leila nathoo, bbc news, westminster.istmas comes amid growing concerns over ambulance response times. in one of england's worst performing regions for delays, in the west midlands, there's been a big rise in the number of patients who've died after emergency crews were late to reach them. here's bbc newsnight�*s david grossman. ijust assumed, like 90% of other people, that when you ring 999 and you call for an ambulance, that within a few minutes, that one will be with you. when darren childs'12—month—old daughter myla had a seizure and for a time stopped breathing, it took 47 minutes for the ambulance to come. the target for the average response time on such a serious life or death call is seven minutes. it was horrendous. it's every parent's worst nightmare. mercifully, darren's daughter survived, but sadly, many do not. data obtained by newsnight through a freedom of information request paints a worrying picture. in the whole of 2020, west midlands ambulance service had just one patient who was dead by the time the am

our political correspondent leila nathoo is in westminster.e again in the new year, the unions are keeping up the pressure on the government. how likely is it ministers will give any ground? well, so far, there seems to be absolutely no sign that the government is prepared to move at all. the health secretary steve barclay maintains he is not going to talk to the unions about pay and the unions say that is the only way this dispute will come to an end. they say that a pay rise they've been given this year is nowhere near enough given where inflation is but the government insists it doesn't want to get into arguments about this year's pay, they say that's the job of the pay review body and instead it's urging the union is to focus on next year's pay review, but the unions are now deeply sceptical of those pay review bodies and their processes and think they are discredited. so it really does appear that both sides are stuck. there are no further talks scheduled between the health secretary steve barclay and the unions representing health worker

0ur political correspondent leila nathoo is in westminster.ore bitter. �* , , and unions is getting even more bitter. . , , ., ., , ., bitter. any sign of any resolution? from what — bitter. any sign of any resolution? from what we _ bitter. any sign of any resolution? from what we have _ bitter. any sign of any resolution? from what we have been - bitter. any sign of any resolution? from what we have been hearing i bitter. any sign of any resolution? | from what we have been hearing it does not seem so. the language from the health secretary steve barclay and the heads of the unions representing ambulance workers is getting stronger. there seems to be increasing animosity between the very people who are supposed to be talking to each other. each side blaming each otherfor talking to each other. each side blaming each other for the strikes and any death that may occur as a result of today's action. those comments by steve barclay that the unions have made a conscious choice to inflict harm on patients. the unions describe this as insulting and

some random testing will be carried out on arrivals in england. 0ur political correspondent, leila nathoo in government thinking — what's changed? what has come to the fore is those concerns around the transparency when it comes to china and covid. whether we have an accurate picture of what is going on in terms of the scale and seriousness of the cases they are and whether there are any signs of a new variant circulating in china as those numbers soar. that is the key concern of ministers here. i think there has been a shift because earlier in the week there was a line from government ministers here saying the situation was being kept under review, there were thinking that there wasn't yet the evidence to act to warrant in bringing those testing equipment. there is quite a lot of confidence in the immunity of the population here in the uk. but i think now of those concerns have come to the fore around how accurate the picture is from china that we are getting, so they are stressing that these are time—limited, it isjust they are stressing that these are time—limited, it is just a precaut

leila nathoo, bbc news, westminster.ur political correspondent david. the government is talking tough in terms of pay offers and making strike action or difficult, so tell us more about what has been said?— difficult, so tell us more about what has been said? that is right. there is legislation _ what has been said? that is right. there is legislation making - what has been said? that is right. there is legislation making its - what has been said? that is right. | there is legislation making its way through parliament and it is perhaps been stalled a bit. the aim of it is to make sure that transport providers, if there were strikes on the transport network have to provide a minimum service requirement, so essentially a pliers would make sure that even if —— essentially employers would have to make sure that they have enough employees to keep the transport running. mps would like to bring forward legislation to extend that into other areas, so beyond just the transport network. this is my own example, but for example, wou

leila nathoo, bbc news, westminster.mark serwotka of the pcs union, that represents border force staff, had to say this afternoon when he announced the christmas strike action. we have tried for months to negotiate with the government and have been ignored, we are told the government has an open door but there is no point in the door being opened if there is nothing behind it. money is available or has been put on the table and no assurances have been given to the people we represent, so therefore we have had to sadly embark on an calling industrial action that will have a major effect on people who use public services because we, like nurses and teachers and paramedics and other people in the public sector, have no option other than to take industrial action because other members currently are skipping meals, not be wiki —— being able to put the heating on a home because of the poverty they are living in. let's talk to our political correspondent, iain watson. we have heard this before, what are they going to do and whe

leila nathoo, bbc news, westminster. the weather patterns are really moving. i picture there —— high pressure there. a run of arctic winds all the way down across the uk. the impact on the day today and the uk are from mainly ice and a little bit of snow. a few flurries elsewhere, but temperatures so low at times, and showers dotted around the coast, that met office have issued ice warnings. on top of those sites warnings, uk health officials of issues a level three weather alert. to help communities across the uk, set up warm banks like this one in london to help those who can't afford to put the heat on at home. for those struggling with the cost, the advice is leave the heating off in rooms during the day and keep it on and rooms during the day eggs, sorry, and on in your bedrooms before going to sleep. many concerns households will resist using their heating because they can't afford to do so. the annual energy bill for typical household will rise from two and a half thousand pounds to £3000 of april. inflation is al