let's head to ed davey. mr speaker. as of— findings. let's head to ed davey.ed davey. mr speaker, as of 6:30pm yesterday i findings. let's head to ed davey. mrl speaker, as of 6:30pm yesterday the uk has the worst recorded death rate by head of population in the world. this is a grave moment for our country. i'm sure all our hearts go out to the families who have lost loved ones. last week the prime minister told me he was still not prepared to launch the enquiry into the covid crisis that he promised six months ago. so instead, today, will he at least tell the country that he will launch this enquiry sometime this year so we can find out why our country has seen the worst death rates from covid in the world, learn the lessons, and give bereaved families the answers and the justice he owes them? {lime the justice he owes them? once again...- _ the justice he owes them? once again,... madame _ the justice he owes them? once again,... madame deputy - the justice he owes them? once again,... madame deputy speaker, once again the right honourable gentleman has the

we will now move on to ed davey. have we got ed davey? — now move on to ed davey. last year, this ear? ~ ., , , enquiry he promised last year, this ear? ~ .,, , , enquiry he promised last year, this ear? ~ .,, , year? mr speaker, he answers his own auestion year? mr speaker, he answers his own question with — year? mr speaker, he answers his own question with a — year? mr speaker, he answers his own question with a preamble _ year? mr speaker, he answers his own question with a preamble that - year? mr speaker, he answers his own question with a preamble that he - year? mr speaker, he answers his own question with a preamble that he set l question with a preamble that he set out. the nhs is under unprecedented pressure. the entire british state is trying to fight covid and roll out their biggest vaccination programme in the history of our country and that includes virtually every single arm of officialdom. we should consecrate vast state resources to an enquiry now in the middle of the pandemic, does not seem sensible to me and i don't believe it would seem members

we will move on to ed davey. have we got ed davey? >> good afternoon, mr. speaker. can i add my warmest of welcomes to president biden and vice-president harris on their inauguration in washington today? in answer to my question in july, the prime minister promised an independent inquiry into the uk's response to covid. in the six months since, covid cases have soared, our nhs is on its knees, and 50,000 more people have died. the uk now has one of the highest death rates in the world -- higher, even, than trump's america. to learn the lessons from what has gone so devastatingly wrong under his leadership, will the prime minister commit to launching this year the inquiry that he promised last year? p.m. johnson: mr. speaker answered his own question with , the preamble that he set out. the nhs is under unprecedented pressure. the entire british state -- trying to fight covid and to roll out the biggest vaccination program in the history of our country. the idea that we should consecrate vast state resources to an inquiry now, in the middle of the pandemic, does not

ed davey, thank you for your time.o know how you feel this morning about the national lockdown. send our questions. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning from bbc london, i'm asad ahmed. it's been said that enforcing the new national lockdown will put "a lot of pressure" on police officers in london, whose numbers are already reduced by the coronavirus pandemic. the chairman of the metropolitan police federation, which represents front line officers, says 1300 officers are currently off sick or self—isolating in london. ken marsh is urging government to place police officers on a priority list to receive coronavirus vaccines, but he claims his requests to government are "falling on deaf ears". well, the sudden lockdown caught many secondary schools and colleges by surprise. and according to a food waste company, it'll therefore lead to millions of school dinners being thrown away. as pupils prepare to attend lessons online, food which has already been bought for school dinners is like

. >> we will move on and come back we're going to move on do we have ed davey? >> good afternoon mr. speaker. can i add my warmest of welcomes to president biden and vice president harris on their inauguration today. mr. speaker an answer to my question in july the prime minister promised an independent inquiry to the uk's response to covid. in the six months since covid cases have soared our nhs is on its knees and 50000 more people have died, the uk now has one of the highest death rate in the world, higher even than trump's america. those are the lessons that have gone devastating wrong under his leadership with the prime minister commit to launching the inquiry he promised last year to this year. >> prime minister. >> he answers his own question with a preamble, the nhs is under unprecedented question, the entire british state is trying to fight and rollout the biggest vaccination program in the history of our country which means virtually the idea that we should not have safe resources to an inquiry now in the middle of the pandemic seems sensible to me and

let's head to surbiton and ed davey. people are afraid and anxious. the prime minister's answers today have not addressed that. mr speaker, we must leave no one behind as we tackle this terrible virus. employers and workers need to support uncertainty, and they need it now. so will the prime minister instruct the chancellor to publish an emergency budget to include a business rate holiday next year, an extension to furlough at least until the summer, and support for every self—employed person in the uk, including those he has so far so u nfa i rly including those he has so far so unfairly excluded ? well, mr speaker, there will be a budget in the course of the next few weeks and months, as i'm sure he is aware. he is also aware that the government has made substantial cuts to business rates, to vat, and has produced a package of £260 billion of support for businesses and jobs and livelihoods across the uk. i repeat the points i have made about the self—employed. i have massive sympathy with everybody who is facing a tough time at the moment. i agree w

the liberal democrat leader, sir ed davey, is calling for a comprehensive plan to help self—employed for ten months, it'sjust any financial support for ten months, it's just unbearable, any financial support for ten months, it'sjust unbearable, and what i want to say to the government is, don't wait for the budget, bring forward these proposals now. there are emergencies in people's lives, so the lib dems welcome some of these ideas from the ifs, but the governors has to move fast. we have -- we have — governors has to move fast. we have -- we have been _ governors has to move fast. we have -- we have been using _ governors has to move fast. we have -- we have been using the _ governors has to move fast. we have -- we have been using the phrase i —— we have been using the phrase people falling through the cracks, but each one of those is a personal story. you presumably have spoken to some. :, :, story. you presumably have spoken to some. ., , , :, some. too many constituents to mention had — some. too many constituents to mention had fallen _ some. too many constituents to mention h

chief executive of the nhs, sir simon stephens, and also the leader of the liberal democrats, sir ed daveyfly to space. and to put you out of your misery, this is what lift—off should look like. later this year it is hoped these rockets will send nasa's next—generation orion spacecraft for an unmanned spin around the moon. the artemis missions should eventually lead to the first woman on the moon, in three years or so, to search lunar soil for earth—shattering scientific discoveries with economic benefits too. but back on earth, this joint nasa and boeing test, already years later and billions over budget, quickly lost its sparkle, as it was aborted early. and we've got a shutdown. seven minutes early, in fact, afterjust a minute or so, just when we were going to see the rocket start to pivot. no—one ever said travelling to the moon was easy. nasa denies the exercise was a failure, despite the as—yet unexplained white flash that caused the shutdown. mark lobel, bbc news. let's speak now to vinita marwaha madill who's a space engineer based in ottawa, canada. good morning to you. lovely to

joining me now is sir ed davey, leader of the liberal democrats. that he will come to with some serious measures which will get us ahead of this awful virus. he has always been playing catch up. he needs to sort this virus out. we need a plan for dealing with the pandemic, helping schools and businesses in peoples jobs. so far, that has been lacking. and you want to lockdown the school closures as well. we said before that schools to close for at least the first two weeks until we got more scientific evidence. let‘s hear what the prime minister says tonight, but the fact that the bio—security centre has suggested that we need to need to go to level five, which is suggesting that the pandemic is seriously out of control, suggests the government will have to come forward with some real measures. i hope it is learned from its many mistakes. so, for example, in schools, is it providing the laptops to those pupils who have not been able to study at home. is it making sure the more vulnerable children are being looked after? i hope they will be coming wi