Drivetime with John Beattie
BBC Radio Scotland

Enjoy the sunshine is not a "reasonable excuse" for being outside, the general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation has said.

Speaking on Drivetime, Calum Steele highlighted the law restricts both who individuals can interact with and where people can go.

While the majority of sunbathers appear to be adhering to social distancing by only being out with fellow household members, it still breaks the restrictions on movement, he said.

Mr Steele said: "Catching sunshine, however great it will feel on the skin and good for the mental health, is not one of the things that's accepted as being a reasonable excuse."

Drivetime with John Beattie
BBC Radio Scotland

Education Secretary John Swinney says he is weighing up pressure from many sides on the issue of schools returning before the summer.

While Mr Swinney says it is a "physical impossibility" to have all pupils back in classrooms and follow social distancing and he acknowledges the urgency to return pupils from deprived backgrounds into education.

He reiterates the possibility of some groups of pupils going back to school, which would be conditional on the spread of the virus and public health advice.

Mr Swinney also acknowledges the position of teaching unions which have pressured the government to announce school closures until after the summer.

He says: "I've got to be mindful of the views of everybody - I understand the perspective of teaching trade unions and appreciate and value their input.

"There will equally be pressure to restore education for young people from deprived backgrounds and that is a completely legitimate aspiration."

Scots took slightly more car and bus journeys last week than they did at the beginning of the lockdown, according to the latest transport data, external.

Transport Scotland found that people took an average of 1.2 trips per day for the week ending Sunday, compared to a "lockdown baseline average" of 0.9 trips per person per day.

It also said there had been a 20% increase in car traffic levels compared to the start of lockdown, but this was predominantly local travel.

Concessionary bus travel is up by 5% from the baseline.

Drivetime with John Beattie
BBC Radio Scotland

The deputy first minister says that "lessons may be learned" over the timetable for lockdown and testing in Scotland.

Education Secretary John Swinney tells Drivetime that the Scottish government has "taken the best judgements we could at every available moment" based on evidence and has acted in "good faith".

He says that as time passes, "different decisions may be argued for".

When pressed on the level of Covid-19 deaths in care homes in relation to the government's decision-making, he says: "There is a real risk to exposure within care homes which is why we have taken measures to support them".

Image source, bbc

There have been a further 649 coronavirus deaths recorded, taking the UK's total to 30,076, UK Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said at the Downing Street briefing.

The daily number of tests dropped to 69,436, as the total remained below the government's 100,000 target.

After reaching the target by 30 April and again on 1 May the number has been below the mark, despite a capacity of 108,000 currently.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced at PMQs earlier that he had an ambition to reach a 200,000 capacity by the end of May.

Get more updates from the UK briefing here.

Drivetime with John Beattie
BBC Radio Scotland

Deputy First Minister and Education Secretary John Swinney is about to be interviewed on Drivetime with John Beattie.

Mr Swinney announced an extra £75m in research funding will be provided to universities this year.

He emphasised the importance of sufficient funding for colleges and universities and says further discussions are being had with the UK government on this matter.

Drivetime with John Beattie
BBC Radio Scotland

A leading economist has said that the government borrowing more money to extend the furlough scheme to some extent is a "gamble worth taking".

Vicky Pryce, economist from the Centre for Economics and Business Research, said the UK could end up with a "non functioning economy" if people had no money in their pockets.

She added that borrowing at the moment would "have an impact on the pockets of the government" but that buyers for bonds are available and at present, borrowing is "perfectly safe".

Ms Pryce said: "It's actually a priority to keep people with some cash in their pockets and having some sort of confidence that things might improve.

"If you want businesses to survive you probably have to extend the scheme for some sectors.

"We're going to be borrowing £270bn in 2020, it is a gamble worth taking otherwise you won't get back to growth again."

Can hay fever give you a cough? Do you get a temperature with hay fever? How do I know if I have coronavirus, external or hay fever, external?

The Royal College of General Practitioners is warning people not to mix up the symptoms of coronavirus with hay fever.

It says it's concerned people may leave their houses thinking they've just got the seasonal illness, when actually they have contracted the virus.

We are expecting the daily UK government press conference in around 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, here is a round-up of the top stories from around the UK:

• At Prime Minister’s Questions Boris Johnson pledged to reach 200,000 tests for coronavirus per day by the end of May
• He also said he "bitterly" regrets the epidemic in care homes
• And he announced some measures to ease the lockdown could start on Monday
• In Scotland the number of people dying with coronavirus has fallen for the first time
• Heathrow Airport is trialling large-scale temperature checks at the departure gates
• A report by the Resolution Foundation think tank says youth unemployment could rise by 640,000 this year due to the virus
• The online retailer Ocado says "more normal" shopping habits are back after a huge jump in demand amid the lockdown

Image source, PA Media

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has backed the idea of a universal basic income - but said the Scottish government cannot bring it in unilaterally.

But what is it?

Universal basic income is also known as unconditional basic income. It is a form of social security which provides regular and uniform cash payment to people, without means testing or the requirement to work.

UBI has gained worldwide support in recent years, although its origins date back to the 19th Century. It has been endorsed by economists including Joseph Stiglitz and Thomas Piketty, and has supporters from across the political spectrum.

Opponents of UBI say it encourages idleness, and the system is unaffordable. This depends on the level of guaranteed income, whether it is received by citizens or all residents, and which benefits it replaces.

Douglas Fraser
Scotland business & economy editor

Image source, Getty

New job starts and vacancies were down at an unprecedented rate of decline last month, according to a Royal Bank of Scotland survey.

With lockdown, millions of workers being furloughed, and redundancies picking up, those fortunate enough to start a new job in April suffered the first fall in starting pay for seven years.

It was also the sharpest such drop since the survey began 17 years ago.

With a softer decline in the number looking for permanent jobs, the only part of the survey to show a pick-up was in the availability of temporary staff.

Sebastian Burnside, chief economist at Royal Bank of Scotland, commented: “April data laid bare the unprecedented damage that the COVID-19 pandemic is inflicting on the Scottish jobs market.“

The Office for National Statistics will publish the latest findings from the Labour Market Survey next Tuesday, giving its first indication of the increase in numbers seeking work since the pandemic struck and businesses were forced to close.

BBC Radio Scotland presenter Ricky Ross and wife Lorraine McIntosh will play a live Deacon Blue set tonight in Colin Murray's virtual pub.

BBC health correspondent Hugh Pym has clarified that the prime minister's ambition of 200,000 daily tests by the end of May referred to lab capacity rather than individual tests.

The UK currently has a capacity of 108,000 tests daily.

Lab capacity refers to the number of tests which could be delivered on a day, not the amount that are undertaken.The government also includes testing kits which are sent out but may not be returned in its daily figures.

Read more about testing here.

Meanwhile the German Bundesliga will be the world's first major football league to return following the coronavirus pandemic when it does restart.

The last game was played on 11 March with each club having nine or 10 matches left to play. Games will be behind closed doors.

The English and Spanish top flights are hoping to return next month, while Italian teams have been allowed to start individual training. The top leagues in France and the Netherlands are not finishing after being cut short.

Image source, Getty Images

Drivetime with John Beattie
BBC Radio Scotland

New figures have confirmed 2,795 Scots have died from Covid-19 - but there is some hope as the death rate has fallen for the first time. On Drivetime this afternoon:

• John Beattie speaks to Prof June Andrews, an expert in elderly care, about the fact care homes are still bearing the brunt of deaths.
• The furlough scheme - currently paying the wages of over six million people - is under review. How and when might it end?
• And fly tipping has become a major problem during lockdown. John will hear from impacted communities.

Daily deaths data up to 26 April appears to show a peak on 9 April - highlighted by the pink bar in this chart. The red bar shows when lockdown began.