say they were a family. they ve issued a statement, saying they re devastated by the death of their co star matthew perry. and coming up in sport on bbc news, saudi arabia set to host the men s football world cup in 2034 as australia pulls out of the race to stage the tournament. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. two of borisjohnson s closest aides while he was prime minister have been giving evidence to the covid 19 inquiry. lee cain, who was mrjohnson s director of communications, said there was a lack of clear leadership at the beginning of 2020, but that the government thought it was well prepared for the pandemic by march of that year. mrjohnson s former chief aide, dominic cummings, has given a scathing assessment of cabinet government during the pandemic. he said the cabinet wasn t a place for serious dicussion and that important decisions about covid had been taken elsewhere. ellie price reports from the inquiry. lee cain should have appeared here yes
and lower consumer confidence are to blame. our business editor simonjack has been to cardiff to talk to small businesses about the financial pressures they re facing. going, going gone. this wine merchant is picking up the last of the stock as he shuts down his business. 2023 shaping up to be a little shop of horrors. the number of companies in critical financial distress up caught in the last three months and this year is expected to see business failures than any since the crisis of 2009. i realised the shot wasn t valid anymore, i had to close the shop i went back online where i started originally but there was not the same, not the same spending power in the markets i could not make ends meet, i could not make ends meet, i could not make ends meet, i could not pay my suppliers or myself and the additional cost. that s when i realised it was not a valid business. insolvency experts say thousands of other business owners may find themselves in the same boat. it owners may