This is bbc news. Im simon mccoy. The headlines. A £4 billion cut in vat to kick start the economy but some Companies Say they need to keep the cash to stay in business. Were looking to pass some of that on to customers, but i think we are in survival mode right now. What it allows us to do is comfortably put on larger discounts, so we are passing it on. The Health Secretary says the government has ruled out making masks compulsory for Office Workers in england. Borisjohnson confirms therell be an independent inquiry into the governments handling of the coronavirus pandemic but not now. China warns of retaliation over huawei, as President Trump takes credit for the decision to exclude it from the uks 56 network. The biggest easing of lockdown restrictions in scotland is under way the first minister says its the riskiest stage to date. Facing another lockdown blackburn is given a deadline to deal with a rising tide of coronavirus cases. And the statue of slave trader Edward Colston is replaced with a sculpture of one of the protesters whose anger brought him down. Good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. A £4 billion cut in vat has come into force across the hospitality sector, allowing companies to cut their prices but not all of them say they will. The tax, which has been reduced from 20 to 5 untiljanuary, is aimed at helping to boost the economy and protectjobs. Starbucks and mcdonalds are among those saying
they will reduce their prices but some firms are expected to use the windfall to shore up their own finances hit by the lockdown. Heres our personal finance correspondent, simon gompertz. Its the chancellors £4 billion giveaway to try to get the economy moving. Slashing the vat you pay for going out, including two for going out, including to restaurants and pubs, and to campsites, cinemas and zoos. We need to give these businesses the confidence to know that, if they open up, invest in making their premises safe and protectjobs, demand will be there, and be there quickly. Restaurants like this one point out theres a big hill to climb to get sales back up to the levels they were before the virus. I dont know how much the vat cut itself will drive sales. I mean, is a 15 discount really going to bring us the level of revenue we need . The vat cut could mean a £5 saving on a mealfor two normally costing £40, nearly £11 off an £85 room for two
at a hotel or b b, or £16 off a family entry to a theme park worth £130 thats if customers are given it. Some businesses nandos is one of them have promised to pass on 100 of the saving, but the big worry is that others will hold onto some or all of the benefit, effectively pocketing the tax cut, saying they are struggling and they are the ones who need it. We are looking to pass some of that onto customers but i think we are in survival mode right now, and i think its important that, i guess, the public recognise that this cut will go a long way to help the business get through what will be, i guess, a tough trading period in the months ahead. The treasury says it wants businesses to give customers the full 15 off if they can but it recognises that firms like this coffee roasting and grinding place in manchester may have been without an income for a long period and its up to them to decide how to handle the tax break. Our approach is to make it flexible, so it wouldnt be a blanket 15 across all our products. What it allows us to do is comfortably put on a large discount so we are passing it on but i would say its more a flexible approach that was under our control depending on what sales are like in the coming months. Bigger companies are more likely to pass on the cut. Starbucks says it will on coffees. Pubs, like wetherspoons, face the problem that alcoholic drinks dont qualify, so its using some of the saving on food in order to cut the price of beer. Simon gompertz, bbc news. And at 2 30pm, the chancellor, rishi sunak, will appear before the Treasury Committee to give evidence on his recent summer economic update. Well bring that to you live. The Health Secretary matt hancock says the government will not be recommending that people wear face
masks in offices. There was speculation that rules for work places could follow shops where people will have to wear face coverings from 24th july. Mr hancock said that the government rejected the idea on the basis that if people spend a long time together, face coverings do not offer protection. When youre in close proximity with somebody who you have to work closely too, then if you are there for a long time with them, then a mask doesnt offer that protection, as opposed to a shop or Public Transport for instance, when youre with somebody for a reasonable amount of time, a few minutes, but not all day, in the same way that the same logic applies for schools. We are not recommending masks in schools because if you are in a classroom with kids all day then the mask doesnt give you that much protection. The point is that its when you are having interaction with people who you are normally with. Thats where the mask can be particularly helpful. Robert west is a professor of health psychology. Hes also a member of the governments behavioral Science Advisory Group though has previously been critical of the government throughout the pandemic. We spoke to you yesterday. Professor west, thank you very much for joining us again. Im just wondering on the psychology of this. Would it be much easierjust to say, look, wear a mask whenever you go out . Theyre not necessarily, because there are downsides. Its note theyre not necessarily, because there are downsides. Its not a cost free measure for people. By the way, i dont think i have been critical throughout. I was actually quite supportive to begin with but i think i have become more critical, like a lot of other people, as time has gone on. But on this particular point i think the key here is that the evidence has never been massively strong and the government has recognised that, but it has also recognised that sometimes, in situations like this, you have to
work on the balance of probabilities, and that recently, with changes in the evidence, has swung in favour of using face masks in certain situations. But the problem is for example if you say where a face mask all the time, is that they are uncomfortable. If you wear them outside, there is no real benefit to be honest because there is very little transmission of the virus outside. It is indoor enclosed spaces with poor ventilation. It is complex. One of the things that independent sage and i agree with this are calling for is because it is complicated to have a really good Public Information campaign, so they know what kind of masks, what kind of situations are going to benefit from wearing a mask, who benefits, a whole range of things, like you should be exempt, because not everyone can wear a mask. 50
should be exempt, because not everyone can wear a mask. So all of this needs to be dealt with and it needs to be done quickly. Lets launch the campaign of awareness right now, and go through the type of masks available because a lot of people on twitter are asking when we talk about masks, what are we talking about . Face coverings . The most popular one people may be familiar with is the disposable mask. Lets talk about that one first of all. That is the one for which there is the most evidence to be honest, because the studies that have been done have been done in places like china, germany and so on, where that is the kind of mask that has been used, and that has a particular kind of design to it. It has got multiple layers, that appears to be important. The who recommends masks with three different types of material with different types of material with different layers, because they are more likely to trap the virus particles. However, the problem there of course is that we need those masks for Health Workers and so those masks for Health Workers and so on, so there has been concern that if everyone went out and mopped
up that if everyone went out and mopped up the that if everyone went out and mopped ly that if everyone went out and mopped f that if everyone went out and mopped up the supply of those masks that it would cause a problem. Whether that is still true, im would cause a problem. Whether that is stilltrue, im not would cause a problem. Whether that is still true, im not sure, would cause a problem. Whether that is stilltrue, im not sure, but thatis is stilltrue, im not sure, but that is something to bear in mind. There is also evidence that cloth coverings can trap the virus particles and the droplets, but again probably should be multiple layers. For example, idont again probably should be multiple layers. For example, i dont think it is going to workjust cutting up a t shirt, that is not really going to be of huge benefit. What about the scarf, that sort of face covering, what about that . |j the scarf, that sort of face covering, what about that . I think if it is folded in such a way that there is more than one layer, but one of the things the who has said, and this is based on really sort of the physics of trapping particles, is that it is better to have different types of materials with a different types of materials with a different weave, because if youve got the same material with the same kind of weave in the same what they call electrostatic properties, then it is not such an effective barrier. What about synthetic fibre masks . Yeah, i think, what about synthetic fibre masks . Yeah, ithink, you know, to be honest, im not 100 sure whether there is much of a difference between synthetic fibre masks and cotton for example. There is some evidence on it, which i cant rememberoff evidence on it, which i cant remember off the top of my head to be honest. But i think there will be reason to believe that either cotton or synthetic would probably be ok. I mean, there is one point probably worth mentioning here, and that is that we are not talking about something that is going to act as a complete barrier, because the way that people wear the masks and so on, you that people wear the masks and so 011, you are that people wear the masks and so on, you are going to get air coming in from the outside or air can be expelled throughout the back, for example, if you were to cough, so we are really talking about masks making some difference. They are not a panacea but they will make some difference, and obviously the better the mask, the better, but if we get too hung up on exactly the right kind of mask, i think theyre kind
of missing the point. Of course comfort will come into this, and fabric, a lot of people for that, and it could even become a fashion thing, who knows, but what about fabric masks . Yeah, i think so. The key here is that you are looking at something that you will reuse, and so something that you will reuse, and so that creates an issue about what you do, where you store it and how you do, where you store it and how you store it and how you handle it when you are not using it, because one of the concerns that many of us have had about face coverings is that they can themselves act as contaminants, and the reason for thatis contaminants, and the reason for that is that the virus actually lasts a surprisingly long period of time on surfaces, including clocks. So if you are going to use a fabric mask of that kind, including clots. Take a plastic bag or Something Like that to put it in, and then leave it there, and then wash it as soon as possible in at least 60 celsius wash. Including
cloths. We will be familiar with the visors in hospitals but now you see them in headdresses and things, and they are the most effective, are they . Not really, no. The advantage of the visor is that it to some degree protects your eyes, as well as the nose and the mouth. And you can see through it, so it is non functional in some ways if you are trying to do a task like catss care. So it is quite useful thing to have. But of course it not airtight, so have. But of course it not airtight, so again, we have learned a lot as this pandemic has gone on. Initially, it was thought it was pretty well exclusively through large droplets when someone coughed or sneezed, we large droplets when someone coughed of sneezed, we now large droplets when someone coughed or sneezed, we now know that in enclosed spaces there is probably somewhat we call aerosol transmission, that means it isjust the airand a transmission, that means it isjust the air and a visor is not really going to help much with that. Robert, it strikes me, we havejust shown various pictures of the masks and they have been modelled by mr macron, johnson and trump, strikes may not necessarily the sort of role model people might think, oh, i will go and get one now. Probably not for many people. Role models, actually, it is interesting, many of us have thought that they could have used role models a bit more, because they are effective. Who would you want . I think i might have gone on record as suggesting someone like David Attenborough might be a good role model, and the reason is, this is information i gleaned from the report i was talking about, we were discussing it, that he is britains numberone discussing it, that he is britains Number One National treasure and the most popular person in the country. So that kind of thing, but actually more seriously, i think the sort of role models we are looking for would be tailored to the kind of people you particularly want to influence,
because we all identify with different people. I would probably identify with David Attenborough but other people might have different role models. But it is something we can use. In a positive way, not in a manipulative way, but it is something that does make a difference. It is that impact, if you suddenly saw the queen wearing one, people would take stock. |j think they would, actually. It would look surprising, but why should it look surprising, but why should it look surprising . Why should the queen be any different from anyone else, in terms of engaging in these protective behaviours . So there is a little bit of work to do, i think, to identify appropriate role models, but i would be keen to see that done, and im sure that film stars, you know, pop artists and others would be only too happy to make their contribution by acting as role models. Well, with got that ball
rolling on this programme right now with you. Robert, Professor Robert west, really good to see you, thank you very much for your time again. Pleasure. The biggest easing of lockdown restrictions in scotland is under way with the reopening of indoor spaces including hotels, places of worship and hairdressers. The first minister, nicola sturgeon, has described it as the riskiest stage of the process to date. Our scotland correspondent, lorna gordon has the details. Its the latest kit for hairdressers heading back to work. Scotlands salons are the last in the uk to reopen. In this one, theyre already booked up, weeks ahead, and things will be very different to before. We are a small salon, so we just wanted to really take every measure that we could to make things safe. So, the screens, obviously, will give each workstation a safe space. Its different, but i think its a workable, fun space. You know, its safe. And its notjust hairdressers
that are reopening. Today sees the biggest steps out of scotlands lockdown. Some cinemas including this one in glasgow are welcoming back moviegoers while tourist attractions, museums, galleries and libraries can also from today, if they choose to, open back up. Worshippers can once again gather for Communal Services and prayer as long as congregations maintain strict physical distancing. And holiday accommodation including hotels and b bs are accepting guests as the Tourism Industry fully reopens for business. Todays steps are, by some margin, and i mean that, by some margin, the highest risk changes we have made since we began the process out of lockdown. And so it is vital, more vital than it has been at any stage of this crisis so far that all of us stick rigidly to the rules and guidance on how to behave in these different settings. Because it is only by doing that that as we open up these services, we will stop the virus spreading again. Table 823, your drinks arent free, but they are on the bar waiting to collect. Beer gardens, outdoor cafes
and restaurants were allowed to welcome customers back ten days ago. Now theyre also allowed inside, as indoor hospitality reopens. So, there are three stools here that people will be able to sit at and drink at the bar, but thatll be the only place someone can sit. In this Bar RestaurantRestrictions Mean they will only be allowed half the numbers they had before, but are hoping people will quickly return. From opening the garden last week, we have been swamped with customers, and if we could have fit more people in, we would, however im not sure if the same will stand for inside. But i think the more we can show that were adhering to the rules and the social distance guidance, the more comfortable customers will feel coming back. Hoping confidence, customers and business will return, as more restrictions ease in scotland and many more aspects of normal life resume. Lorna gordon, bbc news, glasgow. Borisjohnson has announced
there will be an independent Public Inquiry into the governments response to the coronavirus. Speaking at Prime Ministers questions he said ministers would seek to learn lessons from the pandemic but he believed it was not the right moment to devote huge amounts of official time to holding an inquiry now. Our assistant Political Editor norman smith explains why its unclear exactly what mrjohnson means by an inquiry. Although everyone here has assumed there would be an investigation into the covid crisis, now borisjohnson has committed to a full, independent enquiry, independent inquiry, and we know from enquiries weve seen, whether its the iraq inquiry, or the leveson inquiry into the media, or bloody sunday into the army in Northern Ireland, they have the potential to shape and shatter the reputations of the most powerful and to probe their innermost thinking and calculations in moments of crisis, in which it is often hard to do through the normal scrutiny of journalists or politicians. But there are an awful lot of unanswered questions. We dont still dont really know what the Prime Minister meant when he talked
about an independent inquiry. That could be a full blown judge inquiry or it could be a much lower calibre investigation led by an academic or maybe a select committee. We dont know the timeframe. The Prime Minister has indicated he does not think we should hold the inquiry while we are still grappling with coronavirus, but that means it could be months, even years away, if were having to wait to actually eliminate the virus or get a vaccine. We dont know the remit of the inquiry or the authority will have. Will it be the sort of inquiry where witnesses are questioned under oath by barristers, led by a judge . My guess, and it is only a guess, is that it will have to be of similar stature and authority to the iraq inquiry. Why . Well, because of the number of deaths from coronavirus. Because of the catastrophe that its inflicted on care homes, and because it involved the government imposing restrictions on us never seen
before in peacetime. So my sense is it will have to be a similar sort of inquiry to that into iraq. That was norman smith. The headlines on bbc news. A temporary cut to vat comes into effect today, allowing the hospitality and Leisure Industries to lower their prices. The Health Secretary says the government has ruled out making masks compulsory for Office Workers in england. Borisjohnson has confirmed for the first time that therell be an independent inquiry into the governments handling of the coronavirus pandemic. A £4 billion cut in vat has come into force this morning, allowing food, drink and hospitality firms to potentially cut their prices. The tax is reduced from 20 to 5 untiljanuary, to encourage people who can spend to go out and help protectjobs. The treasury estimates households could save £160 a year on average, but many Companies Say the savings wont be passed directly to customers. Dawn hopkins is vice chair of the campaign for pubs, and shes also licensee of the rose inn in norwich. Role customers there benefit from this . Not really. We are what is known as a wet lead pub, so we do most of our trade on drinks, and we havent had the cuts of five percents on dregs, so no, it is meant to be something to help hospitality but it is only a small pa rt hospitality but it is only a small part of hospitality. Some pubs are suggesting they will take the cut on food, vat, and make their drinks cheaper that way. It is up to individual pubs what they do but a pub like mine at the moment, im not doing any food so there is nothing i can do to help that. Wet led pubs, which are about 60 of the pubs in this country, havent been given that cutdown to 5 on our main
products, so there is no passing anything on, there is no helping our businesses whatsoever, weve just been left out of this. How have the last few months been . Difficult. Frustrating. Worrying, very worrying. A lot of pubs now are open, my pub is open, but our capacity is down, obviously for social distancing, things that we have relied on to get people through the door, such as live music, djs, that kind of thing, we cant do that any more, so that kind of thing, we cant do that any more, so the next few months as this continues are going to be quite difficult for a lot of pubs. How critical are you of how the government has responded to this, given that there was widespread applause for the chancellor when the fellow scheme was announced . Have you benefited from that . Yes, a little bit. Things like that, thats fine, it has benefit a lot of people and it has benefited pubs. But now,
wet let pubs in particular where the focus is on drinks have been left out of this help. Itjust seems that public mine which are community pubs, people are coming into from the local area to meet their friends, to see a friendly face, sometimesjust to get friends, to see a friendly face, sometimes just to get out of the house, we have been left out, for what reason, i dont know. Everybody else has been given the help and we havent. Can you keep going . Im certainly going to try very hard, but it is just difficult to know whats going to happen. As ive said, the capacity is down, nothing we can do about that, we have to abide by the guidelines, im happy to do that, but it means that takings we would normally get at this time of year are significantly lower. So say that rishi sunak walks into the rose inn in the next few minutes, what would you have to say to him . I would say why, why have we been left out, why are so many pubs,
like i say, many are hubs of the community, over 60 of our pubs have been left out, what is it about us that we are not worthy of getting this extra help that we so vitally needed after three months of no income . I dont know what youre made of the images, that first saturday when pubs opened and some of the images from soho in london which took the breath away really come in terms of the lack of social distancing, just wonder how someone like you react to that, because frankly you need as many people as you can get . We do, but we have to abide by the guidelines. I probably lost seating for about 20 people inside my pub basically when all the ta bles inside my pub basically when all the tables are taking, and we are taking bookings but also getting walkins, i turn way, thats what we have to do to keep ourselves safe and hopefully get over this and get back to some sort of normality walk ins. We are trying really hard on our pubs, are trying really hard on our pubs, a lot of people have spent a lot of money and a lot of time making
everything as safe as we possibly can. There is nothing we can do. Our capacity is down, thats just the way it is and we are trying to trade through that as best we can. Dawn, i wish you all the luck in the world, thank you for your time. Thank you, ta ke thank you for your time. Thank you, take care. New measures to stop the spread of covid 19 in blackburn with darwen have been introduced after a spike in cases. For the next month, People Living there must limit the number of visitors to their homes, and wear face coverings in all confined public spaces in a bid to avoid a lockdown like leicester. Sophie hutchinson reports. Blackburn with darwen, where they have seen a spike in covid 19 cases. 114 people have tested positive in the past two weeks, in what Public Health experts have described as a rising tide of infection, particularly in the south asian community. What we think is going on is one person is asymptomatically infected, they are then going back to their own households, other household members are infected, that only becomes visible once somebody has symptoms. They go and get tested, then the household is tested and then we get a cluster in that household of four orfive members. And thats happening across the bame, the south asian community, in significant numbers and that is what is driving our rising tide event. The tighter new measures include limiting the number of people who can meet to one Household Plus a maximum of two people from a second household, face coverings to be worn in all enclosed public spaces, increased ventilation in small shops, and no handshaking or hugging only elbow bumping. Officials say the problem is centred on terraced housing with large multi generational families. But compared to leicester, where a local lockdown has been imposed due to a substantial rise in cases, blackburn with darwen is some way off. While we had to take the action nationally in leicester, i announced that to the house of commons, in blackburn,
the council have taken the lead and done what they think is the right thing to do to tackle the problem in their area, and i applaud them. Officials in blackburn are hoping to avoid a full lockdown, but with additional testing in the at risk communities, they expect the numbers of confirmed infections to rise over the next few weeks, and there are fears about other parts of lancashire, where infections are also on the increase. Sophie hutchinson, bbc news. Meanwhile, the lockdown in leicester is taking a toll on its economy. The prolonged shutdown caused by the citys Coronavirus Infection rate has forced one business to permanently close. And theres a warning that unless urgent Government Support is on its way, it might not be the only one to go under, as navteonhal reports. I have been running for two years now, or ran for two years, and it means the world to me. I am devastated having to close. I have put all my time, effort and love into it and created something that i want to go into work to every day. Getting ready to say goodbye. Arti chudasamas cafe and deli will not be reopening when leicesters coronavirus restrictions are eventually lifted. She says the local lockdown has forced her to close. I was 50 50 on it, and then as soon as that happened, that was it. It was like my decision was made, because if there is no one around you can see theres nobody here i could open but theres nobody coming in, so if nobody is coming in, i dont really have a business to run. Im just sat in there because i love it and thats not enough. Herfate is unlikely to be unique at least according to an organisation which represents businesses in the city centre. It says many of them are crying out for more help. Its a very simple message that we need grants or support directly to our businesses if they are going to survive. What impact will it have on the city if businesses dont get that extra support . If that support doesnt arrive urgently we will see the shutters coming down and the doors closing and a lot of businesses, particularly in our nonessential retail, food and drink sectors, closing. But leicesters mayor believes help may be on the way after speaking to the Health Secretary this week. Although we still havent got the absolute commitment that that is going to happen i think there was certainly an indication that the secretary of state understood the importance of that and i very much hope that we will soon be able to give good news, at least to the businesses of the city. Either way, any support will come too late for arti. How are you feeling today . Upset, sad. It is sad. Its emotional. You dont expect to close a business after two years, especially in the situation that we are in. The government says the circumstances of individual local lockdowns continue to be carefully assessed and that its support package is one of the most comprehensive in the world. But its clear that many businesses here in leicester believe that extra help is needed if they are to continue to survive. Navteonhal, bbc news, leicester. The chancellor, rishi sunak is being questioned by mps on the Treasury Select Committee over last weeks summer statement he is doing that right now, so lets go over and join. We want them to stop leaning into debt too much, and that leaves taxation, so it seems to most commentators at the moment that come the autumn budget, you will have to be putting the overall level of taxation up. Would that be correct . You will forgive me ifi cant comment on future fiscal policy. We have had that conversation before as well. But more broadly, iwould conversation before as well. But more broadly, i would agree that strong and Sustainable Public finances are important. It is something i believe in, and as we said last week at the economic update plan for jobs, said last week at the economic update plan forjobs, that is something that over the medium term we will want to return the public
finances too. The exact shape and plan of that, we will have to wait for a future budget. I understand your point about taxation, but let me ask you about manifesto commitments. There are some tax related manifesto commitments upon which the government was duly elected. Are we going to meet those commitments, or is there a chance that we might break some of those ma nifesto that we might break some of those manifesto commitments on tax . Our ambition is to deliver all the priorities that we set out, but as ive said, on any issues of future tax policy, i cant comment one way or the other, those decisions are made is always in future budgets. So when the Prime Minister appeared before the Liaison Committee, i asked him a specific question about taxation at the manifesto, and i askedif taxation at the manifesto, and i asked if we would skip to the ma nifesto asked if we would skip to the manifesto commitment, the tax triple lock, in other words not to increase the rate of national insurance, vat or income tax, and he was able to
assure me at that point that all ma nifesto assure me at that point that all manifesto commitments would be met, and infact manifesto commitments would be met, and in fact i think he said, unless i tell you otherwise. Do you agree with what the Prime Minister. . |j always agree with the Prime Minister, but i think i have perhaps pedantic, but whenever im asked about anything to do with taxation, i hope you will understand, forgive me, that i give exactly the same answer so me, that i give exactly the same answer so that no one can read anything into what im saying and therefore start speculating on what might or might not be the case, and my standard default answer to all questions about tax is, i cant comment on future tax policy, and those decisions are made as always at budgets. But you have just commented on the comments of the Prime Minister made to me at the Liaison Committee by saying that you would agree with him, in other words that. I said i always agree with the Prime Minister. So i take from
that that we are going to stick to the commitment in the manifesto to the commitment in the manifesto to the triple lock and that we will not see increases in rates in any of the. . You are trying very hard to put words into my mouth, and im going to give the same answer all questions about future fiscal policy. I dont comment on future fiscal policy, those decisions are made at future budgets. But you do support what the Prime Minister said to me at the Liaison Committee . You obviously know exactly what he said to you, and i think you repeated back the full extent of his quote as well. Right. We will move on. Can i move on to gaps in support. You will know, chancellor, that we produced a report on this that shows that in excess of 1 million report on this that shows that in excess of1 Million People have fallen through the gaps, in other words they havent qualified for a furlough scheme typically because of administrative complications, so if you take people working through their own companies, self employed income received by way of dividend
not being counted towards the calculation of furlough, for example. We are told by hmrc that those people cant be accommodated, 700,000 of them, because of administrative complexity. In terms of identifying where those dividends have come from. Is that the be all and end all of the problem, or is there Something Else that we have missed . And there Something Else that we have missed . And specifically, there Something Else that we have missed . And specifically, therefore, if that complexity could be overcome, would those people get the support that most people feel they deserve and need . Support that most people feel they deserve and need . What i would say on this is i would repeat some of the comments i have made previously, that without a doubt we have put in place unprecedented support for many millions of people in lots of different ways, and indeed millions of businesses as well through this crisis, and done so i think at reasonably good speed to make sure that that support gets to those people as quickly as possible. But given that there are tens and tens of millions of people in the
country, or in particular different circumstances, and we face an economic shock the likes of which we havent seen, it is obviously going to be the case, not every Single Person feels that they have been helped in exactly the way they would have liked, and i can appreciate that an sympathise with it and i can only apologise for it, as i have previously. At this point, as i made the announcement in may about extending furlough and indeed providing an extension to the self employment scheme, as i said at the time then, we now have to look forward. There would not now be the opportunity or intention to introduce new schemes. The decisions that we made were difficult, and im happy to go into the reasons we made those in a second. But they were decisions which we made which i think at the right ones, and our focus now is on planning for the recovery, protecting jobs, focus now is on planning for the recovery, protectingjobs, which focus now is on planning for the recovery, protecting jobs, which is why last week obviously we announced our plan forjobs and a new set of support to try and help drive the
recovery and safeguard, protect and create as many jobs recovery and safeguard, protect and create as manyjobs as possible. Recovery and safeguard, protect and create as many jobs as possible. You say that some people have been missed out. Im referring specifically to the example ive been given, about 700,000 people, and if it is the case, and i think it is from what you and the Prime Minister and the head of hmrc have said, it is basically an administrative complexity that has prevented help being provided, that seems to me to be quite a weak reason given, that you have shown an extraordinary ability to be nimble and agile in other areas. So for example when it has come to loans, 100 guarantees were brought in after the initial launch of the bounce back loan scheme, the civil scheme where you had stranded middle, you very quickly plug that 93p middle, you very quickly plug that gap. Even with furlough for new starters, there was a shift in the trigger date from the 23rd of february to the 19th of march to make sure that that worked more effectively. In other words, you have shown a great capacity to step
in and fix problems, and i think the head of the hmrc actually said to us that he found that hmrc had ended up doing things it didnt think it was capable of actually doing. But none of that political will and agility seems to have been applied to any of the categories that we cited in the report, any of those people who so desperately need help. Report, any of those people who so desperately need helplj report, any of those people who so desperately need help. I would say a couple of things, chair. Firstly, not all of those reasons were one of administration. Some of those were policy decisions deliberately to target support, for example your report talked about the threshold we used a £50,000, so that was a deliberate policy decision. That is not an administrative oversight. When we are giving money to the self employed, we obviously dont know their particular circumstances. The difference is for those who are employed, they are either furloughed or not. For those who are
self employed, they could still be working for all we know, and not in need of support. That was one of the reasons we thought it was appropriate to apply a threshold, and we thought 50,000 was reasonable. It meant that 94 or so of those who were majority self employed were covered. The average incomes of those over that threshold are £200,000, so on average, admittedly, there will be people who earn £50,001, but in general, those people will earn around £200,000, so we thought that that was a reasonable threshold to apply to make sure support got to those who needed it. Ditto, your report talked about majority self employed. Again, that was a policy decision which was made for the same reasons. Im sorry to interrupt, but we are segueing off
into different categories. The one i raised was the and individuals working through their own companies by way of dividend. Is there anything other than administrative complexity that prevents you from including those people fully within the furlough arrangements . There is a significant degree of administrative complexity, and to your point previously, the fact that we have been able to do so much that people thought we were not able to doi people thought we were not able to do i think what to actually prove the point that if there was an easy thing that we could have done and done at scale and speed, to protect against fraud and make sure that support was targeted and obviously affordable within all of that, we would have done it. So i think your point actually prove the thesis that if it was straightforward, given we managed to do lots of other things, no reason why we wouldnt have done it. I also think as i said, the
group of people that you mention, it is not as if there is no support available. Many of them choose to pay themselves up to the income Tax Threshold through paye, and that pa rt of threshold through paye, and that part of their earnings may be eligible, obviously is eligible to be furloughed, and also there are companies able to access whether it is bounce back loans or depending on what is appropriate for them as well. So there will be other support, and those individuals may also benefit from, i forget the number, tens of billions of pounds of referrals until next year, which will also help with cash flow, and then in their personal circumstances, for example if they had a mortgage, they might have benefited from a mortgage holiday for essentially six months which would be significant as well. So as isaid, it
would be significant as well. So as i said, it may well be that they havent got exactly what they have wanted, but there are other avenues that they may well have been able to access, and as i say in may, my focus now on the focus of hmrc and indeed Everything Else we are doing is planning for and implementing policies for the recovery, and that is where i think our focus should be. Ok. We will come back to this point, i think, be. Ok. We will come back to this point, ithink, and be. Ok. We will come back to this point, i think, and the rest of the sitting, but for reasons of time, i will move on. One final quick question to you, chancellor, around corporate debt, which i raised with you in the house the other day. This is this idea that we know there will be hundreds of thousands of technic to saddled up with debt, and we want them to invest and growjobs, but they will be worried about shoring up they will be worried about shoring up their balance sheets. Hundreds of thousands of smes saddled up with debt. How do we ease the burden of
their debt Going Forward . I am talking specifically about smes rather than larger companies. It didnt appear specifically in your statement, but i know it is part of your wider remit. Can you let us know when you think you might come back to this matter in a substantive way, and could you give us your assessment of how much of a challenge or a difficulty this issue might present a recovery . First of all, i might present a recovery . First of all, lam not might present a recovery . First of all, i am not completely persuaded of the scale of the problem at the moment, for the simple reason that we know corporate debt levels in the uk arena relatively healthy place into this crisis. I think the latest report previously from the bank of england talked about our leveraged levels being lowered by historical standards i think was the reference they had. Whether you look at net debt asa they had. Whether you look at net debt as a percentage of gdp, the ratios have halved from around the
19705 ratios have halved from around the 1970s to the 30s and 40s, so if you look at it as a percentage of gdp relative to oecd countries, we rank relatively favourably, and we know Corporate Cash balances have increased as people have wanted to access liquidity and build up cash buffers. So our starting point is pretty positive, which is a good thing, because companies are being prudent with their cash and leveraged over the last several years since the last crisis. The other thing i would say is, people talk about this, im not entirely sure it would be sensible for the government to have individual equity sta kes government to have individual equity stakes necessarily in small businesses, im not sure that would be practical. Sol businesses, im not sure that would be practical. So i think some of the solutions need to be worked through. That said, we are is always open to
interesting ideas that we think might help drive the recovery, and as you know, many different institutions, bodies, think tanks, continue to come up with ideas and send them our way, and we will happily take a look at them. Thank you very much indeed. Can i turn now to angela, please. Thank you very much, chair. Good afternoon, chancellor. When you appeared in may before the Lords Economic Affairs committee, you acknowledge, and this isa committee, you acknowledge, and this is a quote. This is not obvious that there will be an immediate bounce back. We have since had the gdp monthly estimates from a, which were a very modest growth after a 25 fall in quarter two, and we have had the obrs forecast yesterday, with the obrs forecast yesterday, with the central scenario of the estimate ofa the central scenario of the estimate of a 12. 5 fall in gdp this year, with the potential in that scenario that the economy could be 3 smaller
by 2025, or in a gloomy scenario, 6 smaller by 2025, with unemployment potentially due to rise to 4 million. So in that context, you must have made your decision about the summer statement. Your £30 billion package was called poorly timed and could trigger a sharp rise in unemployment by that National Institute of economic research. The iss called it badly timed and poorly targeted. Likely to do little to stop unemployment rising. This was about the Job Retention bonus and the help out scheme. Both of these actually had to be given a ministerial direction by you because the chief accounting officer in hmrc wasnt convinced that they were value for money. The idea that the
eat out to help out scheme scheme has been launched too early when people ive worried to go out. What you say to these criticisms . Thank you, angela. 0n the direction point, it is probably worth bearing in mind mind that the vast majority of schemes that have been implemented during this crisis have acquired directions. So every single one of the loan schemes, many of which are welcomed by the committee, for example the bounce back loan schemes, the coronavirus interrupted loa n schemes, the coronavirus interrupted loan schemes, the future fund and the business rate grants fund that provides cash grants to businesses in all of our constituencies and indeed the good discretionary grants top up amongst others all required directions, sojust to put top up amongst others all required directions, so just to put it in context, i think most people broadly think those things were sensible and welcome and good things, so i think thatis welcome and good things, so i think that is the first thing to say. The
second thing is also injims letter, as you would have read, he did acknowledge there was a sound policy rationale for doing what weve done, and it was difficult given the speed at which we were moving in the novel nature of the policy, difficult for him in that environment of uncertainty to model precisely the impact which i com pletely precisely the impact which i completely understand, and that is the environment that we are operating in. You talked about the obr operating in. You talked about the 0br forecasts, and in the space of a few months, what the 0br previously had was a reference scenario that has become a scenario that is a far different central scenario, the 0br have some of our best independent forecasters alongside the bank of england, and in three months they have had quite a significant change in outlook. So that i think highlights the degree of uncertainty with which we are operating, which makes policy making difficult, obviously. But i firmly believe that it will and can make a difference, i
think, the way it is designed, particularly for those who are lower paid, it will serve as a significant incentive and reward to those, especially small and medium sized companies, to protect employment, thatis companies, to protect employment, that is something that im very conscious of, and as you said, we have the prospect of many people losing theirjobs. Im determined to do what i can to protect as many of those jobs as possible, do what i can to protect as many of thosejobs as possible, and do what i can to protect as many of those jobs as possible, and this do what i can to protect as many of thosejobs as possible, and this i believe will help do that. So instead of subsidising every single furloughjob, over 9 instead of subsidising every single furlough job, over 9 million instead of subsidising every single furloughjob, over 9 million of them, when the obr are suggesting that about 1. 3 million of those on furlough will lose theirjobs in the recession, surely you could have had less dead weight if you had focused helping the furlough scheme, since looking at the gdp monthly testaments, it is quite clear that the effect of different sectors of
the effect of different sectors of the economy of the coronavirus lockdown is very, very different, so you could have focused it more if you could have focused it more if you had wanted. Why didnt you do that . You talk about dead weight, angela. That was one of the criticisms of the original furlough scheme, that it would have dead weight, because it was open to absolutely every company and business in the country regardless of what was happening to them, regardless of their size, we took a deliberate decision to do that, and again, ithink deliberate decision to do that, and again, i think now most people think that the furlough scheme was a good and sensible innovation, and indeed has helped protect many millions of jobs. But without a doubt there was dead weight in that scheme as well. Soi dead weight in that scheme as well. So i think that was the first thing i would say. And in terms of targeting it, as many have made the point, actually implementing it in practice is very difficult. Trying to sit here in this office and figure out which companies and industries should or should not be eligible, and then to think even if you could solve that problem, how do you could solve that problem, how do you think about the supply chain for
that industry, and then again there are companies that are half in and half out, trying to do that across 1 million businesses and 9 million employees, i just didnt think was practical or feasible employees, i just didnt think was practical orfeasible to employees, i just didnt think was practical or feasible to deliver, so i decided not to. But again, if you think there are sectors, i am interested to hear which sectors you think should not be eligible for the Job Retention bonus . Well, it is an issue of how the economy is being affected by the lockdown. We have seen from looking at the gdp estimates that different sectors are affected very differently, and some sectors are still closed by government diktats, so it seems at least that you should be focusing some extra help on those sectors that still cant open because the government thinks it is not safe for them to open. You are the policymaker, i am the questioner. You do have to think as we move out
of the lockdown itself, which was all encompassing, whether you need to focus your assistance more effectively. And let me ask you about a particular sector that is affected, aerospace, for example. 102,000 uk manufacturing jobs, 100,000 in the sector, very high productivity, export rich, high skill sector, but there is no set all strategic approach. And when i asked you about this, chancellor, you talked about buses. Surely there is an area there, where we need to be focusing on what we are good at to try and preserve as much of our Civil Aerospace sector and take it towards a much more green future as possible, like many of our competitors are doing. Yes, so, i think to go back first, it is easy to say with the Job Retention bonus, it should be targeted, but then no one is able to say which sectors
should be excluded from it, and that is part of the challenge. Even the shadow chancellor herself has acknowledged it is very difficult and there are hard choices and difficult boundary issues, when you have got a scheme that is affecting millions of people and a million firms, it is difficult to figure out where to draw those boundaries in a way that would make sure that the support gets to everywhere it needed to get to, so again i remain of the view that it is actually too hard to implement something that would not undermine the policy objective you are trying to achieve, and no one seems to be able to say which sectors they would exclude, which is what that means. But to your second point on aerospace, i think the reason i talked about buses when you ask the questions in the commons, from memory you referenced the airlines, and if i miss remembering that, then please do correct me, and the reason for that i think is an important one, the us obviously have put in place significant support for the airline industry, different to
aerospace, but the airline industry, andi aerospace, but the airline industry, and i think the reason why it is different here is because they are doing that or partly and primarily because airlines in the us provide domestic connectivity within the united states. We have provided very significant support for our rail network, with billions of pounds, and extra funding for those networks because those other parts of the Transportation System that provide inland connectivity that has been impacted by coronavirus and we want to preserve the connectivity. To your point on aerospace more generally, i agree it is an important sector for the uk, generally, i agree it is an important sectorfor the uk, it is generally, i agree it is an important sector for the uk, it is a considerable strength of ours. I cant obviously comment on individual conversations we have with companies. Many companies in that space are able to access much of the things that we have already put in place, particularly some of the things we have put in place for larger businesses, and the issue they are facing is not one of
government policy that can be readily corrected if there is a global slump in passenger travel as we saw after 9 11, and potentially yea rs of recovery we saw after 9 11, and potentially years of recovery in seat miles, but just has an impact on the revenue of profitability and businesses, there are profitability and businesses, there a re less profitability and businesses, there are less orders to be placed, there is not a lot that government policy can do about that, as was the case after 9 11. But by investing in things like r d alongside the sector which we are doing, we are able to make sure that we have the foundation for future growth. Chancellor, you didnt even mention childcare in your summer budget statement. Given that women have been very badly affected by the lockdown, why did you choose not to do that . It was about a 22 minute statement, angela, and there are probably many, many, many parts of the economy, many sectors, many types of families that have been impacted that we couldnt mention in
22 minutes, so you will forgive me for that. You are right to say women have been impacted by the lockdown. In particular they are disproportionately likely to work in the hospitality sector, which is why the hospitality sector, which is why the interventions that we put in place to help protect the 2 million jobs in that sector, i think you werent a big fan of the eat 0ut jobs in that sector, i think you werent a big fan of the eat out to help 0ut scheme, but that is designed to try to safeguard those jobs that notjust benefit women but also young people and indeed those from ethnic minorities and some of our more deprived coastal and rural communities. With regard to childcare and nurseries in general, what i can say is that nurseries this year have received a full Business Rates holiday for the 12 months, and as providers, those childcare providers are receiving all the government funding that they would have got regardless of whether they are getting those children in and providing a service, that equates to about 50 of the revenue
which we have stood behind. So Business Rates discount, 50 of the revenue guaranteed regardless of their activity, supports that sector. But youre right about the impact on women, which is why i believe things like the eat 0ut impact on women, which is why i believe things like the eat out to help 0ut scheme are important in trying to safeguard those womens jobs. And finally, chancellor, i just want to come packed to the come back to the issue of money on public procurement. I was fairly staggered to have a look at the cost in yoursummerstatement staggered to have a look at the cost in your summer statement of ppe to date, £15 billion on procuring ppe. Obviously given that there is a health emergency, its possible for procurement contracts to be made very quickly without the usual safeguards being in place. Are you worried about value for money and public procurement in this area, especially given some of the examples of contracts which are just
now coming to light, for example test sticks with listed assets of £18,000 that was given a £32 Million Contract to provide surgical gowns, from china, not to make them but to supply them, and has still only delivered half of those sitting in a warehouse somewhere and used by the nhs, oran employment warehouse somewhere and used by the nhs, or an Employment Company with net assets of £623 who ordered an £18 million government contract to supply facemasks. Companies given contracts to supply ppe with no examples of previous expertise in this area. Dont those examples and the money that has been spent worry you about value for money . Im sorry to hurry you, we are tight on our schedule, a brief answer. Angela, i will ask dan to make sure he is not just sitting here to give you a
little bit of detail, and then i will give you a broader quick reflection. One thing to clarify is that the figures are in the update, those are about approvals rather than actual spending, so this is how much the treasury has approved to spend for the financial year. It doesnt represent what they have spent. One of my treasury colleagues in the public accounts committee, we are ve ry in the public accounts committee, we are very clear that we are still managing public money, the treasury is still scrutinising requests for a novel, contentious or re percussive spending, and we did a lot of spend approvals at haste, but it is still approvals at haste, but it is still a requirement for the department to follow the public money and for accounting officers to satisfy themselves that contract they are signing are good value for money, and departments will have to report in the normal way for estimates and so on actually what they have spent relative to the amount of money that has been approved. Thank you, dan. And i would just add, we obviously
are not responsible for the individual contracts, that is something that individual departments would be in charge of, as dan alluded to. You will remember the acute phase of this crisis, there was a global shortage of ppe, everybody trying to get their hands on it. We delegated a lot of authority to the nhs, which is what the nhs wanted, so that they could move quickly and nimbly to get ppe for our country, and as i said, it is easy to sit here now but that phase was particularly acute and there was enormous stress, so we we re there was enormous stress, so we were trying to provide funding and approval as dan said in a slightly different way so that the hse and the nhs ultimately are the ones who are doing this and were able to move at pace, and no doubt they will be able to talk to you and other committees about those particular contracts. Thank you. Thank you, i appreciate that and i look forward
to some better explanation from the departments themselves. Can i remind members to stick strictly to our ten minutes, ifi members to stick strictly to our ten minutes, if i may, please. Iwill go now to felicity. Thank you both for taking the time this afternoon. My questions are on changes to taxation, stamp duty and vat. First of all, on the stamp duty, i would like to say i welcome the temporary cut in stamp duty, do you think that you have missed an opportunity here to do a root and branch review of stamp duty, because i personally feel as though it is a tax on social mobility, and also the rates at the middle and the top end of the market, five, ten, 12 , are quite punitive, and i would argue area quite punitive, and i would argue are a deterrent to transactions, certainly that our experience in my
constituency of kensington . Thanks for the question. What we were trying to do here was not reform the overall tax system, we were trying to move at pace to inject some life into a market which showed signs of being ina into a market which showed signs of being in a difficult place. We saw transactions down 50 , mortgage approvals down i think closer to 90, from memory, and house prices falling for the first time in eight yea rs, falling for the first time in eight years, predictions that transaction volumes wouldnt recover for a few yea rs. Volumes wouldnt recover for a few years. All of that was worrying to me and to the team, particularly because the Housing Movement categorises a lot of other movement, when summary moves home, an interesting study done in 2008 9, that capitalise 1. 5 of the valley of the house in additional spending of the house in additional spending of the house and 0. 7 the next year. We know household related
consumption, if people are buying, moving, selling and then renovating, doing up, we thought that would be good forjobs, for Economic Activity, which is why reacted in the way we did. Your broader questions about the structure of taxation, i am questions about the structure of taxation, iam perfectly questions about the structure of taxation, i am perfectly happy to listen to. Those are the kinds of things obviously we would deal with at budgets, as i referred to my earlier answer. You are right, most countriess tax property, i dont have the figures to hand, but we tax transactions, other countries tax asset values, there are different ways people have done it. I think the one big improvement we have obviously made over time is to move to our now progressive system, versus the different system, which i think everyone acknowledges is a welcome change, and the last thing i flag is because of the changes we have made to First Time Buyers, the
vast majority of First Time Buyers dont pay any stamp duty at all. I dont pay any stamp duty at all. I dont know if you have anything to add on that . Not really, you are right, most countries have a form of transaction tax and the current property tax, Like Council Tax that we have. The relative values of thoseis we have. The relative values of those is very different in different economies, but most people have both the transaction tax and a recovery tax in combination. Now, the estimate for the cost of the change is £3. 8 billion. Is there a risk here that we are subsidising transactions that would have happened in any instance that were already in the pipeline . There is definitely a risk of that, especially when you do Something Like this. What we know last time around this was done, in 2000 or 2009, iforget. Around this was done, in 2000 or 2009, i forget. 2008 into 2009. We know that it roughly was an increase
in transaction volume of about 20 , which is positive. Now clearly what it is going to do and it is your point is bring forward transactions that would have happened otherwise, they will now just that would have happened otherwise, they will nowjust happen sooner than they otherwise would, you are absolutely right. Ordinarily that would be a good thing. Right now thatis would be a good thing. Right now that is actually what we want to have happen. We need to be activity now to help drive the recovery, given the situation we are in, and as angela walked us through the old br numbers. In this instance when dealing with a recession like this, thatis dealing with a recession like this, that is what the 0br numbers. You wa nt to that is what the 0br numbers. You want to bring forward some Economic Activity into a time that we really need it but you are right, many of those would have been transactions that would have happened otherwise but there is value to us and them happening now rather than later, to protect and safeguard jobs. Moving on to the changes to vat, is there a risk with those changes that it does
not pass through to the consumer, and effectively the £4. 1 million earmarked for the cost to vat effectively just becomes an earmarked for the cost to vat effectivelyjust becomes an extra grant for those sectors . |j effectivelyjust becomes an extra grant for those sectors . I obviously am not going to be able to sit here and direct the pricing of every single business in the country and that wouldnt be right or appropriate, but i think throughout this crisis, businesses have been doing a difficultjob and have responded well when those things have been asked of them. What we do know is that last time around when we had a generalised vat cut, again in 20082009, we had a generalised vat cut, again in 2008 2009, about four out of five businesses from memory passed that vat cut onto consumers. I was out today getting my lunch and that was certainly the case, and i know lots of companies are making a future of that but obviously it will be a decision for individual companies to make. But i think the important
thing is, whether the benefits likely flows to consumers or to the businesses, some mix of that, all of thatis businesses, some mix of that, all of that is helpful for safeguarding jobs, that is what this is about. There are 2. 4 Million People in work in these sectors, about 150,000 businesses, and there will be different ways that that benefit flows through but it will fundamentally make it more likely we can safeguard more of those jobs and thatis can safeguard more of those jobs and that is what this is about. The changes to vat are due to end on january 12. Isnt there an argument that that is exactly when you need to be encouraging people to go out to be encouraging people to go out to restaurants to be encouraging people to go out to restau ra nts a nd to be encouraging people to go out to restaurants and bars, that in november and december, they may already be doing so in the run up to christmas, and it is injanuary that businesses and consumers will need for stimulus . Fair point, we cant do this forever, it is very
expensive, so the question is should we wait until then or act now. I given the situation just coming out of rock towns, these are businesses that have been closed, people are not used to going out and about, we thought the time to act is now. And by coincidence or whatever you want to call it, i think there are about four or five other countries who have done something similar, i think belgium, austria, cyprus, and trying to remember the others. There are about four or five that have done targeted vat cuts in the sectors. Norway. Almost all of them end october, november, january, because they have all done similar timeframes of support, but i think for this industry right now, they have just opened up, for this industry right now, they havejust opened up, they for this industry right now, they have just opened up, they have for this industry right now, they havejust opened up, they have had for this industry right now, they have just opened up, they have had a really tough time, this is when they need our help. We have heard from a number of pubs that they are concerned that alcoholic drinks are
not part of the vat reduction. What was your thinking there . not part of the vat reduction. What was your thinking there . I think just probably the obvious one. There isa just probably the obvious one. There is a Public Health imperative as well alongside it, and it is fairly common. I think both ireland and france, from memory, have excluded alcoholic drinks from similar measures they have taken. I think germany excluded non alcoholic drinks as well from memory, so i dont think it is uncommon. We want to be mindful of the Public Health side of things as well. Ok, thank you. Iam side of things as well. Ok, thank you. I am mindful of the fact that you. I am mindful of the fact that you dont want to talk about future changes to fiscal policy, but let me just you a couple of general questions, our Business Rates are clearly a real issue for high streets. Now, you have committed to a fundamental review of Business Rates. When do you expect to opine
on that, and do you have the flexibility to make major changes, given the deficit at the moment . As you rightly highlighted, we remain committed to a fundamental review of Business Rates, and i think we said we will publish the next stage of that relatively shortly, and we remain committed to that timetable, so we will put that out there to get peoples views. So it will be a consultation paper that you will publish . Yes. Forgive me if im going to get there not completely right between call for evidences and consultations or fundamental reviews, but there is some form of engagement on that happening, as we committed to doing in budget. And we actually published terms of reference in march around the time of the budget. I feel like reference in march around the time of the budget. Ifeel like it reference in march around the time of the budget. I feel like it was potentialjust of the budget. I feel like it was potential just before the of the budget. I feel like it was potentialjust before the budget but
i cant potentialjust before the budget but icant rememberthe potentialjust before the budget but i cant remember the exact date, and yes, we are due to publish a call for evidence which will go into more detail. Lets pull away from the Treasury Select Committee. That last word from danielle smith, directory of strategy, planning and budget at the treasury. They have cut the camera operators there as well because he was sitting there next to rishi sunak for most of the time, as rishi sunak for most of the time, as rishi sunak for most of the time, as rishi sunak took questions from the select committee. Interestinglyjust addressing the issue that our guest dawn hopkins raised before we went to the treasury about the no vat cut for alcoholic drinks, and she was saying as vice chair of the campaign for pubs, that that was a real problem for pubs, and the chancellor saying there was a Public Health imperative in the decision to not pass that cut onto alcoholic drinks. He said there were other countries apart from the uk that had made that decision. Earlier he was asked about taxes, and he refused to be drawn on
whether tax hikes are coming. The conservatives of course campaigned ona conservatives of course campaigned on a platform of no tax rises last year, but that ambition likely to be affected by the attempts to deal with the covid 19 outbreak. He also said it wasnt too worried about problems arising from high levels of company debt as a result of the crisis, and he was also asked by labours angela eagle, an open ended question about the impact of governments fiscal intervention generally and said the position of strength is something that over the medium term we would want to return the public finances too. Much more analysis of what is going on, and keeping an eye on that as well. We went there principally because this is the first day of that for billion pound cut in vat, which came into force this morning across the hospitality sector. It allows companies to cut their prices but not all of them say they will. The
cut is aimed to boost the economy and protectjobs. Starbucks and mcdonalds are among those saying they will reduce their prices but some firms are expected to use the windfall to shore up their own finances hit by the lockdown. Heres our personal finance correspondent, simon gompertz. Its the chancellors £4 billion giveaway to try to get the economy moving. Slashing the vat you pay for going out, including to restaurants and pubs, and to campsites, cinemas and zoos. We need to give these businesses the confidence to know that, if they open up, invest in making their premises safe and protectjobs, demand will be there, and be there quickly. Restaurants like this one point out theres a big hill to climb to get
sales back up to the levels they were before the virus. I dont know how much the vat cut itself will drive sales. I mean, is a 15 discount really going to bring us the level of revenue we need . The vat cut could mean a £5 saving on a mealfor two normally costing £40, nearly £11 off an £85 room for two at a hotel or b b, or £16 off a family entry to a theme park worth £130 thats if customers are given it. Some businesses nandos is one of them have promised to pass on 100 of the saving, but the big worry is that others will hold onto some or all of the benefit, effectively pocketing the tax cut, saying they are struggling and they are the ones who need it. We are looking to pass some of that onto customers but i think we are in survival mode right now, and i think its important that, i guess, the public recognise that this cut will go a long way to help the business get through what will be, i guess, a tough trading period in the months ahead. The treasury says it wants businesses to give customers the full 15 off if they can but it
recognises that firms like this coffee roasting and grinding place in manchester may have been without an income for a long period and its up to them to decide how to handle the tax break. Our approach is to make it flexible, so it wouldnt be a blanket 15 across all our products. What it allows us to do is comfortably put on a large discount so we are passing it on but i would say its more a flexible approach that was under our control depending on what sales are like in the coming months. Bigger chains are more likely to pass on the cut. Starbucks says it will on coffees. Pubs, like wetherspoons, face the problem that alcoholic drinks dont qualify, so its using some of the saving on food in order to cut the price of beer. Simon gompertz, bbc news. The Health Secretary matt hancock says the government will not be recommending that people wear face masks in offices. There was speculation that rules for work places could follow shops where people will have to wear face coverings from 24th july. Mr hancock said that the government
rejected the idea on the basis that if people spend a long time together, face coverings do not offer protection. When youre in close proximity with somebody who you have to work closely to, then if you are there for a long time with them, then a mask doesnt offer that protection, as opposed to a shop or Public Transport for instance, when youre with somebody for a reasonable amount of time, a few minutes, but not all day, in the same way that the same logic applies for schools. We are not recommending masks in schools because if you are in a classroom with kids all day then the mask doesnt give you that much protection. The point is that its when you are in interaction with people who you arent normally with. Thats where the mask can be particularly helpful. The biggest easing of lockdown restrictions in scotland is underway with the reopening of indoor
spaces including hotels, places of worship and hairdressers. The first minister, nicola sturgeon, has described it as the riskiest stage of the process to date. 0ur scotland correspondent, lorna gordon has the details. vt next its the latest kit for hairdressers heading back to work. Scotlands salons are the last in the uk to reopen. In this one, theyre already booked up, weeks ahead, and things will be very different to before. We are a small salon, so we just wanted to really take every measure that we could to make things safe. So, the screens, obviously, will give each workstation a safe space. Its different, but i think its a workable, fun space. You know, its safe. And its notjust hairdressers that are reopening. Today sees the biggest steps out of scotlands lockdown. Some cinemas including this one in glasgow are welcoming back moviegoers while tourist attractions, museums, galleries and libraries can also from today, if they choose to, open back up. Worshippers can once again gather for Communal Services and
prayer as long as congregations maintain strict physical distancing. And holiday accommodation including hotels and b bs are accepting guests as the Tourism Industry fully reopens for business. Todays steps are, by some margin, and i mean that, by some margin, the highest risk changes we have made since we began the process out of lockdown. And so it is vital, more vital than it has been at any stage of this crisis so far, that all of us stick rigidly to the rules and guidance on how to behave in these different settings. Because it is only by doing that that as we open up these services, we will stop the virus spreading again. Table 823, your drinks arent free, but they are on the bar waiting to collect. Beer gardens, outdoor cafes and restaurants were allowed to welcome customers back ten days ago. Now theyre also allowed inside, as indoor hospitality reopens. So, there are three stools here that people will be able to sit at and drink at the bar,
but thatll be the only place someone can sit. In this Bar Restaurant, Restrictions Mean they will only be allowed half the numbers they had before, but are hoping people will quickly return. From opening the garden last week, we have been swamped with customers, and if we could have fit more people in, we would, however im not sure if the same will stand for inside. But i think the more we can show that were adhering to the rules and the social distance guidance, the more comfortable customers will feel coming back. Hoping confidence, customers and business will return, as more restrictions ease in scotland and many more aspects of normal life resume. Lorna gordon, bbc news, glasgow. Borisjohnson has announced there will be an independent Public Inquiry into the governments response to the coronavirus. Speaking at Prime Ministers questions he said ministers would seek to learn lessons from the pandemic but he believed it was not the right moment to devote huge amounts of official time to holding an inquiry now. 0ur assistant Political Editor
norman smith explains why its unclear exactly what mrjohnson means by an inquiry. Although everyone here has assumed that there would be an investigation into the covid crisis, now borisjohnson has committed to a full, independent inquiry, and we know from inquiries weve seen, whether its the iraq inquiry, or the leveson inquiry into the media, or bloody sunday into the army in Northern Ireland, they have the potential to shape and shatter the reputations of the most powerful and to probe their innermost thinking and calculations in moments of crisis, in which it is often hard to do through the normal scrutiny of journalists or politicians. But there are an awful lot of unanswered questions. We dont still dont really know what the Prime Minister meant when he talked about an independent inquiry. That could be a full blown judge inquiry or it could be a much lower calibre investigation led by an academic or maybe a select committee. We dont know the timeframe. The Prime Minister has indicated he does not think we should hold the inquiry
while we are still grappling with coronavirus, but that means it could be months, even years away, if were having to wait to actually eliminate the virus or get a vaccine. We dont know the remit of the inquiry or the authority will have. Will it be the sort of inquiry where witnesses are questioned under oath by barristers, led by a judge . My guess, and it is only a guess, is that it will have to be of similar stature and authority to the iraq inquiry. Why . Well, because of the number of deaths from coronavirus, because of the catastrophe that its inflicted on care homes, and because it involved the government imposing restrictions on us never seen before in peacetime. So my sense is it will have to be a similar sort of inquiry to that into iraq. The bbc has announced a further 70
job cuts in bbc news on top of the 450 announced earlier this year. The broadcaster said that increased financial pressure on the bbc because of the coronavirus pandemic means the total number ofjob losses in bbc news will rise to around 520. New measures to stop the spread of covid 19 in blackburn with darwen have been introduced after a spike in cases. For the next month, People Living there must limit the number of visitors to their homes, and wear face coverings in all confined public spaces in a bid to avoid a lockdown like leicester. Sophie hutchinson reports. Blackburn with darwen, where they have seen a spike in covid 19 cases. 114 people have tested positive in the past two weeks, in what Public Health experts have described as a rising tide of infection, particularly in the south asian community. What we think is going on is one
person is asymptomatically infected, they are then going back to their own households, other household members are infected, that only becomes visible once somebody has symptoms. They go and get tested, then the household is tested and then we get a cluster in that household of four orfive members. And thats happening across the bame, the south asian community, in significant numbers and that is what is driving our rising tide event. The tighter new measures include limiting the number of people who can meet to one Household Plus a maximum of two people from a second household, face coverings to be worn in all enclosed public spaces, increased ventilation in small shops, and no handshaking or hugging only elbow bumping. Officials say the problem is centred on terraced housing with large multi generational families. But compared to leicester, where a local lockdown has been imposed due to a substantial
rise in cases, blackburn with darwen is some way off. While we had to take the action nationally in leicester, i announced that to the house of commons, in blackburn, the council have taken the lead and done what they think is the right thing to do to tackle the problem in their area, and i applaud them. Officials in blackburn are hoping to avoid a full lockdown, but with additional testing in the at risk communities, they expect the numbers of confirmed infections to rise over the next few weeks, and there are fears about other parts of lancashire, where infections are also on the increase. Sophie hutchinson, bbc news. Researchers say declining fertility rates that is, the average number of children a woman gives birth to means nearly every country in the world could have shrinking populations by the end of the century. 23 countries, including spain and japan, are expected to see their populations halve in the next 80 years. Indias population will still be over a billion, sub saharan africas however will triple in size
to three billion. A convicted paedophile has lost a Supreme Court challenge over using evidence in court gathered covertly by so called paedophile hunters. Mark sutherland brought the case, after being caught by a group called groom resisters scotland, arguing his right to a private life had been breached. 0ur Legal CorrespondentClive Coleman explains the background to the case in 2018, Mark Sutherland believe that he was communicating with a 13 year old boy on the dating app grinder. It was in fact 38 year old paul divine from that group, groom hunt scotland. When he got there for a meet up, he was confronted by two members of the group. They filmed the encounter and they broadcast it online, and the material was used in a criminal prosecution. Sutherland was convicted, he was given two yea rs was convicted, he was given two years in prison for attempting to communicate indecently with an older
child and other offences, and this morning the Supreme Court rejected his claim that the decoy operation and the use of the material had infringed his right for a private family life, and private correspondence, and they ruled that children have privacy rights too, the state has a particular duty to protect those rights, and also there was no reasonable expectation of privacy. Any child receiving this sort of communication is likely to go and ask an adult about it. But simon, it is a real issue for the police, because there are around 90 of these groups operating in the uk, and prior to the lockdown they were carrying out around a hundred of these sting operations per month. Now, i think they will be encouraged by this, but police are worried that really what they want is the information, they dont want them to broadcast the material. I think the groups will now feel they can now do that. China has said it will take all neccessary measures to safeguard its interests after britain decided to exclude
the telecoms giant huawei from its 5g mobile networks on National Security grounds. President trump welcomed the move and took credit for personally persuading many countries not to use huawei. He also widened the gap in relations between the us and china by dismissing any resumption of trade talks and cutting hong kongs preferential trade status. Peter bowes reports. The us has long been campaigning for britain and other countries to ban equipment from the chinese tech giant. The about turn follows months of pressure from washington, including imposing tariffs on china. Huawei posed a National Security threat, said the trump administration. The company denied it. At a News Conference in the rose garden at the white house, ostensibly to announce actions against china over hong kong. Thank you very much, everybody. Donald trump let it be known that he felt vindicated. We confronted untrustworthy Chinese Technology and telecom providers. We convinced many countries, many countries. And i did this myself for the most part, not to use huawei, because we think its an unsafe security risk. Its a big security risk. I talked many countries out of using it. Chinas ambassador to the uk has criticised the british governments decision, describing it as disappointing and wrong. He said it was now questionable whether the uk could provide a fair Business Environment for foreign companies. Huawei is unlikely to be surprised by the us response. What happens next may hinge on the result of americas president ial election in november and future tone of us china relations. Right now, the countrys leaders are not on speaking terms. And a second phase trade deal is in doubt. President trump has moved to hold china accountable for its actions against hong kong, signing a bill that passed unanimously in congress. Today, i also signed an executive order ending us preferential treatment for hong kong. Hong kong will now be treated the same as mainland china. No special privileges, no special economic treatment, and no export of sensitive technologies. Thank you all very much. But overshadowing everything, the coronavirus, with President Trump again saying that he holds china fully responsible for unleashing the virus upon the world, ratcheting up the rhetoric even more. Peter bowes, bbc news. Now its time for a look at the weather with susan powell. Hello. Grey has certainly been the order of the day today. Tomorrow hopefully well see perhaps something a little brighter, particularly for central and eastern parts of england and wales and also for eastern scotland. But there is plenty of cloud out there at the moment to keep us all tucked in like a blanket overnight. It will mean actually quite a muggy, humid night. Overnight lows in some areas down no lower than 14 or 15 degrees. So, very mild, largely dry, a bit of patchy rain to the far north of scotland. First thing thursday, it doesnt look too promising, does it . A lot of cloud around, but through the course of the day, unlike today, we should see the cloud breaking across much of england and wales, away from the coast and the hills, though. Eastern scotland looks like a favoured spot as well to see some decent sunshine, and with the foehn effect here, we could get up to 24, even 25 degrees. Western scotland, though, with more cloud and some rain around, the first signs of a cold front moving in that will bring some wet weather to scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England on friday. Hello, this is bbc news with simon mccoy. The headlines. A £4 billion cut in vat to kick start the economy but some Companies Say they need to keep the cash to stay in business. The Health Secretary says the government has ruled out making masks compulsory for Office Workers in england. Borisjohnson confirms therell be an independent inquiry into the governments handling of the coronavirus
pandemic but not now. China warns of retaliation over huawei as President Trump takes credit for the decision to exclude it from the uks 5g network. Sport now, and for a full round up from the bbc sport centre, heres jane dougall. Good afternoon. England captainjoe root is back with his team and has confirmed hell replacejoe denly in the side. Its ahead of the second test against the west indies which starts at old trafford tomorrow. Root missed englands defeat in the first match to be at the birth of his daughter. His return also means zak crawley will bat at three, but root admitted it was a tough decision to make, with denly a key part of the team over the last year. The way that hes managed some very difficult periods, batting long periods of time, of course he will have gone on and made bigger scores. But he enabled gaz below him to go and do that. So its a shame that he
misses out, but its one of those difficult things that you have to deal with in professional sport. Root will have to turn things around quickly if hes to get the better of an in form west indies side. Their captain jason holder says their opening win has brought the islands of the carribean together. He even got calls from three different Prime Ministers, to congratulate the team. Their support means a lot to us. Definitely we came over here under the circumstances, and to have the support from not only the Prime Ministers at the heads of Government Backin ministers at the heads of Government Back in the caribbean, but for the people in the caribbean, it means a lot to us. There have been a lot of west indian fans who live here in england who would have been disappointed not being able to come and see the cricket first hand, but they have been sending their love and messages as well to us all. Again, its a great start for us, but more or less weve got to knuckle back down and start again. Moving on rugby now. The british and irish lions have announced their tour of south africa
will go ahead as planned in july and august. The lions will play three test matches against the World Champions as well as five tour matches. 0ur Rugby Union Correspondent Chris Jones spoke to me earlier. There was obviously uncertainty over the coronavirus and that uncertainty of course hasnt gone away with this announcement today. But another angle to this was that rugby authorities have been trying to thrash out this new, global calendar over the past through months. And if the calendar had been approved, it could be the case that the lions tour would be moved to later in 2021, two september and october kind of time. But talks over the calendar have slowed and stalled and the lions really needed some clarity and certainty so they could continue with the planning for the tour and to get the thousands and thousands of lions fans excited as well. So the original schedule, which was announced last december before the coronavirus and Everything Else, is being kept to for now. July and august, what should be
an epic tour and an epic test series against the World Champion springboks. Football now. The option to have five substitutes will be allowed next season, according to football law makers. Ifab made the announcement that each compeition, including the premier league can decide if they still wan that option. It comes as the dates for the summer transfer window have been announced. Premier League Shareholders have agreed itll open for ten weeks from the 27th ofjuly to the 5th of october. A domestic only window will be added from the fifth to the 16th of october when premier league clubs can trade with efl clubs. Its all subject to approvalfrom fifa. Katie boulter has won her first match on the opening day of the progress tour womens tennis championships. Boulter beat emily arbuthnot in staight sets, 6 1, 6 3, at the National Tennis centre in roehampton. She will play another two matches in the round robin stage. Earlier katie swan was forced to retire from her match. And you can watch the match between Alicia Barnett and maia lumsden right now
on the bbc sport website. Thats bbc. Co. Uk sport thats it from us. Simon. Thanks for encouraging people to switch over not from you, just if you want more sport. Its not going to wash, but thanks, jane youre watching bbc news. I hope. A £4 billion cut in vat has come into force, allowing food, drink and hospitality firms to potentially cut their prices. The tax is reduced from 20 to 5 untiljanuary, to encourage people who can spend to go out, and help protectjobs. The treasury estimates households could save £160 a year on average, but many Companies Say the savings wont be passed directly to customers. But some businesses will miss out. Dawn hopkins is vice chair of the campaign for pubs, and also runs the rose inn in norwich. She explains why she wont benefit from the cut were what is known as a white led pub, so we do most of our trade on
drinks. A wet led pub. So it is only a small part of hospitality. Some pubs are suggesting they will ta ke some pubs are suggesting they will take the cut on food vat and make their drinks cheaper that way. Take the cut on food vat and make their drinks cheaper that waym take the cut on food vat and make their drinks cheaper that way. It is up their drinks cheaper that way. It is up to individual pubs what they do, but a pub like mine, up to individual pubs what they do, buta pub like mine, we up to individual pubs what they do, but a pub like mine, we are not doing any food, so there is nothing ican do doing any food, so there is nothing i can do to help that. Wet led pubs, which are about 60 of the pubs in this country, havent been given that cut down to 5 on our main product, so there is no passing anything on, no helping businesses whatsoever. We have just been left out of this. How have the last few months been . Difficult. Frustrating, worrying, very worrying. A lot of pubs now are open. My pubs open, but our capacity is down, obviously,
per social distancing. Things that we relied on to get people through the door such as live music, djs, that kind of thing, we cant do that any more. So the next few months as this continues i going to be quite difficult for a lot of pubs. Dawn, how critical are you of how the government has responded to this, given that there was widespread applause for the chancellor when the furlough scheme was announced, have you benefited from that . Yes, a little bit. Things like that, you know, that is fine. That has benefited a lot of people, and it has benefited pubs. But now wet led pubs in particular, where the focus is on drinks, have been left out of this help, and itjust seems that pubs like mine which are community hubs, people are coming into from the local area to meet their friends, to see a friendly face, sometimesjust to get friends, to see a friendly face, sometimes just to get out of the house, weve been left out, for what reason i dont know, but everybody
else has been given the help, and we havent. Can you keep going . Im certainly going to try very hard, but it is difficult to know what is going to happen over the next few months. Capacity is down, there is nothing we can do about that. We have to abide by the guidelines, which im quite happy to do. But that does mean taking is that we would normally get at this time of year are significantly lower. Sotz eight rishi sunak walks into your pub in the next few minutes, what would you have to say to him . would you have to say to him . would say it, why . Why have we been left out . Why are so many pubs, like i say, many of them are hubs of the community, over 60 of our pubs, have been left out . What is it about us that we are not worthy of getting this extra help that we so vitally needed after three months of no income. I dont know what you made of the images, that first saturday when pubs opened on some of the images from soho in london which
took the breath away, really, in terms of the lack of social distancing. I just wonder terms of the lack of social distancing. Ijust wonder how someone like you react to that, because frankly you need as many people as you can get. We do, but we have to abide by the guidelines. Ive probably lost seating for about 20 people inside my pub. Basically when all the tables are taken, and we are taking bookings but also getting walk ins, i turn people away, that is what we have to do to keep ourselves safe, and hopefully we will get over this and get back to some normality. So we are all trying really, really hard on our pubs, a lot of people have spent a lot of money and a lot of time making everything as safe as we possibly can, so there is nothing we can do. Our capacity is down, thats just the way it is, and we are trying to get through that as best we can. More now that the Health Secretary, matt hancock says the government will not be recommending that people wearface masks in offices. There was speculation that rules for work places could follow shops where people will have to wear face
coverings from 24th july. Mr hancock said that the government rejected the idea on the basis that if people spend a long time together, face coverings do not offer protection. Robert west is a professor of health psychology. Hes also a member of the governments behavioral Science Advisory Group though has previously been critical of the government during the pandemic. Earlier, he gave us his assessment. I think the key here is that the evidence has never been massively strong, and the government recognised that, but it has also recognised that, but it has also recognised that, but it has also recognised that sometimes in situations like this you have to work on the balance of probabilities, and that recently with changes in the evidence has swung in favour of using face masks in certain situations. But the problem is, for example, if you say to wear a face mask all the time is they are uncomfortable. If you wear them outside, there is no real benefit, to be honest, because there is very little transmission of the
virus outside. It is indoor, enclosed spaces with probably poor ventilation. So it is complex. So one of the things that independent sage are calling for, because it is complicated, is to have a really good Public Information campaign, so that they know what kind of masks, what kind of situations i going to benefit from wearing a mask, who benefits, a whole range of things like who should be exempt. Because not everyone can wear a mask. So all of this needs to be dealt with, and it needs to be done quickly. So lets do it, lets launch the campaign of awareness right now, lets go through the type of masks available. A lot of people on twitter are asking, when we talk about masks, what are we talking about . The most popular one, the one people may be familiar with is the disposable mask, so lets talk about that one first of all. That is the one for which there is the most
evidence, because the studies that have been done have been done in places like china, germany and so on where that is the kind of mask that has been used, and that has a particular design to it. It has got multiple layers, that appears to be imported. The who recommends masks of three different types of material with different layers because theyre more likely to trap virus particles. However, the problem there of course is that we need those masks for Health Workers and so on, so there has been concerned that if everyone went out and mopped up that if everyone went out and mopped up the that if everyone went out and mopped he supply that if everyone went out and mopped f that if everyone went out and mopped up the supply of those masks, that it would cause a problem. Whether thatis it would cause a problem. Whether that is still true, im not so sure, but it is something to bear in mind. There is also evidence that cloth coverings contract the virus particles and the droplets, but again, probably should be multiple layers. For example, idont again, probably should be multiple layers. For example, i dont really think it is going to workjust
cutting up a t shirt, thats not really going to be of huge benefit. But the scarf, that sort a face covering, what about that . but the scarf, that sort a face covering, what about that . If it is folded in such a way that there is more than one layer, but one of the things the who has said, and this is based on really the physics of trapping particles, is that it is better to have different types of material with a different weave, because if you have got the same material with the same kind of weave in the same what they call electrostatic properties, then it is not such an effective barrier. What about synthetic fibre masks . Yes, i think, you know, to be honest im not 100 sure whether there is much ofa not 100 sure whether there is much of a difference between synthetic fibre masks and cotton, for example. There is some evidence on it, which i cant remember off the top of my head, to be honest, but i think that they will be reason to believe that either cotton or synthetic would
probably be ok. There is one point thatis probably be ok. There is one point that is probably worth mentioning here, and that is that we are not talking about something that is going to act as a complete barrier, because the way that people wear the masks and so on, you are going to getaircoming in masks and so on, you are going to get air coming in from the outside, oraircan be get air coming in from the outside, or air can be expelled out the back, for example, if you were to cough. So we are really talking about masks making some difference. They are not a panacea , making some difference. They are not a panacea, but they will make some difference, and obviously the better the mask, the better. But if we get too hung up on exactly the right kind of mask, i think we are missing the point. And of course comfort is going to come into this, and fabric, a lot of people are going for that. It could even become a fashion thing, who knows . What about fashion masks fabric masks . Thing, who knows . What about fashion masks fabric masks . Yes, i think so. The key here is of course you are looking at something you are going to reuse, and so that creates an issue about what you do, where you store it and how you store it
and how you handle it when youre not using it, because one of the concerns that many of us have had about face coverings is that they can themselves act as contaminants, and the reason for that is that the virus actually laughed a surprisingly long period of time on surfaces, including cloth. The virus lasts a surprisingly long time. So take a plastic bag or Something Like that to put a mask m, Something Like that to put a mask in, then leave it there and wash it as soon as possible and at least 60 degrees centigrade wash. We will be familiar with the visors in hospitals, now you see them in hairdressers and things, they are the most effective, are they . Not really, no. The advantage of the visor is that it to some degree protect your eyes as well as the nose in the mouth, and of course with the visor, you can see through it, so it is more functional in some
ways if you are trying to do a task like cut someones hair, so it is a useful thing to do, to have. But of course it is not airtight, so again, we have learned a lot as this virus has gone on. Initially it was thought that it was pretty well exclusively through large droplets when someone coughed or sneezed, but we now know that in an enclosed space, the there is possibly somewhat local aerosol transmission, and a visor is not really going to help with that. We have just shown various pictures of the masks, and they have had models by mr macron, mrjohnson, mr trump. Strikes they have had models by mr macron, mrjohnson, mrtrump. Strikes me they have had models by mr macron, mrjohnson, mr trump. Strikes me not necessarily the sort of role model people might think, im going to go and get one now. Probably not for many people. Role models, actually, it is interesting. Many of us have thought that they could have used
role models a bit more, because they are effective. Who . Who would you want . I think i might are effective. Who . Who would you want . I thinkl might have are effective. Who . Who would you want . I think i might have gone on record as suggesting that someone like David Attenborough might be a good role model, and the reason is, andi good role model, and the reason is, and i didnt know this, this was information gleaned from the reporter i was talking to when we we re reporter i was talking to when we were discussing it, that he is britains Number One National treasure, and the most popular person in the country. So that kind of thing. But actually, more seriously, i think that the sort of role models we are looking forward be tailored to the kind of people you particularly want to influence, because we all identify with different people. I would probably identify with David Attenborough, but other people might have different moral role models. But it is something we can use. In a positive way, not in a manipulative way, but it is something that does make a difference. It is that impact, i would make a difference. It is that impact, iwould imagine make a difference. It is that impact, i would imagine if you suddenly saw the queen walking wearing one, that people would take stock. I think they would, actually. It would look surprising, but why should it look surprising . Why should it look surprising . Why should the queen be any different from anyone else in terms of engaging in these protective behaviours . So there is a little bit of work to do, i think, to identify appropriate role models, but i would be keen to see that done, and im sure that film stars, pop artists and others would be only too happy to make their contribution by acting as role models. Robert west, sparking the debate as to who is the worlds national treasure. Apart from andrew neil. The headlines on bbc news. A temporary cut to vat comes into effect today allowing the hospitality and Leisure Industries to lower their prices. The Health Secretary says the government has ruled out making masks compulsory for Office Workers in england. Borisjohnson has confirmed for the first time that therell be an independent inquiry
into the governments handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Cancer treatment can be incredibly gruelling, but how risky is it to reject conventional therapies . Sean walsh was a Young Musician from liverpool who had blood cancer, but turned down chemotherapy and believed he could cure his cancer through alternative treatments. Now, his family have spoken to a bbc three documentary to warn others not to follow the same approach. Our Health CorrespondentDominic Hughes reports. How was i supposed to know thatd youd walk out that door. Sean walsh, well known on liverpools music scene, was first diagnosed as a teenager with hodgkins lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. You just dont imagine that your childs going to have cancer. It just doesnt enter your head, does it . Sean endured the rigors of chemotherapy. And at first it looked like the treatment had worked. But less than two years later,
some devastating news. The cancer was back. He had to undergo chemotherapy with a stem cell transplant. So obviously its just not what sean wanted to hear. Didnt want to do it all over again. Why would you poison yourself back to good health . Sean decided to treat the cancer himself through alternative therapies. He was also having scans at a clinic run by philip and rosa hughes, medical thermal imaging, which sean believed were monitoring his cancer. Its legal to offer these scans, but the nhs warns theres no evidence that thermography is an effective way to test for cancer or monitor its treatment. Seans scans did carry a disclaimer from the company stating thermography does not see or diagnose cancer and recommended further clinical investigation. But the scan results seemed reassuring and sean believed his cancer had gone. We asked cancer specialist professor Andrew Wardley of manchesters christie hospital to review secret filming in which rosa hughes, who provided scans for sean, makes some troubling medical claims to our reporter. Theyve referred you to a breast clinic, havent they . Thats preposterous. You dont burst tumors. Theyre solid. You do squash the breast down to do a mammogram. It is unpleasant, but its a short term thing. And you do not spread cancer by doing a mammogram. Thats complete fallacy. Rosa and Philip Hughes say they utterly reject the allegation that they gave sean warsh inappropriate advice. But seans family believe the scans gave him false hope. He thought hed cured himself. In reality, he was dying. He had a tumour the size of a grapefruit in his stomach. He had tumours all in his chest and stuff. Just got on the bed with him and just said, come on, son. Sean died injanuary 2019, aged just 23. Youre vulnerable when youve got cancer. And you are going to believe certain people who actually are making money out of the cancer industry through vulnerable people. You can watch the full investigation, false hope alternative cancer cures, on bbc three on the bbc iplayer. Hospital admissions for heart attacks dropped by a third in england as the uk went into lockdown. The Oxford UniversityStudy Suggests thousands of patients might have missed out on life saving treatment, because of fears of contracting the coronavirus in hospital. There are fears avoidable deaths may have occurred as a result. Greece is allowing the resumption of direct flights from the uk to all the countrys airports from today. Tourists from elsewhere in europe have been allowed into greece since the start ofjuly. But the number of coronavirus cases in the uk led to the greek government extending a ban on british visitors. Tourism is one of the countrys main sectors, last year alone the country welcomed 33 million visitors. The statue of slave trader Edward Colston torn down in bristol last month has been replaced by a sculpture of a black lives matter protester but without the approval of the city council. The figure ofjen reid with her fist raised was installed in secret at dawn. Jon kay has more. Undercover, before sunrise and without permission. Artist marc quinn and his team arrived in bristol this morning to erect their statue in secret. 0n the plinth where slave trader Edward Colston stood until last month,
they installed a resin replacement of local woman jen reid. She was there as it went up. Its great to see, obviously, me as a statue, but the Bigger Picture is why i am up there. It was inspired by this photo, whenjen climbed on top of the empty plinth last month after colstons statue was toppled. For me, i think it is out with the old and in with the new, and i think that statue there, putting aside it being myself, it is definitely colston is no more and it is time for change, it is time to move on and, you know, its inspiring, people of my colour walking past that statue and knowing that change is happening and it will continue to happen. When crowds pulled down colstons statue and threw it into the citys docks,
it prompted an international debate