tonight at ten: the cladding crisis — the government promises more than 5.5 billion to help make high rise flats safe, but campaigners say it's too little too late. flammable cladding is being removed — but there are still at least 700,000 people living in blocks covered with dangerous material. we've chosen to do this because we have immense sympathy for the leaseholders affected and, as a matter of basic public safety, we have to get these unsafe materials off buildings as quickly as possible. i've had people in tears, people distraught, and they don't know how they will see an end to this. the amount of money they've released is not enough. it has taken the government too long to find solutions. also on the programme tonight:

"don't think of booking a holiday here or abroad," says the transport secretary as summer 2021 is put on hold. a big vote of confidence for the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine as the world health organization recommends delaying the second jab to improve immunity. after the riots on capitol hill, prosecutors at donald trump's impeachment trial accuse him of being the inciter in chief. i believe you have a filter turned on in the video settings. and the perils of working from home — how a lawyer in texas found himself trapped as a cat. and coming up in sport on bbc news, manchester city win a record 15th straight again in all competitions, reaching the quarterfinals of the fa cup with a 3—1win at swansea. good evening. the government has announced

an extra £3.5 billion to pay for the removal of flammable cladding from high—rise flats in england. more than three and a half years after the grenfell tower fire, there are still at least 700,000 people living in blocks with dangerous cladding. ministers have been under considerable pressure to do more to help. flat owners say while the extra money is welcome, it doesn't address any of the other fire safety issues they're having to pay millions of pounds for. our business correspondent sarah corker has this report. i'm bankrupt. a lot of people are on their way to going bankrupt. caught up in britain's growing cladding crisis. thousands of people are trapped living in unsafe flats. it's not our fault, we're not to blame for this. they're now facing life—changing bills. people across the country are crying out for help. in manchester, ben's building has multiple fire safety faults. his repair bill runs into tens of thousands of pounds.

we don't know where we are going to get that money from. we, as leaseholders, feel like we are just at the short end of this horrible, horrible mess, where we're just not being protected by the government, like they promised us that they would. today the government announced an additional 5.5 billion for the building safety fund to remove cladding from tower blocks over 18 metres. for buildings under that height, there will be a new loan scheme, with repayments capped at £50 a month per leaseholder. and to force the industry to contribute, there will be a levy or tax on developers who build future high—rises. this exceptional intervention amounts to the largest—ever government investment in building safety. we believe in home ownership, and today we firmly support the hundreds of thousands of homeowners who need our help now. but campaigners have

reacted angrily. they say loans for smaller blocks are not the answer. we've had people in tears, people are just distraught, and they don't know how they're going to see an end to this. the amount of money they've released is not enough, and once again it doesn't cover all the issues. since the grenfell tower fire, safety inspections on other high—rise buildings have exposed not just flammable cladding, but other fire safety problems too, including defective insulation and missing firebreaks. but there's still no government money to fix these faults, and it's flat owners who are still facing big bills. labour called the proposals an injustice. homeowners shouldn't face bankruptcy to fix a problem they didn't cause. unfortunately, these proposals will still leave too many people struggling and facing loans, instead of being givenjustice. and the conservative mp for stevenage said he watched the announcement with his head in his hands. we don't believe that

leaseholders should have to pay, and the very idea of loans, the way in which they were announced, it's a punch to the guts to millions of leaseholders up and down the country. after years of pressure on the government to do more to help flat owners, this has been broadly welcomed by concerned tory backbenchers. but those stuck in flammable flats say it's taking too long to get a grips on this crisis. sarah corker, bbc news, in manchester. let's talk now to our deputy political editor vicki young at westminster. why all this extra money now? lots of conservatives _ why all this extra money now? lots of conservatives i _ why all this extra money now? lots of conservatives i spoke to said they are leaseholders, this party has championed homeownership and we should be helping these people who are in the predicament through no fault of their own. but who pays for this? it was striking listening to the government trying to come up

with a balance. there will be a levy on the industry, leaseholders will have to pay in some circumstances. they do not want the bill to full on the taxpayer, many of whom could not afford to buy houses themselves. a pattern has emerged throughout their switches that the government started to try to address one issue, to look at public housing, then it moves to private housing, one type of cladding, then another, fire safety aspects not even covered by this which need to be sorted. the scale has gone beyond anything any minister would have thought when they started to correct the wrongs of grenfell, su—wei significant intervention today, but the campaigning will not stop here. —— so a significant intervention. campaigning will not stop here. -- so a significant intervention. thank ou, vicki so a significant intervention. thank you, vicki young. _ meanwhile the grenfell inquiry heard today that the company that sold the cladding used on the tower knew four years before the fire

that it was flammable. but the firm — arconic — didn't withdraw the product from sale. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds has been listening to today's evidence. tom? could you tell us more about what was said? �* .., . could you tell us more about what was said? ~ _, . ., ., was said? arconic made the flat anels was said? arconic made the flat panels that _ was said? arconic made the flat panels that cladding _ was said? arconic made the flat panels that cladding is - was said? arconic made the flat panels that cladding is formed l was said? arconic made the flat - panels that cladding is formed from and put on the side of buildings like grenfell tower and the building like grenfell tower and the building like vicki young has been talking about which are caught up in this safety crisis. it has always maintained it made the raw materials but was not responsible for how they were used. but the first important evidence we had today was that arconic tested the product in 2011 and it was found wanting and they decided not to tell customers unless they asked about fire safety. evidence number two was that they knew about these fires that happened in the united arab emirates in 2013 and new address questions about the cladding but they did not take the product off the market, unlike some competitors. finally they were keen to win the contract for the grenfell

tower project, to get their product on the side of a building even though they knew the cladding was flammable, the building was a high rise and people lived there. thank ou. you should not be booking a holiday this summer — in the uk or abroad — that's what the transport secretary said today. going on holiday is currently illegal. tonight the prime minister said it was too soon to say whether holidays would be allowed by the summer, but he hoped to give more clarity later this month. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg reports. the excitement of a plane ride when your feet don't touch the floor. hello. hi, guys. we are the fellowes family. harry and chester, eight and six, might be waiting a long time before splashing into the pool in france at the campsite. after months of home—schooling and home—working, the furthest the fellowes family are going at the moment is the loft. consistently, the government has given us a very mixed message. it's a bit of a blow. i'm sure like millions of other families, equally we'd be happy to go to birmingham,

manchester, anywhere to get out of the house. this morning the man who is in charge of how we get around said we shouldn't book a holiday at home or away. please don't go ahead and book holidays for something which, at this stage, is illegal to actually go and do, whether it's here or abroad. and then, you know, further down the line, i simply don't know the answer to the question of where we'll be up to this summer. but some of his colleagues have put holiday plans in their diary. i'm going to cornwall and i... yeah, i've said before, i think we're going to have a great british summer. should you plan for that? going on holiday abroad is banned right now, and under lockdown you are only allowed away from home for limited reasons. you can, though, book for months to come. whether anyone wants a repeat of crowded beaches in britain last summer is a different question. the hope at least is clear — that by the summer with the spread of the vaccine and the squeeze

on the disease, the tourist spots could, in theory, be buzzing once again. and there is rising frustration among some of the government's own mps that ministers somehow seem to keep postponing the future. but inside government there is a real reluctance. ministers just don't want to make promises they may later have to break, and despite progress, the effects of the pandemic won't disappear fast. travel�*s already been hammered by recession and restrictions at the border. the last thing the industry wants to hear is ministers urging us not to book. should members of the public be booking summer holidays or not, whether at home or abroad? because the transport secretary this morning warned people against booking anything at all. as everybody knows, it's currently illegal to go on holiday. that's the state of play at the moment. we are looking at the data every day, but i'm afraid it is just too early for people to be certain about what we'll be able to do this summer.

so he didn't repeat his minister's warning. what the government could do for families is to stop putting out mixed messages, so the prime minister one week was saying he's optimistic about holidays, then you've got the transport secretary saying don't book a holiday. that isn't helping businesses, it's not helping families. of course it's difficult, nobody quite knows where we're going to be by the summer. for the fellowes family and millions of us, it's just not clear when a holiday will be a reason to say goodbye. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. say "bye," boys. bye! there've been new warnings today about the impact of the pandemic on nhs front line staff morale and wellbeing. the royal college of nursing says staff are "on their knees" and that goodwill has been exhausted. the royal college of physicians has called for staff to be given scheduled time away from the front line when the worst is over. 0ur health editor, hugh pym, has spent a day at the royal free hospital in london — where psychologists have

been working with staff in intensive care. families are upset. we shed tears for our patients, we do. shalu only started her nursing career in september, but already, she's seen more deaths and bereavement than some who've been nursing for many years. here, there's better news. how have you been feeling today? not bad. it's been a bit cold. yeah, it's snowing. jenny has recovered from covid—19. to protect her parents, shalu has moved out of the family home and is living on her own. you don't have time. you know, if a patient dies, i have seven other patients to take care of. i have to try and wipe my tears and go to my next patient and say, "hi, are you ready for your evening meds?", and be happy, because they won't know. but when you go home and there's silence and there's no family, that's when it hits.

when people die and when we can't actually make them better, i think the feeling is so awful and so overwhelming and so devastating. claire is head chaplain at royal free london. her role involves visiting patients in the wards and comforting their families, and she supports staff and understands the immense emotional strain on them. when you're in the middle of that trauma and seeing patients dying and also in very traumatic circumstances, often alone, i think for staff, that's just incredibly heartbreaking, and things that might happen once a year or once in a while are happening every day. thank you very much. lovely, thank you, let's go. we just try to help as much as we can. support for front line staff includes free meals, and sid'sjob is to provide them. can you get me another trolley, please? his team deliver packed lunches

and food at other times to intensive care and general wards. we're doing about 1,400 meals a day. we are a 2k hour operation, seven days a week. in their short breaks, staff simply don't have time to get down to the hospital canteen. so we are here to support them, we are here to help them. 0k, guys. hello, good morning. i've got your lunches. thank you! where would you like me to put them? a different kind of support is offered by debbie. we are testing people's resilience to the nth degree. she's a psychologist working with intensive care staff. here, she organises an informal listening session. everyone's not having time to rest and recover because it's been non—stop for us in intensive care. and there's a lot of-

nightmares about work. you wake up in a cold sweat and you can't go back- to sleep because you think, "i've got to be at work - in the next four hours." it has been probably one of the most challenging experiences of my career. i think we are very concerned about the years ahead. i don't think it's just about now and about staff retention, i think it's actually about, how are people emotionally going to come back from this? in particular, as you can see from young people, this has really scarred them. the nhs is all about its people, and right now, the welfare of staff is becoming one of the most pressing concerns of the pandemic. hugh pym, bbc news, at the royal free hospital. the latest government figures show 13,013 new infections were recorded in the latest 24—hour period. an average of 16,191 new cases were recorded per day in the last week.

the number of people in hospital remains high across the uk — 26,681; patients with coronavirus. that's still a big drop from the peak about three weeks ago, when more than 39,000 were in hospital. deaths also remain very high. 1001 deaths were reported in the past 2a hours. that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid test. on average in the past week, 788 deaths were announced every day. the total number of uk deaths is now 114,851. as for the vaccination programme, 411,812 people had a first dose of one of the three approved covid—19 vaccines in the latest 24—hour period. more than 13 million people have now had their firstjab. to put that achievement in context, france has vaccinated just under 2.5 millon people since the end of december. 0ur health editor, hugh pym, is here.

hugh, we've had an announcement that's a significant vote of confidence in the 0xford—astrazeneca vaccine? yes, in recent weeks three issues have been raised about the 0xford—astrazeneca vaccine. first of all, is it less effective in the over 65s? some countries are not recommending it for use in that age group, but the world health organization has said today it 0rganization has said today it should be used for all adult age groups. secondly, there is the question of the second dose, and the fact that in the uk both vaccines, 0xford—astrazeneca and pfizer, have been moved out to 12 weeks for the second dose, despite suggestions early on that it should be after four weeks. there was some criticism around that, but the who has said, actually, the best window for the second dose is between eight and 12 weeks. in fact, the delay creates better immunity. thirdly, there is the question of, is it less

effective against the south african variant after a small scale trial suggested that in those cases it wasn't quite so good at mild forms of the disease? but the who says, actually, it should be used for all variants, in all countries, including the kent variant, which may become dominant in many parts of the world, and in fact it is perfectly plausible that it is effective in cases of serious disease. now, the prime minister has said today it is good to see the who confirm support for the 0xford—astrazeneca vaccine. confirm support for the oxford-astrazeneca vaccine. hugh . m, oxford-astrazeneca vaccine. hugh pym. thank— oxford-astrazeneca vaccine. hugh pym. thank yom — large numbers of staff in care homes have still not had the coronavirus vaccine, according to care providers. a survey carried out this week suggests that in many care homes more than a third of staff haven't had the jab. some haven't been able to get to an appointment — others have been reluctant to have the vaccine. here's our social affairs correspondent, alison holt. hi, my name is becky. i'm a support worker. i am currently on my way to get the vaccine.

becky kelly will soon be having herfirstjab in the fight against covid—19. she cares for people with learning and physical disabilities, and this is vital to keep them all safe. i'm nervous, but i have to play my part in protecting the people i support. but five days before the government deadline for all front—line care staff to be vaccinated, today's survey shows many still haven't taken this step. some care staff have struggled to get appointments or have medical concerns, but others like monica, a housekeeper at a nursing home in bristol, was worried about possible side effects, particularly as she is a single mum. what if i end up in a bed and i will not be able to look after my children? that was my first and my big fear. after being given more information, she changed her mind and has now been vaccinated. as has verona, the unit's manager. she too started off hesitant. i think there was not really

much knowledge about it, and the knowledge being aired on social media platforms and so forth was quite worrying, so that was my anticipation and my worry and my concerns to begin with. and what changed your mind? most importantly, i work in a profession whereby i work with quite vulnerable adults. i provide care for them, so it was a case of doing my best to protect them. care services employing 38,000 staff responded to today's survey. they were asked whether 70% or more of their staff had been vaccinated. in care homes for older people, just over half said yes. in homes supporting younger adults, only 38% had reached that level. and in home care, it was even lower — just a quarter had 70% of staff vaccinated. it means there is still a long way to go to get first doses to all front—line workers. tonight, the prime minister spoke directly to care staff. if you haven't received a letter,

please contact your employer and fix it up. let me stress that these vaccines are safe and effective. trevor salomon�*s wife yvonne is in a care home. she has early—onset dementia. if everyone is vaccinated, it offers him the hope of seeing her properly. my view is that we are reaching a period of illogical decision making about keeping visitors out, because if my wife has been vaccinated and i have been vaccinated, and i am certainly abiding by government guidelines not to socialise, i don't even see my children at the moment, then arguably, i am perhaps safer than those carers who are going in and out of the home who haven't been vaccinated. it underlines the importance for families, care staff and those they look after of having the jab. i feel good knowing that i've protected my family, and the people i support. alison holt, bbc news.

facebook says it will take tougher measures to tackle racism online, after a number of high—profile footballers suffered abuse on social media recently. the government has warned tech firms they could be fined 10% of their global turnover unless they take steps to prevent it. a senior executive at facebook has told our sports editor, dan roan, that she is horrified at the continued racist abuse. they're among a growing list of footballers subject online racial abuse, a recent spate of incidents heaping pressure on the social media giants. today the biggest of all finally addressed the issue. facebook, which owns instagram, said they were determined to tackle the crisis. i'm horrified at the type of abuse that people, especially these footballers, have to deal with. as a company, we're disappointed to see that sort of behaviour that plays out offline also playing out on our platform. today facebook announced what it called tougher measures, vowing to disable the accounts

of those found to have repeatedly sent abusive private messages on instagram. are you only taking these measures now because of the wave of revulsion and criticism that you and other platforms have received? so we've had ongoing conversations around abuse and hate on the platform for a while, and we have continuously released features and iterated on policies. we thank the footballers and other high—profile individuals who are talking about this abuse, and we know we need to do more, we absolutely recognise that. with abusers often hiding behind anonymity, many critics want the platforms to require a form of id from anyone opening an account, so why is that not happening? if we were to insist on people having to use both government or passport details before they can access their accounts, we would be barring initial access to the very people who use our platforms to create the communities they currently have, whether that is around black women,

around immigrants, and so we're very conscious about making sure we allow for that access. racism is a much bigger societal issue, and we recognise we're just a small part of how we can have those conversations to fix it. do you accept, nonetheless, that you are an enabler of hate? no, to imply that it's about enabling, i think would be inaccurate. bristol rovers' mark little's among a record number of players racially abused on social media this season, his one of several cases the police are investigating. it's just confusing for me. what they've kind of announced today is what i assumed was happening before. but i do feel that the police need a bit more help from the platforms that this abuse is happening on. with football continuing to unite against racism, the government has promised new laws to make big tech more accountable. today it welcomed facebook�*s announcement but said more needed to be done. dan roan, bbc news.

prosecutors in donald trump's senate impeachment trial have accused him of being the "inciter in chief" of last month's deadly riots at the us capitol building. it comes as the former president faces a separate criminal investigation in georgia, where he's accused of attempting to overturn the state's election results — if found guilty, he could face jail. from washington, our north america editor, jon sopel, reports. day two of the trump impeachment trial, and harrowing new pictures and sounds of what unfolded on the 6th of january. the disbelief of the police. they are throwing metal balls at us. the prosecution argument — this was a direct consequence of donald trump's words and actions that day and in the weeks leading up to it. donald trump surrendered his role as commander—in—chief

and became the inciter—in—chief. and he told this story of an african—american policeman who had fought the protesters for hours to defend the capitol. the trump legal team were given a kicking for their poor performance yesterday. donald trump was reportedly furious, and this republican senator changed his vote, he was so appalled. the issue in hand is, is it constitutional to impeach a president who has left office? and the house managers made a compelling, cogent case, and the president's team did not. but it looks like the former president has the votes to avoid being convicted and banned from ever holding public office again. but even if donald trump's impeachment problems go away, his legal difficulties don't — they're piling up, and in georgia, it's been confirmed that a criminal investigation has been launched after the president tried to persuade that state's secretary of state to find him extra votes so that he would win,

and notjoe biden. what makes this deeply problematic for donald trump, who was campaigning in georgia after the election, is that him asking for those votes is not a question of rival accounts, it's on tape. i just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won this state. election interference, one of the charges being looked at, is a felony offence. in other words, a crime that carries a prison sentence of more than a year. the mayhem at the capitol grew out of donald trump's repeated claims that the presidency had been stolen from him. it would indeed be ironic if he were the one man charged with interfering in the 2020 election. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, has refused to say

if she will resign if she is found to have broken the ministerial code in relation to the invesigation into former first minister alex salmond. at first minister's questions, ms sturgeon insisted she does not believe she breached the ministerial code and said she would not answer hypothetical questions before the investigation publishes its findings. four councils in england are being given emergency government funding because they are unable to balance their books. the authorities named as being in the most serious trouble are bexley, eastbourne, luton, and peterborough. communities secretary robertjenrick said the pandemic was responsible in some cases but in others "very poor management" was to blame. labour said that council budgets have been "stretched to breaking point". a man described as "one of the most prolific child sex abuse offenders ever investigated" has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. david wilson pleaded guilty to 96 offences relating to 52 boys at ipswich

crown court in november. some of his victims, who he targeted using social media, were as young as four. and, finally, to the perils and pitfalls of working from home online. zoom meetings have meant that millions of people haven't had to travel to work during the pandemic. and they've also provided some unexpected moments of comedy as people grapple with the technology. jon kay reports on the lawyer in texas who has unwittingly cheered up millions. rod ponton, west texas attorney, appearing in court over zoom. mr ponton, i believe you have a filter turned on in the video settings. you might want to... ah! we're trying to... can you hear me, judge? i can hearyou — i think it's a filter. it is, and i don't know how to remove it. i've got my assistant here,

she's trying to but... it seems his secretary's daughter added the filter, but the highly qualified legal team didn't know how to take it off. i'm here live, i'm not a cat. i can see that. today, with his fur finally removed, he spoke to the bbc. i did not know that zoom could turn me into a cat, and i did not know that zoom could turn me into an internet celebrity, but it all happened in just a matter of hours. it was the judge who released the video online to show the perils of video calls. this was just another one of those learning moments for all of us to... ..to learn how to turn those things off. i'm not a cat. so even after a year of working remotely, a lesson for all of us — that technology is not always purrfect. i'm not a cat.

jon kay, bbc news.