it is about 2:30am in the morning. now on bbc news — today in parliament. hello again, and welcome to monday in parliament. praise for the police who tackled an armed killer. these officers are heroes. they showed courage, bravery, and selflessness way beyond their years. they are the very best of us. confusion over the catch—up plans for schools in england. labour demand answers. and now, i hear that schools will need to find 25% of tuition funding themselves. so i ask the secretary — what on earth happened? and a warning for ministers over ditched plans for a covid—19 tracing app. make no mistake, my lords. this fiasco will have fatal consequences. but first: the home secretary has praised the police officers who "ran towards danger to help those in need without a second thought" after stabbings that left three people dead. priti patel gave a statement to mps after visiting thames valley police, where she met the officers who arrested the murder suspect on saturday. they were, she said, heroes and "the very best of us". the three victims of the attack in forbury park have been named as james furlong, joe ritchie bennett, and david wails. the suspect, khairi saadallah, was arrested shortly after the incident under the terrorism act. sources have told the bbc he was originally from libya and came to the attention of mis in 2019. mps were told to be careful what they said in the commons to avoid prejudicing a possible trial. mr speaker, it was truly humbling to visit thames valley police this morning. i had the privilege of meeting the officers who first responded to the incident, and who were responsible for apprehending the suspect, as well as trying to prevent the loss of further life. these officers, a few of whom were student officers, ran towards danger to help those in need without a second thought. a young unarmed police officer took down the suspect without hesitation, while another performed emergency first aid to those who were injured. these officers are heroes. they showed courage, bravery, and selflessness way beyond their years. they are the very best of us. she said the government continued to pursue every option available to keep people safe. so my message today is clear, simple, and strong. swiftjustice will be done, victims will be supported, and, if further action is needed to stop terrorists in their tracks, this government will not hesitate to act. it is heartbreaking that we are having this conversation again, so soon after the terrible attacks at fishmongers' hall in november that tragically took the lives ofjack merritt and saskia jones, and the attack in streatham in february. he echoed priti patel‘s praise for the police, offered support for new laws, but said legislation was not enough. we need a comprehensive look at de—radicalization in our prisons. how people who pose a threat are risk assessed, and how different agencies can work together to safeguard against tragedies in the future. community police are the eyes and ears of our society. the intelligence gathering they do is vital. can the home secretary assure me that the government will never again cut the numbers of community police? one of those killed, james furlong, taught in a school in wokingham. the local mp paid tribute. he was, by all accounts, an inspirational teacher who always went the extra distance with his pupils, and was a very kind man. and he will be sorely missed. and the community is obviously very shaken today by this news. but will the home secretary intensify the efforts of the intelligence services, the police forces, and the others? we've had too many of these mass murders in recent years, and we want some reassurance that we can get on top of this and save the lives of others for the future. terrorist acts are not perpetrated by communities, they are carried out by individuals. they do not represent any faith, constituency, or indeed cause other than their own misguided and indeed malevolent and wicked views. and we need to take that into account. mr speaker, reading is a friendly and peaceful town with a diverse and tolerant community. and this whole incident is completely unknown to us, it's something which has never occurred before in our community, and as such is deeply upsetting. that community solidarity was demonstrated again today when a wide range of different faith and community groups came together to lay flowers at the scene of this dreadful incident. the local people also observed a minute's silence. i'm very proud by the way our community is pulling together at this difficult time and the way in which local people have been supporting one another. we can and we will come through this difficult time. thank you, mr speaker. the home secretary will know that this is about the most recent in a series of attacks by lone individuals that are harder for the police and security services to anticipate. but that also emphasises the importance of attacking some of the vile extremism and radicalisation that can lead to attacks — including online, in the community, and in prison. 0ne mp‘s researcherfound himself at the scene on saturday night. another member of our parliamentary family who, by chance, was at forbury gardens on saturday, ran courageously towards danger — his only focus to help the injured. mr speaker, i would like to pay particular tribute to james antell, a member of my own staff who not only used his own shirt to stem the bleeding of one victim, but continued resuscitation on a second victim until the paramedics arrived. the person who's been arrested suspected of these offences has been reported as being of interest to the security services as a potential terrorist sympathizer, and was released well before the end of his sentence from a prison — a mere 16 days before this murderous rampage took place. there have been newspaper reports of him engaging in alarming behaviour ahead of the incident. so, given these serious concerns, can the home secretary confirm for me that he was being supervised when he left prison under multi—agency arrangements for public protection, as would seem appropriate? and, if so, at what level? mr speaker, as i've already said, there is an investigation under way in relation to this incident. it would be thoroughly inappropriate for me to comment any further. priti patel. and mps will hold a minute's silence for the victims on tuesday morning. as we've seen, one of those killed in the attack was james furlong, the head of history, government, and politics at the holt school in wokingham. his colleagues described him as "talented and inspirational." and at the start of the day in the commons, the education secretary paid tribute to him. we've heard so many young people talk about the amazing impacts james had on their lives, and the real appreciation they felt and the loss that they now feel. our hearts go out to all those who've been affected by this most terrible of tragedies. elsewhere at question time, gavin williamson told mps that next year's a—levels and gcses in england could be pushed back to later in the summer. the change would allow schools to catch up some of the time lost since the coronavirus lockdown. his comments came in response to a question from a conservative mp. my honourable friend may have seen suggestions i've made about moving the 2021 exam season from may to july, to allow students and teachers more time in the classroom to try and complete the curriculum. i wonder if my right honourable friend would give consideration to that, or other matters, in getting extra teaching time to get ready for the exam season. my honourable friend raises an important point about how do we add more teaching time in? and that's why we will be consorting with 0fqual about how we can move those exams back, giving children extra time in order to be able to learn and really flourish, and do incredibly well. at the end of last week, the government announced a package of support worth £1 billion for children in england, to tackle the impact of lost teaching time. but a labour mp reckoned the way the money had been announced showed the education secretary needed to "get a grip". the incompetence — or was it a row between dfe and the treasury that saw, at 6.30, a dfe press release announcing support including early years and post—16 education, only by 8.30 to see a support package only for schools? gavin williamson rejected the accusation that the government was failing to close the educational attainment gap. that's why we're spending an extra £1 billion in terms of raising standards and helping those youngsters who have been impacted by this! but his labour shadow kept up the attack. last thursday evening, the government issued a press release clearly stating that the government has announced £700 million will be shared across early years schools and 16—19 providers. now, of course, it was not the strategic national education plan that i and many across the sector were hoping for, but it was a start nonetheless, and i welcomed it. however, less than an hour later, the government amended the press release — the funding was not for early years and 16—19, it was 650 million, not 700, it wouldn't be available until september. and now, i hear that schools will need to find 25% of tuition funding themselves. so i ask the secretary — what on earth happened? 0ur scheme will deliver results and make a difference! and it's £1 billion extra to go to schools. it's £350 million targeted at those children who are from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. it is going to deliver and close the gap in terms of attainment much more effectively than any other proposals that the party opposite has done — maybe it would be nice if the honourable lady could welcome such a proposal. all of this uncertainty could have been avoided if the secretary chose to listen to the sector. so, will he confirm today that he will now formally convene a task force of trade unions, education childcare leaders and staff, local authorities, parents organisations, and health experts to address these issues urgently? there is a reality that this side of the house is committed to getting every child back into school. and we understand that, actually, this is where they're going to benefit from. if it was the party opposite, we wouldn't see any children back into the classroom, but what we've already got — we've got nurseries back, reception back, year one back, year six back, we've got years ten and 12. we've given schools extra flexibility to get more children in, and we've made it clear that next week, we'll be outlining plans for the full return of every single child in every year group back into school. you're watching monday in parliament with me, david cornock. still to come: can we still stay by the seaside this summer? a conservative mp, marcus fysh, has apologised in the house of commons after parliament's standards watchdog found that he failed to register a number of unpaid directorships. the standards committee also found that mr fysh adopted a "deprecatory" and "patronising" tone towards the standards commissioner during inquiries into his directorships. i apologise to the house for this situation born of a misunderstanding of what is required, and will update my register of interest accordingly. the committee's report also asked me to apologise to the commissioner and the registrar of members‘ financial interests, and i will write and agree the text of that apology in advance with the chair of the committee. marcus fysh. peers have described the government decision to ditch its current coronavirus tracing app as a ‘fiasco'. a tracing application on a mobile phone works by logging when two people have been in close proximity to each otherfor a substantial period of time. the prime minister said there would be a ‘world—beating' tracing system in place byjune. the nhs—x app was being piloted on the isle of wight, but it's now been abandoned in favour of a model based on technology provided by apple and google. the health minister told the lords the failed app had cost 11.8 million pounds. there was an onslaught from lib dem peers. my lords, i hope the minister understands the anger at the government at the nhs—x's sheer incompetence and lack of humility in what was rightly called a fiasco by the daily mail last friday. it's go it alone approach, an attempt to shift the blame onto tech companies, simply won't wash. isn't it time the governmentjust accepted the fact that we can't develop our own app and go straight to adopt an available interface or api behind the decentralised app now in widespread use and introduced in germany, italy, switzerland and denmark, where they appear to be working well. my lords, i'd like to say a profound thanks to those at nhs—x, nhs digital and others who have worked so hard on the nhs app. they have made phenomenal progress and their hard work is usually appreciated. —— hugely. i'd also like to say a profound thanks to those at apple who are working with us to design an app that suits the british public. both teams have faced enormous challenges, and i look forward to the fact that they are working together to overcome them. make no mistake, my lords, this fiasco will have fatal consequences. which ministers will have the decency to stop trying to dodge the blame, apologise and resign? i don't think anyone needs to apologise for their efforts. i have already paid tribute to the teams at nhsx and nhs digital for their incredibly hard work they put in. and i cannot disguise from the noble lord how complex and challenging the issues are that we face in this area. they are challenges that some of the best governments in the world are wrestling with, and they are ones that have not been overcome in many territories, and i'm extremely proud of our achievements today and look forward to further achievement in the future. why did nhsx decide to make a new contact tracing app and not collaborate with other countries who had successfully produced tracing apps? what is this specific business case or use case in ten years to require a different design with the implementations that exist already? there are a number of challenges. a most profound one is our need to use technology to tackle local outbreaks. i've listened to the remarks of my noble friend, and i do feel that confidence in the government has been shaken by this particular approach. but i have one particular question. how do we anticipate this approach now being ruled out across the four nations of the united kingdom? i am aware that other nations are looking at their own options, but it is our hope that in time, they will all come together for one solution. can the noble lord, the minister, say what plans the government has to manage, if there is a substantial new increase in new infections, and will they publish those plans? and the second part is what plans does the government have to use antibody screening of the population? our plans for the winter are in development at the moment and i look forward to their publication. as for antibody screening, the noble lord is entirely right to prioritise that. we have invested considerably in the antibody testing from a number of supplies, including roche and abbott. the science, as the noble lord knows very well, remains ambiguous, but we are optimistic. that is why we are putting our best minds to understand it better, and we are world—leading in that perspective. lord bethel. health officials have been accused of a "reckless" and "negligent" approach to care homes during the coronavirus crisis. that charge came from a conservative mp, as senior executives and civil servants told the public accounts committee they had faced "huge challenges," but defended the decision to discharge tens of thousands of people from hospitals into care homes. the spending watchdog, the national audit office, said in a report earlier this month that 25,000 elderly people were discharged from hospitals in england between mid—march and mid—april. around the same period, several thousand care homes reported outbreaks. they haven't got adequate ppe, there wasn't adequate testing, they didn't have adequate training at that time. how can you say this wasn't negligent? it was to discharge people who were clinically fit to be discharged, so we always wished to discharge individuals who no longer need to remain in hospital. so this was the discharge of those whose medical treatment work was complete... but i'm sorry to interrupt you again, but again, professor... sorry to interrupt you again, but how did you know that they were clinically fit to be discharged and they didn't have covid? because you didn't test them, did you? well, because there are processes in place in hospitals to ensure that people who no longer require medical treatment in hospitals. and that includes people such as this, would be discharged. so that's always been the case that we would want to discharge people who are clinically fit. of course, in the elderly, staying in hospital when you are medically fit for discharge can be harmful. the mps heard there were just 3,500 tests available per day at the time. the available tests nationally over time was around about 3,500 tests a day and, in agreement with the nhs, with the cmos, and the devolved administrations who categorise situations, given the limited number of tests, including very sick patients on itu, other patients in hospital needing a differential diagnosis, who had a respiratory infection. and testing in care homes, to diagnose outbreaks. those are the three top categories. sir geoffrey was still not satisfied. you are discharging them from hospital into care homes when care homes were already in dire trouble. some of the most vulnerable people in society, the testing wasn't available, the ppe wasn't available, the training wasn't available — wasn't this a pretty reckless policy by the government? no, for the reasons that my colleagues have described. i am not here to say that there would not be issues with care homes in that we have learned that we need to do more both now and in the future. that is all common ground. what i am saying is that the decisions that we took around discharge, which were all based on clinical advice at the time and the way that mrjohnson had described, or rational, given what we had on the table at that time. so as i say, i'm not denying there would be problems. but i don't accept that the decisions were not soundly based in science at the time. this from the 2nd of april stated that care homes could admit patients with covid—19. given what we knew at the time with what was happening in places like italy in care homes, do you now accept that was a high risk and wrong guidance? we believe that we took the right decision based on the right clinical evidence at the time. given that there were 400,000 vulnerable residents in care homes, do you think that the guidance that care homes could admit patients with covid—19 was high risk? all our guidance is very carefully considered based on the best clinical advice at the time. but that's not the same as they are being no risk. now, as was set out earlier, there were considerable risks to people staying in hospital — both outside the covid outbreak and within it. so when we are setting our guidance on all these issues, we are having to take a balance of riskjudgements where there is no no—risk option. so we acted on the clinical advice that we had at the time. as i said in my previous answer, that is not the same as saying that we always got things... we got that message — you say you didn't always get things right. the last word going to the committee chair, labour's meg hillier. the prime minister is due to announce a further easing of the lockdown measures in england on tuesday. with the summer holidays approaching, tourism businesses are especially anxious to get up and running again. peers said many seaside towns were finding the situation especially tough. the seaside towns can't wait because time moves on. we're about to move into the busiest three months of a seaside town's economic year. we need immediately, from these much—trailed statements that are about to come out tomorrow, clear guidance to the seaside towns on how best they can reopen their attractions — particularly hospitality and indoor iconic attractions — perhaps taking best practice from abroad. tourism is a critical part of the economy for a number of seaside towns, and we are looking at all options as to how we can reopen safely and quickly as possible. and we've set an ambitious target of 4 july to do just that. many of the coastal communities in the northeast, in common with other coastal towns elsewhere, are among the 10% most deprived in england. can the noble baroness, the minister, tell us what action the government proposes to ensure that the present crisis will not make these inequalities with non—coastal areas even greater? covid—19 has been a huge blow to the surrounding south coast resorts where i live. responding to the renaissance of demand will require substantial, imaginative, and fast investment. what we are doing, however, is looking at a series of regulatory easements which would potentially extend the holiday season, and therefore address some of the critical pressures which seaside resorts and other tourist destinations are facing. university of southampton research shows that the five towns at the greatest economic risk from the pandemic across the entire uk are coastal — mapplethorpe, skegness, clacton—on—sea, bridlington, and kenmare bay. seaside towns saw workers laid off in april at a faster rate than anywhere else in britain, and seasonal employment practices mean many local people fall between government support schemes. does the noble lady, the minister, agree that, while measures to bolster domestic tourism this summer are important, the need to be part of a broader package of support for coastal towns to diversify their economies and build long—term resilience? the noble lady is right, and that's why, from different perspectives, the government is trying to tackle this problem, and already was aiming to work in just those communities ahead of covid — whether it is in terms of our ambitious transport infrastructure plans, our leveling—up plans, or our tourism sector deal and the wider work that will focus within that deal on improving job opportunities within those communities. lady barran. and we may not long to wait to find out whether those seaside towns will get to enjoy a summer holiday season. i hope you canjoin me at the same time tomorrow for tuesday in parliament, and the prime minister's long—awaited statement. until then, from me, david cornock, bye for now. hello there, i'm sure it's not going to be to everyone‘s liking, but this week, it is going to be turning hotter and more humid across many parts of the country. and for the first time this year, the temperature is likely to reach 30 degrees plus. now on monday, the highest temperature was at heathrow airport and in cambridgeshire with temperatures of 2a degrees. and that was with a south—westerly wind with lower pressure and weather fronts bringing some rain towards the north—west. higher pressure bringing the sunshine towards the south—east of the uk. now, as the position of the high pressure changes and as it moves northwards into scandinavia, so will change the wind direction and we are going to draw in all the heat and humidity from continental europe. temperatures rising by day and perhaps by night as well. quite warm first thing actually on tuesday morning. a little bit cooler perhaps towards the far south—east of england and across the highlands in scotland. but tomorrow looks like being quite cloudy again across scotland and northern ireland. there's still some more rain to come, although it won't be as windy, it will be drier and brighter in eastern scotland too. some early cloud for wales and the north—west of england but more in the way of sunshine here, lots of sunshine for england and wales, those temperatures continuing to rise. 27—28 degrees south—east england, the midlands, east anglia, and lincolnshire. that high pressure is going to be more dominant around the middle part of the week. building across this weather front, it tends to weaken it all the while. so, on wednesday, there may well still be some cloud and some outbreaks of rain left for scotland and northern ireland but it should tend to peter out. the cloud thins and breaks and we should get more sunshine. the sunnier skies continue for england and wales where the winds are still light, and those temperatures are continuing to rise. perhaps making the low 20s in the south—east of scotland, 30—31 degrees is likely through the midlands and the south—east of england by this stage. and another hot day to come on thursday with light wind. watch out for a few showers, it could be heavy and thundery towards the north—west of the uk. otherwise, it's going to be dry with light winds again and it is warming up. we are missing the extreme heat in northern ireland, mid—20s through the central belt of scotland. 31 or 32 in the south—east of england. that's 90 fahrenheit. it's an uncertain breakdown towards the end of the week. we're likely to find some heavy thundery showers coming in from the west on friday before we're into atlantic air on saturday, and it will feel cooler and fresher again. a very warm welcome to you. this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. my name is mike embley. the city that never sleeps is starting to wake up. new york, once the global centre of the pandemic, begins reopening. south korean officals confirm a second wave of infections, even though numbers are relatively low. facebook and instagram are facing a growing boycott by advertisers over their failure to address hate speech. and archaeologists have discovered a major prehistoric monument just a short distance from stonehenge.

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