this is bbc news. the headlines... the us congress sits all night to confirm joe biden as president, after pro—trump rioters stormed the building seeking to overturn the result, leaving four people dead, and the country reeling in shock. astonishing scenes, as rioters made their way to the heart of the building. eventually, order was restored and the result confirmed. joe biden and kamala harris will be the president and vice president according to the ballots that have been given to us. president trump today said there should be an orderly transition of power — but that he still disagreed with the result. this is the scene live on capitol hill as america wakes up after a shocking night of violence.

we'll bring you all the latest developments. the oxford covid vaccine is rolled out to gp surgeries in england — but the health secretary visits a clinic that had not actually received any doses, because of a delay. official figures show more than 311,000 people tested positive for covid—19 in england between christmas eve and december 30th — up 24% on the previous week. good afternoon. after a day of extraordinary and shocking scenes in washington when supporters of donald trump stormed the seat of congress — lawmakers sat through the night to certinyoe biden‘s victory in the presidential election. despite rhetoric which encouraged the rioters to try to overturn

the lawful result of the election, mr trump this morning conceded that there should be an orderly transition of power on january 20th, the day scheduled for mr biden‘s inauguration. but he repeated his false claim that the "facts" pointed to a different outcome. the violence and anarchy, in which four people died, have shaken america to the core — and there have been calls for donald trump to be removed from office. in a moment we'll consider what is likely to happen in the coming days. but first this report by our correspondent aleem maqbool, who witnessed last night's attempted assault on democracy. at first, it was the few who breached security and gained access to the american halls of power. take it back! let's go! but it was soon hundreds who stormed and overran the us capitol while congress was in session. protesters are in the building. thank you.

politicians of both parties have described this as one of the most shameful incidents ever to take place here. they broke the glass? everybody stay down, get down. but the trump supporters who took part were unrepentant. that is just not how things are done in this country — lawlessness, storming buildings, even. and that's what's happened today. this nation wasn't founded on civility. this nation was founded on revolutionary activity. we became civil after the government realised that they got overwhelmed. so what happens now? i guess now we wait and see if they take us seriously because they saw how easily we were able to breach their defence. they'd earlier gathered for a rally for a president still insisting the election was rigged. as the electoral votes were being finalised by congress, he told protesters to march on the capitol. because you'll never take back our country with weakness. you have to show strength,

and you have to be strong. the capitol building was soon secured. but only in the evening the area around it eventually was, too. well, after hours of allowing protesters to remain on capitol grounds, with a curfew now in place, riot police are now finally pushing people off the grounds and away from the capitol building. while there was confrontation, many point out the relative restraint used by security forces as compared to some of the scenes we saw at black lives matter protests last summer. and the protesters here were proud of what they'd done. all over the world is looking at washington right now, they saw people storming the capitol... i hope they keep watching it. we are the last hope for the world! at least in my mind, and everything i've seen. we are free! after the upheaval, the session to formalise what we already know — thatjoe biden won the election —

continued, but under a heavy cloud. we condemn the violence that took place here in the strongest possible terms. we grieve the loss of life in these hallowed halls. this president bears a great deal of the blame. this mob was in good part president trump's doing, incited by his words, his lies. we no longer support you! donald trump did call for peace, but in the same breath he once again reiterated the rallying cry that caused the violence — that the election had been stolen. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in washington. the question everyone is asking is, what happens now? donald trump still has 13 days left in office — and there has been talk of invoking america's 25th amendment, which

would allow for his early removal. 0ur correspondent paul adams looks at america's options. a demonstration, a coup, even a revolution. the world looked on in horror, but what did yesterday's chaotic events at the capitol really mean and where is america heading? joe biden and kamala harris will be the president and vice president according to the ballot. in the early hours of this morning, a rattled congress certified the results of november's election. and the white house threw in the towel with the president temporarily banned from twitter after a tirade yesterday, it fell to his deputy chief of staff to tweet the news. it wasn't exactly a concession. even though i totally disagree with the outcome of the election, the president insisted, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition of power on january 20. but the message ends with defiance. it's only the beginning of our fight

to make america great again. the president has been defeated but he has deliberately left his passionate supporters with the conviction that they have been cheated. many, like elizabeth from knoxville, felt they had no choice but to act. we're storming the capitol, it's a revolution! but for some of the president's reliable allies in the republican party, efforts to hold up the result in congress was a step too far. all i can say is count me out, enough is enough. i have tried to be helpful. but whose party is it anyway? at yesterday's rally, donald trump's firebrand son had this warning. this isn't their republican party any more. this is donald trump's republican party. mitt romney, your constituents wanna know why. ..

establishment republicans are now being hounded, this video on social media showing passengers taunting utah senator mitt romney on his flight to washington. chanting traitor! and what of the man at the helm of this insurgency? for donald trump, his florida home at mar—a—lago beckons. is he planning to run again infouryears‘ time? 0r sit in court while republican hopefuls come and kiss his ring? donald trump did not invent america's hyper—partisan politics or the anger that rages, but he channelled and nurtured it to the end, fraying the very fabric of the republic. paul adams, bbc news. let's talk to sir christopher meyer, who was the british ambassador good afternoon tea, set christopher. hello there. i suppose no one ever

thought they would see scenes like this in washington but the youth who spent six years there as a representative of the british government it must be extraordinary. it is extraordinary and i didn't expect to see scenes like this and i remember very vividly what happened in the year 2000 when there was a disputed election between george w bush and al gore and when i think back so that it was among the most decorous and peaceful events that you could imagine, see you make a contrast with what happened in 2000 and what's just happened last night, it isa and what's just happened last night, it is a chalk and cheese. and what has made the difference, then? is that down to president trump? it's down to president trump. i would say that it down to president trump. i would say thatitis down to president trump. i would say that it is the personality, narcissism, the ambitions of president trump, the inability to accept defeat in any circumstances, that has been the main and the root cause of everything we saw last night. all the disorder, all the refusal to accept the election, a

lack respect for capital and the democratic institutions of the united states. all of this flows from president donaldj all of this flows from president donald j trump. all of this flows from president donald] trump. i wonder, though, do you think there is culpability to among some senior you think there is culpability to among some senior republicans? we saw republican senators yesterday standing up in congress before it was stormed to call into question some of the results in certain states of the election. well, that is perfectly true. when you look at the republican party now, and this is going to be important during the presidency of presidentjoe biden, you have to ask yourself the question, whose republican party is this? where our loyalties? where is the political point of gravity? what we knew for the last four years until most recent days was that trump had, by and large, taken over the trump republican party. they

we re the trump republican party. they were very, very few dissidents, particularly in the us senate, i mean, just a handful, and it was his party and as long as he had the loyalty of the vice president mike pence and the senates majority leader mitch mcconnell, donald trump, was safe. he had his base absolutely trump, was safe. he had his base a bsolutely safe trump, was safe. he had his base absolutely safe politically in washington, dc. and what we have seenin washington, dc. and what we have seen in the last few days, the fury, so we are told, of donald trump is mike pence said he cannot go against the people, he cannot go against the election, and mitch mcconnell in a rather eloquent speech for him just before the rioting started in the capital building, dissociating himself from president trump. so, your night, they have been a lot of people who have helped trump enable his ambitions. —— you are right. but when push came to shove, last night, most of them are not all of them peeled away from him. there has been a lot of public condemnation

internationally from world leaders, including from boris]ohnson and also from the home secretary. give us some sense, also from the home secretary. give us some sense, if you plan, of what might be being said behind—the—scenes of the closeness of the british government to president trump and his administration? will there be being second thoughts? well, i don't think there is. i think... second thoughts? well, i don't think there is. ithink... i second thoughts? well, i don't think there is. i think... i don't think there is. i think... i don't think the british government has ever been particularly close to the administration of donald trump. it went through the motions of what you must do with the government and the president of our most important partner and ally, you cannot turn your back on the united states because you don't like the man or woman that comes with that, occupying the oval office, and the full horror the donald trump took some time to reveal itself at the beginning, you could have said, well, this is an eccentric narcissist but what we didn't know was that he would turn out to be somebody who would actively promote the use of violence for him donald

trump to secure his political ambitions, so... the notion that... i suppose, maybe if i could just jump i suppose, maybe if i could just jump in there, i am thinking for example a boris johnson jump in there, i am thinking for example a borisjohnson talking about, suggesting that brexit might have been more easily done if there had been a trump —type approach to it, for example, and certainly president trump seem to imply that borisjohnson sort of was somewhat in the mould of himself. well, i don't accept that at all. i personally think that temper may wa nt personally think that temper may want politically you would be pushed to find a british politician more different to bundle trump then boris johnson. sure, there is a kind of superficial bun honey and donald trump was in favour of brexit although he hadn't the faintest idea of what brexit actually meant because he donald trump doesn't like the european union because he doesn't like multinational organisations and he has a

particular hostility towards chancellor angela merkel of germany but if you go into foreign policy, for example, point by point, we and the americans were constantly at odds. 0n climate change, for example. 0n the iran nuclear deal, for another example. 0n the world health organization. for another example. on the world health organization. on the world trade organization. and so on and so forth so, as i say, for all the superficiality of, how can you cut it, a smiling relationship in the high detail of policy we and the americans were more separate in the last four years and the people are... i wonder if i canjust last four years and the people are... i wonder if i can just ask you briefly come up with a president trump... will this end president trump's presidency? will it have an effect on the start of the biden presidency, do you think? will it be a sort of looming presence? this is a sort of looming presence? this is a super question. this is the question of questions. we are

talking about, will trump do something daft, will he be impeached or whatever between now and the inauguration on the 24th ofjanuary but far more interesting is what kind of presence, politically, will donald trump have throughout the biden presidency? will he go quietly into the western sunda? i doubt it. will he be a presence. i'm sure that is the case. —— quietly into the western sunset. i'm sure he will wa nt to western sunset. i'm sure he will want to be back in the white house in 2024. want to be back in the white house in 202a. president biden will have to deal all the time with £800 gorilla in the room who will be donaldj gorilla in the room who will be donald j trump. gorilla in the room who will be donald] trump. sir christopher mayo, usual colourful language. injury much indeed for talking to us. injury much indeed for talking to us. good to talk to you. thank so much. our correspondent nomia iqbal is at capitol hill.

what is the atmosphere like now after yesterday's to motorists events ? after yesterday's to motorists events? it is a lot calmer now, a com plete events? it is a lot calmer now, a complete contrast to the case we saw yesterday. a lot of questions being asked about that security lapse that allowed those rioters to get into congress but, it should say, the security is much tighter this morning, as you can imagine. lines of police cars surrounded us, also lying to police, officers walking up and down the streets as well. there are some donald trump supporters milling about. there was a car full of supporters that drove pastors and holland pew sitters. there was also another car, and manning that car shouted to choose from supporters who are on a scooter, saying why can't haven't you had enough, why can't haven't you had enough, why can't you just go home? —— a car full of supporters that drove past us full of supporters that drove past us and hollered abuse. but it is a

lot calmer. president trump has released a statement to the white house that he is committed to an orderly transition of power, something that he has never said before, but he still refuses to recognise your buying's victory but it doesn't matter because in the early hours of this morning, was confirmed thatjoe biden will be next president of the us. we mustn't forget the sort of shock that people working in that building behind you had to endure as their place of work was under siege. that is right, but there are lots of people in the democratic party who were tweeting saying that they knew that this was going to happen. because donald trump had been previewing yesterday, he had, even before christmas, he had been rallying his supporters for this so—called day of reckoning because he didn't want congress to confirm joe biden. and there's been, you know, 25th amendment has come up

a lot. the housejudiciary committee, made up of democrats, all of them have written a letter to the vice president mike pence calling on him to invoke the 25th amendment which basically would involve mike pence having to get a majority of the administrations cabinet to remove donald trump from his position. it is not likely to happen because it is a long process and it would actually involved donald trump was my consent and it would actually go to congress but the fact that the talk has got to that level i think shows for many people yesterday was a real red line. thank you very much indeed. our correspondent in washington there us. thank you. gp surgeries in england have begun offering the first dose of the oxford—astrazeneca covid—i9 vaccine, with the second dose to be

given three months later. the health secretary matt hancock attended a surgery this morning to promote the initiative, only to discover the new vaccine had yet to arrive. a gp there said its arrival had been delayed by 2a hours. leaders in birmingham have written to the health secretary to say they expect to run out of the pfizer vaccine tomorrow and as yet haven't received any stocks of the oxford version. naomi grimley reports. today, you're going to get your vaccine to prevent you getting the covid. a wartime—like endeavour in peacetime. the next few days are due to see a massive ramping—up of this national effort, in the hope of vaccinating 13 million vulnerable people by mid—february. this morning, the health secretary matt hancock was hearing how gps will begin to take on a larger part of the roll—out, especially now the oxford—astrazeneca jab will start arriving in surgeries. there was a hitch, though, because the surgery he went to didn't get its expected delivery of the oxford vaccine. it all adds to questions about if the government's ambitions are achievable.

it's just more frustrating than a concern, because we've got capacity to vaccinate, and if we had a regular supply, we do have the capacity to vaccinate 3,000 to 4,000 patients a week. we have been running since the middle of december, and on our busiest days we can vaccinate 500 people, easily. labour says the incident shows why ministers need to move heaven and earth to get the programme up to speed. so, what reassurance is the government offering that it can increase supplies and vaccinate 2 million people every week? the rate—limiting step is the supply of vaccine, and we are working with the companies, both pfizer and astrazeneca, to increase the supply. i just want to thank all the gp surgeries who have been working hard to get the vaccine out so far and are now going to have more vaccine coming through so that they can get all of those vulnerable groups vaccinated. this plant in wrexham

is where the oxford vaccine gets put into vials, ready to go. the government admits that there have been issues with the distribution, because every batch has to be checked for safety reasons. the uk regulator, the mhra, is now expanding lab space to make sure this can be speeded up. it has been taking as long as 20 days. another big milestone will come next week, when mass vaccination centres start at venues like this one at the excel centre in london. it's still early days, but public health experts are stressing that this breakneck speed has to be achieved, or we'll all be in lockdown for much longer. naomi grimley, bbc news. our health correspondent katharine da costa is here. birmingham is reporting a shortage

of vaccine. tells more about what they are saying. yet, that is white. leaders in birmingham have written a letter to the health sector free matt hancock warning the city could run at the pfizer vaccine by tomorrow and it hasn't received any stocks of the oxford extra zeneca vaccine. the leader of the council of is no clarity on whether further supplies will arrive at this politically heading miami's piece there, turned up a gp centre hoping to see the oxford vaccine being rolled out only to find out there weren't any supplies available there either. the government says that so fari.3 million either. the government says that so far 1.3 million people have had their first vaccine dose. the government has set itself the target of preparing 13 million at the most vulnerable by mid—february. the aim to get to 2 million vaccines a week if supply allows but it is a big logistical task. mr hancock says that things that are going to slow them down comes down to supply and they're talking with the companies,

oxford, astrazeneca and with pfizer to maintain supplies and another factor is that each batch has to be tested for quality control and certified before it is sent out and the uk regulator is said to be trying to speed that process up by increasing lab capacity and, in a few minutes, nhs sources have said that the birmingham centres should start to receive the oxford vaccine from today. so, we have a line on the vaccine to protect people and also to take the pressure of the nhs and yet we have had mounting evidence of the last few days of the nhs being under a great deal of pressure. yes, many hospitals in the uk are now at the busiest in parnevik began. and, more than 30,000 coded patients are now in hospital compared to about 21,000 at the peak of last april. there are more than 3000 new hospital admissions every day on average, three times the normal winter amount. new figures show that the number of beds and use has gone up this week after a slight dip over

christmas. for the week ending 3rd of january, 86 was christmas. for the week ending 3rd ofjanuary, 86 was on christmas. for the week ending 3rd of january, 86 was on the beds were full, up a83% the week before. one third of trust said that they were more than 90% full. that is even after they have set up extra icu beds, that is where beds are set up in other areas of hospitals like operating theatres and recovery wards. third... half in london. the health service it's actually busiest in the winter but the nationalfigures do not busiest in the winter but the national figures do not tell the full story. they do not say how many trusts have had to cancel nonurgent operations and outpatient appointments to free up, to create the capacity, and they don't tell us the capacity, and they don't tell us the severe pressure that some local areas and under. many thanks. our health correspondent the of there. new figures from the nhs test and trace programme show a record number of people tested positive for covid—19 in england during the christmas period. more than 311,000 people

received positive results in the week to december the 30th. professor sir david spiegelhalter from the centre for mathematical sciences at the university of cambridge joins us now. good afternoon to you, professor. all the figures show that the nhs is under strain, that the number of cases is going up. can you put the sort of trajectory of the disease in any sort of trajectory of the disease in a ny co ntext sort of trajectory of the disease in any context for those? yes. i think we ought to always be careful about the daily reports that are given because for example yesterday we had this frightening figure of 1000 new deaths being reported and actually a lot of those were dating back some days and the true number every 2a hours, at the moment, is more like just over 600, but it is going up. the number of deaths is going up, the number of cases going up. it is likely to be quite soon as lockdown sta rts likely to be quite soon as lockdown starts taking effect. the number of hospitalisations at a record level

at the moment and those will start, will peak probably in a week or two weeks, it is an unbelievably challenging time for the nhs. but as the lockdown starts taking effect, as the vaccine starts taking effect, we might see, by february, decline in these numbers and there should be a steady decline and then with the vaccine starts taking over we should really see by march a very substantial, actually quite low levels possibly of covid deaths. might people will be heartened to hear you saying that. you and i talk to each other a great deal last april or may. one of because what we're dealing with a different

version of the virus. is it important not to conflate the two? well, i think, important not to conflate the two? well, ithink, i mean, this is a new variant, it does look as if it is transmitting more and that means we have got to have this lockdown. we might have been able to get away with just the tier system without the new variant, but we have got to do that and i think the crucial discs fronts between now, last spring and now, is the vaccine. it is quite extraordinary that this is coming galloping over the horizon and by this claim that we can get the top 13 million people, high—risk people, vaccinated by next month, that actually soaks up more than 90% of the current deaths, and so what we should see by march is possibly a rather low levels of hospitalisations and deaths among the older people, but what will happen then? there will be very strong happen then? there will be very strong pressures happen then? there will be very strong pressures to relax the constraints when the nhs is not struggling so hard, but that could mean that the virus will start spreading very strongly, spiking among the younger population. that will mean they will be a different type of person he was in hospital and, you know, that will be... and the younger people are not yet been

vaccinated. we are going to see a very different process going on as the year progresses. that is very interesting. so, we hear health workers saying that they are seeing younger people, seriously ill with this disease. that is a fact, however, most scientists do seem to agree that it is older people who are most seriously affected. absolutely. it has been known for a long time that the age gradient in terms of the risk is very strong and thatis terms of the risk is very strong and that is why the privatisation is strongly age based. i am in group five and waiting patiently and i'm 16 millions and that you have a sign that had to wait some time. —— privatisation not privatisation. the curious thing, the one good sign is that none covid deaths and actually isa that none covid deaths and actually is a very low level at the moment, and this is because of many factors, mild winter, no flu because of the, or very little flu because of the restrictions we are all living

under, and also, very sadly, that a number of old people, many with alzheimer's in dementia actually died earlier this year with covid and so we may very well end up there at the end of this winter when we look back we might find that the total number of deaths was fewer than may be in a recent bad flu year, and the real problem then is that many people will say, and they are saying this already, oh well, why did we need all those restrictions then? and this would be... you know, a deeply illogical claim. because the only reason that we are, we would get by in this way is because of the restrictions. i have gotte n is because of the restrictions. i have gotten an analogy, it is like people saying, oh, we didn't have much flooding this year, so why do we have to spend this money on these expensive and ugly flood protection? know, that is the reason you didn't get the flooding and that is the reason that we might get away this winter without a record number of

deaths. very good to talk to you. that is professor sir david speak a halter from the centre for mathematical sciences at cambridge university. we will have more on the light of the vaccine and live coverage of the latest downing street coronavirus briefing. led by the prime minister, accompanied by the prime minister, accompanied by the ceo of the nhs simon stephens and also by brigadier phil cross, and also by brigadier phil cross, and that is a 5pm here of course on bbc news. now it is time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas. we've got more wintry scenes across many parts of the uk today, especially in scotland and northern ireland where there was a bit of snow overnight. we've got more sleet and snow today, especially over parts of northern england. things will feel cold for everyone. we've got further snow showers across parts of scotland, rain and sleet for northern ireland, this area of snow pushing into northern england through the day and there could be several centimetres here. temperatures about 1c

or so where the freezing fog lingers for much of the day, 4—5c in the warmest areas. into this evening and overnight, the weather front continues to bring heavy snowfall over parts of northern england, ten centimetres possible over the pennines, and some wintry showers to the south of that, as well, but for many a cold night. temperatures again below freezing, so watch out for icy stretches in many places tomorrow. there will be some sunshine tomorrow for scotland and northern ireland. england and wales cloudier with sleet and snow at times and temperatures just 1—5c. another cold day ahead. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: the us congress sits all night to confirm joe biden as president, after pro—trump rioters stormed the building seeking to overturn the result, leaving four people dead, and the country reeling in shock. astonishing scenes, as rioters made their way to the heart of the building. eventually, order was restored

and the result confirmed. president trump today said there should be an orderly transition of power — but that he still disagreed with the result. the oxford covid vaccine is rolled out to gp surgeries in england — but the health secretary visits a clinic that had not actually received any doses because of a delay. official figures show more than 311,000 people tested positive for covid—19 in england between christmas eve and december 30th — up 24% on the previous week. sport now and a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. the international olympic committee say it's fully concentrated on delivering the tokyo games later this year as planned despite the state of emergency that's been declared in the japanese capital as daily covid infections hit a record there. the delayed games are due to get underway at the end ofjuly.

here's our senior sports news reporter laura scott. they have declared this one—month state of emergency and of course they are hoping that this achieves the right things in bringing the coronavirus cases down in tokyo. that one month state of emergency is in tokyo and three neighbouring prefectures and is in place until the 8th of february. the situation is at crisis point, they say. we have heard from the ioc and the local organising committee of the tokyo games, the ioc saying that they have full confidence in the japanese authorities and the measures they are taking. the tokyo organising committee also confident that the games can go ahead and they are still very much planning for that. just a word of caution, clearly last year we heard from the ioc president thomas bach on 3rd of march, and he said the tokyo games would go ahead as planned and then they were postponed on 24th of march.

so all eyes on tokyo to see how this state of emergency goes in terms of bringing those coronavirus cases down. still several months to go before the games are due to get under way. as far as putting on a successful and safe games is concerned, we know vaccinations will be central to that, for all of those involved, certainly athletes. interesting comments from the british olympic association saying that athletes who wants to compete in tokyo will not be skipping the queue, they recognise that there are more important people like front line workers that need the vaccine first. yes, the chief executive of the british olympic association andy anson said the priority has to be people who need it first which i'm sure most people would agree with. he said there will be a time ahead of the games when athletes can be considered for vaccination but he said they will only do it when they think it is appropriate. our understanding that would be late spring, early summer,

and they want to stress they don't want to jump the queue. the ioc are understood to be working out how they will deal with and help nations who do not have extensive vaccination programmes. southampton's fa cup third round tie with shrewsbury on saturday is off after a number of positive coronavirus tests amongst the players and staff at shrewsbury. manchester city's game against west ham in the women's super league this weekend has also been postponed, after positive tests in the city camp. arsenal's game against aston villa is also expected to be postponed. mezut ozil could leave arsenal this month having been left out of arsenal's premier league and european squads. the 32 year old has six months left on his contract and is now free to talk to other clubs. despite being the highest earner in the club, he hasn't featured for the gunners since march. mikel arteta says a decsion on his future will be made in the coming days. i don't know what is going to happen

but obviously now he is free to negotiate with other clubs. we will discuss internally what the best situation is for him in the near future and with the player and his agent, and try to find the best solution for everybody. the england women's cricket team are going to tour pakistan for the first time. they'll play two twenty20 matches and a one—day series in october and they will be there alongside the men's team. clare connor, who's in charge of women's cricket at the ecb says it's an important step in their history. that's all the sport for now. three teenagers accused of murdering a 13—year—old boy who was stabbed to death have appeared in court in reading. two boys, aged 13 and 1a, and a 13—year—old girl have been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm. duncan kennedy reports. olly stevens died on sunday

after being stabbed. he was 13 years old. he had been here, in the emmer green area of reading. thames valley police have carried out a widespread investigation in the surrounding area, and local people have brought flowers to show their respects. today, three teenagers appeared at a youth court in reading in connection with the killing. the three appeared separately in the dock, the girl aged 13 and the two boys aged 13 and 1a. their identities can't be revealed because of their ages. all three were charged with murder, and all three charged with conspiring to cause grievous bodily harm. the girl was also charged with perverting the course ofjustice. the three teenagers' mothers were also in court. before today's hearing, olly‘s parents had released this statement, saying...

the teenagers were remanded into youth detention accommodation, and will appear at reading crown court this afternoon. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in reading. during the last lockdown, there were concerns about the disparity between affluent families with access to laptops, and those less well—off without. now, with schools again closed to the majority of children, those concerns have re—emerged. fiona lamdin has been speaking to families about their remote learning difficulties, and the efforts being made to get equipment to those children who need it. the ogu family in bristol. home—schooling with no computer during the first lockdown was very hard. it got to a point where i was feeling depressed. i felt scared and i was worried, not just for myself, i was worried for my children

as well because we had not enough apps on the phone, but then how can four people be using one phone to do schoolwork? it was a nightmare. are you worried your children will fall behind this time? yes, iam, honestly. if i could get a laptop for my children, i would be over the moon, honestly. and here is the holgate family in swindon as they face the latest lockdown. we met them six months ago, when they were home—schooling six children on one device. in the last lockdown, i had just my mum's phone. all my siblings got to go first to do their homework, and i had to wait until bedtime to get my hour slot. so that was really hard. but a viewer donated a tablet, and so zion and her siblings are hoping they won't fall behind this time. they all have an hour slot on two devices, so it's going to be much easier for me to do my homework without all

of them hassling and fighting. there is a lot less arguing for the devices because kids are impatient, aren't they? and for many families, accessing online schoolwork is just not possible. and so, at this primary in somerset, a drive—through. but instead of fast food, this school is dishing up home learning packs. the children who have got devices, have got really strong broadband connections, did really well in the last lockdown. they didn't really fall behind at all. the children that didn't have those devices fell behind by approximately six months. and one of those was 14—year—old charlie. when we met him in the summer, he was struggling. he only had a phone. and then a viewer donated a laptop. my exams were better than i expected. what do you put that down to? if it wasn't for the laptop, it wouldn't have happened. it's made a massive impact on my future, if i was going for an apprenticeship or career. it's a life changer and a game changer, isn't it? yeah, yeah.

back in bristol, we were still filming with the ogus, when one of their teachers arrived with a laptop for them to borrow. what did you say? your laptop'sjust here if you'd like to grab it. oh, my goodness! the government say they are committed to giving out a million devices to help throughout the pandemic. for edwina and herfamily, they think this one is a miracle. thank you so very much. thank you. thank you very much. thank you, thank you! fiona lamdin, bbc news. let's get more on this and speak lindsey parslow who is the chief executive of buinsess2schools — which started as a charity taking office furniture that was being thrown out and refurbished put into schools. now they have extended to computers and laptops. the need for tablets and laptops is made very clear by that report we

just showed. tell us about the work your charity does and how we laptops your charity does and how we laptops you have been able to provide? we have done really well. we set up business2schools long before lockdown, before we knew it was coming, and it was a place where business that were upgrading or refurbishing, moving, could donate the things they did not need to a good quality things which have not reached the end of their purposeful life and would make a perfect replacement for things in schools, so replacement for things in schools, so better quality furniture, and much faster computers. we have donated a lot of computers, one of the things we identified with businesses is that they upgrade what they don't need every 3—5 years but scuba punishments is ten years so if we could get businesses do not recycle their things when they get to the end —— but school replenishments is ten years. this would help students to work a bit

quicker but also with lockdown comic to be able to give these devices to children at home —— with lockdown, to be able to give these devices to children at home. you are able to give them to families? yes, we are. we have had so many donations from the public and from businesses. we are getting big numbers of devices, 350 at a time that we can send out to several schools that are in need. but with the public, they can just donate those directly to schools, because schools are set up that they will be able to sort out what data erasing needs to be done, they have to secure every device for a child, anyway, because it has got to be re—licensed and tested, so the school is the best place to approach to ta ke school is the best place to approach to take those things. this isn't just about poverty. it is actually about families having more than one child and about the age of the child, as well, as to whether they

have access to a computer or laptop. absolutely. we never expected that the digital divide would become so enormous because there is more than one child in a family, or to parents working from home, how can you decide if the student in their gcse year has the device rather than the child in the primary school? to be able to get everyone online is so important because most schools are running online lessons where children will log on and be with their classmates, so to take a child out of that situation so they can't see their friends is also a concern for their well—being and mental health in that situation. we are calling this the digital divide, the people who have enough in terms of technology and equipment and those who don't, how big is the divide? we thought a million devices would be enough to sort out the problem but i think to provide every child that

needs one with its own device, there are so many needs one with its own device, there are so many buildings that are now closed that are full of computers that businesses are not going to return to, or they have made arrangements to use laptops instead, so arrangements to use laptops instead, so it is all of those computers that we need, as well we are doing really well. people have helped so much and since lockdown we have found thousands of devices and we have had thousands of devices and we have had thousands donated this morning, 300 more schools registered with us that desperately need help, as well. thank you so much. that is the chief executive of business2schools. if you have a laptop or tablet that you want to donate then please go to bbc.co.uk/makeadifference — where you can find details of charities who will take your device or that can help you find a school that will get it to a pupil that needs it. police leaders have been explaining how the new restrictions will be

monitored, under the principles of ‘engage, explain, encourage and enforce'. martin hewitt, chair of the national police chiefs‘ council, said the priority was stopping the transmission of the virus. whilst we will still be our adopting our approach of four es, we will still engage with people, explain and we will encourage. we are going to move more quickly to enforcement where people are blatantly breaching the rules. the rules now are very, very clear. similar to where we were back in the spring of last year. and everyone has a responsibility to follow those rules and we will play our part and deal, particularly deal with those people who are blatantly breaching the rules and putting everyone's lives at risk. the home secretary priti patel has said it's right that police ‘act robustly‘ to enforce the new coronavirus lockdown. she said it was right to have ‘stringent‘ measures in place the fact of the matter is, the police have been

out every single day, enforcing the covid regulations and they have been using the methods of the four es in particular, to explain, encourage and now of course they are going to enforcement much quicker than they had done previously but actually, in a very similar way to which they had done in the spring of last year. they will continue to enforce, they will continue to pursue egregious breaches of the coronavirus regulations and they have been doing that anyway. in the last two weeks over the christmas period we have seen something like over 800 fixed penalty notice fines being issued when it comes to egregious breaches and people breaching the regulations around covid. from today, people in sweden are being urged to wearface masks when they use public transport on their way to and from work. there are no penalties for those who don‘t comply but this is the first time there has been any official advice on covering faces since the pandemic started.

around 9,000 people have died with coronavirus in sweden, which has a population ofjust over 10 million. the weekly clap for carers that began during the first lockdown is to return tonight under the new name of clap for heroes. it‘s aimed at recognising carers, teachers, home schooling parents, and all frontline workers. the idea of clapping and banging pots from doorsteps originally began as a one—off to support nhs staff — three days after the uk went into lockdown for the first time. the government is planning to reform the controversial leasehold system in england, to spare homeowners from high charges when they extend their lease. the plan includes the right to apply for a lease of 990 years with zero ground rent, on both houses and flats. sarah corker reports. the derbyshire family moved to this newly built estate near bolton in 2010. they own the leasehold of the property, but not

the land it‘s built on. they have to pay ground rent and other fees to the freeholder. jo says she feels caught in a trap. over the last 10 years, we‘ve paid nearly £3,000 in ground rent. and that‘s just money for nothing, that we could have spent on other things. on this estate, ground rent for some homes doubles every 10 years. the leasehold—freehold system dates back to medieval times, and campaigners say it‘s left many people stuck in unsellable homes. there are more than 4 million leasehold homes and flats in england and wales. today‘s reforms mean ground rent will be scrapped on new leases in england, and people will have the right to extend their lease to 990 years at zero ground rent. that‘s significant because it gives people more control over their homes and saves them thousands of pounds in annualfees. you will be able to buy your

freehold or share of freehold significantly cheaper than you do today. the law commission have estimated it could be £8,000 or £9,000 less to the average leaseholder. in addition to that, if you have greater control over your building, then you will be able to stop rip—off charges, you will be able to choose which managing agent or contractors that your building makes use of. it‘s been described as the start of the end for the controversial leasehold system. for me, personally, it does say that it will make buying your freehold cheaper. i hope it does. for lots of other leaseholders, particularly those in flats, you know, a move to commonhold and zero ground rents is really welcome. but jo wants compensation for charges she‘s had to pay in the past, and hopes today‘s reforms can take effect as quickly as possible. sarah corker, bbc news, in bolton. the haulage industry in northern ireland is calling for extra government support —

warning it‘s being "overwhelmed" by new paperwork requirements for shipments from great britain, which kicked in last week. a representative of freight firms told assembly members at stormont that shipments were days behind schedule. so many people rely on grassroot sports to keep their minds and bodies active but another national lockdown means that yet again sport and other activities go on hold. laura scott reports on the impact this can have on those affected. at a time of year when people are starting their health kick, new lockdown rules have made that more challenging for many. one of the biggest shifts is that under—18 sport is no longer allowed. some prominent sporting figures are worried about the impact. i just want to look after the well—being of the kids and make sure that their minds are triggered towards being active, being able to get outside if they possibly can. i just feel that that message has not been strong enough from the government. i think it is so important

that we just remind people that the fitter you are, the more chance you have of survival. the rules on what you can and can‘t do differs between the devolved nations. grassroots team sports are off across the uk, and in england, wales and northern ireland, tennis courts and golf courses are shut. however, in scotland, they are open as noncontact sports are permitted with up to two people from different households. exercise in england is limited to once a day, whereas in wales, for example, people are encouraged to exercise as much as they like. organised outdoor disability sports has an exemption in england. although this has been welcomed, wheelchair rugby is an example of a sport where this makes little difference in reality because it can‘t operate safely outside. all activity has been suspended, including an elite training camp this month, affecting preparations for the tokyo paralympics. disabilities themselves

are so wide and varied, just a blanket, you know, "go ahead, play sport," doesn‘t really fit. there‘s so many other factors to take into consideration. we can only go ahead with playing rugby when it‘s safe to do so. while some sports that are no longer allowed are socially distant in nature, reducing mixing is key. i think that certainly contributes. when we have seen outbreaks related to sporting venues, most of them have been around either mass gatherings or social mixing around the event rather than necessarily the sport in itself, and those activities certainly tend to go up as people play sports in a particular environment. the government says the reopening of gyms and community sport facilities will be a priority as soon as it is safe to do so, and for many that cannot come soon enough. laura scott, bbc news.

the rapper pa salieu has topped the bbc music sound of 2021 poll thanks to his adventurous, infectious tracks with hard—hitting lyrics about life and death on the "frontline" in coventry. he follows in the footsteps of previous winners like adele and ellie goulding. our correspondent lizo mzimba reports # why you keep wastin‘ your energy? # n?ver let them draw out the energy # they just want you fall cos their jealousy # yeah, protect your energy... he‘s been called the most inventive rapper to come out of the uk in years, and this is the moment that radio one‘s annie mac gave him the news that should kick—start his 2021. you are the winner of the bbc sound of 2021. you won! serious?! that is crazy, that is crazy. so much gratitude. # they don‘t know about the block life... his music reflects his life experiences. a close friend was killed

in a knife attack. he himself survived a gun attack where he was hit in the head by shotgun pellets. the 23—year—old from coventry reflects on how things have changed compared with what he was going through this time last year. a yearago, surviving, man. survival. people around me, caged. people around me, just turned crack fiends, you know? i come from real life, you know? everything i see is genuine. it‘s a real life story. the list is voted for by djs, bloggers and other figures in the music industry. previous winners include sam smith... # won't you stay with me... adele... # hello from the other side... and last year‘s winner, celeste... # if everybody gave a little love... lizo mzimba, bbc news.

now it‘s time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas. hello. last night was the coldest night across england and wales since february 2019. and we‘re going to continue with things feeling cold for the rest of the day, some sleet and some this was the picture in staffordshire. quite in staffordshire. a lot of ice out there, as well. quite a lot of ice out there, as well. the weather is dominated by the cold front which is slipping very steadily and slowly further south, it brought snow to scotland and northern ireland overnight. snowfall over parts of northern england into wales and the north midlands, as well, nothing too heavy but there could be about ten centimetres over the top of the pennines, followed by further wintry showers in scotland, rain showers in northern ireland and feeling cold out there with temperatures struggling above freezing. it should remain largely dry for the

south—east and east anglia into the evening, and overnight the weather front pushes further snow over parts of northern england into wales, may be the north midlands. temperatures below freezing for many, may be as low as —10 in the sheltered glens of scotland. tomorrow, the slow—moving weather front is sticking around bringing further accumulations of snow to parts of northern england and the midlands and into wales, several centimetres possible, and also rain and sleet mixed in. especially further east towards lincolnshire. to the south, mostly dry and the odd flurry of snow especially to the south—west, dry and brighter for scotland and northern ireland but where ever you are it is feeling cold once again. most of us just a few degrees above freezing. saturday, a mostly dry day, watch out for the frost and icy conditions, there will be a milder weather to the far north—west of scotland. sunshine around during the

day, the odd patch of fog lingering, temperatures for — five so slightly less cold than it has been. similar picture on sunday, the wind is a more westerly airflow so slightly milder, more cloud from western and northern areas, the best of the sunshine in the south and west, and quite chilly but not as cold as it has been.

this is bbc news i‘m reeta chakra barti. the headlines... the us congress sits all night to confirm joe biden as president, after pro—trump rioters stormed the building, leaving four people dead and the country reeling in shock. astonishing scenes, as rioters made their way to the heart of the building. eventually, order was restored and the result confirmed. joe biden and kamala harris will be the president and vice president according to the ballots that have been given to us. president trump today said there should be an orderly transition of power — but that he still disagreed with the result. this is the scene live on capitol hill, as america wakes up after a shocking night of violence. we‘ll bring you alll the latest developments.

the oxford covid vaccine is rolled out to gp surgeries in england — but the health secretary visits a clinic that had not actually received any doses, because of a delay. and coming up — we‘ll be speaking to the leader of the birmingham council — who says the city hasn‘t received any doses of the oxford jab and their supplies of the pfizerjab could soon run out. after a day of extraordinary and shocking scenes in washington when supporters of donald trump stormed the seat of congress — lawmakers sat through the night to certinyoe biden‘s victory in the presidential election. despite rhetoric which encouraged the rioters to try to overturn

the lawful result of the election, mr trump this morning conceded that there should be an orderly transition of power on january 20th, the day scheduled for mr biden‘s inauguration. but he repeated his false claim that the "facts" pointed to a different outcome. the violence and anarchy, in which four people died, has shaken america to the core — and there have been calls for donald trump to be removed from office. in a moment we‘ll consider what is likely to happen in the coming days. but first this report by our correspondent aleem maqbool, who witnessed last night‘s attempted assault on democracy. at first, it was the few who breached security and gained access to the american halls of power. take it back! let's go! but it was soon hundreds who stormed and overran the us capitol while congress was in session. protesters are in the building. thank you. politicians of both parties have

described this as one of the most shameful incidents ever to take place here. they broke the glass? everybody stay down, get down. but the trump supporters who took part were unrepentant. that is just not how things are done in this country — lawlessness, storming buildings, even. and that‘s what‘s happened today. this nation wasn‘t founded on civility. this nation was founded on revolutionary activity. we became civil after the government realised that they got overwhelmed. so what happens now? i guess now we wait and see if they take us seriously because they saw how easily we were able to breach their defence. they‘d earlier gathered for a rally for a president still insisting the election was rigged. as the electoral votes were being finalised by congress, he told protesters to march on the capitol. because you'll never take back our country with weakness. you have to show strength,

and you have to be strong. the capitol building was soon secured. but only in the evening the area around it eventually was, too. well, after hours of allowing protesters to remain on capitol grounds, with a curfew now in place, riot police are now finally pushing people off the grounds and away from the capitol building. while there was confrontation, many point out the relative restraint used by security forces as compared to some of the scenes we saw at black lives matter protests last summer. and the protesters here were proud of what they‘d done. all over the world is looking at washington right now, they saw people storming the capitol... i hope they keep watching it. we are the last hope for the world! at least in my mind, and everything i‘ve seen. we are free! after the upheaval, the session to formalise what we already know — thatjoe biden won the election —

continued, but under a heavy cloud. we condemn the violence that took place here in the strongest possible terms. we grieve the loss of life in these hallowed halls. this president bears a great deal of the blame. this mob was in good part president trump‘s doing, incited by his words, his lies. we no longer support you! donald trump did call for peace, but in the same breath he once again reiterated the rallying cry that caused the violence — that the election had been stolen. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in washington. let‘s go to westminster now where the health secretary is answering questions from the health and social care select committee about the government‘s habdling

of the coronavirus response ...and and so, the data was less clear. what happened was that as the data came through in the post—christmas period, but it became extremely clear. i mean, none of these are easy decisions. the health consequences are, i easy decisions. the health consequences are, i think, of the decision, absolutely clear, but you have got to weigh all of these consequences and it is a heavy balance on both sides, on both sides of the ledger. can ijust balance on both sides, on both sides of the ledger. can i just asking about border control, because we know that that was a key part of the response from many countries in east asia right from the outset but here, even now on the third lockdown, there are reports of people landing at airports without being checked or reminded of quarantine rules. why do we not just insist reminded of quarantine rules. why do we notjust insist on predeparture pcr tests like singapore and south do? well, the first thing i would

say is that we have is targeted and control at the border, so, for instance, we have full restrictions on anybody coming back from south africa. the only people who can come into the uk if they been to south africa in the last ten days are british nationals coming home and they have two quarantine as in fully stay out of contact with other humans. unless there‘s other people also go into that province team. members of their household, for instance. and then, and we brought in similar measures with respect to denmark earlier because of the new variant that was found that had come through mink. and then there was the areas of the world that we have strict self—isolation and quarantine requirements, and then other countries which have a lower case of eight than we do, generally, that

are, where the restrictions are less are, where the restrictions are less a universe, so for travel corridor. we ta ke a universe, so for travel corridor. we take a risk—based approach. after all, if there is a country where the case of are lower than the uk and people travel here, if there aren‘t, especially if there aren‘t... if there is no evidence of new variants, then there isn‘t necessarily any higher risk from somebody coming here. the higher risk comes when there is a higher rate abroad or where there is a new variant of the world. i suppose it is just curious that we are still not doing as much as the south korea and singapore is of the world so long after. but just and singapore is of the world so long after. butjust because there is not much time they want to ask one final question if i could on heck, care homes. they are asking whether the rules could be changed to allow care home workers to do lateral flow tests at home before arriving for work in order to avoid the risk of people hanging out together when they all arrive for a shift at the same time. i just

wondered whether you might be able to look into whether that is possible. like the previous question, it is something that i am open to. in this case, it is an mhra decision. the mhra has given nhs staff the dispensation to the lateral flow test themselves because of their clinical experience. they have not, yet, given that approval for home testing for social care staff or indeed for the festivals, but it is something that we are working on. would you be happy to look into that with them and write to me with... ? we are looking into it but it is a nhra decision and as you know they are rightly and fiercely independent. thank you. a question from barbara. thank you, chair. my questions around communications. many people are concerned by the news that we are changing a vaccine dosing regimen to

leave a 12 week gap between the two doses and i want to ask about how that change was communicated. can you set out for us why you chose not to announce this at a press co nfe re nce to announce this at a press conference with experts like the deputy chief medical officer, could have set out in full why that change should be made on what evidence they had that meant it was an appropriate change to make? because, as i sit, we have been in a situation where we have had comments from bodies like the world health organization and others probably keep disagreeing with our approach, so surely would have been better to set out our position in full to give people the confidence that the vaccines would still work that new dosing? mac well, thank you very much indeed. actually, this was addressed at a press conference on the day it was announced. or, rather, there was a press co nfe re nce announced. or, rather, there was a press conference on the day that this was announced. and because it was the day that, it was 30th of december, i think, was the day that, it was 30th of december, ithink, the was the day that, it was 30th of december, i think, the day that the oxford ask the zeneca vaccine approval by the nhra was announced

and we have communicated huge amounts since then both publicly and privately with communications for insta nce privately with communications for instance from jonathan van tan who has written very clear pieces about why we have acted and privately to mps to make sure that that medical briefing is available. the reason and the justification is really clear and straightforward, which is that it says no lies. and ultimately, that is the public health justification, ultimately, that is the public healthjustification, and ultimately, that is the public health justification, and i ultimately, that is the public healthjustification, and i think it is why there is so much buy into this approach. the data show that there is a significant protection from both the oxford and the pfizer jabs. after the first dose. once you know that is true, given that we have a... given we have as much supply as we have coming into the

country, and being manufactured in the country, of the toe doses, you wa nt to the country, of the toe doses, you want to use that as effectively as possible to save lives. so it is up public health justification. —— possible to save lives. so it is up public healthjustification. —— of the two doses. i think we all understand it have been through it enoughin understand it have been through it enough in terms of trying to find solutions that it was just really communications point because we have all been in a situation of really being deluged with queries in the public about it. let me move on, really, in the sun that issue.|j wa nt to really, in the sun that issue.|j want to pick up this who point you made. —— want to pick up this who point you made. -- i understand that issue. who were clear in sanely understand why we took the action that we did and what they said, —— clear in saying they understand why we took the action that we did and what they said, and! the action that we did and what they said, and i willjust leave it out, was that sage made the dammit provision for countries in exceptional circumstances— this is the who‘s sage, they have a sage 2—

provision for exceptional circumstances to delay the administration of the second dose for a number two weeks in order to maximise the number of individuals benefiting from the first dose and thatis benefiting from the first dose and that is preciselyjustification that i would get. ok. another issue of communication has been about the necessity of certain decisions on the basis on which they have been taken. to give you an example from this week, we know scientific advice favoured closing schools but nurseries were left open. it does not seem that there has been an attempt by the government this week to communicate why the treating nurseries and early years settings different and what evidence underpins that decision. so the question is about what you are giving to give people the servants are not only the evidence on closures but the reason for leaving other things open. look, i think this is an incredibly important point, an important question, and we published the positivity rates by

age and we all know that children, thankfully, are highly unlikely to get ill with this dreadful disease, and we also know that prepubescent children are much less likely to have any degree of disease and the positivity rates is lower and it is lower still for the very young children, for nursery age children, so children, for nursery age children, so that is the reason that we took thejudgment that so that is the reason that we took the judgment that we did and i think, you know, we often talk about thanking teachers and of course thanking teachers and of course thanking the nhs and social care staff but nursery staff and doing a very, very important job staff but nursery staff and doing a very, very importantjob looking after children and helping key workers and those who can work from home to get to work during what is a very difficult time, so, ultimately, it isa very difficult time, so, ultimately, it is a balance of risks. can i ask you one final question about

communications, then? i gatherthat brexit means that young people like alfie taking prescribed cannabis products for epilepsy and other conditions can no longer have their prescriptions filled within the eu and their families only found this out when your department sent a letter to fancy suppliers. the way that your department has dealt with this has been called lazy and flippant by the campaigner professor mike barnes. —— a letter to pharmacy supplies. can you comment on why these perceptions are now being denied to people and what can be done to replace those prescribed jobs, jobs for young people with serious medical conditions might now be pushed back into the condition they had before finding the drug that worked for them? as you know, i have worked hard on this issue. yes, i know you have, yes. this is actually a decision by the dutch government and therefore we are obviously working very closely with them to try to change the position. it is not a decision that we can unilaterally change from... as the

uk. so, we are looking in the short term at an urgent legal fix and the medium term working with the home office and of course the dutch government to try to find a way through. could you look at how you communicate that, though, because the parents on the campaign is a feeling out of it and it think it is an important thing if you reach out to them but i will leave it there because i know other colleagues want to come. thank you secretary of state forjoining us. i want to take us state forjoining us. i want to take us forward to if everything goes to plan and to talk a little bit in more detail about what the situation will look like in the country what that meant, it will mean further restrictions. so, you have outlined very clearly that we are trying to get to situation where we axe vaccinating the first four groups that account for 80% of the death rate. do you expect two weeks after you have vaccinated this

groups when we expect immunity to chicken you expect death in this country to by 80% compared to the current rate ? country to by 80% compared to the current rate? that all the pairs on the case rate and of course a cost of the two likes here which make the modelling complicated. —— that all depends on the case rate. the light from taking the vaccine to guessing the protecting from the vaccine, which is estimated at two to three weeks, and the like from cases to deaths which we see in the figures. —— the lag from taking the vaccine, the lag from cases to death. of course, improvements in clinical practice can reduce the mortality of this, of covid—19, steel, the number of cases going up inexorably leads to the number of deaths going up. before the vaccine programme is, can become a fully rolled out to those who are most vulnerable. so, with

those two caveats in the modelling i would is that i am as confident as you can be based on all the clinical advice that i‘ve seen and that all my own reading of the data that the number as deaths in this country will fall for any given number of cases once the vaccine is rolled out to the vulnerable groups. and we are aiming forthis to the vulnerable groups. and we are aiming for this for the 15th of february to have offered a slot by the 15th of february for a vaccination to everybody in cohort 12 number four. the vaccination to everybody in cohort 12 numberfour. the cohorts 12 numberfour cover... 12 numberfour. the cohorts 12 number four cover... of those who

have died from so far. —— cohorts one to four. we are going to just leave that now because we have learned that people in birmingham have written to the health secretary about the supplies of both vaccines. we can talk now to the leader of birmingham city council, ian ward. what is the problem? we have been the problem is that we have been told the birmingham has not yet been supplied with any of the act of zeneca vaccine and that the supplies of the pfizer vaccine are due to run out this week and we have no clarity and supplies can be provided so we are seeking some via servants from the government about supplies of vaccine into birmingham —— seeking some reassurance from the government about supplies of vaccine to birmingham. where does the problem lie? is and that‘s not enough of the

first vaccine was ordered? well, i suspect in the government have been mentioning this this week that the problem is supplies of the vaccine, whether that speedy pfizer stocks or the astrazeneca stocks, there are issues that. what we do know is that the prime minister has pledged to provide us with updates on the roll—out of the vaccination but what we are now seeking is some reassurance that we will have supplies going forward and also some transparency from the government that if there are any further issues in the future that we get advance notice of that so that we can make a contribution towards resolving whatever those problems are. what is your understanding of the situation? is it that organisations, perhaps nhs trusts, gp surgeries, have ordered supplies and they have not received the supplies they were expecting? what is it something else? i think it is probably something else. we have been promised that the vaccine will be coming on stream but we have not had

information from the government about how and when that vaccination is going to be supplied, so, as i‘ve said, we have here in birmingham the health service has been defence in the pfizer stocks but they are going to run out this friday and we have not yet been supplied with any astrazeneca vaccination so we really need to have some transparency from the government about when the supplies of vaccine are going to be provided and how they are going to be provided and, indeed, how they will be administered across the city asa will be administered across the city as a whole going forward. the oxford vaccine only started to be rolled out on monday, just a couple of days ago, so! out on monday, just a couple of days ago, so i suppose this is very early in the process. in nhs sources suggested the bbc that birmingham should get the oxford vaccine today. have you had any updates since writing to the health secretary? u nfortu nately, writing to the health secretary? unfortunately, no, we have not had any updates but i do welcome the news that you have just given me and let us hope that we do get supplies of the vaccine today and the workers

here in the city we need the vaccine just like elsewhere to ease our way out of the pandemic in the current restriction so the quicker that we can get the vaccine get administered into peoples arm the better. ok. many thanks, good to talk to you. that is the leader of birmingham city council, ian ward. let‘s go to westminster now where the health secretary is answering questions from the health and social care cttee about the government‘s habdling of the coronavirus response ...and and therefore must isolate and ensuring that their contacts isolate from the contact tracing system and so from the contact tracing system and so both of those are going to be important for the months to come thank chair and thank you secretary of state. are you able to do might explain my community pharmacies are not considered initially in the vole is a vaccination scheme. given that

there are five points that should have been considered in how our profession is able to carry out this vaccination. this point is their experience and storage of the vaccination and community pharmacies do have experience of monitoring fridge temperatures and ensuring that drugs are stored at the right temperature. they should have access to patient information and they have the ability to determine whether monitor patient is eligible or would have any allergies. thirdly, they have any allergies. thirdly, they have to be able to have the appropriate training and i have to have continuous training which is something every year the pharmacies do. fourthly, they have to have experience in vaccination and even this year alone, pharmacists have done 2 million vaccinations in terms of the flu vaccination, and lastly, they must... which is one of the difficulties that they have been having because they have to have close proximity so that patients can access their services. given that 90% of the population are about 20 minutes walk away from a local pharmacist, as a pharmacist justifies that we were not put as

the first point of call. we were not put in the government's mind in the initial vaccination programme and the fact that we have to apply for something that we have more than enough experience to be able to do. thank you very much. i am a massive supporter community pharmacy and i think they do an amazing job and you set that out in terms of the job they do in terms of the flu vaccine and, infact, that they do in terms of the flu vaccine and, in fact, that has been growing since i have been health secretary and, indeed, under the since i have been health secretary and, indeed, underthe previous health secretary. the amount of flu jabs through has grown. now, because of 0-70 jabs through has grown. now, because of d—70 storage requirements, the pfizer vaccine wasn‘t appropriate for community pharmacy. —— because of the —70 degrees storage requirements. we are now going to be considering community pharmacies for the oxford astrazeneca vaccine. because we need to be able to make sure that the vaccine we have got goes as far as it can and because it

comes in packs of eitherfor oxford astrazeneca it comes in packs of 800 to 1000, making sure that we have the throughput at the site is very important, and the good news is that we are confident that we have enough delivery sites coming on stream, whether it is the hundreds of gp sites that are already set up or the 200 mothers are coming on stream this week, the hospital sites where there is over 200 and that will go up to 270 in england and the devolved nations or in the mass vaccination centres, seven of which will open this week, and with the 200 farmers see sites we are confident that we have those sites. we will keep working with immunity pharmacy to see whether we can manage that or how they were like those in which sites are more effective and there is a particular role which i think community pharmacy will be able to play and

where they have a particular advantage, which is that the roll—out has to be a universal roll—out has to be a universal roll—out as much as is possible. and we need to make sure that we get to all communities and community pharmacies, precisely, as you said, are highly engaged in their local community, often more local than any other health care setting, and therefore will be able to support getting right into the communities who we need to reach. gps can do this well too and, indeed, are already doing this but there is a big role for community pharmacy especially in making sure that this is able to reach all parts with this vaccination roll—out. you are on mute, tyler. thank you. apologies. from what i understand, once the vaccine has been delivered to the

vaccination centre it can be stored up vaccination centre it can be stored up to five days at a temperature of two to eight days which is something that most community pharmacies have been doing and that is to do with a pfizer vaccination which means initially we should have been part of that because that is the right storage temperature. so, for pfizer, you need to store it for... you can only store for five days at two to eight but that includes the time to get it from the hub to the site, so when a box of 975 pfizer doses goes toagp when a box of 975 pfizer doses goes to a gp surgery, they have three and a half days by the time it gets like to use it, so you do need to have that throughput of people in order to use it and ensure that there is no wastage but the oxford one is easier and hence is more appropriate for community pharmacy and they will be involved in the next stage of the

roll—out. we are piloting at this week to make sure the processes of right and then that will start next week. my next question is are based around conspiracy theorists and so rumours that are going on regarding the vaccination and the nightingale. the first question regarding vaccination is, as you can agree with me, in order for the government to reach its 2 million target there has to be public. and there has to be public top tarmac confidence in the roll—out. —— there has to be public trust and public confidence in the roll—out. there is not a dashboard which provides up—to—date vaccination information and people's local area for them to determine and understand how the vaccine is being rolled out. given that we do that with the testing, when is the government planning to roll out a dashboard with the testing? we make that a brief answer, secretary of state, because we have to move on? the honest and true answer is that

as we go down my grow this programme we are going to put out more and more information to the public domain and when you start a pig programme like this the first thing to do is get this straight forward, verified information, you know, only vaccine to be done. we started on a weekly basis, we are moving to a daily basis and we will put out more and more of that sort of information is the process goes. thank you. doctor luke evans. thank you, secretary of state. my questions are about risk and the covid alert level since states material risk of the nhs being overwhelmed. what is your estimate of the actual risks of the nhs ina estimate of the actual risks of the nhs in a percentage? ali 10%, 50% likely to reach this in the next few weeks. it is impossible to put a number on itand weeks. it is impossible to put a number on it and i don‘t mean that just as a cop is out, i mean that as reality. you know this better than anybody, being an nhs doctor, as the

pressure on the nhs grows, so it is more stretched in delivering the services that people need and, you know, we have seen in the second peak that you know, areas have had to cancel routine electives, first so—called pa electives, and that is those where the delay may be uncomfortable but isn‘t impossible, and then there is p3 where they really ought to be done in the next three months that it is ok if they delay a little... and so that is the pressure. used probably saw the leaked document about what is going on in london. you have every faith that we are able to cope in london with the nhs? yes, i am sure that the nhs is going to do everything that it possibly can to ensure that everybody gets the care that they need and, of course, firstly, in london, we have built significantly more critical care capacity over the summer. we spent some extending

critical capacity. and then, obviously, we also have the nightingale on standby. there were some rumours that it had been decommissioned. they were wrong. the nightingale is on standby but, of course, the nightingale has the physical capacity, we also need the people, and hence bringing people back into the nhs and also, you know, ultimately, when hospitals are busy and full, clinicians become more stressed and that is why we should be also grateful for the service that they are giving. moving on from lord trott making some point earlier talking about the ambitious plan to get 30 million vaccinated, which is fantastic. i mean, you have talked about the 85% change in the risk there. you have a concern, though, about what a means of the population who are not vaccinated who do not see the virus are such a risk and how will behave?

we have always got to monitor these behaviours but what i would say, especially in this national lockdown situation, people are by and large very respectful of the rules and there are some who break them, of course, but generally compliance has been good, and that is very important. because it is the only way we can control this until we have the vaccine rolled out. when the vaccine is rolled out more broadly and vulnerable groups are protected, i hope people continue to be respectful and also take personal responsibility for trying to reduce the spread of the virus because in that way we can lift more restrictions. professor chris whitty talked about society will need to have a discussion around the risk a bit like we do in traffic, about the right speed limits, things like

that, what conversations are happening in government around facilitating this? when you see it coming into play? many people like hospitality, they will be thinking when the vaccine comes, they will be getting back to normal, but when will the point come? the discussions are important in terms of how we feed in. we need a national discussion about it and of course government has a view and both the clinical advisors to government and also as politicians because ultimately these are political judgments in the best sense, as in weighing up very big concerns and balancing judgments based on the best clinical advice. parliament has an important role and indeed the select committee here will have an important role in balancing the considerations of how we deal with this over the medium term. we have seen this over the medium term. we have seen with the new variant, that like flu, it is likely we will have two,

when a new variant comes, thankfully there is no evidence yet of one that will escape the vaccine, but should that happen we will need to iterate the vaccine in the same way we do for flu, we have the vaccine in the same way we do forflu, we have done this the vaccine in the same way we do for flu, we have done this for decades. that is where this will end up, but the path of getting from here to there, taking into account all the other impacts, the economic impacts on the other health impacts, thatis impacts on the other health impacts, that is ultimately a national debate. thank you. sarah owen. following the death of a pregnant nurse from luton, her husband ernest started a petition which is now with over 100,000 signatures calling for greater protections for pregnant women throughout the pandemic. we saw a doubling of stillbirths in the la st saw a doubling of stillbirths in the last lockdown, are there plans to review the guidance and for shielding to go before 28 weeks?

this is very much a clinical question and my heart goes out to those who are affected, it is one of the many awful things about this disease. but it is absolutely one where i would take the clinical advice. jenny harries leads on this question. i think the approach we have taken to shielding which we have taken to shielding which we have learned from some of the negative impacts of shielding first time around, and we have iterated that based on the clinical advice, and if there is a specific advice to make a change in here in this area, it hasn‘t reached my desk yet and i don‘t know whether clara swinson wa nts to don‘t know whether clara swinson wants to come in on the details. thank you. in terms of the definition of the clinically extremely vulnerable, almost a year

into the pandemic we know a lot more about that and as the secretary of state said, we will be looking at both the overall cohorts of people but also the individuals for a conversation about those most at risk including pregnant women if thatis risk including pregnant women if that is appropriate. could she write to us with her latest view on that? i'm sure. thank you. my second question, a big difference between offered and delivered, how many vaccines are you hoping to deliver by mid—february to the top four priority list? i would love it if u pta ke priority list? i would love it if uptake is 100%, ultimately, that would be wonderful, and we are not going to let up. we want to make sure everybody gets this vaccine

u nless sure everybody gets this vaccine unless they have a very specific clinical reason not to which where there are some exemptions, but they are very there are some exemptions, but they are very rare. there are some exemptions, but they are very rare. i can‘t put a figure on that because i want it to be as high as possible. the point about the exact language of the target, people will be offered to have had the vaccine so it is not that you might getan the vaccine so it is not that you might get an offer on the 14th for a vaccine in a couple of weeks‘ time, it is that you will have been offered to have had the vaccine by the 15th of february. if that makes sense. i want everybody to take up those offers. they would have had the opportunity, 13 million would have had the opportunity to have had the vaccine by mid—february? have had the opportunity to have had the vaccine by mid-february? yes. the word offered is not to imply that we can say that we would hit the target by writing you a letter. and making sure that the offer is

available. it‘s that you would have been offered to have had the vaccine by that date, and the reason we use the word offered is because of course if somebody refuses to have the vaccine i think that this mistake if they don‘t have it, but we are not seeking to mandate the vaccination, so i can‘t as secretary of state reasonably set a target of having vaccinated all those people because unfortunately some of them won‘t take up the vaccine even though it is the right thing to do. thank you. is there a plan for if a new variant thank you. is there a plan for if a new variant comes thank you. is there a plan for if a new variant comes which does not react well to the vaccine, what is the plan for the next year, two yea rs, the plan for the next year, two years, while we are rolling out the vaccine? we are working precisely on this question. the answer is, as with the flu vaccine each year, that

for a given vaccine platform, for a given vaccine which has been clinically trialled and approved, if you make small adjustments to it, it may not need the full artist the way i have described it, if you have a car, and if you are lucky enough to have a range rover and you get a new wing mirror stuck on it, it is still a range rover and it should be classified as such, in the same way if you make a small change to a vaccine, it is essentially a clinical decision as to whether that needs to go through the full roper napoli of the three phases of clinical trials —— full napoli.

i want to talk about the effect on schools and the impact on mental health, could you tell me what is being done to help the mental health of the nation? this is incredibly important and of the nation? this is incredibly importantand i‘m of the nation? this is incredibly important and i‘m acutely aware of the mental health impacts of being ina the mental health impacts of being in a lockdown, doctor evans question earlier referred to this and indeed the start from the chair, so we are putting in support more support for mental health services and there will be more to come and i was very glad that the spending review that the chancellor announced more support for mental health services. in addition we have got to make sure that over the medium term that we update our laws on mental health and so update our laws on mental health and soi update our laws on mental health and so i can tell you that next week we will be bringing forward the mental health white paper following on from

sir simon wesley‘s report that he published just over a year ago now. we are taking on board the vast majority of his proposals and indeed adding some further. i don‘t hope to be able to legislate a new mental health act in this parliament. this will replace the 1980s act which is now very will replace the 1980s act which is now very much out of date. i hope this is a highly consensual process and very much an open book approach and very much an open book approach and i‘m sure that the select committee will have an important role in making sure that we get the details right. i‘m very gratefulfor the whole team and all the stakeholders we have worked with, that we are able to get to the point where we can launch this next week. excellent news and very welcome. can i ask about the long—term? chris

whitty has spoken about the vaccine, that you will have to take it more than once, we have spoken out measures for next year, and when we look at it this time next year, where do you think the country will be? a national vaccine roll—out programme? will we still be doing testing? there is no doubt that vaccines and testing will still be a feature next year. we will need the surveillance testing to be able to understand where the virus is and we will need testing for people who have symptoms in the same way that you get tested for all sorts of other things and i want to have more testing. i‘ve said before to the select committee about the dictum: if in doubt, have a test, and that should apply across the board to flu and other illnesses, as well as

covid—19, and on the vaccine, i anticipate that we will probably need to vaccinate again because we don‘t know the longevity of the protection from these vaccines, and that might need to be, we don‘t know how frequently, but it might be every six months, it might be every year. as with the flu jab we vaccinate every year and we update it according to any mutations that have taken place and we do that over the autumn because although you can catch flu in the summer it is highly unlikely, and because the lower ventilation and much more time spent indoors that flu transmits more easily during the autumn, so i anticipate covid and flu vaccinations long into the future. looking ahead, to give relief on mental health and the like at the end of the tunnel, do you think this will be the last of the lockdowns?”

do, yes. thank you. thank you very much. rosie cooper. thank you. studio: we are going to leave that session of the health secretary speaking to the mps on the health select committee, talking about a wide range of issues to do with the vaccination programme. i‘m joined now by katherine da costa, our health correspondent. lots of covid related news this afternoon and you have got some new figures. every week public outing england carries out surveillance to see the case rates across the country and in the latest set of data, case rates have increased across the whole of england, and we know they are the highest in london. we can show you this graph. in london they have a case rate of 905 per 100,000 people. cases remain

high in the south—east and east of england but the area which has seen the biggest jump was england but the area which has seen the biggestjump was the west midlands. that had a case rate of 530 per 100,000 people, midlands. that had a case rate of 530 per100,000 people, ajump midlands. that had a case rate of 530 per 100,000 people, a jump from the week before where it was 292. cases have increased across all age groups with the highest rate seen in those in their 20s. where we see a surge in new infections that leads toa surge in new infections that leads to a rise in hospital admissions and we know there are now more than 3000 new hospital admissions per day on average, and that is three times the normal winter rate you would expect. with hospital admissions we have seen with hospital admissions we have seen increases in all regions of england, and again at london is the highest and the highest hospital admission per age group is the elderly, those who are 85 and over, and it comes down in age. that is

why the body advising the government on vaccinations has prioritised elderly groups and you can see the green line there, over 85s and the next line down is 75—84 and it goes down in age and that is why they are the priority groups for the vaccinations, they are at the greatest risk from this virus, and today the medical director at public health england yvonne doyle paid tribute to the staff who she said have been working flat out, caring for patients, and she says this data brings into focus the huge pressure of the health service is under, and sadly we are seeing more deaths every day and the numbers will continue to rise before we see the impact of the nationwide lockdown, she said. she says, we saw a sharp acceleration in infection rates last week to the highest levels since since mass testing began and it is of concern especially because the rates are high in the older age groups who are at risk of more serious illness as well as people in their 20s and 30s, and she goes on to say that what you can do with the

new variant, whatever variant, it is the same comic to stay at home and follow the guidance and that when you break the trains of —— is the same, to stay at home and follow the guidance and that is when you break the chains of transmission. we have heard that in birmingham there is a problem with the roll—out of the vaccine and they are running out of the pfizer vaccine, what is going on? matt hancock turned up a de gp surgery today, hoping to find the oxford vaccine but finding there wasn‘t any available today, but we hear that sources in birmingham should receive their oxford doses today. government figures have said they want to protect 13 million of they want to protect 13 million of the most vulnerable by mid and we understand there are enough doses of pfizer and oxford in the uk to do that, and the aim is to get up to 2 million immunisations per week but the big challenge is the logistics. the vaccine has to be input into

vials, and that happens in wrexham in north wales, and each batch needs to be tested for quality control measures, and tested and certified before it can be released and that can take 20 days. we know the uk regulator has said it is increasing lab capacity to speed up the process , lab capacity to speed up the process, and then you also need an army of vaccinate is at the different vaccination sites to make that happen. —— vaccinators. the government have said there are former nhs staff being trained up. this is the first week, they have started small and they are ramping up started small and they are ramping up to about 1000 vaccination centres and they should be operating by the end of the week. many thanks. later on we have the prime minister who will bejoined later on we have the prime minister who will be joined by simon stevens and phil prosser.

let‘s return now to the extraordinary and shocking scenes in washington yesterday when supporters of donald trump stormed the seat of congress. the president received a ban from some social media platforms after he repeated unfounded claims he won the election. in a statement yesterday facebook told the bbc... facebook also said it is currently looking for and removing content that incited or supported the storming of capitol hill. imran ahmed is the head of the centre for countering digital hate. how important has online activity beenin how important has online activity been in fermenting these protests that turned into riots on capitol hill? social media has been the

place where people have been radicalised over time and been misinformed, the great big lies that have been told, for example, most recently, that the election was stolen, but also where they have been able to operationally plan and where yesterday‘s events were organised in plainview. extraordinarily. on those platforms themselves. they do have a lot to a nswer themselves. they do have a lot to answer for. what is worse when it comes to the organisation of yesterday‘s events, the key organisers were known because they we re organisers were known because they were behind some of the stop the steal protests which led to facebook taking action against that group on that platform, because there were calls for violence against election officials, and they were still active yesterday, they were slap bang in the middle of it. facebook has taken action but you are saying this is too late, from what you are saying. the social media companies

have played a role in the spreading of conspiracies, and you condemn this? stop the steal is a group which they took down just after the election and that was set up by people who are spreading misinformation about election processes and delegitimising the election throughout the entire period and they have been urged to ta ke period and they have been urged to take action. the group started to be radicalised into encourage people to ta ke radicalised into encourage people to take assault rifles down to election camps and at that point facebook finally took action but only when dozens finally took action but only when d oze ns of finally took action but only when dozens of celebrities and other public figures came out and said, please do something. what they did not do was remove the accounts of the people behind it so that the groups that were involved, whenever you look at the oath keepers or the proud boys, who are horrifically racist and misogynist, they were allowed to use the platform with impunity, and that is where —— what

happens when there are no punishments for bad behaviour. i live in washington, dc, and it is unbelievably sad. it is a beacon of liberty and democracy in the world, the united states always has been, and to see its chamber desecrated in such a way, it was a sad day. you say there are no consequences, so how do you regulate this kind of thing? very simply, at the moment the companies have an extraordinary shield, section 230 of the communications act, it is this bizarre legislation that says platforms cannot be held responsible ever either in civil or criminal law for the content on those platforms, and that would not be true of the bbc or any newspaper or any other platform, but these digital spaces. before the senatejudiciary committee earlier this year, mark

zuckerberg and jack dorsey accepted this is no longer viable and i think it is time for coup to think about how we make these spaces that have the potential to provide us with judges to build community, as we have seen with covid, how can we make them less mini glint and less easily abused by people who don‘t follow the rules? —— less malignant. i think we can do that by creating real consequences for malignant actors. really interesting. many thanks. that is imran ahmed. the government is planning to reform the controversial leasehold system in england, to spare homeowners from high charges when they extend their lease. the plan includes the right to apply for a lease of 990 years with zero ground rent, on both houses and flats. sarah corker reports. the darbyshire family moved to this newly built estate near bolton in 2010.

they own the leasehold of the property, but not the land it‘s built on. they have to pay ground rent and other fees to the freeholder. jo says she feels caught in a trap. over the last ten years, we‘ve paid nearly £3,000 in ground rent. and that‘s just money for nothing, that we could have spent on other things. on this estate, ground rent for some homes doubles every ten years. the leasehold—freehold system dates back to medieval times, and campaigners say it‘s left many people stuck in unsellable homes. there are more than 4 million leasehold homes and flats in england and wales. today‘s reforms mean ground rent will be scrapped on new leases in england, and people will have the right to extend their lease to 990 years at zero ground rent. that‘s significant because it gives people more control over their homes and saves them thousands of pounds in annualfees.

you will be able to buy your freehold or share of freehold significantly cheaper than you do today. the law commission have estimated it could be £8,000 or £9,000 less to the average leaseholder. in addition to that, if you have greater control over your building, then you will be able to stop rip—off charges, you will be able to choose which managing agent or contractors that your building makes use of. it‘s been described as the start of the end for the controversial leasehold system. for me, personally, it does say that it will make buying your freehold cheaper. i hope it does. for lots of other leaseholders, particularly those in flats, you know, a move to commonhold and zero ground rents is really welcome. but jo wants compensation for charges she‘s had to pay in the past, and hopes today‘s reforms can take effect as quickly as possible. sarah corker, bbc news, in bolton. now it‘s time for a

look at the weather. hello. last night was the coldest night across england and wales since february 2019. with temperatures as low as —9. things are staying the same today. we‘re going to continue with things feeling cold for the rest of the day, some sleet and some this was the picture in staffordshire. quite a lot of missed nurse around mist and mist and fog is lingering in quitea mist and mist and fog is lingering in quite a few areas —— miss quite a lot of ice out there, as well. the weather is dominated by the cold front which is slipping very steadily and slowly further south, it brought snow to scotland and northern ireland overnight. snowfall over parts of northern england into wales and the north midlands, as well, nothing too heavy but there could be about ten centimetres over the top of the pennines, followed by further wintry showers in scotland, rain showers in

northern ireland and feeling cold out there with temperatures struggling above freezing. it should remain largely dry for the south—east and east anglia into the evening, and overnight the weather front pushes further snow over parts of northern england into wales, may be the north midlands. temperatures below freezing for many, may be as low as —10 in the sheltered glens of scotland. tomorrow, the slow—moving weather front is sticking around bringing further accumulations of snow to parts of northern england and the midlands and into wales, several centimetres possible, and also rain and sleet mixed in. especially further east towards lincolnshire. to the south, mostly dry and the odd flurry of snow especially to the south—west, drier and brighter for scotland and northern ireland but where ever you are it is feeling cold once again. most of us just a few degrees above freezing. saturday, a mostly dry day, watch out for the frost and icy conditions, there will be a milder weather to the far north—west of scotland. sunshine around during the day,

the odd patch of fog lingering, temperatures 4—5cso slightly less cold than it has been. similar picture on sunday, the wind is a more westerly airflow so slightly milder, more cloud from western and northern areas, the best of the sunshine in the south and west, and quite chilly but not as cold as it has been.

this is bbc news. the headlines... the us congress sits all night to confirm joe biden as president, after pro—trump rioters stormed the building, leaving four people dead and the country reeling in shock. astonishing scenes as rioters made their way to the heart of the building. eventually, order was restored and the result confirmed. joe biden and kamala harris will be the president and vice president according to the ballots that have been given to us. president trump today said there should be an orderly transition of power, but that he still disagreed with the result. the oxford covid vaccine is rolled out to gp surgeries in england, but the health secretary visits a clinic that had not actually received any doses,

because of a delay. and in the last hour, matt hancock has justified the government‘s decision to delay the second doses of the vaccines to make sure more people can get a first dose more quickly. it saves more lives, and, ultimately, that is the public health justification. i ultimately, that is the public healthjustification. i think ultimately, that is the public health justification. i think it is why there is so much buying to this approach. and at 5pm we‘ll have more on the roll—out of the vaccine in live coverage of the latest downing street coronavirus briefing led by the prime minister. after a day of extraordinary and shocking scenes in washington, when supporters of donald trump stormed the seat of congress, lawmakers sat through the night to certinyoe biden‘s victory in the presidential election.

despite rhetoric which encouraged the rioters to try to overturn the lawful result of the election, mr trump this morning conceded that there should be an orderly transition of power on january 20th, the day scheduled for mr biden‘s inauguration. but he repeated his false claim that the ‘facts‘ pointed to a different outcome. the violence and anarchy, in which four people died, has shaken america to the core, and there have been calls for donald trump to be removed from office. in a moment, we‘ll consider what is likely to happen in the coming days. but first this report by our correspondent aleem maqbool, who witnessed last night‘s attempted assault on democracy. at first, it was the few who breached security and gained access to the american halls of power. let's go! but it was soon hundreds who stormed and overran the us capitol while congress was in session. politicians of both parties have

described this as one of the most shameful incidents ever to take place here. they broke the glass. everybody, stay down! but the trump supporters who took part were unrepentant. that is just not how things are done in this country. lawlessness, storming buildings even? and that is what has happened today. this nation wasn‘t founded on civility. this nation was founded on revolutionary activity. we became civil after the government realised that they got overwhelmed. so what happens now? i guess now we wait and see if they take us seriously, because they saw how easily we were able to breach their defence. they had earlier gathered for a rally for a president still insisting the election was rigged. as the electoral votes were being finalised by congress, he told protesters to march on the capitol. because you will never take back our country with weakness. you have to show strength,

and you have to be strong. the capitol building was soon secured. but only in the evening, the area around it eventually was too. after hours of allowing protesters to remain on capitol grounds, with a curfew now in place, police are now finally pushing people off the grounds and away from the capitol building. while there was confrontation, many point out the relative restraint used by security forces as compared to some of the scenes we saw at black lives matter protests last summer. and the protesters here were proud of what they had done. all over the world is looking at washington. they saw people storming the capitol. i hope they keep watching. we are the last hope for the world. at least in my mind, in everything i have seen, we are free.

after the upheaval, the session to formalise what we already know, thatjoe biden won the election, continued. but under a heavy cloud. we condemn the violence that took place here in the strongest possible terms. we grieve the loss of life in these hallowed halls. this president bears a great deal of the blame. this mob was, in good part, president trump's doing, incited by his words, his lies. we no longer support you! donald trump did call for peace. but in the same breath, he once again reiterated the rallying cry that caused the violence — that the election had been stolen. aleem maqbool, bbc news in washington. the question everyone is asking is: what happens now? donald trump still has 13 days left in office, and there has been talk of invoking

america‘s 25th amendment, which would allow for his early removal. our correspondent paul adams looks at america‘s options. a demonstration, a coup, even a revolution. the world looked on in horror, but what did yesterday‘s chaotic events at the capitol really mean? and where is america heading? joe biden and kamala harris will be the president and vice president according to the ballot. in the early hours of this morning, a rattled congress finally certified the results of november‘s election, and the white house threw in the towel. with the president temporarily banned from twitter after a tirade yesterday, it fell to his deputy chief of staff to tweet the news. it wasn‘t exactly a concession. "even though i totally disagree with the outcome of the election," the president insisted, "nevertheless there will be "an orderly transition on january 20." but the message ends with defiance.

"it‘s only the beginning of our fight to make america great again." the president has been defeated, but he has deliberately left his passionate supporters with the conviction that they have been cheated. many, like elizabeth from knoxville, felt they had no choice but to act. we‘re storming the capitol — it‘s a revolution! but for some of the president‘s reliable allies in the republican party, efforts to hold up the result in congress was a step too far. all i can say is count me out, enough is enough. i've tried to be helpful. but whose party is it anyway? at yesterday‘s rally, donald trump‘s firebrand son had this warning. hello, patriots! this isn‘t their republican party any more. this is donald trump‘s republican party. mitt romney, your constituents want to know why you're not... establishment republicans are now being hounded, this video on social media showing

passengers taunting utah senator mitt romney on his flight to washington. chanting: traitor, traitor, traitor! and what of the man at the helm of this insurgency? for donald trump, his florida home, mar—a—lago, beckons. is he planning to run again infouryears‘ time? or sit in court while republican hopefuls come and kiss his ring? donald trump didn‘t invent america‘s hyper—partisan politics, or the anger that rages, but he channelled and nurtured it to the end, fraying the very fabric of the republic. paul adams, bbc news. kim darroch, the former uk ambassador to the us, joins me now. thank you very much for your time today. we‘ve heard donald trump say now that there will be an orderly transition forjoe biden to take over on the 20th of january, how

confident are you that that will be the case? not that confident. 13 days left, and around inauguration day, a lot depends on what the president says or doesn‘t say over that period. whether he tries to calm down his supporters, or whether he tries to incite them again. i think there are real risks. but you would expect next time a much heavier security presence in the eventin heavier security presence in the event in washington than was the case, apparently the case, last night. what do other politicians in the united states, particularly those in his own republican party need to do to ensure that we don‘t see scenes again like we saw yesterday? i think you can see it happening. lindsey graham, who was a strong supporter of mr trump, the senator for south carolina, in your cupjust senator for south carolina, in your cup just now was saying, "i‘m out."

and there are some other prominent senior republicans who have done the same thing. that said, there is still around a dozen senators, maybe more than 100 republican congress men who are still on the trump bandwagon. and i think all of them need to be denouncing, publicly, what happened last night and telling the trump —based comedy trump supporters to stay at home and not to contemplate anything like that happening again. —— telling the trump base and trump supporters to stay at home. how wise would it be for somebody in the united states to push the idea of using a 25th amendment, in which you could in theory see power handed, until the 20th of january, to mike pence as vice president? i'm a sceptic about whether that would will actually

happen. i know that some of the progressive wing of the democratic party are already calling for it. and there have been reports that some officials, even officials in the white house are talking about it. i just have the white house are talking about it. ijust have my doubts, with 13 days left until we enter the trump presidency. given also the risk that action would turn the president into action would turn the president into a martyr and perhaps insight more disruption or more violence from his supporters. we will see. china drew a comparison with what was happening at the capitol building in washington, dc yesterday with the pro—democracy demonstrators in hong kong. how damaging a comparison is that around the world to america‘s reputation? i don't think you can underestimate the damage to america‘s reputation but last night has done. those clips went all

around the world, i‘m sure they caused jubilation in the kremlin. we have seen the reactions also from countries that are not friends of america like iran, in what the chinese said. and it is going to ta ke chinese said. and it is going to take quite a long time to heal. it can be healed, but as of today, it isa can be healed, but as of today, it is a very bad place that america finds itself in. you mentioned the kremlin, russia has commented on the american electoral system saying, "it is archaic." they will have their own reasons for saying that, of course. it does point to the fact that here in britain, you lose a general election, you move out of number 10 downing street straightaway, the removal van is a very clear sign that that transition is happening pretty speedily. how perilous it then is it to have this gap between the election and the inauguration? yeah, it is all set out in the us constitution, and i

agree with you that there are some real oddities there. it is an oddity, by the way, that senior judges are essentially chosen by politicians. the whole judicial system becomes politicised. this lame duck, this transition period between one president leaving and a new one coming in is another oddity which, at the least, it tends to meana which, at the least, it tends to mean a couple of wasted months between administrations with nothing much done. all that said, changing any of this is really quite difficult to get through the american system. so, archaic as it looks strange though some of the processes are, i wouldn‘t expected be changed. some commentators inside the republican party are said to now be looking at the kind of people that lay allow to be nominated in future. with that thought process

already beginning, how likely is it, do you think, that they would wish to see donald trump stand again in 2024? i think the republican party will be deeply split, and in some trouble over this. i think trump definitely intends to be a political presence in the land for the next four years. whether he chooses to run in 2024, we will see. he certainly intends to be a voice in the land. and the republicans need to decide whether they move on from him, whether they are as, in your clip, donald trump jr. him, whether they are as, in your clip, donald trumer. claimed that they are donald trump‘s party. let‘s hope that they are going to restore more traditional republican... but they have to sort themselves out, and it will be difficult. they are very divided at the moment over the future direction. kim darroch, former uk ambassador to the usa, we appreciate you taking the time to

talk to us today. thank you. president trump will be banned from posting on facebook or instagram until at least the end of his presidency, facebook ceo mark zuckerberg has announced. posting on social media, he says, "facebook believes the risks of allowing the president to continue to use the site during the next two weeks are simply too great", and accuses mr trump of using the service to "incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government". the headlines on bbc news... the us congress sits all night to confirm joe biden as president, after pro—trump rioters stormed the building leaving four people dead, and the country reeling in shock. astonishing scenes as rioters made their way to the heart of the building. eventually, order was restored and the result confirmed. president trump today said there should be an orderly transition of power, but that he still disagreed with the result.

a full round—up this weekend‘s fa cup third round could be thrown into chaos due to the impact of increased covid—19 infections. southampton‘s tie with shrewsbury on saturday is off after a number of positive coronavirus tests amongst the players and staff at shrewsbury. and it‘s also been confirmed that aston villa have experienced a "significant" coronavirus outbreak at the club on the eve of their fa cup third—round tie with liverpool tomorrow night. villa say a large number of first—team players and staff are in isolation after returning positive tests on monday. the club‘s bodymoor heath training ground has been closed after a second round of testing produced more positive results. meanwhile, derby will be without interim boss wayne rooney and their entire first team for their third round fa cup tie against non—league chorley on saturday, following an outbreak at their club. they‘ll field a team from their under—23 and under—18 squads instead.

dame baroness campbell has expressed diasppointment with players from wsl sides manchester city and arsenal having taken a trip to dubai. manchester city‘s game with west ham is also off after four players travelled to the same destination, against government guidance, prompting an outbreak in the city squad. prompting an outbreak in the city squad. campbell, in her role as head of women‘s football for the fa, said players should serve as role models. it is disappointing. it is disappointinglj it is disappointing. i haven't spoken to the individual players, because again, it is not myjob to do that, it is the clubs that deal with it. but i think, you know, when you see the pressures that everybody is under here, whether that is the national health service orjust people really struggling with mental

wellness at home because of the pandemic, i think it is important every single one of us acts as a role model. mesut ozil could leave the club this month having been left out of arsenal‘s premier league and european squads. the 32—year—old has six months left on his contract and is now free to talk to other clubs. despite being the highest earner in the club, he hasn‘t featured for the gunners since march. mikel arteta says a decsion on his future will be made in the coming days. i don‘t know obviously now he is free to negotiate with other clubs. we will discuss internally what the best situation for him in the near future, and obviously with the player and the agent and try to find the best solution for everybody. the international olympic committee says it‘s fully concentrated on delivering the tokyo games later this year, despite a state of emergency being declared in the japanese capital. daily covid infections have hit

a daily record there, and it‘s resulted in the city being placed into a partial lockdown for the next month, their most severe restrictions since april. for the next month, their most severe restrictions since april. the delayed games are due to be played injuly. the ioc said it has full confidence in the japanese authorites to deliver the olympic and paralympic games. games in the nba went ahead as planned in the united states last night, despite the violence in washington dc. a joint statement by players at the boston celtics and miami heat said that they decided to go ahead with their game "with heavy hearts". as we‘ve seen in the news this morning, four people died when the us capitol building was stormed by hundreds of supporters of outgoing president donald trump. i'll i‘ll say it, because i don‘t think a lot of people want to, could you imagine today if those were all black people? storming the capital?

and what would have happened? so that, to me, is a picture that is worth a thousand words for all of us to see. and probably something for us to see. and probably something for us to reckon with again. the england women‘s cricket team are going to tour pakistan for the first time. they‘ll play two twenty20 matches and one—day series in october. and they will be there alongside the men‘s team. clare connor, who‘s in charge of women‘s cricket at the ecb, says it‘s an important step in their history. that‘s all the sport for now. i will have another update in the next hour. gp surgeries in england have begun offering the first dose of the oxford astrazeneca covid—19 vaccine, with the second dose to be given three months later. the health secretary matt hancock attended a surgery this morning to promote the initiative, only to discover the new vaccine had yet to arrive. a gp there said its arrival had been delayed by 24 hours. leaders in birmingham have written to the health secretary to say

they expect to run out of the pfizer vaccine tomorrow and as yet haven‘t received any stocks of the oxford version, but this has now changed. the west midlands male andy street has tweeted that he has received a personal assurance from the vaccines minister that supplies of the astrazeneca vaccine will be delivered tomorrow to the city of birmingham. it‘s an exciting day today. you‘re going to get your vaccine to prevent you getting the covid. a wartime—like endeavour in peacetime. the next few days are due to see a massive ramping—up of this national effort, in the hope of vaccinating 13 million vulnerable people by mid—february. this morning, the health secretary matt hancock was hearing how gps will begin to take on a larger part of the roll—out, especially now the oxford—astrazeneca jab

will start arriving in surgeries. there was a hitch, though, because the surgery he went to didn‘t get its expected delivery of the oxford vaccine. it all adds to questions about if the government‘s ambitions are achievable. it‘s just more frustrating than a concern, because we‘ve got capacity to vaccinate, and if we had a regular supply, we do have the capacity to vaccinate 3,000 to 4,000 patients a week. we have been running since the middle of december, and on our busiest days we can vaccinate 500 people, easily. labour says the incident shows why ministers need to move heaven and earth to get the programme up to speed. so, what reassurance is the government offering that it can increase supplies and vaccinate two million people every week? the rate—limiting step is the supply of vaccine, and we are working with the companies, both pfizer and astrazeneca, to increase the supply.

i just want to thank all the gp surgeries who have been working hard to get the vaccine out so far and are now going to have more vaccine coming through so that they can get all of those vulnerable groups vaccinated. this plant in wrexham is where the oxford vaccine gets put into vials, ready to go. the government admits that there have been issues with the distribution, because every batch has to be checked for safety reasons. the uk regulator, the mhra, is now expanding lab space to make sure this can be speeded up. it has been taking as long as 20 days. another big milestone will come next week, when mass vaccination centres start at venues like this one at the excel centre in london. it‘s still early days, but public health experts are stressing that this breakneck speed has to be achieved, or we‘ll all be in lockdown for much longer.

naomi grimley, bbc news. 92—year—old entertainer lionel blair has thanked scientists for their work after having the second dose of the coronavirus vaccine. hejoins me now on the phone. we are so thrilled to have you on the phone this afternoon. thank you for joining the phone this afternoon. thank you forjoining us. you're welcome. tellers, where did you go for your injection? exeter racecourse. because i live next to the racecourse, and they have got a whole floor at epsom racecourse when they are doing it. and it was a regular there are people there showing you the way, where you can park. they do it, you sit and wait for ten minutes, and then you can leave. it is wonderful. it sounds very well organised. that was the

first one. that is my first one, that was given to me, would you believe, on my birthday. was it? a strange kind of gift, but were you pleased to receive it?|j strange kind of gift, but were you pleased to receive it? i was thrilled! and also, after the injection, they said, "and now we wa nt to injection, they said, "and now we want to see you onjanuary injection, they said, "and now we want to see you on january the injection, they said, "and now we want to see you onjanuary the 6th," which i did yesterday. so that was your second dose. so, what was the gap between the first and the second doses? one was on the 12th, on my birthday, and then i had to wait... what was that? three or four weeks? yes, that‘s all. did you hesitate at all? no, not at all. i always do what i‘m told. i mean, i‘ve always had the flu jab. if you are ill, you go and do it. and if the doctors say it should be this, i do it. what difference will it make to your life then knowing that you have now got

this coverage from the vaccine? well, it is wonderful, because my wife who is much younger than me is my carer because of my age, i‘m really not allowed to drive. so she drives me if i go to get my haircut. so what was wonderful is she had it done as well. so i found that fabulous. what would your message other people who might be in two minds about having it done? do as you‘re told! look at the poor football players who, because of some people who are stupid enough not to listen, they‘ve had to cancel. that is ridiculous! why would they say it otherwise? that is like me saying, "somebody has got aids, i‘m going to go to bed with them, that is ridiculous!"|j aids, i‘m going to go to bed with them, that is ridiculous!" i must ask you one thing, when you sign up for these jobs, they know who you

are, they encourage you to do a bit ofa are, they encourage you to do a bit of a soft—shoe shuffle, a bit of a song and dance? i do a bit of a jazz hands! white of course you do! joe, who is producing today, had a dance teacher caughtjoan cairns who worked with you many years ago, and she said you were very strict. was i?!i she said you were very strict. was i?! iwas she said you were very strict. was i?! i was never strict! it was never ta ke i?! i was never strict! it was never take five, it was take two. does that sound like you? we are so glad you have had your second jab.|j that sound like you? we are so glad you have had your second jab. i am thrilled, the only thing is i wish my family could still come in and see me. but that i can‘t do. i can‘t wait for that to happen. let's hope it happens as fast as possible. lionel blair, thank you so much for talking to us and keep well. and everybody, go and do as you‘re told! lionel says. lionel says! wonderful

to have lionel blair on the programme, or the show, to have lionel blair on the programme, orthe show, as to have lionel blair on the programme, or the show, as it ought to be. the other figure out that we have is the number of people who sadly died within 28 days in a positive test is 1162. and the latest government statistics show that 1,296,432 people have received their first dose of the vaccine. we will have more in the run—up to the government press co nfe re nce more in the run—up to the government press conference at 5pm with the prime minister between now and then. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with sarah keith—lucas.

it is another cold, winter resort a day out there today. temperatures still several degrees below average for this time of year. it stays cold and there will be sleet and snow in the forecast as well. also from icy conditions on any untreated surfaces, so do take care if you are out for the rest of the day. we have snowfall across parts of northern england pushing in some parts of wales, the north midlands as well. this is a mix of some rain and sleet at lower levels, so on the higher ground. cold but mostly dry further south east across england. northern ireland and scotland, most of the showers will ease for a time, but you can see more snow showers packing in across the north of scotla nd packing in across the north of scotland overnight. ferguson over parts of northern england, could be about ten centimetres on the top of the pennines. also wintry flurries for the midlands and into wales, do watch out for icy conditions first thing tomorrow morning. tomorrow, scotla nd thing tomorrow morning. tomorrow, scotland and northern ireland seeing a dry day with sunshine. claudia for england and wales, further wintry flurries and temperatures between one and 5 degrees.

this is a bbc news special on coronavirus ahead of a downing street briefing from the prime minister at 5. the headlines: the oxford covid vaccine is being rolled out to gp surgeries in england — and after warning that vaccine supplies were running low in birmingham, an assurance that the city will get stocks tomorrow. matt hancock has justified the government‘s decision to delay the second doses of the vaccines to make sure more people can get a first dose more quickly. it saves more lives, and ultimately, that is the public health justification and i think it‘s why there‘s so much buy—in to this approach. 1,162 deaths have been reported in the uk today from covid—19, a rise from yesterday, but the number of positive cases has