our t are a op stories: myanmar�*s military has addressed the nation for the first time since the coup last week. he tried to justify saying there would be fresh elections next year. the world health organization has warned againstjumping to conclusions against jumping to conclusions about againstjumping to conclusions about the efficacy of coronavirus vaccines despite south africa saying the astrazeneca vaccine is less effective against the strain sweeping the country. who experts say it is still an important tool. lawyers for donald trump have asked lawmakers to dismiss claims against him in his second trial, or insurrection for inciting his supporters to march on the capital. five people died in the capital that —— violence that followed.

now on bbc news, monday in parliament. hello again, and welcome to monday in parliament. as europe bans some british cockles and mussels, the environment secretary is told to get tough. the time has now come to show the eu that we will not surrender to their games over these shellfish exports. the uk tightens its borders to protect against covid, but where are the quarantine hotels? we hear today that now no formal contracts have been agreed — too little, too late. and the government defends its treatment of asylum—seekers. a record that i think stands comparison to any countryl in europe, indeed any country around the world. _ so there's no apology due, and certainly none will be made. i

but first, one month after brexit, more tensions with the eu, this time over shellfish. the environment secretary told mps that an eu ban on the export of live mussels, oysters, clams, cockles and scallops was "a devastating blow". george eustice has written to the european commission "seeking urgent resolution". as the uk's now outside the bloc, it's not allowed to transport the seafood to eu countries unless it's already been treated in purification plants. george eustice said the european commission had changed its view during the last few weeks. bringing an end to this traditional and valuable trade is unacceptable. and i recognise that this is a devastating blow to those businesses that are reliant on the trade. while we do not agree at all with the commission's interpretation of the law, we have had to advise traders that their consignments may very well not be accepted at eu ports for now. i am seeking urgent resolution to this problem, and i've

written to the commissioner today. whoever is to blame, the fact is shellfish farmers and fishers are not able to export their most valuable product to their most important market. the rule banning imports from third—party countries of untreated shellfish from class b waters has been in place for decades. a multi—million pound industry has ground to a halt overnight. jobs and communities are at risk. unless this situation is resolved, the uk shellfish industry will not survive. the snp said the government's version of brexit was to blame. the past five weeks have been an absolute nightmare - for food—exporting businesses. fishing businesses are facing bankruptcy, dairies can't - ship their cheeses, meat. was sitting rotting in lorries stuck in customs, small- businesses ended mail—order deliveries to northern ireland, j european truckers are refusing uk loads bound for europel for fear they'll end up stuck in a lorry park in kent. 40 years of building good -

customer bases in europe have been swept away in one month by this government's - incompetence. the minister rejected her idea of following eu standards. there have been teething problems in these early stages as people familiarise themselves with new paperwork. it's notjust businesses, it's also border control post inspectors in france, the netherlands, they're also on quite a steep learning curve. they are getting better. we're working with them to iron out difficulties. for instance, the french at one point had said everything needed to be in blue ink. they now accept that's not correct and that's not what's required in law. it is this government's responsibility that welsh shellfish industry is now unable to export to europe and further proof, if any was needed, that wales needs a seat at the table when it comes to negotiating. but will the government now guarantee to cover the costs of all necessary export facilities for welsh businesses like bangor mussel producers

in gwyneth who are presently unable to trade with their major export site? george eustice said the trade was lawful and repeated the eu had changed its position. now, in the short—term, our objective is to get the european union to abide by its own laws and its own legal processes here. obviously, if they refuse to do so or indeed if they decide to change their law to make things more difficult, then we will consider what steps are necessary at that point to support industry. a conservative thought it was time to up the ante. madam deputy speaker, i i know my right honourable friend has tried his best, i but the time has now come to show the eu that we will not surrender to their games overl these shellfish exports. i call on him to start - the necessary and frequent boardings on eu vessels fishing in our exclusive economic- zone to ensure they . comply with uk rules. if we disrupt their fishing activity, so be it. - but we must show the fishing industry support. _ it is the case in many,

many areas, we have taken a pragmatic, sensible, phased approach in the initial months. but there's no obligation on us to continue that. and indeed we do, as she points out, want to see some reciprocation from the eu in terms of application of common sense and reasonableness, and we reserve our position in all of those other areas. and of course it goes without saying that any eu vessels accessing uk waters will need to abide by uk law. george eustice. his cabinet colleague michael gove faced questions from mps about tensions with the eu prompted by a row over the supply of covid vaccines. the eu threatened, briefly, to set aside the brexit deal that covers northern ireland to stop supplies arriving in the uk via the irish border. would it be fair to say therefore that the triggering of the article 16 procedure has had a significantly damaging effect upon the eu—uk relations? well, ithink it's- had a damaging effect

in northern ireland. i think with respect to uk—eu relations, one of the things l that i try to do is to makej sure that we can maintain civil, cordial and constructive relationships with the eu, i with the commission and with those who are interlocutors. i so my principal concern is that| people in northern ireland saw that something which is i designed for their benefit was being used... potentially being . used, i should say, against their interests. what i want to do is to find practical solutions to somej of the challenges that we face. and those challenges, j as i have listed, relate to the ability of people in northern ireland - to have access to goods, | to conduct their business and to live their livesj in a way with as little impact as possible. and it seems to me thatl whether it's the provision

of plants and seeds - to household gardeners or whether it's the effective - supply of goods on supermarket and shop shelves in northern. ireland, we need to make sure that we resolve those problems. michael gove admitted that the northern ireland protocol isn't working at the moment. at stormont, the first minister said the protocol has caused "huge problems" that need to be addressed by the uk government. arlene foster was answering questions from mlas. now that the cat is out of the bag and article 16 has been invoked by the european side, could i remind my right honourable friend of a comment made by the prime minister, who said, "we are a uk government. why would we put checks on goods going from northern ireland to gb or gb to northern ireland? it doesn't make sense." could i encourage the first minister to urge the prime minister to perhaps try putting the unionist back in conservative and unionist party? well, i say to the member, of course, it doesn't make sense, and the prime minister made a number of promises to

the people of northern ireland, chief amongst them of course was that there would be unfettered access not just from northern ireland to great britain, but from great britain to northern ireland. and that's clearly not what is happening under the protocol, so therefore the prime minister needs to use all legal instruments at his disposal to deal with these issues. that's what we're calling upon him to do. he has a duty as the prime minister of the entirety of the united kingdom to act in the interests of all of his citizens, and therefore it's incumbent upon him to act in the very near future. the first minister was asked to lobby the uk government to set up a task force to deal with the problems. well, i don't think there's any doubt that on any objective understanding of the operation of the protocol, it is caused huge problems for many people across northern ireland, notjust businesses, but actually citizens who are just looking for parcels to be delivered

or perhaps ordering pot plants from great britain or seeds or wanting to travel to scotland with their dog for the weekend. i mean, there's a huge amount of problems that have arisen as a result of the protocol, so therefore i think it's incumbent upon everybody to recognise that this is not just teething problems, but actually there are huge problems with it and therefore they need to be addressed. thank you, minister, forthat. are you confident, minister, that solutions will be foundl to deal with the problems - that the protocol are currently causing all our citizens? well, i say this to you, mr chambers, i'm an optimist. one has to be an optimist if you're going to be in politics in northern ireland or otherwise you become a very bitter and twisted individual. so, therefore, it is important that we try and find solutions. that's what i'm focused on, and i hope it's what everybody's focused on as well. arlene foster. downing street has admitted no formal contracts have been awarded to hotels, even though the government's new quarantine policy begins next monday.

from february 15th, anyone travelling to the uk from a country on the travel ban list will be required to stay in government—approved accommodation for ten days. the admission was seized upon by labour. isn't it true that ministers have been behind the curve throughout? no formal quarantining system untiljune last year. and when it was introduced, it's ineffective. south african variant already here, border testing only introduced in recent weeks, and on the hotel quarantining policy, we hear today that now no formal contracts have been agreed — too little, too late. isn't it the truth the borders policy is a gaping hole in our defences against the virus? when is the home secretary going to take charge of the situation and put in place the proper protective measures that she knows are needed to protect the everyday british people and safeguard the vaccine roll—out? well, iappreciate, mr speaker, it's been a while since the party opposite have been in government, and they all

obviously fail to realise that it's cross—government work on delivery of these measures. we are in a pandemic, and just to restate to all colleagues in the house, health measures on the border have been in place since january last year, and those measures have developed as everyone will expect as the situation changes and they're calibrated measures. i do think, mr speaker, it's an absolute shame to see the honourable gentleman joining his colleagues in playing party politics with this crisis. and while attacking the government, because firstly he welcomed our measures originally last year when they came to bringing in measures at the border. then the honourable gentleman wrote to me calling for the blunt tool of our border quarantine to be lifted quickly. labour's behaviour throughout this pandemic has shown the british public that they've got no interest in being constructive or acting in the national interest. and i actually think that's exactly what we can see right now, and the government is getting on dealing with this hotel policy. can the home secretary confirm

following her letter to me last l week that even on her future plans, the majority— of passengers won't be covered by hotel quarantining, - that no—one will be tested on arrival before going - on public transport and that less than one in four- travellers will get _ a follow—up phone call check? is this worrying information correct, and why are - there all these gaps? it's really important to say that, yes, there are concerns about new variants. we are working across government and valiantly, i have to say, a lot of people on the front line, with regards to vaccine roll—out. but we keep all our measures under review, and that's of course to protect the vaccine but to ensure that the number of passengers coming into the country reduces as full checks come into place. priti patel. you're watching monday in parliament with me, david cornock. don't forget that if you unaccountably miss our daily round—up of westminster life, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, you can catch up via the bbc iplayer.

a home office minister has rejected calls to apologise for the conditions in which asylum seekers are living at a former army barracks. labour said the use of the napier camp, in kent, was a "moral and public health disaster". the local conservative mp highlighted the issue at question time. can my honourable friend confirm that napier barracks in folkestone is only a temporary facility to accommodate people in the asylum system, that it's unsuitable for individuals to be placed there for prolonged periods, and that post—covid, and with the reformed asylum system, which is swifter in processing applications, we should avoid using facilities like this in the future? i can confirm that napier was set up in response to the enormous pressures placed on our asylum system and the coronavirus pandemic. we have set it up in such a way to be safe. it is, of course, accommodation that was previously used by the brave men and women of our armed services. we do make sure that it's

clean, it's secure, and there's health provision on—site. it's not intended for use in perpetuity, and i know that the honourable gentleman, i think, spoke over the weekend to the home secretary and would be very willing to maintain a very close and active dialogue. the repurposing of disused army barracks to house - asylum—seekers is proving a disaster and a disgrace. i what's worse, the leaked impact assessment shows this dreadfull policy was justified by wild i notions that proper support and accommodation could . undermine public confidence in this asylum system. in short, the home office was pandering to gutter politics. l so will the home office - apologise for suggesting people in the uk oppose decent support |and care for asylum seekers andj close these barracks urgently? we fully comply with all of the relevant guidelines. in response to his question about this country's stance towards asylum—seekers, we are now spending getting on for £1 billion a year accommodating asylum—seekers, a record that i think is stands comparison to any country in europe, indeed, any country

around the world. so, there is no apology due and certainly none will be made. on the napier barracks, we tend to see a quality impact assessment, it makes it absolutely clear that the use of disused barracks as asylum accommodation is absolutely a political choice. this government has consistently refused to confirm the numbers of those who have contracted the coronavirus while staying at napier barracks. but i understand that out of around 400 people, 105 — who did not have the virus — were moved out, leaving us to draw our own conclusions about just how massive an outbreak took place there. does the minister not agree with me and others that the use of barracks as asylum accommodation has been both a moral and public health disaster? the use of this kind of accommodation is appropriate and suitable. we need to have regard to a range of factors, including value for money. we've had to use a large number of hotels in order to accommodate people during the coronavirus pandemic, which do not

represent particularly good value for money. i can say that barrack type accommodation, not only is suitable, but it's a great deal cheaper than hotels. and all of us owe a duty to the general taxpayer to ensure value for money. and this government makes no apology for that. the governor of the bank of england has angrily rejected criticism that he didn't make changes to the financial regulator fast enough to stop the collapse of a fund which left investors with more than £200 million in losses. andrew bailey was chief executive of the financial conduct authority when london capital and finance — lc and f — went into administration in early 2019. last week, the author of an independent report, the former court of appeal judge, dame elizabeth gloster, told the treasury committee that being unable to complete internal reforms was no excuse for what had happened. the committee chair began by quoting the apology andrew bailey had made. it was a major part of my work across the organisation,

which took some time to put into effect. i'm sorry these changes did not come in time for the bond holders. now, dame elizabeth, and we put this to her, or i put this to her on the committee last time, that this response was inadequate. she told us last week, in response to your public apology that, and i quote, "the problems which were at the sca during the relevant period were not so fundamental that they could not apply... by specific focused changes." so did andrew bailey agree there were some faster fixes that could have been put in? i have to be honest with you, i fundamentally disagree. it's the main fundamental point of disagreement between us, on this question of the substance of the change that was needed. because as she said, the machine was broken. i mean, you can reach down, if it's something proper going wrong, yes, you can set up institutional cultural change programmes or whatever, but at the same time, and she did make this

point to the committee, she didn't see, i think, i'm struggling to see also, why a number of these things couldn't, you couldn't have just reached in and pulled some levers to put some of these things right? he pointed to issues with the contact center, where calls came in, he said when concerns were raised, it should have caused an alert but that hadn't happened. that's the first issue. the second issue is that in some proportion of, there's about... she refers to it in one of the footnotes, it's about 611 calls come in from consumers questioning the firm's status, and in some proportion of those calls, i think she says it's not very large. i don't know the precise number. the wrong information. again, that's wrong. but can ijust put this into perspective, this problem, we had no system. we inherited no system for extracting information out of the contact centre calls. the contact centre was

receiving 200,000 calls a year, and there was no system for extracting information from those 200,000 calls. now, to be fair to dame elizabeth, she benefited from the fact that the calls were extracted for her team, obviously, because that's what they had to do and did do. but the red flags, of course, they were buried in the 200,000 calls. and there wasn't a system for extracting them. i mean, she sort of suggested to you that if any one was told to start to pull their socks up, you know, the problem would've gone away. and she at one point reports and suggested that maybe it's a mistake to do the trial, the programme had changed. but that's something i fundamentally disagree with. he also took issue with a suggestion that he had asked dame elizabeth not to name him in relation to the report's conclusions. i'm sorry about what i'm going to have to say now, but there is a fundamental misunderstanding of this. i'm probably sounding quite angry now, i am, because frankly, maybe this isjust a misunderstanding, but, you know, it is a very

serious issue to raise. and the representation was never made in that context, it was just never made, and i have talked, you know, i had assistance from a qc to do this, i have talked to the qc, and he said, "no, that was never the context in which it was mentioned." andrew bailey. mps have demanded the government follows the lead of the united states and ends its support for offensive operations by the saudi—led coalition in the war in yemen. the country's been devastated by a six year conflict in which more than 110,0000 people are thought to have died. using an urgent question, a former foreign office minister, called on ministers to copy the actions of president biden. can i encourage the uk to fully align ourselves with our closest security ally to end similar arms exports connected to the war and reverse the cuts to our overseas budget, and, as the un security council penholder on yemen, could i recommend firstly the uk offers to host a un summit that looks at political options for peace and secondly,

the uk's willing to commit british forces to any un stabilisation effort that may be required once a political settlement is reached. the uk's role as un security council "penholder" means it takes the lead on yemen and has responsibility for negotiations. the united kingdom's desire to bring about a peaceful settlement in yemen is unwavering. we will continue to work with our international partners, both the united states and also regional partners to bring this about. i note the us decision to pause its arms exports whilst it reviews its policy towards yemen, and i can reassure the house that the government takes its own export responsibilities extremely seriously and assesses all export licenses in accordance with strict licensing criteria. the conflict between the yemeni government and houthi rebels escalated when saudi arabia and eight other states backed by the us, the uk and france began air strikes against the houthis who, supported by iran, responded

with rocket strikes against saudi arabia. the us decision to end i all support for offensive operations, including relevant arms sales, is welcome, - but it leaves the uk - dangerously out of step with our allies and i increasingly isolated. what is worse is that. the uk is the pen holder for yemen at the un. we cannot be both i peacemaker and arms dealer in this conflict. the snp has a fundamental deep disagreement with the uk government's position on yemen. and it really is impossible to pretend to be the humanitarian honest broker on one side while also simultaneously being the biggest arms dealer to the conflict. we are tackling the symptoms of a problem that the uk has done no small part to help to create. will the government follow the example of our ally and finally stop all arms sales supporting this horrific war, yes or no? minister. mr speaker, the united kingdom takes its arms export licensing

responsibilities very seriously. we will not issue any export licenses for items where there is a clear risk that the items may be used in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law. every licence application is rigorously assessed against the consolidated eu and national arms export licensing criteria. james cleverly. measures giving legal weight to the armed forces covenant for the first time have been called "disappointing" by opposition mps. they said the armed forces bill failed to address some of the needs of service personnel and veterans. but the ministerjohnny mercer who served in the army said it would provide a "tangible tool" to help them hold service providers to account. as someone who beat a path to the door of this parliament to force this place to honour the nation's responsibilities to our veterans, i can genuinely say that i can feel the sand shifting under my feet. but we have further to go, and so today is a historic day,

as we legislate to put the armed forces covenant, that promise between the nation and those who serve, into law. because what is still evident is that some members of our armed forces community are still suffering disadvantage in accessing public services. often, the provision you get to something of a postcode lottery, and when disadvantage occurs, it's often because there is little understanding of the unique nature of service in the armed forces. labour paid tribute to service charities who'd helped to improve support for the forces and veterans. they welcome this bill, as i do, but they are disappointed by the limitations of this legislation, as i am. and can i say to honourable members, if there is one background briefing that they read for this bill, make it the background briefing that the royal british legion has sent to us today. and he quoted from the document. the bill is too narrow.

it covers only aspects of health, housing and education. the bill creates a two—tier covenant. it applies only to local councils and local agencies not to national governments. the bill does not put - the armed forces covenant properly into law, nor does it guarantee no disadvantage . in access to services. it's taken ten years to get this far. - surely, we can do better. she said there ought to be a representative body for the military to give it a "real voice". that's it for monday in parliament. thank you for watching. i do hope you canjoin me at the same time tomorrow for tuesday in parliament. until then, from me, david cornock, bye for now. hello. very cold out there at the moment, with ice around and of course further snow

flurries, particularly in eastern areas. the heaviest of those snow flurries as we go through tuesday, covered by a met office amber weather warning across parts of central scotland. travel, power, communication disruption possible, as those snow levels start to mount up. but it's notjust that, it's the extent of the chill this morning. may be as low as around “14, —15 through some parts of central scotland. all starting the day sub—zero. you can see where those snow showers line up through central areas of scotland. there will be others around northern and eastern parts of scotland, and we'll see little snow corridors again across parts of england and wales, just focusing some of those snow showers to give a further covering in some places. either side of it, we will see just that light flurry most of you saw through tuesday, but a better chance of some sunshine in between. you saw the winds, another windy day across the board. in the thermometers, temperatures barely above freezing — it's going to feel much, much colder than that. and with some of the strongest of the winds to be found down toward south—west england and the channel islands, it's here where the coldest

wind chill values will be found, as cold as —10 through —8 through the afternoon. also the chance of some sleet and snow very close to cornwall and the channel islands to end the day. that will gradually pull away as we go through the night and into wednesday. a subtle shift in wind direction means snow showers pushing through southern scotland into northern england in particular, and a few lines further south. another icy night, temperatures could get even colder, —15, —16. now, the big picture to start wednesday has low pressure out in the atlantic trying to get towards us, but high pressure is holding on. and with the isobars opening out a little bit, the good news is it's not going to be quite as windy on wednesday. those winds more north—easterly, so it will be parts of south—east scotland, north—east england, the focus of showers. a few down east anglia, the south—east too, but more of you dry on wednesday, more of you see the sunshine. it's not going to do much to the temperatures, still struggling to get above freezing in some spots. another widespread, harsh frost, then, to take us into thursday. plenty of sunshine around for many, but increasing cloud into the west. signs of weather fronts trying to push in

as the breeze picks up. signs of something milder trying to edge in as well, but do not underestimate the power of cold air across europe. it could hold off that charge of milder air from the west and could stay cold for many of us right the way through into next week. bye for now.

welcome to bbc news, my name is mike embley. our top stories... a change in policy on yemen — as the us calls for an end to the war, we get rare access to see the damage inflicted in six years of conflict. myanmar�*s military flexes its muscles — water cannons are used on those protesting last week's coup, but the unrest does prompt promises of a fresh election. the world health organization insists the astrazeneca vaccine is still a vital tool in the global fight against coronavirus, despite concerns in south africa about its efficacy. and the english photographer who kept finding his innocent images labelled "sexually overt" by facebook.