which would be a breach of the uk data privacy code designed to protect young people. good morning and welcome to the bbc news channel. the former health secretary, matt hancock, has denied claims he failed to follow covid testing advice during the early days of the pandemic. thousands of whatsapp messages leaked to the telegraph show mr hancock was advised in april 2020 to test everyone going into care homes. but a message reportedly from mr hancock to an aide said he would rather commit to just testing those going into care homes from hospitals. lord bethall was a junior minister in department of health and social care back in 2020. this morning, he was asked whether matt hancock should have taken the advice of the chief medical officer to test everyone going into care homes. no, ithink no, i think the key phrase here is this is obviously a positive step. it was absolutely crystal clear that we wanted to test everyone who went into social care. that was the ambition. gettin
by the chair, which will be its centrepiece. nicholas witchell, bbc news, westminster abbey. time for a look at the weather. here s darren bett. chilly today but there is colder weather on the way as we head into next week. today is the first day of meteorological spring, it s also st david s day and it s been pretty cloudy. the cloud is thick enough to give us more showers around today. still got high pressure close by so the really wet weather is being deflected into southern parts of europe. that s the storm that brought all of the rain we saw in majorca, that s moving away. just to the north of that there is clear skies. it looks like we will tap into some of that tonight and tomorrow, so may be some changes on the way. today the winds are coming in from off the north sea, picking up in from off the north sea, picking up a lot of cloud. that s pushing our way. the best sunshine in western scotland. the cloud still ringing quite a peppering of showers in those temperatures
the greek transport minister resigns and a station master in charge of signalling has been arrested after at least 36 people died and dozens injured following a train crash in northern greece. as the search continues, police fear a missing two month old baby has come to serious harm. the parents, constance marten and mark gordon, have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. new data shows hundreds of sex offenders slipped off the police radarjust by changing their names. good afternoon, and welcome to bbc news. the former health secretary matt hancock has been accused of rejecting key advice on care homes during the pandemic. the daily telegraph says it s obtained thousands of whatsapp messages he sent and received at the height of the covid crisis. the paper says they show mr hancock decided against advice to test all residents going into care homes in england. mr hancock s spokesperson has called it a distorted account . our political correspondent,
they are so cute! good morning and happy st david s day. it will remain very cloudy, a little bit of rain here and there but not a lot, colder into the weekend and especially next week. all of the details later in the programme. it s wednesday the 1st of march. our main story. a major search is still ongoing for a two month old baby who police fear may have come to harm in freezing conditions near brighton. the child s parents, constance marten and her partner mark gordon, are being held on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter but are refusing to give any information about their baby, as vincent mcaviney reports. monday night in north brighton. after 53 days on the run, constance marten and mark gordon are spotted on cctv walking down a residential street. while shopping in this convenience store, they were spotted by a member of the public who called 999. shortly after, they were filmed again. officers arrested the couple without their baby walking towards an allotme
calling the allegation defamatory. sight loss charity guide dogs says it s had a record number of people volunteering to raise puppies following a bbc story that highlighted a a shortage of dogs. hello and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world. officials in greece say at least 36 people have been killed and dozens more injured in a train crash. a cargo train collided with a passenger train near the city of larissa in the thessaly region. conditions for the rescuers are described as very difficult. the army has been mobilised to help and dozens of fire and ambulance staff are at the scene. stephanie prentice reports. it s been described by local authorities as a powerful collision and a terrible scene. while passengers said the crash felt like being in an earthquake. translation: we heard a big bang. it was ten nightmareish seconds. we were turning over in the wagon till we fell on our sides and until the commotion stopped. and there was panic, cables everyw