borisjohnson says he welcomes a police investigation into gatherings held in downing street and whitehall during lockdown. it comes after details were passed from the senior civil servant — who's conducting her own inquiry — to the police. the met is now investigating a number of events that took place at downing street and whitehall in the last two years. downing street said that borisjohnson didn't think he had broken the law. i welcome the met's decision - to conduct its own investigation, as i believe this will help to give the public the clarity it needs i and help to draw a line under these matters. i the— under these matters. the under these matters. prime the underthese matters. prime minister the under these matters. prime minister faces pressur from the prime minister faces pressure from the — the prime minister faces pressure from the police, his own party, and from _ from the police, his own party, and from an_ from the police, his own party, and from an official inquiry which could emerge _ from an official inquiry which could emerge as early as tomorrow.

also tonight... a plane with us military equipment arrives in ukraine to help bolster defences as tension with russia continues to rise. the pandemic�*s toll on frontline staff and the nurse who's so burnt out she's moved to the other side of the world. and the man trapped undergound for over 50 hours when caving in the breacon becons, returns to thank his rescuers. and coming up in the sport on the bbc news channel — roy to the rescue. hodgson replaces ranieri as watford appoint the former england boss in a bid to stave off relegation. good evening. downing st and whitehall find themselves the subject of police investigation tonight, after the met said it was now looking into the claims of multiple parties there during lockdown — potentially breaking covid rules.

borisjohnson, who's been under severe political pressure over the allegations, welcomed the decision — saying he's willing to speak to detectives and that he hopes it will draw a line under the matter. the metropolitan police commissioner, dame cressida dick, revealed the investigation was sparked after police were passed information uncovered by the civil servant sue gray in the course of her inquiry into possible lockdown breaches in government. her report could be published as early as tomorrow. here's our political editor, laura kuenssberg. the law applies in every town, every city, every road and every house, and in the sw1 postcode of number ten. and the police have concluded they've seen enough about what happened behind closed doors when the law was lockdown — that it merits a full and proper look. i can confirm that the met is now investigating a number of events

that took place at downing street and whitehall in the last two years. so, for only the second time in a century... can you survive the police - investigation, borisjohnson? ..a serving prime minister will be investigated for what happened under his own roof, after months and months of claims about rule—breaking during a national emergency. i now called the prime minister. i believe this will help to give the public the clarity it needs and help to draw a line under matters. but i want to reassure the house, mr speaker, and the country, that i and the whole government are focused 100% on dealing with the people's priorities. i'm told the police have been talking to the official who's been trying to get to the bottom of what happened for weeks and enough evidence about gatherings or parties in downing street is there for them to contemplate prosecutions. was it right to have| a birthday gathering in downing street, ms dorries? more than a dozen events, including a celebration and cake around the cabinet table for the prime minister's

birthday have emerged. will there be cake on the cabinet table today, miss truss? - but when ministers were there around that same table this morning, borisjohnson made no mention of the police investigation he already had been told about. those loyal to him have been louder in recent days... the vaccine roll—out, the furlough programme, the economy having bounced back to pre—pandemic levels, the leadership of borisjohnson this country has had, has been so brilliant. but even before the police or official report, there have been plenty of private tory recriminations for the chaos. i have not been invited to any parties. all of it more fuel for the opposition parties. so, it seems, mr speaker, potential criminality has been found in downing street. what a truly damning reflection on our nation's very highest office. we cannot go on with this chaotic government. -

will he advise his boss to dol the right thing in the national interest and resign? can we please have a sense of proportion over the prime minister being given a piece of cake in his own office by his own staff? the timing and complexities of a police investigation could slow down the tory party's rush to judgment on borisjohnson. conversations among mps over there, who have the power to determine his future, may be put on pause. yet one former minister said, "there is no universe where a police investigation into downing street is a good thing in the real world." the tories, who like to be seen as the party of law and order, are facing serious political disorder of their own. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. so, what will the police be considering and why didn't they act sooner?

our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports. for months, arguments around alleged parties in downing street and its garden have swept through whitehall, while london's main police force has kept quiet, saying only that it was in touch with sue gray, who's leading the cabinet office investigation. so, why is the met investigating now? well, this morning, the commisioner said three key factors would lead to them looking into covid rule breaches that happened many months ago. my three factors were and are — there was evidence that those involved knew or ought to have known that what they were doing was an offence. where not investigating would significantly undermine the legitimacy of the law. and where there was little ambiguity around the absence of any reasonable defence. and what will the police look at? the starting point will be

what sue gray has already uncovered. the investigation itself should be reasonably straightforward. now police have decided which of the events at downing street was potentially illegal, they'lljust need to try and work out who was at each one, and they'll do that by looking at emails, at personal accounts and at movements on staff passes. and they'll also need to check whether anyone had a legitimate reason to be at any of the events. for some opposition politicians the question is, why did the police not act sooner? did the officers who work in downing street every day not notice the events when they were happening? it sounds like there was a culture of lawbreaking parties rather than a single one—off event. we've heard reports of wheelie suitcases of drink clanking through security. surely, some officers were concerned about what they were seeing at the time. you will be aware that there are a number of officers posted in the surrounds of downing street.

the ones you see are all armed and they have a job to do. last march, in this warwickshire garden, kieran mcardle and three friends had a small birthday party. the police arrived within the hour and fined him. he wants whitehall party goers to face the same punishment. the stories of these parties are coming out now. it's a little bit galling when you see that the people that made the rules are breaking the rules and they're not being held to account. so, what are the potential punishments? anyone who attended an illegal gathering in downing street during lockdown faces a fine. from £60, if it was near the start of the pandemic, to £200 if it was more recently. it's not clear if the prime minister is one of those who faces a possible fine. daniel sandford, bbc news, downing street. and we can get the latest from laura at westminster now. after weeks of the prime minister being under pressure, an extraordinary development?

extraordinary is often an overused word in these parts but it is generally extraordinary for a serving prime minister to be part of an active police investigation, only the second time it has happened in a century. there were some backers of borisjohnson who century. there were some backers of boris johnson who felt this might slow down what has been a terrible crescendo the number ten, in actual fact the optics of police being involved in this are deeply serious. and then when it comes to the official inquiry that will be the civil service verdict on everything that went on behind closed doors during lockdown, i'm told the report is complete and so grade the official is basically done, even though number ten is yet to receive their official copy —— sue gray the official. i'm told it will not be easy reading for ministers in government or members of the civil service and i'm told sue gray once the full contents of the report to be out there in the full public glare and that could happen as early

as late tomorrow, and it may yet be thursday, while every thing is sorted out. no official confirmation of that from downing street today but this certainly means there's a sense of nervous anticipation for two reasons, because this matters hugely because in the last few weeks tory mps have really genuinely and seriously been discussing whether it might be time to call a halt to borisjohnson�*s leadership, although boris johnson's leadership, although not borisjohnson�*s leadership, although not the view of everyone, but there are people who have been organising to try and make that the case. the sue gray report may be the decision moment for many of them, and secondly because from a political perspective, in terms of the public, it has been toxic for many mps who have heard my constituents and many ministers as well, because it has pressed at abrams, the idea that people in this square mile in government were not following the rules they set —— pressed at a bruise. the lockdown caused such

suffering for so many, these genuinely are, the next 2a, 48 hours, genuinely are, the next 24, 48 hours, decisive days of —— for boris johnson. hours, decisive days of -- for boris johnson. . . ., ., ., johnson. laura, thanks for “oining us. the prime minister has said britain is prepared to deploy troops to protect nato allies in europe should russia invade ukraine. borisjohnson said vladimir putin would face "ferocious" ukrainian resistance. and tonight president biden said he'd consider personal sanctions on president putin if there were a russian invasion. our diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley reports. the might of the russian army on display in its ally belarus, ukraine's northern neighbour, where military exercises are planned next month. moscow has been building up troops on ukraine's eastern border, too, and fears of a new war in europe are growing. the kremlin is still denying it'll invade, president putin keeping the world guessing about what his intentions really are.

if russia invades ukraine, we would look to contribute to any new nato deployments to protect our allies in europe. but if president putin were to choose the path of bloodshed and destruction, he must realise that it would be both tragic and futile. russia's now amassed around 100,000 troops near its border with ukraine, leading to huge international concern. moscow used to control much of the region, but many countries have since joined nato, the military alliance of european and north american countries of which the uk is also a part. and president putin has demanded that ukraine never be allowed to join nato. so the west is now ramping up its response, the defensive counter build—up growing by the day. warships and fighterjets from several nato members are now heading to eastern europe. this is american military equipment and munitions arriving in kyiv. it's been called "lethal aid". the us has now put 8,500 troops on alert to deploy at short

notice if they need to. russia's also been threatened with unprecedented economic sanctions which could target president putin himself, the us says, if he does give the order to invade. for russia, not only in terms of economic consequences and political consequences, but there will be enormous consequences worldwide. this would be the largest... if he were to move in with all those forces, it would be the largest invasion since world war ii. it would change the world. some in ukraine think the west is being alarmist. others are growing increasingly nervous. translation: we have to stick- together because we have enemies. 0ur big neighbour, russia, it is like a cancer on our soil. moscow today accused the americans of whipping up tensions over ukraine but suggested that diplomacy isn't dead yet. caroline hawley, bbc news. there's growing concern over staff shortages in the nhs, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

the latest survey from the royal college of nursing shows that more than half of staff are considering leaving the profession. exhaustion is one of the key reasons. in the second of his special reports from the royal london hospital, clive myrie looks at the mental toll on frontline staff. how far would you go to find your humanity? i was just really struggling with the whole culmination of what we were going through, and it felt like every shift i was going to work with you having to open more beds and we were seeing more people who were really, really sick with covid. now former nhs senior sister becky smith is in australia, her faith in herself restored. i first met her on the main covid ward of the royal london hospital during the first wave.

we will make a decision about whether it is appropriate to continue with what we are doing at the moment. among her duties was telling families that there was no hope for their sick relative, and then she would switch off the life—support machine. becky would always stay with the patient, just for a few moments, behind the partition as life passed to death, holding their hand in respect. then, one day, with two covid patients, after several deaths over many months, she quietly snapped. it was just robotic. i turned off the ventilator and walked away, and i remember thinking to myself, my gosh, what am i doing? total compassion fatigue, total emotional burn—out. i'm sure it would break the hearts of those families to know that that is kind of the mentality i had at that time. most outsiders will never understand the mental grind of the last 18 months for those charged with healing us all.

i run just to clear my head, really. i think the last couple of years have been pretty challenging, at times, very, very stressful and running has been a good release valve for that. for this consultant, this is what he means by challenging and stressful. 0k, ready, steady, go. multiple life—and—death decisions, day after day during the covid pandemic. this guy might not survive the night. i think we might have to call the family. now things are calmer, but for how long? the waiting list of 12 months or more for a procedure has grown less than a dozen to 4500. all because of the pandemic. this man has a heart condition. pj, his case is a reminder that the nhs has so many other things to deal with, not just covid.

i think we do now need to concentrate on all the other illnesses and issues that people have. so, no let up for the nhs, even after the rigours of covid, but how much more can staff take? can you handle another wave, if there is another variant? probably. i would have to do. i'd have to. i think it would take a lot, and i think every wave leaves a bigger mark, but i would do my best, i would try. dear dad, thank you so much for making christmas day happen a week early. never mind the pressure on a chest. what about their families? i'll be doing what i do best i caring for people who need me. pat and nestor kelly celebrated christmas this year

without their daughter. it was hard her going back this year. she was on shift on december the 25th at the royal london hospital. 350 miles away. i sent her a text message and she said the tears are running down my face here. when she went away the first time, i missed her terribly and it took the light out of the house. yes. she is wonderful. this is carlene, doing what she does best. over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, we followed her progress as a nurse on the front line. now she is a senior sister. good morning. nice to see you. you too. i've no doubt all of us will suffer from some form of ptsd. i look at empty bed spaces now and i remember that person and i remember speaking to their family and i remember when they passed. these are people who have died. yes. and i see them.

those ghosts, do you think they will live with you forever? i don't know. how to banish those memories of trauma? consultant martin griffiths is in an abandoned intensive care unit and reflects on the struggles in the past atmosphere of dread. and here now, itjust looks like an empty room, doesn't it? but i can feel it. i don't want to go back to that. is it over? it feels like the end of something. we are starting a new thing. but i don't want to live with the ghost, i want to put it to rest. i'm not sure i can do thatjust yet. the uk's latest coronavirus figures show there were more than 94,000 new infections in the latest 24—hour period. it means there were just over 93,000

new cases on average per day in the last week. the number of people in hospital with covid remains stable — currentlyjust over 17,000. another 439 deaths were reported, that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive test. on average in the past week, there were 263 deaths per day. 0n vaccinations, nearly 37 million people have had a boosterjab, that's just over 64% of those aged 12 and over. the uk economy will grow more slowly than expected this year as it recovers from the pandemic according to the international monetary fund. their forecast for britain's growth in 2022 has been cut to 4.7% from 5%. this will still be the fastest in the g7 industrialised nations. 0ur economics editor faisal islam is here why has this happened? global

factors are _ why has this happened? global factors are driving _ why has this happened? global factors are driving this. - why has this happened? global factors are driving this. the - factors are driving this. the biggest forecast downgrade was for the biggest world economies, the us and china. the uk was only downgraded a modest amount and still remains the fastest growing g7 economy this year, as it was last year, though it should be said that is partly down to the fact that we rebounded from being the hardest hit in 2020. what is driving this? we have the impact of the 0micron wave, although that has been more modest than expected than previous waves, and also those rising energy prices. 0n and also those rising energy prices. on that the imf express concerns and also about the tensions between russia and ukraine further increasing prices. there is in effect for ordinary consumers on energy bills, and that should be targeted and temporary. some backbench mps have jumped

targeted and temporary. some backbench mps havejumped on public finance figures from this morning showing that borrowing was lower than expected. the imf is suggesting targeted, temporary and on people's bills. a 15—year—old schoolboy has been airlifted to hospital after being stabbed at walney school in barrow in furness this morning. the pupil suffered multiple stab wounds but is now in a stable condition. police said they have arrested a 16—year—old boy on suspicion of grievous bodily harm. bradford council is to be stripped of control of its children's services in the wake of the murder of i6—month—old star hobson. social services were in contact with the family of the toddler before she was murdered by her mother's girlfriend in september 2020. two years earlier, the department was rated inadequate by 0fsted. an independent trust will now operate the department. the high court has ruled that the "government's national disability strategy" which was published injuly and set out to to improve the everyday lives of disabled people is unlawful. it follows a failure to lawfully consult with disabled people and others.

a government spokesperson has said it will be seeking permission to appeal the decision at the court of appeal. the chairman of middlesex county cricket club has apologised for comments he made today at a parliamentary hearing on tackling racism in the sport. mike 0'farrell suggested that players from an african—carribean background were more attracted to rugby and football, and that south asian people sometimes preferred to focus on education rather than cricket. our sports correspondentjoe wilson reports. english cricket's south asian action plan, one initiative the ecb was keen to highlight today in front of a select committee. but when it came to explaining the barriers to diversity in the professional game, the chair of middlesex county cricket club said the football and rugby world becomes much more the football and rugby world becomes much more attractive to the afro—caribbean community. and in terms of the south asian community there is a moment

where we are finding that they do not want necessarily to commit the same time that is necessary to go to the next step because they'd prefer, i am not saying they all do it, they sometimes prefer to go into other educational fields. there was no response in the room. there was immediately on social media. former international ebony rainford—brent chairs the ace foundation to address the declining black cricket participation. she reacted... these outdated views are exactly why we are in this position. unfortunately the decision—makers hold onto these myths, ie, that young, black people like football, and the asian community is only interested in education. michael 0'farrell apologised for what he described as his lack of clarity. i was aiming to make the point that as a game cricket has failed a generation of young cricketers, he said. azeem rafiq accepted that apology but with deep concerns. i just feel like clearly the counties and the game are still very much in denial and that's a big worry. for the cricketer who experienced

and exposed racism at yorkshire, today's events reveal the long road still to travel. joe wilson, bbc news. the man who spent more than 50 hours underground after being badly injured while caving in the brecon beacons has been back to meet some of the volunteers who saved his life. george linnane fell last november and broke his leg, jaw and several ribs, leaving him in agony and wondering if he'd ever get out. more than 300 volunteers from around the ukjoined the extraordinary rescue effort. our correspondent hywel griffith reports. little did i know it was going to turn into a 50, 60—hour epic, whatever it was, where, you know, i could have never come out of there again. this is where george linnane's life changed in an instant. 0gof nynnon ddu, britain's deepest cave system. somewhere he'd been dozens of times before, but, last year, deep underground, the rock beneath him crumbled and he fell into the darkness.

the first thing i knew about it was this instantaneous feeling of legs whirling around in midairand arms grabbing for something. 0ne second, i was caving, the next, the world went mad. it all went black and, two minutes later, i woke up in a very different state to when i'd started. george broke his leg, jaw and several ribs. he was bleeding heavily. as a friend went for help, he wrestled with the pain. did you think that you might not survive? honestly? yes, at times. it was kind of dark times initially, i guess, until the help started arriving. what followed was britain's longest ever cave rescue. in all, 300 volunteers from across the uk turned out to help. they included becky, a doctor with a local rescue team, who was one of the first to help him. my immediate thought was there's a chance that he's not going to survive this and then the thought also went through my mind that i'm the only

medical professional here and that, if he does become more unwell, that everyone's going to be looking to me to do something, so, yeah, it was a big weight of responsibility. after 54 hours underground and being carried on a stretcher for 3,500 metres, this is the exit where george finally came to the surface. from here, he was transferred into a rescue vehicle, then into an ambulance, then on to hospital. but his journey to a full recovery is going to be a long one. george still faces months of treatment but is determined to return to caving and become a rescue volunteer, joining the team which saved him. if there was a message you wanted to give them, the people who turned out and travelled to come and help you, what would it be? i would just say thank you from the bottom of my heart, really, and i'd alsojust let them know that the beer that i owe them is on the way. yep, it's in the pipeline. hywel griffith, bbc news at 0gof nynnon ddu.

that's it. now on bbc one, time for the news where you are. have a very good night. hello. after the leaden skies and chilly feel of the last few days, england and wales should see a bit more sunshine during wednesday, the cloud tending to break up to give some sunny spells, although some of it will linger, i think, across the southeast corner. for northern ireland and scotland, though, it's a story of strengthening winds, cloud and outbreaks of rain pushing in from the northwest, those winds gusting in excess of 50 mph by the late afternoon in parts of northwest scotland. temperatures, well, much higher than they have been across england and wales — 8, 9,10 degrees, 10 or” for a good part of scotland and northern ireland. through wednesday night, it will turn very windy for a time in the far north, gales or severe gales close to the northern isles. this band of cloud and patchy rain will be sinking its way southwards into england and wales. with the cloud, with the breeze, it's not going to be a particularly cold night.

that band of cloud and patchy rain will take its time to clear from southern parts during thursday, but we will see sunshine following on behind, more cloud rolling in from the west on friday, and it will turn very mild for the start of the weekend.

this is bbc news. the headlines — police in britain are investigating whether parties held at downing street breached coronavirus lockdown regulations. a spokesman said prime minister borisjohnson didn't believe he had broken the law. president biden has said he would consider taking the rare step in imposing sanctions on president putin directly if russia invaded ukraine. a plane carrying us equipment and munitions has arrived in kyiv. two children are among the eight people who died in a crush outside a stadium at an africa cup of nations football match in cameroon. the president has ordered an investigation into the disaster. the international monetary fund has downgraded its forecast for the global economy. it predicts global growth this year will be half a point lower, at around 4.4%. the imf says 0micron will continue to slow economic activity.