nick eardley, thank you very much. students and teachers in secondary schools in scotland could soon have to wear face coverings in corridors and communal areas. scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon says her government is in the final stages of consulting heateachers on the plans. face coverings are already required at three schools in edinburgh, strathspey and inverness as part of efforts to tackle the spread of coronavirus. 0ur scotland correspondent alexandra mackenzie reports. peter mills arrived at james gillespie's high school in edinburgh this morning. the memo was sent on friday saying that from today, all adults and pupils must wear face coverings indoors whilst moving around between classes. coverings indoors whilst moving around between classesli coverings indoors whilst moving around between classes. i think it isa around between classes. i think it is a great idea. for the children coming back into school, it has been as shocked with being such a large group of people again, after being in isolation f

nick eardley, bbc news. the children's commissioner for england, anne longfield, said schools have been working "flat out" to ensure they can reopen safely. well, i'm very pleased that the prime minister is making schools a priority. i've been arguing for some time that my fear was that children were being left behind in this relaxation of lockdown. they couldn't go to the park, they didn't have youth clubs, many couldn't go to school and many couldn't learn because they didn't have that home environment or indeed the tech to do so. my argument was that children needed to be made a priority. of course the economy is very, very important, but children's education is too and that will have an impact on the economy. so i'm very pleased that this has been stated very clearly and now this needs to be followed through to september to make it a reality. britain's home office has formally requested the royal navy's help to deal with migrants attempting to cross the english channel from france. a total of 151 people

nick eardley, bbc news. the children's commissioner for england, anne longfield, said schools have been working "flat out" to ensure they can reopen safely. well, i'm very pleased that the prime minister is making schools a priority. i've been arguing for some time that my fear was that children we re time that my fear was that children were being left behind in this relaxation of lockdown. they can go to the park, they didn't go to youth clubs, many couldn't go to school and many couldn't learn because they didn't have that home environment or the technology to do so. my argument was that children needed to be made a priority. of course the economy is very, very important for children's education is, too, and that will have an impact on the economy, so i'm very pleased that this has been stated very clearly and i we seem to be followed through to september to make it a reality. let's speak to geoff barton, the general secretary of the association of school and college leaders. thank you for being with us. t

the rest of the pupils are due back in class next week. 0ur political correspondent, nick eardley, is at westminster. there nick eardley, is at westminster. is some serious rt going there is some serious reassuring going onto parents? good morning, victoria. absolutely, education has been ms over the last few weeks with the results fiasco but the government wants to try and get back on the front foot and is going to spend a lot of time over the next few days trying to reassure parents and teachers in england that it is safe to open schools next week and that they should be doing everything they can to get as many peoples as possible back. remember, this was tried back in june, possible back. remember, this was tried back injune, it didn't go particularly well, but the government has very much nailed its colours to the mast, saying it has to be done. there is a moral duty to do it in the prime minister's words. this is nick gibb this morning.” do it in the prime minister's words. this is nick gibb this morning. i am confident we will have all schools open. we had 90% of schools open

nick eardley, bbc news. earlier i spoke to geoff barton from the general secretary of the association of school and college leaders. he said everyone agrees it's a priority to open schools. i represent 20,000 leaders of schools and colleges. they are the last people, frankly, who need lecturing about moral duty. and i think what the article, essentially, with its slightly petulant tone, is telling us is three things — one is that the prime minister in number 10 had announced that all primary children were going to go back into school and the very next day, the government's own guidance made that impossible because of the conditions, it said. secondly, it is not a good look for a government which seems to be encouraging people to go to pubs and restaurants, indeed incentivising them to do that, when children are sitting at home. and thirdly, then by blaming the unions for all of this. we, the same trade unions, have worked with the welsh government where every child has been able to go back into school befo

a quick three, bbc news. —— nick eardley. james shaw is in glasgow. this outbreak first emerged last week and at that point we had four cases and now this week 54 cases so clearly there has been a big increase in cases. and we've heard from nicola sturgeon that the increase has led them to decide that they need to impose some fairly draconian measures. perhaps not as strict as at the height of the pandemic crisis but nevertheless daily life in aberdeen is going to change significantly because of this cluster of cases centred on the hawthorn bar in aberdeen are now linked to around 20 other licensed premises in the city. but from five o'clock tonight all cafes, restau ra nts a nd o'clock tonight all cafes, restaurants and pubs will have to close. hotel restaurants will be able to stay open for residents. people are being advised that they should not travel more than five miles from their homes for recreation or leisure. also households, people are being told they should not go into other peoples homes unless they are part ofan peoples homes unless they

nick eardley, bbc news. the children's commissioner for england, anne longfield, said schools have been working "flat out" to ensure they can reopen safely. well, i'm very pleased that the prime minister is making schools a priority. i've been arguing for some time that my fear was that children were being left behind in this relaxation of lockdown. they couldn't go to the park, they didn't have youth clubs, many couldn't go to school and many couldn't learn because they didn't have that home environment or indeed the tech to do so. my argument was that children needed to be made a priority. of course the economy is very, very important, but children's education is too and that will have an impact on the economy. so i'm very pleased that this has been stated very clearly and now this needs to be followed through to september to make it a reality. the children's commissioner and longfield —— anne longfield. earlier i spoke to geoff barton, the general secretary of the association of school and college lea

nick eardley, bbc news. so all schools in england will be expected to reopen from september and the same goes for wales. in northern ireland, pupils will start to go back at the end of august, and children in scotland will be the first to return as schools there start to reopen this coming tuesday. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, says she expects all pupils to be back in class full—time from august 18 — that's a week on tuesday — at the very latest. our political correspondent matt cole joins us now. matt, borisjohnson, like all leaders across the uk, having to weigh up some difficult decisions here. that's right. yes, good morning. the government really did want all children to get back to school for some time before the school holidays, but when that plan failed, well, they decided this time in september things will be different. we did have the schools minister during the week saying it wouldn't be the centre of —— central government would agree that, whether the classrooms or local

nick eardley, bbc news. coronavirus spread faster in the uk as the government made ‘critical errors‘, including the inexplicable decision to lift all border restrictions in mid—march. that‘s the finding of a report from the home affairs select committee of mps. it says the mistakes accelerated the scale and pace of the pandemic in the country and led to many more people contracting covid—19 . the government has dismissed the findings, saying they were "guided by the science". here‘s our home affairs correspondent, dominic casciani. a pandemic gripping the world, infection spreading as travellers globetrotted across continents. a huge challenge for governments and scientists with almost every nation in the world attempting to stop or slow the virus at the border. but, say mps today, not in the uk. buses leaving an raf base in 0xfordshire carrying 83 britons flown back from wuhan in china, the source of the coronavirus outbreak. these people were quarantined for 14 days in hospital but travellers a

ok, nick ea rdley reopening continues. ok, nick eardley at westminster, thanks very much. mps have accused the government of accelerating both the pace and the scale of the coronavirus pandemic in the uk by making a series of "critical errors". the home affairs select committee says — in particular — lifting all virus—related border restrictions in mid—march resulted in "many more people" contracting covid—19. the government has dismissed the findings, saying its decisions throughout kept people safe and were "guided by the science". we can speak now to the chair of the home affairs committee and labour mp, yvette cooper. just tell us what your key findings were. good morning. yes, we found that the government's decision not to have any quarantine or border measures in place in the middle of march was a serious mistake. it did mean that we had thousands more people arrived in the uk with covid—19, often from spain, from italy, people coming home, and that did accelerate the pace and scale of the epidemic. we had very clear scientific evidence that that was the

earlier i spoke to nick eardley in westminster. there have been a number of things that have happened over the last few months as a result of a pandemic that have been hard for the government, frankly. they had to act quickly to try and resolve. this is not one of them, we have known since march that exams were not going to happen in the government would have to come up with a new system to replace it. now, the argument that the education secretary, gavin williamson, is making today as it was only the weekend that the extent of the problems became clear. he got an external advisers, spoke to quual and they realise there were too many anomalies, too many kids who were not getting the results they deserved. however, it has been warned about for months. there have been tory mps who have been warning for several months now that there could be a problem. there was the example in scotland last week where we saw the government forced into a dramatic u—turn after criticism from teachers, parents, and peoples. and it did take gavin willia

our political correspondent, nick eardley told us more about simon case. number ten isn't officially commentating on this but sources have confirmed that there will be a meeting tomorrow where borisjohnson will officially reveal the name, but we widely expect it we widely expect it to be simon case, someone who's fairly young for the job, quite frankly. he is a1, he's been a civil servant since 2006. as you say, he worked for the duke of cambridge and was made boris johnson's permanent secretary in may. the wider context for this is a fairly radical shake—up going on at the moment of the civil service. in the last few weeks we've had a number of senior people, permanent secretaries of various departments, the old cabinet secretary sir mark sedwill as well, announcing unexpectedly they would stand down and now borisjohnson has got someone who he's fairly close to. the eat out to help 0ut scheme ends today. it's been enormously popular, with more than 64 million discounted meals dished up in 84,000 restaurants and cafes across the uk. the idea was to help

nick eardley in westminster, lots of questions ahead, thank you for now. people in wales will be able to join together with four additional households to form one larger social bubble from next weekend. the move, announced by the first minister, coincides with plans to allow up to 30 people to attend a meal following a wedding or a funeral indoors, if social distancing can be maintained. pressure is increasing on the government to review the a levels appeals system, after thousands of pupils in england wales and northern ireland were downgraded after exams were cancelled due to coronavirus. nearly 40% of grades in england, estimated by teachers, were adjusted down by one grade or more — that's around 280,000 entires. the proportion of students who had their a levels downgraded was largest among those from the most deprived backgrounds. school leaders have warned of volatile grades, which are impacting students' abilities to go to the universities of their choice. here's what transport secretary grant shapps had to say this morning. it clearly has been a

our political correspondent nick eardley is with me. we haven't had the announcement yet, we are expecting this to be the case. what do you know about him? number ten isn't officially commentating but there will be a cabinet meeting tomorrow where boris johnson will officially reveal the name but we widely expected to be simon case, someone who is fairly young for thejob. simon case, someone who is fairly young for the job. he simon case, someone who is fairly young for thejob. he is simon case, someone who is fairly young for the job. he is a1, simon case, someone who is fairly young for thejob. he is a1, he has been civil servants since 2006. he worked for the duke of cambridge and was made boris johnson's worked for the duke of cambridge and was made borisjohnson's permanent secretary in may. the wider context for this is a fairly radical shake—up going on at the moment of the civil service. in the last few weeks we have had a number of senior people, secretaries at various departments announcing unexpectedly that they would stand

our political correspondent nick eardley is in westminster. this is quite a wake—up call. absolutely, more pressure on the government over the test and trace system. are many here who have been questioning whether it reaches enough people, questioning the absence of the app that ministers used to like to talk so much about. there are many, quite frankly, i don't think it is the world beating system that borisjohnson once promised. ministers say that we are building this up from scratch. this isa building this up from scratch. this is a system that has had to come out of nowhere, and although they admit that it of nowhere, and although they admit thatitis of nowhere, and although they admit that it is still maturing, as one minister put it this morning, they are adamant that it is working and they point to the massive increase in testing capacity that we have seen, over the last few months. i've got to say, when it comes to schools, ministers haven't left themselves much wriggle room. they have effectively made this a red line by promising time after time that schools will

nick eardley, bbc news. a 20—year—old has been convicted of raping and murdering a female friend who had "trusted" him to walk her home. wesley streete dumped keeley bunker‘s body in a brook before trying to conceal his crime in september last year. phil mackie reports. this was the moment that wesley streete was arrested last year. less than 24 hours earlier, he raped and murdered his friend, keeley bunker. she thought he was someone she could trust. she didn‘t know that he had already sexually assaulted other teenage girls. they had gone for a night out in birmingham, first to a gig and then afterwards to a club in the city centre, staying until the early hours, before keeley took out enough cash to pay for a taxi back to tamworth. when they arrived, streete said he would walk her home, using a short cut through this park. keeley never returned and by the evening, people were out looking for her. dozens of people joined in the search the next day as keeley bunker‘s family became frantic, increasi

let's speak now to our political correspondent, nick eardley. nick, good morning. nice to speak to you again. how exactly will it work? good question and i wish i could tell you exactly how it will work. i think i can give you a bit more detail on what the government is thinking. if you think back to when those restrictions were put in place in the north of england a few weeks ago, there was some criticism that it was too broad and some of the council areas being affected were not necessarily seeing big spikes in the virus compared to others. so the idea that the government has come up with is to consult with local authorities and local mps to try and figure out the best area to target. 0ver figure out the best area to target. over the next few weeks they are going to speak to local politicians to try and decide exactly what the para meters to try and decide exactly what the parameters for local intervention should be. the bright idea is you had the national lockdown at the start. the government does not want to do that again. it has had a huge impact on all of us

nick eardley at westminster, thank you. the latest coronavirus figures show there were 1,062 new confirmed cases across the uk, excluding northern ireland, in the latest 2a hour period, with the average number of infections per day in the last week being 877. eight deaths were reported today, taking the overrall total in the uk to 46,574. on average in the last week, there were 53 deaths every day. our health correspondent catherine burns is here with me. quite a move upwards in the rate of infections, it seems. yes and owe i’ over more than 1000 we has been over more than 1000 cases per day for about six weeks. the last time cases where this high was on the 25th ofjune. the government says the numbers are still relatively low compared to the start of the pandemic and it also says it is detecting more cases now because it is doing more testing. does that stand up? yes, to some extent, we are averaging about 170,000 tests per day at the moment which is about 115,000 more than when the figures were last at this level. but t

our political correspondent nick eardley is in westminster. nick, the government tightened restrictions for millions of people on friday, and now they want us back at work, and eating out? yeah, morning. it is interesting because it feels like there has been a big change in the mood in government since the eat out to help out scheme was announced last month. things are considerably more cautious now. we had the brake pedal being put down on easing of restrictions in england back on friday and the government warning it might have to take more action if cases of the virus start to increase. yet, at the same time, we are being told today and for the next few weeks to go out and have ourdinner in next few weeks to go out and have our dinner in restaurants and pubs and cafes to try and help the economy and i suppose the government would argue that if you're going to one of these restaurants, they are supposed to be covid secure, there is supposed to be mitigation in place to make sure you are protected from getting the virus and have some of those

that was nick eardley. one of the top doctors on the white house covid—19 task force has warned that the us has entered a new phase in its fight. deborah birx said the disease was now a greater threat than when the outbreak began, and cautioned people living in rural areas that they were not immune. the us has recorded more cases and more deaths than any other country. a brother and sister from philadelphia in the us are tackling the loneliness of the elderly in a unique way. hita gupta, who s 15, and her younger brother divit began sending hand—written notes, puzzles, and colouring books to residents of nursing homes across america when the pandemic hit in march. since then, the project called "brighten a day" has grown, and it could be making its way to care homes around the world. we can speak to the siblings now. hita and divit, thank you for joining us. thank you for having us. hita, can you explain how the idea began? i've been running my nonprofit, "brighten a day", since 2018, spreading joy to c

our political correspondent nick eardley is in westminster. pupils in scotland go back to school next week. in england, it is not until september. this is a priority, isn't it? it is a huge issue, and the argument that the children by the argument that the children by the commissioner for england is making this morning is that it was not treated as high enough a priority early in the pandemic. she is basically saying that when it comes to assessing what is going to happen next, if there is a resurgence of this virus or there are a numberof resurgence of this virus or there are a number of new cases in local areas, the priority absolutely needs to be schools, and if that means doing something like closing pubs, so doing something like closing pubs, so be it. schools need to be the priority. it is interesting because labour are making the same argument today as well. we have the labour leader writing in the guardian that schools need to be a priority, boris johnson needs to set the tough decisions that he is prepared to make over the next few we

earlier, i spoke to our political correspondent, nick eardley. he told us about the governments push to reassure parents in england. education has been a bit of a mess over the last few weeks with the results fiasco but the government wants to try and get back on the front foot and is going to spend a lot of time over the next few days trying to reassure parents and teachers in england that it is safe to open schools next week and that they should be doing everything they can to get as many pupils as possible back. remember, this was tried back injune, it didn't go particularly well, but the government has very much nailed its colours to the mast, saying it has to be done. "there is a moral duty to do it," in the prime minister's words. this is nick gibb this morning. i am confident we will have all schools open. we had 97% of schools open when they went back in july, when schools went back in june. the surveys from the ons say 90% of parents are likely, or very likely, to send their children back to school in september. it is a moral imperative

our political correspondent, nick eardley, joins us from westminster. nick, how significant is this? morning. it's a big deal. the government will talk a lot this week about trying to make sure that all pupils are back in school when schools start to open up again next week. over the weekend we had the chief medical officer saying that the chances of pupils getting coronavirus and becoming really ill are extremely low and today there is more of a political argument from the prime minister, as well, making that direct appeal to parents to be ready to send kids back to school next week. let me show you what the prime minister says this morning. imean, i mean, it's an argument that the government has been making for a number of weeks now. as i say, i think they will really ramp it up this week. the head of skills —— ahead of schools reopening. some of the unions are still saying there needs to be more detail on what teachers are supposed to do if there is an outbreak, watch the procedures are going to be in schools. but borisjohnson has are going to be

let's speak to our political correspondent nick eardley, who is in westminster. so, we heard the borisjohnson quote a moment ago about squeezing the brake pedal. government scientists we re brake pedal. government scientists were talking about how we were on the edge of how far we could go with the edge of how far we could go with the easing, and that was recently too, yet we have announcements about easing? yeah, absolutely, charlie. good morning. the view in the government a couple of weeks ago is that there were some warnings about an increase in number of positive tests that were coming back. they now think it has levelled off, so they can kind of take their foot off that brake pedal ever so slightly and open up some more of these venues and open up some more of these venues that had been closed. there have been huge warnings about the future of things like a theatres, casinos if they didn't get a chance to open pretty soon, which i think we'll be weighing heavily on the minds of ministers as well. there is that view that things are levelling off when it come

nick eardley is arab political correspondent in westminster. i want to see if there is any possibility that the government at westminster will follow what is happening in scotland. not at the moment. at the moment the government is saying that they are necessary, there is not the evidence they would be useful. ministers are pointing to the recommendations that teachers maintain social distancing when they are at school and to the fact that most pupils and teachers will be inconsistent groups. they say they do not think it is necessary. that said, there is a mounting pressure on this. you heard it from jeff barton, from the head teachers' union, suggesting there should be some sort of review into this, with the former tory education secretary justine greening saying the same thing on the airwaves this morning, that it thing on the airwaves this morning, thatitis thing on the airwaves this morning, that it is a sensible move. notjust because of the health benefits, but it might give some parents a bit more confidence that kids are going to be saf

let's get more on this now with our political correspondent, nick eardley, who's in westminster. what is the conservative party saying about these allegations and about the arrest? good morning to stop the conservative party says it ta kes all stop the conservative party says it takes all allegations of this nature are extremely seriously. but at the moment it is not removing the whip from this mp. there has been some criticism of that, quite frankly. the labour mp jess phillips criticism of that, quite frankly. the labour mpjess phillips says it sends the wrong message. there has also been some criticism from the lib dems leadership challenger layla moran. the argument the government is making is that it needs to wait until there has been a full police investigation into this. remember, somebody has been arrested but hasn't been charged yet. have a listen to the business minister this morning. these are very serious allegations. there is a police investigation, charlie, taking place. i think it's only right that we wait for that investigation to conclude before you'll be hearing

let's head over to westminster and speak to the bbc‘s nick eardley. what happens to students have already been turned down by the university of choice because their grades commit lower than the expected? it has a really good question. that is not actually a definitive answer yet. what the government is hoping is that universities will show flexibility in this and if a pupil did universities will show flexibility in this and ifa pupil did not universities will show flexibility in this and if a pupil did not get the grades they needed to get into that university last thursday under the old system now, but did get the grades under their teacher recommended levels, then universities should let them in and make a place. it is not completely clear that they are all going to do that. there is some... universities make that decision themselves so there is potentially some wrangling to come over that, over the next few days. who carries the can for this? a great question. at the moment, nobody. i think there is a lot of anger that has been spread out. some of

our political correspondent nick eardley is at westminster. because the government change its mind? i suppose it is possible. the uk government, which has control of this in england, at the moment does not want to make face coverings are mandatory like they will be made in scotla nd mandatory like they will be made in scotland on monday. the argument by the department for education is they have put plenty of mitigations in place. there will be social distancing between teachers, there will be consistent groups for pupils and for teachers as well. that is supposed to give some sort of protection. there is some pressure, though. the unions are saying the government needs to keep looking at this, particularly in the light of what has happened in scotland. they are pointing to the world health organization which is saying all children over 12 should be treated the same as adults when it comes to wearing face coverings. we have seen it before, where scotland introduced measures on face coverings like on public transport and in shops and england did the same a few weeks later. it is worth

let's get some reaction from our political correspondent nick eardley. morning, nick, how much of an issue has this been for the government? i think the government would say that they built the system up from nowhere and a few months ago there was no track and trace in place. we had questions before about how well it is operating in this report is gets to a number of them. as things stand, we are not getting in touch with another people who have shown symptoms to make sure all the contacts symptoms to make sure all the co nta cts a re symptoms to make sure all the contacts are traced and in essence it is saying, when you start to open up it is saying, when you start to open up society more broadly, when you put schools back into place in september, in england anyway, the risk or potential of the virus coming back if the trace system is not working, the risk is much greater. the government has brought these new tests which can give you a result in 90 minutes and that is potentially one solution to this but a big question remaining is we tracing enough of

nick ea rdley home for a couple of weeks. nick eardley in westminster, thank you. indian prime minister narendra modi has laid the foundation for a hindu temple in the northern city of ayodhya. the site of the temple is disputed between hindus and muslims. but after a long court battle it was handed over to hindus in november last year. the construction of the temple was a key election promise of mr modi's hindu nationalist bjp party. many are questioning the timing of the event, which coincides with the first anniversary of the revocation of indian administered kashmir‘s special status — and of course the coronavirus pandemic. 0ur correspodent yogita limaye has been following events from mumbai. prime minister narendra modi has been speaking after laying the foundation stone of the temple, what he said is that billions of people today are witnessing something they have not imagined they would see in their lifetime. he says, like so many indians struggled and sacrificed during the independence movement, so have scores of indians struggled and sacrificed for the

our political correspondent, nick eardley is at westminster. the government under pressure to intervene and extend this provision. huge pressure, partly because opposition parties here are really worried that, as you heard in the peace there, that when evictions start up again, tens of thousands of people could end up potentially homeless. also because scotland, wales and northern ireland have all introduced measures designed to mitigate the impact. in scotland and northern ireland, that is a full extension to the ban, in wales so far it is doubling the amount of time that you have to give notice for if you are going to evict someone. my understanding is ministers are looking at lengthening the ban on evictions. it would be a short but full extension to the current policy, we do not know the full details but i think we will get them this afternoon, so potentially there could be some movement on that that will provide some certainty to those several tens of thousands of people who are currently facing the uncertainty over the next few days. asi

let's talk now to nick eardley our political correspondent. what do you know? how come every thursday now, it is that thursday that ministers get data from the experts, which shows them what the virus is doing in different parts of europe and it seems that one of the areas of europe and it seems that one of the areas of concern europe and it seems that one of the areas of concern just now is croatia. if you look at the numbers of new cases there over the last week or so, it has gone up considerably, it is well over the figure now of 20 cases per 100,000 people where ministers here have a look and whether that should be removed from the travel corridor. that was a scheme set up a few weeks ago, so it does seem that croatia is now on the brink of being removed from that list which would mean that anybody coming back has to quarantine for 14 days and likely that croatia would be removed from the list of places where the travel advice is exempt from saying don't travel, left definitely essential. it is not confirmed yet, it is important to say that until it is conf

0ur political correspondent nick eardley reports. filling the seats is going to be a keyissue filling the seats is going to be a key issue for the government. they've made it a priority thing though is a moral kids back to school full pop you might have seen senior ministers in classrooms in recent making it clear education is a key concern. this was boris johnson a fortnight ago. he believes the risk of contracting cov in a school is small and that is worse for a child's development to be away from class any longer. —— of contracting covid in a school. people did with children to sit —— my parents to send children back to school next children want to be back in school with friends that have teachers leaving lessons because the most effective way for young people to catch up on their education, and that's why the prime minister is right to say it is a moral imperative for schools to be open in september and young people to come back into school and resume their education. study suggest many pa rents a re

let's talk to our political correspondent nick eardley at westminster. government message is on schools. if other easing of the lockdown must be paused, so be it. yeah, absolutely. it's just over a week since england's chief medical officer warned we may be reaching the limit of what can be reopened. there are trade—offs to be had in future. when one thing opens another may have too close to make sure the virus doesn't spiral out of control. borisjohnson has made his decision, making it clear in meetings that schools are the priority. if need be when it comes to local lockdowns he would rather see shops and restaurants close down than classrooms, that schools should only close again in extreme circumstances. there has been criticism of the government for not doing enough to prioritise young people at the start of the crisis, for not doing more to get them back into schools before the summer holidays. but borisjohnson has made this a key test for the government, talking about a moral duty to make sure that all students are back in schools next month, te

eardley told us more about simon case. number ten isn't officially commentating on this but sources have confirmed there will be a meeting tomorrow where boris johnson will reveal the name but we widely expected to be simon case, someone fairly young for the job. he is 41, has been a civil servant since 2006. he worked for the duke of cambridge and was made permanent secretary in may. the wider context for this is a fairly radical shake—up going on at the moment of the civil service. in the moment of the civil service. in the last few weeks we have had a number of senior people in various departments, the old cabinet secretary sir mark said well announcing unexpectedly they would stand down and now borisjohnson has got someone who he is very close to. the charge on single use carrier bags in england is to double from sp to 10p from next april, and all shops will have to charge for them. the government says it's part of a renewed drive to be greener, and cut unnecessary waste. 0ur chief environment correspondent justin ro

nick eardley is in westminster. so whatever way you look at it this has been a mess. that is a fair analysis. there have been a number of things that have happened over the last few months as a result of the last few months as a result of the pandemic that have been hard for the pandemic that have been hard for the government frankly, they weren't expected and they had to act quickly to try to resolve. this isn't one of them because we have known since march the exams weren't going to happen and that the government would have to come up with a new system to replace it. now the argument that the education secretary gavin williamson is making today is that it was only the weekend at the extent of the problems became clear. he got external advisers and spoke to off quality and they realise that there were too many anomalies, too many kids who weren't getting the results they deserve. however, this has been warned about for months. there have been tory mps who have been warning for several months now that there could be a problem. there was the example in scotland last we

eardley reports. filling the seats is going to be a keyissue filling the seats is going to be a key issue for the government. they've made it a priority thing though is a moral kids back to school full pop you might have seen senior ministers in classrooms in recent making it clear education is a key concern. this was boris johnson a fortnight ago. he believes the risk of contracting cov in a school is small and that is worse for a child's development to be away from class any longer. —— of contracting covid in a school. people did with children to sit —— my parents to send children back to school next children want to be back in school with friends that have teachers leaving lessons because the most effective way for young people to catch up on their education, and that's why the prime minister is right to say it is a moral imperative for schools to be open in september and young people to come back into school and resume their education. study suggest many pa rents a re education. study sugg

our political correspondent nick eardley is in westminster. a lot of questions for the conservative party at the moment? you are right, in particular questions about the decision not to remove the whip from this mp to basically stop him being a member of the party in parliament where we investigation is ongoing. remember this person was arrested on saturday but hasn't been charged. they have been bailed to speak to police again in mid—august and the argument the government is making through the chief whip, mark spencer, is that that investigation should be allowed to basically see itself through before a final decision is made. that has attracted some criticism, the complainant in this case has told the times that she is devastated, she thinks that it shows the party doesn't care about the allegations. we senior labour and lib dems mps too saying that if this was any other workplace, somebody would be suspended, pending that investigation. the government doesn't seem to be budging on this. have a listen to the chief whip, mark spencer explai