this is bbc news with the latest headlines. ending lockdown must happen "very slowly", public health england's covid strategy chief says. but the uk should start seeing the impact of the vaccination programme in two weeks. reports that more than 3,000 people have been arrested in russia, as protests take place in support ofjailed opposition leader, alexei navalny. manchester united player, marcus rashford, says he's been subjected to online racist abuse, following his club's draw at arsenal. he called it "humanity and social media at its worst". mps will debate the cladding crisis tomorrow, as campaigners say residents of flats covered in the flammable material are being financially crippled by rising insurance costs. a global paper shortage due

to pandemic shopping online. industry leaders say there's a temporary lack of cardboard packaging. coming up in half an hour: clive myrie follows staff at the royal london hospital as they try to cope with a second wave of coronavirus. hello, good afternoon. england's covid lockdown will need to be eased "very slowly and very cautiously", with the focus on getting people vaccinated and preventing another wave of infections. that's according to dr susan hopkins from public health england, who said the uk should start seeing the impact of the vaccination programme within a fortnight. meanwhile, "a happy and free great british summer" is being predicted

by health secretary matt hancock. but he warns of "a tough few months" before then. it comes as the irish prime minister, micheal martin, said lessons had to be learnt after the eu was "blindsided" by its row with astrazeneca, before backtracking on its threat to put checks on the irish border, to tackle european vaccine shortages. the british government has reassured people there'll be no interuption in supplies of vaccines from the eu in the wake of the row. here's our political correspondent, jessica parker. years of painstaking work to keep this border free and flowing between northern ireland and the republic. but on friday night, the eu decided to temporarily override part of the brexit deal as it imposed controls on vaccine supplies. the backlash was immediate, the decision quickly reversed. so, what went wrong? my observation is that the terrible

row, it's an acrimonious row, between astrazeneca and the commission over the contractual obligations of the company in respect of supplying vaccines to european member states, took centre stage here. and people were blindsided by the decision that was taken and its implications for the protocol. so, questions forseniorfigures in brussels about what is widely seen as a major misjudgment. the vaccine roll—out continues in the uk. confident about the programme, assured on supplies, ministers are even talking about possibly sharing vaccines with other countries in future. i hope that once we do have those most vulnerable in britain vaccinated, when we are on track with our vaccine programme, we will be able to look at helping the developing world and of course, our friends and neighbours, because we need everybody to be protected, that's the way we are going to grip this disease. even some suggestions surplus stocks could be shared later this year

while the roll—out continues in the uk. but warnings from health officials that any resulting relaxation of the rules will be slow. i hope that this summer will be similar to last summer. i hope we will be down to those sort of case numbers and that will allow us to be able to do things that feel more normal but i think that we need to be very cautious on that. we do not want to have another wave as we have had this winter. all those empty streets, the country in lockdown. it's hoped the vaccine can be a key part of the way out but clearly, the fight against covid has some way to run. jessica parker, bbc news. well, the latest coronavirus regulations in england, which came into force at 5pm on friday, include fines of £800 for people caught at house parties with groups of more than 15 people, and we are getting reports of police reports across the country now beginning to issue these fines.

essex police said 18 "reckless revellers" were fined almost after officers interrupted a house party on saturday, while merseyside police found about 200 people partying in a hotel in the early hours of sunday morning and broke up a gathering of 20 people in a gym on saturday night. in west london, more than 70 people are facing fines after they breached coronavirus regulations by attending a party on a boat police were called to north acton shortly after 11 o'clock last night to reports of a large gathering on a moored boat. the group was dispersed and a total of 72 people were reported for the consideration of fixed penalty notices of £800 each and the organiser of the event has also been identified and could face a £10,000 fixed penalty notice. there have been more widespread protests in russia,

in support of the jailed opposition leader, alexei navalny. more than 2,000 people have already been arrested according to monitoring groups. mr navalny was jailed on his return to russia after recovering from an attempt to kill him with a nerve agent. he is accused of not complying with a suspended sentence. with the latest, here's our correspondent andy moore. in st petersburg, the security forces cracked down hard on the demonstrators. dozens were arrested here. thousands across the country. in vladivostok, the city square was closed off by the security forces, so the protesters went out onto the frozen sea ice to continue the demonstration, there were arrests here, as across russia, but still people turned out to protest, knowing the risk they faced. translation: i was here last week, | i came again today because i want i navalny to be released, i want the country to be

free, i want it to be pleasant to live here. translation: i decided to come out i because either i have to come out | now or be afraid the rest of my life. in my opinion, it's impossible to tolerate this. i do not know how people can bear this situation. it's the second weekend running protesters had turned out to support the opposition leader alexei navalny, jailed on his return to russia after surviving an attempt to kill him with a nerve agent. before his freedom was taken away, he posted a video of £1 billion palace said to have been built for president putin with illicit money. the kremlin has denied that claim but the video was watched by more than 100 million people in a week. in cities across russia, they linked hands to protest, not just young firebrands, but older women with their shopping bags and handbags. from east to west, across the time zones, the protests continued. the toilet brush is now a symbol of protest, the ones at putin's palace are said to cost more than £500 each.

the crowds had been chanting down with the tsar, the man they are referring to, president putin, will be watching these images but what will he make of them? and how will he try to stop further protests? andy moore, bbc news. the footballer marcus rashford has revealed he's been the target of racist abuse online. on twitter, the manchester united forward said he was subjected to "humanity and social media at its worst" yesterday, after his side's goalless draw with arsenal. former england player ian wright says social media companies need to do more to tackle racist abuse online. i think as long as the powers that be will continue to let people like that feel like it's something they can do because it seems to be a fad now, black player plays poorly or they think they played poorly, and they come with all the emojis and whatever it is. there's ways of being able to catch people. i don't think they're vigilant enough, nowhere near. a 13—year—old boy has

been taken to hospital, after being stabbed in an attack by four men in greater manchester last night. the attack took place in the car park of an asda supermarket in longsight, south—east of the city centre. the boy was taken to hospital with serious injuries and is in a stable condition. four men, described as carrying large bladed weapons, were said to be dressed in all black with hoods. police are appealing for information. the uk is applying tojoin a trade agreement with 11 countries around the pacific, with talks likely to start this year. the "comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans—pacific partnership" includes countries such as australia, canada, japan and new zealand. the uk already has free trade deals in place with several of the members. between them, the club's constituents are home to around 500 million people and generate more than 13% of the world's income.

the government says joining the bloc would reduce tariffs on uk exports, such as whisky,cars,and service industries. the united states was originally in talks to be part of the cptpp, but former president donald trump pulled out when he took office. well earlier today, the uk's international trade secretary, explained her motive for applying to the asia—pacific free trade pact. this is a group of countries that represents £9 trillion of gdp. the point is, they are fast—growing countries. so, countries like mexico and malaysia are shooting up the global league tables with more demand for fantastic british goods like scotch whisky or cars. what this deal will do is it will reduce tariffs on those key industries. it will mean that they are able to sell more goods into those countries and ultimately, deliverjobs and growth here in the uk. that was the international trade secretary.

david henig is director of the uk trade policy project at the european centre for international political economy — a policy research think tank. he explained the difference between the cptpp and the eu trading bloc. it is not really a direct replacement. we have left the eu, the cptpp, as it's slightly easier known than its full title, is 11 countries. it is less of an organisation and an institution than the eu. it is a trade agreement that reduces tariff, similar to the trade agreement that we have with the eu, and so it is different. it is not an exact replacement, but these are countries that we work together with closely such as canada, australia, mexico, so these are countries we expect to be our allies in the future. i have been looking at your comments on this announcement and you actually say that the politics is far more interesting. what do you mean by that? what i mean is that in trade terms

there are three big powers, the eu, the us and china. outside of that, there are a number of countries that are trying to keep the system open, trying to stop those three countries almost from dominating and trying to keep an open trading system, which is kind of what the uk's objectives should be as well with regard to trade, so in joining with the likes of australia, singapore, canada, new zealand, in trade terms, these are our natural allies now and it makes a lot of sense for us to look to work together with them. economically, there is not a lot of new gain in this because we already have trade agreements, but in terms of building alliances, building partnerships, this does make a lot of sense. 0k, one of the words i suppose that everybody has learnt about is tariffs. when we talk about a free trade agreement, what do we mean by that and just how free will free be? what we are learning in the last few weeks

is that it is notjust about tariffs, it is about the checks at the borders, it is also about the ability to travel and provide services. tariffs are already quite low, so this agreement might reduce them a little further, particularly with malaysia where there is no existing trade deal. but in general, it will not mean too much for the tariffs. services, in terms of market access, is quite open already to most of these markets, but again, a small improvement is likely. in terms of the nontariff barriers, these are the checks on goods that we are seeing, food for example, going to europe at the moment. the cptpp does not do a huge amount to reduce them, which is why again it is not really a replacement for the eu per se. labour's emily thornberry says she hopes the public will be consulted on this. if we were, what would we need to know? there are some question marks about this. this is existing texts, the cptpp countries have already agreed the text. so, does it affect

the uk and anyway? there are some question marks about whether for example we might need to change our food regulations if we joined. would we need to accept the food that is produced in australia for example which uses hormones to grow their cattle, their beef? so we wait to see whether that is the case and that will only come out through the negotiations. very, very quickly, david, we have learnt a lot about how long it takes for deals like this to be sorted out, how long is it likely to take? yes, i think it is probably more a case of a couple of years to conclude this process rather than weeks or indeed months. no country has joined the cptpp since it was formed, so the exact process is not fully known, but i would expect in the order of one to two years is the most likely timescale. the headlines on bbc news:

ending lockdown must happen "very slowly", public health england's covid strategy chief says. but the uk should start seeing the impact of the vaccination programme in two weeks. reports that more than 3000 people have been arrested in russia, as protests take place in support ofjailed opposition leader, alexei navalny. manchester united player marcus rashford says he's been subjected to online racist abuse, following his club's draw at arsenal. he called it "humanity and social media at its worst". sport and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. chelsea have won for the first time under new manager thomas tuchel beating burnley 2—0 at stamford bridge. their goals came from two unlikely sources — fullback cesar azpilicueta firing in for chelsea's opener in the first half.

there was also a rare start for marcos alonso who got their second goal with seven minutes to go. a comfortable win for tuchel�*s side who've not conceded in their first two games under him. who've not conceded in their first i who've not conceded in their first am impressed th the i am impressed that we never lost the control, we never lost the courage and the confidence to impose our style and to impose our match here. i am very happy with the energy, even now in the dressing room of the guys who are on the stands are happy with everybody will stop this is good because it gives us a good boost for self—confidence. the second of the day's matches in the premier league is underway at the kingpower stadium. two fanastic goals, leicester's harvey barnes finishing off a brilliant counter—attack for the home side and stuart dallas equalised for leeds after another impressive move. around an hour gone in that one, and it remains i—i. later today west ham host liverpool and brighton face spurs. let's get more reaction to that racist abuse received

by manchester united's marcus rashford. it's been condemned by facebook, which owns instagram, where the messages were sent. greater manchester police says it's investigating a number of hate crimes against united players this week. the former west ham and sunderland defender anton ferdinand says online platforms have to do more. it is sad that it is becoming the norm, that after every game there is some type of incident where there is racial abuse on social media platforms and i think we need to look at the fact that yes, we are having good conversation at the moment, but the social media companies and the secretary real estate had a conversation with a few players a week ago cannot hide behind the fact we are having these conversations. these conversations need to turn to action and they need to turn to action soon.

there are three matches in the women's super league today. manchester city are leading west ham 2—0, while manchester united are beating everton 2—0. earlier champions chelsea thrashed tottenham 4—0. german midfielder melanie leupolz opened the scoring with the pick of the goals, she also scored a penalty. they will stay top because of a much better goal difference than manchester united. there was a dramatic ending to the copa libertadores final in rio dejaneiro as palmeiras beat fierce brazilian rivals santos i—0 with a late late winner. a largely uneventful match, looked destined for extra time but in the fifth minute of injury time, the santos coach cuca was sent off for stopping a palmeiras throw in. that seemed harsh when he appeared to bejust picking the ball up, that sparked a mellee and when play resumed, palmeiras conjured the winner, a great cross headed home by substiture breno lopes. around 5,000 fans were inside the maracana by special invitation

of sponsors and the clubs as palmeiras celebrated only their second copa libertadores title, their first since 1999. paul casey has won the dubai desert classic, his first tour title in 14 months. the englishman finished four shots ahead of the south african brandon stone after a two—under parfinal round. the four—time ryder cup player has now put himself in contention for a fifth call—up when europe face the united staes later this year. the united states later this year. australia could step in to host this summers british and irish lions series against south africa. they are due to take on the world champions injuly and august but covid—i9 concerns with the emergence of a new variant of the virus in south africa has put the tour in doubt. the chairman of rugby australia say they can help with profits split between the lions and the springboks. crowds have returned to watch live sport in australia, another contingency plan is that south africa face the lions in the uk and ireland.

there are a couple of games in rugby union's premiership this afternoon too. london irish against newcastle already under way. wasps against harlequins later — that one is on bbc radio 5 live sports extra. and you can follow both games via the bbc sport website and app. thank you very much. some environmental groups are calling on the government to review the hs2 rail project in the light of the pandemic. the high speed line was signed off by borisjohnson almost a year ago, before travel ground to a halt as covid hit the uk. construction is under way and the first phase between london and birmingham is due to open between 2029 and 2033. let's talk to baronessjennyjones, the only green party member of the house of lords.

she is at euston station in central london where activists have been camped out in protest of hs2 for many months. thank you forjoining us, baroness. thank you forjoining us, baroness. thank you, by the way there are two members of the house and we are making a bit of difference.- making a bit of difference. thanks for that, is — making a bit of difference. thanks for that, is the _ making a bit of difference. thanks for that, is the economic - making a bit of difference. thanks for that, is the economic case - making a bit of difference. thanks for that, is the economic case for| making a bit of difference. thanks. for that, is the economic case for h has two are still a viable? personally i would argue it was never viable, personally i would argue it was neverviable, but personally i would argue it was never viable, but of course it is not viable any longer. it was a scheme that was planned for a certain sort of normality and that does not exist any more. people have got used to remote working and i cannot see them doing the same sort of travelling that they were before covid. , ., of travelling that they were before covid. , . ., covid. there is the argument that what would _ covid. there is the argument that what would happen _ covid. there is the argument that what would happen is _ covid. there is the argument that what would happen is if _ covid. there is the argument that what would happen is if we - covid. there is the argument that what would happen is if we do - covid. there is the argument that| what would happen is if we do not invest in infrastructure such as hsz, that invest in infrastructure such as hs2, that we would have a car led

recovery, which has its downsides, the carbon footprint would increase and other disadvantages, what is your argument to that?— and other disadvantages, what is your argument to that? there are a lot of arguments _ your argument to that? there are a lot of arguments enforce. - your argument to that? there are a lot of arguments enforce. yes, - your argument to that? there are a lot of arguments enforce. yes, i i lot of arguments enforce. yes, i completely agree that we should not go for car led society, that is something that can micro greens and activists feel strong about, but hs2 was never a green option, if you look at the amount of embedded carbon in the whole scheme, because it is so superfast, they need extra strong bridges and sidings, from a green point of view, it was never viable. quite honestly, if you have £100 million to spend, you will be much better investing in smaller, local railways, in bus roads, in allowing people to move around without using their cars. hs2 is not the green option. fine without using their cars. h52 is not the green option.— without using their cars. h52 is not the green option. one lord said that

hs2 the green option. one lord said that h52 is emphatically _ the green option. one lord said that h52 is emphatically green. - the green option. one lord said that h52 is emphatically green. yes, - the green option. one lord said that h52 is emphatically green. yes, i. h52 is emphatically green. yes, i have heard _ h52 is emphatically green. yes, i have heard him _ h52 is emphatically green. yes, i have heard him say _ h52 is emphatically green. yes, i have heard him say that. - h52 is emphatically green. yes, i have heard him say that. i'm - h52 is emphatically green. yes, i i have heard him say that. i'm afraid it is nonsense. it was never green and now it is even less green than it was before. the ceo of hs2 limited said that he did not know how many services they would run or how many services they would run or how many services they would run or how many passages there would be because of the pandemic, because people have learnt a different way of living, staying closest to home, see more of their family, of living, staying closest to home, see more of theirfamily, their pets, shopping locally, is a know it is even less viable. fix, pets, shopping locally, is a know it is even less viable.— is even less viable. a lot of uncertainty _ is even less viable. a lot of uncertainty at _ is even less viable. a lot of uncertainty at the - is even less viable. a lot of| uncertainty at the moment. is even less viable. a lot of - uncertainty at the moment. finally, the government has been releasing or getting involved with environmental statements, they have spoken of mitigation measures. what do you make of those? i’m mitigation measures. what do you make of those?— make of those? i'm afraid this government — make of those? i'm afraid this government does _ make of those? i'm afraid this government does talk - make of those? i'm afraid this government does talk green, l make of those? i'm afraid this i government does talk green, but make of those? i'm afraid this - government does talk green, but it does not understand the wider aspect. for example, it is talking about doing green initiatives all the time, but it still allows a coal

mine to go forward and it is still building roads and it is still encouraging people to drive, so i am afraid this government does not have any green credentials and i do tell them that in the house of lords. baroness, you spoke about investing in local projects, but what about this idea that you have telling the north with the south in a tighter way? north with the south in a tighter wa ? ~ , ., north with the south in a tighter wa ? . , ., ., way? well, first, what the north wants is more _ way? well, first, what the north wants is more activity _ way? well, first, what the north wants is more activity in - way? well, first, what the north wants is more activity in the - way? well, first, what the north. wants is more activity in the north and so hs2 would actually do the opposite and bring more people to london out of the north, so it was never a good thing for the north and the subsequent bits of hs2 that i planned to go ahead, leads and so on, are likely not to go ahead, i would argue, the business case for them is looking less viable, so it would be obvious to the government that the whole scheme should be scrapped. that the whole scheme should be scra ed. ., ~ that the whole scheme should be scra ed. . ,, i. , that the whole scheme should be scraued. ., ~' , . scrapped. thank you very much indeed.

scrapped. thank you very much indeed- you — scrapped. thank you very much indeed. you are _ scrapped. thank you very much indeed. you are watching - scrapped. thank you very much indeed. you are watching bbc. scrapped. thank you very much - indeed. you are watching bbc news. mps will debate the cladding crisis in parliament tomorrow as campaigners say three and a half years on from the grenfell fire people still living in flats with flammable cladding are being financially crippled by increased insurance costs. 0ne development in cheshire has seen its premiums rise by 1a00% since its fire safety problems were discovered as sarah corker reports. waterfront living on the banks of the river mersey. this is the decks in runcorn. gail bought a two—bed apartment here ten years ago. 0ur lifelong dream, our own property. but since then, fire safety faults have been found in all six blocks, including dangerous cladding. and insurance bills have soared. rising from £34,000 a year to more than half a million pounds in just two years. and for gail, who works in retail, that means finding an extra £2000.

well, i just cried. where are we supposed to find that kind of money? and if you can't find that money, what have you been told could happen? we're out. we will forfeit the apartment. it's so hard. i don't know what to do next. and it's notjust insurance costs, big repair bills are looming. you know, we are working class people. we've appealed to the government, do the right thing. we are not responsible for this. seren park gardens was marketed as a green oasis is in south london. a decade on, green algae is taking root in the timber cladding which is also highly flammable. the block's insurance costs have soared from £123,000 to more than £650,000 a year. i don't understand why they can suddenly put up the prices. either they are unwilling to bear

the risk which doesn't make sense because they have presumably borne the risk successfully in the past, either that, or they're just using this to profit dramatically. for some buildings, insurance costs have gone up by more than 1000%, how on earth can you justify that? the process of getting buildings fixed is far too slow, too many people are going to sleep at night in dangerous buildings and that's simply unacceptable. the high cost of insurance is a symptom of those problems. this is clearly a very urgent situation but it's a very complex and multifaceted challenge. i think it's right we come up with the most comprehensive and effective solution before we start making those details public. but the longer it takes to get to grips with this safety crisis, the more money drains away from flat owners like leigh. sarah corker, bbc news. we are all ordering more online and and as a consequence retailers

are having to box everything up in a lot more packaging, but where is all the cardboard coming from? to tell me more is miles roberts, the group chief executive officer of ds smith. they are a multi—national packaging company. there is not enough cobbled, is there? ~ , ., there? we saw in the run-up to christmas _ there? we saw in the run-up to christmas unprecedented - there? we saw in the run-up to i christmas unprecedented demand there? we saw in the run-up to - christmas unprecedented demand is at so many customers made online and as we know, a lot of products sold online come in cardboard boxes, so we saw a tremendous increase in demand. all of our factories were working absolutely flat out, many of them are 2a hours a day, but in the run—up to christmas we did see how it lead times it did move out a bit, unfortunately, our priority customer service, but we sought the lead times without, but now we're into january it has come to down a bit,

so we are getting into more normal lead times, but demand for recycled corrugated packaging, which is the product we make, the product is for the outcome and to remain very strong. the outcome and to remain very stronu. ., ., ., i. strong. how and where do you get our strong. how and where do you get your materials? _ strong. how and where do you get your materials? although - strong. how and where do you get your materials? although boxes . strong. how and where do you get. your materials? although boxes are made from recycled _ your materials? although boxes are made from recycled materials. -- l your materials? although boxes are| made from recycled materials. -- all made from recycled materials. —— all our boxes. we collect recycled materials from around the uk, we take that fibre and turn it into a new paper. we have some of the world's reading paper mills to make recycled paper and it goes back into a box and it takes days to go round. the challenge for us, because so much packaging is now in people's homes or garages, is how we can get that paper back into the recycled network, how we can get it back into our mills so we can convert into

paper and we use it again and pick it up again and again and again. mira; it up again and again and again. why is that a challenge? i do not understand. i know that last year the collection ofs, refuse collections, which included recycling materials, was restricted at the beginning of the pandemic, but does that remain a challenge for you to have access to the recyclable material? i you to have access to the recyclable material? ~ . you to have access to the recyclable material? ~' ., ., material? i think there are two effects here. _ material? i think there are two effects here, one _ material? i think there are two effects here, one is _ material? i think there are two effects here, one is that - material? i think there are two| effects here, one is that during covid we saw a number of recycling operations have been suspended, but secondly we have also seen so much used packaging is actually being stored in people's homes, in their garages, is being kept there and councils then have to pick it up and it adds some time into the flow for us to pick that product up and to make it back into recycled paper. it just added a few days. it only takes 14 just added a few days. it only takes 1a days from a box to be made for it to go right to the way through that

cycle back into making