this is bbc news. the headlines: ghana in west africa has become the first country to receive vaccines under a scheme that aims to reduce the divide between rich countries and poorer nations. a delivery of 600,000 doses arrived in accra. the aim is to deliver 2 billion doses by the end of the year. police in california say tiger woods won't face a reckless driving charge for the car crash that shattered his ankle and left him with compound leg fractures. the golf legend has been awake and responsive after an emergency operation. police say he's lucky to be alive. a painting by vincent van gogh not seen in public for more than a century has been shown in paris ahead of a sale by auction. the picture, street scene in montmartre, was painted in 1887 and has been in private hands since 1920. it's expected to fetch at least eight—and—a—half million dollars. now on bbc news, wednesday in parliament.

hello there and welcome to wednesday in parliament where the labour leader urges the government not to put up taxes in next week's budget. can the prime minister at least agree with me today that now is not the time for tax rises for families and for businesses? but it's preposterous for him, mr speaker, to talk about tax rises when he stood on a manifesto only a year ago, mr speaker — a little over a year ago — to put up taxes by the biggest amount in the history of this country. vaccine advisers announce that a further 150,000 adults with learning disabilities will be offered a covid jab. all of those on the learning disability register as registered by their gp should be eligible

for immunisation now. and more questions for the government over the awarding of contracts during the covid pandemic. there's been an unedifying gold rush of chums and of chances. she alleges impropriety and inappropriate behaviour. wrong. but first, labour's called on the government not to push up taxes in next week's budget. the prime minister announced his road map out of england's lockdown at the start of the week but made no specific financial pledges, beyond the promise to continue to support workers and families through the pandemic. at prime minister's questions, the labour leader, sir keir starmer welcomed the prime minister's cautious approach to easing restrictions. one of the biggest threats to that is misinformation about the risks of the deadly virus. for example, there've been people saying that covid statistics appear to have been manipulated. that monday's road map is based on "dodgy assumptions" and false modelling.

does the prime minister agree that these kinds of comments are irresponsible and undermine our national recovery? i'm glad that he supports the four steps of march the 8th for schools, april the 12th for shops, may the 17th for hospitality, june the 21st for everything and the data supporting all of that, mr speaker, has been available to the house since i announced it on monday. i think the prime minister dodged that question. no doubt because all those comments came from his own mps, some of the 60 or so members of the covid recovery group. perhaps the prime minister should have a word with them. keir starmer called for more people to get a £500 payment to self—isolate to help them obey the rules. boris johnson insisted the government was looking after those most in need. it is the poorest and the neediest in society, those on the lowest income who have been the top of the government's priorities,

and that is quite right and we will continue to act in that way, mr speaker, and he will be hearing more about that next week from the chancellor in addition to the discretionary funding we've given councils to support those who need it most — including those, mr speaker, who have to self—isolate. keir starmer. mr speaker, here's the difference. if you need £500 to isolate, you're out of luck. if you've got the health secretary's whatsapp, you get a £1 million contract. the high court recently ruled that matt hancock had acted unlawfully in not publishing details of ppe contracts on—time. keir starmer turned to the budget. can the prime minister at least agree with me today that now is not the time for tax rises for families and for businesses? it's preposterous for him, mr speaker, to talk about tax rises when he stood on a manifesto only a yearago, mr speaker — a little over a year ago — to put up taxes by the biggest amount in the history

of this country. the truth is this. the government spent a decade weakening the foundations of our economy and our country. as a result, we have the highest death toll in europe. we have the worst recession of any major economy. families are facing council tax rises and millions can't afford to self—isolate. and all the prime minister offers is a return to business as usual. he vacillates, mr speaker, we vaccinate! and we're going to get on with our agenda, cautious but irreversibly taking this country forward on a one—way road to freedom, and i very much hope that his support which has been so evanescent in the past will genuinely prove irreversible this time, mr speaker. the united kingdom has suffered the worst slump of any major - economy and 120,000 people have - lost their lives — that's under. your guidance, prime minister. after a decade of tory cuts, millions of families - are in poverty and uk- unemployment is soaring.

will your government follow - the example of the us and boost the economy like biden? or is the tory plan to return . to type and impose yet another decade of tory austerity? this government is investing a £640 billion in infrastructure alone throughout the uk, a massive programme to get our country rebuilt and restarted again. and i think that is what people would like to focus on rather than his agenda to talk about our broken politics, our broken country. all they want to do is break up britain with another referendum, and i think that is the last thing this country needs at the moment. borisjohnson. the government's vaccination advisers have said that a further 150,000 adults with learning disabilities in england should be offered a covid jab. it follows a campaign by the bbc radio presenter

jo whiley, who was offered a vaccine before her sister frances who has a learning disability. frances is recovering after being hospitalised with covid. the deputy head of thejoint committee on vaccination and immunisation said the previous policy, letting gps decide who had "severe" enough learning disabilities to qualify, had led to some "inequalities". there's been a lot of controversy about this area and i surely understand that but we want to be absolutely clear and we are going to make another announcement very, very soon, it maybe while this is taking place, that all of those on the learning disability register as registered by their gp should be eligible for immunisation now. and all those as i say in shared and home living accommodations should be immunised. this will include about another 150,000 or so individuals with learning disabilities. however, there's no evidence

at all that the individual risk of someone with very mild learning disabilities is any different than that of someone else of their age. so, i am — and jcvi are — very personally, very concerned about this issue because people with learning disabilities are a hugely disadvantaged sector of our society. and i would like to implore any gp which are immunising within group six now, reach out to those that they know have learning disabilities and prioritise them within group six. it shouldn't have been left to ccgs and gps considering the severity of learning disability conditions isn't usually noted on gp records and actually this might lead to a postcode lottery.

professor harnden replied that the guidance was "quite clear". we just felt that saying the more severe learning difficulties should be immunised within group six and left it up to people at the operational level to interpret how they defined more severe learning difficulties was the most straightforward way of doing it but i do accept that it has led to some inequalities throughout the country which is why i'm saying now publicly that i think that all of those on the learning disability register should be immunised now. the committee also heard from sarah gilbert, who led the team behind the oxford university/astrazeneca vaccine. we need to continue with the vaccine roll—out to get as many people as possible protected and we need to make sure that nothing can slow that down. so, the more people we have given protection from the vaccine, the less transition we will see but we also need to be aware that the vaccine cannot be used and everyone immediately. we currently are not vaccinating children and there will be transmission amongst children. so, we have to use the other measures that we also have available to us to keep the transmission of virus as low as we possibly can.

we cannot allow only the vaccines to do all the work of protecting the population while at the current time in the uk, we still have relatively high levels of transmission. and she warned there was a danger that if lockdown measures were lifted too quickly, transmission would increase leading to variants that couldn't be neutralised as effectively by the vaccine. now, more than 30 conservative mps have urged the government to go further to protect leaseholders living in flats from "financial ruin". campaigners say the fire safety bill introduced in the wake of the grenfell tower disaster means flat owners in lower rise buildings will have to pay to make their homes safe. a conservative led the move to change the bill to prevent leaseholders from having to pay for remediation costs for emergency safety work. he set out his position. we've never asked the

government to pay for the full cost of a mediation. we've never asked for the taxpayer to bail people out. we just want the taxpayer to provide a safety net for leaseholders to ensure the fire safety works are actually undertaken. it's been nearly four years, we want to be in a position whereby the government provides the cash flow upfront and then the government can then levy those who have been responsible within the industry over the next ten years to recoup those funds. and that's our plan, that's our objective, and we'd love to work with the minister and the government to actually get this resolved. i struggle to understand, genuinely, why the government hasn't grasped the scale of this crisis and the quantity of people who cannot sell their flat, who cannot afford the costs that they are currently looking at, who cannot change jobs, who cannot get married, who cannot have children because their lives are on hold. these are many first—time buyers who have saved up, you know, worked really hard, and got their flat. if the government were to say today, "we will commit to legislate to say "that leaseholders should not have to foot the bill," we could accept that there was a commitment there,

but there isn't. a lib dem rejected downing street's assertion that the amendment risked slowing down the passage of the bill into law. with respect, mr deputy- speaker, that's a bit flipping rich given it's taken three and a half years to bring i forward a bill that extends to a whole two pages. - mr deputy speaker, we can't end the whole fire safety scandal - today, but we can protect leaseholders from - having to pay for it. but the conservative mp for kensington, which includes grenfell tower, emphasised the urgency of the situation. we collectively — both this place and the other place — need to get this legislation implemented and make sure that these dangerous buildings are remediated, because the more we talk, the more we argue, nothing is done out there. and there are dangerous buildings out there.

let me be clear, it is unacceptable for leaseholders to have to worry about the cost of fixing historic safety defects in their buildings. i do ask that honourable members recognise that while these amendments are based on good intentions, they are not the appropriate means to solve these complex problems. by providing unprecedented funding and a generous financing scheme, we are ensuring that the money is available for remediation, accelerating the process and making homes safer as quickly as possible. and you have my assurance, madam deputy speaker, that the government's schemes to address these issues will be launched as a matter of priority. in the event, mps weren't given the chance to vote on the updated changes to the bill, only on those suggested by the house of lords which didn't carry so much support. so, the government won by a majority of 115 votes. but the bill will now go back to the lords, where peers may decide to fight

for the changes again. nearly 200 asylum seekers housed at a former army barracks have tested positive for covid—19 this year, mps have been told. napier barracks in folkestone, in kent, had housed up to 400 men, with a maximum of 28 sharing each dormitory. the home secretary, priti patel, said the home office had followed public health guidance "in every single way". but the chair of the committee, yvette cooper, had a specific question. did public health england or the local authority tell you that these dormitories of 20 plus people were safe in covid terms? well, we have had advice as a department, so... did they look at those arrangements?

the department has looked, the department has reviewed at every stage, from day one, from the outset, in getting these locations, these sites up and running and ready throughout every single phased approach, because quite frankly, regulations have changed since the summer. guidance has changed. the department works with public health england and... i'm sure you've worked with everybody. ..on every single level. i'm sure you worked with everybody. i simply want to know, matthew, can you tell us, did public health england or the local authorities say to you, "yes, we approve of these arrangements. "this is social distancing and this will work, this is covid compliant" ? chair, if public health englandj were here they would, i think, they'd explain that they don't do those sorts of approvals. they don't certify that certain conditions do or do not- meet their standards. what they do is they give advice, and they gave - advice on how to make - the circumstances of the napier barracks covid safe, i

and that is the advice we followed. he gave the committee the latest numbers. in total, injanuary, - there were 178 positive tests and 19 in february leading to a total of 197 between. the start ofjanuary and now. oh, my god! you had 178 cases at a centre which had dormitory accommodation of over 20 people in those dormitories? well, that looks like pretty clear evidence to me that those dormitories were not covid safe if you manage to generate within them 178 covid positive cases. presumably that would've affected staff who were working and living in the local community as well. on what planet did you think, in the middle of a covid crisis, it was safe or sensible to put over 20 people in a dormitory, so they are all sleeping together in the same room with the same air overnight each night?

because we, as the home secretary said, we were . following the guidance at every stage, and the guidance - was to ensure that there - was as much space as possible, certainly at least two metres between beds and so on, - and we followed that guidance. ok, so that's all right, then, so there were two metres between beds, that will presumably mean it's ok for people to sleep safely, well, that obviously wasn't sufficient, and there were 178 cases. yvette cooper later asked about another covid related but very different issue: would people be able to have foreign holidays this summer? what would your advice be to all of those people booking their holidays today, to book away or to wait? well, it's too early. as you have already heard, it is far too early. it is too early and, you know, we have to look at the data at every single stage, and the road map outlined by the prime minister makes that abundantly clear. so people thinking about booking a summer holiday in greece or spain right now should wait until after the global task force report, they shouldn't be booking things now? would that be your... well, first of all, it's too early. absolutely. there is a road map,

and we would advise everybody to follow all the restrictions, the measures that have been put in place, and as i've said, you know, we've got to continue with the vaccine roll—out, and there are tests that the prime minister has outlined as well that we will need to meet before restrictions change. now, a health minister has admitted there were shortages of ppe during the coronavirus pandemic. responding to an urgent question in the commons, edward argar acknowledged there had been "local shortages and challenges in individual trusts". asking an urgent question relating to the awarding of covid—19 contracts during the pandemic, labour accused ministers of thinking they are "above the law". a stain has emerged with this government's response to the crisis. there has been an unedifying gold rush of chums and of chancellors. £2 billion worth of contracts handed to those with close links to the conservative party — from the pub landlord of the health secretary to the donors, the manifesto writers, the old buyers club, they've all had a return on their investment at all of our expense.

and will the minister take this opportunity to apologise to the doctors and nurses, the care workers and other front—line workers who did not have the ppe that they needed? and had to make makeshift ppe because unlike what the health secretary has said, there was a shortage in ppe, and those who were working on the front line were not protected. she alleges impropriety and inappropriate behaviour — wrong. the noa report was absolutely clear that there was no evidence of any inappropriate behaviour, and indeed, no court has found this. i make no apologies that the government did everything in its power to ensure the nhs and front line workers did not run out of ppe, and as the nao has acknowledged, there was no national shortage of ppe. will he apologise to numerous nhs and care staff who have l been deeply upset by comments made by the health _ secretary yesterday — - echoed in fact by himself today — that there wasn't

a shortage of ppe.| does he understand why that is so insulting - to the doctors who were forcedl to wear bin bags in the absence of gowns and to the nursesl who were wearing goggles? as the nao report highlighted, we did not run out of ppe nationally. that is not to say that there were not significant challenges in some hospitals in some areas around the distribution of that ppe, and that has been acknowledged throughout this pandemic. but a labour mp challenged the assertion there were no shortages of ppe. blatantly, that's not true. we have clear evidence that that's the case. in the nao report, i believe it was last november, it said it did not run out nationally, but that is not, as i have clarified,

to say that there weren't local shortages and challenges in individual trusts, as i acknowledged. a supreme court ruling that uber drivers must be treated as workers rather than self employed has been widely welcomed by mps, many of whom thought it would have wider implications for the so called gig economy. the decision could mean thousands of uber drivers are entitled to minimum wage and holiday pay. uber is being challenged by its drivers in multiple countries over whether they should be classed as workers or self employed. labour wanted the government to enshrine the decision in law, accusing the company of trying to ignore the ruling by arguing that it applied only to a tiny minority of its workforce. if uber ignores this ruling, tens of thousands of workers will be cheated out of their rights, forcing low—paid and precarious workers to spend time and money they can ill afford to litigate to recover withheld wages in cases they would likely win but would take years to conclude. uber must now accept that their hard—working drivers, many of whom have come from abroad and deserve protecting, are employed and deserve all the rights of fully employed people.

uber and any other number of operators within the gig i economy will be looking at thatjudgment. - and it's important that they do respond accordingly, _ and government will also respond accordingly- because we always recognise . the valuable contribution made by those working in the gig - economy, and people do value the flexibilities of it, i but we must also make sure that those workers . are adequately protected. i heard the minister's warm words, but this is an opportunity for him to take a small step in the right direction when it comes to workers�* rights. so will he confirm that his government fully backs the supreme court ruling and that they will make no attempt through legislation to overturn, undermine or circumvent it? i thank the honourable gentlemen, the supreme ruling is final. a former transport minister also welcomed the ruling. uber should be paying their drivers more, . because that's good for those drivers, but it's also good - for the licenced taxi drivers. who feel that they have been

subjected to competition i from uber in recent years, which is aggressive, l unfair and predatory. paul scully said that it was important to get the balance right between a free market and encroachment on workers�* rights. on tuesday, the prime minister announced a review of using vaccine passports or certificates to prove someone�*s covid "status". borisjohnson said using certificates to allow visits to venues, such as pubs and theatres, was a "novelty for our country". and ministers have appeared to dismiss bringing them in for uk hospitality or leisure. but vaccine passports have been discussed by countries, including greece, and some holiday operators, as a way to safely reopen international leisure travel. the idea came up at lords questions. it's very important to differentiate between a certificate which might allow

access to venues in the united kingdom and one which will allow travel overseas, like this one i have for yellow fever and malaria, and would he say which countries he's now — and the government — are now in discussion with to enable us to get travelling as soon as possible to those countries and so that the travel industry can get back into a financially sound situation? i do agree with the noble lord that they are two entirely separate issues. and i can assure him the uk is working with a wide range of other countries, and the government will make this a reality through ongoing work, not only with other countries but with the world health organization, other multilateral organisations and through the uk's presence in the g7. the prime minister, the other day, he seemed to suggest. that we mustn't discriminate i against those who have refused a vaccine for whatever reason, a medical condition, _ for example. but we know that there are . anti—vaxxers who are refusing

to vaccine because they don't like it, can't be bothered, - or who are simply- professional disruptors. so, would my noble friend i accept that it would be pretty outrageous to hold back - the reopening of society in any way and compromise the rights and liberties of everyone else i because of those who refuse to take any step to protect l either themselves or others? the minister described the vaccines as a miracle of science and endeavour that everyone should get behind and support. you'll have noticed how important titles are in the house of commons. mps are addressed as honourable ladies and gentleman — a cabinet minister is referred to as secretary of state. but now there's a new form of address. president sharma... alok sharma has been appointed president of the united nations cop26 climate conference in november. climate change is the biggest challenge faced by humanity. the world is, on average, already 1.2 degrees warmer than preindustrial levels,

and if we are to deliver on the lmiting temperature rises to below 2 degrees, indeed close to 1.5 degrees, we must collectively act with the utmost urgency. shadow president, ed miliband. thank you, i've never. been called that before. thank you very much, mr speaker. - can i warmly welcome - the president to his full—time role, it's in all of our interests for him to. succeed, and we want to do everything we can to help. ed miliband. and that's it from me for now, butjoin me next time for a programme with a slightly different title, the week in parliament, our round up of the last few days here at westminster. but for now from me, alicia mccarthy, goodbye. hello there. following on from the last

couple of days�* rain, there are still flood warnings in force. but to the south of that weather front, we've seen some exceptional warmth, and that's down to the wind direction. 18 was the warmest day of the year so far on wednesday, but we won't see a repeat of that despite the weather settling down because we lose that strong south—westerly and we pick up a brisk westerly wind across the atlantic. so, slightly cooler direction which will push in showers through the day ahead, some heavy showers as well. and our weather front is present further south, so very different complexion to the weather here. there could be some heavier bursts of rain, and it'll certainly be a much greyer, damper start across many southern, central and eastern parts of england. could be a little bit misty over the tops of the hills, and as i say, there could be some heavier pulses of rain working their way eastwards. might even linger in kent and essex until the evening, but much brighter skies further north. and then we run into the brisk westerly wind and lots of showers pushing into northern isles, into the western aisles and generally across western highland scotland.

one or two will push eastwards given the strength of the wind here. one or two also for northern ireland, just the odd one elsewhere in western areas, but i think it'll feel fresher despite the sunshine. temperatures because we changed our wind direction a little bit down — ten to 12 degrees celsius, and clearly not feeling anywhere near as pleasant with all that cloud further south and east, which should eventually clear during tonight. in fact, overnight, we've got clear skies in many areas, the winds further north falling light, so it's a colder night. still largely avoiding the frost in the north because we have the showers and a bit of breeze but overnight, frost will be in the forecast for the next few nights, really, because with high pressure building, we've got a lot of dry, unsettled weather to come. now, there could be some fog around and it does take till mid morning to clear at this time of year. so, friday will be a much colder start if you are up and out early, and temperatures won't reach, as i say, the highs that we've seen recently because it's a chilly start — 11 to 13 degrees. but that high pressure will ensure a lot of dry weather, settled weather, lighter winds throughout the coming weekend and potentially even into the start of next week as well. so, for many, temperatures are not going to reach much higher than you'd expect

at this time of year because we've got this chilly start with some frost around. but we should, as i say, see some dry and bright weather, spells of sunshine once the early morning fog goes around and some fair weather cloud to go with it. as ever, there's more on the website, including all the warnings. bye— bye.

welcome to bbc news. my name is mike embley. our top stories... ghana receives the first delivery of vaccines donated by richer nations to poorer ones. healthcare workers will get the first shots. police in california say golfer tiger woods is �*lucky to be alive�* after his car crash — and confirm no charges will be brought against him. a court in germany convicts a former syrian secret police officer for sending demonstrators to a place where he knew they�*d be tortured. the ioc says its favourite choice to host the 2032 olympics is brisbane in australia. and revealed — the van gogh painting hidden from public view for the past hundred years — that marked a turning point in his career.