damian grammaticas, thank you. - may disapprove of that. damian grammaticas, thank you.an | grammaticas, thank you. this is may disapprove of that. damian - grammaticas, thank you. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a court in kenya has ruled the leader of a doomsday cult linked to the deaths of hundreds of people should undergo a mental health assessment ahead of a murder trial. paul mackenzie nthenge was arrested in april after the police began finding bodies in shallow graves. russian police have clashed with protesters angered by the jailing of a rights activist in the republic of bashkortostan. fail alsynov has been sentenced to four years in a penal colony after a court found him guilty of inciting ethnic hatred. he was accused of insulting migrants at a protest against plans to mine for gold. a us—bound ana plane was forced to return to tokyo after an intoxicated passenger bit a crew member mid—flight. the passenger, reportedly a 55—year—old american, sunk his teeth into crew member's arm while "heavily drunk", leaving her mildly injur

damian grammaticas _ the next few days. damian grammaticas in _ the next few days. . damian - grammaticas in westminster, thank you very much. and you can follow reaction to those developments in northern ireland on the bbc website. the other main story we are covering todayis the other main story we are covering today is the covid inquiry, where the former scottish first minister nicola sturgeon is giving her evidence and we can cross over to edinburgh and listening. i evidence and we can cross over to edinburgh and listening.— edinburgh and listening. i should sa and i edinburgh and listening. i should say and i want — edinburgh and listening. i should say and i want to _ edinburgh and listening. i should say and i want to say _ edinburgh and listening. i should say and i want to say this - edinburgh and listening. i should say and i want to say this on - edinburgh and listening. i should say and i want to say this on the | say and i want to say this on the record, she had already reached that conclusion herself and made no attempt to avoid her resignation. and i t

damian grammaticas, bbc news.is warning that more properties could flood over the next week — as river levels rise. more than 1,800 properties have already flooded after prolonged wet weather and intense rainfall. currently there are nearly 350 flood warnings and alerts in place in england, and five in wales. jessica lane has the latest from collingham in nottinghamshire. the water came to the high here, you can see the line on the door and across, above the electric socket. started coming in on thursday, up through the floors and walls. the clear—up begins after the floods. all the sofas are not usable now, the fabrics soaked the water and that will never be right so they will all need replacing. erica has had to move in with her neighbours as homes and gardens in nottinghamshire are still underwater. it is starting to go down here but a lot of the fields in the area are still underwater and in fact there are some houses over here and the people in those houses are isolated. the fire brigade has had to send boats

damian grammaticas has all on this from westerns. irate damian grammaticas has all on this from westernsdetail, not the final legal text, _ from westerns. we have detail, not the final legal text, but _ from westerns. we have detail, not the final legal text, but the - the final legal text, but the detail in it. there are all of the bets that this is broken down into. essentially, if i can try and summarise that, what you have is a sort of core which is dealing with theissue, sort of core which is dealing with the issue, one of the issues that has so exercised unionists, the cheques that have been implemented on goods and items moving from the rest of the uk into northern ireland. they viewed that as an internal trade order, something that weakens the bonds of the united kingdom. so they have wanted those reduced. those were already coming down under the arrangements put in place by rishi sunak under the theme windsor framework. they were coming down to a minimum over time. that is an ongoing process. what this lays out is the government plan which is now to do away with most of the pape

our political correspondent, damian grammaticas, reports.se caught up in the post office scandal. the prime minister was asked if he would act to clear the hundreds wrongfully convicted or have government, not post office, lawyers handle their appeals. the justice secretary is looking at the things that you have described. it would not be right to pre—empt that process. obviously there is legal complexity in all of those things but he is looking at exactly those areas that you have described. it is right that we find every which way we can do to try and make this right for the people who were so wrongfully treated at the time. next up, one of his signature but stalled policies, focused on this place, rwanda, and his attempts to deport asylum seekers to have their cases dealt with by the east african country. government documents seen by the bbc suggest that, as chancellor, mr sunak thought the policy won't work as a deterrent, but as prime minister, he is pushing ahead with it. i absolutely believe in the value and importance of having deter

damian grammaticas has more. reporter: is your party too split to back the bill?ministership. today, more tory divisions could be on show. all on a policy rishi sunak has put at the heart of his agenda — so a tempting target for an opposition leader. mps: hear, hear! it's a farce. only this, only this government could waste hundreds of millions of pounds on a removals policy that doesn't remove anyone. laughter. only this government could claim that it's going to get flights off the ground, only to discover that they couldn't find a plane. we have worked through a record number of cases and returned a record number of people back to where they have come. all of that is a plan that is working and we can see that is working because the numbers of people coming to this country are down by over a third, mr speaker. the labour leader seized on reports that mr sunak, when he was chancellor, didn't think the rwanda scheme would work as a deterrent. he didn't want to fund it. he didn't think it would work. when he sees his party tearing itself apart, hundreds of bald men

damian grammaticas, bbc news. now it's time for a look at today's sport with 0lly foster.f major shocks. we were never going to get one at the etihad stadium. the holders manchester city strolled past championship strugglers huddersfield. it was goaless for the first half an hour but phil foden started the scoring, finishing from a tight angle after the ball fell kindly for him. the england internatoinal�*s second was city's fourth, crafted a little more intentionally this time from a corner. there was a welcome sight for city fans as kevin de bruyne came off the bench after five months out with a hamstring injury. from a spell out, jeremy doku. 5—0 the final score the satisfaction to play this game like it was a final of, you know, the important competition, how humble we are, how fight each other, how comfortable the principles, what do you have to do to be a solid team, we do it again, i am really please to still manage this group of players. the most successful side in the history of the competition, arsenal, failed to take their chances at the emirates stadium. the 14

damian grammaticas, bbc news, westminster.reet has said it is confident the rwanda bill will pass today. how likely does that seem at the moment? tt today. how likely does that seem at the moment?— today. how likely does that seem at the moment? ., , , ., ~ , the moment? it does seem more likely than yesterday- — the moment? it does seem more likely than yesterday. the i the moment? it does seem more likely than yesterday. the bad i the moment? it does seem more likely than yesterday. the bad news i the moment? it does seem more likely than yesterday. the bad news for- than yesterday. the bad news for rishi sunak was the 60 of his own mps, a huge number in the circumstances, tried to harden up the bill yesterday. there is a they are trying again today. and because the opposition parties are not going along with it, they will fail today too. so the question is about the third reading. this is the last hurdle in the house of commons to get that bill through. that third reading will come later today. if they were to vote against

our political correspondent, damian grammaticas, reports.ear, issues crowding around. first, the growing calls to exonerate those caught up in the post office scandal. the prime minister was asked if he would act to clear the hundreds wrongfully convicted or have government, not post office, lawyers handle their appeals. the justice secretary is looking at the things that you have described. it would not be right to pre—empt that process. obviously there is legal complexity in all of those things but he is looking at exactly those areas that you have described. it is right that we find every which way we can do to try and make this right for the people who were so wrongfully treated at the time. next up, one of his signature but stalled policies, focused on this place, rwanda, and his attempts to deport asylum seekers to have their cases dealt with by the east african country. government documents seen by the bbc suggest that, as chancellor, mr sunak thought the policy won't work as a deterrent, but as prime minister, he is pushing ahead wit

damian grammaticas, bbc news.with temperatures due to plummet, leading to snow and ice. it comes as many areas are still trying to recover from the aftermath of storm hank which caused widespread flooding. 171 flood warnings are still in place in england and wales and the environment agency says more properties good flood over the next week as river levels rise. as the cold weather hits many parts of the country, lots of homes and gardens remain underwater, including here in nottinghamshire. there is still water in the conservatory. the conservatory flooded first, so we tried to sandbag a barrier in. hit by flooding earlier this week, erica has had to move in with her neighbours. i've had loads of offers from all over the village. the village have been brilliant, and they have all offered to come and clean up. obviously i have to wait for the insurance to come and assess the damage first, before i move anything. lots of the fields in the area are still under water. and, in fact, there are some houses over here, an

our political correspondent damian grammaticas is here. isn't it? it is for that election is just over 12 months but nobody thinks rishi sunak will go beyond christmas coming so it will be before then. he is in a very difficult position because on one side the polls suggest labour with a healthy lead, to his right, to what used to be the brexit party, the reform party trying to siphon away votes, and the way he is trying to revive his party because �*s electoral fortunes is to identify issues and this is one he has made central, immigration, asylum, stop the boats, that promise, that priority he said. he hasn't stopped the boats, they are still coming, down quite a bit last year but still the second—highest year but still the second—highest year on record, but by pointing to this bit of the figures, the government thinks it can show it is making progress. more caseworkers, more cases dealt with, if labour as you are hearing saying that is just taking the public for fools, there is still a backlog, the total number of asylum cases are still

our political correspondent damian grammaticas is here.so how does this play into that? the election could _ does this play into that? the election could be _ does this play into that? tue: election could be just does this play into that? tte: election could be just over does this play into that? tt2 election could be just over a year away, january 2025, if rishi sunak really holds on but there's a sense that politicians are coming back with an eye on the coming election. rishi sunak is in a position. on one side he has a lay bit with what looks like a healthy lead in the polls to his right he has what used to be the brexit party, now reform, hoping to siphon off voters and the issue he's putting at the centre at the start of the already is immigration and asylum, stopping the boats are we know the figures for last year in 2023 showed the boats had not stopped, numbers are down but it was the second—highest year on record to the government is pointing to this dealing with older cases, trying to show it is getting a grip on this. labour hav

there is no timescale for dealing with this at the moment. 0ur political correspondent damian grammaticase been through the numbers, what is the political fallout of all of this? . , , ., ., h, what is the political fallout of all of this? . , , ., ., ., of this? has been argument about of it toda . a of this? has been argument about of it today- a lot _ of this? has been argument about of it today. a lot of _ of this? has been argument about of it today. a lot of people _ of this? has been argument about of it today. a lot of people saying - it today. a lot of people saying that the government is trying to obfuscate or clear the mantle. we had the prime minister putting out a tweet this morning where he said the government would clear the backlog of asylum decisions, that is exactly what we have done. but, as you are hearing him say there, many people pointing out that this is exactly what not has happened. that what has happened is that a large number of the cases that have been there for a long time, those so—called legacy cases have been through an initial process. the 4000, navy, 17

but first, here's damian grammaticas.terday saw the biggest rebellion of his prime ministership. today, more tory divisions could be on show. all in a policy rishi sunak has put at the heart of his agenda. a tempting target for an opposition leader. it a tempting target for an opposition leader. , . . . , , leader. it is a farce. only this government _ leader. it is a farce. only this government could _ leader. it is a farce. only this government could waste - leader. it is a farce. only this - government could waste hundreds of millions of pounds on a removals policy that doesn't remove anyone. only this government could claim that it only this government could claim thatitis only this government could claim that it is going to get flights off the ground, only to discover that they could not find a plane. we have worked through _ they could not find a plane. we have worked through a _ they could not find a plane. we have worked through a record _ they could not find a plane. we have worked through a record number - they

here�*s our political correspondent damian grammaticas.ng welfare spending, particularly for those deemed too sick to work. in the last decade, that system hasn�*t been reformed at all. and you�*ve seen the number of people who are signed off has tripled. now, do i think our country is three times sicker than it was a decade ago? the answer is no. the system is not working as it was designed to work, and now we are bringing forward reforms that will mean that we look at the eligibility for who is signed off sick. and another tv studio, the labour leader — his vision includes spending more. eventually, 28 billion per year to transform the economy. conservatives, already attacking the idea as irresponsible, inflationary. if we can have a fight going into the election between an incoming labour government that wants to invest in the future, long—term strategy that will lower our bills and give us energy independence, versus stagnation, more of the same under this government, if they want that fight on borrow to invest, i am absolutely up for

with more on this, i'm joined by bbc�*s damian grammaticas. , ., . issue? i think ease in a tricky osition issue? i think ease in a tricky position because _ issue? i think ease in a tricky position because the - issue? i think ease in a tricky l position because the document issue? i think ease in a tricky - position because the document seen by the bbc had come from downing street when a was chancellor in downing street was drawing up this policy. what was interesting is that a didn't actually address the sort of key issue there which was that those documents said that the prime minister was trying to create this borisjohnson minister was trying to create this boris johnson policy and minister was trying to create this borisjohnson policy and rishi sunak as chancellor didn't think the deterrent would work. a focused today in his answers about the value for muggy, saying a was chancellor and a had to question things and deliver value for money —— he had to deliver value for money —— he had to deliver value for money. he says it is a key part

live now to westminster and our political correspondent damian grammaticas.the i think we can maybe play up what he knew at the time. i think the latest figures _ what he knew at the time. i think the latest figures show _ what he knew at the time. i think the latest figures show there - what he knew at the time. i thinkl the latest figures show there were possibly three cases that were brought— possibly three cases that were brought by the crown prosecution service _ brought by the crown prosecution service when i was imposed for five years _ service when i was imposed for five years in— service when i was imposed for five years. in that five—year period my staff, _ years. in that five—year period my staff, i_ years. in that five—year period my staff, l have — years. in that five—year period my staff, i have 7000 staff handle i think— staff, i have 7000 staff handle i think 4— staff, i have 7000 staff handle i think 4 million cases i did not see these particular cases. i don't know yet what _ these particular cases. i don't know yet what they are about for t

chris page and damian grammaticas. issues can now get treatment from a chemist, instead of having to go to a gp. pharmacists will be able to prescribe medicines for conditions like shingles, sinusitis and infected insect bites. the scheme matches what already happens in other parts of the uk, and it's estimated will save 10 million gp appointments a year. 0ur health editor hugh pym has more. good morning. we do vaccination on thursday, friday, and saturday. they are at the heart of our communities. how do you spell that? from today, high street premises in england will be able to ease —— from today, high street pharmacies in england will be able to ease even more of the burden on overstretched gp surgeries. how can i help? so, i woke up on saturday night... patients with seven new conditions can come straight to the pharmacy without booking an appointment. middle ear infections is one of them. it is still blocked. there is loss of hearing. obviously it is making me feel a bit dizzy. 0k. spoke to the gp, and they referr