president of the united states. results from electoral colleges around the country have given him far more than the 270 he needed. mr biden directly referenced mr trump's attempts to overturn the result, but said it confirmed what he called the ‘strength and resilience‘ of american democracy. donald trump has announced on twitter the departure of the us attorney general william barr. he said he would be gone by christmas. the outgoing president has issued increasingly hostile comments about mr barr since he declared that the department ofjustice had found no evidence of widespread election fraud. the number of coronavirus fatalities in the united states has passed 300,000 people, as the country begins its mass vaccination campaign. the authorities hope to vaccinate 100 million people by april. an intensive care nurse in new york was the first to receive the injection. now on bbc news,

monday in parliament. hello and welcome to monday in parliament. coming up in the next half hour, the secretary announces that london is among parts of england to be put into the toughest coronavirus restrictions. this action is absolutely essential, notjust to keep people safe, but because we have seen early action can help prevent more damaging and longer—lasting problems later. but one mp wonders... the secretary of state doesnt want to be the grinch, but should he be reconsidering the christmas measures that are in place. also on the programme, the future energy plans and proposals to cut admissions. and labour dismisses the government announcement of more and quicker compensation for those caught

up in the wind rush scandal. increasing the minimum payments for the impact the life to £10,000, with payment starting this week. but first, the health secretary has told parts of london and parts of essex and hertfordshire will move into england's highest tier of covid—19 restrictions on wednesday. under the tier 3 rules, shops can stay open for bars, pu bs, cafes a nd restau ra nts mostly closed except for delivery and takeaway. entertainment venues such as bowling alleys and theatres, you cannot mix in private gardens and most outdoor venues except in your household or bubble, people are advised not to travel to and from tier 3 areas. matt hancock began by telling mps a new variant of covid—19 had been found. over the last few days, thanks for a world—class genomic capabilities in the uk, we have identified a new variant of coronavirus which may be associated with the fastest spread

in the southeast of england. initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than the existing variant and there is currently nothing to suggest that this variant is likely to cause serious disease and the latest clinical advice is that it highly unlikely that this mutation would fail to respond to a vaccine, but it shows that we have got to be vigilant. he then announced that he will be moving parts of london and essex in the highest two years. it would disrupt plans and for businesses affected, it will be a significant blow, but this action is absolutely essential, not just to keep people safe, but because we have seen early action can help prevent more damaging and longer lasting problems later in. and urged everyone to play their part and not waiver as the uk entered the final stretch. labour said case rates and hospital admissions were increasing again. overall, the increasing

areas are rising faster than the decreasing areas are falling and as things stand, we are heading into the christmas easing with diminishing headroom. the buffer zone that these tiers were supposed to provide are becoming much thinner. they say that it will not work with the new strain, when we know for sure if there any trials going on, is it going to get more up—to—date scientific information on this anytime soon? the question is being assessed right now but as i said my statement, the medical advice that we have is highly unlikely that this new variant will impact the vaccine but we will know that in the coming days and weeks. 0ther mps questioned the use of rapid turnaround and lateral flow tests. i understand the wish to use quick tests for case finding but surely he should now delay ruling to 67 of the local

authorities and not proceed with plans to spend £43 billion for a test that is so inaccurate. in view of these alarming numbers and what we're seeing in us following thanksgiving and the changing of rules which leads to lower compliance and more confusion, i appreciate the secretary of state does not want to be the grinch, but should he be reconsidering that christmas measures that are in place or do we risk necessary additional deaths —— unnecessary justice we have the vaccine? my concern is letting down our guard for five days during christmas being very dangerous indeed. can i ask the secretary of state to review those conditions that were put together some time ago and present an updated version to the house so that we do not begin the new year with a third wave?

can the secretary of state tell us if he has asked for or received any modelling as to what the impact of suspension for the christmas holiday in the movement of people around the country are likely to mean for the spread of infections and for the middle of january? the truth is it all depends on how people behave. it is so important that we urge people to behave with great care and responsibility of the christmas period. several mps appealed for their areas to be put in lower restrictions at the next review on wednesdays. the only reason that devon does not going to tieri b because of the shortage of staff and hospital capacities of up to ten years of conservative government cuts. in exeter, but those rates have come down sharply the last few weeks, let's keep working at it and let's keep those public health messages going, not only with relation to coronavirus, but also with relation to the importance of eating fruit. he can make my wish come true because all they want for christmas is tier 2.

madam deputy speaker, how can i reject something like that? he said he will be looking very closely at the case in mp will decide to wait and see what was incentives bag. the government has confirmed that it will give more money to the victims of the wind rush scandal which saw some british citizens with caribbean backgrounds deported or threatened with deportation despite having the right to live in the uk. the scandal mainly affected uk citizens originally from the caribbean who came into the country after the second world war. despite living and working in the uk for decades, many were later told they were here illegally because of a lack of official paperwork. the bbc found several victims had died before receiving compensation. the announcement of increased compensation committee

came at questions time in the comments as they criticised on secretary. the wind rush generation help build the bridge and we note in love today. they are a key part of our efforts to right the wrongs they endured. today i'm announcing substantial changes for the compensation scheme so those eligible to receive compensation and more quickly. i'm increasing the minimum payments of the impact the life of £10,000 with payment starting this week and raising the bar on the amout someone can claim on the impact on their lives to £100,000 with the exception of cases ageing to receive more. these changes under these terms will apply retrospectively and together we'll make a huge difference to peoples lives. her opposite did not respond immediately to that and instead of placing police officers are visiting schools to promote anti—bullying messages. we have a home secretary in office who has been found to have broken the ministerial code by bullying. what signal does the home

secretary think that sends to victims of bullying all around the country as to whether they should come forward. thank you, mr speaker. first of all, as the house would know, we've artie made an apology for those of an overtly upset and i make it clear. this has happened in the process of chronic failure. violent crime across the country, conviction rates at record lows, domestic abuse charities struggling to keep the doors open and is taking two and a half years for the government to consider any meaningful action on the offensive method of the wind rush compensation scheme. is the truth under this government that it is one rule for the prime minister and the home secretary and their friends, but another for everybody else? mr speaker, let me must say to the honourable gentleman that he can carry on with his personal attacks which make me more determined than ever to deliver on the issues that i am focused on. the wind rush scandal dated

back decades and involved several governments. it is this government that is fixing the wrongs of the wind rush issue, but also delivering compensation to the victims and also that more victims of that scheme come forward. questioning switched to changes of the immigration rules for asylum—seekers to prevent people staying in the uk if they pass through a safe third country. of the home office hasjust made some incredible changes that could see every asylum seeker left in the uk in limbo 01’ seeker left in the uk in limbo or remove to a country. so why would anyone in the department make a full statement to the house so that mps can probably scrutinise the changes before they come into force. when it comes to migration and too many people are put into their lives at risk

and crossing the channel in unseaworthy vessels and bring the lives of risk and risk as well, we are determined to make that viable and as a result, these rule changes are part of that. the home secretary. the government has set out its future energy plan to cut emmisions, create jobs and boost competition in the retail market. ministers begun talks with the french power company about the construction of a new £20 billion nuclear plant in suffolk next to an existing facility. this could provide a 7% of the uk's needs. the business secretary revealed his plans to mps. this white paper sets out a historic measure to deliver our net zero omissions. fuelling the drive to 2050 as we move out of the shuttle coronavirus in these measures open up the door to exciting opportunities for our country. taking action now ensures

the uk is set on the path to ending our contribution to climate change, while giving the uk industry new opportunities and creating jobs is to build the economy of tomorrow. labour picked up on measures to tackle the loyalty penalty in which long—standing customers pay more for their energy the new ones. i'm glad that they're trying to build on the price cap, which is now part of the mainstream policy of conservative government. but the biggest issue here, as they know is changing the way we heat our homes. i fear the white paper falls short of fairness and delivery. but we are all revolutionaries now. we believe in green industrial revolution as i know he does himself. does he agree with me that we are on the verge of a real transformation and technology in which energy

can go from something that was expensive, dirty and needing to be suppressed and eased out and do something that can be clean, cheap and abundant? i congratulate the secretary of state for an excellent energy white paper, it's mentioned around 80 times along with the ambition to make a financial investment and at least one large—scale nuclear project by the end of this parliament. that annoucnement had the opposite effect on the s&p. now £50 billion, the advance for the new area is further blank checks, it cannot be serious about energy bills, bill for money in a 35 year nuclear context. with nuclear power by watering the expensive and painfully slow it's disappointing there is not more ambition on efficiency instead. can you confirm that saving consumers money, the regulated model essentially means that consumers pay twice, first to reduce the cost of borrowing by increasing bills before operating, forcing liability for construction delays on customers

and for extremely costly power once the plant starts operating? nuclear was an important part of the energy mix and could result in lower prices ultimately. the dup did not think this is a very conservative set of measures. price controls, subsidies, directing investment, telling firms with an they can produce, telling consumers what kind of cars they can buy, all mouthwatering cost from his own department to release co2 emissions by 6% in cost between 50 and £100 billion per year. over the past 30 years, we have managed as a country to grow our economy by 75% and cut emissions by 43% at the same time and so green growth is possible. the business secretary. you're watching monday in parliament with me alicia mccarthy. don't forget you can find all the programmes

of the bbc iplayer. just search for parliament. with a looming deadline and talks between the uk and the eu continuing, any crumbs of information on what was going on in the negotiations on britain's future relationship after the brexit transition period expires on december 31. but they were to be disappointed. i'd like to ask the minister what progress there has been since that statement was made on thursday. my lords, discussions are continuing and they're continuing as we are enjoying our session here today. at what point will people know whether there's going to be

a deal or not? as you drive down the motorways, the government are telling people to get ready for the 315t of december. what are they getting ready for? my lords, the reality is that whatever happens in the course of these negotiations, there will be change on december the 315t and january the ist. the united kingdom will leave the european union and customs territory. for that reason, new customs and border arrangements will come into place and everybody, all businesses and citizens, should be aware of that and make preparations for it. compromise is needed on both sides. in that respect, can he agree that there must be further genuine compromise by the european union and equally as importantly, there must be further genuine compromise by her majesty's government? they do remain so specific and deep differences on the points being discussed. those are the matter of intense negotiations, the chief negotiators began

to negotiate at 10am this morning, and i'm not prejudging what might be going on in those negotiations. but i can assure you that the government's intention is positive, as the prime minister said. the eu '5 making a 90 billion profit with trading with the uk each year. will the minister agree that their treatment of the united kingdom as a colony is out of place? an example of this is month your micron acting like france has been a god—given right to british fish and british waters —— mr macron.

all i'm going to say is we are going to try as hard as we can, be as creative as we possibly can and take on what we can't do as compromise on that fundamental nature of what brexit is all about. it is about being able to control all our laws and have control of our victories. my question is about the language of the statement, which yet again says that any deal must be compatible for sovereignty and must respect our new status as a sovereign and defendant country. does the minister believe that the french republic, spain, the federal republic of germany and the other member states are neither independent nor sovereign? —— dependent country. if he does except that they are independent, sovereign states just like us, why do we insist and insulting them again and again by implying in public that they aren't?

my lords, the noble lord who is such a master negotiator, i remember the deal and i think advances a logistic argument which i can't follow. the fact is that nations may use their sovereignty in whichever way they choose, and our choice as a sovereign nation is we wish to control our laws, control our borders and control our waters. lord true. mps accused officials from the department of health of providing over a shocking situation which hospitals... david williams, a senior civil servant at the department, was appearing before the public accounts committee. individual hospitals did not actually run out.

i accept that... i must stop you there. i really must, because i want to correct you what he actually told his committee on thursday. she said the pinch point... we had enough on each are still my easter sunday to last until seven p:m., and i had absolutely nothing to provide for my staff. we had a lot of patients of covid. i spent the entire bank holiday weekend trying to find private providers. can you lend me 20 miles? this was a senior nurse in a major hospital. 20 masks. it was at that level we were trying to get our supplies. that's a pretty shocking situation, isn't it? i absolutely accept that the availability of ppe right at the front line was not consistently where we wanted it to be in order to provide

the protection for front line staff and patients in those particularly crunched months of march and april. the measures that we put in placement not we did not have a runout of ppe at the national level. david williams. peers have inflicted fresh defeats on the government over the future operation of the uk internal market post—brexit. the house of lords continued to demand changes to the legislation, which critics have banded a power grab by westminster. the uk internal market bill is required for the end of the transition period. but concerns persist over what is seen as the centralisation of power at the expense of scotland, wales and northern ireland. in the latest round of parliamentary ping—pong with the commons, the lords renewed demands that all demonstrations a bigger voice in the way the uk market

operates. ijust need pubs to rememberwhy we're here. it's quite simple. when the case for brexit was all about take back control, i think we fail to understand the government take control to itself. even over issues which were fully evolved. but we soon discovered when this bill was published, without any of involvement of the default authorities, the bill actually run over devolved competencies. an independent peer said it was important to let the government do things their way. i do not believe that it in any way will disrupt the workings of the internal market. indeed, there are benefits by adding the lords administrations to develop their ideas in a way that is consistent with

the internal market by the use of this process and the opportunity to divert legislation that allows for. i think it's common ground across this chamber that it is a role for the united kingdom parliament with members from all four nations to have a role in the safeguarding a market across all parts of our kingdom. when it came to the boat, peers once again voted against the government and the bill will now go back again to the house of commons. meanwhile, arlene foster has been urged to ensure businesses can make the most of its privilege access to the eu single market. under the brexit arrangements. but before questions on that, there were more pressing worries about firms in the covid pandemic. you know the that there is huge frustration out there. families affected by the...

it's particular this point, given at the 2nd of december, 102,071 businesses had not yet received a payment. what is the first minister's assessment of that situation? he will recognise that the schemes have to be set about in an appropriate way, but people come forward with proof what they're asking for. my ministerial colleague did share with me the experience of someone who centred in our state for shampoo and for a pair of scissors expected to be paid £800 for being a hairdresser. now, he will know the northern ireland office will not accept that as proof. we need to go through the proper processes. part of the point given the example you've given. there are businesses out there who are on their knees

and who need the money. they need help. what is your christmas promise to those businesses who are still waiting for help? i am not denying people in need. of course there are people in need. this is been a terrible year for businesses and communities right across northern ireland. in our offices as elected representatives, we must do all we can to help those people recognising that there are systems in place that have to be satisfied as well. and northern ireland is going to be an unique position. no one dies the protocol. ——doubts. it's clear we will have privilege access to the eu single market and to the eu customs area. can i ask her again to make specific representations on behalf of northern ireland businesses in terms of maximising the benefits that we will have, deal or no deal, from our unique access to the uk single market and trade area? i'm sure he meant to say

with access to great britain as well. we will have access to the full uk market and the eu market. mr speaker, that means if you are a business coming overfrom america orfrom somewhere else in the world and you were looking for access to the united kingdom single market and access to the european union single market, northern ireland seems to be a very good place to be. arlene foster. that's it from me for another day, but do join me at the same time tomorrow for a round up of the day here at westminster. for now, for me, alicia mccarthy, goodbye. hello. tuesday will be one of the quieter weather days of the week.

there'll still be some showers around, but fewer than we had on monday. most of the showers will be in western areas but some will push east. and although some of the showers will they'd as the afternoon goes on, this cluster affecting parts of northern england in south—west scotland still has to feed across in the evening. a bit cooler than it was on monday. sunshine around that overnight and into wednesday, another area of low pressure picking up the wind again in the west, becoming very windy here by wednesday morning and with more heavy rain arriving here as well. ahead of that, largely dry start to wednesday, if rather chilly so we will see some heavyin chilly so we will see some heavy in the west, strong, possibly disruptive wins for a time and parts of south—west england and northern ireland, gusting up to 60 miles per hour. rain pushing east and showers following.

welcome to bbc news, i'm mike embley. our top stories: it's official — joe biden will be the next president of the united states as the electoral college certifies his victory. 0ur democracy pushed, tested, threatened, proved to be resilient, true and strong. and in washington, outgoing president trump announces his attorney general, william barr, will be leaving by christmas. the coronavirus vaccine has begun rolling out across america on the day the death toll on the country passes 300,000. in china, questions about the alleged forced use of people from minority communities