this is bbc news. here are your headlines from the uk and around the world. the cost of living squeeze is getting worse in the uk, with prices for goods and services going up at their fastest rate for 30 years. in the last week, we've had two e—mails from suppliers saying that costs have gone up by 5% across the board, and that is something we are seeing already. let me know how you're being affected by the rising cost of living, the kind of choices you might be having to make. a group of 20 conservative mps elected in 2019 have met to discuss boris johnson's future. our political editor is reporting one of them claims ten of the 20 submitted letters of no confidence in their boss this morning. willfacemasks, working from home and covid passes be scrapped in england on january 26th? the pm is expected to make

an announcement today. us secretary of state antony blinken arrives in ukraine for urgent talks, after warnings that russia could carry out an attack "at any point". the united nations says it's intensifying its response to the volcanic eruption and tsunami in tonga. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. the cost of goods and services in the uk is rising at its fastest rate for 30 years. the december figure for inflation showed that prices have gone up by 5.4% compared to the year before. energy costs and the price of

food and drink drove the rise, which was higher than economists had been forecasting. in america, the scourge of rising prices now ranks among us business leaders�* top concerns, according to a survey out today. our business presenter ben boulos has been gauging reaction in skipton in the north of england. good morning, yes, here at skipton market, traders and customers are already grappling with that rise in average prices. dom runs the fruit and veg stall here, setting up this morning, the price that he pays for these products is going up. it is notjust groceries, it is notjust food, though. the cost of clothing, the cost of train travel, it all adds to the rate of inflation we are talking about, which now stands at 5.4%, the highest level it has been since 1992. it is causing a real squeeze on people's household bills and cost of living.

now, if fruit and veg is not your thing and you have a sweeter tooth, right next door we have got the finest fudge company stall, run by tom and maria, you have had the business a couple of years now, what are you saying in terms of the prices that you paid? things have definitely gone up. in the last week, we have had a couple of e—mails explaining that things are going up 5% already, and that was before this. so you have to put prices up for customers? we have had a conversation about it, but we are trying our best not to, - because we want to keep it affordable for customers. i do you worry that if you did, people would decide, with all the other cost pressures they are facing, little luxuries like this might be the kind of thing they give up? we are not too worried, because the fudge is good, but long term we could do with some help. just before we go, lots of lovely looking flavours here, if i was going to pick one, which would you recommend? probably the after eight!

i will have some for later! this is coming at a time when people are feeling real pressure on their budget, electricity bills, energy bills, they are going up. peter is from the joseph rowntree foundation. this inflation rate is going to be a real worry, and people are noticing this already hit their pockets. yes, we are most worried about people on low incomes, fixed incomes, it will be straight out of their pockets, so we are calling for higher rates of benefits, increasing by more than the 3% that is currently planned. what can be done to support people, if they are not on benefits necessarily, people who are finding it a real struggle and having to make tough choices, what can be done to support them? we are also thinking about a one—off payment to be made, probably before april, when energy prices will go up. we just think the government needs to step in to help people weather the storm.

and what impact is this having on families day to day? lots of stress, feeling trapped by low incomes, that is what we are hearing. peter, thank you very much. as i say, the traders, the customers here at skipton market alike are grappling with these higher prices, working out how they absorb those costs and what to do about it, and we're being warned to expect inflation to keep on rising, average prices expected to go up as we head towards the spring. the bank of england even expecting inflation could hit 6% in the spring, so we are really all facing a squeeze on our cost of living. ramzan karmali is our business correspondent. what is pushing the prices up? as what is pushing the prices up? is we've heard, this is the highest inflation rate since march of 1992,

inflation rate since march of 1992, in fact the highest since the bank of england became independent, let's look at what it is. electricity, up 18.8%, gusts up 28.1%, and something that has been there the whole time, used car prices up 28%, mainly down to the fact that we have had a shortage around the world of chips. it is amazing to think you could have bought a car this time last year, and it is worth more than you paid for it. is, year, and it is worth more than you aid for it. �* , year, and it is worth more than you paid for it— paid for it. a used car, my goodness! _ paid for it. a used car, my goodness! some - paid for it. a used car, my goodness! some people i paid for it. a used car, my - goodness! some people might have done uuite goodness! some people might have done quite well _ goodness! some people might have done quite well by _ goodness! some people might have done quite well by buying _ goodness! some people might have done quite well by buying a - goodness! some people might have done quite well by buying a car - goodness! some people might have done quite well by buying a car last| done quite well by buying a car last year. it is crazy to think that. food prices going up 5%, pushed by margarine, which has gone up over 27% as well, so lots of factors pushing it across the board. ben su: nested pushing it across the board. ben suggested it _ pushing it across the board. ben suggested it could get to 6% by the spring, what do you think? that suggested it could get to 696 by the spring, what do you think?- spring, what do you think? that is the bank of _ spring, what do you think? that is the bank of england _ spring, what do you think? that is the bank of england prediction, i spring, what do you think? that is l the bank of england prediction, but a lot of economists have come out and said, we think it will hit 7%,

if you look at our energy bills in april, those energy bills could go up april, those energy bills could go up as high as 50% on what we are paying now, and that could push up inflation to 7%, which is way above the bank of england target of 2%, we are talking about three times that target, so they have to do something drastic to get eight to 2% again. and also people think long term inflation could be here to stay, it may ease off but to be around the 4% level, more than the target. interest rates at the moment are pretty low, 0.2%, we are all expecting a rate rise in february, perhaps 0.5%, and it coated i.25% expecting a rate rise in february, perhaps 0.5%, and it coated 1.25% by the end of the year as well, so more pressure on households with rising bills and mortgage costs too. is that the only option for the bank of england? it that the only option for the bank of encland? ., , , ., , england? it does seem as if that is their only bullet, _ england? it does seem as if that is their only bullet, because - england? it does seem as if that is their only bullet, because there's l

their only bullet, because there's been a massive amount of quantitative easing that has gone in in recent years, so interest rates are the main medicine they can give out, and it is a tough position for them to be in, because interest rates are pretty low, it doesn't feel like it will push inflation lower if we are talking about interest rates of 2%, they are still at pretty low levels, and to push them even higher at a time when people are feeling the squeeze, i think, would be detrimental. you had better explain — think, would be detrimental. you had better explain quantitative _ think, would be detrimental. you had better explain quantitative easing. i better explain quantitative easing. that is where the bank of england have pumped money into the system by buying government bonds, adding liquidity to the markets, so that banks would lend more money to us. and how does the uk compared to other countries around the world? actually, this isn't a uk phenomenon, it is around the world, mainly due to the fact that we have come out of the pandemic, all started to come out of the pandemic, a massive lockdown, and all around the world we felt the economy is

opening up. the us, for example, are at a 39 year high inflation, 7% was announced on the 19th of january, sorry, the 19th of december. germany are at 5.3%, that was announced today, so other countries are in similar positions to where we are. not really any cancellation if you are in the uk, but thank she explains how the rising cost of living is affecting her business. we have seen a rise with all of our suppliers, meat, fish, some of the booze has gone up as well in price, so we really have to work with suppliers to make sure that we are confident that we have the right prices and we can make sure we can be honest and let the customer have a price that is affordable but not pricing ourselves out of the market. are you able to give us some examples of what, you know, however

many litres of booze or spirits used to be, or meat or fish or whatever? the drink supplier we use, it has gone up by 3.2% in november and probably will go up further this year. so we have been working with supplies to make sure that we are having the right costs on our menus for the guests, to still enjoy coming and having a night out or a lunch. we also work with our fishmonger and our meat suppliers to make sure that we can get a price that we can cost the menu effectively and notjust be changing constantly that doesn't let guests know how much their dinner or lunch is going to be. so i think, really, we are seeing a rise, and we just need to make sure that we can work together with our suppliers to not have crazy prices, but realistic prices

that guests, the business and the suppliers. how much of a struggle is it? we are working hard, the chef is working hard, our general manager is working extremely hard to make sure that we can get the business to still be profitable. because we have got a lovely large team of 65 people that love working here and want to continue to make sure our guests are really happy. presumably you have had to increase their wages, have you? yeah, we have worked hard with the team, we have longevity in our team, people had been with us for six or seven years, so we are working on training and engagement and retention in the team to make sure that people get the best experience when theyjoin us. so there are struggles with not having enough team out there because everybody is looking for great people, so we are really invested in making sure we have got the right level of wages for the right person.

thank you for your messages, one person says, i am a public sector worker, we had a ten—year capture in austerity, then no pay rise last year, i'm currently six during my chemo, so my heating is on more than usual. another says, as a supermarket worker with a toddler and a long—term illness, i can see every day that people are struggling to survive. it is worse than people think, people are living on low wages, they are getting by with support from family, friends and foodbank — the crisis is real. you are very welcome to get in touch. boris johnson will face further scrutiny surrounding his leadership today, when he returns to the house of commons for prime

minister's questions later. mrjohnson is under growing pressure as speculation grows about a backbench rebellion against him, as a number of his own mps are believed to be preparing letters of no confidence. our political correspondent jonathan blake reports. late—night talks in a private members' club — a small group of conservative mps met here last night with talk of removing borisjohnson from office on the agenda. after a day of intense speculation, there was confidence among some backbenchers that enough were ready to submit a letter of no confidence in the prime minister, triggering a vote on his position. the meetings came after the prime minister again denied that he was warned a drinks party in the downing street garden was against lockdown restrictions in place at the time. on a hospital visit yesterday, borisjohnson again apologised for parties in downing street on the eve of the duke of edinburgh's funeral, saying he deeply and bitterly regretted that it happened. if the best argument that you have got to the accusation that

you broke the rules was that, "well, nobody had told me that the rules that i had imposed on everyone else were being broken," then i think that reveals you are in a difficult position, and i think the prime minister is in a difficult position because of his behaviour, because of the constant set of allegations that are being made. and i think conservative mps are increasingly uncomfortable with this, and it does appear that quite a number are now taking action. others are reserving judgment and ministers offering qualified support. the prime minister was very clear last week in his statement that mistakes had been made. he's set up an inquiry, and i think it's important that we let that inquiry run its progress. i hope it's going to report very soon, but i hope that we can therefore get all of these stories out there that have been really distressing, and then we can decide on what next steps to take. some insist borisjohnson can survive,

dismissing talk of plots against him as overblown. but in the house of commons at prime minister's questions this lunchtime, he'll again have to try to shore up support that he badly needs. jonathan blake, bbc news. adam fleming's at westminster for us this morning. why do you think we are right now, an hour and 45 ahead of pmqs? i think we are an hour and 45 minutes ahead of pmqs, sorry, victory! we are in this world with a lot of rumours circulating. last night there was a rumour that boris johnson had gone to the carlton club, the tory drinking hole, to big on bended knee for support from his backbenchers. it turns out not to be true. then speculation about how many letters have been sent to graham brady, the chair of the 1922 committee, the one who would receive the letter is to trigger a vote of no confidence in borisjohnson, it

would have to be 54 letters to make that happen. there is a lot of speculation about how many letters he might have got. we know that number is going up at the moment, because yesterday this group of 20 new mps, elected at the last election, had a meeting, and when use of that leaked out, they were criticised by allergies of boris johnson, by some ministers, by the whips, but that hardened their stance, and some who were thinking about submitting letters in the near future have gone ahead and do it now. we know that that number of letters is climbing up, wejust don't know the level it has got to yet. and we have now seen the armed forces minister, james heappey, being sent out to defend the prime minister's position, and i don't think he did anything to lower the temperature, because he basically blamed the whole situation on the prime minister's advisers and officials. i personally think it is unedifying to have to reflect on the role of people who don't have this platform to respond, but my take, as someone who has worked in downing street,

is that the prime minister doesn't really own his own diary, and it really is for his team to have his back, and i think, as he reflected in the comments the other week, in hindsight, he should have shut down that event straightaway. he apologised profusely for having not done so, but the fact that the event ever happened reflects, ifear, rather poorly on those who scheduled it and put it into the prime minister's diary. i don't think that will have done anything for levels of trust between ministers and civil servants and advisers, because that is one of the factors that has led to all this information tumbling out in the first place. a lot of tory mps are making calculations at the moment, do they submit a letter at all? do they wait for sue gray, or do they give up waiting for that inquiry and just move now? it is all very committees that are terribly cliched word, if broil. i think the main thing to look out for is how does

boris johnson's thing to look out for is how does borisjohnson�*s performance go down amongst mps in a few hours' time. does any more evidence emerged of parties that could sway more people, and does that add up to the number of 54 letters, and we will only know that number has been hit when graham brady summons us all to a press conference to tell us. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, has arrived in ukraine for urgent talks, amid warnings that russia could carry out an attack on the country "at any point". mr blinken also plans to meet the russian foreign minister, sergey lavrov, on friday, with the white house describing the situation as "extremely dangerous". russia has amassed 100,000 troops on the border, and over the weekend moved forces to belarus forjoint military drills, but it denies planning an invasion. speaking in kyiv, mr blinken urged president putin to choose a peaceful path. we have been engaged in the past couple of months in an intense focus on ukraine,

because of the significant build—up we have seen the russian forces near the ukrainian border. no provocation, no reason, except that we have a very significant force, we know that there are plans in place to increase that force even more on very short notice, and that gives president putin the capacity, also in very short notice, to take further aggressive action against ukraine, and that, of course, has got not only our attention, but it has got the attention of virtually all of our allies and partners — and notjust in europe, even beyond. let's talk to our kyiv correspondent james waterhouse. i wonder, if we can just go back a

little bit, why are all those russian troops on the border with ukraine? ~ , , ., russian troops on the border with ukraine? ~ ,, ., .,, ., ukraine? well, russia has long talked about _ ukraine? well, russia has long talked about it _ ukraine? well, russia has long talked about it so _ ukraine? well, russia has long talked about it so called - ukraine? well, russia has long talked about it so called red . ukraine? well, russia has long i talked about it so called red lines, it wants guarantees that ukraine will neverjoin nato, something the majority of the country wants, according to numerous recent polls, and also it once nato to pull back its military operations along russia's western border. nato has given no such hint that it will follow those red lines, it says it is for individual countries to decide if they want to join. historians will tell you vladimir putin regrets russia's loss of influence since the collapse of the soviet union, and here we are again, where he has now amassed, as you say, 100,000 troops along the east and north of ukraine, and now, with thesejoint and north of ukraine, and now, with these joint military exercises between russia and its ally belarus to the north of here, a three mile drive n. of kyiv, that has heightened tensions even more in

what is, according to ukraine, an ongoing war. what is, according to ukraine, an ongoing war-— what is, according to ukraine, an onuaoinwar. . �* ., , �* ~ ongoing war. what can antony blinken do to stop russia _ ongoing war. what can antony blinken do to stop russia invading _ ongoing war. what can antony blinken do to stop russia invading ukraine? i do to stop russia invading ukraine? what can he say? well, that is a question being asked here. he talked of two parts in a press conference ahead of a meeting with volodymyr zelensky, he says we have tried to have two parts for russia, diplomacy and dialogue, and he spoke of another path which, if russia chooses, to renew aggression, confrontation and consequences. he confirmed a $200 million defensive security package, something which has been welcomed, along with other measures, such as the uk delivering short anti—tank missiles yesterday, although the ukrainian ambassador to the uk described that as a political statement. nato and the us have ruled out boots on the ground in terms of troops, should there be any kind of invasion, so at the moment,

yes, that support is welcomed, there are other nato members which have not carried out such members, but ukrainian politicians and citizens are wondering what else is going to happen showed an invasion actually materialise., thank you very much, james. the united nations says it is stepping up its response to the volcanic eruption and tsunami that has devastated tonga. heavy falls of ash at the weekend have hampered the relief effort, contaminating drinking water and making the air quality poor. the tongan government says many of the houses on the islands have been destroyed. estimates from new zealand suggest the main communications cable in tonga will now take around four weeks to repair. let's talk to our correspondent howard johnson, who is reporting on this from the philippines. what is the latest, then? well, communication is the big issue, as you said in your intro, and we are hearing that satellite phone

coverage is starting to improve because the ash cloud is starting to disperse, so there was some good news from the international federation of the red cross, the head of the pacific department, katie greenwood, finally got in contact with the team on the ground, and she said it was a joyful and emotional connection, the first time she had spoken to them since the eruption, and she asked them to give a message to the world, and they said, please tell the world we are doing our best to serve the tongan people, who have lost so much. three naval ships are travelling from new zealand carrying water, they also have a sanitation... they have supplies to hand out and a desalination plant to generate around 70,000 litres of water a day when it arrives, hopefully on friday. when it arrives, hopefully on frida . . ~ when it arrives, hopefully on frida . ., ~' , . when it arrives, hopefully on frida. ., , . ., ., friday. thank you very much, howard, thank ou. the prime minister is expected to set out plans for easing england's coronavirus restrictions when he addresses

parliament later today. the health secretary, sajid javid, has said he's cautiously optimistic that the so—called plan b measures, due to expire next week, can be "substantially reduced". gareth barlow reports. hello, good morning. how are you doing? against the backdrop of allegations of lockdown parties in downing street, and rumours of a vote of no confidence, the prime minister still has big decisions to make as england's plan b restrictions are due to end in a week's time. facemasks in schools and public settings and covid passes for large venues were introduced in december to slow the spread of the 0micron variant. but those restrictions could be gone within days, according to the health secretary, sajid javid. government officials say the decision remains finely balanced, as 17,000 patients remain in english hospitals with covid. but there is growing optimism the data is now moving in the right direction. in scotland, covid—19 restrictions are to be eased from monday, with nightclubs reopening, large indoor events resuming,

and social—distancing rules being dropped. the cases that we have had — and still have — with 0micron are of a completely different magnitude to anything that we have experienced in relation to previous waves of the virus. so the measures were proportionate, but we obviously have taken steps to remove those measures and restrictions when the time has been appropriate to do so. not everyone will welcome a loosening of restrictions — many hospitals have struggled to cope with staffing shortages or problems discharging older patients into care homes. it's possible, therefore, that some restrictions — such as facemasks — will be retained. the prime minister will discuss the options with his cabinet this morning and then tell parliament and the public his plan. gareth barlow, bbc news. dr helen wimalarathna is an epidemiologist at the university of

buckingham's school of medicine. what do you think about the potential easing of restrictions from january 26?— potential easing of restrictions from january 26? yes, i hope they take there — from january 26? yes, i hope they take there is _ from january 26? yes, i hope they take there is not _ from january 26? yes, i hope they take there is not as _ from january 26? yes, i hope they take there is not as a _ from january 26? yes, i hope they take there is not as a package - from january 26? yes, i hope they take there is not as a package and j take there is not as a package and couege take there is not as a package and college plan b as one monolithic item, but they actually look at the individual measures and make appropriate decisions accordingly, so for example i think masks absolutely have to stay in shops and on public transport, probably less effective in high schools, as we go forward at the moment. as we look at returning to work in person and covid passes, two key pieces of information here. one is that the number of reported cases are apparently beginning to fall, there may be not we think because of changes in the way in which these things are reported. but more importantly, we are at a point now where such a large percent of the

population should have good protective antibodies, so that gives a little bit of breathing space, and it means that working from home and having covid passes are probably not going to give much additional benefit at the moment. [30 going to give much additional benefit at the moment. do we need a strate: benefit at the moment. do we need a strategy from — benefit at the moment. do we need a strategy from the _ benefit at the moment. do we need a strategy from the westminster - strategy from the westminster government about how to live with this on a day—to—day basis in future? this on a day-to-day basis in future? ~ ,,., , ~' this on a day-to-day basis in future? ~ , ,, , ., , future? absolutely, i think strategy is the magic — future? absolutely, i think strategy is the magic word, _ future? absolutely, i think strategy is the magic word, and _ future? absolutely, i think strategy is the magic word, and that - future? absolutely, i think strategy is the magic word, and that is - future? absolutely, i think strategy | is the magic word, and that is maybe not what we have seen a lot of, we have had a lot of reactive measures. this is not the end of the pandemic, i'd like to squash any thought that this is the end of the pandemic, and whose immunity is not mathematically possible with the current generation of vaccines and with what we now about the infection. we will see more variants. we were saying it before the july more variants. we were saying it before thejuly easings, and we are

saying it now. if we continue to allow transmission to be so high, we will have many more variants coming along, and we need to have a strategic plan for how we deal with that, what we are going to do in the interim to try to bring transmission down, and what measures we are going to have as back—up and what are going to be the triggers that bring the measures in.— going to be the triggers that bring the measures in. ., ,, , ., , . the measures in. thank you very much for talkin: the measures in. thank you very much for talking to — the measures in. thank you very much for talking to us, _ the measures in. thank you very much for talking to us, thank _ the measures in. thank you very much for talking to us, thank you. _ for talking to us, thank you. breaking news, a court in belgium has sentenced a man 15 years in jail for being the ringleader in the trafficking of 39 vietnamese migrants who were found dead in the back of a lorry trailer here in the uk. that was in october 2019 in essex. 46—year—old van hong was found to have led a cross—channel people smuggling operation based in belgium, and he hasjust been sentenced to 15 years in jail after a court ruled that he was the ringleader in the trafficking of

those 39 vietnamese migrants who were found dead in the back of a lorry trailer here in the uk in 2019. the us mobile networks at&t and verizon have agreed, at the last minute, to postpone the roll—out of their new 56 service near some airports. airlines have complained the signals could interfere with navigation systems. the telecoms giants say they're frustrated at another delay. here's our north american technology correspondent james clayton. this was a game of high—stakes chicken, a stand—off between telecoms companies and airliners, with the us public stuck firmly in the middle. in the one corner, airliners who said the new 56 frequency due to be rolled out on wednesday would interfere with crucial instruments. they said planes would have to be grounded if masts were switched on near airports. in the other corner, telecoms companies, who want to roll out 56 on a frequency that gives lightning fast internet and wide coverage.

they've paid a lot of money for the privilege to do so. tomorrow is the deadline, our objective is of course to reach a solution around 56 deployment that maintains the highest level of safety while minimising disruptions to passenger travel. that's what we're working towards. incredibly, though, neither side was blinking. with less than 24 hours to go, cities across america, including here in san francisco, were faced with the prospect of mass groundings of planes and customer chaos. but then the telecoms companies blinked. they released a statement on tuesday, they wouldn't emit sg close to an airport — a clear win for the airliners. president biden thanked both verizon and at&t for doing so, but this isn't even close to being over. the delay is only temporary, and many have asked how the us has got so close, just a few hours away, from aviation chaos. james clayton, bbc news, san francisco. the headlines on bbc news. the cost of living squeeze

is getting worse in the uk, with prices for goods and services going up at their fastest rate for 30 years. a group of 20 conservative mps elected in 2019 have met to discuss boris johnson's future — our political editor is reporting one of them claims ten of the 20 submitted letters of no confidence in their boss this morning. willfacemasks, working from home and covid passes be scrapped in england onjan 26? the pm is expected to make an announcement today. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, arrives in ukraine for urgent talks, after warnings that russia could carry out an attack "at any point". the united nations says it's intensifying its response to the volcanic eruption and tsunami in tonga. it's been more than 20 years since a ban on lgbt+ personnel serving in the military was lifted, but its impact still remains for many who were dismissed, convicted and sometimes imprisoned before the policy came to end. now, an independent review set

up by the government will try to establish how best to help those affected. josh parry reports. the year is 1995. john major is the prime minister. take that are topping the charts. david was sent to military prison. his crime — being a gay man. they discovered a copy of gay times in my room after a search of my room. this two—year investigation began. when david joined the royal air force as a medic, aged 17, he was still discovering his identity. i put my life on the line for the country going to the first gulf war, and so, yeah, i was proud of that achievement of helping keep my country safe and knowing they would do the best they could for me — promote me, get the best out of me. so when i was 21, i ended up

finding out i'm gay. so then you've got to lead a double life. and when that double life was discovered, david realised it would be the end of his military career. from the moment i admitted to it, i was held in a cell, separate from everyone, and then the trial happened. and then you go... yeah, you're handcuffed, you're going into the cell, you're treated like any other prisoner as if i'd mugged or murdered someone. you're treated the same. 0ffence — gross indecency under the sexual 0ffences act 1956, section... and how has that impacted you when applying forjobs? certain offences are kept — you don't get rid of them. so as a nurse, i had to go for a job. i had to do what's called enhanced disclosure, and that's where it came out. now, unless you actually know... it's listed as a sexual offence, so unless you actually know it's the offence of actually being gay, that's quite alarming. it's thought around 5,000 servicemen and women were affected by the ban on lgbt personnel in the military. it remained in place until the year 2000, when this group of veterans took their fight against the ban to

the european court of human rights. with effect from today, homosexuality will no longer be a bar to service in britain's armed forces _ he...couldn't ever go . with me to a naval ball. the way we got round it was that we invited our best female friend. - you look like you're having the time of your life. but not everyone impacted by the policy was dismissed outright. some, like patrick, felt forced to resign — as they couldn't be fully open about their love lives at work. there was one time in '88 when i met a young man. | we fell in love, he was a lovely guy, he was called dennis. - but i learnt something else i the second year and that was that he was hiv positive. we knew that, one day — as was the case, then — i that he would die and... i knew that, at some point, - there would be a fork in the road.

unable to tell his bosses about the relationship, and terrified of being sent to the other side of the world while his partner was dying, patrick handed in his one—year's notice to leave the navy. dennis died just two days before he was due home for good. i got up there as fast as i could . after his mother had phoned me. he was still warm. you know, they'd sort of brushed his hair, i and...clean white sheet over him. he was in a little side room. i reflected on one thing —| that in the past 48 hours, the only two things that had ever mattered to me had gone. - while today's announcement is being cautiously welcomed by lgbt veterans, it's clear there's a long way to go for the military to fully regain their trust. josh parry, bbc news. with me is elaine chambers, co—founder of campaigning and support group rank 0utsiders, which supported hundreds of veterans in their fight for justice. also i'm joined by craig jones, thejoint chief executive of fighting with pride.

welcome both of you. thank you for talking to us, elaine, tell our audience why you were thrown out testify army in 1987. == audience why you were thrown out testify army in 1987.— audience why you were thrown out testify army in 1987. -- out of the. i was unfortunately _ testify army in 1987. -- out of the. i was unfortunately a _ testify army in 1987. -- out of the. i was unfortunately a victim - testify army in 1987. -- out of the. i was unfortunately a victim of- i was unfortunately a victim of gossip and supposition, and in those days if you were slightly tainted so to speak it could lead to investigation, and i was's... problem with sound i think elaine's line has frozen. let me chat to craig. elaine, there is something wrong with your line, so i am going to chat to craig and we will sort your line—out and come back to you if that is all right. craig, mine, you say that you were able to come out because of elaine's campaigning, is that right? i able to come out because of elaine's campaigning, is that right?— campaigning, is that right? i think the rank outsiders _ campaigning, is that right? i think the rank outsiders were _ campaigning, is that right? i think the rank outsiders were incredibly | the rank outsiders were incredibly brave _ the rank outsiders were incredibly brave and — the rank outsiders were incredibly brave and they led a david and

goliath — brave and they led a david and goliath battle against the military and the _ goliath battle against the military and the government to get the ban lifted _ and the government to get the ban lifted. elaine and those who worked with her_ lifted. elaine and those who worked with her saved my career, ijoined in 1989. _ with her saved my career, ijoined in 1989. and — with her saved my career, ijoined in 1989, and managed to get through and avoid _ in 1989, and managed to get through and avoid being court untiljanuary the ban _ and avoid being court untiljanuary the ban was lifted. you and avoid being court untiljanuary the ban was lifted.— and avoid being court untiljanuary the ban was lifted. you came out on the ban was lifted. you came out on the day the — the ban was lifted. you came out on the day the ban _ the ban was lifted. you came out on the day the ban was _ the ban was lifted. you came out on the day the ban was lifted. - the ban was lifted. you came out on the day the ban was lifted. did. - the ban was lifted. you came out on the day the ban was lifted. did. i - the day the ban was lifted. did. i felt a sense _ the day the ban was lifted. did. i felt a sense of— the day the ban was lifted. did. i felt a sense of duty _ the day the ban was lifted. did. i felt a sense of duty but - the day the ban was lifted. did. i felt a sense of duty but also - the day the ban was lifted. did. i l felt a sense of duty but also living your life without being your true self places a great burden on you. but also, i was conscious of the fact that this must be a policy that, that could speak its name, that, that could speak its name, that there needed to be people who were out, to support change in our armed forces, our armed forces have become the best in the world at lgbt+ inclusion but i knew on that day it would be a very long journey, to unravel 40 years of prohibition and negative thoughts in the armed forces. ., ., , . ., .,

forces. elaine i hope we can hear ou forces. elaine i hope we can hear you properly. _ forces. elaine i hope we can hear you properly. i— forces. elaine i hope we can hear you properly, i really _ forces. elaine i hope we can hear you properly, i really do - forces. elaine i hope we can hear you properly, i really do want - forces. elaine i hope we can hear you properly, i really do want to l you properly, i really do want to hear what your experience was like and what you want from this review, because the job that you love was taken away from you, in the late 80s, wasn't it?— taken away from you, in the late 80s, wasn't it? yes, completely i was so fraud _ 80s, wasn't it? yes, completely i was so fraud have _ 80s, wasn't it? yes, completely i was so fraud have joined - 80s, wasn't it? yes, completely i was so fraud have joined the - 80s, wasn't it? yes, completely i. was so fraud have joined the army, to be trained as an army nurse and to be trained as an army nurse and to become a commissioned officer it was a big dealfor somebody like me, so yes, i lost everything, and, for me, i, iam cautiously so yes, i lost everything, and, for me, i, i am cautiously optimistic, so yes, i lost everything, and, for me, i, iam cautiously optimistic, i think the work that has been done by fighting with wide —— fighting with pride is massively important. to me some form of recognition of what we lost would be amazing, to enable me to get to my retirement in a better circumstances than i currently am, you know, facing through no fall of my own. 50 you know, facing through no fall of "1 own. ., you know, facing through no fall of m own. ., i. you know, facing through no fall of m own, ., ., ~' you know, facing through no fall of m own. ., ., ~ my own. so are you talking about the restoration of _ my own. so are you talking about the restoration of a _ my own. so are you talking about the restoration of a military _ my own. so are you talking about the restoration of a military pension, - restoration of a military pension, are you talking about a sum of

compensation, what? for are you talking about a sum of compensation, what?- compensation, what? for me, personally. — compensation, what? for me, personally, some _ compensation, what? for me, personally, some form - compensation, what? for me, personally, some form of- compensation, what? for me, - personally, some form of financial recompense would be very very helpful, because what a lot of people forget when the ban was lifted those are of us who took the challenge had to wait a further nine years before we served any compensation and for the vast majority the compensation was only between a ninth and a tenth of what we had lost, so, for me personally, that would be hugely helpful and yes, i have as lost a right to any form of pension so that would be wonderful if that was possible. craig, what is your view about what this review should focus on? ? i think it needs to focus on the fact that people's lives were shattered by the _ that people's lives were shattered by the ban, and that the consequences of the ban endure. people _ consequences of the ban endure. people lost their home, job, they were _ people lost their home, job, they were sent — people lost their home, job, they were sent to prison, they were given

criminal_ were sent to prison, they were given criminal records for sex offence, and they— criminal records for sex offence, and they have not recovered. they were _ and they have not recovered. they were outed — and they have not recovered. they were outed to their family and friends — were outed to their family and friends and many were disowned during _ friends and many were disowned during different time, so we need see compensation for this community. only 141 _ see compensation for this community. only 141 people received very low levels _ only 141 people received very low levels of— only 141 people received very low levels of compensation, there are hundreds— levels of compensation, there are hundreds if not thousands affected by the _ hundreds if not thousands affected by the ban, so that needs to happen, we need _ by the ban, so that needs to happen, we need to— by the ban, so that needs to happen, we need to look at pensions again, we need to look at pensions again, we need _ we need to look at pensions again, we need to— we need to look at pensions again, we need to look at pensions again, we need to look at pensions again, we need to look at resettlement, people _ we need to look at resettlement, people like elaine were quite literally— people like elaine were quite literally walked to the main gate and told — literally walked to the main gate and told to never come back again. they— and told to never come back again. they didn't — and told to never come back again. they didn't have the opportunity of preparing — they didn't have the opportunity of preparing for civvy street. of course, _ preparing for civvy street. of course, these are not the values of the united — course, these are not the values of the united kingdom today, our values are thankfully much bergets these folks need a proper apology on behalf— folks need a proper apology on behalf of— folks need a proper apology on behalf of the nation, they stepped forward _ behalf of the nation, they stepped forward to serve their country and were _ forward to serve their country and were treated disgracefully.- were treated disgracefully. thank ou. we were treated disgracefully. thank

you- we will _ were treated disgracefully. thank you. we will report _ were treated disgracefully. thank you. we will report on _ were treated disgracefully. thank you. we will report on the - were treated disgracefully. thank you. we will report on the reviewj you. we will report on the review and outcome. thank you craig jones and outcome. thank you craig jones and elaine chambers. thank you craig jones and elaine chambers. a labour mp says everyone has a responsibility to call out online trolls, after a man was found guilty of threatening to shoot her. 61—year—old stephen peddie, a former brexit party candidate, was convicted of sending an "offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing message" after replying to a tweet about dawn butler and saying a "bullet to the back of the head" would be "justified and wholly deserved". the labour mp told me about her reaction after reading that tweet. it was quite frightening, and my office were also distraught, and we have to have a database now of all of the abuse, because we get so much of it, so we can keep track of it. this one felt quite sinister, and when the police called me, and was talking me through and saying that they attended his property, and they removed his firearms, ijust froze, and, you know, they had to check i was still on the line and there was, like, tears rolling down my face, i was having flashbacks to my friend

jo cox was murdered, and it is a very scary thing, to think that somebody�*s so horrible to think that way, in such a violent way, but also have the means to possibly carry it out. is a very very frightening thought indeed. why do you think that you are a target? because i am black, i am female, i'm vocal. i'm a politician, and you know, there are sort of certain groups of people that feel that they have got this kind of supreme right to be violent and aggressive, if they don't like what i say. and i think we have all got a responsibility, the social media companies have a responsibility to ensure they take down abusive posts quickly. you know, often when we report

abuse, social media companies say it doesn't reach the threshold, and, you know, that is wrong, if we are reporting abuse it means it has reached a threshold, so social media companies have a responsibility. but i think as citizens, as global citizens we have a responsibility, if you know somebody who is being abusive to somebody online, then you need to call them out for it, or you need to stop talking to them. there needs to be consequences, you can't just accept somebody is abusing somebody else. some people say it is just banter, but it is not banter. racism, sexism, homophobia, people criticising disabled people, it is not banter, it is abuse. this is how we make society better, if we call it out and doesn't associate people who are abusive to others. you mentioned jo cox, we could talk about sir david amess, stephen timms, go back to 2000 when andy pennington, an mp�*s assistant was stabbed to death as he tried to protect

lib dem mp nigeljones from an attacker who stormed his constituency office. i wonder what changes you have made to your daily life and to the way you work? oh, so many changes, i am acutely aware of my surroundings at all times, my friends and my family, partner's also very much aware when we go out where i am sitting, standing, who is around me, you know, we have alarms, you know, there are other security measures that we take as well, that we don't talk about, so people, you know, don't know. but there is so much that we have to do to protect ourselves, and it is frightening, and i also think there needs to be more to protect politicians as well, you know, across the board.

the headlines on bbc news... the cost of living squeeze is getting worse in the uk, with prices for goods and services going up at their fastest rate for 30 years. a group of 20 conservative mps elected in 2019 have met to discuss boris johnson's future — our political editor is reporting one of them claims ten of the 20 submitted letters of no confidence in their boss this morning. willfacemasks, working from home and covid passes be scrapped in england onjan 26? the pm is expected to make an announcement today. the care regulator, the care quality commission, says the number of staff vacancies in care homes in england has nearly doubled in the past nine months. it's collected data that shows by the end of last year, the number of unfilled posts had risen to more than one in ten jobs. here's our social affairs editor, alison holt.

care homes supporting people who are older and disabled have found it increasingly tough to find enough staff. burn—out from coping with covid, low pay and compulsory vaccinations have increased existing recruitment problems. the regulator, the care quality commission, has gathered data from more than 8,200 homes. in april of last year, on average, 6% of care—homejobs in england were unfilled. by the end of december, vacancies had nearly doubled, reaching 11.5%. a survey for the regulator of 2,000 family carers also suggests that more than half believe the dignity and independence of the person they care for was undermined during lockdowns. and nearly three quarters say the individual�*s mental health has deteriorated. the regulator wants to hear more from families about the services they're getting. we're specifically keen to hear from everyone, but also people who have loved ones in care homes. it's been a really challenging time — particularly for residents of care homes — through the pandemic, where social—care providers have strove to keep people safe. but also there's been challenges around people being able to see their loved ones and to see visits.

there are local recruitment campaigns, and extra money has been put in by government, but at the moment, the pressures on care services remain acute. alison holt, bbc news. kate terroni is the chief inspector of adult social care at the care quality commission, she told me she's concerned about the growing number of staff vacancies in the sector. it matters so much because people having highly trained, caring, compassionate staff at the right numbers to provide that person centred support is a key contributor to people getting high quality care and that is our area of focus. what's important to us is being assured that people receive high quality person centred care. that is why today we are launching our 'because we all care' campaign because we are really keen to hear from anyone who accesses health and social care, be it themselves, a loved one or people who work in the sector, to tell us about the quality of that care, tell us what's working well, what could work better and anything in the middle because all of that informs the regulatory activity we take when we are looking at best practice and also following up where there are concerns about quality.

and the recruitment campaign the government has launched, is that making any difference yet? recruiting and retaining the workforce in social care has been an issue way before the pandemic. so before the pandemic skills for care reported 120,000 vacancies in the sector and turnover rates of up to 37% or 38% depending on the role. we have called for a long time to have investment in recognition of the social care workforce. the sector welcomes the additional money from government. that needs to be sufficient to ensure that it flows directly through to those workers and that the social care workforce can have the terms and conditions as well as the training to recognise the hugely valuable jobs that they do every day. the winter olympics starts in china in two weeks, but the event has already been overshadowed by ongoing claims beijing is committing genocide against some of its people. the western region of xinjiang has proven to be contentious for human rights violations, but is hoping to benefit

from these controversial games. our china correspondent robin brant reports. this is the image of china you'll be seeing over the next few weeks. beautiful snow—covered slopes. china's communist party leaders hope it will persuade millions to grab a board or boots and come here. like yao. but he isn't near the host city of beijing. this is xinjiang. it's a troubled region, hoping for a major boom off the back of these olympic games. what's that going to be like in 20 years' time where you are? translation: simply _ because of president xi's one call to get 300 million chinese people skiing — that's why the ski industry has taken off. as china's second olympics approaches, these images have been part of state media reporting on xinjiang — almost as if it's part of the games.

it's very different to these images from the bbc�*s reporting in xinjiang over recent years — of mass indoctrination and incarceration of chinese ethnic muslims. inside places that china used to deny even existed. china's leaders call it anti—terror re—education. the us and others say it's part of a genocide. there are numerous foreign firms lining up to sell you part of the alternative xinjiang — the american snowboard pioneers burton is one of them. we've already seen in the last couple of years — we've seen, you know, triple—digit growth. so we are... we're very excited about that. burton has signed up a world—class chinese boarder, and she isn't even a teenager yet. the company is planning dozens more stores here. but how does its presence in xinjiang sit with an ethos that's about more than being just a business?

we have two choices — we can either, you know, divorce ourselves from xinjiang and just say, "no, we're not going to do anything out there," or what we can do is we can try to understand what's going on in xinjiang better. and, you know — yes, there may be some, you know... again, factually, i don't know. i'm not a politician, i've never studied any type of aspect of that. have you seen the media reports over the last couple of years? yeah, yeah, of course — everyone has, i believe so. but, again, i divorce myself. what i mean by that is, i can't change that, and we focus on what we can change. some would say maybe you can, actually. let's just go back to your statement here on the website — we want to effect positive change for our people, our factories and create ripples. yeah. maybe you can change things. yeah, i hope so, for the better. again, that's what i'm saying is — what we'll focus on is what we can change for the better. burton is just one of numerous foreign firms who've decided xinjiang —

the china market as a whole — is irresistible. president xijinping thinks his critics are politicising his big sporting moment. his government says the olympics should rise above politics. it's a distinction some of the businesses looking to ride the olympic wave want you to make, as well. robin brant, bbc news, shanghai. hong kong independence activist edward leung, whose slogan of 'liberate hong kong, revolution of our times' became a rallying cry during the 2019 pro—democracy movement, has been released from jail. he'd served nearly four years. the slogan itself was banned by the authorities last year. israeli police have evicted a palestinian family from their home in the eastjerusalem neighbourhood of sheikh jarrah on wednesday, demolishing the dwelling in a case that has drawn international attention. the police raid was launched two days after a member of the salhiyeh family took to the roof of the house, threatening to blow it up. police had withdrawn after the standoff on monday but returned on wednesday, saying in a statement it was enforcing a court—approved eviction order of "illegal buildings built on grounds designated for a school for children

with special needs". our science correspondent richard westcott reports. if we're going to clean up the air in our towns and cities, we've got to attract more people onto public transport. and that means getting rid of all those diesel buses chugging around. and that is where this new piece of technology comes in. if we're going to clean up the air in our towns and cities, we've got to attract more people onto public transport. and that means getting

rid of all those diesel buses chugging around. and that is where this new piece of technology comes in. designed by an ex—formula one engineer and his team, it looks like a normal double decker, but they say they found a way of boosting how far it can go on one charge. it's got five batteries, like this one, secreted around the vehicle, but that's not the clever bit. the clever bit is at the back, because apparently with electric buses, they can use as much energy just heating and cooling the cabin, as they do physically driving along. so they've developed much more efficient air conditioning. and that means overall it's got a much longer range. ian foley used to work for williams and lotus, until he decided to turn his skills to something a bit less racy. it's still a big challenge. interestingly, weight is an issue just like in formula one, because the batteries we need for the electric bus are very heavy. we still need to be able to carry 87 passengers. and so it's quite a big challenge to get the weight distribution right on the vehicle for the electric bus. so some of that learning from your earlier career has helped you with this? absolutely. and we've got quite a few of the guys who i worked with early on in my career here, kind of working on weight saving and

very efficient mechanical design. the key technology has been designed at a factory near norwich. long term, they want to make 200 vehicles a year to be sold all over the world, but still built locally. we've got the resources here, we've got the people here. our batteries are made locally here, so it was really important for us to make everything here in the uk. 90% of our product is actually made on this site. bus giant go—ahead is trialling one on a london route, so the vehicle is going to be taking its first passengers later in the spring. richard westcott, bbc news, norwich. it was probably a big part of your childhood if you grew up in the uk in the 1980s — and if you want to relive some of that nostalgia then here's some good news: "fraggle rock" is coming back. it's been remade for apple tv with 13 new episodes available to watch from friday.

it's 33 years since the last episode was on our screens, but now a new generation of children will be able to head into the fraggle caves once more. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. we've got two weather fronts, two cold fronts, which are currently slipping southwards. they should clear, taking their cloud and patchy rain away from kent, probably by mid—afternoon. and then we're in this straight northwesterly or northerly flow, with a little weather front in the north enhancing the showers, but behind the cold front, as the name suggests, we've got cold air coming in. so temperatures will slip away through the course of the day, and the rain showers in the north of scotland and northern isles will increasingly turn to snow even at lower levels. so there goes the cloud and the rain from the south. a lot of dry weather around. gusty winds, particularly in northern england and also northern western scotland, is represented by those black circles, and it's going to feel cold — only one degree in lerwick — but when you add on the strength

of the wind, it will feel much colder than that, and we're looking at five to roughly nine, maybe ten degrees. through this evening and overnight, we'll hang on to a few showers across the north and the east, a few still remaining across west wales and south west england, especially cornwall. but in between, a lot of clear skies means a widespread frost, and where we've had the showers during the course of the night, you may well run into some icy patches on untreated surfaces — something just to be aware of. tomorrow then, the wind slowly ease. we still have the showers in the north and east. a few of those will be wintry. for a time we'll see some showers west wales and the southwest. they'll move away, and then once again, a lot of dry weather. temperatures, four in newcastle and hull, nine as we move towards plymouth. and then as we move into the weekend, well, what's happening is thursday into friday and then saturday and sunday, this high pressure exerts its influence. we've got a weather front toppling over the north of it, so that could produce some rain. but the air around high pressure moves in a clockwise direction,

so the highest temperatures are likely to be in the north. so on friday, we start off with a fair bit of cloud coming in from the atlantic across western areas, thick enough for some drizzle here and there. light breezes, bright skies in the east and temperatures roughly six to about nine degrees. but we could reach ten, for example, in stornoway. and then as we head into the weekend, for the northern half of the country, while we're looking at a fair bit of cloud, some drizzle, weather fronts going across could produce some rain, but it will be mild, whereas in the south it's going to be cooler and here too will have some night frosts and some fog to watch out for.

hello, good morning. this is bbc news with me, ben brown, live in downing street. our headlines of: pressure is mounting on the prime minister. a group of 20 conservative mps elected in 2019 have met to discuss boris johnson's future — our political editor is reporting one of them claims ten of the 20 submitted letters of no confidence in their boss this morning. the prime minister doesn't really own his own diary, and it really is for his team to have had his back. the other main headlines on bbc news. the cost of living squeeze is getting worse in the uk, with prices for goods and services going up at their fastest rate for 30 years.

even in the last week, we've had two e—mails from suppliers saying that costs have gone up by 5% across the board, and that is something we are seeing already. will face masks, working from home and covid passes be scrapped in england onjan 26? the pm is expected to make an announcement today. and veterans who were forced out of the military because of their sexuality have welcomed a review into their treatment. hello and welcome from a chilly downing street to bbc news, and there is growing pressure today on there is growing pressure today on the prime minister, borisjohnson. he is facing really a fight for his

political survival at the moment. in an hour, he will be at prime minister's questions in the house of commonsjust down the minister's questions in the house of commons just down the road from here, facing perhaps his toughest prime minister's questions of his premiership, with continual questions about parties in downing street and in particular the one he attended at the garden here in may of 2020. there is more pressure today because of several key political developments in parliament. yesterday a group of conservative mps, backbenchers who were newly elected in 2019, met in one of their rooms, the so—called pork pie plot against him, because one of those members represents the constituency near melton mowbray where pork pies are made. it is reported that around half of the 20 mps who met have now expressed no

confidence in borisjohnson. so far seven conservative mps have publicly said and stated that they have sent in such letters of no confidence to the chairman of the 1922 committee of backbenchers, that is so graham brady. it needs 54 conservative mps altogether to send in such letters to trigger a leadership contest in the conservative party. while the prime minister is facing all of those questions, he has also been meeting his cabinet here in downing street this morning, talking about the easing or lifting altogether of plan b covid restrictions in england, and just a few notes from the cabinet meeting. apparently he told cabinet members that people want covid out of their lives and they want us to learn to live with covid. let's get this report on the political drama here at westminster from our political correspondent jonathan blake. late—night talks in a private members' club —

a small group of conservative mps met here last night with talk of removing borisjohnson from office on the agenda. after a day of intense speculation, there was confidence among some backbenchers that enough were ready to submit a letter of no confidence in the prime minister, triggering a vote on his position. the meetings came after the prime minister again denied that he was warned a drinks party in the downing street garden was against lockdown restrictions in place at the time. on a hospital visit yesterday, borisjohnson again apologised for parties in downing street on the eve of the duke of edinburgh's funeral, saying he deeply and bitterly regretted that it happened. if the best argument that you have got to the accusation that you broke the rules was that, "well, nobody had told me that the rules that i had imposed on everyone else were being broken," then i think that reveals you are in a difficult position, and i think the prime minister is in a difficult position because of his behaviour,

because of the constant set of allegations that are being made. and i think conservative mps are increasingly uncomfortable with this, and it does appear that quite a number are now taking action. others are reserving judgment and ministers offering qualified support. the prime minister was very clear last week in his statement that mistakes had been made. he's set up an inquiry, and i think it's important that we let that inquiry run its progress. i hope it's going to report very soon, but i hope that we can therefore get all of these stories out there that have been really distressing, and then we can decide on what next steps to take. some insist borisjohnson can survive, dismissing talk of plots against him as overblown. but in the house of commons at prime minister's questions this lunchtime, he'll again have to try to shore up support that he badly needs. jonathan blake, bbc news. our politicial correspondent

ione wells is at westminster. it isa it is a day of high political drama today in westminster, and i suppose the question is broadly, can boris johnson survive all of this, and more narrowly and in more detail, how many letters in terms of no confidence in him have gone into the chairman of the 1922 committee, because that is key? that chairman of the 1922 committee, because that is key?— chairman of the 1922 committee, because that is key? that is exactly riaht, and because that is key? that is exactly right. and the _ because that is key? that is exactly right, and the answer— because that is key? that is exactly right, and the answer at _ because that is key? that is exactly right, and the answer at the - because that is key? that is exactly i right, and the answer at the moment are some of those questions is we still don't know. there is a lot of speculation, with some mps this morning claiming that the numbers are there, that 54 letters have been written to the chair of the 1922 committee, so graham brady. of course, the whole procedure around those letters is shrouded in secrecy, it is not something which is ever confirmed until it is confirmed. however, one of the things that we do know has happened in the last 24 hours as yesterday a group of some of those newer mps elected in 2019, about 20 of them, met to discuss the possibility of

writing letters of no confidence in the prime minister. the bbc was also told that about half of that group decided to submit letters of no confidence in the prime minister this morning, bringing that number ever closer to the threat —— threshold of 54 that will be needed to trigger no confidence in the prime minister. there are different groups unhappy with the prime minister. there are of because different groups. some of the newark 2019 intake are not particularly happy with the prime minister's handling of recent events, and also very much not happy with the way that last night after reports of some of them meeting in parliament to discuss this issue, there were then late—night briefings to some newspapers, somejournalist then late—night briefings to some newspapers, some journalist calling them idiots, saying they were nobodies. that certainly hasn't helped dampen and put out the flames that some of them were feeling around this issue. then of course some of the mps who have been here a

bit longer, some of the so called one nation conservative group, also an optically happy with the prime minister, some of them former ministers themselves, and then some of the arch brexiteers, also not happy with the prime minister at the moment. the letters themselves are something shrouded in secrecy, but one thing that turned the mood a lot yesterday against the prime minister was the interview that he did with broadcasters where he claims that nobody had told him that that event on may the 20th 2020 in downing street was against the rules. this is something that caused quite a fierce backlash and has been on the front pages of every newspaper today after his former aide, dominic cummings, wrote on his blog that he didn't tell the prime minister that that event would be against the rules, and he also warned other officials at the time. today in defence of borisjohnson, the armed forces ministerjames heappey seem to claim that it wouldn't be the prime minister's fault if he didn't know about events, because he isn't in control of his diary.

i personally think it is unedifying to have to reflect on the role of people who don't have this platform to respond, but my take, as someone who has worked in downing street, is that the prime minister doesn't really own his own diary, and it really is for his team to have his back, and i think, as he reflected in the comments the other week, in hindsight, he should have shut down that event straightaway. he apologised profusely for having not done so, but the fact that the event ever happened reflects, ifear, rather poorly on those who scheduled it and put it into the prime minister's diary. so the armed forces ministerjames heappey appearing to blame those who put it in the prime minister's diary. i'm not sure from speaking to mps this morning that defence is going to go down well with some of those who actively want the prime minister take responsibility for what has happened, and wanting to show a bit more responsibility in

this matter, particularly given as most of the front pages point out this morning that he was the very person setting those rules, and it was him and his ministers going out in press offices at the time telling people the rules that they had to follow, so not many people necessarily convinced by this argument that he didn't know if this event would be breaking those rules. i think in terms of how this is going to play out today, there are some conservative mps who have admitted already to putting in letters of no confidence in the prime minister. others on the other hand are waiting firstly on prime minister's questions today to see how he performs, and secondly some still holding out for the publication of that report by sue gray, the civil servant looking into these downing street parties, just because they want to have the exact facts of what happened and follow due process, not necessarily because they are expecting they will learn anything new from that report. a lot hinging on the pro—minister's performance today. can he pull any rabbit out of a hat to try to ease

the backbench conservative mps angry at him at the moment? unfortunately for him too, today is also the day that he hoped to announce the fact that he hoped to announce the fact that they are planning to ease plan b covid restrictions in england. he met with his cabinet this morning to brief them on the latest data to say that he wanted people to start living with coronavirus, and i'm also told that he started telling cabinet ministers that he didn't want covid to be the thing that was dominating the news day in, day out any more going forward. that was the thing that he was hoping would detract from some of this today, and you certainly want to given the events here in parliament at the moment whether there is something else that he hopes will soon not be dominating the news day in, day out, ben. indeed, ione, and interesting to see his demeanour at prime minister's questions today because his demeanour as you mentioned in that broadcast interview yesterday, 16 minutes of questions about parties here in downing street, all the

newspapers saying he looked downbeat, downcast, he was looking downbeat, downcast, he was looking down at the ground, may even close to tears, and ashamed, almost, especially when he was talking about the parties that were here just before the duke of edinburgh's funeral. , ., before the duke of edinburgh's funeral. , . . before the duke of edinburgh's funeral. , ., ., ., funeral. exactly right, i had a lot of messages _ funeral. exactly right, i had a lot of messages yesterday - funeral. exactly right, i had a lot of messages yesterday from - of messages yesterday from conservative mps in particular who have been watching him like a hawk in his performance over the last couple of weeks, a lot of them pointing to the fact as you say that he looked incredibly downbeat. he had his head to the ground at many points. there were audible sighs coming out of that interview where he kept shaking his head, kept repeating the fact that he wasn't aware that this party was against the rules, that he wasn't told about it. of course, after that interview, dominic cummings also told the bbc, told of the newspapers as well, that he would be willing to give evidence to sue gray's inquiry that is investigating the parties that took place last year. i also understand

that sue gray's inquiry has now reached out to dominic cummings for evidence, so if there is any evidence, so if there is any evidence at all to suggest, to back up evidence at all to suggest, to back up the claim that dominic cummings made yesterday that he and others warned the prime minister that this party on the 20th of may should not go ahead, then that could certainly be incredibly damaging for the prime minister too, be incredibly damaging for the prime ministertoo, but be incredibly damaging for the prime minister too, but i think as you say, his demeanour is going to be very important. a lot of boris johnson's fans, a lot of people who packed be the leader of the conservative party, backed him because he was a good campaigner. he was the person who could walk into a room full of optimism and make members of the public want to stop him in the street and talk to him, he him, he and he can often crack a joke even when making speeches about serious policy matters too. i think looking at him now and the way he has behaved in that particular interview, the way he was at the last prime minister's questions as he was when he was making that plea, grovelling apology, too, i think certainly mps are getting nervous that he has lost his lustre in that

sense. ., ., ~ , ., , . sense. 0k, lone, thank you very much indeed. sense. 0k, lone, thank you very much indeed- we — sense. ok, lone, thank you very much indeed. we will— sense. 0k, lone, thank you very much indeed. we will see _ sense. 0k, lone, thank you very much indeed. we will see what _ sense. 0k, lone, thank you very much indeed. we will see what happens - sense. 0k, lone, thank you very much indeed. we will see what happens at l indeed. we will see what happens at prime minister's questions in less than an hour in the house of commons. you are watching bbc news, special coverage from here at 10 downing street. much more from here outside the button where the cabinet has been meeting this morning to talk about —— outside number 10 where the cabinet has been meeting this morning to talk about the prime minister and all the questions about parties, but for the moment, back to you in the studio, annita. ben, thank you very much. and it's a busy day for the pm for other reasons, too, as the cabinet is reviewing the latest coronavirus data to decide whether to relax plan b coronavirus measures in england. government officials say the decision is "finely balanced", but described the latest data as "encouraging", with case numbers falling since early january. let's remind ourselves

of plan b measures. face coverings are compulsory for most indoor public spaces, including theatres, cinemas, public transport and shops, as well as secondary pupils in classrooms. mandatory covid passes showing proof of full vaccination or a recent negative test to gain entry to nightclubs and other large events, such as big football matches. and advice to work from home if possible. that is also included in plan b. the health secretary, sajid javid, has said he's cautiously optimistic that the so—called plan b measures, due to expire next week, can be "substantially reduced". gareth barlow reports. hello, good morning. how are you doing? against the backdrop of allegations of lockdown parties in downing street, and rumours of a vote of no confidence, the prime minister still has big decisions to make as england's plan b restrictions are due to end in a week's time. facemasks in schools and public

settings and covid passes for large venues were introduced in december to slow the spread of the omicron variant. but those restrictions could be gone within days, according to the health secretary, sajid javid. government officials say the decision remains finely balanced, as 17,000 patients remain in english hospitals with covid. but there is growing optimism the data is now moving in the right direction. in scotland, covid—19 restrictions are to be eased from monday, with nightclubs reopening, large indoor events resuming, and social—distancing rules being dropped. the cases that we have had — and still have — with omicron are of a completely different magnitude to anything that we have experienced in relation to previous waves of the virus. so the measures were proportionate, but we obviously have taken steps to remove those measures and restrictions when the time has been appropriate to do so.

not everyone will welcome a loosening of restrictions — many hospitals have struggled to cope with staffing shortages or problems discharging older patients into care homes. it's possible, therefore, that some restrictions — such as facemasks — will be retained. the prime minister will discuss the options with his cabinet this morning and then tell parliament and the public his plan. gareth barlow, bbc news. our health correpondent nick trigglejoins me. talk us through the very latest data, because this is what the government has been looking at this morning in deciding whether to remove these plan b measures. yes. remove these plan b measures. yes, they have. — remove these plan b measures. yes, they have. and _ remove these plan b measures. yes, they have, and every _ remove these plan b measures. yes, they have, and every day _ remove these plan b measures. yes they have, and every day brings better news with the data. we now can see that cases are falling sharply. they're at about half the level they were at the peak at the turn of the year. some people have been wary about placing too much emphasis on these cases. these are just the people who come forward for testing. there have been changes in

testing. there have been changes in testing rules, reinfection is apart from in wales aren't counted. but with hospital admissions we can also see last week they looked like they were plateauing nationally, but some regions of england have still seen them rising. but this week, all regions are seeing the corner turned. it is very much the best case scenario territory when the morning warnings were made before christmas, the current levels of about 2000 hospitalisations per day, so that is giving ministers confidence, but there is no guarantee that infections and hospitalisations will keep falling, because one of the key factors in keeping the lid on this omicron wave as long as the boosters has been the fact that over christmas people were not doing that much mixing. if we look at the average daily contacts, they were below three, which is very similar to the levels seen in the first lockdown, so if people mix

more as they are beginning to do, that could mean that infections and missions rather than coming right down mightjust plateau at a relatively high level. but certainly we are over the worst of the omicron wave. so we are over the worst of the omicron wave. ., ., wave. so are we looking, then, at wholesale — wave. so are we looking, then, at wholesale removal— wave. so are we looking, then, at wholesale removal of _ wave. so are we looking, then, at wholesale removal of plan - wave. so are we looking, then, at wholesale removal of plan b, - wave. so are we looking, then, at wholesale removal of plan b, or. wave. so are we looking, then, at i wholesale removal of plan b, orjust some parts of it? that wholesale removal of plan b, or 'ust some parts of it?�* some parts of it? that is the big ruestion, some parts of it? that is the big question, annita. _ some parts of it? that is the big question, annita. if— some parts of it? that is the big question, annita. if we - some parts of it? that is the big question, annita. if we take - some parts of it? that is the big i question, annita. if we take them one by one. first of all, the advice to work from home. that, the scientists say, has had the biggest impact of all the measures in plan b, to curb the spread of infections, but of course it has a big economic impact. so it is all about trade—offs and balancing these harms, and if we are over the worst of the omicron wave, as it looks like we are, then i would expect that that would go. there has been a lot of debate about the mandatory covid passes to get into large events such as football matches and stuff. because with omicron the two doses of vaccine are less effective

at stopping infection, people have questioned that, so that also looks like it may well be going. face is the one thing they could well keep, although certainly in classrooms, i suspect they won't, because even the government's own evidence base for that says it is pretty inconclusive that says it is pretty inconclusive that it has much effectiveness in classroom settings.— that it has much effectiveness in classroom settings. thank you very much. i'm joined by matthew taylor, chief executive of nhs confederation. thank you forjoining us. nick mentioning that hospital admissions appear to have peaked in england. what are your thoughts on the potential removal of some or all of the plan b measures today? it’s potential removal of some or all of the plan b measures today? it's the government's _ the plan b measures today? it's the government's job _ the plan b measures today? it's the government's job to _ the plan b measures today? it's the government's job to determine - the plan b measures today? it's the government's job to determine the | government's job to determine the right balance of on the one hand freedom the needs of business and on the other hand public health and the pressures the nhs. but i think it is

important to recognise that the number of people in hospital with covid is still high, around 20,000 across the uk, and that is with, on the one hand, restrictions, and on the one hand, restrictions, and on the other hand as nick said in his interview, the fact that many people have gone much further than those restrictions, and we have limited our socialising, for example. so if restrictions are lifted and there is a more general message in a sense that we are kind of through this, the concern must be that we will see infection rates rise again and also hospital numbers rise again. the nhs will cope, it always does, but we need to be aware of the fact that that has consequences, so when you've got a lot of people in hospital with covid, it is notjust about treating them, but also they have got to be separated out from other people so that the infection doesn't pass. you also have higher staff rates. those have come down but still many staff are getting

covid. and as a consequence there are things the health service needs to do, particularly the urgent need which is to get into the huge backlog that has built up over the last two years. backlog that has built up over the last two years— last two years. well, clearly, nobody wants _ last two years. well, clearly, nobody wants to _ last two years. well, clearly, nobody wants to be - last two years. well, clearly, nobody wants to be in - last two years. well, clearly, nobody wants to be in a - last two years. well, clearly, - nobody wants to be in a situation of one step forward and two steps back. but what from your perspective if the pram and it is going to remove some of these measures, which would be the most useful ones to stay in place as far as you're concerned in order to ease pressure on the nhs? i order to ease pressure on the nhs? i think the british public have behaved commendably over the last few weeks in taking these restrictions very seriously, and in some case... i think the most important thing is notjust about the restrictions but the message that we give, and i hope that what we don't say is, this is over, you don't need to think about protecting yourself and protecting other people, you don't need to think about being sensible any more. it not over. the position is not as bad as we feared it might be, but we still have this virus, still having

consequences for our health service, and we need to continue to observe what is happening. we need to observe whether or not the restrictions do lead to more cases and we have to be willing to put up with that, and of course we need to keep an eye out for more variants. so this is another stage. it is important that the messages, even if there is to be a releasing of restrictions, it doesn't mean that we assume that we are out of the woods. a, ._ ., . woods. matthew taylor, chief executive _ woods. matthew taylor, chief executive of _ woods. matthew taylor, chief executive of the _ woods. matthew taylor, chief executive of the nhs - woods. matthew taylor, chief - executive of the nhs confederation, thank you for your thoughts. the cost of goods and services in the uk is rising at its fastest rate for 30 years. the december figure for inflation showed that prices have gone up by 5.4% compared to the year before. that's up from 5.1% in november — and is more than double the bank of england's target for inflation. energy costs and the price of food and drink drove the rise, which was higher than economists had been forecasting.

with me is ramzan karmali, our business correspondent. ramzan, let's talk about the reasons behind the rate of increase. why is the rate of increase in the cost of living going up so quickly at this time? if living going up so quickly at this time? , ., living going up so quickly at this time? i., ., ., “ living going up so quickly at this time? i. _, ., , time? if you look where the economy has been, time? if you look where the economy has been. the — time? if you look where the economy has been, the pandemic— time? if you look where the economy has been, the pandemic started, - has been, the pandemic started, started to open up, and then things like electricity up over 18%, gas up over 20%, things that we are starting to use again pushing up the prices of the grids that we need. and as you say, it is the highest since march 1992. in fact, it is the highest since the bank of england was made independent, and their target is 2%. the bank of england say they expect the rate to hit 6% in spring, but some economists talking about 7% because of changing the energy cap as well, which will come in in april too. but let's get

more on this from pauljohnson from the iss. good to have you with us. this is highest number since march 1992. how much i do think it will get, and how painful could it be for how many households out there? well. how many households out there? well, if nothin: is how many households out there? well, if nothing is done _ how many households out there? well, if nothing is done to _ how many households out there? well, if nothing is done to change the price _ if nothing is done to change the price cap, — if nothing is done to change the price cap, then it will certainly go above _ price cap, then it will certainly go above six. — price cap, then it will certainly go above six, and as you say it could even _ above six, and as you say it could even stretch _ above six, and as you say it could even stretch to 7% in april. this is clearly— even stretch to 7% in april. this is clearly going to be pretty difficult for certain groups of households, and also — for certain groups of households, and also pretty hefty tax increases coming _ and also pretty hefty tax increases coming in. — and also pretty hefty tax increases coming in, and as you saw in the latest _ coming in, and as you saw in the latest data. _ coming in, and as you saw in the latest data, wages, even before this higher— latest data, wages, even before this higher increase in inflation, wages weren't— higher increase in inflation, wages weren't keeping place with prices. so we _ weren't keeping place with prices. so we could be faced with a combination in april of tax rises

and prices — combination in april of tax rises and prices going up faster than their— and prices going up faster than their incomes. that is going to be pretty— their incomes. that is going to be pretty painful, especially really have _ pretty painful, especially really have two groups. those on middle sorts _ have two groups. those on middle sorts of— have two groups. those on middle sorts of incomes, maybe gross earnings — sorts of incomes, maybe gross earnings of 30,000 a year or something, so moderate incomes, but outside _ something, so moderate incomes, but outside of— something, so moderate incomes, but outside of the benefit system and not helped by the minimum wage. they will see _ not helped by the minimum wage. they will see a _ not helped by the minimum wage. they will see a real hit. on the other group _ will see a real hit. on the other group of— will see a real hit. on the other group of those who are entirely dependent on the system, whose benefits — dependent on the system, whose benefits are only going to rise by 3% whereas prizes will be going up by 7%~ _ 3% whereas prizes will be going up by 7%. there is one group who may be slightly— by 7%. there is one group who may be slightly more — by 7%. there is one group who may be slightly more protected, and that is actually— slightly more protected, and that is actually the very lowest who are in work _ actually the very lowest who are in work there — actually the very lowest who are in work. there has been quite a big increase — work. there has been quite a big increase in— work. there has been quite a big increase in universal credit for low earners, _ increase in universal credit for low earners, and in addition, the minimum— earners, and in addition, the minimum wage is rising by 6.6%, so it is the _ minimum wage is rising by 6.6%, so it is the very— minimum wage is rising by 6.6%, so it is the very lowest, those out of work _ it is the very lowest, those out of work and — it is the very lowest, those out of work and those on middle incomes who are going _ work and those on middle incomes who are going to— work and those on middle incomes who are going to be suffering the worst.

so what _ are going to be suffering the worst. so what can— are going to be suffering the worst. so what can policymakers do? the bank of england, the interest rates .5%, most people are expecting the rates to go up next month. that can't help for quite a lot of households. what else can be done? well, of course, the bank of england response _ well, of course, the bank of england response is— well, of course, the bank of england response is about trying to control inflation _ response is about trying to control inflation into the future, and they've _ inflation into the future, and they've been remarkably slow in some senses _ they've been remarkably slow in some senses to _ they've been remarkably slow in some senses to respond to, as you say, inflation _ senses to respond to, as you say, inflation way above what their target — inflation way above what their target level is, and the reason they .ive target level is, and the reason they give for— target level is, and the reason they give for that is that this is driven by things— give for that is that this is driven by things outside of anybody plasma control, _ by things outside of anybody plasma control, in_ by things outside of anybody plasma control, in particular energy prices ending _ control, in particular energy prices ending increasing interest rates. but nevertheless it would be higher quite hard — but nevertheless it would be higher quite hard for them, but nevertheless it would be higher quite hard forthem, i but nevertheless it would be higher quite hard for them, i think, but nevertheless it would be higher quite hard forthem, ithink, to change — quite hard forthem, ithink, to change interest rates quite low as they are, — change interest rates quite low as they are, and it'sjust change interest rates quite low as they are, and it's just what the government will do, for those who are going — government will do, for those who are going to be facing the biggest, those _ are going to be facing the biggest, those who— are going to be facing the biggest, those who are on welfare benefits, there _ those who are on welfare benefits, there is _ those who are on welfare benefits, there is something very obvious and

very easy, _ there is something very obvious and very easy, which is to increase those — very easy, which is to increase those benefits in line with what inflation — those benefits in line with what inflation will be, so at least 6%. rather— inflation will be, so at least 6%. rather than the 3%, which costs around — rather than the 3%, which costs around 5 — rather than the 3%, which costs around £3 billion over the air, but it doesn't— around £3 billion over the air, but it doesn't need to be a permanent increase. — it doesn't need to be a permanent increase, because that can be readjusted for inflation next year. in readjusted for inflation next year. in terms— readjusted for inflation next year. in terms of— readjusted for inflation next year. in terms of people on middle incomes. _ in terms of people on middle incomes, that is actually much harder, — incomes, that is actually much harder, because that becomes really very expensive, a total increase in energy— very expensive, a total increase in energy bills — very expensive, a total increase in energy bills is way in excess of £10 billion, _ energy bills is way in excess of £10 billion, with targeted additional help of— billion, with targeted additional help of people who are fully outside of the _ help of people who are fully outside of the benefit system, it is really difficult — of the benefit system, it is really difficult without spending very large — difficult without spending very large sums of money. pauljohnson from the 155, _ large sums of money. pauljohnson from the iss, thank _ large sums of money. pauljohnson from the iss, thank you _ large sums of money. pauljohnson from the iss, thank you very - large sums of money. pauljohnson from the iss, thank you very much | from the iss, thank you very much for your time. from the iss, thank you very much foryourtime. i from the iss, thank you very much for your time. i will have more in inflation throughout the day. ramzan , thank you very much. international relief efforts have intensified in response to the volcanic eruption and tsunami that has devastated tonga, after its government agreed

to receive contactless aid to avoid the spread of the coronavirus. ships from new zealand and australia are expected to arrive by friday, with a helicopter preparing to airdrop aid to the pacific island nation, which has recorded only a single case of covid during the pandemic. heavy falls of ash at the weekend has hampered the relief effort, the united nations says it is setting up a clinic in the worst affected island group, and the evacuation of uninhabitable islands has begun. our correspondent howard johnson has been monitoring the situation from the philippines. well, communication is the big issue, and what we have heard today is that, yes, four weeks before that cable will be connected. we are hearing also that satellite phone coverage is starting to improve because the ash cloud is starting to disperse. today there was some good news from the international federation of the red cross, the head of the pacific department, katie greenwood, got in contact finally with the team on the ground,

the tongan red cross, and she said it was a joyful and emotional connection, the first time she had spoken to them since the eruption. she asked them to give a message to the world, and they said, "please tell the world that we are here doing our best to serve the tongan people, who have lost so much." we do know that two naval ships are coming from new zealand, carrying around 250,000 litres of water, they also have supplies to hand out, and also a desalination plant to generate around 70,000 litres of water a day when it arrives, hopefully, on friday. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: boris johnson faces growing revolt from conservative mps — as he prepares for prime minister's questions at midday. the cost of living squeeze is getting worse — with prices for goods and services

going up at their fastest rate for 30 years. will face masks, working from home and covid passes be scrapped in england onjanuary 26? the pm is expected to make an announcement today. veterans who were forced out of the military because of their sexuality have welcomed a review into their treatment. we are alive here in downing street, where we are expecting the prime minister had to leave any minute now for prime minister's questions at the commons. it will be a pretty gruelling and challenging one for him, no doubt he will be asked many more questions about parties in downing street, including the one in may 2020 which he has already issued what he calls his heartfelt apologies for. he has spent the

morning chairing a cabinet meeting talking about the easing of the plan b covid restrictions in england. he will be making a statement on and are in the common straight after prime minister's questions. this is all against a backdrop of growing unrest amongst conservative mps, particularly new intake conservative mps, who according to some of the papers today are advancing what is called the pork pie plots, which is a number of tory mps sending in letters, calling for a leadership contest, expressing no confidence in the prime minister. we have heard from sean brockbank, the leader of the conservative group on north tyneside council. he has also sent a letter to downing street complaining about all the parties here, complaining about the prime minister's performance. he has been talking to victoria derbyshire. it

was a clear decision of conservative councillors on north tyneside, the impact of the issues concerning borisjohnson, integrity, so on so forth. so i wrote to the prime minister on behalf of the conservative council group, asked him to consider his position, highlighted the fantastic work he has done and led on to this point, but really invited him to consider whether him staying on as leader of the party and prime minister was in at the best interests of the residents of north tyneside, the party and the national community as well. i would just say that it was not done with a light heart, it was not done with a light heart, it was not done with a light heart, it was not done in any way other than to consider the best interest of the

people we serve, and it was done with a very heavy heart on behalf of all of us. ~ , .,, ., all of us. why last night? you haven't even _ all of us. why last night? you haven't even had _ all of us. why last night? you haven't even had sue - all of us. why last night? you haven't even had sue gray's l all of us. why last night? you - haven't even had sue gray's report yet. i haven't even had sue gray's report et. ~ ., ,., , yet. i think that something will be seriously considered _ yet. i think that something will be seriously considered and - yet. i think that something will be seriously considered and it - yet. i think that something will be seriously considered and it is - yet. i think that something will be seriously considered and it is fairl seriously considered and it is fair to say we had a lengthy debate between all of us, and it was obviously the view of let's wait for the report. quite frankly or at the doorsteps of north tyneside but is not good enough. residents are not interested in whitehall whitewash. what they want a somebody to demonstrate leadership, as boris already has to some extent by apologising. but really the is taking responsibility for those who work with you and for you, there were some really serious mistakes. a northern mp described the gathering is as disgraceful, unacceptable, and i would echo that. now is the time

for leadership, now is not the time to defuse the blame, and that is what the residents of north tyneside are clearly calling for. igrufhat what the residents of north tyneside are clearly calling for.— are clearly calling for. what date ou think are clearly calling for. what date you think when _ are clearly calling for. what date you think when you _ are clearly calling for. what date you think when you saw- are clearly calling for. what date you think when you saw the - are clearly calling for. what date - you think when you saw the interview with sky, when he said nobody told me it was against the rules? is a me it was against the rules? as a leader of conservative _ me it was against the rules? is a. leader of conservative councillors, the book stops with borisjohnson. i don't think it's good enough to say i didn't know. he has the ultimate responsibility to make decisions, to take responsibility for those who he appoints to work with him and for him. i don't think it cuts the mustard with the residents that we serve you in the north—east. don’t serve you in the north-east. don't ou think serve you in the north-east. don't you think you're — serve you in the north-east. don't you think you're being _ serve you in the north—east. don't you think you're being incredibly disloyal? this is the man who three

years ago what you the biggest conservative majority for 30 years. this is the man who promised to take the uk out of the eu and delivered it. �* , , ., ., ., it. i'm sure you have read the letter that — it. i'm sure you have read the letter that i — it. i'm sure you have read the letter that i sent _ it. i'm sure you have read the letter that i sent to _ it. i'm sure you have read the letter that i sent to boris, - it. i'm sure you have read the| letter that i sent to boris, and it. i'm sure you have read the i letter that i sent to boris, and i reflect all of that. i don't think is a question of disloyalty. it is not settling something as a group of conservative councillors we take lightly, we very seriously considered it. ithink lightly, we very seriously considered it. i think there has to be a higher loyalty to the residents and communities that we serve over and communities that we serve over and above party politics, and that's precisely why we have taken this action, with great regret, but i needed to be done. that action, with great regret, but i needed to be done.— action, with great regret, but i needed to be done. that was sean brockbank, _ needed to be done. that was sean brockbank, the _ needed to be done. that was sean brockbank, the leader _ needed to be done. that was sean brockbank, the leader of- needed to be done. that was sean brockbank, the leader of the - brockbank, the leader of the conservative group on north tyneside council. joining me now isjoe mayes — he's a political reporter for bloomberg news.

we are waiting for the prime minister come out here at downing street as he heads off to parliament for prime minister's questions. how much trouble is he in? it for prime minister's questions. how much trouble is he in?— much trouble is he in? it feels like he is in quite _ much trouble is he in? it feels like he is in quite a _ much trouble is he in? it feels like he is in quite a lot _ much trouble is he in? it feels like he is in quite a lot of— much trouble is he in? it feels like he is in quite a lot of trouble. - much trouble is he in? it feels like he is in quite a lot of trouble. the | he is in quite a lot of trouble. the question is, how close are we to reaching that magic number of 54 tory mps putting in a letter of no confidence to graham brady, the chair of the 1922 committee. it does not feel like we are super close to the 34 at this point in time, by mps i was talking to this morning said perhaps 20, 30 letters have went in, some say 15. no one really knows. this is a crunch pmqs for boris johnson. if it goes badly today, there is a wide expectation that more letters could go in and we could get even closer to 54. i suppose the only person who doesn't know how many letters have gone in it as a graham brady himself, the

chairman of the 1922 committee. do you think lead tory whips are putting the thumb screws on potentially rebellious tory mps at the moment?— potentially rebellious tory mps at the moment? there was definitely some of that _ the moment? there was definitely some of that going _ the moment? there was definitely some of that going on _ the moment? there was definitely some of that going on at _ the moment? there was definitely some of that going on at last - the moment? there was definitely | some of that going on at last night. we had at those reports of a meeting going on amongst the so—called red wall mps, and that there was a real push back amongst that. i was heeding that they were some disloyal mps, mps who are perhaps owe their seats to borisjohnson and are unnecessarily panicking. there's definitely a feeling around the caucus, ill feeling, we willjust have to see if moore comes out today. i have to see if moore comes out toda . , , ,.,, have to see if moore comes out toda. , , ., have to see if moore comes out toda. , ., ., ., today. i suppose part of the drama is at the prime _ today. i suppose part of the drama is at the prime minister's - is at the prime minister's expression yesterday during the interview with beth rigby from sky news, where it was a sort of hangdog expression, looking down at the floor all the time, some of the paper said he looked a broken man.

that interviews perhaps seems to have made matters worse for boris johnson, especially at that line about no one told me it was against the rules, especially from a prime minister who was telling the nation what the rules were. now it is all about can he get through this next pmqs without perhaps a similar moment. can he keep enough mps on side with him? it is looking exceptionally difficult at this point in time. we are just waiting to see whether more letters go in. if more letters go in, let suppose thatis if more letters go in, let suppose that is a leadership contest, that does not necessarily mean the end of borisjohnson and his premiership. prime ministers have survived a leadership contest in the past. yes. leadership contest in the past. yes, the mass then _ leadership contest in the past. yes, the mass then changes, _ leadership contest in the past. yes the mass then changes, more like leadership contest in the past. 12s the mass then changes, more like a 180 conservative mp majority, a much bigger threshold. the impression i get from the red wall mps is that they are still loyal to boris johnson. if you win a no—confidence

vote, as we saw with theresa may, you get a year of immunity. if you want to oust borisjohnson on this page of time, you better hope you get those numbers. if you don't, he gets that period of grace. it is a tricky situation for those who want to remove the prime minister. whether there is a conscious or not and whether he survives it or not, to what extent will he be damaged in terms of his political career? the element i think he is very badly damaged at this point in time. polling has come out that says that as things stand conservatives would lose 35 of the 42 red wall seasonally won, which means that they lose their majority. essen seasonally won, which means that they lose their majority.— they lose their ma'ority. even if boris johnson _ they lose their majority. even if boris johnson survives, - they lose their majority. even if boris johnson survives, there i they lose their majority. even if. boris johnson survives, there are borisjohnson survives, there are real questions about whether he could successfully do this party into another election. that is looking increasingly unlikely. iie looking increasingly unlikely. he needs a good performance at prime minister's questions in a few minutes. i suppose it's fair to say that the labour leader sir keir

starmer also needs a good performance. there will be a lot of eyes looking and how he performs at primus as questions.— primus as questions. there are alwa s a primus as questions. there are always a lot — primus as questions. there are always a lot of _ primus as questions. there are always a lot of his _ primus as questions. there are always a lot of his quotation i primus as questions. there are always a lot of his quotation on primus as questions. there are i always a lot of his quotation on a lead at a time like this. last week we had news of the party held on the eve of the funeral of the duke of edinburgh, that could be something he could work on. there is plenty for keir starmer to work with, and i think you will be looking forward to the opportunity to put the questions to the prime minister who is very much on the ropes at this time. it will be a fascinating prime minister's questions. that will be followed straightaway by a statement from the premise that about easing or may be completely lifting the remaining plan b covid restrictions in england, so a very busy day here at westminster at downing street.

the care regulator, the care quality commission, says the number of staff vacancies in care homes in england has nearly doubled in the past nine months. it's collected data that shows by the end of last year, the number of unfilled posts had risen to more than one in ten jobs. let's speak to our social affairs editor, alison holt. this has been gradually but unrelentingly building to this point, hasn't it? just remind us about this four at the factors behind this. we about this four at the factors behind this.— about this four at the factors behind this. ~ ., ., .., ., behind this. we heard from care home owners, behind this. we heard from care home owners. the — behind this. we heard from care home owners. the people — behind this. we heard from care home owners, the people at _ behind this. we heard from care home owners, the people at the _ behind this. we heard from care home owners, the people at the front - owners, the people at the front line, saying they are really struggling to recruit. that is also reflected in home care where services are provided for people in their own homes. but the state focuses on what is happening in care homes. about 8200 care homes responded to the cqc or not this, that's about half of the total number of homes in england. last april, vacancies were running at

about 6%. by december, they had reached 11.5%. it is worth pointing out that our regional variations, thatis out that our regional variations, that is on average was up in the east of england, vacancies, unfilled jobs went from 5.2% up to just over 12%, so they have really seen a steep increase. the factors are such things such as staff are burnt out after coping with covid, they can be paid more elsewhere, supermarkets are paying more, as we have seen the offer of wages rising. and also compulsory vaccinations in care homes have played a part with some care workers not wanting to be vaccinated. care workers not wanting to be vaccinated-— care workers not wanting to be vaccinated. ,, ., , ., ,., , vaccinated. the cqc has also been talkin: vaccinated. the cqc has also been talking about _ vaccinated. the cqc has also been talking about the _ vaccinated. the cqc has also been talking about the impact _ vaccinated. the cqc has also been talking about the impact of - vaccinated. the cqc has also been talking about the impact of the i talking about the impact of the pandemic on those being cared for? may have had some research done which has spoken to more than 2000 people with caring responsibilites,

and that they found that nearly three quarters of them believe that the mental health of the person they are looking after has deteriorated during the lockdown is and about 50% think that their dignity and independence has been undermined during that time. at the end of this, they cqc say the ability to hear more from people about the type of care they are getting. they want the positive as well as at the negative. but they say the more they hear about people receiving services, the better positioned therein to make sure both services are maintained and improved. allison, thank you very much. you can see those images of boris johnson leaving number 10 to make the shortjourney to the houses of parliament, where of course pmqs will be getting under way in just about 15 minutes' time. a high pressured moment for him as we understand, a growing number of his

mps have handed in letters today 1922 committee, a growing number wanting him to consider his position. let's continue to talk to about the situation facing care homes. let's speak now with heeren mahadoo — managing director of asha healthcare — he runs two care homes. thank you forjoining us today. explain to us how real the issues i have been discussing with alice are having an impact on those care homes at run. it having an impact on those care homes at run. , :, :, having an impact on those care homes at run. , ., ., , .., at run. it is having a significant im act. at run. it is having a significant impact. obviously, _ at run. it is having a significant impact. obviously, our- at run. it is having a significant impact. obviously, our priority| at run. it is having a significant - impact. obviously, our priority has always been to ensure that we ensure the health, safety and welfare of all of our clients. we have had to use agency staff to support our existing staff grip to help ensure that they need of the clients are met. in that they need of the clients are met. , :, that they need of the clients are met. , ., , ., , ., , met. in terms of the number of staff ou have met. in terms of the number of staff you have lost — met. in terms of the number of staff you have lost over _ met. in terms of the number of staff you have lost over the _

met. in terms of the number of staff you have lost over the last _ met. in terms of the number of staff you have lost over the last nine - you have lost over the last nine months, the period at the cqc have been focusing on, give us an idea of the numbers and how tricky it has been to recruit replacements for those staff. we have lost approximately 30% over that period, which is very significant for a small group such as ours. recruitment has never been so challenging. usually edith signed a lot of people apply for positions within the care sector. —— usually you find a lot of people. but during recent months, the number of people applying has been a very small. mit? applying has been a very small. why is that? are — applying has been a very small. why is that? are they _ applying has been a very small. why is that? are they going elsewhere? are there jobs with higher rates of pay and that they are going to? i think it has been a combination of factors. obviously, the pandemic has had an impact on people looking to work in the care sector, given the fact that they, obviously, there are

people that have suffered with the virus and it doubtless this want to put themselves and their families at risk. —— and obviously don't want to. there are other registries offering higher levels of the micro—renumeration. fundamentally, i think the work focuses just diminish as a consequence of brexit as well. there are not enough staff members apply for positions out there applying for positions in the care sector that we would usually recruit from overseas. sector that we would usually recruit from overseas-— from overseas. that is a strain on resources — from overseas. that is a strain on resources in _ from overseas. that is a strain on resources in terms _ from overseas. that is a strain on resources in terms of _ from overseas. that is a strain on resources in terms of the - from overseas. that is a strain on resources in terms of the number from overseas. that is a strain on i resources in terms of the number of staff that you have, a strain on cash flow because of the greater expenses. how much of an impact in terms of the emotional support, something the cqc has been looking at, that staff are able to give to the people they are looking after? that must be stretched? it is

the people they are looking after? that must be stretched?— that must be stretched? it is a challenge- _ that must be stretched? it is a challenge. as _ that must be stretched? it is a challenge. as i _ that must be stretched? it is a challenge. as i say, _ that must be stretched? it is a challenge. as i say, we - that must be stretched? it is a challenge. as i say, we have i that must be stretched? it is a i challenge. as i say, we have had that must be stretched? it is a - challenge. as i say, we have had to supplement other execs and staff with agency staff to ensure the needs of the clients are met. that obviously impacts on the finances of our care homes. but we also make sure we do the best we can to ensure the needs of the clients are met. just briefly, what is a solution out of this? do you see one?- just briefly, what is a solution out of this? do you see one? yes, i do. we are currently _ of this? do you see one? yes, i do. we are currently in _ of this? do you see one? yes, i do. we are currently in the _ of this? do you see one? yes, i do. we are currently in the process - of this? do you see one? yes, i do. we are currently in the process of i we are currently in the process of applying for a sponsorship licence so we can bring staff members from overseas. the government have also done a lot of work and trying to support people overseas to ascertain lousy pieces. —— to attain those visas. we would like the process of applying for the sponsorship licence

to be eased, to be made easier so we can bring staff from places like india to come over to the uk and help us in at looking after our clients. :, ~' , :, help us in at looking after our clients. ., ,, , ., ., help us in at looking after our clients. ., ,, ., ., ,, ., , clients. thank you for talking to us toda . two pieces of breaking loose to bring to you. christian wakeford conservative mp for bury south is defecting to the labour party. our political editor laura kuenssberg tweeting about this, saying a defection moments before pmqs is about tricky as it gets. she points out christian whiteford is one of the mps who has submitted a letter of no confidence in boris johnson. christian whiteford, the bury mp, defecting to the labour

party. another piece of breaking news to bring you. irish police investigating the killing of ashling murphy in county offaly have arrested a second man, who has been detained in the eastern part of ireland for questioning in relation to potential withholding of information. one man in his 30s already arrested by police. now irish police have arrested a second man for questioning in relation to potential withholding of information. a belgian court has sentenced a vietnamese man to 15 years jail after ruling he was a ringleader in the trafficking of 39 migrants found dead in a lorry. found dead in a lorry in essex. vo van hong was accused of leading a cross—channel people trafficking

operation based in belgium. the victims, all vietnamese, were discovered on and industrial estate in in 2019. they had all died from suffocation and hypothermia. an independent review set up by the government will try to establish how best to help those affected. the year is 1995. john major is the prime minister. take that are topping the charts. david was sent to military prison. his crime — being a gay man. they discovered a copy of gay times in my room after a search of my room. this two—year investigation began. when david joined the royal air force as a medic,

aged 17, he was still discovering his identity. i put my life on the line for the country going to the first gulf war, and so, yeah, i was proud of that achievement of helping keep my country safe and knowing they would do the best they could for me — promote me, get the best out of me. so when i was 21, i ended up finding out i'm gay. so then you've got to lead a double life. and when that double life was discovered, david realised it would be the end of his military career. from the moment i admitted to it, i was held in a cell, separate from everyone, and then the trial happened. and then you go... yeah, you're handcuffed, you're going into the cell, you're treated like any other prisoner as if i'd mugged or murdered someone. you're treated the same. offence — gross indecency under the sexual offences act 1956, section... and how has that impacted you when applying forjobs? certain offences are kept — you don't get rid of them. so, as a nurse, i had to go for a job. i had to do what's called enhanced disclosure,

and that's where it came out. now, unless you actually know... it's listed as a sexual offence, so unless you actually know it's the offence of actually being gay, that's quite alarming. it's thought around 5,000 servicemen and women were affected by the ban on lgbt personnel in the military. it remained in place until the year 2000, when this group of veterans took their fight against the ban to the european court of human rights. with effect from today, homosexuality will no longer be a bar to service in britain's armed forces _ he...couldn't ever go i with me to a naval ball. the way we got round it was that we invited our best female friend. - you look like you're having the time of your life. but not everyone impacted by the policy was dismissed outright. some, like patrick, felt forced to resign — as they couldn't be fully open about their love lives at work. there was one time in '88 when i met a young man. |

we fell in love, he was a lovely guy, he was called dennis. - but i learnt something else i the second year and that was that he was hiv positive. we knew that, one day — as was the case then — i that he would die and... i knew that, at some point, - there would be a fork in the road. unable to tell his bosses about the relationship, and terrified of being sent to the other side of the world while his partner was dying, patrick handed in his one—year's notice to leave the navy. dennis died just two days before he was due home for good. i got up there as fast as i could i after his mother had phoned me. he was still warm. you know, they'd sort of brushed his hair, i and...clean white sheet over him. he was in a little side room. i reflected on one thing —| that in the past 48 hours, the only two things that had ever mattered to me had gone. -

while today's announcement is being cautiously welcomed by lgbt veterans, it's clear there's a long way to go for the military to fully regain their trust. josh parry, bbc news. with news of a defection from the conservatives. just moments before pmqs gets under way, let's head back to ben brown, my colleague in downing street. the last thing that borisjohnson just before prime boris johnson just before prime minister's borisjohnson just before prime minister's questions. the bury mp, christian wakeford has defected to the labour party. he has told boris johnson, you and the labour party —— conservative party have... a dramatic intervention from christian wakeford, the bury south tory mp,

defecting to the labour party. i'm told is the first time in 15 years that a conservative mp has crossed the floor of the house to the labour party. we have only had a reaction from the labour leader secured starmer, saying i would like to welcome christian wakeford to the labour party, he has always put the interest of his constituency first. what does that do to borisjohnson and's chances of survival? we already know lots of tory mps have put in letters, calling for a vote of no confidence, calling for a leadership contest. it needs a 54, some of the new intake of the 2019 mps have certainly put in those letters, seven have confirmed publicly they have done that. let's go to our political correspondent, alex forsyth. go to our political correspondent, alex forsyth— go to our political correspondent, alex fors h. , ., , ., alex forsyth. this could hardly have come at a worse _ alex forsyth. this could hardly have come at a worse time _ alex forsyth. this could hardly have come at a worse time for _ alex forsyth. this could hardly have come at a worse time for boris - come at a worse time for boris johnson or a better time for keir starmer. it was already looking like

a pretty pivotal moment for boris johnson was up lots of mps in what is a very few brow at westminster today waiting to hear what he says before they make their decision about what happens next. christian wakeford was one of those mps who won his seat in 2019, he won it by just over 400 votes, so it may be he is looking at his own political fortunes over this. we know he was very angry last week about the week this whole affair was handled. we know he is one of those who publicly stated he thought borisjohnson should face a vote of no confidence, suggesting himself he had no faith. given that, it is remarkable he has chosen to cross to the labour party. we are told is worth watching out to see what he does a prime minister questions— where will he sit? will he sit directly behind sir keir starmer? will he choose to physically cross the floor from the conservative benches to the labour benches? that really be quite a

moment. we have heard one cabinet ministerfrom us here that moment. we have heard one cabinet minister from us here that it is very sad, that mps should be pulling together at this time. but there does not seem to be a lot of that right now. borisjohnson was already on the ropes. having said that, while bidders some mps have a very public in a criticism of the prime minister, there are others who are still keeping their council and there are still mps are saying this is a waiting game and we must wait for the official inquiry into those parties at downing street before deciding where to go next. everybody still holding their breaths, but this defection from christian wakeford is an enormously significant moment. we wakeford is an enormously significant moment. we still don't know how many — significant moment. we still don't know how many letters _ significant moment. we still don't know how many letters have - significant moment. we still don't know how many letters have gone significant moment. we still don't i know how many letters have gone to sir graham brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee, only he knows. it needs 54 to trigger a leadership contest. but even before this defection from christian wakeford, our political editor laura kuenssberg was saying there is a

vicious mood around, the mood is deteriorating amongst tory mps. you're right, there is one man who knows how many letters he hopes, sir graham brady, he is the only person who knows, so don't believe any speculation from others. but it is definitely safe to say the mood really hard that the couple of days. think back to the beginning of the week, there is almost something of a lull amongst the week, there is almost something of a lull amongst mice conservative mps, that they were prepared to wait for that same grey report, that official investigation by the cabinet office before deciding to do what to do we know a group of those near the elected 2019 mps met, we now the express series�*s elected 2019 mps met, we now the express series's leadership. we know some of them may have even written their letters and put them in. without that has no doubt been a hardening of town and at the last 24 hours or so. even those fairly loyal to the prime minister are privately

saying i'm not sure how much longer this can go on. it is creating something of a toxic environment. we also have to bear in mind a lot of mps will be looking to their constituents and are thinking how is this playing out constituency with the people i represent? is what is what is happening here in westminster really going down so well on the doorstep? i think the messages they are getting back from some of is that it is not. it does feel like we are still in a bit of a waiting game. there are lots of people around westminster today, general among them, trying to work out where mp said. that is increasingly a sense that boris johnson is in some trouble at this point. johnson is in some trouble at this oint. �* , , :, johnson is in some trouble at this oint. �*, , ., ., ., point. let's listen and now two prime minister's _ point. let's listen and now two prime minister's questions. i point. let's listen and now two | prime minister's questions. the premise that is on his feet. i now call wendy chamberlain. mr i now call wendy chamberlain. speaker, i i now call wendy chamberlain. ij�*i speaker, i will shortly be i now call wendy chamberlain. ii speaker, i will shortly be updating

the house on this country's fantastic progress in tackling covid—19, including the booster programme, enabling us to ease plan b measures and restore the ancient liberties of this country. i know that the whole house will be delighted that her majesty the queen has given permission for a special medal to be awarded to all those who have been deployed to kabul. the operation saw the service men and women deliver the largest british evacuation since the second world war and the whole country can be immensely proud of their service. this morning i had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. and in addition to my duties on this as i will have further such meetings later today. as i will have further such meetings later today-— as i will have further such meetings i later today-_ last later today. wendy chamberlain. last ear we later today. wendy chamberlain. last year we were — later today. wendy chamberlain. last year we were told _ later today. wendy chamberlain. last year we were told by _ later today. wendy chamberlain. last year we were told by the _ later today. wendy chamberlain. last year we were told by the prime - year we were told by the prime minister that there were no downing street parties. then it turned out that there were parties, but we were assured that no rules were broken. last week we heard that the rules may have been broken but that he

thought it was a work event and yesterday, from the man who wrote the rules, it was that nobody told me what the rules were. five weeks ago the people of north shropshire were clear and the people of north east fife are being clear to me now, no matter the excuse, there is no excuse for taking the british people for full. excuse for taking the british people forfull. will the prime minister agree that it is now time for him to resign? agree that it is now time for him to resin? :, ~ agree that it is now time for him to resin? ., ~ ,,, ., ,, agree that it is now time for him to resin? :, ~ ,,, ., ,, , agree that it is now time for him to resin? :, ~ .«r , ., resign? no, mr speaker, but whatl can tell her. — resign? no, mr speaker, but whatl can tell her. as _ resign? no, mr speaker, but whatl can tell her, as i _ resign? no, mr speaker, but whatl can tell her, as i said _ resign? no, mr speaker, but whatl can tell her, as i said to _ resign? no, mr speaker, but whatl can tell her, as i said to the - resign? no, mr speaker, but whatl can tell her, as i said to the house | can tell her, as i said to the house last week, i apologise sincerely for the judgments last week, i apologise sincerely for thejudgments made but she must contain her patience and wait for the enquiry before she draws any conclusions before she asserts them. the latest evidence and research shows the uk is the most act —— attractive country in the world amongst young people across the g20. and amid intense soft power

including soft power such as china, can the prime minister assure me and other members of the british council all party group that the government will meet the british council funding requirements to make sure it doesn't have to close more offices overseas and to make sure it commits to retaining our top spot. i entirely share my right honourable friend's enthusiasm for the british council which is a wonderful institution that we all love and thatis institution that we all love and that is why we are providing £189 million of funding this year. a 27% increase, despite all the difficulties the country is facing, 27% increase on the previous financial year and we've also provided a loan facility of up to £145 million to support all of the wonderful work the british council does. we wonderful work the british council does. ~ ., wonderful work the british council does. ~ :,

wonderful work the british council does. ~ ., ., ., ., does. we now come to the leader of the opposition. _ does. we now come to the leader of the opposition, keir— does. we now come to the leader of the opposition, keir starmer. - does. we now come to the leader of the opposition, keir starmer. thank| the opposition, keir starmer. thank ou, mr the opposition, keir starmer. thank you. mr speaker- — the opposition, keir starmer. thank you, mr speaker. can _ the opposition, keir starmer. thank you, mr speaker. can i _ the opposition, keir starmer. thank you, mr speaker. can i start - the opposition, keir starmer. thank you, mr speaker. can i start by - you, mr speaker. can i start by warmly welcoming... flan you, mr speaker. can i start by warmly welcoming. . .— you, mr speaker. can i start by warmly welcoming... can i 'ust say, i exect warmly welcoming... can i 'ust say, i expect people i warmly welcoming... can i 'ust say, i expect people to h warmly welcoming... can i 'ust say, i expect people to listen _ warmly welcoming... can i just say, i expect people to listen to - warmly welcoming... can i just say, i expect people to listen to the - i expect people to listen to the prime — i expect people to listen to the prime minister. i certainly don't want _ prime minister. i certainly don't want the — prime minister. i certainly don't want the leader of the opposition shouted _ want the leader of the opposition shouted down. you might not like the date, _ shouted down. you might not like the date, this— shouted down. you might not like the date, this is— shouted down. you might not like the date, this is the date we had got. i'm date, this is the date we had got. l'm not— date, this is the date we had got. i'm not bothered. i assumed date, this is the date we had got. i'm not bothered. iassumed it date, this is the date we had got. i'm not bothered. i assumed it was directed over here. can i start by warmly welcoming the honourable member for bury south to their new post and to the parliamentary labour party. mr speaker, like so many people up and down the country, he has concluded that the prime minister of the conservative party have shown themselves to be incapable of offering the leadership and government this country deserves, where is the labour party stands ready to provide an

alternative government that the country can be proud of. the labour party has changed, and so has the conservative party. he and anyone else who wants to build a new britain built on decency, security, prosperity and respect is welcome in my labour party. every week the prime minister offers absurd and frankly unbelievable defences to the downing street parties. and each week it unravels. i’sere downing street parties. and each week it unravels.— downing street parties. and each week it unravels. i've been elected the chair. week it unravels. i've been elected the chair- i— week it unravels. i've been elected the chair. i don't _ week it unravels. i've been elected the chair. i don't need _ week it unravels. i've been elected the chair. i don't need to _ week it unravels. i've been elected the chair. i don't need to be - week it unravels. i've been elected the chair. i don't need to be told i the chair. i don't need to be told how to _ the chair. i don't need to be told how to conduct the business, so if somebody— how to conduct the business, so if somebody wants to do some direction, i will somebody wants to do some direction, twill start— somebody wants to do some direction, i will start directing them out of the chamber. keir starmer. i�*m i will start directing them out of the chamber. keir starmer. i'm sure the chamber. keir starmer. i'm sure the chief whip _ the chamber. keir starmer. i'm sure the chief whip has _ the chamber. keir starmer. i'm sure the chief whip has told _ the chamber. keir starmer. i'm sure the chief whip has told them - the chamber. keir starmer. i'm sure the chief whip has told them to - the chief whip has told them to bring their own booze.

laughter let's try and get on with questions. it let's try and get on with questions. it will— let's try and get on with questions. it will be _ let's try and get on with questions. it will be a — let's try and get on with questions. it will be a long day if not. keir starmen — it will be a long day if not. keir starmer. , ., starmer. first he said there were no arties, starmer. first he said there were no parties. then — starmer. first he said there were no parties. then the — starmer. first he said there were no parties, then the video _ starmer. first he said there were no parties, then the video landed, - parties, then the video landed, blowing that out the water. next he said he was sick and i'm furious when he found out about the parties, until it turned out that he himself was at the downing street garden party. then last week, he said he did not realise he was at a party and, surprise, surprise, no one believed him. so, this week, he's got a new defence. nobody warned me that it was against the rules. that's it. nobody told him. since the prime minister wrote the rules, why on earth did he think his new defence is going to work for him?

well, he talks about the rules and let me repeat what i said to the honourable lady across the aisle earlier on. of course, mr speaker, we must wait and see what happens in the enquiry but when it comes to his view... :, the enquiry but when it comes to his view... ., ., the enquiry but when it comes to his view... :, ., ., the enquiry but when it comes to his view... ., ., ., , view... can we have a little less? i want to hear— view... can we have a little less? i want to hear this _ view... can we have a little less? i want to hear this prime _ view... can we have a little less? i want to hear this prime minister i want to hear this prime minister like i_ want to hear this prime minister like i want — want to hear this prime minister like i want to hear the leader of the opposition. i want the same the opposition. ! want the same courtesy— the opposition. i want the same courtesy from both sides. prime minister? — courtesy from both sides. prime minister? if courtesy from both sides. prime minister? :, courtesy from both sides. prime minister? ., , ., minister? if we had listened to the ri . ht minister? if we had listened to the right honourable _ minister? if we had listened to the right honourable gentleman - minister? if we had listened to the right honourable gentleman about| right honourable gentleman about covid restrictions, which is the substance of his question, then we would still be in lockdown after july. if we had listened, this is the truth, if we had listened to the labour front bench in the the truth, if we had listened to the labourfront bench in the run—up the truth, if we had listened to the labour front bench in the run—up to christmas and new year, we would have stayed in restrictions with

huge damage to the economy, and it's because of thejudgments huge damage to the economy, and it's because of the judgments that i've taken and we have taken in downing street that we now have the fastest—growing in the g7, and gdp is now back up above pre—pandemic levels. and as for bury south, let me say to the right honourable gentleman that the conservative party won the bury south for the first time in generations under this prime minister with an agenda of uniting and levelling up and delivering for the people of bury south, and we will win again in bury south, and we will win again in bury south at the next election under this prime minister.

look, it's important i hear. i want to hear— look, it's important i hear. i want to hear both — look, it's important i hear. i want to hear both sides and i don't want this continuous chance, because if we do. _ this continuous chance, because if we do, there will be less people on these _ we do, there will be less people on these benches and the same on the other— these benches and the same on the other side — these benches and the same on the other side. expect both sides to be heard _ other side. expect both sides to be heard with — other side. expect both sides to be heard with courtesy. bur}r other side. expect both sides to be heard with courtesy.— heard with courtesy. bury south is now a labour— heard with courtesy. bury south is now a labour seat, _ heard with courtesy. bury south is now a labour seat, prime - heard with courtesy. bury south is| now a labour seat, prime minister. order. did somebody want me to apologise? somebody shouted apologise ? somebody shouted apologise. apologise? somebody shouted apologise. i hope it wasn't aimed at me. apologise. i hope it wasn't aimed at me so _ apologise. i hope it wasn't aimed at me so we — apologise. i hope it wasn't aimed at me. so we will also have less from that corner~ — me. so we will also have less from that corner. keir starmer.- that corner. keir starmer. thank ou, mr that corner. keir starmer. thank you, mr speaker. _ that corner. keir starmer. thank you, mr speaker. not _ that corner. keir starmer. thank you, mr speaker. not only - that corner. keir starmer. thank you, mr speaker. not only did i that corner. keir starmer. thank| you, mr speaker. not only did he write to the rules, but some of his staff say they did warn him about attending the party on the 20th of may, 2020. i've heard the prime minister's very carefully crafted response that accusation. it almost sounds like a lawyer wrote it. so i

will be equally careful with my question. when did the prime ministerfirst become question. when did the prime minister first become aware that any of his staff had concerns about the 20th of may party? mr of his staff had concerns about the 20th of may party?— of his staff had concerns about the 20th of may party? mr speaker, i am crateful to 20th of may party? mr speaker, i am grateful to the _ 20th of may party? mr speaker, i am grateful to the right _ 20th of may party? mr speaker, i am grateful to the right honourable - grateful to the right honourable gentleman for repeating the question he has already asked. we have answered that it is for the enquiry to come forward with an explanation of what happened and i'm afraid he simply must wait. but he asks about my staff, mr speaker. he asked about my staff, mr speaker. he asked about my staff, mr speaker. he asked about my staff and what they were doing and what they have told me and i can tell him that they have taken decisions throughout this pandemic that he has opposed to open up in july. that he has opposed to open up in july, as i said, to mount the fastest vaccine roll—out in europe and mr speaker, to double the speed of the booster roll—out. with the

result that we have the most open economy in europe and we have more people in employment, more employees on the payroll now than their work before the pandemic began. that is what my staff have been working on in downing street, mr speaker and i am proud of them. see in downing street, mr speaker and i am proud of them.— in downing street, mr speaker and i am proud of them. so, apparently sue gra is am proud of them. so, apparently sue gray is going — am proud of them. so, apparently sue gray is going to _ am proud of them. so, apparently sue gray is going to tell— am proud of them. so, apparently sue gray is going to tell the _ am proud of them. so, apparently sue gray is going to tell the prime - gray is going to tell the prime minister that he —— she will be the one to say if he had concerns about the 20th of may party. the prime minister's kan gets more extraordinary with each version of the defence. if the brymon is the's new defence were true it requires him to suggest that his staff are not being truthful when they said they warned him about the party. it requires the prime minister to expect us to believe that while every other person who was invited on the 20th of may to the party was told it was a social occasion, he alone was told it was a work meeting. it also requires us,

requires the prime minister to ask us to accept that as he waded through the empty bottles and platters of sandwiches, he didn't realise it was a party. does the prime minister realise how ridiculous that sounds? mr speaker, i've said ridiculous that sounds? mr speaker, we said what _ ridiculous that sounds? mr speaker, i've said what i've _ ridiculous that sounds? mr speaker, i've said what i've said _ ridiculous that sounds? mr speaker, i've said what i've said about - ridiculous that sounds? mr speaker, i've said what i've said about the - i've said what i've said about the events in number ten and he will have to wait, and he asks for further clarification and i say this entirely in passing, lots of people are interested in the exact legal justification from the learning leader of the opposition for the picture of him drinking a pint of beer or a bottle of beer. perhaps he could tell the house about that in a minute. but what i can tell the

houseis minute. but what i can tell the house is that throughout the pandemic, people across government have been working flat out to protect the british public, with a huge quantity of ppe so we can make 80% of the country and we are —— we had the biggest and most generous fellow scheme virtually anywhere in the world, and by the way, mr speaker, if we listen to them, we would have stayed in the european medicines agency and we would have never been able to deliver the vaccine roll—out at the speed we did. vaccine roll-out at the speed we did. ~ ,,, ., ~ did. mr speaker, if the prime minister thinks _ did. mr speaker, if the prime minister thinks the _ did. mr speaker, if the prime minister thinks the only - did. mr speaker, if the prime - minister thinks the only accusation he faces is that he once had a beer with a takeaway, then operation big dog, is in bigger trouble than i thought. if the prime minister misleads parliament, should they resign? misleads parliament, should they resin? �* . . misleads parliament, should they resin? 2, , misleads parliament, should they resin? ,~ .,

resign? let's be absolutely clear, the riaht resign? let's be absolutely clear, the right honourable _ resign? let's be absolutely clear, the right honourable gentleman i resign? let's be absolutely clear, | the right honourable gentleman is continuing to ask a series of question which he knows will be fully addressed by the enquiry, and he is wasting this house's time and the people's time. he continues to be completely irrelevant and that is why we have an enquiry. we have an enquiry and i'm not going to anticipate that enquiry any further. what i can tell him is that it is because of the judgments that were taken in downing street and because of the willingness of the british people to put trust, by the way, in those judgments, people to put trust, by the way, in thosejudgments, to come people to put trust, by the way, in those judgments, to come forward people to put trust, by the way, in thosejudgments, to come forward in huge numbers to get vaccinated, which people did, and i thank them for it from the bottom of my heart. people did that because they listened to our messages, mr speaker and as a result of that we now have the fastest growing economy in the g7 and youth unemployment, which he ought to care about, at a record

low. i ought to care about, at a record low. ~' :, �* , ought to care about, at a record low. ~ :, h :, ought to care about, at a record low. ~ ., �*, ., ., low. i know it's not going well, prime minister, _ low. i know it's not going well, prime minister, but _ low. i know it's not going well, prime minister, but look - low. i know it's not going well, prime minister, but look on i low. i know it's not going well, | prime minister, but look on the bright side. at least the staff at number ten know how to pack a suitcase. mr speaker, last year her majesty the queen sat alone when she marks the passing of the man she had been married to for 73 years. she followed the rules of the country that she leads. on the eve of that funeral, a suitcase was filled with booze and wheeled into downing street, a dj played and staff partied late into the night. the prime minister has been forced to hand an apology to her majesty the queen. isn't he ashamed that he did not hand him his resignation at the same time? we go, i understand why the right honourable gentleman continues to...

we normally would not rightly mention— we normally would not rightly mention the royal family. we don't .et mention the royal family. we don't get into— mention the royal family. we don't get into discussions on the royal family _ get into discussions on the royal famil . ~ . get into discussions on the royal famil . . ., , , get into discussions on the royal famil . : ., , family. well in that case i must ask the riaht family. well in that case i must ask the right honourable _ family. well in that case i must ask the right honourable gentleman - family. well in that case i must ask the right honourable gentleman to l the right honourable gentleman to withdraw it. i the right honourable gentleman to withdraw it. ., ., withdraw it. i have dealt with it. keir starmer. _ withdraw it. i have dealt with it. keir starmer. order! _ withdraw it. i have dealt with it. keir starmer. order! prime - withdraw it. i have dealt with it. - keir starmer. order! prime minister, we don't _ keir starmer. order! prime minister, we don't want to go through that again _ we don't want to go through that again i— we don't want to go through that again. i will make the decisions. the answer— again. i will make the decisions. the answer is that the next question, we are going back to keir starmer— question, we are going back to keir starmer to— question, we are going back to keir starmer to ask his final question. keir starmer. thank you, mr speaker. whilst the prime minister waste energy defending the indefensible, people's energy bills are rocketing. labour has a plan to deal with it, axe vat for everyone, provide extra

support of the hardest hit and pay for it with a one—off tax on oil and gas companies. a serious plan for a serious problem. what is the government offering? nothing. too distracted by their own chaos to do theirjob. while labour were setting up theirjob. while labour were setting up plans to heat homes, he was buying a fridge to keep the party wind shield. while we were setting out plans to keep bills down, he was planning parties, and while we were setting out plans to save jobs in the steel industry, he was trying to save just one job, the steel industry, he was trying to savejust onejob, his the steel industry, he was trying to save just one job, his own. the steel industry, he was trying to savejust onejob, his own. doesn't the country deserves a much better than this out of touch, out of control, and soon to be out of office prime minister? mr speaker, i'll tell ou office prime minister? mr speaker, i'll tell you what _ office prime minister? mr speaker, i'll tell you what this _ office prime minister? mr speaker, i'll tell you what this government i i'll tell you what this government has been doing for the people of this country throughout this pandemic and beyond. we have been cutting the cost of living, helping, raising, we have been cutting taxes

for people on low pay, mr speaker, we have been increasing payments for people suffering the costs of fuel. prime minister, can ijust say, constituents want to hear the questions and the answers. the great british— questions and the answers. the great british public, the members of this united _ british public, the members of this united kingdom which you are representing, they need to hear, please. — representing, they need to hear, please, let's hear the question answered. we please, let's hear the question answered-— please, let's hear the question answered. . _, ., answered. we will continue to look after people _ answered. we will continue to look after people throughout _ answered. we will continue to look after people throughout this - after people throughout this pandemic and beyond, but we have also mr speaker been cutting crime by 10%, 11,000 new bobbies out on the... record home—building last year, more than at any time in the last 30 years, we are building 40 new hospitals, mr speaker. broadband has gone up from 9% coverage to 65% already and as i said already, three times four times today, we have more people, more employees on the payroll, that now than before the

pandemic began, and unemployment, youth employment at a record low, mr speaker, and when the history of this pandemic comes to be written and the history of the party comes to be written, and they are history more meanly, mr speaker, it will show that we delivered, while they macro do, and be vaccinated while they vacillated, mr speaker, and the reason we have been able to lift restrictions faster than any other country in europe, and we have the most open economy, and most open society in europe, mr speaker, is thanks to the booster roll—out and thanks to the booster roll—out and thanks to the work of staff up and down whitehall, across government, throughout the nhs, and i am intensely proud of what this government has done. cheering

order! ., ., ., , ., cheering order! you will hear more if ou let order! you will hear more if you let the questions _ order! you will hear more if you let the questions come. _ order! you will hear more if you let the questions come. mark - order! you will hear more if you let the questions come. mark halsey. l the questions come. mark halsey. followin: the questions come. mark halsey. following on _ the questions come. mark halsey. following on from _ the questions come. mark halsey. following on from the _ the questions come. mark halsey. following on from the excellent i the questions come. mark halsey. i following on from the excellent news on the economy and jobs, the prime minister will remember my question last year about proposals for a factory in coventry. last week local councils granted outline planning permission to create 6000 new skilled jobs, to secure thousands of others, to inject £2.5 billion into our local economy and level up across our region, with fast rising demand for greener and cleaner electric cars, may i ask him for his support to ensure the swift delivery of this vitally important project? i thank my honourable friend for campaigning for this wonderful project, and we are supporting the electric vehicle industry with another £350 million available through the automotive transformation fund on top of the

£500 million commitment we have already made in the ten point plan and i know that the campaign for coventry airport is an excellent one, and i look forward to see how it develops. taste one, and i look forward to see how it develops-— it develops. we now come to the leader of the _ it develops. we now come to the leader of the snp _ it develops. we now come to the leader of the snp in _ it develops. we now come to the leader of the snp in blackford. i leader of the snp in blackford. thank— leader of the snp in blackford. thank you, mr speaker. —— ian black. this week was supposed to be operation save big dog, but it is quickly become operation dog's dinner. we've had more damaging revelations about downing street, more evidence that parliament has been misled, and an even longer list of ludicrous, absolutely ludicrous, excuses from the prime minister. first, he claimed there were no parties — first, he claimed there were no arties. ., , �* first, he claimed there were no arties. .,, �* , , parties. then he wasn't present. then he admitted _ parties. then he wasn't present. then he admitted he _ parties. then he wasn't present. then he admitted he was - parties. then he wasn't present. then he admitted he was at - parties. then he wasn't present. i then he admitted he was at them, parties. then he wasn't present. - then he admitted he was at them, but he didn't know it was a party. and

then, mr speaker, the latest sorry excuseis then, mr speaker, the latest sorry excuse is really the most pathetic of them all. "nobody told me". nobody told me. nobody told the prime minister he was breaking his own rules. absolutely pathetic. the prime minister... the prime minister laughing once again, laughing at the british public. the prime minister taking the public for fools. nobody believes him. will the prime ministerfinally take responsibility, resign! go, prime minister! i responsibility, resign! go, prime minister! . ~ responsibility, resign! go, prime minister! ., ,, ., , minister! i thank him for his ruestion minister! i thank him for his question again. _ minister! i thank him for his question again. let - minister! i thank him for his question again. let me - minister! i thank him for his question again. let me just| minister! i thank him for his - question again. let me just remind him that there is an inquiry that is due to conclude. i believe he is wrong and what he asserts, mr speaker, but we will have to wait and see what the inquiry says. mr

speaker, the most important thing from the point of view of the uk government is that we are coming out of the restrictions that we have been in. i'm delighted to see that is happening in scotland as well. and back is thanks to the wonderful cooperation that we continue to see across the whole of the uk although you wouldn't believe it to hear from him. ., �* ., . ~' you wouldn't believe it to hear from him. ., m, . ~' ~ you wouldn't believe it to hear from him. ., �* ~ you wouldn't believe it to hear from him. ian black. mr speaker, i'm afraid that— him. ian black. mr speaker, i'm afraid that nobody _ him. ian black. mr speaker, i'm afraid that nobody is _ him. ian black. mr speaker, i'm afraid that nobody is buying - him. ian black. mr speaker, i'm afraid that nobody is buying thisj afraid that nobody is buying this act any more. there ought to be dignity and respect from the prime minister. let's remind ourselves that 150,000 of our citizens have died and he is partying and laughing and it simply isn't acceptable. the endless excuses and empty promises that it will be different only if we give him one last chance, this is a prime minister who arrogantly believes that he is above the rules. a prime minister who brazenly twist the truth. a prime minister who

simply isn't fit for office. the prime minister's former chief adviser has said that he lied to parliament, breaking the ministerial code. prime minister, a resignation offence. public trust is haemorrhaging. with every day that passes, this tory government loses even more credibility. when will the tory mps finally do the right thing, show the prime minister the door! mr speaker, i thank the right honourable gentleman. i must say that i disagree with him and i think that i disagree with him and i think that when you look at the levels of trust that the british people and people in scotland, wales, northern ireland and across the country have shown in government, the single biggest index, mr speaker of that trust, has been their willingness to come forward voluntarily, mr speaker, unlike many other countries in the world, to get vaccinated on a

scale not seen anywhere else in europe, and that is because of our ability, the nhs' ability, to persuade people it is the right thing. it is a fantastic thing. and by the way, mr speaker, it is a tribute to the united kingdom, because that vaccine roll—out was a uk effort. because that vaccine roll-out was a uk effort. . ~ because that vaccine roll-out was a uk effort. ., ,, i. because that vaccine roll-out was a uk effort. . ~' ,, ~ because that vaccine roll-out was a uk effort. ., ,, i. ~ ,,, ., ,, uk effort. thank you, mr speaker, when it comes _ uk effort. thank you, mr speaker, when it comes to _ uk effort. thank you, mr speaker, when it comes to exporting, - uk effort. thank you, mr speaker, when it comes to exporting, this i when it comes to exporting, this country punches well above its weight and the prime minister saw this when he visited the british aerospace systems factory of the future in lancashire last year, in addition to fantastic local businesses, which are doing a great job forflying the businesses, which are doing a great job for flying the flag for lancashire globally, but also the many smaller businesses that are eager to get exporting into new markets. what steps is the prime minister taking to help businesses make the most of brexit and maximise export potential? i make the most of brexit and maximise export potential?— export potential? i thank him for what he's doing _ export potential? i thank him for what he's doing to _ export potential? i thank him for what he's doing to trade - export potential? i thank him for what he's doing to trade with - export potential? i thank him for i what he's doing to trade with latin america, and i have no doubt that

businesses such as squire hair are eager to get into those new markets and we will do everything that we can to help and support him in his efforts. . ~ can to help and support him in his efforts. ., ,, , ., can to help and support him in his efforts. . ~' , :, ~ can to help and support him in his efforts. ., ~' i., ~ ,,, ., ~' can to help and support him in his efforts. ., ,, ~ .«r a efforts. thank you, mr speaker. as the cost of — efforts. thank you, mr speaker. as the cost of living _ efforts. thank you, mr speaker. as the cost of living crisis _ efforts. thank you, mr speaker. as the cost of living crisis deepens, i the cost of living crisis deepens, this government's priorities get ever more remote from my kirkcaldy and cowdenbeath constituents. only this week, i learned that a constituent james scott took his own life as a result of his struggle with mounting financial pressures. this is a government found to have acted unlawfully by the high court with covid contracts, and now has written off 4.3 billion allocated to those covid schemes, why can the uk government find billions for property is unfortunate, but they cannot find compassion to treat people with dignity, lifting the benefits cap and reinstating the cut to universal credit?—

to universal credit? firstly i want to universal credit? firstly i want to say how _ to universal credit? firstly i want to say how sorry _ to universal credit? firstly i want to say how sorry i _ to universal credit? firstly i want to say how sorry i am, _ to universal credit? firstly i want to say how sorry i am, mr - to universal credit? firstly i want i to say how sorry i am, mr speaker, for what he had to say about james scott, and this government does as much as we can to support veterans, thatis much as we can to support veterans, that is why we have published a veterans action plan only the other day, but what we are doing is ensuring we support people throughout this crisis. i will refer him to my answer to the right honourable gentleman on many of the steps we are taking to protect people on low incomes and we will continue to do more, mr speaker. in terms of the contract for ppe, i think it was an astonishing thing at great speed to be able to give this country 17 billion items of ppe, thanks to the efforts of people across whitehall, this country is now capable of producing 80% of our own ppe. ,, :, , now capable of producing 80% of our own ppe. . :, , , :, now capable of producing 80% of our own ppe. ,, ., , , ., , .,, now capable of producing 80% of our ownppe. ,, ., , , ., , , own ppe. shortly before christmas my constituent oliver _ own ppe. shortly before christmas my constituent oliver was _ own ppe. shortly before christmas my constituent oliver was found - own ppe. shortly before christmas my constituent oliver was found at - own ppe. shortly before christmas my constituent oliver was found at home | constituent oliver was found at home having been stabbed to death on the

eve of his 20th birthday. yesterday, his heartbroken parents help their son's funeral. oliver leaves behind a partner and baby daughter, and two teenagers have been arrested for his murder. this tragic event leaves behind a devastated family, friends and are worried community. i am gratefulfor and are worried community. i am grateful for the and are worried community. i am gratefulfor the work and are worried community. i am grateful for the work staffordshire police is undertaking to tackle violent crime in my constituency, and the extra 149 additional police officers recruited is very welcome but does the prime minister agreed with me that a multi—stakeholder approach is vital to tackling crime is amongst our young people, and what can the government do, to support notjust the police, but schools, colleges and local authorities in working to address this issue? . authorities in working to address this issue? , :, authorities in working to address this issue? , ., ., authorities in working to address this issue?— this issue? first of all, i am very had -- sad _ this issue? first of all, i am very had -- sad to — this issue? first of all, i am very had -- sad to hear— this issue? first of all, i am very had -- sad to hear the _ this issue? first of all, i am very had -- sad to hear the news - this issue? first of all, i am very had -- sad to hear the news of. this issue? first of all, i am very i had -- sad to hear the news of the had —— sad to hear the news of the loss of a constituent, oliver. and like so many victims of violent crime, the answer, as is the case so

many times, it is notjust policing which is vitally important, and that is why we are investing so massively in 20,000 more police officers, supporting them with toughening the law, mr speaker, but it is also as you rightly says, if we are to get all of the institutions of the state to work together, schools, colleges, social services and the health services, mental health services, as well. . ~ services, mental health services, as well. ., ,, , ., services, mental health services, as well. . ~' , :, , services, mental health services, as well. ., ,, , . services, mental health services, as well. . ~' , : ~ well. thank you very much mr speaker- _ well. thank you very much mr speaker- why _ well. thank you very much mr speaker. why is _ well. thank you very much mr speaker. why is it _ well. thank you very much mr speaker. why is it so - well. thank you very much mr speaker. why is it so hard - well. thank you very much mr speaker. why is it so hard for| well. thank you very much mr - speaker. why is it so hard for this prime minister to admit that he made the rules, so he she he should know the rules, so he she he should know the rules, so he she he should know the rules and follow the rules? everyone out there and there is that it is as simple as that. and if he had any shred of compassion for all of those out there who have suffered through this, he would go. mr speaker, i am entirely understand people's feelings and i entirely support what she says about obeying the rules when you make the rules.

she is completely right. on the other hand, i would urge her to wait, as i said to the benches opposite, to wait until next week. thank you, mr speaker. the opposition have been told there is an inquiry, they have wasted every question on one issue in my constituents want us to get on with other things. constituents want us to get on with otherthings. in constituents want us to get on with other things. injanuary constituents want us to get on with other things. in january 2021 the government has, does financial assets would would block an estimated £800 million will be looking how to spend the english portion of that and the community

wealth fund he proposes is certainly an option and i thank him very much. my an option and i thank him very much. my constituent told me that her friend saw an ambulance outside the health and she was not allowed to go into the house to comfort her friend as she died. her husband went to his rest with almost in an empty building was because of his friend stood freezing, and then and went home to an empty house to grieve the rest of the day alone. my constituent susan was not allowed to go in the unbalance or even follow an ambulance after her husband had a heart attack. other constituents had the heartbreaking decision that they weren't allowed to go into care homes to break the news in person to their relatives that someone else in their relatives that someone else in the family had died. in their words, not mine, in their words, the prime minister is a charlatan, a hypocrite and a liar. what will he now say to my constituents? i and a liar. what will he now say to my constituents?— my constituents? i know you are re -aeatin my constituents? i know you are

repeating what _ my constituents? i know you are repeating what you're _ my constituents? i know you are | repeating what you're constituent said but— repeating what you're constituent said but i— repeating what you're constituent said but i want more moderate and temperate — said but i want more moderate and temperate language. you might want to deal— temperate language. you might want to deal with the general question. | to deal with the general question. i want to deal with the general question. want to to deal with the general question. i want to repeat that i understand the feelings that he has relayed to me, as i said last week and i sympathise very deeply with the feelings and i understand why people feel as they do and i thank people very much for what they have done and i recognise the enormous sacrifice people have made and i apologise for misjudgments that might have been made in number ten by me or anybody else but please can i ask him to wait for the enquiry to conclude? i recently held a debate held by the honourable friend for west aberdeen seeking a central london memorial for the photographic reconnaissance unit and in i referenced my northampton south constituents, a mosquito pilot, mr george prichard who is 98 next week. and he is one

of the last surviving members of the unit. will the prime ministerjoin my honourable friend, me and mr prichard in backing this fitting and needed memorial? i prichard in backing this fitting and needed memorial?— prichard in backing this fitting and needed memorial? i thank you very much and i — needed memorial? i thank you very much and i will _ needed memorial? i thank you very much and i will certainly _ needed memorial? i thank you very much and i will certainly do - needed memorial? i thank you very much and i will certainly do what i i much and i will certainly do what i can to support it although as he knows, the memorial this is a matter for local authorities and what this house and what this government can certainly do is ensure that a memorial is not desecrated as they have been across this country and make sure we support legislation that penalises those who indulge in such desecration.— such desecration. when a prime minister is _ such desecration. when a prime minister is spending _ such desecration. when a prime minister is spending his - such desecration. when a prime minister is spending his time i such desecration. when a prime i minister is spending his time trying to convince the great british public that he's actually stupid rather than dishonest, isn't it time that he goes now? i than dishonest, isn't it time that

he goes now?— he goes now? i think that was a ruestion he goes now? i think that was a question for _ he goes now? i think that was a question for you _ he goes now? i think that was a question for you rather - he goes now? i think that was a question for you rather than - he goes now? i think that was a | question for you rather than me, he goes now? i think that was a - question for you rather than me, but look, i've made my point and i think the british public have responded to what this government has had to say in the most eloquent way possible and they have beaten covid so far mr speaker and have helped to defeat covert so far with the steps they have taken by getting vaccinated and incrementing plan b and i thank them. , . incrementing plan b and i thank them. , , :, incrementing plan b and i thank them, , :, incrementing plan b and i thank them, , ., _, , incrementing plan b and i thank them, , ., , ., them. just for the record. it is not seaker's them. just for the record. it is not speaker's questions. _ them. just for the record. it is not speaker's questions. our- them. just for the record. it is not speaker's questions. our armed i speaker's questions. our armed forces have _ speaker's questions. our armed forces have earned _ speaker's questions. our armed forces have earned the - speaker's questions. our armed forces have earned the respect| speaker's questions. our armed i forces have earned the respect and admiration of our nation, not least during the pandemic. and on remembrance sunday we commemorate their sacrifices but on armed forces day, on the 25th ofjune, we will celebrate all that is amazing about the army, navy and air force. in a normal year we get about 20,000 people at the event in scarborough, but this year we will finally host after it twice being postponed,

national armed forces days. will the prime minister pull out all the stops on landscape —— see and dare to make this an event to remember? i've no doubt armed forces day will be absolutely spectacular across the country and that scarborough will make a terrific contribution, a notable contribution as well. last aril i notable contribution as well. last april i asked _ notable contribution as well. last april i asked the _ notable contribution as well. last april i asked the pro—minister if he agreed with the principle of politicians not lying. he replied that he concurred with the basic principle that the honourable gentleman has just enunciated. principle that the honourable gentleman hasjust enunciated. would he like to amend the record? ida. gentleman hasjust enunciated. would he like to amend the record?— he like to amend the record? no, mr seaker. he like to amend the record? no, mr speaker- the — he like to amend the record? no, mr speaker. the vast _ he like to amend the record? no, mr speaker. the vast majority _ he like to amend the record? no, mr speaker. the vast majority of - he like to amend the record? no, mr speaker. the vast majority of people j speaker. the vast ma'ority of people and indeed speaker. the vast majority of people and indeed politicians _ speaker. the vast majority of people and indeed politicians across - and indeed politicians across northern ireland believed that whatever the question, double jobbing is not the answer. could i

urge my right honourable friend to listen to the majority and ask him not to move the government amendment in the other place later today. i’m in the other place later today. i'm crateful in the other place later today. i'm grateful to _ in the other place later today. i'm grateful to my honourable friend and i am advised that i think the event —— amendment in question is going to be withdrawn. mr -- amendment in question is going to be withdrawn-— be withdrawn. mr speaker, my constituents _ be withdrawn. mr speaker, my constituents are _ be withdrawn. mr speaker, my constituents are rightly - be withdrawn. mr speaker, my constituents are rightly angry i be withdrawn. mr speaker, my| constituents are rightly angry at the prime minister is behaviour, but while downing street fights to save his political life, people across the north—east are worrying about rising food and energy bills, rising unemployment and rising levels of child poverty. he talks about levelling up but my constituents are seeing opportunities cut. does the prime minister agree with me that his government has failed and it is time for him to go? ida. his government has failed and it is time for him to go?— time for him to go? no, i really don't agree _ time for him to go? no, i really don't agree with _ time for him to go? no, i really don't agree with her _ time for him to go? no, i really don't agree with her and - time for him to go? no, i really don't agree with her and i i time for him to go? no, i really

don't agree with her and i don'tj don't agree with her and i don't think she could have been following anything that has been said this afternoon. we have unemployment falling to near record lows and we have job vacancies at record highs. that is what conservative governments do. they create jobs and they get the economy moving. like man on they get the economy moving. like many on these _ they get the economy moving. i «12 many on these benches they get the economy moving. i «2 many on these benches i they get the economy moving. i 12 many on these benches i have spent weeks and months defending the prime minister against often angry constituents. i reminded them of his success in delivering brexit and the vaccine are many other things. but i expect my leaders to shoulder the responsibility for the actions they take. yesterday, he did the opposite of that. so i will remind him of a quotation all together to familiar to him, to neville chamberlain, you have sat there too long for the good you have done. in the name of god,

go. i must say to the right honourable gentleman that i don't know what he's talking about, and i don't know what quotation he is alluding to, but i can tell him, and i think i've told this house repeatedly, throughout this pandemic, i take full responsibility for everything donein full responsibility for everything done in this government and throughout the pandemic. does the prime minister _ throughout the pandemic. does the prime minister agree _ throughout the pandemic. does the prime minister agree with - throughout the pandemic. does the prime minister agree with the i throughout the pandemic. does the i prime minister agree with the leader of the house that the leader of the scottish conservatives is a lightweight?— scottish conservatives is a lieehtweiht? , ., lightweight? the conservative a - roach lightweight? the conservative approach to — lightweight? the conservative approach to the _ lightweight? the conservative approach to the union - lightweight? the conservative approach to the union is i lightweight? the conservative approach to the union is one i lightweight? the conservative i approach to the union is one that i think is right for our country, and we want to keep it together, and i

think conservatives in scotland do an excellentjob, and that is why their stout defiance and defence of their stout defiance and defence of the union was repaid at the last election and labour is increasingly endangering our union. maw; election and labour is increasingly endangering our union. many people last week welcomed _ endangering our union. many people last week welcomed the _ endangering our union. many people last week welcomed the five - endangering our union. many people last week welcomed the five year i last week welcomed the five year moratorium on smart motorways, however the m 27 is due to be opened as a smart motorway and a couple of months. what my right honourable friend of my constituents and the rest of southampton at the m 27 will be safe and confident to use —— south hampshire. i be safe and confident to use -- south hampshire.— be safe and confident to use -- south hampshire. i can assure her that we are _ south hampshire. i can assure her that we are well _ south hampshire. i can assure her that we are well aware _ south hampshire. i can assure her that we are well aware of - south hampshire. i can assure her that we are well aware of the i south hampshire. i can assure her that we are well aware of the risks associated with the smart motorway scheme and i know the honourable friend the sophie of state for transport is looking at it now. we now come — transport is looking at it now. we now come to the prime minister's

tete _ now come to the prime minister's tete statement... i will make a statement on our progress against omicron. just like the room clear, _ progress against omicron. just like the room clear, prime _ progress against omicron. just like the room clear, prime minister. i the room clear, prime minister. please — the room clear, prime minister. please leave quickly and quietly. studio: speaker lindsay hoyle saying what a day. he has certainly had a busy within hours of learning from scientists in south africa about the emergence of a new covid variant this government acted introducing balanced and proportionate restrictions to so delete max lowe the seeding of omicron. as we learned more about this variant we

implemented the plan be measures precisely encase our situation deteriorated. encouraging people to change their behaviour to slow the spread of the virus and buying crucial time to get boosters into arms. we made the big court to refocus our national health service necessarily requiring the difficult postponement of many other appointments so that we could double the speed of the booster programme. thanks to the externally efforts of the nhs and volunteers we delivered the nhs and volunteers we delivered the fastest booster programme in europe reaching half our population before any other european country with more than 36 million boosters in arms across the uk. 90% of all 60s in england. taking a balanced approach with assisted calls from others to shutdown our country all over again. others to shutdown our country all overagain. —— others to shutdown our country all over again. —— we resisted calls. many nations in europe have endured

lockdown, seen the hospitality curfews and nightclubs closed, capacity limits at sports stadiums, the return of social distancing and in some places christmas and new year as good as cancelled. this government took a different path, we kept england open and be supported the businesses which produced demand because of the dispose to measures and whilst we must continue to remain cautious of the data are showing that time and again this government got the toughest decisions right. today's data shows that infection levels are falling and whilst there are some places where cases are likely to continue rising encoding and primary schools are scientists believe it is likely the omicron wave has peaked nationally. there remain significant pressures on the nhs across the country and especially in the north—east and north—west. hospital admissions which were doubling every nine days to weeks ago have now

stabilised with admissions in london even falling and numbers and intensive care only remaining a low but actually also falling. this morning the cabinet concluded that because of the bristol campaign and public response we can return to plan ana england and allow plan b regulations to expire. as a result from the start of thursday next week mandatory certification will end. organisations can choose to use the nhs covid pass voluntarily by people in the compulsory use of status certification. the government is no longer asking people to work from home. people should now speak to their employers about arrangements for returning to the office and having looked at the data carefully the cabinet concluded that once regulations lab the government will

no longer mandate the wearing of facemasks anywhere. from tomorrow we will no longer require facemasks in the classrooms and the department for education will remove national guidance on their use in communal areas. in the country at large will continue to suggest the use of face coverings and enclosed or crowded spaces particularly when you come into contact with people you do not normally meet but we will trust the judgment of the british people. no longer criminalise anyone who chooses not to wear one. the government will also ease restrictions further on visits to homes and the secretary of state for

health and social care will set out plans in the coming days. as we determine to plan a the house will know some measure still remain including those on self isolation. it is still a legal requirement for those who have tested positive for covid—19 to self—isolate. on monday we reduced the isolation to five full days with two negative tests and there will soon come a time when we can remove the legal requirement to self—isolate altogether just as we don't place legal obligations on people to isolate if they have had flu. as covid—19 becomes endemic, we will need to replace legal requirements with advice and guidance, urging people with the virus to be careful and considerate of others. the self isolation regulations expire on the 24th of march at which point i very much expect not to renew them. indeed,

where the data to allow, i would like to see a boat in this house to bring that data forwards. in advance of that, we will set out our long—term strategy for living with covid—19, explaining how we hope and intend to protect our liberty and avoid restrictions in future by relying instead on medical advances is specially the vaccines which have already saved so many lives. but to make that possible, we must all remain cautious during these last weeks of winter. there are still over 16,000 people in hospital in england alone and the pandemic is not over. mr speaker, make no mistake, omicron is not a mild disease for everyone, especially if you are not vaccinated. just look at the numbers in intensive care in other countries where vaccination rates are far newer. from our nhs data, we know there are 90% of people in intensive care are not vaccinated —— boosted. i urge members across the house to do

everything possible to encourage any remaining constituents who have not done so, to get boosted now. for the next few weeks i encourage everyone to continue with the behaviours that we knew that keep everybody safe, washing hands, self testing, self isolating and thinking about wearing a face covering in crowded settings. omicron tested us just as alpha and delta did before. but let us remember some of what we have achieved. we were the first nation in the world to administer a vaccine. we were the fastest in europe to roll it out because outside the european medicines agency, this government made the big call to pursue our own british procurement strategy, rather than opting back into the eu scheme as some people urged. we created a world beating testing programme, the largest in europe, and procured the

most and he barrels of any country in europe, too, because this government made the big call to invest early in a lateral flow tests and in cutting—edge drugs to protect the most vulnerable. we have delivered the fastest booster campaign in europe and otherfirst demerged from the omicron wave because the government made the big call to focus on our nhs and to refocus our activity and lead that campaign to get boosted now, that is why we have retained the most open economy and society anywhere across the european continent the fastest—growing economy in the g7. we made that tough decision, to open up we made that tough decision, to open up last summer when others said that we should not. and to keep things open over the winter when others under them shut. this week, the world health organization said that while the global situation remains challenging, the unity kingdom can start to see the light at the end of

the tunnel and mr speaker, this is no accident of history. confronted by the nation's biggest challenge since the second world war and the worst pandemic since 1918, any government would get some things wrong, but this government got the big things right. i commend this statement to the house. i big things right. i commend this statement to the house.- big things right. i commend this statement to the house. i think the prime minister _ statement to the house. i think the prime minister for _ statement to the house. i think the prime minister for advanced - statement to the house. i think the prime minister for advanced side i statement to the house. i think the prime minister for advanced side ofj prime minister for advanced side of his statement. throughout the pandemic, the british public have made enormous sacrifices to limit the spread of the virus. staying at home, social distancing and unlike the prime minister, counselling parties. i would like to thank everybody who has followed the rules, i would like to thank the nhs staff and volunteers who have ruled out the boosterjab. the labour party doesn't want to see restrictions in place any longer than necessary. we will support the relaxation of plan b as long as the science said that it is safe. so,

can the prime minister share the scientific evidence behind his decision and reassure the public that he is acting to protect their health, notjust hisjob? the 438 deaths recorded yesterday are a solemn reminder that this pandemic is not over. we need to remain vigilant, learned the lessons from the government's mistakes. with nutrients highly likely, we must have a robust plan to live well with covid—19. so, where is it? he is too distracted to do the job. and it is notjust distracted to do the job. and it is not just the distracted to do the job. and it is notjust the prime minister who is letting us down. where is the health secretary's plan to prepare for another wave of infections? why isn't the chancellor working with british manufacturer's to shore up our domestic supplies of tests? where is the foreign secretary's plan to help vaccinate the world? they are all too busy plotting their leadership campaigns to keep the public safe. while the conservative

party to themselves apart, jostling for position, looking inwards, the labour party is focused on the national interests, filling their void. we have a planned but the prime minster does not. we will train and retrain a reserve army of vaccinated, we will build a supply of test kits made in britain to protect is from global shortages. we would raise statutory sick pay and make all workers eligible, keep schools open by improving ventilation, break the endless cycle of new variants by playing our part in vaccinating the world. we would produce a road map for decision—making to ensure efficient action when it is demanded, we would stop the short—sighted sell—off of the uk's vaccine manufacturing centre and we would never again allow our nhs and social care service to be so rundown and underfunded, understaffed and overstretched as it has been over

the last decade with a tory government. mr speaker, labour has a plan to live well with covid—19 and secure our lives, livelihoods and liberties. where is his? mr speaker, i would be liberties. where is his? mr speaker, i would be happy — liberties. where is his? mr speaker, i would be happy to _ liberties. where is his? mr speaker, i would be happy to share _ liberties. where is his? mr speaker, i would be happy to share the - i would be happy to share the scientific advice on which we have taken this decision and he can see it is there for everybody to consult. he asks about our testing abilities. we are conducting 1.25 million tests a day. we have the biggest capability to do testing of any country in europe. as i promised the house, and he attacked me at the time, we have a world betting diagnostics centre which we never had before. he attacks the government over that diffusion of vaccines to the rest of the world. we have already done 30 million and we will do 100 million byjune and

2.5 billion astrazeneca vaccines have been distributed around the world, thanks to the deal the uk government did with astrazeneca so that those vaccines are disputed at cost price. he talks about funding the nhs, that party voted against the nhs, that party voted against the funding that they would need to clear backlogs and fund our nhs. throughout this pandemic, he has been absolutely shameless in veering from one position to the next and he has been wrong about virtually every single important decision. he was wrong about keeping schools open do you remember he consistently refused to say that they were safe because of what his paymasters in the unit were telling him? he was wrong about going forward from lockdown injuly. he said it was reckless, do you remember? he was totally wrong. he was wrong about the labour front

were wrong about going through christmas and do year with plan b, as we did. they said we needed a road map back to lockdown. that guy did. that guy. they said they wanted a road map back to lockdown, mr speaker. and above all, mr speaker, they tried to undermine the vaccine task force and to say that you could not spend money, they said you should not be spending £635,000 of taxpayers money on outreach to vaccine hesitant groups. that is their idea of priority spending. he has been, it has been miserable this season because they have had nothing useful to say. opportunistically from one position to the other and mr speaker, did you get any idea from what he said just now whether or not he supports what we are doing? no! no! so he does support

it? ok, he supports it this week but what do you think he is certain of is that if he thinks that there is any political opportunity in opposing it next week, he will not hesitate to do so. he has been in hindsight, captain hindsight and he has had nothing useful to contribute. i has had nothing useful to contribute.— has had nothing useful to contribute. :, , has had nothing useful to contribute. ., , ., , contribute. i refer the house to my ent in contribute. i refer the house to my entry in members _ contribute. i refer the house to my entry in members register. - contribute. i refer the house to my entry in members register. can i i contribute. i refer the house to my. entry in members register. can i say that many of my constituents work in the aviation sector. i welcome the announcement he has made about plan b restrictions today but i note he made no reference to the tests that are still required for people coming into england. if we are going to learn to live with covid—19, we need to facilitate travel so will he take this opportunity to announce that when a plan b restrictions are removed next week, it will also make

it clear that there will be no test requirements for anybody entering england who is fully vaccinated? i think my right honourable friend, we are certainly reviewing the arrangements for travel and the minister for health will make a statement in the next few days on that. i think it is a very important point that everybody understands that getting your blister, wherever you want to go in the world, getting your poster is going to be a pretty crucial thing to do. i your poster is going to be a pretty crucial thing to do.— crucial thing to do. i thank the prime minister _ crucial thing to do. i thank the prime minister for _ crucial thing to do. i thank the prime minister for advance i crucial thing to do. i thank the i prime minister for advance sight of his statement. we are all grateful that the data suggests that we have turned a corner in the omicron wave and that the success of the vaccination programme in particular gives us cause to be hopeful in the months ahead. but though the climbing, the level of infection is still undoubtedly high in the nhs remains under pressure, that is why caution is the key, rather than the

pm strategy of throwing caution to the wind. baseline measures of face coverings and indoor public places and working from home where possible, which scotland still has in place throughout, are extremely important in the weeks ahead. as is the guidance on lateral flow tests. so, will the prime minister guarantee and maybe if he can come off his phone, because this is important, will he guarantee that lateral flow tests will remain free as required and put to bed speculation that they will be removed free at the point of need? that while the data gives as a cause to be optimistic, the real problem for the prime minister is that no matter what the data has said today, he had no choice but to throw caution to the wind. the pathetic and unbelievable excuses that he does not know his own rules have left the prime minister week. the

prime minister is unable to lead on this issue, or on any other, and the public can trust a single word that the prime minister says. any shred of credibility has gone. in a global pandemic, which is what the world health organization is cautioning, is nowhere near over and during which, new variants are likely to emerge. it is deeply concerning that we have a prime minister like this at the helm who simply is not fit to lead. even though thankfully, the figures give us cause to be hopeful, it is clear that the prime minister cannot carry on when his credible has all gone. i cannot carry on when his credible has all gone-— has all gone. i repeat the point i made earlier _ has all gone. i repeat the point i made earlier to _ has all gone. i repeat the point i made earlier to the _ has all gone. i repeat the point i made earlier to the right - has all gone. i repeat the point i i made earlier to the right honourable gentleman and i think that the whole effort, the reason we are in the

state that we are is because of the immense cooperation there has been across the whole of the uk. he talks about testing and of course we will keep lateral flow tests free for as long as is necessary but testing has been a fantastic example of union collaboration. i've seen for myself tests being done and assessed in glasgow that were coming from people in sussex, it has been, i have seen the work of the armed services helping people across the whole of the uk to move people who needed treatment to wherever. it has been a fantastic example of union collaboration. i hope you bear that in mind. it collaboration. i hope you bear that in mind. : 1, collaboration. i hope you bear that in mind. : ., , in mind. at the height of the first wave, in mind. at the height of the first wave. this _ in mind. at the height of the first wave, this government _ in mind. at the height of the first wave, this government had i in mind. at the height of the first wave, this government had the i wave, this government had the courage to preorder 400 million doses of vaccine without even knowing if they worked and that has laid the foundations for as having the best vaccine programme of any large country, so i welcome today's announcement. it won't surprise the prime minister though if i draw his

attention to the fact that nhs doctors and nurses are absolutely shattered. he will have seen this week that one in six doctors say they have had near misses or harm to patients because of exhaustion. so, if he doesn't want to accept the select committee's recommendations to address the workforce crisis, what will he do to give hope to our front line staff? he has a great deal of expertise in this matter, i want to thank everybody in the nhs and all staff front line for what they have been doing. he is right and what he says, they are exhausted but they are also working heroically and doing an incrediblejob and it working heroically and doing an incredible job and it is because of the covid cases we have to domain

cautious, we need to remain