jonathan blake, bbc news.r starmer is calling for new national restrictions in england to be brought in within 2a hours and said it is inevitable that more schools will have to close. the virus is clearly out of control and there is no good the prime minister hinting that further restrictions are coming into place in a week or two or three. that delay has been the source of so many problems. so i say bring in those restrictions now, national restrictions within the next 2a hours. that has to be the first step to controlling the virus. 0n schools, i don't want to add to the chaos that would be caused by having all schools closed tomorrow. many will be closed. it is inevitable more schools are going to have to close and the government needs a plan for children's learning, but also for working parents, so it is inevitable that more schools are going to close and many will be closed tomorrow morning, but the more important thing, in a way, is the national restrictions need to come in in the next 2a hours. let's no

jonathan blake, bbc news.ition congress party has warned that the government's decision to approve the emergency use of a locally developed coronavirus vaccine, covaxin, was premature and could be dangerous. another vaccine, developed by astrazeneca and oxford university, has also been approved. the jabs will kick off one of the world's biggest immunisation drives in the world. anbarasan ethirajan reports from delhi. this was the moment many in the world's second most populous nation were waiting for. after days of uncertainty over which coronavirus vaccine will be approved for emergency use, a drug regulatorfinally spoke. after adequate examination, the cdsco has decided to accept the recommendations of the expert committee and accordingly vaccines of m/s serum and bharat biotech are being approved for restricted use in emergency situation and permission is being granted to m/s cadila healthcare for conduct of the phase iii clinical trials in india. with the approval of oxford university astrazeneca and the i

universal credit during the pandemic to be extended beyond april. 0ur political correspondent, jonathan blakedisquiet is there about this? well, plenty. and it is potentially another example of the government putting in place temporary measures during the pandemic only to come under pressure to keep them in place for longer or permanently. in april last year, the government increased by £20 a week the amount people could claim an universal credit, thatis could claim an universal credit, that is due to come to an end in april, but labour and others say it should continue, arguing this is not the time, as they put it, for the chancellor to be bringing down economic support. but crucially for the government, there are a good number of conservative mps who are uneasy about the support coming to an end as well. labour is holding a debate and a vote on this tomorrow in the house of commons, not binding on the government, but potentially embarrassing given the number of conservative mps who might have felt strongly enough to vote with labour and against the government. they are being allowed to abst

thank you, jonathan blake.cretary, priti patel, will be leading today's coronavirus news briefing at downing street at five o'clock this afternoon. you can watch it live on the bbc news channel. last year saw the largest increase in deaths in a single year in more than 70 years — that's according to provisional figures from the office for national statistics. let's speak to our head of statistics, robert cuffe. the headline reads that this is the biggest increase since the second world war? last year we saw about 700,000 deaths registered for any reason in the uk through the year, for context in the five years before that, on of which we sawjust over 600,000, soa that, on of which we sawjust over 600,000, so a rise of about 15%. it is hard to compare back to world war ii using the total number of deaths because the uk is a very different place with different populations and medicines, but the year on year changes give you a comparison because each year should look roughly like the year before it, and that 15%ju

jonathan blake is our political correspondent.ent is sticking to their guns as the prime minister said on theissue guns as the prime minister said on the issue of schools, which they have faced a lot of criticism about. no change far now i think is the summary no change far now i think is the summary of what the prime minister said. as you suggest they faced pressure, the government faced pressure, the government faced pressure from teaching unions who are lining up together to urge the government, called for the government, called for the government to keep primary schools closed to most children, all but vulnerable children and those of key workers for at least another couple of weeks and you have some councils in england taking matters into their own hands and keeping primary schools closed for the next couple of weeks as well. but as you heard the prime minister say there, his message was clear to parents, that they should send children to school where they are open. it was his belief, he said, that there is no doubt in his mo

jonathan blake there, our political correspondent.mes as leaders in liverpool are calling for another national lockdown to prevent what they call a "catastrophe", as coronavirus cases continue to rise. it's believed the new super strain is beginning to move from south to north, with cases in liverpool almost trebling in the past two weeks. the acting mayor of liverpool, councillor wendy simon, said the current tier system wasn't working. i think the difficulty with this new strain of the virus is the speed at which it is actually infecting people. and certainly, what we've seen over the last few weeks is that the tier system hasn't worked with this particular strain of the virus. and people moving between tiers, as they have done — you know, we've been in tier 2 and then gone into tier 3, and still you're getting that movement of people between those tiers and then infecting people in those lower tier areas. so, for us, we feel before we get to crisis point in the city, we have had that mass testing pilot where we saw our numbers come

thank you, jonathan blake. possible violent protests this weekend, ahead of president—electjoe biden�*s inauguration on wednesday. members of the national guard are patrolling the streets around the capitol in washington, following the storming of the building by supporters of president trump. so far, there have been none of the mass protests that had been feared. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes reports. america on high alert like never before. the nation's capital has turned into a fortress, with security worthy of a warzone. the national guard has been deployed to try to ensure a smooth transition of power whenjoe biden is inaugurated on wednesday. in the meantime, there's concern that armed supporters of donald trump may try to stage more protests, still refusing to accept the result of the election. the capitol building, which was stormed by a mob earlier this month, is now surrounded by a high fence, and the city is under lockdown. it's a place in our history that i'm sad that we've come to. am

and jonathan blake's here now.han, how much reassurance do you think the prime minister has provided this morring? it's for parents to decide whether they are reassured by what the prime minister has said, but the fact that you use having to sit here and make that case, that it is safe for children to return to school the day before they are due to do so, suggests it has been difficult for the government to get that message across for all sorts of reasons, and evenif across for all sorts of reasons, and even if it is so, the bigger question is perhaps whether it is practically possible. there is no letu p practically possible. there is no letup in pressure from teaching unions, who say the time is not yet right for children to go back, and if enough teachers decide that they agree with that, something will have to change, perhaps between now and tomorrow morning. the bigger picture, though, is that the prime minister has often tended towards optimism in his outlook in terms of the response to the pandemic. that has

our political correspondent jonathan blake is in westminster.ow, because as we have reflected, a lot of travel operators have wa nted reflected, a lot of travel operators have wanted this for a long time. yes, and the government has resisted it for a long time arguing that either because the virus was circulating so widely in the uk already, testing people at the border or before they travelled wouldn't make much difference. and someone wouldn't make much difference. and someone could arrive, show no symptoms and take a negative test, only to go on and prove positive a couple of days later having already passed on the virus. for that reason the government has focused on quarantine measures for now. i think what has changed, as you heard in the report, the concern of new variants of coronavirus being discovered, and particularly the new variant discovered in south africa, which government ministers and the scientists advising them are very concerned about and very keen to keep out of the uk, and that's why they are changing tack at this point, in

here's our political correspondent jonathan blake.iving in a hurry to deliver a difficult message. the prime minister gave his first interview of the year this morning and warned that life with coronavirus in england is likely to get worse before it gets better. he said the government may soon impose tighter restrictions in more areas. it may be that we need to do things in the next few weeks that will be tougher in many parts of the country. i don't... i mean, i'm fully, fully reconciled to that and i bet the people of this country are fully reconciled to that. under pressure over the return to school for children in england, the prime minister said there'd be no change and most primaries would open as planned tomorrow. schools are safe — very, very important to stress that. the threat to, the risk to kids, to young people, is really very, very, very small indeed, as the scientists continually attest. the risk to staff is very small. and, of course, the benefits of education are so huge. overwhelmingly, we want to keep our young peop

our political correspondent jonathan blake is at westminster. good morning.he government doing this now when the travel industry has been asking for this sort of scheme for most of last year? yes, it's been something the government has resisted doing for some time, arguing that it wouldn't really make much difference to test travellers coming into the uk, either at the border or before they fly, either at the border or before they fly, given the virus was already here and circulating widely. i think what has changed things is the discovery of new variants of the virus and of particular concern to ministers is the one that has been discovered in south africa. there is a concern that it could, if it ends up a concern that it could, if it ends up here in the uk and ends up taking hold and circulating more widely, could reduce the efficacy, the efficiency, of the vaccines that are being administered, with the impetus the government has placed on the vaccine and of course the crucial nature of that in allowing the government to lift restrictions and potentially get

with me is our political correspondent, jonathan blake.e government on the vaccine roll—out? there are two big questions that everyone is asking at the moment, how quickly and effectively can the government get the vaccine administered to as much of the population as possible. tight to that, how soon will we see the tight restrictions that everyone is living under it lifted. there wasn't a huge amount of new data from the foreign secretary this morning, but dominic raab did talk about the timetable that the government has set on the lifting of restrictions being no more specific than to say that the prime minister has said previously it would be a big bang, once the most vulnerable groups are vaccinated, the government hopes by mid—february, and likely a return to the tiered approach of what started out as three tiers that became four before the current national lockdown in england and the other nations of the uk. dominic raab did give some indication of when the government hopes to have offered the first of three jobs to all adults in the

our political correspondent jonathan blake told me that the prime minister seemed determined to resistsome councils and teaching unions in england for wider school closures. there's no change for now, i think is the summary of what heard the prime minister say this morning. as you suggest, they faced pressure, the government have faced pressure from teaching unions, who are lining up together to urge the government, to call for the government to keep primary schools closed to most children, all but vulnerable children and those of key workers, for at least another couple of weeks. you have some councils in england taking matters into their own hands and keeping primary schools closed for the next couple of weeks, as well. but as you heard the prime minister say there, his message was clear to parents — that they should send children to school where they are open. it was his belief, he said, that there is no doubt in his mind that schools are safe and that remained the scientific advice to the government. but still uncertainty because he was very clear to say, as well, that the governme

have been told to abstain on labour's vote in the commons tommorrow. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blakeon has been taken yet, but the chancellor has got a big call to make ear and chancellor has got a big call to make earand one chancellor has got a big call to make ear and one which will have a huge impact on many people's lives either way. as you say, people have been able to claim an extra £20 a week on universal credit since last april, that is due to come to an end at the end of march, but labour, campaigners and some conservative mp5 are keen for that increase to continue at the very least until locked on restrictions end, but many say it should stay permanently. labour are holding a vote on this in parliament tomorrow, a and that non—fine —— non—binding votes on the government, packed in a sign that the conservatives were perhaps worried about how many of their mp5 would be voting with labour and against the government, the government is allowing them to abstain and sit it out. labour say that leaves the prime minister running scared from his own backbenchers. it might do could h

jonathan blake, bbc news. our chief political correspondent adam fleming is in westminster.razil. it's not clear if that would then apply to other countries in south america, too. i've heard competing versions from government about whether it is just brazil or other places in south africa —— south america. when this happened in south africa, a number of other countries were also banned a few days later. so there is precedent for that.- a few days later. so there is precedent for that. there is a delay to the requirement _ precedent for that. there is a delay to the requirement for _ precedent for that. there is a delay to the requirement for people i to the requirement for people arriving in england to have a negative coronavirus test? thea;r arriving in england to have a negative coronavirus test? they say it's not a delay. _ negative coronavirus test? they say it's not a delay, they _ negative coronavirus test? they say it's not a delay, they say _ negative coronavirus test? they say it's not a delay, they say it's - negative coronavirus test? they say it's not a delay, th

let's get more from our political correspondent jonathan blake is at westminster.moment and all want the answers to, there was very little if any in the way of detail from the home secretary and the others at that news conference. the focus on enforcement. and that new £800 fine for people attending house parties, of 15 people or more, which will double for repeat offenders, it reflects, i think, which will double for repeat offenders, it reflects, ithink, a concern and frustration that you heard from martin hewitt, the national police chief council chair and home secretary that whilst the vast majority of the public are following the rules, there a persistent minority, in the words of the national police chiefs council chair, who are not following the rules, and insist on breaking them. and you heard some detail, too, about the type of events police officers have been called to, in england. house parties and mass gatherings were in some cases police officers have been abused or injured. and in one case ended up contracting covid—19 afterwards. this is an attempt,

jonathan blake, there.n getting in touch about this new scheme, the new arrangement for travelling. steve says testing will be mandatory but vaccination will be a personal choice? does this make sense? thomas says the government told us all foreign travel must be essential, we can't go anyway, so why would people be leaving to go on holiday? edward says a reminderfor those be leaving to go on holiday? edward says a reminder for those who say banning all international travel, not all of us go on holidays will stop my kids live in germany and they have seen their dad four times in the last 12 months as opposed to alternative weekends. i currently have no idea when i will see my daughter again. ross says we should have closed the borders in march. we are an island and covid had to come in some way. sherrell says, with the climate crisis as well as the pandemic, should we encourage people to travel by plane anyhow and we should refocus people's attention to home tourism, boosting the economy that way. we do hav

jonathan blake, bbc news. vaccines will be available at a small number of high street pharmacies in england from today. it's part of a pilot project that will see hundreds of stores offering vaccinations in the next two weeks. here's our health correspondent dominic hughes. six pharmacies in england that are big enough to allow for social distancing. stores run by boots, superdrug and independent pharmacies like this one in macclesfield will be the first to offer the vaccine today. but over the next fortnight, many more community pharmacies should join them. we many more community pharmacies should join them.— many more community pharmacies should join them. should 'oin them. we are delighted that should join them. we are delighted that pharmacy _ should join them. we are delighted that pharmacy teams _ should join them. we are delighted that pharmacy teams who - should join them. we are delighted that pharmacy teams who have - should join them. we are delighted l that pharmacy teams who have been should join

our political correspondent, jonathan blake, joins me now from westminster.bate on england's new lockdown will do so remotely via video link. we can expect an easier ride overall for the prime minister, compared to previous votes in 2020, when a considerable number of conservative mp5 voted against them. but there is little option at this point. for a couple of reasons, and thatis point. for a couple of reasons, and that is because the new variant of coronavirus has seen cases rise so sharply and hospital admissions go up sharply and hospital admissions go up alongside that. also because there is seemingly a viable exit strategy with the vaccine, or vaccines that are being rolled out nationally. that aim that the prime minister has committed to getting all over 705 and the vulnerable the first of two macro jabs by the end of mid—february. the vaccine minister this morning recommitted to thataim. i am confident that the nhs has a clear delivery plan to meet that target. there are many, many complexities around it, not least manufacturing and of course supply c

let's speak now to our political correspondent jonathan blake.o close. where does that leave the government? good morning. it's a very uncertain situation for pa rents, it's a very uncertain situation for parents, for children, teachers, school staff, and many others the day before many children are due to go back to primary schools in england tomorrow. as you heard in chris's report there, you have unions urging, in many cases, the government to keep schools closed for a further two weeks and making it clear that they will not take action against and they will support their members who don't feel it's safe to go into schools as of tomorrow. you also have councils in some areas taking things into their own hands to make sure schools are closed for another couple of weeks. but then you have the government holding firm for now saying that where possible schools can open they should do. and you have this timely intervention as well from the chief inspector of schools in england, amanda spielman, saying school should only be kept closed as a last res

we‘re joined now by our political correspondent jonathan blake.ld i say and the government will be keen to avoid a repeat of last summer‘s situation, where an algorithm and system was put into place to allocate grades to pupils which was largely deemed to be unfairand at pupils which was largely deemed to be unfair and at the last minute the government changed tack and said teacher predicted grades would set stu d e nts teacher predicted grades would set students results. schools are now closed until at least february half term when things will be reviewed. everyone is asking when peoples might be able to return. this morning he had heard from dr susan hopkins from public health england on the programme, saying it is impossible to put a time limit on it. i do not think that we can give a date. our principle all along has been to advise government that schools should be the last to close and first to open for health and well— being of children. and first to open for health and well—being of children. we recognise that keeping the majority of childr

arrest records were accidentally deleted from the national computer. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blakeal police chiefs accountable to chief constables and local police —— local police and crime, uses the phrase," near misses". to talk about impact this has had on the serious crimes. it goes on to say that some records were used to identify offenders by other means, through the use of forensic information but there are huge concerns around this of course. it seems that the problem started backin it seems that the problem started back in november but is only very recently come to light. so the policing minister kip malthouse has said that the problem now is under control. nevertheless, labour is calling for the home secretary priti patel to take full responsibility and leadership for this and answer questions in the house of commons on monday. questions in the house of commons on monda . . , questions in the house of commons on monda . ., , . questions in the house of commons on monda. ., , . ., ., a clinical trial involving 10,000 people in the uk has shown that using blood plasma as a

our political correspondent jonathan blake joins us now from westminster. hearfrom him in a moment. this has been something the covenant has resisted doing up until now, arguing that testing either at the border before people travel would not make that much difference, given that the virus was already here, and in circulation. but it seems that the concern around a particular new variant of the virus discovered in south africa, and the possibility of other new, more transmissible variants of coronavirus, has now forced ministers to act. labour says they have been calling for this for months, and have accused the government of leaving the back door open to the uk, but as you've been explaining, as of early next week, anyone arriving in england or scotland, will need to give proof of a negative coronavirus test taken up to 72 hours before they travelled to the uk. and that will apply to passengers coming by air, by train, or by boat. grant shapps the transport secretary explained a bit more about why the government is acting now. what we are trying to do now

jonathan blake, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent damian grammaticas is in westminster.ghts coming from brazil firstly. do we think it's likely the government will put a ban in place there? it government will put a ban in place there? . , , . , , there? it appears they will. the prime minister _ there? it appears they will. the prime minister has _ there? it appears they will. the prime minister has set - there? it appears they will. the prime minister has set up i there? it appears they will. the prime minister has set up a i there? it appears they will. the i prime minister has set up a special covid committee this morning to discuss that. the ban on flights from brazil looks likely to be a outcome from that. what we don't know is, will the extent that ban to other countries in south america? some suggestions this morning that they may do and it could include up to ten other countries. colombia, argentina, peru, other places could be affected as well as a sign of the concern about this brazilian variant, new variants, and risks that might pose. let variant, new variant

let's get more from our political correspondent, jonathan blake is at westminster.yond that they will be questions for her on the lockdown restrictions in place in england in the context of the announcement we have had from northern ireland just in the last few minutes, that the lockdown there will be in place until the 5th of march. �* will be in place until the 5th of march. . ., , march. and potentially... i will sto . march. and potentially... i will sto- ou march. and potentially... i will stop you now _ march. and potentially... i will stop you now because i march. and potentially... i will stop you now because here i march. and potentially... i will. stop you now because here comes march. and potentially... i will- stop you now because here comes the home secretary. good afternoon. i'm joined today by dr vin dawakar good afternoon. i'm joined today by drvin dawakarand martin good afternoon. i'm joined today by dr vin dawakar and martin hewitt. the

jonathan vigliotti, thank you. tonight kenosha, wisconsin is on edge after prosecutors announced the police officer who shot jacob blakeill not face criminal charges nor will any other officers. the shooting in august sparked unrest in kenosha and the national guard is on patrol tonight. cbs's mola lenghi is in kenosha. >> i saw the video. >> reporter: the district attorney's decision comes more than four months after the shooting of jacob blake left him paralyzed from the waist down. michael graveley said the rusten sheskey was justified acting in self-defense. >> this case is really all about >> this case is all about self- defense and can it be proven it does not exist. it is really evidence about the perspective of officer shefsky. >> reporter: the officers responding to a domestic dispute call against blake last august after he resisted prosecutors say that blake was holding a knife when the officer shot him multiple times in the back. for blake's father, the decision is justice denied. >> we'll find federal ways that justice will find for my son. we're not done yet. >> reporter: during the days of protests, two p

let's get more from our political correspondent, jonathan blake. ing of a blitz this morning from the chief medical officer for england, professor chris whitty, which has been very welcome, but it does show the government very worried? yes, we had a stark warning this morning from the chief medical officer for england, professor chris whitty, as you say, about the state of things, andi you say, about the state of things, and i think an attempt from him to give people a wake—up call about the impact of their behaviour. he didn't put it quite like this but i think you could sum up most of what professor whitty said by saying that just because you can do something within the rules doesn't necessarily mean that you should. he talked about the next few weeks being the worst of the pandemic so far. individual decisions, he said, had the biggest impact on not only rising cases of coronavirus, but also the knock—on impact of that is the number of people admitted to hospital and potentially those who sadly die as a result of contracting coronavirus. but some