a possibility across much of spain, provided customers stay outside. small shops, as well as museums and theatres, are back in business too, with confinement rules in place. but the bigger cities and worst hit areas of madrid, barcelona and valencia are still exempt. this hotel in the capital was granted special permission to reopen today. translation: health and safety measures are being taken, both for the employees and for the g

keir starmer did very much focus his mind around what he would say was a moral issue.ight but some of the very people who were protecting the very people who were protecting the nhs, possibly helping boris johnson himself when he was ill, ca re johnson himself when he was ill, care workers from outside the economic area, were going to have to be charged to use the very service that they were working in and protecting? borisjohnson that they were working in and protecting? boris johnson held that they were working in and protecting? borisjohnson held his fire in response to keir starmer and i think what changed for the government and for him personally, because he said he had thought about ita because he said he had thought about it a lot, which was revealing, was that a it a lot, which was revealing, was thata numberof it a lot, which was revealing, was that a number of conservative mps said state of they were not going to support it, and all of a sudden you are presented with this image of what is the right thing to do? it's a hackneyed phrase, and the coitiitioi'i‘se

he was challenged in the commons by the new labour leader, sir keir starmer, who said that the uk's highr political editor laura kuenssberg reports. small clusters of commuters. westminster quiet, masks sometimes. but not lonely any more. one new normal has begun. weeks after keir starmer became the labour leader, the first of his weekly chance to put the prime minister under pressure. i'm looking forward to it and i'm glad to see he's back in parliament. how are you going to handle the new labour leader? with borisjohnson back at work, back at the despatch box, too. i would like to welcome the prime minister back to his rightful place in the chamber. but no hiding place from the rising coronavirus toll, now tipping 30,000. that's now the highest number in europe. it's the second highest in the world. that's not success or apparent success, so can the prime minister tell us how on earth did it come to this? he is right to draw attention to the appalling statistics notjust in this country, but of course around the world. at this stage, i don't think that international comparisons and the

under questioning in parliament, his first appearance opposite the new labor leader, sir keir starmer, the prime minister said he "bitterly regrets" the crisis in care homes, where death rates are still rising. he said he intends to outline plans for coming out of lockdown this weekend. president trump has said the pandemic has hit the united states harder than the japanese bombing of pearl harbour or the attacks of 9—11. his secretary of state, mike pompeo, has again criticised china for failing to warn the world about the virus in time to prevent a global catastrophe. the german chancellor has come to an agreement with regional leaders on relaxing the country's lockdown. shops, hotels, and restaurants will re—open and football matches will re—open — although social distancing will remain. but restrictions could be re—imposed, if new outbreaks of the virus occur. now on bbc news, wednesday in parliament. hello again, and welcome to wednesday in parliament. as the uk's coronavirus death toll tops 30,000, questions for the prime minister. that is not success or apparent success. can th

borisjohnson held his fire in response to keir starmer — i think what changed for the government, and he said he had thought about it a lot, which was revealing, was that a number of conservative mps said straight off they were not going to support it, and all of a sudden you are presented with this image of what is the right thing to do? it's a hackneyed phrase. and the common—sense of keir starmer allowing some of those tory mps to be able to say we are not going to back it despite a thumping majority that borisjohnson has, they changed their minds, and as a final point it will be interesting to see what happens to the status of care workers particularly in a post—brexit immigration system, will they will be elevated out of this low skilled area of work, which would change where they would come on a points system. stephanie, it has been a difficult week of tough headlines for the treasury. we have record borrowing, terrible retail figures. do you get a sense at this point that the treasury has a plan for this new post—pandemic world? well, i think it's got a good short—term plan. i'

starmer: good morning. reporter: good morning. i'm looking forward to it, and i'm glad to see he's back in parliament. reporter: how are you going to handle the new labour leader, prime minister? with boris johnson back at work, back at the despatch box, too. i would like to welcome the prime minister back to his rightful place in the chamber. but no hiding place from the rising coronavirus toll, now tipping 30,000. that's now the highest number in europe. it's the second highest in the world. that's not success or apparent success, so can the prime minister tell us how on earth did it come to this? he's right to draw attention to the appalling statistics not just in this country, but of course around the world. at this stage, i don't think that international comparisons and the data is yet there to draw all the conclusions that we want. comparing different countries' statistics is difficult, but it's not irrelevant. and every number is another heartbreak. just nine members of ron beard's family bade farewell to him at a tiny fune

lucy, was this something that you picked up from the first pms cues between keir starmer and the primerms of the questioning of the prime minister? yes, there certainly area prime minister? yes, there certainly are a lot of questions for the government to answer. and in a sense, asjohn government to answer. and in a sense, as john rightly government to answer. and in a sense, asjohn rightly points out, we have the worst death row delete not toll in europe. taken over 30,000 which is quite extraordinary. i think that there is a sense while many will be looking to exercising their freedom is many will be looking to exercising theirfreedom is a bit more many will be looking to exercising their freedom is a bit more from next week, there is still a lot of fear and concern in other quarters of the country. to me it was more striking in the press conference this afternoon sort of really suggesting that ministers wanted to give confidence to the public. that they could feel like they could go outside and go back to work again. some quarters of the country might have to be persuaded and coaxed

through the screens at was the first time for boris johnson at pmqs and he was responding to keir starmercourse observing social distancing guidelines, it is pretty empty here because there are not the volume of people, working from homejust like eve ryo ne people, working from homejust like everyone else. in that vein as tomorrow marks the legal review for the current phase of restrictions on the current phase of restrictions on the lockdown the prime minister amongst others that confirm in his address on sunday he will set out his thinking and government plan in terms of the next phase of restrictions and dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. interestingly because he had macarthur —sized for not coming to parliament first he said he was announcing some of those measures on sunday in order for them to start to take place just the next day. let's talk about that with some mps. welcome. laura, listening to the prime minister at pmqs, would you like to see outm announce on sunday parts of the economy reopening? i think what the nation is looking for on sunday is to at least hear what the t

better than he has done over the course of the last 2 bruising encounters with the label edict here starmer over the past fortnight again facing forensic an emotional simply rendered questioning on perceived government failures during the. coded 19 epidemic but seemingly better prepared able at least to push on from questions over the care home sector the crisis there that speeds so appalling and which the government really can't offer a satisfactory answers to quite why 40 percent of the officially registered death toll occurred among the elderly and most vulnerable but boris johnson able to reach into his bag and pull out numbers on the vastly enhanced testing capacity this country now has saying that 125 care homestar 1000 staff have now been tested and the death toll there is for all of the real thrust of labor's attack though was on test trace and isolate mechanisms starmer wanting to know when these measures would be in place so crucial to lifting the lock down safely without risking a 2nd wave and wanted to know quite why the government had given up all efforts at testing traces far

is for all of the real rust of labor's attack though was on test trace and isolate mechanisms here starmer wanting to know when these measures would be in place so crucial to lifting the lock down safely without risking a 2nd wave and wanting to know quite why the government had given up all effort at testing traces far back as mid march he said this is nearly 10 weeks in a critical period without effective trace. a huge hole in our defenses he said here's how boris johnson responded i am confident that we will have a test and trace operation that will enable us if all the other conditions are satisfied if only it is entirely provisional that will enable us to make progress. so boris johnson not exactly overflowing with conviction there but able i think to redeem this session with a real measurable policy pledge 25000 tracers in place by june the 1st that's monday week able to deal with $10000.00 new cases in terms of looking at new outbreaks and controlling them in the future is the lock down lifts it's the sort of policy promise that will restore a measure of public confidence particular

i know, the leader of the opposition, keir starmer. cani the opposition, keir starmer.r returned to work a week ago monday, he said that many people were looking at the apparent success of the government's approach. but yesterday we learned, tragically, that at least 29,000 —— have lost their lives to this dreadful virus. that is now the highest number in europe. it is the second highest in the world. that is not success or apparent success, so can the promise to tell us how on earth did it come to this? mr speaker, every death is a tragedy and he is right to draw attention to the appalling statistics, notjust in this country, but of course around the world. i would echo what we have heard from professor david and others that at this stage, i don't think that international comparisons and the data is yet there to draw on the conclusions that we want. what i can tell him is that we want. what i can tell him is that at every stage is which of the decisions that we did, we were governed by one overriding principle and end and that was to save lives and end and that was to

the advice did say infection was unlikely until mid—march but number 10 said mr starmer had quoted itntext. the government yesterday announced £600 million of new funding to residential homes to stop the spread of infection. it's to purchase protective equipment stop staff rotation and the use of agency carers, to reduce the chance of covid getting into care homes. while some in the care sector believed the cash is coming too late, the government insists it was not forgotten. even prior to that testing, there was a policy whereby an individual who is moving into a care home would be retained, if you like, in safe isolation within the care home because it was recognised that this was a risk group, so they are all having a test now but they would have been treated in much the same way for quite a few weeks before this. meanwhile, the bbc learned about the increased risk from the virus facing people with a learning disability. this programme has been told by care watchdog for england last month there was a 175% increase in the death rate in places where they may live compared to the same

we had sir keir starmer yesterday saying he wa nts keir starmer yesterday saying he wants detail about has been lifted and what measures to be taken, a bit more of an explanation. we are expecting that from boris johnson more of an explanation. we are expecting that from borisjohnson on sunday but i suspect that will come up sunday but i suspect that will come up at prime minister ‘s questions at noon. pressure from the labour party about the government's thinking and about the government's thinking and about potentially what happens next. good to talk to you. we will speak later on. theresa may has criticised the response of world leaders to the coronavirus pandemic. the former prime minister said the outbreak was being "treated as a national issue for countries to deal with alone", and there was little evidence of nations co—operating. president trump says the white house coronavirus task force will be winding down within weeks, as the focus shifts to reviving the us economy. during a visit to a mask—manufacturing plant, in arizona, mr trump said the need to get people back to work o

the uk labour party have responded angrily to the developments — sir keir starmer said if he was primer cummings. this was a huge

the uk labour party have responded angrily to the developments — sir keir starmer said if he was primeinister — he would have sacked mr cummings. this was a huge test of the prime minister, and he hasjust failed that test. he has not sacked dominic cummings, he has not called for an investigation, it is treating the british public with contempt. more than 100 are arrested in hong kong, during protests against beijing's new proposed security laws. turkey — which had one of the fastest growing coronavirus outbreaks in the world — says it is turning the tide. and we'll be finding out what life is like onboard a cruise ship during the pandemic — as passengers and crew are trapped onboard waiting to dock. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world — and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. the uk prime minister has staunchly defended his top adviser, dominic cummings, after it emerged he'd driven more than 250 miles from his london home to county durham, following the government's introduction, of it's coronavirus lockdown. bo

it was the first time borisjohnson also had faced sir keir starmer at question time. were congratulations on the birth of his child, but the pleasantries were soon over. when the prime minister returned to work a week ago monday, he said that many people were looking at the apparent success of the government's approach. but yesterday we learned, tragically, that at least 29,427 people in the uk have now lost their lives to this dreadful virus. that's now the highest number in europe. it's the second highest in the world. that's not success or apparent success so can the prime minister tell us how on earth did it come to this? mr speaker, first of all, of course every death is a tragedy and he is right to draw attention to the appalling statistics not just in this country, but of course around the world. and i think i would echo really in answer to his question what we heard from professor david spiegelhouser and others that at this stage, at this stage, i don't think that international comparisons and the data is yet there to draw the conclusions that we want. mr spea

the advice did say infection was unlikely until mid—march but number 10 said mr starmer had quoted ithe government yesterday announced £600 million of new funding to residential homes to stop the spread of infection. it's to purchase protective equipment stop staff rotation and the use of agency carers, to reduce the chance of covid getting into care homes. while some in the care sector believed the cash is coming too late, the government insists it was not forgotten. even prior to that testing, there was a policy whereby an individual who is moving into a care home would be retained, if you like, in safe isolation within the care home because it was recognised that this was a risk group, so they are all having a test now but they would have been treated in much the same way for quite a few weeks before this. meanwhile, the bbc learned about the increased risk from the virus facing people with a learning disability. this programme has been told by care watchdog for england last month there was a 175% increase in the death rate in the places where they may live compared to the same per

so i'm pretty relieved to see keir starmer doing what he's doing.e in the new york times calling on borisjohnson to recruit former prime ministers into advisory council to bring back people with experience into his cabinet to raise the calibre of those around him, given the fact this is a national crisis. yeah, i can see a lot of logic in that. i'm not a big tony blairfan can see a lot of logic in that. i'm not a big tony blair fan myself, can see a lot of logic in that. i'm not a big tony blairfan myself, but every time i've heard him coming up with a strategy for what he would do for easing lockdown for example, there seems to be a lot of sense in it. i think it would be quite a good time to bring in some people with some experience. there's a lot of good will, i think, towards the government. everyone knows it's an unprecedented situation. it's very difficult for boris johnson to unprecedented situation. it's very difficult for borisjohnson to do the right thing. he had to put together this document very quickly. soi together this document very q

keir starmer went on to healthcare. he quoted the mother of a young child.aid in his speech, people encouraged to go back to work, meaning my partner as he works in construction. my partner has explained to his boss cannot happen because we do not have any childcare. i work as well but my bossis childcare. i work as well but my boss is having none of it. i hope i can get some advice. me and my partner have been so stressed all day. i was very clear both with him and with the house earlier in the week that, insofar as people may not be able to go back to work because they do not have the childcare that they do not have the childcare that they need, then their employees must be understanding. the labour leader said to support decisions that would affect millions of life. gaining public confidence is crucial. crucial stop the prime minister says that his decisions were driven by the silence, the data and public health. —— the science. can the prime minister commit to publishing the scientific advice that the decisions were based on? boris johnson said scientifi

sir keir starmer said if he was prime minister, he would have sacked mr cummings.

the challenge was made by the labour leader sir keir starmer, who said the uk government had been "tooct people in care homes". borisjohnson announced a further £600m to improve infection control in care homes in england. the latest official figures show that in the last 24—hour period, 494 deaths were recorded in care homes, in the community and in hospitals in the uk. that brings the overall total to 33,186 deaths linked to coronavirus. our political editor laura kuenssburg has the latest. were the places that provide homes for the vulnerable and elderly ready for this crisis? are they coping now? some managers fear they're being asked to take too much risk, hospitals requesting that they take in elderly people who have tested positive with the virus. we've refused them, and i know a lot of other homes have refused them. it's very hard to control, so why on earth would they ask us to take people who are positive with the virus in a care home? the government says there isn't the evidence that that's happening on a widespread scale. but the prime minister is facing a simple accusation

handling of the pandemic during his first appearance in parliament, opposite the new labour leader, kier starmerstrictions are going to ease in europe's biggest economy with germany unveiling plans to reopen restaurants and schools — while professional football will also resume. but it's not all positive news out of europe with warnings the eu is in for the biggest economic shock since the great depression because of the pandemic. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are lucy fisher, defence editor at the times, and the broadcaster and authorjohn kampfner. many of tomorrow's front pages are in, starting with "stay home advice to be scrapped" — that's the top story on the daily telegraph, referring to the government's plans to adapt the lockdown slogan this weekend. the financial times also focuses on the easing of lockdown restrictions, while at the same time highlighting travel issues, and areas where restrictions could be tightened. the daily mail simply headlines the words "hurrah! "lockdown freedom beckons". the daily express exclaims "