county cricket club, says azeem rafiq should be praised for his bravery and says sorry to him and to his family. families across the atlantic are reunited as the us opens its borders to fully vaccinated travellers, for the first time in over a year and a half. former us president barack obama tells young people they should stay angry about climate change and warns time is running out. and coming up before eight o clock: the successor to the hubble space telescope which aims to picture the very first stars ever to shine in the universe. the prime minister has been accused of running scared from a debate taking place in the house of commons now about the rules that govern mps. it follows a row about the government s efforts to change those rules last week prompted by an investigation into lobbying by the former conservative mp owen paterson. that and the government u turn the following day caused outrage among opposition parties and many tory mps. the labour leader ke
and we also have kate nicholls with us. she is chief executive of uk hospitality. many of uk hospitality. thanks to all of you for joining many thanks to all of you for joining us this evening. lots to get through. let s start with you, kate, if we can and maybe you can give us a sense of what the pandemic has been like for you and your business. well, the hospitality sector pre pandemic was the third largest industrial sector in the economy. it employed 3.2 million people, a further 2 million in the supply chain, £130 billion worth of turnover which meant it was bigger than automotive, pharmaceuticals and aerospace put together, and during the 18 months of the pandemic, that business almost entirely closed subject to really severe restrictions, operating at a loss. it is now one third of the size it was going into the pandemic and has lost over £100 billion worth of revenue. sadly, 12,000 businesses close, 10% of our restaurants, 20% of our nightclubs and casual dining cit