which would be a breach of the uk data privacy code designed to protect young people. good morning and welcome to the bbc news channel. the former health secretary, matt hancock, has denied claims he failed to follow covid testing advice during the early days of the pandemic. thousands of whatsapp messages leaked to the telegraph show mr hancock was advised in april 2020 to test everyone going into care homes. but a message reportedly from mr hancock to an aide said he would rather commit to just testing those going into care homes from hospitals. lord bethall was a junior minister in department of health and social care back in 2020. this morning, he was asked whether matt hancock should have taken the advice of the chief medical officer to test everyone going into care homes. no, ithink no, i think the key phrase here is this is obviously a positive step. it was absolutely crystal clear that we wanted to test everyone who went into social care. that was the ambition. gettin
by the chair, which will be its centrepiece. nicholas witchell, bbc news, westminster abbey. time for a look at the weather. here s darren bett. chilly today but there is colder weather on the way as we head into next week. today is the first day of meteorological spring, it s also st david s day and it s been pretty cloudy. the cloud is thick enough to give us more showers around today. still got high pressure close by so the really wet weather is being deflected into southern parts of europe. that s the storm that brought all of the rain we saw in majorca, that s moving away. just to the north of that there is clear skies. it looks like we will tap into some of that tonight and tomorrow, so may be some changes on the way. today the winds are coming in from off the north sea, picking up in from off the north sea, picking up a lot of cloud. that s pushing our way. the best sunshine in western scotland. the cloud still ringing quite a peppering of showers in those temperatures
almost a0 people are dead after a passenger train and a freight train collide head on. and the singer ed sheeran opens up about using music to cope with depression last year after his pregnant wife was diagnosed with a tumour. and coming up on the bbc news channel: the long awaited disciplinary hearing following azeem rafiq s allegations of racism in yorkshire cricket club has begun in london. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. fresh questions have been raised about the judgement of the former health secretary matt hancock during the covid pandemic after a collection of his whatsapp messages were released. the messages, dating back to april 2020, published by the daily telegraph, cover issues such as care homes, schools and testing. in one of the most serious allegations the paper claims the messages show mr hancock ignored advice from senior medical officers to test everyone going into care homes in england, something he strongly denies. here s our political ed
calling the allegation defamatory. sight loss charity guide dogs says it s had a record number of people volunteering to raise puppies following a bbc story that highlighted a a shortage of dogs. hello and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world. officials in greece say at least 36 people have been killed and dozens more injured in a train crash. a cargo train collided with a passenger train near the city of larissa in the thessaly region. conditions for the rescuers are described as very difficult. the army has been mobilised to help and dozens of fire and ambulance staff are at the scene. stephanie prentice reports. it s been described by local authorities as a powerful collision and a terrible scene. while passengers said the crash felt like being in an earthquake. translation: we heard a big bang. it was ten nightmareish seconds. we were turning over in the wagon till we fell on our sides and until the commotion stopped. and there was panic, cables everyw
big day, unexpected and significant? absolutely. cassidy hutchinson has long been considered one of the most consequential witnesses for the january 6th committee due to her approximatety to trump many chief of staff mark meadows and therefore to critical events and conversations surrounding january 6. now, the committee has not released the topic of today s hearing, but the rush to get the hearing happening today shows just how important they believe this testimony could be. her testimony has rattled capitol hill. are you aware of any reporter: once a top aide to former white house chief of staff mark meadows, cassidy hutchinson is now a key witness in the house january 6 investigation. giving hours of testimony in multiple sessions. mr. gaetz and mr. brooks, and a handful of members that weren t at the december 21st meeting asked for preemptive pardons. mr. gaetz did. reporter: at times surfing a. hutchinson s accuracy proving critical. you hear those at the w