sir patrick vallance, the government's chief scientific adviser during the pandemic, has told the covid inquiry that the government's response to limit the spread of the virus in the early months was not, in his words, �*operationally effective.�* he said borisjohnson, who was prime minister at the time, had struggled to understand some of the scientific concepts that were presented. the inquiry is currently looking at decisions made by politicians during the pandemic. helena wilkinson reports. sir patrick vallance arriving at the inquiry in central london this morning ahead of giving evidence. he became one of the most recognisable faces during the pandemic.— faces during the pandemic. patrick, over to yom — faces during the pandemic. patrick, over to you. appearing _ faces during the pandemic. patrick, over to you. appearing at _ faces during the pandemic. patrick, over to you. appearing at daily - over to you. appearing at daily covid news _ over to you. appearing at daily covid news conferences. - over to you. appearing at daily | covid news conferences. during over to you. appearing at daily - covid news conferences. during his evidence this morning, sir patrick was asked about pirate notes he made during the pandemic, extracts of which have already been read to the inquiry, where he criticises boris johnson's flip flopping around decision—making. —— private notes. from my perspective, these were a way of just decompressing from my perspective, these were a way ofjust decompressing at the end of the day, and they were some thoughts i had had that day and wrote down that day, as i say, in order to be clear of the following day that i was going to concentrate on the following day, and they had no purpose other than that. it on the following day, and they had no purpose other than that.- no purpose other than that. it was in february _ no purpose other than that. it was in february 2020, _ no purpose other than that. it was in february 2020, the _ no purpose other than that. it was in february 2020, the early - no purpose other than that. it was| in february 2020, the early stages of the pandemic, when cases in the uk started to rise. sir patrick told the inquiry that there were things that needed to happen to reduce the spread of the disease but said he wasn't convinced that there was a very effective operational response to that. i very effective operational response to that. ~ ,., , ., to that. i think sometimes i would want to push _ to that. i think sometimes i would want to push and _ to that. i think sometimes i would want to push and he _ to that. i think sometimes i would want to push and he might - to that. i think sometimes i would want to push and he might not, i to that. i think sometimes i would i want to push and he might not, and sometimes he was right and sometimes i think we should have gone early on. this was an occasion when i think it is clear that we should have gone earlier.— think it is clear that we should have gone earlier. extracts from sir patrick's diaries _ have gone earlier. extracts from sir patrick's diaries were _ have gone earlier. extracts from sir patrick's diaries were also - have gone earlier. extracts from sir patrick's diaries were also shown i have gone earlier. extracts from sir patrick's diaries were also shown to the inquiry, in which he said sir chris whitty, england's chief medical officer, had been a delayer in bringing in covid measures. the inquiry heard there were tensions between them over what measures to bring in in 2020. i between them over what measures to bring in in 2020-_ bring in in 2020. i think sometimes i would want _ bring in in 2020. i think sometimes i would want to _ bring in in 2020. i think sometimes i would want to push _ bring in in 2020. i think sometimes i would want to push and _ bring in in 2020. i think sometimes i would want to push and he - bring in in 2020. i think sometimes i would want to push and he might| i would want to push and he might not, and sometimes he was right and sometimes i think we should have gone earlier. this was an occasion when i think it's clear that we should have gone earlier. sir patrick also told the inquiry at times it was a struggle to get boris johnson to understand the science. i think i'm right in saying that the prime minister at the time gave up science when he was 15, and i think he would be the first to admit it wasn't his forte, and that he did struggle with some of the concept and we did need to repeat them often. 5ir and we did need to repeat them often. ,, ., .~' and we did need to repeat them often. ,, ., a _, often. sir patrick will continue aaivin often. sir patrick will continue giving evidence _ often. sir patrick will continue giving evidence this _ often. sir patrick will continue | giving evidence this afternoon. helena wilkinson, bbc news. our correspondent ellie price is outside the inquiry in central london. ellie, we have seen more diary notes this morning that give us a real insight into how the government was following the science. bring us up to date with what has been said in the last few minutes. so to date with what has been said in the last few minutes.— to date with what has been said in the last few minutes. so much has been made — the last few minutes. so much has been made about _ the last few minutes. so much has been made about those _ the last few minutes. so much has been made about those diary - the last few minutes. so much has i been made about those diary entries, and of course whether the government was indeed following the science, and following the science if you understood the science. the entries suggest borisjohnson was bamboozled by data and graphs. sir patrick vallance said the prime minister had given up science when he was 15 and therefore it wasn't surprising that therefore it wasn't surprising that there were certain scientific concepts it was difficult for him to understand, but he said that then made it difficult to communicate to the prime minister exactly what that science should mean. he made the point, to be fair, that other world leaders were also finding this difficult. he talks about a call he was on with other scientific advisors in which everyone was laughing because it was seen that all the world leaders were struggling with some of these scientific concepts. it wasn'tjust the prime minister who was maybe struggling with a science, either. he said scientists themselves had maybe misunderstood the virus, that they made the mistake of thinking they made the mistake of thinking they could predict when the virus would get worse, and that was a problem for them, they said. plenty more to listen to this afternoon, for more of sir patrick vallance's evidence. , ~ ., , for more of sir patrick vallance's evidence. , a, , ., ahead of the government's autumn statement on the economy on wednesday, the prime minister has signalled that the government's focus is on delivering tax cuts now that inflation has halved. there has been speculation that inheritance, income or business taxes could be reduced. speaking at a school in north london this morning, rishi sunak said his government would cut taxes over time. we took the difficult decisions to halve inflation, and we delivered on that pledge, and that is why we can now move onto the next phase of our economic plan and turn our attention to cutting taxes. i think we have to take a moment to recognise the fact we are even hear having this conversation is because the chancellor and i took a series of decisions that were not easy, that took political courage and leadership to do, but because we have delivered that, we now can start to talk about cutting taxes. our political correspondent ione wells is in westminster. a pretty clear signal ahead of the autumn statement on wednesday — what do you think we should expect? that's right, a really clear signal that we are on the cusp of some kind of tax—cutting announcement on wednesday. what taxes and when, though, is still unclear. the prime minister was clear that this is possible now because inflation has halved in the last year, although it is still more than double the government's 2% target. two really striking things in his speech in particular, one was him saying that we can't do everything at once, which suggest that on wednesday we are likely to hear a framework towards tax cuts rather than minister saying, we will cut taxes right now. secondly, the other interesting thing he said is that he wouldn't do anything that would risk putting up inflation further. i asked him if he thought there were any personal taxes that could be cut in a way that would promote growth but also not be inflationary themselves. you didn't answer that directly but he did say that the government needed to prioritise and needed to reward work, which i think is a pretty clear hint there that contrary to some of the speculation and ideas that have been floated in the last week or so about inheritance tax cuts, it is more likely that the government are considering potential cuts to things like national insurance for some workers. labour have accused the government of leaving working people worse off but i think what was interesting as well about the speech today was, we had a pretty clear message from the prime minister, one which i think we can hear delegate —— when we can expect to hear more the run—up to the next general election, that he was willing to lose last yea r�*s tory election, that he was willing to lose last year's tory leadership contest on his principal of waiting until inflation is down before cutting taxes further.- until inflation is down before cutting taxes further. hopes are rising that some of the over 200 people taken hostage from israel by hamas could soon be freed after qatar, which is mediating, said only very minor obstacles were in the way. the israeli military has released cctv footage which it claims shows hostages abducted by hamas — classed as a terrorist organisation by the uk government — being brought to al shifa hospital in gaza, which it now controls. fierce fighting continues in gaza, as humanitarian concern for civilians there grows. our middle east correspondent yolande knell reports. the gloom of winter in gaza — adding another layer of misery for the hundreds of thousands who are now homeless, many living in flimsy tents without the right clothes. translation: we were warm in our home, but we came - here in the wind and rain. we can't even find covers for our children. they shiver at night. how long will this go on for? we were living in dignity. we were displaced by force. but there's been no letup in the fighting. these homes in rafah in southern gaza, destroyed today by israeli strikes. while this was the other end of the strip. and in this video, verified by the bbc, tanks moved in on the indonesian hospital, with at least a dozen reportedly killed. israel's military hasn't commented directly, but says its operations are continuing to target terrorists in gaza. today brought a glimmer of hope for the smallest survivors of last week's stand—off at al—shifa hospital. most of the 31 premature babies removed from their incubators due to the power cuts are now to be cared for in egypt. back at al—shifa, israel released this video, as it comes under pressure to justify its raid on gaza's biggest hospital. it says this tunnel leads to a blast proof door of the kind used by hamas for its command centres. and in another video, taken from security cameras, israel says two hostages can be seen being taken to al shifa on the 7th of october, one of them wounded. the bbc is trying to verify the footage. for the families of israel's hostages, each day is an ordeal. lishay lavi has been left alone, caring for her two daughters after her husband, omri, was taken from their home near gaza. we need him back. roni and alma need him back. so this is my war now, to bring him back here. israel now says there are signs of progress in qatar brokered talks with hamas to bring home some of the hostages. but it may take time to seal any deal. and israeli media reports saying that it could be a few dozen women and child hostages who are exchanged for a pause in fighting or perhaps a few days. also that some palestinian women and children could perhaps be released from israeli jails. later tonight we are expecting that the families of some of the hostages are going to meet israel's war cabinet, so we could get more details following that. thank you. reports of a malfunction on a royal navy nuclear submarine as it was diving have been confirmed to the bbc. the depth gauge, which shows how deep the vessel is, failed on an unnamed vanguard—class submarine, which carries the uk's trident nuclear missiles. our defence correspondent jonathan beale is with me. how worrying was this? a defence source put it to me that it was concerning. that's putting it politely, because as you say, this wasn'tjust politely, because as you say, this wasn't just any submarine, it was one of the four that carries the trident nuclear missiles, the weapon of last resort for the uk. we know from the laws of physics, the deeper a submarine goes, the greater the pressure, and there is a point where i submarine pressure, and there is a point where isubmarine can pressure, and there is a point where i submarine can be crushed, which would of course have had dire consequences for the 140 crew on board and questions about what would happen to them nuclear missiles on board, too. because it is a nuclear submarine there are safeguards in place, so what happened in this incident is that the depth gauge in the control room, the main depth gauge, was not working. they thought they had levelled out. they were in fact diving. but there was a second depth gauge elsewhere in the submarine. the engineers noticed it was still diving and were able to allot the crew and to rectify the situation. when did this happen? it happened more than a year ago. it happened more than a year ago. it happened as the submarine was preparing to go out on patrol. remember, one of these submarines is constantly on patrol, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. the navy doesn't usually comment on the activities of its submarine force, and in this incident, it is no different, but we do know an investigation took place. they say that they have been able to meet all their operational requirements, and they also add that the safety of the crew is paramount. but in this case, the failure system worked. jonathan, thank ou the failure system worked. jonathan, thank you very _ the failure system worked. jonathan, thank you very much. _ since the end ofjanuary, journalists have for the first time been allowed to report from three family courts in england and wales, where disputes between parents — often involving vulnerable children — are heard. our correspondent sanchia berg has been following one case where the father of a young child is injailfor paedophile offences. the mother and her parents went to court to prevent him from getting access to or rights over the child when he's released. they spoke to sanchia at the end of the case. their identity is disguised for legal reasons and their voices have been changed. parental rights are fundamental, enshrined in law. but what to do if your child's father is a convicted paedophile, a proven risk to young children? the risk was he gets out of prison, i have not been told, and turning up at school and being told, "oh, she's gone with her dad now. she not here." and calling the police, and being told, "it's a domestic, go back to family court." knowing all the time she's probably being abused. so this mother went to family court to ask a judge to order the toughest and longest—lasting limits to his parental rights. her own parents supported her, and the father appeared in court from jail, via video link. it was incredibly painful, reconciling him with the offences that he committed. and even hearing his voice would remind me of the horrors that he subjected those children to. when she actually started reading out herjudgment, just exceptional relief. that she had cared enough about my child to read the evidence, to assess the case from the child was not the point of view. —— from the child's point of view. i was just so grateful. the judge made orders lasting until the child is 18, banning all contact, removing parental responsibility and making it much harder for the father to appeal. he will be told if the little girl is terminally ill or is taken to live in another country. lawyers described the mother as brave and hope others follow her lead. a lot of the decisions that we rely on when we are working on the family justice system come from cases. i do hope that this case is published and talked about, because the more it is published and talked about, the more it will educate other people to know this is the right thing to do. but its cost the family £30,000, money the mother's parents had to find. it would make much more sense to us to suspend parental rights, and suspend contact in the criminal court system, as a matter of course. and then put emphasis on the offender to try and vary that in family court. because then you would be putting in place protection for the child immediately, and at no cost to the other innocent parent. the ministry ofjustice said there were currently no plans to extend the suspension of parental rights, but they were carefully reviewing the approach to parental access to make sure all children are kept safe. sanchia berg, bbc news. the time is 1:17. our top story this afternoon: the uk's former chief scientific adviser criticises the government's early response to the covid pandemic coming up — the former boss of the firm openai joins microsoft after his shock sacking last friday. coming up on bbc news: we meet some of the new generation in greater manchester, inspired by the inclusion of flag football on the olympic calendar, as the sport makes its debut at the 2028 los angeles games. new information about the unsolved disappearance more than 50 years ago of a british child from a beach in australia has been called very credible by a detective who worked on the case. former detective sergeant damian loone says details given by a potential new eyewitness, found by the bbc, should now be thoroughly investigated. the eyewitness described a teenage boy running away from fairy meadow beach in new south wales carrying a small child. the bbc�*sjon kay is the presenter of the fairy meadow true—crime podcast. it was january 1970 when cheryl grimmer vanished from fairy meadow beach, an hour south of sydney. she and her family had just arrived in australia from england in search of a better life. she was taken from the changing rooms at the top of the beach. the last time you saw her was just in the doorway? that's correct, just tucked inside. her older brother, ricky, turned away for just a few seconds. come on, i'll show you. despite a huge search, cheryl was never found. but now, more than 50 years later, a new potential witness has spoken to the bbc�*s true crime podcast, fairy meadow. i heard the screaming of the kid. that's what caught my ear. "what was that shrieking sound?" he's never told his story before and never spoken to police. the man, who wants to keep his identity private, has given me a detailed description of seeing a teenage boy running away from the changing rooms that day, carrying a small child. in sort of full stride, with this baby in his arm, just sort of screaming and yelling. he did have short back and sides, normal build. but you didn't tell your family, you didn't tell your friends at the time about what you'd see? no, no, ididn't. because you've got to remember, we were only in australia for three or four weeks. we were sort of oblivious to what was really going on. i didn't even speak english. he was seven years old at the time, and says he can pinpoint all this to the 12th of january 1970 because a strong southerly wind blew in that afternoon, causing panic and emptying the beach. and that is what happened just before cheryl disappeared. this retired detective worked on the cheryl grimmer case and has now spoken to the potential new witness. he sounded very credible to me. and what he said he saw in that particular day is very important, and it should be thoroughly investigated. damian loone says the man has now agreed to speak to new south wales police. i understand the force made contact with him in the last few days. for cheryl grimmer�*s family, the wait for answers goes on. seven years ago, a man in his 60s was charged with her murder after a confession was found during a review of the case. but a judge decided the confession, made by a teenage boy in 1971, could not be presented as evidence. the case was dropped and the man, who denied all the charges, was freed. jon kay, bbc news. and you can hear more on that investigation in the new episode of fairy meadow, which is available now on bbc sounds. the former boss of the firm openai, sam altman, is to join microsoft after his shock sacking from his position last friday. mr altman had helped make the company the world leader in what's known as generative ai — that is the use of artificial intelligence to generate its own orginal data. he was dismissed after the board said they'd lost confidence in him, a move which stunned the tech world. our technology reporter shiona mccallum joins me now from glasgow. what is going on at openai? welcome i think that is the question that everyone has been asking since sam altman, news of his departure was broken on friday night. now we know that he is going to be joining microsoft, to head up this advanced artificial intelligence team. with him, he's going to be taking a greg brockman, the other co—founder of openai, and there is going to be a host of people moving from openai to microsoft. in fact, a lot of people posting on social media, a lot of key employees at the firm, saying that openai is nothing without its people. it looks like we might start to cease some mass resignations at openai, moving towards microsoft, to a new team. microsoft has invested heavily, and put billions of pounds into openai, and in fact owns around 49% of the company. one of the reasons it is thought that mr altman was let go, was because of concerns to his commitment to the central core value of openai, providing safe, ethicaland core value of openai, providing safe, ethical and beneficial ai core value of openai, providing safe, ethical and beneficial al to everyone. we have also heard today there will be an interim ceo at openai, emma chia, from to etch, the online video gaming platform. it will be interesting to see what changes he makes to the company. for people at home still using chatgpt, they will�*s most popular chat bot, i don't think any of this revolving door at the managerial level will make any difference to the product. in argentina, the far—right candidate javier milei has been elected president. mr milei won almost 56% of yesterday's poll, beating his rival, the economy minister sergio massa. during the campaign he vowed to tackle the country's struggling economy by, in his words, blowing up the central bank. he also wants to loosen gun laws and ban abortion. our south america correspondent katy watson reports. for argentina, this was a political earthquake. javier milei won by a wider than expected margin, and his victory sent a clear message. argentinea ns wanted change. translation: the situation in argentina is critical. - the changes our country needs are drastic. there is no room for gradualism. there is no room for half measures. mr milei was a relative unknown until a few months ago, but his brash manner, including wielding a chainsaw at a campaign event, got him noticed. in a country where annual inflation is now over 140%, and two in five argentineans now live in poverty, a drastic new approach to fixing economic problems was a clever move. translation: we have a new president. - there is future. there is hope. translation: perfect. he said everythingl we needed to hear. an honest guy who comes to put effort and work above all things. let's move forward. let's go, argentina. but the campaign was divisive, as his rival acknowledged when he conceded defeat. translation: | called him, - convinced that the most important thing for us argentinians tonight is to remember that working together, dialogue and respect for peace, rather than this violence, is the best path we should take. but it won't be easy for milei. on sunday, it was clear many are disappointed with politicians and their empty promises of change. translation: i'm a bit sad about the whole situation. l i don't know how this will help us move the country forward. at least we are voting and exercising democracy. mr milei has also pledged to loosen gun laws and ban abortion, and he and his vice president have repeatedly been accused of lacking respect for democracy and calling into question the official number of victims during the country's dictatorship. all told, milei's victory has been a shock for argentina's traditional political scene. javier milei said he'd deliver change for argentina. but few understand what that will look like. one thing's clear — it'll be unlike anything that's come before. the last few years in south america have seen a swing to the left in chile, colombia and here in brazil, with the return of lula da silva, but argentina is seeing a swing to the right, with the support of donald trump and former brazilian leaderjoe barcelona. the win by javier milei needs to be seen in the context of argentinian is desperate for change, that, more than a desire for change, that, more than a desire for conservative politics, has propelled him to the top. —— jair bolsonaro. the singer shakira has reached a deal with spanish prosecutors to settle a tax evasion case. she was accused of defrauding the spanish state of nearly £13 million on income earned between 2012 and 2014, which she denied. our correspondent guy hedgecoejoins us now. why was this settled out of court? well, the prosecutors had alleged that during that period, 2012—14, shakira had been a spanish resident, and that therefore she should have paid taxes on all of her earnings from that period. now, throughout this period, until now, she had insisted that was not the case, that she was not residing in spain, she was travelling around the world, recording and performing, and so on. however today she has acknowledged that she was a tax resident during that she was a tax resident during that time. she issued a statement saying she did this for her family and her career, so she could move on. she has been given a three—year jail sentence. on. she has been given a three—year jailsentence. she on. she has been given a three—year jail sentence. she won't do anyjail time at all, she has also been told she must pay 7 million euros, about £6 million. so, an array of witnesses that were going to take a stand, who included former stylists, hairdressers, even a former zumba instructor, they will not take the stand because the trial is over. fiifi stand because the trial is over. 0k, many thanrs- _ fans of the fantasy drama game of thrones may recognise the scene you see behind me — a tunnel of ancient beech trees in county antrim, known as the dark hedges, which featured on the show. but six of the trees will be felled today amid concerns they pose a risk to the public, and there are fears others could also face the axe. our ireland correspondent sarah girvin reports. the dark hedges became a global tourist attraction following a brief appearance on game of thrones. but the trees are now nearly 250 years old, and several of them have been found to be unsafe. the work going on here now will last for the next few days. at the end of that, six trees will be felled. another five are having remedial work carried out. it is said that a management plan for future works is well under way, and it's hoped that all of that will keep this place safe for people to enjoy for many years to come. but today's work didn't stop tourists turning up for a dark hedges salfie. we're from california, and we heard about them in the game of thrones show. so we wanted to come and check them out. we heard it is one of the good things that were here, around northern ireland. there are nowjust 86 trees left of the original 150 that were planted in 1775. the felling of six trees has been described as sad but necessary. it's a day, in a sense, of mixed emotions. because obviously there is a mystique about the dark hedges. but, ultimately, we also have a responsibility in terms of road safety. there is a plan for the future, though. as time goes by, these trees will fail. these mature trees will fail, they will have to be removed. but if we keep planting, and keep that stock coming up and growing, then eventually those trees will mature and keep the hedge is complete. the hedges complete. the beech trees that make up this famous tree tunnel have already outlasted their predicted life span. but it's hoped that enough can be done to make sure this special place can be enjoyed for generations to come. sarah girvin, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's elizabeth rizzini. it's quite mild outside? it certainly is, that is about to change. a beautiful scene from herefordshire by one of our weather watchers. a messy picture weather—wise, places like herefordshire could keep the brighter skies to the afternoon. but this was the scene along the south coast of england earlier on today. england and wales, stormy seas, gusty wind and some heavy rain. that feature has now cleared off into the new continent. still a couple of weather fronts sinking southwards for the rest of the day, hence the messy picture. plenty of cloud around and there will still be some more showers around as well. brisk wind, north—westerly blowing across western scotland, northern ireland, down through and for the far south—west of england. there will be more sunshine, mostly to the south and east of the high ground. more persistent rain into eastern scotland. temperatures are lower than they were yesterday. still may be 14 towards the