This is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. A junior minister has resigned over the handling of borisjohnson top advisers travels during lockdown. It comes as other uk government ministers rally to support Dominic Cummings they say they understand public concern but insist he acted reasonably when making trips during lockdown. On the whole, as a man of integrity, he thinks that he did do the right thing. But he also recognises, as a fair minded man, that there are many other people who may take a different view, and i understand that. Almost all shops in england will be able to reopen from 15thjune, as part of plans to further ease the lockdown. The World Health Organization halts trials of an anti malarial drug as a potential treatment for covid 19, as its found it
could cause heart problems. Hong kongs leader has rejected suggestions that chinas proposed new security laws could erode freedoms in the territory. As greece reopens for tourism, we travel with a team of doctors who will set up coronaVirus Testing where the virus has not yet been reported. Newsreel they are on their way home, home from the hell that is dunkirk. And we remember the heroes of dunkirk 80 years on. Hello and welcome if youre watching in the uk or around the world and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. Borisjohnson may have been hoping to put the controversy surrounding his Senior AdviserDominic Cummings behind him, but it continues to bedevil his government. In the last hour, douglas ross a junior minister for scotland announced his resignation from the government over the affair. In a written statement, mr ross said that Dominic Cummings interpretation of the governments lockdown guidelines was not shared by the vast majority of the people who have done as the government asked. He pointed out that he had constituents who hadnt been able to visit sick families or say goodbye to those they loved and said, i cannot in good faith tell them that they are all wrong and one senior government adviser was right. He went on to say. This all follows an extraordinary press Conference Held by mr cummings yesterday afternoon, in which he replied to allegations that he had breached the governments lockdown rules by driving his family to london to durham in late march. Well be getting the latest on this mornings resignation, and the reaction to that press conference, from westminster in a moment. First this report from our Political Correspondent iain watson on the background to the controversy. Something you dont see every day. Government advisers usually defend their political masters. This one had come to defend himself. Dominic cummings took his family 250 miles from london to durham during lockdown, when his wife was already ill. Yesterday, he was asked if he now regretted his actions. No, i dont regret what i did. As i said, i think reasonable people may well disagree about how i thought about what to do in the circumstances but i think that. I think what i did was reasonable in. In these circumstances. At the socially distanced impromptu press conference, he insisted that isolating close
to his extended family was the best option in case he needed childcare. But why had he then also gone on a 30 mile trip from durham to Barnard Castle on Easter Sunday . Apparently he was giving himself an unconventional eye test. My wife was very worried, particularly given my eyesight seemed to have been affected by the disease. She did not want to risk a nearly 300 mile drive with our child, given how ill i had been. We agreed that we should go for a short drive to see if i could drive safely. At his press conference last night, the Prime Minister sounded a bit more contrite than his adviser. I do regret the confusion and the anger and pain that people feel. I really did want people to understand exactly what had happened. But he wasnt going to sack his adviser, and he insisted that no one at number ten had undermined the governments message on health. And a range of cabinet ministers have taken to social media with a remarkably similar message
time to move on. Opposition parties will meet today, and are pressing for an enquiry into Dominic Cummings actions. Many of the papers are less ready to move on than government ministers, and some conservative mps are waiting to see if angry constituents have been soothed or riled by Dominic Cummings before deciding whether to renew calls for him to go. Iain watson, bbc news. Our Political Correspondent nick eardley is at downing street. Nick, fill us in on this resignation bya nick, fill us in on this resignation by a junior minister. The government we re by a junior minister. The government were hoping that mr cummings explaining his situation yesterday would put this to bed and that he was acting in the interests of his family. Quite the opposite seems to have happened this morning. Douglas rossis have happened this morning. Douglas ross is a junior minister at the scotla nd ross is a junior minister at the Scotland Office and he has looked at
mrcummings Scotland Office and he has looked at mr cummings explanation yesterday and decided it just mr cummings explanation yesterday and decided itjust isnt good enough. And he cant tell his constituents that they were wrong to miss family funerals, or not go and visit sick loved ones and that mr cummings was right to drive from london up to durham, to self isolate, himself. What is really interesting about this tweet by douglas ross, i think it could be on screen now, but what is interesting about his letter is that he is doing this because of the feedback he has had from his constituents, and the danger for borisjohnson is that many other tory mps are getting similar m essa 9 es tory mps are getting similar messages from their constituents. We have heard over the last few days of a number of mps who are worried that they are being accused of hypocrisy by their constituents. Harriett baldwin, another tory mp, said that because of that she has been getting, she thinks mr cummings should quit. I suppose that number
ten will be looking now at whether potentially more of these criticisms and resignations to come later today. Thank you very much, nick. Lets speak now to anthony browne, conservative mp and a former adviser to borisjohnson when he was mayor of london. Good morning. First your reaction to the resignation of your colleague is junior minister, douglas ross. There are junior minister, douglas ross. There a re pressures junior minister, douglas ross. There are pressures in the conservative party and amongst the public on the spot when Dominic Cummings gave his explanation yesterday he covered a lot of detail and answered a lot of questions and reasonable people can be on both sides of this. As it happens, i think he acted reasonably. We continue to get so many messages from people who are telling me things like this, this is from laurie. My sister is a single pa rent from laurie. My sister is a single parent with three kids, two of them autistic with severe adhd. She had
covid early only look down and had to rely on her eldest child to look after them all. We live three hours away and we would have gone to her ina away and we would have gone to her in a heartbeat if we had been allowed to, by the government. We know that this lockdown has been extremely difficult for a lot of people, really for the whole country, and more difficult for some than others. People have lost their lives, loved ones, livelihoods. I have been spent lockdown talking to constituents in really difficult situations and helping them try to get out of them, and i must say that ifi get out of them, and i must say that if i had someone come to me with the unique situation of Dominic Cummings, where he was coming down sick with his wife, and a four year old child that didnt have any ca re four year old child that didnt have any Care Provision nearby, then in exceptional circumstances, and it is covered by the guidance, you are allowed to do what will most reduce
harm and this is a principle in law. What matter the problem is, no one knew about it. There are thousands of m essa g es knew about it. There are thousands of messages from parents who found themselves in exactly the same situation as mr and mrs cummings and in worse situations and did not leave their home, because we were told by the government to stay at her had symptoms. I totally get why people are angry. This has been really difficult. Also, just the sense that there is one rule for some people and one for others. It is important we all live by the same rules. But we havent. In Dominic Cummings case, you listen to the details of it, i think he acted reasonably and within the law. Did you know about this clause that allowed people to travel across the country if they had worries about childcare . What the clause does say is that, if you cant look after small children, they do act within
the guidance, only if you can but otherwise in exceptional circumstances, you can do what you need to come harm. Im really sorry, it doesnt say that. Im just going to read exactly what it does say. You have been reporting it on your website so i know that it is there. The government could have made more about the exceptional circumstances close but it is a fundamental principle in law, that actually, law doesnt cover all circumstances. If there are exceptional circumstances and people are acting reasonably, then the courts are usually fine, behind that. If the rules allowed forjudgment, as behind that. If the rules allowed for judgment, as mr cummings behind that. If the rules allowed forjudgment, as mr cummings claim, why did almost nobody else do what he did . I dont know what everyone else did. I havent spoken to eve iyo ne else did. I havent spoken to everyone in the country. It is because the government told us to stay at home, and most people did that. He went through everything in
great detail yesterday and people have to make up their own minds looking at that whether he acted reasonably or not reasonably, and i think he acted reasonably and within the law. What matters now as a whole is moving to the next stage of easing the lockdown, and the government has announced measures on opening up shops. Some people would say that what matters now is trust, and whether people can trust what your government and the Prime Minister says, when it comes to future advice, and a number of people are suggesting that they absolutely will not do what the Prime Minister says in future because of this example from mr cummings. I, and many mps, regret the anger and cummings. I, and many mps, regret the angerand pain cummings. I, and many mps, regret the anger and pain this episode has caused. If there is a loss of trust thatis caused. If there is a loss of trust that is to be regretted, there is no doubt about that. In the particular case of Dominic Cummings, we have gone through it endlessly over the past two days and i think he acted reasonably. What are you going to do
about that loss of trust, all of those people who said that they lent you their vote back in december, what are you going to do about it . If there has been a loss of trust in the government has to earn it again to get us through the rest of this pandemic, to ease the lockdown, make sure that there isnt as much economic damage, there is as little of it as possible, get the country going again, make sure that as few lives are lost as possible, to do that with integrity, doing it a b in the same rules as anyone else and being seen to obey the same rules as eve ryo ne being seen to obey the same rules as everyone else. What did you think when mrjohnson said mr cummings did what any parent would do . |j when mrjohnson said mr cummings did what any parent would do . I dont think many parents where in the same situation as Dominic Cummings. No, many were in much worse circumstances. He had Death Threats in protest at home, he was coming down sick, he was worried about his wife also coming down sick and about being able to look after his child,
and most people who are reasonable listening to that would think that what he did was reasonable. listening to that would think that what he did was reasonable. I will read a couple more. Georgie says, my husband and i got sick for a0 days whilst caring for a nine month old and a three year old got ill, we didnt see us all, i was Breast Feeding and getting around as Breast Feeding and getting around a 5 hours sleep a night. We have this e mailfrom a 5 hours sleep a night. We have this e mail from patricia. A 5 hours sleep a night. We have this e mailfrom patricia. She a 5 hours sleep a night. We have this e mail from patricia. She says isa this e mail from patricia. She says is a conservative supporter i am totally disgusted. This came in to us just before 10am today. Why does mrcummings have us just before 10am today. Why does mr cummings have such power, why does he have so much hold over our Prime Minister . That is no conservative supporter, mr brown. You are talking about douglas ross. Ive had e mails from constituents from across the political spectrum. There is no doubt that the public are upset about this. And mrjohnson has said that he regrets the pain and anger that this has caused. But not enough to sack mr cummings. That
isa not enough to sack mr cummings. That is a decision for the Prime Minister and he has decided not to. I dont think that he needs to, because he has acted, going through it, i think he acted within the guidelines. Thank you for talking to us, anthony brown, conservative mp. In a moment well be speaking to another mp who earlier criticised the Prime Ministerfor his handling of the Dominic Cummings controversy. But first, all non essential retailers in england will be able to reopen from isthjune, as part of plans to further ease the lockdown. Retailers will have to adhere to new guidelines around social distancing and hygiene standards, in order to protect shoppers and staff. Outdoor markets and car showrooms in england will also be able to reopen from istjune. The World Health Organisation has temporarily halted the testing of the drug hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment for covid i9 because of safety concerns. The drug, traditionally used
to treat malaria, has been described by President Donald Trump as a game changer in the battle against the virus. Imogen foulkes reports from geneva. There are so far no known treatments or vaccines for covid i9, but there are many Clinical Trials of many different drugs to try to find them. One drug hydroxychloroquine is already in use as a treatment for malaria. Some among them, President Donald Trump think it could work against covid i9, too. Hes even taking it himself. Im taking it, hydroxychloroquine. When . Right now, yeah. Couple of weeks ago, i started taking it. Why, sir . Because i think its good. Ive heard a lot of good stories. The World Health Organization has repeatedly said there is no Scientific Evidence so far that hydroxychloroquine can treat covid i9, let alone prevent infection with it. The who had been running Clinical Trials to test anecdotal reports that it might be beneficial. Now those trials have been stopped after a study suggested the drug could cause heart problems, and might even increase deaths among covid i9 patients. The executive group has implemented a temporary pause of the hydroxychloroquine arm within the solidarity trial while the data the safety data is reviewed by the data safety monitoring board. The who said the decision to suspend trials was a precautionary measure. Now it will gather more data on safety before deciding whether to continue testing. However, it said patients taking hydroxychloroquine for established reasons such as malaria should continue to do so. Imogen foulkes, bbc news, geneva. The scientist leading the uks largest Coronavirus Tracking project says that people will have probably died prematurely, as a result of attending two major sporting events that took place in march. Professor tim spector, from Kings College london, has analysed data from millions of volunteers across the uk. He identified covid i9 hotspots following the cheltenham festival, and Liverpools Champions League match against atletico madrid. Countries across europe are beginning to open themselves up to foreign visitors, as infection rates continue to fall. Spain says foreign travellers will be able to visit the country from the beginning ofjuly without going into quarantine. The Spanish Foreign minister said the country was looking forward to welcoming tourists back now the worst of the coronavirus pandemic was behind it. 80 million visitors travel to spain each year 20 million from the uk. Meanwhile, greece has taken another major step
towards re starting its tourism industry, opening its islands to domestic visitors for the first time in months. A team of doctors from mainland greece were among the first visitors to the Remote Island of sikinos, in the aegean sea. Our correspondent Quentin Sommerville accompanied them on theirjourney. On a 100 mile plus journey, these athens doctors are the first visitors to sikinos in months. The greek islands are acceptin