presidentjoe biden says that donald trump should not receive intelligence briefings now that he has left office. it is a courtesy normally afforded to former presidents. mr biden cited what he referred to as his predecessors erratic heavier and was concerned he may slip and say something. eu leaders have reacted and really to a russian decision to accept bell three diplomats. moscow accuses them ofjoining unauthorised protest in support of alexi navalny. the opposition leader is back in court to face more charges on friday, despite having been sentenced to 2.5 years in jail. and the actor christopher plummer, best known for his role in the sound of music has died at the age of 91. his co—stars says he was a consummate actor.

now it's time for a look back at the week in parliament. hello again and welcome to the week in parliament, as good news breaks out at westminster. our nation, madam deputy speaker, is getting safer every day as more and more people get protected by the biggest immunisation programme in the history of our health service. borisjohnson is warned he's picked the wrong sort of brexit. the protocol has betrayed us and has made us feel like foreigners in our own country. tea and sympathy will not cut the mustard. and a long life well lived. commons tributes to captain sir tom moore. who was indeed an inspiration to all of us and a beacon - of light at a time of darkness and a true gentleman. - amid the grim statistics

of the pandemic, there is occasionally a milestone to welcome. a first dose of the covid vaccine has now gone into more than ten million arms in the uk. many conservative mps hope that will bring forward the end of england's lockdown, but borisjohnson is still in cautious mode. and labour say the good work of the vaccine programme could be undermined by confusion over the prime minister's borders policy. but when the vaccines minister came to update mps, he had good news to tell. our nation, madam deputy speaker, is getting safer and safer every day as more and more people get protected by the as more and more people get protected by the biggest immunisation programme in the history of our health service. over 10 million people have now received their first dose of one of our coronavirus vaccines. this is almost one in five adults in the united kingdom. that figure includes almost 90%

of people over the age of 75 in england. madam deputy speaker, it has been heart—warming to see how excited so many people have been to get their vaccine and see the work taking place in local communities to encourage people to come forward to get theirjab. but details of the government's airport quarantine policy have been delayed, and at prime minister's questions, the labour leader, sir keir starmer, argued that the biggest threat to the programme was the government's reluctance to order the complete closure of the uk's borders. is he saying that quarantining all arrivals would make no difference to fighting new variants of the virus, or is he saying that quarantining all arrivals at the border would make a difference, but it's too difficult to do it? when he calls for a complete. closure of borders or suggests that might be an option, - mr speaker, he should be aware that 75% of our medicines come to this country - from the european continent, 45% of our food. _ 250,000 businesses in this country rely on imports. - it is not practical completely to close off this country, -

as he seems to be suggesting. it's the 3rd of february, 2021. with new variants in the country, our schools are shut and our borders are open. everybody knows there are exceptions, whatever the quarantine regime. everybody knows that. if you want to come into this country from abroad, - 72 hours before you fly, you have to get a test, i mr speaker. you have to have a passenger| locator form, you're kicked off the plane if you don't have it. you then have to spend ten days, mr speaker, i in quarantine. if you come from one - of the countries, you have to go straight into quarantine, and all this, of course, - is to allow us to get on with| the vaccination programme. and if he'd have listened to the right honourable i gentleman, we would still be at the starting blocks - because he wanted to stay| in the european medicine's agency, mr speaker, i

and said so four times from that dispatch box! keir starmer. nonsense, don't let the truth get in the way of a preprepared gag. mr speaker, the prime minister knows i've never said that from this dispatch box or anywhere else, but the truth escapes him. well, borisjohnson said the evidence was there on youtube. the debate continued behind the speaker's chair and sir keir later admitted he'd made a mistake. the success of the vaccine programme has fuelled calls by conservative mps to re—open england's schools. the health secretary found himself in the firing line. parents are desperate to have the schools opened, the teachers want the schools opened, the businesses want the schools opened, and — god bless them — even our children are desperate to have the schools opened. so, will my right honourable friend confirm that schools will be the first to reopen on or before the 8th of march? i can confirm what the prime minister has set out, that schools will be the first

in the queue for reopening. but not before the 8th of march. a critic of the government's approach sought assurances that restrictions would be lifted sooner rather than later. given the vaccine roll—out's going so well ahead - of what i suspect the secretary of state thought it would, - can i ask him to confirm that on march the 8th, i when we start seeing schools going back, it'll be those twoj metrics, deaths and - hospitalisations, as they fall, which will guide the reopening not just of schools, _ but of the rest of the economy? matt hancock thought deaths would fall more quickly than hospitalisations. and then the other two considerations are that we don't see new variants that put all this at risk and of course that the futher new variants that put all this at risk and of course that the vaccination programme rolls out well.

i wouldn't say that the vaccination programme is ahead of plans, i would say that it is on track. i make no further claim than that. matt hancock. now, besides fighting the pandemic, the prime minister's also fighting to save the united kingdom. but a visit to a vaccine production plant in livingston, where there'd been a covid outbreak, didn't go down well with the snp. the prime minister put politics before public health. prime minister, why be so reckless? is it any wonder that people in scotland have no faith in this prime minister? isn't he the worst possible leader at the worst possible time? borisjohnson said the scottish vaccine might be able to tackle different strains of the virus. it's amazing, wonderful to see scottish scientists working - to do that. i had a fantastic time. nobody raised that issue with me before or since, j and it is myjob to visit every part of this country. - nothing and no onel is going to stop me. not even nicola sturgeon,

who announced that pupils in scotland will begin a phased return to school from the 22nd of february, although the current lockdown will remain in place in scotland at least until the end of the month. in a statement, the first minister said the latest figures did show real progress but the situation remained fragile. all of what i've just sent out underlined the need for continued and very extreme caution in ourfight against covid, especially if, as i think we all do, we want to get some children back to school later this month. that is why cabinet has reached the conclusion that the lockdown restrictions must stay in place until at least the end of february. however, if our progress continues, then i am cautiously — and i stress cautiously — optimistic that as more and more people get vaccinated, and with the protection of some of the additional measures that i will set out shortly, we may be able to begin looking towards a careful and gradual easing around the start of march. and i will give an update on that in two weeks' time.

the acting scottish tory leader welcomed the return of schools but questioned progress in delivering covid vaccines. at the moment, all the evidence shows the scottish government's roll—out is slow, stuttering and lagging way behind the rest of the uk. while we saw highs elsewhere this weekend, on sunday, scotland saw the lowest number ofjabs administered since the start of the mass roll—out over a month ago. as we said last week, the new mass vaccination centres already open elsewhere will help pick up the pace, but all throughout january, the first minister has disputed any and all criticism. she's rubbished suggestions from gps, patients and even the bma that scotland's roll—out was sluggish and missing targets that he needed to hit. i've not rubbished the concerns of anybody. in fact, we worked with gps and others to make sure that any issues that are being raised are appropriately addressed and any challenges that are being faced are overcome. in wales, the health minister gave a virtual meeting

of the senedd — an upbeat assessment of progress made delivering vaccines to older and vulnerable people. our focus now is on the - pleading vaccines for all those in the force four priority groups. | in the last week, we've| vaccinated more people as a present of our population any of the uk nations. - we are on track to deliverl by the middle of february. we expect to sustain. this level of progress, and in fact, expect to see an additional step up. - vaughan gething. and those priority groups are set out by thejcvi — thejoint committee on vaccination and immunisation. the labour—run welsh government is not adopting sir keir starmer�*s suggestion that all school staff should be vaccinated this month. now, a row over vaccines between the uk and the eu has shone a light on growing tensions over the brexit deal in northern ireland.

the cabinet office minister, michael gove, told mps that trust between the uk and the eu was "eroded" after brussels threatened briefly to stop vaccines crossing the irish border. as tensions rose, checks on goods arriving in northern ireland were suspended on tuesday after threats to staff. michael gove said the bloc had recognised it "made a mistake" in triggering what's known as article 16, which could have seen checks at the irish border. article 16 exists for good reason, that it is meant to be a vote only after notification, only after all other options are exhausted and in the interest of the people of northern ireland. mr speaker, none of these conditions were met. neither the uk government representing the people of northern ireland, nor the irish government, an eu member, were informed. trust has been eroded, damage has been done, and urgent action is therefore needed. peace, progress and strong community relations

northern ireland have been hard won. and in recent days, we've seen an increase in community tension and, as was reported last night, port staff in belfast and larne have been kept away from work following concerns for their safety. he was replying to an urgent question from labour. yesterday, as he has said, we saw staff withdrawn from the ports of larne and belfast because of alleged threats to their safety. this is totally unacceptable and we all have responsibility to dial down our rhetoric and to ensure that people in northern ireland are safe. it was a misstep which follows significant problems— with the northern ireland| protocol, with businesses facing delays. it perhaps not helped - the prime minister himself saying he'd have no hesitation in triggering article 16, - after spending months denying that there would be any kind i of post—brexit checks - at all between great britain and northern ireland. and at prime minister's questions, borisjohnson was challenged directly by unionist and nationalist mps from northern ireland.

the sdlp warned, for the last five years, about the destabilising impact brexit would have on northern ireland, though we take no pleasure in the disruption, nor in the injuries, some feel to their british identity. prime minister, you say that your commitment to northern ireland is unshakeable. i speak for all of my constituents today when i tell you that the protocol has betrayed us and has made us feel like foreigners in our own country. tea and sympathy will not cut the mustard. and will he be a man of his word and allow business men in my constituency to bin the unnecessary documentation that he told us we could bin? prime minister, be the unionist we need you to be. i utterly share the frustration of the honourable gentleman about the way the eu in particular, the eui commission, seemed to call

to use the protocol in such l a way as to impose a border, contrary to the spirit - of the good friday agreement. according to the letter- of the good friday agreement. and we will do everything. we need to do, mr speaker, whether legislatively or by in voting —— . invoking article 16 to ensure there is no barrier down - the irish sea. the prime minister. now, in these challenging economic times, is it fair for companies to make workers redundant before re—employing them on worse terms and for longer hours of work? the bitter "fire and rehire" dispute at centrica, the parent company of british gas, has resulted in claims of intimidation from both sides. the company's chief executive told mps on the business committee that his wife and son had been sent excrement in the post. the gmb union has accused the firm of forcing engineers to accept worse terms and

conditions or face redundancy. in my working experience as a full—time official, over 25 years, i have never had a circumstance where before we have even begun formal negotiations that the employer has put what our members quite correctly described as a gun to their head and said that "we will sack and rehire, if necessary, the entire workforce if you do not agree to the changes that we want to make." some of our colleagues, about 20% of our colleagues, will have pay rises under this. a substantial number of our colleagues will see more holidays. so, i know that we're asking a lot of our colleagues to go from 37 to 40 hours per week, but the reality is that we've lost too manyjobs over the past several years. and when we can see that our direct labour model is far more expensive than a contractor model, something has to give. i've had testimony from your staff. i 0ne man who said — actually,

idon't know it's a man- or a woman — "i've had chest pains for a few weeks now, i anxiety, body aches, headaches and shortness of breath." - this person even took a covid test because he thought - that was the reason, but it wasn't. - it was anxiety because of this fire and rehire action - that you're taking. would you care to comment? undoubtedly, what i'm asking people to do is difficult. however, my view is that i would rather do what's in my power to save the 20,000 jobs that we've got rather than watch... i had one colleague tell me the other day... they've been with us two years and been through three rounds of redundancy. i know this puts a lot of pressure on people. only yesterday, my wife and teenage son had a package of excrement delivered to them, with a note about fire and rehire. this is something that affects absolutely everybody. i'm not immune to this. chris 0'shea. time now for a look at what else has been going on around westminster. and a health minister has said

the government is reviewing the way victims of medical mistakes get compensation in england. she was speaking to the health committee, which is investigating the safety of maternity services. at the moment, the compensation that you get takes account of loss of earnings, and the practical impact of that is that the disabled child of the banker gets much more compensation than the disabled child of a cleaner. do you think that's morally justifiable? no, it's absolutely wrong. and it also is based upon the fact that any injury requires... ..is required from the health care system going forward for the rest of that individual's life. these are outdated practices, outdated systems. and as i've said, i can't withdraw, but that whole system is under review at the moment. the government has been defeated in the house of lords over its trade bill, with peers insisting on protections which would outlaw deals with countries judged to be committing genocide. the peer behind the amendment was in no mood to compromise.

at yesterday's meeting, the minister said the amendment, and i quote, "may frustrate foreign policy and create diplomatic difficulties." diplomatic difficulties, my lords. we're talking about genocide, not diplomacy! the bill now goes back to the commons. last month, 33 conservative mps rebelled over the issue amid concern about any trade deal with china, given beijing's treatment of the uighur muslims in xinjiang. the government's announced an extra £50 million for a hardship fund for students in england. most students have been told to stay away from university for the time being, leaving many paying rent for accommodation they're not using. mps welcomed the money but thought ministers could go further. so can my honourable friend update the house on what discussions have been held with universities

about or partial refunds for tuition and accommodation fees in this academic year? thank you, mr speaker. i agree with my honourable friend. this is a really difficult and challenging time for students, and my heart goes out to all of them. we as a government set the maximum tuition fee level, not the minimum, and it is up to universities to then decide what to charge. every single one of them has continued to charge the maximum during this pandemic, and in return, we have said that we expect the quantity and quality and accessibility of provision to be there. if a student feels it's not, there is a process in place. they can make a formal complaint to their university. and if still it isn't resolved, they can take it to the office of the independent adjudicator, which can, in fact, lead to a potential or partial refund. the snp�*sjoanna cherry has been sacked from her role as party spokesperson onjustice after a row over trans rights. across our society, and particularly in universities and the third sector, women and some men are losing theirjobs, having their positions undermined and their personal safety put in jeopardy simply

for questioning the ideology that any man can self—identify as a woman and for speaking up for women's sex—based rights under the equality act. does the leader of the house agree with me that all democrats should condemn such attacks on free speech? the commons leader was sorry to see her go. and much that i disagree with her on so many things, may i commend her courage in standing up for freedom of speech and putting forward her views clearly in a difficult and sensitive area, but one where she has a right to be heard? jacob rees—mogg. the prime minister has promised a "full package" to help people living in flats with combustible cladding. borisjohnson said leaseholders "shouldn't have to worry about the cost of fixing historic safety defects". three and a half years after the grenfell fire, in which 72 people died, thousands of flat owners face large bills for fire safety work. borisjohnson faces a growing conservative rebellion over the issue. at prime minister's questions, the labour leader raised the plight of one leaseholder.

take, for example, will martin. he's a doctor who's got a flat in sheffield. he's been spending his days on the front line, fighting covid in the nhs. he spends his nights worrying about the £52,000 bill that he now has to pay for fire safety repairs. he doesn't want future promises, prime minister. he doesn't want to hear that it's all been sorted when he knows that it hasn't. he wants to know, here and now, will he or will he not have to pay that £52,000 bill? mr speaker, we're determined that no leaseholder should have to pay for the unaffordable cost of fixing safety defects that they didn't cause and are no fault of their own, and that's why, in addition to the {1.6 billion we are putting in to remove the acm, the upl cladding, we are also setting up and have set up a £1 billion building safety fund, which has already processed almost 3,000 claims.

and i sympathise very much with the gentleman, dr martin, that he mentions, and i hope very much that his particular case can be addressed in the course of the forthcoming package that will be produced by my right honourable friends. campaigners noted the pm's focus on "unaffordable" costs there. labour say up to 11 million people may be affected. the party forced a debate and a non—binding vote on the issue. mps shared their constituents' stories. their homes are fire traps. they're worthless. they cannot borrow against them, they cannot sell them. they are trapped — trapped by waking watch bills, trapped by rising insurance and trapped by the fear that they will be told they must pay to fix this even though they are not in any way responsible. they're locked into an absolute nightmare, in unsafe homes, unable to sell, unable to remortgage and facing mounting bills to fix

a crisis they didn't create. the government's response today had little basis in reality. they have, in truth, shunted this into the too difficult to tackle box and abandoned leaseholders. several conservative mps said the government should step in. because in too many cases, leaseholders have been asked to pay huge bills to rectify a problem that isn't their fault. they are facing waking watch charges and vastly increased insurance costs, worries about external wall system certificates and massive loss of property value. the mp whose seat includes grenfell tower welcomed the existing fund to repair the most dangerous buildings in england. however, i suspect that £1.6 billion is not going to be enough, so today, i call on government to put together a substantial and comprehensive package, such that we can remove all dangerous cladding

on high—risk buildings. and the housing minister said we can expect that package "very shortly". mps held a minute's silence before prime minister's questions on wednesday in honour of captain sir tom moore. the retired army officer and charity fundraiser died at the age of 100. sir tom raised more than £32 million for nhs charities by walking 100 laps of his garden. the queen, who knighted him last summer, has sent a private message to his family. the commons tributes were led by the speaker, sir lindsay hoyle. his dignity and determination in raising money to support the nhs charities caught the nation's mood at he exemplified the best of our values. i invite members to nowjoin me for a minute's silence to commemorate sir tom's life and to pay her respects to those who have lost their lives as a result of covid, and their

families and friends. after the silence, party leaders past and present paid their tributes. captain sir tom moore — or captain tom, as we all came to know him — dedicated his life to serving his country and others. his was a long life lived well. as captain tom repeatedly reminded us, please remember tomorrow will be a good day. he inspired the very best in us all and his legacy will continue to do so for generations to come. can ijoin you and the prime minister in sending my condolences to the family of captain sir tom moore? he, perhaps more than anyone, embodied the spirit of britain and he will be sadly missed. can i associate myself . with your remarks about the remarkable gentleman captain sir tom moore - and everything that he's done? he has been an inspirationl

to each and every one of us and i would like to my. condolences to his family and friends. may ijoin the whole house in paying tribute to captain sir tom moore, who was indeed an inspiration to all of us and a beacon of light at a time of darkness and a true gentleman? later, the speaker and other mstoined a nationwide clap for sir tom and the health workers for whose charities his walks raised money. applause and it's with the sound of mps clapping, in memory of all that sir tom did to put heart into the british people, that we end this look at the week in parliament. thank you for watching. tomorrow will be a good day. bye for now.

hello there. for some parts of england, and probably felt more like spring on friday. but don't be fooled, because winter is returning to all of us this weekend. with a bitterly cold easterly wind picking up and the air getting colder, there's going to be some more snow more widely. now at the moment as we head into saturday morning, most of the snow is falling in scotland, especially in the hills where we have this amber warning from the met office. but snow is dropping to lower levels across northern parts of scotland already. and we'll have some wet weather elsewhere across the uk, with clear skies by the morning for wales and the south—west, may be some icy patches here, too. a slippery sort of day though, i think, for much of scotland with that rain, sleet and snow continuing — and turning to snow, lower levels in scotland throughout the day. we've got wetter weather across northern and eastern parts of england, some heavy bursts of rain — that'll turn to snow over the pennines and the north york moors later on. out to the west, it'll always be drier and brighter. those temperatures will be lower than they were on friday, and it will feel colder in scotland and northern

england as that wind starts to pick up. now, it'll get colder as the weekend goes on. the originating all the way from the arctic coming down across the baltic sea, over the north sea into the uk, and engaging with storm darcy — it's been named by the dutch met institute. now, the biggest impacts of that will be felt in the south—east of england and parts of east anglia. this is where attention turns overnight and into sunday, with some heavy falls of snow mainly to the east of london. there'll be some snow widely, though, across the south—east of england and east anglia. there will be drifting and blizzards, as well, because it's going to be very windy here with gusts of over 50m/h. it'll be a windy day everywhere, though, on sunday — or feel cold, as well. there may well be some sunshine away from south—eastern areas, and there will be further snow showers blown in off the north sea as well. and those temperatures continuing to drop, only getting a few degrees above freezing on sunday, feeling colder still. now, we've got high—pressure to the north of the uk, and lower pressure to the south, hence that run of easterly winds continues through sunday and into the beginning of next week.

that means more snow showers getting fed in off the north sea, mainly affecting some central and eastern parts of scotland down the eastern side of england — more snow and ice warnings continue into the early part of next week with temperatures barely getting above freezing. given the strength of the wind, it will feel much, much colder.

to the changes that we want to make." welcome to bbc news. our top stories. "an existential threat and dangerous" — president biden on his predecessor as he calls for donald trump to lose access to intelligence briefings traditionally given to former presidents. and ijust think and i just think that there is no need for him to have the intelligence briefings. what value is giving him an intelligence briefing? what impact does he have it all other than the fact he may slip and say something? russia expels diplomats from eu countries, accusing them of taking part in protests against the jailing of alexei navalny. the uk government says it's on track to offer a vaccine to everyone over 50 by may.

and german