More people are expected to return to their work places later this morning, as the government seeks assurances from employers in england that measures are enforced to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Pupils will also begin to return to school and politicians remain divided on whether exams should be delayed next year, because of the lingering effects of the lockdown on school work. Heres our political correspondent, nick eardley. This week, these classrooms will start filling up again. Many children will be back at school for the First Time Since march, as england takes another big step moving out of the coronavirus shut down. Its a big political test for the government, which has made education its key priority. And in number ten, there was increasing confidence that most pupils will return in the coming days. The focus now has got to be getting those schools reopened, allowing them to reopen safely, getting parents to have the confidence for their children to return to school. That is the focus right now. Schools will look different and there will be logistical challenges, but ministers and their medical advisers agree more damage will be done by keeping children off school. Labour, though, is already warning next years exams may have to be delayed. We think its really right that the priority should be giving young people all the focus that we can to have as much teaching and learning as possible before the recess next summer, and that means were suggesting pushing back the exam date. The last few weeks have been farfrom plain sailing for the government, with some very public changes in policy. Here in parliament, there are a number of tory mps who are frankly a bit nervous about whats happened over the last few weeks, who fear the number of u turns suggest the government isnt completely in control of whats going on. In the next few weeks, they want to see ministers come up with a detailed plan about how to open up the economy again and encourage much more of us back to work. There are concerns in government, too, about empty shops and offices. Ministers want more people back at work in england where its safe, but business groups say more reassurance may be needed. Tomorrows a very big day. Childcare and schools is one of the key reasons why people are struggling to get back to work at the moment, but its not enough in itself. You need transport, you need testing, you need that confidence in the offices. Those are coming through as well, and then those people who do want to come back should feel confident to do so. So theres no one size fits all here. Its a question of finding the right balance so that individuals and firms can do whats best for them. In some parts of the uk, schools are already back. This is Rosshall Academy in glasgow, where pupils have been wearing face coverings in communal areas today in line with new rules. Life has changed considerably in recent months, and while elements of daily life are returning, many look very different indeed. Nick eardley there. Now on bbc news witness history. Hello, and welcome to witness history, with me, tanya beckett, here at the Royal Academy in london. Today, we present five extraordinary moments from history as told to us by people who were there. Coming up, the british alternative to prison that was copied around the world. The moment idi amin expelled thousands of ugandan asians in the 1970s. And the artist couple who wrapped germanys reichstag in fabric. But first, we go back to a defining moment in modern chinese history. In 1989, the chinese army opened fire on tens of thousands of students in Tiananmen Square in the centre of beijing. They had been demonstrating for weeks, demanding greater political freedom. Dan wang was one of the protest leaders. This is his account of what happened. The noise of gunfire rose from all over the centre of peking. Translation someone called us from a phone box in a street near Tiananmen Square. He said the gunmen had opened fire on the students. Ive never thought anything like that would happen. I was in shock. The troops have been firing indiscriminately, but still, there are thousands of people on the streets who will not move back. Translation we immediately organised about 200 students to go to Tiananmen Square to support the others, but all the main roads were blocked by the army lorries. I was in my first year in peking university. I was 20 years old. I play a leading role from the very beginning of the protests. We went onto the streets to demand democracy. Although the communist party had tried to reform, it hadnt done enough, and we wanted to pay tribute to the communist party leader, hu yaobang, who had just died. We students love him deeply, because he was open minded. I left Tiananmen Square around noon onjune 3. Although we all knew we were surrounded by troops, people were smiling. Everyone was so optimistic that we were going to win. 0n the evening ofjune 3, i was in my dormitory in peking university with other students, discussing the future of our protests. Tanks and troops are patrolling the streets of central peking after the bloody operation to crush student led protests. Some reports say more than 2,000 civilians were killed in last nights army assault on Tiananmen Square, held for seven weeks by students demanding greater democracy and an end to corruption. Translation other student told me i have to hide. They hid me in the other universities and i went on the run for about a month. I didnt have a radio to listen to updates about the crackdown. Ididnt dare turn on the tv either. After being on the run for a month, i decided to go back to beijing, because i realised that the longer i hid, the more guilty i would look. I didnt want to live like a rat hidden in a tiny room, never coming out for daylight. As soon as i went back to beijing, i was arrested. I was in prison for nearly a year before i was put on trial. Then i was sentenced to four years injail. I even thought i would be executed because i was number one on the chinese governments wanted list. It turned my life upside down. Id always been a top student and i was a leader in the communist party youth league. Who would have thought i would end up in prison, then in exile . The Tiananmen Square crackdown changed my whole life. Otherwise, i would be a poet. The former Tiananmen Square protest leader dan wang. Next, the story behind a legal reform that has changed many lives. In 1972, england and wales became the first countries to pioneer a new alternative to prison. It was called Community Service. The scheme was soon copied around the world. We hear from one of the people in charge of implementing this new sentence for criminals. Britain has one of the Worlds Largest prison populations. We maintain 42,000 prisoners in victorian conditions designed for half that number. It costs more than twice as much to send your son to wormwood scrubs as it does to send him to eton. Prison sentences, particularly short term prison sentences, were not effective. About 70 of people who were serving less than 12 months were being reconvicted, so prison in that sense was a failure. Some of the younger chaps who are in here, they come in here for small sentences and go out as animals. The great and the good in legal terms began to think we must be able to do something more constructive as an alternative to prison, and Community Service was at least a worthwhile experiment to see if we could have some positive results and reduce the level of reoffending. In 1972, the then home secretary introduced the criminaljustice act, which brought forward Community Service orders as a new method of reducing the prison population. This was completely new, in fact it was a world first. As an alternative to prison, an offender is given between a0 to 240 hours, its a penalty, a fine on time, and is expected to do constructive work in the community. I was the senior probation officer responsible for the introduction of Community Service in one part called nottinghamshire. Any sentence in the court is a punishment, i think thats one point weve got to get over very clearly. 0n the other hand, you could use Community Service as some kind of springboard for rehabilitation. Some people have said its a form of reparation, making up for the damage one has done in the past. We have people on Community Service for burglary, for theft, grievous bodily harm, dangerous driving, all kinds of different offences. Come on, beth, come on. You can do better than that. We had negotiated a whole series of tasks with voluntary organisations, with Public Sector organisations, social services, hospitals, youth clubs. The benefits to the community are obvious enough. This church hall has had £3,000 worth of work done by offenders. People who had been in trouble felt valued. They learned new social skills. In that sense, it bore great fruit. Sports night at a youth club in nottingham. The instructor is an ex boxer and an ex convict. Aged 32, he has spent 20 years inside. He has been convicted of robbery with violence and would be injail again today if he hadnt been given an alternative 200 hours Community Service in his spare time. All the times id been inside, i knew, no matter what i said or what i wrote to people, that eventually i was going to be in trouble again, but this time, just. I dont think so. Weve had more lasting effects in terms of staying out of trouble than those people whove been into prison and didnt have the benefit of a Community Service order. And it was about a third of the cost of prison. We had lots of visitors from overseas countries wanting to study our legislation. We became the most copied piece of legislation in the western world. But i think these days, politicians talk up punishment because i suspect it gets you votes with members of the public. The pioneering probation officer, john harding. Now, we stay in the 1970s. Over in uganda, in east africa, the dictator idi amin was in power and in august 1972, he announced plans to expel the countrys asian population. About 60,000 people were given 90 days to leave the country. Gita watts tells witness history about her familys traumatic experience. We had 90 days to sort everything out, then get out of the country, and he sort of made an impression that if we didnt get out on time, we would be sitting on fire. Its estimated there are more than 12,000 towns and villages like this in uganda, and in every one of them, the government is pressing its campaign against the asian traders. The Asian Community was really close knit, so all the asian shops went and enrolled together and we all knew each other. Each family and all the kids knew each other. We were not well off, but we were comfortable. People started rushing to the embassies and my dad had to sign everything over, that means his assets and his business, over to the ugandan bank. We were given £55 thats all he was allowed to take with him. It was just unbelievable, you know, after everything that you owned, he was just left with £55. When we first got to the airport, peoples luggage was opened out and clothes and everything thrown everywhere so they can check for gold and money, and for some reason, my parents put a ring on my finger and we were told to get that ring off me, and because the ring was so tight, it was quite a struggle to take it off and my parents tried everything to take this ring off and in the end, it was cut off. The scariest bit was that we had soldiers with guns and knives surrounding. Im panicking, really, to get this ring off. It was a relief that we actually got on this plane and the planes taking off and were safe. And probably for my dad, he was probably thinking he, you know, he got through, he got his family out of the country at last, but he was leaving back something that he really loved, the country that he loved. The asians arrived in cold, wet weather at stansted. Whole families had arrived with little cash. The few belongings they brought often seemed of nothing more than sentimental value. The time of the year that we arrived as well, it was like the wintertime. And that made it worse as well with the rain and the snow, and id not seen the snow before. We were. We were scared. Because we didnt know where would we go. I mean, we were and my mum was told that to take is to leicester, a town called leicester, and we did not know what it was like. We did not know any english. When i grew up and went to secondary school, i came through a lot of, you know, abuse, racial abuse from kids, you know, again calling names and waiting for me outside school and wanting to, like, beat me up and not liking my colour. Recently, we just went back to uganda. I just wanted to see the country that i was born in and why my parents love that country so much. It was nice to go back to the hospital where i was born. It really was an amazing experience. Gita watts, who had to begin a new life in britain. Remember, you can watch witness history every month on the bbc news channel, or you can catch up on all of ourfilms, along with more than 1,000 radio programmes, in our online archive. Just Search Online for bbc witness history. Next, we go to cuba. In july 1989, four top cuban Army Officers were sentenced to death and executed after being convicted of drug trafficking. But critics of the regime believe the case was, in fact, a political attempt to punish the officers for advocating change in Fidel Castros communist cuba. We hearfrom ileana de la guardia, the daughter of one of the executed men. It was the show trial that shook havana. General arnaldo 0choa, a comrade in arms of fidel castro and hero of the revolution, was sentenced last friday to be shot by firing squad, along with three other Army Officers. Translation when they read out that my father, antonio de la guardia, as well as 0choa and the others were all sentenced to death, it came as a massive shock. My father looked over to where i was sitting, but i did not want to start crying. Some of the other relatives broke down and cried, but i did not want to show that weakness. Maybe it was my way of giving my dad a little hope. My father, antonio de la guardia, was head of a Government Department created by fidel castro, tasked with breaking the us blockade on cuba. His job was to smuggle in high tech equipment from the us. My father was accused of being in contact with drug traffickers. It was said that was the only reason he was executed. But for me, it was all about politics. Fidel castro wanted to do away with a group of officers who had different opinions to those of the regime. From about 1985, we began to feel the influence in cuba of the reforms in the soviet union, perestroika. These were issues that were being openly talked about here. My friends and i used to sit in the garden with my father and talk about how if things were changing in eastern europe, then cuba should change too. I did not imagine that expressing those opinions could mean being arrested and then executed. The trial was filmed every day. It lasted a week and was broadcast each night on tv. It was totally controlled. The accused could only say yes or no. The last time i visited him injail wasjust days before his execution. By then, it was obvious that we were going to lose him. He asked me to look after my younger brothers and my grandparents. The death sentence was carried out onjuly 13th. The families were informed by telegram. On each anniversary of his death, it is my duty to make sure he is remembered as he really was. What i would like now for my family is for the cuban government to recognise that they committed a great injustice. Ileana de la guardia is still in exile in paris. Now, to one of europes most dramatic public art projects. Injune 1995, artist christo and Jeanne Claude wrapped injune1995, artists christo and Jeanne Claude wrapped the former German Parliament building, the reichstag, in fabric. More than 5 Million People came to see it and it became a symbol for berlins renewal after the fall of the wall and the collapse of communism. Christo tells witness history how they did it. Its an eccentric dream, but one that a husband and wife team have cherished for more than a quarter of a century and this weekend, the bulgarian born artist christo and his wife Jeanne Claude began wrapping the German Parliament building in silver fabric. It is very difficult to explain it if you dont see it. No drawings, no sketch and no scale model can match the complexity of the project. The fabric is actually it is not completely touching the stone, the surface of the structure. The project started in 1972. The cold war is still in full speed. You know, the berlin wall was built. Permission to wrap the reichstag was refused three time. If the wall would not fell down, probably will never have do the reichstag. For more than two decades, the artist christo and his wife Jeanne Claude have wanted to work with the building that, for them, symbolised the cold war. You know, i was born in bulgaria in 1935, highly sovietic, communist country, and i escaped to the west alone, speaking only russian and bulgarian. Coming from communist country, i had to do something involving the east west relation. Its been bombed and set on fire, seen war and revolution, but never before has the reichstag been wrapped in silverfabric. We never can believe what is the project until we see the real. Christo himself is paying for the project, helped su bsta ntially by sales of his sketches and other work. The reichstag cost us 12 million in 1995, which is was about probably today is about 20 million or 25 million. It was wrapped by near 100 rock climbers. They come down, installing all this 100,000 square metres of fabric in the matter of one week. Now, Jeanne Claude and myself, we are both together artists, you know, and this is why i miss so muchJeanne Claude today. We were partners, we lived together, we fight together, and its like an adventure that you cannot repeat it. This novel treatment is, they say, in the classic tradition of art. The reichstag was the victorian building with a lot of ornaments or decoration. Suddenly, it was changed, like a sketch, like what is essential of the height, the width, the forms, and they are all hidden by this fragile material that moves with the wind, in constant motion. The building took on a shrine like nature and was treated with something approaching reverence. Its very special and its it always changes with the light. The first time in history probably that this building is nice and makes people happy. I came to germany especially to see this project and i think it is great. Oh, i dont know really what the point is for two weeks, the area has witnessed one continuous party with scenes reminiscent of when the berlin wall came down six years ago. Everybody who came to see the project, and there was 5 Million People in two weeks in the reichstag, they know that they were seeing something will never happen again. Last night was the final and the biggest party, with 100,000 people swarming around the building well into the early hours. Today, the dismantling work began and germanys former and future Parliament Building came blinking into the summer sunshine. And then rebuilding starts, ready for the German Parliament, which arrives in 1998. After two weeks, its gone for ever. Cannot be repeated. Something happened, it will stay forever in that particular unique moment. The remarkable artist christo. Thats all from witness history this month, here at the Royal Academy. Well be back next month with more first hand accounts of extraordinary moments in history. But for now, from me and the rest of the witness history team, goodbye. Hello. And so, there you have it we are done, meteorologically speaking, anyway, with summer. But at least it ended on a high note, and this particular corner of aberdeenshire a glorious end to the day there, captured by tyke, one of our weather watchers. It was that area of High Pressure that settled things very nicely across the British Isles on monday. But looking out into the atlantic, more disturbed weather is looming just over the horizon. Before that arrives, weve gota weakening weather front bringing cloud and rain into the western side of scotland for a time, into Northern Ireland in the morning. But i think here the cloud will clear, come the afternoon. There will be brighter skies, there will be a wee bit of brightness in the eastern scotland for a time. Across england and wales, itll be a dry day, with a bit of brightness. Could get some temperatures higher than monday wont be difficult to around 18 19 celsius. By wednesday, its those atlantic fronts that are going to bring a combination of cloud and wind and rain to many parts. But it will take a time before the rain moves out of Northern Ireland and away towards the North Eastern side of scotland all the while, the rain piling into the western side of england, through wales, as well, some of this quite heavy across the north midlands, wales, and the north of england. But you see, it doesnt really get down into that far south eastern quarter until quite later in the day, if at all. Not too much in the way of breeze here, but it really will be a windy day across the greater part of scotland, particularly in the northwest. Bit of brightness up in the north east of scotland, 16 you might make 20 further south, where it stays that bit drier. Those same weather fronts for the most part get through the northern parts. But in the south, that front becomes aligned with the isobars, so theres no great drive to get that front away from the southern counties of both england and wales. Brighter skies follow on behind, but the cloud and a bit of breeze and the odd spot of rain could linger across the south, but it wont stop the temperatures getting up to around 21 or 22. Further north, a slightly cooler feel, but not cold by any means at all. Thursdays still a windy old do, across the North Western corner of scotland. This comes back with renewed vigour into the south western quarter. It may well be that we see some really quite heavy rain. How far north that goes, difficult to tell at this range. But certainly, for the north of wales, northern england, scotland and Northern Ireland, its a mixture of sunny spells and some blustery showers, with the high of the day of 20. Welcome to bbc news, my names mike embley. Our top stories war of words, joe biden and donald trump put law and order at the centre of the race for the white house. Donald trump is determined to instill fear in america. Thats what his entire campaign for the presidency has come down to fear. But i believe americans are stronger than that. For monthsjoe biden has given moral aid and comfort to the vandals repeating the monstrous lie that these were peaceful protests. They were not. It is anarchy. Mass covid testing, backed by beijing, comes into effect in hong kong. Some call for a boycott. Does this man have the toughest politicaljob in the world