president putin declares that russia will respond immediately to any country attempting to interfere in the conflict. the dj tim westwood steps down from presenting his capital xtra radio show following claims of sexual misconduct which he denies. and we report on a new service in wales allowing pharmacists to prescribe some medicines — taking pressure off the gps. and coming up on the bbc news channel: it's the second instalment of the champions league semi finals tonight, as liverpool continue their quest for the title against villareal at anfield. good evening and welcome to bbc news at six — which comes today from the headquarters of bbc wales in cardiff. and it's a very significant day for those families who lost loved ones in care homes during the pandemic. the high court in london has ruled that government policies on discharging patients from hospitals to care homes at the start of the pandemic were unlawful. the ruling was made after two women took legal action against public health england and the health secretary at the time. they said covid patients were discharged from hospitals back to care homes without testing, causing what was called a "shocking death toll". in the first wave of the pandemic, almost 20,000 care home residents had died with coronavirus by mid—june in england and wales. that's more than a third of all people who who died with covid during that period. the uk government said it "worked tirelessly" to protect the public. 0ur social affairs editor alison holt has the story. two women determined to hold the government to account for what they believed was a failure to protect their fathers. believed was a failure to protect theirfathers. today believed was a failure to protect their fathers. today the court said their fathers. today the court said the policies were unlawful. this woman was shocked that hospital patients were discharged without guidance. it patients were discharged without uuidance. , ., , , guidance. it should ensure this will never happen _ guidance. it should ensure this will never happen again _ guidance. it should ensure this will never happen again and _ guidance. it should ensure this will never happen again and the - guidance. it should ensure this will never happen again and the people responsible really understand they're being held to account and they're being held to account and the decisions they made were wrong and they not only put people's lives at risk, but almost certainly cost lives. ._ ., , at risk, but almost certainly cost lives. ., , ., lives. fay harris, whose father died from covid — lives. fay harris, whose father died from covid sees _ lives. fay harris, whose father died from covid sees the _ lives. fay harris, whose father died from covid sees the case _ lives. fay harris, whose father died from covid sees the case as - lives. fay harris, whose father died from covid sees the case as the - lives. fay harris, whose father died | from covid sees the case as the last thing she was able to do for him. we left him there healthy, fit, happy. the last_ left him there healthy, fit, happy. the last photograph i have of him in his chair_ the last photograph i have of him in his chair smiling and he just disappeared. and no one is answerable. and someone has to answer_ answerable. and someone has to answer the — answerable. and someone has to answer the questions how could it be allowed _ answer the questions how could it be allowed to— answer the questions how could it be allowed to happen? this answer the questions how could it be allowed to happen?— allowed to happen? this was a complicated — allowed to happen? this was a complicated case, _ allowed to happen? this was a complicated case, examining l allowed to happen? this was aj complicated case, examining a allowed to happen? this was a - complicated case, examining a number of laws and policies. but the judgment was very clear about the decision to discharge hospital patients into care homes at the start of the pandemic. it concludes, it was unlawful and irrational. the judgment says there was growing awareness that people could spread the virus without showing symptoms. it also said there was no evidence that ministers including the then health secretary matt hancock considered the risk to care homes. matt hancock's claim that the government threw a protective ring around care homes was nothing more than a despicable lie of which he ought to be ashamed. the 'udgment sets out what — ought to be ashamed. the 'udgment sets out what was t ought to be ashamed. the 'udgment sets out what was known _ ought to be ashamed. the judgment sets out what was known about - ought to be ashamed. the judgment sets out what was known about the l sets out what was known about the virus at the start of the pandemic as well as early discussions by government advisors in 2020 the health minister told parliament that large numbers of people are infectious but asymptomatic and on 13th, the chief scientist said some degree of asymptomatic transmission was likely. degree of asymptomatic transmission was likel . ., , ., was likely. right from the start we have tried to _ was likely. right from the start we have tried to throw _ was likely. right from the start we have tried to throw a _ was likely. right from the start we have tried to throw a protective i have tried to throw a protective ring around our care homes. today matt hancock— ring around our care homes. today matt hancock said _ ring around our care homes. today matt hancock said that _ ring around our care homes. today matt hancock said that the - ring around our care homes. today matt hancock said that the now - matt hancock said that the now abolished public health england failed to tell him about asymptomatic transmission and the prime minister also faced questions. will the prime minister apologise to the families of the thousands and thousands of people who died in care homes _ thousands of people who died in care homes in _ thousands of people who died in care homes in the first half of the 2020 and to— homes in the first half of the 2020 and to care — homes in the first half of the 2020 and to care workers for the shameful comments _ and to care workers for the shameful comments he made in 2020 when he said too— comments he made in 2020 when he said too many care homes didn't follow— said too many care homes didn't follow procedures. the said too many care homes didn't follow procedures.— follow procedures. the thing we didn't know _ follow procedures. the thing we didn't know in _ follow procedures. the thing we didn't know in particular- follow procedures. the thing we didn't know in particular was - follow procedures. the thing we | didn't know in particular was that covid _ didn't know in particular was that covid could — didn't know in particular was that covid could be _ didn't know in particular was that covid could be transmitted - covid could be transmitted asymptomatically - covid could be transmitted asymptomatically in - covid could be transmitted asymptomatically in the i covid could be transmitted i asymptomatically in the way covid could be transmitted - asymptomatically in the way it was. that is_ asymptomatically in the way it was. that is something _ asymptomatically in the way it was. that is something i— asymptomatically in the way it was. that is something i wished - asymptomatically in the way it was. that is something i wished we - asymptomatically in the way it was. that is something i wished we had i that is something i wished we had known _ that is something i wished we had known more — that is something i wished we had known more about. _ that is something i wished we had known more about. the _ that is something i wished we had known more about. the government sa s eve known more about. the government says every death _ known more about. the government says every death is _ known more about. the government says every death is a _ known more about. the government says every death is a tragedy. - and social affairs editor alison holtjoins us from central london. when people ask how significant this is, what would your answer be? well. is, what would your answer be? well, m answer is, what would your answer be? well, my answer would _ is, what would your answer be? well, my answer would be that _ is, what would your answer be? well, my answer would be that it _ is, what would your answer be? well, my answer would be that it is - my answer would be that it is certainly significant for the many families who lost loved ones in care homes in the early days of pandemic. i remember speaking to people who said they felt abandoned in the first weeks, they struggled to get the protective equipment they wanted and the guidance they wanted in time. i think thisjudgment and the guidance they wanted in time. i think this judgment also shows the difficulty of the decision—making that was going on at a time when information was moving quickly and the science was evolving. but this is going to, if this is just the start of the scrutiny of the decision—making we will have a public inquiry and are sure to see more detail around decisions made at the time and the reason it is important? well, when we have another situation like this, we have another situation like this, we need to know the most vulnerable people in society are protected as well as possible.— let's turn to the latest on the conflict in ukraine. president putin has warned that russia will respond immediately to any country attempting to interfere in the war. speaking to parliamentarians in st petersburg, mr putin said he had all the tools to respond and that he'd already chosen his likely approach. during the day, the european union accused moscow of economic blackmail and of escalating the war by cutting off russian gas supplies to poland and bulgaria. 0ur russia editor steve rosenberg reports from st petersburg. the venice of the north, they call it. it was peter the great who built st petersburg, to make russia look and feel european. today, though, the gulf between russia and europe is growing ever wider. in the st petersburg palace, the president... vladimir vladimirovich putin. ..vladimir putin was addressing lawmakers. from them, a sign of loyalty, the z, symbol of russia's offensive in ukraine. from him, a warning to ukraine's western allies. translation: if anyone from the outside intends to interfere in what is happening, then they should know this — if they create threats for us, threats of a strategic nature, our retaliation, counter strike, will be instantaneous. we have all the necessary instruments, ones that no one else can boast of. all the decisions on this have already been taken. across town, another decision announced. state energy giant gazprom had shut off gas supplies to poland and bulgaria, an escalation condemned across europe. the european union has accused russia of using gas as an instrument of blackmail. it said that was unjustified and unacceptable. but russia is unrepentant. in fact, the speaker of parliament here said, "good, let's cut off the gas now to all countries who are hostile to russia." talking of hostile... ..russia continued to attack ukraine. here, with cruise missiles. there are russians who oppose this operation, but public protest is dangerous. sasha knows that. she has been charged with spreading fake news about the russian army. she is accused of replacing supermarket price tags with anti—war messages. for that, she faces up to ten years in prison. sonia, her partner, believes it is a case that says so much about russia. translation: what this tells us is that freedom of speech - in our country is being stamped out, political repression has got worse, and that people who are against the war are being persecuted and put in prison. what those in power here demand is unflinching support for the offensive in ukraine, and for russia's confrontation with the west. steve rosenberg, bbc news, st petersburg. 0ur economics editor faisal islam is with me. when people look at the kind of rippling effect of what is going on in economic terms, how would you describe it?— describe it? usually when you get two eu countries _ describe it? usually when you get two eu countries cut _ describe it? usually when you get two eu countries cut off— describe it? usually when you get two eu countries cut off from - describe it? usually when you get two eu countries cut off from gas| two eu countries cut off from gas sopply, two eu countries cut off from gas supply, you would see a big market response. but actually the market response. but actually the market response was contained. in fact, especially for the prices paid by energy companies in the uk, the bigger move has been in the past couple of weeks that the record prices that we reported on last month are down to about a third of the level they were last month and below the level when russia invaded ukraine. there had been expectation there is would be a further rise in there is would be a further rise in the average fuel bill by several hundred pounds, given the levels that the international price was at. with these levels we are talking of a few hundred pounds instead. still very material for households suffering, but not the most severe outcome. 0ne suffering, but not the most severe outcome. one of the reasons is that the uk market is flooded with cargoes of liquefied gas coming from mainly america, including along the coast in wales, off—loading their cargoes for reexport. but so we have this slightly less severe scenario. if think spread to germany, the cutting off of supplies, that could change. cutting off of supplies, that could chan . e. cutting off of supplies, that could chance. ., . ., , , change. the chancellor is being asked again _ change. the chancellor is being asked again about _ change. the chancellor is being asked again about helping - change. the chancellor is being - asked again about helping households given the fact that clearly finances are under pressure. hale given the fact that clearly finances are under pressure.— given the fact that clearly finances are under pressure. we had a q and a with mums net. _ are under pressure. we had a q and a with mums net, the _ are under pressure. we had a q and a with mums net, the social _ are under pressure. we had a q and a with mums net, the social media - are under pressure. we had a q and a with mums net, the social media site | with mums net, the social media site and they said to have done so, given the uncertainty would have been silly when they don't know exactly what the household level of bills is going to be. campaigners think that he should have done more now given the rise in bills and direct debits that people pay, they are obviously upset. that people pay, they are obviously u set. ., ~ that people pay, they are obviously uset. ., ~' ,, the dj tim westwood has stepped down from presenting his capital xtra radio show "until further notice" — following claims of sexual misconduct. the former radioi dj — who's 64 — has strenuously denied allegations of predatory sexual behaviour and touching allegations made by seven women. 0ur entertainment correspondent chi chi izundu is outside capital radio in central london. tell us more about what has been going on today. tell us more about what has been going on today-— tell us more about what has been going on today. well, up until today and this afternoon, _ going on today. well, up until today and this afternoon, since _ going on today. well, up until today and this afternoon, since 2013 - going on today. well, up until today and this afternoon, since 2013 this | and this afternoon, since 2013 this is the place where tim westwood would broadcast his saturday night show. but it has been announced that he is stepping down untilfurther notice, because of the allegations made by seven women about his behaviour when it came to sex. they say that they... sorry tim westwood has denied the allegations in their entirety and just to remind people who tim westwood was, he started as a pirate radio dj and a club dj, before coming to capital xtra. then he was poached by radio one at the bbc and he worked for almost 20 years. but tim westwood's spokesperson says he denies all the allegations made by seven women regarding sexual misconduct. thank ou. our top story this evening: the high court rules that government policies on discharging hospital patients into care homes in england at the start of the pandemic were "unlawful". and coming up, the lively debate here in wales on whether to tax tourists. coming up in sportsday on the bbc news channel: branded the biggest fight in women's boxing history. katie taylor prepares to take on amanda serrano on saturday night, top of the bill at madison square gardens in new york. moving on to some of the other news of the day. a new service has just been launched here in wales which allows pharmacists to prescribe some medications as a way of trying to relieve the pressure on gps. patients suffering from some acute illnesses, such as respiratory infections or gout, can bypass the doctor's surgery and go straight to community pharmacies. scotland is aiming to deliver a similar service but by contrast, england is yet to adopt this approach. our health editor, hugh pym, reports from newport. can you just open your mouth, jack, and i'll have a look at your tonsils. jack has tonsillitis. he is being examined byjonathan. but this isn't a gp surgery, it's a pharmacy in newport. jonathan is trained to prescribe medication as well as being a pharmacist. take one or two, up to four times a day. the has given painkillers to jack, which means there is no need to go to a gp. i think it's brilliant, i think it will help a lot of people because gps are quite hard to get into at the moment so probably will relieve a bit of the pressure off them. i spent years referring people to the gp for conditions that i knew i could treat myself and now i'm in the position i can do that. patients have much better access to care and the added benefit is you know you are freeing up gp appointments for more complicated patients. local gp practices are reaping the benefits. have you referred any patients to the pharmacy today? - this surgery refers around 25 minor ailment patients each week to the pharmacist. that is 100 gp appointments saved each month and more time for doctors to visit seriously ill patients in their homes. we are finding that demand is outweighing capacity and so anything that relieves some of the pressure on general practice is very welcome. at times, some medicines are in short supply. right now there are stock problems with hormone replacement therapy — hrt — which can lead to distressing delays for women needing repeat prescriptions. when you think about, for example, the shortages and the hrt issues that we are currently facing, having a pharmacist prescriber, being able to prescribe alternative medicines without the patient having to wait to see the gp, is a great thing for the patient. health professionals in local communities agree this is an important move towards improved services but it will take time and the bigger picture at right now is that there are significant stresses across ambulance services, hospitals and the wider nhs, here in wales and across the uk. it's bad everywhere, really. the wards are full. that means there is pressure on the a&es, which means that people cannot even get into a treatment room, they are often being treated on trolleys, and the ambulance people are looking after acutely ill patients in car parks. the welsh government says staff sickness in the nhs has added to the pressures. unlocking the potential of highly skilled health staff is important, but only part of the solution. hugh pym, bbc news, newport. a week tomorrow, voters will be taking part in local elections in wales, england and scotland, and in assembly elections in northern ireland. and as we saw recently with the intervention of the archbishop of canterbury in the debate on immigration policy, the role of faith leaders in political debate can be highly controversial. the church of england, which is represented by 26 bishops in the house of lords, is far from united on the question, as our religion editor, aleem maqbool, reports. in troubled times, churches are of course a huge part of the front line response. glad you've come because we got an empty cupboard. now, in a deepening cost of living crisis, they are feeling the strain. i have noticed since the new year huge change. donations have gone down. but beyond the volunteers helping out are church leaders speaking out, and criticising the government. levels of income do matter so i do think that not raising the benefit levels by a high rate of inflation is massively significant. but of late, there has been criticism of the church for being too overtly political in its statements. the archbishop of canterbury came under fire from the government after using his easter sermon to criticise its plan to send some asylum seekers to rwanda, but it wasn'tjust him. 0ther bishops did the same. so what did their congregants think? i had lots of people thanking me and i had those who said, "bishop, you shouldn't have said that." do you think it turns any of those people off? it might. senior members of the church of england don'tjust talk about government policy — 26 of its bishops sit in the house of lords and vote on it, making the uk the only country in the world, alongside iran, to reserve places in parliament for religious leaders. graham taylor is a former anglican priest who has been disillusioned about the direction the church has been going for some time. it's the job of the church, of the people of the church, to be active amongst those we are trying to serve, not being political advocates with some sort of pseudo—liberal agenda. you don't see it as just raising a voice when they see injustice? i see it as raising a profile, raising a profile for the people themselves and trying to raise the profile of the church. but church leaders are not backing down in confronting the government on issues where they disagree. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in durham. the conservative party are investigating claims that one of their mps was seen watching pornography on his mobile phone in the chamber of the house of commons. it's understood that concerns were raised by a minister at a meeting of conservative mps last night. 0ur deputy political editor vicki young is at westminster. tell us more about this. that meetin: tell us more about this. that meeting last _ tell us more about this. that meeting last night _ tell us more about this. that meeting last night was - tell us more about this. twat meeting last night was actually dozens of tory mps, most of them women, speaking to the party chairman about how to encourage more women to come and work in this place. they started sharing experiences, some of sexual harassment and misconduct, misogyny, and then one mp said she had seen a colleague watching pornography on his phone while sitting in the house of commons chamber, story backed up by a fellow mp. i am told there was a sharp intake of breath, everyone was horrified, the chief whip, who is in charge of discipline, is looking into it and says it is wholly unacceptable and i spoke to one minister who said things had improved but a lot more needed to be done and calling out this kind of behaviour needs to happen. to young, our deu behaviour needs to happen. to young, our deputy political— behaviour needs to happen. to young, our deputy political editor. _ as we mentioned, a week tomorrow, voters in england, scotland and wales will take part in local elections. here in wales, elections are being held for 22 councils. seven are currently held by labour, one held by the conservatives, one held by plaid cymru with the remaining 13 not controlled by any single party. among the issues provoking lively debate in wales is the possibility of imposing a tourism tax to try to deal with the impact of visitors. 0ur wales correspondent hywel griffith reports from one of the most popular tourist destinations, pembrokeshire. eight days to go before voters take the plunge. and decide who they trust. in wales, the national landscape is dominated by labour but in local elections, independent candidates often rise to the top. here in pembrokeshire, five years ago they took over half the seats so what will sway voters? here it could be the idea of a tourism tax, with plans to let welsh local authorities levy their own charge. with overi million overnight visitors a year, pembrokeshire could cash in. cleo, who runs a coasteering company, says it depends on how the money is spent. i think if it is put back directly into tourism, it could be fantastic. it could go into the physical things you can see and touch, so back into the coast path, certainly the toilets. not going hidden into the coffers somewhere we won't see the benefit. around the world, tourism taxes are added to the room bill. how it is raised and spent here has not been decided but mark, who runs a guesthouse in fishguard, fears it would hit trade. tourism tax is a negative thing. it is supposed to stop or prevent or try to dilute your masses from coming but we don't have that. as far as a tax on tourism goes, i'm totally against it. in an election dominated by big national and international events, the tourism tax is an example of a local issue that could be decided at council level. it also gives us a snapshot of what is happening in welsh politics — a policy put forward by the welsh labour government, supported by plaid cymru. the two parties are not lockstep in coalition but they have struck a deal to work together on policies like the tourism tax. it is also supported by the lib dems. the welsh conservatives want to sink the idea but in this election, they face another challenge. we know the furore around borisjohnson at the moment at a uk level and i'm sure the welsh conservatives will be wanting to drill down and make this an election about their counsellors�* successes in local government but in the public at large, certainly some of them, will not separate out those issues from the bigger national picture. with so many independent candidates in the mix, next week's vote could be followed by months of negotiations before we know exactly who governs in some parts of wales. hywel griffith, bbc news, pembrokeshire. in northern ireland, the alliance party has published its manifesto for the assembly election next week. the party, which is neutral on the issue of northern ireland s constitutional future, pledged a new payment of £20 per child per week for low income families. it has also proposed a green new deal to create 50,000 sustainable jobs by 2030. two english and two spanish teams are contending for the champions league final which could be an all—english or all—spanish affair. last night, manchester city beat real madrid in a remarkable match. there's a second leg remaining in that contest. and tonight at anfield another spanish—english clash, as liverpool host villarreal. 0ur sports correspondent nesta mcgregor is there. yes, there is more than 90 minutes to go until kick—off but the atmosphere is ramping up it has often been said there is nothing quite like a european night at anfield. as you can see, they are building a new stand to increase capacity and boss jurgen building a new stand to increase capacity and bossjurgen klopp says he wants the fans to increase the volume and has asked for a special atmosphere similar to that in 2019 when they beat barcelona 4—0 in a semifinal and of course went on to win the trophy as well. liverpool will start as favourites but a spanish side villarreal keep surprising everyone, including their opponents, having beaten italian giantsjuventus opponents, having beaten italian giants juventus and opponents, having beaten italian giantsjuventus and bayern munich to get here. if possible, liverpool or want to win the tie tonight and they are on the verge of history, chasing four trophies, with the league cup in the back in the hunt for the champions league, the fa cup and of course the premier league as well. and how fitting that no british team has ever done it, that this city can already home to the fab four, wins the big four. already home to the fab four, wins the big four-— the big four. many thanks, we will be watching _ the big four. many thanks, we will be watching carefully. _ the big four. many thanks, we will be watching carefully. it _ the big four. many thanks, we will be watching carefully. it is - the big four. many thanks, we will be watching carefully. it is 28 - be watching carefully. it is 28 minutes past six. it has been pretty mild and a nice day in cardiff chris can tell us more about the weather. you might have seen the sunshine in cardiff but it has not been like that everywhere in england with some of this layer of low cloud, strategy moulas, but that was one o'clock in hastings and by three o'clock it started to disintegrate and just an hour or so ago we had clear blue skies. this cloud that we have had for many across england, although pretty extensive, is quite thin, just a couple of hundred metres thick and then clear blue skies and so it will be prone to breaking up and collapsing for some. hopefully some more sunshine tomorrow. 0vernight, it continues to feed in from the north the soap staying cloudy across parts of eastern england but some clearer skies further west will allow patches of frost, something gardeners might take note of. generally, they should be a better chance of seeing some cloud break in northern england and southern england. wales will still see some sunny spells with northern ireland and parts of scotland. the areas that might keep the cloud will be the east midlands and parts of lincolnshire but otherwise, a better prospect of some sunshine and it will feel a bit warmer in the sunshine given the strength of the sun. 0n sunshine given the strength of the sun. on friday, more of the same cloud run the country, dry for all and a decent prospect of some sunny spells. starting to get a bit milder in the sun, 17 in cardiff and glasgow. but at the weekend, the high pressure that has brought a quiet spell starts to weaken enough to some rain from the north soap both scotland and northern ireland might see some rain on saturday and sunday, turning patchy but ringing some spots to england and wales in the second half of the weekend. many thanks. we will be back here at the headquarters of bbc wales at ten o'clock but now it's time to join the bbc�*s news teams where you are. goodbye.