Priti Patel says as of Sunday, 125,516 lives have been lost to coronavirus in the UK.

She says: "It is for that it is for that reason that I continue to urge everyone, for as long as these regulations are in place, not to participate in large gatherings or attend protests.

"The right to protest is the cornerstone of our democracy but the government's duty is to prevent more lives being lost during this pandemic."

Priti Patel says last year she opened a public survey of women and girls to hear their thoughts on how to tackle gendered crimes.

She says she reopened that survey on Friday, "in the wake of the outpouring of grief". As of 11:00 GMT today, there have now been 78,000 responses, which the home secretary says is "completely unprecedented".

"I am listening to women and girls up and down the country and their views will help to shape a new strategy on tackling violence against women and girls," she says.

Image source, HoC

Patel says she understands why the death of Sarah Everard has upset so many people.

"Too many of us have walked home from school or work only to hear footsteps uncomfortably close behind us," she says, adding "that is not OK".

She tells MPs that the government have put in place laws to ensure women and girls feel safe aimed at tackling domestic abuse, female genital mutilation and upskirting.

Image source, HoC

Home Secretary Priti Patel begins by saying her thoughts are with Sarah's family and friends at this "unbearable time".

Turning to the events of Saturday she says some of the footage is "upsetting" and confirms that she has asked for a full independent lessons learnt review,

She promises to update MPs on that review in due course.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has just started her statement on policing and the prevention of violence against women.

Stick with us for updates from her statement and MPs' reaction.

Home Secretary Priti Patel will be making a statement in the Commons on policing and the prevention of violence against women shortly. And the issue of Saturday's vigil is expected to come up.

Ms Patel has instructed the police watchdog to conduct a review into the policing of the event, but she is likely to face questions about the future of Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick - whom the Liberal Democrats say should resign.

She may also face questions about the government's policing bill - which Labour says does not go far enough to address violence against women and girls.

Image source, PA Media

Former Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption says the government’s concerns over the police response to Saturday’s vigil are “humbug”.

He says politicians are responsible for the situation police faced, noting that until autumn last year protests were exempt from Covid lockdown laws - providing the protest organisers had agreed plans with authorities in advance.

“That exemption was deliberately removed at the end of last year because the government did not want to allow political protests,” he tells Radio Four's The World at One.

“Of course, the government was mainly concerned with protests against its own policies but the problem is you can’t have an exception for demonstrations and protests the government likes but not covering demonstrations and protests against the government itself."

Image source, Sophie Howe

Men should be educated about calling out sexual harassment, Wales' future generations commissioner says.

Sophie Howe says she hopes Sarah Everard's death will be "a marker in time" and lead to "something really substantial" happening, such as better education for boys at home and in school.

Speaking on BBC Radio Wales, Howe says she spoke to her four sons, aged nine to 21, and gave them a scenario about sexual harassment, and they said the men involved were "probably just having a laugh with friends".

"I think there is still this issue of men not willing to challenge," she said.

"I would like to think that my boys have been brought up to be feminists, to be committed and interested in women's rights - even then, that was the response I was getting.

"It might start out as a comment to make you laugh but… the more that society makes these things acceptable, the more that those people who are rapists, who are the sort of people who want to stalk, the more acceptable that becomes in their minds."

Read more

Image source, PA Media

Frontline police officers enforcing lockdown rules on protesters are in a "no-win situation", a federation leader has claimed, amid criticism of the handling of the Sarah Everard vigil.

National vice chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, Che Donald, says officers are "damned if they do take action and damned if they don't".

He says: "Ultimately, frontline officers have become pawns in a political situation."There is a need to reiterate the call for clarity around Covid-19 regulations to avoid further confusion over laws and rules when lockdown measures are lifted.

"The government's mixed messages added to the escalation of events on Saturday."

Currently, there is no definitive answer as to whether a protest is legal in lockdown.

Police forces are expected to look at each demonstration individually, and weigh up the right to protest versus the risk to public health.

An inquest into the death of Sarah Everard is likely to be opened later this week, Kent County Council's coroners service says.

A date for the first hearing has not yet been set as the coroner is awaiting further information from the police, a statement from the coroner's office says.

Image source, Reuters

It is not only in the UK that people have been highlighting the sexual abuse and harassment of women.

Tens of thousands of people have turned out to marches across Australia, spurred by a recent wave of allegations of sexual assault.

The protests were organised a week ago, after Attorney General Christian Porter revealed he was the subject of a 1988 rape allegation - which he denies.

Brittany Higgins, an ex-political adviser who separately alleged last month that she was raped in a minister's office in 2019, spoke to thousands of protesters outside Parliament House earlier.

"There is a horrible societal acceptance of sexual violence experienced by women in Australia," she said.

"My story was on the front page for the sole reason that it was a painful reminder to women that if it can happen in Parliament House, it can truly happen anywhere."

Today's protest rallies - known as the March 4 Justice - took place in 40 locations across Australia, ranging from major cities such as Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne, to smaller country towns.

You can read more on the protests in Australia here.

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier we told you the prime minister had spoken of the country's shock and grief at what happened to Sarah Everard.

Here's a video of Boris Johnson talking to the BBC during his visit to a bus depot in Coventry. He says: "Women in particular must feel that when they make serious complaints about violence, about assault, that they are properly heard, and properly addressed and we are going to make sure that that happens."

A human rights lawyer has suggested decisions about whether vigils can go ahead are down to government "priorities".

Adam Wagner was one of the barristers who represented the organisers of the vigil for Sarah Everard in Friday's High Court hearing over whether the event could take place.

Speaking on Monday, he said: "The government has such power over the lockdown regulations that it can bring in new ones with the swish of a minister's pen.

"It could clarify the law tomorrow to ensure the right to protest is protected - it's about priorities."

The barrister, who works for Doughty Street Chambers, highlighted incidents during the pandemic where allowances have been made in law for particular events to go ahead.

In November, coronavirus regulations included some exceptions for outdoor commemorations for Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day. And Wagner adds the government also included an exception for grouse shooting in September.

"You might assume that the government concluded such events were not a significant risk and important enough to permit," he says.

"And yet they are allowing the police to act as if outdoor socially distanced protests (or vigils) are banned outright. It's about priorities."

Police in Wales should be commended for the way they handled vigils paying respects to Sarah Everard, the education minister told a briefing.

Kirsty Williams says the clashes between protesters and police at Clapham Common in London on Saturday would have “shocked” those watching.

But she praised the way gatherings in Wales were held without incident.

"Can I say how grateful I am to women and men in Wales who over this weekend also carried out vigils to mark the death of Sarah, and the wider issues that that death makes us confront as a society, and the police that oversaw those gatherings in a really respectful way.

“We have to remember we’re still in the middle of a pandemic and we need people to be cognisant of that - but I would commend both those that wanted to have their voices heard this weekend in Wales, and the police for the sensitive way that that was handled."

Meanwhile, Downing Street has said the right to free speech “will never be in question” and defended changes to the policing of protests in legislation going through Parliament.

The prime minister’s spokesman defended the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, saying the measures it contained were “in no way impinging on the right to protest”.

“Peaceful protest is fundamental to our society,” the spokesman said, adding that parts of the bill were in response to “increasingly disruptive tactics” seen in recent years.

The prime minister says "the country is united in shock and grief about what happened to Sarah Everard".

Boris Johnson says the "fundamental issue" for society is that people, "but women in particular, must feel that when they make serious complaints about violence, about assault, that they are properly heard and properly addressed".

"We've got to recognise that the tragedy and the horrific crime that we've seen in the case of Sarah Everard... has unleashed a wave of feeling from people, from women above all, who do worry about their safety at night," he added.

The prime minister pointed out the Commons would be discussing and voting on - during the debate about the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill - "new measures that the government is bringing in for tougher sentences for rapists... and new measures to tackle domestic violence".

"I hope those go through," he said.

However, Rights of Women, a campaign group, says the bill's focus is all wrong, and it fails to introduce long-called-for measures that could reduce violence against women and girls.

Dania Al-Obeid, one of the women handcuffed by police and later arrested for breaching Covid-19 regulations at Clapham Common, has said "unnecessary force" was used.

She said she had gone to the vigil on her own, after spending the past week speaking to her female friends about Sarah Everard's case and why they felt scared to walk at night.

It could "easily have been any of us women", she said, adding she felt the need to "stand with other women".

"I wish there had been understanding and compassion for that," she told the BBC.

Instead she was handcuffed and led away by two male police officers, who she said were both holding her arms. "It just felt [like] unnecessary force," she said. "Police have power to use discretion in these situations."

She said police actions felt "disproportionate" to what was happening.

Dania said she cried in the police van, adding she did not know what had triggered the police response.

Met Police Chief, Dame Cressida Dick, has said her team felt it was "an unlawful gathering" and posed "a considerable risk to people's health".

Dania has also been speaking to BBC Radio 5 live - she said she was "dragged" by police and was worried her head would hit the floor. She said she knew she had to put up "minimal resistance" to stop that happening.

Watch the full interview here , externalor listen to 5 Live on the free BBC Sounds app.

Dominic Casciani
Home Affairs Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Parliament will hear a second reading of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill at 15:30 GMT. It's part of the government's efforts to overhaul the justice system, cut offending and make streets safer. And it includes plans to give officers more precise powers to restrict demonstrations.

Currently, if the police want to place restrictions on a protest, they generally have to show it may result in "serious public disorder, serious damage to property or serious disruption to the life of the community".

They can impose restrictions such as a specific route on a march and these details are typically thrashed out with the organisers weeks in advance.

Under the new Bill, police chiefs would be able to put more conditions on static protests such as a start and finish time, noise limits and these rules would apply to a demonstration by just one person.

At present, police need to prove protesters knew they had been told to move on, before they can be said to have broken the law.

The new Bill would make it a crime to fail to follow restrictions the protesters "ought" to have known about, even if they have not received a direct order from an officer.

More on the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

The prime minister has expressed his confidence in Met Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick, while describing events at the vigil in memory of Sarah Everard as "very distressing".

During a visit to a bus depot in Coventry, Boris Johnson was asked if he had full confidence in the Met chief.

Johnson replied: "Yes, I do. And what she's asked is... that we look at what happened on Saturday night.

"The police do have a very, very difficult job. But there's no question that the scenes that we saw were very distressing, and so it is right that Tom Winsor, the inspector of constabulary, should do a full report into it.

"I think people have got to have confidence in the police and Tom's going to look at that."

Sir Keir Starmer has admitted to being "frustrated and concerned" about women's safety on Britain's streets while he was director of public prosecutions.

The Labour leader said he hoped the case of Sarah Everard would mark a "turning point", and called for the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill - due to be debated in the House of Commons - to be paused.

Speaking to broadcasters during a visit to the Whittington Hospital in north London, he said: "We need to see this as a turning point where we all come together and do something about it, listen to what women are saying to us, and men need to be part of this - we need to speak up and demonstrate that we are confident change is possible and we are prepared to see through that change once and for all."

Sir Keir said he would like the government to pause the Bill and carry out cross-party work on how to deal with violence against women and girls.

"That's the issue that we need to confront," he added. "This is a sentencing bill - it should say something about rape sentences, about harassment and stalking sentences.

"It says lots of things about statues and almost nothing about protecting women and girls, and particularly dealing with violence against women and girls."