this is bbc news — these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. at least 36 people people have been killed and dozens injured after a passenger service carrying some 350 people collided with a freight train in northern greece. the search for survivors continues. former uk health secretary matt hancock strongly denies allegations he rejected covid testing advice during the pandemic after his whatsapp messages are leaked by the journalist who helped write his book. police forces continue the search for a missing two—month—old baby — its parents constance marten and mark gordon are being held on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. covid—19 "most likely" originated in a "chinese government—controlled lab", says the head of the fbi. beijing denies a lab leak in wuhan,

calling the allegation defamatory. sight loss charity guide dogs says it's had a record number of people volunteering to raise puppies following a bbc story that highlighted a a shortage of dogs. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. officials in greece say at least 36 people have been killed and dozens more injured in a train crash. a cargo train collided with a passenger train near the city of larissa in the thessaly region. conditions for the rescuers are described as very difficult. the army has been mobilised to help and dozens of fire and ambulance

staff are at the scene. stephanie prentice reports. it's been described by local authorities as a powerful collision and a terrible scene. while passengers said the crash felt like being in an earthquake. translation: we heard a big bang. it was ten nightmareish seconds. we were turning over in the wagon till we fell on our sides and until the commotion stopped. and there was panic, cables everywhere, fire, the fire was immediate. as we were turning over we were being burned. the fire was right and left. as rescue teams work their way through these dark and smoky carriages, the death toll keeps rising after a high—speed collision in the night between a cargo train and a passenger train. hundreds of passengers have been evacuated by rescue teams, some dragged to safety after crawling through upside down carriages.

translation: it was chaos. tumbling over, fires, cables hanging, broken windows, people screaming, people trapped. these people are the lucky ones. fire officials say the first two carriages of the train completely disintegrated in the crash. the next two were derailed entirely. how two trains travelling in opposite directions came to directly collide will be the next issue officials will tackle. for now, theirfocus is on recovery, and as morning breaks in greece, the hope is that the light will bring survivors with it. earlier i spoke to elli kasholi, a journalist at the scene in larissa. so, behind me you can see the rescue team. as far as i can see, they are trying to remove a big piece of steel right now. it is kind of upside down. they are trying to remove

a big piece from there. of course, it is completely burned. they're still hoping to find someone alive underneath. i just saw a rescue dog, here with the rescue team. they are trying to find if someone is alive. i think this is going to be really difficult. you can imagine how devastating and shocking this is. we are waiting for the prime minister here in a couple of minutes. he is going to come here at the centre. there is a big question right now that has to be answered about how those two trains, which we're directly opposite, they were driving on the same line. so, someone has to answer

how this happened. there is a man right now speaking with authorities, he's not arrested yet, he's just speaking with authorities but we are waiting to see what will come up from this conversation. we can say officially that 36 people have lost their lives. there are almost 65, maybe 66 people who are injured in the hospital. there are two big hospitals in larissa here open right now. and the situation of course there is really difficult, because there are families looking for their daughters, for theirfathers, mothers, sons. maybe they are looking if someone is alive. the former uk health secretary matt hancock has denied claims he failed to follow covid testing advice during the early

days of the pandemic. thousands of whatsapp messages leaked to the telegraph show mr hancock was advised in april 2020 to test everyone going into care homes. but a message reportedly from mr hancock to an aide said he would rather commit to just testing those going into care homes from hospitals. lord bethall was a junior minister in department of health and social care back in 2020. this morning, he was asked whether matt hancock should have taken the advice of the chief medical officer to test everyone going into care homes. no, i think the key phrase here is this is obviously a good, a positive step. listen, it was absolutely crystal clear that we wanted to test everyone who went into social care. that was the ambition. getting the cmo to put that into official advice was a progressive step, we welcomed it. the chief medical officer, sorry, just to remind people. professor chris whitty, who by the way always gave extremely clear and sensible advice in these matters.

soto be clear where we are, not in dispute is that chris whitty did advise, did want everybody going into care homes in april to be tested. no, not in dispute is at that stage it was clear to everyone that we wanted to move to a situation where many, many more people were tested in the country, particularly those who were most vulnerable, like those going into social care. but we were only doing a few thousand tests a day, and that was the practical problem. we were trying, like every other country in the world, like every other health system, we were desperately trying to scale our testing to meet this huge need for extra tests, and what we had to try to do in the meantime was to prioritise who got tested first. i asked our chief political correspondent, nick eardley what matt hancocks response has been to the claims. that it is not true, and that the messages being published are partial and give a distorted view of what was actually said.

i think it's quite important to point out that we don't know the full context, we've not seen all the messages, so we can't be certain about what happened. there are two narratives here, one is the one in the daily telegraph, which says that the position changed over the course of the day, that matt hancock made it clear in the morning he had been told that everyone should be tested going into care homes, and by the end of the day the government reached the position which was that only people going from hospitals to care homes should be tested. but matt hancock's team are saying that there's an important piece of context which has been missed out, which is that there was a meeting over the course of that day about what was actually possible. and matt hancock was told, we are told by his spokesperson, that it wasn't deliverable, that there weren't enough tests to test everybody, and that the decision had been made to prioritise certain groups. but look, over the last couple of years, the issue

of what went on in care homes and whether the government made the right decisions at the right time has been hugely, hugely controversial. and i suspect that that controversy will only increase, as a result of what we've seen today. matt hancock is adamant that these messages should not have been shared. i think we can show you part of his statement from a spokesperson this morning, which says these stolen messages have been doctored to create a false story that matt rejected clinical advice on care home testing, this is flat wrong. clearly, he's going to fight these allegations, but big questions this morning about the decisions taken by the government and when. let's get more on this now with tim durrant, who's associate director at the institute for government, that's a non—partisan think tank. kenco wrote a report in march last year about the government's use of

whatsapp. —— tim later report. what do you think these leaks show about how the government was being run and how the government was being run and how important discussions were taking place at the beginning of the pandemic? i taking place at the beginning of the andemic? ~ , ., , pandemic? i think it shows effectively _ pandemic? i think it shows effectively that _ pandemic? i think it shows effectively that it's - pandemic? i think it shows effectively that it's proof . pandemic? i think it shows| effectively that it's proof of pandemic? i think it shows - effectively that it's proof of what we already knew about a lot of government business, that whatsapp is embedded into how government works and it's been that way for several years. often there will be stories, remember in the brexit days, there were stories about groups of conservative mps agreeing their position by whatsapp, sometimes those would be leaked so people could see what they were thinking about things. that approach to using whatsapp to corel groups and share information, that is widespread across parliament and government. so, in that respect actually we haven't learned anything new i don't think from these leaks about the use of whatsapp but we've got a sense of the scale and the

widespread everyday regular nature of that communication. actually it's important to say that at this time, only 2020, early on in the pandemic, it makes sense to be communicating in this way because people weren't able to meet. most people were in lockdown, it was an easy way of getting information around and i don't think there's anything inherently bad about the use of whatsapp by government. what it is showing is how it's managed, how it's made transparent so that we can understand how those decisions were made. �* , ., ~ understand how those decisions were made. �*, ., ~ ., understand how those decisions were made. �*, . ~ ., , ., ., made. let's talk a bit about that. it's a quick _ made. let's talk a bit about that. it's a quick way — made. let's talk a bit about that. it's a quick way of— made. let's talk a bit about that. | it's a quick way of communicating made. let's talk a bit about that. i it's a quick way of communicating at the time when people couldn't meet, it was an effective way of communicating. but looking at this more broadly, when people are able to meet physically, is this the way to meet physically, is this the way to do government business? i think it's a way to — to do government business? i think it's a way to do _ to do government business? i think it's a way to do it. _ to do government business? i think it's a way to do it. i _ to do government business? i think it's a way to do it. i don't _ to do government business? i think it's a way to do it. i don't think- it's a way to do it. i don't think there's anything wrong with it being part of the toolkit used in

government but whatsapp is never going to be able to kind of provide all of the detailed information you might get in a meeting or in a properly written document setting out various options for ministers to make a decision. there's also a question about whatsapp groups. one of the things we saw earlier was who was in groups mattered because if you're not in whatsapp group and people are having a conversation about an issue that you can contribute to and you're not in that group, it means all the information isn't necessarily taken into account. so, it is a tool and i think it should be used but it's not the only way of doing things. as we were hearing just now, matt hancock's teams at this link is partial and only show some of the conversations, we don't have the record of the meetings or whatever else was taking place. so, again, i don't think there's anything wrong with the use of whatsapp but it can't be and shouldn't ever be the only way that government communicates and decisions are made. i want to get your thoughts on a

journalist leaking this sort of information rather than it being released and considered as part of a formal inquiry. i released and considered as part of a formal inquiry-— formal inquiry. i mean, isabel 0akeshott— formal inquiry. i mean, isabel oakeshott the _ formal inquiry. i mean, isabel oakeshott the journalist - formal inquiry. i mean, isabel oakeshott the journalist who l formal inquiry. i mean, isabel. oakeshott the journalist who put this information gave this information to the telegraph, she wrote about why she did it and she's critical of the government during the pandemic, she thinks it went too hard and too far unlocked ounce, and she makes the point the inquiry will take a long time which is true and it's often a failing of these inquiries or difficulty that because gathering the evidence, hearing all of the discussions takes so long, the recommendations and ideas for change, so long after the event that actually it doesn't deliver what people need it to. but i think this journalist and indeed the telegraph have a particular position on the government's policy on lockdown and

it's worth bearing that in mind. as i understand it, matt hancock has sent all of these messages to the inquiry as well so hopefully we will get a fuller view through the inquiry as to exactly how decisions were made and what all the evidence was that was taken into consideration. but that will take time. ., ~' consideration. but that will take time. . ~ ., consideration. but that will take time. . ., ., , time. thank you for your thoughts toda . time. thank you for your thoughts today- tim — time. thank you for your thoughts today. tim durrant, _ time. thank you for your thoughts today. tim durrant, associate - today. tim durrant, associate director at the institute for government. police have spent the night searching for a missing baby near brighton. the child's parents are being questioned on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. constance marten and mark gordon — who is a registered sex offender — had been missing for nearly eight weeks. the couple left home last september, and their baby was born in earlyjanuary, though police aren't sure exactly when. the couple came to public attention when their car caught fire on the m61 near bolton onjanuary 5th. from there, the pair took a taxi to liverpool and another to harwich, arriving on the morning of the 6th january. by lunchtime on the 7th january, they were in east

london, where they bought a tent from argos and abandoned a pushchair. there were more taxi journeys, including to the port of newhaven. after that, they evaded detection until monday night, when a member of the public saw them and called 999. vincent mcaviney has more. monday night in north brighton. after 53 days on the run, constance marten and mark gordon are spotted on cctv walking down a residential street. while shopping in this convenience store, they were spotted by a member of the public who called 999. shortly after, they were filmed again. officers arrested the couple without their baby walking towards an allotment site and golf course leading to the south downs. but despite finally having the couple in custody, they have not provided any further information about the condition or whereabouts of the child. police fear it could have been abandoned in freezing conditions. they're now being held on suspicion

of gross negligence manslaughter. around 200 officers from sussex and london's metropolitan police have worked around the clock to try to find the baby, whose sex is unknown and who is believed to have never had medical treatment. drones, a helicopter and sniffer dogs were all deployed to assist. in the daylight, officers work their way slowly through the large allotment the couple were thought to be heading towards. every shed and greenhouse was being checked in temperatures close to zero. 35—year—old constance marten comes from a hugely wealthy family with close ties to the royal family. she grew up in this country estate in dorset and was at drama school in 2016 when she first met 48—year—old mark gordon. gordon, a registered sex offender who was deported to britain from the united states in 2010 after spending 20 years in prison for a rape he committed aged ia. ever since, they have led an isolated life.

in january, constance's father napier marten made this appeal to his daughter. darling constance, even though we remain estranged at the moment, i stand by, as i have always done and as the family has always done, to do whatever is necessary for your safe return to us. whilst detectives hope the baby is alive, perhaps being looked after by someone else, they're becoming increasingly concerned. constance marten�*s father said on tuesday that whilst he's relieved she's been found, he is worried about his missing grandchild they hope to finally meet. but after another night of freezing weather, that hope here is fading. vincent mcaviney, bbc news. our reporter yetunde yusuf gave us this update on the police search. residents have been waking up this morning to a lot of police presence in the east sussex area. it's a major operation, because the police are looking

at a 91 square mile area behind me near the hollingbury golf course, and also the roe valley allotments. they've been combing through undergrowth, looking through water butts and sheds as well. and drones are involved, thermal imaging cameras, helicopters and dogs as well. police vans have been coming to and from the area, as well as specialist search and rescue teams. it's because not too far away from here, constance marten and mark gordon were arrested, as you know, first on suspicion of child neglect and then yesterday arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. police are particularly asking the public to help come forward with any information, because they believe the baby was last seen with the pair on the 8th of january, and that was in newhaven. by asking people in newhaven, brighton and the areas in between to remain vigilant. police are still determined to find this baby, as you can see, but they are concerned.

they think the baby could have come to some harm. they are hopeful but of course it's freezing, temperatures are cold despite the sunny weather, so hope is fading. the head of the fbi in the united states has said the coronavirus pandemic is most likely to have emerged from a chinese laboratory. in an interview with fox news, the fbi director, christopher wray, said his agency had held that assessment for some time. it's the first public confirmation of the fbi's judgment on the issue. mr wray added that china seemed to be doing its best to thwart investigations into the origin of the pandemic. beijing has denied a lab leak in wuhan, calling the allegation defamatory. cbs news correspondentjarred hill joins me from new york. as we mentioned in the introduction, the fbi has hinted it has been its queue for some time. why is

christopher wray making this public statement now? this christopher wray making this public statement now?— christopher wray making this public statement now? this is an interview he did with fox _ statement now? this is an interview he did with fox news _ statement now? this is an interview he did with fox news talking - statement now? this is an interview he did with fox news talking about. he did with fox news talking about this. it comes interestingly after the us department of energy came out with a similar assessment although they were saying there's low confidence in some of this intelligence they are getting. so it's interesting because a lot of the language around these two american agencies out of the nine investigating this to say that it was likely a lab league are still using some fairly loose and uncertain language and why they believe that might be the case. like some other us agencies still believe this could have jumped from animals to humans rather than it being a mt. either way, to humans rather than it being a mt. eitherway, it to humans rather than it being a mt. either way, it adds to political difficulties between washington and beijing. that's true. dating is commenting saying the us or at least

these two agencies are staring the pot, they see are necessarily so. this comes after the situation in the us with the chinese spy balloon and china saying the us were overreacting when they shut it down. there are moments now when we are seeing this escalating tension between the us and the chinese government. we are also seeing president biden in particular really trying to make an effort to say that while he wants competition, held in competition with china, he's not looking for conflict. this doesn't necessarily help with that, though. thank you, jarrett hill in new york. we are going live to northern greece to the scene of that terrible crash between a passenger train and freight train in larissa and the greek prime minister kyriakos mitsotakis is visiting the scene

currently. there is a rescue effort still going on although sadly 36 people at least are known to have died. dozens have been injured and we believe at the moment that a rescue effort is still going on. many, many questions on this, the focus of the investigation will be how this crash could have possibly happened. survivors are talking about the carriages of the passenger train feeling a massive impact, breaking and then a massive impact. the tumbling of some of the carriages, you can see one of that just disappearing from the right—hand side of your screen. we saw earlier how cranes and heavy lifting equipment being used to remove twisted metal to try and see if anyone was surviving amongst the wreckage. although we can't get a

clear shot of the prime minister at the moment, the greek prime minister kyriakos mitsotakis visiting the scene of this terrible crash in northern greece. the sight loss charity guide dogs says it's had a record number of people volunteering to raise puppies after the bbc highlighted a national shortage of dogs. it's all thanks to our correspondent sean dilley, who has been without a guide dog since his previous companion sammy retired six months ago — he's now facing a two year wait — but it's hoped that more volunteers looking after training dogs can reduce that wait, as sean reports. i couldn't imagine my life without rio. she's so important. she's my best friend, my constant companion, my means of independence, of getting about wherever i want to go, whenever i want to go, and living the life i want to lead. this is the freedom guide dogs give their blind and visually impaired partners. rio is ella caulfield's first guide. if they didn't have each other, ella says she wouldn't be able

to study maths at oxford. she gives me that independence that i do need, and i crave, that i need to live the life i want to lead. she's good for a cuddle at the end of an evening if i've had a bad day. and she's an excellent guide, she's very rarely led me astray. ella started to lose her sight at four years old. when she was 15, she received some bad news. i think because it happened gradually, it wasn't like an immediate shock of, "you're not going to see again." i was told i had a retina detachment and i definitely broke down then. i was with my dad. i remember him hugging me and the nurses kind of bringing me a cup of water, just kind of comforting me. and then i got booked in for surgery the next day. doctors operated to try to save any sight they could, but those attempts failed. nothing came of it. so i've been left with just minimal light perception in my right eye. but it's not useful. i can only see light if i look directly into the sun or into a light bulb.

for ella, a new reality. she learnt new life skills and how to read braille. her application for a guide dog was accepted in may 2017. then around a year later... it was actually my mum picked up the call so i hadn't got home from school yet. my mum picked up the call. it was someone from guide dogs saying "we've got a match for ella." i think ijust got very giggly and very kind of, yeah, very excited. like, yes, this is happening. never, says ella, would she ever want to be without a dog again. just feeling so much more confident and independent and happy that i had this friend with me who was going to be there permanently with me. rio provides such a kind of welfare support to me. ella and rio's is one of 3,695 partnerships currently working in the uk, down from around 5,000 before the pandemic when breeding was paused for five months. the charity lost a third of their volunteers.

come on, good. good boy! it's been six months since my guide dog sammy retired. sammy is more important to me and you always will be, sammy, you'll always be my boy. sharing my story is by far the hardest thing i've ever done in my career. the impact, though, has been huge. you are actually quite moved today. the bonds you two have. the niblock family were one of many watching that day. it was heartbreaking to watch it, really. itjust made us think, why not sign up when we've got the time, the space and everything just to help make a difference. they're among more than 11,500 people who've applied to volunteer since sammy's last walk. we applied, they came to see us and we're getting a puppy at the beginning of april. archie! touch! guide dogs say applications spiked then and again when we featured lisa allison and her guide dog puppies. i would like to say to bbc breakfast viewers, thank you so much to everyone who's already applied to volunteer at guide dogs. since the coverage, we've seen a peak in applications.

so injanuary alone, we received almost 3,000 volunteer applications. 2,500 of those were to raise puppies, compared with 2,000 for the whole of 2019, the last pre—pandemic year. the charity says what they need now is fosterers to look after guide dogs in training, people who can drop them off and pick them up from training offices. what this role particularly is is a six month commitment to supporting a puppy to go to school and look after that puppy in evenings and weekends. jenny is hannah cooper's fifth foster dog. good girl, play time! she's six and a half weeks into her training. when she's not learning, she's at home having fun. it means that they are in a really relaxed, comfortable home situation in the evenings and on the weekends. and they get used to, you know, in this case, living in a flat. hannah's job in digital content creation means she gets to work from home a lot.

fostering is a commitment. it takes me probably half an hour to drop her off in the morning and to pick her up. so it's about an hour a day that i spend commuting to and from the training centre, which actually isn't that much. and hannah doesn't plan to stop any time soon. when i hearfrom guide dog owners who have had a guide dog and how much it changes their life, like, that is incredible. and it makes me feel really proud to have been a tiny, tiny part of that. far from playing a tiny part, guide dogs say hannah's role is vital if they're to cut waiting times. hannah knows their time together is not forever. but fosterers like her are needed to help dogs likejenny become guides for people like me. the former first minister of northern ireland peter robinson has urged democratic unionists to take as much time as they need to consider their response to rishi sunak�*s new brexit deal.

in a post on social media, the former dup leader says the party needs to consider whether rejecting the deal would "place unionism and northern ireland on more perilous ground." the prime minister is hoping his new settlement will persuade dup mps to end their power—sharing boycott at stormont and return to devolved government. our ireland correspondent chris pagejoined us earlier with all the details. i think certainly people in the dup will be looking carefully at peter robinson's words. he's made his comments in a facebook post and he doesn't often intervene in the politics of northern ireland these days, but he is a highly respected party grandee within the dup, the former leader, the first minister of northern ireland from 2008 until 2016. so, the dup are considering whether they should accept the deal known as the windsor framework struck by rishi sunak and the eu which london and brussels hope

will pave the way to the restoration of devolution at stormont to persuade the dup to lift its veto on the formation of a power—sharing government here in belfast. the dup have been wielding that veto for in effect more than a year now in opposition to the trade border between northern ireland and the rest of the uk, which rishi sunak has been arguing will be lifted by this new agreement with the eu. mr robinson has been saying the dup has been taking its time and it's right to not be following anybody else's timetable. towards the end of his statement, he says serious thought must be given as to whether a better deal could be had in the future. the dup didn't react positively to this one. however, he says, it's important to also consider whether in rejecting the framework we place unionism and northern ireland

on more perilous ground. so, what he could be getting at there is an argument put forward by unionist thinkers, commentators, strategists, that the best way to secure the union, the best way to secure northern ireland's place in the uk, is for unionists to be involved in the government of northern ireland. so, in the short term maybe the dup might be thinking of electoral consequences if they are seen to compromise too quickly by more hardline groups, for example. on the other hand the strategy to protect the union in the long term involving devolution at stormont, that could be a calculation at play too. four men arrested in connection with the shooting of an off duty police officer in northern ireland have been released. two men — one aged 71, the other 47 — are still being questioned about the attack on detective chief inspector, john caldwell in omagh a week ago. on detective chief inspector, he remains critically ill in hospital. more than two and a half years have

passed since former cricketer azeem rafiq first made claims of racism at yorkshire cricket club, later calling english cricket "institutionally racist". today, a long—awaited disciplinary hearing will begin in london, which is due to take place in public — a first for the cricket discipline commission. mr rafiq is due to appear in person to give evidence at the hearing. our correspondent matt graveling is there for us. and, matt, a really significant day. first of all, just remind our viewers a little bit more about the background of this.— background of this. yes, hello. it is a very significant _ background of this. yes, hello. it is a very significant day, - background of this. yes, hello. it is a very significant day, as - background of this. yes, hello. it is a very significant day, as you i is a very significant day, as you say, we are here in londonjust outside the international arbitration centre. a couple of moments ago, the former yorkshire spinner azeem rafiq flanked by men in suits went past the photographers and into the building. it has been a

very sorry state of affairs for yorkshire cricket and english cricket in general. take you back to when this all started. it was august 2020 when the former yorkshire spinner went on a cricket podcast and basically made claims of historical racism at headingley, yorkshire's ground where he played his cricket and from then, a series of eventss that have pulled the sport into disrepute. seven of the 43 claims, there was a number of high—profile resignations from the club itself and after that, azeem rafiq sat in front of a government select committee and he gave an emotional recounting of evidence, talking about how the racism, the alleged racism impacted on his life. following that, the english and wales cricket board at their own investigation and found that seven men and also yorkshire county cricket club itself were abridged of

bringing the club into disrepute. they were charged and that information will be discussed today. however, the club won't be appearing here at the hearing, that is because they have already pleaded guilty to four ecb amended charges and of the seven men charged with bringing the game into disrepute, only one of those, the former england captain will be here to give evidence as part of this three—day hearing. the other six men have decided to withdraw from the disciplinary proceedings because they didn't have any faith in the process. we will give you information from inside that building here today on bbc news and bbc sport as we have it. thank ou ve and bbc sport as we have it. thank you very much- _ nigeria's president—elect, bola tinubu, has appealed for unity in an address to jubilant supporters

after being announced the winner of saturday's election. the former governor of lagos said he wanted to work to make nigeria great. but opposition parties have called for the poll to be cancelled, alleging result manipulation. our west africa correspondent mayeni jones has been closely following the results. after several days of waiting, nigerians now have a clearer picture of who their next president might be. the candidate of the ruling all progressives congress, bola tinubu, appears to have won the most amount of votes in these presidential elections. this result comes amidst a lot of controversy spanning the vote with the opposition party saying that there is evidence that the new electronic voting system used in saturday's polls was faulty. and that there were issues with some of the machines that were in polling stations around the country.

and they have asked the electoral commission to do re—election. the commission says that there is a channel through which these parties can go, if they have any issues with the votes, they can go through the courts once the announcement has been made. but for now, it is standing by its result, it is sticking with it. there's been a lot of confusion among the voting public here in nigeria. walking through lagos today, lots of people questioning why it is taking so long to get results. they were supposed to start trickling in on saturday after polls closed, but they didn't really come out until 2a hours later. that has led to a lot of suspicion in the country, which already has a big history of vote buying and votery gain. the family of woman who was brutally killed by her estranged husband are launching an appeal to prevent his early release from prison. joanna simpson was a week away from divorcing robert brown when he took her life in 2010. he was convicted of manslaughter due to diminished responsibility, and given a 26—year sentence — but he could be released after serving just 13 years. helena wilkinson explains.

it was a truly shocking case. mother—of—twojoanna simpson killed by her husband in a brutal attack more than a decade ago. british airways pilot robert brown had driven to their marital home in ascot in berkshire in october 2010. armed with a clawhammer, he hit his wife around the head at least 1a times. she had tried desperately to defend herself. their two children were in the playroom. they heard the attack. brown then buried his wife in a makeshift grave he had dug some weeks earlier in windsor great park. the following day he rang the police and was arrested. at his trial, jurors heard that brown had been consumed by anger during the course of their marriage and that a prenuptial agreement signed had caused him continuing resentment. he said he had killed his wife over

an argument over schools. the couple were in the middle of divorce proceedings. brown was cleared of murder, but had admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. last year, in an exclusive interview with bbc breakfast and radio a woman's hour, the then duchess of cornwall, now queen consort, was reunited withjoanna simpson's mother, diana parkes. they'd met previously in 2016. camilla creditsjoanna's story with inspiring her to become a domestic abuse campaigner. i don't think i would be as involved in it now if i hadn't met you. i mean, you were the one that started out my passion. thank you so much. and i remember saying to you at the time, you know, i don't know what it is, but i really, really want to do something to help.

that's how it all started. joanna's mother now wants thejustice secretary, dominic raab, to intervene over the possible release of her daughter's killer. she says her family are very fearful that he could be released halfway through his sentence. speaking on sunday, mr raab agreed to meet the family. would you be willing to meet diana? oh, yes, of course. and i meet lots of victims or bereaved in these appalling cases. this case isn't coming up until later in the year. within the powers i've got, i will look at this as i would look at any other very rigorously. myjob is always to put victims first so of course i'll meet with with her. and secondly, to protect the public. a spokesman for thejoanna simpson foundation said they were very pleased that the justice secretary had agreed to meetjoanna's family so that they can explain in their own words what they feel has gone so wrong in this case. we are confident, they said, that when mr raab is presented with all the facts, he will agree with us that all action needs

to be taken to prevent the release of robert brown. more than a decade afterjoanna was killed, herfamily continues to fight in her name. helena wilkinson, bbc news. the us supreme court has been hearing arguments over the legitimacy of president biden�*s plan to give loan relief to millions of students. six republican—controlled states say mr biden exceeded his powers when he promised to cancel $430 billion worth of loans. our north america correspondent peter bowes reports. got to go on a mission to make sure the highest court in the land gets the message. many of these students say they're thousands of dollars in debt. canceling their loans would make a huge difference to their lives. you cannot live in america and have bad credit and have access.

and so what we're seeing now is this issue. it impacts more than just your economics. it impacts your opportunity to actually live. when we have this debt, it's hard to think through all the bills that are in front of us. and so we need to make that indebtedness go away. it is a form of economic enslavement. but is president biden�*s plan fair or even legal? he believes it is based on a law passed 20 years ago that says the government has the power to waive or modify loan provisions to protect borrowers affected by a war or other military operation or national emergency. in this case, the pandemic. but the supreme court's chief justice expressed doubts. we're talking about half a trillion dollars and 43 million americans. how does that fit under the normal understanding of modifying? but the biden administration says almost 20 million people are eligible to have their entire student loan balances cancelled.

the whole point of this statute, its central mission and function, is to ensure that in the face of a national emergency that is causing financial harm to borrowers, the secretary can do something. he can alter the student loan program to ensure that they're not worse off. outside the court, a final appeal to the justices from a politician who's hugely popular with students. so today we say to the supreme court, listen to the needs of millions of struggling people, people who want a middle class life but are buried in debt. do the right thing. support biden�*s proposal. cancel student debt. thank you all very much. millions of borrowers are currently in limbo as the court, which has a 6—3 conservative majority, deliberates the matter. it will make a final ruling injune. peter bowes, bbc news. youtube has been accused of collecting the viewing data of children aged under 13, in breach of a uk data privacy code

designed to protect them. an official complaint has been lodged with the information commissioner's officer. youtube says it has already bolstered children's privacy on the platform. our technology editor zoe kleinman reports. what are our children watching online and who knows about it? 89% of three to 17—year—olds watch youtube according to the regulator ofcom, despite it being aimed at children aged 13 and above. youtube gathers data about what its users are watching, so that it can show them more videos they might like. it also looks at where they are watching and what they are watching on. children aren't supposed to be part of this, but lots of them use their parents' devices and accounts, and that means that their data gets gathered too. let me see your recommendations. campaigner and father of three duncan mccann says he believes youtube is breaching industry standards by doing this, as neither the children nor their parents have consented to it, and he's taken his complaint to the information

commissioners office. it has a children's internet code designed to protect children's data privacy. my preferred reform that youtube should make is that actually when you enter youtube they don't collect any unnecessary and process any unnecessary information and that the best way to ensure that they are only collecting the data of adults who are properly consenting would be to then have a process where adults can sign in to the tracking recommendation system, profiling, targeted ads. in a statement, youtube said it had made investments to protect kids and families, including more protective default settings, a dedicated kids app, and supervised experience which requires parental consent. the information commissioners office told the bbc we'll consider this complaint carefully. many tech firms make a lot of money from compiling data about their users and then using it to sell ads, but children are supposed to be protected from this. action in the us led to youtube

paying a £140 billion fine and changing its practices. it is assumed that anyone watching children's content would be potentially under the age of 13 and so it collects far less data on that type of content and also doesn't send personalised ads to people watching that content. it shows that big tech can make big changes when it needs to. zoe kleinman, bbc news. more than 700 six offenders have slipped off the radar of police in three years, according to figures uncovered by the bbc. currently, if a registered six offender wants to change their name, they should inform the police. but critics say regulations are too easy to bypass. the home office carried out two related reviews of the issue last year, but has not released the findings. phil mackie reports. these are just a few of the men who have been jailed for sex offences either after they changed their names or who have changed their name since.

we know of dozens of others and it's feared there could be many more out there. freedom of information requests have revealed the police no longer know the whereabouts of at least 729 sex offenders. campaigners believe most have changed their names to make it easier to disappear. it should be that that offence follows you for the rest of your life so that when you want to start a newjob, get into a new relationship, those people around you are aware of who you are and what you've done. della wright was abused as a child. decades later, when she reported the case to the police, she learned that the man responsible had gone on to change his identity and offend again. if it's as simple as a sex offendersaying, "no, i've never been known by any other name" and nobody checks that, it's far too simplistic. and so it's just open to abuse. and that abuse is still going on? absolutely, yeah.

she's leading a campaign for what they are calling della's law which would deny sex offenders the right to change their names. we're talking about driving licence, passports. you know, people are coming out, being prolific offenders, getting a new passport and then going abroad to abuse children abroad. you know, we've not got a grasp on our sex offenders in this country. the mp sarah champion is hosting a debate about the issue in westminster tomorrow. the scale of sex offenders changing their names and disappearing in the system is really chilling, so why is it the home secretary isn't acting to close this gaping loophole? in a statement, the home office said that sex offenders must notify police of their personal details every year and this includes any name changes. failure to comply, including providing false information, is a criminal offence punishable by up to five years imprisonment. the national police chiefs' council has said that it believes that sex

offenders are managed robustly here in the uk. it said that anyone has got the right to change their names but there are extra legal obligations placed on sex offenders and it believes that the uk has world beating tools manage them effectively. the lucy faithful foundation has worked successfully with sex offenders for decades, helping to stop them committing more crimes. if changing a name assists in doing that, then that, for me, _ becomes a priority but of course they have to do that _ in a way that is consistent with their registration - requirements, that doesn't allow. them to seek opportunities and take opportunities to reoffend. the majority of sex offenders who change their names do tell the authorities, but a worryingly high number are using it as a loophole to evade scrutiny. phil mackie, bbc news. with me now is donald findlater from child abuse prevention chairty the lucy faithfull foundation.

you saw him just a moment ago in that report. thank you very much for joining us today. the first and obvious question i guess it should six offenders be allowed to change their names? the six offenders be allowed to change their names?— six offenders be allowed to change their names? the priority for me is that they are _ their names? the priority for me is that they are on _ their names? the priority for me is that they are on a _ their names? the priority for me is that they are on a register - their names? the priority for me is that they are on a register so - their names? the priority for me is that they are on a register so that. that they are on a register so that their risks can be managed. we don't want them, once they are released from prison, if they go to prison, we don't want them to reoffend of any matter of means. of course, 700 plus six offenders going missing with the assumption that many of them have changed their name, that must be profoundly concerning. your report also acknowledges that nearly 1500 offenders change their name and duly notified the police. passports and the like would have been regularised, that is not an

opportunity for greater risk. yes, but 729, 729 _ opportunity for greater risk. yes, but 729, 729 have _ opportunity for greater risk. yes, but 729, 729 have not _ opportunity for greater risk. yes, but 729, 729 have not followed the guidance and lots of people work in this area say it is frankly ridiculous that the owner should be on the sex fanned out to change that name. i will agree that... thea;r on the sex fanned out to change that name. i will agree that. . ._ name. i will agree that... they have to notify in — name. i will agree that... they have to notify in advance _ name. i will agree that... they have to notify in advance intention - name. i will agree that... they have to notify in advance intention to - to notify in advance intention to travel abroad. notifying of intention to change your name and for the system to recognise that, the approval process, i think those kinds of things would make eminent sense to do something with the loophole. but i don't want viewers to go away thinking that this is a shocking system. we do have, i have the opportunity to travel abroad, talk to police officers and ngos

like myself and the rest of the world. we have a world beating service, we are leading the way, this is one thing we can do better in and i think we ought to. the current register has about 67,000 individuals on it. the vast majorities of those individuals are wanting to do right, they are notifying as appropriate and not reoffending. that is the primary story. at 729 is a serious number and we need to get those people back on the register appropriately back behind bars if they have broken the law further. share behind bars if they have broken the law further-— law further. are you saying for the sake of those _ law further. are you saying for the sake of those who _ law further. are you saying for the sake of those who are _ law further. are you saying for the sake of those who are operating . sake of those who are operating within the law, that the system shouldn't change. or conversely, do you think because of those 729 who have gone missing, presumably changing their identities without letting anybody know, that achieve the law should be changed and that

any sex offender should be banned from changing their name. i any sex offender should be banned from changing their name.- from changing their name. i would not be in favour _ from changing their name. i would not be in favour of _ from changing their name. i would not be in favour of banning - not be in favour of banning them from changing their names. it can be a very immaterial kind of way of the past offender changing the whole way of living their life and getting away from the potential of having to always look over their shoulder in case somebody google searches their notorious past. with rehabilitation for protecting future victims, rehabilitation is important, but mechanism that requires before any name change taking place, the police to be notified with so that it is not done under the radar, the assumption is some of that 729 have done that, but we don't know how many of them have so we just need to know what we know. but i would certainly not be in favour of preventing a name change for everyone on the register because it is a material contribution for many

of them to their rehabilitation and future lives, so to speak. we need to recognise what we are doing well and what we are not doing well. we are out of time, unfortunately on this conversation, but thank you very much for your thoughts. that's from the lucy faithful foundation. pangolins are one of the most hunted animals on earth. they're wanted for their meat and their scales — which are used in traditional chinese medicine. there's been a global ban on trafficking them since 2017 — and now london's met police is doing its bit to combat this illegal trade — as the bbc�*s tim allman explains. meet bess and her best friend, buster, the latest weapons in the fight against the illegal trafficking of animals in asia. these two labradors have been trained by london's metropolitan police. their next stop, thailand, and a new life sniffing out crime, one pangolin at a time.

live animals critically endangered and indeed one of the most trafficked animals in the world. we reckon one is poached every 5 minutes. so really horrific numbers that they've been trafficked. and by one estimate, nearly 3 million of them are poached each year. and there's not that many of them left. there are eight types of pangolin, and all of them are on the so—called red list of endangered species at risk of extinction. their meat is regarded as a delicacy in parts of asia, and their scales are said to have powerful medicinal qualities. bess and buster will be used in airports, ports and along thailand's road network. and this is a lifetime commitment for the pair of them. they'll have a working life about 7 to 8 years, and then they'll be retired and cared for in thailand. so yeah, they're going to sunnier climes. the world wildlife fund says that the pangolin is the most trafficked mammal in the world.

if all goes according to plan, bess and buster, will have something to say about that. tim allman, bbc news. and we want to show you the scene increase now near larissa, the central city of larissa whether terrible train crash happened just before midnight. a crash head—on collision between a freight train and a passenger train, some carriages derailed, bursting into flames, at least 36 people have been killed, dozens more injured. 60 people are in hospital, six, we are told, in a critical condition. around 350 passengers on the inter—city service in total. rescuers are continuing to search, hoping to find survivors. the prime minister visited the scene a short while ago. we will have more on that

story throughout the day few here on bbc news. do stay with us throughout the day. i am on twitter. hello again and happy saint davids dave. the weather for you the next few days, high pressure is firmly in charge and you can see from the isobars that it is not particularly windy. we have got a week weather front sinking south and there is a fair bit of cloud around. they were skies today, in parts of northern and western scotland, and enter the south—east. northern ireland will also see sunshine. there will be showers coming in, a brisk breeze from the sea. it will feel colder than the temperatures are suggesting. that is down the east coast, it will feel more like four or 5 degrees rather than seven or

eight, may 9 degrees. as we head through the evening and overnight, lots of calderon, that is part of northern scotland and also part of southern england. this is where we were more likely see frost. showers across northern ireland and scotland and england. blue skies, but cold start to the day tomorrow, some starting with sunshine. high pressure remains from the weather, but if anything, it has drifted further west, which means that the wind is not going to be strong tomorrow, it will not feel as cold and there will be more sunshine than we are looking at today. although there will still be areas of cloud. temperatures between seven and 10 degrees. more or less where we should be at the beginning of march. and towards the end of the week, high pressure is very much still in place, i said was really widening, not as windy and as we had into the

weekend, we have a weather front thinking south. on friday, still curled around, the wind changed direction slightly, distribution and showers slightly different, a few more potentially being seen in east anglia, for example. still sunshine across the north—west. temperatures around the range of seven or nine. this is thinking south, cold front bumping into high pressure, it will slip southwards, the first thing to do is drag in cold air behind as we head through the weekend, it will turn colder and colder again as the start of next week.

this is bbc news, i'm rebecca jones. the headlines at 11... former health secretary matt hancock strongly denies allegations he rejected covid testing advice during the pandemic, after his whatsapp messages are leaked by the journalist who helped write his book. police forces are working around the clock in the search for a missing two—month—old baby. its parents, constance marten and mark gordon, are being held on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. covid—19 "most likely" originated in a "chinese government—controlled lab," says the head of the fbi. beijing denies a lab leak in wuhan, calling the allegation defamatory. the televised sentencing of the parents who killed their 16—year—old daughter by letting her become obese is expected today.

rishi sunak is expected to outline his new plans for the new windsor framework during today's prime minister's questions. we'll bring you that live. the former health secretary, matt hancock, has denied claims he failed to follow covid testing advice during the early days of the pandemic. thousands of whatsapp messages leaked to the telegraph show mr hancock was advised in april 2020 to test everyone going into care homes. but a message, reportedly from mr hancock to an aide, said he would rather commit to testing only those going

into care homes from hospitals. mr hancock has accused the newspaper of reporting a "distorted account" of the pandemic. lord bethall was a junior minister in department of health and social care back in 2020. this morning, he was asked whether matt hancock should have taken the advice of the chief medical officer to test everyone going into care homes. no, i think the key phrase here is this is obviously a good, a positive step. listen, it was absolutely crystal clear that we wanted to test everyone who went into social care. that was the ambition. getting the cmo to put that into official advice was a progressive step, we welcomed it. the chief medical officer, sorry, just to remind people. professor chris whitty, who by the way, always gave extremely clear and sensible advice

in these matters. so, to be clear where we are, not in dispute is that chris whitty did advise, did want everybody going into care homes in april to be tested. no, not in dispute is, at that stage, it was clear to everyone that we wanted to move to a situation where many, many more people were tested in the country, particularly those who were most vulnerable, like those going into social care. but we were only doing a few thousand tests a day, and that was the practical problem. we were trying, like every other country in the world, like every other health system, we were desperately trying to scale our testing to meet this huge need for extra tests, and what we had to try to do in the meantime was to prioritise who got tested first. joining me now from westminster is our chief political correspondent, nick eardley.

we have not seen all the messages, have we? but there is no doubt these messages are real. what is in dispute is about what they reveal. is that really the crux of it? yes. is that really the crux of it? yes, and what happened _ is that really the crux of it? yes and what happened between the messages being said. as you stay the daily telegraph has a copy of 100,000 messages or so from matt hancock through the journalist isabel oakeshott who is a cobra lockdown sceptic, critical of the government, help go straight matt hancock's ken doherty got his whatsapp messages as our result but we don't know the context or content. what we have is the messages that have been published by the newspaper. one on a morning in 2020 where matt hancock makes it clear he has had advice from the chief medical officer that everybody going into care homes should be tested. there is messages later in the day where the position of the

government adopts is different. that only people going from hospitals to care homes should be tested. clearly thatis care homes should be tested. clearly that is controversial because there has been so much discussion about whether the government got the policy right when it came to care homes, whether it should have been thinking about asymptomatic transmission a lot sooner. the account we had from matt hancock is quite different, that there was a meeting in between the messages being sent between the changes in policy where matt hancock was told that it was not possible to test everybody going into a care home because there were not enough tests. we just heard that account they are from lord bethell who was health a health minister at the time as well. that's a dispute about whether matt hancock rejected advice, he categorically denies that, says it was nonsense or whether he was forced into that position because the tests were not there. it does raise a further question about

whether more testing could have been scaled up earlier. but that is not a new one. , ., ., ., new one. tell us more about what matt hancock's _ new one. tell us more about what matt hancock's response - new one. tell us more about what matt hancock's response has - new one. tell us more about what| matt hancock's response has been new one. tell us more about what. matt hancock's response has been to these claims. it is matt hancock's response has been to these claims-— these claims. it is fair to say he is not these claims. it is fair to say he is rrot happy- — these claims. it is fair to say he is rrot happy- i _ these claims. it is fair to say he is not happy. i think _ these claims. it is fair to say he is not happy. i think we - these claims. it is fair to say he is not happy. i think we can - these claims. it is fair to say he l is not happy. i think we can show you a bit of the statement that was issued by a spokesperson this morning which says... he goes on, the spokesman goes on to say that it was not possible to test everybody, that was clear advice given to mr hancock but he accepted it, but that ultimately the statement argues the then health secretary went as well as possible as fast as possible to expand testing and in their words save lives. again, if we get to the crux

of the issue here, it is did the government get advice that it should be scaling up testing in care homes quicker? did it do enough to follow that advice and could it have acted quicker? the account we see in the daily telegraph suggests maybe that could have been the case. the account we are hearing from their then health secretary was no he acted as quickly as possible. it has been a debate for some time and i think that debate will undoubtedly continue. ., ~ think that debate will undoubtedly continue. ., ,, , ., a police have spent the night searching for a missing baby near brighton. the child's parents are being questioned on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. police said they had not provided any further information about the condition or the whereabouts of the child. constance marten and mark gordon, who is a registered sex offender, had been missing for nearly eight weeks. the couple left home last september and their baby was born in earlyjanuary, though police aren't sure exactly when.

the couple came to public attention when their car caught fire on the m61 near bolton onjanuary 5th. from there, the pair took a taxi to liverpool and another to harwich, arriving on the morning of the 6th of january. by lunchtime on the 7th ofjanuary, they were in east london, where they bought a tent from argos and abandoned a pushchair. there were more taxi journeys, including to the port of newhaven. after that, they evaded detection until monday night, when a member of the public saw them and called 999. vincent mcaviney has more. monday night in north brighton. after 53 days on the run, constance marten and mark gordon are spotted on cctv walking down a residential street. while shopping in this convenience store, they were spotted by a member of the public, who called 999. shortly after, they

were filmed again. officers arrested the couple without their baby, walking towards an allotment site and golf course leading to the south downs. but despite finally having the couple in custody, they have not provided any further information about the condition or whereabouts of the child. police fear it could have been abandoned in freezing conditions. they're now being held on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. around 200 officers from sussex and london's metropolitan police have worked around the clock to try to find the baby, whose sex is unknown, and who is believed to have never had medical treatment. drones, a helicopter and sniffer dogs were all deployed to assist. in the daylight, officers work their way slowly through the large allotment the couple were thought to be heading towards. every shed and greenhouse was being checked, in temperatures close to zero. 35—year—old constance marten comes from a hugely wealthy family, with close ties to the royal family.

she grew up in this country estate in dorset and was at drama school in 2016, when she first met 48—year—old mark gordon. gordon, a registered sex offender who was deported to britain from the united states in 2010, after spending 20 years in prison for a rape he committed aged 1a. ever since, they have led an isolated life. injanuary, constance's father, napier marten, made this appeal to his daughter. darling constance, even though we remain estranged at the moment, i stand by, as i have always done, and as the family has always done, to do whatever is necessary for your safe return to us. whilst detectives hope the baby is alive, perhaps being looked after by someone else, they're becoming increasingly concerned. constance marten�*s father said on tuesday that whilst he's

relieved she's been found, he is worried about his missing grandchild they hope to finally meet. but after another night of freezing weather, that hope here is fading. vincent mcaviney, bbc news. we can speak to our reporter yetunde yusuf, who's in brighton this morning. bring us up—to—date with the police search into this missing baby. yes. search into this missing baby. yes, olice are search into this missing baby. yes, police are still— search into this missing baby. yes, police are still searching _ search into this missing baby. ye: police are still searching that 91 square miles area. not too far away from where i am standing now, the golf course and allotment, some allotments further down the road near to a local playground, a local nursery, police presence there. one dog walker i spoke to said the area is so vast it is like finding a needle in a haystack but police are searching. they have got drones, thermal imaging cameras, helicopters and dogs and have been combing through the undergrowth, looking through the undergrowth, looking through water buts as well as sheds desperate to find the baby. obviously the clock is ticking but

it has been really cold out there. we feel —— they feel the baby may have come to harm but the search continues and they are hopeful even though the hope is fading. officials in greece say at least 36 people have been killed and dozens more injured in a train crash. a cargo train collided with a passenger train near the city of larissa in the thessaly region. conditions for the rescuers are described as very difficult. the army has been mobilised to help and dozens of fire and ambulance staff are at the scene. stephanie prentice reports. it's been described by local authorities and "a terrible scene." while passengers said the crash felt like being in an earthquake. translation: we heard a big bang. it was ten nightmareish seconds. we were turning over in the wagon until we fell on our sides

and until the commotion stopped. then there was panic, cables everywhere, fire, the fire was immediate. as we were turning over, we were being burned. fire was right and left. as rescue teams work their way through these dark and smoky carriages, the death toll keeps rising, after a high—speed collision in the night between a cargo train and a passenger train. hundreds of passengers have been evacuated by rescue teams, some dragged to safety, after crawling through upside down carriages. translation: it was chaos. tumbling over, fires, cables hanging, broken windows, people screaming, people trapped. these people are the lucky ones. fire officials say the first two carriages of the train completely disintegrated in the crash. the next two were derailed entirely. how two trains, travelling in opposite directions, came to directly collide will be the next

issue officials will tackle. for now, their focus is on recovery and, as morning breaks in greece, the hope is the light will bring survivors with it. you're watching bbc news. the head of the fbi in the united states has said the coronavirus pandemic is most likely to have emerged from a chinese laboratory. in an interview with fox news, the fbi director, christopher wray, said his agency had held that assessment for some time. it's the first public confirmation of the fbi's judgment on the issue. mr wray added that china seemed to be doing its best to thwart investigations into the origin of the pandemic. beijing has denied a lab leak in wuhan, calling the allegation defamatory. earlier, my colleague, annita mcveigh, asked cbs news correspondent jarred hill why christopher wray has made this statement now.

so, this is an interview that he did with fox news, talking about all of this. it comes interestingly, though, anita, after the us department of energy over the weekend came out with a similar assessment, although they were saying that there's low confidence in some of this intelligence that they're getting. and so it's interesting looking at this, because a lot of the language around these now two american agencies out of the nine that are investigating this, who say that it was likely a lab leak, are still using some fairly loose and uncertain language in exactly why they believe that that might be the case. and some other us agencies still believe that this could have jumped from animals to humans, rather than it being a lab leak. either way, it adds to political difficulty, difficulties between washington and beijing, doesn't it? yeah, that's true. i mean, as you were just talking, there is beijing kind of commenting on this one, saying that the united states, or at least these two particular us agencies,

are stirring the pot they see unnecessarily so. this comes after the situation in the us with the chinese spy balloon that china says was not a spy balloon and that the us was overreacting when it shot that one down. so there are moments now where we are seeing this escalating tension between the united states and the chinese government. we are also, though, seeing from the top here in the united states, president biden in particular, really trying to make an effort to say that, while he wants competition, healthy competition with china, he's not looking for conflict. this doesn't necessarily help that, though. the headlines on bbc news... former health secretary matt hancock strongly denies allegations he rejected covid testing advice during the pandemic, after his whatsapp messages are leaked by the journalist who helped write his book. the search continues for a missing two—month—old baby. its parents, constance marten and mark gordon, are being held on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.

covid—19 "most likely" originated in a "chinese government—controlled lab," that is according to the head of the fbi. beijing denies a lab leak in wuhan, calling the allegation defamatory. the former first minister of northern ireland, peter robinson, has urged the democratic unionist party to take as much time as it needs to consider its response to rishi sunak�*s new deal on post—brexit trade arrangements. in a post on social media, the former dup leader said the party and northern ireland on more perilous ground." the prime minister is hoping his new settlement will persuade dup mps to end their power—sharing boycott at stormont and return to devolved government. earlier, our ireland correspondent, chris page gave us more details on this.

i think certainly people in the dup will be looking carefully at peter robinson's words. he's made these comments in a facebook post and he doesn't often intervene in the politics of northern ireland these days, but he is a highly respected party grandee within the dup, the former leader, first minister of northern ireland from 2008 until 2016. so, the dup at the moment considering whether they accept the deal known as the windsor framework, struck by rishi sunak and the eu, which london and brussels hope will pave the way to the restoration of devolution at stormont by persuading the dup to lift its veto on the formation of a power—sharing devolved government here in belfast. the dup have been wielding that veto for, in effect, more than a year now, in opposition to the trade border between northern ireland and the rest of the uk, which rishi sunak has been arguing will be lifted by this

new agreement with the eu. so, mr robinson has been saying the dup has been right to be taking its time and it's right to not be following anybody else's timetable. towards the end of his statement, and this is the point people are picking up on, he says serious thought must be given as to whether a better deal could be had in the future. the dup didn't react positively to this one. "however," he says, "it's important to also consider "whether in rejecting the framework, we place unionism and northern "ireland on more perilous ground." so what he could be getting at there is an argument put forward by unionist thinkers, commentators, strategists, that the best way to secure the union, the best way to secure northern ireland's place in the uk, is for unionists to be involved in the government of northern ireland. so in the short—term, maybe the dup might be thinking of electoral consequences if they are seen

to compromise too quickly by more hardline unionist groups, for example. on the other hand, the strategy to protect the union in the long term involving devolution at stormont, that could be a calculation at play too. four men, arrested in connection with the shooting of an off—duty police officer in northern ireland, have been released. two men, one aged 71, the other a7, are still being questioned about the attack on detective chief inspector john caldwell in omagh a week ago. he remains critically ill in hospital. the sight loss charity, guide dogs, says it's had a record number of people volunteering to raise puppies after the bbc highlighted a national shortage of dogs. it's all thanks to our correspondent sean dilley, who has been without a guide dog since his previous companion sammy retired six months ago. he's now facing a two—year wait, but it's hoped that more volunteers to train dogs can reduce that wait, as sean reports. i couldn't imagine

my life without rio. she's so important. she's my best friend, my constant companion, my means of independence, of getting about wherever i want to go, whenever i want to go, and living the life i want to lead. this is the freedom guide dogs give their blind and visually impaired partners. rio is ella caulfield's first guide. if they didn't have each other, ella says she wouldn't be able to study maths at oxford. she gives me that independence that i do need, and i crave, that i need to live the life i want to lead. she's good for a cuddle at the end of an evening if i've had a bad day. and she's an excellent guide, she's very rarely led me astray. ella started to lose her sight at four years old. when she was 15, she received some bad news. i think because it happened gradually, it wasn't like an immediate shock of, "you're not going to see again." i was told i had a retina detachment and i definitely broke down then. i was with my dad.

i remember him hugging me and the nurses kind of bringing me a cup of water, just kind of comforting me. and then i got booked in for surgery the next day. doctors operated to try to save any sight they could, but those attempts failed. nothing came of it. so i've been left with just minimal light perception in my right eye. but it's not useful. i can only see light if i look directly into the sun or into a light bulb. for ella, a new reality. she learnt new life skills and how to read braille. her application for a guide dog was accepted in may 2017. then around a year later... it was actually my mum picked up the call so i hadn't got home from school yet. my mum picked up the call. it was someone from guide dogs saying "we've got a match for ella." i think ijust got very giggly and very kind of, yeah, very excited. like, yes, this is happening. never, says ella, would she ever want to be without a dog again. just feeling so much more confident and independent and happy that i had this friend with me

who was going to be there permanently with me. rio provides such a kind of welfare support to me. ella and rio's is one of 3,695 partnerships currently working in the uk, down from around 5,000 before the pandemic when breeding was paused for five months. the charity lost a third of their volunteers. come on, good. good boy! it's been six months since my guide dog sammy retired. sammy is more important to me and you always will be, sammy, you'll always be my boy. sharing my story is by far the hardest thing i've ever done in my career. the impact, though, has been huge. you are actually quite moved today. the bond you two have... the niblock family were one of many watching that day. it was heartbreaking to watch it, really. l itjust made us think, why not sign up when we've got the time, - the space and everything, - just to help make a difference?

they're among more than 11,500 people who've applied to volunteer since sammy's last walk. we applied, they came to see us and we're getting a puppy at the beginning of april. archie! touch! guide dogs say applications spiked then and again when we featured lisa allison and her guide dog puppies. i would like to say to bbc breakfast viewers, thank you so much to everyone who's already applied to volunteer at guide dogs. since the coverage, we've seen a peak in applications. so, injanuary alone, we received almost 3,000 volunteer applications. 2,500 of those were to raise puppies, compared with 2,000 for the whole of 2019, the last pre—pandemic year. the charity says what they need now is fosterers to look after guide dogs in training, people who can drop them off and pick them up from training offices. what this role particularly is is a six—month commitment to supporting a puppy to go to school and look after that puppy in evenings and weekends. jenny is hannah cooper's

fifth foster dog. good girl, play time! she's six and a half weeks into her training. when she's not learning, she's at home having fun. l it means that they are in a really l relaxed, comfortable home situation in the evenings and on the weekends. and they get used to, you know, i in this case, living in a flat. i hannah's job in digital content creation means she gets to work from home a lot. fostering is a commitment. it takes me probably half an hour to drop her off. in the morning and to pick her up. so it's about an hour a day that i spend commuting i to and from the training centre, lwhich actually isn't that much. | and hannah doesn't plan to stop any time soon. when i hear from guide dog owners |who have had a guide dog and how| much it changes their life, like, that is incredible. i and it makes me feel- really proud to have been a tiny, tiny part of that. far from playing a tiny part, guide dogs say hannah's role is vital if they're

to cut waiting times. hannah knows their time together is not forever, but fosterers like her are needed to help dogs likejenny become guides for people like me. i'm nowjoined by haley andrews, who's head of puppy raising at guide dogs. and the guide dog. i am quite nervous around dogs but presumably having to get as you can see he's very interested, different sounds and people, he is having a look around and diane letting the him do that. tell having a look around and diane letting the him do that.- letting the him do that. tell us more about — letting the him do that. tell us more about him. _ letting the him do that. tell us more about him. oakey - letting the him do that. tell us more about him. oakey is i letting the him do that. tell us more about him. oakey is a i more about him. oakey is a 12—month—old german shepherd cross golden retriever, he is being raised ljy golden retriever, he is being raised by a woman called josephine, she is currently raising two of our dogs.

if you are watching, hello. you have more volunteers as a result of sean's report. how surprised are you? it sean's report. how surprised are ou? ., , sean's report. how surprised are ou? , sean's report. how surprised are ou? . , , ., ., sean's report. how surprised are ou? , ., ., , ., , you? it has been amazing. the story has really helped _ you? it has been amazing. the story has really helped us, _ you? it has been amazing. the story has really helped us, we _ you? it has been amazing. the story has really helped us, we have i has really helped us, we have recruited a600 applications have come through, so we do need lots more volunteers to come through. we are looking at recruiting thousands more. ~ ., ., are looking at recruiting thousands more. . ., , are looking at recruiting thousands more. . . . , more. what are people telling you about why they — more. what are people telling you about why they have _ more. what are people telling you about why they have come - more. what are people telling you | about why they have come forward more. what are people telling you i about why they have come forward to volunteer? a , ' about why they have come forward to volunteer? n, , , ., ,., , volunteer? many different reasons. as a volunteer _ volunteer? many different reasons. as a volunteer foster _ volunteer? many different reasons. as a volunteer foster and _ volunteer? many different reasons. as a volunteer foster and puppy i as a volunteer foster and puppy raiser, we can support you with, he is off. we support you with really dedicated training. people that do not have the ability to have a dog at home monday to friday, 95 because of work andjobs,... at home monday to friday, 95 because

of work and jobs,... they can drop one of our training schools as a foster, they go into training and have that ability to have a dog at home in the evenings but they are also the main reason is being able to support people like sean. and bring the dogs, the very much—needed guide dogs into their lives. itruihat guide dogs into their lives. what does this involve _ guide dogs into their lives. what does this involve if _ guide dogs into their lives. what does this involve if you - guide dogs into their lives. what does this involve if you volunteer to look after a dog? itruiith does this involve if you volunteer to look after a dog? with volunteer fosterin: , to look after a dog? with volunteer fostering, with _ to look after a dog? with volunteer fostering, with volunteer _ to look after a dog? with volunteer fostering, with volunteer fostering | fostering, with volunteer fostering roles we have many centres across the country, it is about being able to drop dogs into the office between nine and five monday to friday. and then to complete some training at home and be able to take the dogs off lead, running and our dogs have a lot of fun outside of their work which they enjoy. it is about having them in the family as you would. horse them in the family as you would. how different is it — them in the family as you would. how different is it from _ them in the family as you would. how different is it from having a normal

dog, an ordinary dog? other things you cannot do with a guide dog. if you cannot do with a guide dog. if you are watching telly, can it come and sit on the telly with you? ida. and sit on the telly with you? no, we discourage _ and sit on the telly with you? firm, we discourage them from doing that because these dogs go to individual people with individual situations in their homes and if the dog is used to being able to do things like that, then you go to a guide owner with a don't want the dogs on the bed, it is a big change. you are changing the rules. so actually... it is about the dogs being able to be part of your family. they get a lot of normal pet dog stuff. they can sniff and run and meet dogs and children but we need them to focus on their work with the harness and certain equipment. the on their work with the harness and certain equipment.— certain equipment. the other . uestion certain equipment. the other question i — certain equipment. the other question i wanted _ certain equipment. the other question i wanted to - certain equipment. the other question i wanted to ask- certain equipment. the other question i wanted to ask you | certain equipment. the other i question i wanted to ask you is that you must have to prepare people who foster the dogs or raise the dogs that they will have to say goodbye to them and that must be hard? absolutely. there is no denying

that's a very emotional time for those families but first of, we have always got more dogs. is those families but first of, we have always got more dogs.— those families but first of, we have always got more dogs. is this a sign that he likes — always got more dogs. is this a sign that he likes me _ always got more dogs. is this a sign that he likes me that _ always got more dogs. is this a sign that he likes me that he _ always got more dogs. is this a sign that he likes me that he is - always got more dogs. is this a sign that he likes me that he is wagging | that he likes me that he is wagging his tail? brute that he likes me that he is wagging his tail? ~ ., ., ., , ., ., his tail? we have more dogs and are increasin: his tail? we have more dogs and are increasing our— his tail? we have more dogs and are increasing our staff _ his tail? we have more dogs and are increasing our staff resources, i his tail? we have more dogs and are increasing our staff resources, we i increasing our staff resources, we recognise the waiting list are high and people unfortunately have to wait longer than we would want them to. we have long—term strategies in place to improve. brute to. we have long-term strategies in place to improve-— place to improve. we have got to leave it there. _ place to improve. we have got to leave it there. we _ place to improve. we have got to leave it there. we are _ place to improve. we have got to leave it there. we are out - place to improve. we have got to leave it there. we are out of- place to improve. we have got to l leave it there. we are out of time. we could have carried on chatting for a while. , we could have carried on chatting fora while. , thank we could have carried on chatting for a while. , thank you for being such a brilliant guest and new as well. thank you both. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again and happy st david's day. the weather today and for the next few days is going to be very similar. a lot of clouds around at times with a few showers. that's certainly the case today.

the brisk wind coming in off the north sea blowing those showers further south and west. the brightest skies for a time will be across southeast england and also across western parts of scotland and northern ireland. but temperatures seven to about nine degrees, almost feeling colder on the north sea coastline tonight. we'll hang on to a lot of clouds, some showers across northern england, frequent showers in northern ireland, in southern scotland and under clearing skies in the highlands and parts of the south of england. temperatures will follow a low enough for some frost, but this is where we'll have some sunshine from the word go tomorrow. and although there will be a fair bit of cloud around, we'll see more sunshine, more holes punched in that cloud, fewer showers, lighter winds. so it's not going to feel as cold with highs up to ten.

hello this is bbc news.

the headlines: former health secretary matt hancock strongly denies allegations he rejected covid testing advice during the pandemic after his whatsapp messages are leaked by the journalist who helped write his book. police forces continue the search for a missing two—month—old baby — its parents constance marten and mark gordon are being held on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. at least 36 people have been killed and dozens injured after a passenger service carrying some 350 people collided with a freight train in northern greece. the search for survivors continues. covid—19 "most likely" originated in a chinese government—controlled lab, says the head of the fbi. beijing denies a lab leak in wuhan, calling the allegation defamatory. the sentencing of the parents who killed their 16—year—old daughter, kaylea titford, by letting her become obese, is expected today.

sarah lloyd—jones and alun titford were both found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter. sport now, and a full round—up from the bbc sport centre. hello, good morning everyone. more than two and a half years have passed since former cricketer azeem rafiq first made claims of racism at yorkshire cricket club, later calling english cricket "institutionally racist". today, a long—awaited disciplinary hearing has begun in london, which is taking place in public — a first for the cricket discipline commission. rafiq is appearing in person to give evidence at the hearing. matt graveling is there for us. and matt a really significant day. good morning, it's going to be an interesting few days. we believe the

hearing will begin at about midday the international arbitration centre have told me, but we saw the former yorkshire spinner go into the building to give evidence about the alleged historic racism he suffered while playing for yorkshire. it was backin while playing for yorkshire. it was back in august 2020 that this came to light, azeem rafiq was part of a podcast and allege this race that happened at the club, following that there has been a number of investigations and high—profile resignations. one of those resignations. one of those resignations is why the england and wales cricket board, or ecb. they found the club and seven men had brought the club into disrepute and they were charged, and it was over they were charged, and it was over the next few days that that was heard. while the club was charged, the seven men who are charged, only one will appear here to give evidence, that is the former england

captain, michael vaughan. the others have withdrawn from disciplinary proceedings saying they do not have faith in the proceeding. michael vaughan is expected to give evidence, the claims are in 2009 that vaughan said to him and other asian players, there are too many of you lot, we need to do something about it. vaughan completely and categorically denies the accusations. we will hear more between now and the 9th of march, and the plan will bring back their verdicts, which could result in point deduction for yorkshire and possibly a heavy fine. we point deduction for yorkshire and possibly a heavy fine.— point deduction for yorkshire and possibly a heavy fine. we will have more on this _ possibly a heavy fine. we will have more on this story _ possibly a heavy fine. we will have more on this story throughout i possibly a heavy fine. we will have more on this story throughout the | more on this story throughout the day. meanwhile on the pitch — england's limited overs side are currently in action in the first of three one day internationals against bangladesh. bangladesh won the toss and decided to bat first. the tigers made 209 all out — najmul shanto top scored for the home side with 58. in reply,

england are finding it quite tricky — they lost jason roy in the first over and are currently. 7a-a. phil foden says he's 100% fit now after what he called "one of the worst parts" of his career with a run of poor form keeping him out of the side. he scored twice to send manchester city into the quarterfinals against bristol city. they won 3—0. foden had lost his place since the world cup but has now scored three times in two games. pep guardiola says he is back for the best part of the season. the lowest ranked team left in the competition are grimsby town of league two after a win over championship side luton in the fourth round, tonight they travel to premier league southampton for theirfirst 5th round appearance in 27 years. their cup run has also revived

a tradition of the 1980s which means shoals of inflatable haddocks are also heading south. nicknamed the mariners, they've been making appearance on all big occasions the club has been part of. it's massive, especially in a cup tie like this. you need every sort of edge because obviously you are the underdogs, but when we take a big support, a big following, itjust gives you that lift and that determination to just leave everything on the pitch and give it absolutely everything and the fans are with you so it's literally like a 12th man. that was grimsby in the fa cup, more fa cup action you can find on the website. that's all the sport for now. i want to bring in some breaking newsjust into us i want to bring in some breaking news just into us here, the stationmaster of the central greek

city has been arrested. this is following the head—on collision we have been reporting between two trains that has left at least 36 people dead. the 59—year—old stationmaster was arrested. this is according to a local police spokesperson, adding the charges will be announced shortly. just remind you, in case you you're just joining us, this crash happened just before midnight local time near the central city of larissa, when a passenger train coming from athens collided head—on at speed, derailing carriages which burst into flames. these are live pictures from the scene. survivors have described panicked scenes as they tried to escape, and we know that more than 60 people are in hospital and some of them are in a critical condition, but the news just coming into us

here that the stationmaster of the greek city of larissa has been arrested after the head—on collision between two trains. youtube has been accused of collecting the viewing data of children aged under 13, in breach of a uk data privacy code designed to protect them. an official complaint has been lodged with the information commissioner's officer. youtube says it has already bolstered children's privacy on the platform. our technology editor zoe kleinman reports. what are our children watching online and who knows about it? 89% of three to 17—year—olds watch youtube according to the regulator ofcom, despite it being aimed at children aged 13 and above. youtube gathers data about what its users are watching, so that it can show them more videos they might like. it also looks at where they are watching and what they are watching on. children aren't supposed to be part of this, but lots of them use their parents' devices

and accounts, and that means that their data gets gathered too. let me see your recommendations. campaigner and father of three duncan mccann says he believes youtube is breaching industry standards by doing this, as neither the children nor their parents have consented to it, and he's taken his complaint to the information commissioners office. it has a children's internet code designed to protect children's data privacy. my preferred reform that youtube should make is that actually when you enter youtube they don't collect any unnecessary and process any unnecessary information and that the best way to ensure that they are only collecting the data of adults who are properly consenting would be to then have a process where adults can sign in to the tracking recommendation system, profiling, targeted ads. in a statement, youtube said it had made investments to protect kids and families, including more protective default settings, a dedicated kids app, and supervised experience which requires parental consent.

the information commissioners office told the bbc we'll consider this complaint carefully. many tech firms make a lot of money from compiling data about their users and then using it to sell ads, but children are supposed to be protected from this. action in the us led to youtube paying a £1a0 billion fine and changing its practices. it is assumed that anyone watching children's content would be potentially under the age of 13 and so it collects far less data on that type of content and also doesn't send personalised ads to people watching that content. it shows that big tech can make big changes when it needs to. zoe kleinman, bbc news. and zoejoins me now. i suppose the question is, if children are not actually being deliberately targeted by unpleasant content, why does this actually

matter? ., ~ content, why does this actually matter? . ,, ., content, why does this actually matter? ., ~ ., �* , matter? yeah, i think what it's really important _ matter? yeah, i think what it's really important to _ matter? yeah, i think what it's really important to rememberl matter? yeah, i think what it's. really important to remember is matter? yeah, i think what it's i really important to remember is we see over and over again situations where people are supposed to be protected online. we have got a whole host of regulation coming in specifically designed to protect children from stumbling across content online, and yet it happens time and time again, and ofcom tells us that 89% of 3—17 —year—old children using youtube, i bet most of those three—year—olds are not using their own logins, using their mum and dads logins, and they are caught up in other data being only captured but also served up to other outlets through their parents, and so there is a window of error, margin of error, of exposing them to things they should not be seen, but it is like an adult with their clipboard following your child around online and looking at what they doing and where they are doing it and what they're doing it on, and

a feeling among tech regulators and among big tech itself, which is that children should be protected from this. the commission says they will take the complaint very seriously, and they could potentially have to pay a large fine, so it's been taken very seriously by tech itself and also by regulators. you very seriously by tech itself and also by regulators. you mention the imaae, also by regulators. you mention the image. and — also by regulators. you mention the image. and it's _ also by regulators. you mention the image. and it's a — also by regulators. you mention the image, and it's a good _ also by regulators. you mention the image, and it's a good one, - also by regulators. you mention the image, and it's a good one, of- image, and it's a good one, of duncan mccann following his child around with a clipboard, but there is a question about what role potential responsibility takes on all of this. it potential responsibility takes on all of this. ., , potential responsibility takes on all of this. . , , potential responsibility takes on allofthis. . , ., all of this. it always comes back to that, at what _ all of this. it always comes back to that, at what point _ all of this. it always comes back to that, at what point does _ all of this. it always comes back to | that, at what point does technology say, actually, we are providing platform and it sort of up to you to take some responsibility for how you and yourfamily is using it. over and yourfamily is using it. over and overagain, and yourfamily is using it. over and over again, that argument has not washed. big tech has been forced to act to take down harmful content, stop people being abusive online, they cannot throw their hands up and

say, will be just the platform, they cannot throw their hands up and say, will bejust the platform, we can't help what people do with it. there is a massive move for tech to overall take more responsibility for the content that is on there in the content viewed on it, and i think specifically in the case of small children, that becomes even more important, doesn't it? that they are able to be protected. it's very difficult to do, and there are a really good enough tools to do it. youtube now says that any children's content is not tracked by default, so whoever is watching children's material a new chew, it will be tracked anyway, that is a good boundary. but there is also an extent to which if you are relying on children using own logins, you are also relying on them being honest about their age verification, so it is hard to keep ahead of. really good to talk to you, thanks. former health secretary matt hancock strongly denies allegations he rejected covid

testing advice during the pandemic after his whatsapp messages are leaked by the journalist who helped write his book. police forces continue the search for a missing two—month—old baby — its parents constance marten and mark gordon are being held on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. covid—19 "most likely" originated in a chinese government—controlled lab, says the head of the fbi. beijing denies a lab leak in wuhan, calling the allegation defamatory. pangolins are one of the most hunted animals on earth. there has been a global ban on trafficking them since 2017, and now london's met police is doing its bit to combat this illegal

trade. meets bass and boston. these two labradors have been trained by london's metropolitan police. their next stop, thailand, and a new life sniffing out crime, one pangolins at a time. . ., , sniffing out crime, one pangolins at atime. . ., ,. , a time. live animals critically endangered. _ a time. live animals critically endangered, one _ a time. live animals critically endangered, one of- a time. live animals critically endangered, one of the i a time. live animals criticallyj endangered, one of the most trafficked animals in the world, we reckon one is poached every five minutes, really horrific numbers that they are being trafficked in. by that they are being trafficked in. by one estimate nearly 3 million of them are poached each year, and there are not many of them left. there are eight types of penguin, and all of them are on the so—called red list of endangered species at risk of extinction. their meat is regarded as a delicacy in parts of asia, and their scales are said to have powerful medicinal qualities.

they will have a working life about seven to eight years, then they will be retired and cared for in thailand, so they are going to sunnier climes. thailand, so they are going to sunnier dimes.— thailand, so they are going to sunnier climes. the world wildlife fund sa s sunnier climes. the world wildlife fund says the _ sunnier climes. the world wildlife fund says the pangolin _ sunnier climes. the world wildlife fund says the pangolin is - sunnier climes. the world wildlife fund says the pangolin is the i sunnier climes. the world wildlife | fund says the pangolin is the most trafficked mammal in the world. if all goes according to plan, bess and buster will have something to say about that. it's been the centrepiece of coronations for more than 700 years — the medieval chair that kings and queens sit on as the crown is placed upon their head. for four months conservationists have been working to restore the chair ahead of the coronation of king charles iii at westminster abbey in may, but there's still work to be done to ensure its fit for the occasion. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. just over nine weeks to go now to the coronation and westminster abbey

is still busy with tourists. the physical preparation of the abbey has barely begun. but in one of the abbey's side chapels, one of the key components of the coronation is being made ready. this is the coronation chair. the 700—year—old chair made in the year 1300 and used at every coronation since then. the late queen elizabeth was seated on the coronation chair for her crowning in 1953, just as her namesake, elizabeth i had been for centuries before, and henry viii and others before that. the chair bears the marks of the centuries. graffiti from the 1800s, when visitors were able to carve their initials into it. but conservators say, all in all, it's in remarkably sound condition. and there are several initials and some names. some have been identified to go on to become earls or barons. it's made from oak and it's gilded.

it would have originally had painted and gilded glasswork as well, so it would have looked like a metallic object. it's decorated with punch work, which is small, tiny dots that we use to create images. so there's birds, there's figures of saints and kings, and there's lots of foliage as well. and because so little survives of english art from that time, it really is an exquisite example of the quality of craftsmanship that doesn't survive any more. by coronation day, the chair�*s preparation will be complete. there will be no attempt to restore its original gold leaf gilding. the significance of this chair is rooted in its age and the centuries of history that it embodies. there's one vital part of this historic chair which has still to be added. it's the stone of scone, the ancient slab of sandstone on which scottish kings used to be crowned, which on coronation day will restjust here, underneath the seat

on which king charles will be crowned. the stone of scone, or stone of destiny as it's sometimes known in scotland, will be brought from edinburgh at some point over coming weeks to be placed in the chair which was originally designed to hold it. at that point, the chair will be ready. on coronation day itself, a stage, a platform will have been built in that area in front of the high altar and the coronation chair will be there. the centre of attention facing the high altar for the most solemn parts of the service — the crowning and the anointing. it will be the coronation of a british king. a religious service tailored in some respects to modern times, but honouring the centuries of tradition represented by the chair, which will be its centrepiece. nicholas witchell, bbc news, westminster abbey.

coming up its prime minister's questions, where no doubt the subject of rishi sunak�*s new brexit dealfor northern subject of rishi sunak�*s new brexit deal for northern ireland will come up deal for northern ireland will come up for discussion. let'sjoin deal for northern ireland will come up for discussion. let's join our colleagues in politics live onjo coburn. we are talking about the problem of home ownership as the panel sees it at the moment. simon? to correct market, i definitely believe in brownfield first, but we should not kid ourselves that brownfield alone is enough. we will have to have a more grown—up debate about that. brownfield only meet a proportion of the housing shortfall we have. i completely agree we need investment in all kinds of housing. the government to spend billions through homes in england on delivering project, including affordable projects which we all want to see. but i don't think we can shy away from the fact the fundamental issue is around planning. we need to invest in

planning. we need to invest in planning departments of councils more so that they can be more effective. we also need to win the political argument. what the lib dems did, camilla refer to it in chesham and amersham, was lethal to home—building. it sent a message to loss of mps the only way to try and escape this is to feed the monster. we have got to be better and braver than that and make the argument. if we want a society where people can afford a home of their own and have affordable rent, then we need to face the trade—offs involved with that and that means building homes. let me show this headline. related but a different story. homelessness, rough sleeping at more than a quarter in a year. the government promised to end the blight of rough sleeping by 202a. what has gone wrong? sleeping by 2024. what has gone wron: ? ., , , sleeping by 2024. what has gone wron: ? . , , , sleeping by 2024. what has gone wronu? . , , , , sleeping by 2024. what has gone wronu? . , , , wrong? the reality is this is part ofthe wrong? the reality is this is part of the pandemic _ wrong? the reality is this is part of the pandemic fallout, - wrong? the reality is this is part of the pandemic fallout, that i wrong? the reality is this is part| of the pandemic fallout, that the exceptional amounts of funding that were invested in the pandemic are now easing back. the we were spending during the pandemic was

totally unsustainable. but, look, this is a moral mission. i totally unsustainable. but, look, this is a moral mission.- this is a moral mission. i agree with a lot _ this is a moral mission. i agree with a lot of — this is a moral mission. i agree with a lot of what _ this is a moral mission. i agree with a lot of what you - this is a moral mission. i agree with a lot of what you say, i this is a moral mission. i agree with a lot of what you say, but| this is a moral mission. i agree i with a lot of what you say, but on the social— with a lot of what you say, but on the social housing, on the homeless, the social housing, on the homeless, the rough _ the social housing, on the homeless, the rough sleepers, investment whether— the rough sleepers, investment whether it is housing association housing — whether it is housing association housing or— whether it is housing association housing or council housing, has fallen_ housing or council housing, has fallen abysmally over the last 20 years. _ fallen abysmally over the last 20 years. so — fallen abysmally over the last 20 years. so i— fallen abysmally over the last 20 years, so i don't think it isjust under— years, so i don't think it isjust under you _ years, so i don't think it isjust underyou. unless years, so i don't think it isjust under you. unless you tackle that at the bottom — under you. unless you tackle that at the bottom end. there is an owner occupation — the bottom end. there is an owner occupation problem and there is a real homelessness and rough sleeping problem _ real homelessness and rough sleeping problem and you can only do that with having public investment in housinq — with having public investment in housinq i— with having public investment in housing. i don't disagree with that. that is_ housing. idon't disagree with that. that is what— housing. i don't disagree with that. that is what is creating that problem _ that is what is creating that roblem. ~ that is what is creating that problem-— that is what is creating that roblem. ~ ., , ., ., that is what is creating that roblem. ., , ., ., , problem. we only have five or six minutes until _ problem. we only have five or six minutes until we _ problem. we only have five or six minutes until we get _ problem. we only have five or six minutes until we get two - problem. we only have five or six minutes until we get two prime i minutes until we get two prime minister's questions with rishi sunak and keir starmer. you will have noticed this week we have talked about the windsor framework, the new brexit deal, or arrangements

for northern ireland and rishi sunak has been selling it all week. what is your verdict? brute has been selling it all week. what is your verdict?— is your verdict? we have to be aracious is your verdict? we have to be gracious and _ is your verdict? we have to be gracious and say _ is your verdict? we have to be gracious and say it _ is your verdict? we have to be gracious and say it is - is your verdict? we have to be gracious and say it is a - is your verdict? we have to be gracious and say it is a very i gracious and say it is a very significant advance on where we found ourselves hitherto under the protocol, which was the best that could be secured in the chaos of 2019. there are important questions and that is why i, along with a number of my colleagues, dozens and dozens of my colleagues, are going to wait for the expert analysis to come through from the legal experts convened, to understand the full ramifications of what is being proposed here. there are important issues we need to sort out, including around the emergency brake. does it apply to the updating of eu law? 50 brake. does it apply to the updating of eu law? ,, brake. does it apply to the updating of eu law? ., ., ., , of eu law? so you could vote against it? i of eu law? so you could vote against it? i recognise _ of eu law? so you could vote against it? i recognise this _ of eu law? so you could vote against it? i recognise this is _ of eu law? so you could vote against it? i recognise this is a _ it? i recognise this is a very significant _ it? i recognise this is a very significant improvement, i it? i recognise this is a very l significant improvement, but it? i recognise this is a very i significant improvement, but i suspect the absolute logic of this is it will go through. there are important things we need... you are

reservin: important things we need... you are reserving judgment? _ important things we need. .. you are reservingjudgment? i— important things we need... you are reserving judgment? i am _ important things we need... you are reservingjudgment? i am reserving| reservingjudgment? i am reserving 'udument reservingjudgment? i am reserving judgment because _ reservingjudgment? i am reserving judgment because on _ reservingjudgment? i am reserving judgment because on the _ reservingjudgment? i am reserving judgment because on the break, i reservingjudgment? i am reserving i judgment because on the break, does it apply to emerging law. how do we account for the differences between how the eu and the uk seem to be interpreted in different parts of this agreement? what does it mean for our ability to divert critically from eu law? these are all questions we need to understand before we make a final decision.— a final decision. margaret? i don't feelve a final decision. margaret? i don't feel very gracious _ a final decision. margaret? i don't feel very gracious about _ a final decision. margaret? i don't feel very gracious about where i a final decision. margaret? i don't i feel very gracious about where rishi sunak— feel very gracious about where rishi sunak has— feel very gracious about where rishi sunak has got to. i don't feel sunak has got to. idon't feel gracious— sunak has got to. i don't feel gracious about it because this is a crisis _ gracious about it because this is a crisis of— gracious about it because this is a crisis of the — gracious about it because this is a crisis of the conservative party making — crisis of the conservative party making. we were having an oven ready deal. making. we were having an oven ready deal~ you _ making. we were having an oven ready deal~ you are _ making. we were having an oven ready deal. you are part of the government, simon, that signed this deal and _ government, simon, that signed this deal and that created the problem. i didn't— deal and that created the problem. i didn't interrupt. you are part of the government that created this

bill and _ the government that created this bill and the demands from the dup are ones— bill and the demands from the dup are ones that come out of the very flawed _ are ones that come out of the very flawed deal that you did. in my view, _ flawed deal that you did. in my view, simon, iwouldjust flawed deal that you did. in my view, simon, i would just say to you for goodness' sake put the interests of the _ for goodness' sake put the interests of the people of northern ireland at the top _ of the people of northern ireland at the top of— of the people of northern ireland at the top of your agenda and we need something — the top of your agenda and we need something which brings back government to northern ireland. and notjust_ government to northern ireland. and notjust about this government to northern ireland. and not just about this deal through. there _ not just about this deal through. there will— not just about this deal through. there will only be 30 conservatives or so _ there will only be 30 conservatives or so we — there will only be 30 conservatives or so. we will all vote in the national— or so. we will all vote in the national interest and for the interest— national interest and for the interest of the people of northern ireland _ interest of the people of northern ireland. you should not be creating these _ ireland. you should not be creating these new — ireland. you should not be creating these new problems and questions. these _ these new problems and questions. these are _ these new problems and questions. these are questions we need to understand because they do profound implications. you wanted brexit and brexit— implications. you wanted brexit and brexit means there is a new relationship between those parts of britain _ relationship between those parts of britain and ireland and for rishi sunak— britain and ireland and for rishi sunak he — britain and ireland and for rishi sunak he just had to tell the northern irish people they are in this fantastic position, brilliant position. — this fantastic position, brilliant position, where they can have both the single — position, where they can have both the single market and the british

one _ the single market and the british one. ~ .., the single market and the british one. ~ ., ., one. we will come back to that. there will _ one. we will come back to that. there will be _ one. we will come back to that. there will be some _ one. we will come back to that. there will be some incredulity. | one. we will come back to that. i there will be some incredulity. you have just said it is better than what you signed up to before. i am going to show viewers the inside of the house of commons chamber and we will be going there in a few minutes per time. will be going there in a few minutes er time. �* , ., will be going there in a few minutes ertime. �* , ., , per time. ailbhe. you said this was an improvement _ per time. ailbhe. you said this was an improvement on _ per time. ailbhe. you said this was an improvement on the _ per time. ailbhe. you said this was an improvement on the original- per time. ailbhe. you said this was. an improvement on the original deal which _ an improvement on the original deal which you _ an improvement on the original deal which you voted _ an improvement on the original deal which you voted for, _ an improvement on the original deal which you voted for, so _ an improvement on the original deal which you voted for, so by— an improvement on the original deal which you voted for, so by what i which you voted for, so by what possible — which you voted for, so by what possible logic _ which you voted for, so by what possible logic we _ which you voted for, so by what possible logic we do _ which you voted for, so by what possible logic we do not - which you voted for, so by what possible logic we do not vote i which you voted for, so by what| possible logic we do not vote for this improvement? _ possible logic we do not vote for this improvement? it— possible logic we do not vote for this improvement? it is - possible logic we do not vote for this improvement?— this improvement? it is an improvement _ this improvement? it is an improvement and - this improvement? it is an improvement and very i this improvement? it is an i improvement and very likely this will go through the house of commons. will go through the house of commons-— will go through the house of commons. , ~' , ., commons. very likely it will go throu~h commons. very likely it will go through because _ commons. very likely it will go through because the _ commons. very likely it will go through because the whole i commons. very likely it will go through because the whole of i commons. very likely it will go i through because the whole of the labour— through because the whole of the labour party will vote for it. it is important _ labour party will vote for it. it is important we — labour party will vote for it. it 3 important we understand what the ramifications of this are. there are genuine questions about this, there are genuine questions about the implications for our ability to divert, genuine questions about the eu law that will continue apply in northern ireland. you eu law that will continue apply in northern ireland.— eu law that will continue apply in northern ireland. you voted for it the last time- _

northern ireland. you voted for it the last time. what _ northern ireland. you voted for it the last time. what happened i northern ireland. you voted for it the last time. what happened in l the last time. what happened in 2019 we had to find — the last time. what happened in 2019 we had to find a _ the last time. what happened in 2019 we had to find a way _ the last time. what happened in 2019 we had to find a way of— the last time. what happened in 2019 we had to find a way of honouring i we had to find a way of honouring this and getting out. the labour party and the liberal democrats together with some conservative mps had stopped us leaving. short together with some conservative mps had stopped us leaving.— had stopped us leaving. short of sa in: had stopped us leaving. short of saying they _ had stopped us leaving. short of saying they might _ had stopped us leaving. short of saying they might have - had stopped us leaving. short of saying they might have been i had stopped us leaving. short of saying they might have been a i had stopped us leaving. short of. saying they might have been a bit had stopped us leaving. short of- saying they might have been a bit of a rewriting of history on both sides, just to say that peter barnes, my colleague from the political research unit will be on hand and on standby to bring up and verify any dubious facts and claims made by the politicians during prime minister's questions. on the issue that margaret raised about the unique position that northern ireland finds itself in, having a boost from not only having access to the eu single market as well as gb internal market, if it is good enough for northern ireland, why not advocate the rest of the uk having that customer just to advocate the rest of the uk having that customerjust to be slightly contradictory, that was rishi sunak try to gee up morale over this new deal and he seemed cock—a—hoop about it when he presented it with the

european union commission president. but i think concessions have been made _ but i think concessions have been made on — but i think concessions have been made on both sides on this and it is refreshing _ made on both sides on this and it is refreshing to see that degree of seemingly meaningful negotiation as opposed _ seemingly meaningful negotiation as opposed to some of the political posturing we had in 2019. it is interesting the brexiteer is our holding — interesting the brexiteer is our holding the council, some of them support— holding the council, some of them support the deal, david davis, and there _ support the deal, david davis, and there may— support the deal, david davis, and there may be political reasons for that because david davis wants the deal to— that because david davis wants the deal to succeed. the star chamber are looking — deal to succeed. the star chamber are looking at it and we have heard from _ are looking at it and we have heard from rishi — are looking at it and we have heard from rishi sunak today that he does not seem _ from rishi sunak today that he does not seem to think the dup support is contingent— not seem to think the dup support is contingent on the deal even though when _ contingent on the deal even though when it— contingent on the deal even though when it comes to power—sharing in northern— when it comes to power—sharing in northern ireland it can only be a success— northern ireland it can only be a success if— northern ireland it can only be a success if the stormont assembly is at the _ success if the stormont assembly is at the table. just success if the stormont assembly is at the table-— at the table. just to pose for a moment because _ at the table. just to pose for a moment because i _ at the table. just to pose for a moment because i think- at the table. just to pose for a moment because i think so i at the table. just to pose for a i moment because i think so lindsay hoyle, the speaker, is preparing to introduce prime minister's questions, so forgive me if i interrupt. margaret, do you think labour should commit to a single market for the whole of the uk now rishi sunak seems to think it is a

goodidea rishi sunak seems to think it is a good idea for northern ireland? i would like to live —— i wish everyone a very happy st david's day. i have ministers meetings and i have further meetings later. the prime minister _ have further meetings later. tia: prime minister understands the understand the importance of the nhs because he was out there every thursday night clapping for them, so he must surely know he hasn't got a hope of dealing with the nhs crisis if he does not invest in the work force. we have a plan to double medical school places and into the scandal of straight a student being denied the chance of becoming a doctor. patients and nhs supports our plan, why doesn't he? mr speaker. _

our plan, why doesn't he? mr speaker, the honourable gentleman needs to keep up, we are doing a workforce plan. there are tens of thousands more doctors and nurses in the nhs, a record number of gps, record investment in the nhs, that's what you get with a conservative government delivering. mr speaker, will the prime _ government delivering. mr speaker, will the prime minister _ government delivering. mr speaker, will the prime ministerjoin - government delivering. mr speaker, will the prime ministerjoin me i government delivering. mr speaker, will the prime ministerjoin me in i will the prime ministerjoin me in congratulating the start of nottingham university is trust who face with a challenging winter with 300 covid and flu patients and thousands of appointments affected by industrial action have reduced the backlog of people waiting for surgery by a quarter in a month. will he reaffirm the government has backed development of the queens hospital? i backed development of the queens hosital? ., ~ backed development of the queens hosital? ., ,, , ., backed development of the queens hosital? . ,, , ., ., hospital? i will thank everyone at the nottingham _ hospital? i will thank everyone at the nottingham universities i hospital? i will thank everyone at the nottingham universities trust| the nottingham universities trust for their fantastic work and we are committed to a new hospital scheme at queens medical centre and city

hospital as part of our new hospital programme. i know progress is being made and i look forward to seeing the project come to fruition. the pro'ect come to fruition. thank ou, the project come to fruition. thank ou, mr the project come to fruition. thank you. mr speaker- _ the project come to fruition. thank you, mr speaker. can _ the project come to fruition. thank you, mr speaker. can i _ the project come to fruition. thank you, mr speaker. can ijoin i the project come to fruition. thank you, mr speaker. can ijoin the i you, mr speaker. can ijoin the prime minister in wishing everyone a happy st davids day. mr speaker, after 13 years of tory failure, the average family in britain will be poorer than the average family in poland by 2030. that's a stocking state of affairs —— shocking state of affairs. if the tories live on in government, we are going to see a generation of young people learning to say our the design pet in polish, aren't we? —— learning to say auf wiedersehn pet in polish, aren't we? it's clear to remember that the biggest impact on households is the

energy prices we are suffering as a result of an illegal war in ukraine. i will remind the honourable gentleman of what we are doing to ease people through that because of our energy price guarantee, right now the government is paying over half of a typical energy bill, for a household, saving them an average of £1000. one of the most generation schemes globally. he knows that decisions for supporting cost of living for the budget but if he is concerned about cost of living, he should stop making inflationary unfunded spending commitments and back on our plan to halve inflation. the dictionary definition for unfunded commitments is last year's kamikaze budget. the only country in the g7 still poorer than it was behind the pandemic and he stand there pretending it is all fine, total denial about the damage of decline he is presiding over.

delivering growth and tackling the cost of living crisis will mean standing up to vested interests. energy bills... energy bills are going to go up by £900 in april. he knows he's going to have to act, but who is going to pay? hard—working families, through higher taxes and more borrowing, or the oil and gas giants celebrating record profits? mr speaker, i know the honourable gentleman, he made a rare trip out of north london to visit davos recently. perhaps while he was there, perhaps he missed the survey of a000 global ceos from 100 different countries that are ranked the united kingdom as their number one european investment destination. if he is serious, if he is serious about getting the economy growing, then he should stand up to the

vested interest in their unions and back our minimum service levels. mr back our minimum service levels. ij�*i�*i speaker, here's back our minimum service levels. m speaker, here's the thing. all the ceos are there are saying there is one party with a plan for growth, this party here. only partly broke the economy, and they are over there. energy bills are not as completed as he pretends. oil and gas companies are making vast unexpected profit whilst working people face misery of higher bills. he can boast all he likes but companies like shell didn't pay a penny it went full tax last year, and they are still not paying —— into windfall tax. and they are still not paying their fair share now. why doesn't he admit his mistake, get rid of the windfall tax loopholes, and finally choose a family finances over oil profits? mr speaker, he forgets as chancellor i introduced a new tax on energy companies. energy companies will pay a 75% tax rate on extraordinary

profits, comparable indeed higher than other north sea nations. that's what his shadow levelling up secretary called for recently but i have got good news for them, we did a year ago. they need to keep up. i know they claim to support levelling up know they claim to support levelling up but they really do need to keep up. he up but they really do need to keep u -. ., . up but they really do need to keep u . _ ., . ., up but they really do need to keep u -. ., . ., ., up but they really do need to keep up. he introduced a tax on shell and they haven't — up. he introduced a tax on shell and they haven't paid — up. he introduced a tax on shell and they haven't paid a _ up. he introduced a tax on shell and they haven't paid a penny, _ up. he introduced a tax on shell and they haven't paid a penny, fantastic| they haven't paid a penny, fantastic work. if he was serious about investing in the future of the country, he would start with housing. a few months ago his backbenchers forced him to scrap house—building targets. at the time he stood there and said it would mean they would build more homes. well, would you believe it, a few months later, the home builders federation say house building is going to fall to its lowest level in 75 years. he can change course on this. he can bring back targets and planning reforms, or he conduct that

fight and let the generation down. which is it? —— or he can buck that fight. which is it? -- or he can buck that fiht. ~ ., which is it? -- or he can buck that fiht. ~ . ., which is it? -- or he can buck that fiht.~ . ., fight. we have had record high numbers of— fight. we have had record high numbers of house-building, i fight. we have had record high i numbers of house-building, and the numbers of house—building, and the highest number of first—time buyers in around 20 years under this government. he talks about investing for the long of our country, and if thatis for the long of our country, and if that is important when it comes to energy security, but labour's policy is to oppose any new oil and gas licences in the north sea. it is an absurd policy, which would see as paying billions to countries abroad for our energy, while shipping it here with twice the carbon emissions. it's typical political posturing, it's bad the economy, it's bad for our security, just the labour party. it's bad for our security, 'ust the labour not it's bad for our security, 'ust the labour party-fl it's bad for our security, 'ust the labourpa . �* , ., .,, labour party. because of the noise, i don't labour party. because of the noise, i don't think— labour party. because of the noise, i don't think the _ labour party. because of the noise, i don't think the prime _ labour party. because of the noise, i don't think the prime minister i labour party. because of the noise, i don't think the prime minister is i i don't think the prime minister is hearing _ i don't think the prime minister is hearing the questions, because i do think— hearing the questions, because i do think it _ hearing the questions, because i do think it was — hearing the questions, because i do think it was on house—building. keir

starmer~ _ starmer. sharing. —— cheering. on house—building, the lowest level for 75 years, a whole generation of people desperate to get on the housing ladder. 13 people desperate to get on the housing ladder.— people desperate to get on the housing ladder. 13 years in power and he has _ housing ladder. 13 years in power and he has only _ housing ladder. 13 years in power and he has only got _ housing ladder. 13 years in power and he has only got to _ housing ladder. 13 years in power and he has only got to say, i housing ladder. 13 years in power and he has only got to say, it i housing ladder. 13 years in power and he has only got to say, it is i and he has only got to say, it is somebody else's fault, let me deflect. no wonder they are furious with his government. it's notjust bills and housing, families are paying £1000 a monthjust to bills and housing, families are paying £1000 a month just to send a child is at nursery. if he scrapped his non—dom status, we could start to fund better childcare, but many people —— back in peoples pockets and get parents back to work, it seems a pretty simple choice to me. what will he choose, wealthy tax avoidance or hard—working parents? mr speaker, if you want to see what happens with house—building under labour government, look at what is going on in london. and when it

comes to the facts, the facts don't suit his argument. the wealthiest page more tax, the poorest pay less tax than any year of the last labour government. about his plans, he has already spent the money he claims he has raised from that policy on five different things, mr speaker. it's the same old labour party, always running out of other people's money. mr speaker, he is never happier than when he is pretending everything is fine or blaming someone else. did we just see it there. he is choosing tax unavoidably —— tax avoidances over hard—working parents. i don't want to finish without asking about the covid disclosures in the daily telegraph today. we don't know the truth about what happened yet, there are too many messages and too many unknowns, but forfamilies are too many messages and too many unknowns, but for families across the country, they will look at this

and the sight of politicians writing books portraying themselves as hero or selectively leaking messages will be insulting a ghoulish practical for them. be insulting a ghoulish practical forthem. —— and be insulting a ghoulish practical for them. —— and a ghoulish spectacle. at the heart of this is every family who made enormous sacrifices for the good of the country, or who tragically lost loved ones. the country deserves better. the covid inquiry has already cost £85 million to the taxpayer and has not heard from a single government minister yet so can the prime minister assure the house no more delays, that the inquiry will have whatever support it needs to report by the end of this year? mr it needs to report by the end of this year?— this year? mr speaker, the last cou . le this year? mr speaker, the last cou-le of this year? mr speaker, the last couple of years _ this year? mr speaker, the last couple of years were _ this year? mr speaker, the last couple of years were an i this year? mr speaker, the last i couple of years were an incredibly difficult one for everyone involved in the health service and i pay tribute to all their hard work and i know the house willjoin me in that regard. ratherthan know the house willjoin me in that regard. rather than comment on piecemeal bits of information, i'm

sure the honourable gentleman will agree that the right way for these things to be looked at is the covid inquiry which is why we established it, and he has mentioned it one or two times before that he was a lawyer in a previous life so he will know there is a proper process of these things. it is an independent inquiry, it has the resources and powers it needs and what we should all do in this house and let them get on and do theirjob. i all do in this house and let them get on and do theirjob.- get on and do their “oh. i warmly welcome get on and do their “oh. i warmly woloomo the h get on and do their “oh. i warmly welcome the prime]— get on and do theirjob. i warmly welcome the prime minister's i get on and do theirjob. i warmly i welcome the prime minister's work to resolve the rubik cube of the northern ireland protocol. this opens the prospect for resuming more positive relations with our nearest neighbours. last week imperial couege neighbours. last week imperial college generously hosted an event to celebrate 25 years of the environmental audit committee's scrutiny work. academics from imperial and other world—class universities which support our work have been clamouring to re—engage with their research partners through

horizon and other programmes. can my right honourable friend assure the house that he is commencing negotiations to resume an association with the uk and arise in europe? i association with the uk and arise in euro be? ~ , association with the uk and arise in euro-e? ~' , ., ., ., , europe? i think my right honourable friend for his — europe? i think my right honourable friend for his support _ europe? i think my right honourable friend for his support for— europe? i think my right honourable friend for his support for the - friend for his support for the windsor framework, friend for his support for the windsorframework, he is right about the benefits it can bring, and i join him in playing to our incredible research community doing a fantasticjob. we will continue to work with the eu in a range of areas, notjust research areas, not just research collaboration areas, notjust research collaboration but also strengthening sanctions against russia, a division security and crucially illegal migration. i look forward to those discussions and hope we can conclude them productively on a range of different ladies. this is —— range of different issues. different ladies. this is -- range of different issues.— different ladies. this is -- range of different issues. yesterday, the prime minister _ of different issues. yesterday, the prime minister said _ of different issues. yesterday, the prime minister said that _ of different issues. yesterday, the prime minister said that the i of different issues. yesterday, the prime minister said that the eu i prime minister said that the eu single market access was special, exciting, and attractive. if that's the case, why is he denying it to

the case, why is he denying it to the rest of us? mr the case, why is he denying it to the rest of us?— the rest of us? mr speaker, it's disappointing — the rest of us? mr speaker, it's disappointing that _ the rest of us? mr speaker, it's disappointing that the - the rest of us? mr speaker, it's - disappointing that the honourable... it's disappointing the honourable gentleman is seeking to play politics with the situation in northern ireland. northern ireland, as he well knows, has a unique place in the united kingdom, and what we are trying to do is restore the balance inherent in the belfast good friday agreement, and he would do well to acknowledge that. mr well to acknowledge that. m speaker, let's be clear. what the prime minister said yesterday it was the eu single market access will be a good thing for business. of course thatis a good thing for business. of course that is in contrast to the leader of the labour party who said, in december, the eu single market access would not boost economic growth. does it hurt to the prime minister to know that the labour party believe in brexit more than he does? mr party believe in brexit more than he does? ~ ,,, ., ~ ~ party believe in brexit more than he does? ~ ,,, ., ~' ~ ,,, ., ~' party believe in brexit more than he does? ~ .,~ ~ .,~ . does? mr speaker, mr speaker... with reard

does? mr speaker, mr speaker... with re i ard to does? mr speaker, mr speaker... with regard to northern _ does? mr speaker, mr speaker... with regard to northern ireland, _ does? mr speaker, mr speaker... with regard to northern ireland, the - regard to northern ireland, the important thing to note is to avoid a land border on the island of ireland between north and south. that is what is crucial to achieve in getting the right framework for the arrangement in northern ireland and the businesses there that trade across that border on a daily basis with complex supply chains need and value that access. that is something that the windsor framework is sought to achieve and i believe delivers it. it's not about the macro issue of membership of the european union, it's about getting the right mechanisms in place to support businesses and communities in northern ireland and i would say to the honourable gentleman, he knows better than that and he knows that this is about northern ireland and i hope you can support what we have agreed. thank you, mr speaker. i am sure the prime minister like me was excited to see the first new nuclear reactor for a uk power station in more than three decades arrive at hinckley c this week. will the prime minister make it his personal mission to

deliver vital, make it his personal mission to delivervital, new make it his personal mission to deliver vital, new nuclear power in my constituency, one of the best nuclear sites in the uk.— nuclear sites in the uk. when it comes to _ nuclear sites in the uk. when it comes to our — nuclear sites in the uk. when it comes to our energy _ nuclear sites in the uk. when it comes to our energy policy - nuclear sites in the uk. when it comes to our energy policy the | comes to our energy policy the important thing is to focus on long—term energy security, that means more renewables, more offshore wind, hydrogen and indeed more nuclear. it remains one of the best nuclear. it remains one of the best nuclear sites in the uk and the strong support from the local community makes it an attractive site for the uk's nuclear revival and i know when a british nuclear is up and i know when a british nuclear is up and running will be taking a very close look at it. i up and running will be taking a very close look at it.— close look at it. i have to say, it is ireat close look at it. i have to say, it is great to _ close look at it. i have to say, it is great to hear _ close look at it. i have to say, it is great to hear the _ close look at it. i have to say, it is great to hear the conversion i close look at it. i have to say, it. is great to hear the conversion that the prime minister has had on the benefits of the single market. given northern ireland's access to the dual market and the benefits that brings, will his government commit to investing in infrastructure and higher education provision to maximise that benefit? thank you, mr

s-eaker. i maximise that benefit? thank you, mr speaker. i thank— maximise that benefit? thank you, mr speaker. i thank my _ maximise that benefit? thank you, mr speaker. i thank my honourable - speaker. i thank my honourable friend for his engagement and support in developing the windsor framework. i think it delivers on what he wanted, which is to ensure we do protect northern ireland because and the supply chains they have and i can give him that commitment. we both want to see more investment in northern ireland not just from the government, but the private sector. this agreement will unlock the investment and a step on thatjourney is to have a reformed executive, something i know everyone in this house would like to see. would my right honourable friend agree that in these difficult times the free world will stand together? would he also agreed that strengthening our friendships and support with other countries in europe is important? will he welcomed the delegation here today from lithuania? does he agree with me that the decision to hold the head of state of nato meeting in lithuania in vilnius injuly shows what a strong ally they are and also

how important we think it is to strengthen the eastern flank? i agree with my right honourable friend and i am delighted that lithuania and the city of vilnius will host the nato leaders' summit in july will host the nato leaders' summit injuly and the uk does have a strong and growing relationship with lithuania. yesterday their defence minister was here supporting our efforts together with them to train ukrainian soldiers and at the summit we will work together to ensure we can deter and defend against russian aggression by making sure we implement the next phase of the most radical military transformation since the 1960s. to radical military transformation since the 1960s.— radical military transformation sincethe1960s. ., ., ' , since the 1960s. to date 79 people have been killed _ since the 1960s. to date 79 people have been killed on _ since the 1960s. to date 79 people have been killed on smart - since the 1960s. to date 79 people i have been killed on smart motorways. last january, have been killed on smart motorways. lastjanuary, the have been killed on smart motorways. last january, the government have been killed on smart motorways. lastjanuary, the government said it would pause their roll—out. the prime minister said smart motorways are unpopular because they are unsafe. we need to listen to drivers and stop in the pursuit of policies that go against common sense. since then, three new schemes have gone

live with three more expected shortly. prime minister, especially during a cost of living crisis how do you justify pushing ahead with these death trap roads? mr speaker, safe on these death trap roads? mr speaker, safety on our — these death trap roads? mr speaker, safety on our roads _ these death trap roads? mr speaker, safety on our roads is _ these death trap roads? mr speaker, safety on our roads is our— these death trap roads? mr speaker, safety on our roads is our absolute i safety on our roads is our absolute priority and we will do everything we can to make sure drivers do feel safe. last year, we paused the roll—out of smart motorways are not already in construction while we consider the data. in the meantime, we have committed almost £900 million for safety improvements across the entire network. zero carbon guildford _ across the entire network. zero carbon guildford won _ across the entire network. ler carbon guildford won national recognition, receiving the climate coalition plasma innovative uk community project award. they have taken what is often an overwhelming subject and turned it into local issues with tangible solutions to give people agency. will my right honourable friend join me in congratulating all the volunteers,

including ben, izzy and mark, on their reward? does he agreed that organisations like this are key stakeholders in our nationaljourney to achieve net zero? i stakeholders in our national 'ourney to achieve net zero?fi to achieve net zero? i 'oin my honourable * to achieve net zero? i 'oin my honourable friend _ to achieve net zero? i 'oin my honourable friend in h to achieve net zero? ijoin my- honourable friend in congratulating zero carbon guildford for receiving the climate coalition innovative uk community project award. she is right, that community empowerment, engagement and action can play a role in supporting the uk's transition to net zero, enabling communities to access the benefits it brings, from greenjobs to improved health. it brings, from green 'obs to improved health._ it brings, from green 'obs to improved health. last weeki met with rcn nurses _ improved health. last weeki met with rcn nurses and _ improved health. last weeki met with rcn nurses and one - improved health. last weeki met with rcn nurses and one of- improved health. last weeki met with rcn nurses and one of the i with rcn nurses and one of the biggest challenges they face is the crumbling buildings of the royal lancaster infirmary. hospital bosses were promised capitalfunding as part of one of the so—called a0 new hospitals back injanuary, but it is march and they have not seen a penny. how many broken hospitals and broken promises will it take for the prime minister to finally fix something? mr

prime minister to finally fix something?— prime minister to finally fix something? prime minister to finally fix somethini ? ~ ,,, ., ,, ., something? mr speaker, we are investini something? mr speaker, we are investing record _ something? mr speaker, we are investing record sums _ something? mr speaker, we are investing record sums in - something? mr speaker, we are| investing record sums in hospital capital upgrade programmes across the country. i am very happy to make sure that we are making progress on the scheme we mentioned and ensure against the detail of that, but not just the a0 hospitals, but the 90 upgrades around the country and up to 300 community diagnose call centres. this is a government that is backing the nhs with the resources it needs. the is backing the nhs with the resources it needs. ., . ., resources it needs. the tragic death of more than _ resources it needs. the tragic death of more than 50 _ resources it needs. the tragic death of more than 50 people _ resources it needs. the tragic death of more than 50 people over- resources it needs. the tragic death of more than 50 people over the - of more than 50 people over the weekend when their small boat broke off off the coast of italy is a sad reminder of the total disregard for life that the illegal traffickers who facilitate these crossings have in order to make their money. can the prime minister set out what steps he is taking to bring an end to this barbaric trade and also to reassure my constituents that stopping illegal immigration remains a key priority for this government? my a key priority for this government? my honourable friend is right, the tragic incident near italy at the

weekend demonstrates too well that illegal crossings put lives at risk. last year the home secretary and iron out five new measures to tackle the problem of small boats crossing, including the largest ever deal with france and a landmark deal with albania, that we must do more and as soon as the legislation is ready it will be brought to this house to ensure that if you arrive in this country illegally, you will not be able to stay. you will be swiftly detained and removed to your own country or a safe third country stop thatis country or a safe third country stop that is the right and responsible way to tackle this problem. thank ou, mr way to tackle this problem. thank you, mr speaker. _ way to tackle this problem. thank you, mr speaker. the _ way to tackle this problem. thank you, mr speaker. the prime - way to tackle this problem. t�*ia�*ia; you, mr speaker. the prime minister and i have one thing in common. we have both had to step in and sort out legal and constitutional messes, created by his predecessor but one, the right honourable memberfor axbridge. now, the prime minister has boasted that his new brexit deal puts northern ireland in an

unbelievably special position because it will have access to both the uk and the eu markets. and he said this makes it the world's most exciting economic zone. my question for the prime minister is this, if there can be very, very special status for the province of northern ireland, why can't there be a very, very special status for the nation of scotland? mr very special status for the nation of scotland?— very special status for the nation of scotland? ~ ,,, ., ,, , ., of scotland? mr speaker, there is a very special — of scotland? mr speaker, there is a very special status _ of scotland? mr speaker, there is a very special status for _ of scotland? mr speaker, there is a very special status for the - of scotland? mr speaker, there is a very special status for the nation i very special status for the nation of scotland and that is inside our united kingdom.— of scotland and that is inside our united kingdom. betsi cadwaladr university health _ united kingdom. betsi cadwaladr university health board _ united kingdom. betsi cadwaladr university health board was - united kingdom. betsi cadwaladr university health board was yet l university health board was yet again put in special measures. the chairman and the whole board resigned en masse as they no longer have faith in the welsh labour government. yet on a call earlier this week the welsh health minister told me that it wasn't welsh labour

government was my fault that health care has collapsed in north wales. given that labour run the nhs in north wales, can i suggest to the people of north wales whose fault it is and who should put it right? mr speaker, i share my honourable friend's concern and the house will know that health is a devolved matter for the labour run government in wales where one in five people in the entire country of wales are now on a waiting list. so the government there should focus on the people's priority and start cutting waiting lists as we are doing here in england. b. lists as we are doing here in eniland. �* . lists as we are doing here in england-— lists as we are doing here in eniland. �* . , , lists as we are doing here in eniland. �* i , , england. a recent survey i did in edinburi h england. a recent survey i did in edinburgh west _ england. a recent survey i did in edinburgh west showed - england. a recent survey i did in edinburgh west showed that - england. a recent survey i did in edinburgh west showed that a i edinburgh west showed that a heartbreaking 80% of those who responded said the high cost of energy meant they would have to ration it. i do not represent a deprived area of the country. almost a quarter of scottish homes now live in fuel poverty, not helped by the total absence of an insulation

programme by the scottish government. will the prime minister now accept that to allow the price cap to rise will only make things worse for millions of families? and given the significant reduction in the cost of wholesale energy, will he accept it is now time to listen to the liberal democrats and cut them to last year's levels? mr speaker- -- — them to last year's levels? mr speaker... mr speaker, the liberal democrat shadow energy secretary said there was no role for nuclear power in our future energy industry is not something we need to listen to. with regards to supporting people with energy bills, i said earlier because of the energy price guarantee we are paying half of a family plasma energy bill at the moment worth £1000. but the support does not end there. over the next year there will be around £1000 of direct support to the most

vulnerable families across the with their energy bills and with greater energy efficiency. i agree with her, this government has allocated £6 billion over this parliament and the new schemes we have just put in place will help hundreds of thousands of households across the country, saving them £300 on their bills. it should be available everywhere, including in scotland. mr speaker, as chairman of the all—party group for greece can i put on record how sad we all are for the tragic train accident that has happened in greece and the tragic loss of life? mr speaker, double child rapist and killer colin pitchfork is once again up for parole next month. i know the prime minister does not have any decision—making process in terms of the independent parole board, but can he organise an urgent meeting with the secretary of state for justice so i can refer my constituents for�* views about this

dangerous man and he can take that into account in his submissions to the independent parole board? mr speaker, pitchfork's crimes were awful and our thoughts remain with the families. the parole board will determine these decisions and the deputy prime minister will be submitting his views on the case to the parole board before the hearing and he is happy to meet with the honourable gentleman again. we have also recently published a root and branch review of the parole board system which outlines our plans to put in greater ministerial oversight and i look forward to hearing his thoughts on that.— and i look forward to hearing his thoughts on that. yesterday, new fi i ures thoughts on that. yesterday, new figures showed _ thoughts on that. yesterday, new figures showed that _ thoughts on that. yesterday, new figures showed that there - thoughts on that. yesterday, new figures showed that there has - thoughts on that. yesterday, new i figures showed that there has been thoughts on that. yesterday, new . figures showed that there has been a 26% increase in people sleeping rough. meanwhile, a conservative party donor spent £25,000 on a crystal encrusted portrait of the prime minister and another paid

£a0,000 for a shooting trip. doesn't that show just how £a0,000 for a shooting trip. doesn't that showjust how out of £a0,000 for a shooting trip. doesn't that show just how out of touch £a0,000 for a shooting trip. doesn't that showjust how out of touch the conservative party is on the cost of living crisis? mr conservative party is on the cost of living crisis?— living crisis? mr speaker, rough sleeiiin living crisis? mr speaker, rough sleeping levels _ living crisis? mr speaker, rough sleeping levels are _ living crisis? mr speaker, rough sleeping levels are actually - living crisis? mr speaker, rough sleeping levels are actually 35%j sleeping levels are actually 35% lower in the past year compared to two as a result of the investment we have made over the years more. we don't want anyone to have to sleep rough and because of the innovations we have made, we are taking more and more people off the streets and the government will keep delivering more. mr streets and the government will keep delivering more.— delivering more. mr speaker, last month a primary _ delivering more. mr speaker, last month a primary school _ delivering more. mr speaker, last month a primary school in - delivering more. mr speaker, last. month a primary school in bracknell achieved a good rating in its ofsted inspection. that is in itself laudable, but what is significant as it is the aoth a0 eligible schools

to be graded outstanding in bracknell. mr speaker, this clean sweep is an outstanding achievement and i am very proud of everyone locally. with the prime minister join with me in congratulating our fantastic teachers, staff, and pupils. and also councillor gareth barnard and the entire education team at conservative run bracknell forest council? mr team at conservative run bracknell forest council?— forest council? mr speaker, education — forest council? mr speaker, education is _ forest council? mr speaker, education is the _ forest council? mr speaker, education is the closest - forest council? mr speaker, | education is the closest thing forest council? mr speaker, - education is the closest thing we have to a silver bullet for transforming people's live, so i am delighted to join my honourable friend in praising everyone involved from the councillors, the teachers, the staff, to the governors for delivering a fantastic result. they are providing tremendous opportunity to the children under their care and we all over them an enormous debt of gratitude. we all over them an enormous debt of iratitude. , ~ i , ., gratitude. citizens advice estimate the number _ gratitude. citizens advice estimate the number of _ gratitude. citizens advice estimate the number of households - gratitude. citizens advice estimate the number of households unable l gratitude. citizens advice estimate l the number of households unable to afford their energy bills will double from one in ten to one in five from april. labour has a plan

to help suffering families right across the country now. why can't the prime minister see the need to take action on energy bills now, avoid the cliff edge and they can shout all day like, and stop putting more people into poverty from april? mr speaker, we are helping people now. we are helping people with the energy price guarantee that is ensuring there is a £1000 saving on their energy bills right now and we are providing further support over the coming yearfor the are providing further support over the coming year for the most vulnerable with direct cost of living support worth up to £1000, and also record increases in pensions and benefits and a record increase in the national living wage because that is what a conservative government does. .. they they have not received the level of support that many other energies intensive sectors have. what financial support can be offered to help this sector to decarbonise and

invest in energy efficiency measures?— invest in energy efficiency measures? «i i, , i, i, measures? well, i know my honourable friend is a powerful— measures? well, i know my honourable friend is a powerful advocate _ measures? well, i know my honourable friend is a powerful advocate for - friend is a powerful advocate for this industry, it has been a pleasure to meet with him in the past. our energy bill discount scheme does support businesses with their energy bills through to march of next year and there are a range of next year and there are a range of other funds we have to support energy intensive industries. but also the transformation fund which provides capital grants for businesses like his to help them decarbonise. it’s businesses like his to help them decarbonise.— businesses like his to help them decarbonise. it's been announced that on the _ decarbonise. it's been announced that on the 7th _ decarbonise. it's been announced that on the 7th of— decarbonise. it's been announced that on the 7th of may, _ decarbonise. it's been announced | that on the 7th of may, coronation choir will perform at windsor castle comprised of some of the keenest community choirs and amateur singers in the uk including nhs, refugee, deaf signing and lgbtq plus choirs. if it turns out any of those refugees have arrived in small boats or from a different country,

refugees have arrived in small boats orfrom a different country, should they be deported to rwanda before or after they sing for the king? mr speaker, it's amazing, when previously we have had a question about the awful tragedy of illegal migration that happened just recently, the honourable gentleman can't accept, can't accept that it is in fact, there is nothing, absolutely nothing passionate about tolerating illegal migration when people are dying. that's why this government will bring forward legislation to improve the system here and it's absolutely right that if people come here illegally, they should be sent to a safe alternative because that is the only way to break the cycle of these criminal gangs and stop people dying needlessly. io, gangs and stop people dying needlessly-— needlessly. a school in my constituency _ needlessly. a school in my constituency was - needlessly. a school in my i constituency was complaining needlessly. a school in my - constituency was complaining that they cannot afford to team —— turn they cannot afford to team —— turn the heating on but this school and others are spending money on psat materials by organisations such as

stonewall and jigsaw that are educating our boys and girls that they may not have been born in the right body or have another gender identity. can the pm meet with me at how we can stop this unscientific ideological education being taught in our schools and get our children learning what they should be learning what they should be learning in a warm, safe place? mr speaker, we have boosted school funding in each of the next two years which will help schools manage their energy costs but we do expect schools to toke responsible and sensible decisions on there are hse materials and making sure that they are age—appropriate, suitably politically impartial and value for money. i will make sure he gets a meeting with the relevant minister. thank you, mr speaker. the prime minster may be aware of sky news's

investigation today on the over the counter sales of nitrous oxide or laughing gas to children and young teenagers. alarming aspect is the change of the canisters from eight to 16 grams and ambulance than tripled. instead of criminalising the young people who buy nitrous oxide isn't it time to take urgent action against those selling knowingly this potentially life changing and harmful substance to children? i, «i i, children? i thank her for her question _ children? i thank her for her question and _ children? i thank her for her question and i _ children? i thank her for her question and i share - children? i thank her for her question and i share her - children? i thank her for her- question and i share her concern with the detrimental impact of communities of nitrous oxide, and i mentioned it in the speech i made at the beginning of the year specifically. the advice of counsel on the misuse of drugs is conducting a review on nitrous oxide and looking at this question to expedite the review and we will consider their advice carefully when it is

that is the end of this session, time to introduce our guests, greg hands, pat mcfadden and the bbc�*s chief political correspondent, nick eardley. correspondent, nick adley. welcome to all of you. before we get into the main substance of rishi sunak�*s questions from keir starmer, he talked about the whatsapp messages that have been released to the daily telegraph, that seem to undermine the claim by the former health secretary matt hancock that there was a protective ring put around care homes. keir starmer said it was a ghoulish spectacle, seeing books and whatsapp messages before the public inquiry had taken place and he called on rishi sunak to commit that it would happen by the end of this year, in fact it would wrap up,

there would be a report by the end of this year, what has happened to the public inquiry? it is of this year, what has happened to the public inquiry?— the public inquiry? it is going on, but we have _ the public inquiry? it is going on, but we have got _ the public inquiry? it is going on, but we have got no _ the public inquiry? it is going on, but we have got no idea - the public inquiry? it is going on, but we have got no idea how- the public inquiry? it is going on, | but we have got no idea how long the public inquiry? it is going on, i but we have got no idea how long it will take. the first section is due to take around four months, but there is no sense when we gets results from it. some people close to the process saying it could be kept until after a general election until we get anything tangible in terms of conclusion. i5 until we get anything tangible in terms of conclusion.— terms of conclusion. is that acceptable? _ terms of conclusion. is that acceptable? we _ terms of conclusion. is that acceptable? we are - terms of conclusion. is that acceptable? we are now i terms of conclusion. is that - acceptable? we are now seeing various people give their version of events, key players, and yet families who lost relatives and loved ones during the pandemic still haven't heard from the public inquiry. haven't heard from the public iniui . i i i haven't heard from the public iniui . i , i , haven't heard from the public iniui . i i i i haven't heard from the public iniui _ ii. ,,i,, inquiry. the public inquiry has only 'ust inquiry. the public inquiry has only just started. _ inquiry. the public inquiry has only just started. i _ inquiry. the public inquiry has only just started, i think— inquiry. the public inquiry has only just started, i think we _ inquiry. the public inquiry has only just started, i think we should - just started, i think we should allow— just started, i think we should allow it— just started, i think we should allow it to _ just started, i think we should allow it to develop a momentum. i don't _ allow it to develop a momentum. i don't think— allow it to develop a momentum. i don't think it would be right to be putting _ don't think it would be right to be putting an — don't think it would be right to be putting an artificial deadline on the public inquiry. why putting an artificial deadline on the public inquiry.— putting an artificial deadline on the public inquiry. why has it taken so low ? the public inquiry. why has it taken so long? other— the public inquiry. why has it taken so long? other countries _ the public inquiry. why has it taken so long? other countries are - so long? other countries are finished there is.— so long? other countries are finished there is. i,i ii i finished there is. most importantly that it is done _

finished there is. most importantly that it is done thoroughly - finished there is. most importantly that it is done thoroughly and - finished there is. most importantly that it is done thoroughly and be . that it is done thoroughly and be allowed — that it is done thoroughly and be allowed to conduct business without the government putting an artificial deadline _ the government putting an artificial deadline in on the end of it. what do ou deadline in on the end of it. what do you make _ deadline in on the end of it. what do you make of — deadline in on the end of it. what do you make of the _ deadline in on the end of it. iiiirisgi do you make of the whatsapp messages that have been released from matt hancock's phone which seem to have been conflicting with the official advice from residents coming into care homes from the community? figs care homes from the community? as you know, my own father died in a care home — you know, my own father died in a care home of covid shortly before the time — care home of covid shortly before the time of these text messages, i don't _ the time of these text messages, i don't think— the time of these text messages, i don't think that made a difference in his_ don't think that made a difference in his case — don't think that made a difference in his case but it is a very distressing time for families up and down _ distressing time for families up and down the _ distressing time for families up and down the country to read about the process _ down the country to read about the process behind. i would say matt hancock — process behind. i would say matt hancock has been clear in saying that the — hancock has been clear in saying that the selected text messages do not present the full picture, one of them _ not present the full picture, one of them in _ not present the full picture, one of them in particular from his special adviser— them in particular from his special adviser deletes the beginning of the text message which provides the context— text message which provides the context of the decision being made to. ~ . , context of the decision being made to. . . , . . context of the decision being made to. . . to. which is a meeting that was held? this _ to. which is a meeting that was held? this is — to. which is a meeting that was held? this is a _ to. which is a meeting that was held? this is a matter- to. which is a meeting that was held? this is a matter for- to. which is a meeting that was held? this is a matter for the l held? this is a matter for the ublic held? this is a matter for the

public inquiry _ held? this is a matter for the public inquiry to _ held? this is a matter for the public inquiry to look- held? this is a matter for the public inquiry to look at - held? this is a matter for the | public inquiry to look at these things — public inquiry to look at these things. do public inquiry to look at these thins. ,, . public inquiry to look at these thins. . , ., . things. do you agree we should leave it now for the — things. do you agree we should leave it now for the inquiry? _ things. do you agree we should leave it now for the inquiry? the _ things. do you agree we should leave it now for the inquiry? the defence i it now for the inquiry? the defence from matt hancock— it now for the inquiry? the defence from matt hancock this _ it now for the inquiry? the defence from matt hancock this morning i it now for the inquiry? the defence i from matt hancock this morning was, this is— from matt hancock this morning was, this is a _ from matt hancock this morning was, this is a distorted _ from matt hancock this morning was, this is a distorted picture, _ from matt hancock this morning was, this is a distorted picture, it - this is a distorted picture, it doesn't _ this is a distorted picture, it doesn't tell— this is a distorted picture, it doesn't tell the _ this is a distorted picture, it doesn't tell the full- this is a distorted picture, it doesn't tell the full story. . this is a distorted picture, it l doesn't tell the full story. the this is a distorted picture, it - doesn't tell the full story. the way to get— doesn't tell the full story. the way to get to _ doesn't tell the full story. the way to get to the — doesn't tell the full story. the way to get to the bottom _ doesn't tell the full story. the way to get to the bottom of— doesn't tell the full story. the way to get to the bottom of this - doesn't tell the full story. the way to get to the bottom of this is - to get to the bottom of this is through— to get to the bottom of this is through the _ to get to the bottom of this is through the public— to get to the bottom of this is through the public inquiry. . to get to the bottom of this isi through the public inquiry. but to get to the bottom of this is - through the public inquiry. but they have to _ through the public inquiry. but they have to get — through the public inquiry. but they have to get on _ through the public inquiry. but they have to get on with _ through the public inquiry. but they have to get on with it. _ through the public inquiry. but they have to get on with it. and - through the public inquiry. but they have to get on with it. and i - through the public inquiry. but they have to get on with it. and i think. have to get on with it. and i think it's realty— have to get on with it. and i think it's really important _ have to get on with it. and i think it's really important that - have to get on with it. and i think it's really important that this - it's really important that this reports — it's really important that this reports certainly— it's really important that this reports certainly before - it's really important that this reports certainly before the. it's really important that this - reports certainly before the next general — reports certainly before the next general election— reports certainly before the next general election and _ reports certainly before the next general election and there - reports certainly before the next general election and there is - reports certainly before the next general election and there is no| general election and there is no attempt — general election and there is no attempt to— general election and there is no attempt to put— general election and there is no attempt to put off _ general election and there is no attempt to put off the - general election and there is no . attempt to put off the conclusions until after— attempt to put off the conclusions until after this. _ attempt to put off the conclusions until after this. that's _ attempt to put off the conclusions until after this. that's not - attempt to put off the conclusions until after this. that's not an - until after this. that's not an artificial— until after this. that's not an artificial deadline, _ until after this. that's not an artificial deadline, that - until after this. that's not an artificial deadline, that the l artificial deadline, that the democratic— artificial deadline, that the democratic deadline, - artificial deadline, that the i democratic deadline, that's artificial deadline, that the - democratic deadline, that's why it is important _ democratic deadline, that's why it is important-— is important. let's talk about cost of livin: , is important. let's talk about cost of living. energy _ is important. let's talk about cost of living, energy bills, _ is important. let's talk about cost of living, energy bills, keir- of living, energy bills, keir starmer challenged rishi sunak about the government maintaining the energy price guarantee at £2500 because it is going to come and subsidy will be reduced in april. should the government maintain it at that level? irate should the government maintain it at that level? ~ . ., , , that level? we will have to see but the intention _ that level? we will have to see but the intention of _ that level? we will have to see but the intention of the _ that level? we will have to see but the intention of the government i that level? we will have to see but i the intention of the government was clearly— the intention of the government was clearly with the course of the winter — clearly with the course of the winter particularly cold days and dark nights, that that support be

there _ dark nights, that that support be there as — dark nights, that that support be there. as rishi sunak said at prime minister's — there. as rishi sunak said at prime minister's questions, it provided £1000 _ minister's questions, it provided £1000 per household, half of people's energy bill... | £1000 per household, half of people's energy bill... i understand that but should _ people's energy bill... i understand that but should it _ people's energy bill... i understand that but should it be _ people's energy bill... i understand that but should it be maintained? i that but should it be maintained? otherwise people will be paying more. , . , _, , more. there is a budget coming up in exactly two — more. there is a budget coming up in exactly two weeks" — more. there is a budget coming up in exactly two weeks' time, _ more. there is a budget coming up in exactly two weeks' time, we - more. there is a budget coming up in exactly two weeks' time, we will- exactly two weeks' time, we will have to see what the government does overall to support people at the moment. it is worth stressing the government to support that it has provided, in particular over the last year. half of people's energy bills through the winter which has just finished, energy bills are very seasonal. we need to bear that in mind. the most difficult time for people with energy bills has been a time where the government has been meeting half of people? energy bills. ~ . ., bills. we will leave it there on olitics bills. we will leave it there on politics live — bills. we will leave it there on politics live and _ bills. we will leave it there on politics live and bring - bills. we will leave it there on politics live and bring you - bills. we will leave it there on politics live and bring you the| bills. we will leave it there on - politics live and bring you the rest of the day's news now. police have

spent the night searching for a missing baby near brighton. the child's parents are being questioned on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. police said they had not provided any further information about the condition or the whereabouts of the child. constance marten and mark gordon — who is a registered sex offender — had been missing for nearly eight weeks. the couple left home last september — and their baby was born in early january — though police aren't sure exactly when. the couple came to public attention when their car caught fire on the m61 near bolton on january the fifth. from there, the pair took a taxi to liverpool and another to harwich, arriving on the morning of the 6th of january. by lunchtime on the seventh of january, they were in east london, where they bought a tent from argos and abandoned a pushchair. there were more taxi journeys, including to the port of newhaven. after that, they evaded detection until monday night, when a member of the public saw them and called 999. vincent mcaviney has more.

monday night in north brighton. after 53 days on the run, constance marten and mark gordon are spotted on cctv walking down a residential street. while shopping in this convenience store, they were spotted by a member of the public, who called 999. shortly after, they were filmed again. officers arrested the couple without their baby, walking towards an allotment site and golf course leading to the south downs. but despite finally having the couple in custody, they have not provided any further information about the condition or whereabouts of the child. police fear it could have been abandoned in freezing conditions. they're now being held on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. around 200 officers from sussex and london's metropolitan police have worked around the clock to try to find the baby, whose sex is unknown, and who is believed to have never had medical treatment. drones, a helicopter and sniffer dogs were all deployed to assist.

in the daylight, officers work their way slowly through the large allotment the couple were thought to be heading towards. every shed and greenhouse was being checked, in temperatures close to zero. 35—year—old constance marten comes from a hugely wealthy family, with close ties to the royal family. she grew up in this country estate in dorset and was at drama school in 2016, when she first met 48—year—old mark gordon. gordon, a registered sex offender who was deported to britain from the united states in 2010, after spending 20 years in prison for a rape he committed aged 14. ever since, they have led an isolated life. injanuary, constance's father, napier marten, made this appeal to his daughter. darling constance, even though we remain estranged at the moment, i stand by, as i have always done, and as the family has always done, to do whatever is necessary

for your safe return to us. whilst detectives hope the baby is alive, perhaps being looked after by someone else, they're becoming increasingly concerned. constance marten's father said on tuesday that whilst he's relieved she's been found, he is worried about his missing grandchild they hope to finally meet. but after another night of freezing weather, that hope here is fading. vincent mcaviney, bbc news. we understand police will bring us an update on this case sometime between 1pm and 2pm this afternoon, and we will bring you that news conference any update the police give us life. officials in greece say at least 36 have been codes and dozens injured

in a crash. conditions for rescue as i said to be very difficult. the army has been mobilised to help and dozens of fire and ambulance staff at the scene. it's been described by local authorities as a powerful collision and a terrible scene. while passengers said the crash felt like being in an earthquake. translation: we heard a big bang. it was ten nightmareish seconds. we were turning over in the wagon till we fell on our sides and until the commotion stopped. and there was panic, cables everywhere, fire, the fire was immediate. as we were turning over we were being burned. the fire was right and left. as rescue teams work their way through these dark and smoky carriages, the death toll keeps rising after a high—speed collision in the night between a cargo train and a passenger train. hundreds of passengers have been

evacuated by rescue teams, some dragged to safety after crawling through upside down carriages. translation: it was chaos. tumbling over, fires, cables hanging, broken windows, people screaming, people trapped. these people are the lucky ones. fire officials say the first two carriages of the train completely disintegrated in the crash. the next two were derailed entirely. how two trains travelling in opposite directions came to directly collide will be the next issue officials will tackle. for now, theirfocus is on recovery, and as morning breaks in greece, the hope is that the light will bring survivors with it. stephanie prentice, bbc news. the head of the fbi said the covid

virus was most likely the result of the from the lab. beijing has denied a lab leak in wuhan, calling the allegation defamatory. earlier, my colleague asked the cbs news correspondent why he has made this statement now. so, this is an interview that he did with fox news, talking about all of this. it comes interestingly, though, anita, after the us department of energy over the weekend came out with a similar assessment, although they were saying that there's low confidence in some of this intelligence that they're getting. and so it's interesting looking at this, because a lot of the language around these now two

american agencies out of the nine that are investigating this, who say that it was likely a lab leak, are still using some fairly loose and uncertain language in exactly why they believe that that might be the case. and some other us agencies still believe that this could have jumped from animals to humans, rather than it being a lab leak. either way, it adds to political difficulty, difficulties between washington and beijing, doesn't it? yeah, that's true. i mean, as you were just talking, there is beijing kind of commenting on this one, saying that the united states, or at least these two particular us agencies, are stirring the pot they see unnecessarily so. this comes after the situation in the us with the chinese spy balloon that china says was not a spy balloon and that the us was overreacting when it shot that one down. so there are moments now where we are seeing this escalating tension between the united states and the chinese government. we are also, though, seeing from the top here in the united states, president biden in particular, really trying to make an effort to say that, while he wants competition, healthy competition with china, he's not looking for conflict. this doesn't necessarily

help that, though. the sight loss charity guide dogs says it's had a record number of people volunteering to raise puppies after the bbc highlighted a national shortage of dogs. it's all thanks to our correspondent sean dilley, who has been without a guide dog since his previous companion sammy retired six months ago — he's now facing a two year wait — but it's hoped that more volunteers to train dogs can reduce that wait, as sean reports. i couldn't imagine my life without rio. she's so important. she's my best friend, my constant companion, my means of independence, of getting about wherever i want to go, whenever i want to go, and living the life i want to lead. this is the freedom guide dogs give their blind and visually impaired partners. rio is ella caulfield's first guide. if they didn't have each other, ella says she wouldn't be able to study maths at oxford. she gives me that independence that i do need, and i crave,

that i need to live the life i want to lead. she's good for a cuddle at the end of an evening if i've had a bad day. and she's an excellent guide, she's very rarely led me astray. ella started to lose her sight at four years old. when she was 15, she received some bad news. i think because it happened gradually, it wasn't like an immediate shock of, "you're not going to see again." i was told i had a retina detachment and i definitely broke down then. i was with my dad. i remember him hugging me and the nurses kind of bringing me a cup of water, just kind of comforting me. and then i got booked in for surgery the next day. doctors operated to try to save any sight they could, but those attempts failed. nothing came of it. so i've been left with just minimal light perception in my right eye. but it's not useful. i can only see light if i look directly into the sun or into a light bulb. for ella, a new reality. she learnt new life skills and how to read braille.

her application for a guide dog was accepted in may 2017. then around a year later... it was actually my mum picked up the call so i hadn't got home from school yet. my mum picked up the call. it was someone from guide dogs saying "we've got a match for ella." i think ijust got very giggly and very kind of, yeah, very excited. like, yes, this is happening. never, says ella, would she ever want to be without a dog again. just feeling so much more confident and independent and happy that i had this friend with me who was going to be there permanently with me. rio provides such a kind of welfare support to me. ella and rio's is one of 3,695 partnerships currently working in the uk, down from around 5,000 before the pandemic when breeding was paused for five months. the charity lost a third of their volunteers. come on, good. good boy! it's been six months since my guide dog sammy retired.

sammy is more important to me and you always will be, sammy, you'll always be my boy. sharing my story is by far the hardest thing i've ever done in my career. the impact, though, has been huge. you are actually quite moved today. the bond you two have... the niblock family were one of many watching that day. it was heartbreaking to watch it, really. l itjust made us think, why not sign up when we've got the time, - the space and everything, - just to help make a difference? they're among more than a,500 people who've applied to volunteer since sammy's last walk. we applied, they came to see us and we're getting a puppy at the beginning of april. archie! touch! guide dogs say applications spiked then and again when we featured lisa allison and her guide dog puppies. i would like to say to bbc breakfast viewers, thank you so much to everyone who's already applied to volunteer at guide dogs. since the coverage, we've seen a peak in applications. so, injanuary alone, we received almost 3,000 volunteer applications.

2,500 of those were to raise puppies, compared with 2,000 for the whole of 2019, the last pre—pandemic year. the charity says what they need now is fosterers to look after guide dogs in training, people who can drop them off and pick them up from training offices. what this role particularly is is a six—month commitment to supporting a puppy to go to school and look after that puppy in evenings and weekends. jenny is hannah cooper's fifth foster dog. good girl, play time! she's six and a half weeks into her training. when she's not learning, she's at home having fun. l it means that they are in a really l relaxed, comfortable home situation in the evenings and on the weekends. and they get used to, you know, i in this case, living in a flat. i hannah's job in digital content creation means she gets to work from home a lot. fostering is a commitment. it takes me probably half an hour to drop her off.

in the morning and to pick her up. so it's about an hour a day that i spend commuting i to and from the training centre, |which actually isn't that much. | and hannah doesn't plan to stop any time soon. when i hear from guide dog owners |who have had a guide dog and how| much it changes their life, like, that is incredible. - and it makes me feel- really proud to have been a tiny, tiny part of that. far from playing a tiny part, guide dogs say hannah's role is vital if they're to cut waiting times. hannah knows their time together is not forever, but fosterers like her are needed to help dogs likejenny become guides for people like me. earlier i was joined by haley andrews, who's head of puppy raising at guide dogs and oakey the guide dog. oakey is a i2—month—old german shepherd cross golden retriever, he is being puppy—raised

by a woman called josephine, she is currently puppy—raising two of our dogs. if you are watching, hello. you have more volunteers as a result of sean's report. how surprised are you? it has been amazing. sean's story has really helped us, we have recruited over a600 applications have come through since sean's first part of his story, but we do need lots more volunteers to come through. we are looking at recruiting 5000 more volunteers in our dog supporting roles. what are people telling you about why they have come forward to volunteer? many different reasons. as a volunteer fosterer and puppy raiser, we can support you with... he's off! we support you with really dedicated training. people that do not have the ability to have a dog at home monday to friday, 9—5 because of work and jobs...

you like the paper, don't you? they can drop them at one of our training schools as a fosterer, they go into training and have that ability to have a dog at home in the evenings and weekends, and that flexibility, but they are also, the main reason, is being able to support people like sean. so, being able to provide that life changing service to someone and bring the dogs, the very much—needed guide dogs into their lives. what does it involve, if you do volunteer to look after a dog? with volunteer fostering... with our volunteer fostering roles we have many centres across the country, so it is about being able to drop the dogs into the office between nine and five monday to friday. and then to be that family and that support, to complete some training at home and be able to take the dogs out for their off—lead running and our dogs have a lot of fun outside of their work, which they enjoy.

it is about having them in the family as you would, getting them used to everyday situations as well. how different is it from having a normal dog, an ordinary dog? are there things you can and can't do with a guide dog? for example, if you are watching telly, can the guide dog come and sit on the sofa with you? no, we discourage the guide dogs from doing that, mainly because these dogs go to individual people that have individual situations in their homes and if the dog is used to being able to do things like that, and then you go into a guide owner's home where they don't want the dogs on the sofa and the beds, it is a big adjustment for the dogs, because you are changing the rules. so, actually... oakey! good boy. it is about the dogs being able to be part of your family. they get a lot of normal pet dog stuff. they're allowed to sniff and run and meet dogs and children, but we need them to focus on their work when they're in harness and certain equipment.

now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello, again, and happy st david's day. the weather for the next few days is going to be very similar to what we've had. high pressure is firmly in charge of our weather at the moment, and you can see from the spacing in the isobars it's not particularly windy. we've got a weak weather front sinking south, and really there's a fair bit of cloud around. now, the clearest skies today are going to be across parts of northern and western scotland, and into the south—east of northern ireland should also see some sunshine, but there will be showers coming in in the brisk breeze from the north sea across eastern areas, spreading southwards and westwards through the day, but they are fairly hit and miss. it will feel colder than these temperatures are suggesting — down the east coast it will feel more like 4 to 5 degrees rather than 7 to 8, maybe 9 degrees. now, as we head on through the evening and overnight, still a lot of cloud around. it will break across parts of northern scotland and also parts of southern england, and here's where we are more than likely going to see some frost. also frequent showers

across northern ireland, southern scotland and also northern england. so, temperatures below freezing under those clear skies. a cold start to the day tomorrow, but some of us will start with some sunshine. now, high pressure remains firmly in charge of our weather, but, if anything, it's drifted a little bit further west, which means the wind isn't going to be as strong tomorrow, it's not going to feel as cold and there will be more sunshine on offer than we are looking at today — although there will still be areas of cloud, but temperatures between 7 and 10 degrees. so, more or less where we should be, early march. then, as we head towards the end of the week, well, high pressure still very much remains in place. the isobars really widen. not going to be as windy. then, as we head into the weekend, we've got a weather front sinking south, but on friday, first of all, still a fair bit of cloud around, still a bit of an onshore flow. the wind changes direction slightly so the distribution of any showers will be slightly different. we will see a few more, potentially, into east anglia, for example, but equally there will be some sunshine, still some sunshine

across the north—west, and temperatures still around the range of 7 to 9. so, here's this weather front sinking south. it's a cold front, it's bumping into the high pressure, so, it will be a fairly weak affair as it slips southwards, but what is going to do is drag in colder air behind. so, as we heading through the weekend, it is going to turn colder, and colder again, early part of next week.

rejected expert advice on covid tests for people going into care homes during the pandemic whatsapp messages leaked to a newspaper suggest mr hancock was told there should be testing of all residents going going into english care homes — but he decided not to follow the advice matt hancock has denied the claims. in our other main news this lunchtime — a rail disaster in greece leaves at least 36 people dead and dozens injured. two trains on the same track collided at high speed — a station master in charge of signalling has been arrested. translation: suddenly, - there were sparks and flames at the sides of the windows, then a sudden stop. that made us all panic.