sir iain duncan smith at the end of a busy day for him!rrow for the highlights of prime minister's questions and from rishi sunak‘s first budget. but for now from me, goodbye. hello there. on tuesday we had a temperature of 16.5 degrees at kew gardens and in cambridgeshire, making it the warmest day of the year so far. for some southern parts of the uk, the air originated all the way from the azores, hence that bit of warmth. further north, the air is cooler and it's the cooler air that will win out over the next few days. these shower clusters are heading into the north—west of the uk. this band of cloud, all that's left of the earlier rain taking some patchy rain and drizzle southwards into the english channel but keeping temperatures up across southern england and wales. colder air further north, though, and lots of showers packing into scotland and northern ireland. and here we'll have showers or longer spells of rain on wednesday. some heavy bursts of rain and snow of the hills of scotland. some of those hours will be blown into north

iain, why don't you pick up on this.rkets, with the worst day since 1987 on thursday, a little bit of a recovery on friday, some of them. but global impacts, if you look at business, some of them are really in an existential crisis as a result of this. that's absolutely right. i think that that has been part of the equation that governments are struggling with — what to prioritise. so you prioritise the economy and people say you're heartless and you don't care about human life. but if you prioritise extreme measures designed, at least, to look as if you are protecting human life in the here and now, a, they may have a knock—on effect later on if there is a second wave and human life may suffer, literally, if the economy does suffer, so i think in terms of that, there is the psychological, epidemiological, economical dots all of these considerations and that is, i think, as we said, strong and good leadership is necessary. even if we do not think that our leaders in necessarily doing the right thing, as long as we believ

iain martin of the london times.—oraibi, editor of the national — a news service for the middle east. i want to start by looking at how different countries and different regions are handling it so far. let's start with iran and the middle east. iran, marks out of ten? two at best. it's really concerning that the government has not been straight with how far the cases there has spread. cases have come to iraq and lebanon through iran because people were not tested. this kind of hiding the scale of the problem. bbc persian, for example, has been able to verify deaths of about 210 people, whereas, the government until recently has been insisting it is only 3a and dismissing media reports that say otherwise. it's not so much about the number of deaths, but much more being indicative of a country not playing it straight, therefore, the ability to spread to other countries. cases have cropped up in afghanistan, also originated from iran. these are vulnerable countries iraq, syria, afghanistan — huge numbers of displaced pe

but those pledges didn't sway sir iain duncan smith, who pushed his amendment to a vote.nment, including former cabinet ministers david davis, liam fox and sir iain duncan smith. at prime minister's questions, jeremy corbyn focused on the government's policies relating to women. child tax credits for new claimants are now capped at two children, but mothers who have a third child as a result of rape can be exempted. the labour leader pointed out that meant providing evidence. why does he think it's right that 200 mothers have to prove to the government their child was conceived as a result of being raped so they can keep their child tax credits? on his point about the recipients of benefit, it is obviously... he calls attention to an injustice, and we will do everything that we can to rectify it. people convicted of theft and false accounting over a post office it failure have demanded a judge—led inquiry into the scandal. they blame faults with the post office's horizon accounting system for the discrepancies. more than 500 workers recently won an out—of—court settlement

iain watson, thank you.you, two more people have died after testing positive in the uk, bringing the total number of deaths to ten. there are now 596 confirmed cases in the uk. 20 in northern ireland and 25 in wales. still waiting on a news conference from downing street. it's not far off, by the look of it. we will of course take you straight over there when that gets under way. in the meantime, let's go to belfast. keith doyle is therefore us. as we were hearing from ian, a dramatic decision from the irish taoiseach this morning. this is a virus that does not respect borders. it's rather strange what is happening on the island of ireland. absolutely. leo varadkar the island of ireland. absolutely. leo va radkar announced schools the island of ireland. absolutely. leo varadkar announced schools and colleges will be closed from tomorrow until march 29. also calls for limits on the gathering of people, 100 people indoors or 500 people, 100 people indoors or 500 people outdoors, they should be cancelled. the d

iain, you were talking about the economic impacts, and you toojonathan.is. we've had a tumultuous week on the markets, with the worst day since 1987 on thursday, a little bit of a recovery on friday, on some of them. but global impacts, if you look at business, some of them are really in an existential crisis as a result of this. that's absolutely right. i think that that has been part of the equation that governments are struggling with — what to prioritise. so you prioritise the economy and people say you're heartless and you don't care about human life. but if you prioritise extreme measures designed, at least, to look as if you are protecting human life in the here and now, a, they may have a knock—on effect later on if there is a second wave and human life may suffer, literally, if the economy does suffer. so i think that in terms of that, there is the psychological, epidemiological, economical all of these considerations. and that is, i think, as we said, strong and good leadership is necessary. even if we do not think that our leaders in necessaril

iain watson, thank you.our the first minister of scotla nd an hour the first minister of scotland nicola sturgeon has been outlining the government therefore dealing with the coronavirus outbreak. this was a short ago. the decision has been taken that we have moved from a contained phase to the delay phase where the objective is to seek to slow down the spread of the virus, to reduce the numbers who will be infected at the peak, the numbers infected at any one time. that is clearly important in terms of trying to alleviate the pressure at any one time that is placed on the national health service. later phases in the response to the virus will be to protect those groups in society that the early data tells us are more at risk of developing serious illness. i should reiterate that the vast majority of people who get this infection will suffer mild symptoms, that they will recover from quickly. that was nicola sturgeon talking in edinburgha that was nicola sturgeon talking in edinburgh a short time ago. john t

iain watson reporting.s nominee to take on donald trump in november's presidential election. mr biden won a resounding victory in the primary in south carolina, after performing poorly in three previous state ballots. 0ur north america editor jon sopel reports. so it would seem reports ofjoe biden‘s imminent demise were much exaggerated. the former vice president's southern firewall proved to be rock solid and flame retardant. his first victory tasted sweet. now, thanks to all of you, the heart of the democratic party, wejust won, and we won big because of you. cheering and applause and we are very much alive. what made the difference was that this was the first state to vote with a significant african—american population. their support for him was almost as enormous as the food portions in this spartanburg diner. joe biden. biden. you're biden? yeah, i like biden. because he's an honest man. biden is probably my top choice. bernie sanders is the standard bearer for the left in this gruelling contest. he ca

so iain how much pressure is priti patel under?erable pressure from the opposition. the leader leadership account, keir starmer, called her to come to westminster to give a statement on the allegations that she was bullying staff. the shadow chancellor said she should be suspended while an inquiry is carried out. but explicit backing from the prime minister tonight. he said she has been a fantastic home secretary. but he says he is full of admiration for the civil service. i think is that a he wants the war of words to end. unless he gets civil serva nts words to end. unless he gets civil servants on side, his pledges on policing and other things will be harder. thank you. the former us vice president, joe biden, has dramatically revived his bid to become the democratic party's nominee to take on donald trump in november's presidential election. mr biden won a resounding victory in the primary in south carolina, after performing poorly in three previous state ballots. our north america editor jon sopel reports. so it would seem rep

iain watson in westminster there.enforced tonight right across italy to try to limit the spread of coronavirus. as the number of cases and deaths rises sharply, italy faces growing isolation, with thousands of flights cancelled and stringent controls on its borders with austria and slovenia. public gatherings, including sports events are banned, and schools and universities are closed. italians are being advised to stay at home. the number of confirmed cases has risen to more than 10,000. and the number of deaths in italy has increased by more than a third to 631. here in the uk, a sixth person has died italy correspondent mark lowen reports. "all residents stay at home", orders the police. from naples in the south to the supermarkets of rome, to the financial capital up in milan, news of the restrictions spread as fast as the virus. in bologna today, they began to adjust to the toughest limitations since the war. public gatherings banned, bars and restaurants closed from 6pm, tables a metre apart, schools, museums an

invitational at bay hill and restricted him to just two tournaments so far this year. 0ur golf correspondent iainin priority is the defence of his masters title at augusta next month. undoubtedly, the masters is tiger woods priority. if there is a bigger priority it is retaining fitness. it isa priority it is retaining fitness. it is a fact of his life that the bank is a fact of his life that the bank is fragile and he has to ration the number of events that he plays. i think this is a big blow not to play the players championship because an event of huge prestige and he has one at before. the fact that he is not suggesting he will be short of stroke playing action heading into the first major of the year but that priority is agusta and being fit for agusta is right there. back to football — and they're approaching half—time in the final match of the shebelieves cup. the usa need only a draw againstjapan to win the competition for the third time. but the world champions lead 3—1 — with goals from megan rapinoe and christen press. there are four minutes remaining. earlier, spain beat last year's w

iain watson, thank you.rossing over the land border from turkey, which is struggling to deal with the number of people fleeing syria's civil war. the growing crisis comes after an air strike in syria killed at least 33 turkish soldiers deployed to support the syrian opposition. turkey's president has said he will break his country's deal with brussels to prevent migrants entering the eu unless he gets greater support for his intervention in syria. 0rla guerin reports from pazarkule on the border between turkey and greece. at first light, they joined the migrant trail from turkey. heading for the river meric, all that separates them from europe. this small group manages to cross, reaching the shores of greece, which fears a new flood of refugees. at border crossings with turkey, it's been pushing them back. greece doesn't want a repeat of 2015. caught up in the chaos this afternoon, reza, an iranian we met who hopes to reach london. they're pushing us by water. tear gas. it's not fair. and the young have been

dealing with the outbreak there, earlier my colleague olly foster spoke to our golf correspondent iain a difference in many respects between the west coast and the east coast. we're in florida at the east coast. we're in florida at the moment. ithink the east coast. we're in florida at the moment. i think the the east coast. we're in florida at the moment. ithink the most the east coast. we're in florida at the moment. i think the most concern is surrounding, obviously the pga championship coming up in san francisco. there are suggestions that it could be moved here where the infrastructure is in place at short notice to stage a major championship. as we know with this topic, it is a fast—moving dynamic situation and the administrators are looking to react to that. let's look ahead to the next four days of play there. it was brilliant for warring mcelroy to 12 months ago but he's looking to make history because no player has successfully defended that title. lou no, it's extraordinary, given the long history the great champions that have one that no one has successfully defended the ti

iain think for much indeed.se some people are getting about all this, this video from a train in sydney has been very wide to be shared. one woman's off started this. i do not open my mouth when a cough, i coughed inside. you are disgusting. and you are disgusting too. are you serious? to just call me fat? yeah. i don't have a pandemic. and she doesn't have a pandemic and the world doesn't have ever done to show a classified this as an epidemic because i still believe containment is possible. that train argument is one step of how tempers are fraying in austria. two women are being charged after this fight over toilet roll.|j two women are being charged after this fight over toilet roll. i just wa nt this fight over toilet roll. i just want one package! two it is not mad max, it is not the thunderdome, you do not need to do that. and certainly nothing thunderdome. the number of cases rising remaining go around standards of the world. this international map compiled byjohn hopkins university, 85 confirmed cases i

iain duncan smith says that britain is isolated on this.ge number now of conservatives. they wa nt to number now of conservatives. they want to see much more of a commitment from the government. we will have to see over the next few months whether there is more of a movement. the telling thing is that some of those people who are rebelling against the government i people who have been on the inside, they have seen security advice in they have seen security advice in the past, they think that they have seen enough to be very concerned about huawei being involved. they do not believe the reassurances being made by the government. the backdrop is trade talks imminently for the government, particularly for china and the united states. they are going to have to pick, and they? interestingly, a lot of the conservatives are people who might well wa nt to conservatives are people who might well want to do a deal with america when it comes to trade. and with the eu, of course. but they say that security is the paramount issue here. there is some sus

iain duncan smith thought that was a very important point.drive a 0% involvement by huawei and other non—secure vendors, is that now the policy, notjust 35%? our aim is to not to be reliant on high—risk vendors at all. and i appreciate he would like for me to set out a timetable for that, but i cannot today. the minister, matt warman. you're watching wednesday in parliament with me, mandy baker. the uk government is committed to spending 0.7% of national income on international aid, but how should that money be spent? last week, downing street announced an overhaul of its approach to foreign policy as part of a government review. and experts suggest that ministers want to use more aid to generate economic and commercial benefits both for recipient countries and for the uk. at international development questions, a conservative asked about expanding trade. now that we've left the european union, the uk can deepen and expand our trade with countries and businesses across africa. can my right honourable friend update the house on progress made t

today, the bbc has learned another formal complaint was made against her. 0ur political correspondent iainre on priti patel. the labour leadership candidate kier starmer has called for her to make a statement to mps in parliament tomorrow about these allegations of bullying made by the former most senior official in her department, sir philip rutnam. in addition to that, the shadow chancellor, john mcdonnell, has said there should be an enquiry into priti patel‘s behaviour and during that enquiry she should be suspended from the home office. and the bbc has been told that there was a formal complaint about priti patel‘s behaviour, not at the home office, but when she was an employment ministerfour years ago. her spokesman says he has no knowledge, indeed she has no knowledge of that complaint, and we do not know if it was pursued, but clearly there are people willing to pile on the pressure on the home secretary, so she will be relieved that some of the pressure appears to now be coming off her position because borisjohnson has given her his full backing this evening and made it very clear

earlier the former leader of the conservative party sir iain duncan smith spoke to my colleague carriereaction to the news. i'm very sorry for him and obviously for his now pregnant girlfriend, because it must be a worry for her, and clearly she needs to be separated from him, and i'm sure she has gone into isolation. so, i'm very sorry, because he has the weight of decision—making on all our behalves that he carries. and that is an important feature to recognise. it's notjust getting isolated, he is also having to make these decisions at the same time and continue to run the government. my thoughts are with him right now, because this is a very difficult position to be in, though i'm not surprised he may have come into contact with someone, because he has been doing so much over the last few weeks, trying to keep people's morale up, trying to talk to doctors and nurses and all sorts of people from the emergency services. i think this has been a huge and tremendous effort on his behalf. i suppose, this underlines in a very real way for the public the importance of the social distancing

iain martin of the london times.ng at how different countries and different regions are handling it so far. let's start with iran and the middle east. iran, marks out of ten? two at best.

iain watson is at westminster what are they saying?icer this morning. we do not want to play party politics with such an important issue but behind closed doors i am told they raise concerns forcibly with government officials as to the approach they are taking, in particular they are questioning why we are so out of step with some other countries in that closing schools, calling of public events and so on, and fundamentally what they wanted to question was this issue which the government says look, if, for example, we ask to isolate soon people will get fatigued as we reach the peak of this virus, perhaps in 1014 weeks, what the opposition parties are pressing for was to see the evidence of this. —— ten or 14 weeks. they are worried not enough evidences they are. not enough evidence being shared with the public. they want guidance on what vulnerable people should do, notjust the elderly. one participant told the bbc i hope the government has better answers, that is when they next meet on monday. thank you. in the us, all major sport an

iain watson, thank you very much.in that care home to try and stop the virus from spreading, and visitors will not be allowed into the care home unless absolutely necessary. the scottish government also wants to make the point that the over 70s in scotland will not be asked to completely isolate. they may be asked to reduce their social contact but the scottish government wa nt to contact but the scottish government want to make the point that they will not be asked to completely isolate. alexandra, thank you very much for your time this morning. let‘s find out what‘s happening in other parts of the world. spain, italy and france all recorded their highest death tolls from coronavirus in a single day yesterday — and the authorities in all three countries have imposed restrictions. in a moment, we‘ll get the latest from sima kotecha in rome and hugh schofield in paris. first, let‘s go to our europe correspondent damian grammaticas, who is in madrid. there are restrictions in place there. tell us what they are and how t

huawei to be a part of our telecom's infrastructure, and some of the names are fascinating, people like iainh disgruntled people, but really standing up to the government on a very important issue for the future of the uk's telecoms and security. 0k, we will have to leave the. that's it for the papers tonight. don't forget you can see the front pages of the papers online on the bbc news website. it's all there for you — 7 days a week at bbc.co.uk/papers — and if you miss the programme any evening you can watch it later on bbc iplayer. thank you both very much, goodbye. hello,'s champions league campaign has come to an end tonight as they we re has come to an end tonight as they were well beaten in the last 16. three nil on the night, four nell on aggregate. last year's runners—up we re aggregate. last year's runners—up were no match for the german side, scoring twice in the first half, before substitute. spurs now haven't one in six matches. meanwhile, valencia played in a stadium with no phones after the game was to be played by closed—door. fans or no fans, it was a classic seven goals in

my guests today: iain martin of the times, author thomas kielinger, political analyst eunice goes, andyou all. let's start with the question of europe. i'm going to leave this open to all four of you, who wants to be first in answering? do we think that europe missed a trick in not taking me draconian measures that we have seen, notjust in china, but also be quite fast measures we have seen in china, but also be quite fast measures we have seen in taiwan, singapore, japan, hong kong? possibly. i think possibly, asia and hong kong particularly it was a very quick, they were closing down schools. testing a lot of people. perhaps that has prevented the spread of the disease, but europe, that was not as quick, but there are other characteristics. europe is a much more open continent in the sense that the movement across nations, the movement from all different parts of the world, so europe is, to a large extent, more exposed than those

conservatives about doing more around all of that, and from the former leader of the conservative party iainr benefits to be raised. the chancellor met with the unions today and the cbi, people looking for much more to reassure people in the coming weeks that they will have some money coming in. 0k, many thanks. 0ur chief political correspondent, vicki young. we will be going back to her when we know more about when that press conference is. a little bit of breaking used to bring you about changes tojob breaking used to bring you about changes to job centre appointments. job centre appointments are going to be cancelled according to the department for work and pensions. some details, people receiving benefits don't have to attend job centre appointments for at least three months, starting from today, from thursday 19th march. people will continue to receive their benefits as normal but all requirements to attend the job centre in person are suspended, and people can still make applications for benefits online, if they are eligible. it finishes off, job centres remain open and will continue t

hey, it's iain armitage from young sheldon. it's me, sonequa martin-green.zy hair for a crazy time. olivia lucy phillip: we want you to know that you are not alone. you're not alone. you're not. we're all connected. we're still us. we can still laugh. still share moments. and be happy. we are here for you. and we're all in this together. we're all in this together. we're all in this together. i love y'all. just like covered california helps you find health insurance you can afford. they're the only place you can get financial assistance to help pay for health coverage. plus, this year, the state is providing more help than ever before. and because a new law requires californians to have health coverage or pay a penalty, covered california has made it easier to get financial help, but you gotta sign up by april 30th. visit coveredca.com or call to enroll today. for over 75 years people ...with geico... ohhh...sorry!. director's voice: here we go. from the top. and action for over 75 years people have saved money with gecko so.... director's voice: cut it! ...

our political correspondent iain watson is in westminster.rus. we could hear some life changing, doesn't overstate it for people with children and other things, developments this afternoon? that's right. i think what's happening is it's no secret the government is going to say we are moving now to the delay face from the containment phase. nonetheless i think it will still feel very different, some of the measures will be very similar. not expecting immediately a new raft of things which the government will do later on today. but i think they will be setting out the thinking and some of the future measures they could take. as far as the future measures they could take. as farasi the future measures they could take. as far as i am aware we are not going to be following ireland ‘s exa m ples going to be following ireland ‘s examples and suddenly closing schools but again ministers are not ruling that out. i think they will also start to give advice as i think we will hear the cobra meeting, to older people and vulnerable groups, this will start

let's talk now to a former leader of the conservative party and a former government minister, iain duncansorry for him and obviously for his now pregnant girlfriend because it must be a worry for her and clearly needs to be separated which i am sure he has already gone into isolation so i am very sorry because he has i think that is an important feature to recognise, notjust somebody getting isolated on the decision, he is also having to make the decision at the same time and continue to run the government, so my thoughts are with him right now because it is a very difficult position to be in although i am not surprised that he may well have come into co nta ct surprised that he may well have come into contact with someone because he has been doing so much over the last few weeks, trying to keep peoples morale up, trying to talk to doctors and nurses and all sorts of people from the emergency services and i think he has made a huge and tremendous effort. what this underlines in a very real way for the public is the importance of the social—distancing measures which of course only fairly r

hashtag #bbcyourquestions. now let's go back to downing street and talk to our political correspondent, iaingest there, ian. there was indeed, i think it's just worth saying again what the prime minister set up the start of that press co nfe re nce , minister set up the start of that press conference, after the emergency committee cobra met for two hours this afternoon that this is the worst public health crisis for a generation. many more people will lose loved ones before their time. that's a grim backdrop which was set out, but against that rather agreement backdrop, i thought there was some relatively good news. it was some relatively good news. it was interesting that the chief medical officer, for example, was pointing out that the government's is in pointing out that the government's isina pointing out that the government's is in a worst—case scenario is that eight out of ten of us would contract this virus, but he was saying looking up the experience in other countries, that the numbers are actually other countries, that the numbers a re actually lower other countries, that the numbe

learn more at stepupprepup.com ♪ hey, it's iain armitage from young sheldon.ghan here from the amazing race, with some crazy hair for a crazy time. olivia lucy phillip: we want you to know that you are not alone. you're not alone. you're not. we're all connected. we're still us. we can still laugh. still share moments. and be happy. we are here for you. and we're all in this together. we're all in this together. we're all in this together. i love y'all. shouldn't you pay less when now you can. data? because xfinity mobile gives you more flexible data. you can choose to share data between lines, mix with unlimited, or switch it up at any time. all on the most reliable wireless network. which means you can save money without compromising on coverage. get more flexible data, the most reliable network, and more savings. plus, get $300 off when you buy a new samsung galaxy s20 ultra. that's simple. easy. awesome. call, click or visit a store today. ( band playing ) >> stephen: hey, everybody! welcome back! >> they go! folks, my first guest is a neurosurgeon, a best

hey, it's iain armitage from young sheldon. it's me, sonequa martin-green.ghan here from the amazing race, with some crazy hair for a crazy time. olivia lucy phillip: we want you to know that you are not alone. you're not alone. you're not. we're all connected. we're still us. we can still laugh. still share moments. and be happy. we are here for you. and we're all in this together. we're all in this together. we're all in this together. i love y'all. we find a way through it. it's about taking care of each other. it's the small parts that make a big difference. at chevy, we promise to do ours. we're offering chevy owners complimentary onstar crisis assist services and wifi data. if you need a new chevy, interest-free financing for 84 months - with deferred payments for 120 days on many of our most popular models. you may even shop online and take delivery at home. it's just our way of doing our part... ( ticking ) >> whitaker: we at "60 minutes," as is true of millions of americans this week, find ourselves working under a patchwork of unusual and unaccusto

iain duncan smith, the architect of the universal credit, you can raise benefits today. hang around. you have to act now, today. i think what field their anger was the treasurer was unable to give a timetable for this employment protection package, he was asked can we get it by the weekend? not a commitment on there. he said rishi sunak was meeting the cbi and the tuc today but did not wa nt to cbi and the tuc today but did not want to introduce measures ad hoc. i think the problem is, this crisis as we know is really unfolding very, very rapidly and a lot of mps are clearly hearing from businesses, from people in their communities who are desperately worried about how they are going to pay their way, how they are going to pay their way, how they are going to pay their way, how they are going to be able to afford to keep going. so far, they have not had that clarity from the government. that sense of frustration just bubbled up government. that sense of frustrationjust bubbled up in government. that sense of frustration just bubbled up in the commons and i think it is go

that was iain watson, our political correspondent.ddressed by the uk chancellor today. it's thought rishi sunak will announce an emergency package to help those facing hardship in the fight against coronavirus. the government has come under pressure from labour, unions and senior conservatives to do more to help employees struggling because of the crisis. 0ur correspondent ben thompson ran through some of the options open to the chancellor it is those workers who are often on the front line of many businesses that are the ones who are told to stay at home and yet are the ones who really rely on that everyday contact who really rely on that everyday co nta ct for who really rely on that everyday contact for their livelihood. i'm talking about coffee shops, hairdressers, cinemas, hotels, those sorts of organisations and we have that package of measures announced by the chancellor, £350 billion this week but that was aimed squarely at business, things like this miss rate relief, loan guarantees, those sorts of things. but not too much de

here's our political correspondent iain watson. is infrastructure spending and not day-to-day spending. that's right. this is very much investment spending. it will reach an extra 600 billion by the end of 2025. death according to treasury sources. it should be said that there is a time to compare this with. infrastructure spending has been going up the password desk —— in recent years. this would still be something like 20 to 25% higher. the political measures the government wants to send out as they are trying to level up send out as they are trying to level up the economy. they haven't seen as much investment in the past, so this will be money spent on hospitals, the number is controversial still on new railways, on road improvements, on school buildings. what i think also it is interesting about this is that there's been a review of how the treasury spends money in the future. at the moment, affectively, the assessment whether it's good for the assessment whether it's good for the economy as a whole, the government is seeing we

lots of can senior conservatives speaking out today, iain duncan smith saying it is security versus costany is an arm of the chinese state and that is what it is a security risk. huawei denied that, they have issued a statement saying this has been through a procedure committees have looked at all of this, rational decision has been made by the government and they say banning them would leave britain less secure, less productive and they were disappointed to hear groundless accusations. nevertheless one of these former cabinet ministers said to me today, lots of whitehall spends a lot of time trying to counter attacks on it through cyberspace, why on earth would you give them a front seat in all of this? many thanks for the latest air in the commons. a woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by alex salmond, the former first minister of scotland, has been describing how she told a party official about what she alleges took place. the woman, a former scottish government official, confirmed that she got in touch with an snp official in november 2018. mr salmond denies 1a charges of sex

iain watson reports. i made a statement onjanuary 28...s the first mp to contract coronavirus. health minister who has trained as a nurse. she is self isolating at home and issued this statement late last night full as soon as i was informed i took all advised precautions, she said, public health england have started detailed contact tracing and the department of health and my parliamentary office are closely following their advice. the authorities are now trying to trace to the health minister has been in close contact with and told nadeem dorries first felt sticky — pt on friday. symptoms such as a dry cough appeared on friday last week and she was tested for the virus on monday. last night she tweeted i hope i am over the worst of it now. i am more worried about my 84—year—old mother, she is being tested tomorrow to she also thanked well—wishers. the government and the speaker of the house of columns are reluctant to shut down government of the crisis worsens and there is so far no suggestion that westminster will close their doors. at

apologies the broader market check got squeezed there up next, carly fiorina will ll iain why congress much too soon. back in 90 seconds and sometimes, you can find yourself heading in a new direction. but when you're with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, there's nothing to stop you from moving forward. but when allergies attack,f any the excitement fades., allegra helps you say yes with the fastest non-drowsy allergy relief and turning a half hearted yes, into an all in yes. allegra. live your life, not your allergies. wewithout the planet cooler getting warmer. at emerson, when issues become inspiration, creating a better world isn't just a result, it's a responsibility. emerson. consider it solved. and sometimes, you can find yourself heading in a new direction. but when you're with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, there's nothing to stop you from moving forward. >>> the president expected to sign the $2 trillion relief bill any moment now included is $350 billion for loans for small businesses to cover salary, wages and benefits as well

we were talking about big players, iain duncan smith, david davis, owen paterson, people who are notssle is far from over. indeed, we may hear a bit of it in the commons today, because we know there is going to have to be legislation to get this through, which means that there is an opportunity for tory mps to try and coalesce and find some sort of mechanism to scupper these proposals, so that is a battle looming down the line, and it is interesting the way those sorts of more routine political battles have replaced the old front of brexit. is the prime minister standing up? i think he is. thank you, mr speaker, it is two years to the day when a chemical weapon was deployed by russian intelligence on the streets of salisbury. all our thoughts stay with those affected and their friends and family. we seekjustice for them. salisbury is back on its feet, focused on the future l welcoming visitors with welcome mars. this house would want to make tribute to the people of salisbury and wish them well for the future. i shall add further such meetings later today. as the government prepares

countries, the uk hasn't closed schools or banned large gatherings of people. 0ur political correspondent iain of that there have been questions as to why in the uk we are not going further. that's right. we seem to be out of step with ireland, for example, who have closed schools and childcare facilities from today, from other countries in europe such as denmark. the argument has been put forward by the government, and indeed by the advice from the chief scientific officer and indeed the chief medical officer has been that if you introduce measures to soon, people will get fatigued, they will get fed people will get fatigued, they will getfed up, people will get fatigued, they will get fed up, they may not actually stick to them when things are at the most dangerous. so for example, they are estimating at the peak of this virus it could be 10—14 weeks away. that is a long time for vulnerable people, for example, to stay in isolation. it is a long time for schools to remain closed. so they are suggesting that measures get stepped up the closer we get to the peak. but that's not the approach th