this is bbc news, the headlines: the number of coronavirus deaths in the uk has passed 100,000, the highest in europe. prime minister borisjohnson said he was deeply sorry for every life lost and promised that lessons would be learned. the country has been struggling to contain a new more contagious variant that emerged late last year. the european commission president has warned producers of covid vaccines that they must deliver on their promises, as a row grows over the supply of the jabs within the eu. two companies — astrazeneca and pfizer—biontech — both said production problems meant deliveries were likely to be lower than expected. the us senate has rejected an attempt to stop donald trump's impeachment trial. the republican rand paul argued the hearing would be unconstitutional because mr trump is no longer president, but he was defeated by 55 votes to a5.

hello, and welcome to tuesday in parliament. coming up in the next half hour: the government faces its second commons rebellion in two days — this time, over whether the uk should do trade with countries that commit genocide. it's really quite extraordinary that— it's really quite extraordinary that home secretary previously so obsessed with stopping people from entering the country and deporting those already— country and deporting those already here should have taken so long — already here should have taken so lonu. ~ ., already here should have taken solonu. , ., , already here should have taken so lon. , ., , ., so long. more questions from the government _ so long. more questions from the government about - so long. more questions from| the government about getting children back into school. 111 schools and colleges where it is significantly lower. it's

one yes should their failure to do so is utterly and complement. but first: for the second day running, the government was under borisjohnson said he was deeply sorry for every life lost and took responsibility for everything the government had done. in the commons, mps pressed the home secretary about what further action could be taken to stop the spread. it's thought the government could be about to announce that some travellers coming to england will have to quarantine in hotels amid concerns about new variants. those quarantining would have to pay the costs. you make the efforts

of the british people in hopes of the british people in hopes of a vaccine are being undermined by the government's ability to secure our borders, conservative incompetence is putting our country at risk. labour is calling for a comprehensive hotel quarantine system with protections to secure us against new strains. it cannot be restricted to only a handful of countries, leaving gaping holes in our defences against different strains of the virus emerging around the world. 0n the brief plans for hotel quarantine, can the home secretary confirm when formal plans will be introduced? will they be comprehensive or limited to a few countries? and if it is limited, how would that be acceptable when the quarantine system is in such disarray? put simply, what confidence can the public have in the government on this issue if ministers are not prepared to learn from their own mistakes? the home secretrary set out the actions she said

the government had already taken, including introducing passenger locator forms, self—isolation and fines, but said she wouldn't speculate on measures that weren't in place such as hotel quarantine. he claims that his party has been calling for tougher restrictions, but i think also, the party opposite, if i may say so, should also reflect on their position, because in august last year, the honourable gentleman himself called quarantine a blunt tool. injuly, the shadow transport secretary said quarantine measures should be lessened, and injune last year, the leader of the opposition also said that this system measures are always under review. it is right that the government reviews all measures. it's really quite extraordinary that a home secretary- previously so obsessed with stopping people . from entering the country. and deporting those already here should have taken so long to properly address covid - protections at the uk border. last week, the home secretary admitted that we "should havel

closed our borders earlier," so why did she fail to take i precautions which she knew were needed? l what stopped her? was it her cabinet colleagues, and if so, why didn't _ she resign and speak out? a point priti patel didn't answer, instead praising the cooperation between scotland and england. the chair of the home affairs committee raised recent pictures of long queues at heathrow airport. is it true that for months, people have been waiting for hours in those queues in unsafe circumstances, and is it true that the border force lifted some of the checks that she just said were being applied to 100% of passengers because those queues were unsafe? those queues materialise because of the compliance checks the border force have put in place. the border force in particular are there to enforce the checks and, as they are doing now, achieve 100% coverage. and they are also now working with london heathrow airport's assistant organisation, their contractors, who are also working as a triage function to make sure that people are being checked.

given the chief scientific adviser has said that - coronavirus is going i to be with us forever, are the measures that have been contemplated expected to be - permanent to deal with that i permanent risk of a mutating variant of the virus - that the vaccine can't deal with or temporary? measures are always under review. the right honourable gentleman understands that fully. decisions will be taken, obviously, through the consultative process within government. a labour mps reflected on the latest death toll. 0n the day that 0ns figures show that the uk now has the highest number of covid deaths per million population in the world and given that the isolation service currently does not check the vast majority of those required to required to isolate, how can the home secretary assure us that enforcement of these new rules will be adequate and that they will not be an honoured more in the breach than the observance? the number of deaths from coronavirus has reached 100,000, and every death

is absolute tragedy. i think it does put this discussion today into some context, a great deal of contacts and facts, regarding measures that we're working night and day to reduce the spread of coronavirus. priti patel. the schools minister for england has refused to say when pupils might return to the classroom, despite pressure from mps. responding to an urgent question, nick gibb said schools would reopen "as soon as possible," but any easing of the current lockdown would be dependent on the advice from the government's scientific advisers. he was speaking following mounting demands for some sort of return after next month's half term break. it is the government's strong desire to reopen all schools, colleges, and universities as soon as possible. we will prioritise the reopening of schools as we begin the process of lifting lockdown restrictions. but that, he said, would depend

on a number of factors. including issues such as hospitalisation rates and mortality, the rate of vaccination and the challenge of new variants. ultimately, it was the pressure on the nhs that caused us to move into a national lockdown, and the government is monitoring nhs capacity carefully as it reviews whether easing lockdown might be possible. he has failed to give parents, students and staff the credible plan they deserve. we simply don't know what the government's plan is for school reopening other than what we read in the newspapers. in recent days, we've heard reports that the prime minister wants pupils back before easter, the health secretary saying he wants pupils back after easter, public health england saying overnight that primary schools are already safe to reopen, so which is it? what is the plan for reopening? several conservative mps pressed for schools to reopen as soon as possible. we just need to get our schools open again sooner rather - than later, so could i ask him why not open schools - and colleges in the areas where covid cases are significantly-

lower? will my right honourable friend reassure parents that the reopening of schools is being treated as a national emergency? will he work with the six gloucestershire mps to see if our falling covid case rates mean that our primaries can reopen after half term? the majority of parents in kensington would like to see their children return to school after the half term break, especially with proper testing. no one in this house is keener to see all schools open - to all children and young people, but we will be . led by the scientific advice i when we make that decision, and that will be how we best i tackle the transmission of this virus in our communities.

0pposition mps pressed the minister over the actions taken to support pupils while schools were shut. we have 60% of children facing poverty, the highest in the country, and a shortage of 10,000 laptops. can the minister update the house on when my constituents can get the laptops so that they can get the education that they need urgently? for months, parents, teachers unions and locals authorities have been calling for rodeos and schools. the laptops and internet access for children, for vaccination for teachers at. we have already purchased 1.3 million laptops - —— for months, parents, teachers unions and locals authorities have been calling for rodeos and schools. the laptops and internet access for children, for vaccination for teachers at. we have already purchased 1.3 million laptops - for disadvantaged children. on top of the 2.9 million laptops and tablets that i already exist in schools, i and so far, we've delivered to the hands of children and local authorities - and schools 876,000 laptops. but there was some support for the minister. contrary to the mood of these questions so far,

can i just point out that today is a day where we have surpassed 100,000 people in deaths in the united kingdom? 37,000 people are currently in hospitalfor covid, and now is not the time to set arbitrary deadlines for the opening of schools. nick gibb said he was quite right. the chancellor, rishi sunak, says he's reviewing the financial support offered to people and companies ahead ? shannon of the budget. the government has faced repeated calls to extend the temporary £20—a—week increase in universal credit, which is due to end in march. when he appeared in the commons for his regular question time, mr sunak was urged to continue helping businesses as well. in recent days, the treasury has been at loggerheads with the dwp, insisting on taking £20 a week from the pockets of 6 million families. it's also been at loggerheads

with the sage committee by claiming financial hardship is not inhibiting self isolation. why is the treasury putting our economic and health recovery at risk in this way? mr speaker, i say to the honourable lady that she shouldn't believe everything she reads in the newspapers. but i can say that the treasury and this government has put in place a comprehensive and generous set of support to help people get through this crisis. and, as my colleagues said earlier, the results show we protected those on the lowest incomes the most. with the lockdown or some form of restrictions set to continue i well into the spring, - will the chancellor please give some certainty to those . businesses and individuals struggling financially. by announcing an early extension to his various - support packages, including help with the vat, business rates, and stamp duty, - the self—employment scheme, and of course the universal- credit uplift? well, mr speaker, my honourable friend i hope will appreciate the various things he just mentioned total about {20—30

billion, so i hope he will understand that we consider all these things in the budget that we will set out in the next stage of our economic response to coronavirus. and he wasn't the only treasury minister to be challenged about financial support during the pandemic. the chancellor's chaotic- stop—start approach undoubtedly cost jobs, failing to continue i the £20 universal credit uplift and extend it to legacy. benefits is set to plunge struggling families into hardship. - and now the conservatives are signalling tax rises - and a return to austerity. so can he tell me to - what extent does he believe this approach has contributed to 20 consecutive polls - in favour of scottish independence? - well, mr speaker, there'sjust a factual error in her question and saying there was a stop and start approach to furlough. the furlough... there was, there was! and it continues throughout. that was just a statement of fact. but in terms of the wider package, iwould refer the honourable lady to the fact that the uk government has provided £280 billion

of support, and bodies such as the imf has said that the uk's economic response has been one of the best examples of coordinated action globally. and we're able to do that because we are working as one united kingdom, and acting together and using the broad shoulders of the uk. you're watching tuesday in parliament with me, alicia mccarthy. don't forget, you can find all our programmes the head of the nhs england has said it would be worrying if the uk's vaccines supply was "stymied" by restrictions on exports of the pfizerjab by the european union. tension over vaccine distribution between the uk and the eu has been increasing

since british—based astrazeneca warned the eu it would have to reduce planned deliveries of its 0xford jab because of production problems. the pfizer vaccine is manufactured in belgium. sir simon stevens was appearing before a joint comittee of mps. we've heard overnight from the european union that there are moves afoot to put bureaucratic obstacles on the continent. are you worried by that? well, were that to happen, then of course that would be a worry. but, as i think our government ministers out on the airwaves this morning have said, they think that that's not something that is at the moment likely. the reality is that, as you'd say, we are off to a strong start with vaccinations. actually, we have a shared interest in every country doing well on vaccination, given that the virus moves across borders with extreme ease. but equally, this country did well to secure vaccine supply

from multiple sources. would it prevent the attainment of the 15 february target for the most vulnerable groups, if such obstacles were put in place? well, we're on track for 15 february, as i think it was said this morning. that remains our line of sight, to 15 february. but clearly we have a combination of sourcing from oxford astrazeneca principally out of this country, and from pfizer—biontech from continental europe. i mean, i think one of the things that arises from this — and indeed, since i know you are more broadly thinking about lessons of the pandemic — is that, alongside international cooperation, actually having strong uk manufacturing capability, including life sciences, is an important part of our future resilience. and very extended supply chains do not necessarily serve you well. sir simon was also questioned about how effective the oxford astrazeneca vaccine was after reports in germany suggested it gave very little

protection to people over 65. the oxford vaccine, great triumph of scientific endeavour and discovery, has now been administered to over—80s in the uk since the 11th of january. 3.5 weeks on, are you aware of any hospital admissions of people who've had the az vaccine? there will be people who within the first fortnight or so of having had their vaccine will go on to contract covid infection because the immune response particularly kicks in after a 12—14 day period. so there will be those individuals. and the question of course is making sure that the curves diverge, which is what the trial data showed in both cases.

indeed, and we're in a position as time goes on to be able to establish pretty comprehensively how effective these vaccines are, and to quash the suggestion, we hope, that there's anything in the suggestions that they not efficacious. so that data's very important. perhaps you might write to ourjoint committees with this as soon as possible? because i think that would be tremendously reassuring. sir simon was asked who he would prioritise for receiving the jab, once the first four priority groups had got theirfirst dose. the next group of people would be people in their 605 and 505 — although there were also be a legitimate discussion, in my view, to the joint committee that i'll have to advise on, as to whether or not there are certain other groups who should at that point also receive priority. people, say, with learning disability and autism, certain key public service workers, teachers, police — they will all have to be factored in that post—15 february prioritisation decision, as well.

sir simon stevens. meanwhile, a pledge to vaccinate 70% of the over—80s by the weekend was missed by the welsh government. weather has been blamed for why the target was not reached. first minister mark drakeford told the welsh parliament many over—80s did not feel it was safe to attend appointments in the snow and ice. the data is still coming in, but the figures we have show 72% of people living and working in care homes have already been vaccinated. that's notjust offered a vaccination, but that's already been vaccinated. we will not reach the 70% for over—80s because of the interruption to the programme of vaccination that happened on sunday and on monday morning. i won't have people over—80 feeling pressurised to come out to be vaccinated when they themselves decide that it is not safe

for them to do so. all of those people will have been offered a further opportunity to be vaccinated by the end of wednesday. we are on track to deliver what we said we would, which is to have made an offer of vaccination to everybody in the top four priority groups by the middle of february. he was facing questions from the newly—installed welsh conservative leader, andrew rt davies, who returned to the job after paul davies resigned in a row about drinking alcohol four days into a ban on drinking in licensed premises. you missed your target. that's straightforward, people understand that. yesterday, for example, i could tell you the uk government have four out of five 80—year—olds vaccinated — 80%. they hit their target. what we're seeing constantly is targets being missed by your government, and we are seeing the opening a postcode lottery here in wales. well, really, the member will have to do better than that. here he is again in his resumed responsibilities. there is no postcode

lottery here in wales. mark drakeford. the government's confirmed it's delaying laws to protect nature due to pressure on parliament from the coronavirus pandemic. mps spent the afternoon debating amendments to the environment bill, but further scrutiny has been postponed until the next parliamentary session. campaigners are angry at the latest delay to a bill that was first launched under the previous prime minister, theresa may, back injuly 2018. the necessary changes we've had to make to our procedures in order to keep members of the public and staff safe have put extraordinary pressure on the parliamentary timetable. and i want to reassure all members that the government remains committed to getting this environment bill onto the statute book. and across all areas of the environment, the bill will drive improvement. cleanerair, greater bio—diversity, a greater emphasis on nature, less waste, healthier rivers, more recycling, restoration of our precious habitats, less deforestation, polluting plastic waste exports to developing countries banned — all underpinned by new legally—binding targets and watched over by our tough new office for

environmental protection. she said work on those aims wouldn't stop and the bill would pass through parliament by the autumn. the green's mp was unimpressed. now of course we understand the pressures that covid—19 have put on the parliamentary timetable. but the government has had more than four years since the referendum, two years since the draught bill, and one year since the uk left the eu to get these their failure to do so is utterly incompetent. this bill is a cobbled—together set of disparate actions - that is sinking under— the weight of green—wash that's been applied by ministers. this bill does not take l the urgent action that is so desperately needed. this legislation is notl

perfect by any means, but this bill should already be law. - a former government law officer has told mps it would be "unlawful" for the foreign secretary, dominic raab, to cut britain's foreign aid spending without first changing the law. the government announced in november that it would reduce aid spending from 0.7% of national income to 0.5%. ministers accepted they would have to change the law to do this because the higherfigure is in the international development act. but there's speculation they may try to introduce the cuts before parliament has agreed any change in the legislation. the letterfrom lord garnier, a former solicitor general, was quoted by one mp when the foreign secretary appeared before the international development committee. until parliament changes the law in its statutory duty to meet the 0.7% target, the government must aim to hit it — and it cannot deliberately aim off orfire blanks. he goes on to say, until the statute is amended, the government is subject to that law. so i wonder, foreign secretary,

how do you think acting unlawfully and flouting a clearly legal obligation will affect your reputation both as a lawyer and the uk's international standing? we're not flouting the legislation, we're taking it seriously. and i read, as i said, edward garnier's letter. there are different views on it. so the most important thing now is not to react quickly, but to do so assiduously and diligently. so i'll look at it very carefully. i explained our basic position to the house, the government's position. there are clear limits on the government's ability to depart from 0.7% under the terms of the 2015 act. we want to respect that legislation and we will. and in terms of the current financial position that i've set out and the chancellor's set out, we'll look very carefully at what that means for the legislation, and i'll come forward and inform your committee, but more generally, the house, about how we intend to proceed.

ministers have faced criticism in the house of lords for shelving plans to de—criminalise non—payment of the bbc licence fee. the culture minister, lady barran, told peers that an alternative system could lead to significantly higherfines being imposed, but decriminalisation would remain "under active consideration". we remain concerned that a criminal sanction for tv licence evasion is increasingly disproportionate and unfair in a modern public service broadcasting system. however, we recognise that changing the sanction would have wide—ranging impacts for licence fee payers, and has the potential for significantly higher fines and costs for the minority who evade. 0ne peer said many elderly households faced intimidation from capita, the company that administers and enforces the fee. isn't it time that the government recognises that older people are turning off the bbc, and younger people have never even turned it on? and that the licence fee itself represents a bygone age and should be abolished, to be replaced by a choice—based alternative? lady barran said she had some

sympathy with lady hoey�*s comments about licence fee collection, but the bbc was independent and levels of evasion are the lowest in europe. does she agree that it is regrettable that we livel in an age where some 91 people have been given custodial- sentences for failing i to pay fines in respect of the nonpayment of tv licence in recent years, i and that a change to a civili penalty system should take place now rather than wait until the licence fee - review is completed? lady baran said those figures on imprisonment were for 2015—18, and have declined significantly in recent years. and that's it from me for another day, but dojoin me at the same time tomorrow for another round up of the day at westminster, including the highlights from prime minister's questions. but for now from me, alicia mccarthy, goodbye.

hello there. big temperature contrasts in the forecast for the next few days. many of us feeling the effects of a flow of mild air from the south—west. with that, you can see a lot of cloud on our earlier satellite image, but the orange colour�*s working in, showing that milder air. however, notice the blue colours up towards the north, cold air holds on, particularly across the northern half of scotland. a cold start to wednesday here, much milder down towards the south, but across southern england into southern and western wales, it's going to be quite misty and murky, damp and drizzly for a good part of the day. from the midlands and east anglia northwards, we should see some spells of sunshine, any early rain, sleet and snow towards scotland should tend to fade. best sunshine of all i think to be found across the far north of scotland, that's also

where we'll have the lowest of the temperatures. whereas, down to the south, highs of 11 or 12 degrees. through wednesday night, this band of heavy rain is going to work its way north—eastwards, could be enough rain to cause some flooding across parts of north wales and north—west england. remember, the ground here is still very wet. quite an array of temperatures as we start thursday morning, and with our band of rain, working northwards into the cold air and then becoming very slow—moving, we could see some quite significant snow. i think this will mostly be over the high ground, say above 200 metres in the pennines, up into the southern uplands, the south of the grampians as well, but where this snow does fall, it's going to be falling for a good part of the day so that could cause some travel disruption, more likely rain and sleet at low levels. northern scotland seeing brightness, but it will be very cold here, just two or three degrees. down towards the south, if we see a little bit of sunshine, highs of 13 or 1a, exceptional for this time of year.

the snow will be falling for quite some time across high ground of northern england and scotland. 15—30 centimetres of snow is possible — that could cause disruption on high—level routes during thursday night. this next band of wet weather could well help to add to those snow totals, but, as we get on into friday, the wet and wintry weather should tend to ease away and it will turn increasingly dry with some sunshine. still pretty chilly across the north and mild in the south with highs of 12 degrees.

a very warm welcome to bbc news. my name is mike embley. our top stories: the united kingdom is the first european state to record more than 100,000 deaths linked to the pandemic. i am deeply sorry for every life that has been lost and, of course, as prime minister, i take full responsibility for everything that the government has done. a battle over covid vaccine supplies — as the european union threatens to impose export controls on any made within the bloc. the us senate sees off an attempt by republican rand paul to stop donald trump's second impeachment trial. shouting and clashes in delhi as thousands of farmers protesting against new agriculture laws, break

through police barricades, and scale the iconic red fort.