Transcripts For BBCNEWS Victoria Derbyshire 20200303

It is inside number ten, with the Prime Minister. The government needs to give unmarried parents bereavement payments thats according to 18 organisations whove joined together to urge action today in a letter seen exclusively by this programme. These two women have both lost their partners and havent been given a penny. We been given a penny. Will speak to them in the next half hour. And security chiefs are warning smart cameras and Baby Monitors in your home can be watched by criminals over the internet, which is exactly whats happening in this shocking video. Who is that . Im your best friend. Im santa claus. Mommy hi, welcome to the programme. Were live until 11 this morning. And we are expecting the pm to start that press Conference Setting out plans to tackle coronavirus at about 10. 30, we will bring you that live as soon as it starts. To get in touch as usual. Use the hashtag victorialive, email victoria bbc. Co. Uk, text 61124 itll cost the Standard Network rate. First Annita Mcveigh has the news. Thank you, victoria. Good morning. Plans for tackling the threat posed by coronavirus will be set out by the Prime Minister this morning after borisjohnson warned the number of cases in the uk could significantly increase. 39 people so far have tested positive for the illness. The government will quickly ta ke ste ps illness. The government will quickly take steps to allow retired Health Service staff to be employed, and should the virus spreads, it will encourage people to travel less and work from home as part of a social distancing strategy. This programme can exclusively reveal that 18 charities and organisations are appealing directly to the government to change the law about Financial Support given to bereaved families. Last year a Landmark Legal case found denying unmarried parents means found denying unmarried parents m ea ns tested found denying unmarried parents means tested payments of up to £10,000 a year was against human rights law, but so for the law remains unchanged. It is estimated around 2000 families are denied the bereavement support payment every year. Domestic abusers could be fa u lty ta ke year. Domestic abusers could be faulty take light detector test as pa rt faulty take light detector test as part of new laws being put before mps today. The Domestic Abuse bill includes a ban on abusers cross examining their victims in court. If passed, a three year trial would be taken out. Mps said many of the plants were widely supported. Users of Smart Devices like Baby Monitors and cameras are advised to check their devices to avoid being had. It has been one that hackers can had. It has been one that hackers ca n a ccess had. It has been one that hackers can access the devices if they are not properly protected. Users should regularly change passwords to prevent the risk. A former aide to the home secretary priti patel received a pay out after claiming she was bullied by the minister. It is alleged the woman took an overdose of prescription medicine following the alleged incident in 2015. Ms patel faces allegations that she mistreated staff in her current role as home secretary, she denies them. Follow us Vice President joe bidens bid for the white house has been given a big boost after his campaign was backed by two former rivals. It comes ahead of what is known as super tuesday when democrats in 1a states decide who they think should challenge donald trump in the president ial election later this year. Sprinter Dina Asher Smith is the fastest british woman in history and no stranger to taking her medals, but how about a barbie . Ahead of International Womens day, the world and european champion was honoured with her own one of a kind gel for her record breaking achievements. was taken aback by how much actually look like me, the details were so precise, the little gold rings, gold necklace, earrings, my hairwas there with the gorgeous braids the curls through eight and also the skin tone and, most importantly for me, the muscle tone, because i think it is really important that young girls see all aspects of femininity. That is pretty cool that is a summary that is pretty cool that is a summary of the stories so far, back to you, victoria. For the past three years our programme has been investigating how bereaved parents and their children are looked after. Now this morning we can exclusively reveal 18 organisations and charities have sent an open letter to the government urging it to change the law so unmarried widowers can receive Financial Support for their children. If your husband, wife or civil partner dies and you are eligible for child benefit, you can receive up to £10,000. This is called the bereavement support payment. But if you are an unmarried parent, you are not entitled to receive it. Its estimated every year around 2,000 families with children lose out, and updating the system would cost around £15 million a year. 0ur reporter Anna Collinson has been investigating bereavement support payment since it was brought in in 2017. Just explain what it is . Bereavement support payment was brought in in april 2017, the idea was that any husband, wife, or civil partner, if they become a widow, which received as payment. If you have a child or children it is paid at a higher rate. You get a one off payment of £3500 and 18 monthly instalments of 300 p. All parents make the same National Insurance contributions, whether they are married or not, but if you are not married, a cohabiting parent, you get nothing, and with no support in place and people having to rely on things like food banks to get by. We have got this open letter today calling on that to change, what are they saying . The crux of the argument is why should a child who has no influence over their pa re nts who has no influence over their parents marital status not receive Financial Support and a parent dies. In the past 18 months been two Landmark Legal cases where it has been found that denying the payment to cohabiting couples was incompatible with human rights legislation. The first was the case of the widower Siobhan Mclaughlin in 2018 in august, we will hear from her ina 2018 in august, we will hear from her in a few minutes. The second was at the High Court Last month involving two bereaved fathers. Shortly after the second ruling, lib dem np ed davey raise the issue in the house of commons. Will there be no further delay, so we can start supporting the thousands of similar children across our country who lose their mother and father every year . Prime minister. Well, mr speaker, the right honourable gentleman has raised this with me before and ive undertaken to meet him on that matter. We will certainly look at the case he mentions and see what exactly our response should be. But hes right to draw attention to this injustice and we will do what we can to remedy it. Boosted by borisjohnsons comments of wanting to remedy an injustice, a group of bereavement organisations have written an open letter to the government, urging them to act quickly and to provide this support to unmarried parents for their children. We have exclusively been shown this letter, it was coordinated by the Childhood Bereavement Network and signed by charities like widowed and young, in eight it warned that five families with children are affected by this everyday. We asked a minister from the department for work and pensions to come on, newbie is available . We have covered the effect of the widowed and young for three years now, every time we have tried to get a minister on, unfortunately nobody has been developed. A spokesperson for the department for work and pensions says losing a loved one is devastating and we are carefully considering the Court Judgment devastating and we are carefully considering the courtjudgment on cohabiting couples with children. The government tried to appeal against a the government tried to appeal againsta high the government tried to appeal against a High Court Ruling which took place last month involving the two bereaved fathers, we found out yesterday that that appeal was refused. The bereavement support payment has been controversial for those who are able to receive it, a person who loses a husband, wife or civil partner. Why . It used to be with receive this benefit until your younger child left school. In 2017 that changed, the bereavement support payment was sporting and the benefit went from lasting 18 years to 18 months. The bereavement support payment was brought in. We spoke to a dying man who we named alan shortly before the bereavement support payment was brought in, he worked as if he died under the old system his family would receive between £55,000 and 60,000 pension benefits, he found out that if he died in to the new system, his family would receive £6,000. He told us he wished he would die sooner. Ive explained the situation to them. Ive said, in some ways, it wouldnt be a bad thing if they lost me a couple of days early, because, at least, there would be more Financial Support available. Of course, even talking in those terms is very upsetting. Sadly, alan died just weeks after that interview, that was several weeks after the new system was brought in. His family got much less money. The government argued the new system needed modernising, it stopped bereaved parents adjusting to single life, that was their justification for moving to the bereavement support payment, but many think it has gone too far and 18 months of support is not long enough. In 2018 we heard from pa rents enough. In 2018 we heard from parents who had been relying on multiplejobs to pay parents who had been relying on multiple jobs to pay the bills at a time when they should have been at home with their children who were, of course, we think. 0ver home with their children who were, of course, we think. Over the past three years, pressure has mounted on the government to review the bereavement support payment system. The two changes, wanted by organisations, families and charities, are clear. The benefit should be extended on cohabiting pa rents should be extended on cohabiting parents should receive it. Thank you very much, anna. Well, here now is Siobhan Mclaughlin, a co habiting mum who won a Landmark Court case which allowed her to claim a bereavement benefit. Its 18 months since that ruling and she says its absolutely shocking that nothing has changed. She won the right to it, she has received nothing. Laura rudds partner of nine years, the father of her young son, died just three weeks ago. She never married her partner nigel so has been denied bereavement support payment and is struggling to pay for his funeral. She was so devastated by the Current Situation for unmarried parents that she set up a petition calling for a law change it has received 90,000 signatures so far. This morning it has topped 100,000 signatures. Lalena walkleys partner and father to her three children died in a car crash two years ago. She wasnt eligible for a bereavement benefit so to pay bills she had to accept help from her local church and relatives. Both laura and and lalena are members of the charity widowed and young. And labour Mp Stella Creasy has been critical of the bereavement support payment since its introduction in 2017. Lets talk to them all now, thank you for coming on the programme. Laura, you and nigel were together for nine years . God yes. Very sadly, nigel died last month. Can i ask you what happens question my killer we have a two year old, little noor, he isa have a two year old, little noor, he is a bit ofa have a two year old, little noor, he is a bit of a whirlwind. We both wa nted is a bit of a whirlwind. We both wanted to get a bit fitter to keep up wanted to get a bit fitter to keep up with him. We have been giving a little bit of running, and nigel went out for a run and he didnt come back. I waited at home, thinking, where is he . I had to eventually go out and look for him and instead found an ambulance, to be told he had died while out running. Goodness me. It was unbelievable, we did not know thereby any health problems, it came com pletely thereby any health problems, it came completely out of the blue. I had no wish me when i found the ambulance. Just total shock. And does he know his dad has died . Heaters, we have talked to him and explained, but because of his age, he does not understand fully. He does. So everyday he is saying, where is my daddy . I want daddy. He told his little friend recently, i dont have a daddy any more. He asks every single day, it is like a knife every single day, it is like a knife every single day, it is like a knife every single day, asking asking where he is. You and nigel were single day, asking asking where he is. You and nigelwere not single day, asking asking where he is. You and nigel were not married, asi is. You and nigel were not married, as i said, i wonder if you can tell us about the moment when you realised you were not entitled to this bereavement support payment because you were not married . On valentines day, irony of all ironies, i had to go and register his death and i was told in advance that you will find it difficult to register him because you are not married. I was told by a lovely woman at the registration process, oh, you are not married, we will have to register him as single. That is despite our nine years, he was not single, we were together for nine years. I was just so angry that was the case, because i did not have this piece of paper that i had to register him as single, as a person organising the funeral, not even allowed to be acknowledged as his partner. 0n allowed to be acknowledged as his partner. On top of everything else, it was soul destroying. In terms of the bereavement support payment, when digi realised it was not forthcoming . When did you realise . I checked and looked through the guidance to make the claim. It said unless you are married or are in a civil partnership, you cant have it. How have you manage . In terms of the costs for the funeral, it has been really hard . Costs for the funeral, it has been really hard . Yes, you find yourself ina really hard . Yes, you find yourself in a position where you are solely responsible for everything. Just overwhelmed. Looking at the price of funerals, the cost of everything on top of everything else. And struggling to even comprehend where to start, really. I have been very lucky, some very kind people in the village where i live set up a gofundme page, so i have had to rely on strangers, friends and family who have come together to help me at this time. Thank god for those people, because you were not entitled to this payment. Lalena, you were together with adam for 15 yea rs . You were together with adam for 15 years . Double yes. The base he died two years ago, and when you think back to that time, you are not married, what difference would receiving this treatment payment have made it to you and your kids . have made it to you and your kids . have to say that i was also very fortunate in that i had my mother in law to financially help me,| mother in law to financially help me, i had my local church financially supports me, i had two months page from my work, so between february when adam was killed, i return to work in october, so for that time i had the financial help from my mother in law and the church. If you had had the bereavement payment . church. If you had had the bereavement payment . I would not have had to take that payment from them and, to be honest, at that time i felt like a complete burden. I hadnt asked for the payment but they saw me struggling and so they offered. For me to be off work, my Childrens Mental Health was more important than working and it was just a complete panic, financially, what was i going to do . Was i going to return to work . How would i manage childcare . I really did not wa nt manage childcare . I really did not want to go on to universal credit, i would have been much worse off, i wanted my children to have a good example of a mother, to be in a job and a financially good situation. Yeah. Extending this payment to unmarried couples would cost £15 million a year. Perhaps it is just too expensive . There are only about 2000 unmarried families that lose a partner every year, it is a small fraction and i think they can afford to pay that. I will bring in siobhan maclachlan, stella creasy, first, if i may. Siobhan went to the Supreme Court and won, the Supreme Court ruled it was incompatible with human rights law that you are not allowed to receive treatment benefits for your children because of being unmarried. What has changed since then . Absolutely nothing, unfortunately. Nothing changed at all. What do you think about the fa ct all. What do you think about the fact that nothing has changed since that Supreme Court ruling . Its really, really is shocking that the highest court in the line can say to our government that you have discriminated notjust our government that you have discriminated not just against our government that you have discriminated notjust against my children but all of these children and they still have done nothing. Children but all of these children and they still have done nothing few weeks ago the High Court Ruled that denying two bereaved dads and their kids the bereavement support payment was against human rights law because the parents were unmarried, do you think that will make a difference . I have no idea whether government is coming from with this, i dont understand what it will take for them to recognise our children are just as important as a child born into weblog. They really are discriminating against them. Stella creasy, what do you think of these kinds of stories that we are continuing to report despite izco caters . I first got involved in this issue because i had two mothers in my constituency come to me who were, sadly, in the same position as laura and lalena. Nigel and sadly, in the same position as laura and lalena. Nigeland adam sadly, in the same position as laura and lalena. Nigel and adam both paid National Insurance, this is not about the state being kind, we have a lwa ys about the state being kind, we have always supported widows in this country. I am always supported widows in this country. Iam horrified by always supported widows in this country. I am horrified by the way in which this government has treated widows, not only saying that somehow after 18 months you should be over the tragic loss of a partner, but also discriminating against children because they government think that if you are not married, somehow your children are lesser. Whether it is registering a birth or death or supporting your family from the payment your partner will have made in good faith to the state, this has to change. This legislation is from the 19505 and i have sat repeatedly in meetings with ministers and help debate repeatedly saying why do we not learn from countries like germany where the money goes to the child, and orphans pension, base it on their hands. Every single big families having this horrific position and treated like this because of these decisions. In the dwp statement it said losing a loved one is devastating and we are carefully considering the Court Judgment and cohabiting couples with children. 80 weeks ago they try to appeal against the dad5 winning their court case, that was turned down, we learned, yesterday afternoon. And i reading too much into that statement, that it sounds likely hopeful . We have had four years likely hopeful . We have had four yea rs of likely hopeful . We have had four years of people raising concern about the fact that unmarried pa re nts a re about the fact that unmarried parents are discriminated against, they have had two Court Rulings telling them they are breaching the human rights of these children. I wish i could be more hopeful, i wish here in bori5 wish i could be more hopeful, i wish here in Boris Johnson wish i could be more hopeful, i wish here in borisjohnson saying he realise the issue was important, i could be more helpful, but it is simple, recogni5e5 parent5 could be more helpful, but it is simple, recogni5e5 parents have paid contributions and the family should not be penalised because their families tragically lost a loved one. Briefly, what would be your message to bori5 one. Briefly, what would be your message to borisjohnson if he were watching, siobhan . My goodness, show you really do care about our children, simple as. Ithink you really do care about our children, simple as. I think our children, simple as. I think our children cant, recognise that. You made really promising comments in Prime Ministers question time, please just follow through with that and challenge this injustice, our children matter, they should not be penalised because their parents do not have a piece of paper. This is about childrens not have a piece of paper. This is about child rens human not have a piece of paper. This is about childrens human rights, at the end of the day, they are being affected by the parents boro decision not to marry, and they matter as much as a married parents, completely. Dj scott on twitter says what is being married had to do with children . Ruthie says marriage is not for everyone, it is choosing how you conduct your personal relationships but your commitment being recognised in the same way as marriage or civil partnership. There are some more which i will try to read before the end of the programme. One thing we should be really clear about is that we recognise when people are not married in the benefit system, your tax credits are affected by whether you are living together with somebody, but somehow when you die, suddenly the government says they cant cope with the fact you were not married. They are perfectly happy to tax you as an unmarried couple but not to deal with you when you are bereaved and vulnerable, it has to change. That is a really good point. Thank you all very much. Thank you, siobhan. Coming up in about ten mins the Prime Minister will be setting out the uks plan to tackle coronavirus in a press conference atabout10. 30am well bring you that live. More and more of us are relying on smart objects in our homes but what if its notjust you watching your baby monitor or your Home Security camera . Today, the National Cyber security centre, which is the Communications Wing of the intelligence services, is issuing new advice to people on how to secure the cameras in your homes from cyber criminals. Smart cameras the security cameras and Baby Monitors used to oversee activity in and around your house usually connect to the internet using your home wi fi. This means you can watch a live camera feed, receive alerts when youre out and about, and sometimes record footage. But live feeds or images from smart cameras in the home have the potential to be accessed by unauthorised users. So do you know who else is watching . Have a look at this exchange. In a chilling exchange caught on video, the family of eight year old alyssa lemay released this clip of a an alleged hacker using a smart camera to speak to her as she played in her bedroom in mississippi. Who is that . Im your best friend. Im santa claus. Mommy im santa claus. Dont you want to be my best friend . I dont know who you are. Im santa claus. Mommy horrific. Lets speak to the ceo of the National Cyber security centre, ciaran martin. Good morning. Is that the kind of thing we are talking about, is that the worry . That is one of the worries, and that horrific lead, and im very grateful to that family for releasing it to promote awareness, cases like this are thankfully rare, they are notjust confined to the predatory abuse of children but there are recorded cases of criminality around burglary, where people hack into Home Security videos as a precursor to trying to steal something from the house and so steal something from the house and so forth. The better news is there are easy steps you can take to dramatically reduce the risk, that is what we are issuing today. Because, as i say, cases like this are rare. If you take the three easy steps on our website you can make it much harderfor people steps on our website you can make it much harder for people to steps on our website you can make it much harderfor people to hack in and have the peace of mind that you need. How do you do edge . Go to the settings on your device and check for a default password, something silly like 000 that anybody can easily guess. Change it to a strong password, for us it is three random words that mean something to you but they would not be very easy to guess. You will get these updates, try to always implement them, prefera bly try to always implement them, preferably buy something where you can see the security updates will be done automatically, that means when a floor expanded is automatically fixed. As your crib said, sometimes people use these from outside the home but lots of people rarely if ever do, they use them when they are downstairs and a child is upstairs or something, if you are not using it outside the home, switch that feature off, it makes it so much harder. Do those three things and you are much safer. So the risk is from would be burglars and would be paedophiles . The thing about cybercrime is very often people just look for weaknesses, they are they are opportunistic, they look into a bunch of data and say that is a weak connection, i will see what it is there. If it is local and that is currently interested in children, they might follow that up. The point is people have these devices, many of them are brilliant, they make life more convenient, give people peace of mind, they are fantastic, but as we bring more into our homes, evenif but as we bring more into our homes, even if you just dont want your privacy invaded by simply messing around, you can take these steps to make yourself safer. Is it widespread, or not yet . Cases are rare and the risk is low. So you might ask why we are putting out this advice. We want to give people peace of mind and we want to get ahead of the threat. The government has said it will legislate. Legislate for standards in the project. One of the problems with most internet devices is it is very ha rd to most internet devices is it is very hard to go to the shop and say i wa nt to hard to go to the shop and say i want to buy this, how can i tell if it is safer than another project like you can with a car, there are standards, there are not really those for cybersecurity. We are developing them in the government has already said they will have the force of law. We have to make sure the standards are bang on, otherwise we will get into all sorts of problems, so until then, we say if you have these devices, this is what you have these devices, this is what you do to check and fix your security. And the website is ncsc. Gov. Uk, that security. And the website is ncsc. Gov. Uk, that is security. And the website is ncsc. Gov. Uk, that is where those three easy steps are. Provides thank you for coming onto the programme, ciaran martin, from the National Cyber security centre. I appreciate your time. Were expecting to hear from the Prime Minister in the next few minutes outlining the goverments plans to tackle a major coronavirus outbreak. Hes expected to announce measures to allow retired Health Service staff to return to work, and encourage working from home. We have asked if you are already changing your behaviour, and so many of you got in touch, including scott in the east midlands. His wife is currently stuck in china. Glynis lives in haslemere in surrey, there have been four reported cases in surrey. Doctor chris smith also chances, a consultant biologist at the university of cambridge. Welcome all, thank you for coming on the programme. Glynis, starting with you in haslemere where one of the first cases was reported, how argument your husband, who is having cancer treatment, feeling . How argue and your husband . Treatment, feeling . How argue and your husband . Very nervous. We are used to being able to protect ourselves by avoiding crowded places. My husband doesnt go out to the shops when he is having his treatment. His problem is that his immune therapy is very low and he is on his last cycle, and we are extremely concerned about going out. We have now tended to go out in the evening when there are less people in the shops. You are right about his immune system being low because of the effects of chemotherapy, are you stockpiling food . Of the effects of chemotherapy, are you stockpiling food . of the effects of chemotherapy, are you stockpiling food . I havent, but what i have done this week as ordered a new small freezer, because. Having chemotherapy treatment does isolate you because you had to be so careful about going out anyway, so we are fairly used to that, but i would go to the shops, we are lucky that i have shops very nearby, every two days i go out, purely just to get nearby, every two days i go out, purelyjust to get out of nearby, every two days i go out, purely just to get out of the nearby, every two days i go out, purelyjust to get out of the house, which is very sad, really, but shopping is a way of getting out. I now realise i really cant do that and soi now realise i really cant do that and so i need to start stockpiling some food, getting some ready meals m, some food, getting some ready meals in, soi some food, getting some ready meals in, so i dont have to go out so often. Scotch, forgive me, we may interrupt our conversation of Boris Johnson start talking, i am sure you will understand. Your wife is in he they province under lockdown, she was visiting family for Chinese New Year when the logjam began, you have not seen herfor year when the logjam began, you have not seen her for two year when the logjam began, you have not seen herfor two months, how has that been . It is devastating. We are in this ridiculous situation where there doesnt seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel. I can cope myself but for the kids it is devastating. Luke is nine, chloe hasjust turned five and particularly for chloe it is very difficult to be without her mum. Luke is nine and chloe is five. Presumably they are constantly asking when their mum is coming home . Yes. Fortunately we can talk oii home . Yes. Fortunately we can talk ona home . Yes. Fortunately we can talk on a video call. Her house is the only house in their village that has internet, so they are able to see her, but obviously thats not the same as being at home. It is particularly difficult for chloe. She had a virus a couple of weeks ago, she was sick, and that was a particularly difficult time, both for her mum and for us. And we were talking the other day and chloe made a comment and said, you know, thats 0k, a comment and said, you know, thats ok, thats if money can come back from china. And, you know, when you hear your five year old daughter say those kind of things it strikes an emotional chord. Absolutely. There will be light at the end of the tunnel at some point. Wejust will be light at the end of the tunnel at some point. We just dont know when it is. Let me bring in chris smith, consultant virologist. Doctor smith, you can hear the anxiety and distress from people, cant you come around this . Yeah, and it will go on for a little while yet, because we just dont know how long it will take before this wave completely goes through and when i say wave i mean of infection. We can use, say, sars, which happened in 2002 through to 2003 as some kind of guide, but it was over relatively quickly, took a few months, and by about six months was completely done and dusted. It was less infectious and dusted. It was less infectious and got two fewer people. This is much larger, more easy to transmit infection, and therefore we expect it will go further it got to fewer people. How long it will take to go to the entire population, and we stop it, because eventually it will stop when it runs out of people to infect, we dont know that the moment. Ok. Do we know that those who are infected will mostly have mild to moderate symptoms . Yes. And we have pretty good data on this iiow. We have pretty good data on this now. Both from the initial cases in china but then subsequent cases being very carefully followed up in other countries. It is falling into a vague rule of faith, where four deaths of people will have very trivial symptoms, 80 , the vast majority of people four fifths of people have very trivial symptoms. Of the others, about a fifth will get seriously unwell but the others can be managed in hospital. That is really interesting and gives us such perspective, doctor smith, that 80 , the vast majority of people, if they get this, they will be those milder symptoms. Everybody is talking about coronavirus. Clearly we are reporting what contingency plans are in place, we will bring viewers this press conference from the Prime Minister any moment now as soon as conference from the Prime Minister any moment now as soon as it starts. Does that add to people because my anxiety, do you think . Certainly, uncertainty breeds more uncertainty and anxiety. In my experience, certainly as a medical doctor, i find giving people the facts include information really helps them to understand better and helps to re move understand better and helps to remove anxiety. I think actually giving people the facts is the most powerful thing we can do because then people can, eh, make a judgment, and then they can see other people are thinking about this. People paid a lot more than i am are making contingency plans they can, a, make a judgment. Am are making contingency plans they can, a, make ajudgment. This isa they can, a, make ajudgment. This is a worst Case Scenario. We are not there yet but reassuringly we have a plan in place for what if things do get really bad . We plan for the worst, we hope for the best. We are about to hear that plan in more detail ina about to hear that plan in more detail in a moment. Let me come back to you, glynis. I gather these posters have come up saying haslemere twinned with wuhan. What is the atmosphere like where you live . I saw a Facebook Page and i thought that was extremely poor test. People have no idea what it is like. In my place not everybody is in that situation, and you think this is so serious that to make jokes out of it, yeah, 0k, this is so serious that to make jokes out of it, yeah, ok, you have to lighten up a bit, but i thought that was very poor taste. Somebody had actually gone out of their way to make a bright pink poster with those words on it and i found that offensive. One of the things that i would like to say is that a couple of years ago there was a programme made by the bbc called contagion and it was based on haslemere where there was one bbc reporter actually who was the spreader of a virus. And it has come back to bite us, really, because although the virus didnt start here, it appeared to here, and we are quite a small town, not even a big town. And so it is quite alarming because we are probably 10,000 people here and we all use the same facilities, same shops. In haslemere they dont know where that initial person picked up the virus, so initial person picked up the virus, so that is quite alarming. Sure. Keep washing your hands. I have to wish you and your husband good luck for his final chemo session, because it should be a happy time. Thank you very much. We appreciate it, scott. Lots of love. Thanks, glynis, and doctor smith, thank you very much for your time as well. No sign yet of the pm at the presser that was due at 10. 30. Lets talk to norman smith at downing street in the meantime. What are we expecting from the Prime Minister . Well, he said he is going to set out a menu of options. I think one of the most important things is going to be the tone. Firstly the Prime Minister obviously has to show he has a grip of the crisis after what many people have regarded as a pretty slow start when he seemed to leave much of it to matt hancock, the health secretary, to be out and about and organising things. Borisjohnson has taken charge now with that cobra meeting yesterday, but also he has to convey a sense of confidence so that people believe that the government knows what its doing and it does have plans in place, and they can trust the government to get a grip of it. And then tone also in terms of trying to calm things down, to avoid any sense of panic or panic buying or anything like this, because clearly this is going to be a long haul, if it happens. On that, the guidance weve had from the government as they think its more likely than not that the outbreak will spread. But most people, if they are affected, it will be pretty mild, nothing to get too worried about. They can probably manage it by staying at home. For a small minority, yes, then it is more serious. For younger people, minority, yes, then it is more serious. Foryounger people, by minority, yes, then it is more serious. For younger people, by and large they dont seem to be affected by coronavirus. Those under 20. Obviously the more vulnerable are the older age groups and those with existing conditions. What i expect we will get from the Prime Minister todayis we will get from the Prime Minister today is a lot of public information, public advice, about the virus, stuff we have already heard about washing your hands, using tissues, maybe a little bit aboutjust using tissues, maybe a little bit about just common sense using tissues, maybe a little bit aboutjust common sense measures. Not travelling so much. Maybe working at home if you can work at home. And the hope will be to contain the virus, and really to try and ensure they dont have to move to the more radical stage if it spreads until the warmer summer months, when there is obviously less pressure on the nhs and the virus seems to be less contagious. But we are getting i think an inkling of the fact that the government is preparing for potentially having to ta ke preparing for potentially having to take some very, very significant steps. Weve already had mooted the idea of emergency legislation to give the government more powers for enabling fairly simple things such as getting more doctors and nurses who have retired back into the nhs, reregistering them, enabling larger class sizes it may be Teaching Staff are affected, but interestingly, two, the government already has in its mind that, yes, they may have to restrict travel, they may have to close down certain Public Meetings and events saying, look, those really cant go ahead, and interestingly they are talking about maybe having to divert some Police Resources possibly down the line even into public Order Affairs and, yes, there may be a role for the army as well. We are not there yet, but i think it gives you a sense that this has the potential to be profoundly disruptive, not just for our way of life but actually also for the economy, and that is the other side of this. We heard from mark carney this morning, warning that actually the impact on the economy could be very large. In terms of the economy, in terms of people going to work, i understand that the Prime Minister is likely to suggest it is possible up to a fifth of employees might be absent from work . I mean, that would have a colossal impact obviously on companies and firms. I mean, hugely damaging. So we know that is now really at the centre of the chancellors mind with a budget due next week, a budget that had been set up as a big bold budget all about levelling up the country is now in effect having to become a coronavirus budget. We dont exactly know what sort of steps and measures the chancellor is looking at. Some people have suggested he may look at delaying tax payments for companies. It would seem to me there is limited scope in terms of Interest Rates now for the governor of the bank of england because Interest Rates are already incredibly low, but given the challenge to the economy i think inevitably the chancellor is going to have to look at some measures for tiding companies over so they dont get into real difficulties during this phase. For the moment, thank you very much, norman. We will be back with you as soon as the Prime Minister begins his News Conference. Some people are anxious. Carol on facebook, im really worried, and work on the supermarket in a busy supermarket on the checkouts well in my avoiding busy areas is not an option for me. Several schools closed in the area as well due to stu d e nts closed in the area as well due to students returning from holidays abroad, probably. We also have elsewhere students arriving from all over the world to attend the language skills. That would be a worry if they are coming from infected areas. Callum on facebook, im a student on a zero hour contract at a theatre in london and i come into contact with thousands of people every day on the tube, at work, studying. Going into self isolation would mean losing weeks of work that i cannot get sick pay for. What measures are being put in place for the thousands of people working zero hours contracts in the Service Industry should the virus spread . And this, get on facebook. I volunteer at church at a lunch for over 605 for 70 odd people are and im really nervous about going on because i am 69 and asthmatic. I think i will be self isolating because my immune system isolating because my immune system is not that good. Thank you very much for keeping in touch, we really appreciate it. Right. | appreciate it. Right. I think we are actually going to be able to talk to our Health Editor any second now. Hugh pym, hello. Can you hear me . Hello, victoria. Yeah. I think hello. Can you hear me . Hello, victoria. Yeah. Ithink you hello. Can you hear me . Hello, victoria. Yeah. I think you have had a briefing in terms of what the Prime Minister is likely to see in his News Conference. What can you tell our audience . We have had a briefing of journalists tell our audience . We have had a briefing ofjournalists ahead of this press conference with Senior Health officials including the chief medical officer, chris whitty, and the plan has been set out to us. We have a copy here and have had a chance to have a look at it and you have heard already some of the headlines from norman in terms of some of the things we affected. Some of the key things to come out of it which were new, however, either expectations if there is a serious coronavirus outbreak. If that is the scenario, the figure that they expect at the peak is 20 of people being off work. That is at the peak, which might last a few weeks. That is what they call a stretched scenario. That is just is what they call a stretched scenario. That isjust people being off sick, never mind the people who might have to care for them. That is a headline we hadnt heard before, and that is something that businesses will have to prepare for. There are also details of what is thought to be likely if, and again it is an f, there is a serious outbreak, in terms of the police and the army. It is said in this plan that it the army. It is said in this plan thatitis the army. It is said in this plan that it is expected that there will be officers of sick so police will be officers of sick so police will be likely to focus just on keeping public order and serious crime. They wont be able to cover all the things that you normally expect the police to do. The mod are ready to support the nhs in the eventuality ofa support the nhs in the eventuality of a serious outbreak. They do make the point, though, that the vast majority, a large majority of people who contract the virus will be only with mild symptoms. But those who do get it, it can be quite serious for the elderly, and those with underlying symptoms, and that will bea underlying symptoms, and that will be a challenge for the nhs. There will be more cases going into hospitals and it is said in the plan it is likely, again in the scenario of serious outbreak they havent heard. I think he is giving the news co nfe re nce heard. I think he is giving the News Conference now. Today we publish the coronavirus action plan, setting out how all four parts of the uk will take all necessary and reasonable steps prepare for and tackle this outbreak, and the plan has four strands. Containing the virus, delaying its spread, researching its origins and cure, and, finally, mitigating the impact should the virus become more widespread. That is contain, delay, research, mitigate. Let me be absolutely clear that for the overwhelming majority of people who contract the virus this will be a mild disease from which they will speedily and fully recover, as weve already seen. But i fully understand public concern. Your concern. About the global spread of the virus, and it is highly likely that we will see a growing number of uk cases. And thats why keeping the country safe is the governments overriding priority, and our plan means we are committed to doing Everything Possible based on the advice of our world leading scientific experts to prepare for all eventualities. Lets not forget, we already have a fantastic nhs, fantastic testics systems testing systems, and fantastic surveillance of the spread of the disease. We will make sure the nhs gets all the support it needs to continue their brilliant response to the virus so far. The plan does not set out what the government will do. It sets out the steps that we could take at the right time and on the basis of the scientific advice. Our country remains externally well prepared, as our country remains externally well prepa red, as it our country remains externally well prepared, as it has been since the outbreak began in wuhan several months ago. Finally, crucially, we must not forget what we can all do to fight this virus, which is to wash our hands. You knew i was going to say this, but wash your hands with soap and water, and forgive me for repeating this but there will be people tuning in to this for the first time. Wash your hands with soap and hot water, for the length of time it takes to sing happy birthday twice. Simple advice, but it is the single most important thing we can do, as i think our experts would attest. But at this stage and with the exception of all the points that i have just mentioned i want to stress that for the vast majority of the people of this country we should be going about our business as usual. On that note, i will hand over to all of you to ask questions to the chief medical officer and the chief scientific adviser. And im going to go to you guys in the media, and laura from the bbc. Laura kuenssberg. Thank you, Prime Minister. I minister, are you telling us that sooner or later all of our lives are going to be disrupted somehow . Thank you, and strippers to a question to the scientific and medical officer, if i may. Do you think this virus will be bigger than any effort the government can make to try to contain it, and to the chief medical officer, what is your best guess, if you can come of how many people actually get this disease, even bearing in mind that for the majority of people it is mild and wont do any long term harm . Majority of people it is mild and wont do any longterm harm . Well, laura, i think the answer to your question is, im afraid, at this stage, i think, question is, im afraid, at this stage, ithink, too question is, im afraid, at this stage, i think, too early to say, but i will hand over to our experts on that. There is a key point about timing here. There are a number of measures that could be taken to try and reduce the peak and flatten it a bit so we havent got such a short numberof bit so we havent got such a short number of people at any one time. And the question is at what time to implement which measures. If you do it too early, you end up with a lot of people having disruption, a lot of people having disruption, a lot of societal disruption come at a time youre not getting benefit, and you also ask a lot of people to go on for a long time doing this, whereas what we really want to do is to implement whatevers necessary at the time, depending on how the epidemic goes, at the right time, over a 12 epidemic goes, at the right time, overa 12 week epidemic goes, at the right time, over a 12 week period or so, that is probably what will be needed to do it. We dont want to go too early. Those measures are laid out in the document. It doesnt mean all of those need to happen. It depends on the nature of the outbreak. We are modelling all of the interventions at the moment and trying to look at what the right combination is at what the right combination is at what stage. And of course central to all of this is making sure that we protect the vulnerable. The highest risk groups are the elderly and those with pre existing illness, and those with pre existing illness, and those are the ones we have to make most care to protect during this. As the Prime Minister says, the vast majority of people will end up with mild illness. So the timing is critical and it is not now and we are looking very carefully and when the time is right and what the combination of things are that are going to make the biggest difference. Thank you. And just to add on from that, the first thing, you asked me about the best guess on numbers. There are certain things we know now and i think we are reasonably confident that, overall, probably around 1 of people who get this virus might end up dying, based on the chinese experience. To be clear what that therefore means is 99 of people will not. And if, if i think is entirely possible, our higher proportion than we currently are aware of get the infection without any symptoms, in fact at mortality rate will go down, but lets take 1 overall as the current reasonable figure. It goes up a bit in people who are older or more vulnerable, as sir patrick said, and it will be lower than that in younger people who actually have no other health problems. That bit of the information we know for sure. The bit of information that we dont know, there are two bits that are critical, the proportion of people who have no symptoms at all and that is because we dont currently have tests which can work out if someone has had an infection with no symptoms at all, well it may be for example in china are very large numberof example in china are very large number of people have been with no symptoms and are not being counted in the number, so we dont know that. So it may be for example in china. The second thing we dont know is what proportion of the population can get infected. It will not go above 80 so for planning purposes of course we go up to the highest rate that it reasonably good but in reality my view, and patricks view, is that the proportion of the population who get infected is likely to be lower than that and probably a lot lower than that. So i think putting an overall number is largely speculative, but those are i think the key things it is important for people to understand. If you look at wuhan, it is clearly not 80 of the population thats infected with a 1 mortality rate. So we can learn from that that this is likely to be lower than that, but of course things could still change in wuhan and that could turn out to be different as they release some of the containment measures, but it is definitely a lot lower than that and so i think what were doing is building on the reasonable worst Case Scenario which is the one that chris is laid out for planning purposes, which is the appropriate thing to do, then looking very carefully at how this evolves and what the numbers might turn out to be. Thanks, patrick. Itn, robert heston. A couple of questions. The action plan published today says there is a possibility that a fifth of working people will be off work during the peak period. Prime minister, what will you do to make sure that those who are ill dont also suffer hardship, particularly those on low pay, and secondly we are still in the containment phase. What would we have to see here to move into the phase of simply delaying an epidemic. Thanks, robert. On the issue of statutory sick pay and the risk that the workforce could conceivably run in that worst case, reasonable worst case, scenario you describe, we are going to keep all options under review, but we are well aware of the issue. In terms of moving from containment to delay, the first point to make is that most of the things we do to try and help contain the virus, like finding the early cases and isolating them, also a very important for delay, so they serve both purposes. There will come a point potentially, and not definitely, but potentially, where the amount of transmission, either in the uk or, equally likely, everywhere in the world is so great that actually the idea of containing which is to say essentially getting rid of this virus completely, ceases to make sense. We have not reached that point but we could reach that point, and at that point we will move point, and at that point we will m ove over point, and at that point we will move over to saying that, well, that bit has stopped, but to declare many of the things we are currently doing will continue because they also have a role in dili. And maybe one thing on that, in delay. This is an international court, when it moves to delay, but it is possible when we reach a stage that we think we cant contain location and other countries do it that we might as a group of countries decide to do something, so those of the two main areas we need to keep an eye on. Thanks, patrick. Beth. Thank you. A couple of questions, if i may. Yesterday the scottish chief medical officer said that up to 4 of the population might have to be hospitalised. Do you accept that figure, and if so how will the nhs cope with nearly 3 Million People being hospitalised . And just a question for the Prime Minister. As robert was saying, one in five workers could be off work. Your document says in worst Case Scenario the police might have to be redeployed just to deal with serious crime and maintain public order. Will you draft in the army if necessary, and can you promise citizens that in the midst of all this you can keep them safe . Thank you. Yes, thanks very much, beth. I will deal with both of those important points. On the nhs and the potential pressure on the nhs, i think we have a fantastic Health Service and it is well capable of handling the most tremendous pressures , handling the most tremendous pressures, as everybody knows. I think one thing that will be important for first my all to do, if the virus moves into the kind of stages dashing important for us all to do. If it moves into the kind of stages we have been talking about, it will be important for everybody to think notjust what it will be important for everybody to think not just what we it will be important for everybody to think notjust what we can do to prevent the spread individually but also what we can do to avoid too much pressure on the nhs. So when it comes to using services such as gps or 111, people have to be quite self restraining way possible. As i say, most people will, unquestionably, get through it. On your second point, about the police and army, there are long established plans by which the police will obviously keep the public safe, but they will prioritise those things that they have to do, and the army is of course always ready to backfill as and when, but that is under the reasonable worst Case Scenario. Andy bell, sky news. Sorry, five news. Andy bell five news. Returning to the pressures on the nhs, people will struggle to believe the nhs will struggle to believe the nhs will be able to cope seamlessly when we all know the pressure the system is under. Can you give us an idea of what will not happen in the nhs, what will not happen in the nhs, what operations will not happen, for instance, what treatments will not happen, if we move to a stage where you could potentially have tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people having to be treated in hospital . One of the reasons we are so keen to delay as we are trying to push as far as we can the peak of the infection, if it occurs, out into the period of the year when the nhs is better able to do things because the other Infectious Diseases of winter are not there. That is one of the key principles of the delay strategy. It is putting out into the late spring and summer period. When we get there, there are basically. There are three sets of things that we are going to need to do. The first of which is to take measures or consider measures which are going to reduce the peak of the infection so the portion of people infected together at the same time is smaller, and these are the kinds of decisions around social distancing and other areas which will need to present to ministers with a menu which will be looked at, scientifically modelled out, as what is the combination of things that could cool down the peak and make the difference between what the nhs could normally do at its peak as small as possible. That is the first thing. Secondly, what we can and must do is to isolate from the virus but not from society, and this is how we do this, the key thing, older people and people vulnerable for other reasons, that is both very good for their health and it also will reduce the pressure on the nhs. And then the third thing will be to reconfigure the services to deal with the peak, which will be a relatively short one in