this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the bbc understands that all primary schools in london are to remain closed for the start of term — after a u—turn by the british government. research confirms the the new coronavirus variant discovered in the uk has a much quicker rate of transmission. if the new variant is now present, with this increase in the r number, all of a sudden instead of a decrease of 30%, we get a massive increase, the number of cases over the same period could triple. so, this is more or less the most serious change in the virus that we've seen. a new era begins, as the brexit transition period ends and the uk completes its formal separation from the european union. and as the uk celebrates the new year in a muted way, police issue fines to some

for breaking covid restrictions. this could be a year for positive change. sir david attenborough has praised mankind's ability to pull together after a tough year, in a special new year's message. music plays and 36 years after its first release, wham!‘s "last christmas" finally tops the uk music charts. teaching unions have welcomed a government decision that every primary school in london will now stay closed next week after the christmas holidays. most of the schools were set to stay closed anyway but schools in nine london boroughs including greenwich and haringey were supposed to open. the mayor of london sadiq khan has tweeted his support for the move

so has the leader of greenwich council — but it is yet to be confirmed by the department for education. we have had a statement from the national education union. he says it is welcome that albeit in the last minute fashion ministers have corrected a nonsensical position unjustifiable by evidence or sense. let's speak to councillor danny thorpe is the labour leader of greenwich council — one of the nine london authorities to write to the schools minister asking for all primary schools in the capital to be shut until at least the 18th of januaruy. first of all have you had confirmation of this delay? our officials have been in contact with the department for education and we understand official confirmation is coming our way shortly so it appears this is the direction of travel. coming our way shortly so it appears this is the direction of travelm was only a few weeks ago that you got a threatening letter from the

government threatening legal action if you're not state open. our numbers have continued to rocket in greenwich and when we got that legal direction, our infection before was at 254 per 100,000, it went above the dark days of the pandemic. we have gone above 800 and clearly this is the right decision and a decision that we notjust is the right decision and a decision that we not just welcome is the right decision and a decision that we notjust welcome but i know schools, pupils, families across london will welcome tonight for some it is for parents, children and teachers very late notice. it is and i think that is extremely reg retta ble i think that is extremely regrettable and i think one of the things as it is absolutely essential that we have a clear government plan to set out how we will keep schools open for the duration of this pandemic, we are in a really dark time at the moment, we need real a nswe i’s time at the moment, we need real answers about vaccinations if indeed keeping schools open is the national priority, many people want to see

all schools started vaccinated. we a lwa ys all schools started vaccinated. we always need to deal with online learning because there has been huge issues there and fundamentally, we think that the absolute workplace for all person to be is children but we need to make school being safe and geta we need to make school being safe and get a clear strategy in place to support our most disadvantaged children who we are extremely worried about that attainment gap which has grown massively for them as his pandemic continues to rage. which has grown massively for them as his pandemic continues to ragelj wa nted as his pandemic continues to ragelj wanted to ask you about vulnerable children and children of key workers and how that will work in terms of schooling for them. i have not had the official news yet from the department so as soon as we had that open liaison with our schools, we will work in exactly the same weight we did last time and one of the said issues of this whole debate is this notion that myself and others asked for schools to be closed when actually schools in greenwich and schools across this country have not been closed throughout some of the darkest days of this pandemic. a lot of people have asked about special schools, they have been doing a

phenomenaljob keeping our most vulnerable children and young people open, and we will work with school leaders now to see how we can do except for that next week. this balance between educational needs of children and the health of the nation, would it be your preference to have a total lockdown now?|j think to have a total lockdown now?” think given where we are and seeing those rapid numbers, clearly are people are getting worried. i have not seen the latest official figures from the government, we are still waiting for those. but increasing there could be a short sharp pain forward may be the way, but the crucial thing about that, for example in tier 4 areas, we have not seen additional support for businesses who are really suffering, we need that to come forward. i think what all of the country needs moving forward now from the government is a bit of a road map about what we are all going to do together because we are in this together because we are in this together in these coming days and must make sure that we all get

through this. there is a slight sense of deja vu about all this that this seems to be a last—minute change in mind of the government. we heard them recently announced that secondary schools in the uk would go back on the 18th. do you think now thatis back on the 18th. do you think now that is a decision that needs to be looked at again? as i said, i think we need a whole clear plan about that and clearly head teachers have expressed concern that and clearly head teachers have expressed concern about the test and support systems that has been required. my counsel here in greenwich, i have had officers working but this whole christmas holiday including christmas day and we are going out a whole testing programme tomorrow for those year 11 and 13 pupils who will be going back into school that will be vital because of their exam periods. i am delighted to note that we have had confirmation that 1800 pupils in greenwich have got those tests book now in this coming days so we can get back to school safely and i think that is what other councils and schools will be absently flat out undoing. counsellor danny thorpe, very good of you to join us, things for your time.

thorpe, very good of you to join us, things foryourtime. iain thorpe, very good of you to join us, things for your time. iain watson hasjoined us, things for your time. iain watson has joined us, what things for your time. iain watson hasjoined us, what are things for your time. iain watson has joined us, what are the government saying about this? they're saying absently nothing about this because i'm guessing from the national education union, and others, sadiq khan, the london mayor are all welcoming the u—turn which the government has not announced. the any you is asking wire education minister so inadequate and inept, who is advising christmas this is going to backfire future, is it not? what is interesting is that sadiq khan has had constructive talks of the past 48 hours with the schools minister nick gab, it sounds as though he has been bobbing for all schools and when the primary as referred for key workers to close until at least generally the 18th and will select the government was willing to move. —— nick gibb. in terms of appearance, and in terms of clearly also educational provisional which the government has said was its priority, it seems odd that it is only 48 hours since the

government has moved since apartment was recalled to say that very specific areas would have school clothes and the rest would open. that has now been thrown into doubt. that has now been thrown into doubt. that will also raise questions about when schools may reopen in the future because he said at least untiljanuary future because he said at least until january the 18th, so future because he said at least untiljanuary the 18th, so we get confirmation for that, there is the prospect that people had to organise childcare and so on beyond that. there would be a political argument over whether it is right around to close schools during the pandemic but the manner in which it is being done i think will being charges from the opposition that the government sipping not having a grip on this crisis because parents will be given very short notice about making new arrangements several days for the children are due to return from a two—week break. children are due to return from a two-week break. and there will be the suspicion what is right for london may well apply to the rest of england and the default administrations may be looking at this as well. the devolved administrations are delaying the return, london has delayed the

return, london has delayed the return, to mid—january before schools return in scotland as well for some what is interesting is what these council beaches, you spoke thereto danny thorpe from greenwich, but many different local were pushing the government on this. what they were asking was what was the rationale for keeping some schools open and closing others? if we got that rationale published, then i think people in other areas may become concerned as well because if it is down to the number of cases for example per borough or local authority and other areas in tier 4, they may see this coming their way too. there may be pressure on gavin williamson to make another statement to clear for williamson to make another statement to clearfor his williamson to make another statement to clear for his position. williamson to make another statement to clearfor his position. and because the prime entry recall and cova, mps are doing their return. notjust cova, mps are doing their return. not just schools cova, mps are doing their return. notjust schools but parliament cova, mps are doing their return. not just schools but parliament as well, so there may not be an opportunity to have that level of scrutiny from other mp5. but you would expect a government minister to make this very clear, to coin a phrase, the clock is ticking. we thought we put that went to bed! it

is on the schools return. i think the pressure to claire for this not just in london where it is known that schools will remain closed but other schools throughout the tier 4 covering 75% of the english population. you very much. there are growing concerns about a new variant of the coronavirus after more analysis confirmed it has a much quicker rate of transmission than the original strain. the variant has now been identified in at least 17 countries around the world after it was originally found here in the uk. it's led to a big increase in cases in britain and hospitals are under severe stress, with emergency health care staff said to be at "battle stations". our health correspondent dominic hughes reports. it might be a new year, but there's no letup in the pressure on hospitals in london and the south—east. a surge in seriously ill covid patients mean staff are being pushed to the limit. intensive care beds are a real pinch point. some patients are being moved from kent to bristol and plymouth where there is spare capacity. that in itself is not unheard of but doctors say it shows the pressures

they are working under. if the number of cases don't begin to reduce fairly soon, and indeed reduce sharply, we would be in a situation where the health care infrastructure, notjust in london but across the entire country, is overwhelmed. and it's not just rising patient numbers. staff themselves are falling ill, meaning resources are getting stretched. everybody is reporting a lot of pressure. everybody is saying it's really difficult to off—load ambulances because our departments are full, because in turn our hospitals are full. it's very frustrating because you can't look after patients the way you want to and you feel helpless when you know there is a sick patient in an ambulance that you just can't get into a department because there isn't space. in order to provide some relief, the nightingale hospital in london

is being made ready for non—covid patients, but still hospitals report the situation remains very difficult. when we are seeing major london trusts, as we have seen in the media today, basically saying they are under real pressure, they are at more than double the normal rate of icu admissions, then we see they are turning whole floors into additional icu space, that's when we know we are in a very, very challenging place. this surge in patient numbers is being driven by the new variant of the coronavirus. it is more contagious and is affecting more younger people. it's having an impact notjust on hospitals in london and the south—east but right across the country. new research highlights the impact the new variant of the virus is having on the r number — the rate at which it spreads. under the lockdown, maybe over the course of two to three weeks the cases would have decreased by something like 30%. but if the new variant is now present, with this increase in the r number, all of a sudden instead of this decrease of 30%, we get a massive increase, the number of cases over the same

period could triple. so this is more or less the most serious change in the virus we have seen since the epidemic began. the best defence against the virus remains maintaining social distance, good hand hygiene and wearing face coverings, but the big concern is as this new variant spreads the extreme pressures now evident in london and the south—east will soon be seen across the country. dominic hughes, bbc news. laura duffel — a matron in a london hospital, has been speaking to bbc radio 5 live about the situation in hospitals — and how this current wave of coronavirus infection is different to the last. yeah, it's very different. i think that's what makes it so much scarier for us as nurses and doctors and porters and health care assistance and everyone else assistants and everyone else who is working on the front line. we have children who are coming in. it was minimally affecting children in the first wave. we have a whole ward

of children here. and i know that some of my colleagues are in the same position where they have whole wards of children with covid. 20 and 30—year—olds with no underlying health conditions. you know, it's people that also aren't aware of how sick they are. so, they will come into a&e with difficulty breathing thinking that maybe they've contracted covid and you check their observations and they are in a lot worse position than the even realise. and you just look at some people and because of how low their oxygen levels are, they're not even aware, you kind of become like euphoric and you think everything is fine. but it is just not. in intensive care, you could have up to two or three very sick ventillated patients at the moment, which is far beyond what you should have on the wards. some of my colleagues across london

have been looking after up to 15 adults on a covid ward with one health care assistant supporting them. so, you don't stop. the uk's chief medical officers have defended the covid vaccination plan, after criticism from a doctors' union. people will receive the two doses of the oxford and pfizer vaccines 12 weeks apart, although initially it was planned to leave 21 days between the pfizerjabs. the british medical association said cancelling patients booked in for their second doses was "grossly unfair". the government says they've delivered a million doses of the vaccine — but some are concerned about the speed of roll—out. our health correspondent jim reed has more. it's the great hope to end this pandemic and return life to something like normal. more than1 million people in the uk have now received the first dose of this vaccine made by the drugs companies pfizer and biontech. the injection needs to be given in two doses. 0riginally, those were meant to be three weeks apart. now doctors are being told

to delay those second appointments and rebook, leaving a longer, 12—week gap. the union representing doctors and some individual gps said cancelling people at the last minute was grossly unfair. there are both practical implications, like actually having to have a conversation with over 1000 patients about the fact that the arrangement you've made no longer applies, and no, you don't know what's going to happen next, and no, you don't know what that means for the efficacy of the vaccine, because they were told that you definitely need two doses. but there's also the implications for trust — for trust in us as doctors, trust in us as their own gp. pfizer has said it has only tested the effectiveness of the vaccine when the two shots were given up to three weeks apart. but in a letter, the uk's chief medical 0fficers said the great majority of initial protection came from that first jab and that spreading out the vaccine shots will mean more people can be reached more quickly.

let's vaccinate as many people as possible and try to get control of this infection, because at the moment, lockdown on its own, i'm sure it's helping, but on its own, it's not controlling the infection. at least we come in armed into the new year with two vaccines which are highly effective at preventing severe disease. next week, hospitals like this one should start to get a second vaccine, designed by scientists from oxford university, which should be easier to store and faster to roll out. but again, only around 500,000 doses will be available on day one — far less than originally thought. the government says tens of millions more jabs will be available by march. getting all those to the vulnerable people who need them will now be crucial as the health service battles the next winter wave of this pandemic. jim reed, bbc news. in the us, health authorities have not met their original goal to vaccinate 20 million people by the end of 2020. 14 million vaccine doses have been

delivered to hospitals and health departments across the country but less than 3 million people have been innoculated by new year's eve. the vaccine roll—out plan has been criticised for being "slow and disorganised". it comes as the country passes 20 million cases of coronavirus. i'm joined now by drew armstrong, senior editorfor health care at bloomberg news, who is compiling a vaccine tracker for the whole of the united states. so, 0peration warp speed turns out to be... has installed? i think it's a very fair question that a lot of people are asking around the us but after the kind of warp speed development of the vaccines which the united states deserves credit for pushing forward , states deserves credit for pushing forward, we are seeing certainly not a warp speed delivery of the vaccines into people's arms wasn't the goal was stated around 20 million by the end of last year at

this point and that was already revised downward and it appears the country will have only achieved a tiny, tiny fraction of that 3 million out of those 20. it is only really giving about 200,000 or 300,000 inoculations a day at presence. but these vaccines have a sheu presence. but these vaccines have a shelf life so we'll get to a point with a will be useless by the time they get to people's arms? they have a shelf life when they are defrosted and brought to usable tangible —— temperature for site that's not in danger when they are in the deep freezer the time when we are talking about. but it does raise questions about. but it does raise questions about what is happening with all these vaccines that have been distributed and are they being used efficiently, even though that number of distributed vaccines is not as high as the united states would like, they are of no use at all when they are sitting on a freezer shelf somewhere. i think it has raise significant questions in this country about what is happening with this, why has this been so slow, and will it pick up in the coming weeks?

and what is your tracker showing in terms of the variations across the states ? terms of the variations across the states? that is a great question because we have seen some states in the us have had remarkable success in getting out the doses that have been delivered. a couple of examples, south dakota, maine, connecticut have used anywhere from up connecticut have used anywhere from up to 40—50% of the vaccine doses that they have had shipped to them but then you see some states that are wagging quite significantly and have only used 20% of the doses that have only used 20% of the doses that have been shipped. huge variation across the us and frankly, when we look at this globally we see nations like israel where they have vaccinated almost 10% of the publishing compared to the united states where we are at about 1% right now. anything on this scale will have teething problems but the hope is that as we go along, lessons are being learns that this process will speed up. i think that is the hope but if you look at some

state—level vaccination officials telling the federal government that they needed billions of dollars to be able to implement this. state governments are already stretched thin extremely by the last ten most of this crisis and saying they needed resources, they have not gotten them untiljust a few days ago when... it will take a long time to get them out to states, get people hired to do this. i think the us, it is clear that there is some missteps and missed opportunities that have happened here in terms of making this roll—out go as fast as what was promised earlier this year. drew, drew armstrong think you very much forjoining us. more on our main story for the decision by the government to close on monday primary schools until the 18th of january. the on monday primary schools until the 18th ofjanuary. the reaction on monday primary schools until the 18th of january. the reaction from the opposition labour party, their shadow secretary kate green chess this is another... —— another u—turn

creating huge stress for parents, peoples and school and college staff and damaging children's education. we will get more on this and when we do, we will bring it to you. a new era has begun for the united kingdom, after completing its formal separation from the european union. there will be changes to many aspects of life, from travel to security, migration and business. 0n the first day of the separation, there's been no reported disruption to freight across the channel between england and france. 0ur correspondent mark easton reports from the dover port. the dawn of the new year, and at the uk border in dover, the start of a new chapter for cross—channel relations. bonjour, monsieur! merci, my love. brexit is now a reality. these lorries needing to navigate a tangle of red tape, customs checks and regulatory inspections, plus, of course, covid tests, before being permitted to cross the border. 25 miles outside the port, hgvs reach a police checkpoint on the m20. they need to have a kent access

permit, nicknamed a kermit, to demonstrate their paperwork is in order. european truck drivers heading to the continent seemed sanguine about all the extra hassle. i have the permission to go, yes. was that difficult or was it an extra? no, no. has it been difficult for you today? no. it's ok. ilike england! good for you! traffic is usually light on new year's day but with details of the trading deal with the eu published less than a week ago, many import—export companies are delaying journeys, with fears of widespread disruption to freight in the next weeks and months. many shipments that we had booked for next week have been cancelled and they‘ re choosing to get their supplies from europe rather than coming from the united kingdom. so i do see that there is going to be some problems, obviously, with suppliers. 1,651 days since the uk voted to leave the european union, and finally brexit has

become a reality. now we shall see what that choice means for our relationship with our nearest neighbours, and for britain's standing around the globe. today is the first day of our complete independence from the european union. technically, we were independent on the 31st of january last year, but of course we have just gone through the transitional period and now that is completed so we can say absolutely clearly that britain is a sovereign, independent state. taking control of our borders has meant new infrastructure, new it systems to speed up customs processing, but they remain largely untested. new inland borderfacilities — but the largest is still not ready to open. fingers are being firmly crossed. what the government is trying to do is essentially buy itself more time in a few more areas. they will be waiving import controls on goods coming into the uk to allow them to get the necessary systems and infrastructure in place to be able to manage that. the government accepts there will be

bumpy moments as people adapt to the new post—brexit environment but insists that today marks the moment when the united kingdom takes back control of its destiny. mark easton, bbc news, dover. and... about time. wham!'s last christmas has topped the uk singles chart for the first time, 36 years after it was first released. the festive classic was streamed 9.2 million times over the last week, knocking ladbaby‘s don't stop me eating off the top spot. let's have a listen. # last christmas i gave you my heart # last christmas i gave you my heart # but the very next day, you give it away... first released in december 1984, george michael and andrew ridgeley‘s song was famously held off the top spot by band aid's do they know it's christmas? it has subsequently returned to the top 10 a further six times.

and andrew ridgely has tweeted that he is amazed that it has reached number one. hello, good evening. there is no real sign of things warming up anytime soon. this cold weather certainly with us for the next few days but probably for the next week or more. there will be some wintry showers at times. 0n the earlier satellite picture, you can see speckled shower clouds being brought down on the northerly wind. some slightly more widespread cloudy weather that's been affecting parts of england and wales today, bringing some spots of rain, some bits and pieces of sleet and snow as well. that will tend to clear away southwards, although it will stay quite misty and murky, i think across parts of the south—east. and some showers still in that northerly wind, northern ireland, northern and eastern scotland. down the east coast of england, some of those showers will be wintry. where you see clear skies for much of the night, it's going to be very cold indeed, —7, maybe —8 in one or two sheltered spots. so into tomorrow, a bit

cloudy and murky to start off across east anglia and the south—east. then, it is a sunshine and showers day. the showers again being blown in on that northerly wind. so, through northern ireland, west wales, devon and cornwall, parts of northeast scotland, the eastern side of england, but even if you keep sunshine through the day, it will feel chilly. those are the top temperatures through the afternoon, 2—5 celsius. these showers in eastern england are likely to drift further inland through parts of the midlands and into wales. could even get a brief covering of snow in places through saturday night. as we get into sunday, a subtle change. because this area of high pressure to the west shifts up to the north. as the high changes shape, the wind direction change as well. the wind direction changes as well. instead of the northerly winds we are going to have a north—easterly wind. a subtle shift but it will focus the showers into eastern areas and provide a bit of shelter out west. so northern ireland, wales, the south—west should see drier weather was sunshine on sunday.

weather with some sunshine on sunday. but that the north—easterly wind will be quite wet. it is to feel quite raw i think with temperatures on the thermometer 4—6 celsius. it could feel colder than that. into the start of next week, still high pressure to the north. quite a few white lines you'll see here on the chart. quite a few isobars that shows that we will keep that brisk northeasterly wind. the blue colours on the chart, the air is still coming from a fairly cold place. so, low temperatures to take us right through the coming week. and there is the chance of some rain, sleet and snow at times.

this is bbc world news, the headlines. in the past few minutes, it's been confirmed that all primary schools in london are to remain closed for the start of term after a u—turn by the british government. research confirms the the new coronavirus variant discovered in the uk has a much quicker rate of transmission. a new era begins, as the brexit transition period ends and the uk completes its formal separation from the european union. and as the uk celebrates the new year in a muted way, police issue fines to some for breaking covid restrictions.