is all of this connected to austerity? go back to 2010, and david cameron's coalition government ended labour's building schools for the future scheme. pointing to that, labour now says that chickens are coming home to roost after 13 years. now, it's true that overall spending on education infrastructure, which includes building repairs and building new schools, has declined since labour was in power. if we adjust for inflation, for the year to april 2010, that spending was almost £10 billion. the equivalent to april this year was about £6 billion. though the government highlights that since 2015, it spent £15 billion to keep school buildings safe and in good working order. also, labour has declined to say if it would fund a full school rebuilding programme if it were in power. now last week, gillian keegan advised that most parents should not be worried about this at all.

that may be right, but injune, an official report said that the department of education sees raac as the greatest risk to safety across the school estate. and that was before the risk was upgraded, which is why this issue is raising questions for parents, children and teachers. so, who should be answering all of those questions? the teaching union the association of school & college leaders says rishi sunak has significant questions to answer over why when he was chancellor the budget was cut to fix crumbling concrete in schools. the general secretary of the ascl, geoff barton, is with us now. welcome, geoff. i want to explain to viewers that it was because jonathan i want to explain to viewers that it was becausejonathan slater said that when rishi sunak was chancellor the treasury refused to put more money into repairing schools and actually cut funding that there is this political row, something the prime minister strongly denies. i think that is completely

and utterly wrong. - actually one of the first things | i did as chancellor in my first| spending review in 2020 l was to announce a new ten year school rebuilding - programme for 500 schools. that equates to 50 schools a year| that will be refurbished or rebuilt. if you look at what we have been doing in the previous decade, i that is in line with what we have always done, about 50 schools. refurbished or rebuilt. that is what i announced as chancellor in my - first spending review. are you satisfied with that answer? i have to say, i'm not. it sounds pretty complacent. it sounds to me that the suggestion from the prime minister, chancellor as he was, that building 50 schools a year was what was needed when what we had it is an extraordinary intervention this morning from the most senior civil servantjonathan slater saying that servant jonathan slater saying that not servantjonathan slater saying that not for cosmetic reasons, not because they would be nice to have got on health and safety grounds the department was asking for 300 to 400

new builds, that is a huge gap. it comes on the back of something the prime minister said in his statement about how he put extra money into recovery funding for young people. you will remember that the recovery —— he resigned and the chancellor wasn't prepared to do it. i think we are getting some weasel words but from the former chancellor and listening to the current chancellor at the moment. all kinds of questions notjust about health and safety around funding and around why decisions were made to push education to the margins. what does the education secretary need to say this afternoon to reassure parents? i think she's got a big job on her hands given what we've seen of her in the media today. i think lots of parents are going to need a huge amount of reassurance first on health and safety grounds. so, we

had the identification of those schools which are not fully opening but how many are there in addition to that? we already know there are more than that because those questionnaires, as ross atkinson said, haven't been returned. why was there not a clear deadline? can said, haven't been returned. why was there not a clear deadline?— there not a clear deadline? can you cast any light _ there not a clear deadline? can you cast any light on — there not a clear deadline? can you cast any light on why _ there not a clear deadline? can you cast any light on why you _ there not a clear deadline? can you cast any light on why you think- cast any light on why you think those questionnaires haven't been returned? i those questionnaires haven't been returned? .., �* those questionnaires haven't been returned? �* . ., those questionnaires haven't been returned? . ., �* those questionnaires haven't been returned? ~ ., �* ., returned? i can't. what i've heard from the secretary _ returned? i can't. what i've heard from the secretary of _ returned? i can't. what i've heard from the secretary of state - returned? i can't. what i've heard from the secretary of state is - from the secretary of state is they've been sent to responsible bodies, so to governors and trustees and local authorities etc. for something so critically urgent, all of us know the number of e—mails we are getting on a daily basis, the people i was represent will be getting, some of those clearly have gone unnoticed so what has happened from the department is a follow one given this is a matter of such health and safety? 0ne given this is a matter of such health and safety? one thing to reassure parents would be can we hear the scale, can we get away from the platitudes, can we have reassurance that will be a definitive list published? if i

haven't heard from my school i might assume there isn't an issue with raac but i might be worried about whether i've missed an e—mail or it's gone intojunk. if ever there was a time for transparency and clarity, that is the stuff the secretary of state could do which would bring the first stage of the. thank you. the labour leader sir keir starmer has been reshuffling his shadow cabinet. one of the main changes is angela rayner who has been appointed as shadow secretary for levelling up. she continues as deputy leader, a post she was elected to. meanwhile, liz kendall is made shadow work and pensions secretary. pat mcfadden is given a prominent shadow role, as is rising labour star darrenjones as number two in the treasury's shadow team. live now to westminster and our political correspondent alex forsyth. three and a half years on — does the promotion of three figures on the right of the party tell us more about where keir starmer�*s political leanings lie.

that will definitely be one reading of this reshuffle because despite the fact the top jobs, the shadow home secretary, health secretary, chancellor, shadow education secretary, dale stayed the same but apart from that there's been a pretty extensive reshuffle of other ministerial posts. angela rayner taking on levelling up, housing and communities. that meant a bit of a demotion for lisa nandy who becomes shadow international development minister although she doesn't know how the department. liz kendall has been promoted now to shadow work and pensions secretary, pat mcfadden people's tony bland's political secretary takes on an important role being the national campaign coordinator for being the national campaign coordinatorfor labour. being the national campaign coordinator for labour. when you put it all together there might be some people who say this is further evidence of sir keir starmer leading his party away from the labour left. i think those close to sir keir starmer would say, what this is about is him preparing for government, being serious about

having a shadow cabinet that can win a general election if indeed that happens which we are expecting to take place next year and then of course go on to form a government. that's the message sir keir starmer is trying to portray. but it has been pretty extensive when it comes to some posts but also lots of movements at thejunior to some posts but also lots of movements at the junior shadow ministerial level and when it all boils down, quite a big move but none of the top posts have changed at this point. the none of the top posts have changed at this point-— at this point. the messaging is important _ at this point. the messaging is important because _ at this point. the messaging is important because they - at this point. the messaging is important because they could l at this point. the messaging is i important because they could be another by—election coming up. it another by—election coming up. if you haven't had enough by—elections this year already, we've got a few more potentially. all eyes on those and the next big one we are expecting is mid bedfordshire, the seat vacated by nadine dorries although she did take a little while before she put her official resignation in and the expectation is we might get a date for that very soon and that could take place in october and that would be a hotly contested by—election. parliament

sitting today after its summer recess and what is on a lot of people's mines is although we don't want to be talking about this too early, we are now approaching what many people think will be the year of the general election and that in part is what this reshuffle is about. sir keir starmer trying to put his party on a firm footing ahead of the general election campaign which whether our viewers want it or not is something we are going to be talking about a lot fairly soon. going to be talking about a lot fairly soon-— going to be talking about a lot fairl soon. , . fairly soon. remind us what the speculation _ fairly soon. remind us what the speculation is _ fairly soon. remind us what the speculation is on _ fairly soon. remind us what the speculation is on when - fairly soon. remind us what the speculation is on when that - fairly soon. remind us what the l speculation is on when that might be. �* , speculation is on when that might be. �*, ., speculation is on when that might be. ,, speculation is on when that might be. ,, ~ ., be. it's anybody's guess. a date hasn't been _ be. it's anybody's guess. a date hasn't been set. _ be. it's anybody's guess. a date hasn't been set. widespread - be. it's anybody's guess. a date | hasn't been set. widespread talk about either spring or autumn, a lot will depend on the economic picture, it is in the government's gift to decide. it's got to take place before january 2025 which is why the smart money is on some point next year. smart money is on some point next ear. . ~' smart money is on some point next ear. . ~ , ., treating the overweight is a challenge the world over.

now a weight—loss drug is being launched which the prime minister rishi sunak says could be a "game—changer". the drug, taken by injection, is called wegovy, or semaglutide. an international study found the drug can cut the risk of a heart attack or stroke in obese people with cardiovascular disease by a fifth. it will be prescribed alongside a reduced calorie diet and exercise. however, the drug is in short supply globally, and will only be prescribed to those who fulful certain criteria. earlier i spoke to professorjohn wilding from the university of liverpool who was a lead investigator in one of the key trials that led to the drug's approval. he told me how it works. when we have a meal our intestines produce a range of hormones that actually signal to the brain to tell us that we are full, and one of those hormones has a long name, glucagon—like peptide one, we have shortened that to glp—1. i was involved in the work that discovered it was important in regulating ourfood intake over 20 years ago. what has happened since then is it has been discovered we also know

this hormone is involved in secretion of insulin from the pancreas. and drugs based on this hormone have been used for a number of years to treat people with type 2 diabetes. one of the things that has been observed in people with diabetes is it helps them lose weight but not that much weight, eat a few kilos maybe. what we found is if we increase the dose, we can get a much more powerful effect on food intake. and the drug semaglutide, which is a once a week injection, of a glp—1—like molecule that we can give as an injection once a week, gives about 15% or 15 kilos of body weight loss in people with obesity. and not only that it provides a number of clinical benefits as well. that is incredible, 15 kilograms, as opposed to 2.4 kilograms both with diet and exercise, one taking the drug, one taking an injection, and one without.

we know from studies that when you treat people with this drug and continue with the treatment, they will lose about 15 kilos of body weight on average. some people will do more, some less. they will be able to maintain long term. what we also know is that if you stop taking the medicine in the weight tends to come back on. just like when we treat cholesterol or blood pressure or other long—term conditions, we should be thinking about this is a long—term treatment. back to our main story and the issue of concrete in schools. scotland's first minister, humza yousaf, has just been asked about the situation there. of course, raac was an issue we were aware of the number of months ago and i've been working with our local authority and public sector partners to get an understanding of what mitigations need to be put in place.

in terms of the school estate, my secretary of education gave further updates a couple of days ago in terms of 35 schools we know are affected but mitigations have been put in place. the work around the rest of the public sector estate will take some time given the scale and size of the estate and the nhs and size of the estate and the nhs and the justice and size of the estate and the nhs and thejustice state, for example. where we find raac and where we need to put in appropriate mitigation, thatis to put in appropriate mitigation, that is being done.— to put in appropriate mitigation, that is being done. some people miaht be that is being done. some people might be concerned _ that is being done. some people might be concerned when - that is being done. some people might be concerned when they l that is being done. some people l might be concerned when they see schools _ might be concerned when they see schools being _ might be concerned when they see schools being closed _ might be concerned when they see schools being closed in _ might be concerned when they see schools being closed in england i might be concerned when they seei schools being closed in england but not here _ schools being closed in england but not here our— schools being closed in england but not here. our schools— schools being closed in england but not here. our schools safe? - schools being closed in england but not here. our schools safe? there. schools being closed in england but not here. our schools safe? there is not here. our schools safe? there is no immediate _ not here. our schools safe? there is no immediate risk _ not here. our schools safe? there is no immediate risk to _ not here. our schools safe? there is no immediate risk to staff _ not here. our schools safe? there is no immediate risk to staff or - no immediate risk to staff or pupils. of course we will continue to monitor the sites that have raac but we know appropriate mitigations are being put in place. 0ne local authority told us that raac was in one of the boiler rooms and they took appropriate mitigation to secure that particular room. so, parents shouldn't worry. as a parent

myself, when you see what's happening in england, there may be some concern but there is no need for alarm. some concern but there is no need foralarm. it some concern but there is no need for alarm. it is a serious situation but it's one that both the national government and local government are working closely together on. humza yousaf addressing safety concerns. you're watching bbc news.

yeah live from london, this is bbc news. "don't blame me" — rishi sunak says he's not responsible for failing to tackle the issue of unsafe concrete in school buldings across the uk. i think that is completely wrong and one of the first things i did as chancellor one of the first things i did as chancello— one of the first things i did as chancello ., ., . ., , ., chancellor was to launch a ten year fundin: chancellor was to launch a ten year funding programme _ chancellor was to launch a ten year funding programme for— chancellor was to launch a ten year funding programme for rebuilding i funding programme for rebuilding schools. kenya hosts africa's first climate summit — an attempt to try and tackle a problem affecting the whole continent. and — beware the asian hornet —

a warning it could have catastrophic consequences for the uk's bee population. hello, i'm rajini vaidyanathan, welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. the uk prime minister rishi sunak says it's "utterly wrong" to blame him for failing to tackle the issue of unsafe concrete in school buldings. as thousands of children return to classrooms today after the summer break — it's emerged that more than 100 schools in england and scotland will be closed or partially shut. it's over safety concerns about what is known as raac — a type of concrete known to be at risk of crumbling. ellie price reports. school's back. sort of... but not for those affected by the wrong kind of concrete. for many, it has meant a partial closure of school buildings

and a mad scramble right at the start of a new school year,