democrats in the us house of representatives have delivered an article of impeachment are donald trump in the senate, starting the process of putting him on trial. it accuses him of inciting interaction when his supporters stormed congress. the trial begins in earnest on february nine. president biden says he wants to raise his target for vaccination during his first 100 days in office to 150 million. he cleaned the us could be on the way to herd immunity from coronavirus either summer. for a second night running, police and the netherlands have clashed with protesters defying a 9pm curfew introduced to battle the virus. dutch police described the violence is the worst unrest in four decades. the prime minister described the protesters�* actions as criminal.

it has just it hasjust gone it has just gone half past two in the morning, time now for a look back at the day in parliament. hello and welcome to monday in parliament. coming up in the next half hour — more demands for the government to make permenant a temporary increase in the benefit universal credit. robert burns said, "whatever mitigates the words or increases the happiness of others, this is my criterion of goodness." a conservative peer says poisoning children�*s minds against a parent should be considered domestic abuse. their mother was never allowed to reach them on the telephone, even to wish them happy birthday or merry christmas. also on this programme, labour and the tories clash over the cost of council tax. mps ask how best to help the homeless. and just how do you cut the number of grey squirrels?

we support work by the uk squirrel accord to developl an oral contraceptive to reduce the grey squirrel population. . but first, the work and pensions secretary says she�*s "actively considering" with the chancellor how to continue supporting people through the pandemic as the opposition kept up the pressure to keep a £20 a week increase in universal credit. the temporary uplift was brought in at the start of the coronavirus outbreak. it�*s due to expire at the end of march. 0pposition and some conservative mps think it should stay for now at least. as it stands, that cut is formally written into official treasury documents. the prime minister has indicated that he thinks the cut should happen, but last week, the welfare delivery minister said it was too early to make a decision. so, can i ask the secretary of state to clarify what�*s his government policy on reducing universal credit in april, what criteria will affect the decision and who in government will ultimately make that decision? the government did introduce

a raft of temporary measures to support those most impacted by the covid pandemic. he is aware of the statement i made to the house, where i said that the situation would be reviewed in the new year. that's exactly what i'm doing, and i'm working closely with my right honourable friend, the chancellor, as we consider options on how best to support people through the pandemic. jonathan reynolds. thank you, mr speaker. i put it to the secretary of state that she must give clarity to the millions of families this cut will affect, and if she wished, she could give that reassurance 110w. can i also ask for clarity on reports that the chancellor is planning on giving a one—off payment to universal credit claimants, ignoring laws and other benefits and leaving the hundreds of thousands of likely new claimants expected this year with lower levels of support? my right honourable friend, the chancellor, and i are actively working on proposals on how we can continue to make sure that we support our people most badly affected by the pandemic. that is part of the discussions

that are still ongoing, and i can assure this house we are actively considering it and hope to make an announcement when we can in order to give that certainty, as he points out, to a number of people. can the secretary of state i confirm that she has made personal representations to l the chancellor on maintaining the full £20 uplift, and if so, i and he chooses to ignore her, will she resign? mr speaker, as often happens, as he will know, from the scottish government administration, we tend to have discussions about policy between government ministers while we are considering it. it's important, recognising the scale of the support that the government has given to families, to businesses and so on that we continue to make these important decisions based on evidence in a competent, considerate and compassionate way. and that is exactly what the chancellor and i will be doing in our recommendations for the prime minister. the snp�*s spokesperson had burns night on his mind as he pressed the secretary of state. or increases the happiness of others, this is my criterion of goodness, and whatever injures society at large or any individual in it, this

is my measure of iniquity." if the uplift of universal credit is not made permanent, she will not only formally be residing over a system that discriminates against disabled people, but also where out of work support falls to its lowest ever level relative to wages. and labour pressed the point with another minister. the number of children in poverty has increased by 600,000 after housing costs since 2010, and that has of course been insubstantial part due to the £9 billion that the government withdrew from social security since 2015 alone. now, the uc uplift and other measures taken since the beginning of the pandemic will have reduced the number of children living in poverty to 300,000. but can the minister confirm that if the government proceeds with the ending of the £20 uc uplift, together with rising unemployment, that will mean by the end of this parliament, this government will have seen 700,000 more children cast into poverty than at

the beginning? i fundamentally disagree - with the approach of the party opposite, simply throwing money at our benefit system, _ an approach which, under. the last labour government, left a generation trapped - on benefits, trapped in poverty and incentivized not to work i by the legacy benefit system. we won't be going back to those dark old days, | mr speaker. we know that work is the best| route out of poverty and under universal credit, our modern, dynamic, agile system, - work always pays. conservative mps praised universal credit as "a real success". will the minister agree that the last thing we should now be doing is moving to scrap universal credit, a system which is really helping thousands of my constituents? doesn�*t it go to show how out of touch the opposition are when this system is benefitting millions of people across the country at this incredibly difficult time?

but labour kept up the pressure. right across the uk, food banks, schools, charities and communities have had to mobilise to feed hungry children because of the inadequacy of the welfare state. analysis from the house of commons library shows that 680,000 of these children could be lifted out of poverty if universal credit wasn't cut and child benefit was increased by just £5 per week. why won't she implement these changes? in 2020—2021, we'll spend over £120 billion on benefits - for working aged people. that is £120,000 million, with one in every £8 - the government spends, - three times the defence budget, nearly as large - as the nhs budget. so, we are in continuing - to support people throughout the country— during this pandemic. people on older benefits don�*t get the £20 a week increase. can ijust say how utterly disappointing it is to still have no uplift to legacy benefits ten months into this crisis? since the start of the

pandemic, shielding people has been an afterthought. the increased costs they are facing are doing untold damage to their lives and the government�*s solution of claiming statuary sick pay is woefully inadequate. will the government finally do the right thing and ensure shielding people or people having to isolate are furloughed? i hope the shadow minister welcomes the continued and extensive support the government has provided through schemes such as furlough, the additional £9 billion in welfare support and specifically for those who are clinically extremely vulnerable, the second £32 million additional support provided through local authorities to help with those following the shielding guidance. in these critical times, certainty is vital, and perhaps the shadow team should reflect on this with their random decision to try and cancel universal credit that has stood up so well to support those people in the most need during this unprecedented time.

justin tomlinson. labour have claimed that allowing local authorities in england to raise council tax bills by up to 5% from april will leave families almost £100 a year worse off. but ministers said bills were lower in real terms than ten years ago and conservative councils cost less. the clash came in a debate led by labour. right at the heart of the local. government funding settlement, there lurks a ratherl nasty little surprise. what the chancellor . and secretary of state trumpeted as an increase in funding for councils - was nothing of the sort, - because what we got instead of the promised end _ to austerity was a conservative counsel tax bombshell. the government made a choice to clobber hard—pressed familyj with a 5% council tax rise - after the government's mistakes i lead our country into the worstl recession of any major economy. but conservative mps said labour run local government

was also putting up council tax. could you please explain if you do not think council should be increasing taxes, why the mayor of london is proposing to increase his by 10%? it was actually the secretary of state for transport that told the mayor of london that he had to increase council tax. oh, yes, it was. the reason why there is a funding gap in london is londoners have done the right thing and followed the government advice to keep covid safe by keeping off public transport as much as they can do, and so the revenues coming in for transport for london has collapsed. he said councils had no choice. councils of all political colours will be forced to put up council tax this year, not because they want to, but because the government's left councils with no real choice. the coast of covid will have to be paid for, but not by raising taxes on people who can't afford it at a time

when their incomes are under so much strain and the pandemic is still raging. replying for the government, the communities secretary said labour councils cost more. whilst council tax has fallen i under the conservatives in real terms since 2010, the last - labour government presided over a doubling of council tax, and in labour run wales, | it is troubling. perhaps the leader of - the opposition should pick up a phone and check in with his own local leadership- from time to time. labour councils themselves want to raise taxes locally. | at or above the flexibility that we are proposing. i labour and councils - consistently have higher council taxes then - conservative counsel. and he defended the government�*s support for councils. we know today that we have provided £1 billion more - than local government has itself self—reported -

to my department as covid related costs throughout . the period. £1 billion more than even - counsel have told us they have spent and need. so let's be clear that- when the prime minister, when the chancellor, - and i promise to support local councils and the communities, . meant that promise and we have delivered on that promise. but labour warned that an ageing population would lead to higher bills. the pandemic has brought into clearer focus the frighteningly fragile state of our adult social care sector. it is a dereliction of duty that the government, for ten long years, has failed to come up with a sustainable solution for families that cannot continue. a former local government minister said the only realistic route through the crisis was to share the costs between central and local government.

we've got local democracy in place for good reason. councils control aspects of our lives, and should be accountable. central local government together how to complete the cost of responding to a pandemic, and quality local decision—making matters enormously. a former lib dem leader had a money raising idea. instead of leveling a huge i council tax burden on those who are still paying now, | why not increase on those who are well off to have more than one home? i if this government cared about leveling up, - they wouldn't be leveling down lake district communities - whilst hitting those - who are on low incomes to start off with? tim farron. you�*re watching monday in parliament with me, alicia mccarthy. at the start of the pandemic, emergency accommodation was found for around 33,000 rough sleepers in england.

the ministry of housing, communities and local government says it�*s now found longer term homes for 23,000 people. but concerns were raised at a hearing of the public accounts committee about whether continuing to provide hotel accommodation for the remaining group represents value for money. what happened in my local authority in gloucestershire was that quite quickly they got a significant number of these rough sleepers in to hotels, very expensive hotels, and the majority of them are still there. so what is the strategy, jeremy, to encourage local authorities to find follow—on accommodation? because this hotel accommodation is very expensive and it is not doing the rough sleepers themselves any good. you are absolutely right about the importance of providing appropriate move on accommodation in the interest of the rough sleepers but also the taxpayer. he said his department was aiming to create a further 3,300 long term homes by march.

we have made progress. i recognise the position of your constituency, but of the 33,000, about less than 10,000 i think are now in hotels and the rest are in longer—term settled accommodation. for example, the private rent sector, or social housing will run a rough sleeping pathway and support housing or reconnected with family and friends. may i bring you in here, ms casey? my local authority also reported that there are a proportion of people that won�*t engage with them or any of the agencies. and that must be particularly hard during this cold weather. is there any more that can be done for that category of people? yes. and actually, it is dame louise or baroness casey. _ i am so sorry. so sorry. not at all, sirjeffrey. essentially, i think the point you are making is a valid, i

i think in rural areas . where actually we know historically anywhere finding. move on accommodation builds always are more challenging| than say squeezing more out of places like london. accommodation insisted it was "impressive" to have already moved 23,000 people out of hotels. i think in urban areas, i certainly particular areas like manchester and london - to birmingham, getting low cost accommodation in hotels is much easier, so the average, _ i think we were looking i in london at 25 to 30 quid a night for that accommodation, but that is not to deny, - i don't think at all, - i would not want to sit here and say that the point - you have made them, what one wants is to spend money on long—term solutions. | she highlighted a hotel in shrewsbury. they have people in that hotel, i did a virtual tour of it- and met the team that worked there, that were really- vulnerable. in my day, first time| around, 25 years ago

when i was a volunteer, i that would be called men of the road. people who have been out for a really terribly long time. - so i think we have to seize - the opportunity of those people now being in, i think. to be honest sirjeffrey, it is not going to be - straightforward in areas like yours the magic - of anything really quickly. and i think the permanentl secretary is right to put his eggs in the basket of. those permanent move on accommodations that should touch areas such as yours. - the original plan was for louise casey to conduct a housing review for the government. but she stepped down from the role three months later. baroness casey, you came into the department, you agreed to do this review, you made the point you weren�*t planning to do it immediately — do you agree that review still needs to happen and do you still plan to lead it? i still think that probably- a good look at not only rough sleeping but actually probablyl wider aspects of homelessness such as families and temporary accommodation who, to be -

honest, i have worried about. quite a lot during the pandemic and i think it is no secret that actually i have saidl publicly that i think— the government should do a big step back and should consider how it looks at many issues i that have actually, in my mind, |cut quite deep into the country| around low income, rising level of people on universal credit, i and so on and so forth, i homelessness and within that rough sleeping. and she said it was time to create a "safety net" so that no one was on the street at all. a parent using a child as a weapon against the other parent should be considered domestic abuse. that was the argument in the lords made by the conservative peer, lady meyer. she told the story of a mother living in london, whose two sons had gone to visit their estranged father in germany for a holiday but were not returned.

during those nine years, the mother had a few snatched meetings with her children. a total of 2a hours, and always in germany, in the presence of a third party. the children were not allowed to visit her, the mother was never allowed to reach them on the telephone. even to wish them happy birthday or merry christmas. there followed a lengthy legal battle. she was repeatedly blocked by the argument that her sons did not want to see her anymore. the argument was sustained by the children�*s apparent hostility towards the mother, a hostility instilled by the father�*s relentless denigration of the mother and her family. my noble lords, the mother was me. and the children were the sons from herfirst marriage. a lib dem, lady burt, had initially supported the move to make "parental

alienation" an offence. but, she now feared an unintended consequence: an abused parent could actually be painted as the abuser. she quoted the victims�* commissioner. it put victims of domestic abuse into the ridiculous position where if they raise their abuse in the family courts, however well they have actually behaved, that can trigger unfounded allegations of parental alienation that could result in their children being placed with the abuser. lady meyer disagreed but said she�*d discuss the issue more with ministers before pressing further for changes to the domestic abuse bill. a row has broken out between brussels and london after the uk government refused to give the eu�*s ambassador the full diplomatic status granted to other ambassadors. the foreign office is understood not to want to set a precedent by treating an international body in the same way as a nation state. but the eu has criticised the uk citing the 142 other countries around the world where eu ambassadors have been granted full diplomatic status. a liberal democrat used an urgent question to raise the matter in the house of lords.

this is about whether the government are treating the new eu partnership with the seriousness it deserves or whether they are squandering goodwill indeed being "pissy", in the words of the conservative chair of the defence select committee, at the expense of the real interest of the uk. not only will the uk be negotiating for years to come to fill gaps in the tca, but any easing of the brexit red tape will require eu cooperation. my lords, we continue to engage with the european union on the long term arrangements for the eu delegation to the uk. i do not wish to pre—empt the outcome of those discussions. we are, iassure noble lords, committed to ensuring the the head of delegation and staff have the privileges and ammenities in which they need to function effectively. we want a relationship with the eu based on friendly

cooperation and the eu delegation has an important role to play in this. northern ireland�*s deputy first minister says "there isn�*t michelle 0�*neill made her comments when facing questions about the working of the northern ireland protocol. the protocol was enacted to stop a hard border between the north and the republic after brexit. under its provisions northern ireland continues to apply some eu customs rules at its ports meaning some goods arriving from great britain now face checks. i think the protocol gives us protections which we weren�*t afforded throughout the whole of the brexit debates, so ourjob as an executive is to ensure the rigorous implementation of the protocol and we will continue to work with both the irish government, with the british government and eu in terms of any issues that we see in terms that are problematic, but as we know — this is my own political opinion — brexit, there�*s not anything good to come from brexit, and the problem that we foresee, that we were foressing then, are now coming to light.

however, ourjob as an executive is to make sure that we minimise any disruption would be that north, south, east or west, and we work to find solutions to a number of the issues that have been identified in these early days. having demanded and voted for the rigorous implementation of the protocol, and they told us today that the executive wants the rigorous implementation of the protocol, it is pretty clear to me that the deputy first minister cares little for the resulting damage to our businesses and consumers, so could i ask what does she say to the people like beth lenny, robin mercer, who are trying to run garden centres and have been told by their gb suppliers that they can't bring in roses or azaleas because there might be soil on or in pots because the protocol ludicrously imposes an eu ban on the importing of soil? i think perhaps the member should explain to his constituents that he himself

endorsed brexit and voted for it and championed brexit. and these were always going to be the implications. but let me say to your constituents in terms of the issue and soil that we are aware of this issue in relation to the movement of soil and also liaising with them on this issue and hope to find a resolution. has the executive office, - understanding the limitations brexit places on our trade, i has the office commissioned invest ireland and trade i ireland and others urgently develop a strategy for . maximising the benefits of northern ireland's dual- market access into both the uk in eu markets? that is something we should all be able to agree on. - what is the executive office - doing to maximise the benefits to businesses here for- investment from both the eu and gb into this market at this economy? - again, thanks to the member for his questions.

i concur with him and the commentary that has been made there. i think that we are very early days in terms of being post the 31st of december so obviously there are a lot of issues to be worked through. there are a number of current issues whether that be soil or the issue of state potatoes, fisheries, steel. there is a raft of things that we need to find resolution to and we will work those who are appropriate in order to find resolutions to those things. finally, an environment minister has revealed that scientists are trying to develop an oral contraceptive for grey squirrels. the grey squirrel was originally introduced from america. in the past century, numbers have rocketed and now they�*re officially classed as a pest. they�*re blamed for the decline of their native cousin, the red squirrel. in the lords, a conservative peer raised the issue in a debate about the government�*s tree strategy. what effective guidance will the government give to ensure that these trees are not subsequently destroyed by grey squirrels?

invasive non—native species like grey squirrels and others like muntjac deer do clearly threaten our bio—diversity. they cost the economy about 1.8 billion per year. they negatively impact on our trees. the forestry commission provides advice on maintaining the habitat and managing grey squirrels. but longer term, the rosslyn institute is researching ways to breed infertility into female grey squirrels, which would provide a more humane way of reducing the numbers. and in addition, we support work by the uk squirrel accord the grey squirrel population. the environment minister, lord goldsmith. that�*s it. i�*ll be back at the same time tomorrow, until then from me, alicia mccarthy, goodbye.

hello. a cold, frosty start to tuesday morning means the risk for some ice on untreated surfaces. bear that in mind if you are making an essentialjourney. through the day, we�*ll see rain pushing from the west. and as that wet weather runs into some cold air, snow is likely to develop, especially over high ground in the north of the uk. this frontal system pushing in from the west will bring the wet and wintry weather, cold air ahead of our weather front. behind this frontal system, though, is much milder air starting to make inroads. ice to start off, then, just about anywhere, but especially through the midlands, into wales and northern ireland, where rain will be falling on cold surfaces, and a little bit of sleet and snow to start off across parts of central scotland. through the day, our main band of wet weather will continue to push its way eastwards. briefly, we could see a little bit of snow mixing in over high

ground in north wales, in the peak district, but more especially across the pennines, where we could see 5cm of snow accumulating on the highest ground, through the southern uplands of scotland and into the grampians, where some places could well see 10cm of snow before the day is done. more likely mixing with some rain and sleet at low levels, butjust 3 degrees in glasgow. holding onto some brightness in northeast scotland, conversely, 10 degrees in plymouth, into the milder air pumping in behind our frontal system. and the front will tend to die out a little bit through tuesday night into wednesday morning. still some patchy rain, sleet and snow across scotland. quite a chilly night in prospect here, although not as cold as the last few, and very, very mild indeed down towards the southwest. wednesday is looking like a drier day for many. it�*ll be quite cloudy, misty and murky, and we�*ll see some showers of rain moving through northern ireland, england and wales at times. the further north and east you are across scotland, it should be dry with some spells of sunshine. three or four degrees here, 10—11 across parts of wales and southwest england. and as we go through wednesday night, we�*ll do it all again, another frontal system pushing in from the southwest. again, that�*ll run into the relatively cold air, giving the potential for some snow, especially over higher ground in northern england

and southern scotland. ahead of that frontal system, still some pretty cold air in place, so temperatures maybe 3—4 degrees across parts of northern scotland. down towards the south, though, highs of 12—13.

a very warm welcome to bbc news. my name�*s mike embley. making history on capitol hill. for the second time, democrats deliver to the senate an impeachment charges against donald trump triggering the process for putting him on trial. president trump gravely endanger the security of the united states and its institutions of government. he threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperilled the coequal branch of government. he thereby betrayed his trust as president to the manifest injury of the people of the united states. president biden sets out goals to speed up coronavirus vaccinations, saying the us should be well on the way to herd immunity by the summer.