this is bbc news, the headlines: funerals have been held for victims of the stampede in israel which saw at least 45 people die. almost all of those affected were ultra—orthodoxjews, attending a festival to mark the lag baomer holiday. prime minister netanyahu promised an inquiry would ensure such a tragedy did not happen again. president biden has banned nearly all travel to the united states from india, to try to stop the spread of covid—19. most non—us citizens will be barred from entering from tuesday. the white house described the number of coronavirus cases in india as extraordinarily high. leading british teams and players from sports including football, cricket and rugby have begun a four—day boycott of social media. they want facebook, instagram and twitter to take stronger action against people who post racist and sexist comments. all three social media platforms say they're taking action to tackle online abuse. now it's time for a look back at the week in parliament.

hello there, and welcome to the week in parliament. coming up: more questions for borisjohnson over who paid for the revamp of his downing street flat. don't the british people deserve a prime minister they can trust and a government that isn't mired in sleaze, cronyism and scandal? but the prime minister insists he picked up the bill. he should know that i paid for downing street refurbishment personally, mr speaker. also on this programme: fresh demands by help for india as it struggles with its covid crisis. and peers fail in an attempt to stop the cost of fire safety works being passed on to leaseholders. here we are today, with perhaps

a million of our fellow citizens being thrown to the ravages of financial bankruptcy. but first, it's been dubbed cash curtains, the row over just who fitted the initial bill for the revamp of the prime minister's downing street flat has daubed borisjohnson all week. the news that the election watchdog was launching a formal enquiry into the funding of the refurb came just ahead of pmqs, with the electoral commission saying there were reasonable grounds to suspect that the rules may have been broken. borisjohnson and his fiancee, carrie symonds, carried out renovations on their private residence above number 11. the total cost of the works isn't known, but it's reported to be well above the annual public grant of £30,000 that's available to spend on the flat. before turning to that row, sir keir starmer brought up another embarrassing headline, comments borisjohnson is said to have made ahead of imposing a second lockdown in england. mr speaker, it was reported this week, including in the daily mail, the bbc,

and itv, backed up by numerous sources, that at the end of october, the prime minister said he would rather have, i quote, "bodies pile high than implement another lockdown." can the prime minister tell the house categorically, yes or no, did he make those remarks or remarks to that effect? prime minister. no, mrspeaker. and, i think what — i think the right honourable gentleman is a lawyer, i'm given to understand. i think that if he's going to repeat allegations like that, he should come to this house and substantiate those allegations and say — and say where he heard them and who — who exactly — who exactly is supposed to have said those? who exactly is supposed to have said those things, mr speaker? well, somebody here isn't telling the truth. the house will have heard

the prime minister's answer, and i remind him, the ministerial code say, and i quote: "ministers who knowingly mislead parliament will be expected to offer their resignation." i'll leave it there, for now. turning to another issue. who — who — there'll be further on this, there'll be further on this, believe you me. who initially, and prime minister, "initially" is the key word here, who initially paid for the redecoration of this downing street flat? he should know that i paid for downing street refurbishment personally, mr speaker. either the taxpayer paid the initial invoice, or it was the conservative party, or it was a private donor, or it was the prime minister. so, i'm making it easy for the prime minister. it's now multiple—choice. laughter. there are only four options. it should be easier than finding the chatty rat, mr speaker. so, i ask the prime minister again, who paid the initial invoice, initial invoice, prime

minister, the redecoration of the prime minister's flat? the initial invoice. prime minister. mr speaker, i've given him the answer, and the answer is i have — i have covered the costs. and i think most people will find it absolutely bizarre, and of course there's an electoral commission investigating — investigating this, and i can tell him i conformed in full with the code of conduct and ministers' — the ministerial code, and officials have been kept — have been advising me throughout this whole thing. but i think people will find it absolutely bizarre that he is focusing on this issue. dodgy contracts. jobs for their mates. and, cash for access. and who's at the heart of it? the prime minister. major sleaze, sitting there. don't the british people deserve a prime minister they can trust, rather than a government that is mired in sleaze, cronyism and scandal? this is a government

that is getting on with the people's priorities. we are rolling out, what, many more nurses, 10,000 more time last year. 8,771 more police officers on our streets now than there were when i was elected, including tougher sentences, mr speaker, for serious sexual and violent criminals, which he opposed, mr speaker! we're getting on. and by the way, i forgot to mention it, i forgot to mention it. last night, our — our friends in the european union voted to approve our brexit deal, which he — which he opposed! and which enables us notjust to take back control of our borders, mr speaker, but to deliver freedom, and it which does, which he fervently opposed. enabling us — enabling us amongst other things, to deal with such threats as the european super league, mr speaker, but it enables us to deliver free ports, in places like teesside, and above all, taking back control of our country has allowed us to deliver the fastest vaccine rollout in europe, as he well knows, mr speaker, which would not have been possible, which would not have been possible, if we'd stayed in the european medicines agency, which he voted for!

he accused labour of twisting and turning and playing political games. the snp's westminster leader returned to the claim that the prime minister has said he would rather see "bodies piled high", than have another lockdown. the bbc and itv have multiple sources confirming that this is what the prime minister said. people are willing to go under oath, mr speaker, confirming that the prime minister said these exact words, under oath, mr speaker. now, parliamentary rules stop me from saying that the prime minister has repeatedly lied to the public over the last week. but can i ask the question. are you a liar, prime minister? boris johnson hesitated to stand up, waiting to see if the speaker would rule that language out of order. i leave it to you to judge whether the — right honourable gentleman's remarks were in order. but what i will say to him is that... unfortunately not, - but they were not savoury, and not what we would expect.

boris johnson insisted he hadn't said those words. ian blackford moved on, accusing the prime minister of being "up to his neck" in a swamp of tory sleaze. he too wondered where the money for the flat refurbishment had come from. boris johnson batted that away. mr speaker, as i have said, i look forward to what the electoral commission has to say, but i can tell the rest him for the rest of what he's talking, complete nonsense. borisjohnson. the government has been urged to do more to help india, which is struggling with a huge surge in covid—i9 cases. the country has reported 350,000 daily infections and a total death toll of more than 200,000, with many hospitals overwhelmed. however, it's thought the true figures are far higher, both the deaths and cases. in the lords, there was criticism of the indian government's handling of the pandemic. the government referring to muslims as "termites", seems to be more focused on creating a hindu india than battling the covid crisis.

as someone who is muslim, by faith, and indian by heritage, i actually value and celebrate the rich diversity of india. yes, it has challenges, yes, it has issues, as does every country, but it is a strong democracy, and every religion, every community, has the constitutional protection it deserves. the catastrophe in indiaj could soon spread wider in the region, and globally. it's therefore vital thatl vaccination is rolled out globally, and at a much, i much faster rate than now. lord ahmad pointed to the world health organization's covax programme, aimed at sharing vaccines around the world. we will not beat this virus until the global — the whole world is vaccinated effectively. and we are working, the noble lady will be aware of our efforts through the covax facility in particular. and as my right honourable friend, the prime minister, has said repeatedly, that remains the primary source

of ensuring equitable access around the world. in the commons, the next day, mps joined those calls for more support for the indian people. for more than a million britons with loved ones in india, this is a moment of fear and anxiety. the ties between our two countries are woven into the fabric of this nation, something that through my own heritage i am personally and acutely aware of. many britons of indian origin will have gone to work today in our nhs, in our care homes, helping us to carry us through this crisis, while desperately worried about loved ones in india. we can and must more. what i would say, she references words, not deeds. i think what you've seen over the weekend is deeds, not words. we were the first — first country to deliver support to the indian people. the snp's health spokesperson returned to efforts to increase vaccination via the who's covax programme. the minister keeps repeating that no—one is safe

until everyone is safe, but the reality is that 80% of all covid vaccines have been delivered in just ten wealthy countries, and covax is struggling to obtain vaccines. unless there is greater international solidarity, other healthcare systems — like india's — will collapse. and vaccine—resistant variants will inevitably threaten those who live here. does the minister not accept that the uk needs to play its part by lifting the ban on exports in vaccines, sharing covid technology with others, and increasing, rather than slashing overseas aid? the minister said he couldn't think of many countries that were doing more than the uk on international vaccines. now, let's take a look at some other westminster news in brief. the government's decision to cut overseas aid came under attack in the commons from conservative mps. they argued the move would hit the world's poorest and people would die as a result of the decision. ministers have they'll reverse the cut when the economy

recovers after the pandemic. we are cutting £500 million in humanitarian aid. this will mean that 3 million women and children will not now receive life—saving support. madam deputy speaker, is it not clear that the original estimate of 100,000 souls who will die as a result is now a tragic understatement? the integrated review identifies the united kingdom as a soft power superpower, citing as one of the reasons our contribution to international development. exactly how is that position going to be enhanced by the action of cutting aid to the world's poorest? i can assure her that she and i, and as i say, - the prime minister and the foreign secretary. are as one, that we aspire i to be a global leader in soft power and in development, and we will recover back upj to 0.7% as soon the fiscal situation allows. - mps have questioned the government's handling of the case facing

nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, following news the iranian authorities have sentenced the dual british—iranian national to a further 12 months injail. the mother of one has already been in prison for five years. at the heart of this tragic case is the prime minister's dismalfailure to release my constituent, and to stand up for her, and his devastating blunder in 2017, when he was foreign secretary, when he exposed his complete ignorance of this tragic case and put more harm in nazanin�*s way. her anger and frustration is misdirected, because nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe and the other british dual nationals held in arbitrary detention are being held by iran. it is on them. mps have attacked proposals allowing police to put restrictions on protests. demonstrators have taken to the streets in recent weeks as part of a movement to kill the bill. they're objecting to the police, crime, sentencing

and courts bill, which proposes giving police in england and wales more power to impose conditions on non—violent protests, including those which are deemed "too noisy" or a "nuisance". ministers argue the changes are needed to tackle demonstrations like those by extinction rebellion, where mass occupations on roads and bridges stretch police resources to the limit. there are loony lefty walkie—caulkie social media accounts out there that would have you believe the government were removing any meaningful right to protest. i'm sure those who took the time to look at the detail would be aware that's not the case. the right to protest remains rightfully protected and the vast majority of protest — and protesters — will be entirely unaffected by these measures. because of the right to protest we now have a moratorium on tracking.

because of the right to protest, the uk's anti—apartheid rule kept apartheid on the british political agenda. and let's not forget — because of the right to protest, women achieved the right to vote. bell rings. the government has no plans to force cyclists to put bells on their bikes. peers argued that silent cyclists were a danger to pedestrians, particularly those with sight problems. some time ago i had a near encounter with a cyclist. he didn't have a bell and i didn't see him coming. but an accident was avoided because he shouted "ding, ding," as he approached me. while it's argued cyclists should not rely unduly on bells as a means of avoiding hazards, in almost every case, it's the only warning the pedestrian has. surely, all cyclists should be required to have bells on their bicycles and should not be allowed on the road without them. my lords, the government is not about to mandate bells on bicycles. we do feel that that would be disproportionate and any enforcement would unlikely to be a police priority. because what we do

feel though is that cyclists need to take responsibility for their actions, and sometimes a little ding—ding on a bell on a bridleway is perfectly fine, but my lords, if you're travelling in central london, ding—ding on a bell will get you nowhere and in those circumstances a shout with the voices is probably much more preferable. so my lords, i'm afraid the government will not be mandating bells at the moment. now, a minister has told mps that former sub—postmasters and postmistresses wrongly convicted of offences must be fairly compensated as quickly as possible. hundreds were prosecuted for theft, fraud and false accounting because of the post office's defective horizon accounting system. with 39 having their convictions overturned by the court of appeal. the business minister made a statement to mps. thejudgement last week will require careful consideration by all involved. the government wants to see all postmasters whose convictions have been overturned fairly compensated as quickly as possible, and we will work with the post office towards this goal. this is the largest legal miscarriage of

justice in our history. 900 false prosecutions, each one its own story of persecution, fear and despair, careers ruined, families destroyed, reputations smashed and lives lost. innocent people bankrupted and imprisoned. in september, the government announced an enquiry under ex—high court judge sir wyn williams, but chi 0nwurah wanted a statutory public enquiry with the power to compel witnesses to look into the affair. while we have the greatest respect for sir williams, his enquiry has no real powers and key questions about compensation and criminal prosecutions of postmasters and the responsibility of civil servants and government, are outside its remit. as such, the enquiry is toothless and may even lead to a whitewash. with statutory enquiries under the inquiries act 2015 — 2005, the average length of a statutory

enquiry has been nearly 3.5 years and 3.5 years, that is a long time. we want to make sure that we get the answers now. the minister stated that the chair of the post office ltd has apologised, but i note with regret there is no direct apology from this government. yet again this government is acting as though the post office has absolutely nothing to do with them. can i remind the minister that the government is the single shareholder of post 0ffice ltd and civil servants should serve on the board, and therefore, it must apologise, and in fact, the prime ministers should apologise. a labour backbencher joined calls for a public enquiry. the guilty people need to be exposed. now, i know the minister has said that he's trying but alas, having dealt with numerous ministers over the last 10 years, i think his name is going to be added to the board of useless ministers, which we've seen over the last few years dealing with this. action now, minister, not more words. paul scully said kevan

jones was talking about something that happened over 20 years and expecting it to be fixed in three days. now, a conservative peer has compared new powers compelling stormont to implement abortion laws to adolf hitler's euthanasia program against disabled people. peers were debating regulations that would make politicians and health service commissioners in northern ireland adopt changes to the rules which were passed by westminster mps while the assembly was inactive in 2019. it is tragic that despite the immense sacrifices of my grandparents�* generation who fought and died in the war that the eugenicist poison that informed adolf hitler's euthanasia program against disabled human beings is now informing government policy and being imposed on the people of

northern ireland. what we are talking about here today is about the provision, the legal provision of services which are locally accessible to women and girls who need them. it's part of an ongoing debate between those of us who believe that women and girls are capable and have the right to make informed choices about their reproductive health, informed by health practitioners who wish to guarantee their safety, and those who do not. and i have to say to the noble lord, lord shinkwin that there was much that i took exception to in his speech, and i do not have time today to address those issues, but i do hope that the house will return to some of the very serious allegations that he made. but lord shinkwin had support from other peers who also opposed changing the rules, arguing the move threatens devolution. lords, by the secretary-

of state for northern ireland is allowed as required through i the approval of these regulations then a dangerous precedent is set, whereby. the uk government can legislate directly on devolved matters - whenever it likes. for the government, lord younger explained why the regulations were needed. over a year after the relations came into force, women and girls in northern ireland are still unable to access high—quality abortion and post—abortion care in northern ireland. and the commissioning of full abortion services consistent with the conditions set out in the 2020 regulations. my lords, it has still not happened. he said women were still having to travel to england and wales to access abortion services, and when it came to the vote, three attempts to stop the regulations coming into force were overwhelmingly defeated. now, with the clock ticking towards the end of the current parliamentary session, mps and peers were trying to agree on the last

few contentious issues in three proposed new laws. on tuesday, peers finally gave way on the final sticking point in the domestic abuse bill as the government promised stronger action against stalkers and people with a history of domestic abuse. peers had wanted abusers in england and wales put on a register of offenders. labor's lady royall who had been pressing for tougher measures seemed satisfied by last—minute negotiations. the minister has made many commitments for which i am grateful. we will of course continue to follow their realisation closely, and in one year's time, my noble friends and i will table a debate to enable a progress report, and we expect to see the number of murders greatly diminished. in the commons, mps urged peers to think again on the overseas 0perations bill. the government rejected a call from the lords to place a legal duty of care on ministers for service personnel involved in investigations or litigation arising from overseas operations.

the new armed forces minister argued the amendment wasn't needed. as i said previously, the mod takes very seriously its duty of care for service personnel and veterans. over the years, we have established a comprehensive range of legal, pastoral, welfare and mental health support for service personnel and veterans. mps backed the government, pushing the bill back to the house of lords where the next day peers finally backed down, clearing the way for the legislation to protect service personnel and veterans from vexatious prosecutions for incidents during conflict overseas to become law. but there was still a final big disagreement between the two houses over the fire safety bill. on tuesday, it was rejected for a fourth time by the house of lords. peers voted once again to put into the bill a measure to ensure that leaseholders and tenants in england and wales didn't have to meet the cost of fire safety work needed to avoid a repeat of the grenfell tower disaster. their insistence on the point

meant the bill had to go back to the commons again where the minister claimed the idea woudln�*t help leaseholders. we have seen the key elements of this amendment time and time again. and this house has voted them down, time and time again. yet time and time again, peers and the opposition, i trust unintentionally, seem set on reinjecting uncertainty into the market, which cannot help leaseholders. well, although some tories had previously rebelled on the point, this time, the government won by a majority of 66, so it was off to the lords for a final showdown. a lib dem tried one last time to get the change through, pressing the amendment to a vote for a fifth time. those who have literally built this catastrophe walk away

with their billions of profits. the government has a duty to protect its citizens. it is its prime duty, yet here we are today with perhaps a million of our fellow citizens being thrown to the ravages of financial bankruptcy, and the government washes its hands and looks the other way. but not enough peers supported the lady pinnock so her amendment fell and the fire safety bill finally passed without that exemption for leaseholders. and with that last piece of legislation finished, the stage was set for prorogation. this ceremony marks the end of the parliamentary session, clearing the way for a queen's speech on the 11th of may, setting out the new laws the government wants to pass in the next year or so. privy counsellors appointed by the queen arrived in the lords to form the royal commission.

there's some hat doffing ceremonial, and as with the queen's speech, black rod, the lord's senior official, is dispatched to be commons to summon mps to the upper house. the titles of the acts that have been passed by parliament are read out and the clerk of the parliament replies in norman french. la reyne le veult. which roughly translates as, �*the queen wishes it.�* once the bills have been read out in the lords, the same announcement is repeated by the speaker in the house of commons, and this session of parliament is over. which means we'll be away for a few days, too. but dojoin david cornock on tuesday the 11th of may when parliament returns with the slightly scaled—down ceremony of the queen's speech, when the government's new legislative plans are unveiled. but for now, from me, alicia mccarthy, goodbye.

hello there. we are seeing a change in the month, but not too much change in the weather. it is staying cold. if we look at april 2021, it's been exceptionally cold the past month or so. in fact, the overnight temperatures on average have been the lowest in almost 100 years, and it is going to stay quite cold on into the first part of may as well. this was the picture on friday. the final day of april brought us sunshine and april showers, and those april showers will be rolling on through the course of the first weekend in may as well. so, sunny spells in store, but also some scattered, fairly heavy downpours. we're in between a couple of areas of low pressure at the moment, this one waiting in the atlantic. that will be more of a pair by the time we get to bank holiday monday, but for the here and now, we've got these cold northerly winds drawing in this chilly arctic air, so still cold for the time of year. after that frosty start to saturday for some of us, lots of sunshine around through the day. cloud will tend to bubble up as the ground heats up and that

will bring some scattered showers almost anywhere during the course of the afternoon. so, they're going to be hit and miss. if you do catch one, there's a risk of hail and some thunder mixed in as well. still quite chilly around the east coast — 7—11 degrees. further west, 13 or 11; celsius. so, heading through saturday night overnight into sunday, showers clear away for the most part, so clear and dry and cold once again. so, an overnight frost, i think, as we start out the day on sunday, with temperatures in more rural spots getting down below freezing once again. sunday evenings another day of some sunny spells and a few scattered showers. probably fewer, i think, on sunday compared to saturday, but again, by the afternoon, it will be that hit—and—miss risk of catching those heavy downpours. possibly a little bit warmer than saturday — up to about 13 or 11; degrees fairly widely. still chilly across the north of scotland. but then it's all change into bank holiday monday as low pressure approaches from the atlantic, so something we haven't seen in a while — quite a deep area of low pressure. although many areas start off dry, the strong winds

and the fairly heavy, persistent rain will move across most areas. probably just dry across the far north of scotland, could be some mounting snow mixed in as well. not only the rain, but the strong gusty winds for many of us on bank holiday monday, it will feel cold with temperatures only about 9—12 degrees. bye— bye.

welcome to bbc news — i'm james reynolds. our top stories: funerals begin for the victims of the stampede in israel — at least 45 people died at a crowded jewish festival. as india deals with a huge surge in coronavirus cases — the us announces it will restrict travel we have a special report from mali, as british troops join what's been described as the world's most dangerous peace—keeping mission. and, heading back to the dancefloor — without social distancing. it's part of a uk pilot on how to gather safely without spreading covid.