you mention mark harper can release the covid—i9 recovery group a backbench conservative switch is fast the most influential and important of the many backbench pressure groups the prime minister has to deal with. there is a heart—warming image commendably photograph on the front of the twins who recovered from the coronavirus after being born with it. you wonder what sort of world they are being born into when you look at the headlines set next to it. yes. of course there are serious and necessary major concerns about this new variant. which it seems is potentially more infectious and that is incredibly concerning but wind of the things that i think there are questions that are being asked and this is been said about whether the government when the government knew about this strain but really what we should know when they knew about it, either way they acted too late yet again. they should have looked at the rising numbers of cases, and acted accordingly and instead what we have in the past week these cases we re we have in the past week these cases were rising, some of the poorest bor

mark harper is not won over by this analysis.ve had to say about that this morning. it is up to any individual pub owner or licensee to decide who they will admit and on what basis. they are private businesses. i'm not sure thatis private businesses. i'm not sure that is what people are concerned about. they are concerned about whether we are managing the infection effectively and the new tier system will reduce the rate of infection overall and that we are in position to deliver the vaccine and the prospect of mass vaccination is an exit strategy. it is a way out of the situation that we find ourselves in. the most important thing is making sure that vaccine is effectively distributed and available. that is the critical thing. in parliament today, the debate will be opened around lunchtime, we expect the vote to come at around 6pm seven this evening. —— or 7pm this evening. will have live coverage of that debate on the bbc news channel and the crossover platforms and it is due to start in half an hour. new scientific analysis, s

one is mark harper, who chairs the covid research group.er, with 70 colleagues, asking for as much information as we can have about the effectiveness of the measures being imposed. —— being proposed. and that's notjust, by the way, madame deputy speaker, whether they're too tough. it's also whether they'll be effective enough. they definitely come with big economic costs, and i want to know if we're going to pay those economic costs, those costs on people's lives and livelihoods — i want to know that they'll have the effect on suppressing the virus. and we simply don't have that information. helen catt is in westminster. is itfairto is it fair to say they don't have the information? has the government not provided the detailed reasoning behind the system was yellow with the government did yesterday was publish some analysis on the impact. but a lot of it was stuff that had already been put out by the office of budget response building last week. one of the findings was that it couldn't predict with any a ccu ra cy it couldn't predict with a

many months yet, and there have been calls from the former conservative leader iain duncan smith, mark harperave parliament recalled at this time to debate the current crisis, the restrictions and the change in those restrictions. there is one bit of good news on this gloomy day though, grant shapps and other government ministers are insisting that at least the supply of the vaccine, the one vaccine that has at the moment been approved, the pfizer vaccine, supplies come from belgium and apparently they will not be affected by the freight ban. iain watson, thank you. richard burnett is the chief executive of the road haulage association. richard, we really appreciate your time this morning, an incredibly busy period for you and the ban on vehicles entering france of course simply adds to that. is it possible to assess yet what impact this is having on the movement of lorries that would have been travelling from the uk to france over this period, and vice versa? it is an evolving situation so at this point in time we don't have absolute clarity. we know the port of dover was cleared last night

that was mark harper talking a little earlier.will keep you updated and of course bring you the result of that vote around 7pm tonight. when the new tierd system comes into force tomorrow, a number of areas will find themselves in tighter restrictions than they were under before england's national lockdown. warwickshire was in tier! in october but will face the toughest measures from tomorrow. phil mackie has been to atherstone in north warwickshire to find out what local people make of the new rules. it is the last day of the current restrictions in atherstone in warwickshire. the fruit and veg store is busy, even though the market square isn't. tomorrow, the town will come out of lockdown two tiers higher than it went in. at the angel alehouse, carol evans is keeping everything spick—and—span, even though, because she does not sell food, she could not open even if in tier 2. it is just the uncertainty. obviously being a real ale pub, i need to have beer delivered, it needs to be in the cellar, and it needs to be settled. i can't

have been calls from the former conservative leader, iain duncan smith, the former chief whip, mark harpermate recalled at this time parliament recalled at this time to debate the current crisis, the restrictions and the change in those restrictions. there is one bit of good news on this gloomy day, though, that grant shapps and other government ministers are insisting that at least the supply of the vaccine, the one vaccine that has at the moment been approved, the pfizer vaccine, supplies come from belgium, and apparently they are going to be unaffected by the freight ban. let's speak to our europe correspondent gavin lee who's in brussels. hello to you, gavin. we are hearing there will be a meeting at some point today to discuss a more coordinated response to this new variant that has emerged particularly in the south—east of england, and what impact it might have on the continent. given that scientists are among those scrambling to try to get the data together on this, what can we expect from that meeting? i think at the moment we are waiting because they are meeting right now. i think

marks 157th anniversary of that event. hoover's grandfather bought it. the quakers were abolitionist. west branch was a station of -- john brown visited before his failed assault on harpers ferry. model used lincoln as his for what the president should be. what the presidency should be. also, how an individual should live their life. he thought lincoln's life exemplified the notion of the open field of fair chance, the right to rise, and expanding the boundaries of liberty in the aspirations of the declaration that all been are created equal. the other part, though, that hoover shared with lincoln -- both were self-made men, both ended up in a much more prosperous position than where they began in life -- but self-made in the notion of lincoln's notion of the term, the most important aspect was the making of the self, improving your character and moral core. it is important to end on this note, not only because it is the anniversary of this very important moment in history, where the boundaries of freedom were expanded, but also what made america unique. what lincoln thought made america unique and what hoover thought made america unique, and that is the right to rise --

marks the er event.anniversary of that .oover's grandfather bought it as i said, the quakers were abolition insist. wrest branch was a station on the underground railroad. brown visited it before his failed assault on harper's ferry. hoover used lincoln as his model should he president be, what the presidency should be. an individual should live their life. thought lincoln's life exemplified the notion of the rise andd and right to expanding the boundaries of of rty and aspirations declaration that all men are created equal. he other part though that -- er shared with lincoln both were self-made man and both in a better position but self-made in lincoln's otion of the term and hoover's the more important aspect is the making of the several. -- the self. mproving your character and moral core. it is important to kind of end this note not only because it is the anniversary of this very moment where the boundaries of freedom were made america hat unique. what hoover thought lincoln made america unique and what leave thought made america to rise.ere this right where you begin is not necessarily where you under and improve your y to moral core to help the larger good. thank you. that does it. >> fantastic. thank