03/04/2016 BBC Weekend News

Ministers have ordered an inquiry into claims that a doctor provided

performance-enhancing drugs to top sports stars,

including players at three Premier League clubs

Dr Mark Bonar was secretly filmed by the Sunday Times talking

about prescribing steroids and growth hormones.

The football clubs say the claims are completely unfounded

and they have no knowledge of any players being involved.

Our correspondent David Ornstein has the details.

The Sunday Times says it sent an aspiring Olympic runner to film Dr

Mark Bonar undercover. He claimed he had helped more than 150 elite

sports people, including boxers, tennis players, an English

cricketer, British cyclists and Premier League footballers.

Obviously some of these treatments I out of are banned on the

professional circuit. OK. So you have to be mindful of that. Having

said that, I've worked with lots of professional athletes. OK. Who do

use these treatments. The doctor, who is based in London, allegedly

prescribed performance enhancing drugs such as EPO, steroids and

human growth hormone. The truth of the matter is drugs are in sport.

Right. Now, what I do is, what I do is I prescribe responsibly and I try

to keep my patients the optimum level of normal. If somebody came

into me and said, why are you giving (BLEEP) testosterone, can I say,

look, his testosterone level is 15 and the normal range is 4 to 30, he

has symptoms of testosterone deficiency syndrome and I just

topped them up. But that's not the real reason. It is to increase his

performance. It is how you sell it. It also implicates some of the

biggest football clubs in England. If you are a footballer in your 30s

how are you going to keep up with an 18-year-old. There is though

suggestion that any Premier League club was aware of any wrongdoing and

they same the claims are false and without foundation. It stems from

evidence passed to UK Anti-Doping Agency two years ago. UK Anti-Doping

Agency said it didn't act at the time because Dr Bonar wasn't

governed by any one sport and it didn't pass it to the General

Medical Council to investigate. John Whittingdale said he was shocked and

deeply concerned about these allegations and has asked for an

urgent investigation. He added that in future criminal sanction s could

be considered against athletes. In response to the allegations Dr Bonar

said, I do not dope or treat patients for the sole purpose of

performance enhancement, even those these treatments may enhance

performance as a secondary effect. These are the latest allegations to

rock professional sport, an industry that without integrity loses its

appeal. David on Steen, BBC News. The Business Secretary says

the Government is committed to making sure Port Talbot

steel works stays open, and is prepared to offer support

to make sure a buyer comes forward. Sajid Javid said the UK steel

industry has to have a future, as he didn't want to live

in a country reliant Labour says with Tata Steel looking

to sell all its UK interests the industry needs to be taken

into public ownership - at least in the short term -

if a buyer doesn't come Here's our political

correspondent, Susana Mendonca. Can the British steel industry be

saved? The Business Secretary says he doesn't want to see these turn

aspectses at Port Talbot go cold, but with Tata pulling out of its

loss-making plants in the UK the Government needs a buyer, and it is

willing to pay a price to clinch a deal. I want to see steel making

continuing in Port Talbot. Does that include the blast furnaces though? I

want the find a buyer for the whole of the business. Of course there'll

be help that needs to be provided. Because we've been working on this

for weeks, I've thought carefully about the kind of help we can

provide, I do feel though, for lots of reasons, after talking to Tata

and many others involved in this, there will be enough time to find

the right buyer working with the Government and being able to take

this forward. He says the issues potential buyers of Port Talbot need

to consider are the plant, what's produced there, pensions, how much

it might cost to cover them, and power, the price of energy, a

long-running issue for British steel suppliers. So the Government's

promising assistance but not going as far as nationalisation. That's

what the Labour Government did for the banks eight years ago to

what the Labour Government did for them from collapse, and the shadow

Chancellor said if a buyer for Port Talbot can't be found soon,

nationalisation is still an option. If we haven't got that leeway and

the timescale, as a fall-back yes, nationalise in the short term to

stabilise the situation, prepare the sector for putting it back out to

another buyer. That will give us the stability we need in the sector. If

the Government allows our steel sector to close, Port Talbot to

close, it could cost us between 1 and 1.5 billion to keep people on

the dole and have economies collapse in those communities. So far the

Government says it will encourage councils and other public bodies buy

British for new building projects. There is also talk of further

British for new building projects. And it will have to come up with

more incentives to woo the private buyers if it wants to save the

thousands of jobs that could be lost.

Fighting has continued overnight in the disputed Caucasus

Reports say that troops from Azerbaijan and Armenia have

Fighting on Saturday left a total of 30 soldiers dead

The first flight to leave Brussels airport since it was attacked 12

A small ceremony was held to mark the partial reopening

Just three flights will depart today - a tiny proportion of the more

than 500 the airport usually handles.

32 people were killed when the airport and the city's

Metro were targeted by bombers linked to the so-called Islamic

Some leaders from President Assad's Alawite sect in Syria have distanced

The leaders say they hope to shine a light on the Alawites after a long

They emphasise that the sect should not be associated

with what they call the crimes of the regime.

Greek coastguards have rescued a boat full of people off the island

of Lesbos, less than 24 hours before Greece is due to begin returning

migrants who have no claim to asylum back to Turkey.

The returns are a key part of an agreement between the EU

and Turkey aimed at stemming the flow of migrants

From Lesbos, Sarah Rainsford sent this report.

Every day, volunteers scan the Aegean for new arrivals,

and every day hundreds are rescued from the sea.

Many are fleeing the violence in Syria and Iraq, hoping for safety

I met Rada and her family from Damascus.

She told me she wants to join her son in Sweden,

But Rada didn't know the rules had changed and that migrants

could now be sent back from here across the sea.

Every migrant who lands in Greece now is taken

That's the men, the women and the children.

From this closed camp they can apply for asylum,

but under the new EU deal it's thought many will be

When I found Rada again, that was sinking in.

We are not allowed inside the camp anymore, so we spoke

The family tell me they have to sleep outside.

You don't look so happy as you did yesterday.

This morning, though, brought new, exhausted arrivals.

among them were dozens more children.

Boats like this are still coming in every single day here to Greece.

People being helped ashore by the volunteers, starting

to smile, some of them, as they finally realise

Whatever the politicians have agreed, it's clear

there are still plenty of people prepared to make this journey,

just hoping they can move on from here to a better

But tomorrow Greece will start the deportations.

Those who haven't claimed asylum will be the first to go.

The fates of families like this is still uncertain.

You can see more on all of today's stories on the BBC News Channel.

Hello. I know it might sound a little bit vague but changeable

isn't a bad word to describe the weather for the week ahead. It will

be in terms of temperature. At the moment it is turning quite mild

across many parts of East Anglia. Temperatures heading towards the mid

teens.