This is bbc news with the latest headlines. Questions over coronavirus Antibody Tests. Theyre being rushed out, according to a group of doctors. Labour says housing secretary, robertjenrick, still has questions to answer after new documents reveal his close relationship with a tory donor, whose £1 billion Housing Scheme he approved against the advice of his own officials. Footage shows a police car being vandalised in brixton in south london amid violent clashes with police last night. Around 2,000 management jobs are being cut at royal mail, the Delivery Service hopes to save £130 million in staffing costs next year. Calls for the governement to do more to tackle over eating as new Research Finds morbidly obese patients are twice as likely to die from covid 19 than those
who are not overweight. Warnings over safety on whats set to be the hottest day of the year. Uv rays could reach record levels. Hello, good morning and welcome to bbc news. Im Annita Mcveigh and you can contact me on twitter about any of our stories Annita Mcveigh. A group 01 14 scientists and academics has criticised the decision to roll out mass covid 19 Antibody Testing in england. In a letter to the british medicaljournal, they say the tests which establish whether someone has been infected are unable to prove immunity
from coronavirus and offer no benefit to hospitals are care and care staff. It adds that they have been rolled out without adequate assessment. Public Health England said all tests had been extensively validated by the manufacturers. 0ur health correspondent, naomi grimley, reports. Immunity remains one of the big mysteries of covid 19. Even if you know you have antibodies, does that mean youre actually immune to the virus and can you still transmit it to other people . Sharp scratch. Antibody tests are already proving popular and last month the government said it had bought 10 million to be used on nhs England Staff as well as some patients who are having their blood taken and want to know if theyve had the virus. But in a letter to the british medicaljournal,11i senior academics question the wisdom of doing that. Theyre worried both about whether the tests have been properly assessed and whether its a good use of resources, given that there
are still so many unknowns. There are lots and lots of problems with these tests. The first is they havent been properly validated and weve got very little data and understanding of what these tests actually mean. These tests are for research and they dont actually tell you, as an individual, whether you are safe or not. In response to the bmj letter, public Health England said it believed its evaluation of the tests was to a high standard. The department of health said that Antibody Testing will play an increasingly Important Role as we move into the next phase of our response to this pandemic. Naomi grimley, bbc news. Lets talk now to two of the signatories of that letter dr helen salisbury, a gp and lecturer at the university of oxford, and Professor William irving from the university of nottingham. Thank you both very much forjoining us thank you both very much forjoining us today. Doctor salisbury, tell us a bit more detail about what your concerns are with Antibody Testing because within the e you say you dont actually know what the results mean when somebody has a test. Absolutely. That is the main problem, because the tests have been brought out very fast and they havent had the usual amount of research we would have to really validate a test. We dont know what the results mean, so there are increasing numbers of people who are fairly sure that they have the virus and some who had positive tests for the actual antigen when they were ill, who are getting negative Antibody Test, which is really interesting. Although having a positive test may tell you you did have it. Having a negative test, were not quite so sure about that. And the other thing is, really, that we normally do tests when we know what to do with the answers. And im really concerned that patients who
will understandably want the test will understandably want the test will be looking to gps to both counselled them before they have the test and explain the results afterwards, and that is a really ha rd afterwards, and that is a really hard artand afterwards, and that is a really hard art and it will take a lot of oui hard art and it will take a lot of ourtime hard art and it will take a lot of our time but we also dont have the a nswer our time but we also dont have the answer is to give them. Professor irving, you are nodding vigorously on the last point from doctor salisbury. Does a test have an impact on how someone is managed, a patient is managed at all . That is the whole point of the diagnostic laboratories we have in hospitals, to help clinicians understand what is wrong with their patients and how best to manage them. So when you have a test where the result is negative, it makes no difference. If it is positive, it makes no difference. There isnt really a huge logic to doing the tests in the first place. We are under pressure in the nhs to be careful with resources, to only do tests which
are meaningful, which a clinician can interpret and which will help with patient care. And the Antibody Test fails on those counts. Just to be crystal clear, sorry, we are talking, just to reemphasise about Antibody Testing, we are not talking about testing to find out if somebody has covid i9 at the point at which they are being given the test. Thats right. The antibodies are a response that an individual makes when they get infected with a microorganism, so the presence of antibodies is evidence of past infection, but doesnt tell you anything about whether the patient is currently infected and in this particular instance, doesnt tell you anything either about whether the patient is protected against future infection. So, doctor salisbury, if it doesnt tell you if you are protected against covid i9 again and also you made the point that people who have had covid i9
definitely are getting negative tests, what is the point of asking la bs to tests, what is the point of asking labs to run at the level of capacity that they are being asked to turn the tests around in 2a hours . The Prime Minister has talked about these Antibody Tests being game changers. Are they, in your opinion . Well, they would be if you could say if you have antibodies, you are immune, you are safe, you can do what you like and you wont get it and you wont pass it to anyone else, but we just cant say that because we just dont know that. So everybody really wanted them to be the idea of a immunity passport, you got antibodies, you are safe, but its not true. People will be very confused. We cant, as clinicians, as scientists, we cant really work out a good reason for this sudden everybody can have an Antibody Test rhetoric, because it doesnt make
sense. It does make sense to be doing lots of tests in the context of research, if we can put together who has had symptoms and who has had a positive test of having the virus before, and what do they antibodies look like and what happens next. If we collected all of that data and did some research on it, which people are doing, that would make sense, but just to people are doing, that would make sense, butjust to roll out the test for anyone who would like it, which is really basically what we have been told, doesnt seem to make any sense at all. Picking up on that, is there, as far as you are aware, any sort of structure, methodical structure, to assess if people are being tested for antibodies, where they are being tested, what parts of they are being tested, what parts of the country, to learn, to garner further information from the tests other than somebody having the antibody or they dont. That is the key question and i dont know the extent to which the antibody results are associated with other data about
the gender, ethnicity, age, occupation of the individual. If that was happening, that would be very valuable as a research exercise but if you want to do a Research Study to understand who in the population has been infected, then you do it in a very different way. You do it in a structured way, you account for geography, gender, age, ethnicity and you do a very careful study and that would be very valuable, and that would be a useful way of spending money on Antibody Test. Butjust inviting someone to come in and have an Antibody Test because they would like to know if they have been infected sort of contradicts most of the principles of the Royal College of pathologists performing any diagnostic test. You say there doesnt seem to be an obstruction to the tests and also is the timing wrong . We could do, and we should be doing a proper epidemiological study to work out
what percentage of the population has been infected and that will impact very significantly on all of the modelling of how the epidemic has gone and we can predict how it is going to go. The Antibody Tests themselves are genuine, and i think themselves are genuine, and i think the results are reasonably robust, but they are being applied in the wrong context. They should be a research exercise for epidemiology but theyjust seem to be offered randomly to anyone who wants that to walk in and have a test and i think it could be done better. If there is, doctor salisbury, a second wave of the virus, be it on a larger scale or in terms of localised spikes, arent these tests useful, because if somebody has had one and they are told, yes, you have got some antibodies and there is a second wave and they dont have a recurrence of covid i9, doesnt that potentially show that they have some sort of immunity from the disease . That is a bit of information we really, really need to know whether once you have got some antibodies, how longer last, do they protect you . How long do they last. But i will come back to my colleagues point that we need to do this in a structured way so we can find out exactly the answers to exactly those sorts of really important questions. Just to explore that finally, in a little bit more detail, if somebody has had an Antibody Test now and there is a second wave of the virus, would they need another test, a further test at that point . I will get a thought from both of you, professor irving, do you want to come in first . That is the way we will find out what the antibodies mean, when the second wave comes, we can compare illness and hospital admission and death arising in patients who have antibodies,
against patients who dont. And we will learn a lot from that. It will be important to test individuals overtime, be important to test individuals over time, there is evidence that antibody levels might decline quite rapidly and some people, so you detect them to start with than two months later you cannot find them. There is so much we need to learn, and we do need to be finding this out, but we need to be doing it in a proper, constructed research environment. Anything more on that point, doctor salisbury . environment. Anything more on that point, doctor salisbury . Itotally agree with that and my concern, may be selfishly, as a gp, is that the resources this will take in general practice both in taking the blood and also all of the counselling we need to patients, who want to understand and wont, so im all for testing when we have some structure to doing it, but it is a bit of a mess at the moment. 0k, doctor helen
salisbury and Professor William irving, thanks for talking to us about that today. The housing secretary, robertjenrick, is facing mounting pressure to resign after he released emails and texts relating to a decision to grant planning permission to a one billion pound Housing Development in east london. Mrjenricks decision to approve the scheme, which was later rescinded, came the day before a local infrastructure levy would have added tens of millions of pounds to the cost of the project. The developer, Richard Desmond, subsequently donated £12,000 to the conservative party. Both men have denied breaking any rules. Lets take a closer look at the timeline of events between robertjenrick and Richard Desmond. The pair first met after sitting next to each other at a conservative fundraising dinner on the 18th of november last year. Robert jenrick admitted they exchanged phone numbers. And in a series of texts mrjenrick said good to spend time with you tonight richard. See you again soon i hope. Two days later, a meeting was arranged for december. On that same day, mr desmond sent a text
in which he referred to a new infrastructure charge that was about to be brought in by the labour run council of Tower Hamlets. The charge would have added millions to the cost of the proposed project. Mr desmonds text said we dont want to give marxists loads of dough for nothing. 0n the 15th of december, robertjenrick texted Richard Desmond to cancel their meeting as he needed to be in parliament for the queens speech. 0n january the 9th this year, the housing secretary urged approval of the £1 billion Housing Development. The scheme was approved the next day. 12 days later, Richard Desmond donated £12,000 to the conservative party. The planning permission was rescinded on 22nd may after towers hamlets accused robertjenrick of bias in his decision over his relationship with Richard Desmond. 0ur assistant Political Editor norman smith is at westminster. A lengthy and somewhat complicated timeline of events, robert, sorry, norman, but what do you think the release of the text and the details of the texts between robertjenrick and Richard Desmond adds to the story. Does it add more pressure for those calls for robertjenrick to resign . It certainly raises an awful lot more questions in what is a fairly tangled tale. At its heart is a fairly fairly tangled tale. At its heart is afairly simple fairly tangled tale. At its heart is a fairly simple thought, did this wealthy developer and tory donor get special access to the minister in charge of planning, basically because he was a tory supporter, and the minister was prepared to go along with him. We dont have a definitive answer to that but certainly in terms of how it looks, it looks bad, because we have at the very beginning the two of them sitting down together at a tory fundraising dinner, the developer
showing him on his phone a promotional video of the development, and then after the dinner the minister stays in touch, text the developer to say its nice to meet you and then the developer is pushing for a meeting, and at the end of it all, the minister gives the go ahead to the project, albeit in the end it was overturned and there are a number of new, i think, developments which we now have and first up is that we know that Robert Jenrick the housing secretary stayed in contact with the developer. In other words, he did not put an iron wall between the two of them as you are meant to do. Secondly, we now know that he overrode the advice of his officials to give the go ahead for this development, and thirdly, he was keen to make sure that the approvalfor the project he was keen to make sure that the approval for the project got through before this new Community Levy was imposed by Tower Hamlets council. Now, none of that is a smoking gun. It does not prove wrongdoing, but in the eyes of many, many people, it will leave them feeling uncomfortable, albeit this morning the business minister was strongly defending the housing secretary. Robertjenrick actually defending the housing secretary. Robert jenrick actually promised a select committee he would publish everything around this decision. He himself has said, look, with the benefit of hindsight he might have done things slightly differently. He doesnt think that he was biased in any way, but the perception of bias that allowed this to happen was the reason that robert pulled this application and allowed another minister to determine it. Application and allowed another ministerto determine it. In application and allowed another minister to determine it. In the messages you just read out, interesting, two words. 0ne, viability, and the other, social housing, and robert wanted to see both things actually happen. More social housing being built, more
housing being built, and a viable development. So, damaging in terms of perception, the idea that a wealthy tory can somehow buy access ona wealthy tory can somehow buy access on a planning development, but is there enough here to force mr jenrick to go . So far, its not clear that there is. Labour at the moment does not appear to be demanding his resignation. They believe there are questions to answer. There doesnt seem to be a ground swell amongst tory mps taking the view that his position is now toxic, and perhaps most importantly, it doesnt appear that borisjohnson is minded to launch any form of enquiry or in any way to release or sack him, so as things stand, yes, robertjenrick is damaged. Is he going to have to walk the plank . It doesnt look like it, at least not yet. Norman, thank you very much. Around 2,000 management jobs are being cut at royal mail. The Delivery Service announced the restructuring in order to save £130 million in staffing costs next year. The company has reported a 31 percent fall in annual profits and says it will also reduce Capital Spending by £300 million across the group during the next two years. Earlier we heard from our correspondent Sean Farrington who explained a little more about the cuts. Not surprisingly, royal mail are saying this morning that the impact of covid 19 has meant they are having to cut costs quicker than they previously thought. They say this morning that 2000 jobs will be going, that consultation will start today. Half of Senior Leaders will be included in that, so that is 2000 managementjobs. We are not talking about the postal workers that many of us will see day to day in our lives. The chief executive of royal mail is saying this morning that the business as a whole has not adapted as quickly as it should have done in the uk in recent years anyway,
falling letter volumes and increasing parcel problems has been a problem for royal mail and that has been exacerbated by coronavirus. Evenif has been exacerbated by coronavirus. Even if letters and parcels becoming more dominant in that business so they will start a consultation on that today and they are the latest ina long that today and they are the latest in a long line of businesses as almost every week we talk about a big Company Announcing majorjob cuts from british airways, bp, royal soros,j lr, cuts from british airways, bp, royal soros, j lr, its cuts from british airways, bp, royal soros,j lr, its getting into the hundreds of thousands when you tot up hundreds of thousands when you tot up thejob hundreds of thousands when you tot up the job losses rolls royce. And royal mail are the latest to say that 2000 jobs will be going. A bbc investigation found that nearly 150 councils have forecast a combined budget shortfall of up to £3. 7 billion during the pandemic. The government says councils in england are being given an unprecedented package of support. The metropolitan police say they are continuing to deal with a large public disorder event which began overnight in south london. 15 officers were injured, none seriously and four people were arrested on assault and public order offences. Unverified images on social media appear to show police cars and other emergency vehicles being damaged by crowds in brixton. 0ur reporter sean dilley is here and we can speak to him now. What more do we know about how this disturbance began . Police received a number of calls via their dispatch system late last night to reports of an unlicensed music event, so there we re an unlicensed music event, so there were crowds in the street around cecilia road in the lambeth and brixton area. When officers turned up brixton area. When officers turned up they describe the crowd turning hostile against a man needing to bring in reinforcements. The crowd can be seen by some of that unverified footage posted to social media being very hostile and throwing things towards officers. Police vehicles were damaged and the
metropolitan police have confirmed that there were a few vehicles that we re that there were a few vehicles that were damaged. Two of the 15 officers injured had to be taken to hospital asa injured had to be taken to hospital as a result of their injuries. And the police saying that what they we re the police saying that what they were doing on the scene was to try to enforce the guidelines, social distancing guidelines, to prevent the spread of covid 19. Distancing guidelines, to prevent the spread of covid19. We know the Police Council guidance is that people should engage in the first insta nce people should engage in the first instance as it was a mass gathering and the crowd did not respond so they use something called a section 35 dispersal order to clear the area and at that point it really did take and at that point it really did take a turn for the worse. We can see on social media from the unverified footage some of those scenes, but some people were apparently goading others on as they were Smashing Police Cars and throwing missiles towards police lines. Is the area quiet now . Yes, the metropolitan police eight they cleared the area in the early hours of the morning. Thank you very much. Morbidly obese patients are twice as likely to die from covid 19 than those who are not
overweight, according to research by public Health England. Campaigners say the pandemic should be seen as an opportunity to help those living with the condition. Fiona trott sent us this report from the north east of england, which has the highest number of obesity related hospital admissions in the country. It was a bit frightening because i thought, what is the correlation between obesity and covid 19. Thought, what is the correlation between obesity and covid19. You start listening to the reports and you hear that people overweight are more risk and then you think, how serious the pandemic is. We know obesity is strongly associated with deprivation, so its no surprise that the north east which has high levels of deprivation has also got high levels of being overweight and obesity. A first walk alone during this pandemic. Michelle knows she is at risk and has been afraid to go out. During lockdown, she has also gained weight, and that worries her. This is the furthest ive been from
home, by myself. Its been very hard getting fresh fruit and veg at the supermarkets. Its a lot better now, but at the beginning it was very difficult. My husband would go and do the shopping to get items and having to go down the next day, but its a lot easier ordering takeaway is. Plus with my stress and anxiety idoa lot of is. Plus with my stress and anxiety i do a lot of comfort eating, but i know its got to stop. Its got to stop. Michelle is not alone. The north east has the highest rate of obesity related hospital admissions in england and almost a quarter of children starting secondary school are obese. Ben used to weigh 20 stone. I never really know what time im going to getting, so it dead easy to pop in and get a chinese meal or pop into the fish and chip shop. He lost weight through a Fitness Programme at sunderland football club. The pandemic makes him want to lose more. Football club. The pandemic makes him want to lose morelj football club. The pandemic makes him want to lose more. I think its got to make you think about your life style got to make you think about your lifestyle changing and things. With the pandemic, it has changed me in a way that i never thought i would change, but i have. And being locked in the house is horrendous, sol think the exercise was an excuse to get out of the house as well. Helping people lose weight is something a local nhs trust is trying to do. It was so concerned about obesity it appointed a specialist consultant in public health. Obesity is complex, so so many factors go into it, notjust the clinical aspects but the social and environmentalfactors the clinical aspects but the social and environmental factors which the clinical aspects but the social and environmentalfactors which mean the nhs, the hospital on its own, cant address this problem and it really needs everybody going in the same direction, so that is Central Government but also the nhs, the local authority, the communities themselves all working together towards it. Hi, caroline, how are you . But campaigners say the government hasnt done enough. Two
years on and nothing has done and these policies have been left to languish and are no closer to becoming reality and in the meantime, the number of children and adults living with obesity has increased. And they should really be a catalyst now for the government to finally step up, take some action and create an environment that makes it easier for everyone, adults and children, to be healthier. The Department Says it is working with local councils to tackle child obesity and has made huge progress already by cutting sugar from half of all drinks on sale. Being vulnerable to covid 19 has changed michelles outlook. Coming out of the pandemic, i feel the michelles outlook. Coming out of the pandemic, ifeel the future, for me, is positive, its bright. Iwill lose weight. My grandkids are still young and i want to be there a long time for them. Some parts of the uk could see temperatures as high as 32
or 33 degrees celsius later, which would make it the hottest day of the year so far. Public heath england has issued a Heat Health Warning and is urging people to check on vulnerable relatives who are self isolating. Jon donnison reports. If you thought yesterday was a scorcher, brace yourself for today. In many parts of the country, wednesday was the hottest day of the year so far with temperatures reaching 32. 6 degrees in southern england. People cooling off any way they can, but that can be dangerous, too. A man has died after getting into difficulty in the river thames in berkshire. Today is expected to be even warmer and there are warnings for people to take care notjust outdoors but inside, too. Some people are particularly vulnerable this year, and theyre people who may be shielding or staying indoors, or people isolated and staying indoors, because theyre either
concerned about infection or theyve just had an infection with covid, so we just want to make sure that everyone looks out for people who are isolated in the heat. Sometimes homes can get very hot, so just to ensure that people dont get overheated. Uv levels are expected to be unusually high, meaning a greater risk of sunburn. And social distancing is an issue. This was the beach in bournemouth yesterday. Elsewhere, this was whitby people were making more of an effort to spread out. With many expected to be holidaying at home this year, how people enjoy the sun safely is likely to be an issue for much of the summer. Temperatures, though, are expected to dip at the weekend. Jon donnison, bbc news. That makes it the Perfect Moment to check the weather forecast. Matt
taylor has that. Lets talk about that heat and those record uv levels. We really need to take care outside today, dont we . We certainly do. A double whammy for those who dont like the heat and if youre spending time outdoors, but lets concentrate on the heat, widely into the 30s in england and wales and glasgow and aviemore could get close to 30 celsius as well but its unusually strong sunshine across the country, particularly across the country, particularly across southern across the country, particularly across southern areas across the country, particularly across southern areas with sunshine levels we are not used to and that means a short amount of time before your skin is damaged, and for many it will be sunshine from dawn to dusk. Cloud in northern scotland, thunderstorms and may be one cropping up in the south west later and then this evening and overnight the storm will blossom in Western Areas and some will be torrential in western scotland and Northern Ireland susceptible and there could be ones breaking out elsewhere as temperatures stay in the teens in some places like this morning will hold at around 20 celsius but tomorrow will be a day of change and
hot and tomorrow will be a day of change and hotand humid tomorrow will be a day of change and hot and humid for some in the east but hit and miss thunderstorms in the west. Hello, this is bbc news with Annita Mcveigh. The headlines. Questions over coronavirus Antibody Tests. Theyre being rushed out, according to a group of doctors. Labour says housing secretary, robertjenrick, still has questions to answer after new documents reveal his close relationship
with a tory donor, whose Housing Scheme he approved against the advice of his own officials. The met police says 15 officers have been injured following violence at an unlicensed street party in south london last night. Around 2,000 management jobs are being cut at royal mail, the Delivery Service hopes to save £130 million in staffing costs next year. New york, newjersey and connecticut have asked people travelling from states where covid 19 cases are rising to go into self isolation for 1h days. Calls for the governement to do more to tackle over eating as new Research Finds morbidly obese patients are twice as likely to die from covid 19 than those who are not overweight. Sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, heres mike bushell. Done a good morning to you, mike. How are you. Good morning. After a wait of 30 years, liverpool will be crowned league champions, tonight, without kicking a ball if Manchester City fail to beat chelsea at Stamford Bridge later. Liverpool did what they needed to, last night and were on sparkling form last night beating Crystal Palace 4 0. Jurgen klopp says hell be watching the telly tonight to see if man city do indeed drop points, otherwise they could next win the premier league, ironically at city next week. John barnes was top scorer when liverpool last won the league in 1990, he says theylljust want it done. If you are definitely going to win the league in manchester by beating them, i would the league in manchester by beating them, iwould rather do the league in manchester by beating them, i would rather do that, the league in manchester by beating them, iwould rather do that, but there is no guarantee of that. If you are asking me, if Manchester City, would rather lose, we would rather win at man city, if we go there and they beat us, i would rather win it as soon as possible. Talking of long waits its seven years since a Manchester United player scored a hat trick but they got one last night. All the goals in the 3 0 win over sheffield united, scored by anthony martial. It increases uniteds hopes of a place in next seasons champions league. At the bottom of the table, norwich look less and less likely to avoid the drop. They were beaten 1 0 by everton and are six points off safety. Fellow strugglers bournmouth also lost, and aston villa drew 1 1 with newcastle. Its been a tricky week for burnley after a banner with the words white lives matter burnley was flown over the etihad stadium, during their defeat to Manchester City on monday. The fan who paid for it has since lost his job. Burnley play watford at home tonight, and boss sean dyche, says theyre determined to make sure the incident doesnt cast a shadow on the club. It does reflect unfortunately and gets attached to the club, thats one of the downsides, for sure, other than the fact that its an
unacceptable message in the first place. It will probably enhance the good action we do as a club and the m essa 9 es we good action we do as a club and the messages we send out across the club, whether its through the community, what the club stands for. Leeds united have had to double check all the cardboard cut outs of fans, ahead of theirfirst home game back in the championship this weekend, after a picture of 0sama bin laden was attached to a seat at elland road. Fans have been invited to buy so called crowdies, and send pictures of themselves or loved ones. 15,000 of them will be in place by saturday. But a cut out of the alqaeda leader has been removed and the club has said it will ensure there will be no more offensive images in place. Adam peaty has criticised the governments decision not to allow swimming pools to reopen, as part of the latest round of lockdown changes. Pubs, restaurants and hairdressers can open in england from lithjuly, but ministers say that indoor gyms and leisure centres will have to wait until at least the middle of next month. Peaty, whos an olympic breaststroke champion, says that decision
doesnt make sense. Its burning in due to tests and diseases. Its a give or take, i was disappointed with the decision. I dont feel its been appreciated. Its not been explained, in a sense. And there was no crowd, and no coaches, but there were some familiar murray mutterings at the battle of the brits exhibition tournament. Andy murray got very frustrated with himself in a long and tiring defeat to kyle edmund at the National Tennis centre in roehampton, in what was just his second competitive match, after seven months out with injury. To ta ke to take the british number one so close, pretty good performance. Talking about andy murray, its almost like wimbledon. Well almost, except its not raining, not today
anyway. But mike, thank you so much. The home secretary priti patel commenting on the events in london last night. Police attending an unlicensed street party, to try and encourage people to disperse in order to maintain social distancing. Unverified footage showing crowds attacking Police Vehicles and emergency vehicles, we are told 15 Police Officers were injured in this incident last night. The home secretary to bring you right up to date with what she has been saying has described those events as utterly vile scenes, just last weekend she said the whole country came together to praise our heroic Police Officers for putting their own lives on the line to keep us safe. She says she will be speaking
to the commissioner of the metropolitan police immediately about what happened in brixton last night. A fourteen day quarantine has come into force in new york, new jersey and connecticut for all arrivals from eight other us states with surging coronavirus outbreaks. The States Affected include texas, florida and the carolinas, where a steep rise in reported infections has pushed the daily increase nationwide to near all time highs. David willis reports new york, newjersey and connecticut we re new york, newjersey and connecticut were initially among the worst hit bya were initially among the worst hit by a coronavirus, but recent weeks have seen a fall in the number of covid 19 cases there, in an effort to keep the virus at bay, the three states are imposing a two week quarantine on travellers arriving from some other parts of the country. Eight states are included in the quarantine order, some of which like texas, arizona and florida, have seen a dramatic
increase in coronavirus cases in recent days, after lifting lockdown restrictions. This virus is risky, enough on its own, in terms of the potential to flare back so doing something common sense, as this is, to say to folks, listen, its time for personal responsibility, if youve been in our state that has a high infection rate, do the right thing. And that is taking 1a days and self quarantine, its the right thing to do, the common sense thing to do, the responsible thing to do. New cases of covid 19 in the us have risen to their highest level since april. Some Southern States that we re april. Some Southern States that were swift to lift their lockdown is have since seen massive spikes with thousands of new cases being reported every day. What we are seeing in florida is really Rapid Transmission in that 18 34 age group and you are seeing a lot of cases
come up and granted, they werent being tested at this level a couple of months ago but i also think they are testing positive at a higher and higher rate so clearly, you have a lot of spread there. I stand before you today President Trump says coronavirus cases are on the increase because america is doing so much testing, and although some state governors are saying they may be forced to introduce new measures to combat the spread, the white house continues to insist the virus is going away. Nobody is talking in some of the seats about going into another economic lockdown and creating a pandemic within a pandemic but we are in a much better situation now than we were previously, in terms of dealing with a pandemic. Meanwhile, the university of washington is forecasting that the number of deaths caused by the coronavirus in the us could reach 180,000 by 0ctober. Currently, that figure stands at around 122,000. David
willis, bbc news, los angeles. The number of women opting to use independent midwives rather than using the nhs has tripled during the time of coronavirus but at the end ofjune it will become illegal for all 150 independent midwives in the uk to practice. Their American Insurance Company has pulled out of the uk market, and there is no other insurer willing or able to cover them. Chris hemmings reports. I conceived in october and this is my second conception as an ivf pregnancy. My husband and i decided to have our first child while he was sick with cancer. And my first daughter was conceived ten days before my husband died. Chloe decided to use an independent midwife after getting pregnant with the last of her and her husband s embryos, she is due in mid july and as her midwife because uninsured on july as her midwife because uninsured on july the 1st, she faces the prospect
ofa july the 1st, she faces the prospect of a hospital birth, something she specifically does not want. |j of a hospital birth, something she specifically does not want. I am over 40, this is an ivf bath and thatis over 40, this is an ivf bath and that is considered high risk no matter what age you are. And i also had a caesarean section in my last birthing process so within the nhs, that means i cant have a home birth with them, they wont offer me midwives even if they could. Although nhs england says there is no national ban on homebirth is some trusts have significantly reduce them during the pandemic, that led many women feeling they have no other option than to pay for a midwifery support. Other option than to pay for a midwifery supportlj other option than to pay for a midwifery support. I cannot take people into the hospital so for example, might daughter, if i had a c section, she wouldnt be able to visit me in the hospital because she has to, the caregiver and they will only allow one person to visit and thats two people. Im now isolated from my child who is three years old. Its the last week of my pregnancy and i dont know where i am going to have the baby, insurance is not coming through. Theres150
independent midwives in the uk who look after about 2000 women in an average year. The number of requests for their services are tripled during coronavirus but was nobody willing to insure them, they will soon willing to insure them, they will soon be unable to practice. Jackie tomkins is one of those at risk of being unable to do a job, she is also the chair of independent midwives uk, the body that represents all 150 of those women. Just at the point where women are really saying they need us, the nhs is also saying they need us, because we help relieve some of the pressure that they are under. We are faced with an insurance issue now without insurance we cannot remain on our register, if we continue to practice which ultimately would make is illegal. Ever since became mandatory for it midwives to have insurance in 2014 independent midwives have struggled to source it. The us Company OfferedValid Insurance in 2017 but as of january this year they pulled out of the uk market. This currently an offer on the table but it would cost seven and a half thousand pounds per birth. Once we are working with now his babies are due beyond the 30th ofjune, some of them will go back to the nhs and hopefully there will be some possible homebirth provision put in place for them otherwise they will have to go into the obstetric unit. But weve got a good swathes of them that are saying under no circumstances will they go into hospital so they are feeling they have an enforced free birth option, really, its not a choice stop its they feel there isnt anything else available for them. A spokesperson for the department of health and social care says i wanted to have a choice of having the birth my own way, the way my body can take care of myself and the baby inside. I want to have the choice to feel safe in my home. Women should be given so many more choices at birth. The fact that that
is even injeopardy choices at birth. The fact that that is even in jeopardy as wild to me. Its absolutely i think a necessary choice women should have, how and where to birth their child. Well, Amanda Garside is an independent midwife and joins me now. Iam i am pleased to hear amanda, we were born that you might have to pull out at the last moment, you have an expectant mother that is due to give birth any moment now, virtually. This is a really difficult position for you and other independent midwives to be in so tell us from your perspective of the issue has been with insurance, this has been an ongoing problem for a few years now, hasnt it . Yes, absolutely. When i qualified as an independent midwife in 2009, we were aware that things were going to be changing due to the directive stop however, it has been an ongoing issue for most of my midwifery career and ive worked alongside the board in trying to solve this, on each occasion. And
the government says it securing options to allow you and other independent midwives to continue to practice. But communication have you had from the government on that . The communication weve had with the government hasnt been particularly positive. They seem to be saying the right things but actually nothing seems to be achieved. So weve kind of, as an organisation, been trying to source our indemnity through our own means, through commercial insurance and our own indemnity scheme. Obviously, the ideal scenario is when a woman is pregnant, she sees the same midwife throughout her pregnancy. What is going to happen come the end of june, is there any provision for you, for those women that youve been working with, who are expecting their baby is after that date . For me, personally, ivejust got the
one birth thats happening as we speak. She is in very early labour. She is in labour already she is an early labour. 0nce she is in labour already she is an early labour. Once she has burst, i was aware of this date, ive actually made provision to take some months off, to focus on the campaign. Once she has given birth. Its something we are going to continue to keep working towards. And actually get an indemnity product that will support midwifery, support families, and support the future of Maternity Services within the uk and thats our ultimate aim. You do have a scenario where, after the end ofjune, you may well have mothers who want to continue to work with the independent midwife, even though there isnt insurance and presumably, some midwives who are
prepared to do that, some who arent . Im not aware of midwives prepared, particularly independent midwives, prepared to participate in births without insurance, its not something that we can down as an organisation. However, its sad that women may find the choice that they would have to free birth, thats birth without any medical assistance, in cases where women plan to free birth, thats what they wa nted plan to free birth, thats what they wanted to do all along, thats a com pletely wanted to do all along, thats a completely valid choice however, its not such a good idea. Its not, its not such a good idea. Its not, its stressful for women and families if they have to choose a free birth because they have no other choices. With the current pandemic, nhs services at the moment, its fragmented at best. Areas have different rules, different guidelines for women to follow so its actually quite a
difficult road to navigate. Ok, amanda, thank you for talking to us about all of this, good luck to the expectant mother as well who is in labour as we speak, good luck to her thank you very much. The government has announced a Major Overhaul of the family courts in order to better protect victims of domestic violence. The announcement comes after a review into how the courts operate following an investigation by bbc reporter emma ailes. And emma ailesjoins us now. Take us through what the review was looking into and what did it find . The review was looking at whether victims of Domestic Abuse were being properly protected in cases that come before the family courts and in particular in cases where a judge is deciding contact between a parent and child. 0ur deciding contact between a parent and child. Our investigation on the Victoria Derbyshire programme and at least four children had been killed bya least four children had been killed by a parent with a known history of Domestic Abuse within the space of five years, after a court had granted contact. We also learned of
cases where a parent with criminal convictions often for serious offences including rate, violent offences including rate, violent offences and child six abuse were granted unsupervised overnight contact with her children. After the investigation, the government announced this review and we have the findings today and its highlighted concerns that abuse has been systematically minimised and allegations ignored, dismissed or disbelieved in the family courts. It also heard criticisms about what it calls a pro contact culture so courts unduly prioritise and contact between a parent and child and perpetrators in some cases being given unrestricted access to children. It also described an adversarial system, parents often pitted against each other in court, including in cases where there are allegations of Domestic Abuse and pa rents allegations of Domestic Abuse and parents often unrepresented because legal aid often isnt available to people looking for representation in the family courts. It heard for
victims of Domestic Abuse, this adversarial nature of the system could be re traumatising. And furthermore, it raised concerns that we re furthermore, it raised concerns that were parents trying to report allegations of continuing and ongoing abuse by a perpetrator, these were often dismissed by professionals working in the field if there was already a court contact order in place. The government says it is introducing what it calls sweeping reforms, what are those . Amongst other things the government has announced victims of Domestic Abuse will now have a legal entitlement to special measures in the courts. This means separate entrances to courtrooms, separate waiting rooms, screens and chords to shield victims from the perpetrator. And that was available in many courts already, however it will now be included in the Domestic Abuse bill and there will be a legal requirement for victims to be entitled to that. The upcoming Domestic Abuse bill also bans cross examination of victims by the
perpetrator in the family courts. Also included in the recommendations from this review are further powers forjudges in the form of barring orders which. Perpetrator is repeatedly dragging their ex partners back to court which are sometimes used as a way of continuing abuse. 0n the issue of the so called pro contact culture, the so called pro contact culture, the government has announced a further review of the system so to look at the balance between safeguarding children and the presumption of contact between the pa rent presumption of contact between the parent and child. We will hear more about that in the future. There is also a trial thats been announced of new Domestic Abuse courts, they are described as problem solving courts, a judge explores evidence rather than parents having to put cases against each other and this review has been welcomed by many working in the Domestic Abuse field including the most seniorjudge of the family courts, sir andrew mcfarland, hes welcomed the findings and recommendations but also called on parliament to provide
the reasonable state necessary to make these changes. Emma, thank you so much. Lets talk to the justice minister, alex chalk. Thanks forjoining us this morning. Whats going to happen quickly in terms of these changes and what might takea terms of these changes and what might take a bit longer . As emma indicated, as a result of this report which by the way is fantastic in its scope and i pay tribute to those who contributed, we want, within the Domestic Abuse bill which is already going through parliament, we are going to amend that bill at report stage, the final stage as it goes through the commons, to ensure that perpetrators cannot cross examine victims as was already indicated, also special measures, that might be screens, live link for individuals to give evidence, so people who need to use the courts to achieve a just result for their families, for their children, arent necessarily going to see the court as an instrument to continue and perpetrate that abuse, thats what
we wa nt perpetrate that abuse, thats what we want to create, create a system focused absolutely on giving to the justice of the case and not re traumatising victims of this horrendous crime of Domestic Abuse. The most seniorjudge in the family courts in england and wales welcomes this report but also said he hoped parliament would allocate the necessary resources to implement these reforms and theres also that issue around legal aid. Given the adversarial nature of these courts sometimes, highlighted in this report, if people dont have access to legal aid, it means they are more likely to end up having to represent themselves and encountering this adversarial system so what resources what new funding, will the government allocate to deal with those concerns . We are absolutely committed to ensuring that victims of Domestic Abuse receive the Financial Support that is required. I dont think any fair minded observer could suggest there hasnt been a huge amount of money put during this coronavirus outbreak at
£76 million or so that the Domestic Abuse bill itself will have 30 plus million attached to it to ensure victims get the support that is required. Its important to note those who are victims of Domestic Abuse can themselves access legal aid subject to means testing which isa aid subject to means testing which is a threshold and we are looking again at what steps can be taken to increase that means test threshold, we will review that in due course. We are absolutely committed to stand behind victims of Domestic Abuse, thats why we brought in the Domestic Abuse bill in the first place, fight be legislated to outlaw coercive control, fight we introduced stocking prevention orders and so much to transform the landscape for victims this appalling crime. Justice minister alex chalker, thank you. Jess phillips is the shadow minister for Domestic Abuse and safeguarding. And Claire Waxman is victims commissioner for london. Thank you both so much forjoining
us this morning. Jess phillips, your reaction to what you just heard. Are you speaking to become your sound just cut out, im so sorry. You speaking to become your sound just cut out, im so sorry. Yes, your reaction please. Alex has been in thejob for quite your reaction please. Alex has been in the job for quite a short period of time and nobody could deny that he is committed to ensuring this. What we have to make sure Going Forward is that we act swiftly on the recommendations, so as alex said, the minister said, the recommendations, so as alex said, the ministersaid, we the recommendations, so as alex said, the minister said, we will put some of this into the Domestic Abuse bill. Last week i was seeking amendments exactly saying this to the Domestic Abuse bill and im glad to hear special measures will be in it, even though that had been turned down last week. Waiting for the review. But with regard to the pro contact culture, that is the
absolute key in this, to stop some of the terrible cases that emma was referring to was regard to child deaths post contact being granted. Any review on the presumption of contact between and lots of cases, a convicted, violent partner and their children, that must be done very, very swiftly because this review itself was launched 14 months ago. 0na itself was launched 14 months ago. On a three month timetable and we have got to make sure that happens quickly because childrens lives are hanging in the balance. I very much welcome the review and i welcome the government response to it. Claire, i know you have welcomed the review as well. That issue around contact, that presumption of contact that it should be there between the parents, even where, as its turned out, as Jess Phillips was saying, one of those parents is violent, you are worried that has been pushed into further review, arent you . Worried that has been pushed into further review, arent you . Yes, absolutely and i echo what jess further review, arent you . Yes, absolutely and i echo whatjess has said, this is an excellent report, validates what we have heard from victims and survivors of Domestic Abuse, being dragged through the Family Court Proceedings for many years. I do welcome a number of the recommendations but i am very concerned that there is going to be a further review, when jess and concerned that there is going to be a further review, whenjess and i both know because we hear from those victims daily, them and their children are being put at risk today and every day, risk of harm and trauma, so we really need to move very quickly and i think the Domestic Abuse bill is a perfect opportunity, we should not be allowing parental responsibility or contact with those who have convictions or subject a restraining order, we proven in the criminal court they pose a serious risk to the child. We need to take serious and swift action on that. Thank you both very much for your thoughts on that this morning. The time is
9 57am. Much more on all of those stories coming up at 10am, we will bejoined from bbc stories coming up at 10am, we will be joined from bbc world by peers on bbc world as well but right now, time for the weather, here is matt taylor. Its a double whammy for those who dont like the heat and if you are spending any time outdoors, more widely into the 30s in england and wales today, compared to yesterday. Lascaux and the other more area close to 30. Unusually strong sunshine across the country, especially southern areas, sunshine levels we are not used to, that means a short amount of time before your skin is damaged. For many, it will be sunshine from dawn to dusk, more cloud in northern scotland, heavy showers and thunderstorms, some may crop up in the south west later. Storms blossoming across the west late r, later. Storms blossoming across the west later, some torrential, damaging winds, in Northern Ireland, one or two breaking out elsewhere, temperatures stick in the teens for just about all, some places like this morning Holding Around 20 degrees and tomorrow. Tomorrow is a
day of change, hot and humid degrees and tomorrow. Tomorrow is a day of change, hotand humid in degrees and tomorrow. Tomorrow is a day of change, hot and humid in the east, hit and miss thunderstorms and fresh airfrom the east, hit and miss thunderstorms and fresh air from the west. This is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. Questions over coronavirus Antibody Tests in england. Theyre being rushed out, according to a group of doctors. New york, newjersey and connecticut have asked people travelling from states where covid 19 cases are rising to go into self isolation for 14 days. The uk housing secretary is under pressure after documents reveal his close relationship with a conservative party donor, whose Housing Scheme he approved against the advice of his own officials. The met police says 15 officers have been injured following violence at an unlicensed street party in south london last night. Around 2,000 management jobs are being cut at uk Delivery Service royal mail in a bid to save £130 million